# Chapter 8: The Song That Changed Everything
Hello everyone, it’s me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 8 of *“The Deal: Off Campus.”* If you’re ready, grab a cozy seat, maybe a cup of coffee or tea, because this chapter is a beautiful mix of frustration, music, vulnerability, and the kind of text-message banter that makes you grin at your phone like an idiot. We’re diving into Hannah’s stormy evening, Garrett’s unexpected softness, and the moment where a simple study session turns into something far more intimate.
The chapter opens with Hannah storming out of the music building, absolutely fuming after another disastrous rehearsal with Cass. Allie calls, and within seconds she can tell something is wrong. Hannah doesn’t hold back. She tells Allie she wants to murder Cassidy Donovan—not in his sleep, but while he’s awake, so he can see the joy on her face. Dramatic? Yes. Understandable? Absolutely. Allie laughs and offers dinner and venting, but Hannah can’t. She has another tutoring appointment with Graham—Garrett Graham—and as much as she’d rather shower and watch TV, she knows Garrett will hunt her down if she cancels.
Allie is still amazed that Hannah caved about the tutoring thing. She asks how much Garrett is paying her, and Hannah, in a moment of pure panic, throws out the first number that comes to mind: “Uh, sixty.” Allie immediately assumes sixty dollars an hour and practically screams. She demands a steak dinner when Hannah is done. Hannah realizes with horror that a steak dinner is like three shifts of diner money. This is why people shouldn’t lie—it always comes back to bite you. She hasn’t told Allie the full truth about the arrangement with Garrett, mostly because she doesn’t want to admit how desperate she is to get Justin to notice her. Some things are too embarrassing to admit, even to your best friend.
Hannah takes a campus taxi to Garrett’s place. She lets herself in because nobody ever hears the bell over the TV or stereo, but tonight the house is quiet. She calls out, and Garrett’s muffled reply comes from upstairs. She finds him in his bedroom, wearing sweatpants and a white wifebeater that shows off his lean, muscular build and the black flame tattoo curling around his right bicep. Hannah can’t deny that his body is appealing. He’s not bulky like a linebacker—he’s long, sleek, and strong. She asks where his roommates are. It’s Friday night, so of course they’re out partying. Garrett sounds almost glum about it. Hannah teases him for choosing to study, but he reminds her he doesn’t party during the season. She hadn’t really believed him before, but now she’s starting to see he meant it.
They settle on the bed and get to work, but Hannah’s mind keeps drifting back to rehearsal. Anger simmers in her belly, and despite her shame, she lets her bad mood leak into the study session. She’s crabby, harsher than necessary, and when Garrett misinterprets the material for the third time, she snaps at him. Garrett finally cuts her off, frustration creasing his forehead. He tells her he’s not moving on until she tells him why she’s been biting his head off since she arrived. He even jokes about Loverboy ignoring her in the quad and asks if she’s on her period. Hannah is mortified and annoyed, but Garrett is stubborn. He crosses his arms and refuses to read another word until she talks.
So she does. She tells him about Cass, her duet partner, the bane of her existence. The song is fantastic, but Cass nitpicks every microscopic detail—the key, the tempo, the arrangement, even the clothes they’ll wear. And now he wants a choir to accompany them for the last chorus. A choir! After weeks of rehearsing a simple, understated duet meant to showcase their voices, Cass suddenly wants a huge production. On top of that, two minutes before rehearsal ends, he decides they should change the arrangement. And Mary Jane, the girl who wrote the song, just sits there saying nothing. She clams up whenever they fight, when she should be voicing an opinion and trying to resolve the issue.
