I smiled in the mirror, trying to go for happy and relaxed, which was harder than you would expect. Maybe tilting my head will make it look more natural? I pulled my lips back into a grin, before shaking my head, that seemed a littletoohappy for an orphan with amnesia. A quick glance at the pictures stuck to the edge of the mirror for inspiration, I give one last try at a smile before looking over my outfit again.
The choice for today was a pair of darkish blue jeans with a cherry red top that had puffy short sleeves. For jewelry, I had gone for a simple pair of diamond studs and a long necklace that I could easily fiddle with. I had also found several friendship bracelets to complete my outfit. For my first day of school, I felt like it was a cute simple outfit thathopefullywouldn't draw to much attention to me (well, no more than being an orphan and an amnestic).
Turning back to face my room, I spot my bag still sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed, despite having packed it last night I picked it up and opened it to double check. Rifling through it, everything seems to be there, I look around the room making sure I'm not forgetting anything. I paused as I noticed my journal (Elena's journal) still lying innocently on the window seat, I had had it out last night hoping to jog some memories. Ultimately it hadn't but maybe I could refer to it for new people I meet today? Shrugging, I grab it and stuff it in with my new notebooks.
Figuring that I had wasted enough time in my room I gathered my bag and a light jacket in case it got chilly. Heading out of my room I paused to lean into Jeremy's, spying him sitting at his desk still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"You better hurry up and get ready, or I'll drinkallthe coffee," I called, drawing out the word all teasingly, causing him to laugh.
Quickly skipping down the stairs and making my way to the kitchen to see Aunt Jenna was already there. She was looking through the cabinets before moving to the fridge, opening it to peer inside.
"Toast! I can make toast," she turned to look at me with a smile.
I grinned back at her as I set my stuff down on one of the stools at the island, "That's impressive Aunt Jenna."
Moving to look into one of the cabinets myself I find only plates and bowls, frowning I peeked into the next one and grin at the neatly arranged mugs.
"Besides, coffee is where it's at," I said while pouring myself some coffee into a blueish gray mug. I turned back around to see Jeremy had made it down, dressed in clothes I'm pretty sure he wore yesterday.
"Is there coffee?" he mumbles still half asleep but making a beeline for where I stood next to the coffee maker. Knowing exactly what he was about to do, I tried to sidestep him but that proved useless as he just used his superior height to lean over me to snatch my mugrightoutof my hands. Pouting up at him also was quite useless as Jeremy had long grown immune to this, (heartless brat, picking on his poor sister).
Giving him one last pout, I turned back to the cabinet to pull out another mug this time red to match my top, secretly hiding a smile.
This small interaction was a big step compared to when I had first been released from the hospital. Which was a contrast itself, as when I had been in the hospital, he had been a hovering clingy mess. Constantly refusing to leave my bedside unless Aunt Jenna or one of the doctors made him go home to shower and change clothes. Only after I had been released home was when he started to pull away and become distant. Probably due to how obvious it was, in a familiar place, that I wasn't the Elena he knew compared to at the hospital.
Not that he wasn't perfectly justified in feeling that way. After all, not only did he lose his parents butnowhe had to deal with a complete stranger replacing his older sister. I'm ashamed to admit that it had taken me a couple of days to notice the growing rift, (Forgive me if I took a moment to realize some angsty teen was having a hard time).
Fixing it had actually been a lot easier than I expected all I had to do was incessantly bug him to hang out until finally he crumbled. I may have overused the puppy dog eyes with how immune to it he was now. Though he did try to fight at first, saying that he didn't want me to over strain that the doctor said fresh air would be good for me.
Our first couple of excursions consisted of walking through the only park this tiny town had and wondering around downtown window shopping. Thankfully it didn't take long for the awkwardness to melt away and for Jeremy to become comfortable with me.
Which was how I eventually found myself sitting in a cemetery surrounded by teenagers drinking alcohol and smoking weed. This is also where I met Vicki, aka Vicki Donovan, aka theolder sisterto Matt Donovan, my apparentex-boyfriend. Who I also apparently dumped viciously right before the accident.
