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Hope Mikaelson is a great roommate – Jade has learned as much since Dr. Saltzman has allowed her, Wendy, and Alyssa back into the school.
For once, she doesn’t talk much and mostly keeps to herself, which Jade finds absolutely wonderful.
(She had almost eaten her last roommate, a pale little witch named Sabrina who could not for the love of God keep her mouth shut, barely a month into her arrival at the Salvatore school)
Secondly, she is tidy, and has never questioned Jade’s Star Wars posters hanging on the wall above her bed. “My boyfriend’s obsessed with them too, you should meet him,” she had suggested instead while Jade had tape in her mouth.
Since Hope’s room is technically a double and she and Alyssa didn’t want anything to do with each other anymore, Josie had recommended Jade as a possible candidate. Strangely enough, Hope had listened to her – which surely indicates a development in their friendship she must have missed in the past ten years – and welcomed her as warmly as she could, Mikaelson style.
That hadn’t changed.
“Are you done with your History of Magic paper?” Hope asks while going over some notes on her bed. She looks pretty good for someone who has just woken up from a coma, but then again, Hope has always been an attractive girl. No wonder half of the school has a crush on her according to the rumors flying around.
Jade shakes her head and points to the book still in her hand. “Not even halfway there.”
Here’s one thing she had not missed about school: homework. Turns out one can forget pretty much everything they have learned while locked up in a magical prison, so that means she is now taking classes full of thirteen-year-olds going through puberty – most of which are wolves who smell even worse than she remembered.
Hope laughs (something Jade had not seen her do much when she was little) and raises her own stack of papers, “Same. Wanna compare notes?”
They end up sitting on the floor, covering every surface available with scribbled sheets of paper and assorted stationary. It’s nice working with Hope: she’s methodical and effective, but most of all silent. They trade notebooks quietly, only speaking if a question comes up or something is unclear. This is nothing like studying with Diego saying stupid shit every two minutes and Wendy laughing like an idiot so he might notice her. It mostly reminds Jade of how it was with Inez – she can picture it still so vividly: the two of them stealing smiles from each other from behind tea mugs at the bar in town next to the hospital. She misses those endless summer afternoons they spent taking cover from the heath with lemonade at the park, studying for their EMT exam.
In the end, neither of them had managed to take it.
The memory of Inez still leaves a bitter taste in Jade’s mouth and she swallows it away, lightly coughing while writing down the name of a famous coven as if to wash away the faint echo of sticky warm blood running down her throat.
Three steady knocks make Inez’s black hair disappear from Jade’s mind and she turns her attention to the wooden door. Landon sticks his head into the room carefully, like he’s afraid some monster might be hiding in there, which – to be completely honest – isn’t so unusual these days. He’s a nice kid, probably one of the nicest people she has ever met, and he really does love Star Wars a lot.
Hope’s face immediately lights up at his sight and she gestures for him to come in. He shoves his hands into the pockets of his worn out jeans and awkwardly waddles in. Her roommate gets up from the floor and greets him with a kiss on the cheek.
“Am I interrupting?” he asks, politely pointing to the mess around the room.
“Just homework. Is everything okay?”
The slight panic in Hope’s voice reminds Jade just how much she cares for Landon and how she’d probably burn the world down to save him, no kidding. He scratches his head uncomfortably, red creeping up his neck. “Yes, it’s just – at breakfast you said to come by around five so we could,” he stops, his eyes falling on Jade still down on the floor, “But maybe I got it wrong, I’m sorry.”
Now it’s Hope’s time to blush. “Oh my God! Yes, I totally did.” She turns to Jade with an apologetic look on her face, “I’m sorry, I totally forgot. Is it a problem if we – ?”
“Don’t worry, I needed a break anyway,” she says getting up and heading for the door, “Just text me when you’re done.”
Helping Hope Mikaelson and her sexcapades was not on Jade’s list of weird things that might happen after you get back to the real world, but she doesn’t mind much. As long as Hope will return the favor one day.
