Chapter Text
She’s coming this way.”
Josie’s voice was shaky, but her resolve was as solid as the Salvatore School’s stone walls. She stared determinedly at her locker, then to the approaching blonde girl, and thought sourly that this was so unfair.
Take it from someone who had been waiting for the day Jade would say her name, or show in some other way that Jade knew Josie existed since they met seven years ago. Josie had the locker right next to Jade, so of course, it would be impossible to not notice the girl. It would be even more impossible to avoid staring into those blue eyes, or smell that sweet vanilla perfume…or think that Jade looked absolutely and devastatingly beautiful.
Jade jammed her Chemistry book, humming something that sounded suspiciously like the Friends theme song.
Josie tried to smile and say, hey .
She floundered.
The smile on her face was akin to the one she sported at her dental appointment.
“Have a good one,” Jade said automatically to Josie, just like she did every weekday afternoon.
When Jade was gone, Hope let out an explosive groan.
“It’s ‘Hi, Jade.’ That way she’d be forced to wrack her brains for your name too, which—”
“--is way better than staring at her for the rest of the year,” Josie finished Hope’s sentence, just like she did every time her best friend watch her flounder around her longtime crush. “I don’t know though, I think I’m—”
“making progress?” Hope quipped sarcastically. “You say that every time.”
Josie stuck her tongue out. “I’m pretty sure she smiled at me this time.”
Hope snorted.
“Have you, I dunno, actually tried talking to her?”
Josie craned her neck and from where she stood, she could see Jade smiling nervously at the Student Council President, Ines, and thought sourly, they make a cute couple . Hope rounded next to her with a grin on her face.
“You’re such a lovesick puppy.”
“Okay, the show’s over,” Josie said, vaguely irritated. Then she ran. She saw Hope skid midway to say goodbye to MG before transitioning back into a hasty jog.
“Josie, come on! I still don’t understand why you can’t talk to her.”
“It’s because she’s Jade,” Josie mumbled as though that made sense. “She’s too—"
“Pretty? I get it,” Hope replied. “So is your sister, I don’t see why you can talk to the queen of mean and not Jade.”
“You just did not put Lizzie and Jade in the same sentence.”
“Well, you gotta talk to her, closure and all that.”
“You make it sound like Jade and I had a relationship.”
“And you’re making it sound like you have so much time left.” Jade was graduating this year.
“Later, okay? I’d do it.”
“Yeah?”
Josie nodded.
“That’s the spirit!” Hope grinned.
The girls started to climb into Hope’s jeep, but the roar of a finely tuned motor stopped them in their tracks. A sleek red car purred through the parking lot, searching for space, and when the car came to a stop, door wide open, Josie caught a glimpse of a dark-haired girl. Dark sunglasses covered the girl’s eyes, shielding the rest of her face like a mask.
The driver made a beeline towards the school, disappearing in the crowd of ogling students which parted as she sauntered in. Just like Moses, Josie thought…That was If Moses was a girl, wore a leather jacket, and had an overall air of snobbishness.
“Who is that?” Josie asked. She felt as though someone had poured iced water on her neck, and it was slowly dripping into her pants.
“No idea,” Hope whispered at her, almost as if she were on a recon mission. “But I would love to find out for you. You think she’s hotter than Jade?”
Josie rolled her eyes. She looked back at the blonde girl, and let out her breath. She had never traveled farther than Mystic Fall, Virginia in her life, but somehow, she knew. She knew no one was more attractive than Jade.
“Never.”
***
“Mikaelson, how did you do that?!” Wendy asked, awestruck. Alcohol splashed all over the table as another ball sunk in one of the red cups. Beside her, Jade groaned in defeat.
Wendy threw a ping pong ball onto the hardwood floor, but stayed perfectly still for a long while, waiting for the scolding that never came. Even as she asked for Alyssa to turn the speaker’s volume up, exchanged scathing barbs with Kym, there was no scolding of any kind. Not even the sound of a vaguely confusing British accent. There were no quips even from the owner of the house. Sebastian’s house was utterly silent, devoid of parental shadow, which they all preferred; and so, she dared to throw another ball on the floor, this time as hard as she could.
Talk about anger issues, Josie thought.
