I started punching and kicking against the invisible wall, trying to break it somehow even though it was impossible. But I couldn't stay in the house forever, I really couldn't. My hands started to throb and I knew they would swell later on but I didn't care. I kept hitting and hitting until Michael grabbed my arms and lifted me from the floor so I couldn't kick nor punch anymore. Instead, I aimed for him, I wanted to go away, to break free. The minute I realized he was the person who had the less say in all of this was him, I stopped and hung still in his arms.
He put me down and I looked at Elijah, hoping he'd see the hurt in my eyes. And then, I went upstairs, to my room. After an hour, I started to get hungry. It was nearly five thirty in the evening but my stomach thought it was seven 'o clock. Great. I looked at my door, not feeling like grabbing something. I walked to the door and put my ear against it. I could hear Elijah and Michael talking.
''Maybe if you'd tell-'' Michael started.
''No, I don't want her to know. I don't want her to worry about that kind of stuff, she needs to be as regular as can be, she needs a careless life like every average teenager. I know that's what she wants. '' Elijah replied.
''But she is not an average teenager. '' He was right. I wasn't. If Elijah wasn't going to tell me what I needed to know, I 'd figure it out on my own. A knock on the door surprised me and I ran back to my bed, taking a book so it looked like I was actually doing something.
''What?'' I asked. The door went open and Rebekah came in with a delicious meal. I literally already could taste it and cursed her for coming to me in human speed. She had closed the door behind her and set down the plate. I immediately started eating but didn't take my eyes off her.
''What do you want?''
''You know we love you, right?'' She said. This was not the good time to get sentimental and I even didn't like being sentimental when I was in the mood for it but I nodded.
''Good.'' She said, getting lost in her own thoughts. It wasn't until I finished my plate she started talking again. ''We asked a witch for the curtain. ''
''Curtain? '' I said.
''Yeah, well, they call it a curtain. ''
''I call it a wall that stands in the way of my life. '' I might exaggerated a little but it still wasn't fun to find out you'd be locked up.
Rebekah sighed.
''You don't need to be here all the time, it is just that when you're here, you won't sneak off like last time. '' ''So what? You're saying it is my fault? That all of it is my fault? That I got myself somehow in danger and god knows what that danger is?'' I started to get mad again. I had never ever wanted to bring myself in danger nor my siblings, I didn't want them to look out for me their whole life. They gave up so much.
''No, I'm not. No one is.'' She said reading my thoughts. I looked down at my blanket, I had spilled some sauce on the corner.
''But how do I get to school? I can't get through.'' I asked. My brain started working again , in a logical instead of emotional way.
''You need to touch one of us. Hold our hand, shoulder against shoulder and that kind of stuff. It doesn't matter how you do it, you just need to touch us. That way, we'll be able to decide when you go outside.''
''Which witch did this ?''
''Does it matter?'' Rebekah raised an eyebrow looked suspiciously at me.
''I don't know, I was just curious.'' I replied, finding it weird the way she had reacted.
''So,'' she said and started curling her hair around her finger.
''So,'' I pushed her to go further. She went to my bureau , took a piece of paper and pen and wrote something on it. I frowned, what was she doing? After a tenth of a second she was done and handed it over.
It said: When I came home one of the previous days, you smelled like wolf. What happened?
Confused, I took the pen out of her hands and wrote an answer. She read it and rolled her eyes.
I know you didn't get murdered. Please tell me, Elena. It is important.
I answered: It is none of your business.
She answered: It is now. You may not understand this but it is important that you tell me. Or else
She paused a second before she started writing again.
I'll go to Elijah.
I looked up and felt betrayed.
So what? Go tell him I smelled like wolf, go ahead, you were the one who kept it from him even though you knew.
I almost threw the pen away but kept myself under control. This was stupid. Rebekah looked at me with empathy. Great. No I was the one they felt sorry for.
You know that If I'd go to Elijah with this, he'll be furious. Do you want that? After what you've already done?
She was playing dirty, it wasn't fair. Everyone knew I hated to make Elijah mad. Also, it wouldn't help me if Elijah knew about Jake. I sighed. What could I tell that wasn't a lie but wasn't the truth either ? Suddenly, a term we had once learned came up in my mind. I'd tell her a white lie, which is telling the truth but saying not all of it.
I saw someone in our garden and asked him what he was doing there. Apparently, he was a wolf, you told me yourself. That's it.
I reread it a second time before handing it to Rebekah. Nothing was lied, I had seen him in our garden and I had asked him why he had been there. I didn't say I already knew he was a wolf but I didn't deny it either. I hoped this satisfied her and I also hoped my heartbeat didn't go faster because when I thought of him, I thought about how nice it had been talking to him behind the Mystic grill and how badly I wanted to see him again. She nodded and stood back up, taking the plate with her and apparently, believed me.
I ripped the paper to pieces, not wanting anyone to read it. I threw it away when Michael knocked on the door that Rebekah had left open.
I smiled.
''Come in. '' I sat down on my chair and started turning in little circles until I felt dizzy.
''I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't intend to hurt you. ''
He laughed.