With one foot out into the hall she yells back: “Use protections!” before shutting the door and walking towards the gardens.
She has discovered that being around nature calms her like nothing else. Mrs. Tig says it has to do with her emotions and sense of freedom, but whether Jade chooses to believe all that psychology stuff or not, the fact still remains that whenever she’s outside, that restless part of her brain that would like to kill every single person that stands in her way suddenly gets quiet. Funny thing is, she has also noticed that Josie Saltzman seems to have that same effect on her.
Josie Saltzman.
She had really done a number in the past few weeks. First, she had kissed Jade (only in a dream? She’s still not so sure), then she had gone full Darth Vader for a while, only to come back once again thanks to her new roommate. Jade thinks it’s a bit selfish on her account that what bothers her the most is how Josie had kissed her and then ghosted her, considering the fact that Alyssa had quite literally died.
Still, she’s allowed to wonder at least. She had asked Hope (careful not to sound too desperate) about Josie’s love life, which turns out, seemed to involve only heartbreak after heartbreak apparently. Even Landon had managed to shatter her heart, the same Landon that she has seen trying (and failing) to make robot noises whenever R2D2 is on screen.
Ultimately, her questions remain unanswered, mostly because she hasn’t worked up the courage to go and talk to Josie. Mrs. Tig would probably say it has to do with her abandonment issues and how she’s too afraid of rejection, but maybe Jade is simply just a coward. Has been since the night she got turned. Her fingers work quick on the cigarette she’s rolling – years of practice behind her back, trying to escape the unwelcome family thoughts.
When she finally brings it up to her lips, a voice breaks the stillness of the moment.
“Technically you’re not allowed to smoke on school’s ground.”
There she stands, in all her glory and yellow cardigan, none other than the girl Jade has been dreaming about almost every night since her release.
She retracts her lighter and raises an eyebrow, “Is that a threat?”
Josie laughs and sits down next to her: they haven’t been this close since – Jade tries not to think about the feeling of Josie’s lips on her own.
“More like a warning.” the witch says bumping her shoulder with Jade’s. Then she lifts up her hand and whispers a faint “Ignalusa,” until a small flame is dancing on her index finger. It meets the end of Jade’s cigarette with a surprising nonchalance. Clearly her admiration for Wendy’s tricks had turned into something bigger than just awe. “If my dad catches you he’ll probably give you detention.”
“Beats being locked in a prison world for ten years for sure.”
She senses that what she has said isn’t exactly funny the moment Josie stiffs beside her. Mrs. Tig’s voice echoes annoyingly in her head once again: turning to sarcasm as a coping mechanism isn’t always the best option.
Josie fumbles with her words but manages to offer her a sincere apology anyway. “I really can’t believe he did that to you. I wonder if he would have put me in there too after everything I’ve done.” It sure sounds better than whatever Alaric had come up with while a sword was pointed to his throat.
Real brave to beg for forgiveness in the face of imminent death.
“About that –” she doesn’t want to bring up the kiss, she can’t. Josie looks at her almost like she’s scared of what Jade is going to say next. She can feel the guilt pulsing through Josie’s veins, her blood still running hot with dark magic. If there’s someone who knows about regrets, it’s her. “How are you feeling?”
Josie laughs a little but her eyes betray her. “Fine. Just ashamed, I guess.”
Shame. Here’s another feeling Jade knows a little too well. She feels ashamed just thinking about her decision to turn off her humanity, as if she could have found another way to kill the pain. No, there is no other way to escape it all, and Jade senses Josie is now aware of that too, of the power that comes with letting go of everything else – the power of being selfish.
(And it feels strange to even think that Josie Saltzman could be anything but selfless)
“That’s okay. What you did – it doesn’t define you.”
Because if it did, I would be unredeemable. She doesn’t say the last part out loud, but Josie understands anyway. She nods with her lips pressed together, as if to convince herself that it’s the truth.
