Hosie Stories

Story 6 - "The note"

Based: before any events of Legacies started
Not gonna say anything else :)

Josette Saltzman was happily walking to her magic class until she remembered who else would be in that lesson. Hope. The Hope Mikaelson. In fact, not only was she in the lesson, but she sat right next to Josie. That alone fuelled her nerves, made her heart race, her palms sweat. She had spoken to her a few times in class, and more often than not found herself distracted by Hope's auburn hair, or her blue eyes and the way they sparkled when she smiled. That damn smile. It was a blessing and a nightmare. It was so beautiful it could light up the room. Yet it was a nightmare because of the way it made Josie feel. She hated what it did to her. She didn't ask to have feelings for the tribrid, the girl who isolated herself, who didn't bother making any friends. She didn't ask to fall for someone she hardly knew, but at the same time had known for years. But she had and she did. She fell for Hope, and she fell hard.

A twelve-year-old girl with a crush wasn't immune to embarrassment either. Josie could count on more than one hand the amount of times she'd tried to impress Hope, or look cute in front of her and it had ended up going horrible. Like the time she was asked to demonstrate a non-verbal smell and briefly glanced at Hope, then ended up almost burning half of the classroom. Funnily enough, Hope was the one to come to rescue and put the flames out, which Josie thanked her for. Hope just told her to be a little more careful the next time.

There was also a time in football practice that she accidentally threw the ball right at Hope. It wasn't even that she got distracted by her then, she just had poor aim. Instead of it landing in Lizzie's hands it smacked Hope's face to the point where her small frame was knocked back a few steps. Josie gasped when it happened and ran straight to the older girl's side. She felt incredibly guilty, but Hope assured her it was fine, except Josie wasn't so convinced. She offered to help with some magical herbs and stuff, and whilst Hope was grateful, she refused and said that it was no big deal.

In conclusion, Josie's attempts at impressing Hope never worked. It was why she gave up on trying and just let things happen naturally.

~~~~

When she walked into the class, it was empty - she was early. No teacher and no Hope, though she didn't know if that was a good thing. Josie sat down at her desk and got her books out, prepared for the lesson ahead. The bell rang and people quickly rushed in. Josie looked around, waiting to meet a pair of ocean blue eyes. Five minutes, nothing. Ten minutes in, Hope finally walked in.

"Where have you been?" Mr. Smith questioned her as soon as the door opened. Josie turned around, her eyes catching Hope's. She could've sworn the tribrid sent her soft smile. Or maybe she imagined it. Josie couldn't tell. Either way, she smiled at Hope.

"With Doctor Saltzman," Hope admitted, sitting down at her desk. It was true, he had been talking to her about keeping up the Marshall identity as well as a few other things.

"Hey, Josie," Hope said, and it was then that Josie realized her eyes were still on the girl. The girl blushed slightly, happy to know that Hope knew her name. They had been in classes together for a while, so it shouldn't have come as such a shock.

"Oh uhh...H-hi." Josie mentally slapped herself. The crack in her voice and the stutter between words was unintentional - Hope still laughed. She thought it was cute. She thought Josie was cute. "So umm...You haven't missed much. Just this." Josie, being the kind young girl she was, turned her book for Hope to see. She pointed at the work, explaining it briefly to Hope. Not that Josie thought Hope needed someone to explain it to her. She knew how capable Hope was and that she was one of the top witches in the class. Nonetheless, she still did it. She wanted Hope to like her, to maybe even become her friend, and Josie thought helping her could be a good way to properly start a friendship. Being her friend would make an excuse to see her. Then it would be less weird for her to look at Hope from across a room. She would just have to ignore the thumping of her heart whenever the girl was near. She'd contemplated the idea of telling Hope how she felt, multiple times, but always backed out. Nothing ever gave her the last boost of confidence she needed.