''Yeah , I know, I'd never be able to hurt you but you know what I mean.'' I felt ashamed of how weak I was compared to him. It made me feel like a little kid that wasn't allowed to sit at the grown-ups table on a party.
''I bought new books from the university, care to read some?'' He suggested. I smiled, felt relieved to do something familiar again. It had been a long time since Mikael had been here and honestly, I had missed him.
Mikael wasn't very old, he was only a vampire for five years. He had met Rebekah when he was only transformed for a year, he hadn't known yet what was related to being a vampire. Rebekah had helped him and that's how they had fallen in love, quite a romantic story. He was two years older than Rebekah was when she was transformed and had graduated as a doctor. He wanted to graduate for as much as possible. He was doing architecture at the moment. But whenever he had some time, we exchanged information. I had twice started at college in a town but I looked too young. Too bad though. It was the only place where I could learn something new.
The next morning, I woke up but it was still early. I looked outside and decided to go running for a while so I put my gym clothes on and went downstairs, quietly. I didn't saw anyone, so they must be out somewhere. I opened the door and started to sprint outside but instead of going forward, I wen backwards on my butt. My hand hurt and when I looked at it, I thought it was sprained. Right. The curtain. My nose was bleeding but I didn't have any other wounds. I cursed the witches in my head. Couldn't they at least make a soft 'curtain'? I got back on my feet and heard laughter upstairs. Without looking, I knew who it came from.
''Thought you'd forget. Didn't know you could hit it that hard though.'' Klaus said, coming down.
He poured himself a drink but he couldn't stop laughing with my stupidity. I was on my way to find a tissue when Damon and Elijah came running to me.
''Are you alright? What happened? We smelled blood. What did you do?'' Klaus burst out into laughter, again, while Damon and Elijah were looking at me the way like worried parents looked at their three-year old who had lost a tooth.
''I'm fine, I fell. My nose is bleeding and my wrist is sprained, I guess.'' I told them, stepping back but they took a step forward. I sighed. I didn't like to be pampered.
''Can you get me a tissue or something?'' A tenth of a second later, Damon was back with a first aid kit and took care of it all. The whole family had a medical knowledge, Elijah had once obligated my siblings to take a class. It was only for me though because they healed quickly and didn't need to be taken care of. I didn't go running afterwards and left to school with an ugly yellow bandage around my wrist.
''What's up with the yellow monster?'' Caroline asked. I waved her off , said it was nothing. Bonnie and Jenna joined us and we started talking about the big assignment we had gotten for science.
''Isn't that one of your brothers?'' Caroline suddenly interrupted Bonnie.
''What?'' I said, thinking I must've heard wrong.
''There. At the principal's office.'' I narrowed my eyes and saw Damon talking to our PE teacher.
''It's Damon.'' Caroline said. ''Why is he here?''
''I don't know but I don't like it.'' I decided to ask about it later, at home. I counted every single minute until the fiftieth and finally the bell rang. Our next class was history, which Ms. Appelo normally gave us but one of our classmates had told us she had had an accident , she was in a coma in the hospital and because they didn't know whether she'd wake up or not, they had hired someone else. We went in the class and sat down at our usual spot. I turned around on my chair and talked with Caroline for a while until her eyes went wide and her mouth nearly dropped. I frowned.
''You okay?'' I said, half laughing, half seriously.
''You are not going to like this but I sure like the view.'' I turned around and saw the back of my brother, writing his name on the blackboard.
''Oh shit, he can hear me, can't he?'' Caroline whispered behind me. I sighed and felt like throwing something or anything but just watching it happen. Damon introduced himself as Mr. Salvatore and immediately started teaching.
''You.'' I didn't dare look up to see if he was pointing at me but I had a feeling.
''Hey, you there.'' He said again. I sighed but not too loudly and looked up.
''So you're awake. Tell me, when did America help other countries with the Truman doctrine? '' He asked. That was an easy one.
'' It was in 1946.''
''Wrong!'' Damon said. ''It was 1947.''
I was frustrated.
''No it wasn't, I'm sure it was 1946 because we-'' a kick from behind , probably from Caroline and the look on Damon's face made me shut up.
''we went to the history museum a while ago and it said 1946.'' Caroline rescued me.
I looked over my shoulder and gave her a small smile.
''The museum was right but, what I'm about to tell you now, is not in the history books. In 1946, America was already giving help to one of the countries of Russia through this doctrine but they didn't want to give it to other countries as well. It was a lot of money and supplies and America ought it impossible to do for all the other countries. It wasn't until 1947 someone threatened to clear the air and tell everyone else which made them obligated to make it look like they wanted it themselves and that's how they helped a lot of Russian countries. Are we clear?''
The bell rang and class was over. I was the first one out. In my hurry to get away, I bumped into a cheerleader and stepped on her foot.
''I'm sorry.'' I immediately apologized and recognized her.
''Willow, wasn't it?'' I said, proud of myself that I had remembered her name.
''Yeah, indeed. Look, I didn't thank you for helping me with the guys.'' I smiled.
''Well, it certainly did help that I was so strong and able to knock them out, I mean, see my muscles?'' I said while holding my arms up. She laughed.
