𝓑𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓮𝓷 𝓔𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓪 𝓖𝓲𝓵𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓽

🅶🆁🅾🆆🅸🅽🅶 🆄🅿 "🆈🅴🅰🆁 11 🆃🅾 15

11 years old to 15 years old
Elena and Tyler Lockwood, Vicki Donovan, CAROLINE , Bonnie Bennett and her brother Jeremy started middle school. Matt was immediately smitten with Elena, and it was obvious to everyone but her. Tyler was far from kind and selfless, but he was nowhere near the bully he was when she remembered him. It was... strange to see him act like a normal kid. It was strange to see them all acting like normal kids.
Well... almost normal.
When Grayson and Miranda told Jeremy and Elena about the vampires after the kids stumbled across Jonathan Gilbert's journals, it had an unforeseen impact - for his parents - insisting that Jeremy, Vicki, Caroline, Tyler, and Bonnie know about it too. Bonnie handled the situation much better than Caroline because she already knew about the witches, but Caroline refused to talk to her parents for an entire week. She saw it as a betrayal that they could keep such a big secret from her, even though Elen did her best to make her understand their point of view. Jeremiah handled it perfectly well because he was ten years old and ten year olds don't really have any real preconceived notions of the world.
She decided that Matt deserved to know too. She couldn't tell Tyler about werewolves yet, but telling him about vampires would more than likely make it a little easier to accept.
But first, she needed to make a real friendship with him.
The opportunity presented itself at the annual Founders' Party. Half of the attendees were trusted and valued members of the community and the other half were children desperately trying to have fun. Elena had chosen matching dresses in shades of red and blue respectively and was talking to Bonnie and Caroline and Vicki .
Well, Vicki was talking to them. Elena was trying to figure out a way to grab Emily's moonstone and necklace.
"Uh, what the hell?" A pale hand waved in front of her eyes. He stepped back to reveal Caroline's pouting face. "Did you even listen to what I said?"
She smiled awkwardly. "Ahhhh, no?"
Bonnie and Elena shared a look as Caroline crossed her arms in a gesture that seemed far too adult for her twelve-year-old body. "Okay, what's going on with you? Since we've all been here, you've been spacing out. "
She sighed. "I just thought..."
The girls waited for her to finish, but when she didn't, Caroline tilted her head toward her expectantly. "Yes?"
She shook her head with a forced smile. "Nothing important, don't worry about it. Just thinking about it...math quiz. "
"Uh huh, sure," Bonnie made with squinty eyes that immediately reminded her of Sheila.
"Keep your secrets," Elena finished jokingly.
Caroline sighed in annoyance. "You tell me later." She looked at her ostensibly. "No. More. Secrets. "
Would it really be so bad if I told them about me? She decided to put that thought off.
"I'm going to explore the mansion. I'd like to spend some time alone if that's okay.
The girls looked at her, concerned.
"Hey," Elena said and gently grabbed her hand. "You can tell us anything. You know that's right?"
She smiled, genuinely this time. "I do know. And I will. But not now, okay?
The three of them looked at each other before nodding. Like the three heads of Cerberus, she thought and couldn't help but smile in amusement.
The mansion was lavish. The outside didn't offer much to admire, it was essentially a large brick box, but the inside was beautifully furnished, with impeccable wood floors and chandeliers that seemed to grow from the ceiling like flowers. She climbed the wide staircase, her hands brushing the engraved pattern on the railing as "Arabesque No. 1" slowly turned into Beethoven's "Moonlight.
There was much less commotion on the second floor, and as she made her way through the wide corridors, it became quieter and quieter.
Until she heard the sound of breaking glass.
She turned toward the double wooden doors in time to hear the muffled cries of a man.
"Did I say you could go!? Sit your ass down!
She heard what sounded like a thud and felt her pulse begin to quicken. What the hell is going on?
"You're a Lockwood! You're not a servant! You don't act like that in front of everyone! You don't act like a pussy!
A higher voice mumbled something and Elena began to put the pieces together.
"You're only sorry because you're being yelled at, you little shit!"
She heard another thud. He's not hitting him, is he? She felt like she should intervene but didn't know how.
"Now go back to the party. Make sure you look presentable. Do something like that again and I swear to God... "
She heard footsteps approaching the door quickly and hid behind another door. Mayor Richard Lockwood came out of the room, looking a little more disheveled and angry than usual. After a moment of adjusting his suit, he headed for the stairs. She emerged from her hiding place and headed into the room, her heart heavy in her chest. That poor kid.
She knocked gently and opened one of the doors before Tyler could say anything. He jumped from his spot on the leather loveseat when he saw her, eyes wide and red.
"Hey! I didn't say you could come in!
"Your dad's a jerk."
Tyler's shoulders slumped and he turned his head away. When he spoke, his tone was quiet and shameful. "Did you hear that?
