I was out in the woods with Ric. We were about to start my vampire hunter training.
"Okay so why don't you start by telling me what happened when you were confronted by this vampire?" He asked.
"Well I held my stake out, hands shaking and she swatted it away." I told him.
"That was the first thing wrong that you did." He responded. "You cannot show fear in the presence of a vampire, despite the fact that they can kill you."
"Easy for you to say, you have a ring that turns you into Claire Bennet." I said to him.
"I don't know who that is." He replied.
"God, does nobody watch Heroes anymore?" I asked rhetorically. "Save the cheerleader, save the world? She can't be killed?"
"Oh I can be killed." He stated. "I just come back. The important thing is you'll stand more of a chance if you don't show fear. Then there's the second thing that you did wrong. You don't reveal your stake to the vampire until you have an opening to kill it."
I couldn't help but wonder if I should have a notepad. I wonder what he was better at teaching: history or how to survive a vampire attack? Hopefully the first, because that's what he was being paid to do.
"Now when you stake a vampire, you need to make sure that you hit it in the heart." He added. "If you miss, it will still hurt, but not kill it."
"Why do you keep referring to them as its?" I questioned
"They're not people anymore." He explained. "As far as I'm concerned, they are not but animals."
Okay that was harsh. Though, I guess since his wife was killed by a vampire, he probably has reason to think that. Also, to be fair, Vicki did act kind animalistic with me in a way that a deranged murderer would.
"So are you going to give me a chance to practice or anything?" I asked. "Maybe you could use a dummy or something?"
"We can cover that tomorrow." He told me. "Right now, I have to go grade things, including your essay. It's getting dark. I'll give you a ride home."
"You don't have to do that." I declared.
"It will give me a chance to see your aunt." He remarked.
"She has a class tonight." I informed him. "She'll probably be gone before we get there."
"Well there are still vampires outside." Ric replied. "No harm in being cautious."
In the end, I rode home with him. Once again, it would be nice to have my own car.
Elena was home, she pretty much had no choice because Aunt Jenna grounded her. She still wasn't talking to Stefan. I decided not to tell her about the gift he had given me.
"Where have you been?" Elena asked.
I decided not to tell her about my extracurricular activities either.
"I was doing some independent studies with Mr. Saltzman." I told her before she gave me a look. "No, I am not dating our teacher. That's just disgusting. So do you want to get pizza?"
Within 30 minutes, the pizza had arrived.
"That'll be twenty-two dollars." The delivery boy said.
"Elena, I need the money!" I called up to her. "Come in and lay on the table."
I went out to the kitchen to get plates and cups while Elena came downstairs and paid the man.
"So why don't you tell me why you went to Atlanta with Damon?" I suggested.
"Well there was this guy in the road and I swerved to avoid hitting him, only to hit him anyway and also total my car. Then he got up and it became clear that he was a vampire. He started to come toward me and then ran away and Damon pulled me out of the car." She explained. I guess neither of us has a car now. "Damon offered to take me home but I said I wanted to go with him instead."
"Why would you do that?" I asked.
"Because I wanted to get out of Mystic Falls for a while." She replied. "He also told me something very important that might shock you."
"What?" I responded.
"I'm adopted." She responded. HUH? "Jenna tells me that I was left at the hospital after I was born and Dad put his and Mom's names on my birth certificate. All I know is my mother's name is Isobel."
"Isobel?" I asked in surprise.
"Yes, Isobel." She repeated. "Why is that important?"
"That's the same name as Mr. Saltzman's dead wife." I explained.
"Well it's a pretty common name, so it's probably not her." Elena responded. "I really don't think Mr. Saltzman is my father. He said that he's from Boston and I'm pretty sure that he had never been to Mystic Falls before."
The next day, I went to the Grill with Caroline after my training. Matt was also there but he was filling out an application.
"So are you going to make a move?" I asked.
"I want to give him some space and be friends." She replied.
"Care, it's never going to happen unless one of you makes a move." I informed her. "And I don't think it's going to be him. You should ask him to the Decade Dance."
"What if he says no?" She questioned in doubt. Caroline could lack in confidence sometimes.
"Ask him as a friend and see if you go farther." I suggested.
I then noticed that Damon appeared to be trying to make peace with Bonnie. Bonnie seemed to not be having it.
"So why does Elena like him when he tried to kill her best friend?" Caroline asked.
"I literally have no idea what she sees in Damon." I replied. "Is that last year's QB Ben McKendrick?"
"Yeah he works here now." Caroline explained. "This is where all washed-up jocks end up."
I really hoped that Matt didn't hear that. Caroline needs to learn not to speak her mind sometimes.
"So are you really training with Mr. Saltzman?" She asked.
"Yes but no one else needs to know that, especially not Elena." I responded. "Today I worked on a dummy for the first time."
The next day, there was no cheerleading and no training because Ric was busy setting up the dance. I volunteered to do punch because my dance partner was out of town. I hoped that he would come back soon. Maybe it would be like one of those movie where he surprises me by showing up at the dance. I'm not counting on it, but it would be romantic. Anyway I was at the Grill again, playing pool by myself. Yes I know it was kind of lame, but Caroline was decorating and I didn't want to get paint on me. I prayed someone would show up.
