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Penelope didn’t realize when she let Josie go that she might not come back to her.
She notices it after they pull apart, feeling the wonderful high that always comes with kissing Josie Saltzman. This high is particularly wonderful, as her body had long missed the gentle touch of Josie’s lips and the feeling of her hands touching her skin in a way that made her spine shiver. She is grinning, not caring to see who is watching. Because Josie is safe. Josie is here with her.
But then her eyes catch something silver. She follows the thin silver chain still secured on Josie’s neck leading down to a pendant that is almost covered by her robe. It is the talisman. She doesn’t focus on it long, too distracted by the bare skin underneath it. But when she finds herself alone in her room only a few minutes later, her brow furrows at the memory of it.
“It worked!” Hope had said when they found Josie. Penelope had not given the words a second thought. She had been too relieved to find her ex-girlfriend still breathing. But now Hope’s voice echoes in her head.
It makes quiet things heard.
Penelope frowns. Hope had given Josie the necklace. Since when had Hope Mikaelson cared to give Josie anything? Had it been a birthday present? A gift from another occasion? A pleasant surprise? She hadn’t noticed Josie spending any more time with tribrid than usual, which was really no time at all, and the Mikaelson girl seemed as much of a lone wolf as always. What had changed?
She decides to not think on it long. After all, she had an absolutely magical kiss to relive. Besides, whatever Hope’s reasons Penelope should only be grateful. The talisman had saved Josie’s life. It didn’t matter where it came from.
Still, she thinks she will keep a closer eye on Hope Mikaelson from now on.
Penelope doesn’t expect her and Josie to get back together overnight. Josie might have kissed her, but Penelope knows the siphon wasn’t lying when she said she still hated her. So, she tells herself she is not disappointed when Josie pointedly avoids her gaze when they pass each other in the halls a few days after their kiss.
She lets her eyes linger on Josie’s retreating form, taking in the athletic wear. She frowns. Josie, while not out of shape, was always much more brain than brawn. Penelope knew her ex-girlfriend didn’t have to try hard to lose their yearly games against the local high school. Josie was an adorable spaz and usually only worked out when yanked into one of Lizzie Saltzman’s latest exercise fads.
“What are you looking at?”
Penelope is forced away from her thoughts as M.G. appears next to her. She schools her features, hoping she hadn’t looked too dazed when the vampire found her. While it was no secret to anyone in the school except Josie Saltzman that Penelope still cared for the girl, she did have some reputation left to uphold.
“Nothing,” she says. She frowns. “Didn’t you tell me you were busy this afternoon?”
M.G. shrugs. “Josie was supposed to help me with my history paper, but she asked if we could reschedule. Something about practicing with Hope.”
Penelope’s heart misses a beat, and it takes more willpower than she cares to admit to keep on her neutral façade. “Hope? Hope Mikaelson?”
“Yeah,” M.G. doesn’t seem to notice Penelope’s suddenly racing heartbeat. “I thought it was kind of odd too. I mean, it isn’t like Josie to cancel plans. You don’t think she is avoiding me because of Liz—“
“I’ll see you later.” Penelope doesn’t let M.G. finish before she spins on her heel and heads in the direction she saw Josie pass. It takes her nearly thirty minutes to find her. She had assumed they would be in the gym. But of course, the dog had to lead Josie into the forest.
She hears them before she sees them. Grunts and groans. Her imagination runs wild, and Penelope speeds up her pace to see what the two girls are doing alone in the woods.
They are in a clearing. Penelope notes the sparring gloves on their hands, and she almost smirks at how wrong they look on Josie’s small, delicate hands. Hope is circling Josie, reminding Penelope that she is 1/3 wolf even if she is all Mikaelson.
“Remember, you need to anticipate my attack,” Hope is saying. “Don’t wait for me to strike to get ready. The moment you sense any change, be ready. Try to foresee my movements.”
“I’m a witch not a psychic,” Josie says, but Penelope can tell she is taking the tribrid’s words seriously. Her whole body is stiff and she is watching Hope’s every move with great intensity. Hope doesn’t answer as she suddenly shifts her movements, throwing a punch that is just inches from Josie’s face.
Josie tries to block it, but her movements are sloppy, and her feet wobbly as she keeps her footing.