It took all of my efforts to not scowl at the thought of our first meeting (my first meeting), luckily my back was to the kitchen as I poured coffee into my new mug. To call her a bitch would have been putting it lightly, completely undeserving of the crush Jeremy had on her. It hadn't been that bad at first when she was just dismissive, but that had quickly turned into condescending and disdainful. Constantly belittling anytime I spoke and making degrading remarks whenever I turned down an offer of recreational drugs.
All of this I could have handled after learning who she was, what I could not handle was when she started to sniff aroundmy14-year-oldbrother. What interest could a newly turned 19-year-old have in a freshman anyway? It didn't help that the attention she gave him only increased Jeremy's puppy crush.
Suffice to say, I squashed that right away, all I had to really do was glue myself to Jeremy's side. After that, I could sit back and watch as she dug her own grave.
I couldn't help but smile in self-satisfaction at the thought of the incident (the final nail in the coffin), as I turned back to face the kitchen. Jenna had moved over to her purse at the dining table, digging through it.
"It's your first day of school and I'mtotallyunprepared," she spun back around holding out a couple of tens. "Lunch money?"
I looked over at Jeremy on the other side of the island. "Does the school charge for lunch?"
He shook his head as he took a big gulp of coffee before setting down his mug (my mug). "We should be good, Aunt Jenna."
"Anything else? A number two pencil," she moved back to the table to shove some of the stuff she dug out of her purse back in. Putting her hands on her hips, she looked at us. "What am I missing?"
"Didn't you say you had a presentation today?" I offered, watching as she looked down at her wristwatch.
"Right! I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at… now, crap!" Gathering up her purse and the papers I just now noticed were next to it, she hesitated before leaving. "Are you sure you're ready? I can call the school if you want?"
"I'll be fine, Bonnie is giving me a ride. I have both your and Jeremy's numbers saved on speed I feel off in any way, I'll let one of the teachers know right away." I smiled confidently.
(Why should I worry, it was only my first day of school ever.)
"Okay, call me ifanythinghappens. Have a good day at school." She looked between us once more, I nodded reassuringly and even Jeremy gave a thumbs-up as he looked down at his phone. She gave us one last smile before she was gone.
I sighed as I looked around the kitchen before focusing on Jeremy, "You're good on a ride to school, right?"
He nodded before tilting his head back to gulp the last of his stolen coffee. "Yeah, I'm meeting a friend down the block before heading there."
He took his mug to the sink to rinse it out before putting it on the dry rack. He then moved around the kitchen gathering up his backpack and made to leave.
"Aren't you going to give me a good luck hug!" I called out before he made it through the doorway. He paused, turning back to me with a slight smile.
"Good luck hug?"
"Yeah. After all itismy firsteverday of school." I beamed up at him as he came around the island and gave me a tight squeeze.
"Have a good day at school."
"Have a good day at school."
I finally released him, watching as he picked up his backpack again and made for the door.
Finding myself alone for probably the first time since being released from the hospital was weird. I looked around again and noticed that the tv was still on, showing the news.
I moved into the living room to turn it off, pausing to read the headline.
'Couple found dead in what police say was a brutal animal attack.'
The screen changed to show separate pictures of the two of them with their full name, Darren and Brooke…
"Oh, what's wrong with that."
"We already have a James Blunt, ones all we need."
"So, why did you come?"
"Because I love you."
I gasped, spinning around to find where the two voices had come from, only to find the room still empty. I searched the whole bottom level of the house and there was no one. Finally returning to the living room I click off the tv before gathering up my things, going to wait for Bonnie outside on the porch.
《》
"So, Grams is telling me I'm psychic, our ancestors were from Salem. Witches and all that, I she was going on and on about it and I'm like put this woman in a home already." I smiled as Bonnie chatted easily filling the silence with it.
