Looks Can Be Deceiving

I stood on Hannah’s doorstep at nine in the morning with her dress in hand. I looked around their subdivision, making sure that Austin wasn’t around. The door opened as Hannah smiled at me, than looked down at her dress. I held it out.
“You can keep it, Pandora,” she smiled.
“No, I’m good.” She nodded and grabbed it.
“Wanna come in? Oliver is making breakfast,” she bribed.
“No,” I looked down at my Vans. “I just wanted to drop it off really quick.”
“Well… stay. We have to talk anyways.” I bit down on my lip and silently accepted her offer, stepping past her and into the kitchen where Oliver stood in front of the stove. He turned his head and smiled at me.
“Morning love! I’m just making some breakfast, you staying?” I shrugged as Hannah came in behind me.
“Sit down,” she smiled. I did as she asked and sat down at their island. “So, about Austin-” I rolled my eyes.
“Can we please not talk about this? I’m not really in the mood.”
“Well too bad…” she muttered. “We’re talking about it.” I looked down at the granite in front of me and traced the little oddly shaped specs with my fingertip.
“He came over last night, you know,” Oliver said, his back turned to me. I pressed my brows together.
“Why?” He turned down the heat and frowned at me, leaning back against the cabinets.
“Why are you pushing him away, Pandora?” I dropped my eyes back down and shrugged.
“I don’t like him.”
“That’s bull. I know for a fact that you like him. And he likes you; a lot. You need to give him a chance.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Stop being so stubborn,” he huffed. “He said you opened up a little bit at dinner last night, but then shut down right away? What happened?”
“I realized that I can’t be with him.”
“And why is that?” he folded his arms across his chest.
“I don’t trust him Oliver, that’s why.” I stood up. “I’m done talking about Austin. I don’t want to hear his name nor do I want to bring up last night again. We went out for dinner; that’s all it was and that’s all it will be.” I started walking to the door when Hannah put her hands on my shoulders.
“No, you’re not leaving until you say yes to another date with him. He wants to get to know you better. He wants to show you that you can trust him. He really likes you. Don’t you see that?”
“I don’t care what he wants. I don’t want him.”
“He’s willing to do anything, Pandora. At least give him a little more time to prove himself to you.”
“I don’t want to get to know him! Don’t you two understand that? I don’t want to go out with him, and I don’t want to know who he is! I don’t trust him. He’s just like every other man I know, including my father!” The two exchanged glances, seeing that they were getting nowhere.
“You can’t go through life hating everyone, Pandora,” Oliver muttered.
“I don’t care. I can do whatever I want. Can I leave now?”
“No,” Hannah put her hands on her hips.
“Hannah,” I sighed. “I don’t want to be with Austin. Can’t you just accept that?”
“But… just why? He isn’t like your father Pandora. Austin doesn’t drink that much. He would never hit a girl.” I looked down at the floor, feeling tears coming to my eyes.
“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to stay for breakfast,” I pushed past Hannah and made my way back outside to my car. I wasn’t going to allow myself to be sucked into Austin. It just wouldn’t work out.

Notes