DISCLAIMER:I do not own any of these characters. Everything but my imagine belongs to Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec and all writers of the vampire diaries t.v. show.
*This story is told through Ava's point of view of the tv show.
Ava played with her daylight ring as she walked up to the school with Stefan. Last night…well last night had been pretty great. Well, after the whole Damon/Vicki thing that is. She and Jeremy just talked for hours and hours, even getting kicked out of the Grill at closing. He had offered to walk her home, but Ava politely declined, not wanting to deal with any sarcastic comments if Damon happened to be around. The whole thing had been so nice. A wonderful distraction that hopefully would remain permanent.
"Good morning, Elena." Stefan said drawing her out of her thoughts. "Good morning, Bonnie."
Bonnie looked at both of the twins. "Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later." And with that, she hastily left.
"Bonnie, wait..." Elena trailed off.
"She doesn't like us very much." Ava declared.
"She doesn't know you." Elena replied. "She's my best friend." This time she turned to Stefan. "She's just looking out for me. But when she does, she will love you." The trio began to walk towards the school. "Here's what we are going to do." Elena declared. "Are you guys free tonight?"
"Yes." Ava and Stefan said in a very "twin" way.
"Perfect. Dinner, my house. 8:00. You guys, me, and Bonnie. You three will spend some quality time and she'll get to see what a great guy you are and what a great friend you'll be. Mission accomplished."
Ava suddenly felt an object come flying towards them. But before she could say anything, Stefan turned with vampire speed and caught it. Ava looked in the direction it had come from. It was from Tyler. Oh no, he shouldn't have done that. She smirked as Stefan threw it back at him with great strength, causing him to hunch over in pain and surprise. Elena was laughing.
"World war II ended in...Anyone got anything?"
Mr. Tanner was obviously upset that no one in his class knew anything. Ava on the other hand was about to burst at the seams wanting to shout out the right answers. "Miss Juan?" The girl shook her head. "1945." Tanner answered, moving on. "Pearl Harbor." He looked around the room. "Miss Gilbert?"
"Hmm?"
"Pearl Harbor?"
"Um..."
"December 7, 1941." This time it was Ava who saved Elena.
"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." Tanner remarked, sarcastically.
"Anytime." Ava said, tipping an imaginary hat.
"Very well." He paused. "Mr. Salvatore. The fall of the Berlin wall."
"1989. My sister and I are good with dates, sir."
"Are you? How good?" He thought for a second. "Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."
Stefan, "1964."
"John F. Kennedy assassination."
Ava, "1963."
"Martin Luther King."
Stefan "'68."
"Lincoln."
Ava, "1865."
"Roe vs. Wade."
Stefan, "1973."
"Brown vs. Board."
Ava, "1954."
"The battle of Gettysburg."
Stefan, "1863."
"Korean war."
Ava, "1950 to 1953."
"Ha!" Tanner exclaimed, breaking the cycle. "It ended in '52." He chuckled, and turned to walk away.
Ava scoffed and shook her head. "Uh, actually, sir, it was '53."
Tanner looked like he was about to explode from the smug looks on the twins' faces. "Look it up, somebody. Quickly."
Every student seemed to pull out their phones. "It was 19..." A male student started. "'53." The whole class burst out into murmurs and scattered applause. The bell rang shortly after that, and the whole class pilled out, Tanner eyeing the Salvatore twins as they left.
Elena turned to the two as they exited. "How did you know all of that?"
"Years and years of crossword puzzles." Stefan answered.
Ava chuckled. "It's a loner thing." She added. Stefan chuckled, and kissed Elena's cheek, heading to his next class. But before they could all split up, Elena grabbed Ava's arm.
"Hold on a second." She asked. "So, I was talking to Stefan about getting back to the old me." Ava nodded. "And with Stefan and the whole football thing, it got me thinking about how the old me, used to be a cheerleader."
"Elena Gilbert, a cheerleader?" Ava asked. "I would have loved to see that."
Elena chuckled. "Yeah, I know. But it was my mom's thing. Caroline has been trying to get me back into it, but with Bonnie being all weird lately, I don't know if I could go at it alone. So I'm guessing, what I'm asking is, will you join cheerleading with me?"
