traitor

that you talked to her, maybe did even worse

c h a p t e r    3
e p i s o d e    1
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As Tanner droned on with his lecture, some students listened and took notes, other students did everything but listen. Some were talking to each other or texting on their phones. Lovie however was staring at the back of Jeremy Gilbert's head

Weather he couldn't feel her eyes on him or just didn't care, the boy continued to text on his phone. Who he was texting is up for grabs but if Lovie had to bet....she say Victoria Donovan

"Ms. Figurella?"

Snapping her eyes off the boys head and towards the front of the room, Lovie met Tanners eyes

"Yes?" Lovie brushed a loos curl behind her ear in embarrassment

Tanner shifted his weight to lean on his desk "Care to join the class? Or is staring at the back of Gilbert's head more interesting?"

"No- I- I wasn't-"
"Doesn't matter, just pay attention"

Tanner scoffs and resumes his lesson as Lovie laid her head down on the desk covering her face. Everyone who turned to watch the commotion went back to what they were previously doing, well everyone except for Jeremy Gilbert

The boy looked over his shoulder at the girl who sat a few rows over from him. He watched the girl for a few seconds before going back to texting on his phone for the remainder of class

When the bell rang signally class was over, everyone packed their bags and left the class but none faster than Lovie. Jeremy had planned to talk to the girl, ask how she was and stuff like that but Jeremy was the last person Lovie wanted to speak to at the moment

As Lovie sped down the halls trying to get outside as quickly as possible she bumped into a familiar face

"Stefan?"
"Lovie? Is this going to be a reoccurring thing? Meeting like this?"

Stefan smiled lightly at the girl who forced a smile back that people usually didn't catch. One thing about Lovie is she didn't lie, so no one ever truly questioned her smiles or the things she said. So when she said she was "okay" or "doing fine" or forced a smile, no one questioned it because Lovie wouldn't 'lie'

Stefan however didn't know Lovie. He did however know what it looked like to force a smile

"Since i'm kinda new, would you mind maybe hanging with me at lunch?"

Lovie looked up from the ground with a confused look before nodding "Sure?"

Stefan held his arm out as he stepped aside "I saw a relaxing spot this morning when I was wondering around school. It looked quite, something kinda tells me you could do with some quite"

The teenager grasped the straps of her backpack and firmly nodded "Right"
The two walked outside towards this line tree not too far from the football field
"I figured something was stressing you out...."

Once the two sat down, Stefan started to ask a question as Lovie pulled out a container of fruit from a lunch box inside her bag

"...but i know we don't know each other but maybe that's a good thing? Sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers, get things off your chance without fear of judgment"

Lovie bit her lip and turned her head towards the field as two people caught her attention

Tyler Lockwood and Vicki Donovan. The two were walking towards the locker rooms

Following the direction the girl was looking in Stefan rose an eyebrow "You know them?"
"Kinda"

Lovie turned back to Stefan and stared at him before sitting up straight
"My boyfriend and I broke up"
"Oh"
"because he wasn't happy with me"

Stefan frowned at the girls statement "That can't be right"

"I'm not mad, I just..."
Lovie sighed as her eyes watered "Im sorry"

Shaking his head the Salvatore leaned forward
"Don't apologize, you don't have to be sorry for crying and it's okay if you are mad"

"Im not mad tho...I knew it was coming. For months. He just didn't feel the same way anymore"

Lovie let out a breath, as tears ran down her face. Stefan was right about a few things. Lovie hadn't talked to anyone because she didn't wanna push her problems onto her friends but Stefan was a stranger, he didn't have to care about her feelings and the two didn't have to speak to one another every again. So she found herself sitting across from the boy underneath this tree on the school's property shedding tears she fought so hard to keep restrained

Wiping the tears from her face she turns to the boy who pulls out a napkin from the lunch box the girl sat on the ground and hand it to her
"I've dealt with a good bit of sadness in my life, at least enough of it to tell you haven't done this very much"
"Done what?"
"Cried"

Lovie squeezed her eyes together "I haven't."
"We'll, we're friends now. If you ever need to cry and have someone listen without judgment I'm here"

"Thank you"

Lovie smiled as she thanked him, bringing an arm up to hug the Salvatore in thanks. As Stefan hugged back, he found himself confused. The reasons behind why he took the time out of his day to befriend and comfort the young girl were lost to him. Though he thought she reminded him of well, him

"Anytime"

When the two pulled away, Lovie's phone pinged with a text from her friends asking her where she's been for the past half hour. As the girl read the messages she thought about the grill and turned to Stefan

"Do you wanna maybe come to the grill tonight? A few people will be there, kinda to catch up" Lovie places her phone in her lap giving the boy her attention with a hopeful look in her eye

She didn't know why but something about Stefan was comforting, familiar. Though that wasn't the only reason she wanted the boy to come with her. Selfishly she hoped him being there would distract everyone from the constant cradling and somehow Stefan was able to pick that up

"I'd love to. I could stand to meet some new people anyways. I only really know you and this girl who walked out the boys bathroom"

Lovie tilted her head "My friend Elena did that today too"
"She do that often" Stefan asked jokingly to which Lovie shook her head amused "It's something new"

The two new friends continued to joke when the bell rang signally the end of lunch and prepared to walk back into the building

"You're a cool dude Salvatore"
"Thank you uh? I actually don't know your last name"
"Figurella now but I was adopted by my moms brother"
"So two last names? Cool"
"We'll it's not really on my birth certificate so I just go by Figurella"