Today Was A Twisted Fairy Tale ღ
Lydia Elizabeth Gilbert prided herself on being perfect...or, at least people thinking she was perfect. She started school early, skipped a grade, made the varsity cheerleading squad as a freshman, and she dated the captain of the football team. But she was also capable of lying and scheming to get what she wanted and with a smile on her face she could make anyone believe even the most ridiculous of lies when her eyes were gleaming with deceit. She planned the perfect life for herself; although finding out she's pregnant and her parents dying in a car accident wasn't part of the plan.
Once upon a time...as silly as it seems, she often felt influenced from the words of fairy tales her uncle would tell her as a little girl. Though these were not the fairy tales you have heard before; there was no glass slipper, no sleeping curse, no true love's kiss. Rather tales of bloodsucking immortal beasts, who must be slayed for the beasts would kill and could control people without a care in the world; tales of warriors who rose above to slay the beast and save their people.
She was arguably a very brave girl, who did not cower when she learned the truth of how dangerous the world could be. All her illusions of being safe were ripped away right before her eyes; shattered like a million stars in the night sky. In that moment, she knew her life would never be the same; not when she knew of the monsters lurking in the shadows.
She learned all things must die in time; immortality was a curse that with mercy could be taken away with vervain and wood. Though she doesn't like to dwell on this knowledge, especially since ignorance is bliss; she wished she could sleep through all the madness instead of being consumed with sadness. She knew in the back of her mind the town council was the best place for her to be.
Lydia tilted her head to the side as she looked at herself in the mirror; she painted a smile on her face to match her dark painted lips, her eyes were gleaming as they leveled in the mirror to take in her appearance. Her long dark locks fell in waves to the bottom of her ribcage, sprayed with a little too much hairspray to make them look perfect. A casual dress with a sweetheart neckline fell right above her mid-thigh with a pair of high-heeled ankle boots. She tilted her head to the other side, scrutinizing herself in the mirror again and searching for any flaw – other than the obvious one – in her perfect façade; her eyes looked oddly empty as she half-smiled when she found no flaws in her reflection. She turned around, reaching for her jacket on the bed, shrugging it on and swinging her bag over her shoulder. She cast a final glance at herself in the mirror, this time placing a hand on her swollen stomach. "Wish us good luck, baby," she whispered, exiting her bedroom and making her way downstairs.
She entered the kitchen to find her aunt and sister talking quietly; she nodded politely to them before going straight to the refrigerator, pulling it open with ease and bending down to survey the contents inside before pulling out a bottled water. She gently kicked the refrigerator shut behind her, moving to stand next to her sister as her aunt searched the pantry for food that wasn't there minutes earlier when she started searching.
Jenna sighed, pressing her lips together and looking at her nieces thoughtfully. "Toast. I can make toast."
"It's all about the coffee, aunt Jenna." Elena explained, pouring herself a mug of the steaming black liquid and taking a sip of the fresh-brewed coffee.
Not answering, Lydia uncapped her water bottle, taking a long sip of the cold water. "What about you, Lydia?" Jenna asked, glancing at the younger girl who merely pulled the water bottle from her lips and held it up as a response.
"Lydia—" Jenna started, about to scold the pregnant girl for her poor eating habits, but stopping when Jeremy sauntered into the kitchen. "Is there coffee?" He asked, brushing passed Lydia to rudely steal the mug from Elena's hands and Elena simply sighed, pouring herself another mug.
Jenna looked at the three teenagers. "It's your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared," she admits, suddenly feeling overwhelmed as she combs her fingers through her strawberry-blonde tresses. She walked across the kitchen, "Lunch money?" she offers, finding her purse and rifling through it for cash before pulling out a few dollars.
Both girls politely declined, Lydia shaking her head and Elena answering verbally. "I'm good." Lydia almost laughed when Jeremy quickly snatched and pocketed all the money and Jenna smiled at the sound of Lydia's laughter.
"Anything else? A No. 2 pencil? What am I missing?" Jenna asked, looking between the siblings.
