“Um, same.” Hanna eyed Mona carefully. Hanna’s bullshit-radar told her that Mona might be lying. But then, maybe Mona could sense the exact same thing about her.
“Well, I’m off.” Mona tugged on her burgundy tote. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” Hanna croaked. They walked in opposite directions. Hanna turned back and glanced at Mona, only to see that Mona was looking over her shoulder at her.
“Now, pay attention,” said Ingrid, the portly, stoic, German head nurse. They were in an examination room, and Ingrid was teaching Hanna how to change out the trash cans. As if it was hard.
Each exam room was painted a guacamole green, and the only posters on the wall were grim pictures of skin diseases. Ingrid assigned Hanna to the outpatient checkup rooms; some day, if Hanna did well, she might be allowed to clean the inpatient rooms instead—where serious burn victims stayed. Lucky her.
Ingrid pulled out the trash bag. “This goes in the blue Dumpster out back. And you must empty the infectious waste bins, too.” She gestured to an identical-looking trash can. “They need to be kept separate from the regular trash at all times. And you need to wear these.” She handed Hanna a pair of latex gloves. Hanna looked at them as if they were covered in infectious waste.
Next, Ingrid pointed her down the hall. “There are ten other rooms here,” she explained. “Clean the trash and wipe down the counters in each, then see me.”
Trying not to breathe—she despised the antiseptic, sick-person way hospitals smelled—Hanna trudged to the utility closet to get more trash bags. She looked down the hall, wondering where the inpatient rooms were. Jenna had been an inpatient here. A lot of things had made her think of The Jenna Thing in the past day, although she kept trying to shove it out of her mind. The idea that someone knew—and could tell—was something she couldn’t even comprehend.
Although The Jenna Thing had been an accident, Hanna sometimes felt like it wasn’t exactly. Ali had given Jenna a nickname: Snow, as in Snow White, because Jenna had an annoying resemblance to the Disney character. Hanna thought Jenna looked like Snow White, too—but in a good way. Jenna wasn’t as polished as Ali, but there was something oddly pretty about her. It had once occurred to Hanna that the only character she looked like from Snow White was Dopey Dwarf.
Still, Jenna was one of Ali’s favorite targets, so back in sixth grade Hanna scrawled a rumor about Jenna’s boobs just below the paper-towel dispenser in the girls’ bathroom. She spilled water on Jenna’s seat in algebra so Jenna would get a fake pee stain on her pants. She poked fun at the way Jenna put on a fake French accent in French II…. So when the paramedics carried Jenna out-of the tree house, Hanna felt sick. She’d been the one to agree to pranking Toby first. And in her head, she’d thought, Maybe if we prank Toby, we can prank Jenna, too. It was like she’d willed this to happen.
The automatic doors swished open at the end of the hall, breaking Hanna out of her thoughts. She froze, heart pounding, wishing for the new arrival to be Sean, but it wasn’t. Frustrated, she pulled her BlackBerry out of her cardigan pocket and dialed his number. It went to voice mail, and Hanna hung up. She redialed, thinking maybe he was just fumbling for his phone and hadn’t gotten it in time, but it went to voice mail again.
“Hey, Sean,” Hanna chirped after the beep, trying to sound carefree. “Hanna again. I’d really like to talk, so, um, you know where to find me!”
She’d left him three messages today saying she’d be here this afternoon, but Sean hadn’t responded. She wondered if he was at a V Club meeting—he’d recently signed a virginity pledge, vowing not to have sex, like, ever. Maybe he’d call her when he was done. Or…maybe he wouldn’t. Hanna swallowed, trying to shove that possibility out of her mind.
She sighed and walked to the employee closet/supply room. Ingrid had hung Hanna’s pewter Ferragamo hobo bag on a hook next to a striped vinyl thing from the Gap, and she suppressed the urge to shudder. She dropped her phone into her bag, grabbed a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle, and found an empty exam room. Maybe actually doing her job would keep her mind off stressing about Sean and A.
As she finished sponging off the sink, she accidentally bumped open a metal cabinet right next to it. Inside were shelves of cardboard containers all emblazoned with familiar names. Tylenol 3. Vicodin. Percocet. Hanna peeked inside. There were thousands of drug samples. Just…just sitting there. Without a lock.
Jackpot.
Hanna quickly shoved a few handfuls of Percocet into the surprisingly deep pockets of her cardigan. At least she could get a fun weekend with Mona out of this.
Then someone placed a hand on Hanna’s shoulder. Hanna jumped back and whirled around, knocking the Fantastik-soaked paper towels and a jar full of cotton swabs onto the floor.
“Why are you only on room two?” Ingrid frowned. She had a face like a grumpy pug.
“I…I was just trying to be thorough.” Hanna quickly tossed the paper towels in the trash and hoped the Percocet would stay in her pockets. Her neck burned where Ingrid had touched it.
“Well, come with me,” Ingrid said. “There’s something in your bag that’s making a noise. It’s disturbing the patients.”
“Are you sure it’s my bag?” Hanna asked. “I was just at my bag, and—”
Ingrid led Hanna back into the closet. Sure enough, there was a tinkling sound coming from her purse’s inside pocket. “It’s just my cell phone.” Hanna’s spirits jumped. Maybe Sean had called!
“Well, please make it quiet.” Ingrid sighed. “And then get back to work.”
Hanna pulled out her BlackBerry to see who was calling. She had a new text.
Hannakins: Mopping the floors at Bill Beach won’t help you get your life back. Not even you could clean up this mess. And besides, I know something about you that’ll guarantee you’ll never be Rosewood Day’s it girl—ever again. —A
Hanna looked around the coatroom, confused. She read the note again, her throat dry and sticky. What could A know that could guarantee that?
Jenna.