The Three Of Us Against The World

Chapter One

TW: mentions of child abuse and a suicide attempt

Lizzie sighs as she carefully applies her makeup for the day. She makes sure to cover the black eye her father so lovingly gave her last night for not doing the dishes in a quick enough manner for his liking. Lizzie ensures that she has all her school stuff packed in her backpack before heading out the door for the day. 

She hates school. People pick on her all the time due to her short stature and the fact that her mother chose to take her twin sister, Josie, to live with her in California after the divorce, and not Lizzie. Soon after this, rumors spread that there was something wrong with Lizzie, and thus, the bullying began. 

As she enters the school, Lizzie notices Hope Mikaelson and Penelope Park, two well liked people, whispering about something. She soon realizes it is about her. Lizzie would normally ignore it as she is quite used to it by now, but something about the way they are whispering about her draws her attention.

"Look at her. God, sometimes I just feel bad for her. I mean, her mom clearly prefers her sister over her," Hope whispers.

"Yeah, I know. There must be something wrong with her," Penelope replies.

Tears fill Lizzie's crystal blue eyes. The pair's comments have hit too close to home as her father often uses those phrases to degrade her. The blonde decides to skip school and head straight home, a deadly plan forming in her mind. 

The moment she gets home, she throws her school stuff aside. Lizzie runs to her room, stopping by the bathroom to grab the large bottle of sleeping pills kept there as well as a glass of water. Once in her room, she swallows all of the pills. Tears streaming down her face, she lays on her bed and prays that the pills will work. She just doesn't want to live anymore.

Alaric has forgotten his briefcase, however, so he arrives only ten minutes after Lizzie drifts off into unconsciousness. Seeing his daughter's school bag, he heads to her room ready to yell at her for skipping. Instead, he finds her unconscious, the empty pill bottle beside her. Shaking his head at the inconvenience Lizzie has caused, he dials 911.

******

"Hope, Penelope, did you hear what Saltzman did?" Alyssa calls to the pair the next morning as they walk into the school together.

"No. What did the freak do now?" Penelope smirks.

"She tried to kill herself. Her dad found her and called an ambulance. She's going to be fine though," Alyssa replies, "She probably did it for the attention."

Hope and Penelope frown guiltily at each other. They really deep down don't want to bully Lizzie, but are scared that if they are kind to her, the bullying will turn on them. After hearing that their words were the likely cause of the blonde's suicide attempt, however, that fear seems to vanish. Both spend the rest of the day feeling incredibly guilty and don't pay much attention in class, happy once they are allowed home for the day. They head straight to Hope's house, greeting her mother, Hayley, before heading upstairs.

"Hey Pen?" Hope asks as they relax on her bedroom floor.

"Yeah?" Penelope replies.

"I think we need to apologize to Lizzie. I don't want to bully her, I'm just scared," Hope sighs.

"I agree. So, when she gets back we pull her side and apologize, everyone else be damned." Penelope nods.

"It's a plan," Hope decides.

Now, all that is left is to set their plan in motion. Hope and Penelope only hope that Lizzie will forgive them and that the three can be friends. Neither will admit it to the other, but they have crushes on Lizzie, and want nothing more than for the short blonde to forgive them for their hateful words.