Margret Gilbert looked in her bedroom mirror. She was wearing a new jacket, jeans, and a bright green shirt. Her mid-length dark hair fell just above her shoulders. She picked up her backpack and headed downstairs, meeting up with the rest of the family. Since their parents died in the crash, she had found herself growing closer to her twin brother and older sister.
"Toast. I can make toast." Aunt Jenna was saying.
"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." Elena told her.
"Is there coffee?" Jeremy asked.
"Please, too much of that stuff is bad for you." Margret pointed out.
"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Jeremy told her.
"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared." Aunt Jenna said. "Lunch money?"
"I'm good." Elena said. "You, Margret?"
"Same here." She told her.
"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?" Jenna asked.
"Aunt Jenna, breathe." Margret said. "Take a deep breath and calm down." Jenna did as she was told. She never understood the whole New Age thing like Margret did, but it sure came in handy sometimes.
"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Elena asked.
"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at..." She checked her watch. "Now. Crap!"
"Then go. We'll be fine." Elena told her. "You ok?"
"Don't start." Jeremy said, walking out the door.
"He's just taking it a little harder than we are, Elena." Margret told her. "But he'll come around eventually."
"I hope you're right, Margie. For his twin, you are way different from him." Elena brushed a strand of stray hair back.
"Well, we are fraternal you know." The girls headed out the door.
Margret was in the backseat of Bonnie's car when she felt something was going to be different.
"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic." Bonnie was telling them. "Our ancestors were from Salem, which isn't all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it." Margret tuned her out and focused on the sky. They were passing by the cemetery, where her parents were.
"Elena!" Bonnie yelled. That got Margret's attention. "Back in the car."
"So I wasn't the only one." Margret said to herself.
"I did it again, didn't I?" Elena asked. "I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that..."
"That I'm psychic now." Bonnie told her. Margret rolled her eyes. She couldn't tell if she was for real or not. Margret herself spent a lot of time reading about New Age stuff, but was skeptic when it came to psychics.
"Right. Ok, then predict something." Elena said. "About me."
"This oughta be interesting." Margret said.
"Okay, I see..." Bonnie began. Suddenly, banged against the car's windshield. Margret's hand flew up to her heart. Whatever it was had scared her.
"What was that? Oh, my god! Are you two ok?"
"It's ok. I'm fine." Elena said.
"I'll live." Margret told them.
"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere." Bonnie said.
"Okay, we get it." Margret said.
"Really, I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life." Elena pointed out.
"I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you are going to be beyond happy." Bonnie told her.
They entered the school together. It didn't take long for Caroline to get the jump on them. "Oh, my god. How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you." She turned to Bonnie. "How is she? Is she good?"
"Caroline, I'm right here." Elena pointed out. "And I'm fine. Thank you."
"Really?"
"Yes. Much better." Margret knew she was lying, but wasn't going to bring it up in front of them. She went over to Matt.
"Hey, Matt."
"How are you guys doing?" He asked her.
"It's still a little hard." Margret told him. "But she's still trying to be strong for us."
"I'll see you later. I've got class." Matt told her. She wanted to kick herself for bringing up Elena. She knew they had broken up four months earlier. She had no idea he wasn't over her yet.
Margret stepped outside. "Margret! Oh, thank goodness you came!" A girl ran over to her and hugged her. "I am so sorry about what happened. Are you okay?"
"Watch it, Amy." Margret told her. "I just ran into your cousin in there."
"Oh, sorry. Did she say anything stupid?" Amy asked her. Her brown hair fell back behind her.
"What do you think?" Margret asked. "It's easy to see it's a family thing though, Miss Robinson." She walked away from her. She wondered if all the girls in the Forbes family tree inherited the annoying gene when a girl with long dark hair ran over to her. Her curls bounced as she ran.
"Margret!" She hugged her. "It's so good to see you again."
"Melody, I missed you this summer. How are you?" Margret asked.
"I was taking music lessons." Melody told her. "I wanted to show you something. Come on." They ran into the music room.
"What are we doing here?"
"You know how I always come up with my own music pieces?" Melody reminded her. Margret looked to her best friend. She knew that she was good at anything when it came to making music. She was awesome at not only writing pieces that described how she felt, but also did some cool covers.
"Yeah."
"Well, I worked on this for a few weeks." Melody told her. She sat down at the piano and started playing.
