Audrey rolled her eyes playfully as she listened to Eden's reaction to the events of the night before. The two got out of Eden's car once it was parked and met each other at the front, beginning to walk toward the school.
"So wait, you're telling me that Jeremy outed himself and Vicki as sleeping together to everyone in his sister's immediate circle, including Tyler, and I missed that?" Eden asked incredulously, letting out a groan at the thought.
"Yep. Quick and without hesitation. It was like watching someone else," Audrey nodded.
"But, you said he texted you last night, right? Saying that she was with Tyler."
Audrey shrugged her shoulders in response, looking over at the other girl. "I possibly had something to do with that," she replied quietly.
"Wait what?" Eden asked, even more in shock than the first time.
"Not intentionally. When we were looking for Vicki, everyone split up, and I ended up with Tyler. I told him that he was a dick for outing Jeremy for dealing, and ended up telling him that if he liked Vicki, he should actually show it."
Eden's brow arched at that, looking over at her friend. "Wow, and why are you giving Tyler Lockwood relationship advice all of a sudden?"
Audrey scoffed, "I'm not. I'm just.." she sighed, trailing off for a moment as she thought of how to word her next sentence. "Tyler's not a bad guy. Not really, at least. Not deep down. He's an asshole, but, if that's who Vicki chooses, then Jeremy's going to have to move on eventually. Plus, Tyler might as well know that he's acting like a complete ass."
The older girl looked at her friend a bit curiously, but nodded. "Okay, I guess you have a point. And when Jeremy does move on, you're just sitting around waiting and hoping that he picks you to move on with, correct me if I'm wrong."
Biting down on her lower lip, Audrey looked away, rolling her eyes. "I'm not sitting around waiting. But, if it happens, I wouldn't exactly argue."
Eden moved to step in front of Audrey, placing her hands on either of her shoulders. "Look, I don't know what it is about Gilbert that makes you so crazy — honestly, I don't see it at all — but, you need to know that even if nothing ever happens between the two of you, you are still the best thing to ever happen to him. Whether he knows it or not."
Audrey looked on at Eden as she spoke, grinning fondly at her friend's words. "Hey, if all else fails, maybe I'll just date you," she joked.
Eden scoffed playfully, turning and starting to walk with the other, "Babe, you couldn't handle me," she teased in return.
Audrey laughed along with Eden, her brow furrowing as she saw Jeremy starting to storm past them.
"Hey," she spoke, tone attempting to calm him as she grabbed his arm. "What's wrong?"
Jeremy stopped abruptly, yanked back by Audrey's grip on his arm. "What do you think is wrong? Didn't you get my message last night?" he asked, his frustrating doing nothing to hide the hurt in his voice.
Audrey sighed, glancing over at Eden for a moment as if to tell her not to say anything before looking back at Jeremy. "I did, I didn't see it until this morning. Are you okay?"
He scoffed a little, "I came out and asked her, if it was all about the drugs. She said it wasn't, but couldn't say anything to prove it otherwise. I just don't know what else I can do."
Eden touched Audrey's arm lightly to get her attention before excusing herself to give the other two a minute.
"I'm sorry, Jer. Hey, why don't we go to the pit and just relax, okay?"
Jeremy shook his head, "She's out there right now. Let's just go inside or something," he spoke. Moving to walk beside her, Jeremy's arm moved around Audrey's shoulders and she walked with him, allowing herself to settle a bit closer against his side.
It was all a bit masochistic, and she knew it, yet still, she couldn't seem to change the way that she felt.
"So, I heard Eden talked you into cheer tryouts later. Who am I going to hang out with at the pep rallies now if you make it?" he asked, nudging her lightly.
Her eyes rolled playfully, and Audrey shook her head, "I'm sure you'll figure it out. Besides, it'll give you an actual reason to be there without just drinking on the sidelines," she teased him.
Jeremy let out a short laugh, shaking his head, "Yeah, yeah. You say that as if you wouldn't be with me."
Audrey smirked a little, "Only because you're such a bad influence. Not to mention a pain in the ass."
Jeremy grinned, "Maybe. But, I'm your pain in the ass."
She grinned at that, shaking her head and continuing into the building with him.
— — — — — — — — — —
The day went on a bit long, and though she didn't know exactly what to expect from cheer tryouts, she wasn't too anxious. She enjoyed dancing, and even if she didn't make the squad, then at least she could say she'd tried, and had a fun experience. Plus, being on the squad with Eden, and even Bonnie, could give her the chance to spend more time doing something productive, and less time worrying about her feelings for Jeremy.
After changing into her athletic wear, she made her way out to the field for tryouts. The other girls in the squad and the ones who were trying out were already waiting, As Audrey got closer, she saw Eden sitting with Bonnie and made her way over.
