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Post by Thursday on Apr 1, 2006 22:09:58 GMT -5
"What's for dinner?" I asked dad as I walked outside to the front porch where he stood gazing out over the lawn and the street. I came and stood beside him and he put his arm around my shoulders. "I'm thinking pizza." He said with a laugh. It was a private joke between us. Every time I asked what was for dinner he told me pizza getting my hopes up. "Ha, ha, Dad. Really." "Actually our new neighbors asked us over for dinner." He replied. I groaned. I hated eating with strangers. "Do we have to?" I said in my most whine voice. "Yes, we do." He said back in the same voice. I smiled. "They have a son and daughter about your age so at least you'll have someone to talk to." He said lightly. "Okay, I'll go get ready." I ran inside and started up the stairs to my room. I stopped when I caught sight of my mother's picture on the mantle of the fireplace. I retraced my steps down the stairs and walked towards it. It was my favorite picture of my mother. We were at the zoo for my 3rd grade field trip. She was standing beside the monkey cage, a goofy grin on her face. I smiled remembering the day. I had started at cry after a mean boy had pulled my hair. She had been trying to make me feel better. Of course it helped when she chased the boy down and dragged him by his ear back to his parents. I felt a pang of sadness as I remembered her. "I love you, Mom." I whispered." where ever you are."
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Post by Thursday on Apr 1, 2006 23:17:54 GMT -5
Back upstairs in my room I chewed my thumb nail trying to decide what to wear. How to make the perfect first impression? I wondered. I decided on a flowy cotton skirt in a deep blue that matched my eyes and ended around my calves and the white blouse with a pearl lined V-neck. I took my hair out of the ponytail I'd had it in for unpacking and shook it out around my shoulders. It was wavy from being up all day but somethings can't be helped. I stood in front of my mirror (yes the one and same). I couldn't help but sigh as I remembered the other occasions I'd stood at this mirror. I wasn't prepared for these feelings to came back after I'd worked so hard to suppress them these past few months. I took a deep breath and walked outside to my balcony. The sun was just starting to set and the entire street was bathed in a rosy glow. It was so beautiful. I rested my hands and gazed out into the horizon until my Dad walked outside and yelled for me to hurry up. I took one last look and started downstairs.
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Post by Brett on Apr 2, 2006 20:39:37 GMT -5
I stood nervously at the front door with my Dad as he rang the doorbell. It opened and a nice looking blond woman appeared. "Charles, so good to see you again and this must be Hope!" She said she had a high pitched voice that made me smile. "Yes, nice to meet you." I said in my princessy voice as I shook her hand. "Come on in and meet everyone," she said. The moment I walked in the door I was hit by a flying ball of fur that after it knocked me down and sat on my chest, licking my face like it was an ice cream cone I realized it was a dog. A very, very big dog. I burst out laughing. This dog was too cute. In a huge kind of way. "Sam!" yelled a male voice. In walked a boy around my age. If I hadn't already had my breath knocked out of me by the dog the sight of this guy would have. He had longish, shaggy blond hair and the kind of handsome, okay downright hot that seemed like it was totally by accident. When he grabbed the dog's collar to get him off of me, he looked straight in my eyes and said, "Are you okay?" I laughed and took the hand he offered to me to help me stand up. "I'm fine. What was that?" I asked as I tried to wipe dog slobber off my face. I couldn't help but notice he was still holding my hand. Chills were running up and down my arm. But they were the good kind of chills. "That was my dog, Sam, short for Samson." He said. Regretfully I noticed he had dropped my hand. "Perfect name." "Yeah, I'm Quinn." "Hope." "Well Hope, I hope you'll forgive me for my rude dog's behavior." I rolled my eyes at the pun I had heard so many times. "Don't tell me you left him inside!" exclaimed a girl as she walked in. I could tell this was his sister. They looked so much alike I figured they had to be twins. " I'm Macy," said the girl. She had long straight brown hair, the kind I've always wanted. She was wearing a cute summer dress that was covered with pink polka dots. I could we were going to be friends. "I'm Hope." "Nice