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When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling above me like I did every morning. Every normal morning. I felt like I was waking up to a day just like any other – groggy, tired, and with the one wish to just go back to sleep again.

For a blissful moment, my only thought was that this day wasn't going to be any different from the rest of them. That was, until I yawned and stretched out my body, and a throbbing pain made itself known in my neck.

I froze. No. No, that wasn't... I brought my hand up and touched my neck, only to find a coarse bandage instead of smooth skin. I quickly reached out for my phone on the nightstand, and dropped it once on my stomach before I got a good enough grip with my trembling hands.

The screen was too dark for me to see anything, so I turned on the front camera. My frowning face looked back at me, neck all covered up. Maybe I was still asleep. I pinched myself hard in the arm, wincing, but nothing happened.

Did last night really happen? It couldn't have.

It felt so strange, like I'd dreamed the whole thing - but the fact that my neck bandaged told me otherwise. It couldn't have happened, though.

Somehow, I pushed the thought away. I had to get up if I was going to finish preparing everything and then getting to school on time. I slowly heaved myself up, feeling sore all over. I was so tired. Slowly sliding my legs across the edge of the bed and placing my feet on the floor, I remained sitting for a minute.

I rubbed my eyes and yawned. At least everything around me wasn't spinning anymore. The dress for the masquerade was still hanging on my wardrobe, and I silently prayed that my wounds would've healed by then. It was after all only about a week away. I pushed myself off the bed and walked on stiff legs into the bathroom in the hallway. Locking the door behind me, I then turned to the sink to wash off my face.

When I looked up in the mirror, my face was pale and my skin was tightly stretched across my bones. Tiny droplets of water ran down my cheeks and forehead, and I grabbed a towel to wipe it off. I'd never seen myself looking so tired before.

I only threw a quick glance at my neck. Last night felt surreal, and I intended to keep it that way. Maybe it had something to do with my abnormal stress-levels. Because things like that don't happen.

Normally, I wouldn't wear too much makeup, but today I didn't even care about the littlest things. All I cared about was keeping the memory of yesterday night locked away tight in the furthest corner of my mind, and getting through the day. It didn't happen. It didn't. It couldn't have...

I finished up in the bathroom and went back into my room to put on some clothes. Dressing had never been so excruciatingly tiring. My whole body was limp – when I went to lift my arms and do something, they were weak and shaky. I muttered under my breath. This was hopeless.

Standing up with a yawn, I then trudged out of my room. The door to my mothers room was open, and when I went down the stairs and into the kitchen I realised that she would already have left for work. I poured myself a glass of milk and grabbed an apple. I knew that, because of yesterday, I probably should eat more – but I had not appetite. None whatsoever. Just thinking about eating made me cringe... but I forced the milk and apple down anyway. My body needed something to run on.

I had two classes today, and if I could skip them, I would. The same with my shift at the Grill later that night. But money was money, and I needed it. What made matters worse was that I didn't have a car, which meant I had to ride my bike. Maybe I shouldn't drive like this, even though the bike felt much less appealing. As long as I could stand on two feet, I should manage... Somehow, I always did.

When I went outside, the weather was completely different from last night. The sun was out, and it was warm... which meant an even worse ride to school. And on top of that, all my moving around had triggered a massive headache. I pursed my lips. This day was not going to be a good one.


Riding my bike to school that day was probably one of the worst things I'd been through physically. Trying to keep your eyes open with a stabbing headache and stay on a wobbly bike when your whole body pretty much was like jelly, that wasn't easy.

And I got a few strange looks from the students when I entered the classroom, probably because I always tried to be as chipper and welcoming as possible, for the sake of a good classroom environment. Right now, though, I could only bring myself to offer them a weak smile and a 'hello'.

I would usually stand, or lean against the table, when starting up or talking in front of a class, but I sat down. My legs could barely keep me up after that bike ride.

''Alright...'' I mumbled, trying to sort my thoughts somewhat coherent. ''We're still working on a writing assignment, yeah?'' I got some scattered yes's from around the room.

