For Hannah

Hannah stares wistfully at the guy across the cafeteria from her. Sam Miller. Apparently, he's the most popular guy at this school, not to mention the cutest. She didn't know much else about him though, since she'd just moved to this town with her mom when her parents had gotten divorced. Instead of being surrounded by her friends during her senior year of high school, she was sitting alone during lunch in an unfamiliar school in an unfamiliar town. Deciding that sitting alone was ridiculous, she went to the choir room to work on a new song she'd been writing. Although she never had the courage to share her songs with anyone, she enjoyed writing them, and modeled them after music by her favorite artists like The Maine and All Time Low. Sitting down at the piano, she pulled out her music and lyrics, and started playing. While she was singing, she hears another voice join hers. Startled, she stopped playing and turns around, seeing Sam. 

"That was a great song! Did you write it?", enthused Sam. Hannah was slightly shocked. Partly because he was talking to her, and partly because she was surprised to see him not surrounded by an entourage of people. 

"Uhh. Yea. It's mine. When did you get here?", she asks quietly. 

"Probably just right after you. You had just put your music on the piano. I came here hoping to work on some music, but you beat me to it.", he answers. "Sorry...I kind of stood around to listen. It was really great."

"You write music?", Hannah questions. 

"What? I don't seem like the type?", jokes Sam. "But I do! You're new here right? My friends and I have a band actually. And by the way, I'm Sam. And it's a pleasure to meet you...?"

"Hannah.", she supplies. "And that's cool. You have a great voice...as far as I can tell from the .2 second I heard it at least."

"Oh yea. Sorry about butting in. I can't help myself sometimes. But at least-" Sam is cut off by three boys running into the room. 

"Sam. Sorry we weren't here sooner. It was-", says the boy with bright blue eyes and dark hair before he realizes that Sam wasn't alone. "Oh. Who's this?"

"Hey guys. This is my new friend Hannah. She's from...", turning back to Hannah, he asks, "Wait. Where are you from?"

"Phoenix. My mom grew up here though.", she says. 

Turning back to the guys, he says, "And she's from Phoenix."

"Yea man. We heard her.", says a blond haired boy. Turning to Hannah, he introduces himself. "Hi. I'm Lucas. But most people just call me Lou. Welcome to Vermillion. You've been here all week? I don't think I've seen you around."

Smiling at him, she replies. "Hi Lou. Yes I have. And I haven't seen you around either. So I guess that makes the both of us."

"Of course you haven't Lou. She's a senior.", says the blue-eyed boy. Seeing Hannah's questioning look about how he knew that, he explains. "Only seniors have lunch this period. And by the way, I'm Cole. And the quiet one is Michael. He seems like your average shy kid at first, but don't be fooled. He's crazy."

Laughing, "Alright guys. Hi Cole. Hi Michael. Nice to meet you guys. Are you all part of the band Sam was talking about?"

"Yes. Yes they are.", Sam says to Hannah. Turning to the boys, "She beat me to the piano. But it's ok because she's working on this great song."

Feeling her face turn red, she stutters, "Oh. W-well, it's really not that great."

Seeing that she was uncomfortable, Sam says quickly, "So. Want to hear us play a song?"

Shooting him a grateful look, she happily agrees. 

"Yea. Paradise Fears...the turtle.", says Cole dramatically. "We rock."

Hannah bites her lip to keep from laughing. "Paradise Fears the Turtle?"

"You didn't tell her our band name Sam?!", exclaims Lou. 

"I was getting there, but these three guys ran in...", Sam retorts. 

"Well boys. I'm slightly worried by the band name. So just as a precaution...what kind of music do you play?", asks Hannah. 

"It's always the band name.", sighs Sam. "I think it's awesome. Oh well. Anyways. Our music is inspired by All Time Low."

"Yea. Sam and I were the ones who came up with it.", says Michael. 

Hannah grinned slightly, since it was the first time Michael had spoken. And she could also see the hint of crazy that Cole had mentioned. "All Time Low? They are absolutely GENIUS. They're one of my favorite bands. Do you guys like The Maine too? Those two bands are almost my entire life!"

"You, Hannah, are our new best friend.", Sam says happily, putting his arm around her. As the others nod at what Sam says, the bell rings. "Crap. Class now. You should come here us practice this afternoon. It'll be my house. I'll find you later and give you the details. Bye!", he shouts as he rushes to his next class, the rest of the guys following and waving their goodbyes. 

Hannah pulls out her schedule. AP Biology. Room 138. Mr. Montgomery. "It'd be great if I can figure this out before the next bell rings.", she mutters to herself as she makes her way through the people in the hall. Luckily, she spots the room she was looking for pretty quickly. Walking into the room, she walks quickly into her seat. "Hey Hannah. Come sit here.", gestures Cole. "I didn't realize you were in this class."

"Yea. I tend to be quiet in unfamiliar settings.", she says. "I didn't realize either. I guess I haven't been paying much attention to anything around here."

"Well, do we have any other classes together?", Cole asks. Comparing their schedules, they see that they also have the next period, history, and English at the end of the day together. 

"I'm also trying to switch into choir.", mentions Hannah. 

"Awesome! Sam and Michael are also in choir. We're all good friends with the choir director. We can put in a few good words for you.", offers Cole. 