to meet you, Hope. I see you've met my airhead brother and his dog." Quinn put his hand over his heart as if she had wounded him. "Thanks sis. I'll be sure to tell Jason what a great sister you've been." he said sarcastically. Macy gave him a playful shove. "You'll have to excuse him. He's suffering from a disease called Can't Leave his Sister Alone for Five Minutes." "Yeah, well at least I'm not dating that jerk Jason." he replied. "You don't mean Jason Wilson, do you?" I asked. I hoped not. I had history with Jason and not the good kind. "Yeah, do you know him?" asked Macy. "Know him, dated him, got cheated on by him." Macy's mouth opened in shock as her brother rolled his eyes and muttered "told you so!" under his breath. "We have got to talk!" Exclaimed Macy and she grabbed my arm and started pulling me up the stairs. "Nice to meet you Hope. See you later." Quinn called up to me. "Wait, where are you going? Aren't you staying for dinner?" asked Macy. "I've got other plans." he answered and with that he walked out the door. "Men," spat Macy in disgust. "Ain't it the truth," I agreed. and just like that I'd made a new friend.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 6, 2006 18:20:57 GMT -5
Upstairs Macy gave me the abbreviated tour, anxious to get the dirt on Jason. We got to her room and she immediately flopped down on her bed and said, "So, what's the story on Jason? I have to know. Quinn's a pain, but he's usually right. If you say he's a jerk, I'll believe you and then I can say I dumped him because you told me to." I laughed. Macy was a girl who obviously wasted no time.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 6, 2006 18:34:53 GMT -5
"There's not much to tell. I dated him briefly last year. I broke up with him and found out afterwards he was cheating on me." "So, why did you break up with him?" she asked. This I was dreading . It was while I was dating Jason that I found out about my mom. That's why I broke up with him. I didn't want to be that girl whose mom died. I just wanted to be me, Hope. "I just wasn't very into him anymore. Frankly he's a bore." Macy laughed. "Are you a poet or something?" I laughed back. "The C I got in English last year would probably mean no." As Macy and I got to talking I knew I had found a good friend. She wouldn't take the place of Anna and Madison, but it was nice being around someone who didn't treat you as you would break down and cry if you said the wrong thing. She was totally opposite of me. She was loud and outgoing. I was quieter and cautious of risks. She loved to make daring fashion choices while I was more conservative. She and her brother had moved here a few months ago and had previously tended a private school. I blushed at the mention of Quinn's name. There was just some thing about him.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 9, 2006 7:55:59 GMT -5
"You aren't into my brother, are you?" asked Macy raising her eyebrows. I blushed. "No...no!" I stammered. "Sure,"Macy said doubtfully. "No, I'm really not. I don't even know him and besides I'm not dating right now." "Why?" "My dad wants me to focus on my grades this year." "That sucks." "Tell me about it." Inwardly I sighed in relieve. Maybe I could delay the inevitable.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 11, 2006 20:08:09 GMT -5
Later we went downstairs to dinner. The adults I saw hadn't missed us at all and it was obvious that they had probably had one too many glasses of wine. We giggled at our parents drunkiness and grabbed some pizza and snuck outside to the front porch.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 14, 2006 0:48:52 GMT -5
As we were eating and talking, a blue Ford Focus pulled up and out climbed Quinn. As he walked up I was again struck by how cute he was. "Hey, guys," he said. "Um.. We're not guys! We're girls in case you haven't noticed." said Macy. Quinn rolled his eyes. "I noticed." He ran his hand through his hair and sat next down next to me on the concrete step.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 14, 2006 3:13:49 GMT -5
"I'm getting more pizza. You want some Hope?" asked Macy. "I'm fine." Macy walked into the house leaving me alone with Quinn. Yikes.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 14, 2006 3:17:42 GMT -5
"So, did you set her straight about Jason?" asked Quinn turning to me. "I think so. He really is a jerk." "I know. I knew it the moment I saw him. He is a slimeball." "Tell me about it." "How did you end up dating him anyway? You don't seem like you would make that kind of judgement error." I sighed. "It's a long story." "I've got time."
