It's been about a week since I moved here to Mystic Falls. Honestly, I'm not doing great. I guess I'm just having a hard time adjusting. Everything is so quiet here. I mean back in the city there was always noise, especially because I lived next to an airport, a train station, and a college fraternity house. It was never quiet, but I liked it that way. Without the noise, I'm left alone with my own thoughts, and that's a very scary place.
That's why I had some type of screamo music blasting in my ears while I sat alone at lunch. I hated screamo music, but it was loud, and I needed that. Jeremy had invited me to sit with at lunch but I said I wasn't feeling well and needed to get some air.
So, here I sat, alone, staring at my school lunch, which was disgusting by the way. I was trying to work up the courage to eat it because I was starving. My mom hadn't bought any groceries. If she was hungry then she went out for something, but didn't bring me anything. I knew better than to ask her for anything. The only food I was ever going to get was this piece of meatloaf that looked like it was coming alive.
"Are you ok, Riley?" Elena asked me, raising her eyebrows.
"Oh," I stuttered. "I'm fine."
"Really?" she asked. "Cause you look like you were in a staring contest with a piece of...whatever that is. You're not seriously going to eat that, are you?"
"It's not that bad," I shrugged, taking a bite. Oh, dear god, it tastes like someone already ate it and puked it up.
"Yeah, sure," she said laughing.
"Did you need something?" I asked, putting a smile on my face. I wasn't exactly in the mood for…people.
"Yeah, actually," she began, "I was just talking to Bonnie and Caroline, and we were thinking about having a girls night at my house. We were wondering if you'd like to come. It's be really nice to get to know you better."
"Ok," I said. "When?"
"How about tonight?" she asked. "We can order pizza, do girl stuff, and then you guys can spend the night."
"Alright, it sounds like fun," I smiled.
"Great!" she smiled. "How about I pick you up around six?"
"Oh you don't have to do that!" I shook my head. "I can find my way."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "Cause you're not far from me at all."
"No it's ok," I nodded.
"Ok, then," she nodded his head. "We'll see you there."
After school ended, I walked home. As soon as I got in the door, I saw my mom on the couch, watching TV, with a beer in her hand. It wasn't even five o'clock yet. Shaking my head, I hurriedly walked to my room and shut my door.
Luckily, today I didn't have any homework to do, so I just hopped in the shower. When I got out, I did my hair and my make-up. All I have to say is thank god for concealer. Because of my lack of sleep, I had dark circles under my eyes. I got changed into a pair of cute jeans and a long sleeve shirt.
As I looked at my clock, I realized I better get going. My plan was just to walk to Elena's so I needed to leave now. I grabbed my bag and headed out of my room, fully intending on just walking out of the house. However, I was stopped by my mom.
"Where do you think you're going?" she hissed. Oh boy. Looking around I could see she had more than just one beer.
"My friend, Elena, invited me over for a sleepover," I said softly. I never bothered to check with her because I knew she didn't care. Hell, she'd prefer me gone.
"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Like you could actually make a friend."
I stayed quiet. I was not about to get into an argument with her.
"I hope for her sake, you're lying," she said and walked away. "Poor girl doesn't know what she's getting herself into."
Sighing I walked out the door, shutting in softly behind me. For a few seconds, all I could do was stand there, gripping the doorknob. I just wanted to cry. How could she say those things to me? I mean, did being her daughter count for nothing?
Shaking my head, I started walking to Elena's. It took me about fifteen minutes to get there. Once I rang the doorbell, she opened the door.
"Hey Riley! You're right on time!" she smiled, stepping aside to let me in.
"Thanks for inviting me," I said.
"No problem," she said. "We're really glad you came."
"Riley!" Caroline shouted and ran over to hug me.
"Hi Caroline!" I laughed.
"I'm so glad you're here!" she said. "Now you can help us decide what movie to watch!"
"Oh, actually I brought a movie just in case," I said, pulling it out of my bag.
"Oh my god! I love A Cinderella Story!" she shouted.
