hi everyone, so this is my first fanfiction - i know this is long but i need to get what i had out so i know whether to carry on, please review and let me know whether to keep writing...
Everything had begun to settle down in Elena's life, she was starting to feel normal again like she lived the average life of any other teenagers. Granted she had her problems but so did everyone else. 6 months ago Matt Evans had moved away with his family after his dad got a new job that required the family to trek the width of the country. Hundreds of miles from all of his friends, matt hated it but he had to do it for his family. Although she didn't show it sometimes, Jenna new that Elena was still crushed in side and missed Matt more than anything.
Elena, Matt and Jenna had been through everything together, they were the inseparable trio. Of course they had other friends, Jenna was already favourite to be voted student body president, matt was the most popular boy in school and as for Elena, well she was different, she never had liked being centre of attention it wasn't that she disliked the fact that Matt and Jenna were she just liked to keep herself to herself and not share her life with every other member of the school, although sometimes she didn't have a choice, she often got a lot of attention anyway because every girl in the school was jealous of her they would have killed to be in the position she was in, finally dating Matt was one thing but the fact that everyone knew they were both insanely inlove was another reason.
Neither of them knew how the other felt because they tended to avoid the subject, they shared everything else except this. The pair had known each other since they were 9 years old and had been so close ever since, they were each other's first in every way, they knew endless amount about each other lives and their families, it was almost too good to be true.
When the end of school year dance came around, Elena and Jenna spent endless nights picking out dresses and testing out different hair styles. Jenna had convinced Elena to tell Matt how she felt about him. Elena was well aware he was supposed to be leaving in 2 weeks put from Elena point of view it was an excuse to try and make him stay; she figured they still had plenty of time to come up with a plan. On the night of the dance, Matt arrived at Elena's door in a classic black and white tux, Elena's brother Tyler opened the door and invited matt to wait inside while Elena finished getting ready. A short while later she came down the stairs in a long elegant white dress with a number of silver diamantes surrounding the middle of the dress.
Matt looked up and gazed at her in amazement, she looked so beautiful. Matt placed the corsage he had bought her onto her wrist before escorting her to the car. The night was going so smoothly, it was approaching 11.30; the slow song requested by Jenna was Elena's signal to go for it. Matt invited Elena to the dance floor, they danced in a comfortable silence for a minute before Matt leant in to Elena placing a soft kiss on her lips, Elena couldn't resist so she grabbed the back of his neck pulling him closer, matt held tightly to Elena hips and the kiss became much more passionate, before long they had to take a breath. Gazing into each other's eyes Elena saw her chance, unfortunately so did matt. In unison the words ' I have to tell you something' came out of them both. Elena stood hesitant for a minute, maybe he was going to say the same thing, she thought. 'You go first 'she told him.
Matt's eyes started to well up, Elena was unsure of what was going on. 'look I have to tell you something but I want you to know this is the hardest thing I have ever had to say to anyone' without giving Elena chance to think he continued, ' when I told you I had two weeks before I had to leave, I lied. I thought maybe there was a chance my dad would change his mind or something and I couldn't bear the thought of actually leaving you. But now… its actually happening and we leave in the morning.' At those words Elena couldn't help but let her tears stream, it was like her whole world had just been turned upside down and there was nothing she could do about it. 'but, but you said , you said we had plenty of time yet?' matt stared into her eyes, he couldn't believe the pain he felt hearing her try to get her words out. 'I know I said that but I didn't want to ruin or final days together you have to understand Elena!'
It took Elena a second to take it all in before she replied 'ruin them! You had me planning days you knew we would never have.' Matt knew what her had done was wrong and he should have told her but he did have Elenas feelings at heart. ' Elena I didn't want our last days to be different because of it, I didn't want you to change around me I just wanted to be like we have been for the time we have been together.' 'well it's okay, nothing will change Matt, loads of people do the long distance thing, if you won't stay here doesn't mean I will lose you for good.' Of course the song they had originally been dancing to had finished by this point, Matt and Elena were now sat on the seats set out around the edge of the dance floor.
' Elena I won't let you do that for me, the whole long distance relationship thing never works and it isn't fair to must get on with your life without me , I am just at the other end of the email so you can tell me about your days, but a relationship , it just wouldn't work I'm sorry' now matt knew he was wrong- this was by far the most difficult thing he had ever had to say because though they were his own words he didn't mean them, he wanted to be with her forever but he knew that would hold her back to much when they were thousands of miles apart. 'Matt I won't let you do this' and then those three words came… 'Matt , I love you!' Elena could tell that matt wasn't in the position to change his mind, he was doing what was best for Elena and his family, but when she said those three words he felt his heart shatter into tiny pieces. ' Elena you know I love you, I love you more than anything in this world and you will always be the one for me but I have to do this, you have to let me go.' Without a word more from either of them Matt was gone.
