I joined Elena and Jenna downstairs for breakfast.

Jenna stood up immediately, and promptly handed me a thermometer. I stared at her, dumbfounded. I was still half-asleep.

"To see if you have a fever," she clarified.

Right, because yesterday I'd puked all over the street before fainting in it. Yesterday's clothes were completely ruined.

I knew I didn't have a fever. I knew the nausea had been a warning for Tanner's death.

I didn't know why, I didn't know how, but I knew.

Still, I took the thermometer, stuck it in my ear, and showed her what I already knew; this was no fever.

"Maybe it was food poisoning?" Elena offered.

"Probably." I sighed, wishing I could just tell them. But I couldn't. They wouldn't believe me, and maybe I was wrong. Maybe everything was a coincidence and I had to just go to a doctor.

I made myself breakfast. I glanced at the tv. The news was on.

"To repeat, the animal terrorising Mystic Falls has been caught," Logan Fell said on screen.

After fully processing what he was saying and what it meant, relief flooded through me. They finally caught the animal. There would be no more animal attacks, no more people getting hurt, no more people getting killed.

Maybe my bad feelings would stop, too.

"Scum ball," Jenna muttered, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Scum bucket."

Confused, Elena asked, "Who are you talking to?"

Jenna gestured to the tv. "Him."

"News guy?"

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell. Did your mother ever tell you why I left Mystic Falls?"

"Oh, no way. You and him?" Elena sat down, laughing. "I think he's cute."

"I don't." Jenna glared at the tv. "There's nothing cute about him."

Jenna shut it off, grumbling, causing me and Elena to share amused glances.

That's when I noticed Elena had some trinkets scattered on the counter. "What are those?"

She picked one up. "I went yesterday and got them from the safety deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display."

Jenna picked up a ring. "Is that grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring."

Jeremy barged in and picked something up from the table. "How much do you think this stuff is worth, you know, like on eBay?"

Elena snatched the antique out of his hands. "You're not gonna find out."

"That stuff is Mom and Dad's. You can't just give it away."

"Ten seconds ago, you were gonna sell it on eBay," I pointed out, as Jeremy walked to the fridge.

The bell rang. Elena went to go get it, giddy expression on her face. Judging by that, it was pretty clear who was at the door.

Jeremy turned to me, his eyes narrowing. "Are you really okay with this?"

"With Stelena? Well, I had my reservations, but recently—"

"No," Jeremy interrupted. "I meant Elena giving Mom and Dad's stuff away."

"She's not giving it away. The Lockwoods are just borrowing it."

"I don't trust the Lockwoods," Jeremy said icily.

Translation: he hated Tyler's guts. I didn't like the Lockwoods either, but I did trust them to give our freakin' stuff back. Jeez.

Deciding I was done with the conversation, I walked over to talk to Elena and Stefan instead. They were kissing when I arrived.

"Hello, Stefan," I said, lifting an eyebrow.

The two lovebirds broke apart.

"Melanie." Stefan gave me a smile. "How are you?"

I couldn't believe I ever distrusted this guy. He was kind and polite and he made Elena happy… I'd just been worried he would break her heart. But so far, he was doing a really good job of being her boyfriend. Sure, I still felt something indescribably…off, whenever I was around him, but maybe that was just the fact that I couldn't read his mind. I'd decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Other than last night's disaster, I'm great."

Sympathy flickered in his eyes. "Elena told me what happened with you."

Oh, so Elena was going around telling people I dropped right into my own disgusting vomit now. Glad to know where her loyalties lie.

"Actually, I meant Tanner, but yes. That, too."

Stefan and I continued our small talk for a bit until Elena succeeded in dragging him upstairs.

I came back to the living room, where Jenna was putting her plate in the sink.

"We're still going together to the Founder's party, right?" I checked, approaching her in the kitchen.

"I don't know. You're not feeling well—" she tried, but I scoffed.

"Oh, please. This is about the news guy, isn't it? Logan?" Jenna avoided my gaze. I frowned. "Come on. We had a plan, remember? I can't go alone, I need you."

"Alright, fine," Jenna said. "But you have to promise to help me avoid Logan."

"Done."