"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Elena asked and Jenna nods, then shakes her head at her own lack of preparation. "I'm meeting my Thesis Advisor at—" she paused, sighing as she glanced at her watch. "Now. Crap."
"Then go. We'll be fine." Elena assured, getting an appreciative smile from Jenna; who hurriedly gathered her stuff and ran out of the house. Elena turned her attention to her brother, "You okay?"
Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Don't start." He warned, stalking out of the house and slamming the door behind him; effectively making Lydia flinch as the doorframe shook from the force. Not a minute later, a horn sounded as Bonnie's little blue car pulled into the driveway, signaling for the girls to go outside.
The conversation started out about the new school year until Bonnie brought the topic she wanted to discuss into circulation.
"So, Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands...Elena! Back in the car!" Bonnie scolded, looking over at the passenger seat and finding that Elena had drifted out of the conversation.
"I did it again, didn't I? I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that..." Elena apologized, forcing herself back into reality. "That she's psychic now," Lydia finished, leaning forward in her seat. She was intrigued by the notion of witches as she knew of them from her uncle but she hadn't met one before.
"Right...okay." Elena said, arching an eyebrow and smiling at her best friend. "Then predict something. About me."
"I see..." Bonnie started, but didn't get to finish as something flew at the windshield with a loud thud and caused the girls to panic when the car sharply swerved to the wrong side of the road.
Lydia couldn't breathe, the memory of water filling her lungs and feeling like her head could explode from holding her breathe, her blood turning as cold as the water in the lake and the loud sound of screeching tires as the car started spinning; the echoes and shadows of what happened on the night she lost her parents playing in her mind on a never-ending loop.
Bonnie quickly regained control of the car. "What was that? Oh, my God. Are you guys okay?" she asked, waiting as they struggled to maintain their composure. Elena was the first to answer, "It's okay. I'm fine," she assured, turning to check on her sister in the backseat. "Are you okay Lydia?"
Lydia's eyes were wide as she snapped herself back into reality, quickly removing her hands from their protective position on her stomach. "I'm okay," she whispered, forcing the emotion off her face and retreating into the fake and confident persona she used to escape her traumatic past.
"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere," Bonnie said, trying to make sense of what happened; because even though she pretended not too, she saw the look of pure fear and grief in both their eyes. "I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life." Elena said.
"I predict this year is going to be kick ass. I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you are going to be beyond happy. And I predict that Lydia and her miracle baby are going to be beyond perfect." Bonnie said, smiling at Lydia in the rearview mirror when she said the last part.
Lydia smiled, happily placing her hand on her bump. "Thanks Bonnie."
They walked through the doors of the school, stopping at their lockers to talk until the bell rang. "Major lack of male real-estate. Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot— can I still say Tranny Mess?" Bonnie asked.
"No, that's over." Elena answered, followed with an answer from Lydia, who said, "She does look like one though."
"Ahh. Find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year." Bonnie declared, watching as Elena waved at Matt, but got no response from the blonde boy. "He hates me."
"That's not hate. That's you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits," Bonnie explained.
Lydia ignored them, not interested in her sister's relationship drama; considering she had her own relationship drama to worry about and even more since there was a pregnancy involved.
A pregnancy that Tyler's parents wanted to terminate. Lydia knew from the start she wanted to keep her baby, so a huge argument started when she didn't accept Tyler's parents offer to pay for an abortion.
The argument took place over a month ago; Tyler hadn't talked to her much since then, though she knew his parents were partially to blame. She planned on talking to him today, but she wasn't sure when the best time would be for him.
"Lydia!" Caroline exclaimed, snapping the younger girl out of her thoughts as she bounced over and pulling her into a tight hug. "Care!" Lydia beamed, her mood instantly brightening at the sound of her best friend's cheerful voice. Lydia swore that Caroline's smile could light up a city of darkness and warm the darkest of hearts.
They pulled away at the same time, keeping their arms loosely on each other. "I can't even describe how amazing you look! How are you? And how's my favorite niece today?" Caroline asked, looking the shorter girl over the best she could without letting go.
