Sugar, Spice and Anything But Nice

School

Hope

"You look pretty." Tommy said while finishing his cereal.

I was wearing black skinny jeans, a white blouse and a dark grey blazer. Something entirely different from my usual short dresses. I was wearing my long blonde hair in a bun. I never bothered doing anything with my hair but since this was my first workday, I decided to make an effort. I had to be fast and efficient so my look had to be up to par.

"Thanks buddy." I shot him a sweet smile. Dean didn't like the idea of me pretending to be an adult even if it was for revenge. He didn't like how it would interfere with our turns to look after Tommy but our neighbor had been nice enough to look after him when he got back from school.

"You look older." Dean stated.

"Good." I nodded. I didn't like fighting with my older brother but we're both stubborn and I'd promised Alex I'd do this. Even Dean couldn't do anything about it.

"I didn't mean it as a compliment." He shot back. He scratched his hair and yawned. He'd been working all night again and something wasn't right. I mean, there was no way he only did his work anymore. He had to be doing stuff for the cartel otherwise his hours just wouldn't add up. I just wondered why he wouldn't tell me. We always told each other everything.

"Whatever." I sighed. I didn't want another argument with him.

"What about your clients?" Dean asked.

"We've talked about this! This is a great business opportunity and you know it." I argued. I grabbed my briefcase because I didn't want to stay in the house any longer.

"I don't wanna fight, Hope." Dean said. When I turned around I noticed how tired and vulnerable he looked and I knew I'd forgiven him on the spot. We were a great team and fighting wasn't productive for us.

"Neither do I." I told him and let him engulf me in a warm, brotherly hug.

"Good luck today." He told me. We both jumped because of a loud bang coming from our mother's room.

"You go, I'll take care of it." Dean said with a detached tone in his voice. When it came to our mother, we always buried our emotions otherwise it would be too hard.

"Go." Dean repeated when he noticed my hesitance.

"Alright." I gave Tommy a kiss on his cheek which he wiped away furiously and then I went outside. When I was out the door I felt like I could breathe again.

A few minutes later a car arrived to pick me up. Alex told me she'd send me one but it couldn't be the same as hers because that would raise suspicion. The car was just a normal one, not a limo like I'd imagined. I quickly remembered I wasn't supposed to be rich. I actually had to despise rich people and I knew I didn't have to act much because I'd heard enough complaints from Alex.

When I arrived, I immediately noticed the difference. At my school, people would be running around, throwing snow at each other and at least two people would be involved in a fist fight.