Tears ran down Lizzie’s face as she tore through the kitchen, screaming. Excess magic rolled off her fingertips, shattering dishes and breaking glasses. Shards rained down around her, clattering to the floor, their sound masked by her sobs and screams. A cart clattered to the ground with her rage, knives spilling everywhere. 
Lizzie slowly levitated one into the air, flinging it at the door. It stuck in the wood with a satisfying sound, and Lizzie was already lifting the next one, slicing it through the air. She barely stopped it in time when the door opened.
Her anger dissipated into sadness when she saw her dad, eyes wide on the knife inches from his forehead. Her eyebrows pulled together over her teary eyes. 
“I lost,” she said quietly. 
Alaric smiled comfortingly. “Hey, it’s okay.” He stepped through the wreckage, shoes crushing glass beneath them, to give his daughter a hug. “We can work through it."
Lizzie closed the door to her dorm, still sniffling away the last of her tears. “I worked so hard on my campaign.” She moved the boxes of her plans and programs out of the way so they could sit cross-legged across from each other. “I had it all planned out. I don’t know how this happened.”
Alaric offered her the meditation bowl and she shook her head. “Sometimes things don’t go according to plan.”
Lizzie rolled her eyes miserably. “And sometimes you get sabotaged.”
“I have Emma looking into it.”
“She’s not gonna find anything!” Lizzie tossed her shoulders back. 
Alaric tapped the bowl, hoping the ringing would help soothe Lizzie’s annoyance. “Then there will be other extracurriculars to get involved in.”
“Like the chess club?” Lizzie scoffed. “No thanks. It’s not like this school has sports or a need for a cheerleading team. Honor Council was the only cool thing.”
“Sports?” Alaric perked up, ideas already formulating in his head. “I can make sports. You name it - just no Quidditch.”
“No, that’s not the point, Dad.” Lizzie was getting close to tears again. “The problem is that nobody takes me seriously here - or they think I don’t take them seriously. They all thought I would flake on my responsibilities as their representative no matter how hard I tried to change their minds.”
“What they think of you doesn’t change who you are.” Alaric’s eyebrows pulled together, and his words were gaining speed and volume with his increasing passion. “Teenagers are mean. They just -”
A knock cuts him off, and the door to Lizzie’s room slides open a crack.
Lizzie spies the face in the gap, face settling into a scowl. “Speaking of mean.”
“Sorry to interrupt -” Hope eyed the scene, “- your bedtime story? But there’s been an update. Of the … lizard … kind.”
“Give me a minute,” Alaric said pointedly, not budging. 
Hope closed the door. 
“You guys are speaking in code now?” Lizzie whined. 
“Because it’s nothing you need to worry about,” Alaric said gently. 
“Then why does Hope Mikaelson get to know?”
“Look. Do you want to talk about Hope or do you want to meditate?” Alaric asked, holding the bowl at the ready.
Lizzie curled her fingers around the edge of it. “I’d like to be alone.”
Alaric tried to hide his disappointment as he smiled and handed the bowl to her. “Deep breaths, remember.”
Alaric closed the door and narrowed his eyes at Hope. “You’re not going after it.” 
“I didn’t even say anything yet.” Hope scowled as she followed him down the hallway. 
“You didn’t have to. I know you. And it’s past curfew and on a school night -”
Hope couldn’t believe her ears. “It’s a dragon.”
“And I said no!” Alaric crossed his arms. “In the morning, I’ll have the Honor Council convene and decide how we want to deal with it as a school.”
“Then I want a seat on the council.” Hope crossed her own arms and raised her eyebrows. 
Alaric scoffed. “Elections closed yesterday.”
“Then give me a seat.” 
“That’s not how that works.”
“I’m a tribrid.” Hope protested. “The only one of my kind. Nobody can represent my interests but me.”
“Fine.” Alaric dropped his arms. “But you do nothing until tomorrow morning.”