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The morning of their birthday, Josie and Lizzie get to school and are immediately surrounded by their friends. Lizzie is soon dragged away by the cheer squad, and Josie is led to her locker that's decorated for the occasion. Her friends offer her a gift they all bought together for her. A ticket to see a concert of her favorite band. They're all going with her, and it makes her so happy she could cry.
Then, Landon gives her his gift. A flower. No, even worse than that. A fake plastic flower. That's what her boyfriend got Josie for her birthday.
"I wanted to get you a real one, but the florist wasn't open before school. Thankfully, the corner store had this." He says that with his big stupid smile, clearly proud of himself.
Josie forces a smile as she thanks him, and then she lets him kiss her.
The total lack of effort Landon put into her gift is upsetting. She can see the way their friends all seem to be uncomfortable before they suddenly all find other places to be. Landon and Josie quickly say goodbye to everyone, and soon enough they're left alone. The curly haired boy smiles in this awkward way Josie used to find charming.
"Do you like your gift? I thought you'd like it since you're into flowers, and stuff... "
"Oh, yeah. It's great, thank you."
The lie slips from her lips easily, even though Josie thinks the fake smile on her face must give it away. Apparently, Landon doesn't see it at all though, because next thing Josie knows is he's smiling brightly, proud of himself. Again.
"Okay, cool." He gets a little closer to her, pushing her hair behind her ear in a way that should be charming but is actually kinda clumsy. "So, I was thinking that you should come over tonight. My parents won't be home, and I thought we could-"
"What's all this about?"
Josie pulls away from Landon's touch as if she'd been burned when the words reach her ears. She recognizes the voice without even seeing the girl it belongs to since it became all too familiar lately. Against her will, the brunette feels butterflies as soon as her eyes fall onto Hope Mikaelson. The Salvatore school's most notable rebel is looking at them with her signature smirk and an eyebrow raised.
The brunette wishes she could still feel indifferent toward Hope, but she knows it's clearly not the case anymore. Not after what happened two weeks ago.
"Can't you read?" Landon says, annoyed. "It's Josie's birthday."
Hope's smirk disappears. She looks the boy up and down, her blue eyes now as cold as ice. The simple look is enough to make an uneasy feeling appear in the pit of Josie's stomach. Landon and Hope dislike each other, Josie knows that. Landon always stays far away from Hope, he says trouble follows her. As for Hope, she can't stand Landon's whole 'goody two shoes' attitude.
"Who said I was talking to you, Frodo?"
"It's Landon." The boy grabs Josie's hand, and tries pulling her away. The brunette resists, making him frown. "Come on, let's go to class."
"I still have to get my books, but go ahead."
The boy drops Josie's hand. "Okay, see you later."
He doesn't spare another glance at his girlfriend before hurrying down the hallway to his class. Josie watches him go, and can't help but roll her eyes at his attitude. The brunette turns her attention to her locker. She does her best to focus on opening it, but she keeps failing the combination of numbers it takes to open the lock.
"Can you stop staring at me?" Josie snaps, glaring at Hope in the process.
The auburn haired girl's smirk is on full display as she lets a little chuckle out. "Am I distracting you, princess?"
"Yes. Having someone staring at me tends to have that effect on me."
Hope tilts her head to the right, her smile suddenly playful. "So, it has nothing to do with me."
The way Hope has been playing some kind of game with her is starting to get to Josie a lot more than she would like. She developed a crush, she's getting annoyed by her boyfriend, and, on top of that, she has to hide what she feels because there's simply no way she could ever pursue any kind of relationship with Hope.
Not that she thinks Hope would ever wanna be in any kind of relationship with her. That would be ridiculous. This is most likely just some twisted way for Hope to mess with her. Or even to mess with her father. Messing with Josie to get Alaric mad definitely sounds like something Hope would do.
The brunette turns her head again, avoiding Hope's gaze. Josie closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to steady herself, and hopefully get a grip on her emotions. After a moment, she opens them again, and looks back at the Mikaelson girl.
"Hope, just tell me what you want. I don't have time to play games."
"Fine." Hope sighs before taking a step closer to Josie. The brunette's heartbeat speeds up, and she quickly looks around to make sure nobody's looking at them. Thankfully, her locker is in some kind of secluded area with only a handful of others, so the two girls are alone. "Stop being so nervous, Jo. What did Frodo get you for your birthday?"
" Landon got me-" Josie pauses, mentally cursing her idiot boyfriend. "He got me a flower."
"Not the cheap fake shit you have in your hand, right?"
Josie's eyes drop to the flower. She can't even blame her choice of words. "Yeah."
"What a good way to make a girl feel special."
The brunette feels her heart drop, and the landing is painful. Hope is right, but Josie wishes she wouldn't have said anything about it. Now, Josie feels even worse about the fact that her boyfriend, whom she's been dating for more than a year now, has put zero effort in planning a meaningful gift for her.
"Can you just leave?" The way Josie's voice breaks as the words leave her mouth surprises even herself.
