Disclaimer: See prologue

AN: I haven't abandoned this AT ALL... i just broke 2 laptops in 2 weeks, then my dad screwed up his desktop and I've been fixing that lately... so, I'll do what I can for now, considering everything is on my old laptops...

... ... ...

Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you.

The next little while was quiet, not that Kenzie minded. She went to school and cheerleading practice and she got caught up on schoolwork since the curriculum was different from her old school and she had never been a great student. She noticed after a while though that she hadn't really spoken to anyone besides Caroline and Jeremy.

The youngest Gilbert had caught up with her the day after the pageant to apologize for completely ditching her at the party. Kenzie had gone back in to find him, only to see him making out with the Anna chick from earlier, then leave with her. Not like she was interested in Jeremy or anything, sure he was super cute but from what she heard, he was part of the stoner group and she much preferred the jock types. But they had gone to the party together and she was left begging Caroline for a ride home, who wouldn't stop gushing over her win.

So Jeremy called to apologize and she had brushed it aside, what's done was done and they had talked about the journal some more that Jeremy had just started reading. He told her him and Elena's relationship was strained at best at the moment.

Everyone else seemed busy running off in their own direction doing their own thing. Bonnie hadn't spoken to her, Elena was busy helping Stefan, Damon was doing something with Mr. Saltzman that she hadn't bothered to find out. Not like she was part of their little gang or anything. She had just been thrown in with them because of her ring and what it could mean and if they really needed her for something she was sure someone would call.

The only thing she had going for her besides homework was a recent message from Caroline asking her to help out with the Parade float for Founders Day. Since she was part of the court, she was expected to be on the float along with her escort, which Caroline said was up to her to choose, Damon or Jeremy and please god, choose Jeremy, Caroline had finished with. Her dad had also received an invitation for Founders day as one of the Founding Families which had confused him to no end until Kenzie had explained what everyone had assumed about the long lost Millers. Her dad had only shrugged it off, saying he would go for the food

Days before the parade, the blonde cheerleader had shown up at her door with a pale blue monstrosity of a dress. Kenzie had eyed it suspiciously before announcing to Caroline that the only way she was wearing that late 1800's dress would be if someone stuffed her cold dead body in there and propped her up on the float. Caroline's eyes had narrowed as she told Kenzie not to tempt her, it was her day and it was going to be perfect. Kenzie rolled her eyes, grumbling but took the dress anyways, asking how she was supposed to get herself into it.

Her dad came home at that moment and upon seeing the dress and the very put out look on his daughters face, had burst out laughing. She threatened to make him help her with it on the day of the parade and he disappeared quickly into the kitchen to fix them some food. Caroline had suggested, with a wink, to invite Jeremy over to help her into the dress, leaving her to explain that Jeremy had assumed she would be taking Damon and had signed up for the battle of Willow Creek float. Caroline had sighed but promised to help Kenzie with her dress, all the while lamenting the fact that Damon would be her escort.

Kenzie had to suck it up and get his number from Caroline and ask him to be her escort.

"Not really a good time to ask." He told her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"A lot of stuff, which may or may not end up with my death, which I'm not really too keen on."

"Great, so I'll see you at the parade, I'm sure you were around for enough of them, so you know what to wear, yeah? Thanks, you're a lifesaver."

She swore she heard him growl as she hung up the phone.

The day of the parade, Caroline had texted her saying she got held up with some stuff and to call Elena for some help. Not having any other choice, Kenzie had sucked that up as well and called the taller girl who was glad to hear from her and way too happy with helping. Damon must be right, she was far too kind hearted, but she would take it and grabbing all her stuff, went to Elena's house where her Aunt Jenna again, helped them with getting ready.

Both of the teens had their hair curled, a flower in each of their hair, a red one in Elena's and a dark blue one in Kenzie's. They both changed into their dresses and Kenzie wished she had gotten Elena's dress which was an olive green color with a bright green sash and flowers embroidered on it. Kenzie's was pale blue and full of dark blue ribbons. Enough to make her want to vomit ribbons all over everybody, it was a little overkill in her opinion, actually the whole outfit was. She was thrown into mountains of petticoats as well as a hoop skirt then when Jenna was done with Elena, she was helped with the corset which was by far the worst part, breathing was a huge issue and she was sure that just bending over would have her chest popping right out of her top and she vowed not to bend over.

"You look so good in that." Elena promised her.

Kenzie stared at herself in the mirror from all angles. "Seriously, the ribbons? Too much."

Elena chewed her lip as she stared at it. "You're right, help?" She looked at her Aunt, who quickly nodded and the two descended upon her, ripping off all the excess ribbons until it looked presentable.

