Chapter 8
“There’s no way that actually happened.” Hope laughs, shaking her head.
“No, I swear. How else do you think I got this scar?” Josie says in between her own laughs, pointing to the faded scar on her eyebrow.
The pair had been at the dock for nearly three hours now, and neither had made any attempts to get up and leave. They had been sharing stories and getting to know one another properly without the disruption of their reality interrupting them.
Part of Hope knew she should be staying away from the brown eyed girl, not just because of the warning her boyfriend gave her, but because she knew there was something special about her. Within their time here, Hope was beginning to open up and enjoy the presence of the other girl. She was starting to actually want a friendship with her, and she knew that was dangerous because with a friendship came the risk of actually caring for her, and Hope Mikaelson cared about little to nothing.
Josie, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier, except for the building guilt in her chest, brewing, of course. She loved that after years of wanting to befriend the older girl, she finally got to get to know her properly. The only issue was that Josie knew that this was all it could be. They couldn’t be more than friends because she had Landon. She had a reputation to uphold. She had a past of bullying due to a certain fact about her that no one but Lizzie knew. She felt guilty turning her phone off and ignoring the outside world to simply sit here and talk to Hope, but how she loved it so much.
Both girls were having an internal battle, but neither found themselves willing to get up and leave their little spot. So there they were, laughing together as Josie tells Hope the story of how she fell down the stairs in their old house to beat Lizzie in a race to some cookies their mother baked.
“All this over beating your sister to some cookies?” Hope laughs. “Did you need stitches for it?”
The younger girl nods and lightly touches her scar. “Just a couple. I don’t remember much of what happened after I fell, just Lizzie calling out for our mom and then waking up in the hospital to my dad lecturing me immediately about being reckless.” She laughs.
At the mention of Dr. Saltzman, Hope tenses lightly, remembering how close the connection between the two girls really is. Luckily, Josie doesn’t seem to notice as she speaks up again. “Thankfully, though, when we got home that night, Lizzie was still awake in our room waiting for me with the container of cookies in her hand. She handed them to me, saying she saved them because she felt too bad about what happened.” She smiles at the memory.
“Wow, I never would’ve imagined the head bitch to be such a nice girl at heart.” Hope rolls her eyes. Josie laughs and playfully swats the girl's arm. “Lizzie wasn’t always the ‘head bitch’ everyone sees her as. She was the nicest girl ever.” Josie says sadly, remembering how much she misses the sweetheart Lizzie used to be.
“Oh, really?” Hope asks skeptically. “What changed her, huh?”
Josie looks down at her hands in her lap, not knowing what to say. No one knew of her and Lizzie’s past, not even MG, but something in her wanted to tell Hope every single thing they had ever gone through.
Instead, she sighs and says, “It’s complicated. Lizzie and I… we didn’t have the easiest time when we were younger. Kids are… cruel.” She laughs softly. “I guess when we moved here, she just wanted a fresh start, you know?”
Hope nods, understanding this seems to be a personal subject for the younger girl. “You two seem close.” She notes.
The mention of their closeness brings a soft smile to Josie’s face. “Yeah, we are. We used to be a lot closer but things happen. I would do anything for her, though, she’s my best friend.”
Hope smiles softly as she watches the girl talk about her twin. “I feel that way about Cleo. She’s my sister, no matter if there’s no blood relation.” She sighs. “Don’t tell her that or she won’t let me live it down.” She muses.
“Oh, you have my word.” She smiles. “Speaking of which, when is she coming back to Mystic Falls?”
“She should be coming in next Wednesday evening until that Sunday morning.” Hope pauses, thinking for a minute, before she speaks up hesitantly. “Would you… would you want to hang out with us sometime?”
Josie smiles softly at the girl, finding her hesitation adorable. “Oh, would you look at that. Hope Mikaelson wants to hang out again. Seems like you’re into this whole friendship thing, huh?” She teases.
“As if.” Hope smiles. “I’m just asking because it’ll get Cleo off my back. She’s made it her mission to see that I’m nice to you.” She rolls her eyes.
“Hmm, I think I’m starting to like Cleo more and more.” She says. “But sure, I’d love to hang out with you both. Here, put your number in my phone.” She says powering her phone on for the first time in her three hours at the dock.
Once it's powered on, a hundred different messages from both Lizzie and Landon ring through. “I forget just how popular you are, Salztman.” Hope teases hearing the various notification alerts.
“Hush.” Josie rolls her eyes playfully, the guilt she was feeling from earlier hitting her like an ocean wave. She scrolls through the seemingly endless missed texts and sighs. When she finally clears them all out, she hands her phone to the older girl. “Here you go.”
Hope nods and puts her number in quickly. “You better not leak that to anyone.” Hope playfully threatens.
