Coming Up For Air - a Hosie Fanfiction

How Long Can You Wait

Josie Saltzman turned off her phone, turning around abruptly to face her twin sister Lizzie, who was sitting at the back of the car.

"What's gotten into you today? You're acting even weirder than usual." Josie snipped at her sister. 

"You wouldn't even listen if I knew how to explain," Lizzie shot back sadly.

Josie had never meant to upset Lizzie, it was just all too easy to lose patience with her sister. Lizzie had Bipolar disorder so Josie understood that her sister couldn't help her behaviour to a degree, but she couldn't help but get annoyed every time she had to sacrifice something to deal with her sister's needs which happened way too often for Josie's liking.

She checked her makeup in the wing mirror, and drew a small tube of mascara out from her bag and applied some quickly as her dad was just driving into the school car park. She didn't know if driving was too generous of a word, as her dad was swerving all over the place. It wasn't even eight in the morning yet, and her dad was already bordering on drunk.

Josie tried to gain some composure as she swung open the car door and stepped out onto the cracked tarmac of the car park. She was the queen of Mystic Falls High School, and queens did not show their scars. None of her friends or followers knew how badly her home life was falling apart, how it fell on Josie to make sure that her dad and sister ate every night.

After her mum had died a few years back, her dad hadn't been able to deal with the pressure of raising his daughters on his own, especially Lizzie and as a result Josie had been forced to step up and be the glue to hold her broken family together. 

Her dad drunkenly stumbled out of the car and began to hobble up to the school building. Josie didn't know how he had held on to his teaching position as most days he showed up to work scruffy and varying shades of drunk. If her dad lost his job, Josie knew that she would probably have to drop out of school and get a job waitressing or something to make ends meet.

As Josie confidently strode towards the front entrance of the school building, all traces of her insecurity had been banished as she put on the semblance of a typical teenage popular girl. 

She looked behind her and called out for her sister, "Lizzie, did you get the watch?" 

"What watch?" Lizzie asked, seeming lost in her mind.

"Dad's watch. The one he got from Stefanie Salvatore's dad. Don't tell me you forgot, Liz." Josie paused for dramatic effect before sarcastically adding on, "you had one job, Elizabeth," before stalking away angrily.

She opened her locker door, trying to calm herself down. Lizzie needed to get that watch, it was the only magical object that Josie knew of and she needed something to siphon from if she was to show Connor her powers. 

"Hey babe," Connor greeted her, peering over the locker door. Think of the devil and the devil may appear, Josie thought sarcastically. It wasn't like she didn't like Connor, she had nothing against the guy but it wasn't like he was her special someone. Josie only really dated him as it was standard high school protocol for the king and queen of the school to be a couple. Also, it made Dana jealous which was always a boost.

"Hey Con," Josie replied, affectionately ruffling his hair and then locking arms with him. The power couple walked to their first class in that fashion. Josie noted admiring glances from younger and older pupils alike, as she painted on a huge smile, the accessory to her perfect facade. 

Josie tried to focus her mind on the Homecoming dance that evening, banishing the fearful thoughts of the headmaster walking into her dad's classroom and finding him asleep during a class, or drunkenly screaming at one of his students.