You're Dangerous

by Casey McMillin

  You're Dangerous

  by

  Casey McMillin

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 1

  "How are you gonna get anywhere without a car, Hannah?"

  "Everything I need's in walking distance, Monkey. I already told you that like a thousand times."

  Hannah reached across the seat, over the space between her and her little brother and gave him a reassuring pat on the head. He just continued to stare at her with a worried expression. Hannah had been planning her big move out of the house for months, and her twelve year old brother Nate had never been a fan of the idea. Unlike most sibling pairs, Hannah and Nate had always gotten along. Moving day had arrived, and Hannah's heart ached to see her little brother so sad, but there was no way she was turning back.

  "Aren't you gonna be scared sleeping out there all alone?" he asked.

  Hannah flexed her muscle and shot him a silly smirk. "Nobody's gonna mess with this," she said.

  Nate couldn't suppress a smile even though he was really mad at her and wanted to so badly.

  "You've seen the neighborhood," their mom said, looking over her shoulder from the front seat. "You know how nice it is."

  "The Culbertsons told us none of their tenants have ever had a problem out there," their dad said, chiming in from the driver's seat. Her parents were both trying to be positive about it, but they were having just as hard of a time with Hannah's move as Nate was.

  "Besides, I'm only an hour away," Hannah said.

  Nate looked at the digital watch he wore around his wrist; the one she'd given him last Christmas. It had been more than an hour and a half since they left their home in Sparta, and he was just barely able to make out the Nashville skyline in the distance. He gave Hannah an indignant glare.

  "Okay, so it's a little more than an hour, but it's still not that far," she said. "And you can come see me anytime you like."

  Nate knew that was a lie, but he was too mad to call her out on it. Their dad had already made it very clear that it would take about fifty dollars in gas just to go to Nashville and back, and they'd not be able to do it all the time. He crossed his arms and stared straight at the back of their mom's head.

  Everyone was silent for a long enough span of time that Hannah's dad decided to turn the radio on. He searched through the stations until he found some classic rock. Hannah knew that's what it was because she heard the unmistakable voice of Robert Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin singing the lyrics of Black Dog. "Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove." Her dad turned it up several notches and then seconds later, her mom turned it back down.

  Nate groaned and let his head flop back, closing his eyes. "I can't believe there's anything but country music on in this town," Nate said. He looked over at Hannah. "And you hate country music."

  Hannah was touched by the way he was trying to talk her out of moving, and instead of getting frustrated with him for his efforts, she felt more like she wanted to hug him. She reached over, put a hand on his leg, and leaned in so her parents couldn't hear what she was saying to him.

  "I'm not really sure if I'm gonna make it or not, little man. It's a big world out there and I might just miss Sparta enough to come back."

  Nate looked at her as if to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth, and Hannah let him see a peek of the very real worry that was hiding just under the surface. Truth was, she had no idea how long she could last out here on her own. Financially, it was basically a clean break with her parents. She knew she could probably expect a 20-dollar bill to appear in the mailbox every now and then, but otherwise, she'd be on her own—except for a cell phone they paid for every month. It was not even close to a smart phone, and she could only send and receive two hundred texts a month, but it made calls and had reasonable reception. It was all they could afford, and she didn't even know how long it would last, but it was better than nothing.

  They pulled up at the Culbertson's house no more than twenty minutes after Black Dog had been on the radio. Hannah's dad, Lucas, and Mike Culbertson went way back to their days in the military. They'd been constant companions in the Navy, and had stayed in touch during the years that followed. Their family saw the Culbertsons at least once every year when they drove to Nashville for Thanksgiving, which had been a tradition every year since Hannah could remember.

  The Culbertsons lived on a beautiful, oak-lined street within walking distance of Belmont University. She'd been to their house enough to know that she enjoyed the feel of being around a college campus, and was excited to explore the neighborhood, but Hannah had no plans to take classes at Belmont or anywhere else. No immediate plans, at least. She was smart enough to graduate high school with a 3.3 GPA using very little effort at all, but since she had no plans for any education past high school, she didn't take the ACT or apply to any colleges. Higher education was the last thing on her parents' mind, and she just sort of figured from a pretty early age that she wouldn't try to go to college.

  The Culbertsons, because they're possibly the nicest people in the world, were letting Hannah rent their apartment for not even half of what it was worth. It was a really nice, mostly furnished place that took up the second floor of a detached garage, and Hannah knew how lucky she was to be getting it for only three hundred dollars a month.

  Between her parents and the rest of her friends and family back in Sparta, Hannah had enough in graduation money to pay her first four months rent. Of course she had to buy food and toiletries, but she was resourceful and no stranger to ramen noodles. She figured she'd be finding a job soon anyway.

  She'd been working at a used record and comic book store part-time since her junior year, and had a reference letter from her old boss that basically said anyone would be a fool not to hire her. Mr. Nelson and his store were one of the rare gems in the tiny town of Sparta. She had great memories of working there, and would miss all of her coworkers.