''Then let's continue with those today. Does everyone have something to do?''

When I looked up at them, they all nodded, or at least acknowledged it in some way. Both Stefan and Elena were in class, I noticed. But not Caroline. I'd told myself to push it back, what a good job I was doing... I swallowed, and felt my heart rate increase only by thinking about it. Stefan was frowning at me from his seat, and I noticed Elena glancing worriedly at him, looking for an answer. When my tired eyes met his, he didn't look away immediately. He studied me, almost calculating, until he let his gaze wander off.

The next fifty minutes were tormenting. I was sitting there in my chair, on the verge of falling asleep, only kept on my toes by the questions I would get from time to time. No one asked me what was wrong though, and I was thankful for that. Of course they noticed, I could tell, because they were awfully quiet – all of them. They were not a loud group, but occasional there could be occasional chatter and there wasn't anything wrong with that. But for the whole hour, you could hear a pin drop. If that was because they were uncomfortable because I was acting so strange, or just them acting out of compassion or politeness, I didn't know.

I managed to survive. When the clock struck twelve, I told them in a low voice that barely held itself in the room, that they were free to go. They emptied the classroom as quietly as they had been working, and I honestly think that they all actually lifted their chairs for once.

I noticed Stefan lagging behind. Elena stood by the door for a while, looking at him expectantly, but after an exchanged glance she nodded and went outside to wait.

''Miss Moreau,'' Stefan said. ''I'm sorry, but you don't look okay.''

And here I thought no one would comment. I sighed internally, preparing to come up with some credible lies to tell.

''Just a bit tired, that's all.''

''Is that a new scarf?'' he suddenly asked and pointed to the red thing around my neck.

''Not new,'' I answered faintly, ''but it's cold today so I figured I'd break a rule on outside wear in the classroom.''

''Okay...'' he trailed off, not sounding the least bit convinced. I would probably not have bought it, either. It wasn't cold enough outside that you had to wear a scarf.

''I'm just feeling a bit off, that's all,'' I tried to cover up my small mishap. ''Maybe it's a cold or something.''

He nodded, his dark eyes piercing into mine, darting to my neck and back. ''I hope you feel better soon.'' His smooth voice sounded reassuring, but his eyes told me otherwise. He was worried about something. What?

''Thanks,'' I replied. I honestly just wanted to avoid all people today, and right now I really, really wished he would leave. I thought he would too, but for some reason his eyes wouldn't leave mine. Maybe I was imagining things – hey, I was pretty sure that's all I did these days – but his eyes seemed to go darker... deeper.

''What happened to you?'' he asked, his voice gentle, but calculating. Like he was trying his hardest to convince me to tell him why I wore a scarf.

''I told you,'' I repeated slowly, confused. Nothing happened. It couldn't have.

He looked taken aback, but quickly collected himself. ''Yes... yes, of course. My bad. I'll see you around,'' he smiled politely, and left. I was still frowning as I watched his retreating back. What was that all about?

I sighed in relief when the door closed behind him. I fished my phone out of my pocket to get a glimpse of my appearance again. When I saw my reflection, I froze. The fabric didn't cover everything. Just above the red lining, a piece of something white was peeking out.

The way Stefan had been eyeing my neck told me that he couldn't possibly have missed that. I quickly wrapped it tighter around my neck, hopefully that would hold it up. I would most likely only need this bandage today, anyway. Then I could take it off and the scarf would cover everything a lot better. Cover up what couldn't have happened.

Now I just had to make it through one more class and then work later on. I could do that without completely falling apart, couldn't I?


Before I'd left for work at the Grill that night, I had taken a quick look in the hallway mirror to make sure the scarf was wrapped tightly and didn't show anything. If nothing happened, why is there something to hide? I tried to shake myself rid of the thought, but it sent chills down my spine.

The warmth in the restaurant and around the kitchen and bar area had me sweating like nothing else. But I couldn't take it off, so I had to just bite through it.

