Hope

Chapter 4

"Mai. I don't know what to do." I say, putting my hands up to my face.

"Just talk to him." Mai says.

"It's not that easy, Mai. Do you know what he did?"

Now I'm standing up, pacing back and fourth in my room.

I want to talk to Conner, especially after that dream that I had last night. Conner's the only one who was close to my parents like I was. Well, not as much as myself.

"Sure it is. You just walk up to him, say hi, and then start moving your mouth. It's not that difficult, Jess." She says.

I look at her with annoyance.

"I know how to, Mai. I just don't think that I can." I say, sighing at the end.

"That literally doesn't make any sense." She says, looking confused.

I sigh.

"Never mind."

She shrugs and continues to read her magazine.

-----

I arrive at school after Mai finally decided to leave her magazine on my bed because we were going to be late.

"Traitor three o'clock." Mai whispers to me as we're walking down the hallway.

I look to my right.

"That's where the lockers are, Mai." I say, laughing.

She looks confused.

"Wait. I thought that was just a saying." Mai says.

"No. It means that what ever time that you say is where you're suppose to look. Like, when you look at a clock, three o'clock is on your right." I explain, laughing.

"Oh. Oops." She laughs.

"Well, then traitor twelve o'clock." She whispers.

I laugh again.

Just like she said, Conner's in front of us down the hallway.

When he gets close enough, Mai shoves me towards his direction.

I squeal as I bump into his chest. As if it's an instinct, he wraps his arms around me.

We look at each other, pausing for a few seconds.

I awkwardly put my hands onto his chest to softly push him away.

"Jess." Conner whispers.

I look away from his eyes. He looks like a hurt puppy.

"Conner, I need someone to talk to. You're the only one who would understand." I plead.

He nods, putting his arm around my shoulders.

I slowly move out from under his arm, causing it to fall down to his side.

This is one of the most awkward moments that we've ever had.

As we walk to our class, I start to talk.

"Conner, I had a dream about my dad." I say, looking down at the floor.

"I had one about your mom." He says, looking into my eyes with shock.

"Wait, what? Like, a memory in the past?" I question.

He nods.

"Could this mean something?" I ask.

"I don't know. I mean, I have watched a lot of criminal shows so, maybe." He jokes.

I chuckle.

What if this means something?

I need to ask my grandparents what really happened to my parents.

-----

"PawPaw!" I shout as I walk through the door of my house.

"Jessica! How was school Punkin?" He greets, walking into the living room.

"Boring. As always. Conner's here. Is that okay?" I set my keys onto the kitchen table.

"As long as you put your stuff where it belongs, Jess." Mimsy says as she joins PawPaw on the couch.

I roll my eyes playfully.

"Hey Mimsy, hey PawPaw." Conner waves, smiling.

"How are ya?" PawPaw asks.

"Great. We need to talk to you. Both of you." I interrupt.

"Everythin' okay?" Mimsy questions.

Conner and I exchange glances.

"Um." We both say at the same time.