Chapter Text
Summer camp, one of those typical mundane activities for children and teenagers, something Hope never anticipated to experience, until now.
Alaric and Caroline decided the students needed a break, and they weren’t wrong. Not that Hope ever expected one because life had a way of saying no, with one rollercoaster after another. Only time could tell if things would be different this time, for once.
While a green piece of landscape welcomed Hope’s eyes, it didn’t feel like a vacation. At least, not yet. The wind blew gently through her hair while the sun shone on her skin. This camp was said to be remote with nobody around for miles, and it felt that way due to the silence. Hope wasn’t surprised they had to hide yet again, even if Alaric denied that was the case.
Hope didn’t carry much more than a backpack filled with clothes and an old photograph of better times. Some might disagree, but to Hope, there was something valuable about her younger years. She really did miss her parents, more than anyone could imagine.
Hope’s jaw tensed while her fingers curled into fists. Sometimes she wanted to punch something, anything, or let all of her powers out at once while screaming. But she couldn’t do that. Hope couldn’t lose control like that. Her parents gave their lives, paid the ultimate price, for her. But Hope tried not to think about it too much because the more she did, the more it hurt.
The cabins Hope saw placed in the open field in the center of the woods weren’t much bigger than a garden shed; just enough for two beds and a modest dresser each.
“Listen up, cadets,” Caroline spoke up with a giggle. Her enthusiasm was received with an eye-roll of some, and a smile of others.
Hope respected Caroline’s positive attitude and view of life, despite all of the hardships there had been in the past year alone. Why on earth Caroline was dressed like a tall girl-scout, however, was something Hope didn’t even want to know.
“Each cabin has its own color,” Caroline explained, revealing handfuls of ribbons in different colors.
Students murmured their favorite colors and preferred roommate with crossed fingers as if that could change anything about the list Alaric held out in front of Caroline.
“Yellow,” Caroline announced, “Hope Mikaelson and Josie Saltzman.”
“What!?” Josie and Lizzie objected in sync. “But-”
“No buts, girls,” Alaric said with a stern tone in his voice.
Lizzie groaned. “Ugh fine.”
Hope sighed, dreading the next four weeks already. Who even went to summer camp for a month? Well, it could have been worse, but that didn’t make it better.
Alaric and Caroline ensured all students were safe here, while Hope had a hand in setting up a spell to protect the perimeter earlier, to ensure nobody could get in or out. She knew it was nothing more than a safety precaution, though Hope wasn’t going to take their word for it, not when danger lurked everywhere, waiting to strike.
“Yellow roommate,” Josie chuckled, nudging Hope’s elbow with hers.
Hope arched an eyebrow. “I know you didn’t want to be stuck sharing a cabin with me, and the feeling is mutual,” she all but grumbled under her breath, snatching up the yellow ribbon Josie held out to her. “You don’t have to pretend to get along with me,” Hope added before turning on her heel.
“I was only trying to be friendly, you know?” Josie replied, voice coming out too tired to have a bite to it.
Hope was certain Alaric and Caroline placed her in a cabin with Josie on purpose. If it was up to Hope, she would settle for one with no roommate, and let the twins share with each other. A couple of weeks ago, she came close to building a friendship with Josie, but it crumbled when Josie gave Hope the cold shoulder out of nowhere.
Hope genuinely didn’t get it, nor did she want to invest energy in trying to make sense of it all. One afternoon they actually bonded and had some laughs, but that same afternoon Josie got so invested in checking up on Lizzie, Josie appeared to forget all about Hope.
Josie twisted her yellow ribbon, wishing she could simply siphon some magic and whisper a spell that would give her a different color. The tension when she so much as breathed in Hope’s direction was too much for Josie. It was as if the smallest thing she said or did made Hope want to bite off her nose.
Josie hadn’t asked to share a cabin with Hope any more than Hope had. They both had to deal with it, whether they liked it or not. Josie would rather go home, wherever that was supposed to be lately. She wasn’t interested in this vacation, or any of the activities her parents probably planned already.
Hope summoned her luggage with a spell while Josie struggled to pull hers from underneath the suitcases stacked on top of hers.
“Come on,” Josie muttered silently as she tugged, leaning, using all of her weight.
Josie landed on her back when her luggage magically pushed her over. “Do you think this is funny!?” she spat at Hope. Josie accepted Lizzie’s hand to get up, brushing sand and leaves from her pants.
“You looked like you needed help. You should be thanking me instead of yelling at me. It’s not my fault you’re clumsy.”
“I will get you for this, Hope,” Lizzie swore.
Hope took a step toward Lizzie, chin up.
Before things had the chance to escalate further, Josie wrapped her fingers around her sister’s wrist, at the same time their father stepped in. Hope wasn’t worth getting angry at, and Josie knew her sister would get herself in trouble even though Hope started it.
“I really was only trying to help,” Hope told Josie as she went to stand a bit farther.
According to the rules, Josie had to wait to go to her cabin until everyone was assigned one. She wasn’t in a hurry anyway, and she wanted to know who her sister would have to share with. It was a relief the beds were separate because Josie didn’t want to argue about who should get the top of a bunk bed and who the bottom.
Josie hesitated whether she was wrong to blow up at Hope like that or not. Hope did sound sincere, and maybe Josie leaned so far back she would have fallen either way, but she was convinced Hope enjoyed watching her go down, so no, Josie wasn’t going to thank Hope for her crappy and unasked assistance.
“Lizzie,” Caroline called out, waving a purple ribbon around. “Your roommate will be Dana.”
Josie grimaced. Dana was a new vampire, thanks to Caleb who turned her, as revenge after Lizzie snitched on Caleb drinking from people while it was against their school rules. Josie wasn’t at all surprised when Caleb got expelled, but that still left them stuck with Dana.