Hannah smiles. Perhaps this town wouldn't be as bad as she had imagined. The four guys she'd met so far have been super nice. With a great taste in music. "That would be fantastic. Thank you so much! Just...don't mention the fact that I write music? You guys know, but most people don't..."

As their teacher begins teaching, Cole whispers, "Sure. No problem." Halfway through the period, Cole slides a note on her desk. "Sam's address for practice today. It starts at 5, and probably will end around 7. And then we eat at Sam's." Hannah nods her head slightly to tell Cole she got it. 

--

"Hannah!", shouts a voice behind her as she was walking out of the school at the end of the day. Turning around, she sees Sam. 

"Hey Sam. Cole and I had bio together. He gave me your address.", she says. 

"Oh. Great. But I was gonna ask if you wanted to come with me. We have two hours, but since you're new, I can show you around town and such?", Sam asks. He hadn't shown it earlier, but he was intrigued with this girl. She was breathtakingly beautiful, yet seemed to be unaware of it. She was insanely talented, and unafraid to be honest too, as seen by her reaction to their band name. He had spent the better half of the rest of his day wondering about Hannah. 

"It's fine. You don't have to do that. I'm sure you're super busy with a lot of your own stuff.", she says. 

"It's fine. I swear. Plus, I want to.", he says with a smile. 

"Oh. Well, in that case.", Hannah smiles shyly. "I'd love to. Let me just tell my mom. I'm sure she won't mind." Pulling out her phone, she sends a quick text to her mom. Almost instantly, her mom replies, reminding her that curfew on a school night is 9 so that she had enough time to finish her schoolwork. "I just need to be home by 9. School night yaknow? But Cole said that practice is over by 7 right? So I'll be fine."

"Didn't Cole mention dinner? Everyone stays after practice. Each night is a different guy's house, and every night we stay for dinner. Thursday, obviously, is me. Friday is Cole. Saturday is Jordan. Monday is Marcus. Tuesday is Michael. And Wednesdays are Lou. You'll meet Jordan and Marcus tonight."

"He did, but I thought he meant just for the band.", she says while they walk to Sam's car. 

He shakes his head. "Nope. Everyone. Jade, Lou's girlfriend, is almost always at practice. She'll be happy to see that another girl is coming."

For the next few hours, Sam showed her around town, and they talked. They talked about music, movies, sports. Hannah told him about her parents' divorce and what she wanted to do. Sam talked about growing up and his dreams. She was surprised to find that although he was extremely popular, he was extremely down-to-earth and full of substance. At her old school, there were no guys like that. As he talked to her, Sam realizes how much there was to admire in the gorgeous girl: her strength, her positivity, and her kindness. There was something in Sam's charisma that made Hannah willing to talk to him, and something about Hannah made Sam feel the need to be honest with her. In less than two hours, the two had become very close. They ended up on the swings at the park with Starbucks.

"So is this how the great Sam Miller makes his friends?", jokes Hannah. "Kill them with kindness, then take them out to a deserted playground?"

"Of course.", says Sam dramatically. "Wanna push?"

"Sure.", she says happily, giving him a smile. Turning around, she realizes that their faces are just inches away from each other. He stares into her eyes and begins to lean in, but she whips her head back around, feeling her face burn up. He quickly pulls himself back as well, chastising himself for coming on too strong. As he pushes her higher and higher, her laughter rings through the crisp afternoon air. "Uhh...Sam!", she shouts as she's flying through the air. "Don't you have practice?"

"Crap.", mutters Sam, looking at his watch. "It's 4:55! We're gonna be late! Jump!"

Hannah jumps off the swings, and Sam grabs her hand as he runs through the park. "Taking the car would take longer than running there. I'll come back and get it later. We need to hurry!", he tells her while running, dragging her along behind him.

"Thank god I didn't quit track last year. Otherwise I'd be in even worse shape right now.", Hannah says, out-of-breath. 

The two of them collapse on Sam's front steps. "And a minute to spare.", he says proudly while looking at his watch. 

"And thank god this isn't Arizona or I'd be dying of heat and dehydration right now.", adds Hannah. 

"We should probably go in.", mentions Sam.

"Probably.", Hannah agrees. She pushes herself up from the steps and offers her hand to Sam. "Let's see Paradise Fears the Turtle."

--

Over the next month, Sam and Hannah became even closer. She went to nearly all of their band practices, as well as Sam's debate tournaments. He encouraged her to write more music, even though he could never convince her to perform any of it. They made it a weekly tradition to get coffee, go to the park, and walk back to his house, picking his car up later. They'd become constant presences at each other's homes. Sam's family had practically become Hannah's as well. 

Sitting on the swings next to Rach other, Sam said suddenly, "Hey Han. You know you're my best friend, right?"

"And you're mine.", she replies. 

"Can we promise each other something?", he asks. "Can we promise that no matter what happens or where we end up, we'll always be best friends. And be there for one another?"

"Of course.", she says as he gets up from his swing. "Always and forever. No matter what."

He walks behind her, and leans his hands on the chains of her swings. "Even if", Hannah turns around, "this happens?", and this time, he leans down decisively, putting his lips on hers. When she leans into it, he slides his hands down so that they're around her waist. She squeals as he pulls her closer to him, clutching onto the swings so that she doesn't fall. 

When they finally take a breath, she answers his question. "Even if." Smiling gently, Sam pulls her back into him, thinking, finally.