beloved, hope mikaelson

03 | COMMUNITY SERVICE

MY DAD'S OUTING WITH Hope turned out to reveal some... unfortunate news. Rafael never came back to school after leaving with them, and Dad didn't give us any information as to why. Not to mention, when they got back, both him and Hope looked very stressed out. I couldn't help but to wonder what the hell happened out there.

Presently, though, I didn't have much time to ponder about what had happened yesterday while they were gone. I was in class, we were learning chain spells. Along with other witches, I was sat in a circle, all of our hands interlocked.

"All right, gather together." Dorian instructed. "Chains spells are about the fluid movement of energy from witch to witch.... Where's Penelope Park?"

"Um," Lizzie spoke up, "lady cramps, Mr. Williams."

"Sorry I asked." Dorian said, going back to the lesson. "A disharmonious group makes for an uneven flow."

A few girls stifled their laughter at the unfortunate wording Mr. Williams used. Me and Lizzie smiled softly in amusement. Josie giggled loudly, which then made us laugh along with her.

A spelled piece of paper floated into the room, interrupting the moment. As Dorian reached up to grab it, Josie said, "Uh-oh, who's in trouble with the headmaster?"

"Probably the people who started a rumble with the local high school." Hope snipped.

Dorian began reading, "'Lizzie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman.'" He looked up from the paper, directly at Hope. "And baby makes three. Off you go."

Hope gave him a very displeased look, whereas me and my two sisters turned to look at her with utter confusion. What could she have done? She never got in trouble by my dad. It must have been pretty bad.

They got up to go to Dad's office, which, unfortunately, left me alone in this class with no Lizzie and Josie to keep me company. Come to find out, Lizzie, Josie, and the whole football team were being forced to do community service for what happened after the football game yesterday. Hope also had to go, but for what, I had no idea.

I begged my dad to tag along with them, seeing as I didn't want to be all alone at school for hours while they worked. He agreed, saying I could go with Eve. I was kind of amused that I was going to get to watch my sisters pick up trash while I just got to stand there and watch.

"So, what did you do?" Lizzie asked Hope as we were walking off of the bus. "My dad never gets mad at you. You're the prodigal daughter. Must have been juicy."

"Sorry, no time for girl talk. Public service awaits." Hope said in a false cheery tone as she stepped off of the bus behind Josie and I.

"All right, listen up." Dorian spoke. "It's a beautiful day. You got options: litter, weeds, graffiti. Your choice." He handed one of those sticks used to pick up garbage to Kaleb, who took it begrudgingly.

"It's bad enough we get punished while the humans get a pass, but there ain't no way in hell I'm picking up their garbage." Kaleb declared, handing the stick to Lizzie, who held her hands up.

"Uh, I don't do trash either." Lizzie said, sounding offended that Kaleb would even attempt to get her to do such a horrid thing.

Hope stepped forward. "I love trash, as of this moment," she said, grabbing the yellow stick from Kaleb.

"Perf. It suits you." Lizzie said snarkily as she began walking away.

Hope turned around, an annoyed look on her face.

Lizzie turned to Josie. "Looks like we're scrubbing paint today."

Josie's arms were crossed uncomfortably. "Dad told us to work together, okay, harmoniously."