Waking up on the wrong side of the bed was something I was perpetually good at. I'm not talking figuratively, either. I mean that I sometimes end up with my head at the end of the bed, my feet on my pillow. It mostly happened when I had a nightmare, making me restless throughout the night.
The nightmare was always the same. It was the night my parents died. Elena, my older sister, had gone to a party and called my parents to pick her up. I went with them and on the way back to the house when we were crossing over Wickery Bridge, dad lost control of the car, sending us into the cold water below.
I had been knocked out on impact, only to wake days later to discover that my parents were dead, and Elena and I were the only survivors. Needless to say, our family was pretty broken after that.
Our mom's sister, Jenna, was our guardian now, moving home to live in our house with us. She tried her best, but she wasn't our parents and we were severely missing them. Jeremy, the youngest sibling, was into drugs now; blatantly using in the house or at school. Elena, who was the oldest, was quieter than she used to be, holed up in her room with her diary. I was dealing the best I could.
I quickly slipped into a blue sundress and a white cardigan before brushing my hair and grabbing my purse. I rushed downstairs. I wasn't late or anything, but I needed to eat, as my sugar was low.
When I walked into the kitchen, Elena was already pouring herself a cup of coffee while Aunt Jenna was searching through the refrigerator.
"Toast. I can make toast." Aunt Jenna said, looking back at Elena before spotting me. "Good morning, Lili."
"Morning, Aunt Jenna." I smiled, walking to the pantry and pulling out a cherry Pop Tart.
"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." Elena replied.
"Is there coffee?" Jeremy asked, walking into the room. He grabbed the cup of coffee that Elena was about to take a drink from and brought it to his mouth, taking a sip. Elena glared at him before grabbing another mug.
"It's your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared." Aunt Jenna moaned, rushing to her purse and pulling out three five-dollar bills. "Lunch money?"
"I'm good." Elena shrugged her off.
"I like lunch." I said, grabbing some of the money while Jeremy grabbed the rest.
"Anything else? A number two pencil?" Aunt Jenna asked, rummaging through her purse again. She turned to look at the three of us. "What am I missing?"
"Don't you have a big presentation today?" I reminded her, furrowing my eyebrows as I opened the fridge to take out some apple juice.
"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at…" She sighed and looked at her watch, wincing. "Now. Shit!"
Aunt Jenna took her hair out of its ponytail and fluffed up the locks, trying to make herself look presentable.
"Then go." Elena prodded. "We'll be fine."
Aunt Jenna gave us an apologetic look before rushing out the door.
Elena sighed at looked at Jeremy and I, giving us her 'big sister' look.
"You okay?" She asked.
Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Don't start."
He walked away, making Elena turn her eyes to me.
"I'm fine, Lena." I told her.
My attention was caught by the television, where the news broadcaster was talking about two missing people. I furrowed my eyebrows. Nothing ever happened in Mystic Falls. Why now?
"Come on, Lili." Elena said when a loud beep startled me. "Bonnie's here."
I threw the crusts from my Pop Tart away and grabbed the small bottle of apple juice that I hadn't opened yet, intending to take it with me to school. We walked out of the house, making sure to lock the door, and got into Bonnie's blue Toyota.
"Hey, Lena and Lili." Bonnie beamed at us. "Ready for junior year?"
"You betcha." I groaned. I wasn't a fan of school. While I was smart, I just didn't like the structure of school.
Bonnie pulled away from our house and started down the street.
"So, Grams is telling me I'm psychic." Bonnie told Elena and I. I rapidly paid attention, finding the information interesting, while Elena spaced out, looking out the window.
"Our ancestors were from Salem, which isn't 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—"
"May he rest in peace." I interjected, causing Bonnie to throw me a grin.
"And I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands…" She went on. She looked at Elena and noticed that she wasn't paying attention at all. "Elena! Back in the car."
Elena turned swiftly to Bonnie, a shocked look on her face.
"I did it again, didn't I?" Elena said apologetically. "I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that…"
"She's a psychic now." I spoke up from the back seat.
