Chapter Text
Josie walks faster than her usual pace on her way to work at The Cosmos, checking her phone every few seconds or so to look at the time. She had accidentally slept through her alarm, causing her to haphazardly rush to get ready, and making her late to her morning shift. In her defense, she blames Lizzie for forcing her to an end-of-school party last night, the blonde Saltzman twin drinking a little too much that Josie had to practically drag her home.
The bells chime as Josie walks through the front door of the homey cafe, signalling that someone had arrived. She checks the clock on the brick wall behind the counter, and sighs in relief when she sees that she’s only five minutes late. She does a quick scan around the cafe, noting that it wasn’t as busy as it normally was. Her eyes make contact with Landon’s across the room, sending the curly-haired boy a friendly smile and small wave, before she slips behind the counter as he continues to wipe down a table.
Once inside the staff room, the brunette quickly puts her stuff in her locker and ties her apron on. Right as she’s about to leave, her eye catches onto the chalkboard right beside the door. “Jo’s last day!!” is written in Landon’s messy but distinctive handwriting, and it brings a smile to her face.
She instantly becomes bittersweet at the thought that it was going to be her last shift at the place that had become her safe haven over the past few months. She loved seeing the usual customers that came in and greeted Josie with kind smiles, and working with people that she had grown close with, but she was glad that she wouldn’t be stuck cleaning tables and serving rude customers for minimum wage anymore.
When Josie comes back out of the staff room, Landon is behind the register and taking an order. “I need an iced chai tea latte.” He yells, to which Josie sticks a thumbs up.
Once she finishes making the drink, she loudly calls it out and sends the customer a kind smile with an overly-peppy ‘Have a nice day!’ or ‘Enjoy your drink!’
It’s not long after that they soon fall into the groove of things, the same pattern repeating several times like muscle memory. They’re the only ones working the morning shift, which Josie is semi-thankful for. It could be suffocating being around so many people in such a small working space. After a while, the sudden rush of customers dies down, leaving the two of them to catch a breath.
They fall into a peaceful silence, enjoying the atmosphere around them. Josie closes her eyes, breathing in deeply and inhaling the scent of fresh coffee grounds, music softly playing through the speakers, Yeah, she was definitely going to miss this place.
When she opens her eyes, Landon is busy wiping down one of the counters. She clears her throat to get his attention, and once he looks up, she begins speaking, “I saw the little message you left on the chalkboard, and I just wanted to say thank you.”
“It was no big deal.” He shrugs it off, returning to his previous task. “I am gonna miss my favorite co-worker though. I don’t think I can handle a shift with Sebastian by myself.”
Josie visibly shutters, thinking about the time when it was rush hour and Sebastian had caused several complaints among the customers, ranging from his attitude to how he had made a completely different drink than what was ordered.
“You’ll be fine.” Josie gives him an encouraging smile. “I know you haven’t been working here for long, but you’re easily one of The Cosmos’ best employees.”
Landon returns a smile of his own, before resuming his previous task. “Thanks Jo.”
Once Josie realizes that she’s not doing anything, she quickly grabs a towel and goes to help him. “Is there anything special you’re doing over the summer?”
The curly-haired boy shrugs. “Not really. My band has been able to book a few gigs that I’m excited about, though.”
Josie smiles once again, this time much bigger and brighter. When they had first met roughly three months ago, Landon and his band were just starting out, and now they were performing small gigs every week. It was obvious that he was passionate about music, which was how him and Josie bonded.
“I’m really happy for you, Lan.” By now, they’re done cleaning the counters and she’s moved onto restocking the pastries on the display case.
“We’re actually performing Friday night. It’s at this other cafe on the other side of town that does weekly live music performances. You should come.” He suggests, the tone of his voice hopeful.
Josie nods, excited to hear his band perform for the first time. “I’ll be there.”
Landon instantly brightens. “Great! What about you? Anything special planned for the summer?”
“Actually, yeah.” At the question, she immediately perks up, facing the taller boy once she’s finished creating a perfect chocolate-chip cookie pyramid. “Lizzie and I are going to road-trip across the country, it’s been our dream for a while. Our mom got us these camper vans for our birthday that we can travel in too.”
It’s no secret how excited Josie was for this three month adventure. She had been planning it for the past four years, with a few patches here and there. Flash forward now it’s the summer before her senior year and everything she could possibly think of was ready.
“That sounds really fun.” Landon can practically feel the brunette’s enthusiasm radiating off of her. “Seems like it was a lot of work to plan though.” He comments.
Blue eyes and auburn hair flood into Josie’s mind, and she shakes her head to get rid of the thoughts. “Yeah, it was. One of my friends and I actually planned it and were supposed to go together, but they’re not really in the picture anymore.” She says the last part quickly, not wanting to bring up a sore topic.
