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CHAPTER FOUR
oh saturday night
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( friday night bites, pt. ii )

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Harper's POV.

*Harper's Bedroom*

Cool air bites at my bare shoulders, making it difficult to get comfortable in bed.

Wait. Bare shoulders? I never sleep without a T-shirt on.

Despite my sleepiness, I force my eyes open. It takes a moment to register the face just inches from mine.

Broad forehead . . . angular jawline . . . gelled dark brown hair . . . Stefan Salvatore?

I yelp and retract my body away from his, pushing the covers off me in the process. It's at this moment I realize why I was so cold. I'm wearing nothing except for a bra and panties.

A million dirty thoughts run through my mind on how I got in this position—waking up in bed—next to Stefan Salvatore—practically naked—oh shit.

"Mmm," sighs a voice behind me, and my eyes widen. Before I can roll over and see who made the sound, muscular arms wrap around my torso and pull me against what feels like a bare chest.

I freak out and start to squirm. Once I get his arms to loosen their hold on me, I place my hands on his toned chest and push myself away.

I'm finally able to get a look at his face.

It's Damon Salvatore.

"What?! " I gasp. None of this makes any sense. How did Stefan and Damon get into my bedroom? How did I get half naked? How was this allowed to happen?!

I'm not this person! I don't go around sleeping with guys! Especially not other people's boyfriends! Heck, I've never even had sex before! I'm a freakin virgin for God's sake!

The sheer weight of the situation I'm in slams down on me. Not knowing what else to do, I scramble backwards on the bed.

Until I realize it's too late, I run out of bed and fall backwards. The back of my head hits the hard floor, and everything goes black.

My eyelids shoot up, and I rapidly blink to keep my eyes open.

Early rays of sunshine are peaking through my bedroom window, letting me know it's the morning—Saturday morning, to be precise.

Thank God, that means I can sleep in.

I pull my soft blanket over my shoulder and turn my body to face the other direction. As I snuggle against my pillow, memories from my recent dream come flooding back.

Well, that was a weird dream, probably the weirdest dream I've ever had. It felt so real. I'm never going to forget that one.

*Later That Day, Outside Mystic Falls High School Before the Big Football Game*

"So now you're gonna see what it's like to be on the sidelines," I comment to Elena as the two of us stand next to the pre-game bonfire.

It's not lit with fire yet. They're still gathering the wood together.

"Yeah, it's actually not that bad," Elena responds, looking all around us. "I can see more of what's going on."

Elena's gaze turns elsewhere, and I follow her line of sight to Stefan. He comes up to us.

An controllable smile lights up on my face. I can't help but notice how good he looks in his number 17 jersey. I wonder if his brother is here too to watch Caroline cheer.

"Ooh. Look at you. You look hot in your jersey," Elena flirts.

I try not to think too much about the dream I had last night and just act normal. "Hi, Stefan," I greet.

"Hi," he says back before bringing his attention back to Elena. "What happened? No more cheerleader?" he asks her.

Elena's lips form a thin line. "I quit. I'm a quitter," she admits.

"No, hey," Stefan soothes. He grabs her hands and starts to gently swing them.

I take that as my cue to leave. I don't go too far, just far enough to where they have some privacy, but I can still see them. I keep myself busy by checking my phone to see I have received any new texts. Cause it's not like I was going to find somebody else to talk too. What with Bonnie and Caroline busy with cheerleading, I'm used to going to these games alone with my parents. Except, since Elena is no longer a cheerleader, she can drive me to the games now, like she did today.

Once it gets dark outside and the game grows closer, the whole school gathers around the football team. Excitement is in the air as people cheer loudly; the band plays our school theme, and the cheerleaders ruffle their pom-poms together.

A pit of anticipation settles itself in my stomach. There's something so thrilling about the atmosphere of a high school football game. It's one of the only social events that I actually enjoy going too, probably because all I have to do is just sit and watch the game.

"Quiet down for a bit!" yells the muffled voice of Coach Tanner. But I know him better as just Mr. Tanner since he is also my history teacher.

Mr. Tanner raises his hands to try to calm the crowd down. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" he yells.

It doesn't take the crowd long to realize that he's trying to get their attention. A hush falls over everyone.

"Wait," Tanner adds with extra emphasis, just to make sure he has the floor, and all eyes are on him. When he does, he continues, "Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!"

Boos erupt all over the place.

I giggle, unable to hold back from booing as well. I'm a sucker for the school spirit stuff, and some good, healthy competition always gets me in the mood.

"But that is about to change," Tanner continues.

This time, the crowd erupts into cheers.

I clap along.

"We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense," says Tanner. "And I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these." He points to Stefan, and the crowd cheers with excitement. "Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!"

