CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Adrian laid on his bed with a comic book that he had stolen from Mg in his hands. It was one of those old Fantastic Four comics from the '80s. Reading, he found himself much like Johnny Storm. No, not a handsome nutball on fire but it was something else, it was something he couldn't describe.
The door to the dorm opened but it wasn't anything that gained the boy's attention enough to get him to put back the comic. He just thought it was Owen until he felt the bed dip when the person sat down beside him and rested their head on his shoulder. The faint smell of strawberry shampoo was enough for him to know that it was his girlfriend and the fact that no one else would lay down beside him like that, sure, he was close to his friends but not that close.
Hope laid silently beside the male, this was the first time she'd seen him after what happened when the school faculty and the students were informed of Landon Kirby and his actions. Alaric had told everyone to be on the lookout because now that an outsider knew about them and their school, they could be in grave danger. The Mikaelson girl decided that she was determined to find the boy and used black magic to do so which earned her a trip to the guidance counselor where Emma scolded her for her use of dark magic but the spell had shown results. In fact, the tribrid and her headmaster had found Landon's latest location and gone there only to discover a bus burned to a crisp full with charred corpses which led them to where they were today, they were going off to find Landon and they were leaving right before noon.
"I was just coming to ask you something before we left. I would feel better about this if I wasn't the only one looking for Landon and the truth. Alaric wants to bring him back to compel him but I— uh, you're coming with us, right?" Hope asked.
The boyfriend closed the comic book and placed it on the bedside table beside him, "I can't" He answered, "Penelope's got Owen and I tagging along to that flag football game today"
The Mikaelson witch sat up to face the male, separating herself from his side, "So, what, if Penelope told you to jump you'd ask how high?"
Adrian chuckled at the sudden irritation that came with his girlfriend's words but when he saw the expression on her face, he knew that she was being serious, "What's with you and your sudden hatred for Penelope?"
The tribrid crossed her arms a worried yet angry look spreading across her face, "I don't know, did you or did you not shove your tongue down her throat while the rest of us were at the assembly this morning?"
"No" The male answered simply, "I did not"
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AND WHOEVER TOLD HER THAT
I DID IS A FUCKING LIAR
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"You've been disappearing from class and from the assemblies. And every time you return, you return with Penelope. You can't blame me for thinking—" Hope cut herself off, frowning in disapproval when the words registered in her head. A frustrated groan escaped her lips and she ran her hands through her hair, "I— I think Lizzie Saltzman is getting to me, she's using these weird psychological methods on me"
The alpha sat up at this, he knew damn well how Lizzie had managed to do it just like she had tried to convince him that Landon and Hope had feelings for each other, "She's poising your mind with the possibilities of Penelope and I hooking up just like she did to me with you and Landon"
The female's eyes widened in shock, "She did that?"
"Yup"
The Mikaelson witch huffed, "I don't want to rude or anything but Lizzie Saltzman deserves an award for bitch of the year"
"She sucks," The Aquilo boy commented as he pushed himself up from the bed to get dressed.
Hope groaned, "So I was angry for nothing?"
The curly-haired male chuckled from where he stood as he searched his closet for a Salvatore Stallions' jersey Penelope said that she had left for him but he didn't see it anywhere, "Why don't you use your anger to go find your boyfriend?"
"But you're my boyfriend" The female responded sweetly.
"Am I?" Adrian questioned, turning to face the girl with his back once he found the jersey, "Because it seems like you and Landon were interested in each other. So the question here is if I have a girlfriend" He continued as he pulled the yellow jersey over his head and arms through the short sleeves.
Hope rolled her eyes and rose from the bed, on her way to exit the room, "Why don't you ask Penelope?"