Thankfully, Landon catches on, and doesn’t ask any more about it. “Well, coincidentally, one of my best friends actually wants to do the same thing as you this summer. The only problem is that her van’s having some technical problems and the mechanics at the repair shop said that it’ll take a few weeks to fix.”
“She could travel with me.” Josie offers. “My van’s small, but it could definitely fit two people.” She figures that they would probably get along well since they were both planning the exact same thing.
“Are you sure? She would feel bad if she were to intrude on your trip.” Landon asks.
The brunette nods. “No, I insist. Besides, it would be nice to have some company on the road since Lizzie’s traveling in a separate van.”
“That’s great! I’ll let her know.” Landon pulls out his phone, presumably to text this said friend. “You guys should meet. Does Saturday sound good?”
Josie mentally checks her calendar to see if she has anything planned, and when nothing comes up, she nods her head. “Yep, Saturday’s fine.”
Someone clears their throat, breaking the two of them out of their conversation. A customer waits impatiently on the other side of the counter, and Josie gives an apologetic smile as Landon takes her order. Before he does though, he murmurs a quick, “I’ll text you the details.”
Rush hour begins shortly, and the pair don’t do much talking after that, too busy serving drinks. It’s slightly hectic with only two people working, but they manage.
When Josie looks back up at the clock, she realizes that her shift ended a few minutes ago, and that another one of her coworkers arrived to take her place.
She takes her time getting her stuff out of her locker, the thought that she would no longer be working at the cafe not quite fully sinking in yet. Eventually, she leaves, bidding Landon a quick wave goodbye.
Nothing exciting happens on the drive home, although there’s a bit more traffic than usual. The exhaustion from working all morning finally hits Josie, and all the brunette wants to do is lay in bed.
Unfortunately, that’s not what happens.
She fumbles with the keys for a few seconds, but before she manages to get the front door open, it unlocks from the other side. Confusion sweeps over the brunette, which gets replaced with surprise as a blurry but recognizable figure grabs her arm.
Josie attempts to balance herself from just being yanked not three seconds ago while Lizzie rambles on about all the things she had bought for her summer vehicle.
The shorter twin looks around at all the items displayed on the floor. It’s no mystery that they belong to Lizzie since each and every item matches in color or tone, in a strangely, calming way. Shades of pink, gray, and monotone whites take over her peripheral vision. The brunette manages to locate several pillows, a few blankets, and extra decor objects.
“Jo?” Lizzie dramatically waves a hand in front of her twin's face. Josie shakes her head to snap out of whatever trance she was in and looks up.
“Huh?” She breathes out, still slightly startled.
“I asked if you’re ready to completely glamourize out our vans?” The blonde makes a dramatic gesture with her hands.
“What?” Josie asks, then widens her eyes in realization. “Oh! Yes, I’m ready.” The brunette had instantly reminded herself that her trip was near, and was now the perfect time to make her ‘future home’ for the next 3 months as comfortable as possible. The beds were installed, along with every necessity that was needed to ensure this adventure.
It was practically brand new, the vans of course.
The older twin looks around for a few seconds, before clicking her tongue. “Looks like you came prepared.” She amusingly looks at Lizzie, who stands tall and proudly.
“I tried my best.” The blonde shrugs it off, attempting to sound casual.
Josie smiles giddily and moves to go into the garage. “I need to go grab some stuff, but you can start.” Josie walks into the garage and finds the box she has stored away since the beginning of 8th grade. It was more of a collection of sorts, starting from her last year of middle school onto high school.
Out of curiosity, her hands wander through the box, seeing for the first time in a few years what was being held in it. She felt something soft, almost like fur but more artificial. Her brows furrowed as she dug it out. Once she saw the item, her composed face dropped.
She runs her fingers delicately through the soft short fur of the white wolf stuffed animal. She cautiously bit the inside of her cheek and placed the small item back into the box.
The brunette doesn’t waste any more time, grabbing the box and heading outside.
“Took you long enough.” Lizzie remarks as she watches Josie walk out the garage. “I'm halfway finished.”
Josie playfully rolls her eyes. “Well sorry I had to double check I had everything I needed.” That was a complete lie, she was too caught up with one item that she had completely forgot to check everything else.
“What do you think of this?” The blonde asks as Josie walks up to the back of her van. The brunette stares at the large bright yellow sticker printed on the bumper.
“Is that a minion bumper sticker?” Josie asks frantically. “Why do you-“
“Get it, cause it’s a minion, on the rear of the van, which is also technically the butt, so if you think about it you're basically minion mooning everyone behind you.” Lizzie explains thoroughly and moderately seriously.
The brunette hangs with her mouth open in disbelief, then bursts out into complete laughter.
It takes almost five minutes before Josie even remotely begins to calm down. Once she composes herself, she straightens her back, and clears her throat before speaking. “That was a really bad joke.” She attempts to say in a serious tone, but ends up almost bursting out into laughter again.
