5

Hope

I watch the clock, waiting to go to English. Today continues the same as yesterday.  The twins walk me to class. I feel a great sense of relief come over me when I enter the room. His scent is soothing. I take a deep breath and feel refreshed by it. Somehow stronger. His big smile is what I have been waiting to see. I wish I could just sit and talk to him. But I go to my desk and try not to stare. We discuss the first two chapters of the book and receive our homework assignment.  Too quickly, my time with him is over. I got no more than a couple of glances from him. It is kind of heartbreaking.

  When I enter his room again later for Creative Writing, his face lights up with a full-blown smile. Dimples and all. He approaches me and reaches out his hands toward me, as if coming in for a hug. I automatically move toward him as well. But he stops himself, with a slight shake of his head before he actually touches me. Disappointment is clearly written on my face. “I’m sorry.” He says very quietly. Sorry for going in for the hug, or for not doing it? I wish I knew the answer.

  “Today I will be helping some students finish their latest assignment. Could you look over their work from yesterday and leave notes? I will review them tonight. You can sit at my desk. Just pull up a chair next to mine. That will be your work area from now on.” I nod my head in agreement and place a chair right next to his behind his big desk. I try my best to concentrate on the students writing assignments while still listening to him speak. How can anyone concentrate on their work while listening to that beautiful voice? Its rhythmic and lulls me into a sense of peace. I feel calm and content. I don’t want the class to end. He stands in front of me with a big smile. “You can go now Hope. Class is over.” Sure enough, everyone is filtering out and a glace at the clock tells me the school day has ended.

  With a big sigh, I collect my things. “Thank you for this opportunity Mr. Kingston. This was much better than Mechanics. I enjoyed it very much.” I tell him as I’m about to leave the room. I’m trying to linger as long as possible. “Yes, well, I certainly appreciate your help.” He responds. I move slowly towards the door, not in any hurry to go. “Oh! Hope, I uh, came up with an assignment for English that I think you will enjoy. I will share it with you tomorrow in class.” “Oh, great, thank you. I’m looking forward to it.” I tell him as I stop walking any further from him. “Your review of the first two chapters was excellent.” He adds. Does he not want me to leave either? He takes a few steps closer to me. “Thank you.” Is all I manage to say. We are both now standing a few feet apart, staring at one another. It’s not awkward. It feels necessary. Then I hear the twins. “I thought we would find you here.” Says Zade. That breaks my daze and I finally head out of the room with a small wave.

  We go to the boy’s car and head towards their house. I’m eating dinner with them tonight and meeting their mom. My own Mother was more than happy to allow me to come. So much for being overprotective. She said she has a feeling about them, that they can be trusted. I feel the same way. We pull up to an immense gate. A screen appears that they speak into, and we are allowed entrance. Fancy. The neighborhood is gorgeous, to say the least. Manicured trees line the streets. With ornate light poles and flowers everywhere. The houses are huge and spread far apart. I can’t tell how many houses are in this gated complex because the road curves around many twists and turns. All the homes are set back from the main street. I’m entranced by the beauty as we pull up to their home. Wow.

  As we approach the front door, a beautiful woman opens it wide and comes outside to greet me. She opens her arms for a hug. I immediately feel comfortable and embrace her. “It’s so nice to meet you Hope. I’m Delilah.” She says as she holds me close to her. I take a small step back. “Thank you, its lovely to meet you too. And thank you for allowing me to have dinner with you.” I tell her kindly. “You are welcome anytime sweetheart.” Wow, she’s so nice.

We all go inside, and she shows me around a bit. We end up in the large kitchen. There is a huge island where we sit down while Delilah is busy preparing something. “Can I help?” I ask. “Oh, no, you are my guest. You just relax and tell me about your day. Boys, how are you doing?” I almost forgot they were here. They are busy eating something she places in front of them when we first walked in the kitchen. “Growing boys, always starving.” She says with a laugh. I realize I am pretty hungry too, so I join them.

  Delilah asks me questions about myself as we eat. Isn’t she worried we will spoil our dinner? I guess not. Seeing how much food she already put in front of us. Or maybe this is dinner. I don’t really know. But its delicious.  We are having a huge plate of grilled chicken nachos, beans and rice, with all the fixings. Sour cream, guacamole and two types of salsa. She nibbles on a bit herself as she talks and cooks something on the stove.

  “So, where are your parents from?” she asks. It’s a simple question, that doesn’t have a simple answer. My Dad actually adopted me when I was very young. My biological father died when Mom was still pregnant with me. I don’t even know where he is from. Do I tell her all that? I don’t think so. It’s not necessary. So I decided to go with the easy answer. “California.”  “Interesting.” Is her reply. “And did they live anywhere before that?” she asks. “Um, I don’t think so. But I’m not really sure actually.” I think my answer is close enough to accurate. She continues stirring the food. The twins look at each other for a second. What is that about? They do that a lot. Look at each other without speaking. Is it a twin thing? Can they tell what the other is thinking? That would be so cool.

  “My older son will be joining us soon.” She informs me. “Oh, I didn’t know you guys had a brother.  You never told me.” I say to the twins. “Nope.” They both smile. Okay, I guess it’s a big secret. Well, I will meet him soon. We continue talking. Delilah asks about my parent’s professions.  She seems interested and impressed. She tells me she is a homemaker and always has been. She volunteers most of her time in the community. What a nice person. She has done a great job with her sons. They are so polite and kind.

  I hear the front door open and footsteps approaching the kitchen. Why is my heart suddenly beating so fast? Then I smell him. Mr. Kingston. My eyes widen and my breath hitches as I look at him. His great big smile is present.  “Hello Hope.” He says with a deep rumble. It makes me shiver. My eyes connect to his. I can’t say anything. “I asked them to look out for you.” He tells me as some sort of explanation. “Why?” I ask hesitantly. “Because you are special.”

What’s special about me? Nothing that I can think of. Maybe I’m kind of smart? But lots of students are smart. I can’t even get any words out. He knows that I want to ask him why I’m special. But he just looks at me. I notice that the twins and Delilah have left the room. It’s just the two of us. Wasn’t that what I wanted? But now I don’t know what to say. I’m dumbstruck. I break the eye contact first. Looking in his blue eyes is too intense. “Don’t look away. I want to see you.” He says quietly. I look back up and he smiles again. “Beautiful.” He whispers.