MONSTER, stefan salvatore [2]

Total Eclipse of the Heart

CHAPTER 22: TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

Whitmore College

Sometimes Natalie seemed to forget one of the largest parts of being a college student, and that was actually having to take classes. Luckily, the one she was about to take was Sociology, which she had with Caroline, Bonnie and Elena. And as usual, Caroline was not able to keep herself from talking about something or the other. 

"So we all agree? No more moping about life's little failures and no more dabbling the dark arts of boyfriends past. This is a fresh start," the blonde rambled, and as she glanced over to Natalie, she nodded as if she had actually been paying attention. 

Elena's face broke into a large smile, her head nodding as the person inhabiting the body seemed to agree fully and completely. "Couldn't agree more. I happen to love fresh starts."

"Um, I haven't been moping or dabbling." Bonnie pointed out, seeing as other than Natalie, she was the only not  single one. And when you're not single, you're usually doing this other than moping and/or dabbling. And those things often occurred in the bedroom. 

Caroline rolled her eyes, hoping for sympathy from one of her best friends instead of her pointing out that she wasn't as miserable as she was. Although it was definitely the truth. "No one likes a bragger, Bonnie."

As the four sat down, Caroline decided to hold her short speech, which seemed like she had been rehearsing for hours in front of the mirror (or, at least that's what Natalie would have to do to be able to do that). "Today is the dawning of a new era. This is stage one of our metamorphosis into the land of the brave, the free, and the single."

"Bonnie's not single," Caroline was reminded with the voice of the vampire doppelganger sitting next to her.

"And neither is Natalie," the former huntress added, frowning at how Elena seemed to have deliberately forgotten to mention her when they all knew about her relationship with Stefan. She thought her twin had moved past it by now.

"Bonnie and Natalie's best friends are single, which makes her single adjacent. So they can be our wingwomen." Caroline handed each of the girls a flyer each for something called a bitter ball. 

"Whitmore's Annual Bitter Ball, a night to celebrate broken hearts, jilted lovers, and bitter singles," the doppelganger read out loud, seeming to not be a big fan of the idea. "This is our fresh start?"

The blonde vampire gave her a look, wanting her to show some more enthusiasm. "No. This is our purge, our cleanse. This is where we rid ourselves from the baggage better known as our tragic and mortifying first semester."

"I'll drink to that."

"Cheers!" Natalie exclaimed with a large smile.

▹▹▹

The Door Room

Natalie smiled as she walked through the door to the her dorm room, listening to Stefan saying some stupid pun about whatever. She quickly waved at Caroline and Elena. And her boyfriend quickly started to get a more serious tone of voice.

He sighed as he knew he had to tell her, and was guessing he wouldn't get the chance to talk to Elena any time soon. "Listen, there's something I need to talk to you about and maybe you could talk to Elena or something, but I didn't want to do it over the phone."

Natalie glanced over at where Elena and Caroline were surely listening in and decided to spare them the trouble of hiding it and put him on speaker. "Sure, what's up? And by the way, you're on speaker so keep it PG."