two
the comet.

MYSTIC FALLS HIGH

"I'M CONFUSED. ARE you psychic or clairvoyant?" Caroline asks as her, Elsie, and Bonnie walk down the hallway at school the next day.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch," Bonnie informs, making both girl's skeptical. "My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night," Caroline remarks, having seen a hot guy at the Mystic Grill last night after Elsie went to the hospital to see her sister. If Elsie was there, she would've gotten this mystery guy's phone number for her friend.

But her main focus was going to see her sister, and when she got there, Vicki went on about a vampire attacking her. Vicki seemed really freaked out and convinced that's what it was, but she said it was just an animal this morning. Elsie found the situation odd, but assumed her sister was high the night before from the pain medication the doctors gave her.

"I didn't see him, you did," Bonnie laughs as Elsie raises a curious eyebrow.

"Care, why didn't you just talk to him? You know, ask his name, get his number like a normal person."

"I don't know," Caroline deadpans, not knowing why she didn't go talk to him. "I was drunk."

"That's fair, I guess," Elsie giggles as they continue their way down the hallway.

—

THE GRILL

Elsie, Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena end up grabbing an after school snack. That's why the group sit around a table on the patio of The Grill. Bonnie is the first one to talk. "I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens," Caroline remarks, not believing any of the stuff Bonnie's grandma says.

Elsie knows Bonnie's grandma is a drunk and she personally doesn't believe in the supernatural, but she finds Bonnie's stories interesting.

That's why she frowns when Caroline turns to Elena, wanting to know more about Stefan. "So then what?"

"So then nothing."

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline scoffs, unable to believe that they went the whole night without so much as a kiss. "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

"Nope. We didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. You're supposed to share the smut."

"We just talked for hours."

"Okay, what is it with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex."

"Not everything is about sex, Caroline," Elsie reminds, never having had just a random one night stand. She prefers to have an emotional connection with someone before doing the deed. Elena then gets a mischievous look on her face and moves to grab her bag. "You're leaving?"

"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do."

Elsie watches her go, hoping Stefan will pull her out of the haze of sadness she's been in. Elena's tried to hide it, but Elsie sees past her facade and knows she's still grieving her parents.

Elena returns a few hours later, completely bummed out. It's not hard for Elsie to infer things didn't go as planned, so she decides to try to pry when her and Elena are handing out flyers for the comet viewing. "So things didn't go the way you wanted them to?"

"Yep, and he hasn't called or texted. But then I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never even gotten to the texting part."

"Right, because texting is a super important part in a relationship," Elsie remarks with a sarcastic tone, because she prefers to have a face to face conversation with someone. Elena, however, doesn't seem to pick up on Elsie's sarcastic tone.

"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway."

"Elena, there's never a right time," Elsie counters as she continues to hand out flyers to familiar faces.

"I'm not ready."

"Who is?"

"At least I put myself out there," Elena retorts, not liking how Elsie is countering everything she says since she's just hearing excuses. "You haven't."

The Donavan girl is taken aback by Elena's words, hurt that Elena would say that when she was just trying to help. "That's different and you know it. I was in love with Tyler. And did you, Elena? Really? I'm just hearing excuses as to why you can't take a chance with Stefan."

Elsie then storms away from Elena. She hands out a few more flyers before heading back into the Grill. She sits down next to Matt, Caroline, Tyler, and Elena when Elena's little brother, Jeremy storms into the room. "Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?"

"You're her stalker," Tyler glares at Jeremy, not liking the youngest Gilbert. "You tell us."

"I can't find her."

"She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, Pill Pusher, you've been replaced."

"Hold up," Elsie puts a hand up to signal for them to back up. "Vicki's out of the hospital?"

"She checked herself out this morning after you and Matt left," Jeremy informs as Elsie's eyes widen, this being new information to her. Matt, on the other hand, must've seen her earlier, because he doesn't look nearly as shocked as Elsie.

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asks as Tyler continues to glare at Jeremy, never breaking eye contact.

"Ask him."

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy matches the Lockwood boy's glare.

"Are you dealing?" Elena questions, realizing what pill pusher means.

"She's never gonna go for you," Tyler hisses as Jeremy finally snaps, accidentally spilling the beans about what him and Vicki did over the summer.

"She already did. Over and over and over again."

"Yeah, right."

"You slept with Vicki Donavan?" Caroline pipes up, hardly able to believe this. "I mean, Vicki Donavan slept with you?"

Elsie shifts, very uncomfortable with the thought of her sister and one of her youngest friends sleeping together. It was bad enough she knew her brother and ex-boyfriend were messing around.

"There's no way," Tyler shakes his head angrily as Jeremy frowns.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it."

Tyler pales at the Gilbert boy's accusation and Vicki's sister and brother both turn to Tyler expectantly. Elsie crosses her arms, fed up with this conversation but Matt is the one who speaks. "What the hell's he talking about, Ty?"

"Nothing, guys. Just ignore him. He's a punk."

"I've had enough of this conversation," Elsie decides, standing up from the table. "How about you two stop arguing and make yourselves useful by helping me and Matt find our sister?"

And that's exactly what they do. Each member of the group goes in a different direction in search of the Donavan girl. But none of them end up finding her, Stefan does.

So half an hour later, Elsie helps her sister sit down in a booth. She notices the girl's neck patch from her injury has come off, so she finds the first aid kid and replaces it. Vicki explains that Stefan found her walking around hazily, so Elsie is pleased when she finds Stefan waiting around.

"My sister told me you found her wandering around," Elsie tells him, relieved. "Thank you, Stefan."

"Of course," Stefan matches her grin, moving to leave but she calls after him.

"Wait! I'm gonna give you Elena's phone number. She loves texting."

Elsie might not be happy with Elena right now, but they're still friends and Stefan helped her out tonight.

So she writes Elena's phone number down on a napkin and hands it to him, but the second their fingers touch, something odd happens. A chill runs through her entire body and several images flash through her mind like lightning.

It's nearly too fast for her to see, but she can only make out a drawing of herself and Elena. They just don't look like themselves. They're wearing dresses that look like they're from the 1800's. Her blonde hair is pulled back into an intricate braided updo whereas Elena's dark hair is curled and pinned back. She looks happy and relaxed with a big smile whereas Elena looks more reserved, only a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

If only Elsie had noticed the writing at the bottom of the drawing, Florence and Katherine, 1864

UNEDITED