Hope sat at the top of their hill and breathed in the fresh air. She sensed wood burning and observed the surroundings. This sun was hovering over the horizon signaling the end of another day. A fat robin chirped in a nest above her, then flew away. Every house in their subdivision was identical. They were nice houses on their own, two stories, brick bases with dark blue sidings and black roofs, but when repeated thirty times, it took away from its beauty. In her view was the backs of four homes. Their neighbors were grilling outside on their deck with Sammy, their golden retriever. He was sleeping on their wooden slabs. They grilled most days, year-round.

This was normally her safe place to find peace and study. Yet, her minor twinge of jealousy turned into a full-time loathing. She took another deep breath and returned to her book Perfect System by Dr. Stephen Bettencourt with a foreword by Dr. Kain. His actual best-selling book was 400 pages. This schoolbook was a 1,000-page training guide to implement it.

Cole read the same one.

She asked Cole, "Did you see this part about the ETFE film? That's the same material that I worked on last year. Nothing sticks to it and it never needs cleaning."

"That's an impressive invention. I can't wait to get my hands on it tomorrow. We will print some in class."

"Yes. It looks too good to be true."

They spent the next two hours reading.

Skye spent her time laughing and texting on her viewer.

About an hour ago, she stood, inspected the area, and said, "I really like this place." Then, she texted more.

Now, a black stretched limo pulled into the straight street before their cull de sac. Skye stood again and waved. "That's my driver, Marcus."

Then she ran down the hill. The limo turned into the vacant house on the corner and parked. Marcus exited the vehicle and waited for her. He had short dark hair and wore a black suit with a white dress shirt. He removed his jacket and placed it in the passenger seat up front.

She ran over and gave him a high five. They made their way to the front door. Marcus took a key out and opened the door, then he gave it to Skye. She flipped on the inside and outside lights.

Cole said, "This is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. Can I run over there?"

"No. Thirty more minutes, until we're done. Then we can go see what's happening." She wanted to accompany him because she did not trust Skye.

They sat next to each other with their backs pressed against the tree trunk. They had old sofa cushions, to make it more comfortable. They left them up there unless it would rain.

Skye did not return. Later, the rumbling of a loud diesel engine pulled down the street. She smelled the noxious fumes and glanced at the moving truck with Quick-E-Move on the side. Then, Marcus exited the house and moved his limo into the middle of the street. The vehicle backed into the driveway with the loud BEEP BEEP BEEP. On a quiet street like theirs, she knew everyone was watching. It parked and silenced the noisy machine.

Cole looked at her. "Can we go now?"

She checked the time on her viewer, only five minutes remaining.

"Fine. I want to know too."

They both got up and raced down the hill to the sidewalk. Cole won, like usual. They continued running until they were on the vacant house's front lawn.

The automatic garage door opened, and Marcus and Skye exited. Two hulking male movers with unkempt beards and scraggly black hair, left the truck. They wore dirty midnight blue uniforms with white letters that spelled out Quick-E-Move. The two-man team opened the back door and removed furniture. Hope thought they appeared to be twins, or at least had to be brothers. It was difficult to get a clear view through the grime on their faces.

Marcus shouted, "Hey! This one goes in the front room. I'll show you." The three of them entered the house.

Skye strutted over to Cole and Hope, beaming with pleasure.

"What the hell's going on?" asked Hope.

"I told you, I liked this place. So, I told my dad."

"Most normal people would take a picture to remember it," Hope said, agitated.

"Well, since I have to go to school with you guys, and I did not want to commute to a hotel in the city."

"This is awesome, Skye Bettencourt is moving to my block," Cole said.

"No. It's not," said Hope.

Her serenity obliterated in seconds. Cole was hard to keep focused and having Skye with them all the time, would make it impossible. She considered asking Dr. Bettencourt to find someone else, but she did not to appear to be a quitter.

Cole said, "Message Dad." to his viewer. A spotlight shined over him. "Get out here. You have to see this." He aimed the camera at Skye's new house. Then he said, "end message."

One mover carried a sizable mirror from the back of the truck.

"Hey, Jimmy!" Skye shouted, "Don't drop that!"

Jimmy had his headphones in and could not hear.

Skye ran over and smacked him on the back. The sound reverberated through their street. He did not budge. So, she jumped up and removed one of his earpieces.

"Hey!" He roared. "Give me that back." He swiveled his head to find the thief. He recognized Skye and changed his scowl to a grin. He said, "Oh. Hey, Skye."

"Don't break this mirror. I'll show you where to put it."

Skye and Jimmy went back into the house through the garage.

