A Mirror's Reflection

Chapter 9 : Little Fires Everywhere

"Are you all right?" Bonnie whispered.

"I'm—" I started and forced my muscles to relax, "—I'm okay. Just angry."

"Yeah, you got Tannered, all right."

I nodded, drawing my tongue along my lips. "He's an ass."

"You say that as if it is a surprise."

"I'm always surprised by the new levels of disgust that man can bring me to," I muttered.

"Amen," Bonnie agreed.

I spent the rest of the lesson passing notes with Bonnie, dutifully ignoring both adoring, devoted glances from Stefan Salvatore and Matt Donavan. This trend continued during English class and once again I was struck with how lonely this school year would be.

I might have had Bonnie and Caroline to talk to, might have had the Gilbert family to talk to, but— not really. Pretending only did so much— Pretending didn't suddenly make it all right. I had been a quiet person. Out with friends— not so much, but at school, I was quiet and shy. I didn't make friends easily and I certainly hadn't been popular. Teenagers, more often than not, didn't like quiet peers in high school. So I had to pretend. Pretending was all I had here.

When English was let out, I parted from Bonnie and deliberately moved towards the library. Located on the second floor, the library was at the back of the building. During lunch, it was almost always deserted and I moved to the back taking out my cell phone. Honestly, it was now or never, and with trembling fingers, I scrolled through my messages until I found Mr. Martin's number. My finger hovered above the call button for a good few seconds before I pressed down and waited. The call was answered after a full minute and I held my breath.

"Hello, Doctor Martin's general practitioner, please hold." A bright peppy voice answered and my brows furrowed. The number to the general practitioner? Seriously? God Damn! Damon! What had he done, search the internet on 'Doctor Jonas Martin' like I had done and just decided one of the hits looked good to him? Clenching my jaw I inhaled deeply.

"Hi, I'm looking for Jonas Martin?"

"Doctor Martin isn't available right now. Can I take a message, or do you want to make an appointment?"

"Erm, yes?"

"What's your name?"

"Elena," I started before feeling my mouth go dry, "Thomson. My name is Elena Thomson."

"Miss Thomson, what kind of appointment can I make for you?"

"No," I tried and wetted my lips, "I mean can you give him a message?"

I didn't even know where this practice was located and I couldn't think of a reason to need a doctor for. The girl on the other end — I imagined she was blonde with dark-red lips and blue eyes — was doing something on her computer. I could hear her fingers run over the keyboard, probably looking my up as a registered patient and I sighed.

"It's about Greta," I said.

"Greta?"

"Yes, his daughter?"

The ticking had stopped. "I'm afraid I can't disclose any personal information."

I sighed. "I'm not asking— You know what, just ask him to call me on this number if he does have a daughter named Greta and wants to talk. See yah!" I answered irritably and ended the call. I could feel myself teetering on the edge of an explosion, even if I had little reason to do so and I cursed. I still had fifteen minutes left and I stormed outside.

I missed the times where I could just skip a class or two and take the bus to my favorite animal shelter. What I wouldn't give to go and take long walks with the dogs or play with the cats. God, I missed my old life. I even missed my college classes and my thesis advisors.