(Sorry that i had a small typo, i meant 2 WEEKS left of school not 2 days!)

After Hope Spencer had left home all she'd been doing was thinking about that dream she'd had that morning. Why is Clark always in the dream? That was what she couldn't understand.

When I and Clark had been born Clark had gotten less oxygen and had an organ problem. He was very sick, always sick, Mama was always careful with him. If she could have I knew she would have gotten a bubble to put him in. In my heart I knew by the time I reached five years old that somehow Clark wasn't going to live. As my twin Clark was the best of friends and the best brother I could ever have had, in his five and a half years alive he had taught me everything about love, patience, and caring then anyone else. I often missed him, though by the time I hit puberty his face was far from my mind, until the day that Daddy hit Mama. They started fighting around the time that he died, and one warm summer night, amidst the yelling Daddy threw a bottle at Mama. I got a big gash across my cheek and fainted from the pain. That was the day that I remembered what Clark had said about Mama and Daddy.

"I wish that one day a prince will come and fall in love with me, like Mommy and Daddy are in love." I had confided in him one day. Though the answer I got was more then I expected even from him.

"Mommy and Daddy aren't in love, booger-brain." He said plainly as if it were a well known fact.

"Oh yes they are Clark. Are you being and 'old sold' like Mommy called you? Because if you are then you don't know the first thing about love, you cooty face!!" I knew Mommy and Daddy loved each other, even if he didn't!

He sighed, "Mommy and Daddy are together because they have to be not 'cuz they want to be. And its 'Old Soul' not sold. It means that I'm more mature." He began to play with his train again.

"You'll never fall in love, just because you're an old fart! And that's worse then an old soul!" I cried. How could he say that Mommy and Daddy weren't in love! Of course they were or else the stork wouldn't have brought us! I had thought angrily.

"When you get older," Clark began "you'll understand. Just make sure you end up well." Then Clark had walked away and left me somewhere between crying and yelling.

How had Clark always been so smart? I'd never figured that out. That was also the day that I realized Mommy and Daddy were in love, but they weren't right for each other. But still what did Clark have to do with my dream? Then I heard a distant ring and realized that was the first bell! I had been going too slowly. I started jogging. By the time I'd reached my class I was out of breath and 5 minutes late. I walked in and was surprised by bumping into another student.

"Sorry." I murmured. Suddenly I remembered a new student was coming today, and that I'd thought it was the stupidest thing to do, 2 weeks before school is over send a new kid in.

"Well I, how nice of you to join us. I was just introducing our new student, Chandler, to the class. Well since your up here already why don't your show Chandler all of his classes." Mr. Gluman said sarcastically.

"Now?" I asked completely lost.

The class laughed "Yes now! Go before I send you to the principal!" He yelled. I walked back out closely followed by Chandler. I turned and faced him.

"So where are your classes?" I sighed. He smiled, and it was then that I realized just how cute he was. Chandler had red hair in an army style buzz cut, a strong nose and chin and soft brown eyes. I felt myself redden from being near him.

"Mr. Gluman doesn't like you very much does he?" Chandler said with a small smile.

"Well, he met my family once. That was a disaster." I stopped short. Had I just said that? I'd never told anyone about that time and here I was not even knowing his last name!

"Oh, well, let's see. Next I have science with, uh, Priglioa?" he stuttered. "Wow! His parents must not have liked him!" I laughed and shook my head.

"No, no. Her name is Prigla, silent O." I smiled.

"Already I'm being corrected here!" he gasped, pretending to be seriously hurt by this comment. Which only made me blush more then before, I extended my hand.

"My name is Hope. Hope Spencer." I shook his hand.

"Well hi Hope, my name is Baxter. Chandler Baxter." He raised his eyebrows as he spoke in a rich accent. I laughed harder. After Mr. Gluman yelled at me again for "dawdling" I showed him his classrooms and walked him back to class. He was a nice guy, he made sense when he talked, he didn't sound like all those other brainless idiots in this school. I had a good time and at lunch he came to sit with me.

"I only made one more friend today and I don't see him anywhere so" Chandler broke off.

