soulmark | e. mikaelson

𝟏𝟎 | Gone Girl

"Come in!" She yelped, rushing to hide what she was doing. Aly's shoulders slumped in relief in seeing Elena on the other side of her room.

"Hey."

"Hi."

They haven't properly talked to each other since 'the reveal day' as Aly dubbed it. She hadn't told her about Grayson's other activities either, Elena and Jenna already had a falling out, her sister was determined to let Jenna feel bad for not telling them the truth. She wasn't sure how Elena would react once she found out that Grayson wiped her sister's mind and experimented on vampires.

"How are you?" Elena fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Do you want to talk about, you know."

Aly shrugged. "I'm fine. It's a lot I guess, but..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say.

They both fall silent. Elena looked at her with wide eyes, "Is that- is that all you have to say?"

Aly couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh, running a hand across her face. "What do you want me to say?" The sentence came out more rugged than she wanted to, and she inwardly winced.

Elena's head fell to her feet, and Aly actually did wince, feeling guilty. "I don't know..." Elena sighed, shaking her head. "Don't think about it." She leaves her room.

Aly stared at the door over her retreat before turning her attention back at the grimoire. She really didn't want to think of her family right now.

~ soulmark ~

"Try this one."

Jamie threw a jellybaby into her mouth. Aly caught it, giggling slightly. It was in an assortment of flavors, and each one was a pleasant surprise. They sat outside school grounds, next to the oval. Jamie had texted her that morning asking her if she wanted to try out snacks. His parents just came from Europe, and he had a bunch of food that he got to share.

Aly hummed, "I think this one's the best one."

"Yeah?" He looked at the package, a slight frown creasing his face as he searched for the flavor, the sun gently hit his sandy brown hair, making it look golden.  "That's cranberry, I think."

"Why didn't you go with them, anyway? I heard Denmark's great this time of the year."

"I didn't want to miss anything." Jamie snacks on his nutbag. "Just in case Sarah's dad set anything up."          

"Does your family travel a lot?"

"Every now and then." He shrugged, "Mostly 'cause of Mom's travel photos. You?"

"We did," Aly said softly, leaning back. "You know, back when. We haven't really gone out of town since."

Jamie leaned forward to her, flicking a hair out of her face. Aly lightly smacked his hand. "How are you?" he asked, "You don't really talk much about yourself."

"Leave it." Her voice was more clipped than she intended, so she gave him a small smile. "It's fine, honestly. Everyone in the fam is doing pretty okay now."

"I didn't ask about your family. I asked about you."

Thankfully, whatever reply Aly's mouth had formed into died as the bell rang. "Have you seen Mr. Saltzman yet? He's a pretty cool teacher."