Hope's Chance

by Jennifer Foor

  Satisfied that Chance would be impressed, I headed downstairs. Buffy decided to wear something other than pink. She wore a navy blue suit that made her look a lot older than she normally dressed. A strand of pearls were wrapped around her neck and her hair was curled to perfection.

  “You look beautiful.” I said as she came downstairs.

  “So do you. Wow!” She replied.

  My father came down behind her and put his arms around Buffy’s waist. “You will be the two best looking women in the club tonight.”

  “We better be.” Buffy joked. “Hope, why don’t you go see if Chance is ready yet.”

  “Okay.” I said calmly, but really, I wanted to scream and jump up and down.

  I was wearing heels, which made it impossible to run toward the pool house. I adjusted my dress at least three times before making it to there. When I opened the door, I could smell Chance’s cologne. I followed the scent toward the bathroom and lost my breath at how handsome he looked.

  Chance was wearing a pair of black pants. His blue polo shirt displayed every muscle on his arms and chest. While he had been gone, I washed all of the clothes he had in boxes still and then hung them up. He obviously had appreciated my hard work by wearing one of the outfits.

  “Well don’t you clean up nice?” I joked.

  Chance took one look at me and flew out of the bathroom. “Hope. You look fantastic.” He said as he kissed me gently on the lips. “And thanks for the work you did in my closet.”

  “You are welcome.” I said as I wiped my lip-gloss off his lips. “They are waiting for us.”

  “Let me just get my wallet and I will be there.” He said as he started walking.

  I decided not to push my luck with my father and headed out to the driveway. As I approached the car, I heard Chance running to catch up behind me. “Sorry you guys had to wait.” He said.

  “It is fine Chance. Are we ready to go?” My dad asked.

  I interrupted. “Um dad, I was thinking I should drive my own car. If you guys want to stay late, I can head home early. I just want to have the option, you know?”

  My dad creased his brow and looked over to Buffy. She gave him a nod and his face calmed. “Probably a good idea Sweetie. You know how I get when I run into my golf buddies.”

  I started to walk alone to my car and heard Chance calling. “Hope wait! I will ride with you so you don’t have to drive alone.” He turned to face my dad. “Is that okay with you guys?”

  “Of course it is.” Buffy interrupted.

  Chance got into the passenger side before I had even opened my door. “Good plan.”

  “Thanks!” I said as I started the car.

  We got out of the driveway and followed my dad out of the community. Chance suggested that I not follow too close so he could kiss my hand and play with my hair. Luckily, when we came into town my father ran a yellow light and we stayed when it turned red. At the same exact time, we leaned into one another for a kiss. “I love you beautiful.” Chance said as he looked into my eyes.

  We were interrupted from our sweet moment when the person behind me started honking because the light had turned back to green.

  Chance

  That old woman had ruined our make-out session. If I hadn’t missed my girlfriend so much, I wouldn’t have minded. Hope welcoming me home was even better than I had thought it would be. She seemed different, but yet, still the same. Her hair was longer and something about her face made her seem more mature, but whatever it was, I loved it.

  Working that construction job had been pure Hell. There had been so many times where I wanted to buy a cheap car and come home. I played out in my mind how I would pick up Hope and we would drive as far away as we could.

  Hope and I would sit awake at night talking about everything. Mark had only made us stronger and now that I was back, I knew I needed to pull him aside and tell him I didn’t want to return to South Carolina. I would have appreciated the job if I hadn’t met Hope, but I had something to live for now and being away from her was killing me.

  As if she was reading my mind, Hope brought up the topic. “I am not going to let you get back on that plane Chance.”

  I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Are you going to wrestle me to the ground?” I said sarcastically. “Because, I think I would really like that.”

  “Do you want to go back?” She said concerned.

  I chuckled. “Are you kidding me? Hell no!”

  I looked over at Hope and ran my hand across her cheek. “I don’t want to ever go back Hope. I just want to be here with you. You shouldn’t have to ask that baby.”

  We came to another red light and Hope looked over at me. “I know, I know! I guess I am just on edge. I finally have you back and all I keep thinking about is the fact that you have to leave.” She confessed.

  “I will find a way to stay Hope. I have saved up some money, at least enough to get a place and be able to pay for a few months until I can find a job here. I will do whatever it takes.”

  Knowing that Hope was worried about this, and the fact that we were on the way to have dinner with the person who put us in this situation was ridiculous. I hated seeing her hurting.

  “Maybe we should just tell him we are together?” She suggested.

  I ran my hands through my hair. “Hope, it isn’t that easy. He could refuse to let me see you. He could get your mother involved. We only have a short time before your birthday. Just let me handle it. I will figure something out.”

  “What if you don’t?” She asked.

  “I will Hope.”

  She started to cry. “I can’t handle you being gone. I know I sound like a selfish little girl, but it is true. I missed you so much Chance. It hurt so much.” She admitted.

  We were getting close to the club and I knew that I need to calm Hope down before Mark started poking around with questions.

  “Hope, I love you and I promise I will do whatever it takes for us to be together.”

  “Thank you Chance. I’m sorry for being so annoying about it. I just love you so much. I can’t imagine ever losing you.”

