2015.09.02 - The Sacramento Maneuver--Or, Ethan and Aiden Meet Elena

*Aiden hits on Elena, Elena shuts him down, and Ethan offers to play wingman.*

September 2, 2015

Public High School, Beacon Hills

Monday and the school has started to quiet down. Classes let out a while ago, and all that is left are the sports teams, cheerleaders, band geeks and tAhe after school cliques. A group Elena hasn't felt part of for some time. Going back to school and pretending everything is 'normal' was really hard on Elena. Which is why she's sitting on one of the picnic style tables out in the yard with a journal in her lap and writing. She needs to put her thoughts down on paper and gain perspective. Another entry finished she sets her pen down and reaches for a bottled water to sip from, a sigh escaping her after she swallows.

"Hey."

Hard to miss someone sitting next to you, cute or otherwise. Elena looks up and offers a friendly enough smile. "Hi?" Not sure who he is. Dozens of questions flit behind those large brown eyes. "Um.... practice go well?" That should be a safe question.

Aiden makes a slightly sour face and declares, "Lacrosse is lame. Over it." Then he stretches out on his side, so he's now looking slightly up at Elena instead of down, and rests his head on one hand. "Nope, I just had detention. It was fun." The sarcasm isn't subtle, but it's clear. "So why's a pretty girl like you hanging out alone after school when you could be at the mall or... y'know, anywhere but here?"

Lacrosse? Confusion shows on Elena's face even as she looks to see the jackets of some other players making their way through the parking lot. "Right.... Cyclones." Nodding to herself some. "Not used to that mascot." Looking back to Aiden, "fun detention huh? I'll have to look into it." Doing her part to play along with the joke some. She closes the book in her lap, "Just doing some writing in my journal and hoping to meet Stefan."

"Stefan?" Aiden asks, making a slight face. "Sounds boring. How 'bout you come with me, and I'll take you for pizza on my bike." Raising his eyebrows *significantly*, he adds, "She's a sweet ride. I'll buy." He shifts, twisting around, to sit up, and puts his feet down beside Elena, so he's right next to her. "I'm Aiden, by the way. "Didn't catch your name, sooo...?"

Elena's smile turns a bit coy as she defends her guy, "Trust me. Stefan isn't boring." Sure he can be brooding but that's different. "I'm Elena. Nice to meet you Aiden," she even offers a hand to him to be more polite and formal. "That's a nice offer but think I'll have to say 'no thank you' to it. Just not in the pizza mood right now. Thanks though it's nice of you to invite me. Don't you have friends to go meet up with or something?"

Aiden shakes hands, but then he smirks, rolling his eyes a bit, and says, "Not a pizza mood? Well, there's plenty of other food in the sea, Elena. Or are you more of a 'beers up at the point' kind of girl?" He grins at her question about friends. "Sure I do. Just met one. Don't you wanna be my friend?"

Elena shakes her head, "Oh no. I don't drink a lot and the last time was a road trip to Atlanta and I rather not repeat the drama of that trip." She relaxes a bit, trying to use the 'normal' talk to hide from the weirdness that is her life. "You may wanna reconsider that offer, Aiden. Being my friend can be an invitation to drama and a requirement to attend many boring city functions."

Aiden snickers a bit, "Ellie, my life's one long list of drama or boring. I skip the boring, and I punch the drama in the face 'til it calms its shit. So that's nothing to worry about, y'know?" He reaches to give her hand a gentle tug. "C'mon. Steve won't care if we're just friends. If you're off pizza, what about low-carb smoothies at the juice bar? I gotta get my protein on, anyway."

Ethan Carver wanders out from the school, bare-chested and carrying his t-shirt, which he's rubbing against itself, the way one would to get out a stain before tossing it in the washer. He's grumbling to himself as he approaches his brother. "Look what some little freshman twerp did!" he growls, holding up the stained shirt. "Spilled Snapple all over me. Who even drinks that crap?" He pauses, narrowing his eyes at Elena. "Who's this?"

