One

Hope Derringer always loved the feeling of prickly grass tickling at her legs when she studied. The feeling of earth around her made for a peaceful and relaxing study. Despite the crisp April wind threatening her to get up elsewhere, the girl still remained. Determined she was. She had been working on this paper, due in two hours, for the past two weeks in a library or her home and she found no inspiration come to her like it did when she was out in the open. The smell of freshly bloomed flowers flooded her thoughts with a soothing scent and the faint sounds of wildlife skittering about was a much better background noise than her music playing in her confined room. Out here it was open, any thought was free to flow into her mind and free to flow out. No walls to keep it trapped a room, just the wind to whisk it away.

Satisfied with her work, Hope closed her laptop and slid it into her slumped over knapsack that she had dropped onto the ground next to her. She let out a satisfied sigh as she buckled her straps together and gave the bright area a nice look around.

Trees, which were green with newly developed leaves, swayed softly in the wind as a bird’s sat comfortably in the nests and squirrels skittered up and down the trees playing their never ending game of chase. Flowers opened up to welcome their nectar the butterflies and bee’s and whatever creature might want them, making this already bright world so much brighter. The yellow sun beat down on top of the heads of other college students sitting in the courtyard warming their heads as they studied, trying its best to outdo the brittle spring wind.

Content with where she was, Hope leaned back against strong oak tree she had planted herself in front of her closed almond eyes to bask in the sun and absorb its satisfying warmth. Her chestnut bangs fell into her face, but she didn't even bother pushing the strands of hair back into their place. She was perfectly content with how she was and nothing was going to change that. She had a two whole hours to herself before class started, and hour and fourty-five minutes counting the time she has to print her paper out, and she was going to take full advantage of that.

Time of her own was a rare thing to come. Being a full-time college student and almost full-time employee really took away free time. Most days she found herself waking up at six a.m. to do some homework, eat breakfast, and get ready for work at eight. From there on she worked till her noon lunch and did more homework while eating then went back to work for a few more hours before quickly running to the bus to make it to school until ten p.m. and then going home to eat dinner and sleep. Throw in friends wanting to hang out every second of the day and there's just no way for her to have some time to herself.

Last night though, Hope decided to give a day-well, most of her day- to herself called her boss for a day off. With all the extra time she had given herself, Hope was able to wake up when she wanted-sadly only eight p.m.- and dress herself up for the day. Unlike her usual look of her messy hair, hoodies, sweatpants, and death, Hope had brushed out her chestnut bob and plopped a dainty flower crown on top of it. She did her makeup-just a simple cat-eye and mascara look- and throw on a faded red crop top of her favorite band, Fall Out Boy,  and a pair of ripped high-waisted black shorts with cat tights underneath. To top it all off she threw on a pair of her black combat boots and made a satisfied pose in her mirror; basically her snapping her fingers and making fingers guns at herself as she winks.

Satisfied with her work, Hope had grabbed her knapsack and made her way out to go treat herself to some breakfast at First Watch and then made her way to the campus to sit in their beautiful garden and work on her paper. She needed this. Time to herself. No friends to bother her. No work to wake up early to. Just a peaceful morning and afternoon to herself before school started.

Just then, Hope felt her phone buzz against her thigh. With an annoyed expression, she drew her phone out of her tight pockets and slid her password into her phone to answer whoever was calling her.

“Hope! I know you’re probably working but I just couldn’t wait to tell you! Guess what!”

Hope drew her phone away from her ear in order to dim the sound coming from the speaker and then placed it back over her ear when the other had finished talking, “What is it Cas?”

There was a long excited silence before Cassidy’s voice bursted through the speakers, “I’m in your hometown!” Suddenly filled to the brim of excitement, Hope sat up straight and stared at her phone as if it were Cassidy, “My work is making me move to Ohio and they placed me in Cincinnati! I’m so excited!” The girl on the other end buzzed, “Would it be okay if I stay with you while I look for a home? Hotel’s don't come with the move and I really miss ya girl.”

“Of course!” Hope cleared her throat and lowered her voice after receiving a few annoyed glances from others still studying, “Of course you can, do you need me to come pick you up from the airport?”

“Yes please, thank you so much Hope. I just got here, but don’t feel the need to come pick me up immediately. I’m sure I can fend for myself while you find a convenient time.”

