Life In Mystic Falls

Chapter 10

"The girls told me you spoke to MG last night," Dr Saltzman reveals to Hope during their first training session. It was an idea he came up with at the beginning of the week, thinking that with the number of enemies her family has, she should know how to defend herself.

"Yeah, we talked," Hope replies as she throws a punch, which was dodged easily.

"Do I have to worry about you killing him, or are you two good now?" The teacher asks, knocking Hope off of her feet.

"We're good," Hope says, breathless from the way her body hit the mat.

"Good," Dr Saltzman nods and helps the teenager stand up, "how was Landon's first week here? I was too busy to check in with him myself."

"He said it was good," the tribrid shrugs, before finally getting a hit in, "I mean, he didn't complain about anything that everyone else here doesn't complain about."

"You need to guard your face," Dr Saltzman critiques. "You'll tell me if something happens, right?"

"If I think you need to know, then yes," Hope adjust her stance slightly and throws another punch.

It takes another hour before Hope manages to knock her teacher off his feet, and even then, it's only because he's exhausted from two hours of throwing and dodging hits from a sixteen-year-old tribrid. She has the strength to be able to knock him down, and then again ten times over, she just hadn't yet mastered the skill of fighting. "Right, that's enough for today," Dr Saltzman sighs, "go shower, get something to eat and then do whatever you want."

"Okay," Hope nods drowsily before making her way out of the gym. She takes a quick shower, gets a late lunch, and takes a short nap before making her way to the twins' bedroom.

"Hey," Josie smiles from her seat at her desk.

"Hi," Hope greets them, "I thought we could spend the afternoon watching movies, since I bailed on our girl's night. What do you think?"

"Yes!" Lizzie yells excitedly, jumping up from her seat and dragging Hope further into the room, "I was thinking we could start with some classic rom-coms, then maybe some action, like the 2019 Charlie's Angels, or some Disney, like the live-action Aladdin."

"Still going through that Naomi Scott obsession, Liz?" Hope asks with a laugh.

"She's a queen, okay?" Lizzie defends herself.

"I'm okay with Aladdin and Charlie's Angels, as long as we can also watch the Pitch Perfect movies," Josie says, closing her textbook and walking into the middle of the room.

"Great, so we start with Aladdin, then the Pitch Perfects and Charlie's Angels if we have time," Hope suggests.

"Awesome, I will find the movies," Lizzie grins, "you two can go get the snacks."

Hope and Josie both leave the room and make their way down to the kitchen in silence, only talking when they want the other's opinion on snack options. "I spoke to Penelope, yesterday," Josie reveals on the way to what used to be Damon Salvatore's bedroom, but was converted into a living area for the twins and their parents when the school was opened.

"She still wants you back?" Hope questions cautiously.

"She says she does," Josie shrugs.

"But you don't believe her," the tribrid concludes.

"I want to," the brunette admits, "but I don't know if I can trust her again."

"Is it a risk you're willing to take?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you have a whole day of movies to think about it," Hope smiles as she pushes the door open.

"Finally," Lizzie sighs dramatically, TV remote in hand, "let's get this movie marathon started."

Hope and Josie set the copious number of snacks on the coffee table, before sitting down in front of the flat screen and letting Lizzie click play on Aladdin. Halfway through the iconic Disney movie, Hope finds herself sat on the sofa by herself laughing as the twins dramatically sing along to 'A Whole New World.'

"A whole new world," Lizzie sings loudly, "a new fantastic point of view."

"No one to tell us, 'no' or where to go," Josie joins her sister with a big smile, "or say we're only dreaming."

When the song ends, the two witches collapse next to Hope, breathless from their singing and dancing. "What the hell was that?" Hope asks through a fit of laughter.

"If you enjoyed that, wait until you see Lizzie sing 'Speechless'," Josie breathes heavily.

"It's an epic song," Lizzie reasons, "and my re-enactment of it would make Naomi Scott proud." And it would, when the first few notes of the song began to play, the blonde stood and started singing the words as well as twirling around the room, the same way Princess Jasmine did in the movie. When the song faded out Lizzie spun and gracefully landed back in her seat. "So," she turns to Hope as if her little performance hadn't just happened, "full moon this Thursday, are you planning on locking the Muppet Baby away from all the wolves and vampires?"

"No," Hope rolls her eyes at Lizzie's new nickname for her boyfriend, "there's a new wolf turning in Mexico City and your mom wants my help with recruitment."

"And Landon?" Josie questions.

"Is staying here. With the new protection spells around the transition cages the wolves shouldn't be able to get out, so he should be safe," Hope replies, the anxiety evident in her voice.

"Relax, I'll make sure MG doesn't go all ripper on his ass again," Lizzie jokes.

"What she means is that we'll make sure nothing happens," Josie looks at her sister pointedly.

"Thanks," Hope smiles appreciatively, "but I have a feeling that I'll be more at risk than him."

"What? Like turning into a full-tribrid at risk, or just scrapes and bruises at risk?" Josie asks, looking concerned.

"I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about it all," the tribrid shakes her head, "It's probably nothing though."

"Of course," Lizzie agrees, "I mean, you're the badass Mikaelson tribrid, nobody can take you down."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm just stuck in my own head."