Heartlines ▹ Elena Gilbert [1]

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE
COLLECTION OF PROMISES

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     Rowan spent the rest of the weekend locked away in her bedroom. She knew she should have found a way to get food—it had occurred to her that she could have called Bonnie—but she couldn't find the motivation or the energy to do it. She didn't feel hungry anyway. In fact, she felt overwhelmed. She felt tired no matter how much sleep she got. She couldn't stop thinking about the look on Bonnie's face in that school hallway. She couldn't stop staring at her curtained windows, at the bits of sunlight streaming through, couldn't stop remembering that she would never be able to feel it again. She couldn't stop thinking about how the next week she would be expected to show up at school. She'd have to find an excuse as to why she's skipping her classes now.

Her phone started ringing then, lighting up on the bedside table. Rowan blinked a few times before she forced herself to reach for it, swiping her thumb across the screen and putting it to her ear.

"Hello?" she murmured, eyes going to the window again. She wanted to go outside. She wanted to sit out on the front porch and feel the sun on her skin. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and it was just making her feel worse.

"Are you doing anything?" Tyler asked, not even bothering to greet her. Rowan blinked slowly, then frowned and shifted in her bed.

"Nothing," she said. "Just at home." Tyler gave a pleased sound. She could hear people chattering in the background, hear laughter and booming music.

"Perfect!" He paused to yell at someone named Aaron, warning him not to touch Tyler's truck unless he wanted to be thrown in the lake. Rowan immediately knew where he was. There was a swimming hole behind the Lockwood estate, and it was the go-to place for teenagers who wanted to party and get drunk without fearing the police to show up. It was far enough away from civilization for the music not to bother anyone, and it was close enough to Tyler's home and had enough trails that it was hard for people to get lost if they wandered off. "I'm throwing a party at the swimming hole. Do you want me to pick you up?"

"I..." Rowan glanced at the window again, then sighed, disappointed. The brief mention of a party had energized her, made her realize that it would have served as a perfect distraction to her own thoughts. Looking at the sunlight made that energy die again. "I can't."

"Why not?" Tyler asked, sounding disappointed. Rowan felt horrible. The last time she had spoken to Tyler, she had snapped at him, had watched him storm off. She thought up an excuse quickly, not wanting Tyler to think she didn't want to see him, or that she was angry with him somehow.

"I'm grounded," she lied smoothly, closing her eyes and bringing the blanket up over her head. "My parents didn't appreciate me disappearing for a couple of days." There was a beat of silence, and then she heard Tyler telling people to get out of the way. A few minutes later, the booming music was fading into the background, and the chattering voices slowly disappeared.