“No way,” Lizzie replied, throwing up her hands. “Her?”
“It’s no picnic for me either,” Dana scoffed loudly, pulling up her nose. “I’d rather share with a bag of trash.”
Lizzie chuckled darkly while she shook her head, and Josie wished her sister would stop talking because whatever Lizzie thought of saying would only result in yet another warning from their parents.
“Oh honey, you are trash,” Lizzie told Dana, patting her on the shoulder.
Josie wasn’t sure whether to face-palm or smile. Her sister wasn’t wrong. Sharing a cabin with Hope suddenly wasn’t so bad, and Josie was surprised when she caught the sound of Hope barely holding back a laugh.
“Girls, that’s enough,” Alaric interrupted the second Lizzie and Dana began to push one another. “You will share a cabin, and you will be on your best behavior,” Alaric said, passing on a purple ribbon to Lizzie and one to Dana.
“Purple? Yuck,” Dana uttered, letting her ribbon fall to the ground. “Purple is so last month, can’t I have pink instead?”
Josie rolled her eyes. Dana was the most irritating person ever, and Josie felt so bad for Lizzie to the point where she would offer to switch if they were allowed.
“Remember, there is no I in team,” Caroline added.
“There is one in I don’t give a f-”
Josie smiled at Hope’s quick spell which made Dana pass out. She almost forgot they were at odds until Hope’s smile disappeared right when Josie looked at her.
Josie listened to her father telling Hope not to use that spell on Dana anymore, and so forth, while Lizzie amusedly encouraged the idea of making Dana sleep for the entirety of this trip.
“Try not to kill her,” Josie joked to her sister, though with an undertone of seriousness.
“If that bitch bites me I’m pulling out her teeth one by one,” Lizzie said while glaring at Dana who shot daggers at her.
With a grunt, Josie lifted up her suitcase. “I’ll see you soon, Liz.”
Hope, entering the cabin first, tossed her things on the bed next to the window. She heard Josie shuffle in beside her, and when Hope spared a glance, Josie stared at the wooden floorboard. The bed next to Hope’s, on the opposite side, creaked a little while Josie sat down.
No words were exchanged between Hope and Josie as they put their clothes in the dresser, each sticking to their half as if crossing the invisible middle line would result in an electric shock.
Four weeks of silence didn’t seem so bad to Hope, yet the weight of it quickly proved heavy several hours later. She had to bite her tongue to keep from lashing out at Josie for breathing too loud. Not that she was, but it was all Hope could hear as they laid on their beds, staring up at the ceiling.
Hope cracked first. “The silent treatment?” she scoffed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“What’s your problem!?” Josie demanded, sitting upright.
Hope mimicked Josie’s position. “You’ve been acting like I don’t exist for weeks, why should now be any different?” Hope shot back, knowing she wasn’t being entirely fair.
“Pot and kettle,” Josie all but sneered. “I could say the same about you.”
Hope nearly had to laugh. “Excuse me?”
“You accuse me of giving you the silent treatment while you haven’t said a single word either,” Josie pointed out. “And furthermore,” she continued, standing up, walking over to Hope’s bed, “when I tried to be friendly earlier, you shut me off completely, so don’t pin this on me, you… you pokester.”
Hope opened and closed her mouth. At this point, Josie loomed above her, and for the first time, Hope believed Josie didn’t need Lizzie to throw a punch. It was refreshing, watching Josie fiercely stand up for herself, though Hope didn’t like being at the receiving end of Josie’s frustrations.
“Pokester?” Hope snorted.
“Shut up,” Josie laughed, slapping Hope’s upper arm, “I’m mad at you.”
Without a second thought, Hope yanked her blanket off her bed and draped it over Josie’s shoulders. “Now you’re super mad,” Hope teased with a smirk.
“Ugh!” Josie groaned, pushing Hope’s blanket away. Josie then grabbed Hope’s wrists and pushed her down, shifting to bracket Hope’s hips between her knees. “You’re super irritating!” Josie whisper-shouted. “Why are you so…?”
Hope searched Josie’s eyes, and in the little light their cabin provided, Josie’s eyes resembled stars. “So what?” Hope inquired, following Josie’s tongue as it poked out to wet her lips.
An answer didn’t come. Instead, Josie backed away with a groan.
Hope didn’t know what had gotten into her to reach for her blanket like that, and to tease Josie the way she did. It was an impulsive idea, one Hope didn’t regret, considering it diffused the situation, and she wasn’t in the mood for a fight anyway, even if admittedly, Hope was the one who nearly started one.
“Hey, so I was thinking,” Josie began after a drawn-out silence. “I’m wondering if you’d mind going on a walk with me. I don’t really know this area, and I’d rather not be outside alone at dark.”
Hope’s eyes widened for a moment. “You’re afraid of the dark?”
Josie’s expressions soured. “Forget I asked, you wouldn’t understand,” she muttered, climbing back in her bed.
Hope buried her hands in her hair before dragging them down her face. “Some fresh air would be nice. We’ve been cooped up in this cabin for a while now,” she said, getting up. “Come on,” she insisted, plastering on what she hoped was a genuine smile as she stirred Josie’s shoulder.
Josie bit her lip, staring at Hope, then at the door, and eventually at Hope again.
“I won’t poke,” Hope reassured, reaching for Josie’s hand, only to be met by resistance as Josie let go. “I’ll try not to poke,” Hope corrected. “I can swear on it if that makes a difference for you. You know, cross my heart and all of that fun stuff.”
Josie took Hope’s hand and smiled, saying, “I want to show you something magical.”