A Love Split in Three

Chapter 12

Hope and Josie had already filled three bags worth of liter on their own while the others worth scrubbing paint, on different part of the town.

Hope glanced at Josie before returning to her trash, "You have a future in waste management." she said jokingly, trying to break the tension

"Cleaning up messed is kind of my thing." Josie replied picking up more trash

"Well, your sister does have a history of that doesn't she?" Hope laughed

Josie stopped, "Why do you always pick fights? We've known each other a decade and any time you have the chance, you poke." she said, before continuing

No longer in a happy talking mood Hope replied, "You guys do your fair share of poking."

"Yeah, in retaliation to your pokes. And with you spending so much time with my parents.."

"I don't spend time with your parents." Hope replied

Josie took a step forward, "Oh, yeah? How come whenever you have a problem or you just don't want to be alone, my mom is the first person you go to?"

"That's not your business."

"It clearly is if it involves my parents. Why won't you just tell me?" Josie asked walking faster to catch up to Hope who began to walk away

"Because there's nothing to tell! Aah!" Hope yelled as she stabbed her foot with the picker 

Josie stepped closer, "Oh, my god."

"Aah" Hope gasped in slight pain

"Ow" She said looking up at Josie

Josie dropped down, "Are you okay? I mean, what do I do?" She asked looking at Hope's foot, worried

"Help me pull it out." Hope replied, like it was nothing

Josie looked up quickly, "What?" she asked dumbfounded

"I can heal myself. Pull it out." 

Josie then placed both her hands on the picker before yanking it out of Hope's foot, falling down in the process

"Ow!" Hope gasped

Josie looked up at Hope, a smile creeping up her face, "You poked yourself." she said, as they both began laughing

"Shut up."

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"A jerk." Lizzie said, as she walked into her dad's office

"You are a total jerk." Lizzie continued

Dr. Saltzman quickly stood from his desk, "What happened to you?" he asked 

"A neanderthal from Mystic Falls High assaulted me with a milkshake. This stupid girl Dana was being.. You know what? I can't even talk about it. But now Hope and Josie are all buddy buddy in solidarity. But as I was walking home, I did the work and I dug deep, and I realized that this is all your fault." Lizzie finished

"How is this my fault?"

"Because if you had just been at that game, then everything would've gone differently. I am not going back there."

Dr. Saltzman looked at Lizzie sympathetically, "Okay, that's fine, um.. why don't you go help the primary school students out in the garden." Lizzie nodded before quickly getting out of there and to her room, to wash off the milkshake

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"Everything okay?" Hope asked

Josie nodded, "Yea, I just think that that's making me a little bit nauseous." she gestured behind Hope, where Mg was making out with Dana against a tree.

"Huh. Didn't see that coming." Hope replied

Josie crossed her arms, "It's simple math. Mg has the hormones of a teenager and the impulse control of a preschooler." Hope laughed

"He also always goes for the wrong kinds of girls." Josie added

Hope sighed, "Given my last crush, I can't judge." 

They began walking away side by side, "Well, my last crush was actually Satan incarnate."

They continued walking silently, until Josie sighed, "Lizzie's... sensitive. Our mom often goes on these long recruitment missions. That's why sometimes she gets extra testy. She just really misses her." Josie said, wanting to give Hope some sort of explanation as to why Lizzie often picks on her

"I know the feeling." Hope said looking away, beginning to walk again

Josie began to walk with her again, "I remember how your mom used to come by the school. We all used to say how beautiful she was." Josie said, trying to find someway to comfort Hope

"She was."

Josie sighed, "We really should have sent you flowers or something." she said, feeling bad

Hope chuckled lightly, "You did. Your dad signed your names. It was obvious."

"Okay. We definitely deserve a little bit of poking." Josie said