Mermaid

The Eavesdroppers

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Two weeks; Penelope Park had been on the swim team for two weeks.
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Josie had yet to speak to her, outside of small comments during practice.
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But that was her job, so that didn't count.
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She hated every minute of being on the same team as the raven-haired Park.
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She hated the stolen glances
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She hated the accidental touches
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And she especially hated the way her heart jumped into her throat every time those hazel eyes found hers
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"Will you please cut that out?", Josie snapped, glaring at Hope from the other side of the room. The girl held the rubber ball in her hand, pausing from throwing it against the wall. "Sorry", she muttered, throwing it up in the air instead. "You seemed pretty deep into your work, and I was bored." "Why don't you go see what Lizzie's doing?", Josie suggested, trying to bring her concentration back to her science book. Hope looked at her curiously. "Uh, she went to hang out with MG, remember? She came in to tell us before she left not even an hour ago." Josie tried to think back and remember what Hope said happened, but it only gave her a headache. She grabbed the water bottle from her desk, taking a drink. "I'm so tired I must have spaced.", she said, shaking her head. She closed her science book, setting it aside. It was useless to try and study when her body was rebelling against her so harshly. Hope rolled over onto her stomach, facing Josie head-on. "Is it Penelope related?", she asked, knowing the answer. Josie scoffed, waving the idea away.

 "No, it's not about her. I'm just loaded with work; Plus, my mom and dad have been fighting a lot recently. I don't know, I've just got a lot on my plate right now." 'Penelope just happens to be one of those things', she wanted to add but decided not to. Hope frowned. "Why don't you take a nap? I'll wake you up in an hour, and then we can tackle Mrs. Henley's "Packet of doom", Hope joked. Josie smiled; Hope had a point. If she took a small nap, she would be semi-rested enough to take on at least the assignments due the next day. She yawned loudly, giving Hope her answer. "See? You're exhausted.", she stated, patting the spot next to her on the bed. Josie gave in, crossing the room and crashing onto the mattress. "Promise you'll wake me up in an hour?", she muttered sleepily. Hope chuckled. "Of course, Jo. Just get some sleep- I'll be here when you wake up." Josie followed Hope's orders, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  Josie awoke on her own, hours later. She jumped up out of bed, alerting Hope beside her. "Hope, you were supposed to wake me up!", she exclaimed, getting frantically out of bed. "I have so much to do- how am I supposed to get it all done? It's already 10 pm, I can't-" "Hey; Woah, Josie. Slow down.", Hope said, steadying the girl. "Your work is taken care of. Landon and I did it for you. Well, I did it while Landon helped me on the phone." Josie looked at her confused. "You did my homework? Hope, you don't even do your homework." "Well, that's why I called Landon.", Hope explained with a smile. "He double-checked all my answers. Hey, don't worry about it, okay? I saw how exhausted you were, and I wanted to take some stress off of you." Josie took a deep breath, calming her frantic, sleep-deprived brain. "Thank you, Hope. It means a lot." Hope just shrugged. "It's no big deal. Now, can we go back to sleep? You just disturbed a very good dream." Josie chuckled, tossing a pillow at Hope. "I don't want to hear about your sex dream with Landon." Hope gasped. "Josie! I am shocked you think such things of me.", she said in faux shock. "It was just a normal, PG-13 dream." Josie turned over with a groan. "Goodnight, Hope." She turned off the light by her bedside, drifting off to sleep before she could even hear Hope's reply.
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  "Josie?", a timid voice called out, followed by a gentle shake to Josie's shoulder. Josie tried to ignore it, but the voice only grew louder and more demanding. "Jo! Wake up!"Josie opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep from them. At the side of her bed was Lizzie, holding her finger up to her lips to tell Josie that she needed to be quiet. Josie silently got out of bed, careful not to disturb Hope. She followed Lizzie out into the hallway, hiding in the little nook in the wall by her parent's bedroom door. It was just big enough to fit in if she and Lizzie stayed close together, and it was close enough to the door that they could hear what was going on inside. Josie and Lizzie had used the space before to listen in, and their parents were aware of that. They were usually careful about what they said for that very reason, but at that moment it was almost as if they were too mad to care. They were arguing harshly- so loudly and crudely that it reverberated the wall around their door. "What the hell are they screaming about?", Lizzie whispered. Josie shushed her, pressing her ear against the wall. What she heard shocked her to her core.