The male reached out for his girlfriend's hand and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her waist as he sat down on the bed again, "I was joking" The female rolled her eyes again, playfully this time as a smile worked its way onto her lips when her boyfriend spoke, "You don't have to worry about Penn, she's like my sister"
"A very evil sister if you ask me, but okay"
The alpha nodded, "And I'll have you know that the only reason I wasn't at the assembly today was that Mg, Owen and I went to one of those feminist seminars held at the local high school. One of the women in our group even told us we were three very handsome and educated men"
Hope snorted, "Why do I find that so difficult to believe?"
"You know what?" Adrian removed his arms from around his girlfriend's waist, "Good luck finding your boyfriend"
"Adrian, don't be mean... I was joking!"
✶
The Salvatore stallions arrived at the clearing near their school where the flag football game took place. The cheerleaders got started on their routine whilst the players and their quarterback— Lizzie— went over the game plan. Dr. Saltzman had the same game plan every year: the teens were not to use their powers or display any other behavior that could reveal their supernatural status.
Adrian, who had just arrived, searched the field for anyone who wasn't Lizzie or Josie Saltzman and found Penelope sitting cross-legged on the bleachers, "Hey, hot stuff" She called out when their eyes met.
The male approached the bleachers to greet his friend, "Penelope..." He trailed off, reaching forward to touch the brunette's locks. Her wavy hair that used to stop right below her middle rib had now been chopped off to a wavy lob, "Your hair"
"Oh, this?" The female shrugged, flipping her now-shorter hair over her shoulder, "Josie got jealous"
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SHE SOUNDS
TOO HAPPY.
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Hearing the word jealous reminded the boy of his conversation with his girlfriend this morning, "Speaking of. If you see Hope and she looks like she wants to rip your throat out, don't worry about it. It's all Lizzie Saltzman"
Penelope chuckled, "Alright"
The two brunettes watched from the bleachers as Dorian, who was acting as head coach in Alaric's absence, gathered the referee, the Mystic Falls' Timberwolves coach, and the starting players from both school teams—Lizzie, Josie and Kaleb for the Stallions and Dana, Connor — onto the sidelines to kick off the match.
"All right, guys" Dorian began, "Let's have a good, clean, entirely uneventful game"
The Timberwolves smiled smugly at the Stallions, "Like we do every year when we beat your asses down" Connor laughed.
The Aquilo boy faced his fellow brunette beside him, "There's something about that dude that just makes me want to kick him in the face"
Penelope furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, she had far more important things to do than remember the names of the students from their rival school, "Who?"
"That Connor dude" The wolf answered, his eyes never leaving the teens.
The teens watched as the referee stepped forward for a coin toss where the team who won the previous year were to call it in the air, they picked tails because according to Dana, tails never fails. The teams got in line to shake hands before the game started with the Timberwolves getting the ball.
The referee blew his whistle and Kaleb kicked the ball, sending it soaring across the field before the Timberwolves could throw-in. Unfortunately for the Stallions, Connor caught the ball and ran. Dana raised her arms, waving them around, letting him know she was open. The human male tossed the ball to his teammate before Kaleb could tackle him. Dana caught the ball and ran across the field before anyone could take it from her, Mg attempted but the girl outsmarted him and he fell to the ground.
Adrian cleared his throat, facing the girl beside him, "Let me ask you something, P. Did you ask me to come with just so we could sit and watch?"
"No" The Park girl responded.
"Well, then why aren't we out there kicking their asses?"
Penelope snorted, "Are you kidding me?" She shook her head, "I don't participate in these barbaric activities"
The Aquilo boy chuckled, "Well, look at that, Pez. You almost sounded like a lady"
"Too bad she isn't one" Owen commented as he took a seat between the two and slung his arms around their shoulders. They hadn't noticed him making his way over until he sat down.
The brunette female crossed her arms, she had had enough of the blond for the rest of the school year. He had irritated her the whole day and she was so close to snapping. Penelope glared at the boy. She placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it as hard as she could, "Ignalusa"
Before the boys could register what the phrase meant or what was going on, the admiral blue shorts Owen wore suddenly caught on fire. Alarmed, the wolf immediately started to rapidly pat his shorts while his friends laughed. The blond took off running to find something to cool him down and stop the fire, leaving his friends entertained as he cursed the hell out of the Park girl's name on his way to the lake.
