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My eyes opened slowly as Stefan bit into his apple. By the sound of his voice, he didn't talk much...

"I'm Amanda," I said quietly, turning to face him. 

"Stefan," he replied after swallowing. I nodded, and we slipped into silence. After a few minutes, I cleared my throat.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked uncertainly. He glanced at me before nodding.

"Why...why are you..." I suddenly stopped, eyes focused on a bit of his arm. A bruise, probably invisible to these human's eyes, rested just under the sleeve of his shirt.

I gently reached out and pulled a bit of the sleeve up, looking at him with a questioning gaze. His face hardened and he looked away, and I immediately regretted my actions.

'Mandy...' I scolded myself quietly as I pulled away and hugged my knees up to my chest.

"Sorry."

A gentle breeze blew, almost carrying away my apology, and a bird landed about three feet from us. I quickly locked onto the small animal and followed it's movements. I was tempted to move closer, but that might lead to me playing with it...and that's not something I wanted to explain.

The bird chirped, and my ears twitched forward. I leaned back against the tree, startled, and the bird flew away. Hopefully no one had seen...I self-consciously patted my hair, reassuring myself it was still in place. Tomorrow, I'm coming with a hat.

Stefan bit into his apple again, and I turned my gaze upward, watching the wind tease the leaves of the tree.