Cole's parents strolled down the empty street and over to where they were standing. Then, Hope's parents arrived also. Her mom embraced her. "Hey Hope, how was your first day back?"

She was silent.

"What's wrong? You don't look so good."

She felt sympathy for Skye because she had just lost her brother, but the way Cole looked at her made her want to claw her eyes out. He never ogled her that way, and he had plenty of chances. Skye was also the daughter of the esteemed Dr. Bettencourt. The person paying all their bills, now and in their immediate future. She must restrain herself from attacking her. She was perplexed.

"Hope?"

"I'm OK, mom."

Her viewer beeped. "8:00pm - celebrate birthday."

Best Birthday Ever.

Cole said in a robotic voice, "We now have one hour to celebrate Hope's Birthday. Happy Birthday, Hope." He maintained his robot impression, and patted her shoulder, repeatedly.

She chuckled.

His mom said, "Quit playing around. It's late. Go back to our house."

The six, without Skye, headed back to Cole's house.

"Hope, you'll love this cake," said Julie.

Skye ran over to them. "Hey guys, I don't want to miss out on her birthday cake."

"So, who will watch you?" Hope's dad asked Skye.

"Well, my nanny and butler. They arrive tomorrow."

"Your dad?"

"He travels a lot and I rarely see him."

"Your mom?" asked Julie.

"Regrettably, I have to see her once a month."

"But they both pay for the nannies and butlers. It WAS outlined in their divorce settlement." She stated this like it was common knowledge. Every should have known.

"That's no way for a kid to grow up," said Julie.

They entered the house and sat around the table.

Julie dimmed the lights and Hope's mom lit fifteen candles on the birthday cake.

They sang, "Happy Birthday to You." The cake had a red-orange Mars decorated in the center over thick white sugary frosting. The fluffy vanilla cake was her favorite.

They finished singing, and she leaned in to blow out the candles. They were hot, and it warmed her face. She closed her eyes and wished for Skye to disappear. She blew out every candle. They clapped. She opened her eyes; Skye was still here; maybe next time.

Her dad shouted, "Yay," gave her a hug and said, "Happy Birthday. We are very proud of you."

Then her mom kissed her on her forehead and hugged her too. "Happy Birthday, Hope."

"I hope you like the ..."

"Name jinx!" Cole shouted. He reached over and pinched her.

That hurt, but her mind was elsewhere.

"I'll get you back," she told him.

Next, Cole embraced her and said, "Happy Birthday, Hope."

She observed Skye heading over to them. She wanted to scream at him not to trust her and to stay away from her, but she did not have justification.

Cole did not release her, which she preferred. He moved his hands to around her waist.

"Are you OK?" Cole asked. "You look distracted."

Skye's viewer beeped. She grinned and said, "Oh good. It's Maria." She announced, "Answer call."

A life size hologram of Maria appeared in front of her. "Hey, Skye. How was your first day?"

Cole gawked at them. "I still cannot fathom that we're friends with them."

"Me either," said Hope.

He still had his arms around her waist.

She stared at him, realizing that she desired to be more than friends. How long had she wanted this? It was hard to tell since they spent every moment together. She always envisioned her future intertwined with his, yet she had not needed to clarify the difference between friend and girlfriend, until now.

Cole returned his attention to her and said, "I'm ready."

"Ready for what?" To tell Skye to go home?

"It's your birthday, so you get to choose the game, which is always chess."

Which also meant more time alone with him.

"So, this year, since I don't have a lot of money and it's hard to compete with these bands." He flipped over the Betrothed bands. "For your birthday present." He released his grip around her waist and used his fingers to count each declaration, "I have prepared myself. I read training books, hired a coach., and played practice games against the computer. I am ready."

She pulled him closer, "Thank you. This means more than you know." She kissed him on the cheek." She blushed because she did not expect to kiss him. It was instinctive.

He smirked at her and said, "That's why I'm, your best friend."

Maria snickered, "Did I just hear somebody impersonate me?"

"You mean impersonate me," Skye said arguing, "That's my saying."

Hope said, "Well, it's more like copying and you know what they say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery."

Cole released her, and they faced Skye and Maria.

Skye said to Hope, "Sorry, to interrupt you two BFFs. But my BFF wants to talk to the Birthday Girl."

Skye embraced Hope. The invasion of her personal space was unexpected. But she was beautiful, had soft skin, smelled amazing, like a rose, and she was far too young to have a body like hers.

"Happy Birthday, Hope. Thanks again, for letting me shadow you. You are by far the smartest girl I know."

"Thank you and don't worry about it."