“You’re full of bullcrap, Cas. You know those little mind games don’t work on me. Lucky for you I had decided to take the day off and have a few hours before class starts. I’ll be there soon. Be ready for me.”

“Sure thing, ma’am! I will not move an inch from where I’m standing until you get here!”

Hope chuckled and shook her head as she stood up from the tree stump and walked along the path to the front of the building, “Stop being such a smartass. I’ll see you soon, later.”

And with a wide smile tugging on Hope’s lips, she hung up the phone and slid it back into her pocket as she made her way through the winding halls of her college campus and out to the front where the bus stop was located.

To her convenience, the long bus rolled right up to her as soon as she had gotten there, allowing her to step into the vehicle, pay her $1.75 fee of riding, and find a comfortable seat in the corner to sit in on the fifteen minute ride home. Looking around the bus, Hope plugged her earbuds into her ears and let the music fill her brain with a familiar noise as he turned her head towards the window and watched still city suddenly start moving behind her.

When the bus was nearing her stop, about a mile or two walk away from where she lived, Hope pulled the wire to signify the driver to stop. She thanked the woman for the ride with a bright smile and hopped off the bus, making a muffled smack sound on the cracked sidewalk.

While the block she lived on was definitely beautiful all year round, Hope always felt this town was perfect in the fall. The grainy cracked sidewalks fit perfectly with the light brown color of the tree’s planted in people's unkept lawns. The bright orange leaves, both on and off the trees, littering the ground and the air fit well with the bland colors of the old-fashioned houses that have been here for years and years. Hope didn’t know exactly what it was that made this neighborhood perfect for fall, she just knew that this town was made for the bright oranges and yellows, deep reds, and muted browns that came with fall. The crisper air that gave you chills and the sweet smell of leaves and pumpkin. Hope couldn’t help but let out a content sigh as she thought about it on her way to her house.

She arrived there soon enough and gave it a quick look at. It was old. That was for sure. The Victorian style it gave off was a dead giveaway. It was also small and compact. Taller than wider. The top, her attic peaked into the air while the main floor was presented to you only after going up the front steps of the hill that is her front yard, and yet another two or three steps onto her cracking blueish/greyish front porch, littered in plant boxes and porch furniture and food for the animals.

The dark oak wood of her front door was right in front of the stairs and the big window that had the thick white curtains Hope had adored so much hanging on the inside was more off to the left with the rest of the house. Two windows of the same size, and same curtains, were above the door and main floor window and then above that there was a small circular window to the dusty attic. The white paint around all the windows were chipping and the white bases holding up the overhead roof of the front porch were peeling and stripping, but Hope like that most about the house. Others around her had kept up on making their houses look as pristine and unused as possible, but Hope liked that look of something being used. It show’s that this house has value, someone else once loved it. Showed the house's age and wisdom. Why get rid of that to make it look brand new?

Slowly drawing her eyes away from the beautiful house, Hope made a mental note that she needed to start mowing her lawn again. Difficult task it was indeed, the hill was a pain to maneuver around and the big tree in her yard was always dropping twigs, nuts, and leaves no matter what time of year it was. Let alone how small it was. Nonetheless, she still loved it all the same. Once again, she felt it gave the house character and fit in right along with the way the rest of the house looked.

Hope turned to her small dark blue car sitting in front of her house and flung the door open, dropping her bag into the grey leather seat before closing it and making her way the other side so that she could climb into the driver's side. She leaned over and straightened up the slumped over brown sack so that she could pull her keychain out of the side pocket furthest from her-it always had to be that one- and start the car. She clicked her seatbelt on and looked around before pulling out of her parking space.

Hope moved a hand up to her hair and pulled the flower crown away from her greedy strands of hair still trying to hold on to it. She held onto it while she waited for a red light or stop sign so that way she could place the crown into her knapsack, immediately  rolling her window down afterwards and leaning back more comfortably as she made her drive. It wasn’t a long drive, luckily, which only allowed Hope around half an hour of free time to herself. She synced her phone up to her car at the next red light she encountered and enjoyed the feeling of cold air smacking against her face and the soothing sound of her grungy/alternative music as she zipped down the highway and to her destination.