  "Alaric, please.", her mother pleaded from inside the room. A large bang sounded, enough to make both girls jump. "How do you expect me to react, Caroline?", her father yelled. "I just found out that my wife- the woman I love- has been cheating on me! What, you expect me to be okay with that?" "Of course not! But I would hope you could at least be civil about this!", her mother yelled, her voice sounding tired and defeated. "Civil? This isn't a civil matter! You disrespected not only me- not only our marriage- but our daughters as well!" "I don't know what you want me to say, Alaric! I had a lapse in judgment, okay? It was one meaningless night three years ago. What we have- that's what I want." "I...I can't look at you right now, Caroline. I think it's best I stay at Damon and Elena's, at least for a few days." Caroline sighed heavily. "No, stay here with the girls. I'm going to stay at Hayley's. We were supposed to watch Hannah this week anyway." Josie could hear the closet door open, signaling the end of her parent's conversation. She ushered Lizzie back to her room, closing the door behind them. Josie relayed what she had heard to her sister, who looked just as freaked out as she was.

  "Mom cheated on dad?", she asked out loud, to nobody in particular. "I can't believe that! Mom would never cheat on dad! It doesn't make sense." Josie stayed silent; She was just as confused as Lizzie. Her mother and father were supposed to be in love- why would her mother jeopardize that? Why would she do something that would injure their family, possibly split it up for good? How was she supposed to look at her mother knowing what she had done? So much in Josie's life no longer made sense, and this was just the cherry on top of it all. She could feel her life slipping between her fingers, falling to her feet in a mess of broken, tangled pieces. What would happen next? She was unsure.

But if this was the outcome of love, what was the point in any of it anyway?
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  Josie punched the bag in front of her harder, ignoring the tears that blurred her eyes. It had been a long time since she'd used a punching bag, but she was happy hope had suggested it. It was nice to feel pent up anger flow out of her, expelling it from her fist into the poor, beaten bag. It wasn't enough to make her feel completely better- Josie was pretty sure nothing could, at the moment. But it was enough that she no longer felt the need to hurt anybody around her. She leaned against the bag, catching her breath. It was surprising how winded she could get these days- she wasn't even hitting it that hard yet, and she felt dizzy. She leaned down and grabbed the water bottle off the ground. She unlocked her phone, reading the messages left for her there

The Annoying Twin- 3:54 pm- Where are you? I need twin cuddles right now.
Dad- 3:52 pm- Where are you, Josette? Your mother and I are worried.
Mama Bear- 4:17 pm- I'll be at your aunt Hayley's with Hannah; Please listen to your father.

Josie shut the phone off. She didn't want to deal with her family right now, even though she knew it was unfair to Lizzie. She was just as hurt by their mother as Josie was; They should be sticking together. Josie would eventually have to face them, but she was willing to put it off as long as she could. She could only take so much heartache in one day. Unfortunately for Josie, bad things come in threes.

  "Remind me not to piss you off, Saltzman", Penelope joked, walking up to the wound-up girl carefully. Josie swallowed hard, trying her best to look intimidating; It failed. "What do you want, Penelope", she muttered, cringing when she heard the emotion in her voice. It was not unnoticed by Penelope either. "Hey", she cooed, her voice softer. "Are you okay?" Josie didn't answer, but she could feel the first of many tears fall down her cheeks. How is it that she could never hide anything from Penelope, let alone her feelings? "Talk to me.", Penelope whispered, brushing the hair from Josie's face. "You can hate me all you want, Josie, and I won't blame you. But you need someone right now, and I'm here, okay? I'm right here. "She touched Josie's face gently, her expression sincere, her lip bitten nervously between her teeth. "Let me be here for you, Jojo." At her words, Josie cracked. All of the pressure building on her shoulders came flooding out, and as soon as she lost control of her emotions it was impossible to regain it. In the middle of the crowded gym, Penelope pulled Josie tightly into her. She ran a hand through her hair, letting the girl fall apart in her arms. She wanted to do more, but she didn't know exactly what Josie needed from her, what she wanted her to be for her; So she just held her.

Penelope wished desperately that a hug was enough to put Josie's fragmented pieces back together.