ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [3]

XIX • MAN ON FIRE

nineteen. man on fire

Whitmore College Restaurant

Elena comes up to Minerva from behind who is in her seat on the single armchair, reading the average freshman's written notes in a notebook, reviewing it with a judgmental look on her face. The older one offers her a hamburger on a plate, "Breakfast, Professor Devon?" She earns a look.

"Good luck on your routine to stay fit." The younger one sarcastically said.

"And now I see why you're the judgmental one." The Gilbert girl nods once.

"You know I can see what you're doing, right?" The Devon girl pointed out.

Elena gives her a genuinely clueless expression, "What am I doing?"

"Distraction tactics. Stay focused." Minerva grabs a piece of paper, "So Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology share the assumption that..."

"Scientific methods can be used to understand human behavior." Her freshman vampire friend finished and sips on her mug of hot black coffee.

"That's very good, as in verbatim, which means that I need to ask you more difficult questions." The cute sophomore sets the paper down on the table.

"Thank you." Elena takes her seat adjacent to her friend on another chair.

"For what?"

"Volunteering to help me study, the day after I gave Damon the advice he needed to deal with his rocky relationship with Rosie. Speaking of distracting tactics." Elena places the mug down to grab a thick textbook.

"You're welcome."

"Hey. Sorry we're late. What did we miss?" Bonnie finally shows up with Stefan trailing after her; Elena and Minerva give him the same puzzled look.

"I decided to help you guys study." He said before he sits next to Elena while Minerva scoffs in disbelief, "You could use actual words, you know?"

"Just that Minerva has a GPA above a 4.0. She's a tutor from heaven." His own ex-girlfriend stated gratefully, which incurs a smile on Minerva's face.

"You think I don't know that?" Stefan scoffs as Minerva sips on her own mug of hot chocolate, "So why didn't you go to Harvard or something?"

"Then you'd lose your drill, Stefan, I can't do that to you. Plus, Whitmore's only two hours away from home." Their close banshee friend shrugs.

"I see." The older vampire replied.

"Actually, I'm surprised that you're up for studying, you know, considering..." Elena faces her other seated best friend, the anchor, who looks up at her.

"Considering?" Stefan asked.

"The other side...falling apart." Elena recalled before she looks at her ex after a quick glance at her own younger tutor, "She's in denial."