''Is it okay if I buy you something for lunch to say thank you? '' I felt bad, I'd love to go and eat outside of school with her but with two brothers watching my back, I wouldn't be able to get out. Even though I realized this, my answer was not what I expected.
''Sure! Where do we meet?''
It was noon and I stood by the fountain, waiting for Willow to come. I was nervous, hoped that neither Stefan or Damon saw me going away. I hoped Stefan was too busy with himself, as usual, and Damon with introducing himself to other teachers to pay attention to my whereabouts. A voice behind me greeted me and I almost jumped against the fountain. Willow tried to hold her laughter but she failed. ''Are you always this jumpy?'' She joked. I smiled.
''I'm not allowed to go outside. '' I told her.
''Girl, no one is.'' She winked . I noticed how her hair moved with every movement, she had a very natural blond color, the kind of blond girl would die for to get.
''Yeah, but do you have two guardians running around school?'' I shivered. I shouldn't go out alone, they'll tell Elijah, he'll get mad again and I probably wouldn't even be allowed to go to school anymore which happened to be the only freedom I had for the moment.
She frowned but it quickly transformed to an understanding look.
''The guy who rescued us, he's your brother, I assume?''
''His name is Stefan and yes, he is. ''
Willow shrugged and her straight hair went up with it.
''Who cares if he sees you? It's not like he's your dad.''
''No, but he'll tell, I'm sure. ''
''Then we just have to be very careful that he doesn't see you. I know a way that's not so visible, if you know what I mean. ''
Ten minutes later, we sat down at a coffee shop nearby. I had never been there but it was cozy. Willow ordered something for the both of us and wanted to know more about where I lived since I knew where she lived. I told her everything I could tell her and tried not to lie too often. It was a story I had often told people, every time we moved, I needed to tell it. I said it without thinking.
Willow also told a little bit about herself but not much. She didn't have any siblings and lived with her mother. She didn't know where her dad was or even who he was. He had left at the age of five. I felt sorry for her, everyone needed to have a father figure in their live. The waitress brought the coffee but spilled on the white dress Willow wore.
''I am so sorry!'' The waitress started to panic and quickly ran off to get towels. I bit my lip, prevented myself from commenting because I didn't know Willow yet, I didn't know what her reaction would be to this, whether she was someone who stayed calm or got really angry. Turned out, she was one of the friendly girls that didn't get mad because of something so stupid. The stain was very visible though and we still needed to go back to school halve a day.
After forty minutes, we left back to school and waved goodbye. I liked her and I guess we were friends now. I had never made so many friends in any town as this one, maybe it was a sign. A sign that things could get better.
My second afternoon class was biology. Our teacher was talking about a flower, the Fritillaria cf. ojaiensis. Basically, it was just a green flower that looked like a lily but with purple in the middle. The teacher found it fascinating and talked about this specific flower for a whole hour. I was truly astonished how someone was able to do it. Mr. Roso was gay, he was the only gay teacher I knew. He wasn't openly gay, you didn't even notice it, accept the subjects he liked to talk about. He was very into Buddhism and philosophy and all that, he also wore a suit every day. The last ten minutes of class, Mr Roso's lecture about the flower took another turn. ''It is also said that when someone is in trouble and holds this flower, they are released from whatever trouble they were in. ''
He looked at everyone in our class, catching their gazes for a brief moment and lingered a little longer on Willows.
Must've been coincidence, I thought.
Willow seemed to not notice it though, she was doodling on her papers.
Class was over and I headed towards Willow to ask her if she was going to go to Tyler's party. But when I reached her, I saw that there wasn't a spot anymore on her dress. It was gone. I frowned.
''Where's your coffee stain?'' It was stupid to ask, but I couldn't help it, it somehow felt important. She looked confused.
''What stain?'' She started to straighten her dress and then , confusion switched for comprehension.
''Oh, that stain.'' She bit her lip and looked away from me.
''I got it out. After we split up, I went to the girls bathroom and got it off.'' She looked at me to see if I believed her. I didn't have a reason not to believe her but it still felt weird. I let it go and asked what I intended to ask her. Willow answered she didn't know yet, she had no one to go with. I told her that if I went, she could come with me. She smiled, glad for the invitation.
After that, we separated and I saw Caroline standing alone by her locker. I went over there and hung against the locker next to hers. I sighed and looked at her. She rolled her eyes.
''Melodramatic.'' She said.
''How hard is it to get a coffee stain out of a white dress in one hour? '' I asked her. Caroline frowned but still answered.
''Hard if you don't have the right stuff to do it. Why do you ask? You don't drink coffee, do you?''
I shook my head and looked at a couple of cheerleaders practicing across the field. I wished I was a cheerleader too, the outfits were a little naked but it looked fun. Caroline followed my gaze. ''wishing you were a cheerleader?'' she asked. I didn't answer her, she already knew the answer. ''Try outs are next week, we could-'' she said. I looked at her sarcastically. ''Yeah right, since when do you want to be one?'' ''I want to try new things, that's all. '' The way she told me made me think there was more to it but I let it go.