While Richard set up the PlayStation in his bedroom, Hanna stood next to his shelves, looking at the CDs, like she was trying to gauge what sort of music he was into. He smiled when he saw her perplexed frown. His taste was eclectic; it was hard to categorize him when his CDs ranged from Puccini to the Prodigy.
“You have some good music. I hate to think how much your collection is worth.” She ran her fingers over the plastic spines of the CDs. Richard suppressed a smile, deciding that it would be foolish to tell her that this was just a small part of his collection, that he had thousands more CDs back in Manhattan.
“Do you want to have the first go?” His eyes met hers. He sat down on the carpet, leaning back against the edge of his bed with his legs bent in front of him. Hanna walked over and sat down beside him, refusing the proffered controller with a small shake of her head.
“You go first, I’ll watch and learn.”
Three aerials, two flips and a grind later, his ‘special meter’ was up and running. He was able to execute more special moves, showing off a little for Hanna’s benefit.
“You make it look so easy,” she complained.
“Everything is easy when you know how. And I don’t sleep well, so I’ve had a lot of practice. It’s your turn.”
Hanna took the controller and looked with grim determination at the TV screen. The skater moved slowly along the rail before bailing off the edge. Taking another try, her face screwed up in frustration as exactly the same thing happened again.
“I’m so shit at this.” Her voice was thin and whiny as she stared at the screen.
“Come here, let me help you.” Richard gestured to the floor, indicating where Hanna should sit. He was almost shocked when she crawled straight over to him, shimmying herself between his legs and leaning her back on his chest. Circling her with his arms, he put his fingers on top of hers as she held the controller and showed her which buttons to press in order to execute an aerial flip.
The sensation of her back rubbing against his chest, and her behind wriggling against his crotch, made him instantly hard. His erection was pressing into her spine. With only two thin pieces of material between his skin and hers, he knew for sure that she could feel it.
Hanna turned around and amusement danced across her face. She raised her brow quizzically. “Wow, you must really like this game.”
“Don’t take it personally. I get hard-ons just from watching the National Geographic channel.”
She burst out laughing, shaking her head. His hands were still on top of hers, and he showed her how to combine an aerial and a grind.
“Jesus! I’ve got special points. I’m da man. I. Am. Da. Man.” Hanna squirmed in happiness at having scored something other than a bail. As she moved, her body ground against his erection, making him wince at the painful pleasure her movement caused.
Glancing at his watch, Richard was almost relieved to see that her break was over.
Two
July 19th 2000
Hanna pulled at her thin vest, the material momentarily sticking to her skin before giving way, allowing the cool air to circulate around her damp flesh. Even for July the weather was unusually hot; the heavy Goth clothing she had packed in her suitcase remained neatly folded and forgotten, like a maiden aunt at a stag party.
Ruby Larsen lay on a hammock next to her. They were reading aloud to each other from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, having bought the new book from the small shop in town the previous day.
“Do you think Hermione would like me if we met?” Ruby asked, passing the book over to Hanna.
“She’d bloody love you. What’s not to love? You’re clever, you’re funny, and you’d beat the hell out of the boys in potions class.”
They had been at the Larsen’s country cottage in the west of England for a week. Claire Larsen had asked Hanna to take on the job of being Ruby’s paid companion for the summer while she travelled back to the States to look after her sick mother. Hanna had agreed readily. It beat working at Safeway.
“Sometimes I wish I could go to Hogwarts. It sounds so much nicer than St. Nicholas’s.” Ruby picked at the small silver sequins attached to her T-shirt.
“There are mean people everywhere, Ruby. Just remember what an asshole Draco Malfoy was to Harry,” Hanna replied wistfully. “Anyway, it’s the school holidays. We’re not supposed to be thinking about lessons, or uniform, or homework. We should be having F.U.N.”
“You don’t ever have to think about school again,” Ruby complained. “You’re so lucky.”
Hanna dropped her head back on to the hammock, remembering her last day of school. After a long spring of exams, coursework, and nightmares about Jude the Obscure, it was nice to finally breathe without wondering when on earth she was going to fit in her next assignment.
She’d been Ruby’s regular babysitter since they met at New Year. It didn’t really feel like work—although she was always grateful for the money—because the two of them always managed to have fun. Hanna enjoyed spending time with Claire and Steven as well; only eight months after their initial meeting, the Larsens already felt like her second family.
“School days are supposed to be the best days of your life.”
“I think we both know that that’s a lie.” Ruby kicked at Hanna’s hammock, sending her swinging wildly.