One Night with the Prince (30 page)

PROLOGUE

My Best Friend’s Brother

Hope

My name is Hope and I am seventeen years old but I’m turning eighteen in a few weeks. I live with my parents and my older brother Ricky. I have a much older sister Kira too, but she is married and lives a few towns over.

I would often spend most of my time and holidays at Kira's house because my parents traveled a lot and never wanted their kids around spoiling their fun.

My brother would spend time here too, that is when he is not at his college buddies’ place or at college.

I sometimes wonder why our parents even had us.

I don't think I've ever had a conversation with more than four words that wasn't about them going away or me and Ricky going to Kira's house.

Ricky was three years older than me and was off at college studying electronics or something.

He said he wanted to be an inventor ha! Yeah right.

Kira was thirty and happily married with no children but one on the way.

Mum and dad had Kira while in high school, that is why there is such a big age gap.

Kira always said she wished we were around when she was growing up, because it was very lonely and would have liked to have a sibling to hang out and play with.

Today was the day my parents were going away again and they weren't coming back for two months.

Come on, I mean who leaves their children for two months?

So yet again I was going to Kira's house.

But I didn't mind though because my best friend Heather lived near her.

We have been friends since we were little kids.

Until recently she was staying at her aunts so she could go to a good school.

But her parents decided she would be better finishing her last couple of years closer to home before she 'flew the coup' so to speak.

This was going to be the first time I had seen her in several weeks, which is surprising because one, my parents never usually spend so much time at home without a break at my sister and two, me and Heather haven't really spend more than a week apart since we met.

Even when she went to visit her parents she would either come back after a short time to visit me or when I was younger I used to go to her parents a lot.

But for the last few years I had been avoiding her parents’ house.

Usually when I knew her older brothers weren't there.

Heather had two older brothers and one younger.

The younger one was nice enough and didn't really bother us, spending most of his time with his friends or video games.

But her older brothers loved to tease and bully the two of us.

Heather used to take it in jest, but I would take it more to heart, not that it even stopped them though.

But it was lucky the last couple of years that I haven't seen them since they were both away at college.

And when they visited I made sure I wasn't around.

Heather always told me the reason they do it so much is because I reacted and that if I didn't they wouldn't bother with me so much.

But try not reacting when someone pours a bucket of hot sauce over your head.

I swear I couldn't open my eyes and my skin burned.

I had to go to the hospital to get them seen to.

Their parents punished them for that, but it didn't stop them. They just became better at hiding them.

My brother had spoken to the two about it and for a few weeks it seemed to work and the three would hang out together.

But when my brother wasn't around they would strike.

In the end I just avoided the house when they were around.

Heather would often say that they were asking after me and asking why I didn't go around anymore, but I just ignored it.

This year would be my final year and I managed to convince my parents to let me transfer to the same school as Heather so I didn't have to take time off from school every time they went away.

I was often forced to take a long bus or car ride back and forth, which I didn't want this year.

You would have thought at my age I would be OK to stay at home alone, but no, my parents wouldn't let their 'little baby' alone.

Oh well, at least my sister and her husband are great and I get to see Heather a lot when I'm there.

Robbie (Kira's husband) was a great guy too and he was like a much older brother or a second dad, whom I love since my own wasn't around much.

I knew this year would be different, but I didn't mind.

I had met most of Heather's school friends and we got on pretty well, so I didn't have to worry so much about school.

The only thing I had to worry about now was her brothers who were returning from college.

It would be impossible to avoid them now I was living in the same town.

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My Best Friend’s Brother.