Glancing out the window to see that we were passing the cemetery. I couldn't help but think about the headstone there, belonging to two people I still didn't remember.
(Maybe I should visit them after school.)
"Elena!" I jolted in surprise looking back at Bonnie behind the wheel. She smiled at me looking only slightly concerned. "Back in the car."
"Oh! I'm sorry Bonnie, I did it again didn't I. You were telling me about being psychic?"
"That Grams thinks I am, yeah." She confirmed.
"Right! You should predict something for today, then. To see if it will come true." I said, turning in my seat to better face her.
She grinned back at me, "I see…"
Before she could finish her sentence, something black hit the car's front windshield causing Bonnie to slam on the brakes. I grabbed the 'oh shit' handle to brace myself as we skidded to a stop.
For a moment we both just sat there in shock, breathing heavily as our hearts started to slow back down.
"What was that? Oh my god! Elena are you okay?" Bonnie looked behind us to try and spot it before looking back at me in concern.
"I'm OK, are you okay?" I said breathlessly releasing the grab handle to instead pull at the seat belt.
"It was like a bird or something, it came out ofnowhere."
"It's okay, Bonnie,really. I can't be scared of cars forever." I finally managed to loosen the belt, so it wasn't cutting into my neck.
"I can take you back if you want?"
"No, I'm fine. This is only a little bump; I can do this." Finally relaxing in her seat again, she returned my reassuring smile.
"I predict that today, hell, even thisyearis going to be kick-ass and I predict that all the sad and dark times are over. And we are going to be beyond happy."
I grin at her prediction. "I can't wait."
《》
For a place usually compared to prison, the high school in Mystic Falls was actually a nice-looking building. The red and white trim really complimented the light gray walls on the outside and I really liked how the trim continued inside.
The halls were absolutely packed, and it was a bit of a struggle navigating them while trying to stay next to each other. I turned my head this way and that so I could take in everything and everyone. There were a lot more kids here than I would have expected for a small town.
"Major lack of male real state. Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beach, she looks a hot- can I still say tranny mess?" Bonnie asked, turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow.
I shook my head. "No, that's mean."
"Ah, find a man, coin a phrase, it's a busy year." She said jokingly as she opened her locker. Her smile fell slightly as she spotted something behind me.
I turned to look and saw Matt Donovan further down the hall at his own locker. I tried for one of my practice smiles as I raised my hand and gave him a little wave. All he gave me in return was a stony look back as he turned away and closed his locker a bit harder than necessary. I look back at Bonnie, grimacing to myself.
"I think he hates me…"
"That's not hate," was the quick reassurance from Bonnie. "That's 'you dumped me andthenproceeded to lose all memory that we evendated. I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits.'"
"Elena!"
Turning sharply at the call of my name, I spotted Caroline coming at us from down the hallway.
"Oh my God!" She gave me a tight hug when she reached us. "How are you? It's so good to see you." She turned to Bonnie, "How is she? Is she good?"
I watched as she fiddled with her fingers almost nervously, deciding to answer before Bonnie had a chance to.
"I'm fine Caroline, we saw each other literally last week. Thank you for asking me," I said with an amused smile.
"Really?" Was her doubtful response.
"Yes, I've been feeling much better and I'm definitely ready for high school." I said with confidence.
She let out a sad sigh before giving me another tight hug. "You poor thing."
Stepping away she threw on an award worthy smile, "Okay! See you guys later?" and after receiving our nods of agreement she was gone.
I couldn't help but smile at Caroline's boundless energy, looking over at Bonnie to shrug helplessly.
《》
The side of the school building was the best place to go if you didn't want to run into any teachers. Because of this it was more often than not absolutely swarming with stoners and Druggies.
The drug induced calm vibe actually made it a pretty peaceful place to just sit and think before class. Which was exactly where Jeremy found himself, hanging out with his friends (even if he wasn't partaking himself).
