My arms wrapped themselves around his waist tightly, pulling him tightly to me. His arms wound around my smaller body and held me, his head placed lightly on top of mine.
"What are you doing here?" I mumbled into his chest.
His arms tighten slightly and sighed. "Nothing really, just working. Got a new job," He pulled out of the hug and gestured over to the pizza bag. "I'm the new pizza guy."
I looked at him. My eyes watching him as he shuffled under my gaze. I cocked my head to the side. "What are you not telling me?"
He shrugged. "Nothing."
"I wonder why I don't believe you." I replied sarcastically.
He smirked down at me. "You never believe anything I say."
"Well, you're not very believable."
Noah chuckled and pushed my shoulder jokingly. "Very true, Lils."
I frowned a bit and looked at him. "Seriously, Noah, what are you doing here?"
He glanced down at me for a moment before a small frown made it's way upon his features and he looked away, eyes skimming over the street. "I've gotta go." He took a few steps backwards, away from me. "See ya around."
He turned on his heels and walked away, down the side-walk, not once glancing back at me. What are you up to, Noah?"
"Lillie, come on, Mr Saltzman wants to see us." Jeremy said as he walked up to me, in the school corridor.
My shoulder sagged as I thought about the awful grade Jer and I were about to receive because of my lack of input.
I turned to him. "Can't you just go?"
He shook his head and grabbed a hold of my sleeve. "Nope, it's your paper as well." He tugged my down the hallway towards history.
I struggled slightly in his hold. "But I didn't really do anything."
Jeremy paused outside the door and turned to me, a grin on his face. "Sure you did. You put your name on it, didn't ya?"
I narrowed my eyes and he laughed. "Lighten up, Lillie, it's fine. He wont even notice."
With that said, Jeremy pushed open the door and i reluctantly followed behind, arm crossed over my chest.
Mr Saltzman handed Jeremy our report with a smile. Well, that has to be a good sigh. I peered over Jeremy's shoulder and my eyes were attracted to the bright red 'A' placed neatly in the corner. A smile crawled on my lips and I nudged Jeremy, who nudged me back.
"Surprised? It's a good essay." Alaric said, as he moved around the class room and lent against his desk, facing us both. "Your thoughts are clear, and your arguments are well laid out. Although, with the way your two have written this, I have to ask," He paused briefly. "You don't actually think that there are Vampires in Mystic Falls, right?"
A chuckle passed through my lips before i could stop it. My eyes widened and i quickly covered my mouth. Alaric and Jeremy both looked at me, questioning looks being thrown at me. I pursed me lips and shrugged. "Pfft, of course not."
Jeremy nodded along with me. "Nah, I mean, I think statistically there have been more animal attacks, Mysterious deaths and people gone missing, more than any other place in the whole commonwealth of Virginia."
Alaric nodded in agreement although there was something is his still posture that didn't sit right. Did he know?Was he involved? Is he a Vampire?
"It's conjecture, but creative, which is why you both got the 'A'. I just wouldn't get to, uh, caught up in the whole conspiracy theory of it all."
"Trust me, we wont." I said.
"All right. Oh uh, the source that you cited for the 1860's information, uh, Jonathan Gilbert..."
"Uh, our ancestors journal?" Jeremy asked.
My doubts were starting to increase. What did he want with the journal?
"I'd really like to see that sometime."
"I don't thi-" I started, only to be cut off by Jeremy. "Really?"
Alaric looked at me, as if he was trying to figure something out before replying to Jeremy. "A first-person account of the Civil Wars? That's like, uh, porn for a history teacher."
I scrunched my nose up in disgust. "Eww, Images."
Jeremy chuckled lightly. "You think my essay's creative, wait 'till you get a load of this thing."
Jeremy reached into his bag and pulled out the journal. I had a really bad feeling about this. I opened my mouth to say something but Jeremy had already handed it over.
"Thank you." Alaric said, great-fully taking the book and holding it tightly.
