Hope's Chance

by Jennifer Foor

  “What do you mean? Why did he call?” I started worrying Chance had spilled the beans about our night together. Or worse, maybe someone had told my father he saw me running down the road.

  “I had a bad day at work. I got laid off last night. When I got home I called your father and gave him a piece of my mind. He is living in that fancy community, but has never made an effort to pay me a cent in child support.”

  “Oh, so what happened.”

  “He thinks it would be a good idea for you to move in there for a while.”

  “What? No way Mom! No way.”

  She sat down on the bed beside me. “Honey, your grandmother is doing bad. She needs to go into a home. In order for me to afford for her to do that, I will have to sell the house. I don’t have a choice.”

  “There has to be another way.” I begged.

  “Hope, your father has a huge house. I have been in the neighborhood. He has plenty of room for you. He seemed excited about you coming to live with him.”

  I started crying. The first reason was about my grandmother. The second was the fact that my mother had no job, and the third…well that was the fact that I would have to see Chance again.

  “Please don’t do this.” I fell into her lap.

  She stroked my hair. “When you turn eighteen you can live wherever you want honey. It is just until the end of the year.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “While the house is for sale I will stay here. Once the sale is finalized, I will find a place to rent. I will find another job, even if it is cleaning hotel rooms.”

  My mother held me while we both cried. This was so sudden. It had to be a nightmare.

  Chance

  “Chance wake up.” I heard my sister say.

  “What?”

  She threw me a pack of cigarettes. “Here I know you want one.”

  “Thanks.”

  I started opening the wrapper while she sat down in front of me. Instead of sitting on the chair she sat on the table.

  “Tables are made for glasses not asses Buff.”

  “Shut up and listen to me Chance. I need to talk to you about something really important.”

  This was it, Mark was making her kick me out. He didn’t want a suspected felon living on his property. I would be homeless and jobless.

  I lit up the cigarette in the house, which was something I never did. I took in the biggest drag.

  “Mark’s daughter is coming to live with us.”

  The smoke attacked my lungs and I began gagging. I hunched over trying to get myself to breathe. “What did you say?”

  “Her mother is having financial difficulties. She and Mark discussed it last night. It is best for her. We have plenty of room here at the house. She just graduated High school and she is such a nice girl. Maybe she even has some older friends you could get to know.”

  “Did you just say High School?”

  “Yeah, Mark said she will need to stay with us at least until she turns eighteen.”

  I froze in place.

  “If you are worried about the police… don’t. Her mother has no idea what happened to you. Everything will be fine.” She said assumingly.

  “Maybe I should just start making my own meals out here.” I suggested.

  “Don’t be silly. We can all eat together, as a family.”

  Buffy leaned over and gave me a kiss before walking out of the pool house.

  I was in deeper shit than I ever could have imagined. Hope was only seventeen. I didn’t need to worry about going to jail. Her father was going to murder me.

  I didn’t know what to do. I was panicking. I even considered turning myself into the authorities, confessing to something that I hadn’t even done. It would have been better than Mark finding out I had slept with his underage daughter.

  I had dug myself in so deep that there was no escape. I couldn’t live with Hope. I couldn’t be near her. I had been horrible to her. She hated me.

  I was probably the biggest regret of her life.

  I grabbed my keys and my helmet and headed out of the house. Even if my sister started chasing me down the driveway, I wasn’t going to stop.

  Chapter 10

  Hope

  For the next week I begged my mother to reconsider her arrangement with my father. I could tell that it was the hardest decision she had ever made, but she wouldn’t budge on the outcome. I had even asked Rylee’s parents if I could live with them, but my mother refused the offer when they made it, claiming I needed this time with my father.

  Once my car was filled to the brim with all of my belongings, I hugged my mom. We had shed enough tears in the last week to fill a river. When I got into the car and pulled away, she waved one last time. She was only a phone call away. I could see her whenever I wanted.

  I couldn’t be mad at her. My grandmother’s Alzheimer’s had gotten so bad that she didn’t know us anymore. She needed to be under full time supervised care.

  My mother managed to get a job at the front desk of the Nursing home. She said the hours were crappy, but the pay was good. She would be able to easily afford a one bedroom apartment on her own. That put my mind at ease.

  When I finally arrived at my dad’s house, the welcoming committee had come out to greet me. Buffy and my father stood in the driveway.

  “Eeeek! I am so excited about you staying with us.” Buffy exclaimed.

  My father, surprisingly, took me in for a hug. “You are going to love it here honey. I promise.” He said.

  I started grabbing my things out of the car, when I felt someone standing behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. I could feel his eyes burning into my back.

  “Hope, I want you to meet my brother Chance. Chance, this is Hope.” Buffy said as she stood between the both of us.

  I had no choice but to look at him. If I didn’t then they would suspect something. I didn’t want to be here and I knew he hated that I was, but I looked him right in the eye anyway.

  He brought his hand into mine. “Nice to meet you Hope.” His half smile and gorgeous eyes were irresistible.

  I shook his hand. “You too!”

