Just A Girl (TVD)

You're Undead To Me - Part 1

I lay awake all night. Friends. Why did that word hurt so much? Why did I want it to change? Shouldn't I be happy that we're even friends? My thoughts drove me to tears, and by morning, I was sobbing because I convinced myself that I was in love with my best friend. There was a knock on the door. "Come in." My voice was weak.

"Hey, I heard you crying at 3 in the morning. Is everything okay?" Elena asked.

"Boys suck." I said, my head buried in my pillow. I looked up to reveal my flushed face and red eyes.

Elena sat next to me in bed. "Did Charlie try something? What happened?"

"That's the problem." I say. "Absolutely nothing happened. We're best friends!"

She looked at me with pitty. "Oh, no... not the friend zone..."

"Yes, the friend zone." I say. "I hate it here. The friend zone sucks. The friend zone is like a doctors office waiting room without magazines. Even without the ones that are about something boring like real estate, but you read them anyway, because they keep you from going insane while you wait to get your STD vaccinations."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Why STD vaccinations?"

"I don't know! It's love! Take it up with Cupid!" I say. "Speaking of Cupid, I hate him too! He decided to shoot me in the heart with his stupid arrows but he missed Charlie and shot sadness instead."

"Oh boy," Elena sighed. "I shouldn't be doing this, but if you wanna skip school today, I'll cover for you."

"Thanks." I say, hugging Elena. "I'm gonna go wash all the sadness off my face, it's kinda weighing me down."

"You go do that, Nora..." She patted my back as I slumped over to the bathroom.

I open the door to see Vicky Donovan washing her face. She looks at me and smiles awkwardly. I wave and close the door. I practically stomped down to the kitchen. Jenna looked happy. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Everyone's in love and I hate it here." I said, taking a bite of an apple. "I'm skipping school by the way."

"I feel like I should argue, but this seems like something I don't wanna interfere with." Jenna says pouring herself some coffee.

"Good decision." I say. "So what's got you so peppy?"

"I have a date today." She says smiling.

"That's nice. I'm gonna go back to my room now for a completely unrelated reason." I turn around and walk back up the stairs and to my room.

At about 4:00 I decide that I'm done moping around in my room. So I decided to mope around at the Grill instead. I go straight to the bar, trying to make sure no one I know sees me. I look up at the bartender. "Jack! Yes! Jack, my main man! My buddy! Help a girl out?"

He rolls his eyes and pours me a drink. "You realize this is horrible for your health, right?" He says, handing me the drink. "I mean, how old are you? 12?"

"I'm 14, okay?" I say I'm defense. "Plus, I had a... rough night."

"Lemme guess, it has something to do with that boy you were with." Jack said leaning against the bar.

I scoff and take another sip. "How'd you guess?" I take another sip. "I've been friend zoned, Jack."

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." He said, he walked over to serve another customer.

I look around the grill to see Matt and Elena playing pool together. "Crap!" I say to myself. I use my hand to shield my face from their line of vision.

"What's wrong?" Jack says.

"See those two?" I motion my head towards Matt and Elena. Jack nods. "That's my sister and one of my friends. They can't know I'm here."

"Got it." Jack said. He kept serving customers. When he got me my next drink, he said, "Hey, I think you might wanna see something."

"What?"

"Your sister and some guy arguing." I looked up to see Elena arguing with Stefan over some unknown topic. "Does she know that guy?"

"Yeah. It's fine." I say. "That's her boyfriend... they're probably just coming out of the honeymoon stage."

"That's gotta be awkward."

"Tell me about it."

"Nora?!" I turn around to see Matt looking at me with surprise.

"Well, it was nice knowing you, Jack. But I'm about get in big trouble so we might not get to hang out for a couple weeks" I say, putting my drink down and paying.

"Good luck kid..." he said, taking the money and the tip.

"What the hell, Nora?" Matt said. "You're not supposed to be drinking." He looked to where Elena  was but she had already went home. "Okay, I'm taking you home."

"Matt, I'm fine." I said struggling to get off the bar stool. "I can just walk home." I guess my words are a little slurred. Am I drunk? "Actually, never mind. A ride would be greatly appreciated."

"Just, come on, Nora." He helps me to his truck. "Why do you have to keep doing this? I already have to look out for Vicky."

"Oh, please." I dismiss. "It's not like I've gotten hammered before."

"But you're drunk now aren't you?" He asks accusingly.

"Yeah... yeah I am." There's a pause. I look down. "Please don't tell Elena or Jenna. They already have to worry about Jeremy coming home high and I don't wanna add to all of that..." A tear falls from my eye.

Matt glances at me. "If I ever catch you drunk on a school night again, I'll have to tell Jenna. You know that right?"

"So you're not gonna tell her?" I ask hopefully.

"Not this time." He says.

"Thanks." My voice is barely a whisper as I start to sober up a little, but I think he heard me.

I walked into the house. Jenna wasn't there. She probably just left for her date. I walk upstairs where Jeremy and Elena were talking. "I'm miserable."

"That makes two of us." I say, plopping onto the bed next to Elena.

"Why don't you guys get something to eat?" Jeremy suggests.

"Not a bad ideas." Elena says.

"Yeah, I skipped lunch." I agree. We walk down the stairs to hear clattering coming from the kitchen.

"Jenna?" Elena calls. "You there?"

"Her car's not in the driveway..." I say, only making our fears worse.

We walk into the kitchen to see Stefan cooking something. "Stefan?" Elena asks, confused. "What's all this?"

"Dinner." He says simply. "Jeremy says chicken Parmesan's your favorite, and I happen to be a good cook. Italian roots demand it."

I grin, looking between the two. I might hate love today, however I can't help but root for my sister. I walk over to the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter and grab a banana. "Well, I'm gonna take this... and leave you two alone."

I go upstairs to my room, passing Jeremy's room where Jeremy and Vicky are probably making out high, and I lay in my bed. Then I start to think. Yes, every time I hear the word 'friends' my heart breaks a little. But it'll work itself out. It worked out for Elena, it's working out for Jenna, it's working for Vicky and Jeremy, even Caroline was able to break up with Damon! I think I'll be fine for now.