  I leaned over and kissed her cheek. My lips touched the base of her ear. “You will never lose me and I don’t find you annoying. I actually feel amazed every time I hear you say how much you want to be with me.”

  Hope smiled and wiped the last tears from her eyes. “I am so glad your back Chance.”

  “Me too baby.” I said as I rubbed the back of her neck.

  We turned into the club and prepared for a long night with her father.

  Chapter 35

  Hope

  I hated the Country Club. Trevor had brought me here every weekend when we dated. His father was a fixture here and probably kept the place in business. Before me, Trevor had found this place to be a great place to bang chicks; in fact, this is where he took my innocence.

  One night a bunch of us kids snuck on the grounds and got some golf carts out from where they kept them. Rylee had hooked up with some football player and they went rolling out onto the golf course somewhere, leaving me alone with Trevor.

  He had made many advances toward me having sex with him. At first they were sweet and innocent, but the longer I held out, the more physical he became. The truth was that Trevor always scared me and I found myself doing things so that he wouldn’t yell at me, or call me awful names. On nights like that night, he threatened to tell the whole school I had an STD and that was why we weren’t sleeping together. Finally, after crying for a long period of time, I lay down on a patch of green grass and let him have his way with me. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t even want to, which made it hurt even worse.

  Just thinking about that night made my eyes water up with tears.

  “What’s wrong Hope? I thought you were okay?”

  I shook my head while I was looking for a parking spot. “This is where I lost my virginity. I hate this place.”

  I suddenly thought back to when I knew I was truly ready to have sex. The moment wh
en I knew that I wanted a guy without any doubt in my body. It had been my first night with Chance. After that night, nothing with Trevor even seemed to matter anymore. Chance had showed me love and what it was like to make love. He would never force me, or hurt me and I appreciated him so much.

  “Why didn’t you just tell your father that you wanted to go somewhere else?” He asked, while trying to get me to focus on the conversation again.

  “Because ever since he got this stupid membership he has been hell bent on spending every second here.” I explained.

  We started to get out of the car. “Was it with the dick head?” He asked.

  “Yes!” I held my head down, trying to not think about him. “It was horrible Chance. I wish I had just waited for you. You have no idea how much I wish that.”

  Chance stroked my cheek and smiled. “He can’t hurt you now Hope. I will never let him hurt you again. I may not have been your first Hope, but I damn sure want to be your last.” Chance promised.

  My father and Buffy approached us and we walked in together, as a family I guess, a really messed up one. Apparently, my father had reserved us a table ahead of time so we didn’t have to sit in a more common area of the restaurant. Our table was circular, Buffy slid in right next to my dad so Chance and I got to sit together. Because we were in a round booth, Chance and I were able to touch legs the whole time sitting. It may not have been much, in fact, it was seemingly innocent, but it was enough for me to feel him touching me.

  Once we ordered our food, my father started talking to Chance about the town he worked in. He even had the nerve to ask him if he had met anyone special. I felt Chance’s leg start rubbing against me as he answered. “There is nothing there that I want. I go to work and then go back to the motel. It is lonely and I feel like it just drains the life out of me.”

  “I am sorry that it isn’t working out for you Chance. I know Buffy hates that you are so unhappy. Perhaps it is time for you to come home.” Before Chance could reply or I could scream, my dad started talking again. “I would have one condition if you came back though Chance.”

  Whatever it is, just take it…

  “I don’t know what you said or how you managed to do it, but you convinced my daughter to enroll in college.” He looked over at me. “Buffy told me all about it.” Then he looked back to Chance. “Thank you for that. I want so much for her and I could not be prouder. Therefore, my condition would be that you mentor her and help her get through any hard classes. I know how smart you are Chance.”

  I could tell that Chance felt happy. He still did not care for my father’s actions, but he could finally come home and I was so happy.

  Chance

  Was this really happening? Was I being asked to come home and spend time with Hope? I didn’t waste any time accepting his offer. “Of course I will help Hope. I plan on enrolling there myself next semester anyway.”

  Mark held up his drink. “Well since we are celebrating, Buffy and I have another announcement.”

  He turned to my sister and I half expected her to yell out that she was pregnant, but instead she just gave him a smile. “We decided to get married on New Years Eve.” Buffy announced.

  A rush of relief went through me and I know it was the same for Hope. It wasn’t that neither of us wanted Buffy to have children, we just needed to be able to reveal our relationship first. “That is great news.” I replied.

  “Mark and I are going to have the wedding here, with just a few close friends, and we want you both to stand up for us.” She said in an excited voice.

  Buffy started clapping and had a huge smile on her face.

  “Sounds great guys.” I said as I took another swig of my beer.

  When our food finally came, everyone got quiet and started eating. Halfway through Hope asked me to scoot out so that she could use the ladies room. I hadn’t noticed a change in her demeanor, but I couldn’t help get this feeling that something was wrong. The last thing I needed was to draw attention to how concerned I was about her in front of her father. All of my plans on coming home would be ruined and I would be back to living hundreds of miles away from her again.