Hope doesn't say anything, but Josie knows she hasn't moved either. Even though she's not looking at the Mikaelson girl, she can still feel her intense gaze on the back of her head.
"Under one condition."
"What?"
"Meet me here at lunch. Let's say 12:15."
"Fine."
Without another word, Hope turns around and leaves. Josie's surprised to see it was that simple to get rid of Hope, but at the same time she's relieved the girl respected her wish to be left alone for now. The Saltzman girl quickly gets her books out of her locker before making her way to class, doing her best to block any thoughts that are Hope Mikaelson related.
It works for a while. Actually it works quite well since Hope doesn't show up for the classes they share together. Josie's not that surprised. Skipping class is just a part of what makes Hope the school's rebel. She would end up in detention for a couple of days, like every single week. Alaric would get another chance to complain about Hope during dinner that night. Having your principal as a father is definitely an inconvenience.
Then, the clock hits 12:00, and Josie knows she has to leave the lunch table she's sharing with her friends to go and meet up with Hope. She lies and tells them she needs to meet up with her father when they ask questions. They all easily believe her, except Lizzie who gives her a puzzled look, but thankfully doesn't say a thing. The walk to her locker is short, so she doesn't expect Hope to be there yet. It comes as a bit of a surprise when she finds the girl leaning against her locker with a gift bag in her hands.
As soon as Hope sees Josie, she pushes herself off the locker and straightens up. The auburn haired girl tries to subtly smooth down her leather jacket, and the little gesture makes Josie smile involuntarily. The brunette stops walking when she's at a safe distance from Hope, not wanting to give the other girl any ideas.
"You came." Hope says, a genuine smile on her face.
"I said I would." Josie replies, crossing her arms and avoiding Hope's eyes.
The auburn haired girl shrugs, her eyes dropping to the floor. "You could have stood me up."
"I'm not like that."
Hope's eyes snap up. "Duly noted. Here, this is for you."
Josie hesitates to take the bag Hope is handing to her. She should probably tell Hope to keep the gift. After all, there's absolutely no reason for Hope to give her a birthday gift. They don't know each other that much.
Josie knows the basics about Hope Mikaelson. She's the only child of a very wealthy family. She's arrogant, defiant and stubborn. Hope seems to love breaking rules, and thrives through her reputation as the school's rebel. The girl has no friends, and is a self-proclaimed loner. Hope is everything Josie is not.
Just because Hope kissed her two weeks ago doesn't mean that she has to give Josie a birthday gift. It doesn't change the fact that they have nothing to do together. Still, the Saltzman girl takes a step closer and reaches for the offered bag.
"Thank you." The way the words come out shy and quiet has Hope smirking, and Josie seriously wants to smack herself. The brunette wishes she didn't wear her heart on her sleeve like that.
It takes Josie under a second to understand what she has in hands once it's out of the bag. An incredibly old looking version of "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville, Josie's favorite book. The brunette blinks a couple of times in disbelief. Very carefully, she opens the book and what she finds immediately makes her stop any kind of movements. Josie's brown eyes grow twice in size before she quickly, yet very carefully, pushes the book back into Hope's hands.
"Hope, this is an original copy! Do you have any idea how much it's worth? I can't accept this."
The auburn haired girl's brows knit together, clearly displeased by the brunette's reaction. Hope pushes the book right back into Josie's hands.
"It's nothing. It was in my family's library."
"Oh, and what happens when your parents find out it's missing?" Josie says, annoyance dripping in her voice.
"Nothing." Hope rolls her eyes. "My dad knows I took it." Josie opens her mouth to fight back, but Hope quickly stops her. "And, yes, he knows I gave it to someone else. He was cool with it. Please, take it."
Hope's last words take Josie by surprise. Very slowly, she takes the book back. Josie lets her eyes go back to the cover, and a joy she didn't let herself experience earlier appears inside her chest.
"Why are you giving me this?" Josie can't help but ask as she looks back at Hope.
"You did a report on this book in Lit class." Hope smiles and shrugs. "You said it was your favorite book."
"Hope…" Josie pauses. She remembers that day. She just doesn't get how Hope could remember it. "That was last year."
"I know." Hope can clearly see that the brunette is confused by her words and actions. The auburn haired girl smirks as she takes a final step closer to Josie, almost closing the distance between them . Very gently, she places a strand of Josie's hair behind her ear, and the Saltzman girl leans into her touch. The brunette's eyes flicker from Hope's eyes to her lips, and then back to her eyes. Josie's little reactions push Hope to take the next step. "And, that's how you make a girl feel special on her birthday."
Without waiting any longer, Hope leans in and kisses Josie.
This time the brunette doesn't run like the first time Hope kissed her. Instead, Josie grabs a fistful of Hope's leather jacket and pulls her incredibly close, kissing her back with everything she has. The way Hope pushed her hair behind her ear got Josie's heart pounding incredibly fast. There was no clumsiness, no hesitation. Hope is pure confidence and boldness.
There's no denying what Josie feels anymore.