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Post by Thursday on Apr 14, 2006 11:42:40 GMT -5
I turned towards him and just looked at him. He had a strange expression on his face that made me blush slightly. It felt like something passed between us. Unseen and unheard. I felt like I could trust him with the truth. I took a deep breath and started my story. "I was going through a hard time with my parents and I wanted to rebel. I knew Jason's rep before I went out with him but I didn't care." Quinn looked like he wanted to ask a question but he remained silent. " I started to go out with him and I fell in with the wrong crowd. My friends kept trying to pull me back, but I wouldn't let them until..." My voice caught in my chest. I wasn't ready to tell this. I turned away from Quinn and looked the other way until I felt him touch my hand. "It's okay., Hope. You don't have to explain. Not now." I laughed nervously. "Thank you, Quinn. I'll tell you someday." "What about Macy?" "Maybe her too. When I'm ready." He started to say something but was interrupted by Macy loudly exiting through the screen door. "I'm back. You guys miss me?" she annouced. Quinn I noticed had dropped my hand. "C'mon Hope you have to see it. Our parents are doing the Macarena!" I laughed and walked with her back inside. I turned back and saw Quinn staring off into the sunset. There was just something about him and I was going to figure it out. But not right now.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 15, 2006 20:21:10 GMT -5
When my mom dropped her bomb on us it felt like the world was ending. Everything felt different and out of place. My grades started to slip a little bit more every time my mom went to doctor and everytime she had chemo(which she only agreed to after my dad begged her). When I saw her hair fall in chunks to the ground and her sad tired eyes look at me. My whole life was spinning out of control. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. Going to parties where I drank more alcohol than the town drunk. It numbed the pain if only for a few hours. I drifted away from my friends and my old life and existed in a world I could control. My parents didn't understand. Especially my mom. She tried to talk to me time and time again. But I was afraid to be with her. Afraid to face her. It happened one day when my parents had begged me to go with them on a road trip. I agreed because the look I saw in my mom's eyes was heart breaking. We drove to Heartland State Park. The place where my parents had met and where we had often gone for family picnics in the spring. It was an intervention. I parents and I had to huge talk with tons of crying and hugs. I explained as best I could why I had acted like I did and my mom understood. She told me not to be afraid. That it would all be okay. My dad and I would move on and she would be with us all the way. The last thing she said to me that day was, " I always be with you, Hope. When I'm gone you will have your father and your friends. You will never be alone. Remember that." And two weeks later, she was.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 15, 2006 20:27:37 GMT -5
The next few weeks flew by so fast. Macy and I become inseparable and surprisingly enough Quinn and I became friends as well. Quinn knew something about me that Macy didn't. He didn't know what and he never pried. But I could tell when I sometimes found him looking at me curiously that he wanted to know. Little did I know, it wouldn't be long before he found out.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 15, 2006 23:32:52 GMT -5
"Hey, Hope!" I looked up from watching Sam, who I was walking for Quinn while he and Macy and their parents were out of town and saw Anna walking towards me with her puppy, Lucy. "Hey!" I said back. "How's the new house?" "Great." "Don't tell me you got a dog? He's huge!" I laughed. "No! He's our new neighbor's." " Oh! He's adorable." exclaimed Anna as she bent down to pet him. "What are the neighbors like?" she asked as we started walking again. "They're great. They have a son and daughter about our age." "Is he cute?" asked Anna grinning. I rolled my eyes but smiled. It was nice to have someone to talk about how extemely cute I found Quinn. "His name is Quinn and he's hot. But his sister, Macy is my friend and I can't let her know!" Anna giggled. "You'll have to introduce me and Madison to them." "I will. You guys are always welcome at my house." "Thanks, Hope. I'm glad you're doing better." I looked at the ground and sighed. I was doing better, but talking about it brought back memories. "Me, too." "So, are you going to pursue this Quinn guy?" "No, he's just my friend and you know better than anyone I'm really not ready to date again." "I know, Hope, but it's been almost eight months, you have to move on. It's what she would have wanted." "I know Anna and I will when I'm ready. I already am, but I just can't handle a relationship right now." "Okay. I got to get home, but I'll talk to you later, okay?" "Sure," I replied. I watched her retreated figure for a moment and started back to my house. It was good to talk about how I was really feeling.
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Post by Thursday on Apr 17, 2006 21:40:03 GMT -5
I was flopped across the couch in the living room mindlessly flipping through the channels when the doorbell rang. I ran a hand through my unwashed hair and jumped up to answer it. It was Quinn. "Hey," I said as I opened it. "Hey, Hope." "What's going on?" "I kind of need to talk to someone and Macy's out with her new guy. Can I come in for a little while?" I was surprised and curious and interested all at one time. "Yeah, sure." I replied and stood aside to let him through. He was instantly drawn to the plethora of photos spread across the mantle. "Aww!! Aren't you cute?" he said holding up the picture of me in a duck costume one year at Halloween. "Ha, ha." I watched him for a moment and turned around to switch off the T.V. "Who's this?" he asked in a soft voice. "Wh-" I started to say but the second I turned around I saw. The picture of my mother. I remained silent. "It's your mom, isn't it Hope?" he asked quietly. "Yeah." I sat down on the edge of the couch and looked at the ground. Quinn came over and sat beside me. "You don't have to talk about it." I laughed nervously. "I guess you would have found out sooner or later. Just don't tell Macy yet, okay?" "Of course." So I started the story. It was the first time I'd ever told it to an outsider, someone who didn't know it already. The party, the park, everything. Once I started I couldn't stop. It all spilled out like a volcano erupting. When I finished, I couldn't look at him until I heard him softly say my name. I got up and ran to my room, tears falling from my eyes. I ran to my balcony. i don't know how long I stood there until Quinn came. He didn't say a word, just put his arms around me and pulled me close. It was exactly what I needed.
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