Pages from my heart

Chapter 3

Before Hope can gather her thoughts, Josie is in her space. She's taking over Hope's every sense and she can't even pretend she's upset by it. She can smell the vanilla bean perfume that Josie puts on every morning, she feels her breath hitting her face, and she sees her eyes looking down at her lips and her lips curling into a smile. She hasn't seen Josie confident like this in all the years of knowing her. Suddenly, Hope becomes very aware of how close they are to crossing the line and going past friendship, and the fact that Josie's mom could walk in at any time.

"Jo... Are you sure? What about your mom?" Hope asks, almost at a whisper.
"My mom already knows how I feel about you. Like you said, everyone could see it but us." Josie said with a laugh.
"Wait, what do you mean your mom already knows?" Hope asked, confusion taking over.
"She talked to me about it a bit ago. Asked me how I felt about you. I told her how I felt." Josie answered, a smile on her face.

While Hope was processing what Josie said, Josie took her opportunity to close the distance between them. Just like that, all of Hope's thoughts left her brain. She could no longer process anything other than the fact that Josie Saltzman was kissing her. Her best friend was now kissing her. Because of her shock, it took Hope a couple seconds to kiss her back, so much so that Josie had started pulling away. Hope was quick to remedy that with her hand on Josie's face, pulling her back into her.

If there's something that Hope isn't prepared for, it's the whimper that comes from Josie when she pulls her in. There's nothing more that Hope wants than to keep this going but she's also highly aware of the fact that Josie's mom could walk in and see them at any moment. Against her best judgement, Hope pulls away, letting her eyes open to take in Josie looking right back at her. She just watches as Josie leans in again.

"Jo, not that I don't love doing that. I do, believe me, but your mom could still walk in. She likes me, I'd like to keep it that way." Hope said with a laugh.
"Okay but that, we can do that again, right?" Josie asked, eyes looking directly at Hope's lips.

Hope can feel her mind going blank again and quickly tries to get it back. Knowing that Josie would take advantage of her lack of cognitive functioning skills and pull her in for another kiss.

"So uh, the dance. You got your dress with Lizzie and Jade, I haven't seen it yet. What color is it? You know, so I can run to the mall tomorrow morning and make sure we match." Hope asks.
"Well, I would show you the dress, but I don't want you to see it until tomorrow night before the dance. Um, can I text you a picture of the color? That way you have something to go off of? What are you wearing to the dance Miss Mikealson?" Josie asked, her bottom lip slipping between her teeth.
"Well, if I have to wait, you do too Saltzman ." Hope said with a wink.

Hope went home that night, opting not to stay the night. Everything was still new with Josie and the last thing she wanted to do was complicate it. She texted Josie to let her know she made it home.

Jo: Here's the color of the dress. Hope you can find what you need tomorrow, Mikealson ;)

Hope shook her head knowing that tomorrow was going to be nothing short of an adventure for her.

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Josie was more excited than usual. She was watching the clock more than she should be. She knew she needed to get ready, but her head couldn't stop trying to picture what Hope could be wearing for tonight. She really couldn't wait for Hope to see her dress. It was perfect. Her mom had suggested that with it being her junior year, she try something that popped a little more than what she's worn in the past, so she boldly chose a yellow dress for this year.