I nodded at him and turned on my heels, grabbing Jeremy's arm on the way out. "Thanks for the 'A,' Mr S." I said over my shoulder as we walked through the door.
I continued to drag Jeremy for a few moments, until we were far enough away from the room and then stopped. I spun around and faced him. "Why would you give that to him?!" I exclaimed.
Jeremy looked taken aback but my sudden loudness and frowned. "He just wanted to read it, Lils, what's the big deal?"
I shook my head, completely forgetting that Jeremy didn't know about this world.
I sighed and plastered a fake smile on, before throwing my arm around his shoulders. "Never mind. Come on, I'm hungry."
He shook his head, laughing. "Of course you are."
The phone was held tightly to my ear using my shoulder as i tried fishing through my bag, searching around for my keys. "Look, i'll see you at the dance later, Jer, Have fun. Bye." I said, taking the phone away from my ear and pressing disconnect, before continuing to riffle though my messy bag. "Where the hell are y-Ah found ya." I mumbled.
I grabbed the keys and opened the door. I could hear Elena and Jenna talking, so i closed the door quietly behind me. I dropped my bag at the bottom of the stairs and slipped my shoes off.
"Your dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was 16, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her babies, and he gave her a place to stay. But a few days later, she disappeared, and there you and Lillie were." My eyes widened and my breath hitched. I'm adopted? My hand closed around my mouth, smothering the sob that was working it's way up, my eyes swimming with unshed tears at the new revelation.
"Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. I-it just wasn't happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom." Jenna finished.
Tears, one after the other, slid silently down my cheeks as my lips quivered.
"Well, why were our parents' names on the birth certificate?" Elena asked.
"Your dad was a doctor, Elena. He took care of it. They didn't wanna lose either of you, so they kept it quiet. Told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation."
Elena sighed heavily. "What else do you know about her? The girl?
"Just her name...Isabelle."
A sob escaped me, Jenna and Elena's head snapped towards me in surprise.
I took a step forward, and the tears continued to fall aimlessly. "I'm adopted." I stated almost silently, but they heard.
"Lil-"
"NO!" I cried. "How could you?!" I looked between both Jenna and Elena, trying to figure out who i should be more angry at, most hurt about. "How could you not tell me?" I asked Jenna, the turned abruptly to Elena. "How long have you known?"
"Your mom was going to tell you, Lillie, she wanted to be the one to tell you."
Just the thought of my parents sent another wave of tears.
"I only found out a few days ago. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I was just figure this all out for myself first." Elena said, tears glistening in her own eyes. She took a few steps closer to me. "I wanted to be able to give you answer when I told you." She took a few more closer, she was stood right in front of me now. And then I let it go. Sobs racked my body, and Elena quickly wrapped her arms around me, one arms around my waist the other around my neck, her hand stroking my hair, soothingly.
"Shh, It's gonna be okay." Elena cooed in my ear softly. Her fingers weaving their ways through my hair. My own hands clutching at the back of her shirt.
"I-I miss them so much, Lena. It hurts. It physically hurts, It's like someones holding my heart in the palm of their hand and they keep squeezing over and over again." I choked out through my tears. "I can't stop thinking about them. Momma said she'd never leave me, Lena, but she's gone!" I cried. "She's not coming back, no matter what. I'mnever going to see her ever again. Oh, God, and dad!" I pulled out of the hug to face Elena. "Who's going to come and hug me in the middle of a thunderstorm. Who's going to protect me and make me feel safe. Cause i don't feel safe Elena! I feel like death's hovering over me, getting ready to take me away next." I looked up at Elena, through my tears. "I don't wanna go, Lena, I don't wanna leave. "
A few tears escaped Elena's eyes and she pulled me in for a crushing hug. "I'm going to protect you, Lillie, and no one is going to take you away from me, from us." She pulled back and held me at arms length, looking me in the eye. She used her thumbs to wipe away my tears, and made me look her in the eye. "Do you understand me? You and Me against the world, Little sister." She said with a smile.
I sniffled and nodded. "Me and You."