“That’s what your boyfriend said last time,” Hope said, earning a series of ooh from the small crowd that was Landon and Kaleb, both of them nursing a shared Corona. Lightweights. Beside them, Lizzie and Sebastian sat on a chaise and paid no attention; too busy kissing each other.
“Come on, Wendy. It’s just a game.” Jade said.
Josie couldn’t fathom how Hope wrangled Jade into participating in a beer pong contest. Wendy, she could understand. The girl wouldn’t say no to a challenge, much less in a game that included a slight need of aggression to win.
Jade? Josie couldn’t figure it out. Jade was the nicest person at Salvatore School, except for MG of course. She probably had a spot for Cambridge, Yale, and Stanford, and if her test scores are any indication, she might have to pick. The idea that Jade was playing beer pong with them, the townies who think were rich kids gone bad, or in Sebastian’s case, a juvenile delinquent was discombobulating.
She asked Hope about it, but Hope’s response was so typical: a waggle of eyebrows and a grin. After an incessant barrage of questions, Josie finally settled to a conclusion that Hope probably blackmailed the blonde girl into submission. Probably bribed Jade with promises of organizing charity balls or something.
Either way, Josie was happy. Jade looked as though she was having a great time.
“You wish,” Wendy shook her head and dragged a confused-looking Jade into a corner, clearly devising a better plan to win. Jade, for her part, looked as though she was trying really hard to grasp the physics of beer pong.
Hope whispered once they were out of earshot, “How long do you think it’ll be before Jade and Wendy loses to us?”
“Three minutes. Give or take. Maybe shorter if Diego walks toward us.”
“Or Ines,” Hope cracked a grin as Josie scowled. She didn’t a reminder that her crush was into someone who would never give her attention. Talk about massive irony. They both peeked, watched as Jade raised her hand shot up in a jerky half-hearted wave. Ines, who was passing by, didn’t even look at her. “Poor girl. She really doesn’t know how to talk to girls.”
“You should give her lessons,” MG said, finally looking up his phone. “She could learn a lot from you.”
Josie looked at Hope and changed the subject. MG always hated the way Hope behave around girls. He always made a snide remark about how Hope was like a player, but really it was just last semester, Hope dared him to ask Alyssa out, and he was shocked at how easy it was for him to persuade Alyssa into a night of Frosé and chocolate-covered strawberries. MG, for some absurd reason, didn’t like that at all.
“So, who are you texting non-stop?” Hope elbowed MG.
MG had been texting non-stop since the party started, and since they knew he wasn’t texting anyone from their circle of friends, it had to be a girl.
“Peez.” MG playfully swatted Hope’s arm off him. “I heard she’s in town. I hope that’s okay, dude.” MG looked at Hope.
“Shouldn’t you be asking me since I own this house?” asked Sebastian. He looked concerned.
MG looked at Sebastian, then back at Hope before repeating, “I hope that’s okay, Hope.”
“Corvette Stingray?” asked Hope.
MG hummed in acknowledgment. Sebastian looked impressed and went back to kissing Lizzie.
Josie, who did not speak Autoweek , looked around inquiringly.
Hope shrugged. “Yeah whatever, MG. She’s your best friend.”
“Um..who’s Peez? ”Josie asked aloud.
“Penelope Park,” Hope said succinctly as though it explained everything.
“Who?”
“God, Josie. You’re so helpless sometimes,” said Kaleb. “She’s like one of those girls obsessed with photography and murder mystery parties way back in middle school.”
Josie looked confused.
Kaleb rolled his eyes. “Bookworm, straight-A student. Parents sent her to one of those fancy boarding schools abroad. She was in the church choir with Cleo? No?”
“Ohh, I remember her!” Landon piped. “She used to be super nice. Dang, Europe changed her.”
“Telling you that your style is boring is nice, Landon.”
Hope broke down into a silent fit of giggles.
“Again, who?” asked Josie, irritated.
“Remember the sweet innocent Peez turned into the girl MG always talk about? Dark hair, dark soul, ‘darker’ dating reputation than mine?” said Hope.
There was a sound akin to a plunger getting freed from a urinal. Josie looked around and saw Lizzie finally detached herself from Sebastian’s mouth. Josie wrinkled her nose.
“Ah. The one who can basically out-Hope Hope’s tragic attempts to woo girls? Totally.” Lizzie interjected.
From the corner of her eyes, Josie saw Hope was trying to act as though she was unbothered, but she could tell that Hope didn’t like Lizzie associating her with a negative repute.
