"There she is," Elena heard Bonnie say as she entered the crowded bar. "Elena! Over here!"
Bonnie, Meredith, and a girl Elena didn't know were sitting at a smal table near the dance floor. They had invited Matt to come out with them, but he'd said he had to study, his face politely closed off, and they knew he wasn't ready yet and that he needed some time alone.
Meredith, graceful and relaxed, gave Elena a cool smile in greeting and introduced her friend Samantha. Samantha was lean, bright eyed, and alert. She seemed like she had energy to spare, shifting from side to side, chatting without stopping.
Bonnie, too, was clearly on tonight and started talking as soon as Elena reached the table. Bonnie was brave, Elena thought. Christopher's death had shocked her, and she was as worried about Matt as any of them, but she would stick out her chin and smile and gossip and go on with life just as hard as she could, because they had decided that was what tonight would be about.
"I got you a Coke," Bonnie said. "They carded me, so I couldn't get anything else. Guess what?" She paused dramatical y. "I cal ed Zander, and he said he'd definitely try to make it here tonight. I can't wait for you guys to meet him!" Bonnie was practical y bouncing out of her seat with excitement, red curls flipping everywhere.
"Who's Zander?" asked Samantha innocently.
Meredith gave Elena a sly glance. "You know, I'm not sure," she said with mock confusion. "Bonnie, tel us about him."
"Yes," Elena added, smirking. "I don't think you've mentioned him at al , have you?"
"Shut up, you guys," Bonnie said amiably, and, leaning over the table to Samantha, started to extol al of Zander's virtues to her fresh audience. Elena let her mind wander.
She'd heard it al , night after night in their dorm lately: Zander's eyes, Zander's smile, Zander's bashful charm, Zander's very hot bod (Bonnie's words). How Zander and Bonnie studied together in a tucked-away corner of the library and Zander brought Bonnie secret snacks even though it was totally against the library rules. The way they talked on the phone every night, the long velvety pauses when it seemed like Zander was on the verge of whispering something intimate, something no one but Bonnie could know, but then instead he would make a joke that made Bonnie laugh like crazy. There was something so sweet about Bonnie with a crush. Elena real y hoped this guy was worthy of her.
"He hasn't kissed me yet," Bonnie added, eyes wide.
"Soon, though. I hope."
"The very first kiss," Samantha said, and wiggled her eyebrows. "Maybe tonight?" Bonnie just giggled in response.
That ache was back in Elena's chest, and she pressed her hand against her sternum. During her first kiss with Stefan, the world had fal en away and there had been just the two of them, lips and souls touching. Everything had seemed so clear then.
She took a deep breath and wil ed away tears. She wasn't going to remember anything tonight; she was just going to have a good time with her friends.
Having Samantha there, Elena soon realized, was going to be a huge help with that. If it had been just Elena, Meredith, and Bonnie, they would have ended up discussing Christopher's murder and the disappearances on campus, combing obsessively over the very few things they knew and theorizing about everything they didn't. But with Samantha there, they had to keep the conversation light.
Somehow Bonnie got off the topic of wonderful Zander and on to palm reading. "Look," she said to Samantha.
"See the line that crosses down your palm, across the other three lines? That's a fate line, not everybody has that."
"What does it mean?" Samantha said, gazing at her own palm with great interest.
"Well," Bonnie said, her brow furrowing, "it changes direction a lot - see here? and here? - which means that your destiny is going to change because of outside forces influencing you."
"Hmm," Samantha said. "How about love? Wil I meet somebody amazing tonight?"
"No," Bonnie said slowly, and her voice changed, taking on a flat, almost metal ic, tone. Elena glanced up quickly to see that Bonnie's pupils were dilated, her eyes looking away from Samantha's palm into the distance. "Not tonight.
But there's someone waiting for you who wil change everything. You'l meet him soon."
"Bonnie," Meredith said sharply. "Are you okay?" Bonnie blinked, and her eyes snapped back into focus.
"Of course," she said, sounding confused. "What do you mean?"
Elena and Meredith exchanged a glance - had Bonnie slipped into a vision? Before they could question her, a whole group of guys was suddenly at their table, laughing, shouting, swearing. Elena frowned up at them.
"Hey, gorgeous," one said, staring down at Elena.
"Wanna dance?"
Elena started to shake her head, but another of the guys dropped into the seat next to Bonnie and threw his arm around her. "Hey," he said. "Did you miss me?"
"Zander!" Bonnie exclaimed, her cheeks pink with delight.
So this was Zander, Elena thought, and watched him covertly as his three friends settled at the table, too, introducing themselves cheerful y, seeming to make the maximum amount of noise dragging chairs over and jockeying to sit next to the girls. Zander was cute, sure, she had to admit that. Pale blond hair and a gorgeous smile.
She didn't real y like the way he was pul ing Bonnie close, turning her head toward him, his hands running restlessly over her shoulders even as he talked over her head to his friends. It seemed real y possessive for a guy who hadn't even kissed her yet. Elena looked over at Meredith to see if she was thinking the same thing.