“It’s not about using magic,” Hope grunts, swinging another hit that Josie barely dodges. “It’s about using your instincts.”
“Well my instincts,” Josie huffs, surprising Penelope by throwing her own punch, “apparently suck.”
Hope uses Josie’s attempt at an attack as a chance to grab her fist. She twists Josie’s arm behind her back, causing Josie to let out a squeak of surprise. Hope had turned Josie towards her, their bodies only inches apart.
Penelope releases a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and takes a step forward. The sound is enough to get the attention of the tribrid, whose eyes glow yellow for a second at the sign of an intruder. Josie follows Hope’s gaze, spotting Penelope amongst the trees.
“Penelope?” she asks. Hope lets her go, and Penelope finds herself calming a little as she takes a few steps away from the older girl. She doesn’t look angry, just confused by the interruption. “What are you doing here?”
Hope is clearly wondering the same thing, her lip curling downward in annoyance. Penelope’s eyes flicker to the necklace still on Josie’s neck.
“Just going for a walk,” she says coolly. She straightens herself, crossing her arms over her chest. “I didn’t expect the dogs to be out this early.” She can’t help the smirk that crosses her face or the way she holds her head high in the air as she adds. “I hope you got your rabies shot, Jojo. You know what they say about playing with mutts.”
Josie’s face turns red, and Penelope feels the smug pride that comes whenever she gets a reaction out of her ex. But before Josie can form her best attempt at a retort, Hope grabs her arm and whispers something Penelope can’t hear. Penelope sucks in a breath, not able to look away from the touch. She sees Josie’s body relax reluctantly, and the brunette shakes her head.
“Are you done?” she asks Penelope. Her voice sounds tired and void of any feeling. Penelope instantly feels disappointed, and she can’t help but glare at Hope. This is her fault.
“Whatever,” Penelope says, turning before Josie can read her annoyance. She stomps back to the school nearly running over a group of middle schoolers blocking her path. All she can think about is how the talisman swung against Josie’s neck as Hope had spun her around, the silver glinting against the setting sun.
It becomes a bit of a game, watching Hope Mikaelson. Lizzie’s spies have nothing on the watchful eye of Penelope Parker.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the Hope Mikaelson and Josie Saltzman are friends. There is no other word for it, or Penelope doesn’t think of any possibility beyond friendship. She spots them sitting next to each other during breakfast. Her own face mimic’s the look that crosses Lizzie Saltzman’s as the blonde twin walks up to find Hope next to Josie. Penelope tries to not compare it to when she used to sit beside Josie during meals, putting up with the blonde-devil just for a few extra moments with her girlfriend.
The first day it happens, Lizzie gives a dramatic speech that makes half of the cafeteria turn their heads to watch. Josie is embarrassed. Hope looks unimpressed and mutters a spell. It takes a minute before Lizzie realizes Hope has magically muted her voice, and she continues with a series of theatrical gestures before stomping away in a huff. Penelope expects Josie to follow her, but what the other girl does surprises her.
She laughs.
Her laugh isn’t mean or cold. Penelope doubts Josie Saltzman has the ability to be cruel even if she wanted to. Her face is alight with amusement, and Penelope thinks she looks beautiful.
Except she is next to Hope who also is laughing with amusement. And the tribrid’s eyes are also on Josie. Penelope notices the glint in her gaze, a glint that tells her that Hope shares her sentiment about the siphon.
She thinks maybe it is a fluke. She pictures Lizzie cornering Josie in their room, demanding that she ditch the Mikaelson girl immediately. She imagines Josie giving in because that was what Josie did. And while Penelope wanted nothing more than for her ex to stand up for herself, she actually found herself grateful for Lizzie’s ability to steamroll her twin into submission.
But Penelope is wrong. The next day at breakfast, Josie sits next to Hope again followed by a very annoyed looking Lizzie who huffs as she slams her try against the wooden table but otherwise gives no more protest.
Something in Josie seems to shift after that. She seems fuller, more present. She always smiled, but now her smiles are wide and unashamed. She speaks up more in class. She doesn’t follow Lizzie around all day, but rather walks beside her or on her own throughout the day. She is stronger, more confident. She is everything Penelope knew she could be and everything she ever wanted her to be.
Makes quiet things heard.
