If you were to ask Audrey Evans her opinion on school, you'd get a long spew of rambling about how it was a waste of time, how she had much better things to do, and how it was all a big social construct designed to shine a spotlight on the popular kids — or in her opinion, the kids who thought that they were better than everyone else. And to the town, maybe they were, but she was going to need a bit more convincing.

She let out a sigh as she stood with her best friend, Jeremy Gilbert, checking the time on her watch as they waited outside of the school for him to make a deal with Vicki Donovan.

Her eyes rolled at just the thought of the other girl's name. Sure, since Jeremy's parents died, he'd gotten himself into trouble all on his own, but nevertheless, the last thing that he needed was Matt Donovan's junkie, legal adult of an older sister toying with and further corrupting him.

Each of them had known each other since they were small enough to make friends, and even as children, Audrey had loathed Vicki. Despite the town knowing of the Donovan's social status and Vicki's own bad reputation, she still seemed to think that she was superior. It had actually been nice to see her get knocked down a peg or two when Matt started dating Elena Gilbert, the younger brunette girl quickly becoming the favorite of every adult that she encountered.

Elena Gilbert was the golden girl of Mystic Falls, and that was something that the group of them had learned early on in life. So, when Grayson and Miranda died, it was a surprise to see her stray from that squeaky-clean image that she'd portrayed of herself and truly shut down and close herself off from the world.

Still, Vicki had weaseled her way into Jeremy's heart, the latter constantly following her around like a lovesick puppy. It was easy for anyone else to see that the feelings were one-sided, or at least that's what Audrey thought, but perhaps she was biased.

One thing that hadn't been spread around town like wildfire was the fact that Audrey had a major crush on Jeremy, and it had been there since before she could remember. Despite any mischievous deeds that Vicki enticed Jeremy into, she supposed she was truly jealous that it wasn't her that Jeremy had turned to. She felt fiercely protective of Jeremy, because she felt that she was the one who he should be swooning over every chance that he got.

As Vicki approached, Jeremy grabbed the small baggie of pills from his pocket and passed the older girl one as Audrey looked on with pursed lips, fighting the urge to say anything. She didn't think that she was too good for any of it, obviously, if Jeremy was a part of it too, but if Vicki was there, she hated the situation by default.

"Don't take more than two in a six-hour window," Jeremy instructed, and Vicki soon downed the pill.

Audrey started to speak up and tell Jeremy that they should get going, as he and Vicki shared a secret smile, yet at that point, Tyler Lockwood walked up.

Great, Audrey thought, someone else to get on my nerves.

"I knew I'd find you here with the crackheads," Tyler spoke as he approached Vicki, arm sliding low around her waist as she greeted him.

"Hey, Pete Wentz called. He wants his nail polish back."

Audrey's eyes narrowed at Tyler's words and she spoke up, "The nineteen-nineties called. They want their insults back."

Jeremy gave her the smallest of smirks, then looked back to Tyler. "Pete Wentz, huh? How old school TRL of you. Carson Daly fan?" he taunted.

As Tyler started to step closer, Vicki pressed against his chest, speaking up finally. "Oh, Ty, be nice. That's Elena's little brother." Audrey's eyes rolled, and she fought the urge to reply sarcastically. They had all grown up together. Maybe Vicki's memory was a bit foggy from all of the drugs, but she couldn't be that dense, could she?

"I know who he is," Tyler replied. "I'll still kick his ass."

With that, Tyler leaned in, pressing his lips to Vicki's in a kiss, causing Jeremy to look away with a clench of his jaw.

Instead of allowing him to linger and letting things become instigated further, Audrey grabbed Jeremy by the sleeve of his hoodie, dragging him away from where they stood and toward the smoker's pit.

"I hate that guy," Jeremy seethed under his breath, and Audrey slid her arm through the crook of his, guiding them through the crowd of people as they walked. She wasn't sure how many students would be in the area at this time, but it was a place that they'd heard about from older partiers that they knew, and if smoking would calm Jeremy down right now, then she was all for it.

"I know. I don't think anyone really likes him. They just put up with him because he has money, throws good parties, and his dad is the mayor," she shrugged. "It'll be fine, Jer. He'll get bored with Vicki, and then you can be the knight in shining armor, picking up his slack," she spoke with a roll of her eyes.