"Right." Elena nodded. "Okay, then predict something. About Lili and me."
"I see—"
Suddenly a black bird ran into Bonnie's windshield, making all of us gasp and Bonnie to slam on the breaks.
Flashbacks of our family car swerving off Wickery Bridge played through my mind. I clenched my fists and counted backwards from ten, trying not to panic.
"What was that?" Bonnie screeched. "Oh, my God! Elena, Lili, are you okay?"
"It's okay, I'm fine." Elena assured Bonnie before turning to face me. "Are you okay, Lili?"
I shrugged, my anxiety was making my heart race and my stomach feel sick.
"It was like a bird or something." Bonnie said. "It came out of nowhere."
"Really, I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life." Elena sighed.
I gulped loudly. She can't, but I certainly can. I had just turned sixteen two weeks ago and still hadn't gone to get my license, thoroughly freaked out by the thought of getting behind a steering wheel.
Bonnie sighed and gave Elena a smile. "I predict this year is going to be kick-ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over, and you both are going to be beyond happy."
Elena beamed at Bonnie as she pulled back onto the street, driving the five minutes to the high school. We got out of the car and walked into the school, waving to friends and ignoring the stares from other students.
"Major lack of male real estate." Bonnie complained as we walked through the hall to get to my locker. "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beach. She looks a hot—Can I still say 'tranny mess'?"
"No, that's over." Elena grinned, shaking her head and leaning against my locker.
"Ah, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year." Bonnie smiled looking down the hall. I followed her gaze to see Matt Donovan staring at Elena.
Matt was Elena's ex-boyfriend, who was still pining for her. They broke up the night that our parents died and Matt has been looking like a kicked puppy-dog since.
I gave Matt a sympathetic look while Elena sent him a small wave. Matt pursed his lips and slammed his locker shut, walking the opposite direction.
Elena sighed and turned back to Bonnie and I. "He hates me."
"That's not hate." Bonnie said, shaking her head. "That's 'you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits.'"
"There's nothing wrong with Air Supply." I protested, grinning as I saw my best friend approach me.
"Lili!" Caroline shrieked, pulling me into a strong hug.
"Hey, Care." I laughed, patting her back. "You just saw me yesterday."
"Right." Caroline said, pulling away and turning to Elena. "Elena. Oh, my God. How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you."
Caroline gave my sister a quick hug before pulling away to look at me and Bonnie.
"How is she?" She asked like Elena wasn't there. "Is she good?"
"Caroline, I'm right here." Elena spoke up. "And I'm fine, thank you."
"Really?" Caroline said, giving her a doubtful look.
"Yes." Elena nodded. "Much better."
Caroline sighed and brought Elena into another hug. Caroline did the same thing to me when she first saw me after the accident. She hovered over me like a mother hen.
"Oh, you poor thing." Caroline cooed.
"Okay, Caroline." Elena said in a strained voice.
"Oh!" Caroline pulled away abruptly. "Okay, see you guys later?"
"Okay!" Bonnie and Elena breathed together. "Bye."
Caroline strutted away while I shut my locker and put the lock on the knob.
"No comment." Elena shook her head at Bonnie.
"I'm not going to say anything." Bonnie laughed.
"Guys, she's not bad." I defended my best friend as we walked through the hall once again.
"You only say that because she's your best friend." Elena pointed out.
"So?" I shrugged.
As we passed by the office, Bonnie paused.
"Hold up." She said, making Elena and I stop walking. "Who's this."
I turned to see who she was talking about, only to see a tall male standing at the receptionist's desk.
"All I see is back." I shrugged at them.
"It's a hot back." Bonnie corrected me. "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."
"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" Elena scoffed.
"Pretty much." Bonnie nodded.
Distantly, I heard a voice call, "Jeremy, good batch, man."
Elena and I shared a look and glanced over to the voice, only to see Jeremy walking into the boy's bathroom.
"I'll be right back." Elena ground out through her teeth. She started walking towards the bathroom.
