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"She's perfect," Klaus agreed. "Like her mom." Look After You, Chapter 33

School's Out

"Hope, let's go!" Jackson called as he went back up the stairs, heading for the hall.

After much debate, this was the year that they agreed their seven year old was to start school rather than be taught at home by Freya and Jade. As of yesterday, Hope had been thrilled. This morning though, Jackson couldn't seem to get her to move. It was just the two of them in the house as Jade had to go to the bar early that morning, the others having their own things to tend to as well.

"If we're late, your mom's gonna kill us both," he laughed, though part of him was a little serious as he pushed Hope's bedroom door open. He found her sitting on her bed with her knees curled up to her chest, book bag sitting on the floor. She was wearing a new purple dress that Jade had taken her shopping for, paired with black leggings that had silver stars all over them.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, trying to get her attention. "Come on, big day, first day of school!" She wasn't moved by his enthusiasm, with him picking her book bag up from the floor. "New friends, teachers that aren't your mom," he joked.

"I'm not going," Hope finally mumbled into her knees as she had her legs pulled up so tight against her.

"Not going?" Jackson repeated in questioning; Hope just shook her head. "Why's that?"

"I don't want to," Hope said simply, letting her legs go to sit cross legged on her bed.

"You're going to have to give me more that that sweetheart," Jackson informed her as he sat on the edge of her bed. "You were really excited yesterday," he reminded her and she just shrugged. "Hope," he insisted.

"Mom's bracelet makes me feel weird," Hope told him at first. She had been dying to start school, but part of the agreement for her to go was that she had to wear Jade's old silver bracelet that she wore to school; she at least got to make it her own by adding some brightly colored beads.

"It wasn't bothering you yesterday," Jackson pointed out, clearly not believing her. He knew his daughter, and just like her mom, he knew when she was full of it. She looked up from the bracelet to lock eyes with her dad, with him raising his eyebrows as he waited for her to start.

"Everyone is going to think I'm a freak," Hope complained now. New Orleans was different than Mystic Falls, more people were in the know about the supernatural. That meant that more of the kids at school were going to know what she was, even though most of them weren't anything themselves.

"No one is going to think that Hope," Jackson told her.

"Dad," Hope said seriously, giving him a look.

"You know who used to feel like that?" Jackson asked her now. "Your mom." Hope wasn't convinced. "Do you think your mom is a freak?"

"...no," Hope admitted.

"Then, neither are you," he told her simply as he got up from her bed, kissing her head. "You're going to make a ton of friends Hope. But," he held out her book bag for her to take. "You actually have to get to school first."

"Ok," Hope agreed with him, sliding off her bed and taking the bag from him.

"Hey," Aiden greeted Jackson that afternoon as he got to the house. While he had turned years ago in order to stay with Josh they were making things even more official this weekend with a wedding, which Jade was helping plan. "Jade around?"

"Ah, she was at the bar," Jackson was telling him. Jade and Cami came into owning the bar shortly after Hope was born, with Cami turning soon after Aiden had about two years later. "But she went to pick up Hope from school."

"I didn't know if she talked to the florist yet," Aiden went on.

"I think that's what she was doing at the bar, so she could store them in the kitchen," Jackson said, noticing Jade coming into the house now with Hope. "Could ask her yourself," he nodded, then grinned at the girls. "There's my favorite girls," he said louder now. Already behind Hope, Jade was shaking her head wildly. "How was the first day of school?" he asked and by this point Jade was waving her arms too. Rather than answer Hope dropped her book bag at his feet before taking off running up the stairs by her grandfather who was now coming down them.

"How was sch-" Klaus started to ask but this time Hope screamed before running into her room and slamming the door shut. "Mmmm, takes after her mother with the door," he said as he joined the others.

"Ha-ha," Jade said sarcastically before turning to Jackson. "And was this," she said to him now, waving her arms and shaking her head again. "Too subtle for you?"

"What happened?" Jackson asked worriedly.

"No one would sit with her at lunch, or play with her at recess," Jade sighed. "And I guess when they got back for class in the afternoon all the kids left her table and crammed around other ones."

