The Real Me ↠ Hope Mikaelson ✓

04

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐑𝐓
ethereal, almost ghostly

MILLIE AND THE twins are walking around the school, their arms linked and smiles on their faces.

After Lizzie tells Josie about the little scene with Hope, both twins take it upon themselves to make sure Millie keeps smiling. Anytime they spot anything Hope Mikaelson-related, they steer Millie away.

They are now talking about going out into the meadow again to make flower crowns when a boy approaches them with a wide smile.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't my favourite girls!" He exclaims, and Josie smiles brightly at him before pulling him into a hug. His eyes look over at Lizzie, holding out his arms for a hug, but she rolls her eyes at him and turns to stare at Millie who is amused by the whole thing. "Don't worry, Lizzie, I won't hold it against you if you hug me. We all know you want to." He winks at the tall blonde who scoffs loudly at him. He grins and turns his attention to Millie. "I heard about the mystery sister, but I didn't think it was true. Hello! I'm Milton, but I like to go by MG."

Millie waves at him with a bright smile on her face, her nose scrunching up cutely. "Hey! I'm Millie, but I suppose you already know that. It's nice to meet you." She steps forward out of Lizzie's hold and wraps her arms around him in a friendly hug. "Since Lizzie didn't want to hug you, I thought I would. I hope you don't mind." She pulls back and offers him a wide grin.

He stutters for a second, a little taken aback by her kind smile and gesture. "No, no, it's totally cool with me." He licks his lips and tilts his head at her. "Even though you and Lizzie look pretty much identical, you definitely don't act it." He shoots a nervous look at Lizzie when she glares at him. "No—not like that's a bad thing. I like the way Lizzie is, uh, you know... I—"

Lizzie clicks her tongue loudly. "I don't care what you have to say, MG. Get lost." She grabs both of her sister's hands and moves past MG who frowns slightly.

"Bye, MG!" Millie shouts over her shoulder, sending him a wave before they round a corner and she can no longer see him. She turns her attention to her younger but taller sister. "That was rude."

Lizzie sighs, frowning. "MG has this huge crush on me and no matter how many times I tell him that I don't like him, he keeps trying. It's really annoying."

Josie gives her sister a look. "You should give him a chance."

"Just because he likes me doesn't mean I should give him a chance, especially when I look at him and all I see is a purely platonic relationship. Trust me, I tried liking him a year ago—I wanted to like him after Alice broke my heart—but it just didn't work out. He's only ever going to be my friend." Lizzie runs a hand through her blonde hair, hating how rude she sounds, but knows that it's the truth.

"I agree with Lizzie, she doesn't owe him anything," Millie says softly. "Also, who is Alice?"

They both look to Lizzie who sighs dramatically. "Alice was a vampire I had a crush on for a long time. She finally started to speak to me last year, but as it turned out, I was the butt of a joke. She was dared to ask me out. We dated for a month before she announced loudly at a party that she didn't like me, never would, and that it was all a dare. I didn't want to believe it at first, but her friends joined in with their cameras, laughing, and I just blew up. The whole Mill caught on fire, and then here comes Hope friggin' Mikaelson to the rescue. Everyone praised her and I got yelled at. It's not my fault people are cruel."

Millie clenches her jaw, angry for her sister. "Does this Alice still go here?"

Josie shakes her head. "She ended up leaving school a few months before you showed up."

Lizzie smirks. "Yeah, after I paid her back for hurting me."

Millie smiles, loving the confidence. "Good. If I were to ever see her, I wouldn't be able to hold back my full-on zombie mode. It wouldn't be a pretty sight."

Josie glances between them and shakes her head. "Come on. We're gonna be late to Potions."

Millie and Lizzie link arms and follow behind the brunette.

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HOURS LATER AS the twins attend a class that she doesn't have, Millie makes her way to the art room. Pausing at the door, she spots Hope Mikaelson by herself, painting with her back to the door.

Tilting her head, Millie watches as the girl strokes her brush across the canvas slowly and deliberately. This girl knows what she's feeling and what she wants to paint.

Smiling, Millie straightens her shoulders and saunters into the room. "That's a beautiful painting," she compliments softly before taking the empty seat beside Hope, pulling out her pencils from her bag.

Hope doesn't turn her head toward the blonde, but she notes how the girl is confident as she starts sketching with her pencils. Her lip tugs up at the corners slightly before she shakes her head, reminding herself that the girl is related to Lizzie Saltzman, and puts all her attention back on her painting.

She can't blame herself if she glances now and again at the blonde who hums to herself quietly as she sketches with a permanent smile on her bow-shaped lips.

Not that she stares long enough to notice the exact lip shape Millie has. Nope.

Millie hums an Olivia Rodrigo song to herself as she sketches the outline of a face. She's allowing her imagination to take her wherever it wants.

And who can blame her when the outline soon turns out to be Hope Mikaelson's facial features?

Licking her lips, Millie continues working on her sketch as Hope works on her painting, both girls working contently beside one another.