Leaning back against one of the smaller oak trees there, simply breathing in the second-hand smoke was the best way he found to prepare himself for dealing with people that weren't his sister. Of course, this was ruined when he looked up and noticed the tall brunette making her way to him. Standing up and collecting his things to move elsewhere, he stopped when Vicki called out to him.
"Come on Jeremy. You can't ignore meforever." It was said far more teasingly than Jeremy felt was warranted considering how their last meeting had gone.
"Yes, I can, besides Elena and my aunt said that I'm not allowed to talk to you anymore." He scowled up at her, hoping a bad attitude would give the hint.
"Oh, and you do everything that they tell you to do, do you?" The friendliness was gone from her face leaving behind a nasty condescending look. It amazed Jeremy how he hadn't seen it before the incident, subjecting his sister toweeksof dealing with this person.
"No, but when they tell me to stay away from someone trying to hurt my sister, I listen," he took a step back onto the curb circling the tree he had been sitting under, making them at eye level.
"I didn't mean to hurt her, Jeremy-" He cut her off before she could come up with another excuse.
"No, just that you wanted to break her face you said, after you had already hit her. And,andyou said how you wished she had drowned with our parents." She winced as he laid it all out for her.
"She was talking crap."
"So, you fucking hit someone who just got out of the hospital for a head injury? Vicki, she had a bruise for a week!" He intended to say more but someone called out from behind him.
"Hey Vicki." Just great, that just what Jeremy needed, Tyler fucking Lockwood butting in. "I knew I'd find you here with the crack heads."
The teasing look was back, just now directed at Tyler. "Hey…," she smiled flirtatiously up at him as he stopped next to her, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist.
"Hey, Pete Wentz called, he wants his nail polish back." Was directed at Jeremy with a condescending once-over.
"Pete Wentz, huh? How old school T.R.L. of you, Carson Daly fan?" Jeremy fired back, refusing to back down to the older boy.
Tyler's face hardened at Jeremy's comeback, taking a step toward him, probably to start something. Only for Vicki to wrap an arm around his waist and put a hand on his chest, pulling him back.
"Oh Ty, be nice, that's Little Miss Perfect Gilbert's baby brother."
"I know who he is, I'll still kick his ass."
They immediately started to suck each other's faces off, giving a traumatized Jeremy a chance to finally hightail it away.
《》
Making our way down the hall to class, Bonnie grabbed the back of my jacket pulling me to a stop as we were about to pass the front office.
"Hold up, who's this?"
I frowned as I peered into the room to see the back of a person talking to the secretary. He didn't appear to be anyone I recognized, big surprise there.
"All I see is back." I responded, giving her an unsure look. "Is he new?"
"Yeah, he has to be, because that back is way too hot to be anyone from here." She raised her eyebrows suggestively at me, making me smile. We both turned back to stare at him. "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."
I couldn't help but giggle, "you're really going all out with those predictions, huh?"
"Pretty much," she grinned.
Spotting Jeremy over her shoulder, a thought occurred to me, and I was moving before I could really think about it. With a quick 'be right back' tossed over my shoulder, I called out to Jeremy as he was heading to the men's room. At the sound of his name, he paused at the door looking around before spotting me heading his way.
"Hey Elena, everything okay?" He asked Stepping away from the door towards me as I finally made it to him.
"Yeah, everything's good. I just wanted to ask, sense I forgot this morning, if we could eat lunch together?" I asked hopefully. "I know you probably want to hang out with your friends but maybe I could sit with you guys?"
"No, I'll sit with you for lunch, of course." He reassured me with a smile.
"Okay! Then I'll see you at lunch," I beamed up at him, giving him a quick hug before spinning back around to return to Bonnie. I only managed to take a step before I slammed into another person.
"Elena!"
"I'm okay," I stepped back rubbing my stinging nose from hitting what felt like rock. Feeling disoriented from the collision I looked up at the person I ran into. I was greeted by a face covered in blood with dark veins leading up to unnaturally dark eyes.
