I'm the most responsible girl that I know.
Never late, always on time for the show.
Ask anyone around me and they'll tell you how I am.
I try to tell the truth every chance that I get.
I never let the work I'm doing get to my head.
And when it came to love I thought I gave it the best I had.
But somewhere I missed, somewhere I slipped.
Somewhere there's a couple steps that I skipped.
Somehow I told myself I didn't need anyone.
But look at me now.
I was so busy telling everyone how good life is now that you're gone.
I was so happy being out on my own.
But why do I feel so alone?
How could I get this so wrong?
I guess that 'Little Miss Perfect' wasn't so perfect after all. . .
Waking up to the smell of blueberry mapled pancakes and scrambled eggs, I opened my eyes and sighed.
Today was my birthday.
18th to be exact.
I was, according to my parents, officially an adult.
All year-long my parents have been telling me nonstop on how my 18th birthday was coming. How I was going to officially be an adult. Be a high school senior. And, possibly, graduate before any of my friends this year.
Taking it all in, I jumped out of bed and ran towards my bathroom to get ready to start the day off the right way. As soon as I had finished showering and getting dressed, I went downstairs to greet both my parents in the kitchen.
"Good Morning, mes parents aimants!" I told them both, as I kissed my father on the cheek and did the same with my mother.
"Ah, good morning, Elena. And happy birthday." My mother told me first, being cheerful as ever. "Happy birthday, darling." My father soon said, after my mother. "Thank you both so much. You really didn't need to do anything for me this year." I informed them both, but they shook their heads in refusal.
"Nonsense! You're turning 18 today, honey. You deserve the best of the best." My father reminded me. "My god. I still can't believe it. 18 years already. I can remember clearly when I first held you in my arms as if it had been yesterday. You were such a tiny slushy fragile thing. Now look at you." My mother started off again in admiration. "Mom... stop. You're going to end up crying again." I warned her. "I can't help it. I just get... get so emotional on your birthdays because I know that one of these days... You'll be gone." My mother started tearing up again. She was making me feel worried for some odd reason. I smiled at her and said, "Mom, I'm not going anywhere. I like Mystic Falls, and I don't intend on leaving it anytime soon."
"I know but... never mind. Today is your day." My mother stated, as she immediately stopped tearing up and handed me my 'birthday breakfast'.
"Thank you." I informed her before leaving a quick peck on her cheek, and started eating the first stack of pancakes.
"Woah, slow down. Where's the rush?" My father soon commented on my fast eating. "Sorry, but... I need to go." I told them, once I successfully swallowed the first stack of pancakes. "Go where?" My mother soon asked, curious. "To see Bonnie and Caroline. They told me yesterday, they had a surprise for me tomorrow for my birthday, which is today. Don't worry, I'll be back before 4." I told them both.
"That's fine. It's your day. You get to celebrate it however you want. Don't let us keep you down. Go on ahead." My father told me, understanding.
"Thank you. I promise I won't be gone for too long. I love you!" I shouted over to them as I ran to grab my scarf and walk out the front door. I could vaguely hear them say they loved me back as I closed the door behind me and walked off to meet up with my friends.
As I continued to walk towards my destination, the Mystic Grill, I ended up humming a tune.
I honestly regret the day Bonnie introduced me to this song. Ever since she did, I could never get the lyrics out of my head.
Now everything around me,
Feels out of place.
Like all four walls are closing in,
And there's no escape.
Everyday spent without you
It gets harder to act like I'm okay.
If I could take back the things that I said.
If I could un-break all that we had.
I'd put all the pieces back together again.
But Look at me now.
I was so busy telling everyone,
How good life is now that you're gone.
I was so happy being out on my own.
But why do I feel so alone?
How could I get this so wrong?
I guess that 'Little Miss Perfect' wasn't so perfect after all...
"Elena!" I heard a familiar voice shout out. I blinked twice, before looking over to see Bonnie and Caroline walking up towards me. I must have spaced out for a bit. "Hey, guys." I replied to them both. "Hey, Birthday girl. Matt told us he saw you outside the Grill on his way to work. Why didn't you come in?" Bonnie informed me.
"Oh, sorry. I kind of blacked out for a second from own thoughts. I promise it won't happen again." I told them. "Okay then. Let's skip the birthday brunch and go straight to the present. Come on, Gilbert." Caroline encouraged, as she handed me a blue blindfold.
"Wait, no. We're not doing what I think we're doing." I protested. "Relax, Elena. Don't you trust us? Never mind that, just put the freaking blindfold on. Trust me you'll be safe with us." Caroline informed. "Besides, I'll give you a heads up if we end up in some deep dark alleyway, anyway." Bonnie joked sarcastically. I shook my head in disbelief at the two, but placed on the blindfold regardless.
