“No matter what,” Bonnie said, closing her eyes. “I swear.”
Elena, pressing her thumb hard against the other girls’, ignoring the twinge of pain, said softly, “I swear, I will always be there for you, no matter what.” She felt breathless and expectant. This was sacred.
A gust of cold wind blew through the cemetery, lifting the girls’ hair, and sending a flurry of dry leaves across the ground. Bonnie gasped and pulled back, and they all giggled. A flush of satisfaction filled Elena. Whatever happened, however the world changed now, at least she knew she’d have Bonnie and Meredith.
8
Elena rested her head in her hands, staring down at the scratched surface of her desk as her classmates settled into their seats for trigonometry class. Ignoring their chatter, she went back over her meeting with Damon in the graveyard the day before. Was there something she should have done differently?
She knew she’d intrigued him. She had seen his pupils widen when he leaned in toward her, his eyes curious and hungry. She’d half expected him to appear at her window that night. But he hadn’t.
Although … that morning she’d heard the caw of a crow and whipped around just too late to see the bird. All the way to school, she’d had the disquieting feeling that she was being watched.
Halloween was coming. The night Damon had killed Mr. Tanner. Shifting uneasily in her seat, Elena remembered how Mr. Tanner’s head had flopped lifelessly backward against the altar in the Halloween house of horrors. His throat had been caked with blood. Elena squeezed her eyes shut tight, trying to block out the memories.
Damon had been at the Haunted House that night, and seeing Elena and Stefan together filled him with jealousy and seething resentment. He had lashed out by feeding on Mr. Tanner when Mr. Tanner stuck a dagger into him. Damon had killed him out of surprised rage and pain.
According to Mylea, that was when Damon’s fate had been sealed. If Elena didn’t manage to change what happened, she would die. Stefan would die. And Elena couldn’t imagine the Guardians would let Damon live, not without Elena to rein him in. They would all be doomed.
So far, she’d successfully avoided Stefan. In history class she tried to close her mind off, scowling with concentration as she chanted multiplication tables or dialogue from old movies in her mind—anything to drown out whatever part of her might call to Stefan. He didn’t try to talk to her, either. She’d had to pursue him last time; he hadn’t wanted to be reminded of Katherine, hadn’t wanted to connect with her.
But Elena could feel him watching her in the halls, as clearly as she could feel Damon watching her on the streets. The other day, she’d glanced at Stefan in class without meaning to and seen his green eyes fixed on her. His gaze had been soft and longing, hungry. She wanted to comfort him, but Elena already knew how that would end.
The speaker set high on the classroom wall crackled, jolting Elena out of her thoughts. She half listened to the morning announcements, snapping to attention as the vice principal’s voice said, “Senior Homecoming Court nominations have been tallied. This year’s nominees for Homecoming Queen are Sue Carson, Caroline Forbes, Elena Gilbert, Bonnie McCullough, and Meredith Sulez. Voting will take place in the cafeteria over the next week. Congratulations to all the nominees.”
Elena gripped the edge of her desk, a sudden panic running through her. No. No way.
Homecoming had been when it all began. A dizzying whirl of images rose up in Elena’s mind’s eye. Herself, determined that Stefan wouldn’t turn her down. Leaving the dance in Tyler Smallwood’s convertible, the taste of whiskey sharp in her mouth, her hair blowing wildly in the wind as they sped down the highway. The lid of the tomb in the ruined church shifting under her hand. The ripping sound as Tyler tore her dress.
Stefan saving her, taking her in his arms. Her whole world changing.
She couldn’t let it happen again.
“Congratulations, girls,” Mrs. Halpern said to Meredith and Elena as the speaker clicked off. “There’s a meeting for all the Homecoming Court nominees with the faculty sponsors in the office third period.”
Elena raised her hand. “Mrs. Halpern,” she said. “I don’t want to be on the Homecoming Court. Is there something I have to do to drop out of the race?” She heard Meredith’s gasp of surprise behind her.
There was a moment of utter silence as everyone contemplated the thought. Elena Gilbert, queen of the school, refusing to compete? She was sure to win, they all knew that.
“Uh, no,” Mrs. Halpern said, her forehead crinkled in a puzzled frown. “If you’re sure, Elena, I can just let the sponsors know.” At Elena’s nod, she made a note on her clipboard.
Ignoring the whispers around her, Elena waited out the rest of the period. When the bell rang, she pretended not to see Meredith striding toward her and slipped out the door alone. She would have to figure out some kind of explanation to give Bonnie and Meredith.
Outside, Matt was waiting, a smile stretching across his handsome, all-American face. “Congratulations,” he said, pulling her close and kissing her easily, just a sweet press of his lips. “You’re a shoo-in for Queen. Tell me what color dress you’re wearing, and I’ll make sure to get the right kind of corsage.” Despite his words, there was a wary look in his eyes, as if he was bracing himself for a blow.
“Oh, Matt,” Elena said, feeling stricken. She’d been avoiding him, avoiding this moment, and of course he’d noticed.
Whatever happened, her relationship with Matt was over, and she couldn’t keep him hanging on. She needed to let him go, kindly, before she went after Damon.