In Mystic Falls, nothing stays buried forever-especially not secrets.
Elena Gilbert always believed she was an only child. But when her long-lost twin sister, Keira, is dragged into town under dangerous circumstances, everything changes.
Raised in t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Slayed, Then Slayed (Literally)
I watched a lot of girly movies growing up. Correction: I lived vicariously through a lot of girly movies growing up. I didn't have many friends in the real world. I'd like to believe it was because I moved from foster home to foster home, but even when I settled in a group home, I didn't find it easy to make connections. In all honesty, looking back now, I probably could've made it easier on myself by not being such a... well, a bitch. I was angry at the world, and it showed—which didn't help me on the friend front.
I had a boyfriend once when I was fourteen, and that was when I experienced my first real kiss. I should have known then that life wasn't like the movies. The kiss didn't make my heart skip a beat, my foot didn't pop, and it definitely didn't make me swoon. The only way I can describe it is by comparing it to a laundry machine.
So I shouldn't have been surprised when slumber parties with your friends didn't include makeovers, pillow fights, and gossip. In fact, the sleepover was... pleasant. We stayed up half the night talking about the troubles in our lives—not the doppelgänger sacrificial kind of trouble, but the normal kind: boys, parents, school. All things I've yet to experience issues with, but I smiled and nodded along anyway. I could get used to this whole having friends thing. Even Bonnie started to warm up to me, which clearly made Elena happy.
For the first time in a very long time, I can honestly say I'm comfortable. I don't feel on edge every second of the day, even though I probably should, considering the circumstances. I don't feel like I don't belong. Elena is really trying to make me feel at home in Mystic Falls, and I appreciate her for it—but a little part of me feels like this is all too good to be true. Yes, I like that I'm making friends, and I love that I have someone I can call family, but I've been alone for so long that a part of me wants to push them all away. So I have nothing to lose. No weaknesses, as Marcel would say.
Another thing the movies get wrong: vampires. In Twilight, they claim vampires don't sleep. Well, thank God that's not reality. I've always felt a kind of serenity when I sleep. I love laying my head on a pillow. I love to dream—it's an escape from reality. In dreams, you can be anyone. You can speak to anyone. You can close your eyes and forget, even just for a while. Forget the horrors, the pain, the heartbreak. The possibilities are endless. That's what peace looks like to me.
So you can imagine how pissed I am when someone wakes me up.
Elena's ringing mobile phone shatters the silence like a pipe bomb. Whoever's on the other end of that phone must have a death wish.
The ringing is piercing, and I hear the girls above me groan and rustle under their blankets. My back is stiff from sleeping on Caroline's bedroom floor, but I want nothing more than to close my eyes and drift off again.
"Go away," Caroline grumbles.
And then a half-asleep Elena flops off the bed and lands right on top of me.