"Seriously?" I laughed. "It's my favorite movie."
"Pizza is here!" someone shouted. A few seconds later, a woman walked in with a pizza. She looked like she was in her twenties and she had long strawberry blonde hair.
"Riley, this is my aunt Jenna," Elena introduced me. "Jenna this is Riley, she's new in town."
"It's nice to meet you Riley," she smiled.
"You too," I said.
"Ok, do you guys need anything?" she asked. "I'm about to head out."
"Nope, we're good," Elena said.
"Alright, you girls have fun," she waved. "Call me if you need anything."
Just then, the doorbell rang and Jenna went to answer it. You can imagine my surprise when my history teacher showed up at the door.
"Is that-?" I began to ask confused.
"He's dating Jenna," Elena said before I could even finish.
"Weird," I muttered.
"You get used to it," Bonnie laughed.
A few minutes later, we all settled down on the couch, eating pizza and watching A Cinderella Story.
"Why did your parents decide to move in the middle of the semester?" Caroline asked. "That's got to be like socially traumatic for you."
"Well, my mom," I said, "needed a change of scenery. So she just picked the first place she noticed on the map, and here we are."
"Did you want to move?" Bonnie asked.
"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged. "I didn't really have any friends back in LA, so I wasn't leaving behind much."
"What about your family?" Elena asked concerned.
"My mom is an only child and her parents past away before I was born," I said. "So I didn't really have any family."
"I take it your dad isn't in the picture," Elena said hesitantly.
"No," I shook my head. "He died when I was a baby. I don't really remember him."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said. "I shouldn't brought it up."
"No, it's ok," I said. "It's not a sensitive subject for me. I mean how can you miss someone you don't even remember?"
"Let's change the subject!" Caroline laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "Met any cute boys?"
"Please don't say my brother!" Elena groaned.
"No! He's been really nice and helpful, but we're just friends," I laughed. "I haven't really seen anyone that sparked my interest yet."
"What if I were to set you up with someone?" Caroline asked excited.
"A blind date?" I scoffed. "I don't think so."
"Oh come on!" she pleaded. "It'll be so much fun! And I promise he'll be hot!"
"You might as well just save yourself the time, and give in now," Bonnie laughed. "Because she won't."
"Ok, fine," I smiled.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she hugged me. "You won't regret this."
"I doubt that," I muttered.
"I'm home," I heard someone shout. I think it was Jeremy.
"We're in here," Elena shouted.
"Oh! Cool, pizza!" he said grabbing a slice.
"I thought you weren't coming home tonight?" she asked.
"Changed my mind," he shrugged. "Besides your lucky I'm here. You need something to liven up this party."
I laughed.
"No way, Jeremy!" Elena said. "This a girls night only, so scram!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" he laughed. "Well, Riley, if they start to bore you, my door is open."
"Thanks Jeremy," I laughed.
After Jeremy left, the girls started to tell me about their group of friends.
I found out that Elena used to date Matt, the guy who seated me and Jeremy at the Grill. But they broke up when her parents died. But then when Stefan moved back to town, she got with him, and they've been dating since. Caroline also just recently broke up with Matt because 'they didn't fit together well'. As far as I could tell Bonnie hadn't been seeing any one recently.
They also told me that Stefan had a brother named Damon, and that I should stay clear of him. They wouldn't tell me why though.
We didn't end up falling asleep until like one in the morning. Sadly, after only two hours of sleep, I was awake. Too many thoughts were running through my head. I just needed to get some air, so I walked out the front door and sat on the porch. For once, the silence was welcomed. The air was clean and crisp. I finally felt like I could breathe.
"Room for one more?" Jeremy asked, starling me.
"Yeah," I said softly, scooting over.
"So what's got you up this late?" he asked.
"Too much going on in my head," I confessed.
"You wanna talk about it?" he asked concerned.
"It's just," I sighed, at a loss for words. "I guess I miss the way things used to be with me and my mom. We used to be happy. But lately, all we do is fight."
"What do you guys fight about?" he asked.
