Into Thin Air

Chapter 33

When Penelope saw Hope at the end of the hallway, for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel that familiar rush of excitement. What she felt was more of exhaustion. She had planned to slip around the corner before Hope ever saw her, but she lost that opportunity when Hope popped up in front her excitedly.
“Hey. Did you by any chance leave me a surprise by my door last night?” Hope asked.
“Nope.” Penelope pressed her lips into a flat line.
“Okay. Well how have you been?”
Penelope frowned at how unusually friendly Hope was being, even if she could hear how hard she was struggling to get the polite small talk about. “Fine.”
Hope furrowed her eyebrows, frustrated lines appearing around her mouth, strained pleasantness slipping out of her voice. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” Penelope fed Hope yet another one-word answer.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Should I not be?” The witch finally asked, louder than she meant to. It caused several students to turn their heads.
Hope’s lips parted, eyes growing wide. Penelope had never seen her so caught off guard before. She almost looked … vulnerable. But Penelope didn’t say anything. She just set her jaw and stood her ground, and Hope’s face eventually returned to its usual stony look.
“I don’t even know what you’re mad about -”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.” Hope drew in a sharp breath, crossing her arms. “Are you mad because I didn’t beat Josie or because I didn’t ask you to be my date or maybe because I didn’t want to break up with Landon after we slept together or because I’m also into Lizzie -” Hope realized she was rambling and stopped mid-sentence. “Sorry.”
“I was going to say because you’ve cut me out of our detective duo ever since we went to the puddle,” Penelope said.
Hope’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Oh.”
“But you can add all that other stuff to it too.”
“Mm-hmm.” Hope struggled to look back at Penelope. “But, uh, just for the record … I haven’t been doing any detective work without you. I just … haven’t been at all.” Her small body seemed to deflate with the confession.
“Why not? I thought you were desperate to figure out what happened to Jade.”
Hope pushed her lips together, too ashamed to admit why. Unfortunately for her, it was the next thing off Penelope Park’s tongue.
“Miss Mystic Falls?”
“Yep! I let a stupid pageant - that I didn’t even win - get in the way of finding Jade.” Hope spun her guilt into anger. “And I let magical slugs run through the school without doing anything about it because I wanted to win.”
“Hope …” Penelope stepped closer. “You’re allowed to do things that aren’t related to saving the world. It’s not your responsibility to find Jade or protect the school.”
“Not when I’m the only one who can do anything about it.”
“That’s your hero complex talking.”
“It’s not a hero complex. I’m a tribrid – I’m the tribrid. It’s just facts.”
“You’re nineteen!” Penelope wanted to grab Hope’s face and scream the words straight into her brain.
“So?”
“So you’re not the person responsible for everyone! You’re not supposed to be the hero here!”
“I don’t want to be the hero!” Hope argued viciously. “I have to be.”
“I am only going to say this one more time, Hope Mikaelson, so you better listen.” Penelope leaned in until her face was inches from Hope’s. “Hero. Complex.”
She turned back down the hallway before Hope could argue more.