Garrett listens, then says something surprising: he wants to hear the song. Hannah is shocked. Why would he want that? Because she’s been babbling about it since the moment he met her. He offers to be the judge. If Mary Jane doesn’t have the guts to give legitimate criticism, he will. He tells Hannah to sing both versions—the way it is now and the way Cass wants it—and he’ll tell her what he thinks. He leaves and returns with an acoustic guitar borrowed from Tuck. Hannah is reluctant. She’s not going to serenade him. But Garrett flashes that boyish grin, and damned if she doesn’t cave. He really has mastered that little boy look—except he’s not a little boy. He’s a man with a big, strong body and a chin that lifts in determination.
Garrett lies down on the bed, resting his head on a mountain of pillows. Hannah accepts the guitar, test-strums it, and begins. She tells him to pretend there’s a guy joining her in the first chorus and singing the second verse. Then she takes a breath, plays the opening chords, and starts to sing. She doesn’t look at Garrett because she’s already somewhere else, lost in the melody and the words. Music has always been her escape. When she sings, the world disappears. It’s just her and the music and a deep sense of tranquility she’s never been able to find anywhere else. Even after the rape, music was there for her. Whenever things got too overwhelming or painful, she’d go to the piano or pick up her guitar, and she’d know joy wasn’t out of reach. It was always within her grasp, always available as long as she could sing.
The song is hauntingly beautiful, and even without Cass’s rich baritone, it still packs the same heart-wrenching emotion. When the final note lingers in the air, Hannah floats back to the present. She turns to Garrett, but his face is expressionless. She doesn’t know what she expected—praise? Mockery? But not silence. She asks if he wants to hear Cass’s version. He nods. That’s it. A quick jerk of the head and nothing more. His shuttered face unsettles her, so this time she closes her eyes. She moves the bridge, adds the second chorus, and when she finishes, she honestly prefers the original. This second version drags, and the extra chorus is overkill. To her surprise, Garrett agrees. “It’s too long when you do it like that,” he says gruffly. He tells her to forget the choir. She doesn’t need it. Hell, he doesn’t think she needs Cass. Then he shakes his head in amazement. “Your voice is… fuck, Wellsy, it’s beautiful.”
Hannah’s cheeks heat up. She asks if he really thinks so. His impassioned expression tells her he’s dead serious. Then he orders her to play something else. She asks what he wants to hear. “Anything. I don’t care.” His voice is intense, his gray eyes glittering with emotion. “I just need to hear you sing again.” Hannah is startled. Her whole life people have told her she’s talented, but other than her parents, nobody has ever pleaded with her to sing to them. “Please,” he says softly. So she sings. An original piece first, but it’s still rough, so she switches to “Stand By Me.” It’s her mom’s favorite song, the one she sings to her every year for her birthday, and the memory carries her away to that peaceful place again.
Halfway through, Garrett’s eyes flutter shut. Hannah watches the steady rise and fall of his chest, her voice cracking from the emotion behind the lyrics. Her gaze travels to his face, and she notices a small white scar on his chin, bisecting the stubble shadowing his jaw. She wonders how he got it. Hockey? An accident when he was a kid? His eyes stay closed for the rest of the song, and as she strums the last chord, she’s decided he must be asleep. She lets the last note trail off and sets down the guitar. But before she can rise from the bed, Garrett’s eyes pop open. “Oh. You’re awake,” she says, swallowing. “I thought you were sleeping.” He slides up into a sitting position, his tone laced with sheer awe. “Where did you learn to sing like that?”
Hannah shrugs awkwardly. She’s far too modest to sing her own praises. She tells him it’s just something she’s always been able to do. He asks if she took lessons. She shakes her head. He jokes that she must have just opened her mouth one day and that came out. She laughs and says he sounds like her parents. Everyone in her family is tone deaf. They still can’t figure out who she got the music gene from. Garrett tells her he needs an autograph so he can sell it on eBay when she’s cleaning up at the Grammys. Hannah sighs and says the music business is tough. For all she knows, she’ll crash and burn. But Garrett is convinced she won’t. Then he tells her she’s making a mistake singing a duet for the showcase. She should be on that stage alone. If she sits there with a single spotlight and sings like she just did, she’ll give everyone in the audience chills.