"Stupid stuff," I said, not wanting to elaborate. "Mistakes I've made or crappy decisions. She just won't let me forget it. She always has something rude to say, even when I don't say anything at all. And it sucks because she's my mom and I love her to death, but sometimes I just want to scream at her and tell her how I really feel about her."
"Well, maybe, instead of going off on her, or even thinking about it," he suggested. "You should try out the old saying 'Kill her with kindness.'"
"What do you mean?" I asked confused.
"Whenever she says or does something hurtful to you," he explained. "Show her an act of love. Say something nice or do something thoughtful."
"I guess I could try that," I nodded. "Thanks Jeremy."
"It's what I'm here for," he smiled.
"I better get back to sleep," I said standing up. "I have interview with the Grill tomorrow."
"Oh really?" he asked surprised. "Well I'll have Matt put in a good word for you."
"Really?" I asked.
"Absolutely," he affirmed.
"Thank you so much Jeremy," I said. "You know when I first got here I thought it was going to be really hard, but you and all of your friends have made it so much easier."
"We're all here for you," he said.
"Goodnight Jeremy," I smiled and kissed his cheek. Before you get your panties in a bunch, it was just a friendly kiss.
"Night Riley," he said.
The next morning I went in for my interview, and after the manager talked to me for a few minutes, he hired me. Because of Matt's recommendation and the fact that they were short staffed, he started me right away.
I spent the entire day bussing tables, and watching Matt take orders. The manager said that if I was good, he'd fast track me to a waiter because I had a cute face, and the customers would love me. For the most part, my shift went great, but I didn't get off until about eleven pm.
As I was walking home, I kept getting this strange feeling that I was being followed. But I brushed it off as me being paranoid. Sighing, I crossed my arms trying to keep warm. All I was wearing was a pair of jeans, a short sleeve, shirt and a thin sweater. I should have been wearing a jacket, but sadly, I didn't own one. Buying me clothes wasn't my mother's number one priority.
All of a sudden I heard whoosh behind me and I turned my ahead around. As expected, no one was there. I was awfully, surprised however when I turned back around and a tall handsome guy was staring down at me.
"Holy crap," I breathed out. He had black hair and bright blue eyes.
"You know a girl your age shouldn't be out this late at night," he smirked.
"What's the worst that could happen?" I shrugged unamused, walking ahead.
"Well for starters you could get kidnapped," he said like it was obvious, walking beside me.
"Not my biggest problem," I said.
"Someone could kill you," he said trying to scare me. "They could end you just like this."
And he snapped his fingers.
"Yeah? Who?" I asked, stopping to stare at him. "You?"
"I could," he said, getting within inches of my face.
"Go for it," I said looking him straight in his eyes.
I saw a flicker of something in his eyes. I'm not sure if it was shock or what. But I don't think he expected me to practically dare him to kill me, and have me be so emotionless about it.
"What's your name?" he asked in a softer voice.
"Riley," I said.
"I'm Damon," he said.
That's when I remembered Elena had told me to stay clear of Damon. Oops.
"They warned me about you," I laughed.
"Who?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie," I said.
"And yet you're still talking to me," he said.
"I make my own decisions," I said. "Besides, you can't be that bad."
For a second he looked amused and almost pleased. Before I could say anything else he had taken off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.
"You know for a potential killer," I said, "You're actually sort of nice."
"Yeah well, if you tell anyone, I'll deny it," he said.
"Don't worry," I laughed. "Your secret is safe with me. Not like they'd believe me anyways."
"Goodnight, Riley," he said stepping aside.
"Night, Damon," I said and began walking home.
~Third Person P.O.V.~
It's very often that someone shocks Damon Salvatore to his core. However, Riley did just that.
She wasn't so much fearless, as she was reckless. She knew perfectly well that he or anyone else could kill her, torture her even. Yet, she seemed to not just care, but also, almost welcome it, like she had a death wish. But maybe she did.
And Damon could see that. That's why he wanted to get to know her better.
