Follow the Lilies | Damon Salvatore

02: The strange boy and the stranger conversation

Chapter Two
The strange boy and the stranger conversation

Stefan was in my final class of the day. He typically kept to himself besides the regular flow of conversation throughout the room. I sat in the desk to the left of him, right next to a window that overlooked the school's football field and parking lot. Outside, I could see some kids in PE being forced to run around the track, and a few students who decided to end the day early walking to their cars to skip class.

I wish I was one of them.

Stefan Salvatore had always had this mystery aura surrounding him. He moved here last spring, and had since been one of the only popular kids to become more of a commoner. He preferred the tray over ala carte, carpooled instead of driving himself, and treated others as actual people, rather than low lifers with no worth. Overall, he was the most preferred member of the popular kids when I was forced to choose... that is, after Rose, of course.

It was, purely, due to his kindness to me in the past that I even considered going to his house tonight for the "fix my car for free" event. Was there going to be beer? I wondered. I had never tasted alcohol, nor did I really want to. There was nothing about the concept of losing yourself to a drink that seemed appealing. I liked being in control, and in some situations, I needed to be in control. That sense of power was riveting and occasionally the fresh breath of air I was, so often, lacking.

"The bell rang," Stefan said, lightly tapping my shoulder. His voice was warm and soothing, like a grandma's on Sunday morning. It was a strange comparison, but Stefan was a strange boy.

It was as if the world finally came into focus. The other students who usually filled the room with white noise were gone, and our teacher was packing up his belongings and preparing to leave the classroom. I hadn't even noticed the atmosphere changing around me.

"I didn't even hear the bell ring," I told him, taking a deep breath and gathering my things. I had the tendency to get caught up in my thoughts, but lately it was practically taking control.

"I see you drift off, a lot," Stefan said.

"Yeah... it's a habit."

Stefan nodded and moved to the side of the aisle to let me leave my desk. He waited for me to grab my stuff before we walked out of the class together. Apart of me wondered where Elena was – his girlfriend who hardly ever left his side – and what she thought about him inviting me to visit his house to party with the populars. After all, she had practically been living with the Salvatores.

Oh, the notoriously famous Salvatores. Yes... plural. There was more to the mysterious name, other than Stefan. I wasn't quite sure how far back the family name dated, but the founding descendants had increasing value as their line decreased. The living residents still residing in Mystic Falls were Stefan and his older brother Damon.

"What do you think about?" Stefan asked, almost pressingly. I raised one skeptical eyebrow and he elaborated, "When you drift off like that."

I viewed the question as an invasion of privacy. It wasn't just in the way he asked me, which was with a tone as if he required an answer, but also in the way it seemed nosy. It was like he knew he shouldn't be asking me the question, even if it seemed harmless.

"Why?" I shot back, without any hesitation.

Stefan made a face and proved his point by rolling his shoulders. He said, "I was just curious. I always imagine situations that will never happen."