"I did once," Isabelle admitted. "I got furious at this guy named Ralph. He was always making rude, nasty comments to me, and we ended up getting in a fight. I changed right in front of him. Thankfully, Ethan was there to help me change his memories afterward; otherwise, I don't know what would have happened. No one else has had any problems though."
Stefan knew what would have happened if Ethan hadn't been there, but it wasn't a pleasant thought, and obviously, not one Isabelle wanted to contemplate. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head again. He found himself fascinated by their existence, and how they had survived, and he wanted to learn more. If he was honest with himself, he wanted to find out more about her.
"Didn't you have friends who wanted to come over, or school plays, or sports competitions your parents wanted to go to?" he asked.
"Ethan and I didn't join anything. Aiden was on the football and basketball team, and Ian was on the swim team. Abby and Vicky are cheerleaders. Our parents go to some of the events, but they look like any other spectator when they're there, and unfortunately can't present themselves as our parents. Mike, Doug, David, and Jack go too."
"Why didn't you guys join anything?"
"Like I said, we're the unsociable ones," Ethan replied with a grin.
Stefan truly wanted to know why they were the unsocial ones, but he didn't ask. "What about friends coming over?"
"Aiden, Ian, Vicky, and Abby have brought their friends over, not in large groups, but a couple here or there. We alter their memories a little when they leave and make them think our parents are older."
Stefan frowned as he unfolded his hands and leaned forward. "What are you going to do in another ten years, when people begin to question why you're not aging?"
"We don't go into town very often. Most people think we’ve already moved off, and now live separate lives. The few times we do go into town, it's always at night, and we alter the memories of the few people we meet. We usually go to Portland or California where no one notices anything."
"So, you have no concern people might become curious about you?"
"It's very rural here," Isabelle answered. "My graduating class only had forty-two kids in it. All of whom went to college and no longer live in the area. Our closest neighbor is five miles away, and not once, in the past twenty-five years, have they come over here. The football team travels forty-five minutes to get to their closest game. Most people stick to themselves around here, and no one has bothered us yet. I don't see why it would change."
He was stunned by the fact neither of them planned to leave. "And you just stay here all the time?" he asked.
"We leave sometimes," Isabelle replied. "We go to the city too, not as often as the others, but we do. Ethan and I go to California mostly. I love Napa Valley."
He frowned at her as she hesitantly met his gaze. They led very sheltered lives. Where their younger siblings wanted to get out and explore the world, these two were content to stay hidden. Isabelle was young, vibrant, and the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He couldn't help but feel she was wasting her extremely long life away. He felt the sudden urge to show her all she was missing.
He was turning into an idiot around this girl. She was content in her life; he had no business questioning her motives, or wanting to change her.
"What about your parents?" he asked to distract himself from his thoughts. "Do you find it odd to consider them your parents, when they look as young as you?"
Ethan and Isabelle exchanged a look; confusion was evident on both their faces.
"No," Ethan answered. "Maybe it seems odd to you because you were human at one time, but we were raised like this. It's all we've ever known. Trust me, our parents can still scare the crap out of us, no matter how young they look."
Stefan supposed it wouldn't be odd to him if he were them, but he remembered his parents and their aging. He couldn't imagine having them with him now; then again, he lost them when he was too young to even think about what it would be like to have them with him now. They were dead before he was changed, dead long before he made it to adulthood. Stefan turned his attention away from the past, determined not to relive it.
"What age did you stop maturing at?" he inquired.
"I just stopped this year," Ethan answered.
"I stopped last year," Isabelle said as she grinned smugly at her brother. Apparently, it was a bit of a sore subject with Ethan that his younger sister reached maturity before him.
"You stopped at different ages?" he was startled by this revelation.
"Yeah, we don't know exactly how it works, or what makes our bodies decide to stop aging, but Isabelle did before me."
"How did you know you were done?" Stefan asked.
She met his gaze hesitantly. "I just knew. There's no other way to explain it, except I just knew."
"Yeah," Ethan answered. "I woke up six months ago and knew. At first, I'd thought Isabelle was lying to me about it to torment me." They exchanged quick smiles. "But that is the way it works. There is no way to know when we'll stop, only when we do. Our powers develop more quickly afterward."
"You don't have any powers until you mature?" he asked in disbelief.
"We have some; we can alter memories a little, but it's incredibly draining. If I hadn't been there to help Isabelle with Ralph, she never would have been able to do it herself. We were faster and stronger than humans, but not by much. It isn't until