Ava had been a professional cheerleader at one point in her life, but that was in her past. But it was Elena and Ava wanted to get to know her, so maybe she would just stay in the back. "Sure, I'll join with you."
Elena almost squealed, and hugged Ava. "Thank you so much! It's after school, 4:00. By the football bleachers."
"I will see you there."
"Oh, my God! You're here!"
Bonnie jumped up from her spot on the ground when she noticed her best friend had arrived to practice. Ava stayed a couple feet behind her. "Yep." Elena replied, hugging Bonnie. "I can't be sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were." She turned. "And I brought Ava with me too."
Ava waved slightly, but kept her place, seeing the look on Bonnie's face. "I'm just gonna stretch over here." Ava informed them. She began to stretch as Elena and Bonnie continued to talk, but she didn't listen in, she decided to give the girls their space. Once she felt good, a girl came up and handed her a pair of pom-poms. God, Ava forgot how much she hated these things.
"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie seemed to announce to everyone. Ava took this as an opportunity to rejoin their group.
"I don't know." Elena replied. "It's not like her."
Bonnie reached down to pick up her cell phone. "I'll try her again."
Ava suddenly felt a chill go up her spine as a blue car came cruising towards the cheerleading practice, the radio blasting. Inside, she could she Caroline, dressed and ready for practice, with Damon sitting in the driver's seat. "Oh my god." She mumbled. The car stopped and Caroline leaned over, kissing Damon. Ava was definitely going to be sick.
"Oh, my God." Bonnie exclaimed. "That must be the mystery guy from the grill."
"That's not a mystery guy." Ava hissed. "That's Damon Salvatore. My brother."
Caroline got out of the car and slammed the door, practically skipping up to Elena. "I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Ava rolled her eyes. "Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy." Ava looked over at Damon in the car, whose eyebrow was raised. She began to walk towards him, but any confrontation was stopped as he turned on the car and drove away. Ava grunted under her breath, annoyed. "All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say?"
Ava wasn't really paying attention to Caroline leading the squad. She was more worried about Stefan. From her spot in the back of the group, she saw him run onto the field in a football uniform. Tanner had let him on the squad. She couldn't believe he even asked. Getting too lost in thought, Ava finally noticed Elena was gone. She looked around and spotted her by the end of the bleachers, looking at Stefan practice. Ava walked over to Elena.
"He's good, isn't he?" Ava said, startling Elena a little.
"Yeah." she said. Stefan caught a pass and was suddenly hit by Tyler Lockwood. And Ava heard the familiar sound of bones breaking. Ava winced a little and Caroline came over to bring them back to practice. As they left Ava saw Stefan put his finger back in place.
Ava stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a plush white towel. She pulled out her make up bag, laying it out on the counter. "You looked so cute at cheerleading practice today." Ava jumped, almost knocking the bag off. She wrapped the towel tighter around her body and left the bathroom, seeing Damon laying on her bed. "It was like I was watching your first professional game all over again."
"What do you want Damon?"
"What? Can I not want to spend time with my little sister?"
"No. Because you're you." Ava paused. "What are you doing with Caroline?"
"And there is the underlining question."
"You had to know I'd ask." She said. She walked into her closet and began to dress. "I'm being serious Damon. Caroline is a person; she's not your puppet."
"They are all my puppets! They could be yours too, if you just stopped living out of a bag." Ava stood in the closet doorway, her arms crossed. "Oh, don't worry little sister. I won't tell Stefan." I know he'd question your lifestyle, but to me, I'm just glad you're at least stronger." Damon threw her a bag. "Drink up little sister." He paused. "You'll need it."
Later that night, Ava and Stefan stood on the Gilbert house porch. Ava rubbed her hands together, a little jittery after the blood Damon gave her. It was pretty fresh and everything around her was amplified. She could hear the pool tables at the Grill, smell the burgers on the grill. Ava even saw Jeremy sneak out of the house, the smell of pills radiating from his pocket. Stefan rang the doorbell and Elena answered, the smell of to go Italian wafting out to her.
"Come on in." Elena told both of them. Ava looked at Stefan before walking in, finally able to step through the threshold. The group started their meal off quiet. It remained that way for quite some time, the sound of forks hitting plates filling the air. Elena decided to stop it after a while.
