Redamancy | Elena Gilbert

Chapter 35

"I've lived in this town for quite awhile and I don't recognize any of these kids," said Rosalind.

"They must not be on the cross country team," whispered Elena teasingly.

They sensed someone behind them. "Hey," said Matt. "I don't want to interrupt but I wanted to ask if either of you have seen Jeremy?"

Elena frowned. "He's probably up there with the escorts. April asked him to be hers."

Matt shook his head. "Yeah, Caroline told me to wrangle the escorts. He's not here. Did he tell you about his nightmares?"

The doppelgänger blinked. "What nightmares?"

"The ones where he kills you."

Rosalind's mouth dropped open. "And when did that start happening?"

"Yesterday."

Her jaw tightened. "Crap. Crap. Him killing Chris and awakening himself is probably causing it."

"We'll find him," said Elena, albeit nervously. "But... " she winced, "April's about to get abandoned."

They turned to see the girl making her way down in a pretty blue dress.

"I got this," said Matt, rushing away to prevent April from being embarrassed.

"And finally," Caroline announced, "we have a last minute entry, April Young accompanied by Jeremy Gilbert."

April made her way down the steps with a shy smile on her face. She looked around for Jeremy, initially looking very anxious when she didn't see him, but relaxing as Matt walked up. The crowd clapped as Matt led April out onto the dance floor.

"Shall we dance?" asked Rosalind, pulling Elena toward the back of the crowd.

"Are you serious?" asked Elena, raising a brow.

"Yeah, I'm serious," said Rosalind. "Maybe not the exact same dance they do, 'cause I don't know that one. But..." she held out her hand, then placed the other on Elena's waist. The girl across from her held her shoulder with one hand, and laced their fingers together with the other.

As the music began, they started to dance, both unable to keep from giggling. "Okay, this feels a bit stupid," whispered Rosalind. "But it's fun." She looked over Elena's face. "You are just... so beautiful. You have this gorgeous, captivating soul. And those eyes... your nose... your lips... the gods really took their time making you."

Elena blushed, and hid her face by putting her head against Rosalind's shoulder. The hybrid smiled, looping her hands around her waist instead as Elena wrapped hers around her upper body.

"I wish this moment could last forever," whispered Elena. "I feel so safe here. In your arms. Knowing you care for me. Anyone who's ever been loved by you is lucky."

"I don't know about that," said Rosalind, who didn't want to make it depressing by mentioning how basically all her loved ones were dead. "But I do know I am lucky that you would like to be loved by me. And lucky that I may get your love in return."

Someone snapped their fingers next to them, and they saw Caroline. "As cute as this is," she said sharply, "I want to know what was with that last minute escort change. Where is Jeremy?"

The song ended, which meant Rosalind and Elena would have had to stop dancing soon anyway. Rosalind tried not to be bitter with Caroline. "We're going to find that out now," she said. Elena nodded, and pulled away to call him.

Another figure approached them, and they saw Damon, who looked mildly jealous at the sight of Rosalind and Elena standing so close together. "Do the math," he said. "Emo teen, open bar, it's fine."