  It was a beautiful Saturday morning in early June, and the entire Culbertson family was outside when Hannah's family arrived. Mike and Susan were working on trimming the hedges and cleaning up the flowerbeds, and their sixteen-year-old son, Sam, was shooting basketball on a hoop that was mounted on their garage. Once he realized they were pulling up, he caught the ball and moved to the side of the driveway where he balanced the ball on his hip with one arm and waved Hannah's dad toward him with the other.

  Lucas pulled into the spot Sam indicated, and the Garrison Family got out of their huge, hoopty van. It was the van Hannah's parents used for the cleaning service they owned, and she should have probably been mortified to ride in it, but she didn't really care. And besides, she was used to it. Her parents had the same cleaning service as long as she could remember, and she frequently had to drive and/or ride in the jalopy.

  Their other car was a Prius that came out like the first year Priuses were made. Her parents had thought about giving it to her when she moved out, but ultimately couldn't make it happen. It was not so reliable, so Hannah thought she might be better off without it anyway
. The hoopty wasn't much newer, but it was dependable, and they drove it everywhere. She only really noticed the ridiculousness of the van with it's animated vacuum cleaner logo at times like the present when it was parked next to really nice cars like the ones in the Culbertson's driveway. They were both new, black, and freshly washed, and they shone in the morning sun like a freaking car commercial.

  "Sam said you sent him a text saying y'all were close, but I didn't know you were this close," Susan said, pulling off her garden gloves and reaching out to hug Hannah.

  "It's really not a bad drive," Hannah said.

  Susan gave her a big squeeze. "We're so happy to have you here, sweetheart," she said.

  Lucas spoke up before Hannah had the chance to respond. "We wouldn't just let her stay with anybody," he said. "We sure do appreciate you guys having her."

  "Oh, it's our pleasure," Susan said, reaching up to hug Lucas' neck.

  By that time, Nate and Hannah's mom, Rebecca, had come around from the other side of the van, and everyone sort of congregated on what was left of the basketball court section of the driveway. Several hugs were exchanged between families, and they talked for a few minutes about the nice weather and how tall Sam and Nate were both getting before they decided to start unloading the things from the van.

  Everyone helped carry armloads of things into the apartment, and within twenty minutes of their arrival, the job was done. There wasn't really enough room for all of them to hang out up there, so the Culbertsons went back to what they were doing to give Hannah and her family time to help her get settled. Nate had always looked up to Sam, and was anxious to hang out with him for a little bit while Hannah and her parents were busy.

  "You have plenty of storage space in here, Hannah. Did you see this little linen closet behind the door?" Rebecca asked as she put away some of Hannah's bathroom stuff.

  Hannah peeked her head around the corner to see what her mom was talking about. "I know. I found that when I was in here a minute ago."

  "Do you want to do this?" her mom asked. She held up the curling iron she was holding. "I'm just guessing at where you want all this."

  Hannah glanced into the closet. "No, you're doing fine. I trust your instincts."

  Rebecca laughed. "Oh, you trust my instincts, huh?"

  Hannah laughed too. "Yeah, why not?" she asked, shrugging. "You've done good all these years. You've never once let me down in the way of closet organization."

  Rebecca's expression turned sincere. "I'm gonna miss you, Bootsie."

  Hannah immediately looked at the ceiling and started blinking. "Rebecca Garrison," she said, "you promised."

  "I know, but I can't help it. It seems too soon, that's all."

  Hannah let out a thoughtful sigh. "It would never be easy, though," she said.

  Her mom smiled and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "You're right about that."

  They were quiet for a second before Rebecca spoke again. "It's gonna be great," she said sweetly. "I can't imagine a better place for you to live, and I just know you're gonna do amazing in Nashville."

  Hannah smiled sheepishly. "I don't really have a plan."

  "And that's okay, baby. You'll figure it out. You always have a home with us, so you don't really have anything to lose by testing your wings."

  Hannah thought about that. "Even if they work, I'm not sure which direction to fly."

  "You're only eighteen. It's okay to circle a little bit before you decide."

  "Like a buzzard?"

  "I was thinking more like a hawk."

  "Hawks circle?"

  Rebecca laughed and pulled her daughter into a hug. "Yes, honey. Hawks circle."

  Just then, Lucas poked his head into the bathroom. "You girls promised no waterworks," he said.

  "You're right," Rebecca said with an expression that said she was suddenly ready to get down to business. She smacked Hannah on the rear end. "Get to work, Buzzy." Hannah smiled and rolled her eyes at her mom before squeezing past her dad to head for the kitchen.

  "Hey, you know Nate got invited to go to that Fan Fair thing in Nashville with one of his friends next week," Lucas said as she passed.

  "Yeah, why?" Hannah asked.

  "I think they're gonna be in Nashville all day Saturday before they see a concert that night, and Nate's already asked if he can be dropped off and spend the night with you."

  Hannah nodded without hesitation. "Of course, but how's he gonna get home?"

