A Mirror's Reflection

Chapter 9 : Little Fires Everywhere

I would never deny that apart from the supernatural trouble, Elena didn't have a good life. She did. Even when her parents died in the car accident, she had her trust fund her brother, a nice, sheltering home. She had friends and prospects. Was it the happiest? Probably not, but whose life was?

The Klaus thing was a big problem and I knew there was something with the Doppelgänger curse too, although by then I had stopped watching the show. Not even all the YouTube scenes could fill me in of all the shit that would happen. But I was sure— it could be worse? It could be less worse though if the Doctor Martin I had called to was the right Doctor Martin. If he wasn't— I was going to murder Damon Salvatore.

"Elena," Caroline said as I stepped outside and almost bumped into her.

"Hello, Care," I greeted and listened half-heartedly as she babbled and babbled.

I leaned against the desktop of the park table and leisurely crossed my ankles. It was a warm autumn day and the rough wood surface of the table was digging into the backs of my thighs. Bonnie gave me a curious glance and I tried harder to listen to the conversation. Dana was explaining in a teary voice and flushed cheeks how her parents fought like cats and dogs.

Dana's parents, just like Elena's parents for that matter, had married straight out of high school. When they procreated Dana and her sister were born and for a while, to the outside world, her family seemed like they were living the American Dream. An illusion if Dana was to be believed.

"—And then, when my mom came home with the grocery shopping, she found him in bed with his secretary. I mean how obvious is that? It's like he's having a textbook mid-life crisis. That girl is only six years older than me. Six years! "

"I'm sorry, that must be horrible," I said in a slow, commiserating tone and Dana shrugged.

"My dad's disgusting," Dana grumbled, her cheeks flaring with heat, "Mom caught him in her bed."

Caroline snorted, drumming her manicured nails against the side of her empty coffee cup in a steady beat. "God, we get it, Dana. Men are disgusting."

"More than disgusting," Dana continued, obviously not noticing Caroline's derisive tone.

"My God," Caroline whispered as Dana continued with her 'cheating parents story'. I got a slight impression that Dana may have been bullied before. The way she flushed and nervously averted her eyes. The way she spoke in an self-taught arrogant way and the way she dismissed the things Caroline didn't care for, they were all text-book bullied preschooler signs. Every so often children who'd been bullied hid it beneath a thick layer of hostility.

"Erm, 'Lena?" Caroline suddenly said, cutting through Dana's continued story about her parents' divorce. She didn't look very sympathetic to her pained description of one of her parents' latest fights. "Stefan is looking at you. I think he wants to talk to you."

"He does?" I asked absentmindedly, following her pointed finger to the side of the car park, off to the left. Stefan was indeed there. Standing in the shadow of an enormous fir tree, arms crossed over his chest and hip cocked against the bonnet of his car. I almost groaned. I hadn't thought about Stefan's reaction to me accompanying Damon to the founder's party. "Great."

"He looks annoyed," Dana replied dryly and I gave her an annoyed look.

"It's his resting bitch face," I sarcastically replied.

"His resting bitch face?" Caroline sniggered and I shrugged.

"Yep." I agreed. "See you lot later." And with that, I jumped to my feet. Drawing my tongue along my lips, I clutched my jacket closer to my body in anticipation of what was to come. Moving closer, he slung his bag over his shoulder and tried for a smile. Tried being the keyword.