Chapter 10: Unpleasantville

"So, what do you think?" Jeremy asked. He'd sent Charlotte his essay so she could proofread it for him, and she'd finally called him to discuss it.

"It's good, well thought out, and structured logically. You're very convincing in your argument," Charlotte reassured him. "I fixed a few typos and grammatical errors and sent it back to you. It should be all good to go."

"Thanks Lottie, I really appreciate all your help." If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have even known where to start with the paper. "I'll just email it to him now. It needs to be in before midterms tomorrow."

"You're going to ace it, trust me. And I'm not just saying that because he's interested in your aunt."

"Let's hope, I could use the A on this. It will round my grade out to a C plus." Tanner really did have it out for him. It was horrible he had to die in order for Jeremy to stand a chance at passing history.

"If it wasn't bad to speak ill of the dead, I'd say Tanner was a jerk for giving you such a hard time."

"Ah, it doesn't matter anymore." Jeremy smiled at how riled up Charlotte was on his behalf. "We still on for lunch tomorrow, or are you eating with the boyfriend?"

"I told Billy it's a best friend day. I'm all yours." Jeremy's smile widened even more.

"I'll see you tomorrow then."

…

Charlotte was a nervous wreck, and not just because of midterms. Jeremy had texted her between third and fourth period that he'd be getting his paper back. Apparently Mr. Saltzman had the time yesterday afternoon to read over it and grade it. Jeremy's news made her hour long gym class feel even longer.

She waited for Jeremy at a picnic table by the basketball courts where they had decided to eat lunch. Anxious to find out what grade he'd gotten, Charlotte began stretching. Stretching, although not as good as dancing, always helped her relax. As soon as she saw Jeremy approaching, she straightened up. His face gave nothing away as he handed her the paper.

"An A, Jeremy that's great! Congratulations." Charlotte wrapped her arms around Jeremy, pulling him into a congratulatory hug and wrinkling his paper a little. "I knew you were going to ace it," she added, pulling back and tucking a loose strand of hair that had escaped from her bun behind her ear.

"He said he liked my creativity and imagination," Jeremy said, taking a seat at the picnic table. "So, what do you say about celebrating at the Grill with me after school?"

"As long as I'm home by four, Caroline wants to pull our closets for our outfits to the dance tonight." They'd already gone shopping for the main pieces, but they needed a few more accessories.

"Right, the dance." Jeremy had almost forgotten.

"You forgot to get an outfit, didn't you?" Charlotte knew Jeremy's 'crap I forgot about that' face. He'd forgotten about the dance, which means he didn't have an outfit.

"I've got a white tee and a leather jacket from last Halloween, I'll make it work," Jeremy insisted. All he needed was some hair gel and he'd be straight out of Grease. "Oh, before I forget, this is for you."

Jeremy reached into his backpack and pulled out a delicate, teal colored, leather cord bracelet with a small pink rose charm fastened in the middle. Holding it out to her, she took it from him, a little confused.

"Another gift?" He'd already given her the swan necklace, which she loved and had yet to take off.

"This one's from Elena. She said it's her belated birthday present."

"Elena never gave me birthday presents before," Charlotte mused, sliding on the bracelet and tightening the cords so it sat snug against her left wrist.

"She's been weird lately. Gave me a bracelet too." Rolling up his sleeve Jeremy showed Charlotte his new black leather bracelet. Elena had given it to him that morning for no particular reason.

"Well, tell her thank you. It's very pretty."

Combining their lunches, Charlotte and Jeremy picked at the food piled between them until the bell rang. With a sigh they packed up and headed back inside. Somehow they managed to make it through 3 more midterms before they were free for the afternoon and heading to the grill.

"I get to break," Charlotte insisted, grabbing pool sticks from the wall as Jeremy racked the balls.

"Just make sure you keep the cue ball on the table this time," Jeremy teased, causing Charlotte to stick her tongue out at him. One time. She'd accidently launched the cue ball off towards one of the booths one time and he still hasn't let it go.

A half hour later and Charlotte was winning. Leaning over to bank a corner shot, she ended up scratching when she heard Anna's voice greeting them.

"The cue ball just hates you," Jeremy chuckled before turning towards Anna.

"Hey, how'd the paper go?" Anna asked, leaning against the side of the pool table.

"I got an A," Jeremy announced proudly. "Thanks for the articles, they really helped."

"Good, I'm glad. So…what did he say about the vampires? Did you convince him they're real?"

