# Chapter 43: Operation Believe It When You See It
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 43 of "The Deal: Off Campus." This is the chapter where Hannah comes back to campus with a plan, gets a face full of frozen humiliation, and then charges into a hockey locker room with enough fury to melt every icicle in Briar. So settle in, because we are about to unpack a beautifully messy turning point.
Hannah’s second day back on campus begins with a mission. She calls it Operation Believe It When You See It. The logic is simple, at least to her: if Garrett won’t back off, she needs to prove she is moving on. And the only way to prove that is to find a guy and go out on a date. Stat. The problem is, campus has apparently turned into a frozen wasteland of avoidance.
Her first opportunity appears at the Coffee Hut. It is snowing hard, the kind of snow that swallows boots and makes every step a small battle. Hannah stomps off the snow, gets in line, and spots a familiar profile ahead of her. Jimmy Paulson. Jimmy from British Lit and the Sigma party. They have history. In Hannah’s mind, that almost makes them practically a relationship. So after she orders her hot chocolate, she approaches him at the pick-up counter and tries to be casual.
Jimmy stiffens the second he hears her voice. He glances around like he is afraid of being seen with her. Hannah pushes forward anyway, reminding him they haven’t talked since October and suggesting they catch up. She asks if he wants to grab a coffee sometime. Jimmy’s answer is a masterpiece of panic: he says he doesn’t drink coffee—while holding a coffee cup. Then he gulps, claims he is meeting someone on the other side of campus, and bolts out the door like an Olympic sprinter. Hannah stares after him, confused and stung. Weird does not even begin to cover it.
The weirdness only grows as she trudges toward Bristol House. The snow slows everyone down, but it also gives Hannah time to notice something unsettling. When she was dating Garrett, people said hello, waved, smiled. Today, everyone seems to be going out of their way to avoid her. Especially the guys. They look right through her, like she has been shunned by the entire campus. It feels like disgraced Amish people must feel, and Hannah does not like it one bit.
She tries to formulate a new plan. Maybe she can call Dexter and go out tonight. Not Malone’s, though—Garrett might be there. Another bar in town, or the college rec hall. Anywhere she might meet a guy. Then, as she approaches Bristol, opportunity number two walks out of the building next door. Justin.
Unlike the rest of the world, Justin actually lifts a hand and waves. Hannah waves back, mostly out of relief that someone looks happy to see her. He calls her “stranger,” and they fall into conversation about winter break. He talks about Seattle, snowboarding, skiing, hot-tubbing. His dimples pop out, but Hannah feels nothing. In fact, the rumpled hair she once found adorable now just looks like a careful act. She can see gel. He is a phony, and she is not interested.
Still, he is the only guy who has looked her way today, and for a second she considers asking him out. But she stops herself. Hard. Garrett helped her make Justin jealous back in October. She canceled a date with Justin when she realized she wanted Garrett. And she knows how much Garrett dislikes him. There is no way she can open that door. It would be like sticking a knife in Garrett’s chest. So instead of asking him out, she just says hi, holds up her hot chocolate like it is part of the conversation, and tells him she is going inside.
Justin’s annoyed voice stops her. “What the fuck just happened?” The guilt pricks at her stomach, and she turns back. She apologizes. She admits she never meant to lead him on. When she said she would go out with him, she really wanted to at the time. Then pain lodges in her throat as she confesses the truth: she did not expect to fall for Garrett. Justin looks resigned. He says people never expect to fall for someone—it just happens. Hannah agrees. Garrett snuck up on her.
She meets Justin’s eyes and tells him she was genuinely interested in him. She never lied about that. Then she offers a reset. Friends. They can talk Hemingway sometimes. Justin’s lips twitch. He asks how she knows he likes Hemingway. She admits she may have done some recon back when she had a crush on him. Instead of calling her a stalker, he chuckles. After an awkward silence, he says he is up for giving the friend thing a shot and tells her to text him if she ever wants coffee. He wanders off, and a weight lifts off Hannah’s chest.
Upstairs in her dorm, she congratulates herself on averting a potential disaster, then returns to her mission. Allie is not back from New York until tomorrow. Stella is out of town. Dex vetoes a hangout because he is cramming for his last exam. Meg has plans with Jeremy. Hannah scrolls through her contacts until a name sparks her interest. The more she thinks about it, the more she likes the idea of making the call.