She hears those words every time the pendant gleams above Josie’s chest. Every time she gives a carefree laugh at Hope’s words or leans closer to whisper something in the tribrid’s ear. Josie is heard, but it is no longer just by Penelope.
And as she watches them between bites of her own cereal one morning, ignoring M.G.’s latest rant on the pros and cons of the Marvel cinematic universe versus the DC film franchise, Hope gives Josie the same longing look she had the previous day which is met by a clueless, yet stunning, smile.
Breakfast is the least of Penelope’s concerns.
It suddenly feels like Hope is everywhere. Penelope is used to watching Josie, but now it is rarely just Josie. It is Josie and Hope. Hope and Josie. She sees them walking the halls together, studying together, laughing together. They spar almost every night. She tells herself Josie doesn’t see the longing looks Hope gives her that linger longer and longer. And it’s only when Penelope catches the hybrid blushing after staring at Josie from across the room that Penelope admits what she already knew.
Hope likes Josie.
Of course, she liked Josie. Who wouldn’t like Josie? Penelope knew from experience how easy it could be to fall for the siphon. The way Josie’s smile could make a heart flutter, how her unyielding loyalty could make you feel like the most important person in the world. Hope should like Josie. She would be a fool not to.
Hope isn’t the problem.
It’s the way Josie blushes when Hope corrects her stance during their little spars, the way she looks for Hope across the cafeteria, saving her a cup of coffee because she seems to always be running late. How her face lights up when she makes Hope laugh, and bites her lip when Hope’s hand grazes hers while walking down the hall.
Josie likes Hope.
The day she finally admits it to herself, oatmeal explodes onto an unsuspecting M.G. But Penelope doesn’t care. She hurries out, locking herself in her room as she runs through all the possible outcomes based on the new information she has gathered.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Josie needed time to grow—Penelope realized that. She had broken up with her to give her that time. And when that time was up, Penelope would be ready. Josie would find her and let her back into her life on her own terms. Penelope didn’t mind waiting. Josie was worth waiting for.
But now, Penelope wonders if she made a mistake. Perhaps Josie didn’t want to wait for her. She had never expected for her to fall for somebody else.
Penelope waits one afternoon outside of the gym where they relocated due to the rain. Hope had left first, saying something about having an appointment with Dr. Saltzman, leaving Josie still panting on the mat.
Penelope steps out of the shadows. “Are you training for the supernatural marathon or do you just like getting beat up?” she asks, her hands behind her back. She keeps her distance as Josie collects her breath. There is sweat running down her neck, sliding past the silver talisman sitting above her chest. Penelope swallows.
“What do you want, Penelope?” Josie asks. She sounds distracted, and it makes Penelope’s heart clench uncomfortably.
“I want to know why you’ve been hanging around that wolf,” Penelope says. She crosses her arms. “Since when are you friends with Hope Mikaelson?”
“Since when do you care?” Josie pushes herself up on her arms, flipping onto her stomach so she is looking at Penelope. Penelope realizes she has gained some muscle. It looks nice on her.
Penelope stays silent and Josie sighs. “She’s been training me,” she admits.
“Training?” Penelope questions. “To be a punching bag?”
“To defend myself,” Josie says, her eyes narrowing.
Penelope scoffs, furrowing her brows. “You don’t need training,” she says. She walks towards Josie, her heels clicking on the hard gym floor. “You’re a witch. You have magic.”
Josie pushes herself up, dusting off her leggings. She avoids Penelope’s gaze. Penelope can tell she is lost in her own thoughts as her hand trails to her throat. “Sometimes you need more than magic.”
Penelope can see it in her eyes, the memory of being underground. Her smirk falters. She hadn’t thought about how Josie had gotten underground, it only seemed to matter that they had gotten her above it again. Penelope feels a wave of guilt. She shouldn’t have been so careless.
“Jojo…” her voice is soft, but Josie interrupts her before she can continue.
“It’s fine,” she says. She moves her hand down from her throat and holds onto the talisman. “I’m fine.”
Penelope takes another step forward, and then another until she is only a couple feet away from Josie. It is the closest they have been since their kiss, and Penelope wants nothing more than to touch her. She raises her hand, reaching for Josie’s shoulder, but Josie takes a step back.
“I’ll see you around,” Josie says. And just like that, she is walking out the door, leaving Penelope alone.
