fourteen
happy pills.

"HEY!" ISABELLE BOUNDS into the student lounge the next morning with a huge smile on her face. Landon, Hope, and Rafael are all there waiting for her, and she takes a seat next to Rafael, grinning from ear to ear. She then plucks a croissant from a nearby table, savoring the taste of the treat. "What a beautiful day."

"Somebody's in a really good mood today," Rafael smiles at her, liking the newfound look of pure happiness on her and Hope's faces.

"Guess we both woke up on the right side of the bed," Hope suggests as Isabelle snickers, turning bright pink.

"I didn't even wake up in my own bed."

She had spent the night in Rafael's room the night before. They hadn't done anything except kiss and talk, but it was a magical night for both of them. Hope and Landon smirk as Isabelle laces her fingers through Rafael's.

The twins then walk into the room, their arms looped. They've been in Europe for weeks, and are finally back. Lizzie forces a smile at them, surprised once she spots them holding hands. "Good morning, Rafael. Izzy."

Isabelle beams at her friend, jumping up to throw her arms around both of them. "I've missed you both so much."

Rafael, on the other hand, doesn't seem as happy to see Lizzie. It's clear that he's uncomfortable as Isabelle joins him back on the couch. "Hi. Uh, how was your-your trip?"

"Excellent. Thank you," Josie pipes up, glancing at Landon. "And welcome back, Landon."

"Didn't you vote me out?" Landon remarks, making Isabelle giggle gently at his blunt tone.

"So did I, but that's all in the past," she assures him, reaching forward and putting a hand on his arm to prove her point. He looks down at her hand, giving her an odd glance as she removes it. "We're all so happy you're here."

"Is everyone as excited as I am about tonight?" Lizzie questions, eager to change the topic. "It's the school's annual talent show."

"You know, the witch performance wouldn't be the same without you two," Hope speaks up, her eyes on the twins. Josie thanks the Mikaelson girl as Alaric comes on the intercom.

"If I could have your attention. Last night we were able to capture a monster here on the grounds. We have everything under control. But given this potential danger, it is with a heavy heart that I must postpone the talent show. Hopefully, we'll be able to reschedule this... unique event... at a later date. A much, much later date."

"Kind of overkill, if you ask me," Hope rolls her eyes, annoyed by Alaric cancelling the talent show. He's probably glad a monster showed up, because he absolutely hates the talent show. "I told Dr.Saltzman that a unicorn barely counts as a monster."

The twins share determined glances before excusing themselves. The four watch them go before walking towards their next classes.

Isabelle takes Hope's hand as they walk, her eyes the size of saucers. "A unicorn? On a scale one to ten, how cute was it?"

"Like a million," Hope answers, matching the girl's facial expression as Lizzie's voice comes onto the intercom, sounding very pleased with herself.

"Good news, friends. The talent show is going on as previously scheduled."

"So, Lizzie's acting weird," Landon announces as Isabelle and Hope give each other an excited high-five, elated that the talent show is back on.

"She's not the only one," Rafael counters, pointing to Hope and Isabelle.

Hope then gets a great idea into her head. "Babe. We should do a talent. I never wanted to before 'cause I would have had to do it alone. Izzy's the only person who would do one with me before, but she always had to compete with the witch faction. But now I have you. And we make up our own faction. The tribrid and you."

"Yeah, all right," Landon nods as Hope puts her arms around him. "Team Other."

Rafael walks Isabelle to her class, and she sits through it, taking notes. And when it's done, she walks to the student lounge and finds Josie. Josie looks annoyed as she approaches Isabelle. "Hey, do you know where they moved the stupid canes for the talent show? Lizzie was asking me to find them."

"Why do you look like you wanna set the canes on fire?" Isabelle asks. "What'd they ever do to you?"

"I'm just anti-doing the same thing every year," Josie explains, making Isabelle frown. "But it's fine."

"I'll look for them," Isabelle declares, gasping before discreetly pointing at Penelope coming their way. "Ex alert. Three o'clock."

"Oh, dear God," Josie gasps before running behind Isabelle. "Hide me."

"I've got you, girl," Isabelle winks at her as Penelope walks over with a forced smile on her face. "Hi, Penny."

Penelope nods at her before reaching around her and holding out a note to Josie. "Just make sure you read it in private."

"I'm not gonna read it at all," Josie remarks, but she takes it anyway. A hurt expression crosses Penelope's face as she leaves.

Isabelle then turns to Josie. "Oh, my God. What if she wrote you a love letter?"

"I don't know and I do not want to find out," Josie huffs, but Isabelle hears her heart skip a little beat.

"Aren't you just a little curious?" Isabelle continues, sipping her iced coffee with glee.

"Are you on happy pills or something?" Josie sighs, confused as to why she's acting this way.

"Of course not," Isabelle shakes her head dramatically. "I'm just... happy."

"That makes one of us," the Saltzman girl crosses her arms as Isabelle pulls her into a tight hug.

"I can't be late to AP calc," Isabelle informs, pulling away from her. "But things are gonna look up for you today. I just know it."

UNEDITED