prologue ―― no surprises

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May 23rd, 2009

Adrienne's eyes squinted at the board held in front of her, lips curled up at the poor excuse of a drawing. Too many thoughts went through her brain - all of them correlated to what she could possibly be looking at. A giraffe? The empire state building? A semi-truck? What on earth was Aunt Jenna thinking when she made that monstrosity?

Jeremy seemed to be in the same boat as her, his eyes darted around the whiteboard, trying to find another missing piece to the puzzle. His fingers tapped his thigh, he didn't want to lose yet another round.

"You have ten seconds left!" Miranda announced, smiling widely. Her team that consisted of both herself and Grayson was winning by a long shot. The couple was completely in sync, they had some type of harmony that the other team (Jenna, Adrienne, and Jeremy) didn't have. It was unfair - whose idea was it to have them together?

Adrienne and Jeremy glanced nervously at each other while Jenna stared intently at them. She was so confused as to how neither of them guessed it yet, she thought her drawing was accurate.

"A moose!"

"Rooster!"

The two called out at the same time, making the woman frown. What kind of guesses were those?

She shook her head and handed the board to Grayson, "It's a dog..."

"Oh," Adrienne grimaced, trying to hold in her giggles when Jeremy burst out laughing. He leaned over and hid his face in her shoulder to hide his chuckles from their Aunt. It didn't work very well since she sent him a playful glare, pretending to be annoyed.

She walked over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, only pausing when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Jenna took it out and waved it in the air when she saw the caller id, making Adrienne jump up and run over to her Aunt, stealing her phone to accept the call.

Elena had great timing since she now won Adrienne another 50 bucks since they had all bet on when she would ask to come home.

"So you finally realized you're missing out big time, huh?" She teased her sister, a habit she had developed when she was younger. It was easy to mess with her, she always got in situations that made it way too easy. The jokes were forming themselves at this point.

However, the sigh that echoed through the phone told her that it was no time for games. Judging by the length and tone, she got into another argument with Matt. They were more often now, so it was obvious to Adrienne when it was something involving their childhood friend.

In an attempt to make her feel better, she tried telling her what was currently going on at home, "Dad's making us play Pictionary again. My team's losing."

"Why?" Elena questioned, wondering how Adrienne and Jeremy could lose since they were pretty skilled at art.

Jenna leaned in to speak, "It's my fault. I'll admit it, I suck at Pictionary."

"You do. You're terrible," Grayson chimed in.

"Bite me."

Adrienne rolled her eyes and walked back to the couch, ditching Jenna in the kitchen. She reached over to grab some popcorn from the bowl next to her dad, tossing it in her mouth. She had a feeling of what Elena wanted to ask, so she decided to ask it for her. "Want us to pick you up? I need to get more caramel sauce from the store, so we can get you on the way."

Elena seemed relieved, "Yes, please."

"The caramel sauce is gone already?" Miranda raised an eyebrow, making her daughter give her a sweet smile.

"I was hungry."

"We got it two days ago."

Adrienne shrugged, "Two days ago is practically ancient history. I finished the bottle two days ago." She gave her attention back to the phone, "Okay, so what happened with Matt this time?"

"How did you know?" Elena was surprised that she was that transparent - but it was Adrienne, and her twin could always see right through her. Somehow, she always knew everything. "I don't know why I'm surprised, you always know. But yeah, we got into a fight again. He was talking about college and marriage and kids and all the stuff he always talks about and I just, I couldn't. I don't want to think about that stuff right now, and I'm all for having plans for the future and everything, but I don't know if I want that with him yet. I keep trying to tell him that I'm not ready to even think about it but he just - he doesn't listen and it gets exhausting."

"He's trying to figure out how you feel about him, it's a classic move. If he keeps pushing it and you're not ready, be upfront. Just tell him how you feel," Adrienne advises.

"I don't know how I feel."