When they were done, the two girls looked at each other both wondering the same thing. How were they supposed to get in the car? After much struggle, they finally made it into their car and to the parade grounds, giving each other a push to get out of car, giggling like mad the whole time. Next, they had to find the Salvatore brothers, and when they did, both brothers turned to the girls, both of their jaws dropping at the sight of Elena.

"Looks like you're a hit." Kenzie pointed out.

"It's because I remind them of someone." Elena whispered. "They just haven't noticed you yet."

Kenzie waved her off. "That doesn't bug me, except for the fact that I might be escortless if they decide to fight over you."

"That won't happen." Elena assured her.

"It really wouldn't." Damon said as the guys approached. "You look absolutely divine Ms. Miller." He grabbed her hand, bowing over it.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." She warned him. "I saw that drool on your chin when you saw Elena."

"It's because she looks like Katherine. it surprised us" Stefan told her with a warm smile. "But you do look wonderful Kenzie."

"Thank you." She replied with a small curtsey of her own. "And Katherine, that's like, your twin, right? Bonnie mentioned her."

"You worked things out with Bonnie?" Elena hopefully asked.

Kenzie made a pfft noise as she waved a hand. "There's nothing to work out, big deal, I wanted my ring back, she can come over anytime to play with it."

"Everyone on the floats." Mrs. Lockwood was yelling.

Damon held out an arm for her and she slipped her arm through his as he led her over to the float.

"You are fun to be around Redbird." He murmured to her.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's that whole not super nice thing and biting wit, like you could be one of those mean popular girls."

"I am one of those mean, popular girls." She emphasized.

"And proud of it." He pointed out.

"Don't you forget it and don't call me that ridiculous name."

"I like how you talk to people, your motivation, your reasoning. I mean, I heard everything at the pageant."

"Are you flirting with me?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

He gave a flirtatious smirk as he leaned in close to her. "Would that be so bad?"

"Considering I don't like you?"

"After all I've done for you?" He asked with mock hurt.

"You still tried to bite me."

"Oh come on, that just means I like you."

"It's true." Stefan told her with an almost smile as he turned around. "He doesn't want to kill you anymore, so that's an improvement."

"I feel so blessed." Came her sarcastic reply as Caroline took over setting everyone up on the float.

She of course was at the top with Matt as Miss Mystic Falls and she placed Elena on the steps below her with Tina Fell beside her and Kenzie at the end but when she stepped back to look, she shook her head, pausing in front of Kenzie while trying to ignore Damon.

"You're too short." She told the redhead.

"Gee thanks."

"You look lost on here beside everyone."

"Excuse me, I'll go home and get my 10 inch heels, would that be better for you?"

Caroline gave her a look that told her exactly what she thought of her sarcasm before grabbing her hand and telling Elena to move down. She then pulled Kenzie to the steps and placed her in Elena's old spot, her frown was replaced with a grin.

"Much better." She exclaimed. "Even if I do have to stand next to you." She glared at Damon who smirked at her.

"Ya know, you seem very popular." Kenzie muttered to Damon as he took his spot behind her.

"What can I say? People love me."

"delusional much?" She asked, shooting him a smirk as the parade before them started. "But you know, you never did answer my question yesterday after the dance." She glanced over at Elena and Stefan, the latter looking over at them with curiosity.

"So if I dropped something and you had to bend over to pick it up, what do you think would happen?" He asked, referring to the Corset she was practically bursting out of and completely ignoring her question.

She smirked as she began waving at everyone. "Probably fall out of my corset and wouldn't that be quite the show for everyone?"

Beside her Stefan began laughing, finding Kenzie's ability to deal with Damon and not be caught off guard, funny. After the glare from his brother, he covered it with a cough and Kenzie shot him a smile before she glanced back at Damon, noting his furrowed brow as though he was trying to figure out a way to catch her off guard.

"I won't repeat it again, although I still am curious about the answer." She told him, referring to her earlier question.

"How about I'm not?" He answered her.

"someone is lying." She sang.

"Don't make me bite you." He warned her, causing Stefan to turn slightly towards them, ready to intervene if necessary.

"I was serious when I said you wouldn't like the taste of me." She whispered as she smiled and continued waving to the crowd. "I'm all bitter and would definitely get stuck in your teeth."

Beside her, Stefan let out a small noise of amusement as Damon placed a hand on her waist to lean closer. "I might have to test that theory."

"You know, there are certain things that you can do with hairspray, Nair and superglue, and sooner or later, you're gonna hafta sleep."