  "Your mom and I will come Sunday to spend the afternoon and bring him home, if you're okay with that."

  Hannah gave her dad a huge smile. "I'm so okay with that. I'm glad you guys are planning a trip up here already. That makes me feel better."

  "I thought we were gonna let Nate surprise her later in the week," Rebecca said.

  "I couldn't stand hearing y'all talk about missing each other like that," he said. "I wanted to give her something to look forward to."

  Just then, Nate walked in the door carrying a basketball. "Your dad just told Hannah you were spending the night next weekend," Rebecca said.

  Nate shot Lucas a disappointed look. "Daaaad."

  Lucas shrugged. "It gives her something to look forward to."

  "He's right, brother. It's gonna make it so much easier knowing you're coming in a week."

  Nate obviously forgave his dad, because he just went on with what he'd come to say in the first place. "I'm gonna shoot some hoops with Sam." He knew he didn't need their permission to do that. He really just wanted to use the opportunity to brag about hanging out with Sam. Getting to say the phrase "shoot some hoops" was an added bonus too.

  "Well, you and Sam have fun, honey," their mom said. "We'll be up here for a couple of hours."

  "Oh yeah, Ms. Susan told me to tell you she wants us to stay for lunch," Nate said.

  "Oh no, we couldn't do that."

  "She said you'd say that and for me to tell you we didn't have a choice."

  Rebecca looked at Lucas and shrugged one shoulder. "Guess we're staying for lunch."

  "Yesssss!" Nate said. He turned on his heel and headed out the door. They could clearly hear the sound of his footfall as he went down the metal staircase that hugged the side of the garage, and within seconds of him reaching ground level they heard the sounds of the basketball as it hit the wall. The side of the garage it was mounted to also happened to be Hannah's bedroom wall, but they could clearly hear the pounding sounds even though they weren't in there.

  "I hope he's not a fan of sunrise basketball games," Lucas said.

  "Susan warned us about it already," Rebecca said. "She said Sam doesn't use it much anymore since he's gotten into lacrosse, and that he knows not to use it when the tenant's home."

  "I'm not really worried about it," Hannah said. "It's probably Nate making all that racket anyway. I'm sure Sam's actually getting it through the hoop."

  Chapter 2

  Hannah held it together pretty well all afternoon. Once her parents and Nate went back home, she kept herself busy with getting organized, but there really wasn't that much to do since she didn't have a ton of stuff. It was after 7PM when she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to the sight of Sam standing there, holding two Styrofoam containers with a brown paper bag balancing on top. He stepped inside when Hannah gestured for him to, and she led him into the little kitchen area.

  "Thanks for bringing that up," she said. "I hope your parents didn't care that I didn't go out to eat with you guys. I just had so much to do."

  "They don't care," he said. "They'll probably try to get you to go with us next time, but they figured you'd be busy tonight." Sam looked around. "It looks good in here. I can't believe you've already got stuff hanging on the walls."

  Not only were there various posters and pictures on the walls, but Hannah had also hung a few strings of white Christmas lights. None of her things were expensive, but she had an eye for decorating, and it felt homey in there already. Hannah crossed to the other side of the kitchen and
turned down the speaker that was connected to her iPod.

  "You're getting really good at this," Sam said as he inspected one of the drawings she'd framed and put on her wall.

  She smiled. "You think so?"

  "Definitely. I love the ones that look like this." He pointed to one of the most recent things Hannah had drawn. It was a cartoon of two goldfish kissing with a heart bubble above them. She loved comics, and was a big fan of R. Crumb. The style she'd been developing lately was sort of a sweet, girlie, unicorns and rainbows version of R. Crumb. She used bold outlines, disproportioned figures, and plenty of repetitive lines and skidmarks just like her favorite artist, but she definitely had her own spin on it.

  "You should get a job doing that," he said.

  Maybe it was because she was already feeling overwhelmed by the move, but Hannah cracked up, thinking about how far fetched that statement seemed.

  Sam scowled at her amusement. "What?" he asked. "You could get paid to draw stuff like this for people."

  "What people?" She asked, giving him a challenging glare.

  Sam huffed out a sigh. "You know what I mean. I just think you should try to do something with it, that's all."

  "I'm sorry," Hannah said. "I think you meant that to be a compliment and I'm terrible at taking them."

  "Well, you should learn because you've gotten really good Hannah." Sam continued to inspect the drawings she had on display. "I'm serious. This stuff is really cool. I want you to do something for my room. I'll pay you."

  She wasn't about to let Sam pay her to draw him something. She owed him at least that much. In fact, as she thought about all of the rent money they were losing by letting her stay there, and she had the thought that she might just need to volunteer to draw them pictures full-time.

  "I'd love to draw you one for your room," she said. "Do you have something in mind, or want me to just go for it?"

  She took one of her brand new plates out of the cabinet and scooped some of the spaghetti from the to-go box onto it before sticking it in the microwave.