Back in Time

6

In the six months to follow, everything was perfect. Damon and I were falling more and more for each other every single day. We would spend hours talking, trying to know the other inside and out. I knew a lot about Damon already, so I had to act like everything was new to me.

One evening, Damon and I snuck out and he took me up to the top of a hill. We lay there for hours, watching the stars. I couldn't have thought of anything more romantic. I saw him almost every day, and he was the sweetest and most respectful man I ever knew.

"Hear me out." Damon said one day, as we walked through the town. People were setting up for the upcoming Miss Mystic Falls pageant. It was done almost the same as in the future, and I loved how the little children loved to run around and help. "How would you like to enter Miss Mystic Falls?"

"What?" I turned to him, all my attention back to his words. "Enter the pageant? Why?"

"Good day Mr Salvatore, Miss Pierce." A woman carrying her baby greeted us.

Katherine and I had decided that it would be better if I pretended that we had the same last name. It would keep the Gilberts that lived in Mystic Falls from asking questions, so everyone knew me as Elena Pierce.

"Hello Mrs Fell." We murmured back.

"Because I think you would be the most stunning woman there. And it would be a chance to show everyone that you really do fit in here." Damon continued our conversation. "It is your choice, but I think you would love it."

I nodded and thought it over in my head as we drew closer and closer to the Salvatore house. Damon didn't say another word on the subject as we walked up the front path and mounted the steps. I stopped before the front door, and Damon looked back at me, pausing.

"Okay." I said. "I will enter the pageant. Who knows, it might be fun." I already knew that it would be fun, since I had taken part in one before. "On one condition."

"Name it." Damon gave me that soft smile that made me melt.

"That you will be my escort."

"I would be honoured to escort you Miss Pierce." Damon took my hand and touched his lips to the back of it. I giggled and bit my lip slightly. Damon's eyes flickered to where I had my skin trapped under my teeth. "I do not wish to be bold, but you look very sweet when you do that." He said, brushing a finger over where I bit my lip. That made me blush, and then we heard someone clearing their throat.

We both looked around and saw Katherine on the path where we had walked up. She smiled at me and bobbed a curtsey to Damon.

"I did not mean to interrupt, but I overheard that Elena will be entering Miss Mystic Falls." She said. "I can accompany you to Mrs Forbes, who is taking applications."

"Thank you Katherine." I nodded. "I will see you later Damon." Damon nodded and smiled at me as I stepped away from him to join Katherine.

Katherine and I walked in silence to find Mrs Forbes, who was right in the thick of the planning. I hid a smile at how much she reminded me of Caroline in her loud manner and her ability to get things done. I easily entered the pageant, and was sent home on orders to get some rest before the event tomorrow.

Since I was now romantically involved with Damon, Giuseppe had thought it appropriate if I moved to live with Katherine. I agreed, wanting to stay on his good side, and I had been living with Katherine for the last six months.

"Why aren't you entering the pageant?" I asked Katherine as we entered her small home.

"I have entered it once before, and I won. I think I shouldn't risk losing if I enter again." Katherine laughed lightly. "I do not know. It is not...how do you put it? It is not my thing." I laughed at her use of 'my language'. Katherine had been fascinated by the way I talked, and had picked up on how english had changed over time.

The sun had set by the time we had eaten dinner, so we changed into our nightgowns and retired into our separate bedrooms. I woke up the next morning two hours before the pageant was due to start. Katherine was still asleep, and I changed into a plain dress before leaving the house and shutting the door quietly. There weren't many people out, they were all getting ready to attend the party that followed the pageant.

"Good morning Miss Pierce." Mrs Forbes greeted me as I knocked on the door to the Lockwood manor.

It was exactly the same in the future as it was now, save a few of the colour palettes. I smiled and greeted her before I was directed up the stairs and into a room where my fellow contestants were gatherers. None of them were getting ready yet, merely chatting and absent mindedly smoothing their hair.

"Elena!" Maria Fell, who I had become casual friends with, jumped up when she spotted me. "I did not know you were entering."
"I got persuaded into it." I explained. "Hello everyone."

Everyone else murmured greetings and gave me a smile as I found a chair and sat with them. Aside from Maria and I, there was Cecilia Forbes, Ada Marshall, Sophia Lockwood, and Evelyn Jones.

We sat in a lopsided circle, talking, for about twenty minutes before Mrs Forbes and Mrs Fell entered the room. Everyone stood up and bobbed a small curtsey in greeting.

"Time to start getting ready girls." Mrs Forbes announced. "I have the list of your escorts for you to confirm. Everything you need should be here, but if you require any assistance, just ask. You have an hour and ten minutes to get ready."

She handed the list to Maria who checked with everyone about their escorts before handing it back with a nod. She linked her arm with mine and we walked over to the racks of dresses, unlike everyone else who was opting to do their hair and face first.

"I don't think they realise that they could pick their favourite dress and set it aside before doing that." Maria whispered in my ear. I giggled and nodded.

After a long fifteen minutes of searching, Maria and I had found our perfect dresses. Hers was a light pink with gold trimmings, just brushing the floor. It had slightly puffed sleeves and a scooped front. I had chosen a dark blue dress, tight for an eighteenth century garment. Its sleeves were net and short, the fabric clinging to my body until it loosened slightly around my waist. It trailed ever so slightly on the ground, the fabric shimmering everytime I moved.

"Do you think it could be too revealing?" I asked Maria as I looked in the mirror. I would have no problem wearing something twice as revealing, but this was the eighteenth century. The dress showed all my curves, and the neckline was slightly lower than Maria's.

"Not at all." Maria wriggled out of her dress and set it aside over a chair to save it. "You look beautiful."

"So do you." I slipped the dress off. Maria and I changed back into our plain dresses so we could get ready.

After half an hour of styling each other's hair to perfection and touching up our faces with the rare makeup that was supplied, most of us were ready. We changed into our dresses and their matching shoes and then went around and touched up anything that was needed. Even though it was a competition, we were acting like it was a gathering. No one really minded if they won or not, different from what it was like in the future.

"You all look lovely girls." Mrs Forbes had reappeared. "Now, you all have an order. If I can have Maira in front, then Sophia, Cecilia, Ada, Evelyn, and Elena." We all lined up in our order, holding ourselves straight. "Now, start coming down the steps just as they say your name."

We all nodded and Mrs Forbes dashed back downstairs. Following Maria, we all left the room and went downstairs. The procession would be down the front steps of the Lockwood manor, with our escorts at the bottom. I smoothed my dress as we came to a halt just inside the front door where no one could see us.

Reaching up a hand, I quickly adjusted a pin in my hair so that it didn't poke me. I had done my hair in a plait and then wound it up into a bun, leaving two long strands of hair in front to frame my face. It was a more modern style, and I stood out.