Hope Springs
Chapter 1

I had been living in Hope Springs, for three years now. My family had moved three years ago because Dad had gotten a better job here, and so we had moved. Hope Springs was a nice enough area, there were hardly any crimes at all and there was plenty of wildlife. Quite often, I could hear the wolves in the forest which was right behind our house. Normally, I was terrified of wildlife but there was something about the wolves that soothed me. Maybe it was how misunderstood they were. People just saw them as ruthless killers, didn’t they?

But wolves were more than that. I knew a lot of my friends were scared of wolves and if I came face to face with one I would probably be scared too, but I didn’t think wolves were ruthless killers and in all honesty, I believed that humans were more ruthless than wolves. Humans murdered each other because they could. I remembered hearing about this one story, someone had murdered four people over a washing machine. Humans killed because they could.

Wolves killed only if they felt threatened, for food, or to protect their food. They didn’t kill just because they could. To them, the food was precious. I ran a hand through my light brown hair and focused my gold-brown eyes outside. I was hoping that I would be able to catch a glimpse of the wolves, but I knew it was probably impossible. They wouldn’t be seen unless they wanted to.

“Trinity,” my mother called and I jumped, and got up from the window seat. “Trinity come here!”

“I’m coming,” I shouted back, making my way down the stairs and into the kitchen where my mom was starting lunch.

My Mom was a petite woman, with light brown hair that was slowly graying. Her eyes were blue and her skin had a slight tan to it, although she never really went out into the sun. She was wearing a white overly large shirt and blue jeans. Her feet were bare and she had an apron wrapped around her waist. She turned her head and smiled when she saw me before gesturing me over to her.

“Have you asked the diner about the job opening they had?” She inquired and I shook my head causing her to frown. “Well, you need to Trinity. You are sixteen years old, almost seventeen and you need to get some working experience. Your father and I are already struggling to save up for college for you and Maria and May. You getting a job would really help out.”

I sighed crossing my arms over my chest, “I know, I know. I’ve heard this about a billion times. But...we live in a new area now and I’m just not sure I would like it. I’m not a very sociable person.”

At that, my mom snorted, "Not very sociable? Trinity that is a lie and we both know it. In Summer Falls, you were the most outgoing and popular girl. You were friends with everyone and always had people over at the house, so don't tell me you aren't very sociable."

I huffed, “Okay, okay. So it's not that it’s just...A new place. A new place where I don’t know anyone and first impressions are everything. I want to be liked, I don’t want to be dubbed as a girl from a super poor family, who is really clumsy and not at all pretty.”

That wasn't a lie. That was what I was scared of. What if I got the job at the diner and I somehow made a huge fool of myself? My biggest fear was what if I was bringing out an order and I accidentally dumped it over someone, or I tripped and spilled it everywhere? At Summer Falls, I may have been popular, but I wasn’t known for my grace. I was very clumsy and balancing a lot of objects just didn’t seem to be a very good idea.

Mom sighed and popped the chocolate chip bars into the oven. Then she turned to me and gestured for me to sit down.

“Trinity, I know you want to make a good impression and I know how important a good first impression is, especially when you are in high school and girls can be so cruel. I also know that you are worried about making a fool of yourself.” She paused and smiled at me before adding, “It’s written all over your face Trinity. I know you aren’t the most coordinated person but you can do this if you set your mind to it. You really shouldn’t worry about it, and if people ridicule you because you work at a diner then they really weren’t worth being your friend, were they?”

I sighed, “I guess not. But-”

She interrupted me, “But you want to be liked. I know. How about I tell you a story.”

I barely resisted rolling my eyes. I knew that she meant well but I didn’t always want to hear a story from when she was younger. Apparently she saw my inner struggle and she sighed, glancing at the stove to see if the chocolate chip bars were done yet.

“I know you don’t think my stories are worth anything but just listen, Trinity. That’s all I’m asking, later you can see if it holds any merit or not.” She sighed, “When I was sixteen I was going through a similar thing to what you were. My parents were struggling to pay for my college and my mother was urging me to get a job. She didn’t care what job, she just said that I needed a job that paid a lot of money. Back then a job that paid a little more than average was, at a club. So I got myself an interview and started working. I didn’t make as much as others had thought I would but I was making more than minimum wage, and that’s what was important. It was going towards my education after all, and for the first year, the job went very well.

“But then one day people from my school showed up, fortunately, it was the night we were allowed to wear masks so I wasn’t discovered but I was mortified. I didn’t want to risk my friends catching me there and I debated on whether I should quit or not, and work at the courthouse. The courthouse didn’t pay as well, but I didn’t want to seem foolish to my friends. Despite how embarrassed I was, I couldn’t just quit. They needed to replace someone else to take my place and then my parents told me that we were moving.

“I had to quit my job and at the new place, we were moving to the only job they had was at the courthouse. I wanted to make a good impression, a lot like how you do right now, and I was afraid that if I worked at the courthouse people wouldn’t want to be my friend, for some absurd reason. But in the end, I got the job, and even though I was afraid that working at the courthouse would inhibit me from making friends it didn’t. I made some true friends, people who didn’t want to be my friend just because it looked like my parents were rich, or because I was pretty.” Mom gave me a small smile, “I made friends who liked me for me, and didn’t care about jobs I had had previously or what job I currently had.” The oven beeped and she hopped up, taking the chocolate chip bars out of the oven.

She laid the pan on the counter and took out a toothpick, sticking it into the chocolate chip bars, and then taking it out. She threw the toothpick away and turned back towards me, possibly waiting for me to say something.

“So...I should get the job at the diner is what you are saying,” I finally said, and Mom smiled. “You are also repeating what you had said earlier. If people don’t like me because I work at the diner, then they aren’t my true friends.”

Mom shrugged, “Essentially, Trinity.” She turned towards the living room, “May! Maria!”

Two blurs of bright colors and dark hair barreled into the kitchen, grabbing at Mom’s legs. May was the older of the two twins, although she didn’t act like it. May was more hyper than Maria and was certainly the more outgoing of the two. Maria was the shyer of the two, and less hyper but she was also sweeter than May and more intelligent. That wasn’t to say that May was dumb; May was actually fairly smart but Maria seemed to be smarter.

May was lifted into Mom’s arms and Maria seemed to pout before turning to me and holding out her arms. I lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist.

“Hey Ria,” I murmured quietly, “How are you?”

“May wanted to go outside and play,” Maria answered, “But Daddy said no. May threw a fit. Are we in trouble?”

“No, no,” I assured her, “I think Mom wanted you in here because guess what she made?”

“What?” Maria asked with wide eyes.

“Chocolate chip bars,” I answered, bouncing her a little and Maria squealed, hugging me tightly.

“Really, really, really?”

“Yep,” I answered and looked at Mom when she cleared her throat. She gestured with her head to the door and I sighed, knowing that that meant she wanted me to go to the diner and see if I could get the job.

I set Maria down, causing her to frown at me, her brown eyes bright with curiosity and I ruffled her hair before turning to Mom who gestured for me to come over. She stared at me, balancing May easily in one arm as she wrapped the other around my shoulders.

“You are going to the diner right,” She asked and I nodded.

“Yes Mom, I am going to the diner,” I answered, “Am I allowed to take the car?”

She shook her head, a bark of laughter escaping from her lips. “Of course, not Trinity, it’s only a couple of blocks away. You’ll be fine.”

I huffed and marched out of the kitchen. I was a little annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to take the car because I hardly ever got to use it but considering it was only a few blocks away it did make sense that I wouldn’t need the car at all.

It was a little chilly outside, though, so the car would have been nice.