My prayers were answered when Anna showed up in another gothish ensemble.
"Hey, how did the paper go?" She asked me.
"I got an A." I answered.
"What did he think about the vampires?" She asked with a spooky emphasis on the last word. I should pretend that I don't know that vampires exist here. "Did he believe it?"
"I don't even really believe it." I told her.
"So do you wanna hang out tonight?" She asked.
"I'm manning the punch bowl at the dance tonight." I explained. "You should come."
"Alright I guess I will but I'm not gonna dance with you." Anna said with a smile.
"It has a 50s theme." I pointed out.
"I think I have a poodle skirt somewhere." She stated. Did they even make those in black?
That night, I was getting ready in my room was Elena was doing the same in hers. I was wearing the dress that Stefan had given me. It looked like something out of the 50s.
"Jenna? Jill?" I heard Elena asked. I stepped out of my room.
"What?" I asked.
"I heard a noise coming from downstairs." Elena replied.
She then grabbed the vampire finding compass and noticed it was spinning. The two of us went downstairs and a vampire jumped down from the ceiling and grabbed her. Fuck, it was the pizza delivery boy. I also had left my stake upstairs.
Luckily, Stefan showed up and pushed him out of the way before he could bite her. He then darted out the door.
After a few minutes, Damon was there.
"How did he get in?" Damon asked.
"I…I invited him in." I stammered. I was still a little shocked
"He posed as a pizza delivery boy." Stefan added/
"Okay that was a smart idea." Damon commented. "Looks like we need to find him and kill him. Stefan will take Princess to the dance and I'll be Elena's date."
I glared at him. I hope he doesn't become my brother-in-law someday.
"Okay." Elena remarked before either me or Stefan had a chance to reject the idea. This would be an interesting evening. "Where did you get that dress anyway, Jill?"
"I…um…" I stumbled, trying to think of something.
"It looks like a modified version of something Katherine once wore." Damon commented.
I blushed and I think Stefan did too.
"We should really get going." I remarked.
So at the dance, I was pouring punch for people. I really hoped that my shift was end soon. I was dressed up too nice not to dance.
"Here I am." Anna said as she suddenly appeared.
"Wow you actually don't look like you raided Hot Topic for once." I commented.
"Now that's not nice." She replied sticking her tongue out at me.
"Hey, as someone who went through a Goth phase, I can say that." I told her.
"You went through a Goth phase?" She asked in disbelief "I find that hard to believe."
"It's true." I argued. "I had the black hair and the black clothes. It was after my parents died."
"I'm so sorry." She told me. She then went to get some cups.
"You know you don't have to help." I pointed out. "You don't even go to school here."
"I don't mind." She replied perkily. "It's what you're doing and since you're my friend, I want to talk to you. Oh and by the way, can I borrow your ancestor's journal?"
"I don't have it." I replied.
"Duh, but maybe you could go to your house and get it for me." She declared. Yeah, I'm not going home until the vampire is dead.
"I don't have it because I gave it to my history teacher." I clarified. He was also my mentor.
"Why?" She asked. "Why did you do that?"
"He wanted to read it." I explained.
"Well I guess that's too bad." She responded. "Why don't you go dance and I'll watch the table."
"You don't go there, people will notice that." I pointed out.
"It'll be fine." She urged. "Go have fun."
I went to the dancefloor and saw Elena was dancing with Damon.
"We should dance." I suggested to Stefan. "You are my date after all."
"I don't know." He responded.
"It might make Elena jealous." I added.
He took me to the dance floor, and the DJ started to play Hopelessly Devoted to You by Olivia Newton-John. This of course was from the movie Grease which was set in the 50s but came out in the 70s. Still it was a good song to dance to.
Elena did look jealous. Since I shipped, Stefan and Elena, I decided up the ante a little. I rested my head on his shoulder. It actually felt really nice.
After the dance was over, I went back to the punch table.
"So is he your boyfriend?" Anna asked me.
"No he's just a friend." I told her. "My boyfriend is spending some time with his uncle right now out of town."
"Does he know that you're getting close to other guys?" She teased. I had to roll my eyes at this.
"I'm really only doing it to make my sister jealous." I explained. "She used to date him and he wants her back. So do you have a boyfriend? "
"Well I'm seeing someone right now but it's kind of on the down low."
So apparently while I was working the punch table, I missed all of the good stuff. Elena and the Salvatores had found the vampire and tried to get some answers out of him but weren't able to, so they staked him. I wished I didn't miss it. I wanted to have a chance to stake a vampire.
Like any good date should (even though it wasn't a real date), Stefan took me home. Elena was headed to bed but I wanted a drink before then.
"So I told Damon that I was going help him get Katherine out of the tomb." He told me. "But I lied. I want you to promise not to tell Elena."
"I promise, but I think there's zero chance of her taking you back if she finds out you lied to her." I pointed out.
"That's a chance I'll have to take because I can't risk her telling Damon." He told me.
So here's a word of warning, Damon may have compelled Elena, but it wasn't to have feelings for him, those are all his charm. All the romance is real. Also it looks like Jillian and Stefan continue to grow closer. What will Tyler think of that when he comes back. At the current rate, he'll be back after the tomb is opened. So that will definitely give them time to grow even closer. Please don't forget to review