"No. I don't even believe they're real. It's just a paper." Turning back towards the game, Jeremy lined up his shot, completely missing the annoyed look that crossed Anna's face when he said he didn't believe in vampires.

"Do you want to do something later?" Anna asked, trying again. She'd get Jeremy to warm up to her. She needed to, for the journal and for revenge. Gilbert blood would bring her mother back. She'd make sure of it.

"Sorry, I'm going to the school dance as Lottie's wingman tonight." Lottie glanced between Anna and Jeremy, realization dawning when Anna asked him to hang out another night.

"Hey Jer, it's almost four. I have to go or Caroline will strangle me with her string of pearls for tonight." True, it was almost four, but she was also trying to give Jeremy an out if he wanted to be alone with Anna. He didn't seem to understand as he returned their pool sticks to the wall and said he'd walk her home.

"Thanks for the help with the paper. I'll see you around." With a friendly nod at Anna, Jeremy and Charlotte were leaving out the back door.

"I think she might have a crush on you," Charlotte said as they crossed Main Street.

"Yeah, I've noticed." It was hard not to notice Anna giving most of her attention to him. She definitely wasn't shy about it. "But she's not my type."

"Since when do you have a type?" Neither of them had ever discussed what they look for in a boyfriend or girlfriend, so the fact Jeremy had a type was news to her. Jeremy just shrugged at her question. "No, really, what's your type?"

"I don't know. It's just not her. She's too…pushy. She's trying too hard." She acted like they were more than friends when they'd only just met a few days ago. Jeremy found it off putting, and not in a good way. "And he whole emo look. I'm just not into it"

"A bit judgmental on the emo thing for someone who wears an awful lot of black," Charlotte teased.

"I went through a phase this summer, cut me some slack."

"I was just joking. But if you're not interested you should tell her, or else she'll just keep getting her hopes up you'll come around."

Anna didn't seem like the kind to give up until a very direct 'no' was given. Hence the hefty amount of articles she'd printed out on the local animal attacks to try and convince them vampires were real.

"I'll make sure she gets the message," Jeremy said as they stopped in front of Charlotte's house. "Have fun with Caroline."

Charlotte did have fun with Caroline. They spent the afternoon with their hair in hot curlers, collecting a pile of clothes, accessories and jewelry on Caroline's bed as they put together their outfits for the night. Going through all their combined lipsticks, of which Caroline had a much larger collection, they picked out the perfect shades of pink and red for each of them then did each other's makeup as they listened to a playlist of 1950's hits.

"So, did you color coordinate your dress to match Matt's outfit?" Charlotte asked before blotting her lips.

"Matt actually can't come tonight. He's working," Caroline said, leaning closer to the mirror to blend in her blush.

"Really? That stinks. I'm sorry Care, I know how much you were looking forward to going to the dance and seeing him there."

"It's okay, we still haven't talked about what we are so it'd probably be awkward seeing him there anyways." In truth, Caroline was scared to talk with Matt and define what they were doing. She was afraid she'd get an answer she wouldn't like.

"Come on, we need to put our dresses on before we do our hair." Clothes always cheered Caroline up, especially when she dressed up.

Turning the music up, they slipped into their dresses while dancing and laughing. Charlotte loved the way the wide skirt swished around her legs as she twisted and turned around Caroline's bedroom. She'd picked out a cream colored A-line halter dress with a lavender flower print and a matching little jacket made from the same material.

"We look amazing," Caroline insisted as they stood before her full length mirror. She'd pinned her hair up into an up-do and had pulled Char's up into a retro ponytail.

"And it only took, two hours," Charlotte commented, glancing at the clock just as the doorbell rang.

"Billy's here!" Caroline cheered. "Wait until he sees you. He's going to die."

Billy didn't die. But he did look stunned when she came walking down the hall. He looked very…himself in an old school letterman jacket and jeans. Her mom insisted on taking a million pictures of both Charlotte and Caroline, as well as Charlotte and Billy. After repeating Charlotte's curfew to Billy and not so subtly reminding him she was the Sherriff, Liz let the girls go and have fun.

As they entered the dance, Billy reached for Charlotte's hand, holding it as they walked into the gym together. Charlotte barely had time to take in the decorations before he pulled her onto the dance floor. After a few songs, she was finally getting into the groove of the music and having fun until she spotted Damon Salvatore entering the gym with Elena and Stefan. It had her freezing mid dance.