“Leak it?” Josie snorts. “Honestly, I should. I know the press would pay good money to get hold of this.” She jokes as the girl hands her back her phone. “‘H.M’? That’s how you’re gonna save your name in my phone?”
“Mysterious, isn’t it?” Hope winks. “It’s just a safety precaution. That’s how the rest of the family puts in their contacts when giving over their real numbers.”
“Real numbers?” Josie asks, tilting her head to the side, confused.
“Yes, real numbers.” She chuckles. “Everyone in the family has their business and their personal cells. However, whenever we need to hand out our personal numbers, we make sure our contact names are saved in our initials. Considering we’re a government family, we don’t want any personal conversations being accidentally let out, but if they are, at least this way, there’s no way to prove that it was ever really us in those messages. Just our initials, which anyone could have. Get it?” Hope explains.
“Wow, there must be a lot of rules to being in the Governor’s family, huh?”
“Yeah, sorta.” Hope shrugs. “Since Mystic Falls is a small town outside of the main cities here in the state, Freya doesn’t enforce many of the rules upon me since it’s quiet here. She just wants me to follow the basics.”
“Does it ever get exhausting?” Josie asks, thinking about all the rules Hope must have to continuously remember and follow.
Hope sighs and hesitates, not having given much thought to the topic before. “Honestly? Sometimes.” She replies truthfully. “I never really thought about it before, since it’s all I’ve ever known, but yeah, it can get tiring. Especially when I have to attend press conferences with Freya and her wife Keelin.” She rolls her eyes.
“What’s so bad about the press conferences?” Josie asks, never having actually paid attention to when one would be held on the news.
“Don’t even get me started.” Hope huffs, shaking her head. “I have to stand off to the side like some trophy, watching these people ask my aunt questions and basically question her authority. Not just that, but I have to hear my parents constantly get brought up, along with things about myself. Everyone wants to know what I plan to do with the state once I’m old enough to take over for Freya.” She sucks her teeth and runs her hand through her hair. “It’s all just… It’s insensitive and degrading, you know? Why do we owe all these people explanations and answers?” She says.
“You like your privacy.” Josie notes, causing the older girl to nod in agreement.
“It’s just… I hate hearing the things people have to say about Freya. She… she tries her best to live up to all that my parents did for the state; she doesn’t deserve all the hate she gets. They don’t know her, and they don’t know me.” She concludes her rant.
Josie nods, and before she notices what she’s doing, her hand reaches out and places itself on top of Hope's. “That sounds like it really sucks. I can’t imagine what that must be like to constantly be talked about like that in front of thousands of people.” She offers sympathetically.
Hope looks down at Josie’s hand on hers, and she can’t help the small smile that spreads across her face. “Thanks.” She says softly as Josie’s phone goes off.
“Fuck.” She groans. “Give me a sec.” She mutters before removing her hand from Hope’s and answering her phone.
“Hello?” Hope can hear the sound of a loud voice coming from the girl's phone, but decides to let her have her conversation and turns her attention to her own phone, where she has a couple of texts from Freya.
Freya: Hey, love, Keelin and I are away for a last-minute business trip. We should be back within a week's time. We’ve sent you a couple hundred to your bank account for anything you may need this week. Take care of yourself, and please stay out of trouble. We love you, dear. <3.
Hope sighs and shuts her phone off. She always felt an ache in her chest when her aunts had to go away. Being alone was only nice for so long before the silence became too much and would make her lose her mind.
“Yes.” Josie huffs. “Babe, slow down. It’s okay, I’ll be there soon.” She rolls her eyes. “Yes, Landon.” She sighs. “Okay. Bye.” She groans, hanging the phone up.
“Everything okay, Saltzman?” Hope muses as she watches the girl dramatically put her face in her hands and let out a loud groan.
“Just peachy.” She mumbles. “That was my, uh, boyfriend.” She cringes slightly. “He needs me to help him set up for this event tonight, so unfortunately, I have to go.”
Hope rolls her eyes at the mention of Landon, remembering his stupid threat from the other day. “Right, well, I could give you a ride there if you’d like? Save you some time.” She offered, somewhat saddened that their amazing afternoon was coming to an end.
Josie thinks it over, coming to her senses and remembering that she’s not ‘supposed’ to actually be associating herself with Hope Mikaelson of all people. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea…” She trails off.
Hope tilts her head in confusion before she remembers the reality of everything. “Right.” She sighs. “Ms.Popular can’t be seen with the school loser, right?” She laughs dryly. “I get it, don’t worry.”
Josie frowns at Hope's words; although they may be true, she didn’t like the way the older girl worded it. “Well, no, it’s just…” She sighs. “It’s complicated. I don’t want it to be like this, but it’s not my choice.” She whispers sadly.