"Elena, don't!" I said, running after her. I knew confronting Jeremy was only going to cause problems, and to be honest, I didn't see the harm in letting Jeremy make his own choices.
I followed Elena into the bathroom to see Jeremy putting eye drops in.
"Whoa!" A random guy yelled as he spotted us come in. "Pants down, chicks!"
Elena grabbed Jeremy's face and squished his cheeks together, looking into his blood-shot eyes.
"Great." Elena sighed, pulling away abruptly. "It's the first day of school and you're stoned."
"Elena." I tried to interrupt, but Jeremy glanced at Elena angrily.
"No, I'm not." Jeremy said, pulling all the way away from our older sister.
"Where is it?" Elena demanded. "Is it on you?"
She tried to get into his sweater pockets, but Jeremy pushed her away.
"Stop, all right?! You need to chill yourself, all right?" Jeremy exclaimed.
"Guys—"
"Chill myself?" Elena interrupted me, her voice incredulous. "What is that, Stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool."
She went to go search him again, but I stepped in between them, fed up with their arguing.
"Stop!" I exclaimed.
"I don't have anything on me." Jeremy defended himself. "Are you crazy?"
"Jer, come on—"
"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy!" Elena said furiously. "I gave you a summer pass, but I'm done watching you destroy yourself."
Jeremy scoffed and went to walk away, but Elena pushed him back.
"No, no, no, you know what?" Elena said, searching his eyes. "Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it?"
A toilet flushed, and a guy walked out of a stall, leaving the bathroom without washing his hands. Boys are gross.
"Elena, just leave it alone." I told my older sister, thinking that Jeremy had had enough.
"No, Lili, he needs to understand!" She said before turning back to Jeremy. "Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person."
Jeremy glared at Elena. "I don't need this."
He passed by both of us and stormed out of the bathroom. I shook my head and followed Elena out of the room, bumping into her as she stopped abruptly.
I looked around her to see that she had bumped into a tall guy that I'd never seen around school before. He was one of the most gorgeous guys' I've ever seen, and I've watched some of Chris Evans' movies.
The guy in front of us had light brown hair, gelled up in the front. He had forest green eyes and a strong jawline. He was tall, too. Way taller than my five-foot two frame.
"Uh, pardon me." The guy said, looking at Elena intently. "Um… Is this the men's room?"
"Yes." Elena said in a flustered voice. "Um, we were just—Um, we were just—it's a long story."
"Incredibly long." I sighed, making the guy's eyes flitter to me. "And we're going to be late for class, Lena."
"Right." Elena nodded. She went to pass the guy, but the guy went the same way that she did, blocking her. They did an awkward, little dance while I looked on impatiently and annoyed.
Finally, the guy turned sideways, allowing us to pass. Elena let out a breathy 'thank you' while I nodded at him, grabbing Elena's hand and pulling her away to history class.
Once in Mr. Tanner's classroom, I sat behind Elena and next to the cute guy. Mr. Tanner walked into the class and immediately started lecturing.
"Once our home state of Virginia joined the Confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the Union." Mr. Tanner droned on.
Suddenly my phone buzzed, making me jump from the sensation of the vibration. I took a quick glance at my phone to see that it was a group text with Bonnie and Elena.
'Elena, Hawt-e staring u.'
I subtly turned to see the cute guy staring at Elena intently. I rolled my eyes and focused on the lecture. All the cute guys went for Elena. Pretty much always, in fact.
After I did all my homework, I met up with Caroline and Bonnie at the Mystic Grill, an originally named bar and grill on the court square. We were talking about the mysteriously cute guy, who's name turned out to be Stefan.
"His name is Stefan Salvatore." Caroline gushed after picking up her Shirly Temple. "He lives with an uncle up at the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue."
Bonnie stared at Caroline in disbelief. "You got all of that in one day?"
Caroline shrugged. "Lili helped, and we did better than a day. We got all of that between third and fourth period."
