"I love your new look, Jo, I really do.", Hope stated, eyeing her closely. "But why? I mean, you look great, but it's so...bold." "Needed a change- new year, new me, y' know?", Josie lied, sketching tiny purple flowers into the corner of her paper. "Besides, I like it; It took me only twenty minutes to get ready this morning." Hope still seemed unconvinced, green eyes narrowed in concentration. "Because I mean, I've heard the rumors but I wanted to ask you-" "Okay, class, quiet down.", Mrs.Veele announced, waltzing into the room to stand in front of her students. "I know there's a lot you'd like to catch up on with each other, but there's also much knowledge you need to catch up on as well." The woman pulled a cloth off of the table, revealing a half-full beaker. The liquid inside was thicker than any other potion Josie had seen, almost so dark that she could see the light refracting off of it. The sight intrigued her, and yet made her feel queasy, too. "This is an obduxit veridicam- in simple terms, the elixir of truth-telling. Once used to uncover murderers and thieves within villages, it is hardly ever used in today's modern world. However, it can be a very powerful tool, and today we are going to test its strength, and also get to know each other as classmates." The class began to mumble and groan, and Josie felt her lung seize in her chest. "That's right, today we'll be working in pairs.", Mrs. Veele stated, clapping excitedly. "Above your heads is a color- simply match your color to your partners." Josie glanced over at Hope- her color was pink. On the other side of the room, Alyssa Chang's color was an identical match. In front of her, Lizzie's color was red- which did not match Josie's green hue. Josie searched the room for her color, and when she found it her relief was brief before she noticed who was sitting under it. As the fates would have it, Josie had been paired up with none other than Penelope Park.
And so, the girls sat in the empty classroom for their turn, the elixir sitting between them. Josie avoided Penelope's gaze, while the other girl appeared to be unphased by the entire situation. "Look, just take the thing so we can get this over with.", Penelope argued with annoyance in her voice. Josie crossed her arms stubbornly in front of her chest. "Why should I have to be the one to take it?", Josie complained, still avoiding looking the girl in the eyes. "I'm not the one with something to hide." Penelope sighed with exasperation, but Josie refused to relent. A period of silence passed between the two. "The only way to make this fair is for us both to take it.", Penelope insisted, holding the beaker up. Josie swallowed hard, regret building up as soon as she'd nodded her consent. Penelope took a deep breath before taking down half of the elixir- she gagged as it went down her throat. Josie copied her actions, grimacing at the taste. It reminded her of copper pennies and saltwater.
"Now's your chance", Penelope stated, leaning back into her chair. "Ask me anything you want, but hurry- this thing only lasts 20 minutes, and that's split because we each took half." Josie refused to speak, and Penelope scoffed at her silence. "You made a big deal about not being the one to take it, and now you won't even ask me a question?", Penelope jeered, gritting her teeth harshly. "Fine, if you won't say it, I will- what the fuck happened to you? You were fine, we were fine, and then next thing I know you're acting like I don't exist. So, please Josie, explain to me what changed your mind about me, because I'm at a total loss." Josie tried to swallow the words down, but they forced themselves out of her mouth anyway. She was no longer in control; The elixir was. Unlike Josie, however, the elixir had no filter to decompress her words.
"I heard you talking to Rose in your room.", Josie admitted, already feeling her damp tears clouding her eyesight. "You called me nothing; You called me desperate, and naive, and you said I meant nothing to you. And, I guess a part of me always knew what we were was possibly faked, but hearing it from you felt like- God, Penelope, running me over with a bus would have been more pleasant than that." Josie wiped away her tears, but now that the dam was broken, there was no containing the onslaught of emotions Josie had been avoiding. "I felt so used, Penelope, so worthless. Like the sky was falling, and I was being buried under it. I felt like I couldn't breathe." Josie could feel her heartbeat race, and she began to feel like the room was spinning around her. Penelope steadied her, forcing her to sit down in one of the desk chairs. "Josie, please-", she pleaded, but Josie cut her off autonomously. "You had hurt me so badly, and for once I wanted you to taste your own medicine. To hurt like you hurt everyone else around you. Sleeping with Jade was wrong, but I didn't care. I didn't care because at least I didn't feel the pain anymore." Josie began to cough violently, holding onto her chest tightly; It was as if she was, in the literal sense, dying to get the words out. "And the worst part", Josie breathed out in just below a whisper. "Is I don't hate you- I can't hate you. And I still love you, like a fool, today." Josie's vision began to fade in and out, and the last thing she felt before she succumbed to sleep was Penelope's arms catching her as she fell.
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...
