Lizzie looked over her dress for the hundredth time, running her fingers over the blue fabric. Her mind was still on bio-mom Jo and her apparent evil agenda. It shouldn’t be too much of a disappointment: her and Josie already had a mom; they didn’t need a second. But there was still something inside her that had been let down when that ball glowed red. 

There was a knock at her door. “A little busy at the moment,” Lizzie called, zipping her dress bag back up and moving on to testing different hair accessories. The knocking continued. “Who can’t take a hint?” Lizzie demanded with a dramatic sigh. “I guess it’s open!”

Hope swung the door open, and Lizzie froze, two clips in her hair and two more in her hands. 

“Well not for you,” she sneered.

Hope smiled through the rudeness. “Is Josie here?”

“No, she’s not.” Lizzie pulled her clips out and put on a fake, overly sweet smile. “And she won’t be if you come back later. Neither one of us wants anything to do with you.”

“Well, that’s not what she said.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Because she’s too nice to tell you to fuck off.” 

Hope rolled her eyes back. “Then could you at least give her something for me?”

“Absolutely not.” Lizzie kept her wide grin and fake friendliness on. “Josie may be too nice to tell you to fuck off, but I’m not.”

The smile fell into a deep scowl, and Lizzie waved a hand through the air, spelling the door to slam in Hope’s face. Hope just pressed her lips into a flat line and nodded.

“Good luck, Rafael,” she muttered, turning away from the door and looking down at the two envelopes in her hand.