At least Sarah was completely independent now. She was handling orders and payments like she'd been here for a year. We'd actually gotten kind of close. It was nice to have something in the likes of a friend again – a friend that was closer to my age than most of the other co-workers I had. She had an overwhelming amount of customers right now though, since her tables were packed with larger groups.

''Hey, could you help me get these to table seven please?'' she begged me, her arms packed with trays. She nodded towards another two on the counter.

''Sure.'' Balancing two trays was not problem. I tried to take it as easy as possible, since I wasn't too keen on the thought of falling down in a heap of glass, metal and food. I didn't trust my body right now, so I decided not to push it.

When I got back to the area behind the bar, I noticed Mr. Saltzman sitting there with a glass of scotch. He was tracing the brim of the glass with a finger, looking deep in thought. I went past him to put away some dishes, when I heard him call my name out softly.

''Miss Moreau.''

I finished what I was doing and turned around. ''Mr. Saltzman. Hi.'' I wiped some sweat of my brow and balanced myself on my tired legs. If there was one thing I was good at, it was enduring tiredness. I would say that I'd been through worse, but I guess that wasn't true.

I noticed how his eyes went to the red thing around my neck and then back to my eyes.

''You never wear scarves,'' he frowned, then cleared his throat. ''I mean... I've noticed.'' At least he was aware of what was coming out his mouth. I took notice of the empty glasses next to him. Well, he must've had a bad day. And now he was a little bit too honest for his own good.

I pulled at the scarf around my neck, pressing it closer to me. ''Yeah, well, I'm in a phase.'' It was an attempt at a joke, but he didn't get it. ''I'm just cold, that's all,'' I continued meekly.

Mr. Saltzman looked at me like he didn't quite believe my lies. I never said I was a good liar, especially not when I hadn't had time to think through what to say.

''Cold?'' he echoed. No one could be cold in here, and he knew it.

''I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work,'' I told him, trying my hardest to get away. My mind was foggy enough, I didn't need all these questions hurled at me.

At least the alcohol hadn't thrown him completely off. He was sober enough to back off, which was a huge relief. Because I couldn't deal with anymore of this... Why were they all so concerned about the scarf?

''Could you get me another one of these?'' Mr. Saltzman hollered to my co-worker working the bar. Then he turned to me again. ''Make sure you look out for yourself.''

I frowned. ''Um... okay. Thank you?'' It came out more a question than a simple exchange of gratitude. He just nodded at me, before he went back to his drink.

He spent a lot of time there, I realised. But he never drank too much. Or maybe he just had a high tolerance... but who was I to judge. I sighed. The thing that itched was Mr. Saltzman and Stefan Salvatore's relationship. The way Mr. Saltzman seemed to let things slide a bit too often. And then the fact that the two of them were the only ones who'd commented on my scarf. That actually made me feel a bit uneasy. Did they know something? Something about the thing that couldn't possibly have happened, you mean.


Mr. Saltzman didn't talk to me anymore that night. I swear though, I could feel his eyes on me the whole time he sat there. Maybe an hour, or two. I'd tried to ignore him as best I could.

When the clock finally struck ten, I bolted right out to my locker and grabbed my things. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I was so tired that I decided to simply use my bike for support, and then walk home. It wouldn't come as a surprise if I'd end up seeing doubles anytime soon.

I finally got home about fifty minutes later. That's how slow I was. Normally, walking would take half of that time. The car wasn't in the driveway when I got there, so mum wasn't home. That was a relief, in a way; I wouldn't have to talk to anyone or explain anything. She rarely pried, but still.

I put away my bike and dragged myself up on the porch. My keys jingled when I put them in the lock, and I turned them until I heard a click. Stepping over the threshold, I stretched my hand out to turn on the lights.

All I wanted was to go straight to bed, and I did. For the first time in forever, I didn't follow my strict routine of searching online. Well in my room, I collapsed on my bed fully clothed. And when I lay there, I was too tired to move – and I almost immediately drifted off to sleep.