The drive was a little longer than Hope had expected, but nonetheless she still made it to the airport in no time flat. Finding a parking space on the other hand...well that was a different story. She circled the parking lot a full five times before finally finding one surprisingly close to front. She put her car in park and cut off the ignition before grabbing her bag and exiting the car. She swung her keys and watched them wrap around her arm as she walked to the entrance and entered the building. Off to the side leaning against the wall were two girls that Hope recognized.

One of the girls was a short 5’1” punk who had pixie short bright orange hair on the left side and bright orange hair that came just below her chin on her right side. She had pale skin with freckles covering almost every inch of what was showing. She had a black beanie slouching off of her head and thick black eyeliner surrounding her striking green eyes. Her lips were a deep red color, almost black or purple if compared to the right thing, and peeking out from the right side of her mouth Hope could see a tongue flicking at a lip ring.

She had an oversized well worn navy green jean vest that had been cut at the shoulders and covered in buttons of various bands that Hope either knew, vaguely knew, or didn't know at all. Underneath the vest was a baggy white tank top sporting some punk band that Hope did not recognize with the front of tucked into a pair of high-waisted shorts, which obviously used to be a pair of jeans. She had a pair of ripped black tights that were so torn they looked as if a spider had made them and a pair of red doc martens.

On her exposed left arm was a tattoo of Tank Girl on the shoulder and various quotes running up and down her arm. Hope knew that on the inside of her wrist there was a stack of books that turned into birds flying away. She also knew that on the other arm she has a skeleton hand flipping the world off, a Ramones tattoo, and on her other wrist was a solid black tree with orange leaves falling to the ground. Amongst the hidden tattoos the girl had, Hope’s favorite was the one along her side beginning at her belly button and up the side of her breast was an illusion tattoo meant to look like her skin was torn open and you can see skeleton on the inside. On the back of her neck was the Capricorn zodiac sign in pitch black and a pair of nape piercings underneath it. She had a right eyebrow piercing and a sternum piercing to finish off all the metal on her body. Her nails, which were in her mouth currently, appeared to be painted black but they had been chewed and picked at so much they revealed more of the actual nail than the black coloring that had been painted on them.

Across from her was a girl slightly taller, due to her pale pink creepers, that had the same strong nose and cheekbone features and small, yet long eyes and pale skin all freckled up. Just like her sisters bright red eyebrows, they were slightly bushy and arched in a pointed way that dared you to approach the two. Despite the similarities though, this one seemed younger. Almost child like with the way her long pastel plump hair draped over her bare pale shoulders. Sticking out her head were two mint green plastic small horn clips on either side of her head. Her face had been coated in a layer of soft pastel colors like pinks and purples and had blushed her lips with a faint pink color.

Her usual green eyes had been replaced by a pair of purple enlarging lenses and were surrounded by a dark layer of eyeliner and long fake eyelashes. She was wearing a black crop top with fancy looking straps in the shape of a pentagram on the front underneath a see-through collared double pocket purple shirt and black and white striped overalls. To finish the outfit off she had worn a pair of black thigh highs with a laced up design and little purple bow at the top. Various skull and eyeball related accessories were strewn about her and her long perfectly shaped witch nails were a pastel blue color apart from the middle one which was black.

Immediately getting herself psyched up, Hope quickly ran towards the two girls with her arms spread out to them. The punk looking one turned her head just enough to find Hope trip over one of her bags and fall into the sloppily thrown out arms of her own. Hope straightened herself out in their awkward hug before promptly wrapping her arms tightly around her and pulling the other closer.

“Cas! I missed you so much!” Hope pulled away and looked at her childhood friend, “It’s been so long, how was England?”

Cas smirked at her overjoyed friend and shrugged, “It was so so.” Her deep voice had picked up a faint New Zealand accent from being in their for the last couple of years, “I’m just glad to be back in the states.” Cassidy picked up one of her travel bags and draped it over her shoulder as she gripped onto of the other over-stuffed and oddly stained black suitcase with her name tag hanging off the front.

“It’s nice to see you too Lexi, I didn’t know you were coming with.” Hope grabbed Cassidy’s other suitcase as she watched Lexi grab her backpack and her two suitcases and ignore her.

