The Bad Sister. Kevin O'Brien

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      But her half-sister, Hannah, looked exasperated. Rolling her eyes at Eden, she stood up and picked up her tote bag.

      Ellie caught a glimpse of Nicholas Jensen as he headed toward the classroom door. He carried a small backpack by the strap. He took one look back over his shoulder—not at her, but at Hannah O’Rourke.

      * * *

      That was Ellie’s last class of the day. As she cleared her desk and loaded up her big purse, she still wasn’t sure what to think about Nicholas Jensen. The college offered English composition and creative writing classes. If he really wanted to improve his writing skills, he could have signed up for one of those courses. She also wondered what field he was “self-employed” in. At the same time, if he was here on a mission for the American Family Preservationists, he’d clearly let himself get distracted today by Hannah O’Rourke and her youthful beauty.

      Or had he come here for Hannah?

      Stepping out of Lombard Hall into the hot afternoon sun, Ellie spotted Hannah sitting on a stone bench by the dahlia garden near the entrance. Hannah quickly got to her feet and approached her. “Ms. Goodwin?”

      Ellie stopped and smiled at her. “You may call me Ellie. After the first class session, I usually drop the formalities.”

      “I’m Hannah O’Rourke.”

      Ellie nodded. “I know. I recognized your name—and your sister’s—in the class list.”

      “Half-sister,” Hannah said. “And I want to apologize for her. She can be awfully obnoxious sometimes.”

      “That’s okay. I know what your family went through. I’m sure Eden must have encountered some bad reporters back then.”

      Hannah sighed. “Still, that’s no reason to go after you. Eden has this irritating habit of questioning authority wherever she goes. She drove all of our high school teachers crazy.”

      “Well, don’t worry about it,” Ellie said. “No offense taken. I’m just sorry I didn’t get a chance to ask her why she was taking the course. I didn’t ask you either. I’d have thought you’d be pretty fed up with reporters, too.”

      “Most of them were nicer to me than they were to Eden.” Hannah nervously fidgeted with her hair. “The whole experience made me realize that reporters still have a lot of power and influence. Anyway, it got me thinking. What I’d really like to do is interview celebrities and write about them, cover film premieres, award shows, rock concerts.”

      “Oh, so that’s why you’re interested in journalism.” Ellie had been hoping Hannah’s ambitions would be a bit loftier. But she nodded and kept smiling. “Well, that—that’s valid. Plus as an entertainment reporter, you’d know from your own experiences what it’s like to always have a microphone shoved in your face wherever you go—having everything you say get written down. You’ll have a lot of empathy for your celebrity subjects.”

      “Exactly,” Hannah said. She leaned in close and spoke in a whisper. “So—do you mind me asking? What’s Jennifer Lawrence like?”

      Ellie gave her a puzzled smile. “Jennifer Lawrence, the actress?”

      Hannah nodded. “Isn’t she playing you in the film version of your story?”

      Ellie laughed. “Oh that! Someone posted about it on Instagram, didn’t they?”

      Hannah nodded again—eagerly.

      “That was over a year ago. It’s true, Jennifer Lawrence’s people were interested in the film project for a while. But after about two weeks, the whole thing went kaput.”

      “So—you don’t know Jennifer Lawrence?”

      Ellie shook her head. “Sorry. I never got to meet her or talk to her or anything like that.”

      Hannah looked crestfallen. She said nothing.

      Ellie couldn’t help wondering if her flimsy connection to Jennifer Lawrence was the driving force behind Hannah enrolling in her journalism course. Maybe Hannah had imagined her teacher and the film star as best friends—with Jennifer popping in on her class from time to time just to study her in action.

      “The film deal kind of stalled out on me last year,” Ellie admitted. “So—it’s doubtful that any movie stars will be portraying me any time soon. I hope that didn’t have too much to do with your decision to take my journalism class.”

      “Oh, not really,” Hannah replied. She was a terrible liar. She still looked disappointed.

      “I have to admit,” Ellie said, “when I saw Eden’s and your names on the class list, I wondered what brought the two of you all the way out from the West Coast to this little school.”

      “The two of us got full scholarships. The deal was too good to pass up. A corporation out of Chicago paid for everything, the Slate-Gannon Group.”

      “You mean, Rachel Bonner got you and Eden scholarships?” Ellie asked.

      Hannah squinted at her. “Why would Rachel have anything to do with Eden’s or my scholarship? It’s this company...”

      Ellie nodded emphatically. “Yes, the Slate-Gannon Group. It’s owned by Rachel’s father, Richard Bonner. They’re big contributors to the school. Rachel helped arrange for a couple of the scholarships last year. If I remember correctly, one of the recipients ended up becoming her roommate, and the other was a friend Rachel grew up with.”

      “Eden and I are rooming with Rachel now,” Hannah murmured, looking completely baffled. “I don’t understand. Rachel’s the one who set all this up? Why?”

      Ellie shrugged. “I—I have no idea. You and Eden were pretty famous a couple of years ago. Maybe she followed you on the news or social media and figured...” Ellie trailed off and shrugged once again. “I honestly don’t know. I’m just guessing.”

      “Well, this is weird,” Hannah said. “Rachel’s practically like my new best friend. And she hasn’t told me a thing about this. Are you sure she’s the one behind the scholarships? Are you sure this Slate-Gannon place is connected to her?”

      Wincing, Ellie nodded. “Yes, it’s one of Richard Bonner’s many businesses. It’s not common knowledge, but I know from working at the Tribune. Still, it’s quite possible Rachel had nothing to do with the scholarship. She might not know about it. I really think I spoke out of turn. I’m sorry, Hannah. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

      Hannah shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m glad you said something. Still, this is so screwed up. I better talk to Rachel. Would you excuse me?”

      “Sure,” Ellie said, feeling strange about the whole thing. “See you in class on Friday.”

      “Bye,” Hannah said. She brushed past Ellie and headed toward the quad.

      As Ellie watched her walk away, she spotted Nicholas Jensen, standing across the small courtyard—in front of another building. He had his phone in his hand.

      But his eyes seemed to be on Hannah.

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