He let out a long, loud laugh, causing everyone on the float to look at them. "Redbird, you are absolutely delightful."

She rolled her eyes before pasting an even bigger smile on her face and she focused her attention on that. She spotted Bonnie in the crowd and saw both Elena and Caroline wave at her. The witch smiled back until her gaze landed on Damon and Kenzie. Her smile dropped and her eyes narrowed at them.

"Me or you?" Kenzie asked, leaning back towards him.

"Hm, perhaps a little of both. You were quite nasty last time you spoke with her."

"That was downright nice." She argued.

"I do need to thank her though." Damon mused.

"Are you even capable of that?"

"Yes. The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don't take what she did lightly."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, turning to look at him in confusion.

Damon shrugged. "There was this device, it would've killed us all and because of Bonnie and her mojo, it's now useless, so I owe her."

"Is that why everyone has been gone as of late? I thought I just smelled or something." She joked, causing Damon to lean closer and smell her neck.

"Nope."

"Can you quit leaning over so you can look down my top? I'm very well aware of how awesome my boobs look in this corset."

Damon chuckled and Kenzie looked up with a smirk at Bonnie as she gave a little wave. The witches eyes narrowed even more before she turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"Ouch, that would downright hurt my feelings-" Kenzie began.

"-if you had any." Damon finished.

Kenzie now turned to look at him with an appraising grin. "You know, I think I just might hate you a little less."

"My life is complete." Was his dry response.

"You guys are way too alike." Stefan muttered at them.

… … …

After the parade was over, Elena and Kenzie went to change but were called back by Caroline who took lots of pictures with Elena before letting her go and pulling Kenzie in for a lot of pictures, all the while drilling her on her relationship with Damon. One that she denied over and over again but to no avail. By the time the pictures were done being taken, Caroline had convinced herself that Kenzie and Damon were caught up in some secret heavy love affair and it was up to her to stop it.

Kenzie finally extracted herself from the blonde and her now crazy ramblings and disappeared into the washroom to change. Struggling to get herself out of the evil dress and corset before changing into a skirt and top, all the while happy that she could breathe properly again.

When she exited the bathroom, she spied Elena and Damon standing close together as they talked. She slowly made her way over to them, hearing Elena tell Damon not to make her regret being her friend. The tall brunette then left him, walking over to her brother and Kenzie sidled up beside Damon with a small smirk.

"Don't make her regret it." She teased him.

"You, again?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Aw, are you guys friends now? Does it bug you?"

"Does what bug me?" He asked, looking almost annoyed as he watched Elena speak with her brother.

"Oh, you know. Being totally in love with her while she's dating her brother."

His head turned slowly to look at her. "You know just because I said I don't want to kill you anymore doesn't mean I won't if you piss me off."

Kenzie waved him off. "I have this great sixth sense about people. I'm sure I piss you off but no matter how much I do, you won't kill me. I amuse you too much."

"Right now, you're grating on my last nerve."

"Struck a chord, did I?"

"No." He snapped.

"mmhmm." She replied, showing she clearly didn't believe him.

"I really should snap your neck."

"Go for it." She replied. "But after that, you're still gonna love her."

"I have to go." He told her, abruptly leaving to follow after Jeremy who had walked away from his sister.

"You and Damon seem to be getting kind of close." Elena commented, taking the elder Salvatore's spot beside Kenzie.

"Ha, he has eyes for only one person, if that's what you're getting at."

"I don't want them." The brunette quietly told her, causing the other girl to shrug.

"It is what it is."

"Do you wish those eyes were for you?"

Kenzie grinned. "Not by a long shot. I annoy him, he annoys me. He threatens to kill me, I laugh and tell him to go ahead."

Elena turned wide eyes on her. "Don't joke about death with him Kenzie, that's something he takes seriously. He will kill you without a second thought. He claims to be trying for me and I think he is but he has no qualms with killing you, especially if you goad him."

"Then he would've done it by now."

"He doesn't need a reason just one day, he'll get annoyed and do it, I don't want that to happen to you. You're a nice girl Kenzie, you don't need to hang around someone like him."

"Why, because we're friends?" she sarcastically asked.

"well, yes."

Kenzie sighed. "Elena, you really don't know me at all. I'm not a nice person, I'm not the type of person you should be friends with, you're far too nice."

"You're a nice person too."

The redhead sighed, rubbing at her temples. "No, I'm not. I was a bitch at my last high school and before long I'll get that reputation here too. And I'm okay with that because truth is, I'm not a big fan of people in general. They're only useful to me as long as they can do something for me."