Penelope is not often rash—making stupid mistakes while upset was Lizzie Saltzman’s MO. But tonight, she can’t help herself. She gives Josie a few minutes before following her up to her room. She can hear the shower going from outside the locked door, and she glances around the hall to make sure no one is watching when she casts a spell to open it.
She used to spend almost every afternoon in Josie’s room. Three o’clock was the only time they both had a free period that Lizzie didn’t, and Josie always took advantage of the privacy to invite Penelope into her space. The memories she has of their time together in Josie’s bedroom make her pause, but then proceed to only fuel her need to take some kind of action.
Her steps are quiet as she makes her way to Josie’s bed, her eyes falling on the small bedside table. The silver talisman is laid across the wood, its pristine shine mocking her.
Penelope knows it is petty. She knows that the necklace isn’t to blame. But Hope has managed to take her Josie from her, and this is the only piece that Penelope can take back.
She stuffs the necklace in her jacket pocket and hurries out the door just as the shower stops.
It takes her a while to get Hope Mikaelson alone. For a self-proclaimed “loner” Hope wasn’t spending much time by herself. She seems to always be with Josie. Part of Penelope had hoped that maybe Josie losing the talisman would be enough to start a fight between the two of them. But if Hope noticed the necklace was missing, Penelope had not witnessed it.
It is after a particularly annoying moment where Hope brushed a strand of hair out of Josie’s face while studying in the library that Penelope finds her chance.
Josie has to go up to her room early to help Lizzie prepare for her date with M.G. Figures that M.G.’s love life would finally take off the moment Penelope’s officially sank. It’s a Friday night, and no one else bothered to come to the library, leaving her and the hybrid alone. Hope’s about to leave, but Penelope puts up the barrier spell before she can make it out the door.
“Seriously? Again?” Hope asks, letting out a frustrated sigh as she turns to face Penelope. “What do you want this time?”
Penelope is tempted to cast more than a barrier spell. Hope might be a hybrid, but Penelope is all witch and a pretty damn good one. But this is a fight she can’t win with magic.
“You need to leave Josie alone,” Penelope says, cutting out her usual bitchy banter to get straight to her point. Hope is taken by surprise, a flush coming over her face as she blinks in disbelief.
“What?” Hope asks. She slams her books on the table next to her, placing a hand on her hip. “Look, I don’t know what type you think you are trying to do, but what happens with Josie and me isn’t any of your business.”
Penelope crosses her arms. “This isn’t about you,” she says, remembering how she had said the words to Lizzie Saltzman not too long ago. “This is about Josie.”
She is protecting Josie from Hope, just as she was protecting her from Lizzie. She takes a step forward.
“Ever notice how the people who get close to you have a habit of dying?” Penelope says. She can see her words surprise Hope, and she takes the girl’s sharp intake of breath as an opportunity to continue. “I mean no offense. It’s not you specifically. All the Mikaelsons cause pain and death to those around them. It’s in our history books.”
Hope doesn’t respond. She locks eyes with Penelope, but Penelope doesn’t back down as she takes another step forward. “The more time you spend with Josie, the more likely you are to get her killed.”
There is a flash of yellow, and suddenly Penelope is pinned against the wall. Hope lifts her by her throat, and Penelope struggles to breathe.
“Put the barrier down,” Hope growls.
Penelope does what the tribrid demands, using what is left of her breath to take down the spell. Hope releases her and she falls to the ground, gasping for air.
“You know I’m right,” she manages, before Hope can get out of earshot. Hope stops, and Penelope thinks she is going to attack her again. But the tribrid just picks up her books and heads out the door.
Hope does not join Josie for breakfast the next morning, or the morning after that.
Instead, Josie sits by herself, swirling her cereal with her spoon instead of eating it. She is frowning. Her eyes look like they are trying to keep back tears. Lizzie is across from her, making a very loud attempt at cheering her sister up.
Penelope watches from the other side of the dining hall. She had prepared for Josie to be upset. But someday Josie would see this was for the best. Penelope was right: Hope would have gotten Josie killed. And Penelope couldn’t risk that.
That’s what she tells herself as Josie runs out of the dining hall after Hope walks past their table, not sparing the twins a second glance.
Really, with all the supernatural creatures coming to attack them, Dr. Saltzman should have devised some type of drill.
