A Different Path Taken

Chapter 2

Mia POV

I sighed in boredom as I was alone in the house. Dad had gone to do some Bachelor auction for the Sheriff and uncle Stefan was out on a double date apparently.

I couldn't even text Bonnie to hang out since she left to stay with family to cope over her grandmother. I got bored to the point that I even went to read some of my uncles journals. I was downstairs on the couch, reading when the door opened.

"Wow this place looks so cool." I looked over and saw a blonde human couple walk in with Elena and Stefan. I froze as my uncle rose an eyebrow when he saw his journal, making me give a nervous smile.

"Who's this?" The blonde girl crossed her arms and I stood up.

"This is my cousin, Mia. She just moved here from California." My uncle said and I waved to them.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Matt."

Ahh the boring human that is still sprung on Elena? I grinned as I remembered my dad explain him. "Then I'm guessing you're Caroline?"

"Yep." She seemed to be in a shitty mood but from the glances at Elena, I could tell I wasn't the reason for it.

"Well it was nice meeting you." I waved to them and went back upstairs, not wanting to be in this awkward double date anymore. "Anyone in this town your girlfriend doesn't have around her finger?" I said as I walked into my room, knowing my uncle could hear me.

I felt BORED. What could I even do?! I couldn't leave because of my stupid hunger but how was I even going to get that under control when I wasn't around humans to begin with!

I smirked as I flashed over to my closet. I put on a simple tee shirt and pants, throwing on a hoodie and some shoes. I grabbed the purse my dad gave me to put my phone in. I locked my door and put some music on so my uncle couldn't hear me leave.

I opened the window and jumped out, immediately flashing away from the house the moment my feet hit the ground. I froze at the forest lining when I saw my dad walking out with some brunette.

I gagged to myself when she looked at him with lust and thanked my lucky stars he didn't see me. They drove off and I walked out to the parking lot to walk inside the Mystic Grill.

I froze when all the smell of blood hit me but I fought myself. You can do this. Prove it to them. I walked towards a table and sat down, now unsure of what to do.

I saw a teenage guy sitting at a table across from me, drinking something from a cup but he looked down. He was human, but there was something off about him. Not to mention something that definitely caught my attention.

I got off the table and walked over to his, sitting across from him. "You okay?" He looked up in annoyance but it quickly left as he replaced it with confusion.

"Who are you? Never seen you in this town before."

"Mia Salvatore. I just moved here from California." I didn't know where that was but I heard my uncle say that earlier. The guy nodded, tipping his cup to me.

"I'm Tyler Lockwood. Judging by your last name you're related to Stefan right? One of the founding families."

"I'm pretty sure every family here is one of them." I giggled and he nodded with a smile forming behind the cup. A human came over to the table and handed me a menu.

I looked at the food items in confusion. I decided to play dumb, "What do you recommend here?" I asked Tyler who pointed to a cheeseburger.

"I'll have that," I pointed to the meal and Tyler said, "I'll have the same. My treat."

His treat? What is he a dog? I thanked him and he still looked pretty down.

"You know you can tell me what's going on right? You're pretty much the first person I've had a conversation with in this town, I wouldn't judge you."

He chuckled with no humor. "That's all people seem to be doing lately. I'm just misunderstood. Yeah, I can be a dick, but I could feel myself going through some things that my friends don't understand. Growing up, it was all about Elena with Matt. Hell, now it's all about Caroline for him."

"So they neglect you but still think of you as a rude person?" I frowned at him, hating that more people still focused on Elena rather than themselves. "Have you ever been all about Elena?"

"Judgmental and self righteous isn't my type." He rolled his eyes and I grinned at him, now my favorite person in this town who actually saw past the Elena light. "Don't get me wrong, she's not on my shit list, but I just never saw the big deal about her."

I heard footsteps and turned to see the same human place two plates down along with drinks. I thanked him and watched Tyler immediately pick up the meal with hands and I followed suit.

I made a face when I bit into something sour, making him laugh. Like an actual laugh! I opened it up and saw a green circle that made me grossed out.

"Not a pickle person?" He asked as I took it off my burger.

"Apparently not." That definitely helped my meal and I couldn't believe how the food was actually pushing down my hunger for blood. "Wow this is really good."

"Told you! Burgers here are my favorite. Especially pushing it down with some fizzy coke on a hot day? Amazing."

I sipped my drink from the straw and almost screamed at how it was fizzy and made my eyes water. Again, Tyler laughed at my reaction.

"You act like you've never had soda before." He chuckled as I lightly burped.

"I never have actually." He gave me a weird look and I made up a lie. "Health conscious parents. Water was only allowed."

He nodded, now buying the answer and I smiled at how he loosened up around me. He actually wasn't a bad person like how he said people saw him as. He paid for the meal and I thanked him as we walked out the grill.

"Where's your car?" He asked and I shrugged, not knowing how to drive.

"I walked here." He made a shocked face and I felt heat rush to my cheeks. He opened a door for me and gestured for me to climb in. I sat in the car and this was definitely harder than being in the grill.

He started the car and drove off towards where I lived since he's been there before. I gripped my hoodie, focusing on the smell of his cologne though I had to admit, his blood didn't seem completely normal.

What was he?