"Penelope Park, you bitch!"
"That's me!"
✶
The game between the Stallions and Timberwolves continued, spectators cheered from the bleachers with all kinds of posters and signs. All the scoreboard showed was how much the Stallions lost and how much the Timberwolves had scored: twenty-eight points while the Stallions score was zero. They were getting their asses whopped by humans.
The teams parted ways as the first half of the game was completed. The Stallions retreated to the bleachers where their supporters sat, on the opposite side of the Timberwolves as the cheerleaders all ran out on the field.
Lizzie stood in front of the bleachers as her team reloaded, "All right, I just want to take a minute to let you know how proud I am. You're all doing a great job"
Adrian chuckled from behind the teenagers as he and Penelope kept track of the team since Dorian had just up and left, "You're getting your asses kicked"
"Which means we're doing a great job," Josie told the male.
The brunet wolf blinked, they were purposely losing and they all knew it, "Are we speaking two different languages? You suck and you're losing!"
Growing up, the Aquilos— Adrian and his sister, Olivia— were never ones to settle with second place. They grew up winning, striving for first place and losing had never been an option. This wasn't brought onto them by their parents but by themselves and their sibling rivalry. Adrian could remember the times his sister would go for just making it to the top three in sports and he'd go for first place just to spite her. He had this loser's complex that had lived with him since he was five but had since the age of fourteen gotten help to learn to cope with not winning all the time— this wasn't one of those times. He wanted to win this game and he was going to win.
"What's the play?" Mg asked.
The alpha looked up, his friend's words drawing him out of his thoughts, he listened as Lizzie took charge again, "Same as always," The blonde siphoner responded, "Run around, make it look like you know what you're doing, and then fail. On three"
The referee blew his whistle again once the break was over and the Stallions and Timberwolves got into position. The intensity of the game went up fifty percent and it was visible by the way Connor and Dana looked like bulls, ready to attack anyone in their way.
Lizzie stood behind her sister who had the ball in her hands. The blonde held her hands out, ready to catch it, "White eighty!" The blue-eyed twin shouted, "White eighty! Set! Hut!"
Josie passed the ball between her legs to her sister, who immediately took off with the ball. Dana visually tracked her from far away, counting out loud as the siphoner hesitated, "One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi..."
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COME ON, LIZZIE.
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"Lizzie, pass it!" Josie called out, "I'm open"
Adrian, who had returned to the bleachers, and Penelope both shot up from their seats as the siphoner continued to hesitate. If she didn't throw the ball or pass it to someone, they'd lose right away, "Pass the fucking ball!"
The blonde Saltzman girl turned around to tell the two brunettes to shut up when Dana stopped counting. The human ran towards Lizzie who threw the ball to Mg in the last moment. The male vampire caught the ball in the air and crossed the field, slow enough that no one would assume that he was a supernatural being or on drugs until he reached the end zone. He slammed the ball down onto the ground, having just earned his team a few points.
The Stallions crowd went wild, Mg ran around the field in celebration and from what the Aquilo boy could see, Penelope looked pleased. The only one who didnt seem happy about Mg's score was Lizzie as she crossed the field to confront him, "Mg, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" The two supernatural teens turned around to find Dana smirking behind them, "He's saving your ass. Nice hands, Mg" Dana walked away leaving a smiling vampire with a very angry Saltzman girl. Lizzie looked at him in disbelief and disgust before she walked away.
Mg's smile faded as he watched her leave. He turned towards the bleachers and found Penelope with a smirk on her satisfied face, giving him a nod of approval. Adrian noticed this and sighed, he couldn't help but think that something was up and knowing Penelope she definitely had a hand in whatever was going on, "I know that smirk, P. What have you done now?"
"Nothing, I'm just humoring myself by messing with Lizzie"
"So, the usual then?"