Deadly innocence

One

Hope's POV
Ten years later

I tap my pencil against the desk, bored.

I watch out the window as all the other kids on my street get on the bus and go to school. My gut twists.

I've never been allowed. I don't know why but Mom and Dad have never let me go anywhere without them.

But I'm allowed to stay home alone all day...

I shake my head to get rid of those thoughts. They never lead anywhere.

I sigh and walk to the bathroom to take my meds. I swallow two pills with water and set the bottle back down.

I have to take them every morning, they're for my A.D.D or something. I don't know, I never really asked.

Sitting back down at my desk, I study the elf I'm sketching and erase her left ear, making it a bit bigger to match the other one.

Once I'm satisfied with the sketch, I grab my coloured pencils and bring the drawing to life with flashes of green, teal, brown and blue.

I smile at the finished product,  pinning it up on my wall with the other drawings.

They mostly consist of mythical creatures(dragons, elves, vampires, you get the point)but I have a few real people in there too. My mom and dad for a couple, and my best friend Sam.

Ah, speak of the devil.

The vibrating phone lights up with a picture of us at the skate park. Well, she was skating, I was having a mild panic attack every time she left the ground for a split second.

"Hey Sam!" I say, spinning my chair around.

"Hope!" She cries, so loudly that I have to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Whoa, whoa! I wasn't planning on going deaf today! What is it?"

"Sorry, sorry. So, I was at school, y'know, like normal, and I was in the library reading a mystery-"

I cut her off. "Sam, I love you. Cut to the chase."

She giggles. "Ok, ok. So I was reading, right? And then Parker Weathers, like the Parker Weathers, came up to me and, all embarrassed, asked if I wanted to go out with him this sunday!" Her voice gets so high pitches at the end that I actually wince.

"That's great! I'll help you get ready!"

She laughs. "Will your parents let you?"

I roll my eyes and stop spinning. "Probably. I don't get why they're so protective! We live in like, the safest town in Canada and I'm fifteen."

"Does it have something to do with the fact that you're adopted?"

"It could, I guess." I admit

"Why don't you just ask?"

I sigh, running a hand down my face. "I don't want to upset them. I'd just feel like I was trying to get rid of them."

"Well, aren't you doing exactly that?"

"Not really, I just want a little bit more independence, that's all."

She hums in response. "Oh, by the way, did I tell you my brother was coming to visit next week?"

"The criminally insane one or the jail bird?" I ask, knowing all about it by now.

"Noah, he just got out of the institution and apparently he's a lot better."

"Sam, he killed someone. How can you be ok with this?"

She sighs. "I know he did, but they said it was out of self defense and the other guy was attacking him. He had some underlying mental issues but they said he's better, and I miss him."

"Ok, but don't call me when something goes really, really wrong." I warn.

She laughs softly. "Yeah, yeah. I know you'd never be there for your best friend." I can tell from her voice that she's pouting.

"Shut up you idiot. We both know I'd die for you."

She snorts. "I don't think you'd pass up an opportunity to die, Hope."

I lean back in my chair and stare at my drawings out of the corner of my eye. "Yeah, probably. But you have to admit life gets pretty boring."

"Um, hello? I would drag you to every party in this whole damn town if you'd let me."

"I don't want that kind of exciting, I want like, adventure, or survival. Something out of the town."

"Well, you're probably not gonna get it. Sorry to crush your dreams, but we aren't going anywhere for a long time, at least until we get to college."

"Until you get to college, Sam. I'm smart but homeschooling grades can't get me into law school."

"Your argument record probably could."

"True, but a sharp tounge is just one of the things you need."

"Yeah, you'll need a sharp knife too, to threaten them until they let you in."

"Oh, shut it. I'm not threatening anyone."

"Sure hunny. You do you."

"I will, thank you very much."

"Woah you didn't have to go all miffed British lady on me."

I laugh and roll my eyes.

"Anyway, I gotta go. Love you!" She hangs up.

I shake ny head and put the phone down, thinking over what she said.

So her insane big brother is coming back to town.

This should be interesting...