Chapter Text
Josie Saltzman was a quiet kindergartner. Crouching down at the school planter, she let the soft, wet soil take over her senses while her sister rattled on about the new kid joining their class. In her mind, it was always easier to let her twin sister, Lizzie, do all of the talking. Lord knows she did enough for the both of them. For Josie, the school was filled with so much input that to sit back and watch things unfold was significantly more interesting than putting yourself out for the world to judge. Kids were mean and loyalty to her sister was all that ever mattered.
Today, there was a new young witch that moved into Mystic Falls to join the inaugural class of Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted’s elementary branch. Unlike the rest of the class who was busy whispering about what the new girl would be like and if she would be their friend, Josie was too engrossed in the task at hand. Planting her favorite purple lily bulbs was hard work, you know. Josie made sure to nod and hum at just the right times while her sister was preoccupied with making a determination about whether or not she was going to invite the new girl to work at the same planter as them.
“Josie...JOSIE” Lizzie looked indignant.
“Pay attention! She’s coming over.”
Josie finally looked up from a particularly thick, dead root that was right where she wanted to plant. Unfortunately, she didn’t have anything sharp enough to cut through.
“What, Lizzie?” Lizzie was busy trying to prep the area to make room. Walking toward Josie was a young girl, a few inches shorter than her with soft, brown curly hair and bright green eyes. The girl seemed a little shy and was apprehensive about where to go.
Lizzie could take care of interacting. Josie really wanted to see these lilies bloom at the end of the season and this root was really cutting into her planting time. Josie finally found a sharper trowel to start jabbing at the root.
“Hi there...I’m Penelope Park” Penelope smiled and offered a small wave of her hand.
“Hi, I’m Lizzie and this is my twin sister, Josie!”
Josie looked up and forgot about what her hands were doing. The trowel slipped off the root and, instead of cutting it, Josie missed and cut the palm of her left hand.
Her eyes immediately began to water and Lizzie could feel that her sister was about to cry. Lizzie ran to go get the teacher who was all the way at the other end of the garden’s clearing. “Hold on, Jo!”
Clutching her hand close as if close proximity to her body would stop the pain, little Josie began crying. The gash was a sizable two inches long and it didn’t take long for the blood to begin dripping. Penelope began tearing up too. She didn’t know why, but she was never good with being around emotions.
“No, no, please don’t cry! I...I can fix it. Just, just give me a moment okay. What spell was it that mom always did for my cuts...Ah! I got it.”
In the midst of Penelope waving her hands around Josie, pacing back and forth, and freaking out about what to do, Josie looked up from her hand and the tears began to subside. Something about this little girl’s eyes made her feel safe in all the commotion. Penelope took Josie’s small hand softly and began muttering an incantation over it. Josie could feel a friendly warmth radiating from the cut. She couldn’t help the fleeting thought that, up close, Penelope smelled like vanilla and her eyes had little gold flecks when the sun hit them just right.
Soon enough, the cut began healing as Penelope continued to whisper her short spell over and over again. What was left was a small crescent scar, just at the jut of her palm. Josie was in awe.
“There, that should do it,” Penelope said. She was still holding Josie’s hand up and brought it towards her for a small kiss.
“Mom says that love is the best magic of all and that the only way to finish fixing pain is with a kiss.” Penelope wiped away some of Josie’s drying tears with a crooked grin.
“All better?”
“Yeah...all better.” Josie was mesmerized as Emma finally made her way over with Lizzie in tow.
“Wow, Penelope, great work!” Emma was impressed, not very many witches could practice healing magic as young adults, let alone a 5 year olds that had no formal training. She better keep tabs on the growth of this young and talented witch.
“Penelope...” Josie tried out loud for the very first time. She felt warm and, looking at Penelope’s crooked grin, she knew that this would be the start of something important. She just couldn’t quite put her finger on it yet.
Josie and Penelope were inseparable after that day at the planter. Josie was amazed that there was someone so cool that loved plants as much as she did, laughed at all her little jokes, and listened intently when she was telling any of her stories from the earlier summer. Unfortunately, Lizzie was not having it. You leave your twin sister alone for two minutes to get them some help and what does she do? She goes and betrays you, leaving you for someone else.