She wishes she could smack some sense into Elena through a phone, "Yes you do. You're not in love with him. It's not your fault. It's inevitable that you'll break his heart, I think it was always bound to happen. He's a small town guy, and he's going to live a life stereotypical to a high school quarterback in Mystic Falls. He'll get a job at The Grill, graduate, skip college because if we're being realistic, his grades aren't that good. He'll become a police officer, get married, and have five blond, blue-eyed children. You and I both know that's never been what you want."

"Do you see a future with Joey?" Elena questioned, despite knowing the answer. Adrienne's relationship with Joey was on and off. He would do something stupid, Adrienne would tell him off, they would argue, break up, he would realize he was wrong, and they'd get back together. Two years of the same repetitive bullshit has gotten on Adrienne's nerves, and she's ended things permanently this time.

She scrunched up her face, "Hell no."

"Do you think he'll hate me if I break up with him? I don't want to lose him."

"I think he'll be upset, but he could never hate you. He's been obsessed with you since second grade," Adrienne looked at her nails, now bored with the serious conversation. "See you soon, bye."

She hung up before Elena could respond and tossed the phone back to Jenna. The girl glanced over at her dad, "Could you come with me to pick her up? I don't really feel like driving, but if I don't go, she'll complain about it for the next week."

"I was going to anyway, you play your music too loud at night. Last week Mrs. Davinski called and said you were parked across the street from her house blasting 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer'." He looked at her expectantly, making her pout.

She defended herself, "There was a good reason for that! She threw eggs at Jade and her little brother because they were walking past her house."

"Adrienne, Mrs. Davinski is 90 years old."

She crossed her arms, unamused. "Yeah, 90 and racist. The song was a warning."

"Oh, then that's understandable. Nice choice of song."

"Thanks, it was Liam's idea."

"Should I come too?" Miranda questioned, looking between her husband and child.

Adrienne thought about it for a moment then shook her head, "Nah, it'll be fine. Just stay here and pick out a movie for us to watch, Jenna and Jeremy can't be trusted or else we'll be stuck watching Marley and Me or Iron Man for the fifteenth time. Can you set up Monopoly too?"

Miranda nodded. She really enjoyed being a mom, it never failed to entertain her. "You can count on me, I'll find a good one."

Adrienne pulled her dad up from the couch to drag him to the car, making sure to grab the keys on her way. "I call being the banker by the way!"

"But it's my turn to be the banker!" Jeremy shouted, the words barely reaching Adrienne's ears since she was already halfway out the door with Grayson.

"Sucks to suck! Love you!" She called out as she shut the door.

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Elena opened the car door, relieved to see her father and twin sister waiting for her. She slid into the seat behind her sister and put her head back on the seat, her eyes closing in exhaustion. Her night sucked and she really wished that she stayed at home, everyone seemed like they were having fun when she called.

"I'm gonna break up with Matt," She told herself, those in the car, and the universe. This time, she was confident and more than sure about her decision. Something had changed in the time she had to think about everything before they came to pick her up. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was positive that her relationship wasn't at all what she wanted in her life.

Adrienne cheered, "Finally! I'm telling you, it's spring cleaning- out with the old, in with the new! Dump your boyfriend season!" She looked back at Elena while Grayson began driving to the store, which was in the part of town where they lived, "We're so in sync, we're even breaking up with our boyfriends around the same time. Well, I broke up with Joey like two weeks ago but it's in the same time frame, so it doesn't matter."

Elena snickered at her sister's words. She truly appreciated her twin in times like this, Adrienne always knew how to make her feel better. "Yeah, it's almost like we're twins."

"You two are so corny. I think you get it from me," Grayson teased them.

Adrienne pat him on the shoulder, "Well, we had to inherit something from you. We're 99.9% mom. Your genes aren't strong."

"Really? 'Cause I think Jeremy looks just like me."

"He's like your doppelganger, so it doesn't count," Elena spoke up, leaning between their seats so she could take part in the conversation. "We should get more ice cream at the store, I'm really gonna need it."