She bit her lip and closed the door. "Yes. I didn't mean to, but I was walking around the house and I thought someone might be in trouble, so I stayed... "
He chuckled dryly; a deeply depressing sound for someone so young. He sat back down. "Yeah, well..."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Can I sit down?"
He looked at her with a sad smile. "Now, are you waiting for permission?" When she returned his smile, he nodded, looking solemn. "Yes. Sure. I guess."
She walked over to the loveseat and sat down gently. "Did you... What happened?"
He sighed through his nose and ran a hand through his black hair, which had once been styled to perfection but now looked shaggy and unkempt. He simply looked down at the floor for a moment, saying nothing.
"Y-you don't have to say-"
"I picked up the waitress's tray from the floor in the kitchen and helped her clean up."
Her words died in her throat and she blinked in surprise. "What?"
He turned his head to look at her blankly. "I picked up the waitress' tray from the floor in the kitchen and helped her clean up."
She felt her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "And that's bad...why, exactly?"
He scoffed. "It made me look like a . it made me look weak apparently." Her eyes widened.
She smiled softly. "I know what that means."
She adopted a haughty look. "I also know what 'fucking' means."
His eyebrows rose in surprise and his mouth turned into a toothy grin. He laughed breathlessly. "Shit, and here I thought you were a nerd. You always get straight A's.
She shrugged. "Honestly? I don't really study much. I guess I'm just kind of smart. Or have an incredibly unfair advantage.
He shook his head in disbelief and hissed, "Lucky..."
"Hey, everyone has their strengths. You're amazing in PE "She laughed. "And I literally tripped over my own feet the other day."
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess ... Only because my dad pushes me so hard."
She tilted her head. "Well, if he didn't push you, what do you think you'd want to do?"
He thought for a moment, simply looking through her. "I think...that I would like to dessine paintings and artwork if I want to become an artist ."
"Paintings, huh? Do you have any drawings I can look at? "
Her eyes widened. "Oh, nu-uh, no. No way, I'm super bad.
She smiled and nudged him on the shoulder. "Oh, come on. Even the best of the best were horrible when they were our age. Besides," she sniffed, "anything you draw can't be worse than the garbage I put on paper.
He pursed his lips to the side and looked at her thoughtfully. "...Okay." He stood up and headed for the door. "Let me just make sure I'm presentable. "
Tyler handled the news, as well as Caroline, did. He couldn't exactly stop talking to his parents for a week because he'd be grounded, but he was visibly freaked out for about a month.
Elena encouraged him to keep drawing and when his temper started to rear its ugly head, she helped him diffuse it and express it later in a healthy way. There were still times when it got the best of him, but fortunately, they were few and far between. He became an official member of the gang (which they had lovingly dubbed the Mystic Falls eternity) and one of its closest friends.
At the age of fourteen, she had gathered them all in the house of Sheila Bennett and told them the truth about herself.
Jeremy was slightly hurt that she had kept something like that from them, but seemed to accept her explanation that she didn't want them to look at her differently. Bonnie agreed completely, saying that she always knew there was something alien about her but couldn't really say what it was. Tyler was having a meltdown.
"Wait, my life is a television show?" Her eyes were frantic. "So is there like a writer controlling my life or something? Do I have free will? Damn it! Elena! Oh my god. Oh my God..."
There was a pregnant pause before Vicki gasped in realization. "No wonder you never had a crush on anyone! We are little children to you! "
Tyler looked at her, puzzled. "Our best friend just told us she's an adult from another universe and that's the first thing you think of?"
Caroline rolled her eyes with a shrug. "What? It really doesn't matter. She's still Elena. We just know a little more about her now.
"Um," Bonnie began shyly, "Since we're all opening up ... I think I need to tell the boys something."
The girls shared a meaningful look and Elena put her hand on Bonnie's shoulder.
"We're here for you, Bon-Bon.
"That's right," Caroline nodded.
"We can also call your grams if they need proof," Elena said reassuringly.
"Proof of what?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah," Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Proof of what?"
Bonnie took a deep breath and spoke. "I am a witch."
"I'm a witch too"
"Tyler you are also an undeclared werewolf"
They blinked.
"WHAT!?"
Caroline and Tyler started dating when they were fourteen years old. It wasn't exactly a shock to the people around her, but Elena didn't see it coming at all. It made sense though, considering they had gotten to know each other much earlier and Tyler wasn't the jerk he would have been if Elena didn't exist.
His dad still had some alpha male tendencies in his head that popped up from time to time, but being best friends with four girls helped him accept that he didn't have to be a badass all the time.
Their relationship also helped Caroline reach a new level of confidence. Elena had built her up over the years, always being there for her and making sure she never felt inferior to Elena, but being with Tyler made her absolutely glow. She was old enough that Elena could clearly see what she could be like as a young woman, and she was more than happy with the work she had done.
Her father leaving her, however, did a lot to undo it.