Jade doesn’t say anything else, she just inhales and lets the chilly April air dance around her hair. Being stuck in the same day for ten years makes you forget the way nature changes around you and how seasons still exist. She doesn’t feel the cold, obviously, but her body still reacts to the light wind on her skin. Josie shivers beside her, wrapping herself tightly in her cardigan.
Silently, Jade slips off her jacket and places it on Josie’s shoulders. It’s a sappy move, something that could be straight out of those romantic comedies Wendy loves so much. It’s also kind of her signature move with girls – it used to work a lot before she got turned. She remembers a football game and a pretty freshman (Katie? Sadie?), her leather jacket draped over her shoulders as they kissed under the bleachers. But Josie’s special, so she holds her breath and puts one of her arms around her back, pulling the witch sitting next to her closer and closer to try and shield her from the cold as much as she can.
“Thank you,” Josie says with her fingers tugging at the soft material, “What are you even doing out here in this weather? Did Hope kick you out?”
Her question is legitimate but Jade is not so sure Josie wants to hear about what Hope and her ex-boyfriend are currently doing, so she tiptoes around it carefully, “Kind of. She needed some alone time.” Josie looks at her with one eyebrow raised as if to call her bluff, and Jade gives in, “Okay, fine, Landon’s over so she needed the room.”
“Got it. No need to hear more.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
Her hand is still touching Josie’s small back. It’s almost on her hip now and it takes Jade a lot of self-control not to just twist around Josie and kiss her again. Thank God her lips are busy with her cigarette. She knows she doesn’t technically have a functioning heart anymore, but she’s sure that if she did, it would be beating like crazy.
After their last interaction Josie is quiet for a while. Jade doesn’t actually know why Josie decided to finally show up and talk to her, she doesn’t even know if she was following her or if she just happened to be around. Matter of fact is: she’s there, in Jade’s arms, trembling like a leaf for no apparent reason but to enjoy her company. Jade puts out the cigarette and opens her mouth, determined to talk about their night encounter, but Josie suddenly lights up, like she’s remembered something important, and pulls away from her to take out a piece of paper from her pocket. “I almost forgot: I made you this,” she hands it over and Jade unfolds it carefully.
She reads out loud the title at the top, written in neat calligraphy: “Things that you missed.”
Her eyes fall on the list Josie has put together. There’s movies she’s never seen, music she hasn’t heard of, names and places with dates beside them, along with scores from Yankees games. There’s even pictures of memes glued down and explained in full detail. If that’s not dedication, she’s not sure what is.
She lifts up her gaze to meet Josie’s excited one.
“I tried to put in there some of the stuff you’ve missed while being away. You’re from New York so I figured baseball would be a good start. And movies too, since you haven’t seen some great stuff, like, the Kenobi series was incredible and –” she stops for a second and worry flashes on her face, “Sorry, is it too much? I don’t mean to be too forward, I just thought you might like some help catching up.”
Jade can’t say anything. Her fingers are still holding the piece of paper Josie handed her and she cannot think of anything that may express what she’s feeling in that moment. “Josie I – this is the nicest thing anyone could have done for me.” She pulls out her own list which only has a few things scribbled on it and lots of question marks. “I started doing this as soon as I got back. I didn’t have much to go on except for Alyssa and Hope, and you know how they feel about keeping up with the times. I’m not so sure Hope even knows what a Tik Tok is.”
“Oh,” Josie interrupts her shaking her head, “Tik Tok is super dead now, by the way.”
“Seriously? That’s quiet unsettling to be honest.”
They both laugh as Jade shoves the two lists back into her pocket. She’ll read Josie’s more thoroughly later in her room – provided that Hope and Landon are done with…whatever they’re doing now. While she’s thinking about her roommate’s sex life, a thought suddenly pops into her head and she tilts it a little, curios about something.
“How did you know I was a Yankees fan?”
