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Episode 25: Benson for Sheriff
Ellie Benson's father is running for sheriff, so she has recruited a bunch of her friends - Hannah and Amanda included - to help campaign for him. Will they find their calling as a door-to-door campaign team? Can they make it through the neighborhood without one of them getting the hiccups? Read on to find out! --The Author
Seventeen-year-old Hannah Jamison stood in the bathroom of the small house she shared with her friend Juliana Davis and Juliana's dad. Looking in the mirror, she ran her fingers through the straight blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. "Does this look ok?" she asked, turning to Juliana, who stood next to her. "I definitely want to make a good impression!"
Juliana looked at her best friend. From her cute yellow and white sundress, to her beautiful hair and her angelic face, everything about Hannah was perfect - as usual. She slightly rearranged the tie on the back of Hannah dress. "Don't be silly, Hannah; have you ever made a bad impression on anyone in your entire life?" Juliana teased.
"Well, I want to do my best for Mr. Benson," Hannah explained.
Juliana laughed, all the while struggling to curl her slightly wavy hair. "With you and Amanda going out to campaign for him, there's no way he can lose; Ellie and I and the others may as well just stay home!" she joked.
Mr. Benson, Ellie's dad and a longtime member of the police force, was running for sheriff in the upcoming local election. As he was running against the incumbent, it would be an uphill battle. Ellie had suggested that she and some of her friends could help campaign for him, so the party office had gotten some campaign fliers put together. Then Ellie had recruited Hannah, Juliana, Amanda, and a bunch of the other girls from school to go door to door around the small town handing out the fliers. It was grassroots organizing at its best - or at least that's what Ellie said as she attempted to get extra credit for it from her civics teacher.
It took a while, but finally Juliana was ready to go. The two girls were a few minutes late as they headed out the door and hopped into Hannah's car. When her father died, she had inherited his old Toyota. It had been in pretty rough shape and reeked of alcohol, but with a lot of work and some help from Juliana and Mr. Davis, Hannah had got it looking, running, and smelling about as good as a twenty-year-old car could. It wasn't fit for taking a cross-country trip any time soon, but it was perfect for getting Hannah around town when she needed it to.
The Bensons' home was a short, pleasant drive out into the country. Mrs. Benson, who had been gladly helping Ellie with her organizing efforts, welcomed the two girls warmly when they arrived. "Hey girls, come on in!"
Hannah and Juliana found the living room of the Bensons' house already buzzing with activity. "Is there anything we can help with?" Hannah asked.
"I think the girls are just about done separating out the fliers. Rachel has the maps over in the kitchen; why don't you go pick out an area?" Mrs. Benson suggested.
"Ok, thanks Miss Jo," Hannah said happily.
"Thank you girls for helping out!"
Hannah smiled. "We wouldn't miss it for anything."
About a dozen girls, mostly from Ellie and Amanda's softball team, were filling boxes with fliers and choosing areas of town to cover. The plan was for everyone to go out two by two: Hannah would be paired with Amanda, and Juliana with Ellie. They wouldn't hit every house this afternoon, but they would make their way around their parts of town over the next several days.
The four girls chose adjacent areas and rode together back into town. Parking Hannah's car at a church near the boundary of their two zones, they agreed to meet back at the car at six, and headed in opposite directions down the street. Hannah and Amanda had to walk a short distance before they got into their area, and they chatted as they walked.
"That's such a cute dress, Hannah, I love it!" Amanda commented.
Hannah smiled broadly. "Thanks, I really like it too, I just got it a couple weeks ago."
"It's so bright and cheery; it's totally you!"
"Oh I know!" Hannah laughed.
"Where did you get it?" Amanda asked.
"I found it at Ross, it was on sale for like half off," Hannah explained.
"That's awesome!"
"I'm pretty excited about it. And you look really pretty too, by the way!"
Amanda shrugged. "Thanks, I didn't really know how I ought to dress for this." She didn't think that her jean shorts and tank top looked nearly as cute as Hannah did, but they were cool and comfortable, and were definitely her style. She just hoped she didn't look too casual for campaigning.
"Have you ever done this before?" Hannah asked.
"Not exactly. We've done stuff like this for church before. It's kind of scary at first, I get really nervous," Amanda admitted.
"Aww," Hannah sympathized. "Do you want me to take the lead to start with?" she offered.