Yelping in surprise I jumped back running into Jeremy behind me. His hands gripping my shoulders tightly to keep me from falling over. My heart was trying to beat itself out of my chest as I turn into Jeremy, grabbing ahold of his sweater to help steady myself. But when I looked again all I saw was a normal unblemished face. He was just a normal teenage boy…
Taller than Bonnie and I, though that wasn't a big accomplishment, but shorter than Jeremy. He had thick eyebrows and a wide jaw he was still probably growing into. I looked him up and down to try and spot any blood on him at all but there was nothing…
"I'm so sorry," I blurted out when I realized that I was staring for too long at him. "I should have been watching where I was going."
"No, it's okay, I should have been paying attention too." He said with a friendly smile.
Jeremy stepped up to stand next to me putting a hand on my shoulder, giving the boy in front of us a suspicious look. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine,really. I'll see you at lunch." I reassured him, patting his hand. He still looked unsure but nodded anyway, continuing his way to the men's room. I turned back and jolted when I realized the boy was still there. "I should get back to my friend."
"Right, of course," he stepped to the side the same time I did, blocking my path. We repeated this twice before finally he took an extra step, turning his body to clear my way.
I stepped passed him with a mumbled thanks, my shoulders now up to my ears in anxiety. Hurrying my way back to Bonnie who I found standing a bit away watching the interaction. She laughed at the look on my face as I grabbed her arm and immediately began pulling her away. Only pausing a moment when she changed my hold so instead, we were holding hands, taking the lead so we were going the right direction.
《》
My first class was History, and weirdly it had assigned seating, which was how I found myself sitting uncomfortably in the middle of the room. The teacher for this class, Mr. Tanner, I was warned was a hard ass that nobody liked (Maybe it did make sense for the assigned seating). And while he probably wasn't the worst teacher out there, he was pretty boring.
It was hard to stay focused enough to listen and take notes of what he was saying so instead I just tried to at least stay focused enough to listen. I tapped the eraser end of my pencil soundless against my arm, trying to look alert.
A buzz of my phone let me know that someone had sent me a text.
(I'm in the middle of first period, who the heck was texting me?)
Discreetly as I could, I pulled my phone out of the front pocket of my jeans and looked down at the message from Bonnie.
'HAWT-E. STARING U.'
I frowned in confusion, chancing a glance at her in the row next to the windows, she looked deliberately at something across the room. I turned my head, looking slightly behind me and met a pair of green eyes. Blushing furiously, I turned back to face the front again, trying desperately not to look back at the boy I had bumped into earlier. Looking back over at Bonnie, I rolled my eyes at her, while she raised her eyebrows at me again suggestively. Turning back to the front of the classroom, I resolved to simply keep my head down and not let anything distract me.
《》
With the school day finally over I felt like I could breathe. While the classes hadn't been too difficult, navigating my way through all people who had known me before the accident had got trying fast. It was almost funny how many people were surprised when I didn't immediately recognize them, as if they didn't realize what amnesia meant. The only time I got a break from this was during lunch. Bonnie, Jeremy, and I managed to secure a table outside, where there were fewer people. Jeremy, the sweetheart, would glare intimately at anyone who approached.
By the end of the day, I thoroughly done with people and just wanted some time to myself to recharge. Convincing both Bonnie and Jeremy, that I was fine walking home by myself was hard but in the end, I simply told them the truth. That I was going to go visit my parents at the cemetery. It was the best way I'd found to get people to leave me alone. Though, I think that the only reason Jeremy let me go was that he would only visit them by himself as well.
Strolling through the large iron gates, I heard a caw behind me. Looking back, not seeing anything, I shrug to myself and continue on, carefully making my way down the row of newer headstones. When I finally found the one belonging to Grayson and Miranda Sommers Gilbert, I placed my bag down, sitting down crisscross next to it, letting out a sigh.
"Hi, mom and dad…" I fiddle with my fingers as I thought about the third person I came to the cemetery to visit. "I just finished my first day of school. It went okay, I must have said I'm fine, about a hundred times."
