Heartlines ▹ Elena Gilbert [1]

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CRYPT CONFRONTATIONS

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     Rowan determinedly taped yet another set of pink tinsel to Caroline's locker, keeping her mouth firmly pressed together and her eyes on her task. She hadn't spoken to Elena since their fight over Tyler, but now it was Caroline's birthday, and they all decorated each other's lockers for their birthdays. She, Elena, and Bonnie had all communicated what they would bring—they'd even agreed to hide the presents inside of a spare bedroom in the Salvatore house—but Rowan and Elena had never talked directly. In truth, it was all Rowan's fault. Elena had tried to get in contact with her, but Rowan had ignored it. A huge part of her was embarrassed by how she'd acted, especially knowing that Tyler had been ordered to compel Jeremy and she hadn't known. Another part was secure enough in her beliefs to ignore her embarrassment. Plus, she truly didn't want to know what Elena would say. Rowan didn't know if she could handle another fight.

Elena, who was working on taping balloons to the locker beside her, sighed.

"You won't even look at me?" Elena asked quietly, fully aware that students would be eavesdropping on them. The fact that Rowan and Elena were together was still a hot topic, and many people weren't very nice about it. Rowan could handle it just fine, but Elena was less confrontational. If someone got it into their heads that the two of them were fighting, well, it wouldn't be pretty.

"I'm a little busy here, Elena, what with taping all these things to Caroline's locker and all." As if on cue, one of them fell to the floor. Rowan paused to stare down at it, having the wild urge to kick it down the hall. The sticky adhesive on the back was supposed to stick to anything, but of course, it didn't work. She had to resort to taping them all by hand instead. "I knew I shouldn't have gotten the cheap shit. Ugh, why does everything always have to suck?" Bonnie, who was waiting off to the side with her happy birthday sign—the only thing she had to bring—snorted at her comment. Unlike Rowan and Elena, who had both showed up late to school, Bonnie's sign was complete. It looked much prettier than the overall pink mess that was the locker.

"I called Tyler the day after you told me what a bitch I was being," Elena said abruptly, and a little too loudly, judging by the startled looks sent her way. Rowan glared at anyone looked at them until they looked away, then sighed and looked back at Elena. Bonnie was giving them the illusion of privacy, typing at her phone.

"I never called you a bitch," Rowan pointed out. Elena shrugged her shoulders.

"It was implied." Rowan frowned, opening her mouth to argue against that purely out of stubbornness. After all, she would never call her girlfriend—or former girlfriend, almost girlfriend, whatever they were—a bitch. Elena rushed on, so Rowan didn't get the chance. Rowan scowled and leaned back against the locker, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyway, I called Tyler, and we talked. I apologized, and so did he. You were right. I was being awful to him over something that wasn't his fault. I let my paranoia get the best of me, and I'm sorry. I'm to him, and I'm sorry for upsetting you." Rowan pressed her lips together and nodded slowly. She could feel her stubbornness to stay upset with her fading away. It didn't seem necessary to hold on to it. Elena seemed to have learned a lesson.