Amanda blushed a little. "If you don't mind. Just for now, it just takes me a while to get into it, you know?"
Always accommodating and rarely nervous, Hannah didn't mind at all. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Don't worry about it; just let me know when you want to do more of the talking."
"I will," Amanda promised. "At least we don't have to ask for money. That's the worst!"
"What do you think we should say?" For all her preparations, Ellie hadn't exactly given them a script, just a few talking points.
"I guess maybe we should read the flier and find out," Amanda laughed.
The flier reiterated a lot of the points Ellie had mentioned, but still didn't exactly give them a guide on how to start. "Let's practice on each other before we go to the first house," Hannah suggested.
Amanda agreed. She played the role of the person at the door as Hannah worked on an introduction.
"Hi! I'm Hannah, and this is my friend Amanda," Hannah started out, motioning toward the empty space beside her.
"Hi, Hannah. Hi, Amanda," Amanda ventured in reply. She shook hands with Hannah.
"Come on, shake Amanda's hand too," Hannah teased.
The two girls both laughed and tried the introduction a second time. This time Hannah made it all the way to "We're students at Downtown High" before the two girls cracked up again.
They spent most of the time laughing and messing up, but finally they worked out some semblance of what they were going to say. They were still laughing as they walked up the driveway of the first house. "This is going to be fun," Hannah giggled.
Regaining her composure and taking a deep breath, Hannah knocked on the door. A small dog barked loudly inside. In a moment, the door opened and an older lady appeared. The house looked neat inside, but smelled sharply of cigarette smoke. "Hello," the lady said hoarsely.
Hannah smiled and launched into their introduction. "Hi! I'm Hannah, and this is my friend Amanda." Hannah motioned toward Amanda, who smiled shyly.
The lady seemed friendly. "What can I do for you girls?" she asked.
"We're students at Downtown High, and we just came out to encourage you to vote for Dave Benson for sheriff," Hannah continued. Amanda offered the lady one of the fliers.
"That's nice of you; do you know Mr. Benson?" the lady asked.
"We do!" Hannah answered.
"Me and his daughter are great friends," Amanda added.
"But it's not just because we know him!" Hannah noted, looking down at a copy of the flier. "In this flier here you'll see some of the great plans he has for our -- police?" Hannah giggled at her awkward wording. "Sorry, I'm still working on this; yours is the first house we've stopped at!"
The lady smiled broadly. "Well you're doing a great job. Thanks for the paper, I'll read it over," she promised.
"We really appreciate it! I know Mr. Benson will too. Thank you so much, Miss - -"
"Richards," the lady offered.
Hannah didn't dare look at Amanda or she knew they'd both crack up. "Thank you, Miss Richards!" she repeated.
"Well thank you both for stopping by," Miss Richards said kindly.
As soon as Miss Richards had closed the door and the two girls had gotten about halfway back down her short driveway, they burst out laughing again.
"He has great plans for our -- police!" Amanda repeated Hannah's poorly executed campaign pitch.
"Hey, I tried!" Hannah giggled.
"I know, right? You had great plans for our -- talk?" Amanda teased.
Hannah just laughed.
"No, seriously, you did great," Amanda assured her. "You're so cute and bubbly and natural; I knew you'd be really good at this. I'm glad Ellie and her mom put me with you!"
"Thanks, I think I'll get better at it as we go along. And I've got to ask for their name next time; remind me if I forget!"
As the two moved from house to house, their presentation got consistently smoother. Even when Hannah did stumble over her words, her cute giggle and disarming smile were more than enough to make up for any mistakes. The response they got varied widely. Some people, of course, weren't home, so Amanda just left a flier at their door. Most were cordial and brief, like Miss Richards had been. A few seemed annoyed, and one even refused to take the flier. At one house, the occupants didn't answer Hannah's knock, even though it was quite obvious that they were home. "What kind of person sees two adorable teenage girls knocking at their door and decides not to answer?" Chris would ask when Hannah told him about that later. "Mr. Benson probably doesn't want someone like that voting for him anyway!"
On the other hand, sometimes they got an unusually friendly response. Many of the male residents were more than happy to chat as long as possible with two cute girls at their door, regardless of the topic! Other times, an especially friendly older person would invite them inside.
