Free Hope's Chance by Jennifer Foor Page A

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 a nd 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 th at 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 torture d by his cold shoul der 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 shower s during