Chapter 4

Finally, it is Friday! I am so excited. School is out. Now, I'm just waiting to ask Paige about going to The Grill. Oh, and borrowing the car.

"Kalinda, where are you?" Paige calls.

"In my room," I come out and walk downstairs.

"You look nice," she says.

"Can I go to The Grill with Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, and Matt?" I ask her.

"What is The Grill?" she asks.

"A restaurant," I say.

"Oh, okay, I guess that's fine," Paige says.

"And can I borrow the car?" I ask.

"If you must," she sighs. She tosses me the keys.

I grin at her, "Thank you."

Caroline had given me her number in school today, and I gave her mine. She is supposed to text me when they are going.

"Just be careful," Paige tells me.

"I will," I reassure her. "Don't worry." Then, uncharacteristically, I gave her a hug.

"Don't be late," she murmurs.

Caroline texts me around 6, saying they are all getting ready to leave.

I am so glad I made friends here. I would not want to sit at home on a Friday night. I grab my keys and say good-bye to Paige.

I arrive at The Grill to see Caroline waiting by her car. I quickly shut off my car, lock it, and call out to her.

"Glad you could make it," she grins.

"Me too, I'm glad you invited me," I say.

"Let's go inside. The others went to get us a table," Caroline smiles.

As we reach our table, I notice it's big enough to seat 12 people.

"Are more people coming?" I ask.

"You never know who might show up," Caroline says mysteriously.

I just shrug. Apparently this town really is close.

Our waitress comes over to take our orders.

"Night off, Matt?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'm hanging out with my girlfriend and a couple friends," Matt says.

"Lucky," she laughs. "All right, what can I get ya'll?"

Elena orders a chicken salad and a coke. Matt orders two hamburgers and a Coke. Bonnie orders chicken strips and a Sprite. Caroline doesn't order anything. She claims she isn't hungry, she's just here to hang out with friends. I order a chicken sandwich and fires, plus a Sprite.

We are halfway through eating our supper when a man appears out of nowhere beside Elena.

"Can I join you?" he asks.

Caroline agrees. She is always so friendly. Bonnie however disagrees whole-heartedly.

"You're not wanted here," Bonnie says to him.

The man just ignores her.

"Damon, this is Kalinda Emerose. Kalinda, this is Damon Salvatore," Elena introduces us.

Damon sits beside me, "Welcome to town."

"Leave her alone," Bonnie demands of him.

"It's okay," I say softly. Damon is hot. I don't mind him talking to me. He has shaggy black hair and blue-green eyes.

"See, Bonnie. Let people make their own decisions. Just because you don't like me doesn't mean others don't," Damon says.

"He's a disgusting creature, Kalinda," Bonnie tells me. "You don't want to get associated with him."

"Don't listen to the witch. She's just biased," Damon smiles at me. I smile back.

Bonnie groans in disgust and stands up. She throws down a twenty and leaves.

"Nice going, Damon," Caroline scowls at him. "Bonnie was finally starting to hang out with us again."

"We're better off without her. She always ruins our plans anyway," Damon shrugs.

I am very confused by this point. Why call her a witch? Damon didn't seem like the type to dislike saying bitch. And what plans were they talking about? This all seems very suspicious. I'm not sure if I really trust any of these people.

"Alright, let's not scare Kalinda away," Caroline laughs. "She's only known us for a week."

"You're very pretty," Damon says to me. He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

I giggle and blush.

"Damon, she will not be your new toy," Elena says.

Matt distracts her by kissing her cheek.

Elena blushes herself.

"How about we get going?" Matt asks. We had finished our dinner a while ago. Near the time Bonnie left.

"Okay," Elena grins. "We'll see you guys Monday."

"Get some," Caroline calls out as they walk away. "I should probably head home, too. My mom will be getting home soon."

"Okay," I say. I'm kind of sad to leave Damon. He has such a mysterious air about him.

"How about we stay?" Damon asks me.

I nod happily. It's not like I planned on going home with him.

"Are you sure?" Caroline asks.

"I'll be fine," I say. "Go on."

"You, be a gentleman," Caroline warns Damon.

"Aren't I always?" he asks rhetorically.

Caroline just rolls her eyes and leaves.

"I'm not that bad," Damon tells me. "So, maybe I used to be a bit of a playboy, but I've changed."

"Sure," I laugh. "That's why Caroline told you to be a gentleman."

He brushes the back of his hand against my cheek.

I blush again. What is this man doing to me?

Damon looks deep into my eyes. "How about we go outside? It's quite nice out."

"Sure," I hear myself say, but it's like I'm in a trance.

He smiles, "Excellent." He leads me out a back door and behind The Grill. It's dark out and no one else is around.

"Why are we out here?" I ask.

Damon just smiles and moves my hair away from my neck.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Shh!" he whispers. Damon starts to kiss my neck, slowly and softly.

"Damon…," I whisper.

He just continues what he's doing. Then he bites down. Hard.

"Ow!" I yell. Then a couple seconds pass. It starts to feel good.

When Damon is finished he cleans up my neck and looks back into my eyes.

"You will remember nothing that just took place," Damon compels. I nod. When he breaks eye contact, I feel dizzy. My mind is all hazy.

"Wh…where are we?" I ask.

"Outside. You wanted fresh air," Damon says.

"I do feel a little dizzy," I say.

"Well, maybe I can kiss you better," Damon flirts.

I smile in spite of myself. I know I just met him, but he is so hot.

His lips meet mine, and I can't help but to smile. He grins back. Then he forces my tongue between my lips. Not that I was really trying to stop him.

It was getting heated when somewhere in the distance a bell tolled, signaling it was 8 o'clock.

"Want to go back to my place?" Damon asks.

"I should probably get home. My sister might get worried," I say.

"What about your parents?" Damon asks, curious.

"They died in a fire," I say.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"You didn't know," I tell him.

"Why did you choose Mystic Falls?" he asks me.

"My sister found me a good house here," I shrug. "I don't really know how her mind works."

"Well, I'm glad you came here," he grins. He is leaning against the back wall of The Grill now. He looks like the stereotypical bad boy.

I grin back. Then I remember all the things people had been saying about this town over the past week. At school, my friends seem normal when they're with people. But when they're alone together, they act so paranoid. They act like something bad will happen at any turn.

"This town is so weird," I say aloud.

"Hey now," Damon laughs. "Though I'm not disagreeing. It's got its history."

There is that history thing again. I really need to read up on this town's history.

"You look like you're thinking hard," Damon says.

I shrug, "Just thinking about life here."

He smiles, "Well I hope it's good. I'd miss you if you left."

I blush yet again. This seems to be a habit, "I should get going."

I drive away grinning. This had been a good night. I was ready to do it again. And soon.