Chapter Text

Chapter 2: One day my prince will call.

Hannah was ecstatic when she walked into her room. She barely paid attention to her surroundings as she flopped down on her bed with a dreamy sigh. Yes! She’d finally found him… or at least knew who he was. Amanda’s brother, huh? It made sense; they did look eerily similar. There was still the mystery of how had she come into possession of his picture, but that was a question for another time. Right now, she just had to relax and wait for her cellphone to ring. Granted, she wasn’t supposed to have a cellphone in the school, but fuck it; it’s not like some non-wizard boy could send her an owl.

Wait… he wasn’t a wizard, right? Not that it would be a problem if he was, but she figured Amanda would have mentioned something. Plus, wizards tended to be too arrogant and think of themselves as better than witches, so she would very much prefer a non-magical boyfriend. That said, if he had magic, she was willing to tolerate it.

Now there was just the question of if he would call. After all, why would such a handsome guy bother with some random girl he didn’t know? Yes, she was pretty, but he didn’t know that, and she doubted Amanda would say nice things about her. Maybe she should have asked for his number and called him herself after all, but then she’d just look like a desperate stalker, so… she sighed again.

Come on Hannah, be patient. He’ll call if he knows what’s best for him.

Suddenly the door opened and in came her best friend Barbara… with Lotte trailing close behind her. They were chatting and laughing amongst each other like they were best friends, an increasingly common sight these days. But then again, she couldn’t really blame Barbara when she had said so many depreciating things about people who read Nightfall without knowing her friend practically lived for that thing.

She still thought it was garbage, but if her friend liked it, she wasn’t going to criticize it out loud anymore, or at least not as much. Yet, she couldn’t be like Lotte, who knew all the many different subplots and who had kissed who how many times, and could even tell you almost chapter by chapter what happened in every single volume. Heck, she even knew which characters were inspired by real life people and which were inspired by other works of fiction! There was even a new character in the latest book that had been inspired by Barbara herself. That was crazy! But her friend loved to talk about that sort of stuff, to the point it felt like she spent more time with Lotte than with Hannah lately, and the hazel-eyed girl didn’t like that.

She felt empty without Barbara, like she was missing something as intimately connected with her as her arm. But ultimately she didn’t want to be selfish and demand Barbara to spend all of her time with her instead of going to have fun with Lotte. That wouldn’t be fair, and she did want her friend to be happy… she just felt alone without her. Which is why she really needed to get a boyfriend; Hannah absolutely hated being alone.

But anyways, Barbara and Lotte came to a stop as they noticed Hannah, who sat up on her bed and greeted them with a forced smile.

“Hey girls, what’s up? How is Akko doing?” She asked.

“She’s fine.” Lotte answered with that characteristic kind smile of hers. “The nurse already dismissed her, and now she’s having dinner with Diana, who so kindly volunteered to look out for her while she’s still disoriented.” She then turned to Barbara and shoot her a look that Hannah wasn’t sure how to interpret, but her friend squealed in response and smiled excitedly.

“Just like volume 8!” She mouthed.

Hannah rolled her eyes. Of course everything had to be related to Nightfall somehow! Honestly, those two…

“Anyways…” Barbara cleared her throat, trying to compose herself a bit. “How did your talk with Amanda go? Did you find your prince charming?” She sat down on the bed in front of hers, eager to hear every single detail. Yet, Hannah hesitated as she looked at Lotte, who had sat herself next to her friend.

“Oh, don’t worry about Lotte!” Barbara reassured her. “I already told her everything and she’s promised not to tell a soul.”

“But if you’re uncomfortable, I could just leave you two alone.” Lotte hesitated, probably noticing Hannah’s reluctance.

“Nonsense! We’re friends, so we share our secrets, right Hannah?” Barbara stepped in before Hannah had a chance to take Lotte's suggestion. And now she couldn’t protest without sounding like a bitch. And she had promised everyone she would try to be more polite, so…

Whatever. It’s not like such a handsome guy would be interested in a nerdy girl like Lotte.

“Alright, if you really wish to know, I did find out who he is.” She smirked, teasing her friend by not revealing the information.

“And?” Barbara prompted after a few seconds. “Who is he? Come on, you can’t just leave me hanging like that!”

“Amanda’s brother.” She shrugged, trying to act casually, but the giddy smile on her face betrayed her true feelings.

“Eeehh?!” Two equal surprised shrieks were heard.

“I didn’t know she had a brother.” Lotte said after she recovered slightly from the initial shock.

“Me neither, but it’s a good thing she doesn’t talk about him or half the school would already be after him.” Hannah answered.

“Are you gonna call him?” Barbara asked, a big smile plastered on her face, like she was watching the best romance movie of all times unfold right in front of her eyes.

“Of course not.” Hannah huffed. “He is gonna call me.” When she was met with two confused stares, she clarified. “I gave Amanda my number.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to ask Amanda for his number?” Lotte asked, confused.

“I don’t want to seem desperate.” Hanna practically rolled her eyes.

“But what if he doesn’t call you?” Barbara questioned.

“He will.” She answered with finality, hoping to look more confident than she felt.

“But…” Barbara’s protest was cut off when, as if on cue, Hannah’s phone started ringing with the sound of Ready for it? By Taylor Swift, surprising the three girls.

With shaky hands, Hannah took the device and peered at the screen, feeling as butterflies appeared on her stomach when she realized she didn’t have that number registered.

“Told you!” She smirked, trying not let her nerves show as she got up from the bed and walked towards the balcony in order to have some sort of privacy. Gosh, she really hoped it was him!

“H-hello?” She stuttered as she pressed the answer button.

Damnit Hannah, don’t show him that you’re nervous!

“Hi. Is this Hannah’s number?” A voice responded. It was a bit high pitched for belonging to a teenage boy, but not really high enough to be feminine. Hannah decided that she liked it.

“Yes. Who’s calling?” She tried to sound disinterested, but really she was about to burst from happiness on the inside.

“Amanda… uh… Amanda’s brother.”

Hannah covered the phone briefly with her hand as she let out a little squeak of happiness and gave Barbara and Lotte a thumbs up, which they answered with excited smiles.

Then, she brought the phone to her ear again, just in time to hear him speak.

“A little birdie told me you wanted to ask me out on a date?” Now he just sounded arrogant. How dare he?!

“Well, she told you wrong.” Hannah huffed. “I want you to ask me out on a date.”

“My, you sure must think you’re pretty if you speak like that.” He chuckled.

“Please, I don’t think I’m pretty; I am pretty.”

“We’ll see.” Hannah could practically hear his smirk, no doubt as odious as that of his idiot sister. But he was handsome, so she was willing to let it slide. “What about Saturday around two? Wear something casual.”

Casual? Come on! I wanted to see him on a suit. But okay. He asked me out, which is what matters.

“Fine.” She answered courtly. “You better be punctual though, or I’ll leave.”

“Sure thing, see you later Hannah.” And with that he hung up without even waiting for an answer, which was just rude! But whatever, she had gotten what she wanted, and was going to go out on a date with a handsome guy. Plus, she really liked the way he said her name; it sounded good with his American accent.

But speaking about names… damn. She’d forgotten to ask for his. Oh well, she could always do that on Saturday.