Chapter 3
Josie’s panicking and clumsiness continues, to her demise. It’s not like it’s Hope's fault, everything was more of a series of coincidences.
Right?
It was a coincidence when Josie was playing with the kids outside that she accidentally saw Hope, in the headmaster’s office, talking to her dad, with her glasses on. Her hair was down again, but she kept on messing it up.
The brunette didn’t mean to stop and stare at the gorgeous being. She looked stressed about something but was still beautiful.
Angelic, even.
That’s why it was just a coincidence when the ball the kids used to play accidentally hit Josie’s head because she wasn’t paying attention. The kids laugh at her loudly, while she tries to rub the pain away from her head.
Embarrassingly, it even caught the attention of her dad and Hope.
Oh, Hope.
She looked through the window, very concerned, checking what was going on.
Yes, it was just a coincidence.
Another coincidence was when the super squad was gathering around the library, researching the latest monster they need to defeat. MG was able to find the book about the monster, however, it was in a language none of the squad members knew.
Well, except for Hope.
Dorian and Alaric were MIA, so they could only rely on Hope’s knowledge of the language to figure out how to defeat the enemy.
After muttering a spell, Hope’s spectacles appeared out of nowhere. She put them on and carefully read the said book. Everyone was amazed by this swift move of Hope. It was also evident that they were shocked by the fact that Hope wears eyeglasses.
But the most affected one was Josie.
She was beside Hope the whole time, and she witnessed it up close. That was hot, she thought. But she shakes those thoughts away. She should be focused as there is a monster they need to kill. However, it was hard to concentrate when your very very attractive friend was wearing glasses on and was seriously reading a book.
It was mesmerizing to look at.
She didn’t know she was staring too much until Hope’s eyes landed on her.
Blue meets Brown.
Josie immediately looks away. Oh crap. She felt like she was caught robbing a bank. She stood up from her seat and transferred to where her sister was. She thinks that she is safer if she’s a bit far from her friend.
But the struggle doesn’t end there.
As Josie was talking to her sister, she couldn't help but look at the tribrid. The library must have been warm because Hope removes her Salvatore blazer and ties her hair up.
Everything happened slowly in Josie's eyes, she couldn't help but stare, with mouth slightly opened.
Hope, with glasses on, ties her hair up slowly. It was the most sensual action Josie saw Hope did, and she just can't stop staring.
She felt something within her building up. Definitely not the time and place for it, but she was hot and bothered.
"Josie!" It was the voice of her blonde twin that brought her back to reality.
"Huh?"
"You went to your dreamland for a minute there." Josie blinked hard, trying to recover from what she just saw across the room, "Oh, sorry about that."
Lizzie was suspicious of her sister's behavior. She thinks someone must be bothering her, "You were staring at someone, weren't you?" The blonde twin immediately scans the room for something amiss. Her eyes immediately land on the tribrid. "Oh dear sister, are your feelings back? You were staring at Hope, weren't you?"
"Wha- No. Of course, not." Josie immediately denies her sister's accusation.
"Josette, you know I can tell if you are lying to me or not."
"I really am not Lizzie."
"Then why are you blatantly staring at Hope?"
"Wha- I didn't-"
Lizzie gave her a pointed look.
She panics and answers, "It's Hope's glasses."
"What?"
She realized what she just said and tried to salvage her situation, "It's..uhh...Her glasses. It's...pretty."
Lizzie raised her eyebrow, "You're telling me, you are attracted to Hope's eyeglasses."
Josie immediately nods, "Yes. Yes. That's it." Feeling like she was able to save herself.
Not. "Wow, Josie. I never knew you have a kink for eyeglasses."
Again, it wasn't Hope's fault.
It was just a coincidence that she was doing all of that stuff and Josie happened to see it. This results in Josie, now, being labeled as someone who has an eyeglasses kink.
Great.
The last straw was when Lizzie suddenly declared a “girl’s only movie night” in their room. Josie could only roll her eyes at the antics of her sister. It was so random and abrupt that she even dragged Hope from her room to theirs.
Hope, who seemed like was about to go to sleep. She was wearing a deep V-neck white T-shirt and dark blue pajama pants, totally unprepared for the “girl’s night.” But what caught Josie’s eye, was the fact that she was wearing her eyeglasses, again, and had her (a bit messy) hair down.
She must be reading those grimoires again, Josie thought.
She was stunning, even without effort.
The problem, Hope’s attractive looks are affecting Josie too much.
Hope, with hair down, glasses on, and a deep V-neck white T-shirt that almost shows the tribrid’s chest. It’s like the world was trying to kill Josie’s sanity then and there.
Not only that, her sister wants them to watch the movie on Josie’s bed, side by side, with Hope in the middle.
Yep, The world is definitely against her at this moment.
The brunette clears her throat as she tries to keep herself in check and not falter, especially that her sister is here.
Yes, she just needs to keep her shit together.
It’s just a girl’s movie night.
“What movie are we going to watch?” she asks as both Hope and Lizzie adjust and finds their places in her bed. They (mostly Lizzie) decided to watch a suspense movie.
Shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm, it was too close. Josie wants to explode at that moment. It’s been a while since she was this close with Hope.
Again, her sister’s not helping at all, as the blonde twin keeps on moving, which results in Hope bumping on Josie, which the latter both enjoys and suffers.
Josie, just keep your shit together. Just this one night.
She was sweating, like crazy. She also tried to control her breathing, not letting others know how nervous she really was. But she fails.