“Okay okay.” Lizzie rolls her eyes. Josie goes to her own van, mindlessly picking out the things she wants to put up. “So, anything happened today?”
“Yes, actually.” Josie gets up from her knees as she opens the back doors of her own van. “Landon said he had a friend that was doing the same as us this summer. He said we should meet, so I am, this Saturday.”
“You’re still friends with him?” The blonde scrunches up her nose as she hangs a tropical air freshener around the front mirror.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Josie drawls out slowly, setting up one of many of the plants she had brought out.
Many might be an understatement.
The younger twin shrugs. “Thought you were just taking pity on him.”
In return, Josie scoffs. “He’s a good guy, and a nice friend.” The brunette takes a glimpse around her progress. She chose to use natural colors like sage greens, forest greens, beige and off colored whites.
A bookshelf was built in specifically for Josie, knowing her recent habit of endless reading. Along the row was a marble white music player, and under a small collection of vinyls.
The brunette proceeds her decorating and places the stuffed white wolf on a lower shelf, half hiding, half exposed.
“Anything else about this mystery person ?” Lizzie wiggles her brows at the last two words, as if Josie was even watching her.
“Not really, only that she’s been planning this for a while, and she’s a good friend of Landon’s.” Josie simplifies, not wanting to share that she actually doesn’t know this person's name, nor what she looks like.
“A friend of Landon’s? That’s the first red flag!” Lizzie exaggerates in her tone. “Do you even know her name, what if she turns out to be a creep?” The blonde looks up to the other side of the van.
Josie sighs and averts her eyes to the ground. “I don’t know Lizzie, but maybe this is a good thing, a fresh start after, you know…”
Lizzie shows an apologetic knowing look.
“Okay.” Lizzie sighs, giving in from being a tad bit protective. “Just be careful when you do meet them okay?”
Josie smiles softly. “Okay.”
While tidying up their mess, Josie’s phone rings and she struggles to take it out of her back pocket. When she does, she sees the caller ID being Landon, and immediately answers the phone call.
“Landon hey.” Josie starts nicely.
The phone call consists of Landon wondering if Josie is still attending his gig on Friday, to which Josie confirms she is. Landon ends the call but not without a cheesy star wars pun.
“What did he want?” Lizzie yells from across the driveway.
“He wanted confirmation from me about going to his band’s gig on Friday!” Josie yells back at the same volume.
The blonde walks back up the driveway. “He’s in a band?”
“Lizzie I’ve told you like a hundred times before.” The brunette pouts. The younger twin narrows her eyes at her twin then shrugs it off.
They spend the next few hours getting their vans exactly how they imagined ever since they were 13. Until eventually, it got dark and they decided to stop for the night.
/////
Finally after a few more days, both camper vans were completely decked out, functional and ready to hit the road.
Friday came soon enough, meaning Josie had plans that night to go show her support towards Landon and his band.
Nearly six in the evening, the brunette was scavenging through her closet to find at least something decent to wear. It’s not like she was dressing up to meet someone special.
Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to apply a dash of mascara on her lashes.
After finally finding a satisfactory outfit, consisting of a contrast stitched navy blue jumpsuit, the brunette strolls into the restroom humming a random song that had popped in her head. She rummages through a makeup bag, grabbing the mascara and applying it quickly.
Looking up in the mirror, she notices her hair in need to be fixed. Letting the hair tie go, locks of brown hair flow down around her shoulders. A hand strokes through the hair at an attempt to smooth out the small tangles. The brunette looks at the mirror once again, before turning off the lights and leaving.
Lizzie was out with one of her friends tonight, leaving the older twin alone to get ready.
Josie borrows her mom’s car for the night knowing this other cafe is on the other side of town. Her fingers find the volume knob on the radio, raising the sound only slightly letting the soft music fill in as white noise.
It took a while finding a parking spot near the cafe since she ran a little late getting ready. She looks at herself in the mirror once more, adjusting everything as she steps out.
Once she sets foot inside the place, she looks around, taking in her surroundings. The lighting was dimmed, people talking among the whole place. The atmosphere felt warm, along with the color pallete of the whole cafe. A small stage is near the back, big enough to fit a band but small enough to not fill up too much space.
Long story short, Josie completely adores it.
She doesn’t recognize most of the people here, mostly since it was located in a different part of town. Looking around, Landon was nowhere to be spotted. She ultimately assumes he was setting up with his band.
With this extra time, she made her way to the nonexistent line in front of the cashier.
“Hi, how may I help you?” The blonde boy behind the counter asks with a hint of pep in his tone.
“Do you have the Ice Guava Passion Fruit drink?” Josie asks, almost regretting it since it’s her favorite drink from The Cosmos, not knowing if it was a worldwide thing or just the cafe she worked at.
