Chapter 3
"Blue or grey?" Caroline asked her best friend Elena, gesturing to two beautiful dresses hanging along the side of her bed.
"What's Klaus' least favorite color?" Elena teased, feigning curiosity.
"Elena, come on. I didn't tell you so you could torture me about it."
"I'm sorry. It's just, Klaus? Really? After everything he's done to us?" Elena said, arching her eyebrows as she spoke.
"Elena, that's not fair. Remind me again who you've been spending all your time with lately?" Caroline pressed.
"Yes, it's Damon. But it's different; Damon is not Klaus." Elena said somberly.
"Not that different." Caroline insisted, her eyes narrowing.
Before Elena could delve deeper into the argument, Tyler walked into her room.
"Hey, Care. Hey Elena," Tyler said as he kissed Caroline's forehead and embraced her briefly.
"Hey! Shouldn't you be home getting dressed for tonight?" Caroline asked against his chest.
"Uh, I have to talk to you about that. I just stopped by to tell you this in person so it wouldn't be much of a shock. I'm sorry but I'll be running a bit late." Caroline's face immediately fell.
"Oh...why?"
"Just, uh, something important I have to do. I promise I'll be there when they play the Cure's Pictures of You.You'll be okay?" he asked, gingerly touching the bottom of her chin. She gazed into his eyes for a moment before replying.
"I'll be fine. But you'd better not be too late, okay?" Caroline smiled tightly.
"Wouldn't dream of it. You practically skip sleep just to plan these dances." Tyler smiled and kissed her cheek.
She plastered a false smile as she watched him leap over piles of discarded dresses erratically scattered across the floor. She waited until he was out of earshot, and then sighed loudly in misery and flopped, face down, on her bed.
"Elena, what am I supposed to do until he arrives?" Caroline yelled into the bed.
"Wait for him to come?"
She caught sight of her friend's somber condition and immediately decided that she was no longer in the joking mood.
"Sorry. Too soon?" Elena asked.
"Little bit, yeah. Well I'm glad I have you; we could go together."
"Oh. Um… Caroline?"
"Elena…?" Caroline said slowly. "Don't tell me you're already going with someone else."
"Well, Damon asked."
"Elena! What did you say?" Caroline asked gravely.
"I didn't say no."
"Elena! You and Stefan have this EPIC eternal love."
"He's taking Rebekah. Besides, Caroline, you don't know Damon like I do."
"I can't change your mind, can I? Oh fine, just be careful! He's still Damon."
"I will if you will. I mean, let's face it: it's not me you should be worried about here. You're the one with the date with Klaus."
"It's not a date; it's just onedance. You know I'll be careful. So anyways, blue or grey?"
"You are a woman, are you not?" Klaus asked Rebekah while absentmindedly flipping through his vast closet.
"You're kidding," Rebekah said, hands on her hips.
"You know somewhat of the bizarre details women intuitively regard. Being as that is, you're going to help me choose a tie for tonight. Blue or grey?" Rebekah's older brother asked.
"Nik, I've never seen you care about anything short of power and superiority your entire life. It's that girl, Caroline, isn't it? Isn't it?" Rebekah insisted.
"The way I see it, this has nothing to do with you, now does it?"
"Fine, Nik. You want to be right? You're right," Rebekah said sarcastically, the slight hurt visible in her eyes.
"Come on, 'Bekah, don't be cantankerous now. To the contrary, your opinion does matter to me. I need to make myself agreeable."
Rebekah rolled her eyes and leaned over his desk, deep in thought.
"Blue," she answered before leaving him alone with his thoughts.
"The drinks! Where is Matt with the drinks!? Hey, you! Don't put that there. Follow me with that." Caroline barked orders at everyone, not bothering to conceal her stress.
"Hey, Caroline. Not everything has to be perfect, you did a great job. Just relax, okay?" Bonnie soothed her, grabbing her friend's arm and urging her to take a seat.
"I can't! What if everything doesn't go well?"
"You can't be insecure about this, Care. Look around! It's going to be great."
"You think so?" Caroline's eyes lit up with accomplishment.
"Of course! Hey, where's Tyler?"
"He'll be here. I hope," she said then added, "Quick! Teeth check. Open your mouth!"
Baffled, Bonnie barred her teeth with an awkward smile.
"Okay, you're good!"
"Okay, I don't know what you're-"
"Jeremy, hey!" Caroline yelled, drawing Bonnie's attention to him to keep her from blurting out something stupid.
"Hey, Caroline. Hey, Bonnie." Elena's younger brother smiled at them, but his eyes lingered on Bonnie.
"You look beautiful," he said to Bonnie.
"I'll leave you two," she said with a huge grin spread across her face. Caroline looked between them, mentally noting how well they suited each other.
She decided to go to the bathroom to fix her curly updo once more and retouch her makeup. She smoothed her satiny grey dress. Should she have gone with the blue dress? She was so lost in thought that she didn't see the note that was slipped under the door at first. After reapplying mascara for the third time, she finally turned around and saw a yellowish scroll tied tightly with a red ribbon. Curious, she slowly removed the ribbon.
When she opened the scroll, her breath was taken away. A spitting image of her was drawn on the scroll, complete with a beautiful pearl necklace embracing her neck. Itwasher, but there was no way she wasthat beautiful,she thought to herself. The eyes of the girl in the picture were drawn flawlessly wide and blue with innocence and description. The mystery artist copied everything about her 100% accurately, if not more beautifully. The hair was silky and flaxen, spilling at her shoulders. However, the Caroline in the drawing wore a blue, strapless dress.
Perplexed, she turned the drawing over several times, struggling to find some indication of its creator when she noticed a vague and cryptic note addressed to her:
"Meet me by the lockers."
-Klaus