Chapter 4

The drive home was silent, both women too angry for words and Hope too terrified to say anything. It wasn't that she was terrified of Max and Chloe. Far from it in fact; they were some of the few people she felt safe with. But the entire experience had somehow left Max and Chloe more stressed than she was. With her headphones off, she could hear their heart beats. They were super fast and totally different than normal. She didn't know whether hear rates that fast were dangerous, but it certainly didn't sound healthy. But as fortunate as it was surprising, it was Chloe who was able to see through the red mist first and spot something at the side of the road that might take the edge off.

"Okay, who wants waffles?" Hope almost cheered, her face instantly brightening into a smile. "Oh, I think we've found one girl who does!" Chloe returned the grin, some of the tension instantly fading. Max on the other hand wasn't so convinced.

"Chloe Elizabeth Caulfield-Price, if this is a euphemism I swear to god-"

"It's not." Chloe said, pulling up at the side of the road and pointing to a waffle stand. Clearly some masochist had decided that the most sensible thing to do in a heatwave was to fire up the waffle iron and make some money. But it was good comfort food and it would do them wonders at that moment. If he wanted to get heatstroke, that was his problem. They all left the car and headed towards the stand. As they did, Hope took note of the man. He was tall with jet black hair, glasses and a scraggly beard. She'd never seen him before, but something about him was familiar. The scent he carried... What was that lying under the smell of waffle batter, sweat and too much anti-perspirant?

"Waffles smell that good, do they?" he asked, snapping her back into focus as she tried to fight the blush that was ripping through her cheeks and showing itself quite furiously. Thankfully he'd mistaken her intent, otherwise that would have been ten times more embarrassing. As it was, he ploughed on like nothing was wrong. "It's three for two dollars or six for four fifty. Sauces and stuff are all free individually. Two or more sauces on your order is an extra fifty cents."

"I'll take three with maple syrup." Chloe said, looking to Max. "Three with..."

"I'll have chocolate sauce." Max grinned. Lastly, Chloe looked to Hope.

"I'll have maple syrup, please." The waffle iron wasn't small and with the lashings of sauce the man generously put on, it would probably average about twenty minutes before they all slipped into sugar-induced comas. But something about the man still bothered Hope. And it was only when he gave her the side-eye and asked the question that had apparently been on his lips the entire time that it clicked home.

"Don't you have school today, young lady?"

"We just came from there." Chloe said obliviously. "That first day back didn't go all that well."

"No, it didn't go well at all." Max shook her head sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." The man's face fell as he finished the first batch of waffles. "Just for that..." He lathered the maple syrup onto the three waffles and put them into the paper bag, handing them to Hope. "Careful. They're hot." He wasn't lying. She couldn't even see the outline of the maple syrup for how hot they were. To her eyes, they were just a glowing white blob and she struggled to take hold of them as her fingers searched for the paper. Chloe spotted what was going on and went to help.

"Sorry, we should have said her eyes aren't very good." Chloe leaned down and took Hope by the hands, guiding her grip to close around the bottom of the packet. "This is why she's out of school now. One of the girls there broke her glasses."

"Thank you." Hope grinned as she took a bite of the first waffle. The explosion of taste and heat was instant and instantly worked to soothe the remnants of adrenaline pumping through her veins. Above her, the conversation was about to carry on as the man's phone rang. He made a 'sorry, I have to take this' gesture and tucked the phone under his cheek as he carried on getting Max and Chloe's waffles ready.

"Hey there, honey! Yeah, I knew I should have gone with ice cream instead. Wait... What? Honey? Jenny, slow down! I can't understand! She what?" Max and Chloe looked on, concern growing on their faces. They couldn't hear the phone call. Hope could. She could hear what was being said on the other end and the pieces were falling into place too perfectly. She quickly put the hand that was least sticky on Max's arm to get her attention.

"That's Alesha's dad!" Max's eyes instantly glazed over with raw fury as the man turned to look at the three of them. Chloe had heard what Hope said too. Hope decided the man was very lucky that Chloe didn't believe in carrying guns when children were around. Chloe, on the other hand, looked like today was making her question that belief. Meanwhile the man was hanging up the phone with a look of horror on his face. Reluctantly, he turned to the three of them. Hope could swear she saw tears in his eyes.

