# Chapter 10: The Phone Call That Broke Her Heart
Hello everyone, it’s me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 10 of "The Deal: Off Campus." This chapter steps away from the ice and the banter for a little while and takes us straight into Hannah’s heart—her family, her guilt, her scars, and the quiet ache she carries behind every careful smile. So grab a cozy blanket and maybe a tissue, because this one is tender, raw, and beautifully human.
The chapter opens with Hannah curled up in bed on a Sunday morning, waiting for the phone call she looks forward to all week. Her mother’s voice slides into her ear like a warm embrace, and for a few minutes, everything feels simple. They talk about Hannah’s Ethics midterm—she got an A, even though half the class failed. They ask about Dad. And then the conversation tilts.
Thanksgiving is falling apart. Her parents can’t afford airfare to Aunt Nicole’s in Philadelphia. The roof leaked, their savings took a hit, and Dad has been picking up extra shifts at the mill. Hannah’s body tenses as her mother explains, and the pain in Mom’s voice cuts through her like a knife. Hannah tries to find a solution. Maybe they can drive? No, Dad can’t take more time off. Maybe Hannah can fly home to Ransom? Her mother’s answer is swift and absolute: no.
That “no” carries the weight of everything Hannah left behind. Ransom, Indiana, is not just a small town to her. It is a place where she became a pariah. It is a place where the one time she returned after high school, her father ended up in jail for assault. It is a place haunted by the worst experience of her life. Hannah’s silence says more than words ever could, and her mother hears it. Mom tells her sternly that she is not coming back. They would love to see her on Thanksgiving, but they will not put their happiness ahead of hers. It is bad enough that they are still stuck in that godforsaken town. There is no reason for Hannah to ever step foot there again.
Except there is. Her parents are there. The people who raised her, who love her unconditionally, who stood by her through the most horrific experience of her life. And now they are trapped in a town that despises them—because of her.
That guilt is the heartbeat of this chapter. Hannah knows she was able to leave, and they were not. Her parents are planning to move as soon as they can, but the real estate market is down, and with the second mortgage they took out to pay her legal fees, selling now would bankrupt them. Dad’s renovations will raise the house’s value eventually, but in the meantime, they are bleeding money. Hannah swallows the lump in her throat and offers to send them her savings for the mortgage. Her mother doesn’t object, and that silence tells Hannah everything: things are worse than they have been letting on.
Hannah also mentions the showcase scholarship. If she wins it, she can cover her residence and meal fees for next year, so her parents won’t have to worry about those expenses. Her full scholarship from Briar only covers tuition. The rest has been on Mom and Dad. It is another way Hannah tries to carry a burden that was never supposed to be hers.
Then, because mothers always know how to pivot, Mom asks if there is a new boyfriend. Hannah’s cheeks heat as she thinks about Justin. She admits there is someone she is interested in, though they are not dating. Mom laughs and tells her to ask him out. Hannah deflects. Taking things slow is her way of saying she hasn’t gone on a single date since Devon. The conversation moves on to Mom’s new manager, her cashier job, Dad’s model planes, the dog’s antics, and the vegetable garden. But what is missing is just as loud as what is present. No friends. No dinners in town. No community events. Like Hannah, her parents are the town pariahs. Unlike Hannah, they didn’t race out of Indiana like their asses were on fire. She had needed a fresh start. She just wishes they could have one too.
By the time they hang up, Hannah is caught between overwhelming joy and profound sorrow. She loves talking to her mother, but knowing she won’t see her parents on Thanksgiving makes her want to cry. Fortunately, Allie pops into the room before Hannah can surrender to the sadness. She wants breakfast, and she suggests taking Tracy’s car. Hannah insists on anywhere but Della’s, because eating where you work always means getting roped into a shift. They settle on the dining hall.
Allie sprawls on Hannah’s bed as Hannah gets dressed, and when she learns Hannah isn’t seeing her parents for Thanksgiving, she invites Hannah to New York with her. It is a tempting offer, but Hannah can’t afford it. She promised to send money home, and she doesn’t want to drain her savings on a train ticket and a weekend in the city. Allie says she would pay if she could, but she is broke from the Mexico trip she took with Sean. Hannah refuses to let her pay anyway. They joke about being starving artists after graduation, though Allie insists they will be famous right out of the gate—Hannah with a multi-record deal, Allie starring in a rom-com alongside Ryan Gosling, who will fall madly in love with her and live with her in a Malibu beach house. Hannah laughs, but she also worries. Allie is the most compassionate person she has ever met. She turned down a free ride to UCLA’s drama program to stay on the East Coast because her father has multiple sclerosis and she wanted to be close enough to get to New York at a moment’s notice. Hollywood might eat her alive, but Allie is strong, sweet, and fiercely ambitious. If anyone can make their dreams come true, it is her.
Then Allie mentions dinner with Sean and probably crashing at his place. Hannah grins and asks if they are getting serious again. Allie admits maybe. They have both grown up since the last breakup, and right now they are good together. Plus, the sex is fan-fucking-tastic.
That word—fantastic—lands differently on Hannah. She smiles, but inside she wonders what that even feels like. Her sex life has not been sunshine and rainbows and sparkly tiaras. It has been fear and anger and years of therapy. Two years after the rape, she slept with a college freshman she met in Philly. They spent the whole summer together, but the sex was awkward and lacking passion. She thought maybe they just didn’t have chemistry, until the same thing happened with Devon. Devon and Hannah had chemistry that could set a room on fire. She was with him for eight months, insanely attracted to him, but she couldn’t get past her sexual dysfunction. She couldn’t have an orgasm with him. It is mortifying to remember, and even more humiliating to recall how frustrating it was for Devon. He tried to please her. He tried so hard. And it wasn’t that Hannah couldn’t have orgasms on her own—she could. Easily. But she couldn’t make it happen with Devon, and eventually he grew tired of working so hard and seeing no results. So he dumped her. Hannah doesn’t blame him. She thinks it must be a major hit to a guy’s manhood when his girlfriend doesn’t enjoy their sex life.
Allie notices Hannah has gone pale and asks if she is all right. Hannah lies by omission, blaming Thanksgiving. Allie softens and says seeing her parents at Christmas is everything. Then she tells Hannah to brush her teeth and make herself beautiful. She will have coffee waiting. Hannah calls her the best wifey ever, and Allie jokes that she is going to spit in her coffee for that. It is a light ending to a chapter that is secretly carrying so much pain.
## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
As a reader, this chapter hit me harder than any hockey scene could. It is not loud or dramatic in the usual sense, but it is emotionally devastating in the best way. We already knew Hannah was guarded, but here we see exactly why. Her guilt over her parents, her fear of Ransom, her financial stress, and her sexual trauma all collide in one quiet Sunday morning. The contrast between Allie’s easy hope and Hannah’s buried shame is beautifully written. This chapter makes Hannah feel real, fragile, and incredibly strong at the same time.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
Based on where this chapter leaves us, I predict the next chapter will shift back to Garrett’s point of view—or at least bring him crashing into Hannah’s orbit again. Hannah is emotionally raw, hiding her pain, and pretending everything is fine. Garrett has been slowly noticing her, and I think he is going to catch on that something is wrong. Maybe during a tutoring session, he pushes just enough to make her crack, or maybe he overhears something about Thanksgiving and offers her a place to go. There is also the unresolved tension with Justin, and I suspect the “deal” between Hannah and Garrett is about to get more complicated. My guess? Garrett will do something unexpectedly sweet, Hannah will try to keep her walls up, and one small moment will make her feel seen in a way she hasn’t felt in years. And knowing this book, that moment will also be charged with enough tension to make us all swoon.
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