"Oh my God," Jackson groaned, his head falling back.

"The teacher didn't do anything?" Klaus was asking now.

"She didn't want to force the other students into a situation that they weren't comfortable with," Jade quoted, rolling her eyes. "You, ah, also might get a call from her."

"Why would I..." Jackson started to ask then he trailed off as he noticed Jade biting her lip. "...what did you do?"

"Ah, I see it's the Katie Forbes incident all over again," Klaus commented, getting another look from his daughter; she noticed Jackson's questioning look.

"I broke her nose when I was a little older than Hope," Jade told him before he could ask.

"Can I talk to you?" Jackson said to Jade seriously. She knew what he wanted to talk about, so she wasn't overly eager to oblige him. Part of the debate on whether or not to let Hope go to school was where exactly this school should be.

"I'm gonna go check on our flower girl," Aiden said, heading to check in on Hope; Klaus excused himself to go meet up with Cami.

"So, what you're telling me is that even if Hope wanted to try going back to school we're probably not welcome there anyway?" Jackson was asking Jade now.

"Don't make me the jerk here Jack," Jade said defensively.

"I'm not," Jackson insisted. "But we talked about this, with her going to school. We knew it was going to be hard-"

"She can stay home with Freya and me for another year," Jade told him.

"I don't think that's what she needs," Jackson told her, finally getting around to his point, knowing Jade wasn't crazy about it.

"Jackson," Jade was immediately shaking her head.

"She needs to be around kids that are more like her, she needs to be able to make friends," Jackson insisted, then motioned to her. "You can't tell me that wouldn't have been better for you. You remember how excited you were to move to New Orleans?" he reminded her.

"I was twenty-two, not seven," Jade reasoned.

"And she would be going to school, not working at a bar," Jackson reasoned back; Jade shook her head. "You won't even look at the school Jade," he told her. "I'm not crazy about sending her to Virginia either, but your mom and Theo are there. Matt's the sheriff there," he went on. "It's not like we're shipping her off to Switzerland or something."

"Jackson," Jade said as she was continuing to disagree but then she stopped as she heard something upstairs; it sounded like crying. She went upstairs quietly, followed closely by her husband who wasn't sure what was going on until they got outside of Hope's room.

"It was so bad Uncle Aiden," she was sobbing as she sat on her bed with Aiden kneeling in front of her.

"I'm sure it wasn't as bad as-"

"Everyone hates me!" she continued with a new round of tears. "I asked to sit with these girls at lunch and they laughed at me! And they all..." Hope couldn't finish as she broke off into more crying. Jade had never seen her daughter like this before and it crushed her.

"I'm sorry that happened," Aiden was saying sadly. "You know, Uncle Josh and I have a lot of stuff to do for the wedding this week. Maybe you could help us, then after a few days off school-"

"I don't want to go back!" she said, cutting him off. "Please...tell...my mom and dad..." She was sobbing and couldn't get the words out. Jade had had a hard time at school but she was never bullied that badly.

"Here, come here," Aiden said, pulling her off the bed and standing up so he could hold her. As he was doing this Jade and Jackson had let themselves in the room. Without a word he went over to take Hope from Aiden and she took to crying into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," he told her, kissing her head.

"Hope?" Jade said, getting her to look over at her as she sat on the edge of her bed. "Come here." Hope let her dad put her down, with him continuing to stand in front of them. "I heard what you were saying to Uncle Aiden."

"I'm sorry," Hope was saying. She knew what a big deal it was to let her go to school. The witches had their own private school and the werewolves were typically home schooled. Several went to the school in Mystic Falls but Jade had an issue with Hope being so far away. That was about to change though. "I don't want to go back mom, I-"

"I know baby," Jade assured her. "But, you have to go to school." Hope looked mortified. "You know where Grammy Kelly and Pop pop Theo live?" she asked now.

"...yeah," Hope nodded, not sure where she was going with this.

"Well," Jade said, taking a deep breath. "Daddy and I were talking. You know the special school Henry goes to?"

