Six year old Caroline sniffed and wiped away a tear with the sleeve of her pink satin dress. Her eyes were sore from rubbing them so much and her nose was running terribly.
Today is my birthday party, she thought. It's supposed to be fun because it's my day. I was supposed to be a fairytale princess!
She sighed and sniffed again. Her eyelashes felt wet and sticky against her cheeks.
Why won't the other kids let me play with them? She wondered.
Caroline's eyes had been bothering her, refusing to let her see certain distances. She didn't understand why. Mommy said it was because she was a special little girl, but Caroline was beginning to wonder if being special was a good thing after all.
Mommy had gotten her a pair of bright pink glasses that were supposed to fix her eyes. But the boys and girls at her birthday party laughed and called Caroline mean names when they saw her glasses.
"You look like a clown!" Tyler Lockwood had shouted. All the kids at her party laughed along with him.
I wish Bonnie could have been here, Caroline thought sadly. She would've told them to shut up!
Bonnie, one of Caroline's best friends, had a piano lesson today. She couldn't skip it because she had a recital coming up soon.
Elena, Caroline's other best friend, was on a vacation with her family.
Elena had sent Caroline a pretty birthday card all the way from Florida. "That's like across the entire world!" Caroline had told her mother with excitement when she received the card.
But now, as the other kids continued to make fun of her glasses, she no longer felt excited.
Caroline had run quickly to the woods behind her house and climbed into her favorite tree. She wouldn't let those mean kids see her cry.
Caroline looked up at the tree as she climbed. Daddy had nailed boards to the tree's trunk and built a little playhouse in its biggest branches. He and Caroline had spent a whole two days painting it to look like a castle fit for royalty. It made her feel like a princess in a tall tower.
Caroline sighed and adjusted the pink tiara that sat upon her head. Mommy had searched at all the toy stores for one that matched her new glasses. But she didn't feel like a princess at all as she looked at the hole she had torn in her white pantyhose. She noticed a bad scuff on the top of her Cinderella slippers.
Caroline groaned in frustration.
I can't even look like a princess now! She thought angrily, feeling more tears slide down her cheeks. This is the worst birthday I've ever had!
"Care?" a calm voice called out.
Caroline's blurry eyes looked up at the sound of that familiar nickname.
"Yeah," she croaked, realizing how sore her throat was from crying.
The familiar head of dark brown hair that stuck up in all directions appeared at the top of the wooden ladder. Caroline already began to feel calmer as his forest green eyes found hers, followed by a reassuring smile.
"Hi," Caroline whispered in a broken voice.
"Hey," twelve-year-old Stefan replied, pulling himself into the tree house. He sat down by Caroline, letting his legs hang over the open wall just as she was. He looked at her with a patient smile.
Caroline sniffed.
"They laughed at me," she said simply.
Stefan shrugged.
"Just ignore them. I can even help you," he reassured her.
"They called me names," Caroline stated in the same saddened voice.
Stefan scoffed. "Because they're jealous of your awesomeness, duh!"
Caroline giggled and Stefan did as well.
"Now there's the famous Caroline-Forbes-smile!" Stefan said happily.
Caroline tried to hide her grin from him. Stefan always found a way to cheer her up.
"I think they're ready to cut your birthday cake," Stefan said. "It's even your favorite – ice cream cake with extra icing and whipped cream!" He groaned and rubbed his stomach in anticipation. "Care, you'd better come and get some before I eat it all," he told her with a grin, about to stand up.
However, Caroline's quiet whimper caused him to stop. He gazed at her, immediately sitting down again.
"Come here," he murmured softly, wrapping one of his strong arms around her shoulder and the other around her stomach. Stefan squeezed her tightly and Caroline instantly hugged him back, sighing as she felt her tears beginning to recede.
The pair sat in the comfort of each other's arms for several minutes. They didn't need to say anything. Caroline knew Stefan was there for her. He would always be there for her.
"Seriously, though, Care. I'm going to die of starvation if we don't go and eat some ice cream cake right now," Stefan said in a mockingly serious tone.
Caroline laughed and Stefan smiled at the sound of it.
"I will!" he insisted. "In fact…" he slowly turned towards her, his eyes narrowing as he gave her a creepy blank stare. "I might even turn into a zombie! Grr!"
Caroline shrieked in surprise as he jumped at her, groaning like a zombie. She laughed hysterically, climbing quickly out of the tree and landing on her feet with a soft thud.
Stefan, who purposely screamed like a girl as he pretended to fall from the tree house in a comical manner, stalked towards her with an over exaggerated zombie limp, groaning the entire way. She laughed as he caught up to her and grabbed her wrist, pretending to gnaw on her skin.
"Caroline, come get some cake!" her mommy called for her.
Caroline sighed and squinted at her mommy, her eyes having a difficult time focusing.
"Here," she heard Stefan say as he kneeled in front of her, blocking everyone's view of Caroline. He gently slipped her pink glasses onto her face, smiling at her as he pushed them higher onto Caroline's nose with his index finger.
"Thanks, Stefan," she said, giving him a grateful smile.
"You're very welcome," he said, smiling gently. "Now let's go and get ourselves some cake before I turn into another monster." He smirked, his eyes glinting mischievously.
"And this time, I might even be…" he paused, looking at Caroline's wide eyes, "a vampire!" he yelled, baring his teeth at her and hissing comically.
"Ahh!" Caroline shrieked, running away with laughter as he chased her towards the cake.
"Come back to me, my dear!" he yelled in Dracula's accent. "I only want a little taste!"
Yeah, I admit, that was cheesy. It as just a random drabble I decided to write.