The Elites

Sorry

"And so it seems I broke your heart
My ignorance has struck again
I failed to see it from the start
And tore you open til the end"

"Sorry" – Halsey

I glance up at the door for probably the tenth time this minute. Hope texted me thirty minutes ago that Ashton was dropping her home, so she should be back any minute now. Maybe she's talking to Ashton in the car, they do that a lot.

She's been out for a few hours so it can't have been terrible. Hope isn't the type to stay somewhere if she's having a terrible time.

"Hope!" I exclaim a little too excitedly when the door opens.

"I'll talk to you in a minute, I just want to get changed and brush my teeth" Hope informs me, she grabs her pyjamas and heads into the bathroom.

Hope comes back out in a few minutes; she's pulled her curls into a high ponytail. She comes and sits next to me, leaning against her pillows.

"It was okay" Hope tells me, glancing at me. "They seemed nice, it was a little awkward, but they told me all about themselves and their lives. They seemed interested in getting to know me." I can imagine it would be awkward but I'm glad they're nice. They must be so happy that they finally have their daughter back.

"Are you moving in with them?" I ask, I don't want to be far away from Hope but her parents deserve to get to know their child.

"Yeah, I'll be heading to New York with them at the end of the week" Hope says, biting her lip as she looks at me. "I love you, Juliet, but they've been searching for me my whole life, I owe it to them to live with them and to go to Colombia and stay near them."

"I know" I say softly. It's not like she can live on her own, she's still a minor. "I'm really going to miss you." Hope won't have any trouble getting into Colombia, her grades are excellent and her birth parents and multi-millionaires. I have no idea what will happen to me, will Melissa go to jail? Will William divorce her?

"I'm going to miss all of you" Hope says, a tear rolls down her cheek. "My brothers are going to move in with our aunt, she's taking over the business and she lives nearby. They've been through enough, the last thing they need is to be the new kid."

"This is unfair" I say, everything is unfair. Hope shouldn't have to move away from her friends and siblings but a multi-millionaire company can't exactly be moved easily. Susan and Andrew have ruined everything. "I'll visit you, okay?"

"It's a five-hour flight, you can't come up every weekend" Hope says, her eyes down on the ground. She's right, senior year will have heaps of homework involved, I can't constantly be flying across the country.

"Will you spend summer here?" I ask, my eyes starting to water. This feels like the end of us.

"They want me to spend it in New York with them and my siblings" Hope says quietly, looking how I feel. A large lump appears in my throat, I understand her parents wanting to form a relationship with her, but they won't be with her every second of the summer. "Did you know I have two younger brothers? They're seven and twelve."

I laugh, though it's not funny. Hope has five brothers now; I wonder if she'll get on with her new siblings. It'll be interesting to see if Hope's new siblings share any of her personality traits.

"I don't want to work through this, Hope, there is no happy ending for us" I say honestly. We're not going to be together for senior year, maybe if she was in a closer state we could try it out, but she's nowhere near me.

"I don't want to break up with you" Hope tells me, her voice cracking. "I don't want to lose someone else."

"I don't want to lose you but I can't be what you need" I say, my heart sinking down into my stomach. New York is too far, I can't be flying to and from New York often, I'll be too busy with school. Hope needs some stable now more than ever.

"So we're just going to break up? I'm just supposed to leave and not talk to you?" Hope asks me, a tear rolling down her face.

"We can be friends" I say hollowly, we can't be friends. We were never friends, we were allies and then we became lovers, we've never been friends. I want Hope more than anything, but she needs her family now.

"We won't make it as friends" Hope scoffs, rolling her eyes at me. "I can't believe you're pulling this now."

My timing is terrible, but when is a good time? Am I supposed to wait until she's about to leave for New York? There won't be a good time for us for a long time, too many things have to be fixed.

"If I could fix this I would" I say honestly, I would do anything to keep Hope in California, but nothing can be done. Hope's birth family have their whole lives in New York and there's no way they'd leave Hope back here, they haven't seen her since she was a baby.

"Mom and dad really ruined everything, didn't they?" Hope says sadly, I don't have to ask which set of parents she's talking about.

"So did Melissa" I say, I have no idea what will happen with William and Melissa but it's time to head home and face the music.

"Goodbye Juliet" Hope says, looking right at me. A tear rolls down my cheek, how can I walk away from her? Hope is everything I want, there's no one else that compares.

"Bye" I say softly, quickly leaving the room. If I had stayed inside for a few more seconds I'd never be able to leave.