Later that day, as Hope was running through the motions of rehearsal, the image of her burned dress fresh in her mind, the smell of the fabric still caught in her nose, she caught Josie staring at her. The siphoner was pretending to stretch, but Hope noticed how she was still on the same arm ten minutes later. Landon followed her gaze.
"You seem distracted," he said. Hope couldn't bring herself to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth to answer, the anger inside her too strong to put into words. She just kept seeing burned purple hanging cruelly. "Hope?"
"Josie Saltzman is staring at me," she said,, eyes still on the brunette Saltzman. She was too furious to notice the blonde Saltzman watching her from the other side of the room.
Landon crinkled his nose. "Not to sound like an ass, but why would she be staring at you?"
"Someone lit my dress on fire earlier today."
"And you think it was Josie?"
Hope glared at her boyfriend. "Who else would it be?"
"Any of these girls."
Hope's jaw dropped. How was he defending Josie?
"And which one of them could've siphoned the spell off my door?" She stepped back sharply, yanking herself out of Landon's arms.
Lizzie took this as her cue to stop watching and rush over to set a hand on Hope's shoulder. "I have a solution. Come with me."
Josie watched over Penelope's shoulder as her sister led Hope Mikaelson off the floor.
"Who are you staring at?" Penelope asked, hands raised expertly as they spun around. Nobody would've believed that it was her first time dancing in the pageant, but even less people would've believed that rebellious Penelope Park had been practicing for this day ever since she started dating Josie Saltzman all those years ago.
Josie flung her ponytail dramatically as she looked back at her girlfriend. "I'm just eyeing the competition."
"You mean Hope."
"Hope's not my competition," Josie said sharply. "She hasn't won yet and she's not going to win now."
Penelope stared at Josie in shock, almost afraid of asking her question. When she finally did, her voice was soft. "How are you so sure?"
"Because!"
"Because what?"
"Because I'm going to do everything I can to make sure of it!"
"You're going to 'make sure' Hope loses?" Penelope raised her eyebrows.
"I'm going to make sure I win."
YOU ARE READING
Into Thin Air
FanfictionAfter witnessing an old friend vanish, Hope Mikaelson becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her, even when no one else at the Salvatore School seems to remember her ever existing. With the help of an unlikely ally or two, Hope will unco...
