I had been sitting in my room, seething over Damon being back in Mystic Falls. A soft knock sounded and El stood there. I smiled softly at her as she poked her head in. "Hey... You okay? You seem like you and Damon don't get along very well." I chuckled before setting my laptop down. I had been working on a new song. I was a singer. That's what I had been in NYC about. My group was there, but they understood why I had to come back to Mystic Falls. Shrugging, I patted the bed beside me. "Yeah, I'm fine. How about you? Did you have fun tonight?" I avoided her question about Damon as she flopped down on the bed beside me. She nodded, biting her lower lip. "I really like Stefan, Ryder. A lot." Ruffling her hair, I spoke quietly. "Yeah well, he better really like you too, because I swear to God if he hurts you, I'll end his life." I smiled sarcastically at her and Elena smacked my arm gently. "Don't threaten him!" She laughed, her eyes lighting up. "What were you doing before I walked in?"
I pulled my laptop back onto my lap and showed her the lyrics to my new song. She read them and nodded. "You're a good singer, Ryder. Remember how you used to sing me to sleep?" I smiled at the thought. When Elena was eleven years old, and I was thirteen, she used to get really bad nightmares. Mom and Dad did everything they could to help her sleep, but nothing worked. One night, El crawled into bed with me and I stroked her hair and sung her to sleep. She did that every time she had a nightmare. "I do. Did you want me to do it again? Is my little sister having trouble sleeping?" I stuck my tongue out at her and she shoved me lightly. "Shut up, Ry." She giggled. "I'm glad you're smiling, El. Really. I mean it. You should really get to sleep though, it's almost midnight." She slid off my bed and nodded. "Okay, Night Ryder. Love ya." "Love you too, El. Good night."
When she shut my door, I started singing quietly. I stayed awake a few hours longer than that too. I was just about to relax when I heard El scream. I ran, human speed, to her room and flung open the door. She was sitting in her bed, sweating and panting. Her window was open and a crow sat there. My stomach dropped. I immediately ran over to the window and shooed the crow. Slamming her window shut, I locked it tightly. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, but her eyes said otherwise. "Want me to sing to you?" She nodded again, sliding back into her bed. I sat on the edge, my voice singing quietly down to her. I sang her favorite song; it always seemed to calm her down. I left her room when she fell asleep, making sure her windows were still locked. I didn't end up going to sleep, not that I really needed it. I just wanted to make sure she was still okay. When the sun finally rose in the morning, I was sitting there playing a game on my phone. Yawning, I flung back my blankets and decided I'd drive Jer and Elena to school today. I quickly got dressed and did my hair. I walked downstairs to see that no one was up yet. Rolling my eyes, I ran back up the stairs and knocked on Elena's door. Poking my head in, I saw her standing in a towel staring at her cheerleading uniform and I chuckled quietly. "You okay, El?" Her head turned to me and she smiled sadly. "I'm quitting. It just won't be the same anymore." I nodded understanding, before smirking. "Hurry up and get dressed," I changed the topic. "I'm driving you and Jer to school."
Without another word, I shut her door and walked over to Jer's room. He wasn't in it and I figured he already left. I walked downstairs and turned on the coffee maker when Jenna came down. She raised an eyebrow at my outfit and I shrugged. "I changed in the past few years, okay? It's my new style." Jenna chuckled. "I remember when you used to wear a lot of pink.. and now you were leather pants." Shaking her head, she poured her coffee into her mug as Elena came down. Jenna glanced over to Elena and smiled. "I'm quitting." Elena relayed to Jenna, rolling her eyes. "It won't be the same." Turning to me, she spoke quietly. "There isn't school today, you left before I could tell you. It's the football game, pep rally thing." She shrugged. "You can come if you want, keep me company." I nodded, snagging my keys off the counter. "Sounds good. I'm going to stop at the Grill first, if that's okay."