Hope looks at her, intrigued. The girl before her seems genuinely saddened by the reality of it all, almost as if she doesn’t want to play the role she’s been in since their freshman year of high school. Hope has always seen Josie Saltzman as the second most popular girl in school, sister to the head bitch, but all she sees now is a nice girl who seems to hate her title more than anyone.
“Look, Saltzman, it’s okay. Really.” Hope speaks up softly. “We can keep this thing between us two. I think it would be best for everyone; your sister might kill me for hanging out with you.” She jokes, hoping to lift the girls' mood.
Josie laughs lightly and shakes her head. “I’m sorry it’s like this… I wish things could be different.” She sighs.
“It’s okay. At least this way, I can keep my mysterious vibe going.” Hope winks. “Don’t sweat it, alright?”
“Okay. So this’ll just stay between us, then? A secret?” Josie smiles.
“A secret.” Hope nods, matching the girl's smile with one of her own.
—-----
Josie hated secrets. She hated all the secrets she had to carry with her. She hated how those secrets controlled her and kept her unhappy. She especially hated this secret; her secret friendship with Hope Mikaelson.
That afternoon, after their hangout, Hope led them back to the square where, thankfully, the press had left her car alone. Disregarding Josie’s protests, the older girl did in fact end up driving the girl to her boyfriend’s house; she simply dropped the girl off a block away where no one could see them.
Now it was Wednesday, the next week, and Josie found herself groaning into her pillow instead of getting ready for her date with Landon.
“Josie, you're going to be late for your date with Landon.” Lizzie speaks up from the doorway.
“I’m okay with that.” She mumbles into her pillow.
“Josie.” Lizzie presses. “You need to get ready. Wear the outfit I picked out for you and make sure you post with him so everyone can see.”
Josie hated this. She hated having her life controlled by her popularity.
“Lizzie, when can I stop doing this?” She huffs, sitting up, staring at her sister. “I’m tired of dating him.”
“Josie,” Lizzie rolls her eyes. “Don’t start this again. You already know you can’t break up with him. You know what’s at stake.”
Josie sighs sadly. “Maybe things can be different now.” She pouts.
“I said no, Josie. We can’t take the risk. Not after middle school.” Lizzie remarks bitterly as she remembers the torture the pair had endured for years. “Get ready.” She says, leaving the girls' room.
Josie stares at her hands in her lap. She knows the risk. She knows she never wants to endure what she faced in middle school, but despite it all, keeping who she really was locked away was eating at her, and she was so sick and tired of pretending.
She lies back in bed and closes her eyes as memories from the past plague her mind.
“You promise you won’t tell anyone?” Twelve-year-old Josie Saltzman whimpered worriedly against her best friend's soft hand.
“I promise. This will be our secret.” The girl who had her hand softly against Josie’s face whispered with a smile. “Best friends keep secrets.” The girl winked with a hint of something Josie didn’t understand at the time.
“O-okay.” Josie nods, choosing to trust the girl. Once she’s given the green light, the girl leans in and aggressively connects their lips.
The kiss is messy and sloppy, as all first kisses are, but Josie couldn’t dream of it being any more perfect than it was to her at the time.
Everything about the moment made her heart soar… until two days later, Monday morning, during her first class at school.
Josie shakes herself out of her thoughts when she feels her phone buzz from her nightstand next to her bed.
She’s ready to let out another groan at the thought of the message being from Landon, but instead she finds herself smiling softly at the incoming texts from her certain someone.
H.M.: Saltzman. I hope it’s not a bad time. Cleo is bugging me to text you. She wants to know if you’re free tomorrow afternoon to hang out?
Josie laughs lightly as she can picture the blue-eyed girl rolling her eyes as her best friend forces her to send the text.
Josie: I can hear your eye-roll lol. Sure, I’m free tomorrow. Does 3 pm work?
She sends the text and can’t help the giddy feeling she gets. Ever since that afternoon a couple of days ago, Josie couldn’t help but feel her crush on the Mikaelson girl grow stronger. She knew she was royally screwed, but what no one knew wouldn’t hurt her.
Right?
She shook her head at the thought and finally began to get ready for her date with Landon. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She didn’t hate the outfit Lizzie had picked out for her; it just simply wasn’t her.
H.M.: That’s perfect. See you then, Salztman ;).
Josie blushed at the message and tried to compose herself. She made the finishing touches to her makeup just in time as Landon’s car pulled up in the driveway.
She took one last look and nodded. She would get through tonight. She would play her role, and play it well, and when tomorrow came, she would meet with the blue-eyed beauty. That was the only motivation she needed to get through this date.
The thought of Hope Mikaelson was the only thing she needed right now.
—-----