A/N: I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for reading this and I am sorry that I haven't updated in a really long time. If you still like the story and will continue reading as I start to update again, thank you. If you completely lost interest, thank you for reading anyways. I have had mentality issues, that's not an excuse, but still. I haven't felt good at anything, least of all writing a decent paragraph. I am slowly getting into it again, rekindling a spark for writing. Please bear with me, please read and if you enjoy it, amazing.
I don't know if I will be splitting each episode into multiple chapters, but it is much easier for me to write that way. Did you like the previous chapters? What do you want to see in the future and what about chapter length? Sorry for the long wait! Please review!
Chapter 7 - Wish upon a Star
~X~
Carol Lockwood was not happy. All afternoon she had been told over and over again by Mystic Falls teachers that Harper was a good student, but not a great one. She lacked something, and that something was the reason for not having great grades. Some teacher's even took pity on her and stated that seeing Harper try so hard was not something you saw in a 'normal' student, whatever that meant. All in all, by the end she only had one teacher left, Mr. Tanner. And just as she was about to open the door to his classroom, one very angry Jenna Sommers stomped out of it.
"Ah, Jenna.. how good to see you!" Carol smiled, even though she was a bit shocked that she almost got the door slammed into her face.
"Carol, Mrs. Lockwood, hello" Jenna took a deep breath and looked at Carol. The older woman looked perfect in her beautiful expensive clothing and almost serene calmness that was her aura. Carol always seemed to be a rather put together housewife and always in control, which freaked her out immensely.
"What are you doing here?" she added.
"I've scheduled some parent-teacher conferences between me and Harper's teachers. She tells me so little about her school days" Carol sighed and looked into the classroom of Mr. Tanner. He was probably waiting on her.
"That's great" Jenna hated that arrogant man. He knew nothing of parenting and was lecuting her about doing a better job. She was a college student that was taking care of teenagers! She had been doing this for four months! She needed to be cut some slack.
"Yeah, Harper is such a sweet girl and I really hope that now that she lives with us she will get a better life" Carol hinted that by obvious superior economical status, Harper would be much happier. Even though Harper didn't care one bit about suddenly having a lot of money, and more about her not getting abused by Carol's husband by the end of the day.
"It sure isn't easy raising two kids" Jenna agreed, not knowing what was going on behind closed doors. All that she could see was a woman in the same seat as her, having two teenagers to take care of.
"How's it going for you?" Carol asked and placed a hand on Jenna's shoulder for support.
"To be honest, not that good. I feel like I am failing whatever move I make to be an adult" Jenna stated and sighed. She was getting tired from all the mistakes she seemed to be making. Jeremy just wouldn't listen to her, no matter what she did he would not listen. And Elena barely said anything to her regarding her own feelings or situation at school.
"Miranda made it look so easy" Jenna added and looked down onto her stilettos. Feeling shame and disappointment over herself almost drowned her.
"I understand you, teenagers are crazy. They think that they are adults who can do whatever they want" Carol said and tried to cheer Jenna up. She felt sorry for her and wanted to help the woman who was in a similar situation as her. Tyler had his anger management issues that he got from his father and Harper didn't even open up to her to know what was wrong.
"Right?! They never seem to listen" Jenna bursted out and looked at Carol who laughed.
"What you need to do is start with something simple, like a curfew" Carol stated.
"They would break it-"
"Then you parent them, Jenna, you are the boss. Not them" Carol said and looked Jenna in the eye. The young girl needed to realize that she was the one who was the parent and not the kids. If they got the upper hand, Jenna would surely give up by year's end.
~X~
Harper and Tyler had decided to watch the comet together after he had picked her up at the hospital. Matt and Harper had been there for Vicki up until Jeremy Gilbert's entrance. That was the point when Harper said an awkward goodbye and called Tyler, at the same time as Matt discharged Vicki since she had stated that she was feeling good enough to go home.
"I don't see the big thing about this 'special' night" Tyler grunted and looked around at everyone that had gathered in the town square. It was now dark and closing in on the comet passing by.
"What do you mean? The comet is super rare" Harper hummed as she looked over the pamphlet she had gotten from Elena. Tyler held a candle in each hand, one for him and one for Harper.
"It will just fly by" Tyler stated and looked at Harper with a raised eyebrow.
"You don't get it," Harper rolled her eyes. Looking up at the clear, perfect starry sky made her terribly sad. She and Henry had looked forward to this moment as soon as it was announced that it would happen. They had a silly plan to hold hands when it passed and make a wish. It was a plan to wish for happiness and a better life, they thought that if normally one would wish upon a star. A comet would have an even greater effect. With wet eyes she looked over at Tyler and reached out a hand.
"Would you hold my hand?" She asked, tears in her throat. Tyler looked at her loke she was crazy. But in his gut he knew that the comet meant more than he thought. Without any complaints or snarky comments, he took her hand in his.
"Look!" A little girl shouted behind them, making the pair look up once again. Beautifully, the comet started to drift by.
"Make a wish Tyler" Harper whispered as he handed her candle back to her as she shoved the paper into her jacket pocket.
