Grace 4 Hope

“You don’t have to stop seeing him,” Tori said matter-of-factly, as the door-clicked shut behind Hope’s mother Margaret. Hope lay staring at the lacy white canopy top above her queen-size bed as tears of anguish began to roll down her cheek and into her hair. “What do you mean?” her voice crackled past the lump in her throat. “You heard my mother; I am not to see Steven ever again,” she sobbed. “I can’t date him, I can’t talk to him on the phone, I can’t even see him at work…and if I do…” “Wait, why can’t you see him at work?” Tori quietly asked. “Because he quit,” she moaned. “It’s just not fair, why does my mother have to be so strict…?” She rubbed angrily at the tears on her cheek and rested her arm across her forehead. “She doesn’t even know him… she barely spoke five words to him. She took one look at his skin head haircut and looked down her long pointy nose at him, cringing in horror as if a roach had just flown into her hair.” Tori snickered at Hope’s dramatics and continued watching her as she talked. “I finally find someone who is interested in me, which is a miracle in itself, and now I am forbidden to even speak to him…Just kill me now.” She buried her face in her hands squeezing her eyes closed as another wave of sorrow and self-pity washed over her. Hope sat up abruptly and looked at Tori as a sudden burst of hope sprang to her eyes as she stared at Tori. “What are you saying?” “I’m saying,” she paused for dramatic effect, “how is she going to know if you don’t tell her?” Tori asked with a knowing smile, as the magnitude of what she was proposing finally struck a nerve. “I’m saying, you tell your mom you are coming over to my house to see me, and you go see him instead,” she said with a conspiratorial grin. “Your mother will never know you didn’t go to my house.” “Oh please, you know my mother, she always knows everything I do…besides I am a terrible liar, and I could never pull it off. My mother would see right through me.” Hope looked down at her hands mindlessly twisting at the fabric of her oversized t-shirt, she let out a ragged sigh. Tori shook her head and rolling her eyes stated sarcastically, “Yes you can, and how is she going to know…tell me that? She can’t follow you everywhere you go, and if she happens to call my house; I’ll just cover for you,” she shrugged her shoulders. “All you have to do is let me know that you need me to cover for you, and I will,” she nodded matter-of-factly. “Becky does it for me all the time. How do you think I ever get paroled out of my house? My parents are ten times worse than yours, remember, and if I had to wait for my parent’s permission, I would be gray haired and smacking my gums together before I have my first date.” She gave Hope a conspiratorial wink. “You would do that? Lie to my mom?” she questioned as she thought about what Tori was suggesting. “Yeah, why not?” she shrugged as she stood and walked over to the dresser to inspect her complexion in the mirror. “What if she asks for me?” Hope wearily asked as she turned toward the dresser and stared up at Tori. Tori glanced over at her in the mirror tilting her head to one side, “I’ll just tell her you’re in the bathroom or something and that you’ll call her back.” She pulled at a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll come up with something, you know me, I can make up something believable. My parents think I’m a perfect angel.” She grinned wickedly at her reflection. She turned away from the mirror and leaned her hip against the edge of the whitewashed dresser top. She briefly inspected her nails and caught the time on her wristwatch. “Oh crap, I have to get home, my ‘warden’ will be suspicious if I’m gone too long, I told her I was just dropping off your sweater and that I would be right back.” She rested her hand on Hope’s head and said, “Think about it…don’t worry…you’ll see him again.” “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later,” Hope mumbled as she sat mulling over what Tori had just suggested. Could she defy her parents and get away with it, and did she dare?