It had been a couple of days and Lizzie seemed to have calmed down. She wanted to say it was because of the cookies but it she didn’t think so, it was most likely a combination of their mom being home and time like she had said and, maybe she was starting to realize that Hope really wasn’t out to steal Josie away from her.
They’re twin time wasn’t interrupted at all and Josie was very careful when mentioning Hope around her sister if at all. She still hadn’t abandoned her plan of making Lizzie and Hope actually spend time together and be at least friendly if not friends, but she had to be careful in case her sister just immediately shut down again.
She was trying to come up with something that would make all three of them interact without it being too awkward, but nothing really came to mind.
At first she thought to just take Lizzie with them on their Friday hangout but, aside from the fact that there wouldn’t be many distractions from the sure to be awkward moments and at the same time several people to witness a probable argument that might end up out of control and revealing their magic, she changed her mind quickly but not for the reasons she just mentioned. She didn’t want to bring someone else into something that she considers their time, her and Hope’s. It was a moment for just them to talk about how their week had gone and to decompress and she didn’t want to break from that even if for just one day.
She was sure that if her plan worked, (and she was determined to make it so) and they ended up being friends all three of them Lizzie would eventually join them but for now, she wanted to keep it just them. She didn’t look too much into why that was.
So with that scratched out she began thinking perhaps keeping it simple for now was better and had set up a study date with both Lizzie and Hope; with finals just around the corner it was the perfect excuse, without any of them knowing of course, even if Hope had already agreed to try and spend some time with her sister she didn’t want to risk her backing out. She did have to promise Hope it was real homework this time, no crazy research.Maybe with Hope helping them practice some of the spells Lizzie might dislike her less. At the very least she hoped her sister doesn’t just turn around and leave the instant she sees Hope.
Later that day when she enters the library she finds Hope already there; she’s just taking out her books so it appears she just got there. The room was a little crowded with other people also getting ready for exams but she had managed to secure a table for her own, Josie notes.
“Hey, you’re early,” Josie says when she gets to the table. She sets her bag on the floor before starting to take out her own books.
Hope looks up and gives her a smile in greeting before saying, “Hey yeah, I wanted to make sure we had a space; I knew it was gonna be full,” she rolls her eyes before adding wryly, “It’s that time of year, everyone’s running around like crazy.”
Josie chuckles. “I know; how did you score a whole table for yourself?”
Hope laughs a bit without humor at that shaking her head and says, “I guess you can call it the Mikaelson privilege, or the Thribrid effect. Most likely a bit of both,” she shrugs. “They either hate me or are too afraid to sit with me.”
Josie doesn’t like they way she looks almost resigned, like that’s just the way things were and she had accepted that people would always just avoid her; she wanted to change that for her and to make her feel better. She found her next words particularly ironic given the source.
“My sister says they’re just intimidated by you, they think you’re too cool and, maybe yes, are a bit too afraid to speak to you but not for the reasons you seem to think. At least, not all of them,” she added.