"And what can we do for you?" Elena asked. "You've been nice to us."

"You offered me information on something that confused me. This ring-" She held up a hand, wiggling her fingers. "-I lost it, over a year ago. Then my first night here, I wake up from some nightmare I can't remember with it in my hand and all of a sudden people are telling me they can tell me something about it so why wouldn't I take it?"

Elena shook her head, there was more to Kenzie, she just knew it.

"Yes." Kenzie emphasized.

"But that still doesn't mean you should goad Damon. What if he does kill you?"

An eye roll from the shorter girl.

"What if I don't care?" She asked before walking away.

… … …

"Hey Kiddo, you want to go home?"

Kenzie looked at her dad as he came up beside her in Mystic Square as the Mayor made a speech.

"Not really." She replied. "Not a lot to do at home."

"You can talk to your friends from California."

She made a noise of disgust. "we stopped all pretenses a couple days ago now that Jessica has gotten into her groove as captain. They don't need to pick my brain to be state champs anymore so they've all magically disappeared from Skype, funny that."

"What about your new friends here?" he asked.

"Dad, just drop it, go on home, I'll find someone to hang out with."

"Hey Mac, I know this whole move, hell the past couple years, have been hard on you."

"Really? Haven't noticed." She muttered, looking down before glancing back at him. "And don't call me that."

He ignored the last part, "But we had to start over, and this was as good as place as any. At least you're cheerleading again." He pointed out. "And a week here and you were in a pageant and today a parade. You looked really good, all grown up. You reminded me of your mother, the way you carried yourself."

Now Kenzie looked away as she crossed her arms under her chest, willing the tears not to appear. She was so sick of hearing that from all her relatives, from everyone really. She reminded them of her mother and it wasn't comforting in the least, they didn't realize or care just how much it hurt her.

"Kenzie." Her Dad tried again.

"I'm fine dad, just go home, I'll be home in a while."

He stared at her a few more moments before sighing and leaving with a quiet goodbye. Kenzie refused to move as she tried to gather her bearings and keep the tears at bay. She refused to let anyone see her cry, even if it was strangers all around her.

"Redbird, time to leave."

She didn't react to the name and Damon stopped in front of her with a small frown. "Hey, are you okay?"

She nodded, still not meeting his eyes and he actually reached out and lifted her chin, turning her head up towards him.

"I'm fine." She told him in a wavering voice.

"Right because you look it. And really, I would actually take the time to ask you what was going on if not for the fact you need to leave, like five minutes ago."

"why?" She asked, noticing he had yet to drop his hand from under her chin.

"Bad things." He told her. "So go home."

"Are you taking me?" She looked at him now, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"I can't, I have things to do." He dropped his hand. "So can you leave? Find Caroline or call Elena, her and Stefan shouldn't be far away."

He walked away just as the fireworks started and Kenzie watched him before deciding to follow and completely ignore his warning. He left the square heading towards some offices before slipping inside. She slowly crept up to the window and looked in, seeing Damon talking to Elena's Uncle John. She couldn't hear what they were saying but as Damon moved towards him, he grabbed his head, falling to the ground as he began to scream. John just smiled and Kenzie's eyes widened in disbelief as she rushed into the office.

"Stop it, you're hurting him." She screamed.

"What are you doing?" Damon grunted as she dropped beside him. "Run."

"You have no idea what you walked in on." John warned her. "He's a Vampire, he will kill you the moment he gets a chance.

"I don't care, stop it!" She yelled as Damon continued screaming. "I know what he is and I don't care. Stop."

"I don't think so." The older man told her as he pulled out a syringe.

"What are you doing?" She asked again as she moved so she was between him and Damon.

"I'm doing what needs to be done." John told her, "So move, you don't want to be caught up in this."

He easily pushed her aside as he knelt beside Damon. Kenzie looked around for something to help her when she noticed a box that John had been looking at when Damon had gone down. She scurried over to it, confused as she momentarily watched the gears move before she picked it up, smashing it to the ground.

"What are you doing?" John yelled. "Do you have any idea what you screwed up?"

"Your evil little plan?" She guessed, seeing Damon had stopped screaming.

He glanced outside the window before turning back to her with a smile. "Not really. I think we were about done anyways."

"Done what?" She asked.

"Catching the Vampires." He leaned over Damon again with the needle and Kenzie jumped at him but too late as he plunged it into Damon. John turned and threw her across the room, which wasn't hard to do, considering how tiny she was. Her head hit the wall and she slumped to the ground in a daze. She lifted her head to see Damon looking at her but before she could do more, her head fell back and she was unconscious.

… … …