I looked around for inspiration on what else to say, taking in the scenery again, I don't know why I felt the need to fill the silence whenever I came to visit. If I wanted to be honest with myself, I wasn't really here to visit Miranda or Grayson, I was here to visit the one person that the rest of the town still thought was alive.
Opening my bag, I pulled out my journal, flipping to the last entry, dated the day of the accident. The entry detailed the struggles I was feeling about my relationship with Matt, how different our thoughts were regarding the future and the strain it was putting on our friendship.
Before I could think too deeply about it, another caw sounded, this time quite close to my head, making me flinch. I leaned away from the headstone to spot a crow perched on top of it, looking curiously down at me.
"Hi… birdy…" I said softly, scooching my butt away from the headstone to better look up at it. "I hope there's not more of you, that's a murder, you know." I smiled at my own joke, setting down my journal.
It was only then that I noticed the fog creeping in unusually thick. I frowned down at it; you don't usually see fog like this this far from the coast. I quickly stood up, making the crow take off, looking around to see that the fog was coming from deeper in the cemetery. Turning to pick up my bag, I jumped in surprise at a caw from behind me, spinning around to find the crow back, this time perched on an angel statue. For whatever reason now the sight of the bird made my stomach drop, I looked around again to see that the fog was starting to get worse.
Finally picking up my bag, I began to speed walk my way to the exit, glancing behind me to make sure the crow wasn't following, only to see what looked like a person standing in the fog a couple of rows away. I immediately picked up my pace, near running now, as adrenaline shot through me. I came around a corner not expecting a sudden dip in the path causing me to trip and hit the ground hard.
I winced in pain as I got back up, wiping the pebbles from my hands, I looked back the way I had come but I didn't see anything. Spinning around again, I gasped as I almost ran into a person.
It washim, the boy I had bumped into at school, I shrunk in on myself, taking a couple of steps away from him. He looked just as startled to see me as I probably looked at seeing him.
"Are… you okay?" He asked hesitantly, his hands up in a pacifying way.
"I'm fine," I said, well more like snapped, wincing at my own tone of voice. "You weren't by chance hanging around up there a little bit ago, were you?" I made sure to soften my voice as I gestured behind me.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I uh, I just, I saw you fall."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Right…"
"I'm visiting. I have family here." He dropped his hands from their raised position.
"Oh…" I felt even worse now for snapping at him. "I'm sorry, I was visiting family too, but then this fog came out of nowhere and it was really creeping me thought I saw a guyinthe fog, so I kind of ran for it."
For some reason he didn't run for the hills at my insane rambling and instead looking quite charmed he held out his hand to me. "I'm Stefan."
"Oh, right, I'm Elena." I returned, hesitating before shaking his hand, shivering at how cold his fingers were. I looked down at his hand in my own, looking at, quite frankly, the biggest ring I had ever seen. It had a large blue stone that was held in place with what looked like a family crest made of silver. "Nice ring."
"Oh, um, it's a family ring, yeah," he said looking down at it himself awkwardly. "I'm kinda stuck with it, it's weird, huh?"
I shrugged, deciding not to comment on how clunky it looked. "I mean, there's rings and then there's that."
"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked abruptly, frowning at me with brows impressively furrowed.
"Huh?" I looked down at myself, my palms were a little red from scraping them on the gravel. I shifted my weight as I looked farther down, only then becoming aware of a stinging on my left leg. Moving over to one of the large rocks that bordered the path I raised my foot up on it and rolled up my pant leg. I winced at the silver dollar size scrape that had been hidden. It was already dripping blood down my leg. "Oh,ouch…"
Looking back over at Stefan, I realized that he had turned around so that his back was to me.
"You should go take care of that." He said with tight shoulders.
"Yeah, I should probably go home and wash it off," I rolled my pant leg back down, careful to keep the material from brushing the wound. But when I turned back to him, I found myself utterly alone.