It was after perhaps ten or fifteen houses, as Hannah and Amanda tried to say goodbye to just such a friendly elderly couple, that it happened: Hannah got the hiccups. With all the talking and laughing, it was practically inevitable. Amanda was talking to the couple when the hiccups started, so Hannah was able to catch the first few hiccups and keep them quiet. But despite the hiccups, Hannah soon spoke. "Thank you *hic* sooo much for talking with *hic* us and letting us come in, we-*hic* we'd better get going now."
Hannah didn't mention her hiccups, but the lady noticed right away. "Thank you for stopping by! But here, it looks like you've got the hiccups; let me get you some water."
"Oh, don't *hic* worry about it," Hannah said. "Nothing cures my h-*huck* hiccups."
The couple both chuckled, and Amanda looked at Hannah nervously.
"Thanks again, y'all have a wonderful day," Amanda said as she and Hannah retreated to the door. Once they were back outside, she asked Hannah - somewhat unnecessarily - "Do you really have the hiccups now?"
Hannah rolled her eyes as another hiccup jerked through her body. "Yeah," she admitted. "I knew I was *hic* going to get them!"
"That's gonna get annoying," Amanda teased. "Do you want me to do the talking now?" she offered.
"It's ok," Hannah assured her. "I mean, unless *hic* you want to. Otherwise I'll *hic* keep going for now; it re-*huck*-ally is a lot of fun!"
"Go for it!" Amanda encouraged. "Let me know if you want me to do more talking, though."
"I will, *hic* thanks!"
Amanda giggled. "I have a feeling you're going to be offered a lot of water."
"Oh yes, *hic* I could probably write a book *hic* with all the hiccup cures p-*hic* people offer me!"
"Doesn't it drive you crazy?" Amanda asked. "Like, that's what I hate about hiccups. Just having the hiccups isn't really that bad, but it's so embarrassing when everyone is staring at you or annoyed with you or trying to cure you and stuff. It makes me just want to disappear."
Hannah nodded. "Yeah, *hic* you get used to it, though. *huck* I guess it's not so bad for me be-*hic* because, well, I'm not very *hic* shy."
Amanda laughed. "True," she agreed. "You get them so much though, don't you hate it? Or do you just kinda live with it? I think I'd be ready to shoot myself if I got the hiccups every day like you do."
Hannah knocked on the next door, but continued the conversation. "I live with it, *hic* I guess," she answered. "It's like I told your sis-*ulk*-ter the other day, the *huck* hiccups are just a part of who I a- *huck* am, so I might as well *hic* embrace it."
"I wish I could be as comfortable with myself as you are. You're amazing!" Amanda exclaimed.
Hannah laughed, but the conversation was interrupted when the door finally opened. A very weary-looking young mother stood in the doorway, with a baby in her arms and a little girl who couldn't have been more than three hanging onto her skirt.
"Hi! I'm *hic* Hannah, and this is my friend Ama-*hic* Amanda," Hannah began. "Sorry, I have *huck* the hiccups," she admitted. Hannah was matter-of-fact about it, but the embarrassment made Amanda blush slightly. Seeing the fatigue visible in the mother's face, Hannah sympathetically added, "I hope we're *hic* not interrupting anything."
The mother gave a tired smile. "No, you're fine," she assured them.
The little girl looked up at Hannah and Amanda. "My name is Chloe!" she announced.
"Hi Chloe!" the two girls said in unison. "How old are you?" Amanda asked.
"I'm three," she answered proudly.
"That's awe-*huck* awesome," Hannah said with a big smile.
"You have hiccups like Mommy," the little girl said with a giggle, pointing at Hannah.
The mother put her hand on Chloe's head and chided her. "Don't tease her, that's not nice." Looking back at Hannah, she said, "I'm sorry, I had the hiccups earlier too; she thinks they're the funniest thing ever."
"They *hic* do sound pretty funny, d-*huck* don't they?" Hannah said to Chloe. She assured the mother it was ok. "I g-*hic* get the hiccups all the ti- *hic*-me, I'm used to it."
"Oh my God, me too," the mother concurred. Motioning to the children, she said, "I think I get the hiccups more than they do! But what can I do for you? And would you like some water?"
"Thanks but *hic* nothing cures my hiccups," Hannah repeated her familiar line.
"Sorry, I know how that is."
"What's your name?" Amanda asked, noticing Hannah had left out that part of the introduction. "And the baby?"
"Oh, sorry," the mother said. "I'm Heather, this is little Jake."