"Wow. It really describes how I felt after…"
"I know." Melody said. "It's kinda why I wrote it." Slowly, Margret started dancing to it. She had taken dance lessons since she was a little girl and knew a lot of different styles of dance. The girls were so lost in their own world that they didn't notice when a guy walked in.
"Hey. Having music practice at school now?" The girls turned around.
"Alex! Robert! What are you doing here?" Melody asked.
"I followed the music to find my sister and her friend in here." Robert told her.
"Just cause you're my brother, it doesn't mean I need protection, Rob." Melody pointed out.
"Hey, Margret." Alex said.
"Hi."
"How are you?"
"I'm still kinda dealing with it." Margret told him.
"It'll get easier, I promise." Alex told her. He gave her a small hug. Margret blushed and slowly backed up.
"Uh, we have to get to class, don't we?" She reminded Melody.
"Oh, that's right!" If it was one thing about Melody she knew, it was that besides music, she was also a total bookworm and took her schoolwork seriously.
"Will you be at the Grill later?" Alex asked as the girls started to run off.
"We'll all be there." Melody pointed out. "See you."
That evening, the group was sitting around the Grill. "Man, why'd I get stuck in Tanner's class again?" Amy asked.
"On the first day?" Melody asked. "That must be painful."
"I still don't see how I didn't get in his class." Margret said. "Then again, considering the way my siblings have complained about it, I'm kind of relieved."
"You're lucky, Margret." Rob said. "Tanner can be such an…"
"Watch it!" Melody reminded him. "She's not a big fan of cursing, remember?"
"Right, the New Age geek."
"Hey, cut it out, man." Alex said.
"So, did you hear about the new guy?" Amy asked. "Care cannot stop talking about him."
"Great, you're cousin's on the prowl again." Margret said. As if on cue, Caroline and Bonnie walked in. Margret and her group were sitting near the front, so they caught everything.
"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with uncle up at the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue." Caroline was telling her.
"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie asked.
"Oh, please, I got all that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding."
"You can't be serious." Amy said.
"Hey, I can dream, can't I?" Caroline asked.
"I so cannot believe her sometimes." Amy said.
"Well, it's easy to see the similarities between you two." Melody pointed out. "You both talk a lot."
"So, you were saying about the new guy?" Margret asked. Anything to avoid a public argument.
"Well, I heard he moved here from Italy a few years ago." Amy told them.
"Didn't your cousin say he lived at the old Boarding House?" Rob asked. "Think he's related to the old gardener that lives there?"
"I thought that place was abandoned." Alex said.
"Apparently not." Melody said.
"I'll be right back." Margret told them. She went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Then she noticed herself in the mirror. It was true she looked great without make-up, but sometimes she still felt insecure about it. She walked back out and noticed that her small group had joined the others. She went over to join as well.
"How's Elena doing?" Matt asked.
"Her mom and dad died. How do you think?" Bonnie pointed out. "She's putting on a good face, but it's only been four months."
"I can see that she's still trying to get over it." Margret told him. "It's been a little hard, on all of us."
"Has she said anything about me?"
"Oh, no. So not getting in the middle. You pick up the phone and call her." Bonnie told him.
"Seriously, man. What's with you?" Rob asked.
"I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me."
"Get over it, man!" Amy said. "So what if she did."
"Amy, he isn't over her yet. Just like she's not over the accident, not completely." Margret pointed out.
"Give it more time, Matt." Bonnie said. Suddenly, the door to the Grill opened and Elena entered, with a guy none of them had never seen before.
"Oh, wow." Amy said. "Who is that guy?"
"He must be the one that everyone's talking about." Melody said.
"He's kinda short, isn't he?" Rob asked.
"Hey, not everything is measured in height." Alex pointed out.
"Guys, remember he's new around here." Margret told them. "It wouldn't hurt if you toned down the excitement a little."
"She's got a point." Melody said.
Matt walked over to him. "Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you."
"Hi. Stefan."
"Hey." Elena said to Matt.
"Hey."
"Hey, guys?" Amy interrupted. "Maybe we better find a bigger table."
It wasn't long before everyone was sitting together. "So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline was asking.
"Mm-Hmm. And moved when I was still young." Stefan told them.
"Parents?" Bonnie asked.
"My parents passed away." Margret and her group looked at each other uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry." Elena said. "Any siblings?"
"None that I talk to." Stefan told them.
"That's sad." Margret said.
"Yeah, I couldn't imagine not talking to Rob here." Melody said.
"I live with my uncle." Stefan said. He turned to Melody and Rob. "So, you two are siblings?"
"I know." Rob said. "It's hard to tell at first, but you get used to it."