That was 6 months ago. Since then they had exchanged emails once or twice a week, anything more was just too hard for either of them.
And then school came around again .Elena was getting ready as she does every morning and like every morning she heard a knock at the door dead on 8.30, it was Jenna here with her ride. They were both wearing jeans and a long sleeved v neck t-shirt, but Elena's was light blue and Jenna's was a reddy colour. Elena grabbed a bagel on her way out of the door. 'so how are you feeling this morning?' Jenna asked Elena genuinely unsure of the answer she would give this time. Elena looked at her with a sort of I'm fine look on her face, Elena knew Jenna wasn't satisfied with that answer. ' look I'm fine , anyway it's the start of the new year, yes it's going to be strange and sad starting the new year without matt but I am starting to come to terms with it and I will be okay I just need something to happen that will take my mind off it'.
Jenna knew that look, Elena was not fine! As they approached Douglas high Elena could see their group of friends all stood round the trees out the front. 'Yay everyone is there' she thought to herself almost sarcastically. Elena and Jenna and well Matt were the centre of the group, and the closest out of everyone, then there was the other girls Bonnie Forbes who was a good friend but known as the more outside one, and had a reputation for going behind the back of her friends, and there was Annie parker who was just nice to everyone, she was dating Clay Scott, who was also a member of the group but Elena knew that was just because he was going out with Annie, clay was quite a nice good looking guy but he was a little bit of a nerd which lost him a bit of popularity, they were really good together though and he treat her like a princess so Elena didn't mind.
This group, this year without matt was a whole new thing for Elena, she didn't even feel like she fit in anymore. Elena walked straight up to the group and straight past them, she just couldn't deal with it. 'Wait, Elena stop, what's wrong' Jenna shouted chasing behind her. Elena was hesitant to reply. 'I'm sorry Jenna I just can't do it, I thought I could but being with this group just makes me wish for matt even more. I'm just going to try and avoid everything today, I'll call you later.' Without a second to respond Elena was gone and Jenna was left out the front of school on her own as the bell rang.
Everyone around school was showing off their new clothes and making use of their new bags; Christmas had just been. It was a really difficult time for Elena, it was a time she spent days on end shopping, wrapping, cooking and just enjoying the festive season with Matt and Jenna so this year just wasn't the same. It was the start of a new semester at Douglas High, the classes changed, students picked up new subjects. As far as Elena saw it, a chance to start over, she planned to put Matt in the past along with the whole idea of letting herself get too emotionally involved with guys in general. Elena passed the reception to pick up her new timetable.
She had dropped her art lessons and picked up history instead; alongside English and business studies which were her favourite, Elena had always wanted to be an author, she wasn't sure she was very good at it, but from a young age she loved reading books and digging into the plots of TV shows. Elena kept her head down to avoid any interaction with people in the corridor, she told everyone she was fine but it was common knowledge that it would take more than a semester at school and a winter break to get over Matt Evans.
Elena's new timetable sent her to her first lesson of modern history. She knew she was way behind already but the good thing about a broken heart was that she spent days on end in her room alone so she was already in the process of catching up on everything she had missed. She handed her class transfer form to Mr Darby who gave her the nod of approval and pointed her to the free seat in the class room. The whole class was already seated and staring at Elena as she took her place at her desk.
The thing about Douglas High was that it was a big school, Elena barely knew the names of a third of the people in her class yet she had been at the school there for what seemed like forever, it just showed how little students at the school ventured outside of their own social groups. Mr Darby announced the new topics would come within European history, something Elena was quite interested in, her dad had always been a big influence in her life and there was barely a day that went by when he didn't refer one of his stories back to the history of Britain or Germany or somewhere else in that continent, weirdly Elena became quite attentive to his facts so it only made her smile more when Mr Darby announced that they would begin with Nazi Germany, Elena knew who would help her with this topics homework!
10 minutes of the lesson had passed, that time had been filled mainly with administrative work, the register was taken, new text books and folders were handed out. At 9.15 came the part of the period that everyone knew was inevitable, some people dreaded it, others were more excited. At the start of every new semester a lot of subjects started the new extra credit projects, a long piece of research carried out and presented in small groups around a topic agreed within the group. Being new to the class and not really knowing anyone Elena fell into the category for dreading this arrangement. Mr Darby began to suggest ways in which the class would be broken down, often throwing in the odd joke suggestion in attempt to get the class to laugh being the comedian that he was. Finally a choice was made and the groups would be picked out at random, well sort of. Half of the class would write their name down on a piece of paper, the other half of the class would pick a name out so that everyone was in a pair. Then Mr Darby would put 2 pairs together to form groups of 4, he had to have some input just to make sure the groups were fairly equal ability wise.