  After about two minutes, I noticed Mr. Thomas heading to our table. I cleared my throat as he approached and fought with myself to put on a smile.

  “Hey there guys, I didn’t know you would be here tonight.” He said.

  “Ah Greg we were celebrating Chance coming home and setting a date for the wedding.” Mark announced.

  “Well congrats on both. Why don’t you all join us at our table for drinks?” Greg suggested.

  After a few reluctant glares, he saw we were going to say no. “Aw, come on. Are you really going to pass up on free booze Mark?” He joked.

  As Mark and Buffy signaled the waiter as to what we were doing, I still hadn’t noticed Hope. When we stood up to move to the table in the other room with Mr. Thomas, I noticed why Hope had gotten upset. Sitting there at the table was Trevor and he wasn’t alone. I remembered the slender darkly tanned girl from the bar and pictures in Hope’s room. He was with Rylee and they were all over each other.

  Not wasting any time on a missed opportunity, I turned to Mark. “I am going to go find Hope and tell her where we are going.”

  Mark gave me a nod, right before realizing how bad of an idea this really was. His face turned pale even as I walked past him. Buffy looked like she was ready to cry. I kept walking, determined to find Hope before she had to face them.

  The ladies room was just off the main dining area. As I walked toward the door listed “ladies”, an older woman was stepping out. Without any regard for who might see me, I rushed inside.

  I could hear Hope’s sniffles even before I approached the stall. Lucky for me there were no other women in here. “Baby it’s me, are you okay?”

  I heard the door unlock and crack open. “No!” she said as I entered and closed the door behind us. “Did you see who he was with? I don’t get it. She knows what he put me through. She saw the bruises he gave me before. She knows he used to force me Chance.”

  “He what?” I started to walk out of the stall, with all intentions of killing the fucker, but Hope grabbed my arm.

  “Please Chance, don’t! He can’t hurt me now, not ever. Don’t risk being sent away again.” She begged.

  “Fine, but we should have called the police before. In addition, Hope, as far as your friend goes, she deserves him. She obviously only cares about herself. Let the money hungry bitch get what she deserves.” I exclaimed.

  “I don’t want her to get hurt Chance. Even after all the lies; I just don’t want that to happen to her.” She said.

  Hope and I stopped talking when we heard the door opening. I climbed behind Hope and stood on the toilet in case they looked under the stalls. When I heard the voices, I knew everything was going to play out differently.

  The female was giggling, while the male voice was mumbling between kissing sounds. “Trevor wait! You shouldn’t be in here. We are going to get caught.”

  “Fuck them. My father will raise Hell and they won’t do a thing about it.” He said.

  Slow moaning sounds came from the outside of the stall. “Oh, that feels so good. Don’t stop Trevor. Of yeah, you know what I like.” She purred.

  I pulled Hope into my chest. This was unreal.

  Suddenly, we heard the door to the next stall open and their bodies began slamming against it. More nasty sounds were being made and I was sure Hope was about to lose her dinner. I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers while I covered her ears with my hands. I knew it didn’t help much, but I was trying.

  Their next words made me cringe. “I should have picked you from the beginning Rylee. That little bitch Hope was a waste of my fucking time.” Trevor said.

  “Mmm I tried to tell you that baby.” Rylee replied.

  Tears fell down Hope’s face as I climbed down from the toilet and slowly opened the door to the stall. At the very last second, the door creaked.


  Hope and I turned around to see Trevor and Rylee looking back at us wide eyed. “You have got to be kidding me.” Trevor said while trying to re-button his shirt. “Now you decide to put out in bathrooms Hope?”

  Hope couldn’t restrain me. My fist went right into Trevor’s jaw. He managed to keep his balance and smile before coming at me. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me you cock blocking prick. You can have your little bitch and her church going attitude. I don’t fucking want her.” He said as he took a swing at me.

  I managed to duck out the way to where he only clipped me on the edge of my shoulder.

  I hadn’t even noticed the girls trying to separate us, but when my sister spoke, everyone froze. “What the Hell is going on in here?”

  “Nothing to worry your pretty little head about Blondie.” Trevor said sarcastically.

  I raised my arm to hit him again, but Buffy jumped in front of us. “Let me tell you something you little fucking prick. You are lucky that I didn’t cut off your little dick and feed it to the birds for what you did to Hope. You are scum. However, now you have involved my brother and I have reached my breaking point. If you so much as look at either of them again, I will call my friends, who will call their friends, and they will never find your body parts when they are done with you. Do you fucking understand that?”

  Trevor’s eyes were huge and he started to say something back, but Buffy hauled off and smacked him clear across the cheek. “Come on you two, we need to get away from all this trash.” Her last words made her look at Rylee. My sister obviously knew exactly who she was.

  Once outside of the bathroom, Buffy turned around and made sure our clothes looked okay. She faced Hope. “Your father wanted me to give you your purse and tell you that your food is boxed up and waiting by the exit. He said he had no idea that they were here. As soon as we sat down, he told the waiter to pack your things to go and to tell Chance to take you home. He said he is so sorry Hope.” Buffy explained.

  Hope just nodded her head, while I reached my arm around her and walked her out of the building.