Unmasked (The Vampire Diaries 13)

“What?” she asked, but she knew. The Elena who belonged here wouldn’t be caught dead without a date for a school dance. She hadn’t cared about any of those dates, either, not until Stefan.

“Are you actually going crazy?” Bonnie asked tartly, and then gasped as Meredith elbowed her in the side. “I mean, fine, great. Who needs a date anyway?”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Meredith said casually. “I was supposed to go with Ed Goff, but it might be more fun for us three to just go together. Not even bother with boys.” There was something tentative to her gaze, and Elena realized what it was. Meredith was worried about her.

“Are you both crazy?” Bonnie asked. “I want to go with a boy. I want to dance all night. I want romance.”

“With Raymond?” Meredith asked, arching an eyebrow. “There’s nothing wrong with Raymond, but you can’t pretend you’re all that interested in him.”

“I can pretend anything I want,” Bonnie said, crossing her arms, the dresses she held crumpling against her.

“Come on, Bonnie,” Elena said coaxingly. “If you go with us, you can dance with all the boys. And we’ll have more fun together, you know we will.”

“It’s our last Homecoming together,” Meredith said, laying her hand on Bonnie’s arm. “It should be the three of us.”

“Oh … oh … fine,” Bonnie said. “But there had better be lots of cute boys who want to dance with me.”

“Of course there will be,” Meredith said reassuringly, “because you’re going to look so great in one of these dresses.”

“Obviously,” said Bonnie with a suddenly teasing, crooked grin. She stuck her nose into the air and sailed off to the dressing room.

Meredith searched through the racks of dresses efficiently, pulling out a short jewel blue dress to add to the growing pile in her arms. Flicking past a green velvet minidress, Elena wished she could be so enthusiastic. Nothing seemed quite right.

“Here,” Meredith said, stopping. “This is perfect for you.”

The dress was gorgeous. Silk the color of crystallized violets, which would bring out the gold of her hair and the deep blue of her eyes. Elena would look magical in it, lit from within. Had looked magical.

It was what she had worn to the dance, the first time. Tyler had torn this dress. Stefan had fallen in love with her, finally taken her in his arms, while she was wearing it.

Elena stuffed her hands in her pockets, unwilling to touch it.

And then, she saw something on the other side of the room, just waiting for her. Yes. Elena brushed past Meredith and headed straight for it.

The iced-violet concoction was a beautiful dress. But this? This dress was a revelation.

It was red, the deep vibrant crimson of blood, and it would cling to Elena like a glove. Even hanging on the rack, it spoke of passion and intensity. It was a dress to fall in love in, or to stir up hate. If Damon were a dress, this was the one he would be.

“This is it,” Elena breathed.

Meredith’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow. It’s a statement, all right.”

They headed into the dressing room, Meredith with an armload of selections, Elena with only the crimson gown. Pulling it over her head, she called over the wall of the dressing room, “Want to get dressed for the dance at my place?”

“We always do,” Bonnie called back.

It had been a ritual of theirs from their earliest dances in junior high to get dressed together, gossiping and doing one another’s hair. Caroline had always been with them, but Elena didn’t think she was going to join this time.

Elena smoothed the dress down over her hips and admired herself in the mirror. It fit perfectly, and the weight of the material—some kind of satin—made her feel powerful and protected.

“This is it,” she said, stepping out of the fitting room. Meredith and Bonnie came out in dresses of their own.

“Wow,” Bonnie said, looking Elena over. “I wouldn’t have thought red was your color, but you look great. Older.” She was in the mermaid green dress. “I don’t love this one. I’m going to try on the gold.”

Meredith looked sleek and composed in a black-and-gold dress with a long slit up the side, but she frowned. “This itches. Next!”

Elena changed back into her own clothes, draping the red dress carefully over her arm. Caroline would have liked this dress, she thought.

“Who’s Caroline going with?” she asked. She couldn’t help it; she had to know if she was going with Stefan again.