Lycanthrope

When I arrive at the Grill later that night, I shift my weight from my left leg to my right as I scan the place in hopes of seeing a familiar face. I let a sigh escape through my lips when I don’t notice Elena anywhere and begin walking towards an empty table. However, I’m stopped in my tracks when a man sporting a black leather jacket and messy brown hair obstructs my path.

“Well, I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.” My breath gets caught in my throat as I stare into the clearest pair of blue eyes that I’ve ever seen. He takes my hand in his and raises it slightly, brushing his lips against the top of my hand before placing a soft kiss upon it. “And you would be?”

Feeling heat radiate to my cheeks, I lower my head a little bit in attempt to hide the blush on my cheeks. When it feels as if my face has returned to its original color, I lift my head and smile as I say, “I’m Sydney. I just moved here.”

“Oh. Well, it’s a pleas-” this mysterious looking man begins to say before he is cut off.

“Leave her alone, Damon,” I hear a voice say from behind me causing me to turn around and see the friendly face of Elena.

She walks up on the side of me and stares at this man, whom I assume is Damon, with a stern look playing on her face. He simply smirks at her and replies, “Relax, Elena. I saw Sydney all by herself so I decided to be friendly and come talk to her.”

“You being friendly? There’s a shock,” she retorts while narrowing her eyes at him. Turning her attention towards me, she smiles softly while nodding her head towards an empty table and saying, “Come on, Sydney. Let’s grab a table.”

I watch as Elena starts walking towards the table and then glance over at Damon to find him watching her intently before his eyes flicker to me. Deciding against being rude, a small smile tugs at the corner of my lips and I say, “It was nice meeting you.”

Nodding his head, he simply smirks in response and then I follow in Elena’s footsteps, joining her at a table on the opposite side of the room. Sliding into the booth, I take a seat across from her as she begins to say, “I’m sorry about Damon.”

“Don’t be. He actually seemed kind of nice,” I reply while shaking my head causing Elena to raise her eyebrows in shock.

“Then you must not have been talking to him for a long time.” I stare at her with my eyebrow slightly raised, confusion shining through my eyes. Elena notices my quizzical expression and explains, “Damon is a bit of an arrogant, selfish, sociopathic jackass.”

My jaw drops slightly and I quickly close it. I glance over at Damon standing near the bar with a smirk plastered on his face as if it is permanently there then turn my attention back to Elena. “Well, this town if full of characters then.”

“I promise we’re not all that bad,” she chuckles softly as she runs a hand through her perfectly straight, long brown hair, “but enough about that. Where did you move here from?”

“New Haven, Connecticut.”

She nods her head and asks a followup question, “So, how come you moved here? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Sighing, I sweep my bangs out of my face, placing it behind my ear and answer, “My dad walked out on us and since my parents were very respectable people in New Haven, it was like everyone was gossiping about what happened. New Haven just seemed... smaller and we felt kind of suffocated. So since my mom grew up in Mystic Falls and has always wanted to come back, we moved here.”

“I’m so sorry,” she replies, sincerity evident in her voice.

“Please, don’t be,” I say while shaking my head and forcing a smile, “no relationship is ever perfect and it doesn’t always work out in the end, no matter how much love there was in the beginning.”

Elena simply nods her head and smiles softly at me but her eyes are full of sympathy. Her eyes soon flicker to something behind me and a smile tugs at the corner of her lips while she excuses herself, telling me that she’ll be back in just a moment. Looking over my shoulder, I watch as she walks towards a handsome, muscular looking man whose striking features resembles Damon’s.

“Uh, Sydney?” I hear a voice say causing me to turn around and perk up my eyebrows to let the person know I’m listening. “Hi, I’m-”

“Tyler, I know,” I cut him off, not giving him the chance to introduce himself.

There’s a sparkle in his brown eyes as a smirk tugs at the corner of his lips and he asks, “You’ve been asking about me?”

In attempt to hide my laughter, I put my hand over my mouth to cover the smile and lower my head. I shake my head slightly as I bring my gaze to meet his and say, “No, not at all. We’re in the same History class.”

“Oh. Right, History class,” he begins, his smirk faltering a bit and the sparkle in his eye gone, “that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I just wanted to apologize for what I said in class. You know, calling you a nerd.”

Surprised by his apology, I stare at him for a moment without saying anything. I’m finding it difficult to believe that he is sincerely sorry especially since Elena had pointed out that he’s a jerk, so it doesn’t seem like he would apologize for something as small as this.

I cross my arms and lean forward against the table while asking, “Are you sorry that you said that or are you sorry that I had a comeback?”

Tyler clenches his jaw and narrows his eyes at me. Without saying a word, he shakes his head and walks away towards the blonde haired boy that I had seen him with earlier. A smile smirk forms on my lips as I watch him talk to his friend and glance over in my direction, glaring daggers.

Sydney - two. Tyler - zero.