  Chance acted like we had never met before, and as much as I wanted him to act that way, it made me more angry. How could he be so comfortable around me after what had happened between us? Was he born without a heart?

  I had to be cordial. I wasn’t eighteen and my parents had the final say in where I lived, whether I liked it or not. I had to make the best of things. It wasn’t like I had to see him all the time. I could stay in my room and he could stay out back. It would work. It was only until the end of the year.

  When the car was almost unpacked, Buffy and my dad went back into the house. They said they were going to cook on the grill to celebrate me moving in. That left Chance and I to grab the last two boxes from the back of the car.

  He leaned in and grabbed one of the boxes. “Here, this one seems lighter.” He said as he placed it into my arms. I started walking away before he grabbed the last box and managed to close the trunk. Once we made it upstairs I sat the box down and stared at the walls. They were white, just plain white. Chance started to say something to me, but Buffy came rushing in. “Before you get upset, your father and I decided you could choose what color you wanted to paint the room. Maybe tomorrow we can head to the hardware store and pick it up together. I think you should paint it bright pink.” She said as she walked back out of the room.

  Chance didn’t say anything at first, instead he let out a huge laugh. “I am sure you will love a pink room.” He said as he walked out of the room.

  I rolled my eyes. “Asshole.”

  Chance

  I had to get out of that room. That girl should have been named Trouble, not Hope. There was no hope for me when she was around. I kept telling myself that she was a minor, but the truth was that we were only a few years apart in age. It was just another excuse I was telling myself to get past what we had done. Things were different
now. We had to act like it never happened. She must have understood, because she went along with the introduction like she had rehearsed it. The night we spent together had been amazing. Maybe she didn’t think so, or maybe she hated me now for the way I had acted that morning.

  When I got downstairs, Mark and Buffy were out on the patio. He had the grill fired up and had started cooking the steaks. “Need any help?” I offered.

  “Actually, Buffy can you give us a minute alone? Guy talk.” He announced when she seemed confused.

  “What’s up Mark?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about my daughter.”

  Stay calm. He doesn’t know anything.

  “Sure Mark, what’s up?”

  “I just wanted to remind you that she is my only daughter and I expect you to be under your best behavior when you are around her. I know you have experienced a lot in college, and I just don’t want her to be influenced into frat life.”

  I had to smile at how he put it. I understood, but that part of my life was over. I was content on sitting home, drinking a beer and relaxing. “No problem Mark.”

  “And Chance….you can look, but don’t you dare take it any further. She isn’t old enough for you.”

  “Alright, no problem.” Too late!

  After he said that he turned back to his normal laid back self. I headed to the pool house to grab a cigarette while I waited for dinner to be ready.

  I had to ignore Hope. There wasn’t any way around it. Just thinking about her made me crazy.

  When I saw her walking out of the main house, I noticed she had changed into her bathing suit. I took a drag of my cigarette as I ducked back behind something so she couldn’t see me. She was stunning. I stood there remembering how every inch of her body felt against my skin. I closed my eyes and found myself visioning our time together.

  The outdoor kitchen faced the main house, which meant that Mark’s back was turned to me. Hope looked down at her chest and readjusted her two piece bikini, before diving right into the pool. It was like slow motion when her body came out of the water. Her skin glisten from the combination of the sun and the water and she ran her hands though her long wet hair.

  The last time I had seen her hair wet like that was when I found her in my shower hiding from Buffy. I couldn’t believe that she was here. How was I going to keep pretending that our night meant nothing? How could I be around her when she was almost naked?

  I heard Buffy calling me. I took another drag of my cigarette and I came out of my hiding spot. “What’s up sis?”

  “Get your suit on.” She said. I noticed her bright pink two piece. I shook my head and walked into the pool house to change.

  When I got in the pool, Buffy and Hope were having a conversation that I did not want to be included in. I started doing laps in the pool, doing my best to pretend Hope didn’t get to me. Keeping my distance was the only way that I saw things could work out.

  When we finally sat down to eat, Buffy had taken the spot next to Mark, which left me to sit next to Hope. This couldn’t get any harder. It was like teasing a dog with a t-bone. Not that I was comparing Hope to a piece of meat, but she definitely made my mouth water. Being next to her wet body was so hard. I wanted to look at her, to just peek one time, but I couldn’t chance that my sister or Mark would see me. I just promised him I wouldn’t touch his daughter. If he only knew she was all I could think about, and had been thinking about for over a week, he would have my hide.

  Buffy did most of the talking at dinner. I smiled when I saw Hope get up and run to the kitchen, only to bring back a bottle of ketchup, which she covered her steak with. Her dad looked like she killed a puppy.

  “Do you want some meat with that ketchup?” I asked.

  She gave me a dirty look and began eating her ketchup covered meat. “Don’t knock it until you try it. I have always put ketchup on my steak.”

  “I was just kidding with you anyway.” I said, but nobody seemed to care. They kept eating.

  When dinner was over we all hung out in the pool. Mark and I were discussing plans for the house, while Buffy and Hope talked about different ideas for decorating her new room. Knowing that she was so close to me was burning a hole into my mind. I wanted to look at her so bad, but there was never a safe moment to do it.