“Stop being a little b***h. Say hi and thank Hope for giving us a place to stay till I find us a home.” Cas sharply nudged Lexi in the shoulder, “Just cause you didn’t want to be here doesn't mean you get to be an a*s to someone being nice to you.”

Lexi dragged her eyes up from her suitcases and up to Hope, “Thanks.” She muttered before putting her earbuds into her ear and staring off to the side.

Hope nodded awkwardly at Lexi and then started making her way to the car, “There’s no food in the house. I had planned on going shopping tomorrow so you two can come with and help me plan for meals. I got class tonight so just order a pizza or two. If you order from Domino’s and ask for Aiden he’ll give it to you for free and pay it himself.”

“Holy s**t! Aiden works as a pizza delivery boy?!” Cas loosely griped the strap of the bag draped over her shoulder and let her shoulder hang against her thin stick like frame, “I thought he hated driving.”

“He does. He only works there because Ethan can’t pay for the house by himself and it was the only job that was hiring at the time.” Hope pushed the door open and walked out of the building, staying behind to keep the door open for the two girls before making her way back up to them and leading them to her car.

She used her keys to pop the trunk open and came to a halt in front of the open trunk as she hefted up the suitcase she was carrying and placed it neatly into the back of her trunk, glad she had cleaned it out the week before.

“I call shotgun!” Cas declared after shoving her two suitcases into the trunk and running to the passenger side and standing impatiently at the door for Hope to unlock it.

Hope straightened out the cases and then clicked her keys to unlock the car, not even bothering to watch Cas climb in while she helped Lexi put her stuff in the trunk.

Hope went up to the driver's seat as Lexi went to the backseat behind Cas and settled themselves in. Hope placed her bag in the back with Lexi as Cas placed her bag in her cross-legged lap and pulled out a bag of chips to munch on, “Aight babe, tell me what I missed over the past couple of years.” Cas studied her triangular shaped chip before shoving it into her mouth.

Hope neglected to answer Cas’ question until she had safely navigated out of the parking lot and made way to the highway, “For starters, I got accepted into that art school I applied for.”

“Dude, nice!” Cas shoved a handful of chips into her mouth.

“And Ethan and Aiden hooked up.”

“Saw that one coming.” Cas mentioned, her mouth full.

Hope let out a quiet giggle and nodded, “Yeah, they were practically heads over heels for each other. Still are, honestly.”

“That’s disgusting.” A small voice came from behind them, “They’re literally related. Like, they’re actually twins.”

“Lex, I know it’s weird but they’re our friends. We gotta respect them. Stop being such a b***h.”

“F**k you.”

“F**k you.” Cas turned around in her seat and jabbed at Lexi’s side, earning a glare and a smack to her arm.

“Hey! No fighting while I’m driving!” Hope pulled Cas back into her seat properly and then stole a few chips out of her bag.

Cas flopped back into her seat with a huff and rolled her window down, allowing the wind to blow her orange hair all over her face as she ate her chips. Hope glanced back at Lexi in the rearview mirror to find her huff and look at the window as well, shoving an earbud back into her ear. Hope couldn't help but laugh to herself. No one would ever think that they weren't related.

The thing with Cassidy and Lexi was that even though they strongly resembled each other in their looks; such as, the pale skin and orange hair or their strong cheekbones and eyebrows or their shared pout of the lip, is that they were only sister through adoption. Cassidy’s mother had wanted two children but was not able to conceive another one after Cassidy, it was actually a miracle that Cassidy was even born, so her mother and father decided that they were going to adopt. They weren't even trying to find a child that resembled them and Cas but as luck would have it, the child introduced to them was Lexi and they had decided right away that she was the one they wanted. So from age seven to now, eighteen, Lexi has been the adopted sister of Cas and no one was able to tell a difference. Hope didn’t even believe them when the girls had told her that they weren't related. It took about five times of them reminding her that it finally stuck with her.

Almost like when Ethan and Aiden told her that they were dating.

Author's Note

Here is my official chapter one! The Revised version. I had my friend Brendon read through it and help me figure out a better way to end it and he was a big help so thanks to him. Hopefully its better now and there aren't that many errors.

Also, once again I really need your input on this I dont know what to do. Due to the strong language, I was thinking that I need to change my rating from teen to mature. What is your opinion on that?