Josie’s cheeks turn red and she bites her lower lip embarrassed. “You had a hat you used to wear all the time. I kind of assumed.” Jade is sure Josie Saltzman had no idea how a game of baseball even worked prior to making that list and her still heart grows three sizes bigger, leaving her no way of escaping what she’s feeling now.
She wants to kiss her. No, she has to kiss her. Right in this very moment or she will combust and dissolve into atoms. Her eyes flick up and down from Josie’s mouth to her eyes at an alarming speed, and without even realizing it, Jade sees herself leaning in until her face is so close to Josie’s that she can smell her strawberry lipstick. Josie’s hand reaches up to cup Jade’s cheek and –
Her phone goes off.
There’s many ancient legends that say it is impossible to kill a tribrid, yet Jade is pretty sure she is going to find a way to murder Hope Mikaelson anyway.
She pulls back red-faced, coughing slightly to cut the tension, and picks up. “You have the worst timing in the world, you know that?” Josie snickers beside her, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Hope sounds confused on the other line, “Sorry. I just wanted to tell you that the coast is clear.” Jade hears someone else talking in the background and can practically see Hope rolling her eyes when she tells her that Landon wants them to watch another Star Wars series together later that week, “He said something about Obi-Wan Kanoli or something –”
“Kenobi,” Jade corrects her while looking at Josie, “And yeah, I’m down. Look, I have to go now, but I’ll see you in a bit, okay? Bye.”
She ends the call and offers Josie an apologetic smile. “I’m really sorry. Roommates, you know?” The other girl laughs shaking her head and touches Jade’s arm, “No worries. Though it is getting a bit late and we should probably head back inside before we miss dinner.”
Human problems, right. Jade stands up and holds out a hand for Josie, who takes it gladly. The sun is slowly sinking behind the forest surrounding the Salvatore’s school and she stops for a moment to stare at it. Sometimes it still takes her by surprise how time actually goes by in the real world. She feels a light tap on her shoulder and turns around to see Josie handing her back her jacket.
“You can keep it,” she says motioning to the object dangling between them. Josie retracts her hand with a smile and starts heading for the main entrance. Jade is quick to follow her, matching her steps across the neatly traced garden paths. At this point, there are so many things Jade would like to ask Josie – her favorite color, if she likes sleeping with her socks on, if she believes in aliens, how she can manage to look so effortlessly beautiful and kind without even trying. But she settles for something more basic.
“Hey, I think Landon’s making me watch the Kenobi series later this week, do you maybe want to join us?”
Josie looks up from the ground, twisting Jade’s jacket in her hands. “Sure, I’d love to. Just as long as he doesn’t whisper every line under his breath again.”
They both laugh as Jade’s hand reaches for the door and opens it for Josie. “That I can’t promise.” When it comes to fan behavior, Landon is the absolute worst. When they turn the corner to the dormitories, she feels Josie’s arm slip around hers. “Walk me to my room?”
“Of course.”
They get lost in the sea of students emerging from their rooms to go eat and Jade stands at Josie’s door unsure on what to do next. She awkwardly leans in for a hug which Josie misinterprets and they end up bumping their noses together, apologizing to each other and laughing nervously. “So yeah, I’ll see you later then?” Jade asks with one hand behind her head, in a last desperate attempt to mask her embarrassment.
Josie nods a little too eagerly and almost goes in for a hand shake before changing her mind. As Jade backs up from where she’s standing to head back to her own room on the other side of the hallway, Josie calls out her name, causing her to bump into a tall werewolf. She takes a couple of steps toward Jade.
“I just wanted to say that, I’d like to continue our last –” she stops for a second and leans into Jade’s ear a little, “Conversation, whenever your room is, um, available.”
Oh. Oh.
When Jade finally shuts the door behind her and exhales, Hope looks at her weird. “What’s up with you?” Jade simply points a finger at her and grins, “I need to cash in all the times I let you and Landon fool around. Possibly by the end of this week.”
“Really?”
“I need to finish a really important conversation.”