"His name is Stefan, and you are right he won't care. Because he knows I won't cheat on him. But what you were asking me out on sounded more like a date then a friend hang out." Elena will gently pull her hand out of his with a smile. When Aiden's twin comes out she suddenly is a lot more alert. Looking carefully from one to the other, studying them to see how identical they are. "Your.... brother I am guessing?" She nods to the slightly shorter brother, "I'm Elena."

Aiden looks a little miffed as Ethan arrives, and he grunts. "Well, did you at least shove him in a trash can or locker or something? You can't be a pussy about dealing with freshmen, bro." He looks back to Elena and affects an innocent expression, which might work better if not for his previous comment. "Date? But you said you were dating Stev--Stefan. Moving in on another guy's girl, that's totally against the bro code!"

Ethan Carver gives his brother a wicked sort of look, then turns to Elena, offering his hand. "Hey, Elena. I'm Ethan." He flashes a cocky grin, making sure to flex his muscles just a bit. "Wait, you think we're brothers? We're not even related. Oh, I know what it is. You know how they say when people date for a long time, they start to look like each other?" He nods sagely, then leans over to press a loud, wet smooch to Aiden's cheek.

Elene smiles back at Aiden, "Glad to hear you know that." She then takes his brother's hand with a quick shake. "Nice to meet you as well." If she notices his muscles she gives no outward sign of it. Ethan's joke gets her to laugh. "So which of you is the older one then?"

Aiden reacts to this by punching Ethan hard enough in the shoulder to give him a dead-arm, then reaching to snag him in a headlock and beaming brightly. "He's older. But I'm hotter, taller, and straighter," he explains. "Yep, little Ethan is my gay baby brother. You can tell by how he starts to sweat whenever jocks are near." Notably, he's clearly not above ribbing his brother, but there's no judgment or derision attached to the word "gay" at all.

"Getoffme!" Ethan shouts from under Aiden's arm, slugging him in the belly, though not very hard. "Taller and straighter, but we all know I'm hotter!" He makes a grab for Aiden's groin, though it's clearly playful, as is his tone. Once free of his brother's hold, he brushes a hand over his hair, flashing that cocky grin to Elena again. "Don't mind Aiden, he's a caveman. Thinks beating up the competition is the way to win a girl's heart or some crap like that." He leans down to snag his dropped shirt, then stuffs it into a back pocket. "Did I hear something about pizza and low-carb smoothies?"

Elena smiles with an almost laugh at the brother's actions. "I have a little brother too," she offers to Ethan. "I don't think he do so well with that move against Stefan. Aiden was trying to tempt me to get a meal with him. His first offer was Pizza but I said no." Curious she asks, "You two ever go to Mystic Grill?"

Aiden cries out at the punch, letting go and doubling over, though he manages to block the groin grab by crossing his legs. Such indignity! And he was totally getting somewhere with the hot girl! "Asssssss," he hisses under his breath at his brother, and sits up again to try to regain his composure. Clearing his throat a little, he manages, "Mystic Grill? Never been. Sounds good, though." He glances at Aiden. "Well. If *he* comes, then it's a group thing. Definitely not a date. Whatcha think?"

Ethan Carver's eyes light with even more amusement, as he holds up his hands and takes half a step back. "Whoa, back up! I dunno if I'm ready to do a group thing with my own brother. That'd just be weird, even if the internet would explode at the hotness of it all." He pauses though, his expression growing a little more serious. "Mystic Grill, that sounds familiar. Think I mighta taken Liam there once. Yeah, that sounds right." He looks between Elena and his brother, cocking a brow questioningly. "Lemme grab a shirt from my locker...if you really want me to go?"

"Believe me," assures Elena. "I get enough brother drama with Stefan and Damon. This is totally on the platonic and potential friendship level. So don't either of you boys get your hopes up. For me," she says to Aiden. "Or my boyfriend," large brown eyes sliding to Ethan. "We got time, go clean up." She moves to put her journal in her bookbag with the other things there.