Instead, as the lockdown is announced, all of the students are running and creating chaos. Penelope manages to find M.G. who had witnessed the monster.
“What do you mean our school has been infiltrated with freakin’ dementors?” she asks when he explains what he saw to her.
“Not dementors, soul eaters,” M.G. clarifies. He looks over his shoulder. “ Magic isn’t working on them. It’s like they can absorb it the same way Josie and Lizzie can…but either way, we should be getting back to our rooms.”
Penelope scans the area of kids still running. She hadn’t seen Josie at breakfast or in class earlier. Her heart sinks. “Where is Josie?”
The look on M.G.’s face tells her all she needs to know, and she goes against the crowd to look for her ex-girlfriend. Now is not the time for Josie to play hero. There are other people for that: stupidly brave people. And while Penelope didn’t doubt Josie’s courage, stupid her ex was not.
Or so she thought.
The air gets chillier as she makes her way towards the gym, and her knowledge of Harry Potter tells her this must be a sign she is getting close to one of the monsters. She moves forward, keeping her steps quiet. She just needs to find Josie.
But when she peers inside the gym, it isn’t Josie she sees. Instead, Hope is on her knees, shaking as the monster in front of her looms closer. It looks part man, part bird, and zero part dementor. But the way it leans close like it is about to take a bite lets Penelope know that it has found its first meal.
Her heart hammers against her chest. She doesn’t like Hope, but she doesn’t want her soul to get eaten. But she is powerless. All she can do is watch as—
“Get away from her!”
Josie suddenly appears on the other side of the gym. She has a bat in her hands, and before Penelope can scream for her to stop, Josie rams towards the creature. She swings the bat with precision Penelope didn’t know she was capable of, knocking the monster onto the floor. The monster lets out a scream but doesn’t have time to react before Josie is on top of him, using both hands to ram the steel end of the bat against his head.
There is silence. Penelope is frozen with a mixture of shock and fear as Josie waits. But the monster doesn’t stir. It is dead.
Josie runs over to Hope who is looking at her with wide eyes. Josie’s voice is a flurry of questions, scanning the tribrid to look for damage.
“I guess that training paid off,” Hope finally says. She smiles at Josie, a look of utter amazement and adoration.
In response, Josie leans forward and kisses her. Penelope and Hope are both surprised by the boldness, but Hope recovers faster than Penelope, meeting Josie’s kiss with the same amount of longing and passion.
Penelope can only watch them. She clutches tightly to the necklace still in her jacket pocket. It is only after seeing Josie take on the monster by herself that she realizes that is was never the necklace that made Josie heard.
Hope had heard Josie first.
Hope Mikaelson and Josie Saltzman are officially dating, and it seems to be the only thing the school can talk about.
Students send her worried looks and stop their hushed whispers as she walks past. She keeps a smirk on her face, head held as high as always. And the whispers start again, talking about how Penelope doesn’t care. Of course, Penelope doesn’t care. She broke up with Josie.
Josie got exactly what Penelope had always wanted her to. She got freedom. She got courage. She got loud. She was everything that Penelope always knew she could be. It meant she was no longer anyone’s to keep. Not even Penelope’s.
She sneaks off to the twins room when they are both in class. The memories that resurface of her and Josie at the sight of the small bed almost make her turn to go, but she stays where she is.
Penelope is selfish, but Josie makes her want to be selfless.
Josie returns to her room with a stupid grin plastered on her face. Her mouth still tingles with the memory of Hope’s lips pressed upon it as they snuck in a few kisses between their sparring session, and she wants to hurry to shower so she can make her way to Hope’s room for the night.
That’s when she notices something tucked against her pillow. She walks over to it, wondering how her girlfriend managed to hide a letter to her when this is the first time they had been apart in what felt like days. But as she sees her name scrawled in oh-so-familiar handwriting, Josie knows that it isn’t Hope who is responsible.
She opens the envelope and is surprised to find the talisman she had lost. Josie had been so sure it had fallen off during one of their spars without her noticing, but here it is in front of her. She clutches the piece of jewelry close to her chest before fastening it back around her neck. The cool metal gives her a familiar comfort.
Still, she is confused why she would have had the necklace in the first place, let alone give it back to her. She pulls out the note neatly folded inside the envelope and reads.
Jojo
Glad you found someone who hears you.
Love,
P.