Needless to say, Penelope Park and Lizzie Saltzman did not get along very well. Things weren’t extreme, but if there was an odd number of explosive glue bottles or times when Penelope went to sit down, only to fall back onto the floor of a Salvatore School classroom, no one would fess up. To Penelope’s credit, she didn’t ALWAYS retaliate, though she was 100% burning with a hardcore passion to. Josie Saltzman was easily the best person in her life, besides her mom and little brother, Theo. Penelope could just tell from small conversational spats with Lizzie that Josie always felt torn to either defend Penelope or side with her sister. No matter. Penelope would always prioritize her best friend’s feelings, no matter what.
Today, Emma had a new trick to teach the fifth grade class: illusion spells. As always, Josie partnered up with Penelope while her sister sat next to her most recent schoolgirl crush.
“Jojo, what are your plans for the big annual Fall Festival tomorrow?” Penelope whispered, while Emma began describing the illusion spell’s power and scope.
“I don’t know, Penny. My mom is supposed to be coming back to town so we might go as a family,” Josie said regretfully. Josie wasn’t a stranger to the fact that Penelope had a hard time at home. When they were in first grade at the school pool one summer, Josie saw a deep, purple bruise peeking near the lower back area of Penelope’s swimsuit. When Josie asked how she got the bruise, Penelope immediately shut off and Josie didn’t know what to do. Nothing about the sweet, soft smiling Penelope Park had ever caused her to shut Josie out before. The two girls were thick as thieves and shared everything. At least, that was what Josie thought. It was the first time that Josie was confronted with the fact that maybe she couldn’t protect Penelope from what the rest of the world could throw at them. Josie shook it off at the time. All she knew was that Penelope was right there and she would never let anyone hurt her ever again. Josie firmly believed that one day, Penelope would let her in when the time came. That summer, Penelope’s mom left Mystic Falls with Theo to live with extended family and Penelope became a full-time boarder, just until her mom could settle their situation. Eventually, they returned when Mrs. Park was able to find a decent job that paid just enough to make it month to month for three mouths.
Penelope’s soft and sad eyes betrayed the smile that she wore on her face.
“Aw, Josie, that’s awesome. It’s been some time since you’ve seen your mom right? Well, would you at least save me a ride on the Ferris wheel? I heard that the fireworks show is going to be epic this year..and I know how much you love them,” Penelope finished with a crooked grin. The two best friends had made it an annual ritual to watch the show together. Nothing was as religious to Josie as a good ole fireworks show.
“Of course, Pen. I would love to.” Josie adored Penelope and the two girls were startled to find that the rest of the class had already begun experimenting with the new spell.
The next day after classes, the Salvatore school was buzzing with excitement over the Fall Festival that would be taking place later that night. Lizzie was busy helping set up the games booths with Rafael. Hope was assisting Emma with enchanting the fireworks in preparation for the big show later that night while Landon provided moral support by munching on a gigantic turkey leg.
In the end, Caroline Forbes was unable to attend the festival due to a recruiting visit in England. The twins were crestfallen, but they spoke with her via video chat for hours and that softened a bit of the blow. A few hours later, as the sun got lower in the sky, Josie exited the car with her dad and Emma to the air of the crisp night. The trio was to meet up with Lizzie at the fair’s animal pen so that Josie could play with the local goats. From there, they shopped around the local vendor stalls, scanned the art exhibit, and grabbed some fair food. Josie was having an amazing time with her family. Josie felt like these days, that time was becoming more and more precious. However, she couldn’t help herself, constantly scanning the crowd for a girl just three inches shorter than her, curly raven hair, and eyes that made her feel at home. Penelope was supposed to be meeting her later that night, just as the sun was setting so that they could watch the fireworks together. Fortunately, Josie was only a few stalls away when she caught a glimpse of the back of Penelope’s head as Penelope made her way towards the Ferris wheel. Unfortunately, there were 50 people on the path to where Josie wanted to go. Being 5 ft tall was not very useful in the middle of a large crowd. Josie politely maneuvered her way around, trying to gain on her best friend. Once she got to the Ferris wheel, Josie frowned. The girl from the Mystic Falls elementary school across town had her arm hooked through Penelope’s.