"Are you alright?" Billy asked loudly so he could be heard over the music.

"I need to find Caroline. I'll be right back," Charlotte said. Damon being there was bad enough, but him surprise attacking Caroline by asking her to dance or even breathing in her direction had Charlotte desperate to find her sister. Pushing through the crowd, Charlotte searched for Caroline. She'd just spotted her through the crowd on the dance floor when Jeremy stepped up beside her.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Jenna was taking longer than necessary getting ready for her date with Mr. Saltzman," Jeremy greeted glancing down at Lottie. "You look great. Very 50's. Wait, what's wrong?" He asked when he saw the pinched look of worry on Lottie's face.

"Is it Billy? Did he say something, do something, try something?" Jeremy didn't know what happened, but if it was because of Billy he'd make sure the jock paid for it.

"No, it's not Billy. Damon's here." What he was doing at a high school dance, Charlotte didn't know. Probably just being a creeper. "I have to get to Caroline before he does."

"I'll help," Jeremy said, grabbing a hold of her hand he began leading them through the dance floor to where Caroline and Bonnie were dancing. Because he was taller, and broader, than Charlotte the crowd parted readily for him.

"Care, we need to talk," Charlotte said, coming to stand beside her sister. "Damon's here."

"What? What is he doing here?" Caroline asked as she stopped dancing and turned towards Char.

"I don't know, but he is and I just wanted to give you a heads up because…" Charlotte drifted off, giving Caroline a pointed look, not knowing how much she'd told Bonnie about what happened between her and Damon.

"It's fine. I'll deal with him. I just want you to stay far, far away from anywhere near him." Damon hadn't been happy after Charlotte threatened to tell their mom about him, so Caroline didn't want Charlotte anywhere near him. "Why don't you and Jeremy get some punch? I promise, I'll handle this."

…

"If Caroline says she can handle it, I think you should trust her," Jeremy said as Charlotte fiddled with her necklace and watched the student body trying to do the hand jive. They'd retreated to the punch bowl, but Lottie hadn't taken a sip of her punch yet.

"Caroline thinks she can handle everything, but you didn't see how messed up Damon made her. It's bad enough Matt couldn't come to the dance, now her creepy abusive ex is here and who knows what she'll do if he talks to her." Caroline was strong, but even the strongest women crumbled under the thumb of an abuser.

"I'm more afraid of what you'll do if he talks to her," Jeremy commented. Lottie hated confrontation, but god help whoever threatened those she cared about because when she did confront someone she had a hell of a temper.

"I'll tell you what I'd like to do to him," Charlotte muttered, letting her threat drift off into nothing when Anna popped up out of nowhere.

"There you two are." Anna smiled as she stood before Jeremy and Charlotte. "You didn't say this was a theme party."

"Anna, I didn't know you would be here," Charlotte commented, tugging at the end of her ponytail.

"Well since Jeremy neglected to invite me, I took matters into my own hands. You look good as a greaser by the way." She added the last to Jeremy, her smile widening. Hopefully Jeremy would let her down easy. The girl obviously had it bad for him.

"Anna, you do know we're not dating right? Because you're kind of acting like we are." That wasn't exactly letting her down easy, but it was being very direct.

"Don't think so highly of yourself. I've never been to a high school dance. I wanted to see what it was all about. And I came to remind you that you promised to lend me your ancestor's journal when you were done with your paper."

"Oh, uh, I don't have it. I gave it to my History teacher."

"Why would you do that? I mean you shouldn't give it to just anyone." Charlotte was taken aback by Anna's aggressive tone. She seemed almost manic about the journal.

"But I should give it to you?" Jeremy questioned. He shared a look with Charlotte that let him know he wasn't the only one confused by Anna's desperation to get the journal. "What's the big deal with this stupid journal anyways?"

At Jeremy's question Anna's face hardened, the veins below her eyes popping out as her eyes turned completely black. The transformation had Charlotte's heart pounding. She'd seen that happen before. She wasn't given the time to try and remember where because Jeremy pointed out the transformation, making Anna turn away from them. Murmuring an excuse she bolted, heading towards the gym doors.

"I've seen that happen before, Jer. I don't know where or when, but I swear I've seen eyes like that." Charlotte murmured turning towards Jeremy.

"I believe you Lottie. I, I think I've seen them too." Jeremy stared after Anna. "But I don't remember where either."

Okay that was weird. They both had seen it before, but couldn't really remember any of the details surrounding where or why.

