Hope

3. "Extremely bad"

Richard

Never had I met someone like Annabeth who existed in this kind of world. Everyone I had met over the years in this world of wealth were brats, living off of their parents money, thinking rules don't apply to them and try to keep a perfect image, doing everything their parents wanted them to do.

Elenor was different, she worked and was of a kind nature but, compared to Annabeth; she was just as bad as the rest of the privileged circle. I had always imagined poor people to look so rough, have dark and dyed hair like Anabeth did, piercings like she did and tattoos that she said she did.

With the caramel coloured eyes you could tell she and Elenor were sisters but that was it. Even personality wise. Elenor was so innocent, kind, sweet and was wanting to wait until marriage. It was clear to me that Annabeth wasn't, even without the many stories of her disobeying their parents growing up. She wasn't scared to call me out like many have been and it was weird. Elenor never even drinks and as I watched Annabeth's boyfriend try to sober her up before the Wells hell duo caught her, I knew she was troubled. It was Elenor's sister though, not my problem.

"Any sign of my parents?"

"They're saying bye to everyone and seeing them out, why?"

Elenor gestured to Annabeth. "She needs to be sober before they get back. She gets enough crap from them without them using this against her." My lips moved tight together as I watched. I watched Tommy lift Annabeth into a fireman's lift whilst she giggled away. "Richard, please spend time with Beth. I know she's a bit... wild and rough but, she's a lovely person. Never trust a book by its cover."

"For you, fine."

"Thank you. I'm going to show Tommy to Beth's room. Do not tell my parents."

Mr and Mrs Wells, they never really spoke of their older daughter. There weren't even any recent photos of her around the house. The photos of Annabeth were from the days you could barely tear them apart. It was upsetting to see that they didn't seem to want her current self to be on show.

Elenor loved Annabeth, she idolised her. All I ever heard was stories about how her big sister was funny, strong, independent, smart and would do anything for her. One of the big down turns with their parents and Annabeth apparently was when she got suspended from their private school. She had fought a bully for Elenor but, their parents didn't care about that. Violence was violence.

I couldn't sleep that night. I couldn't stop wondering why Annabeth had been treated so poorly by her parents, even if she was a bit on the rebellious side. Elenor was clearly their world, their everything so, it was an upsetting revelation when I saw how isolated she was in this circle of wealth we're in.

After an hour of trying to sleep I headed to the kitchen just to see Annabeth's boyfriend topless and having a beer at the kitchen island. "Hi, Thomas, right?"

"I prefer Tommy. Richard?" I nodded and grabbed a can myself before taking a seat at the island opposite him. "I've got to ask; are Mr and Mrs Wells always like that?"

"How'd you mean?"

"Judgmental, harsh, rude. They were so horrible to Hope, um, Annabeth."

I couldn't help but feel curious about the name slip up but decided not to ask. I more tried to think of how Elenor was actually treated by her parents. Well. She was treated so well by her parents. She was their angel. A curse and a quiet crash caught our attention. Tommy cursed himself and sped to where the direction came.