"Kind of," Hope nodded, knowing a few of the wolves sent their kids to a school somewhere else. She also heard her parents debating that school when they thought she was asleep.

"It's in the same town where they live with Uncle Matt," Jade explained. "So, we thought we could see them this week and then visit the sch-"

"I wanna go!" Hope cut her off excitedly. A school with people more like her, with kids she already knew? She never thought her mom would give in to send her there. "Please mom and dad? Please?" She had the same excitement she had just a few days ago about going to regular school.

"Just a visit," Jackson reminded her, also reassuring Jade. "We'll go this week, then come back for the wedding and talk about it. Deal?"

"Deal!" Hope grinned, hopping up to stand on her bed so she could kiss her dad's cheek. "Thanks daddy! Thanks mom!" she said, hugging her now.

"Get your bag ready," Jade told her though Hope was already digging it from her closet.

"It'll be fine," Jackson assured her in a low voice as they left the room, squeezing Jade's hand as they went.

Two days later they found themselves in Mystic Falls, visiting the Salvatore Boarding School. She knew all about the school, knew how it came to stand. It used to be an old boarding house, but the brothers that owned it decided to turn it into a school. The brothers, of course, were the vampires that had come to town all those years ago around the same time as Sage though they weren't nearly as troublesome. They started the school after Stefan married Caroline, her brother's ex, who through some crazy story her brother once told her came to have twin daughters who were witches and they were two years younger than Hope. Their father, Alaric, was the headmaster at the school and was currently talking to them about the school, the curriculum and the like. Really though he was talking more to Jackson as Jade kept spacing out, a knot in her stomach as she thought about sending their daughter away. That was when she spotted someone familiar.

"Hi Uncle Matt!" Hope waved eagerly from where she spotted him. She was on the playground with the other kids and she was having a blast.

"Hey Peanut!" he called back as he waved, stopping now to greet his brother in law and hug his sister.

"We missed you at mom's last night," Jade said as they got in the night before.

"You know how much fun those council meetings are," he said lightly. "And before you say anything, everything is fine. I just come up here every week to see if the school needs anything."

"It helps keep things running smoothly," Alaric agreed. "I'll give you all a second to talk," he said now, excusing himself.

"Go ahead," Jade told Matt, knowing he was on the list of people that were trying to convince her this was a good idea. If it wasn't Jackson, it was her mom; Theo had even politely offered his two cents.

"I'm literally 2 minutes down the road if she ever needed anything," Matt told her. "And so are mom and Theo." He shrugged now. "Not that this isn't the same town we grew up in."

"That doesn't entirely make me feel better," Jade joked. She knew all the places to sneak out, she knew all the places her sister used to get high. They weren't far from the falls area which is where she got drunk for the first time. Matt rolled his eyes at her, though he smiled.

"I gotta get back, just think about it ok?" he made her promise.

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off, watching him go. She went back to watching Hope on the playground, running with some other kids; Jackson shifted closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"...she looks really happy," Jade admitted. That was really all she wanted, though she still felt like she lost a little bit as her daughter was going to be so far away.

"Mhmm," Jackson nodded in agreement, squeezing her shoulders as he kissed her head. They were quiet a moment.

"If there is even a hint of trouble, I will be up here so fast, I-"

"And I'll be right behind you," Jackson assured her.

"Mmm, ok," Jade nodded, giving in. She had to tell Hope before she lost her nerve. "Hope!" she called to get her attention.

Hope was through the roof excited when her parents told her she could go to school there. She talked about it the whole way back to New Orleans and her joy showed through in huge smiles all through the wedding reception. Jade was watching Hope dance on her dad's feet when her own father came over to sit next to her.

"You're doing the right thing," he told her and she turned to give him a face.

"You literally followed me to New Orleans," she accused though she was laughing.

"Some might have said I hovered too much," he reminded her.

"I won't tell mom you admitted that," she laughed, taking the drink he offered her.

"It'll be all right sweetheart," he promised.

"Jack keeps telling me that too," she told him.

"Have we ever been wrong?" he asked and she shook her head. "Then trust us."

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