Prelude, Hannah
“She was forgettable, why couldn’t I stay away.”
Growing up life was good, simple. I took it for granted.
Why not right? I had a stay at home mom and two older brothers. I was the baby and my family treated me as one.
My dad was an electrician for a machine repair company, 10 miles from Laurelhurst, our suburban homestay.
We were never rich, neither were we hurting for cash. I never wore thrift store clothing. Nor did I have to eat the same food two days in a row. Overall life was good.
I know it now, but then I didn’t have a clue. Then, life was normal. I never knew things any other way. I was young like that. Naive.
I attended a public school like most kids in Laurelhurst. Graduating top of my class, I was the first in my family to get accepted into Harvard University. Yes, I was going to do my first-year pre-med. I wanted to be a neurosurgeon. I was ambitious, filled with goals and dreams.
It’s amazing how life seems to be going so great, those sleepless nights finally paying off. Because I can tell you, that when you’re flying high you feel invincible. I did, and it was the best feeling I ever had.
My brothers attended Washington State, not far from home. Ridge finished his degree in accounting, and Freddy was already a hard-working electrical engineer for a local company. Both my brothers married young. Freddy divorced Celeste a year after they’d tied the knot. He kept insisting she was insane and mom agreed. Freddy had never been happier than the day he signed those papers.
My eldest brother Ridge was six years into his marriage and a proud father of twin girls, Alison and Stacy. Add in a wife that practically took out his socks when he got home from work, Ridge felt like he was king.
He hardly ever came home but mom and dad didn’t mind. They believed that no news meant good news. I think they were just tired of having such a noisy house and wanted peace. My parents liked their quiet time.
And me? I was soon to be a student at Harvard. Life was looking up for me. And with my parents who considered the possibility and two brothers who were thrilled I got accepted, I had enough money to pay for the books I needed. It was the only part my scholarship wasn’t going to cover.
The world felt touchable and mine for the taking. I was ready to spread my wings and leave my mark on my country. And before I knew it, I was in Cambridge, Massachusetts attending Harvard University.
The first year went on by faster than I thought. I didn’t make it home until Christmas. My short breaks were spent studying for extra credits and working at the Sleeve, an upper-class five-star restaurant in the City. I was too exhausted to do anything else.
My personal life was zero to negative one. I was a nineteen-year-old Harvard student with no boyfriend and one friend if I counted my teddy-bear I won at the fair last fall. I wasn’t refined enough for the rich kids, not smart enough for the geeks and not serious enough to hang with the other scholarship kids.
It was unacceptable to just be me, I guess. It was the main reason I got the job and focused on my studies.
I believed that if I kept my head on my goals, the time would fly. The thing is, I wasn’t paying attention to the other stuff. My mind was focused on my work. That was my first mistake.
My mom always told me that multi-tasking was important, and looking back I should’ve listened, but I didn’t.
Before I knew it, I was in my second year and that was when I got sidetracked.
It was one of those days, where the wind was just wilder than the previous ones. No certainty of what the hours would bring. I always found the air much cleaner and refreshing to smell on campus than the stuffy scent of central city.
Spending time on the grounds whilst I immersed my brain into the complexity of human anatomy was the one pleasure, I allowed myself. And that day was no different. A bit of wind didn’t deter me in the slightest.
I had two free periods before I needed to attend a Chemistry class. I was wearing my signature Harvard outfit, comprised of chino pants and a white button-down shirt, completed with a pair of flat nude pumps.
On my first day at Harvard, I arrived in my normal clothes, baggy black Levi jean, black t-shirt paired off with Neon green and pink D&G sneakers. Around my head were my personal styled shocking blue headphones.
I was there for all but ten minutes before I learned that my loose jean and tank tops were not impressing any faculty members. If that wasn’t ‘message’ enough, the next day my bio professor kindly asked me to dress more ‘conservative’.
She went as far as letting me out of class early so I could purchase some ‘serious clothing’.