  When the mosquitoes started to bite, I thanked Mark for the meal and retired to the pool house. I couldn’t stand being that close to her any more. I was about to explode. A cold shower would be the only remedy for this fellow tonight.

  Chapter 11

  Hope

  I did everything I could to avoid Chance Avery. One of the things included joining a father daughter golf tournament with my father. It was a few towns over so we spent the night there. It was actually nice being able to hang out with my father, without Buffy. She was growing on me though, and I found myself enjoying her company.

  Rylee had been consumed with the new guy she met at the bar. She even told him that she was only eighteen and he was okay with it. I invited her over a few times, but between work and Tyler, she was always busy.

  Chance and I refused to speak to each other unless we were around my dad and Buffy. I managed to avoid him for a whole week between going away with my dad and unpacking my room.

  When my father and I got home from our trip, Buffy was on him like peanut butter to jelly. That night at dinner they gave each other googly eyes and were looking at each other like they were going to come across the table and start banging right in front of us.

  Later that night they came downstairs and announced they were going away for the entire weekend. Before I could grab my cell phone and make plans with Rylee, Buffy got one of her great ideas. “Oh I know what you could do this weekend. You could get your room painted.”

  My father smiled. “I can leave you a credit card to buy whatever you needed sweetie.”

  “And Chance can help.” Buffy added.

  I could tell that it was the last thing Chance wanted to do, but he put on a smile and agreed.

  I wanted to tell my father that it was a bad idea, that leaving was a bad idea, but then I would have to give him a reason why. That was never going to happen.

  I helped Buffy pack for the trip with my father, but I wished that I hadn’t. Her choice of clothing was not something I wanted to imagine my father liking. She may as well have been walking around topless.

  For the past two weeks I had been forced to watch countless hours of MTV with Buffy. We would sit in the kitchen and talk for hours. She told me about how she and Chance fought as kids, and what it was like growing up in Pennsylvania. She talked about her old boyfriends and being a cheerleader in high school. I tried to avoid talking about Chance, but since he was her brother, the topic always came up.

  I learned that he hated grape jelly. Riding on anything that spins made him throw up, and he was afraid of the doll Chucky from the movie Child’s Play.

  Even if Chance and I weren’t on speaking terms, or any terms at that, I found comfort in hearing about him. I couldn’t explain it. It was like the more I tried to stay away from him, and avoid thinking about him, the more I did the opposite. I thought about Chance from the time I woke up until the time I went to sleep and when I closed my eyes to sleep, the night we spent together replayed in my mind, until I woke up gasping for air.

  Being close to him was torturing me, but the thought of not seeing him made me even more upset. I didn’t know what to do, and I feared that this weekend would be even worse. Chance had made it abundantly obvious that we were not friends. I suspected that he’d found out I wasn’t yet eighteen. He had never asked when we were together, and I hadn’t thought it would matter. I made the choice to be with him. I initiated it that night.

  I still had about five whole months to be tortured by his cold shoulder and humiliating stares. Five months was not a lot when I looked at the big picture of life.

  I could do this. I could avoid him as much as possible while they were gone. It would be okay.
>
  Chance

  Leave it to my sister to plan a weekend away from the house. I was doing my damndest to stay away from Hope, and avoid her stares. After all this time I was sure she hated me. I couldn’t blame her. I hadn’t even begun to apologize for what I said to her after the night we spent together.

  Living here with her was becoming unbearable. It would be better if she had a job or went somewhere, but she didn’t. Instead she lay out by the pool day after day in her skimpy bikinis taunting me with her hot ass body. I found myself taking several cold showers during the week to keep from going completely insane. One day I had climbed on the roof to fix more missing shingles. She set a lounge chair up directly under me and started rubbing oil all over herself. I got so caught up in watching her, that I almost lost my balance and fell to my death.

  Yesterday she went for a run in the community. I had washed my bike around the side of the house and put it in the garage so it didn’t get dusty. She thought nobody was home, but I was in the pool house having lunch. The next thing I knew she was stripping down to her bra and panties, swimming laps in the pool. When she climbed out I could see her hard nipples through her white bra.

  Day after day something would happen and I would see it firsthand. It was torture. I was back to smoking almost a pack of cigarettes a day just to relieve some of the stress I was undergoing.

  My sister and Mark were due to leave tomorrow morning. They decided to have a nice family dinner tonight before they left. My sister had cooked Italian, which was my favorite. She made homemade bread and the house was filled with the scent of yeast and garlic. The formal dining room had finally been painted and the new furniture was delivered last week. Buffy had set out candles and lit them around the table. She looked on the internet to find how a fancy place setting should look and did her best to mimic it.

  Per her request, we all dressed up and met in the dining room at a quarter to six. I decided on wearing what I had wore to the bar the night Hope had come home with me. Part of it was because I still hadn’t unpacked the boxes in my closet, but the other reason was because I knew it would drive Hope insane to see me wearing it again. The last time I had these clothes on, she had been the one to remove them.