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Hanna stood six inches fro herself It must’ve been a freak reflection at the h…were her pores looking a little bigger? Were her eyes slightly crossed?
Nervous, she opened her bureau drawer and pulled out a giant bag of salt-and-pepper kettle chips She shoved a big handful into her mouth, chewed, then stopped Last week, A’s notes had led her into the horrible binge/purge cycle all over again--even though she’d refrained froain And especially not in front of her father
She rolled up the bag and looked out theagain Where was he? Nearly two hours had passed since her e Rover turn into her drivehich was a winding, wooded, quarter- road The car easily maneuvered around the driveway’s twists and turns in a way that only soer, she and her dad used to sled on the driveway He taught her how to lean into each turn so she wouldn’t tip
When the doorbell rang, she jumped Her ain Dot’s barking beca for the third tirowled
"Hey," her father said as she flung open the door Dot began to dance around his heels "Hello there" He reached down to pick up the tiny dog
"Dot, no!" Hanna commanded
"No, he’s fine" Mr Marin petted the otten Dot shortly after her dad left
"So" Her father lingered on the porch aardly He wore a charcoal gray business suit and a red and blue tie, as if he’d just co Hanna wondered if he wanted to co her dad into his own house "Should I…?" he started
"Do you want to…?" Hanna said at the sahed nervously Hanna wasn’t sure if she wanted to hug him Her father took a step toward her, and she took a step back, bu into the door She tried to make it look like she’d meant to do it "Just co
They stood in the foyer Hanna felt her father’s eyes on her "It’s really nice to see you," he said
Hanna shrugged She wished she had a cigarette or so to do with her hands "Yeah, well So do you want the financial thingie? It’s right here"
He squinted, ignoring her "Idifferent with it It’s…Is it shorter?"
She so And you don’t have your glasses on!"
"I got LASIK" She stared hio"
"Oh" Her father put his hands in his pockets
"You "
"No," her father answered quickly "You just look…different"
Hanna crossed her arht it was because she got fat And clu Kate had just felt like hter, and he’d traded up
After the Annapolis disaster, her father tried to stay in touch At first, Hanna co a couple of moody, one-word phone conversations Mr Marin tried to tease out rong, but Hanna was too eth of tier…and then they stopped happening altogether
Mr Marin strolled down the foyer, his feet creaking on the wood floor Hanna wondered if he was assessing as the saed Did he notice the black-and-white photo of Hanna and her dad that hung above the Mission-style hall table had been reh the yoga sun salutations--a print Hanna’s father hated, but Hanna’sin its place?
Her dad flopped on the living roo roo roos, and smelled like Endust Hanna didn’t knohat else to do, so she followed him in and sat down on the claw-foot otto, Hanna?"
She curled her legs underneath her "I’ht"
"Good"
Another ocean of silence She heard Dot’s tiny toenails tick across the kitchen floor, and his little tongue lap up water from his dish She wished for an interruption--a phone call, the fire alar to take her away from this aardness
"And how are you?" she finally asked
"Not too bad" He picked up a tasseled pillow fros were always so ugly"
Hanna agreed with him, but what, were the pillows at Isabel’s house perfect?
Her father looked up "Reame you used to play? You put the pillows on the floor and jumped from one to the other, because the floor was lava?"
"Dad" Hanna wrinkled her nose and hugged her knees even tighter
He squeezed the pillow "You could play that for hours"
"I was six"
"Remember Cornelius Maxi "Dad…"
He threw the pillow up in the air and caught it "Should I not talk about hi?"