A Hope and a Chance
Author: Jennifer Foor

1

The last day of my senior year in high school was coming to an end. After I fluffed my long ponytail of brown locks, reminding myself that I’d spent no time on my appearance this morning, I looked around at all of the classmates I’d most likely never see again. The large second hand on the black and white clock seemed to move slower than normal. As it made its way to the twelve, I gently obtained my bag off the floor and wrapped it around my shoulder. It was about to get chaotic.

With a short glance across the room I spotted my ex. He had this smirk on his face that I wished I could smack off. Had it not been for the struggles of my past few years, I never would have given him the time of day. He’d taken advantage of my weaknesses, and used me for his own personal punching bag, not physically, but mentally. I couldn’t wait to rid him from my life.

When the bell rang loudly I flipped him the finger, bidding him a goodbye he’d never forget.

The halls were crowded as my peers ran around like maniacs. Papers were flying in the air, like kids had just tossed them as they exited the building. It was funny how on the last day of school the halls became empty within seconds. I however, lingered around, knowing I wouldn’t be returning. Technically, I was graduating early, on account of my birthday being later in the year. Since I had doubled up on classes and spent the last two summers enrolled with the misfit kids who couldn’t pass during the normal school year, just to be able to do it.

You’re probably thinking that I loved school, or that I was somehow extraordinarily studious. That couldn’t be further from the truth. What pushed me into making the decision were my parents. They used to have such a great relationship, but two years ago my father started having an affair with his secretary. I won’t get into the details of how it was discovered, or what it did to me emotionally. I certainly won’t bore you with the details of my mother losing her self-worth and falling into an enormous bout of depression.

Shortly after it was revealed, he declared that his new whore wasn’t enough for him. He didn’t ask to return home, or try to at least make amends with me. Instead he went out and found someone even more disturbingly young to spend his time with. Now the bastard was entertaining the notion of remarrying again. The woman was just five years older than me, and to make matters worse, he didn’t see that there was anything wrong with his actions. His mid-life crisis only made me realize how much I loathed him for what he’d done to my life.

When my parents first separated, my father moved all the way to Pennsylvania, to apparently start over, or whatever you call it when you sign up for dating services and creep online to get laid. He left my mother with a steep mortgage she couldn’t afford, and eventually we had to move in with my grandparents. According to my mother, which was usually not a good source of information, he hadn’t paid child support for nearly a year now.

My dad had worked in real estate and seemed to move somewhere new when the market went dry. To my astonishment he’d called me last month to inform me that he and Buffy, (yes, that’s her name) were moving back to Virginia. My mother wasn’t thrilled, but even through her animosity toward him, she seemed happy he wanted to make another go at having a relationship with me. I think what was difficult was living in a small town, and seeing families interacting. Once you’ve become the talk of the town’s gossip, it’s hard to break away from judgment. I longed for normalcy.

The next morning was my visit with my father. Though reluctant, I did my best to lay out a nice outfit, and planned to do something remotely decent with my hair. It had gotten extremely long, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take a chance and cut it all off, or deal with it for another blazing hot summer.

I looked down at the clothes. Would he care what I wore? Did I need to make a good impression around his new girl-toy? I was overwhelmed with anxiety over this whole ordeal. Finally, after a few hours, and an empty closet, I decided on a light blue sun dress. It would make my olive complexion pop, and my indigo eyes sparkle.

After fighting to get out of bed, I started on the task of getting ready. I was going to curl my entire head of long hair, but noticed the time and settled to throw my frizzy mess up in a subtle pony tail, with an azure bow that matched my dress. I had to grimace when I took one final look in the mirror. For someone that had a high-school diploma, I’d managed to make myself look around the age of twelve.

After giving me an inquisitive stare regarding my outfit of choice, my mother reluctantly handed me the directions to my father’s new house. She gave me a million pointers before kissing me goodbye. I could tell she hated the idea of him being happy, and it was easy to admit that I loathed it too.

When I pulled into the community I noticed how large the houses were. Long private driveways separated every yard. A double check on the piece of paper let me know that the address I was sitting in front of was in fact my father’s. When I saw the matching numbers on a stone pillar leading down a matching concrete driveway, I figured it had to be wrong. My little Volkswagen Jetta putted its way down the paved entrance until I came to a stop behind a Land Rover SUV. The house had a stoned front with ivy growing up either of its sides. The windows and doors were trimmed in large white wood with black shutters.

I stepped out of the car, making sure the wind wasn’t blowing my dress up above my ass, before heading toward the door. It surprisingly flew open, alarming me. A young girl, who resembled a plastic Barbie doll, came skipping toward me. She was wearing a form-fitting dress that could have been made from only spandex. It was bright pink with giant yellow flowers scattered over it. Her platinum blonde hair was curled as if she were going to model in the next issue of Playboy. In fact, she kind of looked like maybe he’d picked her up at the Playboy mansion, or maybe he’d stolen her away from Heff. “Ohhh yay! I’m so glad you’re here.” She actually squeaked. “Come here; let me get a good look at you.”

Oh my God, this was a terrible idea!

I stood like a statue while this large breasted bimbo tugged and pinched every part of me that I’d assumed was deemed private. When I finally thought she was finished being amused, I began to forge forward. That’s when she reached over and grabbed both of my breasts.

“Oh my, what the-?” She’d shocked me. Frantic to get away from her, I swatted her hands.

“Your breasts are so perky and natural. I told the doctor that’s how I wanted mine, but nothing’s as good as the real things,” she proclaimed with a giggle.