Life as Jenna Sommers

Chapter Three

It wasn't that much later that Stefan Salvatore made his appearance. She knew her niece had met him on her first day of school, but this was the first time Jenna was seeing him in person rather than on screen.

She immediately wondered how no one suspected something off with him.

His skin was paler than normal for this area. That wouldn't have been entirely strange if it weren't for how crazy clear his skin was. Not a single blemish graced his face. There weren't even freckles or birthmarks. Everything was just perfectly smooth.

Not to mention his eyes. They looked much too old for his unnaturally young face. The difference between the two was rather jarring.

Still, Jenna showed none of this on her own face, however. "Hello, and who are you?" She raised an eyebrow and asked with a gentle, curious smile. Elena hadn't mentioned him to her yet, and it would be strange if she knew his name having never seen him before.

He gave her a charming smile in return, though his eyes gleamed with a slightly calculating glint. "Hello, Ms. Sommers. My name is Stefan Salvatore and I'm friends with your niece. I was wondering if she was home? I'd like to return something to her."

Jenna leaned forward, shaking the hand he held outstretched, eyebrows furrowing slightly at the light tingle she felt at the touch. From his face it was obvious he hadn't felt the same thing.

She then leaned back against the doorway, arms crossed and a smile still across her face—having never dropped, even at the weird feeling. She maintained eye contact as she yelled up the stairs, "Elena! A Stefan is here to return something to you."

She didn't want to invite him in. She didn't want Elena to invite him in. It was lucky she'd had this talk with Elena and Jeremy already. She'd said she didn't mind if they went over to a friend's house or hung out elsewhere, but didn't want anyone aside from their childhood friends—Matt, Caroline, Bonnie, and Tyler—and their respective guardians inside this house.

She played it off as her being wary of strangers after a close call on her college campus and that she'd like the house to remain relatively quiet so she could study in peace. They appeared concerned afterwards and readily agreed. The house wasn't the best hangout spot anyways; that went to the Grill, which was a hotspot for all ages.

She knew Stefan wasn't the worst of the vampires, but that didn't always hold true. His control was severely lacking, and he was always going off the bend. Nevermind all the times he turned his humanity off and became the Ripper. He was just too unpredictable a person to have inside their home.

He remained standing politely outside their doorway as Elena was heard rushing down the stairs. She thanked Jenna as she walked over. Jenna raised her eyebrow, but took this as her cue and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a mug and began making herself some hot chocolate as she silently listened in on their conversation.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Elena began.

"I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was... strange."

Elena's voice held a smile as she responded, "No worries. I get it, Blood makes you squeamish."

They each laughed as Jenna barely withheld a snort, mixing the cocoa powder into her hot milk on the stove. Squeamish was another word for it, she supposed.

"Something like that." Stefan accepted.

What followed was basically all that had happened in the show; small conversation over the state of her leg, her inquiry over him knowing their address and then Stefan returning her diary. Quite the little bonding moment.