"Hey guys," she greeted, getting a big smile in return from both girls.
"I told you I'd talk her into it," Eden told Bonnie, smiling wide.
"You did. Now, if only we could get Elena to show up," Bonnie pointed out.
"Elena's back on the team? I didn't think that she'd be ready for that," Audrey spoke quietly.
In that moment, they heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, the three girls saw Elena walking up.
"Oh my God, you're here!" Bonnie said excitedly, moving to hug Elena, the other girls giving her a polite smile.
It wasn't that Audrey disliked Elena, particularly. She just didn't agree with everything she did or said, especially when it came to how she treated Jeremy at times. She knew that the older Gilbert was only trying to look out for her brother, but she also couldn't help but wonder if she could go about it another way. Jeremy was fifteen. The last person that he wanted to listen to was his bossy older sister.
Eden and Audrey distanced themselves from Bonnie and Elena's conversation, Eden grinning, "So, did you get the chance to practice the choreography? Either way, Caroline would be an idiot not to let you on the squad. You're probably a better dancer than half of these girls."
Audrey rolled her eyes a bit at Eden's compliments. "I wouldn't say all of that. After all, it's been a while since I've really danced. I haven't taken classes since middle school. Plus, even if I don't make it, I'm sure it'll be fine, and I can always try again next year."
Eden shook her head, "You're going to make it, I have a feeling."
The group of girls hung around a bit longer, waiting for Caroline to show up to start warm ups. After a few more minutes, an older blue convertible pulled up, blaring music from its speakers. Several of the girls looked up, Audrey and Eden's brows arching as they saw Caroline lean in and kiss the man driving the car, soon overhearing as Elena said that was Stefan's brother, Damon.
"Wow. That's a lot to unpack," Eden spoke quietly.
"Tell me about it," Audrey replied, moving into formation with the other girls.
— — — — — — — — — —
After warm-ups, the girls ran through the choreographed routine a few times before Caroline started making each of them do the dance one by one, mentally eliminating those who didn't make the squad as she went along.
Once it was Audrey's turn, she moved into starting position, nodding that she was ready. As the music began, she moved to it perfectly as practiced, even adding a bit of her own flair to the routine at points, earning a critical arch of Caroline's brow.
The routine ran its course, and once the music stopped, Caroline smiled her normal, over the top smile, "Thanks, Audrey, we'll let you know," she spoke, dismissing her.
As she started to walk away, she heard Caroline and Bonnie muttering to each other, Caroline pointing out that she had added to the routine, and Bonnie agreeing, but pointing out that Audrey had been one of the best auditions so far.
She walked over to sit beside Eden with the others who'd already taken their turn, grinning as she approached her.
"Okay, that was badass. I knew you had the routine totally down, but that little extra you put in there? Amazing," Eden praised.
"Yeah? I don't know that Caroline thought so," Audrey replied, but smirked nonetheless. She didn't regret it. In her days of taking dance class, the teachers had always encouraged them to make themselves noticeable and sell the routine. On a stage with that many other girls, it was easy to get lost in the crowd, and that was the last thing that anyone ambitious like Audrey wanted.
"Yeah, well, Caroline's just upset that she didn't think of those extra moves herself," Eden spoke. "I'll be you a basket of fries at the Grill that you're on the squad."
Audrey arched her brow at that, "Ugh, you know me and my love of carbs so well. Fine, I'm in."
The girls continued their conversations for a bit longer until Caroline called out that they'd decided who had made the squad. Standing up and moving closer, Audrey and Eden glanced at each other, waiting to see if Audrey's name was called.
Caroline spoke up, looking from a list that she'd made on her phone, "Okay, if I call your name, you're on the squad. If not, then better luck next year." With that, she began calling out names, listing off a few before she called Audrey's.
"Audrey Evans," Caroline spoke, finding the girl in the crowd. As the two made eye contact, there was a bit of a challenging nature in Caroline's eyes and Audrey nodded as if to say she picked up on it.
Eden nudged her then, grinning wide, "I told you so. You owe me a basket of fries."
Audrey rolled her eyes, letting out a laugh, "Fine. But, only because I want some myself," she teased.
— — — — — — — — — —
The two girls went to the Grill after practice, Audrey sticking to their deal and buying her and Eden a basket of fries. They had spotted Jeremy on the way in, though it was obvious to see that he wasn't concentrated on anyone but Vicki and Tyler.
Tyler had just not-so-subtly grabbed Vicki's ass, and Audrey rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she stole another look at Jeremy. He was watching intently, even spotting the way that Tyler kissed her cheek before starting to walk away.
Audrey saw Matt walk over to Jeremy after a moment, she was assuming to console him. Jeremy was her friend and she loved him, even more so than she let on, yet still, it was nice to not be the only one helping him through his troubles with Vicki anymore.