"Ow! Hey!" I let out, feeling someone pulling on my tug blindfold. "Sorry. Just making sure it was on tight." I heard Caroline apologize. "Now there are three rules to this. Rule Number 1, Do not let go of our hands no matter what. Rule Number 2, You are allowed to use your sense of smell to identify a location, if you're really concerned at where we're taking you. And, of course, Rule Number 3, No peeking." Caroline informed me.
"Or else." I added and nodded. I could sense a chuckle from one of the girls. Both of them grabbed one of my hands and successfully lead me away from the streets. As we continued walking, I could smell the tasty pastries from our local bakery we were just passing by.
"Ah man." I let out disappointed we couldn't stop to get a quick treat. "Trust me, the surprise is even sweeter than the local bakery." Bonnie told me. "Somehow I highly doubt that." I quipped. Later on from that, I could hear cars all around us. My blood ran cold as my heart leaped out of my chest, knowing we were about to cross the highway street. I could hear some curse at us, as it was taking us quite a bit to cross through the traffic. Regardless, it didn't take us more than 20 minutes to finally get our way around.
As we walked longer, I could tell from the constant cracking beneath my feet that we were in the middle of the woods. Feeling confused in their sense of directions I soon asked, "Where are you taking me?"
"You know we can't tell you." They both replied. "Am I allowed to at least guess where we're going?" I asked. "3 guesses? Sure, why not? Knock yourself out. You'll never guess it right." Caroline told me.
"The Lockwood Mansion." I gave a confident guess.
"Not even close." Bonnie told me.
"That place where you fell into that wishing well, when we were kids?" I guessed again, referring to Caroline.
"Incorrect. And why on earth would I bring you there for your birthday?!" Caroline started off for a second.
Future Note to self on Past Note to self: Remember when I noted to self to never bring up the well? Keyword next time: Never.
"The Lockwood secret cellar." I guessed once more. The girls paused and held their breaths for a second. I smirked thinking I had guessed correctly this time until,
"Ahh!" They both stated sarcastically imitating an incorrect buzzer like on all classic game shows. I mentally rolled my eyes at the two, as we continued the walk.
After some time, we had left the woods and were somewhere unknown to me.
I could tell we were still walking on grass, but, aside from that, I couldn't guess where we were. Finally, we stopped walking at some point.
"Okay." I heard Caroline say. And I could have sworn I heard Bonnie hush someone behind me. "Alright, are you ready?" Caroline asked me. I simply just nodded as someone removed my blindfold. On instinct, I squinted my eyes as the sunlight hit me. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, they grew even larger to see before me a 2009 Mercedes Benz C350 in red.
In red!
"Happy Birthday, Elena." I heard a low male voice behind me. I jumped in surprise to turn and face him. "Oh god. Stefan, you scared me!" I exclaimed before laughing at how funny the whole scene was. Though it wasn't a comical scene, it's just something I did not expect.
Stefan couldn't help but chuckle with me. "So.. do you like it?" Bonnie soon asked. Once my random laughter died down, I stated, "I love it. Really, guys.. you shouldn't have. I mean, I can't even bring myself to imagine how much this must have cost."
"Not that much, considering Stefan paid for everything." Caroline stated. "Wait, Stefan? You paid for this?" I asked him, surprised. "Yes." He answered. "And you didn't mind?" I asked once again. "Why would I? There's no price tag in the world I would fear financially when it comes to you, Elena. Because just making you smile is priceless." Stefan stated, making me blush slightly.
"Stefan also brought those tasty pastries you like, which we bought as an even exchange." Bonnie stated, referring to the car. Stefan held up the bag containing the treats and handed it over to me. "Wow, really, thanks." I told both Bonnie and Caroline. "Anything for our best friend." Caroline said, before giving me a hug. "Anything for you, Elena. You deserve it." Bonnie stated, also giving me a hug once Caroline finished. After Bonnie finished, I opened up the bag to find the car keys wrapped cleverly in a napkin. Hitting the unlock button, I smirked at all of them and declared, "Who wants to have a ride after me first?"
"One, two... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone at the Mystic Grill shouted out as we entered.
It was a surprise party and I certainly was surprised.
Practically everyone in town was here. Sheriff Forbes, the Lockwood's, the Bennett's, my parents, the Fell's, and even the Donovan's came. Everyone was there. Everyone, except Stefan's father. Which was a shame, because I would have loved to meet him.
After many hours of party kegs and loud dubsteps selections had passed, the party was slowly trying to die down.
But not completely yet.
