As I said, Stefan and I just talked last night and then he left. I woke up early in the morning because I wanted to see Vicki in the hospital. I tried to quietly sneak out of the house. Unfortunately, Jenna found me.
"Where are you going so early?" She asked.
"I have to finish a project for Home Ec at school." I replied easily. I had been thinking of it. It was contingent on Jenna not knowing that the school didn't have a Home Ec class though.
"Okay, make sure that you do well." She told me. I couldn't believe that she actually bought it. From there, I began to walk to the hospital. I decided to take some time to think. I didn't actually know if Stefan liked me, but I did know that things were done with Tyler. I never should have expected that relationship to last. All we ever did together was drink and have sex, with him sometimes smoking pot. It really wasn't even much of a relationship to be honest. It was more like we were fuckbuddies than anything else. I arrived at the hospital and began to look around. I managed to bribe my way past the front desk and headed to Vicki's room. She was sleeping, but she looked okay.
"You can't be in here, Hon." A nurse told me. "Visiting hours don't start until 9:00."
"What kind of rule is that?" I asked. "Anyone who wants to visit her has school."
"That's how the rules go. I don't make them." She replied. I thought about sitting in the lobby and waiting until 9:00 because I didn't have much to do at school, other than possibly see Stefan, but weren't even in any classes together. There was only a small chance that I'd see him and I really didn't want to go to Mr. Tanner's class. He was a dick who had it out for me. I would be perfectly okay if he just dropped dead.
I decided to go to school because if I couldn't see Vicki myself, I could talk to the next best person.
"Matt, I need to talk to you." I declared. We hadn't actually talked since he and Elena broke up. Another thing that I was surprised about was that I hadn't had anything to drink this morning. I think being with Stefan managed to get me out of a hangover somehow. "I wanted to know how Vicki is."
"She seems like she's fine." He told me. "She slept normally last night and they managed to stop the bleeding with some stitches. I want to thank you. She might be dead if you and Elena hadn't found her. Do you have any idea what she was doing out there?"
"No." I stated quickly. I hadn't told anyone other than Stefan that Tyler and I had broken up yet and I didn't want anyone to know that Vicki was the reason why because being dumped for a senior was humiliating. "So, did they know what attacked her?"
"She said it was a vampire." He explained.
"She was awake?" I asked in surprise.
"No, she mumbled vampire in her sleep." He explained. "We know that she was drunk. I bet it was a wolf or puma because she passed the rabies test. I was going to see her again after school. So is there any truth to the rumors that you're dumping Tyler for the new guy?"
"No." I answered.
I decided to skip Tanner's class because he was focusing on local history and I already knew enough about that. I heard from the hall that he was talking about this comet that was passing over the town tomorrow night. That had nothing to do with American History or even local history. It was astrology…or astronomy. I always get those two mixed up.
The thing about being at school was that there really wasn't a place to get a drink. I didn't have any liquor bottles stashed in my locker because I was not a moron.
I then saw Tyler surrounded by a group of guys and girls.
"So have you seen Vicki yet?" I asked him.
"No why would I do that?" He responded.
"I just thought that maybe if you cared enough to wreck our relationship to cheat on me with her, you might have cared enough to go visit her." I replied as I looked around.
"You can't hold that against me, I was drunk." He pointed out.
"So was I, but you didn't see me throwing myself at whatever guy I could find, did you?" I challenged.
"I heard that you hooked up with the new guy." He replied. I seriously want to know who started that rumor, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was Tyler himself. I figured that there was no point in me refuting it.
I went to the hospital after school to check on Vicki and see if she was awake yet. They definitely wouldn't be able to keep me out of the room.
I went to the hospital and happened to run into someone. It was Stefan yet again.
"We've got to stop meeting like this." I told him.
"Yeah, it could hurt." He agreed with a laugh.
"So I don't know if you pay attention to the rumor mill at school, but everything seems to think that we're having sex." I told him as I ran a hand through my hair.