"Stefan…?" I looked around, trying to spot where he could have possibly gone. I spun around in a slow circle before hiking my bag up higher on my shoulder and making for the exit.
《》
Finding my way back home took a bit longer than I would have liked, but in the end, I did make it before the sun went down and all in one piece I'd like to add. My first stop was my bedroom to change my clothes sense these ones had gotten dirt and blood on then. Next, I went to the bathroom to clean my leg and put a couple of bandages over top of the scrape. With that finally done, I headed back downstairs with my purse.
Unfortunately, it was now dark out, which meant that if I wanted to get to the Grill in a timely manner, I would either have to ask someone to give me a ride or drive myself. Technically the doctorhadcleared me to drive but this would be my first time not only driving by myself but in the dark as well.
"I'm meeting Bonnie and Caroline at the Grill," I said as I passed Aunt Jenna on my way to the door.
"Okay, have fun. Oh wait!" she turned to face me, raising her hands. "I got this, don't stay out late, it's a school night." I grin back at her as she put her hands on her hips waiting for my response.
"Very mature, Aunt Jenna," I praised, watching as she continued her way to the kitchen. Continuing my way to the front door and pulling it open I found Stefan on the other side making me jump (this was starting to get creepy with how he kept popping up).
"Sorry, I was about to knock," he said quickly, gesturing to the doorway. "I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was… strange."
"No worries, I understand, blood makes you squeamish, right?" I said waving my hand dismissively.
"Um, something like that," He gave an unsure smile. "How's your leg?"
"Oh! It's fine, it was barely a scratch, really," I said looking down at it. It was then that a question occurred to me that I probably should have asked first. "Hey, how did you know where I live?"
"It's a small town, I asked the first person I saw," he shrugged lightly (and of course they probably told you no questions asked). "Um, I thought you might want this back."
I blink in surprise at the sight of my little green journal in Stefan's hands, I must have left it behind in the fog. I took it back, looking up at him gratefully. "Thank you so much, I must have set it down and completely forgot about it."
"Don't worry I didn't read it," he reassured.
"No? Most people would have, even if was just to see who it belonged to." I shot back.
"Well, I wouldn't want anyone to read mine," he confided, tilting his head trying to be cute (it didn't explain how he knew the journal was mine either).
"Oh, you keep a journal too," I don't know why it surprised me, looking him over again, he definitelydidseem the type (the type that would want to know all the intricate details of your soul before he ate your face off). It took a great deal of effort to not react tothatthought.
"Yeah, if I don't write it down, I forget it," he shrugged again this time bashfully. "Memories are too important."
"Yeah, they really are…" I murmured thoughtfully before looking back up at him, trying for a bright smile. "Let me set this down really quick, wait there!"
I spun around, hurrying into the dining room to leave my journal on the table. Making my way back to the open door, I found Stefan still standing there staring down at the bottom of the door frame.
"Sorry," he looked up at me suddenly. "Were you going somewhere?"
"Yeah, I'm meeting a couple of friends at the Grill," I chirped as I stepped out onto the porch with him, finally closing the door behind me. "If you don't have any plans, you're more than welcome to come with?"
He gave me a warm smile, "I'd loved to."
"Great!" I looked up and down the street for his car. "If you came in your car, you could just follow me there." I turned back to him when I found the street empty.
"Oh, no I actually walked here," he looked strangely guilty about not having a car.
"No problem," I waved my hand, hopping off the porch, leading the way to my SUV parked in the driveway. "We'll just take my car, and I can drop you off at your house after, you'll just have to give me directions there."
"You don't have to do that really-"
"Iinsist, after all you returned my journal, I owe you one." I interrupted, stopping at the driver's door to unlock it and the passenger side. Getting in and buckling up, I checked all the mirrors to make sure that they didn't magically move since the last time I drove. I watched as Stefan got in himself and realized that I should probably warn him. "Full disclosure, I was in a car accident last spring, and it affected my driving. I'm completely street legal now, but I just want you to know so you don't freak out if I randomly swerve into oncoming traffic."