"Compared to you? My beauty is naught." Lydia laughed, looking at the beautiful blonde girl as if in a scandalous way. Caroline's eyes brightened at the compliment, her smile getting even wider than before as she pulled Lydia into another quick hug. "Now, how's my baby girl?" The moment Lydia found out she was pregnant, she insisted that she was having a girl and that everyone refer to her baby as one.
"She's the same, I can't wait until she starts moving," Lydia replied, placing a hand on her bump like she did every time she thought of her pregnancy.
Caroline laughed, "Me too. I have to go, but we'll talk at lunch."
"Okay," Lydia agreed, in the process of turning around when she heard someone shout, "Jeremy, good batch, man!" She then saw Jeremy with his hoodie up; as he strolled into the bathroom, a bottle of eyedrops in his hands.
Elena sighed, "I'll be right back," she said, not hesitating to follow her brother into the men's bathroom. Lydia rolled her eyes, deciding not to follow them and instead told Bonnie, "I'm going to try finding Tyler before class."
"Sure, go ahead." Bonnie replied, nodding in encouragement.
Lydia smiled, setting off in the direction of Tyler's locker, which was surrounded by jocks and desperate girls who wanted attention. "Hey," Lydia greeted, smiling politely at him as she closed the distance between them.
Tyler's eyes widened at the sight of her, having not seen her in over a month he was surprised at how much bigger her bump had gotten. "Hey. How have you been? I haven't uh...I haven't seen you in a while."
"I'm okay," Lydia answered, feeling self-conscious when his eyes drifted to her stomach. "We're okay," she corrected.
"Good. That's...good."
"I have an appointment coming up soon to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl, even though I already know she's a girl, and I thought you might want to come with me."
"Yeah, I would love that." He agreed, not hesitating to accept her invitation until he realized how excited he sounded. "I mean, yeah, I'll check my schedule."
Lydia giggled. "I have to go, but we'll talk later?"
"Of course, I'll see you Lydia." Tyler said.
Lydia walked towards her first period classroom, distracted by the happy thoughts about her conversation with Tyler; she was so distracted that she didn't notice someone exiting the men's bathroom as she passed and before she knew what was happening she was stumbling into them. She gasped, tightly closing her eyes as she covered her bump protectively; bracing herself for the impact in the seconds where gravity takes hold.
But the person she ran into has fast reflexes and catches her before she can hit the floor. He's holding her much like a couple during a ballroom dance, with one arm wrapped around her back and the other gripping right above her calf. It's a very intimate position. Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped for breath as he previously knocked the air out of her lungs. She's completely captivated as she stares at him, their faces inches away and both of his hands still on her body. He smiles at the dazed expression playing on her facial features; her eyes looked like safety and home, yet they shined with danger and warnings.
The air is knocked out of her once again as he tightens his grip before swinging them up so they're standing in front of each other. His hands are still on her, but for some reason she doesn't care. His expression is one of bemused adoration and she can't hide her smile as a nervous laugh of amusement escapes her darkly painted lips. It takes a moment for either of them to speak; her focus on his hands on her body and his focus on her familiar face. She finally forces herself to take a step back, his hands lingering briefly before they dropped.
Lydia cleared her throat. "Thank you so much. I'm Lydia," she said, her cheeks turning pink as she smiled appreciatively.
"I'm Stefan." He introduced himself, forcing himself not to laugh at the adorable blush on her face. "Stefan Salvatore."
"I'll see you around," she said, turning on her heel and finally making it to her first period classroom as she thought about her interaction with Stefan; who she'd probably never see or speak to again. Though she couldn't have been further from the truth, since shortly after that thought Stefan Salvatore walked into the same classroom and his eyes didn't leave her or her sister the entire time.
AN: I wanted to clarify that Stefan ran into Elena on purpose when she was leaving the men's bathroom; Stefan and Lydia bumped into each other on accident when she was walking passed the bathroom on her way to class and he was walking out of the bathroom.
To be continued...