Chapter 2- Home is where… Your principle (currently) lives.
It's about 8:30pm when Alaric and Hope pull up to the house. It was starting to get dark. Alaric turned off the engine and sat there for a few seconds, it looked like he was about to say something but then decided against it, so he just sighed and got out of the car. Hope soon followed. Hope walked round to the back of the car and pulled her suitcases out of the boot, then headed towards the house. It was only when she walked into the house that she spoke for the first time since getting in the car. "Wow. This place is beautiful." Her eyes darted around the room. It was an open floor plan.
The front room and kitchen where joined, the front room was on her left side and the kitchen on the right. The front room looked peaceful. There were two white 3-seater sofas in the middle of the room sitting at a slight angle, facing each other, but also facing the fireplace that was carefully placed along the back wall. A big 60inch TV sat just above that. There was some candles and decorations strategically placed along the mantlepiece. In the centre of the room was a medium size glass coffee table with gold legs and trimming. There were photos of the Twins placed on different surfaces around the room, all showing them at different ages, they looked cute when they were younger. It almost made Hope forget that they were the 'mean girls' for a second. It was a simple layout, but everything seemed to belong in its place. You could tell that this was Caroline's work, it was inviting, peaceful and homely.
The kitchen was modest in size. There was a large waist high white marble top island in the centre with 4 barstool type chairs surrounding it. It housed a farmhouse sink with a brass tap. Behind the island was cupboards and counters, their design matched that of the island. There was a big range cooker with 6 hobs placed in the middle of the counters with an extractor fan just above it. A big double fridge sat off to the left.
The stairs sat neatly in the far-left hand corner, leading both upstairs and down. Behind the stairs were a row of doors, Hope guessed it was some sort of storage cupboards, but she wasn't too bothered about that just yet. She just wanted to put her stuff away and have something to eat, she was starting to get hungry. Hope was slightly lost in her thoughts and from taking in the room that she didn't hear or feel Alaric walking closer to her, it wasn't until he started talking that she noticed him. "So, do you want me to show you to the room? Or will you be able to find it yourself? Also, what do you want to eat? I'm starving and I feel like I could eat a horse." He laughed. Hope shot him a strange look. "I wouldn't actually eat a horse."
"Erm yeah can you show me where it is please? Out of all the years I've known you, I have never actually been here before. And I'm hungry too. Can we just order something?" Hope replied.
"That's fine, you can pick something once you get settled." Alaric gestured Hope to follow him as he walked up the stairs.
When they reached the top, there were 4 doors spread along the corridor, one of the doors had the names of the Twins on them. 'Lizzie & Josie' was written in bright pink foam lettering. Hope laughed to herself slightly, clearly that was Lizzie's doing. The thought of them crossed Hope's mind and for a few moments her heart pained in sadness. It kind of felt wrong that she was going to be staying in their room when they don't even remember who she is. "That is the bathroom" Alaric points to the first door on the landing. "That is Caroline's room" the second door in. "That is obviously the Twins room and my room is at the end. I'll let you get settled and I'll be downstairs when you're ready. Don't take too long though, that horse is starting to look more appetizing" Alaric laughed to himself then headed back downstairs.
Hope pushed the door to the Twins room open with her foot. Once inside Hope dropped her bags on the floor next to one of the desks. Both sides of the room looked pretty much the same. A desk on either side of the room, a set of chests of drawers placed on either side of the door, two double beds next to the desks and a bedside table with a lamp next to each bed. The only difference between the two sides were the colours. One of the beds had bright pink bedding, the other was pale blue. Clearly the pink one was Lizzies. Hope opted for the blue one. She walked over to it and sat down, it surprised her how comfortable it was. It might be the first time in 2 months that she could get a decent night's sleep. Hope bounced on the bed slightly before getting the energy to stand up again. She could have definitely fallen asleep if she hasn't been so hungry. So, she forced herself up and headed back downstairs.
Hope jumped down the last 2 steps of the stairs and her feet landed softly on the floor. She saw Alaric sat on one of the sofa's engrossed in some TV show about the history of the Battle of Gettysburg. He was muttering to himself about how the show got all the information wrong, that it was actually a fight between Vampires, Werewolves and Witches that started the whole mess in the first place. It made Hope smile, it felt familiar to her, it felt safe. Hope moved silently over to the sofa that sat opposite Alaric, plonked herself down then turned to him and said, "So what are we going to have to eat?" This startled him, for a second he forgot that there was someone else in the house with him.
