Hannah's Game Plan

Ashley returned from the bathroom several minutes later, the toilet flushing in her wake, to find that everyone had already left. She’d missed the sending off. All that remained were Chloe and Gavin sitting on the largest couch chatting between themselves. In all the haste of focusing on her own issues with Lisa and Zack, the blonde cheerleader hadn’t really considered what was going on with Victoria’s love life. Today Gavin was supposed to give Vicky her answer, his decision between Victoria and Chloe. And the way he sat on the sofa, legs crossed, one arm over the back, with Chloe angled towards him, one leg tucked underneath and leaning back against his arm, it seemed obvious that he’d picked Chloe. They looked like more than just friends.

“You don’t think that Victoria’s really hurt?” Ashley heard Chloe ask as she drew closer. “Do you?”

“Of course not,” Gavin assured the redhead, rubbing her shoulder. “I’m certain they’ll bring her back and there will be some reasonable explanation for her disappearance.”

Coming fully into the living area, Ashley scanned the room but couldn’t see Hannah. So, she turned to the pair on the sofa and asked, “Sorry, have either of you seen my sister?”

“She went outside to vape,” Chloe informed the blonde, somewhat coldly, but Ashley had to admit that her attitude had vastly improved since yesterday. Getting to reveal the flaw in her plan and gloating about Lisa must really have allowed her to move past the whole ‘stealing her boyfriend’ issue.

“I didn’t know she was into that,” Ashley said softly to herself, but it wasn’t entirely surprising. Hannah had been at college and was working now too, so Ashley didn’t get to see her sister as much as she used to. It made sense that she’d have picked up new habits and adopted new passions since last they’d spoke.

Crashing down in the single chair opposite the sofa, Ashley decided she didn’t want to go outside and cough in vapor since she was already feeling slightly unwell. Instead, she chose to sit right there and wait. Though there was tension between Ashley and Chloe, Gavin felt awkward not including her in the conversation, so he sought support from her, “Ashley, you agree that they’ll bring Victoria back, right?”

“I hope so, Gavin,” she replied, leaning her head back over the armrest, legs dangling over the other end. “You know, I’m surprised you didn’t go with them to look for her. After all, she was your girlfriend.”

Gavin didn’t catch the significance of the ‘was’ in that sentence and simply explained, “I thought about it, but then Kurt said Chloe should stay with me, and we couldn’t both go.”

“Yeah, why was that?” Ashley looked to Chloe. “What did Kurt have against you going?”

“I…I believe he was just being considerate,” Chloe flushed. If felt wrong to say ‘I think he likes me and was looking out for me’ before they’d had a chance to talk and make it official. Instead, Chloe deflected. “Besides, Victoria is your best friend. Why didn’t you go?”

“I thought about it too,” Ashley admitted, looking away from Chloe and at the ceiling. “But Zack was going and I get the distinct feeling that he was doing so specifically to get some space between us.”

Chloe laughed slightly, “I guess your plan didn’t go so well?”

“No,” Ashley said with a sigh. “We didn’t exactly break up, but we are on something of a break right now.”

“Ouch,” Gavin sympathised, remembering how it felt when the same thing had happened to him only yesterday.

“You guys are depressing,” Hannah announced, strolling through the room, having entered the cabin without anyone noticing.

“Fuck, that’s some ninja like entrance,” Chloe replied, flinching at the older Woodsen’s silent arrival.

“I’m not a ninja.” Hannah laughed as she stopped in front of the liquor cabinet at the back of the room. Reaching in and producing a bottle of whiskey, she turned to the group, “But I am a good time fairy.”

“We can’t drink that,” Ashley contested. “It looks expensive and it belongs to Mr. Ravers.”

“It’s that kind of negativity I want to change,” Hannah continued, undeterred, placing the bottle on the coffee table in the middle between the three teens. “I’ll pay him back.”

“What exactly is the point of getting a job if he has to dock your pay check because you drank his whiskey?” Ashley called after her sister as she left the living room, almost skipping, into the kitchen.

Chloe and Gavin sat silent and bewildered as Hannah barrelled into their conversation like a **** of nature and commandeered the situation. They had no idea what to say or what to expect. Was Hannah always like this? Ashley knew her; best let her deal with her sister…though Chloe knew from having a sister of her own that the last person who’d ever be able to convince Holly of anything was Chloe herself. Gavin, having no sisters, was suddenly glad of that fact.

“I didn’t say I was going to pay him back with money,” Hannah winked to Ashley as she returned to the seating area, carrying four shot glasses. She set those on the table too, sliding one out in front of each of the teens. “Anyway, we’re not just going to drink it. We’re going to play a game.”

“What kind of game?” Gavin asked, perking up. “We’ve got a bunch of board games. There’s Risk, or Connect 4 or…”

“No, we’re going to play something with a lot less pieces and a lot more possibilities,” Hannah interjected, lifting the whiskey and pouring out four glasses full. “We’re going to play ‘Never have I ever’.”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Ashley insisted.

“I’ve never played ‘Never have I ever’.” Chloe said thoughtfully. “But I don’t think I’d be very good at it. I’m a very boring person.”

“That depends on whether you think getting drunk or not is winning,” Ashley replied. “If you aim isn’t to get tit-faced like Hannah here then you’d probably actually win.”

“I don’t even know how to play ‘Never have I ever’,” Gavin complained. “It sounds complicated.”

“It’s not. All we have to do is take turns thinking of something we’ve never done. But if you say something you’ve never done and I have, then I have to drink this shot,” Hannah explained, holding up the glass. “And so forth and so on until none of us can stand.”

“I was with you until the end,” Gavin said with a soft smile.

“Well, we used to play it until one of us ended up in the hospital,” Hannah joked, “but I thought I’d take it easy on you guys since it’s your first time.”

The murmurs and groans of dissention continued until Hannah slammed down her shot glass, the loud thump calling the attention of the other three and reducing them to silence. Realising that the troops might need a little more rallying, she spoke up, “Come on guys. It could be hours before the others are back. Do you really want to spend it wallowing in despair? Let’s do something fun, and take our minds off of Victoria and our troubles. Isn’t that what you came to the cabin to do? It is still Spring Break, right? So, I say, let’s get a little fucked up and have a little fun!”

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers – this was not. But the three teens listened to Hannah’s words and mulled them over. Was it right for them to be having fun while Victoria was out there? Possibly harmed? But also, what good did it do to spend the whole evening not knowing and dwelling in that state of mystery? Perhaps a little fun and **** was exactly what they needed…