Jessie was at school. She watched as Stefan pulled up in his flashy 60s car. She was someone who never really understood classic cars. Wasn't the gas mileage on those things supposed to be horrible? He talked to Elena and seemed to have her fooled, but she noticed the bags of blood in his trunk.
"You really fooled her." She commented as she appeared at his side.
"You can't tell Elena." Stefan responded.
"Give me one of those and I won't." Jessie bargained. He frowned and handed one to her. She put it in her bag and walked into the school. The first thing that she did was find Anna.
"So is it a problem if Stefan has blood bags in his car?" She asked.
"I think things are starting to get out of control." Anna replied. "But I don't think we should act yet. He still hasn't been a danger to anyone."
Jessie went home to find Tina and Blair. She knew that they would be excited about the Founder's Court being announced. Only Tina didn't really look that happy. She hadn't checked it herself, but she couldn't help but wonder if the council had looked down on her DUI.
"The Founder's Court was announced today." Tina remarked icily. "I'm not on it."
"Tina, I'm so sorry." Jessie tried to comfort her sister, but Tina just stormed off to her room.
"I don't think you're the best for comforting her right now." Blair remarked. "Especially since you're part of the reason she's so upset."
"What do you mean?" Jessie asked. "What did I do?"
"The Founder's Court consists of: Me, Elena Gilbert, Caroline Forbes, Amber Bradley…and you." Blair explained. Jessie was surprised. She didn't know how she managed to make the Founder's Court. Tina was much prettier than her.
"Should I talk to her?" Jessie asked her older sister. "Should I see if I can give her my spot?"
"It won't make a difference." Blair replied. "Mrs. Lockwood flat out told her that she wouldn't win with her record. She's really upset with both of us. She says since I won last year, I don't deserve to enter."
"She might have a bit of a point." The younger Fell agreed. "Why is Amber Bradley on there, she's not from a founding family."
"I think that's the point." Blair opined. "They want people to think that they're not exclusive. I happen to think that she has no chance of winning."
"I still think that I should drop out." Jessie responded.
"We promised Mom and Dad that we would do all of this Founder's Day." Blair reminded her. "You have to do it."
"I don't even know what to tell the board." Jessie declared.
"What about you Wickery Bridge project from last year?" The older brunette suggested. "You told them that it was unsafe and white oak wood doesn't last that long, but nobody listened to you. You were right."
"I don't know. I don't really want to say 'I told you so'." Jessie declared.
"Jessie, you tried to change this town for the better." Blair stated. "Even though you were unsuccessful, it still probably made a greater impact than anything I did. Anyway, we should probably get going. We need to go dress shopping."
"I hope I don't get stuck with some loser as an escort." Jessie replied with a sigh. She hated dress shopping.
Up in her room, Tina took out her phone and called Damon.
"So I have some bad news." She told him. "I didn't make the court. I'm not going to be in the pageant, but both of my sisters are."
"Well I think you should support them." Damon replied. "I'm going to do the same for my brother. I kind of do want to see him as Mr. Mystic Falls. Speaking of which, I'm sorry but I can't talk right now. Maybe I could come over later and comfort you in person."
Meanwhile, Jessie was on her shopping trip with Blair. She kind of wished that Anna was there.
"So what's up with you and your friend Anna?" Blair questioned as she grabbed a dress off of the racks. "You two seem like you're pretty close for not knowing each other that long."
"You know what they say, when you find the one…" Jessie remarked.
"Is she the one?" Blair asked. "Are you dating?"
"It's complicated." Jessie admitted. "I don't know what we are, and I'm still trying to figure things out."
The next day was the interviews. Jessie knew that her nervousness wasn't helped by the fact that her mom was on the board.
"This year's queen will have the special honor of representing the town at the 150th anniversary celebration." Mrs. Lockwood told her. "Before we crown our gala, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you."
"So, I would say that my biggest contribution to the community this year would be my project on Wickery Bridge. Perhaps if I had been more diligent, we could have prevented a terrible tragedy from happening. I will say that if I'm selected as Miss Mystic Falls, I will wear the sash proudly."
She probably wouldn't have said that had her mother not been there. She knew part of Blair's campaign was trying to sell on how she should win two years in a row, despite that there had been no repeat winners.
