Have Some Hope

Chapter 12

I get ready for school in my grandma's guest bathroom. The walls are pristine white and nothing in there is dirty. I'm afraid to touch anything.
I get changed quickly and wash my face. I brush my hair out with an extra hairbrush that she lent me. I set it down on the counter and walk downstairs for breakfast.
Andy and Simon are sitting at the table and my grandma is cooking. I sit down next to Andy. He looks over at me.
"Good morning," I greet him. He smiles and yawns tiredly. He waves slightly and then leans against Simon. Simon smiles over at me.
"Good morning to you too," he replies. My grandma sets the food down on the table and sits down beside Simon. She hands us all a plate and we start taking food.
I put scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns on mine and Simon piles almost everything on his plate. I check the time on my watch and see that I still have about two hours until school starts.
Andy puts a little bit of food on his plate and finishes eating before all of us. As I eat my food I look out the window. The sun just started rising and it looks amazing.
I finish eating and put my dishes in the sink. I walk back over to the table and stand beside Andy. Simon finishes eating and I grab my stuff.
"Thank you grandma. The food was amazing and it was nice of you to let us stay the night," I say. She smiles and walks over to hug me. I give her a quick hug and then walk back over to my dads.
We walk out the door and Simon drives off. We honk to his mom as she waves goodbye. We quickly stop at the house so I can get my school stuff and then we go to school.
Simon drops me off and my dads wave. I wave back at them and walk into the building. Flo is waiting outside for me and I run up to him. I tackle him in a hug.
"Wow. I didn't know you missed me that much," he teases patting my head. I glare up at him and walk away with my arms crossed. He runs after me.
"Hope! C'mon!" He yells laughing. I turn around and look at him. He is trying to hide the huge grin on his face but is failing tremendously.
I smirk at him and walk inside. The others are waiting by my locker. I wave to them and grab my stuff. Meadow isn't at school yet and Caroline looks worried. I pat her softly on the shoulder.
"She's probably fine. She might have slept in and missed the bus or something," I reassure her. She nods but doesn't look convinced.
Chip and I walk to our first class. I sit beside the window and he sits on the other side of me. The class is over soon enough and the day goes by quickly.
Meadow wasn't in my second or third period and I got a little worried. Meadow is never not at school. I eventually reason that she probably got sick or something.
I walk to lunch with Flo and we sit beside the others. Caroline looks extremely worried. Flo seems to notice her distress too and he gets up. He walks over to her.
"If you're so worried you can always text her," he suggests. He pats her head and walks back over to me. He sits down and everyone watches as Caroline texts Meadow.
After a few minutes of her staring intensely at her phone, she sighs and puts it down. She starts eating her food. I frown slightly. Meadow usually always answers.
I grab my phone out of my pocket and pull Meadow up on my contacts. I excuse me and Flo from the table. I grab his hand and we walk outside. I press the call button. After about three rings Meadow picks up.
H- Hey Meadow.
M- Oh. Hi Hope.
Flo frowns. She doesn't sound normal.
H- Is everything okay? You aren't at school.
There is a pause and some yelling in the background.
M- huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine.
Caroline walks up beside us. I smile over at her but she looks worried.
C- Hey Meadow. Are you okay?
The line goes blank for a minute or two. Then the sound of rustling comes through. A man's and woman are yelling at each other.
M- Please don't say anything.
Her voice is shaky as she whispers. The voices in the background go on for a good ten minutes. Then they leave whatever room they are in.
M- Okay. I'm back.
C- Are you okay?!
M- Yeah. It's just my parents fighting again. I missed the bus and neither of them wanted to take me to school.
I look over at Flo. He looks as if he's going to punch something. Caroline looks like she's about to run over to Meadow's house and rescue her.
F- Did they hurt you?
M- No. They never have.
The bell rings for last period. We make the collective decision to skip last period. We grab our stuff and keep talking to Meadow. I text the others where we're going.
C- Want to meet us at the park?
M- Sure. I'll be there in about twenty minutes.
I hang up on her and then reply to the others. They seem unfazed that we had left. I lean up against Flo as we wait for Meadow. He hums and Caroline does homework for her Calculus class.
Meadow shows up and sits next to Caroline. Caroline tackles her in a hug. I feel Flo chuckle beside me.
"I missed you dork!" She yells tickling Meadow. Meadow laughs and tries to push Caroline of her. The others come to the park after school gets out.
We hang out until about five and then we all walk home. I hug Flo goodbye and wave to the others. I walk up to my front door and walk in.