"hello, gorgeous"
OR
a story in which Margot Gilbert becomes the black sheep of the family the day she turns seventeen and starts hearing the voice of an enslaved vampire in her head...and decides to investigate the supernatural world that her fam...
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[episode 1.3]
September 14, 2009
"MARGOT GILBERT! You will not believe the tea I am about to spill," Caroline gushed as soon as walked up to her locker that Monday morning.
I raised my eyebrows and leaned my shoulder against the lockers beside hers as she rummaged around her locker for her things. She was grinning widely, but there was something that felt forced and strange about it. There was something strange about her.
"You know I love tea," I joked, just as enthusiastic as her that morning. "What is it? I'm hanging off the edge of my seat here, Care!"
She paused her rummaging and turned toward me fully. Her smile was contagiously bright but still somehow different from normal. I smiled widely back at her, happy to see her so happy.
"I officially have a boyfriend," she said, beaming. "He's so hot and confident, and he's a great kisser. Even better in bed." She winked at me.
"That's amazing, Care!" I gushed, bouncing on my feet slightly in joy for my best friend. "Who is he? Do I know—?"
My words faltered as I noticed how badly her hands were shaking. It didn't match the rest of her bouncy, grinning persona that it immediately stole my focus.
"Sorry, I" —I reached out for her hands— "why are your hands shaking?"
She looked down at them and blinked in surprise. "Oh, it's probably just my new diet. I'm trying this new thing to lose weight where you drink 8 glasses of water before noon and only eat a big dinner. It's supposedly, like, really good for you, but it does make you a little shaky at first."
My eyebrows shot up my forehead. "What? Caroline, you are perfect. You don't need to lose any more weight."
Her face faltered for a second, eyes glazing over, before she snapped out of it and chuckled. "Of course I do, especially if I want to fit into the new dress my boyfriend got me."
"Who is your new boyfriend?" I asked, dread already hollowing out my voice.
"Damon, obviously," she laughed. She turned back to the little mirror in her locker and reapplied her cherry lip gloss as if she hadn't just gutted me with those two simple words.
My eyes fell to her scarf. I realized she was also wearing a scarf last week at the dinner party at my house.
Tears filled my eyes as I quickly reached out and tugged the scarf down. Caroline reacted fast but not fast enough, and I saw them. All of the poorly healing bite marks that littered her throat.
He was biting her, over and over, and I hadn't even realized. I thought he'd just been using her as a way to get into the house. How had I missed this?
"Anyway," she said, swiftly closing her locker and turning on her heel, "I have to run to a meeting for Student Council. If you want your position as secretary back, please let me know by the end of the week. I don't want to replace you if you're ready to return."
I nodded hollowly and murmured, "Yeah, sure, I'll do it."
She clapped her hands together and grinned. "Great! I'll let them know. You can start attending our meetings again next week then."
I nodded, and Caroline didn't bat an eyelash at how distracted I was. She quickly sped off to the next thing with her wounds covered up again. The shaking in her hands was the only sign of the subconscious terror she couldn't feel.
The warning bell rang overhead for homeroom, but I didn't head to my own classroom and instead beelined for the one where I knew Stefan would be.
"He's hurting Caroline," I said in greeting once I found him, not even giving him a chance to say hello. "You need to fix this before I do."
Stefan blinked in shock and looked around at all of the nearby students. Luckily, none of them were paying us any attention. They were all too sleepy on that Monday morning to care.
"What do you mean?" he asked, dipping his head and lowering his voice. "Who is hurting Caroline?"
"You already know the answer to that question, Stefan," I said. "Just fix it. She's my best friend."
Stefan nodded stiffly, backing up from me slightly. I took that as my cue to go, and I darted off in the opposite direction, trying to still make it on time to homeroom, despite my detour. The hallways were rapidly clearing out though, and I found myself almost to my classroom when I saw him again.
His skin was a little paler than before, and his eyes looked sunken as they tracked my movements down the hall. My feet came to a sudden halt, and I felt it then—the draw toward him.
The bell chimed, telling me I was late to class, but I didn't so much as blink.
Cautiously, I took a step toward him, holding up my hand as one would when approaching an unfamiliar dog. However, before I could reach him, he doubled over in pain and then disappeared completely.
I froze and looked around. There was not a single person in sight, and my shoulders slumped in unexpected disappointment.
