Hanna Marin knows what Hanna Marin means (numbtothedanger) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-10-08 17:29:00 |
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Spencer wasn’t having a great week. She’d just moved all her stuff back home, and was trying to avoid being near her parents. First, she didn’t get into USC, and her second choice school, Stanford, was also a no-go. She’d even moved up there to start attending, but was then told she wasn’t welcome there anymore. They’d heard from a scholarship committee that she’d stolen an essay, and that sort of plagiarism wasn’t welcome in the hallowed halls in Palo Alto.
Spencer couldn’t deny it. She could only crawl back home with her tail between her legs, and thank the almighty stars that her father knew someone at UCI Admissions. She had a place to go to school. He also got her an interview for an internship at Stark Industries. It was like making a bad situation into something kinda good.
After unpacking and settling in a bit, Spencer hopped in her car and drove to Hanna’s house. She wasn’t sure she wanted to sit across the dinner table from her parents tonight. She rang the bell and wondered if Hanna’s mom would answer, or her friend.
With her mom having a work thing, Hanna was in her room doing homework. Honestly, classes had only just begun and it was like MOUNTAIN OF HOMEWORK. Really, it was just verifying Hanna’s theory that the first year and really any general education courses were meant to weed out people. Still. She was home when the doorbell rang and blinked, turning down the music. Odd, she hadn’t ordered food.
No matter. Heading to the door, the blonde could only blink in shock at the person standing in front of her.
“Ohmigod, Spencer!!!!” And cue the super excited hug because Hanna. It would take a couple beats for her to remember that her friend should be north and going to Stanford (a school Hanna had secretly looked at but had decided wasn’t going to pan out even if her father had helped with funding). “Come in!”
True, she wasn’t dressed as impeccably as she might usually be but since Hanna had been planning to stay in and work on her school work, it was more lounging around type clothing.
Spencer couldn’t help but laugh at the greeting, and return the hug. Coming to visit Hanna was a good idea. It made her feel good to have someone so excited to see her. Spencer’s parents had not be nearly so happy upon her arrival. “Thanks.” Spence said, and followed Hanna into the house she knew so well.
“How are you? I mean… it’s only been a couple of weeks, but.” And they’d been texting a bit, back and forth. It wasn’t as if friends like Hanna and Spencer could be kept apart for that long.
The fact that they had been texting added to the shock, because Spencer had never mentioned anything about coming back to Orange County. All of this was quite unexpected but for now, Hanna was just happy to see one of her best friends back in the area. “I’m good! A lot of school work already but,” Shrugging, Hanna led Spencer to the kitchen to get them coffee (as Spencer mainlined coffee more than Hanna) before turning her attention to the taller teen.
“When did you get back? Why did you come back?” Because shocked or not, Hanna was observant, and she knew that something must have happened. So critical look now.
Spencer had been really ashamed about what’d happened, and she was still in shock. She would have told her friends, but she was still coming to grips with it herself. Now that she was here, though, there was really no denying what was happening. And Hanna deserved an answer to all of her questions.
Spencer spoke as they walked further into Hanna’s house to settle on the sofa. “Remember that paper that I wrote that won the scholarship last year? Well… it wasn’t mine. It was Melissa’s. And somehow the Scholarship Committee at Stanford found out about… my plagiarism.” She said it all really fast, as if saying it fast would make Hanna miss out on some of the words. “So I’m back and I’m going to UCI instead.”
Hanna was very good at staying focused on something if she felt it necessary. Spencer showing up unexpected when she should be at Stanford? Definitely one of those instances.
“Yeah, of course I remember.” Settling on sofa, Hanna definitely heard all the words even if Spencer was wanting her to miss them by speaking quickly. What she was having trouble understanding was why Spencer would use her sister’s essay for a scholarship. Spencer was smart enough not to need to resort to things like that. Though the stress of senior year….
“Wow.”
Because there wasn’t much that could be said. It was in her face that she was shocked by the entire thing but it wasn’t like she could help. So. Focus on the good.
“Well, now we get to go to school together again!” Even if it wasn’t either of their choices. Leave it to Hanna to try and find some good in a really messed up situation.
Spencer stared at Hanna for a moment, then burst into laughter. It felt good to laugh. Leave it to Hanna to make lemonade out of lemons. Yes, they’d get to go to school together again. A part of Spencer had been looking forward to reinventing herself in college--with no one there from their high school, she could easily transform into someone new--but who said she couldn’t do that, even if Hanna was there beside her? Did she really want to change so drastically that she couldn’t adjust in front of her current friends?
“Yes, we get to go to school together again.” Spencer agreed, smiling brightly. “It’ll be good. Starting fresh, I guess. Though, I’m coming in a little late. Hopefully I’ll get into classes that I need for General Education requirements. I hear they fill up fast.”
Score one for Hanna, she got a laugh! Which was probably needed for Spencer. She knew how intense the other teen’s family was. Like, if there was a scale from one to ten with ten the highest, the Hastings were a twenty. But that was why friendship was so important, when they needed that break from the stress and people who accepted you for who you were.
“Exactly. Fresh starts are always good.” That was Hanna’s plan, or had been. She would see though. “It’s only been a week, so I’m sure you can get things sorted out. But yeah, General Education tends to fill up quickly because people want to get it out of the way.”
The Hastings were definitely a twenty. Thank God for people like Hanna Marin. Spencer wasn’t sure what she would have done over the last couple of years without her good friends by her side, keeping her sane. Even during the all night study-a-thons, there was laughter and Red Vines and Popcorn and Mountain Dew… That got off track.
“I’ve got my schedule pretty much worked out, and I’m going tomorrow to talk to my would-be professors.” Spencer pulled a list of her classes from her pocket to show Hanna. “Hopefully they’ll still let me in. I’ve heard some professors drop students who don’t show up on the first day.”
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t. I mean, you’re being proactive and yeah. They do that. And I mean, I know there were definitely no shows in some of my classes. Which..probably why they do that. You’ll be fine.” Smiling reassuringly, Hanna leaned back against the couch. “I think it might be a school thing? Probably to make sure all seats are filled, money, whatever.”
“Yeah, probably.” Spencer said, and leaned back in her chair, too. “Looking forward to getting my life back on track. I feel like after I was denied admission to USC, things have just been… sort of lost. Floating in space without direction or velocity.”
“That makes sense. You made plans and then they didn’t come true and you were figuring out what to do with that change.” Problems with being so focused on one outcome. At least that’s how Hanna saw it. “But exactly. You’ll get back on track, find your footing. It’ll be great.”
See, this is why Spencer loved hanging out with Hanna. She had a no nonsense, yet optimistic view on the world, and wasn't afraid of telling it like it was. Spencer broke into a smile. "Thanks, Han. Now, catch me up on everything in your life. How's school? How's your mom? I want all the details."
It was a popular misconception that Hanna wasn’t observant or smart. Part of that was of her own doing, downplaying her intelligence. But she also never masked that she was people smart (unless it was with guys) and had a way of observing and learning things that weren’t in books. “Anytime. And oh, what is there to tell. Not much. I mean, classes just started but they seem okay even if my English professor decided a week was enough time to write an essay. But mom’s fine. She has some work thing tonight though.”