Of course, Hope would notice.
Shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm, they are too close with each other. Even without super senses, the auburn-haired girl could tell Josie was nervous. She was stiff as a brick.
She has an idea why Josie is behaving like this, but she doesn’t want to assume. Not yet.
“You okay?” the tribrid whispers to Josie’s ear. It caused shivers all over Josie's body.
Too close, too close.
The brunette gulped, “Ye-yeah.”
Josie tries to readjust her position, putting a bit of space between her and the tribrid. She knows she was already at the edge of her bed, about to fall, but she doesn't care.
It was for her own sanity.
She was already feeling unwanted warmness all over her body, especially in areas she doesn't want to acknowledge.
But, Hope wouldn't let her.
The auburn-haired girl noticed how close Josie was to falling over, so she decided to wrap her arms around her and kept her close.
"You're about to fall," Hope whispered. "Scoot here a bit closer."
So close.
Too close.
Josie was on the edge of exploding. She can't think straight. The warm feeling within her continues to build up. She tried to control or even stop it. But it keeps on building.
Hope's whispering wasn't helping.
Hope's innocent stare at her through those pretty glasses wasn't helping, either.
The last straw was Josie's shoulder, in contact with Hope's chest. Definitely, not helping.
Oh god.
Then there was a loud bang on the screen.
It scared the hell out of the girls, which results in Josie literally falling to the ground.
"Oh my god, Josie. Are you okay?"
For the first time in Josie's life, she was actually glad she fell from her bed.
“Yeah,” the brunette breathlessly replies, “I’m so okay.”
-----
Josie can't take it anymore. She feels like Hope was doing it on purpose now. Like she knows that her wearing eyeglasses around the brunette would push her over the edge.
That's unfair.
Really unfair.
She doesn't like the feeling that the auburn-haired girl had an upper-hand on her. It made her feel like she was being played. Even though it takes a lot from her, she's going to be up-front with the tribrid and end whatever game they are playing.
She knocked on the older girl's room, but she got no reply. She knocked again, but still, no one was answering. She decided to look for the tribrid in the library, cafeteria, and the common room; however, she was nowhere to be found. Frustrated, she was about to give up but decided to go to the docks and try her luck in finding Hope there.
Luckily, she did.
Hope was sitting at the edge of the dock, dangling her legs, calmly looking over the sun that was about to set. Josie can't help but smile at the sight.
"I didn't know it's brooding time," she said as she sat beside the older girl.
Hope looked over to her side, surprised to see Josie but smiled, "Hey, Josie."
They stayed there for a while, not talking, and enjoying the calmness of the lake.
"This is nice," Josie looked over to Hope as she speaks, "With the constant attacks of monsters, this kind of peace is nice."
"Yeah."
Silence envelops them, again.
A while ago, Josie was so sure with her plan in confronting the tribrid about the eyeglasses thing, but now, she's contemplating on how to approach the situation. She knows that if she prolongs this any longer, she might lose all of the courage she had a while ago.
She faces the tribrid and inhaled, "Uh Hope, there is some-"
"There's a festival in the town next week,"
"Huh?" Josie was confused.
Hope looked at her directly, "There's a festival next week, and," she paused, "Would you like to go with me?"
Josie was shocked, this is not what she expects their talk would turn out. "Wha-what?"
Hope looks at her carefully, "Would like to go on a date with me?"
The brunette blinks, still processing what Hope just said.
"Josie?" Hope asks again.
"I.."
"Oh god, please don't tell me I read the signs wrong..." Hope buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. This action snapped Josie from her confusion.
"Huh? Signs?"
"Yeah, I mean. These past weeks, you've been acting weird. Especially since the first eyeglasses incident. So I figured that maybe," Hope tries to find the right words to say, "that maybe you were into me as I was into you. I wore the glasses a lot to see how you would react, and maybe you would ask me out first or something. But here we are..."
Josie's mind just went short circuit. "Oh." All this time, the brunette thought Hope was just playing around with her. Little did she know, the tribrid was waiting for her to make a move.
"So you're saying, you've been wearing your glasses a lot in public, for me?" Josie slowly asks.
"Yeah."
"Oh...okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah."
"So..."
"So?"
"Now what?"
"Uuhhmm," Josie was confused, she felt like she forgot something.
"The date..."
"Oh!" Josie felt stupid. She hasn't answered Hope's offer. She smiled at the tribrid and said, "I would love to go to the festival with you."
This made the tribrid grin. Josie then saw Hope looking at her lips before looking back to her eyes, "Can I kiss you?" The auburn-haired girl softly asks.
Josie can't help but bit her bottom lip before answering, "Yes."
The kiss was initially chaste. It was soft like they were testing the waters. Feeling content and happy, Hope then put her left hand on Josie's cheeks and kissed her more passionately. Josie reciprocated the same intensity.
After a while, both needed some air. Their forehead touched as they catch their breath. "Wow," Hope happily grins.
Josie chuckled in response.
It was then when something clicked in Josie's mind, "Wait."
She backed away slightly from the tribrid, "So all this time, you were using your glasses on me to know if I liked you too?"
"You make it sound like it's a bad idea."
"It is!" Josie reacted. "Do you have any idea how much you, wearing those glasses of yours, affected me?"
"Oh?" Hope raised her eyebrow, "Enlighten me." She smirked.
Josie's face darkened, "Oh, you have no idea."
Both went back to the school, specifically in Hope's room, never to be seen the rest of the day.