Jeremy let out a scoff then, walking with her toward the seating area. Making sure that the area was clear of adults, or anyone who looked like they might rat them out, Jeremy pulled out a joint and Audrey a lighter. She passed the lighter off to him, allowing him to light the joint and take the first couple of hits.

She sat beside him, leaning against his side as she took the joint from him, taking a couple of hits herself. Looking down at the ground, she looked over at her friend, the guy that she loved, and pursed her lips in thought before soon speaking aloud as she passed the joint back to him. "What is it about Vicki? What do you see in her?"

Jeremy thought to himself, letting out a little hum, "She's hot.. she's always been hot. Plus, she's older, and that's hot," he started. He sighed softly, shrugging his shoulders, "She doesn't care that I'm so screwed up. She still wanted me, even when I was at my lowest. Sure, she doesn't want to go public, or make a big deal out of it, but.. I think I love her. There's something there."

Audrey bit down on her lip in the center, nodding lightly as she took in his words. I think I love her. Well, that stung. Still, she was talking to him as his friend, and she didn't want to make him feel worse than he already did. "You could do better," she replied simply.

"Maybe," he spoke, glancing down at the ground. "But, I don't want to."

All that the school seemed to be talking about that day was a new kid in the junior class. Stefan Salvatore. It was a weird name, if you asked her, but apparently, he was the nephew of one of the members of the founding families, Zach Salvatore.

Audrey lost interest at the mention of founding families. Though her best friend and most of the others that they'd grown up with had been part of the founding families, she still cringed at the thought. It was like their ancestors had found some sort of superiority just by colonizing the town, and the descendants of those settlers were meant to be an elite group of people.

Perhaps if she didn't know as much of her own history, it wouldn't make her as irritated to think of it all.

She was, by birth, a member of a founding family, the daughter of Logan Fell. Yet, upon learning that Audrey's mother Sarah was pregnant with her, Logan promptly ceased all contact with her. Months later, Sarah had received a package with a non-disclosure agreement forbidding her from giving the child the Fell name or making any further contact with Logan with the threat that if she did, legal action would be taken.

Unable to afford a lawsuit, she had agreed, raising her daughter completely on her own. It wasn't until years later when Audrey's class was assigned the task of creating a family tree that the truth came out.

From that point on, Audrey had seen her father on the news every night, nothing short of a glare on her face when he would make an appearance. After finding out about what had happened, she vowed to never forgive him, or trust anyone as easily as she had in the past, for that matter.

If someone like Logan Fell could put on such a nice guy façade, and yet be so scummy, anyone could, and she refused to leave herself vulnerable to that. Anyone that thought that they were better than anyone else, whether it be because of their last name, social status, or anything of the sort, had no place in her life.

So, with that in mind, she paid all of the talk of the new guy no attention.

She and Jeremy had agreed to meet at the Grill, and of course, she was just in time to see Vicki and Jeremy bickering in hushed tones, presumably so no one could hear what all was between the two of them. She rolled her eyes, moving toward a table and sending the younger Gilbert a text to let him know that she was there.

After several minutes of lingering when the older girl had walked away, Audrey saw Jeremy finally make his way to the table with her. "Trouble in paradise?" she spoke, her tone teasing, though she felt somewhat sympathetic for the boy in front of her. Though she didn't approve of his taste in women, she still knew what it was like to care about someone and have it gone unwanted or unnoticed.

Jeremy let out a sarcastic laugh, sipping from the drink that Audrey had ordered for him when she ordered her own. "She doesn't want to ruin her chance with Tyler," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

Audrey pursed her lips in thought, considering her next words for a moment before starting to speak up. "You know, I've heard there's going to be a party in the woods tomorrow. Make your final move there. If she doesn't go for it at that point, then I say move on," she suggested with a little shrug of her shoulders.

She doubted that he'd take her advice, but it was a long shot in hopes that soon enough, she wouldn't have to hear him speak of Vicki Donovan anymore. If she heard any more about her, it'd be all too soon.

The younger Gilbert simply shrugged his shoulders in response, as if he'd consider it, but he wasn't making any promises. Audrey's eyes rolled and she shook her head. "I'm just saying, Jer.. you can't let her keep hurting you over and over like this."