Elena wrote her name down and placed it in the hat with reluctance, she was surprisingly nervous for such a small issue. She watched the group pass the hat around; it was the cap off the head of Chris Turner, his name she did know. Chris had been on the football team with matt before he left, Elena had never had the best feeling about Chris but Matt saw little problem with him so it wasn't a worry for Elena. The class laughed as Chris and the boy sat next to him made sarcastic comments about the assignment and who they would be in a group with, Elena didn't like this, singling people out and having the class laugh at them just because it was a jock saying it, Matt was never like that, it was almost like Elena hadn't seen this side of the football players before. Before long everyone's name was in and it was time for the other half to pick.
The first one to pick was in fact Chris, he picked out the shy girl in sat in front of Elena, surprisingly there was little said about this. The hat was passed round; three more people picked someone out, three people Elena didn't know. She didn't even want to watch the draw anymore she didn't know the names of anyone left to pick, so Elena put her head down on her arms. Before long she heard it; 'Elena Gilbert' everyone turned around and looked at her, she might not have known the people in her class but they certainly knew her. Elena looked around from where the voice had come from. He was sat in the back corner against the wall, messy browny blonde hair gelled slightly at the front, Elena wondered how she had missed him when she had come in. He was quite an attractive guy and Elena knew this instantly, smiling inside but remaining calm on the outside, Elena looked over to him and nodded in acknowledgement before the hat was passed on. After half of the lesson had gone everyone was on groups, Elena and her partner had been paired with Chris Turner and the shy girl much to Elena's dismay though she didn't give it much thought.
She found herself more interested in her initial partner. The rest of the lesson was given to allow the groups to get to know each other and decide on a topic. Elena's group squeezed around one table in silence for a short time, before Chris broke the ice. 'hey guys I'm Chris,' were his words . Elena introduced herself next. Followed by the shy girl who announced herself Summer. Finally came the mystery guy. 'hi everyone, my name is Stefan and I really hope you are going to take this seriously because I really need to keep my grades up this semester.' Chris laughed in his face but all Elena could think about was the fact he was a bit of a nerd, it just made her like him a little bit more and she didn't know why.
No decision was made on the topic of the project though a few ideas were thrown around. Indian independence from britian, communism in Russia, the presidential history of the US among others but instead of rushing it they decided to take the night to think about it. As Mr Darby began to conclude the lesson, everyone in Elena's group exchanged email addresses, the group seemed too shy to exchange phone numbers at this point but at least this way they could set up a group email to share ideas. Classed was dismissed and surprisingly enough Elena felt 10 times better than she had at the start of the day, the only reason she could match with this burst of motivation was the addition of Stefan Poynter into her life. The sudden feelings she felt for this boy scared her, only 1 hour prior to this set of events she had promised herself she would stay away from guys. No matter what new feelings might develop in the back of her mind it would always be Matt at least that is what she had always thought.
Lunch time couldn't come quick enough, after history the rest of the morning had been a complete blag for Elena but luckily her new timetable meant that her Monday finished at lunch time so she rushed out of business searching for Jenna in the process, after leaving her so suddenly that morning Elena did feel a little harsh and that maybe her reaction to seeing the group was a little over exaggerated. Jenna was just leaving her art classroom when Elena found her, Jenna's striking curly auburn hair was hard to miss, Elena was jealous of Jenna's hair and her eyes and well everything about her, she was unique and beautiful no wonder she was one of the most popular girls in school.
Jenna wasn't smiling when she left the classroom; Elena knew she was probably all alone in her lesson too. They had been art partners until Elena had dropped it, she knew Jenna understood why she did it but it didn't stop Elena feeling terrible about it. 'Hi Jenna , how was it without me?' Elena asked with a hint of humour. Neither one of them managed to stay upset when they were around each other so Jenna's frown quickly switched round. 'it was brilliant, I was able to get on with my work unlike before the winter break' she replied sarcastically because they both knew that work wasn't that important to Jenna. They both laughed it off. Elena decided not to mention how she had acted earlier on, she didn't want to bring it all up and talk about it again so she just let it go.
'So how was history, meet any hot guys?' Jenna asked. 'Actually now you mention it there was one who grabbed my attention, his name was Stefan' Jenna laughed at Elena leaving Elena completely confused. 'You mean Stefan Poynter?' Jenna replied still giggling slightly. 'Yeah, do you know him?' Elena asked hesitantly clearly feeling like she was missing out on some important information. ' you do realise he is within out group of friends, he sits with us like every lunch, friends with clay I think and I'm pretty sure he knows who you are!' Elena was totally embarrassed, how could she not know someone or at least recognise someone she was around every day, maybe her drama with matt had made her block more things out than she had thought? One thing she knew for sure was that she couldn't just avoid the whole group so this was sure to get interesting….
So yeah what is in store for Stefan and Elena, let me know what you think and whether or not to carry on, I would love any reviews- ideas and tips would be great. Thanks for reading!