I've been believing in something so distant, as if I was human.And I've been denying this feeling of hopelessness in me… now I'm lost in paradise.

-Lost In Paradise

Elena stared blankly at the white walls surrounding her. She was so alone, yet with so many ghostly figures hovering around her. She knew they were there; no matter how she denied it. They were memories of the life she could have had. The world was spinning, but she was too numb to feel nauseous. What good was it to try if it didn't help anything? Elena rubbed her forehead, curving her pointer finger down the side of her face until she felt the pulse in her neck.

"Elena!" Jeremy called to her from downstairs. Elena rolled her eyes. She was finding it hard to believe she and her brother had once been the closest of friends.

"What?" she bit out loudly in response.

"Come down here for a second." Elena lay back on her bed, tapping her hand next to her hip. What could her brother possibly want from her? Blinking tightly, she got up and began to walk slowly out of the room and down the stairs.

"Yes?" She taunted in fake sweetness when she found her brother on the living room couch.

"Elena, mom and dad went out for the night." Jeremy had a smirk crisscrossing over his face.

"Okay, thanks for telling me?" Elena said confused, raked a hand quickly through her brown locks and beginning to walk out of the room.

"You can't go yet." Jeremy stared at her, binding her feet with metaphorical steel.

"What do you want?" Elena tapped her foot expectantly.

"You, out of the house for tonight. I'm having a little gathering."

"A little gathering," Elena deadpanned with a dark chuckle. "You mean the best and most popular seniors, and you don't want your weird little sister around to ruin your night with the shallow idiots."

"With my friends," Jeremy corrected coldly.

"Actually, they're Tyler's friends. You're just lucky they let you tag along." Elena gave a taunting smile in return.

"When did you become such a bitter bitch?" Jeremy sneered. He hated what he and his sister had come to. He couldn't remember the last time she had given him a genuine smile. How long it had been since he had hugged her. Jeremy felt his heart fall to his gut, but he still kept a steely exterior.

"The second you became an arrogant control freak." His sister fired back. Elena's face was bleak: cold and gray with years of a whipping wind. Her once vibrant olive skin now seemed off-color and dead. What Jeremy would give to put a smile back on his sister's face and return the light to her skin.

"Testy today, aren't we? Look, Elena, just disappear tonight, alright?"

"When am I not a ghost?" Elena muttered to herself. "Don't worry; I won't ruin your little fantasy night, okay?" Elena walked quickly out of the room.

Standing in the hallway, she looked to the clock. 5:30. Jeremy would probably have friends over by eight. She pinched the bridge of her nose; what would her next move be? It wasn't worth staying around and pestering Jeremy until his friends came. Sighing, she grabbed her deep plum jacket off of the rack and walked out the door. Shutting it behind her with her back, she stared out into the vacant street. Why couldn't things go her way? Just once? She looked to the sky, but god came back with no response. If there even was a god, he sure as hell had done little for her. Elena stared a moment longer, seeing if there might be some sort of answer from the sky. When the cool autumn breeze was the only response, Elena tried to ignore Heaven's rudeness.

"Spectacular," she grumbled to herself, and walked off the porch. She knew she only had an hour or two left of daylight, so she couldn't go far. Elena walked the winding streets of her neighborhood, but quickly tired of the suburban landscape. Turning off the street, she quickly found herself on Mystic Falls' main road. A street full of bars, restaurants, shops, and teenagers with the illusion that this is was a cool and badass place to be. Elena rolled her eyes at the thought. Crossing her arms in defense of the cold wind, she quickly walked to the Grill. Pushing the door open, she was met with a whirling warm wind and a congested area full of people, smoke, and pole tables. This was her Saturday night. Finding her way to an open table, she placed her coat over the chair slowly. She would do anything to keep herself entertained for as long as possible—it was going to be a slow night.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked as Elena approached him. She tried to hide the smile as she stared at him. With his sweet green eyes and crisp blonde hair, he was quite the catch.

"Um," she replied quietly, "can I have a Diet Coke?" She gave the boy a smile, to try and brighten her features. As aching and alone as she felt, she wanted to make a good impression.

"Sure, that'll be 3 dollars." The bartender went to get her Coke, and Elena sifted through her pockets only to come up with two dollars. She mentally kicked herself for not checking for money before leaving her house. Damn Jeremy.

"Shit," Elena muttered, placing the two dollars on the table. She looked around anxiously, with the meager hope some solution would be there. But luck failed her, and the bartender came back. Putting the Coke on the counter, he took the two dollars.

"You're missing one dollar," the boy said with a shining smile. Elena tapped her fingers against the sweating glass.

"Oh—oh, um, yeah," Elena replied nervously. She pretended to dig in her pockets for that one simple dollar bill, and did so with shaking hands. "Look," she began apologetically, until a figure came up behind her.