We smiled at each other, before Jenna glanced upstairs. She smirked at me. "I'm gonna go have a shower while also making sure Elena's bedroom door stays open."

"Very responsible, Aunt Jenna." I smirked as she went upstairs, before turning to Jeremy with a raised eyebrow. "And then there were two."

"Your math skills are amazing." Jeremy gave me a half-smile. "Listen, do you want to go to the Grill with me?"

I had to do a double-take. "…Really?"

He gave me a weird look. "Yes, really."

"Aren't you supposed to hate me, emo boy?"

"I will if you call me that again," he said, before giving me a look. "I don't hate you, Mel. You're my sister."

I read his mind, and had to refrain from rolling my eyes. As suspected, he didn't want to go to the Grill just to hang out with me—he wanted a ride from me so he could go stalk Vicki.

It wasn't a secret that I hated Vicki, but the thing was, she hated me, too. Me and Elena both. I mostly tried to avoid a confrontation no one wanted. But, then, I did want to spend some time with Jer…

"Fine," I relented. Hang-out time with Jer was worth having to look at Vicki's stupid face. "Let's go."

As we entered the Grill, I spotted the reason Jeremy wanted to go instantly; she wasn't that hard to miss. Dressed in a waitress uniform, Vicki was currently serving the three Lockwoods. I quickly averted my eyes, hoping they hadn't seen me.

Jeremy and I sat down somewhere. Unfortunately, five minutes later, Vicki and Tyler chose to have a conversation close to where we were sitting, so we could hear them pretty clearly. They were talking about Tyler's parents, and the Founder's party. I made a face at being reminded of that stupid party.

I hated Founder's parties. I hated being part of Mystic Fall's elite but not really. I hated getting thinly veiled disapproving stares whenever I showed up. But I couldn't not show up. The heritage project had meant a lot to Mom, and not showing up would truly be a stain on her memory. If she were still alive, she'd make me go. I had to make myself go.

"Can you do something for me?" Jeremy asked.

I looked at him, raising my eyebrows in silent question.

"Could you…" He hesitated. "Could you read Vicki's thoughts? Find out why she likes Tyler despite the fact that he treats her like trash."

Vicki approached us.

"Ask her yourself," I said, pointing.

"You realize you had to ask him to ask you, right?" Jeremy said to Vicki, referring to Tyler's Founder's party invitation. "You figure if you dress up like a respectable young lady he'll finally treat you like one?"

Damn, my brother was a sass master. Vicki didn't seem to appreciate it as much as I did, though. "Screw you, Jeremy."

"You know you're making the wrong choice, and yet you make it anyway. It's sad." Jeremy frowned. I felt bad for him. He was so hung up on Vicki, but Vicki only had eyes for Tyler.

Vicki simply scoffed and walked away, and my hatred for her increased. She wasn't just the girl who caused my boyfriend to cheat on me anymore now.

She was also the girl breaking my baby brother's heart.

I was sitting in the kitchen with Elena and Bonnie, trying to figure out which nail polish to use, when the doorbell rang.

I went to go get it, opening the door once I reached it, only to freeze at the sight...

Tyler.

Yikes.

"I'm here for my mom," he said awkwardly. Apparently I wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable. "I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff."

"Right. I'll go get it, hold on," I told him, went to the living room, grabbed the box and went back to Tyler. "Here. Please be careful with it."

"Yeah, be careful with it, dick," Jeremy said from behind me.

"Quit it," I said, really not in the mood for the Jeremy and Tyler show.

Tyler, of course, wouldn't let it go. "I'm fine, he's just being a punk."

"I got your punk." Jeremy's fists clenched, and I was afraid it was gonna turn physical like last time, but he turned toward me instead. "I can't believe you ever dated this dick."

Yeah, well, nobody's perfect.

"Just go, Tyler," I interjected, before either of them could say or do anything else. "Tell your mom that we'll see her tonight."

I hurried away, back to the kitchen. Elena and Bonnie were still busy doing their nails.

"Hey, Mel, we're trying to decide. Delicate Flower or Naughty Vixen?" my sister greeted me.

"Naughty Vixen looks nice," I said, getting a glass of water for myself.