A proud smile lights up on my face. There's just something about knowing the person being recognized that hits different. "I know him!" I chant while clapping.

Elena hears me and giggles, a proud smile on her face as well, maybe even bigger than mine.

"They have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column," Tanner says. "I have only one thing to say to you . . . your Timberwolves are hungry." He growls to prove his point.

This gets the crowd all riled up, and they cheer louder than ever.

"And the Central High Lions are what's for dinner!" Tanner shouts.

At this, another round of cheers erupts from the crowd.

I get so caught up in all the excitement that I almost don't notice Elena's retreating figure. On instinct, I follow after her, my only thought being that I don't want to get separated from her. I have no idea where she's going; that is, until I become aware of some commotion going on up ahead. There's a circle of people facing away from the pep rally, watching something else.

Picking up her pace, Elena pushes through people. I feed off her sense of urgency and pick up my pace as well.

"Jeremy! No!" I hear Elena yell, and when I finally manage to get through the crowd, I'm met with a messy sight. Jeremy is standing there with a broken beer bottle in hand and a bloody face. It's clear that he's just been through a fight, and I suspect that it was with Tyler since currently Matt is trying to push him away from the scene. Stefan is also there, leading me to suspect that he was the one who broke up the fight.

It takes me just a moment to notice Vicki's presence to my right. Jeremy and Tyler must have been fighting over her.

Elena rushes forward to her brother. "What the hell, Jeremy?" she scolds.

I stand by the edge of the crowd, waiting for Elena to finish talking to her brother, so I can ask her about what happened. Their conversation ends rather abruptly, and I watch as Jeremy storms off.

When Elena turns around, she makes a beeline for Stefan. "Oh my God, your hand." She reaches out to take a look at his hand, but Stefan quickly closes his palm and hides it behind his back.

"No, no, no, it's fine," he insists.

I don't know what happened to Stefan's hand because I didn't get here fast enough to witness the actual fight, but he probably injured himself when breaking up the two stubborn boys. He's probably hiding his injury out of pride like all boys do.

Loosing my patience to talk to Elena, I walk up to her and Stefan. He now has his palm raised and open for her to see.

Too focused on Stefan for her to acknowledge my presence, Elena shakes her head. "But . . . I – I saw it, it was . . . "

Stefan immediately shakes his head. "He missed. It's not my blood." Stefan wipes his hand on his jeans before raising it up. "See? I'm fine."

"No, no, no," Elena says. "I . . . I saw it. The glass cut your hand. It was . . . "

Stefan shakes his head again. "It's okay. I'm okay," he assures her.

Elena calms down and nods.

"It's almost kick-off time, all right? So, um, I'll, uh, I'll see you guys after the game." Stefan nods to me before leaving for the locker-room.

Elena turns her head back to watch him leave with a baffled look on her face.

"What was that all about?" I ask her.

Elena turns back in my direction, appearing to think to herself for a moment. "I don't know," she begins slowly. "I could have sworn I saw Jeremy cut his hand with the glass. But I guess I was wrong."

"He seemed fine to me," I say.

"Yeah." She nods. "He's fine." She pauses then says, "Hey, I need to go ask Bonnie something. I'll be back." She turns to leave.

"I'll go with you," I call after her.

Elena stops and looks back at me. "Why don't you go save us some seats?" she suggests.

As much as I don't like being at social gatherings alone, I don't have the willpower in me to tell my older cousin no. 

"Okay, I'll do that," I tell her.

She walks off, and I go up to the bleachers. I sit close to the band cause I enjoy losing myself to the music. I hope they play "High Hopes" tonight. It's one of my favorites.

After a while, Elena finds me, and she takes a seat next to me.

"What did you ask Bonnie?" I question.

It takes a moment for her to answer. "Um, just if they needed help or anything. I didn't tell Caroline I quit cheer-leading until a little while ago."

"Oh," I say, my mind immediately traveling back to a more interesting subject. "So what did happen between Jeremy, Tyler, and Stefan earlier? I just saw the end of it."

"I didn't see the whole thing either," Elena admits. "I think Jeremy and Tyler were fighting over Vicki again, and it got too heated, and Stefan tried to break it up."

"It was good of Stefan to do that," I say. "Hey, but what happened to Jeremy? Where did he go?"

Elena turns her eyes away from mine and onto the football field. "I don't know. He's been a mess lately. I mean . . . " Her voices grows serious as she turns her gaze back on me. "Our parents died. How is he supposed to handle that?"

I don't know what to say to that. I'm not sure if there is anything I can say that will mean anything or do any good. I don't know what it's like to lose your parents. I can't even imagine a world without mine.