"Awww, how *hic* old is he?" Hannah asked.
"He's five months," Heather answered.
"Come see my toys!" Chloe suggested, obviously missing the attention.
"These girls didn't come over to play, sweetie," Heather said. "Why don't you go play with your dollies right now?" Turning back to the girls, she apologized again. "She likes to be the center of attention."
"She's so c-*hic* cute!"
"And not shy at all," Heather added.
"That's probably how *huck* I was at that age," Hannah admitted.
"Still are!" Amanda teased.
Hannah laughed. "Anyway," she said, trying to get the conversation back on point, "We've been going *hic* around the neighbor-*huck*-hood to encourage people to vote *hic* for Dave Benson for sher-*hic*-iff."
"Oh, really?"
Amanda held out one of the fliers as Hannah answered. "Yeah, *hic* here's a paper that tells a *hic* little about his vision for the d-*huck* department."
Heather didn't take the flier, explaining, "My uncle is the current sheriff, I wouldn't want him to come over and see that."
"Oh," Hannah and Amanda looked at each other awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, *huck* we didn't --" Hannah started to apologize, but Heather interrupted her.
"Shoot, I thought that would cure your hiccups!"
Hannah and Amanda laughed. "You sure did *huck* have me scared," Hannah admitted.
"Well, it is true actually. But don't worry, I understand. My husband works in the department too, he knows Dave really well. I hate to say it but we both hope he wins. We know what's going on there with my uncle and why Dave is running. I know he'd do a great job."
Hannah and Amanda knew nothing of the internal politics of the sheriff's office, but they were relieved that Heather wasn't upset about Mr. Benson trying to unseat her uncle. They chatted for a little while longer before the two girls left. "Thank you for stopping by," Heather called as they departed. "And good luck with those hiccups!"
"Thanks! Bye!" Hannah answered cheerily.
Heather's house had been at the end of a long dead-end street, so Hannah and Amanda had some distance to walk before their next visit. "That was so embarrassing when she said she was related to the sheriff!" Amanda exclaimed.
"I know, I'm *hic* glad she was nice about it."
"No kidding, she seemed really sweet," Amanda agreed.
"And those kids were sooo-*hic* cute!" Hannah gushed.
"Oh my word, they were! That was so funny when the little girl was like 'You have the hiccups!'"
Hannah laughed, awkwardly interrupted by an odd-sounding hiccup. "It was! I'm *hic* actually kind of glad I h-*huck* have them. That really broke the *hic* ice with her, I think."
"It did! At first I was afraid we were bothering her cause she was busy with the kids, but --" Amanda was interrupted by her phone ringing. "I thought I had that on mute!" she said, surprised. Pulling the phone from the back pocket of her jeans, she looked at the name on the screen, then answered it happily, "Hey Brandon!"
Hannah couldn't hear what Brandon was saying, and only halfway paid attention to Amanda's side of the conversation.
"Hannah and I are handing out fliers for Mr. Benson. What about you?"
"Yeah, Ellie's dad."
"She's not here; it's ok! It's just me and Hannah."
Amanda turned toward Hannah. "Brandon says hi!"
Hannah laughed. "Hey Br-*hic* Brandon!"
"Hannah says 'Hey Brandon'," Amanda repeated. "Actually there was a big hiccup in there somewhere too," she giggled.
"Yeah, she has them bad. But what's up?"
Amanda talked to Brandon for a couple minutes but soon said goodbye. "He was asking if we wanted to go to the mall with him and his friends, but it's going to be closed by the time we're done and could get up there," she explained.
"That's too bad, *hic* maybe he could do something here l-*huck* later?" Hannah suggested.
"Yeah, we'll see; I'll give him a call when we're done."
"Is Brandon like, *huck* afraid of Ellie?" Hannah asked.
"Where have you been the past month, Hannah?" Amanda laughed.
"Sorry, *huck* I don't pay attention to half of *hic* the drama that goes on," Hannah admitted. "Especially not the drama El-*hic* Ellie creates."
Amanda frowned. "She's not that bad, really. She just has this way she expects everything to be, and if you don't fit into it then there's something wrong with you. She really just wants the best for you, but she doesn't realize that not everyone is like her."
"I know; and I *hic* love her to death, but she's just so dra-*hic*- matic sometimes and gets *hic* into stuff that's none of her business."