“When did they become friends?” Josie thought to herself. There was a feeling Josie was experiencing that she didn’t necessarily want to label quite yet. Josie pushes the thought away. Penelope had never given her a reason to feel second best to anyone. The only thing Josie’s ever felt from her was comfort and a sense of belonging. When Caroline or Alaric were away on house calls or recruiting missions for the school, Penelope would invite Josie over to her small house on the edge of town. Theo was the most adorable six year old that Josie had ever met, minus the first time Josie met Penelope. The two siblings shared so much in common, from their obsession with video games to their taste in junk food, as well as their competitive anger when playing board games to their love of soccer. Josie couldn’t help but love their matching crooked grins and lively, green eyes. Having spent the majority of her childhood growing up on the floor of the Park family living room, eating homemade chocolate chip cookies, crying about the latest drama at school, yelling about how neglected her parents made her feel, venting about her relationship with Lizzie, Josie had always associated their family as her own. Even without Penelope, Mrs. Park stood as an amazing adult figure in her life with an amazing ability to listen and make Josie feel seen and understood.
However, it was with Penelope that everything just clicked together. She was the glue that made everything work in Josie’s eyes and it would take something as simple as a small wiggle of the eyebrows from Penelope to get a giggle out of Josie. Penelope always seemed to know how to chase a bad day away.
This is precisely why Josie is completely unsuspecting of the torrent of emotions that immediately wash over her while she sees Penelope shortly glance around, as if looking to pick out her best friend from the crowd, while Dana drags her towards the Ferris wheel just as the sun is setting. From close up, Josie would have been able to tell that Penelope was uncomfortable with this turn of events. Penelope did not want to be on this Ferris wheel with Dana from the opposing school’s soccer team, of all people. She had made a promise to Josie and in her entire short life, she had not ever broken a single one. Now, badass Penelope Park doesn’t like to admit it, but there was just something about how caring Josie Saltzman was that made it feel like sacrilege to ever betray her. Josie was her best friend in the entire world and she would be damned if anything got in between them.
Dana was rattling on about the most recent game in which Penelope scored the game winning goal and Penelope could not care any less. Unfortunately, Dana refused to leave her side without getting at least one Ferris wheel ride out of Penelope. What Penelope didn’t see was that Dana bribed the ride operator to stop them just at the top of the wheel so that they could watch the Fall Festival fireworks.
Josie turned away with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach and she immediately went to go find Lizzie and Hope. Penelope was a few feet off the ground the second that she saw Josie turn away with an upset disposition. The ride stopped right at the top and the fireworks rang off.
Everyone at the festival began to oooh and ahhh at the spectacular light show. This year, Hope and Emma did a real number.
“I hope you don’t mind the delay, Penelope...I’ve been waiting to get you alone all day.”
“I actually do mind, Dana. You didn’t think to ask me if I had plans to watch the fireworks show with anyone else before you attempted to kidnap me?” Penelope was irritated and distracted. The only thought on her mind was how upset Josie looked. She must have thought Penelope forgot about their annual ritual.
Dana’s face didn’t fall. If anything, she felt more comfortable in front of the more savage side of Penelope. On the field and off the field, she would happily oblige. If anything, it was what led to the huge crush she was harboring for the raven haired girl. While Penelope was looking down toward the rest of the activity down below, Dana began speaking.
“Well, honestly, I thought you’d be a little more grateful that I’m even giving you the time of day.”
“Honestly, Dana, I don’t give a rat’s a—-“
Penelope was cut off with a kiss to the lips as Dana’s disgusting mouth was pressed up to her own.
“What the fuck, Dana? Ask a girl for fucking consent, damn it! I’m sorry, but I don’t like you like that and I don’t think I ever will.”
