ANCHOR

Chapter 9

HOPE

Sitting here in Mel's room, I debated to myself whether or not I should tell her about Sam. I had never opened up my life like that to anyone, and even though she was my best friend, I was afraid to. She was rambling on about Sam, how she planned to capture his heart. I feel ashamed to admit it, but I was a little jealous.

"I hear he's in our English class, Hope. Know what I'm gonna do? The classic, 'oh I'm stupid I need help' trick." She smiled deviously. "Maybe he can be my tutor and I can go over his house and..." She trailed off, her eyes wide. I didn't even want to know what she was thinking. I sighed and told her, "He lives in the house right next to mine." Her eyes went wide with shock and her mouth fell open. As soon as she managed to close it, she was babbling again. "Why. Did. You. Never. Tell. Me. There. Was. An. AMAZINGLY. Hot. Guy. Living. Right. Next. To. You? All this time I was single!" She reached over her bed to get her keys and informed me, "We're going to you're house," as if it was the most important thing on the Earth.

    I followed her into her car, thinking of how odd it was that I never saw him outside, never saw the boy "Derek" he had refered to so many years ago. My stomach suddenly felt sick for Sam, the boy who helped when he was the one who needed help the most. I kept my eyes on the trees passing by out the window, trying to keep myself composed.

    We pulled into my gravel driveway, the stones crunching under the weight of the car. She looked out her window at the large brown house nextdoor, with a deep red mercedes parked in the driveway. "That's not his car." She simply stated and looked at me. Then her eyes focused on something out my window, and her face contorted to show even more confusion. "That's his house?" she asked, clearly spotting the black car in his driveway. "I thought you said that run down peice of shit belonged to an old drunken guy." Her eyes focused back on me, full of question. "It does." I said quietly, averting her gaze and pulling on my shirt. "Oh." she said, dropping her hands from the wheel.

   Her smile crept back onto her face and she looked at me, eyes shining. "Do you happen to have a pair of binoculars?" she asked and I rolled my eyes, trying to shake the sickness that rolled and twisted my stomach in ways it shouldn't be. I did have a pair of binoculars, but I'd never used them to look into his house. I felt like it was an invasion of privacy, like somehow seeing into his broken home was like seeing right into his broken heart. "Yes," I answered, knowing she'd find them whether or not I'd told her. This girl always found a way to get what she wanted. "But are you really going to stalk him?"

    She looked at me, her eyes mischevious. "Hope Stryder, have you met me? Hell yes, I'm going to stalk the pretty boy next door." And with that, she stepped out of the car and walked into my house, with me trailing.

    By the time I entered my room, her bag was already flung on my bed, her head looking out of one of my windows. "Damn." she said, her voice filled with disapointment. "I don't think we'll be able to see anything, his windows are so small!" If anything, I was a bit relieved, but just for a split second. "Plan B," Mel announced, "We sit outside, casually glance in his house." She looked proud of herself, and since I was in the mood for fresh air, I didn't argue.