"Pretty much. But yeah, she doesn't like it that Brandon is three years older than me, and that he doesn't go to our school, and she really doesn't like the fact that he hasn't 'officially' asked me out even though we're together all the time and he obviously likes me. And he's so shy about that, so I think he's kinda scared of her."
"Why doesn't he *huck* ask you out? I mean, y'all are *hic* inseparable already; it's not *hic* like you'd say no."
"He's just so shy," Amanda explained simply. Then she grinned and added, "You wouldn't understand that." Although she wouldn't admit it, Amanda was shy about it too. She'd never been 'boy-crazy' or even really felt like she needed a boyfriend; it was perfect just being friends with Brandon. But knowing that he wanted her made her feel pretty good too!
Hannah laughed. "Nah, I *hic* understand. Chris was kinda *hic* shy, too."
By now they had reached the corner, but they stood talking for a while longer. Amanda continued, "So Ellie has decided that means he's not committed to me and is just trying to take advantage of me."
"Is he?" Hannah asked. "I hear that on *hic* the campout y'all were *hic* pretty... physical, you know?"
"We cuddled on a chair. During a crazy storm! What's wrong with that?" Amanda asked defensively. "If he'd been my 'boyfriend', no one would have given it a second thought. Plus Mr. Dave saw us and he was ok with it."
"I know, I'm not *hic* saying it was wrong," Hannah clarified. "I think you *huck* two are adorable toge-*hic*-ther and if y'all don't want *hic* to be 'official', who cares? But *huck* I know no one wants to *hic* see you get taken ad-*huck*-vantage of."
"Yeah, I guess I just get really upset that everyone judges him when they don't even know him. If they'd just give him a chance they'd see he's a great guy, honest. He's just so shy and quiet that he gets overlooked a lot."
"I don't *hic* judge him, I promise," Hannah assured her. "And you know *hic* Chris and I will hang out with y-*huck* you two any time."
"Thanks Hannah, you're the best! It's been hard trying to hang out with him and people from school, because either Ellie is there or some of her friends are, and he gets really nervous. But then if we go out just the two of us, it looks even worse to everyone cause it's like we're trying to hide. And his friends are cool, but they all go to Western with him so they're kind of their own little group."
"Well, you've *hic* always got us," Hannah said with a smile. "And *hic* I'm sure Ellie will realize *hic* he's ok eventually, too."
"I know, she really does mean well," Amanda sighed.
"Speaking of Ellie, *hic* she and Juliana are gonna *huck* beat us if we don't g-*huck* get on down the street here!"
At the next house, the two girls were surprised to see a boy from Amanda's class come to the door. "Hey Amanda!" he greeted her with a little hug. "And hi Hannah," he added. They'd never had any classes together or hung out much, but just about everyone knew Hannah.
"Hey Carlos," Amanda said, "I didn't know that you lived here now!"
"We just moved here a month or two ago, when my dad got his new job," Carlos explained.
Amanda smiled. "Oh, that's great!"
"It's a *hic* nice place," Hannah added.
"Yeah, it's a lot better than where we were before," he agreed. "That place was a little, um -- sketchy."
Hannah hadn't ever been to Carlos' home before, but she nodded anyway.
Amanda had visited Carlos a couple times. "To be honest, I was always scared going over there," she admitted. "I'm glad y'all are in a better place now."
"Thanks, me too! But what are you up to?" he asked.
"Stalking you!" Amanda laughed. "No, do you know Ellie from school? Ellie Benson?"
Carlos looked puzzled.
"She's a *hic* junior; she's on the so-*huck* softball team with Amanda," Hannah added helpfully.
Carlos frowned. "I guess not; but I'm sure I'd recognize her."
"Well, her dad is running for sheriff," Amanda explained.
"And we're cam-*hic*-paigning for him!"
"Oh, I see," Carlos said. "But while you have the hiccups?" he asked with a grin.
Hannah giggled. "Why *hic* not?"
"We couldn't exactly wait for a day that she doesn't get them," Amanda teased.
"The election m-*huck* might be over by *hic* then," Hannah laughed.
"So is your mom or dad here?" Amanda asked.
Carlos shook his head. "No, Dad is working today, and Mother is at the tienda."
"The *hic* what?" Hannah looked puzzled.
"The store," Amanda explained. "Spanish, you know?"