On Josie’s end, Josie was not fairing any better. She missed the fireworks, she couldn’t find any of her friends or family members, and she was starting to freeze. She really should have brought a coat to wear tonight. She decided to wait at the picnic tables just under the line of pine trees near the parking lot so that she could join up with her family once they made their way back. She was thinking about her odd reaction to what happened earlier. Penelope had never missed any agreement to spend time together before. That must explain why Josie was so hurt. It definitely wasn’t Dana’s arm looped around here and it definitely couldn’t be how close she was whispering to Penelope’s ear.
Josie took the opportunity to close her eyes and breathe the brisk air in. Any opportunity to cut the growing tension in her heart was a welcome reprieve. Josie heard a few steps to her right and just brushed it off as another fairgoer.
“...hey, Jojo, I didn’t see you by the Ferris wheel? Everything alright?” Penelope said apprehensively. When did she start getting nervous around Josie?
Josie kept her eyes closed, not quite ready to part with the peace she was granted with earlier. “Oh, you must have been too busy with Dana.” Damn it. There went all the subtlety. Josie finally opened her eyes. Even while frowning, Penelope Park always looked like home. “...gosh, I’m sorry, Pen. I don’t know why I’m acting this way. It just really bothered me when I didn’t get to watch the fireworks show with you this year. If you wanted to spend it with someone else, you should have told me,” Josie explained, immediately sorry for her passive aggressive tone from earlier.
“Josie, look at me.” Penelope grabbed Josie’s face in her two hands. She had never looked smaller. “Aside from my family, you are the only person that matters to me. You’re my best friend in the whole world. You may not have seen it, but I did everything I could to get away from that crazy girl... to be honest, she even kissed me.” Penelope stayed, a little confused about what it all meant. She had never really thought about the implications of liking anyone or being liked back.
“Oh.” Josie was conflicted. For what reason, she didn’t know, but she could feel that she was on the precipice of something important again. Very similar to that first day she met Penelope. “Did you...enjoy it?”
Penelope took some time to reflect. “No, definitely not. It was wet and a little sloppy. Is that how a first kiss is supposed to be?”
“I guess so? I haven’t had one myself, so I’m not exactly an expert.”
“Well, regardless, she made me miss our yearly ritual...so,” Penelope smirked, “I’ve got a surprise for you. Close your eyes.”
Josie, already feeling better about her place as Penelope’s best friend, couldn’t help but roll her eyes and grin at the twinkle in Penelope’s golden-green eyes. “Alright, alright, charmer.” Josie closed her eyes.
Penelope placed her hands on Josie’s back, muttered an incantation, and gave a flick of her hands for good measure. “Okay, Jojo...go ahead and open them.”
Josie did as she was asked and she was immediately in awe. Before her very eyes, she saw dozens of multicolored fireworks on the backdrop of an entire galaxy, shooting stars whizzing by in greens, blues, and purples. She turned her eyes over to the girl she absolutely adored to find Penelope’s soft gaze. It seems like she hadn’t stopped staring at her reaction since the moment she cast the spell.
Penelope couldn’t turn away, even with the spectacle before her. Watching Josie always seemed to come first and she couldn’t help but cast her eyes towards Josie’s smile.
Josie could have sworn she saw Penelope’s eyes turning towards her lips. Her heart thudded in her chest.
Penelope shook herself out of her trance and smiled back at Josie, finally going in for a hug. “I’m sorry about tonight, Jojo. I hope this makes up for it.” Something about the hug felt heavy and full of meaning that words alone couldn’t have described. Penelope tried to put all of her emotions into the embrace.
Josie smiled into Penelope’s shoulder, returning the embrace in kind. “I love you, Pen. No need to apologize.”
The duo remained, as if no one else in the world existed. Alaric and Emma we’re standing by the treeline, smiling at the two.
“Do you think those two realize they have feelings for each other yet?”
“It’ll probably take getting hit by an emotional truck for them to figure it out with how dense they are, Ric.”
“What? No, you gotta give them more credit than that. I bet you they’ll figure it out by sophomore year.”
“Are we betting on your daughter’s love life now?”
“Better Penelope than any other gross teens.”
“...okay fine, senior year then.”
“You’re on.”
“Loser takes all twin “emergency” calls for the year”
Alaric and Emma shook hands, with Josie and Penelope none the wiser.