"I am so sorry!" There was a definite tremor in his voice. The way his heart rate changed as well... Hope believed he was telling the truth. "I just- I never believed she was capable of that. Believe me when I say, we are going to be having a long discussion when we get home. And you three are getting your waffles on the house as my apology."

"Thanks. That's kind of you." Max said, her face betraying no emotion.

"The agreement with your wife about paying for those glasses is still going to stand though." Chloe added. "The school will be covering the cost upfront and then you two are going to pay them back."

"And it will be done." Alesha's dad nodded. "And that daughter of mine will be giving every cent back to us even if it means she never gets a single week's pocket money again. The name's Howard, by the way." With that, he grabbed a pen and a napkin and started writing something on it. "My daughter ever gives yours grief again, it doesn't matter where it is or when, just call that number and I'll come get her. Even if it's the middle of the night. I'll get her in the car even if I have to run her over to do it."

"Thanks. We appreciate it." Chloe took the napkin and jammed it in her pocket without too much care before turning to Max. "I'll be in the truck, babe." With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off. Now it was Max's turn to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry about her. She's just angry. I mean, we all are. But her especially. Things kind of fell apart for her when she was young. She just wants to keep that from happening to Hope."

"I can understand that." Howard let out a sigh and grabbed a bottle of water from the chiller before turning to Max. "You guys want a couple? On me. Like I said to my wife, ice cream would have been better. But my wife and daughter both said my waffle-making skills were legendary, so a waffle cart it is."

"They're right." Hope nodded as she finished her second one. Max had to do a double-take, realising she was now on her last one. As Howard handed her the final batch of waffles and three bottles of water that she tucked into the crook of her other arm.

"That girl has hollow legs, I swear to god..."

"You say that a lot." Hope remarked, halfway through her third waffle in two bites.

"Because you prove it a lot." Max laughed, nudging her with an elbow. Both of them burst out laughing as Hope finished up. Howard pulled out his trash can and she shoved the wrapper in there, shaking her hand to get it to part company with her skin where the excess maple syrup had glued it in place. Max handed her two water bottles and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Here." Take those, give one to Chloe and get in the truck. I'll be right there." Hope nodded and ran over to the truck. Chloe had left the door open to let the air in and she easily climbed in and handed off the water bottle.

"Thanks." Chloe said, ripping the sports cap off and draining half the bottle in one. Hope decided that wasn't such a good idea for her. Maybe when she was a bit bigger. If she tried that now, she'd drown herself. Still though, the water was like liquid crystal for how cold and refreshing it was the moment it hit her tongue.

Max rejoined them about a minute later and they set off back home. It was only a short ride to Joyce's Two Whales Diner and its attached house. Chloe pulled into the residential parking area with the only bay that was reserved for them and climbed out. Max got out the other side and Hope slid out after her. As they were walking towards the house, the back door of the diner opened and a glowing white splodge that Hope guessed was supposed to be one of the diner workers stepped out while wiping her brow with a wet rag.

"Oh! You're here!" From the voice, she could instantly tell it was Alyssa.

"You look exhausted." Max observed.

"I am." Alyssa nodded, turning to Chloe. "Upping the ice cream order is doing wonders for business, but I'm a pair of hands short here. Jenny had to go home. I'm pretty sure she's got heatstroke."

"I'll give you a hand." Max said, moving towards the door. "Chloe, can you get Hope inside? If by some miracle she still wants lunch I think we have some leftover bacon omelette." Hope could feel her salivary glands go into overdrive at the mere thought of it. The waffles had been amazing, but the thought of bacon just hit the spot in the way no junk food ever could. And cold as it was straight out of the refrigerator would be the perfect thing for a heatwave.

"Can I just have it cold straight out of the fridge?" Hope asked.

"Sure!" Chloe grinned as she took the girl's hand to lead her inside. "I won't even put it on a plate for you. I'll just give you the tub and a spoon and you can just have at it, okay?"

"Okay!" Hope grinned as her stomach let out a growl. That got Chloe laughing as they headed inside together.

A few minutes later, Hope sat on the couch, the tub of bacon omelette in one hand and a spoon in the other. It was just as good as she'd expected it to be. She heard Chloe shut the door and grabbed the TV remote, flicking through the Netflix listings for a movie. Eventually she settled on one and clicked on it. She let the movie carry her away as she took calculated mouthfuls to stop it from dropping onto her shirt. In the background, she could hear Chloe on the phone to someone. She guessed it was Connor's dad and that suspicion was confirmed when she heard her discussing the two of them. Because there was a door between them, she wasn't able to hear what Connor's dad was saying. But she could hear Chloe loud and clear.

