The next morning Alaric was the one who woke up alone in bed. Downstairs in the kitchen Damon was already making breakfast. Jeremy and Stefan were seated at the table, talking quietly. The teacher greeted them with a smile, kissed his boyfriend and took a seat. Jeremy pretended he hadn`t seen the kiss, but Stefan was watching his brother and Ric thoughtfully.
"Anna has been in the bathroom for over an hour, despite the fact that I told her three times she has enough time to get ready at the Lockwood's." the teen grumbled. Ric remembered the last Miss Mystic Falls pageant. He had been dating Jenna back then and had played chauffeur for her and Elena. It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then. His life had changed so much. He noticed that Stefan was strangely silent and wondered if the younger Salvatore was remembering the last pageant as well. He had snapped and almost killed a girl, so today surely brought no happy memories for him.
Damon piled their plates high with pancakes, before marching towards the stairs and hollering: "Anna! If you want breakfast you`ve got five minutes tops to get your ass down here!" Then he returned to the kitchen like nothing had happened. "Maybe you should adopt her. Looks like you`re getting used to the job of being her guardian." Ric commented with a grin. Damon sat down next to him and punched his shoulder none too gently. "Oh shut up. Better take care of your own protégé here." The teacher winked at Jeremy, who grinned back at him.
About three minutes later Anna finally made it to the table as well. Ric couldn`t see much difference to how she usually looked, but decided to keep that thought to himself. "I have no idea why I`m so nervous. It`s no big deal." the girl muttered. "Elena was nervous as well, when she competed the last time." Jeremy tried to comfort his girlfriend, with little success.
"Have you drunk enough blood? We wouldn`t want you to eat the other girls." Damon warned when Anna was about to head out. She gave him a dark look and told him to stop treating her like a child, since she was in fact older than he was. "If necessary she can drink from me." Jeremy chimed in. Alaric thought that he should probably object to that. He was the kid´s guardian after all and should be concerned about his well-being. On the other hand it was really none of his business what happened between the kid and his girlfriend. So he kept his mouth shut. After about 15 minutes of running up and down the stairs Anna was sure she had everything she needed and left with her boyfriend in tow.
Stefan left as well, after fetching a bottle of animal blood for Elena. Damon and Alaric spent a few quiet hours lounging around the boarding house, before getting dressed for the party. The teacher had to admit that his boyfriend had chosen a beautiful suit for him. The dark fabric felt soft and cool against his skin and fit him perfectly. The white shirt and light-blue tie proved a nice contrast to the dark grey of his suit.
He cast a quick look into the mirror and then turned to Damon, who couldn`t take his eyes off the teacher. "Like what you see?" Alaric teased. The older vampire smirked. "Hmm, a lot. I should buy you clothes more often." Ric only laughed at that and pulled Damon closer. The dark-haired vampire looked gorgeous in his dark suit. Their lips met and suddenly Ric found himself pressed against the closed door. His hands skimmed under Damon`s jacket, gently stroking his back.
"If we keep going like this we`ll never make it to the pageant." he warned, once their lips had parted. "We still have time. And even if we`re late… who cares?" Damon shrugged it off and pushed the jacket off Ric`s shoulders. The teacher really intended to argue his point, but Damon`s lips started ghosting over his throat and the protest died on his lips.
###
Meanwhile Anna was sitting in front of a mirror at the Lockwood mansion, wrestling with her hair. She still felt nervous and jittery and started wondering if it had been such a good idea to enter in the competition. What the hell had she been thinking? The other girls were talking behind her back and giving her weird looks. Thanks to her enhanced hearing Anna knew that they were mostly bitching about the fact that she wasn`t from a founding family.
"Oh god, I feel like I`m about to puke." the dark-haired girl next to her muttered. "Yeah, me too." the vampire admitted, looking over at her. The brunette gave her a slight smile. "Well, that`s good to hear. At least I`m not the only one." she joked, before introducing herself as April. "I`m Anna." the vampire muttered, turning away from the mirror and facing April completely. The other girls were gossiping about her as well. She was the daughter of Pastor Young, who had blown himself up.