"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan.
"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right."
"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and..."
"Yeah, I heard." Bonnie interrupted.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena insisted.
"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad."
"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."
"Cool isn't the word I'd use."
"Well, it's certainly interesting." Ava exclaimed.
"I'm not too versed," Stefan added. "But I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."
"My family came by way of Salem."
Ava looked at her brother. "Really? Salem witches?"
"Yeah."
"I would say that's pretty cool." Ava said, reading Stefan's mind.
"Really? Why?"
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity."
"Yeah, they are." The conversation finally seemed to be picking up and the air about the room was peaceful, but that was broken by the sound of the doorbell.
"I wonder who that could be." Elena said. She walked over to answer it. Stefan and Ava following close by. Elena opened the door, and it was Caroline...with Damon!
"Surprise!" Caroline exclaimed. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert."
"Hope you don't mind." Damon added. Caroline walked inside.
"What are you doing here?" Ava said coldly.
"Waiting for Elena to invite me in."
"Oh, yeah, you can..." Elena started.
"No, no, no." Stefan interrupted. "He can't, uh... he can't stay. Can you, Damon?"
"Get in here." Caroline persisted.
"We're just... finishing up."
"It's fine. Just come on in."
Damon smiled his charming smile and took a step into Elena's house. "You have a beautiful home, Elena."
"Thank you." That was it; he had been invited in.
"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team." Caroline exclaimed. "Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it."
"That's what I always tell him." Damon added. "You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."
"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines. And Ava you're just new."
"I'll work with them." Bonnie said. "They'll get it.
"I guess we can put them in the back." Caroline mumbled.
"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon commented.
"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline interrupted. "And I say that with complete sensitivity."
"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan, Ava, and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die."
Stefan and Ava looked up at Damon with cold eyes. "We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Ava said.
"Oh, you know what, you're right, Ava. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mmm."
Damon was such an ass. Why had he done that? He just wanted to make Stefan's life a whole lot harder. But Ava and Stefan weren't really worried about that right now. They were in the living room with Caroline while Bonnie was cleaning off the table and Elena and Damon were cleaning dishes.
"That's a really nice scarf." Ava complimented Caroline.
"Mm. Thank you, it's new."
"Can I see it? I mean, would you mind taking it off? I would love to see how it looked on me."
"Oh, I can't."
"Why not?" Stefan asked. "You ok?"
"Um... All I know is that I can't take it off."
"What are you three kids talking about?" Damon asked, walking into the living room from the kitchen.
"I was just commenting on her scarf." Ava said.
"Hmm. Hey, you know, um, Elena and Bonnie are finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?"
"Does it look like I do dishes?" Caroline asked, holding up her nails.
"For me?"
"Hmm... I don't think so."
Damon leaned in closer to Caroline. "Go see if Elena needs help in the kitchen." He had compelled her.
"You know what? I'm gonna go see if Elena needs some help in the kitchen."
"Great." And Caroline left.
"They are people, Damon." Stefan said. "She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to."
"Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."
"All right, you've had your fun." Ava said. You used Caroline, you got to meet Elena, good for you. Now it's time for you to go."
"That's not a problem. Because... I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do with your little cheerleader whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me."
Ava scoffed, throwing the semi-nude magazine across the room. Damn, Jeremy's room was a sight to behold. Clothes thrown lazily in drawers, random posters on the wall. She did feel a little weird just snooping around.
"How did you get in here?"
Ava turned, seeing Jeremy standing in the doorway. "I climbed in through the window." She replied, sarcasm in her voice. "I was having dinner with Elena. We finished early and I decided to stay behind and see if I could hang out with you." She paused. "I had fun last night."
Jeremy smiled and set down his book bag. "I did too." He walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. The two laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"So what are you doing tomorrow night?" Ava asked, looking over at him.
"Already making plans?" Jeremy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe…it's just that. Well tomorrow night, I'm cheering at the football game."
"You're a cheerleader?"
"Yes, I know, laugh it up. I was just wondering if you would come watch the game and maybe we could go out afterwards."
Jeremy sat up. "I don't know if that's my thing. I mean I am the lonely stoner guy."
