Hope «h.s.»

Five.

Chapter 5:

Opening the door, I heard mumbles of voices. They were still here, but outside in the backyard. I had hoped that they would be gone. I did not want to go to sleep knowing my dads unknown friends were around the house and undoubtedly drunk. I did not want Rene and I to be hurt. So I went to check on her.

I slowly opened her door and it creaked. She was cuddled in her bed with a book.

"Hey," I whispered.

She just waved, totally focused on her book.

"Are you okay? Nothing happened right?" I asked, reassuring myself.

"No, I'm fine Pipe," she said, glancing at me for a second and returning it back to her book.

I knew she was scared. She always read and was in bed when something was off in the house. I usually listened to music to drown out my dads friends or his drunken shouts at the TV.

"Can I stay in here?" I said, walking fully into her room.

She nodded and scooted over in her small twin sized bed, patting a spot next to her. I happily climbed in.

"Why didn't you sneak off to a friends house?" I asked. I thought that she would have.

"Kimmy and I had a fight a couple days ago," Rene confessed.

"Is that why you were so moody?" A small grin plastered onto my face.

"Shut up," she said and playfully slapped my shoulder.

"Well how's Scottie, the rich boy?" she fired back.

"He's fine," I laughed.

"I swear you guys are going to get married," she said, her eyes glued to her book.

My face dropped.

"Rene!" I said, maybe a bit too loud.

"What?" she gestured. "He's like the only person you talk about." This time I slapped her shoulder playfully. My cheeks felt hot. I never thought that way about Scottie, and I knew I never would; he was my best friend.

"Read to me," I said, changing the subject. I leaned my head on her shoulder and pulled up the cover to my neck to get comfy.

She smirked and cleared her throat, "I've seen very few signs of game around, but I don't feel comfortable leaving Peeta alone while I hunt, so I rig half a dozen snares and hope that I get lucky." (267). I immediately recognize The Hunger Games right off the bat.

I smile and immerse myself into Katniss while Rene reads to me. I smile while thinking of Peeta and Katniss, being falsely put together as a couple but eventually being in love. Their love story was epic and so appealing to people, especially me when I was a in seventh grade like Rene.

Rene only got to four more pages, when our front door was vigorously knocked on. It almost felt as if the door would come off and we were across the house. The sliding glass door in the back was opened and I could tell my dad was approaching the door.

Before we knew it, Rene and I had our ears on her bedroom door, trying to listen.

"Maxwell, what the hell are you doing here?" I heard my dad rudely question loudly. Rene gulped beside me. I heard more murmured voices but couldn't make out the words because of Rene's heavy breaths beside me.

"Im scared," Rene breathed.

"Dad wouldn't let anyone hurt us," I tried to reassure her, rubbing her back. She crawled away from the door and back into her bed.