438: THIRTEEN YEARS OLD (2)

THIRTEEN YEARS OLD (2)

Hope was biting her lips and faking her smile since the moment she got into the car with Alyssa and Rena along with the other three men, who were older than her.  2

Those three men were people that Alyssa befriended online during these few months.

Alyssa had told Hope that it would be okay, because they would come back before night. They would just hang out together at a certain place that Hope had never heard of.

Well, she couldn't be blamed as this was her first time being away from home without Kace or Lana watching over her.

Hope knew those two people would freak out the moment they realized what she had done. Probably they already knew about it by this time. 

She just wished Kace wouldn't wreck any havoc later. 

Hope glanced at the front seat where Alyssa was talking to the three men. They were definitely older than the three of the girls.

Sebastian was nineteen, Gary was seventeen and Aidan was seventeen too. They came from different cities and this had been planned by Alyssa and Rena a week ago. 

When Hope agreed to do this at that time, she was not in her right mind. 

She knew it wasn't the right thing to do, but no one from Kace, Serefina or Lana gave her the freedom she wanted and the rebellious part of her pushed this thought to accept both of her best friends' offer to hang out with those three men. 

Hope was quite excited when she agreed to it and had been looking forward to this day, yet when it was actually happening, the only thought that roamed around her head since she left her school building was what Kace would think of her. 

The guilty feeling ate at the last feelings of excitement that she felt. 

"Why are you so quite?" Aidan, the man who was sitting right in front of Hope in the middle seat asked her while flashing his beautiful smile. 

"Huh?" That question snapped Hope from her reverie as she reciprocated his smile which didn't reach her eyes at all. "No, I am fine."

"Don't worry about her. This is her first time where she actually came out to hang out like this." Alyssa, who was sitting on the front seat next to Sebastian, who was currently driving, chimed in as she winked an eye at Hope.

"Really?" Gary turned his head to look at Hope. He was sitting next to Aidan in the middle seat and had been grumpy since the moment they met. 

"She has a strict family." Rena nudged her side and grinned. 

These questions had put Hope under the spotlight as they looked at her questioningly and Alyssa's big mouth didn't help her case any better.

"Not only strict, she is not allowed to go anywhere without her baby sitter. What is her name Hope? Luna? Lani? Ah, Lana right?" Alyssa snapped her fingers. 

It was very obvious that Alyssa was the most talkative one among the three of them as she was the one who had been doing all the talking since hours ago, engaging with cheesy conversations or flirting back with Sebastian. 

Well, one could say that Alyssa was very bold with opposite sex while Rena would join with them every now and then.

And for Hope… she had been very quite the whole time. 

For some reason Hope didn't feel safe with them, maybe because she didn't know and never met the three guys or because she was used to Kace's company as Hope never went out with other men except him. 

"She is not my baby sitter, she is my sister." Hope corrected Alyssa's statement. Her voice was slightly defensive, as she didn't like the way she was talking about Lana. 

Hope had grown up with Lana. She had taken care of her until now, thus she wouldn't allow anyone to talk bad about her. 

Fortunately, Alyssa got the message and didn't talk much about it again, though she knew that Lana wasn't Hope's biological sister.

"Wow! This is your first time?" Aidan blinked his eyes and stared at Hope in disbelief. She hated the way he stared at her.

"With friends? Yes." Hope admitted.

"Trying to rebel against your family, huh?" Gary snorted as he leaned back against his seat and ignored the rest of the conversation, feeling grumpy again. 

"Then we should make this memorable!" Aidan clapped his hands like a child. Hope hated this too.

"Where are we going?" Hope ignored the excitement in Aidan's eyes and his bright smile, when she asked no one in particular.

"We will go to Oriole city." Sebastian answered Hope. 

Oriole city was the next city after the red river, it would take at least three hours to reach there and Hope frowned. 

It was stupid of her to not ask their destination beforehand. 

"What are we going there for?" Hope furrowed her brows. "You said that we will come back before night." Accusation was evident in Hope's voice as she asked Alyssa. 

Yet, her best friend didn't take it seriously as she grinned at her and replied offhandedly. "The night is still very long, honey… we will come back before it's twelve o'clock."

Alyssa made it sound like Hope was acting like a Cinderella and all of the people inside the car were laughing at that joke, except Hope.

She regretted her decision now and wanted all of this to end quickly, so she could go back home and receive her punishment. 

"Don't be upset." Rena nudged her again and whispered when she noticed that Hope's mood had dampened. "Try to enjoy this moment. Isn't this what you wanted?"

Is it?

"I don't know…" Hope shook her head, she knew her mood had affected Rena beside her. "I just feel very bad about this, especially when I have to lie and avoid Kace."

That was true. Mostly, she felt guilty for the thought of disappointing him. 

Rena squinted her eyes and bit her lower lip, her habit when she was thinking about something. "What is Kace for you? He is not your father or brother. He is not even related to you by blood, right?"

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