Hope Mikaelson Was Going Down

Chapter 12

The Mystic Grill. This was good news. If MG and Ethan's date was in a public place - and not just any public place but a popular public place - then it would be just that much easier to "accidentally" run into them and introduce herself to Ethan.

It wasn't even a crowded place, she realized as she walked in to scope out the situation. It was MG and like two other tables with an elderly couple at each.

"Hmm." Lizzie pulled a face. She really thought the Grill would be busier. At least it made the accidental meeting seem less avoidable. She headed towards the bar, stopping as she passed their table like she just realized who it was. "MG? What are you doing here?" She pressed a hand to her chest to really drive home the surprised act.

"Lizzie." MG sat up straight, his eyes going wide, like he'd just been caught in the act. "What are you doing here?"

Lizzie crinkled her nose and smiled politely. "Didn't I just ask you that?"

"I'm on a ..." MG trailed off as his eyes wandered over to his date.

"Ethan." The other boy smiled as he extended his hand to Lizzie.

"No, I know you." Lizzie shook it pleasantly, taking that as her cue to sit down. "You were on the Timberwolves team at the annual charity game, right?"

"The second half, yeah. You remember?"

"Of course." Lizzie leaned her elbows on the table. "You always have to know the competition, right?"

Ethan laughed. "Sure. Honestly, I don't take the whole rivalry thing very seriously. It's always felt so ..."

"Cliché, right?" Lizzie asked, nodding enthusiastically. "I've always thought the same thing."

Now, MG was thoroughly confused. "Lizzie, what are you -"

Lizzie placed a hand on his arm, silencing him as she spoke again. "It's so weird, isn't it? How somebody probably years ago decided our schools should be enemies and now we're just expected to go along with it."

"Totally." Ethan kept nodding. "MG, why didn't you tell me your friends were so chill? I thought you said they were totally anti-Timberwolf."

MG eyed Lizzie sideways. "Some of them are."

Lizzie tossed her shoulders back and smiled wide. "Well not me. I'm the opposite of anti-Timberwolf. I'm practically pro-Timberwolf."

"Cool." Ethan smiled. "Hey, uh, there's a party tomorrow night, if you guys want to come? It's a Timberwolf party, but I think it'd be cool to have some Scallions there."

MG coughed. "Stallions."

"What?"

"Stallions. It's the - the Salvatore Stallions, not Sc- never mind." MG folded his hands in his lap.

"You know what, Ethan? We'll be there." Lizzie grinned victoriously. Then, she leaned back like she just realized something. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner. I'll get out of your way."

"Thanks, Lizzie." MG sighed in relief as she stood up.

"It was nice to meet you," Ethan said. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

"See you."

Lizzie had to hide her grin until she was outside and away from their prying eyes.

"Yes!" She pumped her fist in the air as she hurried back towards the Salvatore School.

Personal invitation to hang out with the Timberwolves: secured. It was easier than she had thought it would be. Almost too easy.

She didn't know what she really expected out of Ethan. Maybe for him to have the same arrogance that the rest of his classmates did? For him to be as anti-Stallion as the rest of them?

Would MG really go for someone like that? Lizzie didn't think so, for whatever that was worth. She liked to think that she knew MG and knew that he was better than that.

Then again, she thought she knew Josie too, and Josie was willing to lie with the actual enemy.

Her excitement was fading fast. Even if she did manage to get her perfect revenge on Hope Mikaelson and even if this party went exactly the way she needed it to, she still had that to deal with when she got home.

She crossed her arms. The once refreshing night air had turned cold and the wind blew straight into her bones. Maybe she had been a little too focused on getting revenge on Hope in a subconscious effort to avoid thinking about what really bothered her.

Lizzie shook her head. What was she? Her own therapist? She could be mad at Dana and at Hope at the same time.

Just because Dana was the one sleeping with her sister, didn't mean Hope was magically absolved of her evilness. She was just as much, if not more, of a villain as her best friend Dana.

Lizzie's victory had quickly turned sour on her tongue. She was reminded of why she was doing this in the first place. It wasn't because the Stallions had lost or because Hope was a smug bitch who needed to be knocked down a peg.

It was because Hope was a bully, and Lizzie was tired of being stepped on. She was going to take Hope down if it was the last thing she did.