"Hello again." Maria waved and said, ecstatically, "Happy Birthday Hope. I can't wait to move in there. I'm thrilled about going to school with you guys. I loved your paper Para Terraforming.on Mars. You wrote better than most professors and explained it in a way that everybody could understand it."

"That's what I was going for, when I was writing it. Thank you very much. I can't wait to meet you in person, either."

Maria continued, "I won't have to watch you on the reality show because I'll be there with everyone else. Cole too."

"Thanks again, Maria. Goodbye." She waved at her.

"Are you going to introduce me to Maria?" Cole asked.

"Definitely not." She shook her head.

"Goodbye Maria," Skye said, "I'll call ya when I get to my new place."

Maria's hologram disappeared.

"I need to go." Skye made her way to the door and waved at everyone. "Thank you very much for welcoming me into your lives."

Then she left. Julie shut the door and Cole stared at it for several seconds. Even gone Skye distracted him.

She slapped his back-right shoulder, "I thought we were playing chess."

He awoke from his daydream. "Yes. We are. Prepare to lose."

They sat down at Hope's chess board. She pressed a few buttons and the holographic pieces reset themselves.

"Just because I'm playing, does not mean that I consider this to be fun. My head hurts, during every move."

She let him begin, and he used a popular opening move. She played the appropriate defensive response. He correctly executed the next four moves of that sequence.

She beamed, "You have been practicing. I can't wait to see what else you've learned."

"My coach told me it takes a decade to master."

"It does."

"I've heard that about other games, and I master them with ease. So, I figured chess might take me two or three weeks."

She giggled then muted herself, not wanting to burst his bubble. She would allow her victories speak for her.

He went to his tenth move, perfectly. After he completed the opening moves, he did not seem to know what to do next. He panicked and forgot about the basics, like protect the king. She controlled the center and quickly trapped him.

"Checkmate."

"There's no way." He appeared stunned.

"See for yourself."

He peered at the board. Trying to find a place to hide his king or way to interfere.

"Dammit!" He groaned, slamming his fist on the table. The board and the pieces flickered.

"You got lucky. Next time, you're gonna lose." He pushed the reset button.

They played two more games, and he lost both in similar fashion.

Hope's viewer vibrated.

"It's time to go to sleep," she said.

"I really thought I had you. I will continue practicing until I beat you."

"I will enjoy watching you try."
"Just wait, you're gonna spend the entire trip to Mars on a massive losing streak. You'll be begging me," he changed his voice to impersonate her higher pitch "Please stop. I never want to play chess again."

She chuckled. His impersonation of her always made her laugh.

"We should leave before Cole embarrasses himself." Hope gestured at her parents.

She gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Oh. I forgot." She half-turned and pointed at the chessboard. "You already did." She guffawed. Gloating that time was fine. He deserved it.

Cole put his arms around her waist again and hugged her. "Good night and Happy Birthday. You are getting too old for me. I need to find friends that are younger."

"Shut up, you idiot." She gazed into his hazel eyes, wanting to tell him her newest revelation. Yet, sure of his response. That would not end well. But his attraction to Skye was entirely physical. He was infatuated, now, but Hope was certain to win him over. Plus, Skye wanted nothing to do with him.

"Are you Ok?" He stared back at her.

She would deal with this later.

"Thank you for playing chess with me. It was a wonderful present."

"That's why I'm ..."

"Yeah. Yeah. I heard ya."

"Thanks, other mom, I loved the cake," Hope said and hugged Cole's mom.

Hope's parents left with her.

"I liked it too, mom," Cole said.

Hope's viewer announced, "Mars Preparatory School Alert."

"Huh? What does it say?" Cole asked.

Hope displayed the message above her viewer, and they read it together.

"It says, Bettencourt Enterprises is proud to announce the hiring of a new professor. Dr. Petrov joins us from Moscow Russia. She spent the last twelve years teaching at Lomonosov Moscow State University. Press here for bio." Hope would read through that at home.

There was an image of the tall Russian woman. Her face had a menacing glower with gray-hair in a ponytail, and broad shoulders. She wore a dark gray blouse, and black pants.

Hope's mom stated. "At my school, they try to find the best image for these official announcements."

"If this is the nicest picture they could find, then we're in trouble," Cole said.

"I saw her walking in school today. She was incredibly tall too," Hope said.

"Does it say which class she will teach?" Cole asked.

Hope perused the article. "Nope."

"Well, I pray it isn't ours," Cole said.

Other questions popped into her mind.

Are we going to have three subjects?

Is she going to replace one of the teachers?

Hope's mom said, "Well we still have to prepare for a busy day tomorrow. So, goodbye."

"See you in the morning," Julie said.