"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline said.
"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie explained to him.
"Are you going?" Stefan asked Elena.
"Of course she is." Bonnie said.
"We all are." Amy added.
"Uh, no we're not." Margret said. "The forest is too dangerous."
"What are you so afraid of?" Amy asked. Truth was, Margret hadn't gone to the woods since after the accident, afraid that she might get hurt.
"Don't be so insensitive!" Melody defended. She knew Margret was still scared of the woods.
"Well, I don't know about you two, but I intend to enjoy myself." Amy told them.
"I'm know I'm going." Rob said. "What about you?"
"Yeah, I am." Alex said.
"Well, I hope you have fun." Margret told him. He looked at her. "You'll survive one party without me."
"Yeah, I know." Alex said.
The following evening, Melody had come over to Margret's house. Jenna came into the room. "Hey, you two need anything?"
"We're good, Aunt Jenna." Margret told her.
"If you need anything, let me know." Jenna said. "I'll be upstairs." She walked out of the room.
"You're aunt's…"
"I know, she's just nervous because she's new at the whole parenting thing." Margret said. "But she means really well, I can tell that. She gave up a lot for us."
"Well, you're all under eighteen." Melody pointed out. She sat down at the small piano in the living room.
"I know."
"So, what's the real reason you didn't go to the party?" Melody asked. "I know the forest is one thing, but…" She pressed one of the piano keys.
"I'm worried about my twin." Margret told her. "It hurts to see him getting high all the time. It's like he's sabotaging his own life."
"At least you didn't become as reserved as your sister." Melody pointed out, lightly pressing a few of the keys.
"No, but I still keep a journal like she does." Margret admitted. "Still, I'm glad I'm focused on my interests. If I ever ended up like Jeremy…" She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like if the situation were reversed. Would he try to help me?"
"You know he would." Melody said. "After all, twins always look out for each other." She started playing the piano again.
"You learned this song?" Margret asked.
"One of the first covers I practiced." Melody explained. "Besides, you're not the only one who wonders what it'd be like if it were different." Margret sat down on the couch. In addition to knowing how to write music, Melody was a talented singer. Margret glanced out the window at the night sky. She wondered sometimes what things would be like if her parents were still around. She leaned against the sofa.
A few minutes later, Amy called her. "Hey, how's the party?"
"You were right not to show up tonight." Amy told her. She sounded scared.
"Amy, what happened?"
"A girl was attacked in the woods." Margret froze. "They're taking her to a hospital."
"Do they know what caused it?" Margret asked.
"No, but we're all convinced it was an animal attack." Amy told her. "I'm getting ride home with Rob and Alex. He'll come by to pick up Melody. I'd go with my cousin, but she's disappeared somewhere."
"Is Jeremy okay?" Margret asked. She was scared for him and Elena.
"I think so. He's probably in shock, though. He's the one who found the girl. Or was it Elena? Either way, they're both going to be fine. A little shaken, but fine."
"Thanks for telling me." Margret said. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." Melody told her.
"Someone was attacked at the party." Margret explained. "My siblings are okay, though."
"Guess I should get going." Melody said. "Rob's probably going to tell me what went down, anyway."
"I'll try to find some protective crystals. I think I've got a few in my room." Margret told her.
"A few? Margie, you have like over a dozen of those crystals in your room for anything. Protection, healing, probably heart disease."
"There's no crystal for heart disease. But there are some that help cardio…"
"Whatever. I'm going so that I don't worry him, okay?" Melody cut her off. "I'll see you at school." As she left, Aunt Jenna walked in.
"Is everything okay here?"
"Yeah," Margret said. "I'm just tired, that's all." She went up to her room. A few minutes later, she heard her siblings arguing.
"You need to move on, Jer." Elena was saying.
"You mean like you? Writing in your diary at the cemetery? That's you're idea of moving on?" Jeremy asked.
"Whoa! Enough." Margret said, stepping out into the hall to intervene. "You two have both been through had a hard time with this attack that happened. Don't take it out on each other. You can go back to fighting in the morning." They looked at her.
"Whatever. Goodnight." Jeremy went to his room. Elena watched him leave the room. She felt Margret grab her hand and turned to look at her.
"It's okay if you still miss them." Margret told her. "I miss them sometimes, too."
"I'm glad I've still got you." Elena said, embracing her. "You should get some rest. It's going to be a rough day tomorrow."
"Okay." Margret headed back to her room. She had a feeling that tomorrow would be interesting.