Hopeless

A Moment by the Lake

Hope's POV

The next morning, there is no Rafael by my door. I'm worried at first, but then I remember our conversation the day before. The werewolf doesn't make an appearance all day until lunch, where he waves me over to Lizzie and Josie's table once again. "How's your day going?" he asks when I take my seat next to him.

"Fine," I tell him, shrugging a bit. "Nothing major happened."

I allow my eyes to travel to Josie, who is watching me with a somewhat hopeful expression on her face. She looks happier than she did yesterday, and that thought makes me happy. "Hey, Jo," I greet, smiling a bit.

She looks stunned for a second, but then she recovers and repeats, "Hey."

"So now that I'm not escorting you around anymore, has anyone made a move since Landon is out of the picture?" Rafael asks, once again gaining my attention. There is an edge to his voice that I can't place, but I just shrug it off, not really caring to investigate right now; there are more pressing matters on my mind.

More pressing matters like the talisman once again hanging around Josie's neck. I stare at it, wondering why she all of a sudden started wearing it again when she had stopped a few days after her birthday, as I disinterestedly answer Rafael's question. "No. Why would they?"

Raf snorts at my response, and I turn to see him staring at me with a shocked expression. "Why would they?" he repeats, not believing what he just heard.

"Yeah. Why would they? I'm not exactly the type of person people throw themselves at."

"Hope, you're-" He stops himself, just like he did last night, and I stare at him, confused.

I am soon distracted, though, as Josie's knee brushes mine under the table, almost comfortingly. My head whips around to stare at her instead, but her gaze is trained on her food as she picks at it. Did she do that on purpose? Was it just an accident?

"You're great," Raf finally settles on saying, but my eyes don't leave the brunette in front of me. "Anyone would be lucky to be with you."

I hear Lizzie snort at his words, firing off a witty remark about how wrong he is, but I can't bring myself to care. All these feelings are racing through me right now... I'm not quite sure what to do with them. And they're all because of Josie Saltzman.

Josie's POV

Hope's gaze stays trained on me for the rest of lunch. It's not in a weird way, though; it's more of a curious, confused gaze. Like she's trying to figure something out. Like I'm the textbook and she's trying to find the answer. I just hope she finds the right one...

"Come on, Josie," Lizzie says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"We have class in ten minutes," she answers matter-of-factly, and I mentally facepalm. How could I have forgotten?

But I know how I could have forgotten. Those eyes, that stare. They take my breath - and thoughts, apparently - away.

I think about my next class. It's Defensive Magic, which Hope happens to have, too. So, after risking a quick glance at Lizzie's waiting face, I take a deep breath and ask, "Do you want to walk with us?"

Hope looks startled for a second, unsure of whether I'm talking to her or not, but there's no one else around that has Defensive Magic with Lizzie and I at 1pm; Raf obviously doesn't. "Oh, um, yeah," she accepts the offer, visibly flustered.

I glance up at my sister once more, taking in her shocked and angry expression, then realize that I really don't care. My hand goes up to the talisman still clasped around my neck - I rarely ever take it off anymore - as I smile at Hope's bewildered features. "Cool," I say.