𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 {𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞}

𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

I only noticed that I was holding my breath when it shuddered as I shoved Damon away from me. I kept my eyes downcast, trying hard to avoid his gaze. "I should go."

"Y/N, wait-"

"No, Damon." I cleared my throat, still feeling my heart beating quickly. "This-" I gestured with my hands. "Us, we can't. I can't."

I summoned all the courage I could and looked him in the eye. "It's probably best we..."

Don't say it. Don't-

"Stay away from each other."

Making my way to the door, I paused, looking over my shoulder. "Bye, Damon."

Quickly making my escape, I headed out onto the schoolyard. The bell was ringing, signaling a class change, and I sighed. I am not going back in there.

I remembered Bonnie telling me to talk to Sheila and decided to do just that. Yeah, I might be skipping school. But there are worse things than missing a few classes like vampires and having crushes on said vampires.

Anyway, I gathered my bearings, still rattled from my encounter with Damon. I can't believe that he-

I can't believe that I-

I can't believe everything that has occurred in the past few months has actually happened. As I walked to Sheila's house, I thought of how quickly my life had changed. I have more friends. I've been hanging out with people and being social. I'm also intrigued by the residential bad boy vampire I want to hate.

God, I sound like the female protagonist in almost every story for young teens, who obviously have no idea how the whole vampires and witches and high school thing actually works.

Well, neither did I, but at least I am learning.

I was so caught up in my head that I wasn't sure how long I had been walking until I saw the house come into view. Walking on the footpath and stopping at her front door, I debated whether or not I should go back to school.

The door opened before I could doubt myself any further. Sheila stood in the doorway, a knowing look on her face. I chuckled nervously, ready for the reprimand that was sure to come.

"You look troubled." Right to the point, then. Okay. I can do this.

"How could you tell?" Really, that's what you chose to say? I was already chastising myself for my response when she cocked an eyebrow at me, lips curling into a not-so-amused smirk.

"Baby, I could feel the energy radiating off you before you even got to the door. Besides, I may be older, but I am not stupid. I know when school ends and-" Sheila paused to check her wristwatch. "And you still have classes left. So let's not pretend you came here for no reason."

I blinked a couple of times. She just read me like a book. And was my energy that off that she could feel it when I was a mile away?

"Right..." I sighed, trying to figure out how to say what I needed to say without alerting her. "I don't-"

"Come in, child. You look like you're going to faint."

She was right about that. I didn't feel all that great. Walks usually helped with my stress, but this time it only made me think about things I should not be thinking about. I should work on my overthinking. But then again, I might overthink that, so maybe I should stop thinking in general. But then-

My thoughts couldn't spiral any further when the door closed, and I felt a hand on my back guiding me towards the living room. Sheila sat me down on the couch, busying herself with getting some water and a little snack. I started to feel bad for bothering her and possibly ruining her plans when she placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.