The Elites

Dollhouse

"Everyone thinks that we're perfect
Please don't let them look through the curtains
Picture, picture, smile for the picture"

"Dollhouse" – Melanie Martinez

I head upstairs and see Hope in my room, her hair is in a fishtail braid and she's dressed. "Will you be ok going home?" I ask, her and her parents have a lot of things they need to discuss and work through. Hope loves her family, but that doesn't mean she can find it within her to forgive them.

"I'll call you later and tell you what happened" Hope says, she grabs her bags and heads downstairs with me following behind. Hope glances at Melissa.

"Hi, Hope, how are you?" Melissa asks, I'm tempted to tell Melissa that Hope hates that question but I stay silent. This might be awkward enough without my input.

"I'm ok, thanks" Hope replies. It doesn't seem like she's going to mention Melissa investigating her, I guess nothing can change the past. Hope should focus on what she's going to say to her parents, not on fighting with Melissa.

"Your mother is worried about you" Melissa tells Hope, a disappointed expression on her face. Hope sighs slightly but doesn't say anything. Does Melissa think Hope will care that she's disappointed in her for running away? The one person whose opinion Hope valued is dead.

"Thank you for having me" Hope says, turning to me. I give her a hug and open the front door, a large part of me wants to follow Hope out so she doesn't have to deal with her parents alone, but some battles must be fought alone.

"When Hope figures out the diary is missing, she'll know you took it" Melissa says cautiously, obviously thinking I'll ask for it back. Even if I wanted it back, Melissa would refuse to give it to me, it could help her with her case.

"She's just trying to protect Eleanor, I'm pretty sure she hasn't read it herself" I answer, I got the impression yesterday that Hope thinks nobody should read the diary, including herself. I don't know why it wasn't given to Melissa or the police while Hope and Eleanor were in captivity, the only thing I can think of is that Eleanor hid it and only Hope knew where it was.

"She'll realize that neither one of us is the enemy when this over. Susan has mentioned how Hope doesn't want me looking into her or Eleanor's life, but I know she just needs someone to blame, so don't be too upset if she gets cross with you. When this is over, she'll realize who the real enemy is, and she'll come back to you because she'll know you wanted to protect her" Melissa assures me, she starts walking towards the living room, so I follow her and sit on the couch across from her.

I'm not used to Melissa assuring me or comforting me. We have a good relationship for the most part, but Melissa isn't exactly warm and fuzzy. She's never made me feel unwelcome here or given me the impression she regrets taking me in, but even when she is trying to make feel better, she's usually just logical or tells me to do something to take my mind off. She's not the type of person who sits down with me and talks me through my problems until I find a solution.

When I first moved in, I wondered if it would last. Melissa never had any interest in being a mother, and as far as I knew, William didn't seem to care if he had children. I cannot ever thank them enough for forcing me to get back to normal life, rather than letting me stay in my room, wallowing with the pain my parents' death caused. However, I still miss and crave the physical affection I used to get from my parents, particularly my mother. I miss her greeting me when she got home, I miss her listening to my all problems and never judging me, and I just miss her in general.

"What happened yesterday? Why are you back earlier?" I ask, hoping she'll tell me. I would never to do anything to screw this up, we both want the same thing. For Hope to be safe again and for this to be over.

"The person I was planning to meet wasn't there" Melissa tells me, sounding annoyed. "Don't ask who I was meeting." I'm not going to push it, I want Melissa to give me information, but I know if I pester her, she won't tell me anything.

"Did they leave so they didn't have to see you?" I ask, maybe the kidnapper knew where Melissa was going and didn't want her to meet up with the person because they had information.

"I believe that is what happened" Melissa nods. It's possible that someone could have figured out that Melissa is looking into the disappearance and murder of Eleanor.

"How far will they go to get away with this?" I ask, I don't want this to come back and hurt any of us. Not Melissa or William, or Hope, or even me. I should have listened when Melissa and William told me to distance myself from Hope, but I can't bring myself to regret that decision.

"It won't hurt you, I promise" Melissa says, placing her hand on my knee in a rare gesture of physical affection. "I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, just like William and the other police officers are doing whatever they want to keep Hope alive and well."

"I'm sorry your job is more difficult because you have to worry about me" I say before I can help it. I know Melissa will just roll her eyes and tell me she's never resented becoming my guardian. She explained to me that even though she didn't want children, she never minded taking me in and becoming a maternal figure.

"I chose to become your guardian when your parents died. I wouldn't ever have chosen differently" Melissa says, and she smiles at me. I know she loves me, she's been in my life ever since I was born and she would see me frequently when I was growing up, even if she just gave me a quick phone call to see how I was going.

"I just want Hope to be able to try and move on, I know her kidnapper being in jail won't fix everything, but then she'll know she's safe and she start to work through all the terrible things that happened" I confess to Melissa, I don't think Hope can really start to move on while her kidnapper is still out there, possibly plotting his or hers' next move.

"I've always wondered what made Hope bully others, Susan thought Eleanor was too afraid to stand up to Hope, anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that Hope is tough, possibly too tough for her own good, but I don't think she would have survived her ordeal if she wasn't. Hope is strong enough to get through this, she just needs to remember that" Melissa says, sounding like she really believes her own words. Melissa and William are convinced that Eleanor was an angelic, perfect daughter and that Hope was a spoilt, mean bully when neither are true.

"Eleanor was the mean one, Melissa, she was terrible to people at school. When you read the diary, you'll realize what Eleanor was really like" I say, feeling guilty that I'm saying negative things about someone who is no longer alive, but Hope is not the terrible person Melissa is making her out to be. I feel like Susan and Andrew knew the truth, but it was easier to blame it on Hope and act like all her issues were because of her birth parents.

"I've watched Eleanor and Hope grow up, I know more about them and their relationship than you do. I used to babysit them when they were little, and Eleanor would always come to me upset because Hope had broken her toy or been mean" Melissa snaps, is this true? Or did Eleanor do mean things to Hope and blame it on Hope? How were the two of them so close? Their relationship must have changed as they grew up.

*Author's Note* A little bit of insight into Juliet's relationship with Melissa and William.