Adrienne's face twisted into one of horror, "You're lactose intolerant. I don't want you blowing up our bathroom-"

Elena slapped her shoulder, "Don't say that! And I'm not lactose intolerant, I felt sick after drinking milk one time."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Lena." Grayson commented, making them all fall into a fit of laughter. He always had the best comedic timing.

Their car approached Wickery Bridge just as Adrienne made a move to turn on the radio, "What station should I put on?"

There was no reply, all she heard was a panicked scream from Elena.

It happened too quickly.

One moment, she's reaching to turn up the speakers. The next, the car flies off Wickery Bridge and into the water.

She blacked out for a second and when she woke up, she couldn't remember how she got there. Her gaze darted around the car, but she saw nothing but blue and a small cloud of red.

Adrienne held her breath and tried not to panic - she was on the swim team. She could hold her breath until help came. Right?

Her head turned to face her dad, who was desperately trying to get off his seat belt. It wasn't working. Grayson smashed his elbow into the window, using all his strength to get it to break.

Adrienne copied him and tried unbuckling her seat belt.

It didn't work.

The panic set in - she hit the window as hard as she could. Please.

She didn't want to die.

Elena called out for Grayson and Adrienne, but they couldn't really hear her since her voice was muffled by the water, so she had to call it out twice.

They looked back at her and Grayson took their hands, he held them in his own. The look in his eyes told them that he was sorry, that he would try to save them.

How did this even happen?

Elena looked tired, like she was ready to fall into a deep sleep.

Grayson shook his head - she needed to keep her eyes open. She couldn't die. It wasn't her time.

But she nodded and tried to tell him that it's okay. She's accepted her fate. Drowning in the water underneath Wickery Bridge was the way she was going to die.

Elena closed her eyes and let go of their hands.

Adrienne wanted to cry. She reached back and shook Elena, she wanted to tell her that she loved her one last time. She wanted to say goodbye.

Please, don't take her from me, Adrienne wanted to say.

A man swam up to the car and tried opening Grayson's door, but he shook his head and pointed to Adrienne and Elena. Save them first, he tried to tell him.

The man looked confused for a moment as he met Adrienne's eyes, then he noticed that she was bleeding from her head and he knew he had to get her out now.

He swam around to the other side of the car and ripped open the door, then ripped off her seat belt. He helped her out of the car then got her twin out.

In one arm, he carried Elena, since she was not able to swim on her own. With his right hand, he held tightly onto Adrienne's. They swam up together and she took in deep, frightened breaths once she got to the top. She started to cry the moment air entered her lungs, she was so scared.

They swam to shore then the man jumped back in to go get her dad.

Elena was breathing again. She woke up for a moment, coughed out water, then fell unconscious.

After a few minutes, the man reached the shore with the lifeless body of Grayson Gilbert in his arms. He called 911 and began giving him CPR.

Adrienne's tears stopped as she stared blankly at the scene.

Her hearing was muffled and she didn't know how much time had passed before the man stopped giving Grayson CPR. Her dad was dead.

The man came closer to her, took her face in his hands and checked the wound on her head. It wasn't deep, she would be fine.

She didn't hear anything he said, her mind was blank. But her panicked breaths filled the air, as if she was still trying to catch her breath, as if she were still underwater.

He sat down next to her and held her in his arms. He tried to even out her breathing and calm her down. You're safe. You're out of the water. You're alive.

Once she calmed down, she began to cry again. She turned her head into his neck and held on tightly to his shirt. He saved her life. He saved Elena too.

And although he was a stranger, he held her until the police and paramedics got there.

She didn't remember much after that, but she could remember the sirens and the lights, and being put on a stretcher. She couldn't remember if the man ever told her his name, but she wished that she could thank him.

She saw Sheriff Forbes when they got to the hospital, and later on, the rest of her family arrived. They were crying, asking her what happened. She couldn't tell them, she couldn't speak.

For the first time since she was able to talk, Adrienne Gilbert had absolutely nothing to say.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE; i switched up the writing style halfway through to show the panic that adrienne felt. although the book is written in 3rd person, i try to write it as if it's in adrienne's point of view. so the writing style will depend on what she's feeling in the scene.