"Go get pretty," Aiden says with a roll of his eyes, and he turns to Elena to flash that cock grin of his. "Here's how I see it. If you two are for real? Then I'm *just* making a hot new friend. And maybe two hot new friends. 'Cause, see, us pretty people have to stick together. It's a harsh, ugly world out there. Plus, maybe you've got hot friends. Maybe I'm one of their type. See? This can work."

Ethan Carver starts to step away, but turns back with bright eyes again. "Wait, you've got a hot boyfriend?" He glances at Aiden again, giving his brows a waggle. "Just like Sacremento, bro." Grinning like an idiot, he turns and jogs back to the school, his laughter filling the air before he disappears inside.

"I'm sure you know that saying, Aiden. Be careful what you wish for. Though honestly one of my best friends is in the hospital and not sure if she'll make it." Elena is tired of all this death but she puts on a brave face and smiles. Doing her best to give that smile that says 'I am fine.' She nods to Ethan, "Yeah. Stefan Salvatore. But he has a brother," she offers to Ethan. "Damon."

Aiden's expression changes at this revelation, and he actually looks concerned. "WAit, hospital? Your friend's in the hospital?" He ignores the mention of hot dudes and their brothers, instead actually seeming concerned about Elena's friend. "What... what happened?" he asks, frowning.

"She was with some other friends of ours. It was at the Founder's Day celebration for Mystic Falls. Tyler had some kind of ... something. Anyway he lost control of the car and they were in a wreck." Elena takes a slow shaky breath and manages to not mention about her parents. "But yeah there was some internal bleeding and they're doing what they can."

"I'm sorry," Aiden says quietly, seeming unsure what else to say or do. He's not used to dealing with this kind of... weighty feelings stuff. That's totally Ethan's department. "Well, they've got really good doctors around here," he assures her. "Is she here at Memorial? I bet they'll fix her right up."

Ethan Carver emerges a few minutes later, wearing a dark t-shirt and his leather jacket. "So who's bike are you riding on, Elena?" he asks cheerfully, running finger through his hair again. This might totally be his department, but he seems fairly oblivious to the weighty conversation happening just now.

"You didn't cause the accident." No that was something else to blame. "She's at...." Elena has to hesitate. "Yes," sounding slightly unsure of the answer. With the mix up of the cities blending she's still learning what is what. "But I'm sure she'll be okay. She has to be." She holds up a set of keys, "I will take my aunt's car. Don't' wanna leave it here."

Nodding, Aiden says, "Well... cool. Guess if we're gonna be friends the least we can do is help you chill out for an afternoon, huh?" He hops down from the bench, smacking Ethan on the arm, and says, "Loverboy here can show me the way. Meet you there, okay?" He offers her one of his less *I'm so pretty* smiles, then turns to head for where the two Ducatis are parked.

Ethan Carver glances between Aiden and Elena, picking up on something, but shrugs it off with a grin. "You got your aunt's car, cool. Guess we'll meetcha there then. See you in a bit, Elena." He matches his brother's *I'm so pretty* grin, just because, then turns to follow Aiden to the parking lot, lowering his voice. "You owe me, man. Dinner's totally on you."

Elena shoulders her bag and says. "I can meet you there. Maybe some of my friends will be there and you can meet them too. It'll be good to try and have a little fun." She waves to the twins and heads to her less flashy means of transport. "Sure you know the way Ethan?"

Aiden hisses back, "Fine, but don't even pretend. You're the one who's hoping to pull a Sacramento!" He slings a leg over his bike, straightening it, and puts on his helmet. Starting her up, he guns the engine to a satisfying purr, then waits for the others to lead the way.

Ethan Carver straddles his bike, but leans over to slug Aiden's arm. "I've got my own boyfriend, remember? Sacremento's not happening again." He pulls on his helmet and guns his own engine, then flips up the faceplate and calls, "We'll find it!" With a grin toward his brother, he adds, "But I'll totally help you hook up with this chick, if that's what you want." Faceplate down again, he takes off, riding fast from the parking lot.