“Sure, coming right up.” The boy starts to turn around before Josie stops him.
“Don’t I have to pay?” The brunette questions.
“It’s on the house.” The boy shows a grin and goes back to make the drink. Josie let’s out a breath of relief. She shakes her head, this cafe was certainly different from The Cosmos.
“Here you go, one Guava Passion Fruit drink.” The boy passes a pastel pink cup towards the brunette, who grabs it happily.
“Thank you.” She simply says before walking away.
She walks through the small crowd of people, once again taking in her surroundings. Until she gets distracted and accidentally bumps into someone, spilling her drink partially onto the other person.
“Oh my god I’m so sorry, I-“ The brunette finally gets a chance to look at the stranger's face, and immediately stops talking.
“Hope.” She states quietly, almost like she meant to say it to reel herself into reality. Her auburn hair flowed down as she has always known, the sharp features were still the same, and the piercing blue eyes who one person could easily lose themselves in.
She snaps herself out of her trance and backs away slightly, putting a large amount of distance between them.
“Josie, hi.” The shorter girl’s lips quirk into a soft smile but falters almost immediately.
Josie doesn’t wanna talk. She doesn’t wanna go through this again.
“I’m, I’m sorry about the drink.” Josie apologizes quickly and goes to turn around before Hope calls her name.
“Josie wait.” The auburn-haired girl stops Josie.
“Hope I can’t do this right now.” Josie doesn’t dare look her in the eye, thinking if she did, she’d forgive her for everything. Instead, she attempts to leave again.
“No Josie, wait, please?” Hope asks again, desperation being present in her tone.
“Don’t you know how long I’ve been waiting?” Josie finally gives in. “Until I eventually realized you weren’t coming back.” She tries not to shout over the overlapping voices around them. Really she did the opposite.
This is not how she wanted her night to go. She just wanted one night to enjoy herself, let herself relax, and have a bit of fun. But mother nature has had to screw her over
Hope went silent, lips parted, slightly shocked.
“What are you even doing here, I thought you moved to New Orleans at the end of 8th grade.” The younger girl continues, pushing for answers.
“I’m basically a regular here, I’ve been for a few years.” The older girl confessed, voice quieter than before.
Josie’s well composed face drops. “A-a few years?”
Hope hesitates on answering. “I moved back freshman year, and transferred to the Salvatore boarding school.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Josie practically spits, levels of anger rising, feeling the betrayal move throughout her.
Hope opens and closes her mouth, not knowing what to say. “I wanted to I really did but-“
“But what?” Josie scoffs. She closes her eyes and rubs her head, before looking back up and sighing. “Honestly Hope, I don’t even wanna talk to you.”
The brunette leaves without another word, nor any words from the other girl stopping her.
She couldn’t think clearly, nonetheless navigate where she’s going even going. Her mind is racing. A million questions popping up every second. A few years? Transferred? Without telling me? She groans in frustration when someone talks behind her.
“Woah, you okay there Jo?” Landon stands behind her, raising an eyebrow. The brunette looks around, and notices that she’s now up near the back of the stage.
Josie exhales loudly and forms a tight smile. “Yeah, I'm just stressed about Monday.” She lies.
The curly-haired boy eyes her for a second before letting it go. “Okay, well my friend just texted me she felt sick so she went home, kinda sad you two didn’t get to meet here, but it's okay you’ll meet tomorrow.” He sounds bummed out, but instantly brightens again. Josie frowns, not knowing his friend was here too.
“But, my band is about to start playing, so I would advise you to go in the crowd and cheer me on.” He slightly encourages her.
Josie smiles and nods. “Will do.”
The rest of the night went better than expected after that confrontation. A heavy weight was still pressed against her, eating at her slowly.
She just needed a good night's rest.
Even though Josie has to officially meet Landon’s friend tomorrow.
//////
Oblivion.
At this moment, Josie feels nothing but that very emotion. How could I have not connected the dots?
Landon had texted her a few days ago a meeting location, which was at a park that she often went to as a child. The brunette has vivid memories of her and Lizzie laughing as they ran around the small pond where the ducks were.
It takes her a little while to get there, not quite remembering the directions since she hasn’t been there in years. The park is mostly empty except for a few elders feeding a group of birds and some kids accompanied by their parents.
But there’s only one other girl around her age, sitting alone at a park bench, and Josie knows that this must be Landon's friend.
The girl doesn’t notice the brunette approaching her, too busy looking down at her phone, which blocks Josie from seeing her facial features. The only thing she can distinguish is long, auburn hair.
Once she’s within hearing distance, Josie finally calls out to her. “Excuse me?”
The voice makes the shorter girl jump slightly, and when she looks up, the same blue eyes that Josie had seen the day before meet her brown orbs once again.