Damage Control

Chapter Eleven

Hope was surprised to see Josie in her doorway instead of Landon. She went back to see him after the whole thing with Caroline and the girls, only to find that he had moved to his room with Raf. She didn't stay long, she had other classes to get to, she only stopped here to get her books. Alyssa Chang was going to be a problem, especially regarding the girl who currently stood in her doorway.

Josie looked nervous as she stood in the threshold, Hope wondered if she was nervous about Alyssa being there. "Hey Jo, what's up?" She asked as she finally found the book she was looking for.

Josie stepped into the room. "My mom wants me to invite you to dinner tonight, she insisted on it actually."

Hope was shocked by this, it is not like Caroline had ever invited her to a family dinner before. "Why?" She probably shouldn't be asking this but she was curious.

Josie shrugged. "So my dad can talk to the three of us at once, at least that's what she said."

She chuckled. "So dinner and detention?"

That made Josie smile. "As long as we don't have to pick up trash again." A moment of silence hung in the air. "How is Landon doing?"

Hope took a seat on the edge of her bed. "Good I think, everything seems to be normal but I am not a hundred percent sure. We still don't even know why he was out for so long."

"I am sure he will be fine, he has you after all."

She wasn't sure why that sentence sounded odd to her but she didn't have time to decipher it because a silhouette appeared behind Josie. "Come back to finish what you started?" Alyssa's voice sang out.

Hope's eyes were already rolling, Josie visibly shrunk away. "I'll see you at dinner." She mumbled to Hope, turning quickly and stepping around Alyssa.

"Come on Josie, don't feel like being the big bad anymore?" Alyssa called after her.

Hope sighed as she got up. "Lay off her Alyssa." She hefted her books into her hands. "You of all people know that everyone makes mistakes."

"Not ones that result in death." She sneered.

Hope leveled her with a glare. "No but you and I both know how that feels."

Alyssa's face fell at Hope's words, she pushed past Alyssa and into the hall, she had a class to get to.

Dinner with the Saltzman's was weighing more on Hope's mind than she would have liked. For some reason she was nervous, perhaps because she was being invited to a family dinner, like being invited to a secret club or something, she had always been jealous of Josie and Lizzie's family dinners every week.

Hope wasn't sure what to wear. Every time she saw the twins walking to meet their parents, they had been dressed casually, not like some of the family dinners Hope had growing up. She didn't want to get too dressed up because she knew the three of them were in for a lecture, but her school clothes seemed too casual.

Twenty minutes later when she arrived at Dr. Saltzman's office she was dressed in a plain dark purple dress with short sleeves. She pulled her hair up into a pony and put on some very light makeup. She felt a bit better about her appearance when Caroline answered the door wearing a very nice beige shirt and black dress pants. She greeted Hope with a smile. "Hope, glad you could make it." She stepped aside and allowed Hope to enter.

The desk had been pushed back and a table sat in the middle of the room with five chairs and plates. The twins were already at the table, Lizzie rolled her eyes when she saw Hope enter, she was dressed very similar to her mother. Josie gave her a small smile, dressed in a pale yellow dress and her hair up in a bun. "Thank you for the invitation." Hope said even though she was told she had to come. "Where is Dr. Saltzman?" She noticed he was not there yet.