"Here's that dollar," the swirling seductive voice said, leaning over Elena to put the bill on the counter with authority. The bartender gave a nod of a 'thank you', but his face noticeably fell when he saw the man so close to Elena. Elena's body tightened. Taking a breath, she slowly turned to face the man. As she turned, the figure took only a step or two back, so their bodies were still lightly touching. Looking up to him timidly, Elena was met with the most brilliant blue eyes.

"Um, thank you, for doing that. I appreciate it." Elena grabbed her Coke, giving the man a tight smile. He simply stared at her. "Excuse me," she said lightly, brushing past him. A part of her wanted to stay. That was one of the first times a truly gorgeous man had even noticed she existed and did something about it. Gripping her glass tightly, she walked over to her table. Taking a seat, she suddenly had a wave of loneliness come over her. Elena drank her Coke frequently to give her something to do, and to help her create an illusion that she was not alone. Staring at her phone on the table, she kept putting in her password for something to do.

"Hey, Jeremy," Elena greeted tightly when her brother came on the other side of the phone.

"What, Elena?" Jeremy replied in annoyance.

"Are you coming over by the Grill by any chance?"

"Why?"

"Well, I didn't bring enough money, and need to get dinner at some point." Elena twisted her hair around her finger as she waited for her brother's reply. She could feel him rolling his eyes.

"Elena, people have already showed up. No can do. Sorry." Jeremy's voice was short and to the point—Elena knew he didn't want to be bothered. She sighed.

"Alright, then, I guess…" she closed her eyes, "forget I even called." She jerked the phone away from her ear and angrily punched the 'end call' button. Flinging her phone onto the dark wooden table, and crossed her arms and dropped her head to the wood.

"Sorry to eavesdrop, but I can buy you dinner," the blue eyed man told Elena as he stood next to her table. Elena picked up her head.

"Oh, that's so nice of you," she said with a smile. "But it's alright. Thank you, though."

"You sure?" The man raised an eyebrow. Although her gut told her to just walk away, her eyes lingered on him. There was something about this man that drew her in; she was finding it hard to resist.

"You know what? Dinner would actually be great. Thanks." Even as Elena spoke the words, she still felt tentative. She brushed the feeling quickly to the side though, and the man smiled.

"Wonderful. I don't believe I caught your name." The man smirked.

"I'm Elena."

"Damon." Damon nodded, and turned on his heel. "Burger okay?" He turned his head to face her.

"Yeah, that's fine. Thank you again." Elena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling. Her luck may actually be turning around. She watched as Damon ordered. She stared at his body moving behind his wall of black clothing, and she was lost in him. His light skin and blue eyes stood out beautifully against his dark attire and hair. Maybe there actually was a god.

"Food will be coming soon," Damon said as he sat down next to Elena. "So why is a girl like you alone on Saturday night?" Damon flashed a hybrid between a smile and a smirk. Elena was too blinded by him to notice the oily taint in Damon's smile.

"Saturday nights are overrated," Elena replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Is that so?" Damon replied, placing his elbows on the table and leaning subtly closer to Elena. His plan was working perfectly.

"It is so," Elena laughed, accompanying it with a nod.

"Enlighten me," Damon said with sultry softness.

"Saturday is no different from any other day of the week. I just don't get why it's such a huge deal what people do over the weekend. Alone time is good for the soul."

"But after a while it takes a toll on sanity," Damon replied.

"Yeah, well, sanity is all in perspective."

"You're really intriguing, you know that?" Damon gave her a mischievous look. It was so easy to flirtatiously taunt Elena.

"Well that's one I've never heard before," Elena said. "People tend to use other adjectives to describe me."

"Well, I'm not people." Damon began to tap his fingers on the table, slowly inching them closer to Elena's hand. Maybe this time he would taunt and play with one of Amica's descendents before he killed her.

"How individualistic of you," Elena replied.

"I suppose you could say that," Damon shrugged. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take being nice to her. Elena looked too much like Amica for this to be easy. "So Elena, what's your story?"

"My story?" Elena echoed, "as if there is one. My life could barely even be considered a novella."

"Why do you say that? I'm sure it's much more intriguing then you let on." Of course, Damon knew all the interesting parts of her life—the voices in her head, the mystical past… he had created them.

"It's honestly not. I'm just a girl who lives her life in the shadows of others or through the pages in a book. When it comes to a story, I'm pretty one dimensional." Elena sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, I think an adventurous chapter is in dire need then, wouldn't you say?" Damon raised an eyebrow.

"What'd you have in mind?" This was a bad idea, and Elena knew it. But she couldn't stop herself from eagerly agreeing to whatever Damon had in mind. For too long, Elena has lived her life tentatively and subtly. It was time for her to let loose and prove to herself she was more than just a translucent ghost unnoticed by the world.

"I can think of a few things," Damon replied, his voice slithering with dark intentions. Elena smiled at him in return.

Short chapter—I'm literally the worst updater ever! Well, at least Damon and Elena finally met, right? For the next chapter and future ones, I really want your ideas and suggestions. Writers block is slowly starting to overcome me with this story… so give me your ideas for what this 'adventurous chapter' should be.

Be good and review!