He looked vaguely horrified, pausing in buckling in to give me a wide-eyed look. I couldn't help but break character, smiling at him, pleased that I had caught him off guard.
"Just kidding, I haven't swerved into traffic since thefirsttime I got behind the wheel after the accident." I turned on the car, looking behind us to check that the cost was clear, I backed out of the driveway and began heading to the Grill.
《》
Finally arriving at the Grill was a great relief, the small bit of chitchat that I had managed had quickly turned into stifling awkward silence. Pulling into a lucky space in front, I jumped out and waited patiently in front of my SUV for Stefan so we could head in together. When we got to the door Stefan made a grab for it but I quickly stepped forward and pulled it open so he could go in first, making him pause for just a moment before going in.
Stepping into the warmly lit dining area we were greeted with a packed Grill. I glanced around, smiling at all the faces I knew and even a few I didn't, just to be safe. I spotted Bonnie right away, sitting at a table with Matt of all people, making me pause, especially when I saw that he had gotten up and was heading our way.
"Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you." He said, when he reached us, holding out his hand to shake Stefan's.
"Hi, Stefan." He replied, returning the handshake with a friendly nod.
Only then did Matt look at me, I tried to smile but it probably came out as more of a grimace. "Hi…" I offered when he didn't say anything.
"Hey…" He offered back, giving me a faint smile. "It's good to see you, Elena."
He glanced between Stefan and I briefly before giving us another nod and headed to the other side of the Grill where I could see Tyler Lockwood, hanging out by the pool tables. I looked over at Bonnie, who gave me a sympathetic smile and a shrug, I returned the shrug (if that was all he was going to give me after no contact besides a ''Get Well' card while I was in the hospital then I wasn't going to be the one to force him to talk to me). Turning back to Stefan at my side, I tried for a confident smile.
"Looks like Bonnie saved a table if you still want to join us," I said, gesturing toward her.
"Yeah," he nodded with a smile, following me across the room.
When we made it to the table, I quickly pulled out the chair next to Bonnie as I greeted her with a beaming smile.
"Hey, you didn't tell me that you were going to bring the new guy with you." She said, looking between us curiously.
"Sorry," I shrugged, watching as he pulled out the chair next to me. "I ran him over on the way here and figured that I better bring him with me then just leaving him on the side of the road."
This startled a laugh from both of them and a scandalized 'Elena!' from Caroline who had just made it to the table and was about to sit down on Stefan's other side. I couldn't help but smile at their reactions, the Elena from before must have had no sense of humor with how often I surprised them.
Caroline rolled her eyes at me as she settled next to Stefan, before turning to him and introducing herself, prompting Bonnie to do the same. Now that we all knew each other's names, Caroline could finally start with the interrogation.
"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" She asked Stefan, straight to the point as always, no time for chit-chat.
"Mm-Hmm," he nodded. "And moved when I was still young."
"Parents?" Bonnie inquired, taking a turn in questioning him.
"My parents passed away." This was said matter of factly, but that didn't stop both Bonnie and Caroline from looking at me in worry.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." He nodded in appreciation at my words, even as I grimaced at the looks the others were giving me. "Any Siblings?"
"None that I talk to…" he smiled ironically at me, as if it was an inside joke with himself. "I uh, I live with my uncle."
"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline said, thankfully rescuing me from his gaze by drawing his attention back to her.
"It's a back-to-school thing at the falls." Bonnie explained at Stefan's confused look.
Instead of answering Caroline or responding to Bonnie, he turned to me. "Are you going?"
It took all of my efforts to not say 'no' immediately, it was only now that I realized that Stefan might be looking for something a bit more than friendship. I thought that I was doing well in making a new friend, but maybe I was coming off as too friendly.
"Of course, she is." Bonnie answered with a wide smile, before I could even think of a response.
(Oh… well, I guess I am going now.)