"If there's one thing that I've learned, it's that high school students love to talk." He stated.
"So what are you doing here?" I asked curiously.
"I was thinking about donating some blood but I decided against it." He replied.
"I'm surprised that you even considered it due to you freaking out around me and also Vicki at the party." I joked. "So were you going to go home then?"
"I am." He confirmed.
"Do you mind if I go with you?" I asked. "I've always wanted to check out the Salvatore Boarding House."
"How about you go on ahead, there's something I have to do, but I'll meet you." He explained. "My uncle will probably be there to let you in."
Okay, that was weird. I decided to head to the house from there. I rang the bell, which was not a doorbell, and knocked on the door, causing it to push open. I just walked in and saw a man who was in his mid to late twenties with long brown hair.
"I'm so sorry that I just barged in." I apologized. "Stefan said that he would meet me here. So are you his uncle?"
"No, I'm Damon, his brother." He replied.
"He didn't mention that he had a brother." I declared, although to be fair, we hadn't gone into a lot of stuff.
"Well Stefan's not one to brag." He remarked. "So you must be Mary."
I guess that while Stefan hadn't mentioned his brother to me, the opposite wasn't true.
"I can see why my brother's so smitten. You're very pretty." He complimented me. Though, I was surprised that Stefan liked me like that.
"It sounds creepy when you say it." I remarked. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm kind of 15."
"I apologize, but I'm thrilled." He replied. "I thought he'd never get over the last one."
"The last one?" I questioned in confusion.
"Katherine, his girlfriend?" Damon replied as I just stared at him. "I take it you haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet? Oh well, it's definitely going to come up now."
"Stefan and I are not really together." I told him. I did have to admit that I was interested in finding out about Katherine now, though. I wondered if Stefan would tell me about her.
"Hello Stefan." Damon remarked. I looked and saw that his brother was there.
"Damon, I didn't know that you would be here." He declared.
"Well I just wanted to spend some time with my brother." Damon stated with a smirk. "You know I should break out the family photos, but be warned this one wasn't always a looker."
"Now isn't a very good time, Mary." Stefan responded. Well they definitely had issues. I decided that it would be a good idea for me to go home from there.
"I need you to move from in front of the door." I told him. He stepped aside and I went out before heading home.
When I got home, I noticed that Elena and Jenna were making dinner. I actually didn't feel that hungry. I had noticed the selection of drinks in the living room, but it's generally not a good idea to accept drinks from someone who might be a rapist.
"Hey, we're making dinner." Jenna told me.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry." I replied as I started to head upstairs. Suddenly, Jenna threw the apple in her hand and hit me in the back. "Ow, what the fuck. That's child abuse."
"Quit skipping class or you're grounded." She ordered.
"You might not want to listen to Mr. Tanner." I told her before I headed up to my room.
A little while later, I heard a knocking on my door. I had taken out my flask and was drinking from it. The door opened and it was Elena.
"What do you want?" I asked her. I wondered if she was going to judge me some more.
"I wanted to talk about Stefan." She replied.
"Not you too, I'm not sleeping with him." I remarked in frustration. "Even though I kind of like him, he's on the rebound and so am I and he has raging family issues."
"But he's nice and smart. Why wouldn't you want to be with him?" She asked me.
"If you like him so much, you date him!" I shouted.
The next was the…Comet Is Passing over the Town Festival. Small towns sometimes have really sad events. There was fucking face-painting. What the fuck did face-painting have to do with the comet?
I found that Vicki was inside of the Grill. She wasn't working, but I thought that maybe she could sneak me some booze. It was easier to forgive someone when they almost die.
"So how are you?" I asked her.
"I want you to know that I'm sorry, even though it wasn't my fault." She replied. "I'm hurting all over."
"Well you should probably take whatever they gave you for that." I suggested.
"They gave me the weak stuff. They're onto me, Mary." Vicki explained.
