Check out season 1 here!
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“What is he doing here?!” I shrieked in shock. Never in all my days had I ever expected to see him, of all people, at my doorstep.

IMG_0095And more than anything, I wanted him to leave as soon as possible.

Because I absolutely hated him.

IMG_0096“Issa, this is the new foster child we told you we’re taking in,” Amy told me patiently. “You helped take the rest of Lexi’s things out of his new room this afternoon, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I assured her. “But – I – I didn’t expect that the new foster kid would be…” I trailed my eyes up to meet Connor’s. “…him.”

“We felt led in our hearts that Connor was the one we should foster next. We wanted to keep it a surprise for both you and Lexi until y’all finally got to meet him.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at my foster mom’s words. Surely God wouldn’t make me face Connor again! Especially not before the first day of school, September 1st, which was tomorrow.

IMG_0097“Now let’s make him feel welcome,” Amy enforced.

“Pleasure to see you again, Issa.” Connor nodded politely to me. I turned my head to glare at him every so slightly in a way that Jackson and Amy couldn’t tell. What an actor.

IMG_0100“What do you mean, ‘again’?” Lexi asked as Amy darted outside to thank the person who had driven Connor to us. I immediately turned towards Lexi.

“Connor and I go a long ways back,” I snapped quickly before Connor could open his mouth. “We know each other from the FCA.” Then I plastered on a fake smile while giving him eyes of death. “Of course, you must be hungry, Connor. Supper is ready.”

IMG_0098“Issa’s right,” quiet Jackson, my foster dad, agreed. “Make yourself right at home, Connor.”

“Thank you, sir,” Connor replied.

IMG_0102“Yes, yes, supper is ready!” Amy dashed right back inside. “Come on, you heroes!”

As we all followed Jackson and Amy to the kitchen, I desperately racked my brain for possible ways to get Connor sent back. But I knew it was hopeless. I was stuck with my rival for who knew how long!

Jackson and Amy, my foster parents and Lexi’s adoptive ones, had wanted to surprise us, I suppose. Boy, was I surprised alright! Once I was sure that they wouldn’t send me back to the FCA like all the other foster parents, I had never expected to look into Connor’s taunting eyes again.

IMG_0114And yet there I was, sitting right across from Connor at the dinner table, playing it off like everything was dandy.

IMG_0116Connor and I kept up the act that had fooled all the adults at the FCA, pretending to be friendly acquaintances all the while wishing ill fate toward the other in our minds.

“How is your arm doing, Issa?” Amy asked, interrupting my ill-will wishes.

“Good,” I replied. “Ever since the cast was removed, it’s been feeling fine.”

“Yeah, same with me,” Lexi agreed. “My ankle is still regaining its strength, but for the most part it feels great.”

hoth4After dinner, I rose to grab the dirty dishes, for it was my turn. As the others cleared out of the room, I wondered helplessly, What am I going to do? Thankful for an excuse to get away from Connor, I took an extra long time washing them.

But I had to walk back to my room sometime, and that sometime was approaching.

I passed Connor’s open door hurriedly, pointedly ignoring him.

IMG_0119Only that didn’t work so well.

I began to speed-walk toward the room Lexi and I now shared when I heard footsteps behind me, but it was no use.

IMG_0125“Issa!” Connor called.

IMG_0124I whirled around to face him. “What?” I hissed, gritting my teeth.

IMG_0120“Just letting you know,” he began casually, but his eyes grew dark and full of hate. “I haven’t forgotten everything that happened at the FCA.”

At first my blood turned cold. When Connor talked revenge, he was serious about getting it. But then my blood began to boil as the old contempt for my old rival returned.

IMG_0121“That war?” He continued, boring his piercing eyes into mine. “It’s not over.

MWAHAHAHA!! *coughs* Sorry, sorry. I had to let that out. I had so much maliciously evil fun writing this! >:D I had a craving to write a really good cliffhanger. ;D Well, I think it’s good, anyways. You have to honestly let me know what you think.

And I hope at least one person is looking forward to part 2. ;)

If you’re that person, let me know in the comments below! I’d really appreciate your feedback. Are you interested as to what happened between Conner and Issa? Does season 2 of HOTH sound pretty cool or pretty lame?

Love,

P.S. Just a little side note… I literally have NO boy clothes for my dolls. At all! LOL! So you might see some repetitive costumes during this season… ;P

And Molly and Emelie had to play boys, yes, much to their chagrin. But as I learned in theater, whenever a girl has to play a boy’s part, she just pulls her hair back into a low ponytail. So I applied that concept to my photo stories. I have to keep Molly’s fragile hair braided, so it’s just in kind of a weird braided bun, but the actual characters of Connor and Jackson do not have really long hair (though Connor’s is shaggy, like the front of Molly’s bangs). :P And just pretend that Molly’s empty ear piercings aren’t there, LOL. :P