"A wish?, what would I wish for?" He scoffed lightly.
"Anything, wish for anything you want" She sighed and closed her eyes tightly. Tyler snickered a little at her seriousness, but as he looked up at the sky. He couldn't help himself but to wish for a good year for both of them. He wished for a good football season and that his father would be kinder to the family members. Finally, when the comet had passed, they let go of each other.
Together they walked into the grill and decided to play some pool. She wasn't very good at it, meaning she had never played it before in her life. Which made Tyler crush her in every round they played. Around the last couple of them, when Harper had started to get some hang of aiming, Vicki's shift started. Harper was shocked to say the least that she was there, that soon after her discharge.
"You should.. You should try and be nice to her. Girls like that" Harper nodded towards her former co-worker. Tyler had been glancing at her from time to time, and Harper figured it was solely because he wanted to get together with her.
"I'm an ass," Tyler sighed, who felt like he had swallowed a thousand stones. He wanted a clean break from Vicki and also the opportunity to apologize.
"Just a little bit" Harper snickered, at that moment Matt walked into the grill. Suddenly she became quiet and shy, wanting to almost run away from the place. Tyler turned towards his best friend and raised an eyebrow. Harper seemed to have a type, boys Elena Gilbert had let go from her talons and was emotionally scarred because of it.
"You deserve someone better than him" Tyler stated and looked at Harper, who stammered so hard that she looked like a fish out of water.
"I-I thought Matt was your friend" Harper said and glanced at Matt, he seemed almost too dreamy in the soft lights of the restaurant.
"He is, but he is also very hung up on Elena. And she will never let him go until she has the new guy all wrapped around her fingers" Tyler said and turned completely towards Harper. He would never understand girls, least of all Harper Bellrose, but dammit he just wanted her to not get heartbroken.
"She can't be that bad," Harper sighed. She knew that it was totally possible for Elena Gilbert to be that evil. She was the golden apple of Mystic Falls, perfect in every way. Of course a girl like that would take anything she wanted, no questions asked. That was Harper's opinion at least.
"Then you don't know Elena Gilbert" He scoffed and turned to get one final glance at Vicki, but realized that she was gone.
"I need a drink" He said and psychically pulled Harper away from the pool table and towards an empty table near the entrance. Others joined them eventually, and suddenly the grill seemed to be packed with people.
"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Jeremy Gilbert walked over to them, looking freaked out of his mind.
"You are her stalker, you tell us" Tyler stated, which made Harper roll her eyes at him.
"Can't find her" Jeremy explained to the group, looking like a lost puppy.
"Maybe she found someone else to party with, sorry pill pusher, I guess you have been replaced" Tyler smirked, and Harper felt a bad feeling in her stomach. She had bonded with Tyler quite a lot recently, but sometimes he was such a dick.
"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asked, looking between her little brother and Tyler.
"Ask him" Tyler scoffed at Jeremy and then turned his attention back to Harper. She had been sipping on Tyler's drink the whole evening. He knew the bartender and slipped him a simple extra 20 to get a rum and coke instead of simple coke. Which Tyler wasn't sure Harper knew.
"Can we not do this right now?" Harper mumbled, her breath smelling very sweet from the rum.
"Are you dealing?" Elena asked her brother, looking rather furious.
"She will never go for you," Tyler stated, making Harper sigh.
"Tyler-" Harper began, but Jeremy just had to one-up the older teenager.
"She already did! Over and over and over again" Jeremy shouted, making some heads turn their way.
"Great going, shouting it out to the whole bar and in front of her brother" Harper scoffed and looked at Matt with sorry eyes. While Tyler realized that there was no way Harper wasn't at the bare minimum tipsy right now, and took away his drink from her hands,
"This is your last darlin'" Tyler sighed and looked at Harper, who quickly gained her typical 'tipsy puppy eyes', as he called them and reached for the drink again. But Tyler wouldn't let it go.
"You slept with Vicki Donovan, I mean Vicki Donovan slept with you" Caroline said in a very unbelieving tone, she couldn't focus on the drama around her. Elena's brother was both dealing drugs and sleeping with a senior, and Tyler was also getting cozy with his supposed foster sister right in front of the whole gang.
"No way" Tyler stated and finally shugged the remaining quarter of the drink to get the tipsy Harper off his back.
"And I didn't even have to force her into it," Jeremy added, staring right at Tyler.
"What the hell is he talking about Ty?" Matt exclaimed. Which made Harper mad, Tyler may be a dick sometimes, but in no way was he a rapist.
"Tyler would NEVER do something like that!" Harper said and looked at Matt, trying to convince him with her eyes.
"Ignore him, he is just a punk" Tyler said and stood up, no longer caring about the young Gilbert looking for a fight.
"How about we all just shut up and together we find my sister" Matt stated, making everyone in turn stand up and form a plan to find her.
It took a few hours, with everyone searching high and low around the square and other restaurants open that night. Finally reports of Vicki returning to Matt was shared. Harper felt a huge relief, she had wished wholeheartedly for no more injuries or god forbid, deaths, in the community.