JOSIE SALTZMAN KNEW STEFANIE SALVATORE was going to be far from mediocre the moment Josie realized the girl was in transition. She had a certain je ne sais quoi that Josie had no way of explaining. Hopefully, this isn't a crush, Josie thought when she had her mind on the Salvatore girl. Hopefully, it wasn't. Josie was sure Stefanie was straight but still, one could hope. As she watched Stefanie speed read the contents of the book given to her by Professor Vitali, Josie couldn't help but be awed by Stefanie's beauty. High cheekbones, soft, porcelain olive skin, glistening pools of brown honey eyes. She was gorgeous.
"Can we speed it up? I'm bored and I have a mood board to finish," Lizzie Saltzman groaned as she played with her hair. Hope rolled her eyes from the center of the room before waving her hand at the door.
"Lizzie, you are free to leave, you know. I mean, if you are so bored," Hope prompted, motioning towards the door. Lizzie scoffed and rose from her seat, smoothing down her skirt and fixing her blouse. She clearly had gotten the hint.
"Fine. Enjoy book club," Lizzie retorted and Hope smiled bitterly as Lizzie walked past her and out the door. Josie had remained in her seat while she waited patiently for Stefanie to finish the book. She had left her seat besides Josie and even though it had been only two weeks of getting close, there was a slight pang in her chest when the girl left her side. She couldn't help it. Stefanie was sweet, caring and funny when she wanted to be. She had shown that side of herself to Josie and all Josie wanted was more of it. It had seemed that she was falling for the girl.
Damn it.
"Done!" Stefanie clamped the book shut and took a breath as Kaleb, MG, Landon, Hope, and Josie awaited for her to reveal her findings. Josie had never heard of vampires with mind-reading powers. She knew they could get into people's heads but read thoughts? That was very unlikely. More like impossible and never heard of, Josie thought.
"OK, so vampires did once have powers during the early ages they were being created. After, well Hope's family, got turned into them, they showed signs of having powers when they drank human blood," Stefanie explained as she paced the room. Hope raised an eyebrow. It was evident she hadn't heard of her family displaying vampiric powers.
"My family? Powers? That doesn't make any sense, I would have known," Hope said as she walked over to where the book laid. She had to read some of the pages for herself. Stefanie shrugged before finally stopping in her tracks near a window. She placed a hand on the sill, as if she was having a moment. Josie looked at her with concern. Was she OK?
"Stef, are you OK?" Rafael asked as he saw the same thing. He rushed to her side and bent down to view her. She smiled and nodded before clearing her throat.