Hannah laughed; Spanish was definitely not her best subject. "Oh, of *hic* course, the store. *huck* I knew that!" she said with a wink.
"Could you give them one of these fliers for us when they get back?" Amanda asked, offering Carlos a flier.
"I can, but I don't think they are allowed to vote, not being, you know, citizens and all," Carlos pointed out.
"Oh, I guess not," Amanda said, a little embarrassed.
"We're legal though, so you don't have to go back and turn us in to the sheriff," Carlos joked.
Amanda laughed. "Yeah, that would be scary."
With no reason to give their campaign talk, Amanda and Hannah chatted with Carlos for a while. After a couple minutes, he commented, "Hannah, your hiccups sound so bad, do you want me to get you some water?"
Hannah smiled. "Thanks! You know, *hic* almost everyone we've seen has off- *huck*-ered me water. It doesn't *hic* stop my hiccups, but sure, I'll *hic* take some anyway; I'm *hic* a little thirsty."
"Would you like some too?" he asked Amanda.
"Yeah, that sounds good, thank you," she said.
A moment after Carlos went into the kitchen, he called out, "Hey, my mom made lemonade earlier, do you want that instead?"
The girls happily accepted, and they all drank some lemonade together. Of course, drinking didn't cure Hannah's hiccups; if anything it made them louder. Carlos was surprised. "You still have the hiccups, Hannah? Drinking something stops it any time I have the hiccups."
Hannah shook her head. "I know! *huck* People tell me that all th- *huck* the time, but it's *hulk* never worked for me. I *hic* guess my hiccups are too stub- *huck* stubborn." Then she smiled and added, "I'm ok, *hic* though."
After they finished the lemonade, Hannah and Amanda decided they'd better go. They thanked Carlos for the drink and said goodbye.
"He's such a sweet boy," Amanda commented once they were back on the street.
"He is!" Hannah agreed. "I'd never *hic* really talked to him before *huck* but he seems really n-*hic*-ice."
"He and his parents came here from the Dominican a few years ago, that's why he said they can't vote. They used to live in the projects, it was pretty bad. I'm glad they're in a better area now."
"Yeah, *hic* that's great for them! Where I *hic* live is a little rough some- *hic*-times, but nothing like that."
"I know, I'm always a little scared for you and Jules, too. She told me you all might be moving, though?"
"Maybe," Hannah explained, "Now that *huck* her dad has had a steady j-*hic* job for a while, he's been *hic* looking at maybe moving to a li- *huck*-ttle bit nicer area. But I *hic* don't think it will be any time r- *huck* right away."
Amanda nodded. "I see, hopefully that works out. How is it for you living with them, anyway?"
"It's good," Hannah began. "I mean, *hic* it was so nice of them to *huck* let me move in with them, *hic* and Mr. Davis pretty much tr- *hic*-eats me like I was his d-*huck* daughter too. And it's fun being *hic* with Juliana, even if she *huck* can be a little over-*hic*-whelming sometimes."
"I'm sure it helped knowing them so well already, but was it hard suddenly living with someone else's family like that?"
Hannah thought for a moment. After another hiccup, she answered. "Kind of. *huck* Like, I'm so grateful, you *hic* know, but yeah it is a little h- *huck* hard sometimes. Mainly because I think Ju-*hic*-liana gets a little jealous of *huck* how her dad is looking after *hic* me. She knows he l-*hic* loves her more than anything, *hic* she's just kind of inse-*hic*-cure. She's getting better a-*hic*-bout it though."
"I guess it's probably nice for her then that you come and spend the night with us sometimes," Amanda noted.
"Oh yeah, *hic* it gives them a chance *hic* to be a family of th-*hic* their own. It's worth *hic* it, even if I do have to hang *hic* out with you and that bro-*hic*-ther of yours!" Hannah laughed.
The two girls soon resumed their door-to-door campaigning. It seemed like everyone offered Hannah water and other assorted hiccup cures, but she always politely declined. Hannah's hiccups really did make a great ice-breaker, though. It seemed like there were fewer awkward moments when they were talking to people, since Hannah's hiccups always kept things jovial. The two girls both had a great time canvassing the area together.
When they got back to the car at six o'clock, Amanda compared what was left of their stack of fliers with Ellie and Juliana's. "It looks like y'all beat us," she acknowledged. "But not by much!"