"Well, gee, you make it sound so nice. Please come and sit!" I cried motioning my arms. He jumped a little.

"Sorry!" He raised his hands in surrender. I moved over and then another person was next to me and it wasn't Chandler. It was Nick Walsh, the school hunk. He had blonde hair about the length of his adam's apple it had a cute curl at the end. His sparkling green eyes brought out his firm jaw bone and nice nose.

"Hey!" Nick and Chandler said to each other. Chandler sat across from me and they began to talk. I was feeling very awkward then.

"Oh yeah, this is Nick, Hope meet Nick. Nick meet Hope." He said cheerily and waited expectantly for us to shake hands.

I stuck my hand out, "Uh hi Nick" I said. When Nick took my hand to shake it, something happened, I felt a strange jolt and our hands parted quickly. We looked at each other feeling our hands.

"Are you two new at this hand shaking thing?" Chandler asked. I laughed nervously. "What do you have next Nick?"

"Um, oh yeah. Art with Smith." He murmured still looking at his hand.

"Me too." Chandler and me said at once "Great!" Chandler cried "We can walk together!" He was obviously happy about this so what could we say. In class the teacher told us to get partners, Chandler grabbed Nick and I was left alone, I didn't have many friends, school was more of a step not something I wanted to dwell on. Mrs. Smith saw me and cried, in her normal embarrassing voice;

"Oh deary, we happen to have an extra person here!" she looked around and I looked into peoples faces making them turn away so I wouldn't choose them to be with. "Who will let her be with them?"

"We will!" I looked over to find Chandler had yelled that.

"Okay honey, you go on over" Mrs. Smith cooed. Then she started on the project, after school we were all to meet and we had to paint each other, and it had to be appropriate, she'd stressed. There were some giggles and then me and Nick looked at each other both with an expression of exasperation. The project turned out to be that we had to paint a portrait of each other. Now not only was I horribly embarrassed at being a complete idiot in front of Nick at lunch and the whole class earlier but in order to properly paint a portrait we had to learn about each other's lives.

Mrs. Smith walked over to us her long red skirt hitting just above her ankles and swishing about as she practically skipped over to us. Mrs. Smith was a very energetic person who loved the whole graceful ballerina look.

"Ah my little complicated group." She smiled, "I think what I'll have you do is have two of you follow one person for a day, then you'll get to paint, I'll give you the last half of a week extra, so instead of doing worksheets you'll paint, Okay? Okay!" She put her hands on Chandler and Nick's shoulders and walked away.

"Okay then, who wants to be haunted the first day?" Chandler asked. As if this was the best thing he had ever done. And when no one answered he shrugged and volunteered himself. While we worked out where to meet him and at what time tomorrow to get a good sense of his normal day someone had entered the classroom and walked to the teacher.

Minutes later I was running down the hall to the office. When I got there I ran into my Mama sitting there, her eyes red and puffy I could tell she'd tried unsuccessfully to hide it with make-up. She stood up and walked outside, I smiled at the secretary who was squinting trying to get a good look at my mom, and walked outside. Mama was already half-way down the parking lot when I caught up to her.

"What's going on Mama? I heard there was something wrong? An accident? Is Lucy okay?" I kept shooting questions at her until she turned and finally answered.

"No, nothing's okay, I couldn't drive Lucy to school today, your father took the truck!" she screamed. I could smell the alcohol on her breath, and my stomach dropped.

"Mama..." I whispered. She turned and faced me her eyes red and bloodshot.

"He crashed! Of course he did! Your father crashed in the only thing we could have made money from!" She was so angry spit was flying from her mouth. How can she care about money right now? All that I wanted to know was about Dad.

"How is he?" I managed to stammer.

"How is he? How is he! He's dead!" She laughed cruelly. "He died! Couldn't make it to a bar fast enough and now he's paying for it!" She started crying. Mama could change emotions in a flat second when she was drunk, happy was sad and sad was funny. The funny thing was that I didn't feel like this was a dream, I was just numb, emotion was gone. I couldn't feel anything, and I wondered if I would ever be able to.