"Oh geez, erm, I don't know. What do you want to eat? I could eat anything to be honest." Alaric smiled.
"Let's just get a pizza. I'm so hungry I can't think straight and I'm tired as well, so that seems like the best option, and the quickest." Hope pulled her phone out of her pocket and ordered it through the app. "Should be here in 20 minutes." She stated. "So why do you even have this place? In all the years I've known you and the Twins, you have never mentioned this place before." Hope seemed genuinely curious.
"Caroline brought this place back when we started the school, we don't use it that often though. We kind of use it as a halfway house for transitioning students, those who are coming and those who are leaving. It's more for the younger ones who still have family involved. And they want to see the school beforehand. Caroline stays here when she's back. And well, since I got fired, I can no longer live at the school so… Here I am, I guess." Alaric sounded sad when he spoke, he himself seemed lost. That school means everything to him, it is pride and joy. (Not including the Twins).
Hope didn't know what to say in response, so she just nodded. They sat there in a slightly uncomfortable silence with the TV playing in the background. Hope messed around on her phone for a bit until the doorbell rang. She jumped up off the sofa and practically ran to answer the door. She opened the door and thanked the delivery driver, took the pizzas and drinks, gave him the money and tipped him $5. She spun round and with the pizzas in hand and kicked the door shut. She walked over to Alaric and handed him his share. They sat and ate their meals without speaking. It seemed nice to her, being able to spend time with him without any outside pressures. This is what she needed. She needed the comfort of a father tonight.
"Hey, Mr Saltzman thank you for letting me stay here and thank you for paying my motel bill. I really appreciate it. I truly do. If it's okay with you I'm going to head up to the bedroom. I just wanted to say again, thank you." Hope stood up and started to walk away.
"You can call me Alaric when we are here, just don't call it me at school okay? And it's okay, from what you told me you're like a daughter to me, so it only seemed like the right thing to do. Goodnight Hope." Alaric smiled and turned his attention back to the TV.
Hope headed upstairs and made her way into the Twins room, she started rooting around in one of the suitcases for her shower stuff. She picked them up and rolled them in a towel along with some clean pyjamas and headed to the bathroom. Once in the bathroom she locked the door and turned on the shower. She got undressed and jumped in the shower. Hope had mastered the art of being able to have a shower in under 5 minutes, due to living in a motel for 2 months she knew the hot water used to be very temperamental. But now that she is here, she thought why shouldn't she take full advantage of a long shower? Being in this house made her feel comforted but also extremely lonely. It was a reminder that everyone had forgotten her, the thoughts usually hit her in waves, but they were coming more frequently this time. She could usually manage it, but there was something about today that has just knocked her sideways. She felt the pressure building up inside her and she fell against the wall and slid to the floor of the tub. She couldn't stop herself, so she gave in and curled up in a ball and cried.
After about 15 minutes in this position Hope finally had the strength to stand up again, albeit she was very shaky. She gathered herself, finished having a wash, turned the water off then got dressed. She gathered her things, turned her music off and headed back to the bedroom. Hope decided that it was a better time than any to sort and store some of her clothes.
When Hope arrived back in the room, she placed her dirty clothes on the chair and started to tackle her suitcases. One was full of dirty clothes that she hadn't taken to the laundromat yet, so she left that one alone, she will sort it out tomorrow. Hope moved over to the chest of drawers on Josie's side of the room and opened it. There were still some clothes in there, they looked almost new, which surprised her, she wasn't sure why Josie didn't have them at school with her. Hope pilled them together and started to place her own clothes in drawer. For some reason this made Hope's heart flutter slightly. The sight of her clothes next to Josie's. She pushed the thought out of her mind and continued with placing her own clothes.
As Hope was placing her last few items into the drawers, she felt something under one pile of Josie's clothes. Hope usually wasn't this nosey when it came to people's dressers but for some reason, she felt slightly drawn to it. Hope's hand hovered over the pile for a few seconds like it was debating, but that didn't last long before her hand lifted the clothes up. Her eyes went wide, and she stepped back slightly, almost falling over her suitcase they lay behind her. Hope regained her balance and reached back into the drawer, her hand pulling out a relatively big purple rabbit vibrator. "Josette Saltzman, you dirty devil." Hope laughed, genuinely laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. She contemplated what to do with this thing in her hand for a while before deciding on placing it back in it's not so secret hiding space.
Once Hope had finished tidying up, she jumped into bed. She couldn't wait to fall asleep. It was only a matter of minutes before she fell asleep. She had definitely earned it today.