“That one!” MG piped, earning a crude hand gesture from Hope.
“I thought she’s living in, like, France?” asked Kaleb.
“Belgium,” corrected MG.
“Ah, yes. Just like me.” Hope said drily. “Last I check I’m not the one studying in some rich-ass boarding school somewhere in Europe. I’m totally down-to-earth if you think about it.”
There was a gaggle of laughter. Hope continued because she had this weird habit of out-bitching Lizzie, “If anything, she’s like Lizzie. She looks like a snob.”
“Wait, you’ve seen her?” Josie interrupted. “When was this?”
Hope raised her hand, silencing Josie. “She looks like she hates the townies too. Does that ring a bell, Lizzie?”
“Your dad built a private school so you don’t have to deal with the townies, asshat.”
Josie almost choked on her drink, but she wasn’t surprised. Hope and Lizzie’s relationship was nowhere best of friends, but not borderline enemies either. They were just Hope and Lizzie. The only two students at Salvatore, heck maybe entire Mystic Falls, who enjoy exchanging barbs and insults at each other.
“You two done dealing with this weird sexual tension? Because we’re ready to play,” Wendy said at the top of her voice.
Josie did choke on her drink. “That better be a joke.”
Wendy looked at her for a second, then at Hope, and they both started to laugh.
“You know what, little Saltzman? Let’s exchange partners. Jade’s dragging me down.”
“Hey!” Jade sputtered. “I did everything you told me to do.”
“Sure, Jade.” Wendy shoved Jade forward, earning an indignant protest from the blonde. “You can have her.”
Hope looked at Josie and grinned.
“Yeah, Josie. You can have her.” Hope said automatically, rounding towards Wendy in a flash. Once the new scenario sunk in, Josie stared at Hope furiously. Hope batted her eyebrows as though the mere action would prove that she didn’t plan any of this.
“Hi,” Jade said. “You’re okay with this, right? Wendy can be a little competitive sometimes.”
Unable to think clearly, Josie nodded in response.
“I’m really bad at this, Jos,” Jade whispered, oblivious to the fact that Hope was making sarcastic kissing noises behind her back.
She called me Jos , Josie thought dumbly.
Jade smiled at her.
Goosebumps erupted on her neck.
“You think you can give me a few pointers, partner?”
Her neck felt hot.
“Well,” Josie started to say to Jade, but then a girl walked towards their table, and Josie felt as though her brain short-circuited.
It was the girl’s eyes that made Josie internally shiver. Those vivid shades of green— warm and dominant—surveyed Sebastian’s house, and Josie tried her hardest to pretend she was not actually looking at the girl. Not looking at those beautiful eyes, that cute nose, that smirk playing on the girl’s thin mouth.
Okay, maybe yeah Josie finally remembered her. Josie remembered how back in middle school, she used to stop on her tracks just to smile at the then timid Penelope every morning. Now, Josie felt silly when she realized that she used to do that, not because she was a good person, but because Penelope was really pretty.
“Thanks for letting me come, Mikaelson,” the newcomer said, looking at Hope. It was hard not to stare; Penelope’s piercing looked brighter under the light and well, she looked as though she stepped out of a fashion magazine and was on her way to seduce every girl in town. Not very Christian at all. Yup, Europe changed her. “I wouldn’t have but MG begged me.”
“Um, hi,” Josie gasped as though she ran out of air. She had no idea what the heck was happening. All she knew was she felt the need to butt in, her mind screaming to capture the girl’s attention, and words were spewing out of her mouth before she could think.
Penelope looked absolutely delighted at Josie’s brazen display of reckless bravery.
“Who are you?”
“Josie. Josie Saltzman.”
“Josie, huh? I’m Penelope Park.” Josie saw Penelope’s lips curve into a teasing smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“ Again. We’ve met before, um middle school?” offered Josie.
“We did, huh?”
“I used to, like, smile at you every morning,” added Josie lamely. She laughed breathily, before adding, “I didn’t have the courage to say hi.”
Somewhere in her background, Josie heard a crunching noise. She turned and noticed the red cup being suffocated by Jade’s hands. She looked up, concerned, and there was a hard glint on the blonde’s narrowed brown eyes.
Jade looked at her, then blushed.
What was that all about?