A Love Split in Three

Chapter 16

"Hey, Jo." Hope said walking up from behind Josie

Hope left the party and went into her and cried a little bit alone after realizing how stupid she was for even thinking that Lizzie felt the way she did after their moment last night. She cried for a little before realizing that Lizzie wasn't worth the tears, she wiped them away and reapplied her makeup and decided to go back to the party. She wouldn't let Lizzie ruin a chance for her to try and reconnect with Josie

"Hope." Josie said smiling

"Hey, so how's the birthday girl?" Hope said trying her best to be cheerful

"It's going great actually. Probably one of the best birthdays i've had. It would be better if Mg, Penelope and Lizzie hadn't disappeared but you can't have it all." Josie shrugged

"What do you mean? Where are they?" Hope asked concerned

"I think Lizzie probably rejected Mg and that's why he left and Penelope is checking up on him. Lizzie I don't know actually, she just made some comment about Penelope only ever seeing her as the bad guy and left. As much as I want them to get along I know that, that's highly unrealistic and that's one of the many reasons Penelope and I will never work." Josie sighed

"Josie.. That's not true. Just because Penelope and Lizzie don't get along doesn't mean you and Penelope won't work out, it just means you'll witness some funny banter between the two." Hope said, trying to ease her worries. Afterall she did find out the really sweet reason why Penelope broke up with her

"I said it's one of the many reasons. There's plenty more than just her and Lizzie not getting along, it's also the fact that Penelope plays with my feelings like a game of chess."

It's because she loves you and can't help but show it sometimes but she also wants you to be stronger so you won't lose the merge

That's what Hope wanted to say but of course she couldn't. She made a promise to Dr. Saltzman that she intended to keep even if it did kill her inside.

"I honestly don't think she means too. She obviously does care about you a lot." Hope said

"Maybe.. But even if she did care about me, she's made it clear it's only in a friend type of way." Josie said

"Enough about Penelope." Josie sighed, "I got your gift by the way and the letter, thank you Hope, really." Josie said reaching up to hold the necklace

"Of course Josie. I really am sorry for never attempting to be friends with you or Lizzie. All the loss I've experienced in my life just made me absolutely terrified to open up to someone else.. So I just closed myself off from everyone. But that wasn't the way to go about things, and Landon made me realize that so.. Can we please try again?" Hope asked bashfully looking at the ground

Josie reached over and put her hand Hope's arm, "Of course, Hope. I know what you've been through. I might not know how it feels personally but I know what happened. Grief hits everyone in different ways, I know that. It was just your way to cope, so of course I want to try again." Josie said smiling at Hope widely

Hope smiled and stepped forward hugging Josie, "Happy Birthday." Hope whispered. Ever since Hope was thirteen all she ever wanted to do was hug Josie, and to know how it would feel to have her arms wrapped around her. Josie was the girl who helped Hope realize that she was not one hundred percent straight. Josie also had a crush on Hope around that time, but neither one of them knew that the other felt the same way. They both watched and admired each other from a distance but never brave enough to speak to each other face to face. They both eventually moved on but they still always had a secret soft spot for each other. Hope could smell Josie's floral perfume as she hugged her tightly, both trying to make up for all the lost years in one hug.

As they pulled away they couldn't help but smile at each other, "Thank you." Josie said, as Penelope and Mg walked back in and towards them. Mg gave Hope a look, he didn't want to be that kind of guy but, he couldn't control his face

Hope saw and realized she was clearly not wanted here, "Uhm.. I'm gonna go." Hope said as Penelope and Mg now stood on either side of Josie

"Are you sure?" She asked

"Yea.. parties aren't really my thing." She said as she walked towards one of the many exits

"That didn't stop you from coming." Is the last thing she heard before she left, it had come from Mg

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The party ended a few hours later, Hope had went straight to her room after she left and stared at the roof, insulting herself repeatedly for being so stupid.

After Lizzie left the party she looked for Hope everywhere but couldn't find her, when Lizzie checked her room it was empty. If Lizzie had checked in her room just a few minutes sooner Hope would have still been in there but instead she was at the party talking to Josie. After Lizzie's search came up blank she decided to just call it a night and headed to her room.

Now, Josie had walked out of the shower room in her robe and headed for her room to head to bed. After Hope left, Josie spent the rest of the party with Penelope and Mg dancing the night away.

"Hey." Penelope said from behind Josie, appearing out of smoke

"Hey." Josie said

"Did you have fun tonight?" Penelope asked

"I did." Josie said blankly

"It doesn't seem like it. What happened?" Penelope asked concerned taking a step forward

"What happened was I remembered we broke up and that whatever fun we had today was different to you then it was to me. You continuously play with my feelings, and I'm tired of it. When we're together, like today I forget that we broke up and when I remember it hurts just as much as when it happened. I'm tired of feeling the way I felt when you dumped me whenever I let myself forget we aren't together and suddenly remember again." Josie said fed up with all the back and forth

"I asked you already Penelope, either you want me or you don't. No more back and forth, no more being selfish with me. Because I need to move on, and it's hard when you keep pulling me back in with all these things you say." Josie added

"You're right. I'm selfish, and you.. Well you take selfless to a whole other level. But get this Jojo, this world needs the selfless and selfish to keep spinning to keep spinning." Penelope said take three more steps forward until she was right in front of Josie

"I happen to be the latter." Penelope said, before grabbing Josie's face softly and pulling her in for a kiss

Penelope kissed her softly, Josie would never know how much Penelope missed this, missed her. Ever since they broke up and Penelope saw how hurt she was by the breakup all she wanted to do was pull her in and hug her tightly and kiss her and whisper in her ear that she loved her over and over again until she smiled. For Penelope this kiss was everything. With Josie's lips connected to hers she felt like the world stopped spinning for a moment and that time was still. But for Josie this kiss was filled with anger and resentment and want.

Josie pulled away abruptly looking into Penelope's hazel eyes, "I hate you." she said

"I know." Penelope replied, hiding the fact that Josie had just broken her heart once again.. But she was okay with it.

Josie leaned in, putting her hand in Penelope's hair, kissing her once again, putting all of her pent up anger into the kiss.

There's always a fine line between Love and Hate.