Just A Girl (TVD)

Children Of The Damned

I stayed in bed nearly half the day. Charlie hasn't answered any of my texts. At about noon I finally decide to go downstairs. Elena and Stefan are getting ready to go somewhere. "Where are you guys going?"

"Stefan's going to get Jonathan Gilbert's journal from Mr. Saltzman." Elena said. "Do you wanna come? Maybe we can all go."

I know she was just trying to be nice because of last night and I don't need anyone's pity. "Nah, I'm good. I think I'll just try to pick the lock to the liquor cabinet again."

"Nora..." Elena scolded.

"I'm kidding! Jeez!" I go back upstairs to get dressed, even if I'm probably not gonna do anything today. Once I get back downstairs Damon is there chopping tomatoes with my aunt Jenna who's sitting on the counter drinking wine. They were talking about their exes apparently because I heard Logan's name and shuddered. Elena comes down a little bit after me.

"Hello Elena, Nora." Damon says.

"Hey. Where have you been?" Jenna asks, turning towards me and Elena. "We're cooking dinner."

"Is Stefan with you?" Damon adds on.

"He'll be here soon." Elena says.

Damon looks at me and I can already tell he's gonna say something bitchy by the smirk on his face. "What about Charlie, Nora? Is he coming? Or are you two still on the outs?"

Jenna's eyes widened. "On the outs? No, Nora and Charlie have never fought before. It's just something they don't do. What happened?"

"We're not fighting." I ball my hands into fists. If I squeezed any tighter my palms would be bleeding. "I was actually thinking of inviting him." I say through clenched teeth. I go upstairs and  pick up my phone, not bothering to read the unread texts. I dial his number and get sent to voicemail. "Hey, Charlie. I'm really sorry about that bomb we just dropped on you. But I was wondering if you would come over for dinner tonight? Damon's gonna be here and I might need someone to talk me down from punching him in the face. Afterwards we can go up to my room and I'll answer any questions you have just please come over."

I set my phone down and lounged around in my room until Jeremy knocked on my door. "Hey, Nora, wanna come downstairs and play video games?"

I sigh. "I'll come down but I think I'll just watch."

"Okay. I'll meet you downstairs I guess." He says.

I don't feel like getting up. I kinda just wanted to stay in bed all day but that's just probably not a good decision. When I get downstairs, Damon and Jeremy are playing video games together, talking about someone named Anna. She's probably the girl he met at the library.

"She can be, uh, persistent."

"Is she got?"

"Yeah, yeah... but she can be weird."

Damon scoffed. "Hot trumps weird. Trust me." I roll my eyes and sit in the armchair next to the couch and the doorbell rings. It's probably Stefan. I'm not sure Charlie is coming. Damon, Elena and Stefan all go outside to discuss something that I don't really know or care about at the moment. After a minute or so, they come back inside. "So..." Damon started, sitting down next to  Jeremy. "I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day." Jeez he talks like we're five year olds or something. "Who else did you show it to?"

"Huh?"

"Don't ask questions, just spill."

Jeremy looks at him. "You're kidding me right?"

"Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" Elena asked.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?" Jeremy asked.

"Who else did you tell?" Elena countered.

I remember seeing Jeremy and Anna look through the journal at the library. I chuckle. "Only that cute girl from the library."

"The hot weird one?" Damon asks.

"Yeah..." Jeremy answers slowly. "Anna."

"Wait who's Anna?" Stefan asks.

"I just told you. The cute girl from the library." I say sarcastically.

They disregard my words and Damon turns back to Jeremy. "How do you know her?"

I roll my eyes. "Is no one listening to the 'from the library' part?"

Ignored again. "I just know her. She wants me to meet her at the grill tonight."

"Perfect! I'll drive!" Damon says, leading Jeremy out the door.

There was a pause while Elena, Stefan, and I stood in the living room. "So they met at the library?" Elena asks.

"That's what I've been saying! I was at the library with Charlie and we were working on our essays for English class when I saw Jeremy and Anna laughing together at a table. And she seemed like she really wanted to be his friend. Or something closer. I'm not sure I trust her but for the time being, she sounds sweet. She helped a lot with his history essay."

"It seems kind of convenient that as soon as Jeremy has a project about vampires in mystic falls using the Gilbert journal, a pretty face just suddenly has all the resources for him." Stefan points out.

"So you think Anna is a vampire." I deduce.

"Yeah. But we've got other things to worry about." Stefan holds up a stack of paper.

"Is that a photocopy?" Elena asks.

"Of the journal. Mr. Saltzman was kind enough to loan it to me." Stefan says.

"Great. Well, you two go do that. I'll be in my room." I say, walking up the stairs to my room. I guess dinner's off. I pick up my phone. "Hey Charlie. It's me again. I think dinner is canceled cause Damon and Jeremy went to the Grill, and Elena and Stefan are worked by on finding some old book. I guess I'll see you at s-"

I pause when I hear something small bang against my window. It's a small pattering sound. Kind of like when hail falls on pavement. I open the curtains and see Charlie standing outside holding some pebbles. "Charlie?!" I say, opening the window. "What are you doing?"

"I'm throwing rocks at your window! I keep seeing it in the movies and it seemed like a good idea at first but now I'm just really cold!" He yells up.

"Just come inside!" I yell back.

"Are you sure?!" He asks. "Cause I can go get a CD player if that's better!"

"Charlie! Get your ass inside!"

"Okay!"

I go downstairs and open the door. He was only wearing a t shirt. "Oh my god! Are you insane?"

"A little bit." He laughed.

"Okay, I'll make some coffee, then you can ask your questions." I say, starting to walk to the kitchen.

"Actually, that's not why I'm here." He says. I turn around and take a few steps back toward him. "Just running away like I did... that was a dick move. It was just a lot to process and I needed some time."

"Oh." I say. "Well... is it... processed yet?"

"Yeah. And uh... it's pretty damn cool. A little scary too, if I'm being honest. But I feel like we were kinda having a moment that night and it was interrupted, so yeah... I mean don't get me wrong, witnessing a torture was cool and all."

I laughed. "So... our moment... do you wanna continue it here?" I took a step forward. "Now, maybe?"

He took another step. We were only inches apart. "I wouldn't be opposed to that." He said, gently putting his hand on my face.

We were interrupted by the door bursting open and Stefan rushing Elena up to the bathroom. I roll my eyes. "Just... ignore them." I say leading him to the couch...

...