"I'm going to find out," Charlotte insisted, handing her cup of punch to Jeremy and following after Anna. She needed to know what the strong sense of déjà vu meant.

The hallways were dark the further away from the gym Charlotte went. She fell back, following Anna from a distance once she realized she wasn't heading for the parking lot, but further into the school. When Anna turned a corner down the hallway to the history classroom, Charlotte stopped just before the doorway, peaking around the corner to find a dark figure at the end of the hall. Anna didn't seem surprised or scared of him. Perhaps she was meeting him. Which was strange seeing as she didn't even go to school there.

What was even stranger, and scarier, was how fast Anna moved. One second she was halfway down the hallway, the next she pushed Charlotte up against the lockers, her eyes doing the creepy vein thing again.

"Why are you following me?" Anna asked. For a moment Charlotte was too stunned to answer, focusing on the pointed front teeth she saw when Anna talked. Déjà vu hit her once more when Anna wrapped a hand around her neck. "Answer me. What do you know?"

"Your face, I've seen that happen before," Charlotte murmured.

Flashes of images were racing through Charlotte's head: bite marks, dark eyes, blood, Vicki. It had something to do with Vicki. Trying to piece the puzzle together, it hit Charlotte all at once: vampires. Anna had been trying to get them to believe all along. Because she was one. She must have said that last part aloud because Anna's hands tightened around her throat, causing Charlotte's whole body to shake uncontrollably. In one split second Anna could end her life. Charlotte wasn't ready to die.

"You're going to forget this conversation," Anna ordered, her face returning to normal and her pupils dilating as she stared into Charlotte's eyes. "You're going to go back into the dance and act like nothing happened. You didn't find me. The halls were empty. I already went home."

Charlotte didn't know why Anna spoke so calm and clear. As though she expected just by saying it, Charlotte could pretend as though she didn't know vampires were real. That Anna was one, and maybe Vicki too. She'd freaked out when she thought vampires were just stories, now that she knew they were real she would have nightmares for months. The one part she knew she'd follow was returning to the gym. She had no intention of sticking around if Anna decided to let her go instead of killing her.

When Anna released her grip on Charlotte's neck she immediately stepped away. Trying her best not to run screaming back down the hall, she'd read that was the worst thing to do when a predator stalked you and what was a vampire other than a predator, Charlotte managed to make it back to the gym without glancing back at Anna.

Yanking the doors open, Charlotte scanned the room and found Jeremy still standing on the sidelines, holding her punch. Making her way across the dance floor, Charlotte stopped just in front of him.

"There you are. Did you find out anything useful Sherlock?" Jeremy joked until he realized Charlotte was trembling. Setting the cups of punch on the table, Jeremy rested a hand on each of her shoulders, trying to steady her. "What happened?"

Before Charlotte could tell him anything, not that she knew where to start, Billy sidled up beside them.

"I've been looking for you," Billy said before turning to Jeremy. "Can I steal my girl for another dance?

Jeremy didn't' know what to say. Charlotte was obviously seriously rattled by whatever happened while she was gone, but he knew Billy's question just played off the whole Decade Dance theme. He wasn't really asking Jeremy for permission to steal Lottie away.

"I've barely seen you all night, and you did come as my date," Billy added to Charlotte when neither Jeremy nor she said anything.

"Of course, I'm sorry I've been such a horrible date," Charlotte said, taking the hand Billy extended. With one last glance at Jeremy she mouthed 'later' to him so he'd know she'd explain everything after the dance, when they were alone and couldn't be overheard.

A/N I'm so sorry if this is as horrible as I think it is. I kept trying to make everything flow but it never seemed to work no matter how hard I tried. It seems rushed, but I hit a brick wall when it came to this chapter, so I hope this is decent enough. And I'm hoping I feel more inspired with the next chapter instead of completely blocked. I'm so sorry if this disappointed you all. I'll try my best to do better next time.

Guest review responses

Kat272001: your private messaging was turned off so I am responding here. I'm so glad you found this story too! I feel like there is a lack in Jeremy stories which is why I started this one to show him some love. I'm happy you're liking it so far.

Winter kiss: Yay, glad I could please with the last chapter! Sorry it took a bit to upload this one. It was giving me trouble

Belladu57: Your private messaging is turned off so I am responding here. I'm glad you thought the last chapter was good. I hope you enjoyed this one even though it feels like a hot mess to me.

Rach

xoxo