The Salvatore School for Troubled Youth

Detention

Hope fumbles her way through classes the next day.

When she walks into detention, she recognizes some of her fellow delinquents. Obviously, Josie and Lizzie. There's some bitch named Penelope Park who Josie said to steer clear from. Then there's Raf from Hope's Werewolf Agility class. He seems nice enough. And finally, there's MG from Hope's History of Vampires class. And then there's a few others she hasn't met yet.

The chairs are arranged in a circle, so she takes the open seat next to Josie. As they're waiting, a curl-haired boy sits down next to Hope and introduces himself as Landon.

At first, he seemed nice. But he kept looking over at Hope and staring at her, so she periodically would move her chair closer to Josie's.

"Heads up," Josie leans over and whispers. "I forgot to mention that detention here is more like group therapy."

"Everyone, let's welcome a new member to our group," Emma gestures for Hope to stand up. "Please introduce yourself."

"Hi, I'm Hope. I'm new here."

"And why don't you tell us a bit about yourself," Emma suggests.

Hope raises her eyebrow at Emma, yet she does what is asked of her.

"I'm a witch, and I'm from New Orleans."

"That's a good start, Hope. Now, why don't you tell us a bit about why you're here."

"Why I'm here?"

"Yes, what you struggle with, what hopes you have coming here to the Salvatore School," Emma nods for her to continue.

"I'm really not comfortable doing that," Hope looks nervously around her at the other students.

"This is a safe space," Emma assures her. "It's imperative that you let your walls down during group discussion time."

"I don't want to."

"But it's required-"

"I said no!" a wave of energy is emitted from Hope that can be felt throughout the room.

After a few moments of everyone looking at her stunned, Emma finally speaks.

"Very well, we'll respect your comfort level. If you ever do feel like sharing more, please feel free to," Emma goes on with the session, but Hope mostly tunes her out.

When the hour is over, everyone disbands. The wolves to the gym, the vampires to the kitchen for their blood bags, and the witches to the library to study spells, except for two of them.

Hope decides to retreat to her room, and Josie follows her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Hope attempts to brush her off.

"I don't know, you kinda, like, blasted all of us with some kinda of energy wave."

"I told Emma I didn't feel like sharing, but she pushed."

"You know, we don't bite," Josie stands in Hope's doorway, blocking her. "Well, us witches don't bite. But the wolves and vampires wouldn't bite you either."

"Thanks, but I prefer to keep to myself," Hope pushes past her.

She sits on her bed and pulls out her sketchbook. She ignores Josie and begins to silently draw.

"I get it, I usually like to sit in silence and observe people," Josie sits next to Hope.

She spends nearly an hour just watching Hope draw.

"You're really amazing at that," Josie comments.

"Thanks, my dad taught me."

"He must be pretty good too."

"He was," Hope nods her head.

"Was?" Josie looks curiously at her.

"He killed himself last year," she says, no emotion evident in her voice, save resentment.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, he and I didn't have the best relationship," Hope tells her. "He was absent for a lot of my life. Sometimes I feel like I barely knew him."

"Just because you didn't know him well, it doesn't mean you're not allowed to be sad."

"Mhm," Hope hums dismissively.

"You know, mine and Lizzie's biological mother died before we were born," she shares. "I never knew her, and we have a wonderful mom who raised us, but it still feels like there's a hole missing in my life."

"That must've been difficult for your family."

"It was. Our dad was heartbroken and he's been struggling with alcoholism ever since," Josie explains. "Our mom works overseas a lot too, so they decided to send us here."

"Your biological mom must've been a really good person for your dad to miss her so much."

"She was," Josie nods her head. "She was a doctor, one of the best, a pioneer in her field."

"My dad wasn't a good person," Hope looks down at her lap.

"I'm sure that's not true, everyone has some good in them."

"Not my father," Hope shakes her head. "He abandoned me and my mom when I was a kid. So she raised me until she died last year in a freak accident. He came back for a short while, before killing himself."

"I'm so sorry," Josie repeats.

"After everything that happened, I just got so sad and angry and started lashing out at everyone, my aunts and uncles and friends.  So that's the true story behind why I'm here."

"I understand why you didn't want to share in front of everyone before," Josie puts her arm over Hope's shoulder in a side hug.

"Yeah, it's just painful to talk about," a tear rolls down Hope's cheek.

"Hey, can I try something?" Josie asks softly.

Hope nods her head a little, unsure of what's going to happen.

Josie takes both of Hope's hands into her own. In an instant, they glow red as Josie gently siphons from her.

"What did you do?" Hope asks once she unlinks their hands.

"I just took some of your magic, to temporarily make your emotions less intense, more bearable."

Hope does feel much better than before.

"See, what do I need a therapist for when I've got my own personal siphon witch?" Hope jokes.

"Very funny, but everyone could use a someone to talk to," Josie says. "But until you trust Emma enough, I can be that person for you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Josie smiles and walks toward the door. "If you need anything else, my room is just across the hall."