I'm Home

Fifteen

Hope sat in her friend, Katie's living room. Katie was Chloe's daughter, the two little girls were best friends. They were watching Cinderella, imagining what it'd be like to have a real fairy godmother, when Chloe came in. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. Hope knew something was wrong, and he attention was completely taken off of the movie.

"Hope, dear. Come here." Chloe called gently. Hope obeyed instantly. Something was wrong. Fear settled in her stomach. 

"Hope, it's your parents. They were in a plane crash." The rest was a blur. Hope couldn't listen anymore. Her parents? No. They were fine,  weren't. Jadyn and John Mills' bodies were never found, but the crash was at sea. There were no survivors. 

Suddenly, Hope found herself in a plain white room with no doors or windows. Jen was there. She was angry.

"I don't want you anymore. I read your file." Jen spit. Hope backed away slowly, running into Lana. She was holding the papers that seemed to define her.

"Rude. Defiant. Troubled. Signs of PTSD. Depression. Anxiety. Frequent nightmares. Dangerous. Threat to herself and others. Disrespectful. Destructive. Self harming." Lana read aloud, disbelief in her eyes.

"You're a screw up." Bex called.

"Broken." Jen added.

"Undeserving." Lana finished. 

"Hope! Hope!" Jen called. 

Hope's eyes flew open, and she was in her new room again. Jen was shaking Hope, trying to wake her. 

"Mom." Hope whispered, flinging herself into Jen's arms. Her breathing was shaky, her eyes full of tears.

"Hey, it's OK. I'm here now." Jen whispered. 

"It was really bad." Hope whispered. Jen just shushed her and held on tight, attempting to calm the younger girl.

When Hope's breathing slowed, she finally asked, "What happened, love?"

"You didn't want me anymore. You and Lana and Bex were yelling at me. You read the bad stuff from my fil and you said I didn't deserve to be adopted and I was a screw up and Lana was reading it to me." Hope explained.

"Hey. Hope, no matter what it says in there, I will always want you." Jen reassured her. Hope nodded  against Jen's shoulder.

"Come on, we have to go to set today. You have your first day of school." Jen smiled. Hope stood and went to dig in her closet for some clothes. She threw on some jeans and a t-shirt, ran a brush through her curly hair, and threw on her sneakers. He's grabbed her phone and backpack, making sure she had earbuds before running down the stairs to wait for Jen by the front door.

"Mom! Hurry up!" She yelled. Her debut scene was to be filmed today.

"Coming!" Jen yelled back. Translation, 'Ten more minutes.'

"Mom!" Hope groaned. 

"All right, all right, I'm coming!" Jen yelled, rushing down the stairs. She tossed the house key to Hope and ran out to start the car. Hope locked the door and ran to meet her mother, a smile on her face.

"A new record for the slowest time getting ready in the world." She teased.

"Watch it, kid." Jen laughed.

"You took twenty minutes to put you hair up and grab sneakers, Jen." Hope teased. She was calling Jen 'Mom' most of the time, but sometimes, she would slip and call her Jen. She didn't think she'd ever start calling Lana and Bex her aunts, though that's what she thought of them as. 

"Colin wouldn't stop texting." Jen finally admitted.

"You could've stopped replying! You have a kid, he doesn't." Hope rolled her eyes. She loved that Colin made Jen happy, but sometimes they got a little annoying.

"Still tired from comic con?" Jen asked.

"Yeah. I know it's  been a week, I'm just having a hard time getting used to it. We got back and started waking up at three in the morning and being out until seven. It's crazy." Hope sighed. She was only allowed to work ten hours, but her mother was still working fifteen. Most of the time, she slept in her mother's trailer when they got there, then lived off of coffee for the rest of the day.

"Sorry you can't nap today." Jen smiled gently. Hope shrugged and leaned back in her seat.

"I'm going to fall asleep standing up." Hope joked.

"I bet Bailee is back at out trailer already with your first coffee." Jen smiled.

"My life source is coffee right now." Hope laughed. Jen parked the car and they rushed to their trailer. Just as Jen predicted, Bailee was on the steps with Hope's first coffee.

"Thank you." Hope smiled, kissing Bailee's cheek. It was routine now, Bailee would bring her coffee in the morning, then they'd go to the wardrobe trailer together. 

"Bye, Mom." Hope kissed Jen's cheek and they were off to get into costume.

"You excited?" Bailee asked. Hope shrugged.

"More nervous than anything. I've never been on TV before, so I'm freaking out." Hope explained.

"Eh. It's pretty much the same as a stage. Just with multiple takes. Like a rehearsal that's recorded." Bailee explained. 

"That helps. Still nervous. You're not normal if you're not nervous for a performance." Hope smiled.

"Unless you do it every day." Bailee shrugged. 

"I guess. At least I'm Emilie's sister. I have her in like all my scenes." Hope smiled. 

"Your character is complicated, isn't she?" Bailee asked.

"If you think of a little girl that got separated from her sister in the curse, then forgotten by her sister, then found by her sister complicated, then yes." Hope joked. 

"Mine's complicated, too! I'm Mary Margret and Dr. Whale's kid, got sent away like Emma, then found thirteen years later. She's a lot like her sister, but looks more like their mom." Bailee explained.

"How'd she get to the adoption agency?" Hope wondered aloud.

"Regina is the only one other than Henry who can leave, so her. I think she just has a soft spot for kids. Or she didn't want people to see that I grew up and no one else did, though she had Henry. No idea." Bailee sighed.

"Ready, Bella? Someone in hair and makeup asked. Bailee nodded and joined them after kissing my Hope's. Someone else dragged Hope to a mirror and did her makeup, then she was put into a costume, which was pretty close to her style. A black leather jacket, jeans, and a t-shirt that had a rose on it. It was perfect for Belle's little sister. Bailee and Hope were supposed to be good friends that acted like there was something more there, because there was, and the girls were just hiding it. Becca and Bella's real names were Rebecca and Isabella, they just hated their full names. They had met when Bella mysteriously appeared at the town line and Becca was trying to cross to forget about her sister. Soon, Bailee and Hope were both done and sent to set, where Jen met them. Jen had some papers that looked familiar to Hope. Her file.