Are you kidding me? she screamed internally. Outwardly, Hanna simply gave a short smile that said both “I’m sorry” and “I hate you.” She turned her kids around and shuffled them back into the car. She may have loathed Jefferson Elementary, but they never had any crazy rules—or interactions—like this.
“That was weird,” Drake said bluntly, looking out the window as she pulled out of the parking lot. She swallowed and nodded her head in agreement. God, there’s so much to learn about this place, she thought.
Thankfully Principal Bernard excused them for their tardiness. “The Parent Patrol is tough, huh?” he had joked after the orientation, when Hanna apologized for being late. “But it would behoove you to stay in their good graces,” he whispered rather ominously before clapping his hands together excitedly. “We’re happy to have you at the school!”
Hanna wondered what he meant by all of that. Were the women going to make her life a living hell if she didn’t befriend them? Something about it made her bristle. We’re not in high school anymore, she thought bitterly. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to get on their good side. After all, the last thing she wanted was for her and her kids to be ostracized.
Aside from the parking lot confrontation, the school seemed like a dream. Lucy squealed with excitement when she saw the pretty playground equipment glinting in the sunlight. And Drake’s eyes were huge when his fourth-grade teacher introduced herself and told him they’d be building hovercrafts out of old CDs and balloons that afternoon.
Walking by the cafeteria, Hanna noticed the day’s menu consisted of roasted okra, Cajun chicken pasta, and corn bread. And for dessert, peach cobbler. Dare she say they were going to eat better here than they were at her own home? Either way, the new cafeteria definitely beat the old one, which seemed to only feed them greasy pizza, chicken nuggets, and chili hot dogs.
She had high hopes for her kids at this new school. But as she got into her old car, she had a new anxiety now: Was she going to fit in? She couldn’t shake the feeling that the Parent Patrol ladies were judging her. Maybe it was her shitty old car. She decided then and there to go buy a nicer one when the car dealership opened that morning. She and Tom had already talked about upgrading their vehicles anyway.
Hanna turned the radio up, rolled the windows down, and pulled out of the school grounds with the wind blowing through her hair. All it did, though, was blow her frizzy hair in her face.
What to do now? She could go home, but something was wrong with the air conditioner and it felt like a hundred degrees in there.
An idea came to her.
That home she’d snuck into had just been listed a week ago according to Zillow—no use denying she was stalking the listing online. She kept driving a few more miles and turned into the entrance of the fancy new subdivision.
They had put more landscaping in, she noticed, and the grounds were looking even more beautiful than ever. She wondered what else had been added since she last saw it in person in May. She had wanted to take Tom there to check it out as a potential buyer. He was familiar with the development since he had worked on some of the houses for his job back in the spring. But things had been such a whirlwind leading up to the first day of school, they hadn’t had time yet. Hanna turned her car into the development, chugging it along through the pretty streets lined with large houses.
At the end of the road, she came to the three-story house she had trespassed—ahem, toured—back in the spring. She could see the front porch was painted a warm cream color. A gardener was adding the finishing touches of lush shrubbery around the home. And a For Sale sign was pitched in the middle of the yard.
Just then, a lanky man wearing a gray suit walked out of the house with a smiling couple who looked to be around her and Tom’s age. The man shook their hands, a goofy grin plastered onto his face, and waved good-bye. Everything about him screamed: Realtor. The woman stopped at the sidewalk and snapped a photo of the house with her phone, and then kissed the man.
Hanna’s heart sank at the thought of the couple making an offer on the house—her house. She had been dreaming about it ever since she gave herself the tour, envisioning how the furniture would be placed, and how her family would spend hours grilling and hanging out together on the terrace. Even Tom, who was foolishly in love with the old house, seemed open to the idea of checking it out.
But now, looking at the couple, she had a sinking feeling that if it wasn’t already off the market, it would be soon.
She slammed her fist onto the steering wheel, watching as the couple drove away. If she had just called a day sooner and scheduled an appointment with the Realtor, that could have been her and Tom, driving away and making plans.
As she continued to seethe, she spotted the Realtor putting a key in the lockbox hanging on the doorknob. He was smiling, probably congratulating himself on the forthcoming sale. But he looked friendly, approachable even. What did she have to lose by talking to him?
She got out of the car and, before she lost her nerve, started walking toward the house.
The man watched with polite curiosity as she made her way up the brick driveway.
“Hello,” he said as she approached him on the porch. “Can I help you?”
“Hi,” she said, sliding her handbag down her wrist, suddenly feeling silly. “Sorry, I don’t mean to barge in like this, but I was just driving through the neighborhood and was interested in this house. Are you the Realtor?”
“I am,” he said, clasping his hands together and lifting his chest.
She peeked past him and could see the shiny wood floors and sun-drenched foyer through the open door. It was even more pristine than she remembered it. “Has it sold yet?”
“I just showed it to a couple who is planning to make an offer,” he said, leaning against the white porch railing. “There’s been a lot of interest, but it’s technically still on the market.”
Hanna’s body jolted with a resurgence of hope. “Really? One moment.” She pulled out her phone and immediately dialed Tom. She had to tell him to leave work immediately to come see it. They could try to place the offer before the other couple.
But after several rings, it went to voice mail. Her husband hardly ever had his phone on him while he was on site. He probably wouldn’t get the message until later that day, and the other couple would swoop in with an accepted offer before he ever got a chance to see inside. She clutched her handbag, contemplating what to do. She looked past the man again, peeking inside. The place was perfect for her family. The bedrooms were huge, and she wouldn’t have to share a bathroom with her kids anymore. The chef’s kitchen had sparkling appliances she knew wouldn’t break. And that library…
“How much is it again?” she asked, pushing her sunglasses on top of her head. She already knew the answer, but hoped that it had somehow gotten cheaper overnight. Or that perhaps hearing the answer would somehow justify the crazy thoughts swirling in her mind.
“One point five million,” he said matter-of-factly.
Hanna raised an eyebrow at the sound of the hefty price tag. That was a lot of money. The thought made her sick to her stomach.
“Are you interested in seeing it?” the man asked.
She looked back inside and hesitated.
She couldn’t exactly say that she had already seen it. She imagined looking him square in the eye and telling him that, Yes, she was so interested in seeing it that she’d broken in and toured it in May.