"Oh my god, Hope totally does that too! And I tell you what, that girl hates PE but she can jump. Like, she could make the Olympics if she actually trained. Not even joking, Max came through with a bowl of hot water at one point and almost crashed into her. She jumped back so high and so far that she cleared the chair behind her. From a standing start. I thought I was hallucinating or something!" That had happened. Hope remembered the terror she'd felt as Chloe screamed at her to watch out. The next thing she knew, her feet were off the ground and she'd easily made it over the chair that was directly behind her. Max had dropped the bowl in shock and Chloe had been left staring for a few minutes before anybody said anything. That was on the second day. For a few awful moments, she'd wondered if they might get freaked out and send her back. Instead, Max had walked over, wrapped her in her arms and begun sobbing out an apology for not seeing her.

Hope felt herself relaxing back. She'd previously hated watching movies because of her inability to see colours. Getting her glasses had opened up a whole new world to her. Now that they were unusable, that was lost to her for now. But with another pair on the way, that new world of colour felt like it was still open to her even if it was just out of reach right now. She would see this movie in colour one day.

"Ginger!" Pamela scolded on the screen as Brigitte hit the dirt. "Don't push your sister!"

"God, I hate our gene pool." Ginger muttered as Brigitte picked herself up.

Hope was so relaxed as she carried on watching that she didn't notice the door opening. Chloe came in, putting the phone back on the stand as she did. With that, she sat down next to Hope and wrapped an arm around her as Hope finished off the last of the omelette.

"Well, it's all confirmed. Connor's dad will be dropping the charging lead off at the diner in a few minutes. What are you watching?"

"Ginger Snaps." Hope shrugged. "Malcolm's really nice, isn't he?"

"He is." Chloe nodded as she reached for the remote. "Let me check something real quick..." The movie suddenly shrank away to be replaced by the overview card that displayed all the information. "What the- Hope, this is rated R!"

"Is it?" Hope asked, sitting forward and trying to focus on the screen. Unfortunately she just couldn't pick out the fine text without her glasses. "Huh. I thought R movies had blood, guts and naked people."

"They do." Chloe said firmly, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Well this one doesn't!" Hope protested. "I mean, I think there's blood but it doesn't show up too well to me and there's definitely no naked people. In any of them."

"You've seen all three of them?" Chloe looked at her incredulously. Suddenly, her expression shifted and she sat back. "You know, Mr Wells said something interesting during the meeting. Alesha said that you were trying to make her look bad in class. Something about poems? Mr Wells said that yours was very advanced for a seven-year-old and that the subject matter was quite shocking. A beast that lurks the halls eating naughty children? Who's been telling you that story?" Hope stayed silent. "Is it the same one who showed you the Ginger Snaps movies?" Hope nodded. When she looked up at Chloe, her expression was one of uncertainty.

"Have I done something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Chloe moved forward, wrapping her arms around Hope and holding her closer. "Sweetie, you haven't done anything wrong. It was whoever showed you those movies and taught you that poem. Now who was it?" Hope didn't respond again. That was one of the things she and Connor had in common. Lying was too much trouble. And something about it felt wrong to her. Max and Chloe were letting her into their home. The least she could do was tell the truth or say nothing at all. She could hear the frustration in the breath Chloe took, but she hid it expertly in her tone. "Okay then, why would they show it to you? Was there a reason?" Hope nodded, pulling back and shuffling away to put the omelette tub on the floor.

"She said it would help me understand myself better."

Author's Note: Okay so regular followers will notice that this update is coming later in the day than usual. That's because yesterday went so terribly that I honestly forgot it was update day today. And it takes a lot to make me forget something that important. Believe that. With that in mind, thanks to RubyDragon123 who just favourited this story. The notification reminded me that I was actually supposed to have posted this update hours ago. Sorry about that. I guess life really is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

Also, Halloween is next month and this chapter is the perfect time to make an early movie recommendation. If you guys haven't seen the Ginger Snaps movies, look them up. I've been dying to try and put a mention of them in one of my stories for a while now and with this one I had the perfect excuse. They're on YouTube as we speak and the first one is even up there in a full 1080 if you search for it. Enjoy!