Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Try

She couldn't peel her eyes from the white ceiling as the obnoxious beeping of her alarm clock filled her bedroom. The light that flooded in through the windows above her bed and behind her desk nagged her to get up, but she was determined to put off the day for as long as possible. So, she stayed there, unable to find it within herself to sit up until she heard footsteps from down the hall and a knock on her door.

With a final look to the books, face down picture frames, and now bare, lightest of blue walls, she closed her bedroom door behind her. It was her only response as she entered the bathroom. Because nothing was the same. Not since May.

In the mirror in front of her she saw Abigail Gilbert: blue eyes from her father, dark brown hair from her mother. She couldn't hold her stare long, on a mission to feel anything other than how she had for months. However, she thought it to be an impossible task.

It had been four months since the car accident that made her an orphan. It was lonely, even with younger two siblings. Her sister, Elena, had turned to her best friend. Her brother, Jeremy turned to the town's stoners. The only person keeping them together was their aunt, Jenna, who moved in even as Abigail put all of her energy into everyone else.

Jeremy pushed past her as she descended the staircase. Although it wasn't quiet on the first floor of the house, with the news turned up too loud, last minute lunches being packed, coffee being poured, and a resounding laugh from Jenna about number two pencils, the commotion was different from what she had grown up with. Different from what she was expecting.

"What am I missing?" Jenna asked as she shoved her laptop into her oversized tote bag.

Elena tapped the wooden countertop with her coffee lid. "Don't you have a big presentation today?"

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at..." Jenna looked down at her watch. "Now. Crap!"

"Then go. We'll be fine. Bonnie is going to give us a ride." The smile Elena sent in Jenna's direction fell as the back door slammed. She turned to Abigail with an expression she was expecting, one that followed her all summer. "Today is a fresh start, so try. It's the only way we can make it through."

"You're right." Abigail's gaze landed on Jeremy as the front door's familiar click echoed in the foyer. "You okay?"

He didn't look at her. "Don't start."

There was a place Abigail's mind created for itself, one that had only been there as long as her parents had been dead. It took her from the moment; it took everything from the moment. She didn't know where it was, but she knew how to to get there. Only, she hadn't realized she had been there.

"Is anyone listening? Hello?" With her voice raised, Bonnie called to them. "Back in the car."

Abigail leaned forward so that she could be visible from the backseat. "I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were saying that-"

"That I'm psychic now."

She managed to let out a quick laugh. "Right."

Elena moved her warning gaze away from her sister back into the front seat. "Predict something."

"I see-" Bonnie was cut off by something, a crow, hitting the windshield. "Wh-what was that? Oh, my God! Are you guys okay?"

Readjusting her seat belt, Elena nodded. "I'm okay."

"It was like a bird or something," Bonnie stuttered out. "It came out of nowhere."

"Really," Elena said, "I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life."

"I predict this year is going to be kick ass." Bonnie looked from one shaken girl to the next as she shifted gears. "And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you are both going to be beyond happy."