"…Elena. Elena? Elena!" Caroline slammed her locker to get her companion's attention away from the textbook she was currently reading furiously.
"Ahhh!" Elena screamed in alarm as she was suddenly and terrifyingly wrenched away from her studying. Her heavy textbook dropped to the floor with a thud. After everything that had happened this past week- between Stefan nearly driving her off Wickery Bridge and Klaus almost draining her yet again- her body was on constant alert and she'd instinctively gotten into her fighting position when she had heard the loud noise. When she gained her bearings, she groaned in embarrassment when she realized she was just in a typical high school hallway, with the nearest supernatural creature being her best friend. Not that Caroline wasn't looking pretty frightening herself- she had brought lesser men to their knees with the 'Are you kidding me right now?' glare she was presently sporting. The last time Elena had been on the receiving end of it had been in freshman year, when she had meekly stated she wouldn't be able to go to Caroline's fifteenth birthday party due to a last-minute family vacation. That had not ended well.
"I know, I know!" The brunette grumbled, getting down on her knees to pick up her mistreated textbook.
"Do you? Do you, Elena? Because this is the first time I've seen you study, and the test is on Friday! It's practically half our grade! Why not just ask Ric for some extra time or something? The guy practically lives at your house anyway!"
"No, no. Ric has done enough for Jeremy and me already, and will continue to do so. The last thing he needs is for him to get in trouble with the principal because he gave me special treatment. I just…. have to force myself to concentrate." With that, Elena flipped open the book again, stubbornly keeping her head down to read as she shuffled on to her next class with Caroline trailing worriedly behind her.
"Ugh! Who am I kidding? I can't concentrate!" Elena slammed down the book onto her kitchen counter with finality, burrowing her head into her hands, but then quickly flipped her head back up. "I've tried everything! Reading it, writing it, saying it out loud! But halfway through my mind starts to wander to everything that's going on so nothing sinks in right! I mean, I'm dealing with my boyfriend- or ex-boyfriend, I'm not even sure anymore- being off the rails and a crazy Original hybrid literally wanting blood for trying to kill him and for making more of his species! As if that's exactly what we need! So, excuse me if my brain doesn't exactly wanna immerse itself into the freakin' battles of the Civil War!" Her head went back to its previous position and only a whine was heard. "What am I gonna do…"
Caroline looked up from where she was painting her nails to sigh. "Well, maybe you just can't study this time by yourself. Maybe you need someone to sit with you and actually force you to listen."
The head still did not move. "Yeah, maybe, but who's gonna do that? Everybody has their own lives, Care. I can't just ask them to give up their own study time to help me."
Caroline huffed in impatience and frustration. "God, Elena, you can be so thick-headed sometimes! I see I'm going to have to spell this out for you." The blonde put her pointer finger to her lips in mock contemplation. "Gee, if only you had a freakin' Confederate soldier from 1864 in love with you! That would really come in handy, wouldn't it?"
This time the head slowly rose, but once it was, all Caroline could see was Elena's wide and- she knew from years of friendship- hesitant but contemplative eyes from what she herself had just insinuated. "I-I don't know, Care. I mean, he's probably busy enough what with trying to save my life and everything and-" Secretly, Elena was thinking about the kiss that she and Damon had on the porch. She had told him that it couldn't happen again, but being with him alone? For possibly hours? Not a good idea right now.
Caroline cut her off by putting a sparkly pink finger up. "And the man would do anything for you. You know it, he knows it, and Jeremy knows it." She paused to put her hand over her heart. "Even Bonnie and I know it. If anyone is going to help you, if you really want to, at the very least, pass this exam, then he's your best bet. Just… ask him."
Elena bit her lip, and then opened her mouth to respond, but before she could utter a word she was cut off by the sound of her phone vibrating in her purse.