"Caroline is planning a June wedding for Stefan and I." I rolled my eyes. "She seems to think we'd make a cute couple."
Caroline laughed and walked away to talk to a boy she'd been hanging out with recently. Bonnie turned to me with raised eyebrows.
"I think Stefan's into Elena, you know."
"I know, Bonnie." I toned. "Who isn't into Elena?"
I walked away from her to go talk to Caroline. Sure, I was a little bit bitter, but I couldn't help it. Before Matt and Elena were together, I had a tiny little crush on Matt. I'm over it now, but I was still hurt when he and Elena got together. And now, just when I thought someone else was cute, he was into Elena too.
"Hey, Lili." Matt said, sitting down at the table where I was munching on some onion rings.
"Hey, Matt!" I exclaimed, smiling at him. Matt was a really good friend, and ever since Elena dumped him, he'd been distant. "How are you?"
"I'm okay." He shrugged. "How are you? How's Elena?"
I sighed, putting down the greasy onion ring in my hand. Again; all about Elena.
"Our mom and dad died." I shrugged, trying to put off the hurt when I thought about my parents. "We're putting on good faces, but it's only been four months, ya know?"
Matt nodded understandably, but he seemed distracted.
"What do you want to know?" I exhaled, rolling my eyes.
"Has she said anything about me?" Matt asked, leaning forward.
"Not really, but I think you should pick up the phone and call her." I advised, patting his hand.
"I feel weird calling her." Matt admitted. "She broke up with me."
"Give it more time, Matt." I said sympathetically.
The bell above the door rang as more people walked into the grill. Matt and I turned to see who walked in, only to find Elena and Stefan side by side.
Matt looked at me, disappointment in his eyes. "More time, huh?"
"Matt—" I started, but he got up and walked over to Elena and Stefan. He said something to Stefan and shook his hand, before walking back over to his best friend, Tyler.
Elena and Stefan walked over to my table just as Bonnie and Caroline joined us.
"Lili!" Elena beamed, gesturing to Stefan. "This is Stefan. Stefan, this is my little sister, Lili."
I gave Stefan a small smile as he leaned forward over the table to shake my hand. As soon as our hands touched, I felt a shock go through me. I quickly pulled away from Stefan, but not before I saw him give me a questioning look.
"Nice to meet you, Stefan." I said hurriedly, trying not to offend him.
"You too, Lili." Stefan nodded.
"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked once all the introductions were complete and we had ordered more food.
"Mm-hm." Stefan confirmed. "And moved when I was still young."
"Parents?" Bonnie said, looking at him with interest.
"My parents passed away." Stefan answered.
There was an awkward silence as Stefan stared at Elena, as if he already knew what happened to our parents.
"I'm sorry." Elena said finally, to which Stefan nodded in gratitude. "Any siblings?"
"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle." Stefan informed us.
I watched as Caroline glanced over at Elena before speaking up. "So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."
"It's a back-to-school thing at the falls." Bonnie added.
Stefan looked back at Elena. "Are you going?"
"Of course." Elena nodded. "It's Lili that you have to convince."
I groaned at the mention of my name and the word 'party' in the same conversation. I hated parties. I hated the taste of alcohol, all the boys hitting on all my friends, and I especially couldn't handle sloppy drunks.
Stefan looked at me curiously. "You don't like parties?"
"I hate them." I confessed with a laugh.
"You should go, Lili!" Caroline exclaimed. "You never know who you're going to meet!"
I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my burger, signaling that I wasn't going to talk about the party anymore.
The next day in history class, Tanner was lecturing again. What a surprise.
"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls." Mr. Tanner informed the class. "How many casualties resulted in this battle? Miss Bennett?"
Bonnie looked up from where she was doodling on her notes.
"Um… a lot?" Bonnie said, her sentence stated like a question. "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Miss Bennett." Mr. Tanner sneered. "Mr. Donovan. Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's okay, Mr. Tanner." Matt toned. "I'm cool with it."
The class laughed at Matt's quip, while Mr. Tanner actually looked amused for once.
"Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?" Mr. Tanner turned to my sister.
"I'm sorry, I-I don't know." Elena said in a delicate voice.
Mr. Tanner sighed. "I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break."
I glared at Mr. Tanner, and spoke up, answering the question easily.
"There were 346 casualties, Mr. Tanner." I sneered. Mr. Tanner scowled at me.
"Unless you're counting local civilians." Stefan's voice added before Mr. Tanner could give me any punishment.
"That's correct. Mister…" Mr. Tanner trailed off, looking at Stefan surprised.
"Salvatore." Stefan supplied.
"Salvatore." Mr. Tanner nodded. "Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"
"Distant."
"Well, very good." Mr. Tanner acknowledged. "Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."
"Actually, there were twenty-seven, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss." Stefan corrected the horrid man. "The founder's archives are, uh, stored in the Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner."
The class chuckled while Mr. Tanner looked thoroughly chastised. The bell rang before Mr. Tanner could reciprocate, the class rushing to their next subject. I slowly got up and followed Stefan out of the room, wanting to thank him for taking the attention off of me.
"Stefan!" I called, hustling to catch up with his fast strides. He turned around and saw me, slowing down so that we could walk together.
"Lili." He nodded.
"Thanks for that." I said, nodding to Mr. Tanner's classroom. "He was about to murder me, I think."
Stefan looked at me amused. "No problem. So, are you going to that party that Caroline and Bonnie were talking about?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "Elena's practically forcing me to go."
"Don't look too enthusiastic." Stefan joked. "I'll see you and Elena there, then?"
"Yep." I nodded, biting my lower lip. "Elena will be there. See you, Stefan."
We'd been at the party for what seemed like ages, but in reality, it has only been an hour. Caroline was talking to a girl by the drinks, so I was left with Elena and Bonnie, who were talking about Stefan.
"Just admit it, Elena." Bonnie groaned playfully.
"Oh, okay, so he's a little pretty." Elena confessed, looking into the huge bonfire.
"He has that romance novel stare." Bonnie told her before lowering her voice. "Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul."
Even I had to laugh at Bonnie; her narrative was pretty amusing.
"So, where is he?" I asked, looking around for Stefan. Elena frowned and searched the perimeter before shrugging.
"I don't know. Why don't you tell us, Bonnie, you're the psychic."
"Right, I forgot." Bonnie smirked. "Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate."
"Wait!" Elena objected. "You need a crystal ball."
Elena looked around and spotted a beer bottle on the ground. She scooped it up and held it to Bonnie's eyes. Bonnie went to grab the bottle from Elena when she paused, her eyes wide.
"What?" I asked, looking at Bonnie worriedly.
"That was weird." Bonnie said. "When I touched you, I saw a crow."
"What?" Elena said, looking at Bonnie urgently.
"A crow." Bonnie repeated. "There was fog, a man. I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Okay, I'm gonna get a refill."
Bonnie left quickly, looking back towards Elena strangely.
"Okay." I drawled, looking at Bonnie in confusion as she walked away.
"Bonnie!" Elena called. She turned back to face me but gasped in fright.
"What?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Hi." I heard Stefan say from behind me. I jumped and turned around, clutching my chest.
"Don't do that!" I exclaimed. "You scared me."
"I'm sorry." Stefan grinned, looking non-apologetic.
"I'm just gonna go." I huffed. "See ya."
Caroline and I were hanging out by the gazebo when Caroline spotted Stefan walking past. She grabbed my hand and dragged me over to him, her face as perky as always.
"Hey!" Caroline exclaimed. "There you are. Have you been down to the falls yet? Because they are really cool at night. And we can show you, if you want."
"I think you've had too much to drink, Caroline." Stefan said amused.
"Well, of course I have." Caroline smirked. "So—"
"Caroline." Stefan said, suddenly stern. "You and me, it's not gonna happen. Sorry."
Stefan started to walk away, but I grabbed his arm, angry about the way he spoke to my best friend.