"And what do you know of it?" he snapped back, prompting an arch of Audrey's eyebrows. "When was the last time that you've cared about anyone? Don't worry, I'll wait."

His words stung more than she'd like to admit, and it took all of her strength to not grab him by the collar of his shirt, make him realize that she did care. She cared about him, but the only one that he could see was Vicki.

Her lips pursed, and she waited for a moment. After the moment passed, she gathered her things and stood up from the booth. "You know what, Jeremy? You're right. Do whatever you want. I'll see you later." And before he could argue, she turned on her heel, stalking off toward the exit of the Grill, leaving Jeremy with nothing to do but huff to himself in frustration.

Audrey didn't speak to Jeremy for the rest of the night, or even the next day at school. They'd had arguments before, and they always fizzled out in time. When she was mad, it was always better to give herself the opportunity to cool off before speaking to someone again. If she was still angry, there was a good chance that she would blow up at the other person and say something that she'd regret. The last person that she wanted to do that with was Jeremy.

Even though she didn't go with Jeremy like she normally would have, Audrey found herself at the party she'd mentioned to him the day before. She wasn't sure if it would make her feel better or worse, but she did know that she would have felt strange not going. It was basically a school-wide thing, and though she wasn't huge into social circles, it was better than sitting around at home.

The party went on as expected, with a lot of drinking and weed, and couples finding secluded places to hook up. Her eyes set on Tyler and Vicki later on in the evening, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she saw Tyler leading Vicki toward the clearing of the woods, clear on what the Lockwood boy probably had in mind.

Then, looking a bit further over from Tyler and Vicki had stood was Jeremy, sulking and nursing a beer along with a few of his stoner friends. She let out a soft sigh, shifting from one foot to the other as she took a sip of her own drink. She felt guilty for growing angry with him before, especially now that he was that much more upset over Vicki. Still, her pride kept her from making her way over to apologize. Maybe at the end of the night, things would be different.

Making her way to grab another drink, she greeted a few people that she knew, using the tap on the keg to refill her plastic cup. As she looked back toward where Jeremy had been standing, she noticed that he was gone, and though she hadn't seen him, she had an idea where he had gone.

A bit more time had passed, and as Audrey was getting ready to head home and crash, there was a commotion from the clearing of the woods. A familiar voice called for help, and she focused in on the situation more. Elena. It had been her voice that she'd heard. And emerging from behind her was Jeremy, Vicki slumped in his arms. Matt, Tyler and several others began to rush over, eager to investigate what had happened.

Audrey moved in closer then, taking a spot beside Jeremy as he laid Vicki down, then stepped back. She looked up at her best friend, noticed the look of trauma on his features. He had just lost his parents, she couldn't imagine how much it would break him if he were to lose Vicki too.

Reaching down, she took his hand in hers, squeezing it lightly as if to offer him some sort of comfort. In this situation, however, she wasn't sure that there was much comfort to be had.

The police and paramedics arrive what feels like hours later, though she was sure it was merely minutes. The ambulance took Vicki away, and after giving a statement to the police, Jeremy remained beside her, expression vacant as he sipped at his beer. There were cops around, sure, but they had bigger things to deal with, and honestly, she wasn't sure that Jeremy cared.

Elena walked over then, and a soft scowl moved over Audrey's lips, having a feeling that the elder Gilbert was about to start giving Jeremy grief for his drinking. As if on cue, Elena spoke up, "You okay? I called Jenna, she's on her way. Those people in uniforms, last time I checked, they're the police. People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too."

Audrey glared lightly at Elena, and Jeremy replied soon after, "I've seen you in the cemetery writing in your diary. Is that-is that supposed to be you moving on?" It was a low dig, but truth be told, Elena didn't have much room to talk about moving on from her grief, either.

Elena frowned at Jeremy and shook her head, "Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this."

Audrey spoke up in that moment, "There's a lot of things that would be different if they were still here. Give it a rest, Elena. Let him have one night without you patronizing him."

Elena opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. Instead of saying anything else, she turned away, waiting for Jenna on her own. Audrey looked over at Jeremy, his arm silently moving around her shoulders in a thanks. She turned into him then, arms wrapping around his waist as she rested her head against his shoulder, waiting for their ride home.