The Truth

Kayla entered the room after a few moments, "Hope, you should get some sleep, you have been on the road for fourteen hours straight, Grams will still be here when you wake up, she would want you to sleep." Hope shook her head, wiping her tears away. "I am fine Kay, I just want to be here just in case she wakes up, thanks for calling me. Who else knows about grams?" Kayla sighed before looking away. "Pretty much everyone, Jackson came by earlier, do you remember him?" She gave a slight smile when mentioning Jackson. Hope gave a slight chuckle before glancing up at her little sister. "Of course, I remember Jackson, you two were always attached at the hip when you were younger. How has he been, what has he been up too?" Kayla smiled even more, "He's still the same honestly, but he's actually still in school becoming a doctor, can you believe that, he even works in this hospital too". Hope shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe that the young boy she used to watch play with her sister was now on his way to become a doctor. "That's awesome, I am so proud of him, of you too sis, you guys have come so far from the kids who used to throw mud at each other." Kayla laughed harder and then frowned slightly. "Thanks Hope, you know it would have been nice to see you for either one of my graduations, I understand why you left, but why did you have to stay away for so long, Grams and I missed you". Hope sighed. She knew this conversation was going to come up eventually, but she was hoping it was going to come later. "I know, and I am sorry that it took me so long to come home, but after everything that happened that night, I couldn't face running into my past again. It was easier to just stay away rather than facing the pain. Coming home wasn't an option after that night, and once I became acquainted to New York and the big city life, I knew that Cole and I were in different directions of what we wanted in life". Kayla shook her head, she had watched the fallout between Hope and Cole, saw how they both were after their breakup. Hope was right about one thing, they were in opposite directions, but they both were stuck in the same way. Kayla knew Hope had tried to date other people after Cole, but they never went anywhere. The same thing with Cole, he had dated a few girls after Hope, but deep down he knew that the only girl who had his heart was a million miles away. "Did you know that Cole came to the house that night, you had already left, He was really upset when Grams told him that you already took off. She tried telling you when she spoke to you the next day once you arrived in New York, but you told her that you didn't want to talk about what happened. Can you finally tell me what happened that night, why you left so quickly and why you never came back?" Hope frowned and looked up at her little sister. "You want to know what happened?" Kayla looked taken aback, "Of course I want to know what happened, I lost my older sister that night, you haven't been the same since Hope, and don't tell me that I wouldn't understand, I may be only 24 but I have been through a lot too since you left". This time it was Hope's turn to be taken aback. Kayla and her have always been close, but Kayla was right, once she left, it was easier to shut out all relationships and focus on her career and her dancing. "Hope, you didn't even invite me or Grams to your first show, we found out about it afterwards with the news. How do you think that made Grams feel?" Looking out the window, Hope caught a glimpse of her reflection. She looked worn out, and the past was catching up on her. "Fine, sit down and I will tell you about that night, but just so you know, I am telling you this just so you can understand what happened, and why I made the decisions I did". Kayla took a seat next to her sister and looked at her waiting patiently for the story to start. Hope began the story looking out the window again. "It was the night of my graduation from high school, Cole told me that he was going to be taking me out to dinner in celebration and that afterwards he had a surprise planned. Earlier that week, I had gotten an email from Julliard stating that I had gotten accepted into the program. I was so excited to share the news with Cole, nervous but at the same time excited. It was everything I worked for when I started dancing at the studio down on Main. Later at dinner, I tried to share the news with him, but I chickened out and just decided to enjoy the time I had with him. After dinner, he took me to the beach, and Kay, it was so beautiful. He had it all decorated with lights and there was a table set with dessert on it. We sat down and began eating when I noticed that Cole was getting a little nervous, I tried to get his attention to see what was wrong, when I caught a glimpse of it. In my dessert was an engagement ring, he was going to ask me to marry him that night Kay. I couldn't do it, so I ran out of there and left town without giving him an answer. That is what happened. That is why I left, and I never came back." Kayla got up so fast and paced the room. "You left because Cole was going to ask you to marry him? I don't understand why you had to push everyone else aside after that. I also thought that you were happy with Cole, so why exactly did you leave without giving him an answer?" Kayla was clearly upset about what she just heard.