Liza groaned as she slammed her fist down on the off button of her alarm. Mornings were never her strong point and it being the first day of junior year, didn't help.
Liza trudged to her bathroom so she could sort out herself. Her dark chocolate hair stood out against her pale skin. Liza mostly stayed indoors this past summer and when she did go out, she turned a lovely shade of undercooked chicken pink forcing her to apply lots of sunscreen. She applied some concealer to even out her skin then, added some mascara and eyeliner to bring out her steel grey eyes. Her mother used to joke that Liza's eyes could see into people's souls and find out their darkest secrets. It sounds creepy, but Liza liked it.
Liza made her way to her closet and picked out a lose black tank top, some dark skinny jeans and hunter green converse. Then, she made her way down the stairs and couldn't help the pang in her heart. When she was a little girl, she would always wake up to the smell of her mother cooking breakfast. French toast, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, her mom outdid herself every morning.
But the breakfasts stopped when her mom committed suicide when she was 9. What scared Liza was she knew it was coming. A few months before she died, Liza somehow saw her mother take the pills in bed. Liza was to young to understand and thought it was just a dream where her mom was sick so she took some pills to feel better. It wasn't until she woke up to find her mother dead in bed when she realized what it really was.
She pushed away the memory as she grabbed her bag, a granola bar, some coffee and got in her car and drove to school.
She arrived at school as the bell rang and headed to her first class, History with Tanner. Ugh. Liza took her usual spot at the back of the class, away from others, in private. Liza preferred to be alone and everyone preferred to leave her alone. She was kind of a loner but she liked it that way.
The bell rang, signalling to the student body to quit with the socializing and get to class. Students came in when Liza felt weird. Bad weird. There was something different about the class. Everyone took their seats when Liza figured it out. There was a new kid that sat in front of her. But it wasn't just that. He felt different. He gave off a weird vibe that made Liza weak and a little sad. He felt like death. The guy turned around.
"Hi I'm Stefan. Do you have a pen I could use?" He asked. Not wanting him to focus on her for much longer, she grabbed one from her bag and handed it to him. Their fingers brushed as she passed the pen when the vision hit in short flashes. Liza saw Stefan throwing a football to another boy, older than Stefan. They were dressed like they were in the Founders' parade. Then it quickly shifted to darkness. There was blood and screaming. Then Liza dropped the pen. She felt her face instantly pale.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked after he picked up the pen. "Yeah, probably just ate something funky this morning." Liza shook him off.
Stefan turned around after she said that. He knew she lied from the skip of her heart beat. She must be a witch he thought. He knew he needed to talk with her soon, to make sure she won't try to stake him in his sleep.
Liza kept her head down for the rest of the day. After that weird whatever that was with new kid Stefan, she had no desire to grab any attention. At least no more than usual which was none at all.
Liza rushed to her car after class and drove home. Once she arrived to her house, she dropped her bag, tore off her shoes and headed to the kitchen to make some tea. As the water boiled she absorbed the quiet that is her home when the doorbell rang.
Curious, Liza switched off the element and headed to the door. She didn't think the doorbell even worked anymore since no one comes around to ring it anymore. She opened the door to reveal Stefan.
"Hi Stefan." She said, not quite sure as to why he was there. "Hey there Liza, do you mind if I can come in and talk for a minute?" He asked. "I don't know you and quite frankly you make me uncomfortable so no." Liza responded with a blank face, void of emotion. She saw knew what she saw was not normal and didn't want to stick around with this kid for much longer.
"Please if I could just explain myself-" He started but was cut off as Liza closed the door. She knew it was rude but she she had to look out for herself. She went back to the kitchen and poured the hot water in the pot and put a teabag in to steep when the knocking started. He kept knocking until Liza was fed up.
"What do you want?" Liza demanded. This guy was really getting on her nerves.
"Please, can we talk for a minute? Five minutes tops." He pleaded. "We can talk outside on the swing." He added while nodding to the porch swing. Liza knew her wouldn't leave until they talked. "Fine. Want some tea?" Liza offered. "Yes please." He replied. Liza disappeared and brought out two cups of tea to the swing where Stefan sat.
"Thank you." He accepted the tea where they sat in silence for a minute.
"Do you know what I am?" He asked.
"Do you know what I am?" Liza replied. The two had a little stare down after that.
"You give me a weird feeling." Liza answered, not breaking eye contact and not wanting to reveal to much.
"I think I might have an idea what you are." Stefan answered, also not saying much. He's good.
"You first." Liza said not trusting him. Stefan gave a dry laugh from her stubbornness.
"Your a witch right?" He said. Liza quirked an eyebrow from that. "A witch?" "Yes." He said. Liza could tell he was honestly thought she was one. But after years of wondering what happened all those years ago and having the occasional visions, flashes and feelings, Liza knew what she was after using the magic that is google and common sense. And she wasn't a witch, she's a psychic.
"Close." Liza said then took a sip of tea. Stefan's face contorted into one of confusion.
"What are you then?" He asked. "You first." Liza repeated. Stefan sighed before answering. "I'm a vampire."
That took Liza slightly aback. Didn't see that coming she thought. "Ok."
"That's it? No vampires aren't real or grabbing the nearest number 2 pencil?" He asked skeptically.
"You are what you are. And you haven't taken a chunk out of my neck yet so that's a plus." She answered. She knew she had to play her cards right with this guy. He was dangerous no matter how nice he seemed.
"I don't drink human. I drink animal blood." Liza could tell there was a story behind it but she didn't press. "Now it's your turn." He said. "Just to be clear, your not going to go all Dracula on me and drain me till I'm a shrivelled prune right?" Liza clarified. "I promise." He said with a reassuring smile.
"I'm psychic.". She said. Liza waited for some kind of reaction. For him to call her crazy or fake. Then again he was a vampire who's probably lived longer than the founders of Mystic Falls. But he didn't. He just nodded and said, "I've never met a psychic." They sat in a semi comfortable silence for a bit. "You won't tell anyone, right?" Liza asked. "Only if you won't" Stefan replied.