The Real Me ↠ Hope Mikaelson ✓

07

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍
she's mad but she's magic. there's no lie in her fire.

FOR ONCE, HOPE isn't feeling like herself.

For the first time in forever, the barriers around both her mind and heart are crumbling under the presence of a small but mighty girl.

There's just something different about the 5'1 blonde with pale skin who likes to wear countless rings and cottage-core outfits.

Hope can't stop the small smile from appearing on her lips as she thinks about the girl who has somehow already made an impact on her life.

As she turns the corner into the library, she stops just before the threshold upon seeing and hearing Lizzie Saltzman yelling at the one and only Penelope Park.

"What the hell is your problem, Satan?!" Lizzie yells, her blue eyes holding pure rage as her blonde hair sizzles like it has a life of its own.

Honestly, it reminds Hope of Hermione Granger from Harry Potter—forced to watch by her Uncle Kol when she was younger.

"Honestly, Saltzman, your constant screaming is getting on my nerves," Penelope drawls with a roll of her eyes and flips to another page in her book, not even looking up at the blonde.

Penelope Park has always had a tough aura, and that probably has to do with her parents being terrified of what she can do. They have good reason to be, too.

Once, when Penelope was six years old, she set their pet cat on fire just because the poor thing jumped on her bed and ruined a new outfit she had laid out.

Ever since then, her parents have kept their distance.

Then she met Josie and hated the brunette the first few weeks of knowing her simply because she saw how her parents treated her—i.e. like a parent should; kindly.

After Penelope met Lizzie, she noticed how Josie's smile seemed to dimmer because all the focus would go to Lizzie.

It wasn't Lizzie's fault though—it wasn't like she wanted the spotlight. And if she did get paid attention to, it was only when she was having a breakdown, which was something she had no control over.

Once Penelope found out about Lizzie's breakdowns, she took that and played with it—made it so that Josie hated her own sister, made her spread rumours, and made her laugh at her sister's suffering.

It wasn't only because Penelope hated Lizzie, but because she wanted Josie to be like her—to be treated the same just so that Josie had no one to rely on but her.

It had worked for a while until Lizzie had a very bad mental breakdown, and Josie felt bad and went running back to her, leaving Penelope behind.

Then and only then did Penelope realise that she cared about the brunette. But it was already too late—Josie had broken up with her, mended her relationship with Lizzie, and the two were never seen without one another again.

And that pissed Penelope off, and she began to despise Lizzie. She wanted the blonde to pay for taking Josie away from her.

Of course, right when things are beginning to come around, another blonde Saltzman shows up and demands attention.

The tiny blonde acts nice and innocent, but Penelope knows that it's just another person Josie is wasting her time on, and so the hatred for Millie comes naturally.

"Bully me however you want, just leave Millie alone, you vicious bitch," Lizzie sneers. "She hasn't done or said anything about you to anyone—hasn't even spoken to you—yet you decide to hurt and embarrass her in front of the entire school! What was the reason?!" She yells, uncaring that she's making a scene. She isn't going to allow what Penelope had done to both her and Josie to happen to Millie. "Leave her out of this, or next time Josie won't be there to unfreeze your ass!"

Lizzie pauses, her chest heaving up and down before she lets out a scream, causing the nearby lights to explode in a shower of sparks.

She huffs at Penelope, who simply raises a brow at her performance, before turning around and storming out of the library, too angry to notice Hope in the doorway.

Seeing Penelope there, looking smug and unbothered, makes Hope snarl, her eyes glowing a vibrant yellow.

She had spent a good hour or so talking to Millie in the woods yesterday, not talking about anything in particular. Half of their time was spent walking side by side, staring up at the moon and stars.

Hope knows that Penelope had said or done something to upset Millie because when she had first bumped into the girl, she had clearly been crying.

Now, knowing that Penelope not only said some mean things but physically hurt the blonde—it doesn't sit right with Hope.

Anyone looking at Millie can tell that the girl is a ball of sunshine and is always trying to cheer people up, even if she's having a bad day herself. She doesn't deserve to be treated like a monster.

Growling low in her throat, Hope storms over to the brunette witch, who raises a brow in surprise before ignoring the tribrid and going back to reading.

Hope doesn't like that. She snatches the book from Penelope and throws it across the room, making a loud thud as it hits the wall before landing on the floor.

Placing her hands on each side of the chair Penelope is sitting on, Hope leans her face dangerously close. "You wipe that smug look off your face, witch. I'm Hope Mikaelson, and this is your last warning to steer clear of Millie Moore-Saltzman. You so much as even look at her the wrong way again and I'll rip out your eyeballs," she spits, letting her eyes bleed bright yellow, finding satisfaction in seeing the girl's eyes shine with fear.

Smirking, Hope roughly pushes herself away from Penelope before striding out of the library—on a mission to find the girl who always lights up any room she walks into.

Honestly, Hope doesn't know what took over her in that instant. All she knows is that her wolf calls for the tiny blonde, and that she isn't going to let the only person who is nice to her suffer in any way.

So when Hope spots Millie outside by the pool reading a book, she sits down beside her willingly and starts to talk to her about their art project.

And if Millie beams up at her with sparkling eyes and a dazzling smile, that's just a plus.