"Well it's not something that I can do anything about." I told her. "I'm not a drug mule and you know I only like stuff that you can drink. Being high is just depressing. Speaking of which, do you think you can give me something?"
"I'm not allowed behind the bar when I'm not working." She replied. Well that was unfortunate.
After dark, I went outside where everyone was lighting candles. I guess it was because they turned off all of the lights so people could see the comet. It was kind of cool to see even though there wasn't anything particularly impressive about it. I decided to grab a candle and looked for someone to help me light it. The only person that I found was Tyler. I sighed and let him light my candle before I looked for someone who needed a light of their own. It turned out that person was Stefan.
"Hi." I greeted him nervously.
"Hi." He reciprocated. I didn't know what to say next. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't really myself."
"Why didn't you tell me that you had a brother?" I asked him.
"We're not close. I haven't seen him in years." Stefan explained. "So did anything interesting happen to you yesterday after you left."
"Well my aunt got onto me for skipping class." I replied.
"Why are you skipping class?" He asked in a tone that didn't seem as judgmental as it was curious.
"The teacher is a total tool and he's out to get me." I replied. "I can't help but wonder if Mr. Tanner spends his free time thinking of new ways to torture us."
"Probably, but you should still go to class." He suggested.
"So Damon told me about your ex, Katherine." I responded.
"What did he say about her?" He asked curiously.
"She broke your heart." I repeated.
"That was a long time ago." He replied.
"It couldn't have been that much long ago." I pointed out. "Look, Stefan, in a lot of ways we're alike, we both have issues with our siblings and our exes, but we probably shouldn't date. It's too soon for this."
I then walked away. I wanted to see if I could find Vicki again because I really needed a drink. I went inside the Grill where everyone seemed to be seated together.
"Has anyone seen Vicki?" I questioned them.
"Why do you want to sleep with her too?" Tyler cracked. "Or do you just want her so she can sneak you something from the bar?"
"You're the one who tried to sleep with her." I pointed out. "Quit being an asshole already."
"I don't think that I want Stefan's sloppy seconds anyway." Tyler replied.
"How about you just shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt suggested. Everyone got up, but Elena grabbed me.
"So is this your game now? You're getting Vicki to supply you with drinks? You know she could get arrested for that." Elena asked. "This is going too far, Mary."
"Why can't I drink?" I challenged. "You drink."
"I don't drink as much as you do." She argued. "Why don't you just talk? Well I have an idea. We could send you to a therapist, or rehab where you'd be forced to talk."
"I vote for none of the above." I replied as I walked away. I guess I just wanted to go home.
I headed home and up to my room. I found that the door was open and Jenna was inside.
"What are you doing in my room?" I asked her angrily.
"How about you tell me why you have this?" She responded, holding up my flask.
"You're one to talk." I argued. "Mom always talked about you didn't do anything but smoke pot."
"Okay, I'm not her. Are you happy?" She asked me. "But I am trying. I get that you don't respect me, but all that I want is for you to be happy."
"Okay, then I need to go." I told her.
"I can't let you go anywhere. You're grounded." She told me.
"If you want me to be happy, you should let me go." I suggested. She got out of the way and I began to head to the boarding house. I managed to get there okay, but I figured out quickly that I should not walk back. It was too bad that I wasn't old enough to drive and I doubted Jenna would let me get a motorcycle.
I rang the bell and Stefan answered the door. I was glad it wasn't Damon.
"Hey, would you like to come in?" He asked me.
"Yes." I responded as I stepped in. I could have looked at the comet, but it really wasn't all that important. "So I wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have walked away from you. While there are a lot of reasons that we probably shouldn't be together, I forgot the biggest reason that we should.
"What's that?" He asked me curiously. I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his.
"You make me happy." I replied.
So Mary and Stefan are officially a couple after all of the rumors that they were and the urging from other people. She also met Damon. Please don't forget to review.