"Delicate Flower it is," Elena joked.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date," Bonnie teased. I took a few sips of my water. "You seem happy, ish."

"I am, ish." Elena beamed at us. "Tonight's going to be a good night."

"Well, at least you're optimistic." I sighed, drank the rest of my water, and put the glass away.

Elena arched an eyebrow. "You're not?"

"It's a Founder's party." I gave them both a look. "They're stuffy and boring. The only reason I'm even going is—"

Elena looked at me, her eyes shining. I'd cut myself off, but we both knew what I was gonna say. Who I was gonna mention.

We continued to do our nails in silence, until Elena broke it.

"Okay, Bonnie, seriously, you've been wanting to tell me something as soon as you walked through that door," she complained. "Just say it already."

"What if I tell you in the morning?" Bonnie suggested, confirming that there was indeed something she wanted to spill. "I don't want to ruin the night."

Elena gave her a look. "Bonnie, out with it."

"Okay, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed," she warned. "Apparently, Stefan has a very interesting backstory."

I looked up at her, taking a pause from painting my nails. "Define interesting."

"Do you know what happened with his girlfriend, Katherine?"

I nodded, remembering what Damon had told me during the ultra awkward dinner party. "They both dated her before she died in a fire."

Elena's mouth fell open. "Really? …So that's why they have issues."

"If I had to guess, yes." I guess she hadn't known both brothers had dated the girl. I continued to paint my nails, curious what Bonnie was going to say next.

"Yeah, they both dated her," Bonnie allowed, continuing her story. "Only, she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon."

Okay, I knew I'd had trouble trusting Stefan in the past, but that story sounded heavily biased. "That sounds like a pretty one sided story, meaning Damon's side."

"She's right." Elena gave Bonnie a pointed look.

She shrugged defensively. "I just wanted you to know."

"Well, his past relationships aren't any of my business."

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things."

"Yeah? How do you know?"

Elena opened her mouth, then closed it, realizing she didn't know. I gave her a look. Come on, Elena, really?

"I didn't want to create any problems, okay?" Bonnie said, trying to drop the subject. "It's your business."

A little while later, all three of us were in the bathroom, preparing our hair and makeup for the Founder's party when the phone rang. Elena went to go get it after putting down her straightener. After the call ended, she was livid. Bonnie and I asked her what was wrong, but Elena ignored us and went to Jeremy's room. I followed.

Jeremy let out a shout when Elena rudely slapped the headphones off of his head. "God! What now?"

"The pocket watch," Elena demanded. What was she talking about? "Where is it?"

"What watch?" Jeremy asked.

"The one you stole from Mom's box. Look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy," Elena ranted. The watch was missing, and she thought our brother stole it. "And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

I read Jeremy's mind, only to be disappointed. He did take it.

Jeremy wasn't about to admit it, though. "Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it."

"Don't even play that card! Jeremy, you took it!"

I knew Jeremy took it, but Elena was being really harsh. "Leen—"

"If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?"

"Elena!" I exclaimed, but I was ignored.

"Screw you!" Jeremy yelled at our sister. He stood up, and walked over to his bookcase. I frowned at Elena, but she stubbornly met my gaze with a frown of her own. Jeremy then shoved the watch in Elena's hands. "I would never sell this, okay?"

"Then why did you take it?"

"Because it's supposed to be mine. Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?"

"And he was going to give it to you," Elena realized, her features mellowing. It was too late, though. Our brother was furious.

"Just take it and get out," Jeremy snapped, before glancing at me. "Both of you!"

We left.

We returned to Bonnie, and Elena showed her the watch. "Jeremy took it. I don't know what he wants me to do, Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood."

"Give it to him," I said. Elena gave me a look. "Who cares about that promise now? Everything has changed since then. Jeremy should have it."

Elena sighed, still looking conflicted about it.

I left to go put on the dress I was planning on wearing to the Founder's party.

Truthfully, I was starting to be optimistic about this party. Spending the night talking with Jenna and avoiding her ex didn't sound so bad. And it wasn't like the threat of bad feelings still loomed over me; the animal terrorising Mystic Falls had been caught, and I hadn't had a bad feeling since.

I was ready for whatever the night would bring.