"I`m sorry about your father." Anna murmured a little awkwardly. "Thanks." was the automatic reply and she wondered how often April had heard these words in the last couple of days. She felt bad for the girl. After all, she could relate. "My mom died not long ago." April gave her a surprised look. "Oh, that`s … I`m sorry." she stammered.
For a moment there was an awkward silence, only broken by the chatter of the other girls. "How do you handle it?" April wanted to know after a while. Anna shrugged. "I don`t know. Sometimes it feels unreal, you know? Like she`s just out of town or something. Until I remember that she`ll never come back." She had spent almost 150 years without her mother and could look after herself. But back then Pearl had been locked away in the tomb and Anna had always known that they would see each other again. Now her mother was gone for good.
"I know what you mean. I`ve barely seen my dad over the last few years. I was at boarding school. We only spent the holidays together." April told her. "But it`s different, knowing he`ll never come back." Anna muttered. The other girl nodded. "It is. And it`s strange to be back here. I was only here for Christmas in the last few years. I don`t really know anyone. I live with my uncle now, but I can`t shake the feeling that he`s not happy about me being here." April sounded desolate.
"I live with friends of my mom. The Salvatores. They`re okay, but it`s still weird. I spent a few month here with my mom, but aside from my boyfriend Jeremy I don`t know anyone either." At least that was the official story they had come up with. "Jeremy Gilbert, right? His sister used to be my babysitter." April let her know. Anna nodded. "Yeah, he`s my escort today. I don`t know what I`d do without him." Just thinking about Jeremy made her smile. "And who´s escorting you?"
"Matt Donovan. You may know him. He works at the Grill with Jeremy." April explained. "Yes, I`ve met him. He seems nice." She hadn`t had much dealings with Matt so far, but he seemed like a good guy. "He`s really nice. He offered to be my escort. I`ve known him since I was a kid. Back when he was still dating Elena I had a little crush on him." April admitted and blushed. Anna grinned. "He`s kinda cute." she mused.
"Yeah, he is, isn`t he? But Jeremy`s cute, too." April murmured. "I meant… I don`t want to steal him away from you or anything. Just saying." she hastenend to add, blushing even harder. Strangely enough Anna didn`t feel jealous at all. Jeremy loved her more than anything. She knew that. "It`s okay, I didn`t think that. There must be a lot of girls who think he`s cute. I mean, he`s totally cute, so…" she shrugged and was almost glad when the arrival of Caroline and Elena interrupted their talk.
The two girls came to check on April. "Do you need help with your hair or make-up?" Elena asked kindly. April nodded, seemingly glad for the help. Anna turned back to the mirror, not wanting to intrude. Maybe she should just give up on her hair. "Are you wearing your hair like that?" The dark-haired vampire noticed with surprise that Caroline was standing behind her, giving her a critical once-over.
"I was thinking about doing it up…" Anna murmured hesitantly. She wasn`t used to people paying attention to her. And she didn`t even know the blonde. Therefore Caroline`s next words took her completely by surprise: "Need some help?" Hesitating only a little, Anna nodded. It couldn`t hurt, she reasoned. Caroline was like a living Barbie doll, so she most likely knew what she was doing. And really, after only about 10 minutes Anna`s hair was done up beautifully. "Wow, thanks." she whispered. Caroline grinned at her, before taking her leave.
Elena was still busy doing April`s make-up, so Anna got up and quietly left the room. She found Jeremy out in the hallway. "Wow, you look amazing." he whispered and she felt herself blushing. "Thanks." she muttered a little self-consciously. "You were talking to April?" Jeremy changed the subject, obviously noticing her discomfort. "Yeah, she`s nice." Anna was surprised how easy it had been to talk to the brunette. She had always been a loner. Had always kept her distance and been shunned by others.
It had never bothered her before. She had always taken comfort in the thought that she would get her mother back one day and then she`d never have to be alone again. Until then there had been aquaintances and fools she had compelled to do her bidding. But now her mother was gone for good. She had Jeremy, but she couldn`t cling to him 24/7. It would be nice to have a friend.
"I`ll be waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Good luck." Jeremy`s voice cut through her musings. Anna smiled at him and watched him walk back downstairs with his sister in tow. She took a deep breath and then returned to the other contestants. Maybe she could talk to April again, before the pageant started.