"C'mon, Jo," Hope whined, pulling the notebook out from under Josie's pen. "Don't you want to get out of this stuffed up room? Come with me to this party- I promise you won't regret it." Josie sighed in frustration, taking the notebook back from Hope's hands. "Thanks to Penelope, I have three months of notes to copy down. Even if I wanted to come, I need to get my work done. The quarter is almost over, and I cannot leave for winter break without having at least a B plus." Hope rolled her eyes, walking out of the room quickly. Josie had assumed that their conversation was over, but moments later, Hope returned, holding her yellow notebook. Taking the other one off Josie's bed, she muttered a spell over it. When she was done, she opened it and threw it back on Josie's bed. The previously pristine pages were filled with all the information Josie needed. Josie looked up at Hope, surprised. Hope simply shrugged. "Copycat spell; Learned it after the last time Penelope incinerated your stuff. I mean, you'd think she'd come up with some new material by no-" Hope was cut off by Josie's arms wrapping around her waist.
Hope returned the hug, chuckling to herself. "Yeah, yeah- you're eternally grateful.", Hope joked, shaking her head as Josie pulled away. "Get dressed- we're leaving for the mill in fifteen." She looked Josie up and down, her brow furrowed in concentration. "You should wear that black dress your mom got you; You'd look smoking in it." Josie rolled her eyes, tossing a throw pillow at Hope just as she closed the bedroom door. Even with the room sealed, Josie could still hear Hope's laughter through the thin walls as she returned to her room.
Josie opened her side of the wardrobe she and Lizzie shared, inspecting the rack of clothes. Most of them were the same uniform skirt and shirt combination that she wore every day, all identical copies of each other. The rest were clothes either Lizzie or Hope had forced her to buy for herself- dresses shoved to the back of the wardrobe, crop tops that Josie refused to wear outside the confines of her room. Josie stopped rifling through the closet, her fingertips meeting the material of the dress Hope had mentioned. Josie bit her lip, taking the hanger down from the rack. It was a beautiful dress, she supposed- cut slightly off her shoulders, coming down to right above her knees, flowing down into a skater-style skirt. Her mother had bought both her and Lizzie matching ones for their fifteenth birthday, and she hadn't touched it since she'd put it into the closet when they arrived back to the school. She felt crazy even to consider wearing it- the weather outside was chilled at best, and she was surely going to freeze if she dared to follow Hope's advice. She was about to put the dress back in the wardrobe, but she stopped herself. She walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room, holding the dress up to her body. Josie unzipped her skirt, throwing her shirt into her clothes hamper. She slipped the dress over her head, studying herself in the mirror. Hope was right- it did compliment her features nicely. Without giving herself time to change her mind, Josie grabbed her purse and exited the room.
Maybe stepping outside of her comfort zone was exactly what Josie needed.
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Josie knew she should never have left her room.
It was only an hour into the party, and Josie was ready to go home. The music that was playing from the speaker someone had brought was way too loud, the bass pumping in her ears and giving her a massive headache. Hope had disappeared somewhere with her boyfriend Landon once they'd arrived, leaving Josie to fend for herself among the crowd of people. She would have felt out of place, but luckily for her, Josie seemed to be the only sober person left. All around her were pairs of people, grinding drunkenly into each other or drinking way too much alcohol than they should. It seemed that everyone from the Salvatore school had come to the party, save for one person: Penelope Park. Josie was sure that Penelope would have been at the center of the party scene, but instead, she was nowhere to be seen. Relief washed over Josie- at least she wouldn't cross the raven-haired witch's path for the second time. Even with Penelope out of the way, Josie still found the party to be insufferable. If she didn't get away from the excessive noise, she felt like it would drive her mad. Making sure that Hope was in safe hands- meaning that Landon still had his eye on the drunken redhead- Josie dipped out of the multitude of people, starting back on the path back towards the school grounds. The second she was away from the heavy music and noise, Josie felt herself relax. Aside from the chilled air, it was a beautiful night. The crescent moon shone with just enough light that Josie could see the path in front of her, and the peaceful silence was precisely what Josie had craved all day. She decided to take the lengthier way back home, just to have the extra few minutes to herself.
The first time she heard it- the soft, low wail that brought goosebumps to Josie's already cold skin- Josie brushed it off as just being the wind playing tricks on her. The second time, it was unmistakable that the sound wasn't due to the nature around her. Someone was nearby, Josie realized; not only were they close by, but Josie was near enough that she could hear their painful cries. Josie hesitantly followed the sound, wading through the brush to get to the source of the noise: the dock. There, she found a figure sitting on the edge of the wooden platform, a half-full bottle of tequila sitting to the side of their body. In their hands was a purple crystal, their eyes trained on the water, knees pulled up to her chest. Josie knew what type of crystal the person was holding- a memory crystal. A hazy glow emitted from it, projecting an image that Josie could not make out. Realizing she had walked in on a private moment, Josie backed away from the dock. Unfortunately, she failed to notice the pile of twigs under her foot until the sound of it snapping had already echoed in the air.
The figure stood up quickly, clutching the crystal tightly as it turned to face Josie's direction. Josie ducked down, her hand placed over her mouth to stop the surprised gasp from leaving her throat. Through the brush, she watched as Penelope studied the area around her carefully, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I don't know who you are, but you better show yourself before I find you and kick your ass.", Penelope growled, squinting at the darkness. Her voice was still hoarse from crying, and the threat seemed empty from the way Penelope had her arms protectively wrapped around herself. Josie stayed quiet, praying to every god she could think of that Penelope wouldn't step any closer. Just when she thought she was spotted, Penelope picked up her jacket from the dock, tossing the half-empty liquor bottle into the lake. After a moment's hesitation, she threw the crystal in after it. The sullen girl shrugged on her coat, looking back in Josie's direction one more time before starting down the path back to the party.
Josie breathed a sigh of relief, waiting until Penelope was out of sight before heading in the opposite direction toward the school. She crept through the dimly lit halls, casting a sound barrier to make sure she wouldn't wake anyone up in the middle of the night. Once Josie reached the door, she slid under her bedcovers, feigning sleep in case her sister woke up unexpectedly. While Lizzie was sound asleep on the opposite side of the room, Josie lay awake, staring up at the ceiling as her thoughts wandered. As she pondered the night's events, she realized that she had never seen Penelope cry before. Josie was sure she wasn't alone since it was rare for Penelope to show much emotion at all. She was known for her bitchy attitude, her stone-cold disposition, and her lack of remorse for just about anything she did. The girl at the dock was the stark opposite of the person Josie knew Penelope to be: vulnerable, both physically and emotionally. If Penelope ever found out that it was Josie, she would surely make sure Josie lived to regret it. So, Josie decided, she would have to keep what she saw to herself.
Still, no matter how much she tried not to think about it, she couldn't shake the image of Penelope's tear-stained face from her mind.
YOU ARE READING
This Love (Calling My Name)
Fanfiction"My, my, my Josie; Don't you know that it is rude not to acknowledge someone when they are talking to you?", Penelope scolded in a brash tone that succeeded in capturing Josie's full attention. "There- that's much better. Wouldn't want anyone thinki...