Allie’s boyfriend, Sean, picks up after several rings. Hannah asks what he is doing tonight and whether he wants to hang out. Sean immediately points out how weird this is. Hannah knows it is weird. Then she blurts out the real request: she was hoping they could hang out with some of his frat brothers, and maybe he could set her up with one of them. Sean refuses instantly. He says she is too good for any of those idiots, and Allie would kill him if he hooked her up with one of them. Then he clams up. Besides, he says, and stops.
Hannah demands he finish the sentence. Sean says he would rather not. She says she would rather he did. Suspicion snaps into overdrive. She asks if he knows why every guy on campus is suddenly treating her like she has an STD. Sean hesitates. “Maybe?” Hannah groans, threatens him, and finally Sean tells her. Whatever he says makes Hannah shriek in outrage: “He did what?”
Twenty minutes later, Hannah bursts through the doors of Briar’s hockey arena. The cold air slaps her cheeks, but it does nothing to cool the fire burning inside her. It is five thirty, which means Garrett and the team have just finished practice. She bypasses the rink doors and marches straight to the locker rooms in the back of the building. Her whole body is trembling from the force of her anger.
Garrett has officially stepped over the line. No—he is so far past the line that she cannot even see the stupid line. And there is no way she is letting him get away with this ludicrous, juvenile bullshit.
At the locker room door, one of the players walks out. Hannah barks a question about Garrett. The guy looks startled and starts to warn her, but she bulldozes past him and grabs the door handle. He protests behind her. She ignores him and bursts inside.
Penises. Sweet Jesus. Penises everywhere.
Horror slams into Hannah as she registers what she is seeing. It is a penis convention. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, and penis-shaped ones. Every direction she turns, there they are. Her mortified gasp draws the attention of every guy in the room. In a heartbeat, towels snap up, hands cover junk, and bodies shuffle around. Hannah stands in the front, blushing like a tomato.
A bare-chested Logan grins at her, one shoulder propped against his locker, trying very hard not to laugh. “Wellsy?” Hannah blurts out, “Penis—Logan. Hi.” She does her best to avoid visual contact with the half-naked men, all of whom are either grinning or blanching. She says she is looking for Garrett. Logan smirks and hooks his thumb toward a doorway in the back. Steam rolls out of it. The showers.
Hannah shoots him a grateful look and heads that way. Just as she does, Dean emerges from the steamy space. She sees his penis. He drawls, “Hey, Wellsy,” completely unfazed, and strolls naked toward his locker as if finding her there is a daily occurrence. Hannah charges forward, debating whether to close her eyes. Luckily, the showers have saloon-type doors and partitions. As she marches down the tiled floor, heads swivel. Birdie’s eyes widen when she passes him. He squeaks her name. She ignores him and keeps walking until she spots a familiar back. Golden skin. Tattoo. Dark hair. Garrett.
At the sound of her footsteps, he twists around and gapes at her. “Wellsy?”
Hannah stalks up to the half-door, levels him with her meanest scowl, and shouts, “What is the matter with you?”
And that is where the chapter leaves us—furious, embarrassed, and absolutely desperate to know what Garrett did and how he will possibly talk his way out of it.
## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
This chapter is a wild, wonderful mess in the best way. I felt Hannah’s frustration in my bones. The Coffee Hut rejection, the campus shunning, the Justin conversation—it all builds this perfect storm of humiliation and loneliness. The Justin scene is surprisingly tender. Hannah owns her mistakes, and Justin handles it with more grace than I expected. It is a lovely reminder that not every broken romantic thread has to end in bitterness.
Then the locker room. Oh my goodness. The comedy is pitch-perfect, but it never undercuts Hannah’s rage. Logan’s smirk, Dean’s casual nudity, Birdie’s squeak—it is chaotic, hilarious, and deeply human. And the cliffhanger? Brutal. We know Garrett did something spectacularly stupid, and I am ready for the explosion.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
Next chapter will almost certainly pick up right inside that steamy shower area. Garrett will have to explain himself, and I predict he will admit he spread that rumor—or something equally idiotic—because he could not stand the thought of other guys going after Hannah. He will probably try to justify it as protection or jealousy, and Hannah will tear that excuse apart. There will be shouting, maybe some water spray, and a lot of unresolved feelings. I also think we will get the first real crack in Garrett’s stubborn armor. He may finally admit how much he still wants her, and Hannah may be too angry to listen—at first. Expect fireworks, a confession, and possibly the beginning of a very messy reconciliation.
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