"Psh, that's *hic* nothing," Hannah giggled. "I totally de- *hic*-stroyed you all in the *huck* 'cups of water' cate-*hic*-gory."
They all laughed. "Did you really have the hiccups the whole time?" Ellie asked.
"Pretty much. *hic* When did they start, *hic* Amanda, after like an hour *huck* or so?"
"Yeah, it was pretty early on," Amanda confirmed.
"Oh man, I would have died. Like seriously, I would have left and gone home if I'd gotten the hiccups," Ellie confessed.
"I wouldn't have left," Amanda said. "But I would have been pretty mortified. I'm glad it was you instead of me," she teased, nudging Hannah playfully.
"Thanks, *hic* I feel the love!" Hannah laughed.
On the way home from the Bensons', Juliana dropped Hannah off along with Amanda, so she could see Chris for a while. They hadn't even gotten to the door when Hannah - her hiccups gone for now - suggested, "Hey, why don't you call Brandon and see if he's back from the mall? We could all like, go get ice cream or something!"
Amanda beamed. "That's a great idea!" Entering the house, she quickly got out her phone to call Brandon, while Hannah went to find Chris. He had spent part of the afternoon playing basketball with some friends, so he had just finished showering and changing into clean clothes when Hannah knocked on his bedroom door.
"Don't you look nice!" she commented when he opened the door.
"It's amazing what a shower can do," Chris laughed. "And you are beautiful as always."
"I doubt it, after being out walking around all day," Hannah countered. But then she smiled, "Thanks though!"
They sat down together on Chris's bed and talked for a few minutes about the day. But of course, it just happened that they were in the middle of a kiss when Amanda came into the room. It always seemed to work out that way.
"Hey, cut it out!" she teased. To her chagrin, they continued without even turning to look at her. She waited for a few moments, her hands on her hips, but Hannah and Chris continued to ignore her. "Ok," she finally said with a twinkle in her eye. "Brandon's coming over but I guess he and I will go get ice cream by ourselves." She turned to leave the room.
Just as Amanda entered the hallway, Chris called out, "Did you say something about ice cream?"
"Yeah, what did you say?" Hannah added playfully.
"Ugh, come on you guys!" Amanda groaned. She was so much fun to tease!
The ice cream shop was one of those places where you walk up and they take your order right at the window. After getting their ice cream, the four of them sat at one of the little outdoor tables. Hannah and even Chris didn't know Brandon that well yet, so they got to know him a lot better, plus Hannah and Amanda had plenty of stories to tell from their afternoon campaigning. Just a few minutes after finishing her ice cream, Hannah got the hiccups again, but she hardly even acknowledged them. They stayed at the ice cream shop long after they had finished, each couple cuddled close on opposite sides of the table, just chatting and enjoying the time together.
Finally they realized that it was pretty late, as the shop had already closed for the night. On the walk back to Chris and Amanda's house, she and Brandon quickly fell well behind Chris and Hannah.
Brandon was quiet at first as he and Amanda walked along slowly, arm in arm. "What an amazing girl!" he thought. She seemed perfect in every way.
Just after they turned into the Beloits' quiet subdivision, Brandon stopped, and finally spoke. "Amanda?"
"Yeah?" she said, with a questioning look.
"I know I haven't really asked you to go out with me; I don't like all the drama that seems to go with that, plus we don't even go to school together."
Amanda just nodded.
He continued, "But every time I'm with you, I just -- I can't even really explain it; I realize even more that you're the most incredible girl I've ever met. Would you be my girlfriend?"
Even in the dark of night, Amanda's face seemed to glow. Her own uncertainty about having a boyfriend seemed to melt away in an instant. "Of course I would!"
"I know I'm kind of awkward and shy and some of your friends don't like me," he admitted. "I probably don't deserve a girl like you. But I love you, Amanda."
They embraced fully, still standing there on the street corner. "I -- I love you too," Amanda said hesitantly, but with an earnest tone. "You're the sweetest guy I know."
It was a while before they finished the short walk to Amanda's house; even longer before Brandon finally got in his car and headed home. Chris and Mrs. Beloit were starting to get a bit worried! But when Amanda finally came inside, Hannah knew that she had been right.
She gave her friend a big hug. "What is *hic* Ellie going to say now?" she teased.
Amanda just laughed - and smiled. She felt sure that this was the beginning of something great.