Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 53: Message

After showering, getting dressed and ready for the day, the two make their way from Hope's room to the cafeteria. It's Saturday so there aren't too many kids up, but they do see MG, Cleo and Raf sitting at their usual table, so they grab some food and head over to sit with them.

Cleo is the first to spot them heading in their direction, aiming a warm smile at them, "Good morning! Glad to see you stayed, Hope."

"All thanks to your spell," Hope gives her a grateful smile as she takes a seat next to Cleo, with Josie sitting to her other side, Raf and MG across from them.

Raf raises an eyebrow toward Hope, "So how'd you sleep?"

Hope rolls her eyes at his teasing tone, "Just fine, thanks for asking." She shoots him a fake smile.

MG clears his throat uncomfortably, earning weird looks from Josie and Hope, "Everything okay, MG?"

He nods without making direct eye contact with them, "Yeah, all good." The response isn't at all convincing.

Before either of them get the chance to question it, Lizzie plops down next to him, raising a brow at them, "No, not all good. You never came back to our room last night, Josette."

Josie shoots her sister an apologetic look, "I slept in Hope's room. I would've told you, but you were already asleep—"

"Oh, I know where you were. I think the whole school does."

Josie furrows her eyebrows in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

The two can tell by the look in Lizzie's eyes that they're going to hate her response. Lizzie's next words come out in a mock and mimic, "Oh, you feel so good, Hope. I love you, don't stop, I love you too...Sound familiar?"

Josie looks at her wide eyed, "You were listening?"

"Not on purpose! I woke up earlier and saw you were missing from our room, so I wanted to make sure you were with Hope. I didn't expect to hear you singing her praises before I even got to the door."

Josie can't control the ferocious blush that spreads across her cheeks as Hope clears her throat beside her, "It won't happen again—"

"What?" Josie quickly whips her head toward Hope, cutting her off as her eyes widen, completely misunderstanding and dismissing her previous embarrassment for a new sense of panic and confusion.

Hope pinches the bridge of her nose for a moment, "No that's not—I mean, we won't forget the soundproofing spell again."
Raf struggles to contain his laughter as Cleo shoots him a scolding look and Hope kicks him lightly under the table, "Moving on... Cleo, how much time do I have before the boundary spell stops working?"

"You should still have a couple of hours."

MG finally pipes in, moving past the previous conversation, "Maybe we could workout for a bit before you have to leave?"

Lizzie mutters loud enough for them all to hear, "She already got that in this morning."

"Moving on," Hope gives her a pointed look, to which Lizzie only replies with a smirk.

The group actually somewhat manages to refrain from teasing the two girls much more, with the occasional sly remark.

Until Dr. Saltzman approaches them, greeting them all, and Hope notices a hesitancy in his demeanor.
"Is everything okay?"