Suddenly, loud sirens can be heard in the distance. I don't give them much thought until they grow louder. Not before long, red and blue flashing lights become visible, and several emergency vehicles roll up beside the football field.

"I wonder what's going on," Elena says, voicing my exact thoughts.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentleman," addresses the announcer over the speakers. "We are sorry to inform you that the game has been canceled. We're having a situation down by the locker-rooms that needs to be addressed immediately. We would like to ask that all students, parents, families, and staff would leave the premises as soon as possible. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you."

Elena stands to her feet. "I'm gonna go find Stefan," she says.

I stand to my feet as well. "I'll go with you."

This time, she doesn't tell me otherwise and lets me follow her down to the locker-rooms.

When the announcer said they were having a "situation," they were being very vague. It appears that a crime scene has been set up around the locker-rooms. Police cars, ambulances, and animal control unit vehicles have taken over the area. It reminds me of the scene after Vicki got attacked by that animal the other day. Something very big must have gone down tonight for them to completely cancel the game.

As I'm following Elena through a concerned crowd, I spot my dad among the police officers. I want to go up and ask him what happened, but I decide against it so I don't get in the way.

Much to my surprise, when he spots me, he makes his way over immediately. I stop following Elena so that he can talk to me for a moment.

"What happened?" I ask, the question leaving my lips automatically.

"There was another animal attack," my dad answers solemnly.

"Who got attacked?" I question.

"The coach of the team, Mr. Tanner. I think he might also be your history teacher."

"Mr. Tanner got attacked? Is he okay?"

No one really likes Mr. Tanner. Don't get me wrong, I like his sense of humor, that is, until he focuses it on me. Ever since he made fun of me last year for not knowing the answer to a simple question despite having one of the highest grades in the class, I've had a bit of beef against him. But not enough to really hate him for it, just enough to where sometimes he gets on my nerves.

My dad sighs. "He didn't make it. I'm sorry."

"What?!" I say in disbelief. This information smacks me in the face. I just listened to Mr. Tanner give a speech less than an hour ago, and now he's dead. How does something like that even happen? I'm having a hard time getting my head to wrap around it.

"Harper," my dad says, "I called your mom, and she's coming to take you home, okay? She's going to tell you about some ground rules I discussed with her." He shakes his head. "Anyone could have been killed tonight. I don't know what I would have done if you got hurt."

The drive home is tense after my mother comes and picks me up.

"You are not allowed to stay out after six o'clock," my mother explains. "At least until these animal attacks stop."

I don't like the sound of that. "What about if I wanna go to a football game?" I inquire.

She turns the car down another street before answering. "You can go, as long as either me or your father are with you. It's sweet of Elena to offer to take you to the games now, but what happened today was too close for comfort. Your father and I would feel much more comfortable if one of us is always around to keep an eye on you."

"But why six o'clock?" I ask. "How is that any different from seven or eight o'clock?"

"That's when it starts getting dark, dear," she explains, casting a glance behind her shoulder at me in the backseat. "So far, your father has said that all the attacks have taken place at night. It's very obvious that the animal is nocturnal. We just don't want to take any risks with this. Someone died today, dear. This is very serious."

"I know," I say. And with that, the conversation ends. I lean my head against the headrest for comfort.

I have only experienced two terrible deaths in my life — first, the deaths of my aunt and uncle, Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, and now, the death of my history teacher, Mr. Tanner. Three major deaths in one year is pretty messed up, but here I am, living through it.

Death is a part of life. Everyone knows that. But lives taken too soon, those are tragedies.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

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a/n:

It's a good thing Harper didn't go out to the parking lot alone like Elena did, or else she would have been toast if Damon tried to compel her to kiss him. Cause remember, unlike Elena, she doesn't have any vervain.

And you know what really annoys me? In a lot of other Damon Salvatore fics I've read, the OC always somehow has vervain on them. Either the OC already knew about the existence of vampires and the need for vervain, or Stefan gives them a piece of jewelry with vervain in it at the same time when he gives Elena the necklace.

But that doesn't make any sense! Why would Stefan give the OC vervain? If anything, if Stefan had more vervain, he would give it to Caroline since she is the one in danger of Damon because they're fake dating. But no! The OCs are always so much of a Mary Sue that Stefan always somehow feels the need to give them vervain too!

Oh, I just love how unrealistic some of those other Damon Salvatore fics are LOL

Also, you're probably wondering why it was never mentioned that Damon visited Harper's room that night like he did Elena's. Well, that's because he has not been invited into Harper's house yet. He still went into Elena's room though because he's already been invited into her house if you remember from the dinner party.

-- roxy

( word count: 3.1k )