Losing her entire family was hard enough on Josephine Cohen, but to lose them, upend her life in Boston to live in Beacon Hills, and move in with her infamous cousin Lydia Martin all within a month's time didn't make it any easier.
To make matters w...
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It was one of Josie's favorite photos, which was why she found herself smiling down at it now, even as Eleanor swatted her sister's hand to put her phone away.
It was taken at the beginning of the summer before Josie's freshman year, on one of their last family trips back to California to the small town of Beacon Hills to see their extended family again. Well, they called it extended, but everyone knew Eleanor, Josie and Lydia were more sisters than they were anything else. That's why this photo was her favorite to look at: her sister, and the cousin she considered a sister, side by side with her. Now, Josie was halfway through her sophomore year as the family journeyed back to the West Coast once again for Thanksgiving with her mother's side of the family.
"Do you ever get off your phone?" the 19, almost 20, year old Eleanor teased her younger sister, the pair seriously lagging behind their parents as they exited the San Francisco airport, the sun quickly setting behind them. "Telling Lydia we're heading to the car now? Or did you find some boy toys in Beacon Hills already?"
"El, I've never even had a boyfriend-"
"And you're 16 now, just get on a dating app and have a fling-"
"Enough bickering, you two, and get in the car!"
The girls mumbled back quiets 'yes dad's to their father, Mitchell Cohen, as they lugged their luggage for the week toward the trunk of their rental car. Isabella Cohen laughed at her two girls, telling them to hurry up as she climbed into the passenger side of the car, anxious to get back to Beacon Hills to see her sister, Natalie Martin.
"I am NOT you," Josie grumbled back to her sister as they lifted their luggage into the trunk. "Flings are stupid. When I get a boyfriend I want it to be something real."
"I'm just looking out for you, little sister. 'Real' just means complicated," Eleanor continued to tease her sister, shutting the trunk as they moved to their own sides of the backseat.
"Says the girl who has never been with a guy longer than a month," Josephine retorted, shutting her car door and buckling herself in, not missing the eye roll from her parents at their continued bickering. "And you're literally engaged to Wes so I don't want to hear it!"
"Boys are a lot sometimes. Wes is...different. He gets me in a way no one else does,"
"May if you actually gave your past flings a chance-"
"Josie, most men are the same. You'll realize that eventually-"
"GIRLS!" both the young red heads finally shut up from the look from their father in the rearview mirror. "Please, we've got an hour until Beacon Hills just...give us a small bit of peace and quiet on the way there."
The pair settled their differences with a nod at one another, both opting for their own pairs of headphones and their own playlists for the duration of their car ride.
Josie had decided a long time ago that she loved California. Visiting Beacon Hills was one of her favorite things, and not just because of Lydia and her Aunt Natalie. It was quaint, at least compared to the outskirts of Boston. Lydia had brought her to the high school before, and while large was still smaller than her own which was something she loved.
The first roads of Beacon Hills were just roads away when Eleanor tapped on her sister's thigh, causing Josie to remove her headphones finally.
"You know I'm just kidding around with you, right? It's not bad to want something...real. But you also have to be realistic with how men are,"
"Sounds like something a pessimist would say," Josie teased her older sister back. "And if you're the pessimist, then I have to be the optimist."
Eleanor smiled, watching her sister with love in her eyes. Josie didn't notice the way her smile seemed to change, though, even as Ellie spoke with such genuine love in her voice.
"You know I love you, right?"
"Yeah yeah, I love you too,"
"Just want to...make sure you never forget that,"
Isabella Cohen couldn't help but smile as she watched her girls, her two pride and joys, together in the backseat. Mitchell's hand found his wife's, holding it tightly as he locked eyes with his youngest daughter, giving her a smile that conveyed all the love in the world.
Eleanor's hand found it's way across the backseat, placing it on Josie's for a moment as she squeezed it tightly. The younger girl looked over at her sister, raising an eyebrow at her with a laugh in her voice.
"You're acting so weird right now, El,"
The conversation ended there, with Josie turned back to their parents, launching into some discussion about what they'd be doing over Thanksgiving break in Beacon Hills.
Her sister, mother and father were all grinning as they continued their conversation, their car just on the precipice of Beacon Hills now. Josie smiled around at her family, laughing at a joke that her mother had said. Eleanor's eyes never left Josie's face.
That was the moment the car flipped off the side of the road and down the hillside, the girl's head smacking against the side of the door as she heard Eleanor's voice one last time, before the world went dark.
◻ ◻ ◻
Why was Josephine staring at the sky? And why was it blurry?
A groaned passed her lips as her own shaky hand reached up to her head, touching it lightly as she felt a spike of pain rush through her. She pulled her fingertips away, sucking in her breath when she saw the blood that coated them.
With whatever strength she could muster in her, Josie pulled herself as close to a sitting position as she could get. Leaves stuck to her hair, mud coated her clothing, and she noticed the road was far above her...the road she was supposed to be on.
She whipped her head around, sending another tear of pain through her skull. Her eyes widened at the fiery sight of their rental car, almost completely wrapped around a tree. Bile rose in her throat as she noticed there were definitely two people still in the front seats of the car.
Josie tried to drag herself over to the car when her blurry gaze caught sight of a pile of red hair not far from her, a choked sob leaving her lips.
"Ellie?" she cried out, voice hoarse as she dragged herself over to the body of her sister, rolling her onto her back. The sobs continued as she saw the blood that streamed down her sister's head, placing her hand on her sister's chest and shaking her. "Eleanor? El, come on...Ellie, please you've got to help me! We've got to help mom and dad...El..."
It finally sunk in that there wasn't a heartbeat under Josie's hand.
A strangle sob mixed with a scream forced it's way out of the girl as her head landed on her sister's chest, body shaking as she cried into her and held her as tight as she could, all while the lights and sirens of the Beacon Hills Police Department got closer from the road above them.