"Well, maybe lonely stoner guy could make an exception for me?" Ava asked, sitting up beside him. The two were close. Ava could hear his pulse so strongly; she could feel the heat radiating off his skin.
"Maybe he can." Jeremy replied. He looked Ava up and down. "Are you flirting with me?"
"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not." Ava leaned in closer to Jeremy, but quickly got up, going to the doorway. "You'll just have to come to the game and find out."
Ava woke up the next morning to a short, red cheer uniform. She sighed, getting up to get ready. Once she was, she looked in her full length mirror, straightening her skirt. Yep, after this game Ava was quitting cheerleading for good. She reached over to grab a ponytail, and when she stood back up, her reflection wasn't the only one in the mirror.
"Well don't you look peppy?"
Ava turned and Damon was standing in her door way. "What do you want?" she asked, turning back to put up her hair.
"It's just that you in your uniform and Stefan in his jersey just bring on the spirit! I might actually want to come to the game." Ava turned in horror. "Just kidding. I don't wanna be anywhere near that place with all that pep. It's disgusting." He paused. "So how was that blood last night?" Good, huh? Imagine what would happen if you actually drank live?" And with that Damon walked out of her room.
That night Ava was shaking her actually pom-poms with the rest of the squad as Mr. Tanner gave his annual speech before the game. The crowd was being rattled up, but some people already were. Ava heard a noise. Tyler and Jeremy were fighting. She went to go find them and was joined by Stefan. They found Tyler beating Jeremy up on the ground.
"Hey!" Stefan yelled. "He's down! Enough!" Stefan grabbed Tyler's wrist and Tyler punched Stefan but it obviously had no effect and Tyler became scared. Ava saw Jeremy pick up a broken bottle. She stepped in front of Tyler and Stefan and the glass cut her. Jeremy looked at her with sorry, horrified eyes. Elena pulled him back.
It was a deep cut but it would soon heal. Stefan came to examine it. "You okay?" he quietly asked her.
"Yes." Ava whispered. Elena came up to them.
"Oh my god! Your hand." Ava closed it and put it behind her back.
"No, no, no, it's fine." Ava said.
"Is it deep? How bad is it? Come on!" Elena grabbed her hand and opened her hand, but there wasn't anything there. It had healed.
"But... I saw it, it was..."
"He missed." Stefan said.
"It's not my blood." Ava said, rubbing her hands on her uniform. "See? I'm fine."
"No, no, no. I... I saw it. The glass cut your hand. It was..."
"It's ok. I'm ok. It's almost kick-off time, all right?" Ava turned and walked over to Caroline, taking a pair of pom-poms from her.
"I thought you weren't coming."
Ava crossed her arms as she walked up to Damon, who was watching Stefan and Matt from the shadows. "I heard Elena smack you. Smart girl."
"I couldn't miss this." he said and started clapping for Stefan. "Isn't that nice sister? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, 'rah, rah, go team, yeah!' "
"Not tonight. I'm done with you." Stefan said and he started to walk to the locker room.
"Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess... vervain in the necklace? I admit, I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion." He paused. "Where'd you get it?"
"Does it matter?" Ava asked heading in Stefan's direction. She stood by her twin.
"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just... eat her."
"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon." Stefan exclaimed.
"No?"
Ava stepped forward and addressed her brother. "Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. We were worried that you had no humanity left inside of you; that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."
"Who's pretending?"
"Then kill us." Stefan said.
"Well, I'm... I'm tempted."
"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here we are. We're still alive." Stefan motioned to his sister. "And there you are. You're still haunting us. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."
Mr. Tanner came storming toward the trio. "Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!
"If that's my humanity... then what's this?" And Damon became the monster. He ran and killed Mr. Tanner, tearing apart his neck; leaving him bleeding on the sidewalk.
"No!" Ava screamed.
Damon turned toward them. Blood streaming down his face, his eyes of a monster. "Anyone, anytime, anyplace."
Dear Diary,
I thought there was hope for my brother. I thought that somewhere deep inside, something in him was still human, normal. But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness. No love. Only a monster who must be stopped. Stefan and I have to stop him. But we have to do better than before. This time we will be successful. This time, he will change.