Eden waved her hand in front of Audrey's face, bringing the other girl's attention back to her. "Hey, did you hear anything that I just said?"
Audrey sighed, shaking her head, "I'm sorry."
Eden looked over in the direction that Audrey was and playfully tossed a fry at her, "Eyes over here, Evans. That's a train wreck that you don't need to keep entertaining."
She nodded a little, "Yeah, you're probably right."
With that, she heard familiar voices yelling back and forth at one another, and she looked at where she'd seen Jeremy with Matt, seeing that he was no longer there. Then, she looked in the direction of the chaos, seeing Jeremy and Tyler seemingly about the fight, Matt holding the older male back.
"Wow," she commented to herself. The more time that went on, the more that she began to believe that Eden was right.
"See?" Eden spoke as both boys stormed off in opposite directions. "Train wreck."
— — — — — — — — — —
The next day was the football game, and Audrey's first event as an official part of the cheerleading squad. Though it was something new, she followed Eden's lead, knowing that she'd figure it out that way if she were to forget any moves or slip up in any way.
Before the game, everyone was tailgating, the cheerleaders and football team all gathered around Coach Tanner as he led with a pre-game speech, officially introducing Stefan to the team. There were cheers and clapping, most people glad to hear that they had more of a chance of winning the game than before, thanks to the new addition.
Audrey looked around, catching Eden's eye and earning a large smile from her, which she returned. Her eyes then found Jeremy in the crowd, drinking and passing a bottle around with a few others, just like she said he would.
She let out a sigh to herself. The tension between Jeremy and Tyler had been building and building, and she knew that soon enough, one of them was going to explode, only able to contain it all for so long. She just hoped that Jeremy truly knew what he was getting himself into.
After a few more moments, there was a commotion behind the group of tailgaters, and she could hear a girl shouting. Gradually, the crowd began to turn, to move and investigate. Soon enough, she spotted Jeremy and Tyler locked in a fight, trading blows, Vicki screaming at the two of them to stop, and for Tyler to get off of him.
Audrey moved toward the front of the crowd, approaching beside Elena. She walked up just in time to see Stefan pull Tyler off of Jeremy, letting out a small sigh of relief that they'd been separated.
Then, a reflection of light caught her eye and her glance moved to the broken bottle on the ground, glistening in the bright lights around the football field. Jeremy moved to pick the broken bottle up, moving toward Tyler with it, but hitting Stefan's hand instead.
"Jeremy, no!" Elena called out.
"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Matt yelled, pulling Tyler back and away from the fight.
Audrey's eyes surveyed the situation, trying to determine just where she should go, who she should try and talk to, or if she should do anything at all. She exhaled heavily, eyes finally settling on Eden and moving over to where she was standing with Bonnie and Caroline.
Eden held her hand out for Audrey, and she moved to take it, squeezing it lightly.
"You okay?" Eden asked, looking over at her friend.
Audrey nodded, "I'm fine."
"And Jeremy?"
"He's too messed up right now to feel too much of anything. I'm sure he'll be fine, he'll just be feeling it later," she spoke, rolling her eyes.
Eden nodded, moving with the other girls and lightly tugging Audrey along with her as the crowd began to disperse, the football team heading to the locker rooms to get changed into full uniform.
— — — — — — — — — —
As if the night wasn't eventful enough with Jeremy and Tyler's fight and Stefan nearly getting his hand sliced open from the broken bottle, Matt ended up finding Coach Tanner's body outside of the locker rooms, neck torn open, just like Vicki had been.
The crowd that had previously come to watch the game stood around as the first responders worked to clear the scene. Audrey stood beside Eden, their arms wound through one another's and her head resting on Eden's shoulder.
"What kind of an animal would do this?" Audrey asked, more to herself than anyone else.
Eden shook her head, "I don't know. I just hope that they catch them soon."
Audrey nodded to agree and let out a sigh, knowing that once her mom heard about this, there was a big chance that she wouldn't be allowed out on her own after dark.
Reaching down into her jacket pocket, she typed out a text to Jeremy. She could see him sitting on the edge of the bleachers, and though she could tell that he wanted space, and she didn't want to be as involved in the drama with him and Vicki anymore, she wanted to make sure that her friend was okay.
She typed out the message and looked back to where she saw him sitting. Before she hit send, she saw Vicki walk over, kneeling down to be level with him and the two of them sharing a moment. Instead of sending the text, Audrey backed out what she had typed and put her phone away.
"Ready to head home?" she asked Eden. "You can stay at mine tonight, I'm sure my mom won't mind."
Eden nodded and turned to leave the area, the two girls walked out to the car and heading home.