"Hey, she was just being friendly." I objected, glaring at him. "There's no reason to be so rude."
Stefan looked at me with an apprehensive face.
"Lili, I didn't mean—"
"You did." I pursed my lips. "Just because we're not precious Elena, doesn't mean we don't have feelings too."
"Lili, I think you're a little drunk…" Stefan said, grabbing the wine cooler I had been sipping at from me and throwing it on the ground.
"I'm perfectly sober." I told him. "Now, apologize to Caroline."
"Lilibeth—" He started, making me look up at him with wide eyes.
"How do you know my full name?" I eyed him suspiciously.
"Um, I guessed." He said. He was a terrible liar, that was clear, because I didn't believe a word he said.
I narrowed my eyes at him before turning away from him. "Come on, Care."
We walked back to the gazebo and chatted with Matt and Tyler some until someone started screaming for help as they ran out of the woods. I recognized the voice of my sister, so I turned to look, only to see Elena and Jeremy running out of the forest. Jeremy was carrying what looked like a body.
"Vicki?" Matt suddenly yelled, apparently recognizing the girl in Jeremy's arms. "Vicki, what the fuck?"
Matt, Tyler, and I ran towards them, helping Jeremy set Vicki down on a picnic table.
"What happened to her?" Tyler asked Jeremy.
"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt shouted as people crowded around the table.
"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler yelled, pushing people back.
"It's her neck," I realized, observing Vicki's unconscious body. "Something must have bit her. She's losing a lot of blood."
"Put this on her neck." Elena instructed, holding up a random towel.
"Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me." Matt begged his sister before looking up and staring at someone in the crowd. I looked to see Stefan staring at the scene in barely-concealed horror. He backed up slowly and ran away.
Matt and I shared a glance, thinking the same thing. Why was that so suspicious?
Finally, an ambulance and some cops arrived, breaking up the party and collecting Vicki to take her to the hospital. Bonnie came up to Elena and I as we were watching Matt climb into the ambulance with Vicki.
"Hey. We're gonna go mainline coffee, wait for news." Bonnie said, giving us a sad smile.
Elena nodded, glancing at me and then Jeremy, who was sitting against a post and swigging beer.
"I gotta take Jeremy and Lili home." Elena sighed.
"Guys, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that." Bonnie started. "But whatever I saw, of I think I saw, I have this feeling…"
"Bonnie, what?" I asked, eyeing her closely.
"That it's just the beginning." Bonnie said finally.
Bonnie left, letting us wander over to Jeremy who was still drinking beer blatantly in front of the cops.
"You okay?" Elena asked him gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. Jeremy shrugged her off, taking another sip from the bottle in his hand.
"I called Jenna, she's on her way." Elena continued.
I leaned towards Jeremy, a mischievous look in my eye. "You know those people in uniforms? They're the police."
Jeremy rolled his eyes and took another drink before throwing the bottle behind us on the ground.
"People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer." Elena said, looking at our little brother seriously. "They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too."
"I've seen you in the cemetery writing in your diary." Jeremy glared at Elena before turning to me. "And you scream in your sleep. Is that—is that supposed to be you guys moving on?"
"Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this." Elena shook her head after a moment of silence.
More moments of silence continued after that and until Aunt Jenna came and drove us home. Later, as I was brushing my teeth, about to go to bed, I heard the front door open loudly and some talking.
I walked cautiously down the stairs.
"Elena, it's late." I called, walking into the foyer.
I was met with the sight of Elena and Stefan talking and staring at each other intently.
"Oh, it's you." The words slipped out of my mouth without them meaning to.
"Lili!" Elena scolded me, eyeing Stefan sideways.
"Sorry, I guess." I rolled my eyes, I went to turn away, but Stefan's voice stopped me.
"Lili, I'm sorry about earlier."
I sighed. He was only apologizing so that he could get on Elena's good side. I was sure of it.
"I'm sure you are." I exhaled before making my way back to the stairs, adding, "Don't be up too late."