Hannah thinks he might be right—not about the chills, but that she made a mistake teaming up with Cass. But it’s too late. She’s already committed. Garrett suggests she back out, but Hannah refuses. That’s a dick move. She challenges him: would he let his teammates down if they were counting on him? He answers without hesitation: never. Then what makes him think she’d do that? Garrett says quietly, “Because Cass isn’t your teammate. From the sound of it, he’s been working exclusively against you from the start.” Hannah is afraid he’s right, but she committed to the duet, and her word means something. She has to follow through.
Then she notices the time and curses. Her ride is probably waiting. She quickly slides off the bed and says she has to pee first. Garrett snickers and says, “TMI.” She tells him people pee, and he should deal with it. When she comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Garrett wears the most innocent expression on the planet. So of course, she’s instantly mistrustful. She stares at the books and her messenger bag, but nothing seems out of place. She demands to know what he did. He says nothing. Then he reminds her he has a game tomorrow night, so their next session will have to be Sunday. Late afternoon-ish. She agrees, but she can’t fight the suspicion that he’s up to something.
Fifteen minutes later, in her dorm room, her jaw drops. A text from Garrett comes in: “Confession: I deleted all the 1 Direction from your phone when you were in the can. You’re welcome.” Hannah is outraged. She types back, “WHAT?? I’m going to kiss you!” It takes her a second to realize what happened, and then she’s completely mortified. She quickly corrects: “Kill you! I meant KILL you. Damn autocorrect.” Garrett, of course, pounces on it. “Surrrrrre. Let’s blame it on autocorrect.” She tells him to shut it. He says, “I think someone wants to kiss me…” She replies, “Good night, Graham.” He asks if she’s sure she doesn’t want to come back and give their tongues some exercise. She says, “Ew. Never.” He sends, “Uh-huh. PS—check your email. I sent you a Spotify playlist. Actual music.” She tells him it’s going straight to her trash folder. But she’s grinning as she sends it.
Allie chooses that exact moment to wander into Hannah’s room. She asks who Hannah is texting. She’s drinking one of her nasty juices, and the straw pops out of her mouth as she gasps, “Holy shit! Is it Justin?” Hannah says no, just Graham. He’s being an annoying jackass as per usual. Allie teases, “What, you two are friends now?” Hannah falters. It’s on the tip of her tongue to deny it, but it feels wrong when she remembers she spent the past two hours confiding in Garrett about Cass and then serenading him like a troubadour. And honestly, as insufferable as he is at times, Garrett Graham isn’t as bad as she thought. So she offers a rueful grin and says, “Yeah. I guess we are.”
## Reader’s Impressions & Star Rating
This chapter is pure magic in the way it balances Hannah’s fiery frustration with Garrett’s unexpected tenderness. The rehearsal drama with Cass makes you want to fight him on Hannah’s behalf, but the real gold is watching Garrett listen to her sing. The moment he says, “I just need to hear you sing again,” gave me actual chills. It’s not just flirting—it’s awe, vulnerability, and the beginning of something deeper. The text exchange at the end is hilarious and perfectly captures their banter. The “kiss/kill” autocorrect mishap is chef’s kiss. This chapter deepens both characters and makes their connection feel earned, not rushed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
After that Spotify playlist and the “kiss” autocorrect disaster, I predict the next chapter will lean even harder into the electric tension between Hannah and Garrett. Garrett has a game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Hannah somehow ends up there—maybe dragged by Allie or unable to avoid it. Seeing him in his hockey element could shift the way she sees him. Meanwhile, Cass will likely escalate the duet drama, and Hannah may start seriously considering the solo Garrett suggested. The Sunday tutoring session is bound to be charged with everything left unsaid. And if Garrett keeps pushing her buttons with playful texts, Hannah might soon have to admit that her feelings for the cocky hockey player are becoming a lot more complicated than “just friends.”
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