CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
❝︎Miss Mystic Falls❞︎

"I HAVE SOME NEWS. Many of you, like me, have forgotten that we are hosting this year's Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Trust me, I know." Students let out groans and mutters of annoyance, Harper simply opting to roll her eyes. She hated that stupid pageant. "But the rotation is set in stone. So, let's take the opportunity to maintain our image as a normal school for the rich and awful. As usual, anything remotely magical, enchanted, vampire, wolf or witch-related must be kept tucked away, hidden, and under lock and key. Now. . . with your chore assignments."

He pointed towards Lizzie before moving from the podium and letting her take over. She had a wide excited smile on her face. "Okay, so we'll split into teams." Harper scoffed, rolled her eyes, stood up and walked away with everyone's eyes following her. Hope and Josie met one another's eyes, Josie asking a silent question to which Hope just shook her head, not knowing the answer.

Harper sat on her bed, her arms crossed over her chest as she narrowed her eyes at the chest that lay at the end of her bed. She swallowed thickly, before forcing herself up from the bed and pulling open the drawer on her bedside table, a small box inside. She grabbed the box, held it in her hands for a moment, before opening it to reveal a key. She picked it up, held it in the light before glancing towards the black chest once more. She stood up, placing the box back in the drawer before kneeling down to the ground.

The teenager held the key shakily in her hands before inserting it into the lock, and turning it, listening to the click of the lock before opening the chest. Inside was all of her old stuff from her home that she couldn't bear to look at on a daily basis. Most of it were pictures, a few stuffed animals that her father had given her in hopes of her forgiving him for whatever he had done to her the night prior. It all hurt for Harper to look at. She picked up one photo, the photo that caused her hate for pageants. She used to be a pageant girl, winning first place every time because her father would be disappointed if she didn't. Anger seemed to fuel her body before she dropped the picture back inside the chest.

A knock fell on her door. "Come in." The door opened to reveal Penelope. Harper frowned, closing the chest and locking it once more as she stood up and turned to face the brunette. "Penelope?"

"Lizzie decided not to run this year." Penelope informed her, closing the door behind her. "And she wanted a replacement. You know who she chose? Hope. Not her own sister. Josie won't ever admit this, but I know that she wants that title."

"I thought you hated this thing as much as me?" Harper cocked her head slightly. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"I want you to help me convince Josie to win."

"Like that's going to happen." Harper scoffed, walking away from Penelope to place the key back inside of the box, closing the drawer, and muttering a small spell to keep the drawer closed.

"If I try, she won't listen to me. But, she likes you, she'll listen to you if you put your input." Penelope told her. Harper froze for a second, and Penelope smirked.

"Josie doesn't like me." Harper denied. "Besides, if Hope is the new contestant or whatever, she's gonna want my help. Hope doesn't do shit like this."

"Harper, can I ask you something?" Harper hummed in response. "Why do you hate Miss Mystic Falls? I know why I do, but I never knew why you did." Harper looked at Penelope before her eyes fell on the chest for a split second before looking away and shaking her head. Penelope rose an eyebrow at the girl, her smirk seeming to widen.

"Listen, I'm going to go down and be Josie's escort. If you want to take my place, let me know, and it's all yours." Penelope stood up from where she had sat on Harper's bed. "I know you care about her just as much as I do, she deserves this. All I'm asking is for you to help me convince her that that fact is true." Harper looked at the girl one more time before watching Penelope walk out, Harper closing her eyes as a sigh fell from her lips.

Later that day, Harper found herself walking through the woods, the wind ruffling her hair as she took long strides. Nature always seemed to calm her down. She didn't even know why she was so riled up. Sure, she used to be a pageant girl, but she didn't mind it so much, not until she had gotten older and her father had become more harsh. Harper looked up at the sound of footsteps, cocking her head slightly when she saw a dark skinned girl with colorful braids, making her way towards her.

"Looked like you could use the company."

"Oh, uh, I'm alright. Just letting my thoughts roam." Harper told her. She furrowed her eyebrows. "I-I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Nia." The girl smiled.

"Harper." Harper smiled back. "What brings you here? The pageant I suppose?"

"That, and something else." Harper rose an eyebrow. "Where is Landon Kirby?" Harper watched with wide eyes as her hair turned into snakes like medusa. She opened her mouth, holding out her hand, ready to yell out an incantation before suddenly her world went black, and she had been turned to stone.

When she came back, a lot had happened. Josie found out that Penelope was leaving the school, and that Lizzie had kept that from her. Hope found out that the dress Lizzie had given her had been picked out by her father who had given it to Lizzie's mother. Hope also won Miss Mystic Falls. And Harper had a killer headache. The girl walked down the halls, stopping upon hearing Penelope and Josie talking. Penelope was actually leaving.

Harper listened, closing her eyes as she listened to Penelope tell Josie about the merge that her dad had written about with the pen Penelope had given to everyone on Christmas, having a book that recorded everything that everyone wrote down and handing it to Josie. She could hear the tears in Penelope's voice, and it broke her heart. She watched as the two exchanged a kiss goodbye, before Penelope told Josie that she loved her and walked away.

Josie stood there, tears in her eyes as she watched Penelope leave before she could feel someone looking at her. She turned her head and met Harper's eyes. Harper watched as tears filled Josie's eyes once more and the girl immediately made her way over to her, pulling Josie in her arms and holding her as she cried.

"It's okay," Harper whispered. "It's okay. I've got you."

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Her words were muffled in Harper's shoulder, but Harper understood them and nodded her head.

"Of course." Harper softly told her before pulling away, wiping the tears from Josie's cheek before grabbing her hand and leading her upstairs and into her room. After changing from her dress, Josie laid down with Harper beside her. Harper kissed Josie's temple. "Goodnight, Jo." Harper wrapped and arm around Josie's waist, and watched as the witch almost immediately fell asleep before Harper even had the time to cut the lights off.

That's when she found herself frowning before carefully sitting up and reaching over Josie to grab onto the letter that was placed on her night stand. She opened it with one hand before reading the words with a sad smile on her face. "Take care of her for me. ~P."

"You have my word." Harper softly whispered before hiding the note and then turning the lights off and pulling herself closer to Josie, promising herself that she was going to keep that promise to Penelope, no matter what it took.