Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me
But gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway
-Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway


"Elena, the pizza's here."

Elena Gilbert threw the acceptance letter to Hunter College back into her drawer. Looking up she saw Jeremy standing in the doorway. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him a small smile. "I'll be right down, Jer."

He stuck his thumb up at her before he turned around and jogged back down the stairs, yelling at Alaric about some video game. When Elena was sure that he was back downstairs, she opened her drawer and took the acceptance letter out.

College was something Elena hadn't thought about since before her entire life flipped upside down. Thinking about college and what she wanted to do with her life never seemed to fit into her agenda of running from the various supernatural beings that seemed to chase her everywhere she went. Once she had started her senior year and slowly began to give up hope of ever finding Stefan, Elena focused on what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Soon she was keeping herself busy with college fairs, applications, essays, tests, and other senior activities.

Now here she was, staring at one of the many acceptance letters from the colleges that she applied to. The campus was located in Manhattan, so she would have to leave Mystic Falls and dorm. It was a decision she knew wouldn't make her friends and family happy, but she felt as if it was time to get away from Mystic Falls for a little bit.

"Elena hurry up or we'll eat this entire pizza pie by ourselves!" Alaric shouted up the stairs.

Elena put the acceptance letter back into her drawer again before walking out of her room. She walked down the stairs and into the dining room to take a seat at the table.

"What took you so long?" Alaric asked. As he asked, he cut a slice of pizza for her and placed it on her plate.

She smiled in gratitude and pulled the plate closer to her. "I was looking at some acceptance letters I was sent," she explained.

Jeremy looked at her, "Elena you haven't said anything about getting accepted to any colleges."

"But it's still great that you got in. We had no doubt that you would make it," Alaric gave her a smile, "What's the verdict, then? Where are you going?"

"I decided to go to Hunter to major in creative writing." Elena said as she looked down at her pizza. She took a small bite before putting it back on the plate.

"Hunter? But that's in New York," Jeremy said, "You're going to New York?"

Elena nodded.

Her old history teacher/guardian cleared his throat, "Wow. That's a pretty big decision but if that's what you want, then go for it."

"I just think it's time to leave Mystic Falls for a little," Elena looked between Alaric and Jeremy, "I know it's been a quiet year here, but I need to get out there and see other things. It's not like Stefan's coming back. Nothing is holding me back."

A moment of silence passed between the three. Jeremy ended it by leaning over the table and taking his hand in hers, "I think you should go. You deserve this, Elena. Don't let anything hold you back."

Elena gave him a smile and squeezed his hand, "Thank you, Jeremy. I'll be back here for holidays, maybe even sometimes on the weekends. I'm not going to disappear off the face of the Earth."

Alaric gave her another smile, "Your Aunt would be so proud of you."

She nodded and her eyes watered at the mention of her Aunt Jenna. She could only imagine her reaction if she were here. The thought made her laugh. "I will not cry," she told herself, "Let's eat."

They finished dinner talking about various things, mainly Elena's decision to go to New York for college. After dinner was over, Elena jogged back upstairs to grab her bag. When she went back downstairs, Jeremy asked where she was going.

"I'm going to Caroline's for movie night. I would tell you to come along, but tonight's choice is a chick flick."

"I'll pass. Ric and I are going to stay here and do manly things."

Elena laughed at her little brother, "Have fun with that. I'll see you guys later."

She walked out of her house and over to her car. Soon she was driving over to Caroline's. During the car ride, she wondered how she would break the news to her two friends and then another person floated into her mind.

Damon Salvatore.

She couldn't help but wonder how he would react to the news of her leaving Mystic Falls. Would he be happy? Would he be mad? Would he be sad? Would he insist on following her? Elena didn't know. He would be the hardest to telling her opinion and she didn't look forward to it.

Elena parked outside of Caroline's house behind Bonnie. Because she thought of how she would tell Damon she was going to Manhattan, she hadn't thought of how she would tell Bonnie and Caroline. As she rang the doorbell and waited for one of them to answer, Elena decided to wing it.

"Hello Ms. Gilbert!" Caroline shouted with a smile. She pulled Elena into her house and closed the door behind her, already in overdrive for the night's events, "Bonnie brought over all of the food so we don't have to worry about anything! Tyler will not be coming over and neither will Jeremy or Damon. This is strictly an all girl's night!"

"Caroline why would Damon be here anyway?" Elena asked.

"Because when isn't Damon at an event that you're at?" The blonde vampire smiled at her friend.

Elena sighed, but decided to ignore the comment made and ask about Bonnie, "Where is she anyway?"

"In the kitchen!"

Elena and Caroline walked into the kitchen where Bonnie was pouring chips into individual bowls. The witch stopped to hug her friend quickly with a smile, "Hey Elena."

Elena took a chip from the bowl and tossed it into her mouth, chewing quickly. "What chick flick will we be watching tonight?" she asked.

Caroline picked up a DVD case off of the counter and held it in front of her face.

"Love and Other Drugs," Elena read, "Excellent choice."

"That's what I said," Bonnie smiled, "Jake Gyllenhaal is naked for almost the entire movie. It's great!"

The three girls laughed but Elena stopped. She knew she had to tell them she was leaving next week for college. It was something that had to be done. She cleared her throat before beginning, "Guys I have something to tell you before we out the movie on."

Bonnie and Caroline looked at their friend in concern.

"Is everything okay?" Caroline asked.

"Everything is great!" Elena exclaimed, "Nothing has tried to kill me in the past year. We made it through senior year without anything happening. I got accepted into Hunter College in Manhattan."

"Holy shit. Elena that's great!" Bonnie smiled at her friend, "Are you going to go?"

Elena nodded, "Yeah, I am. It's a great school and I think it would be good to get out of Mystic Falls."

Caroline frowned, "You're leaving us?"

"She's not leaving us, Caroline. She'll be back for holidays. Right?" Bonnie looked at Elena for confirmation on that.

"Yes. I will definitely be back here for every single holiday. Not only that but I'll try and make it during the weekends here and there, and you both can come up to visit me during the weekends anytime you want." She offered Caroline a comforting smile.

"Well…it's not the worst thing that could happen. You could be going to college in a different country. We all can't stay in Mystic Falls forever." Caroline said, "Have you told Damon?"

Elena shook her head.

Bonnie bit her lower lip when Elena shook her head. "He's not going to be happy, Elena," she said.

"He'll deal with it. I can't stay in Mystic Falls forever. I need to get out of this town. I love it here, this is my home, but it gets to be too much," Elena shook her head, "Enough of this talk. Let's go eat all of this awesome junk food and watch Jake Gyllenhaal run around on screen naked."

Caroline and Bonnie laughed, agreeing with their friend. Each of them took two bowls of chips and candy each, Caroline carrying the movie, and walked into the living room to start their movie night. Elena would worry about telling Damon tomorrow. For the night, she was going to enjoy herself like she should have been doing.


Hello! This is my new fan fiction and I really hope you all enjoy it. Chapters will be posted weekly, unless something happens. I'd appreciate it if you left a review letting me know what you thought of the chapter. :)