Book One: Panacea (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Eighteen

Bonnie and Caroline are still mingling around the punch bowl, smiling and laughing together when Damon approaches them. Their good moods instantly disappearing.

"Hi, Bonnie. Wanna dance?" Damon asks her.

"I'm out of here." Bonnie and Caroline look at him with disgust. Bonnie starts to walk away but Damon blocks her with his body.

"Please give me another chance." Bonnie doesn't respond and moves around Damon, walking away from him. Caroline glares at Damon.

"Back off, Damon." Caroline follows Bonnie. Damon watches them leave. Stefan and Elena approach Damon.

"Where did they go?" Elena asks.

"I don't know." Damon answers.

"What did you say to them?" Stefan snaps slightly.

"I was perfectly polite." Damon defends.

..........

Diana sits at the piano on the small stage and takes a deep breath. She can do this. It's just piano. Something she's done for years. Something she knows well. She begins to play.

"When you were here before. Couldn't look you in the eye. You're just like an angel. Your skin makes me cry" She begins to sing, her fingers dancing over the piano keys. "You float like a feather. In a beautiful world. I wish I was special" Alaric can't help but watch her. "You're so very special..." There is something about the way she sings. A power. Strength. Emotion. Passion. And her playing. He had no idea she could play the piano and he would never have imagined to that level. She lifts her eyes from the piano keys and looks straight at him as she sings.

..........

Damon turns to Elena and smiles politely.

"Elena...Would you like to dance?" He asks her.

"I would love to." She looks up at Stefan. "May I have this dance?" She asks him. Stefan lends her his arm and she takes it. Elena looks up Damon with a devilish smile. Damon rolls his eyes. Alaric and Diana are still watching one another, but she looks back at the piano as Elena and Stefan walk onto the dance floor to dance together. Stefan twirls Elena around and pulls her into him. Elena wraps her arms around his neck, smiling brightly, as they sway to the music. Across the room, Noah, the boy with the hoodie, the boy Elena previously hit with her car, watches Elena. Stefan leans closer to Elena.

"She sounds great," Stefan tells Elena.

"Just wait for it" Elena counters with a teasing look, Stefan raises an eyebrow, they continue to sway together. He doesn't have to wait very long before Diana's singing reaches what Elena was waiting for.

"Okay, great was an understatement" Stefan admits as Diana belts out notes. Elena nods in agreement. Diana is and has always been an amazing singer. There is always so much feeling when she performs. She draws people in, lures them almost.

........

Stefan and Elena, both smiling broadly, continue to dance together. Damon watches them from off the dance floor. Jealousy flickering in his eyes. Alaric approaches Damon, stops at his side, and looks out over the dance floor.

"Yeah, I don't recognize you. How'd you get roped into chaperoning?" Damon stares at him. Alaric turns to face him. "Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher." Alaric and Damon shake hands.

"Ah, the, uh, cursed faculty position." Damon comments.

"So I've been told."

"Damon. Salvatore."

"Salvatore, as in, uh, Stefan?"

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian, hence the chaperoning." Damon explains.

"I hear he's very bright, not that I've had a chance to see for myself.

"Well, his attendance record's a little spotty. Family drama.

"No parents?" Alaric asks him.

"Mm, it's just the two of us now."

"You, uh—you live here your whole life?"

"On and off. Travel a bit."

"Really? Where? Around the states?" Damon looks at him with raised eyebrows. "Heh. I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I...I don't mean to pry." Alaric glances up as Diana steps off the stage. "Look, it was nice meeting you," Alaric tells Damon.

"You, too."

"Enjoy the rest of the dance." Alaric pats Damon on the arm and walks past him and towards Diana. Damon watches him still though.

..............

Diana grabs a fresh cup of punch from the table as Alaric walks towards her. His heart is still hammering in his chest from her singing. It was beautiful.

"Hey" he whispers, she looks up at him and fights a smile. She glances around, but most, if not all, student's eyes are on something else. Neither relaxes though. The risk of showing anything other than a student/teacher relationship is too high. "That was..." Alaric starts, Diana glances up at him. "Amazing" he offers. "You were amazing" he corrects himself.

"Thanks," She tells him with a small smile.

"How long have you been playing the piano?" He asks her.

"A while" she answers. "It was one of the only things that stuck" he gives her a questioning look. "My dad had me try everything once when I was growing up" She admits. "Ballet, gymnastics, piano, guitar, archery..."

"Archery?" he asks.

"Yeah" she nods. "Had to go a few towns over to find a driving range that would let me practice with my bow though" she admits. "Which was annoying"

"Do you still do archery?" he asks her.

"Oh," she states and then shakes her head. "No" She answers. "No, it was fun when I was a kid, but then I hit puberty and everything changed" she teases, he raises an eyebrow at her. She drops her smirk. "Sorry" she whispers turning back to the table.

"Why are you sorry?" he asks her, she shrugs. "First time you've been honest about yourself" he whispers then cringes with how mean it actually sounded. "I didn't mean it like that," he tells her, she looks up at him.

"Yes, you did" She counters sadly. "And I get it....I'm a horrible person"

"No" he argues. "Diana, you are not a bad person...." he whispers as he steps closer to her. "You just should have told me...." she looks down and away from him.

"What would it have changed?" She asks, he looks at her sadly because he doesn't know, he doesn't have an answer to that. Derek drops his arm over Diana's shoulder as he joins them, she looks up at him.

"Derek Lockwood" Derek holds out his hand to Alaric who glances at it and then at Diana. "The boyfriend" he adds as Alaric takes his hand in a handshake.

"Yeah, he knows that," Diana tells Derek. "This is Al.." she stops herself. "Mr. Saltzman" Diana offers for Derek.

"The new history teacher, yeah, Tyler told me about you" Derek then looks at Diana. "Weird you never mentioned him" Diana nods a little.

"Yeah, weird" she mumbles and looks for an excuse to get Derek and Alaric away from one another.

A/N - THE COVER OF CREEP I HEAR DIANA SINGING