"Elena come on! You're going to miss the next song. It's your favorite!" Caroline informed me loudly over the still rowdy-like crowd. I shrugged my shoulders apologetically and stated, "Dance without me. I'll be right back!"
With that, I went outside the Mystic Grill through the back way to catch some fresh air. It probably wasn't the best idea to find fresh air in a back alley near the garbage disposals, but I digress.
As I slowly found myself pacing around a bit, I heard a soft glass shatter nearby. It wasn't one from a window shatter. No, the shatter sounded as if somebody had stepped on a piece of glass. I quickly turned around to face the direction from which I had heard the sound echo from.
"Show yourself. I'm not afraid of you." I called out sternly. I heard more movement again and finally saw a tall figure emerge from a distance. As the mysterious figure walked closer, I placed my hand in my back pocket to pull out my hunter knife just to ensure my safety. Once the mystery person was within my space, I held my hand up and stated, "That's close enough. Do not come any further."
Once the person held their hands up to universally show they were not a threat, I lowered my hunter knife to me. But I still kept a tight grasp on it, just in case.
"Relax, Elena. I mean you no harm." The male soon talked. As he lowered his hands down, I took a good look at him. He had raven black hair, ice blue eyes, and was fairly pale. He didn't look much older than 22 and was most likely a college student. He did unknowingly fit the description Caroline always wanted to avoid declaring they were all dangerous; The Tall, Dark and Handsome.
The only problem with that description for him was.. he wasn't that tall.
Snapping my thoughts back to reality, I soon realized something. "Wait. How did you know my name?" I asked out. "Look, Elena, we don't have much time. Just know that I know you, but you don't know me. In fact, personally, I really don't know you. Now three questions, What's today? What day is it? And how old are you?" The man soon questioned me.
"It's my birthday, which is on the 6th of June. It's on a Saturday. And I'm 18 today." I decided to answer him. "Good. At least I know you're not completely brainwashed." The man commented sarcastically. "Brainwashed? Look, I'm sorry, but I think you're talking to the wrong person." I started out, ready to retreat back into the Mystic Grill.
"Is your name Elena Maria Gilbert?" The man soon asked me. My eyes widened in shock and horror.
How on earth did he know my full name?
"Y-Yes." I forced myself to answer, still confused on how he knew my name.
"Look Elena... there isn't much time. They're going to notice you've been gone for too long. Just... remember this, all those people in there who claim to care about you, who claim to be your best friends, who are celebrating your birthday inside this bar right now... aren't who you think they are. Believe me when I say, you need to wake up Elena. You're not perfect. Nobody is. You shouldn't believe you are in anyway. Please Elena, you're a smart girl. I've seen you get straight A's. I know you can see beyond this.. this lie. Just open your eyes to the truth Elena, for once in your life. For once Elena, don't accept the lie. Because if you blindly do again, this time..." He soon trailed off in his own thoughts.
I stared at him concerned about his state of mind. What was he even talking about? Lies? Truths? Beyond? I shook my head and said, "Um... hey. Are you okay? You didn't finish." Despite all the nonsense he was spewing at me, I was oddly curious on how he would finish his sentence.
"Its been too long. I'm sorry Elena." The man apologized, before walking off quite fast away from me. For a second, I felt like running after him, telling him to stop and answer me without the vagueness. Then I stopped and realized how ridiculous that sounded.
Shaking my head, I went back inside the Grill to see everyone was still dancing and having a good time. Cracking open a beer, I decided to join them too.
After the party was finally over and everyone went home, my parents drove me home with my new car. Before we had left I did ask if Stefan wanted a ride home. He declined and stated he'd rather walk.
Upon arriving to my house, I went straight to the bathroom to puke up everything I digested at the party.
I never could handle my liquor.
Once I had eased my parents concern with my brief drunk induced health, I went upstairs to cleanse myself in the shower. When that was taking cared of, I went straight to bed after changing into my nightgown. I lied down looking up at the ceiling.
Confused, I thought back at what that mystery man had said.
He must have been a drunk.
He must have been mentally ill.
He must have been joking.
He must have.
This was all I could think of when trying to make sense of what he had said. Turning my head to the side, I disregarded the thought again. Dozing off, I allowed the tune to finish.
Now all that I know is all crashing down.
And it's the biggest shock to me.
Cause I thought I had it all figured out.
So why does my heart feel empty?
I thought it was perfect but it wasn't so perfect.
But look at me now.
I was so busy telling everyone,
How good life is now that you're gone.
I was so happy being out on my own
But why do I feel so alone?
I was so busy telling everyone,
How good life is now that you're gone.
I was so happy being out on my own
But why do I feel so alone?
How could I get this so wrong?
I guess this 'Little Miss Perfect' wasn't so perfect after all...