I smooth my dress out, second guessing whether it is actually appropriate for an event like this. What are you supposed to wear to a celebration for the return of a formerly missing kid?
"Is this dress appropriate?" I ask Elena as she straightens her hair on my bedroom carpet. She takes a second to study it and then nods her head.

"Yes. Why wouldn't it be?" She frowns in confusion. I'm wearing a green lacy dress that ends a little above my knees, so the length isn't a problem. It isn't too low cut but maybe a little bit low for tonight.

"It isn't too booby? Or too colourful?" I ask and she raises her eyebrows a little in surprise.

"As apposed to what, black?" She laughs. She isn't wrong, the green is dark enough. "For the love of god, Bonnie. We're going to a celebration, not a funeral." Caroline chimes in with her scolding tone. She knows how I tend to over think, and she doesn't hesitate to let me know. But she's right, in this situation, and it does help me relax a little.

"You're right. But now I'm starting to think it's too dark." I mock, mostly joking. I bite my lip for dramatic effect. Elena grins and rolls her eyes, jumping to her feet.
"Let's go, now, before Bonnie starts over thinking her hair." She and Caroline both laugh and start putting on their shoes but her comment does make me worry a little bit. Is there something wrong with my hair?

We all sit in my Dad's car and bop our heads to his "old people music", as Caroline refers to it. He just laughs it off and makes some sarcastic joke about her not knowing what culture is. It's quiet for most of the drive but then Caroline breaks the silence.
"I don't even know why we're going to this. It's not like we even liked Enzo St. John." Caroline suddenly says. It seems like she's put a lot of thought into the subject during the silent car ride.

"Caroline..." Elena raises her eyebrows at that comment and Caroline rolls her eyes. "Oh please, don't give me that look. It's great he's back, I'm not saying it isn't. I just don't see why we have to go to a party for it." Caroline tries to clarify in a rather defensive way.

"The whole town is going." My Dad jumps in, his tone surprisingly not disapproving. Maybe he agrees with her in some way. Caroline stays quiet after that, obviously forgetting that my Dad would be listening and feeling embarrassed. I myself had found it strange that the St John family would be throwing a party. I would have thought they would want to spend as much time with their son as possible. But I have never had to go through a trauma like that, maybe it's what they need. I had spoken to Enzo a couple of times before he went missing, he seemed nice. I felt sad when they announced the news. He was a slightly nerdy kid who spent a lot of time on his own. I borrowed a pen from him once, he held the door open for me another time and I told Tyler Lockwood to leave him alone when I saw him being harsh. That was it, the sum total of our interactions. He was bullied quite a bit, but of course his bullies were distraught with the news of his disappearance. I bet they will be here tonight, welcoming him back like they were best friends. I wonder if he will remember me, that I tried to stop them when I could.

The car comes to a stop outside the town hall where the party is being held. Elena, Caroline and I break away from my Dad as he heads towards Caroline's Mom, who is running security. Not that it is expected that security will be needed, it's just to make sure us teenagers don't drink more than our agreed 'one celebration drink'. We all head inside, Elena immediately searching the room for signs of Stefan and his brother Damon. Elena has a huge crush on Damon and Caroline has a huge crush on Stefan. They have been working together to win over the brothers.

"Caroline, they're over there." Elena nudges our blonde friend, whose eyes light up in excitement. And then they both look at me, clearly feeling like they should stay with me. While I would rather not be left alone, there is one thing I would hate more: being a burden.

"Go, talk to them. I'll go get some food and meet up with you guys in a bit." I put on my best encouraging smile. Caroline gives me a quick hug and immediately darts for the boys. Elena take a second longer to give me a proper thank you and then joins our eager friend. I immediately feel awkward standing on my own and so I turn to find anyone else I know. Someone I can stick to for a little while. All I see is adults, where are the other kids from school?

And then I see him. It takes me a few seconds to realise who he is, he looks so different. It's Enzo. He is no longer the nerdy kid I remember, he is way different. There's something about him that mesmerises. I can't take my eyes off him and I quickly realise that nobody else can either. All around the room people are watching him. And it's not just because it's a miracle he is back, it's something else. Everyone from my school that I couldn't find is there, around him. Talking to him, solidifying their friendship with him. Everyone wants to be his friend and I know that because I have the same urge.

I feel sorry for him, he must be overwhelmed with all the attention. A part of me wants to drag him away from the crowd and take him somewhere quiet to decompress. As if hearing my thoughts, Enzo looks over at me. I can't bring myself to look away, to resist the urge to stare like everyone else in the room. But he is staring back at me. His face is blank at first and I think he doesn't remember me. But then the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile and I can tell that he does. He remembers me.
His smile is contagious, I can't help but smile back. He steps forward and just as I think he is about to start walking over to me, my thoughts are interrupted by a voice and I'm forced to look away.

"Wow, he got hot. Who knew that going missing did that to someone." Caroline whistles and I roll my eyes at her comment but the smile is still stuck on my face.

"Seriously, he looks like a different person." Elena joins in, coming to stand the other side of me. I look back over to where he stood, only to find that he is gone. He wasn't coming over to me at all. The smile drops off my face. Why do I have to be so bad at reading into things?