After the interviews were over, there was the dance lesson. The girls had to learn a dance designed around not touching. Jessie thought it was stupid. She also didn't like that she got stuck with Tyler Lockwood as her escort. She couldn't help but wonder if he had been forced into it after his little stunt at the kickoff party.
"So how are you?" Tyler asked her.
"Let's not talk or pretend that we give a damn about each other." She suggested.
During the break, Jessie overheard Caroline talking to Bonnie about the pageant. She couldn't help but wonder why the witch was even there.
"So the way I see it Blair has no shot and Amber is only here to quill the notion that the pageant is exclusive, which it is." Caroline gabbed. "Elena's probably my biggest competition because she will get sympathy votes."
"Caroline." Bonnie scolded her. "You also didn't say anything about Jessie."
"Jessie is what we call a dark horse. The fact that she nominated worries me." Caroline admitted. Jessie couldn't help but smile. "Remember how on American Idol, everyone thought the finale would be between Danny and Adam. Well she is Kris Allen."
She thought that was a weird comparison. The two then entered the room and Elena walked over.
"Bonnie, hey." Elena greeted.
"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt." Caroline explained. "Elena, if he can't get off for the pageant, could I borrow your brother?"
"If you can convince him, he's all yours." Elena stated. "Bonnie can I talk to you?"
Jessie decided to stop eavesdropping and focus on the stupid dance. Though, she was actually kind of glad that she wouldn't have to touch Tyler. It wasn't exactly something that high on her to do list. She really wanted to see Anna.
Jessie went out to the car as she waited for Blair, who seemed to making a connection with her escort who her sister didn't bother to remember the name of. She couldn't help but notice Stefan seemed to be freaking out a guy bleeding on the basketball court.
"No." Jessie told him. "You are not going over there."
"I'm fine." Stefan told her.
The day of the pageant, Jessie finally came across Anna again. She was very happy to see her. She also couldn't help but think that the girl looked hot in a black dress and wrap with her hair up.
"Wow." Jessie commented.
"Glad you like it." Anna replied, noticing Jessie was holding her dress in a bag. "So when do I get to see you in your dress?"
"Probably when the pageant starts." Jessie answered. "My mom is helping Blair and I get ready."
"You know I could be your prep team so she doesn't have to overwork herself." Anna offered. Jessie sighed as the two of them headed up the stairs. "So, I was supposed to enter this in 1864, but that was the only year without a pageant. It kind of sucked."
"So are you going to use me to enter by proxy?" Jessie teased.
"You shouldn't make fun of me when I have control of your hair." Anna warned her before she gave it a light tug. Jessie almost yelped.
Once everything was done, she was in a maroon dress with black spike heels. Diamonds were dangling from her ears and her hair was in a beehive.
"Perfect." Anna replied. "I so want to kiss you right now, but I don't want to mess up your lipstick."
"So have you totally given up on Jeremy?" Jessie asked. "The pageant doesn't start for another 15 minutes, you should talk to him."
Anna sighed and went downstairs. She came across Jeremy who she noticed talking to John. If she was going to talk to him, it would have to be before the pageant because he was Caroline's escort due to Matt being unable to get off. Jessie already being off didn't help.
"Anna." He called to her.
"What is it?" She asked in annoyance.
"Come on, don't be like that." He told her.
"Why not?" Anna asked as she looked around. "You were basically using me to turn you into a vampire so you could be with someone else."
"I wasn't using you." He argued.
"Really?" She asked. "Then how would you like to define it?"
"I don't think it's any worse than becoming friends with me so you could give your mother my blood." Jeremy whispered.
"How did you know about that?" She asked.
"It's not important." He told her.
"Seriously, Jeremy, what do you know?" Anna questioned.
"Everything" He answered. "I know everything."
Upstairs, Jessie was getting preparing for them to call her name. Blair had just walked down the stairs and Amber was completely missing in action. She was a little worried. She was currently with Caroline and Elena.
"I shouldn't do this." Elena remarked. "This isn't me."
"You can't back out." Caroline told her. "You're doing for your mom."
"Come on we're the Real…Pageant Queens of Mystic Falls." Jessie replied. Caroline and Elena stared at her. "Give me a break. I don't watch that crap."
"Miss Jessica Fell and her escort Tyler Lockwood." Mayor Lockwood said as the vampire began to descend the stairs. She couldn't help but wonder if a vampire had ever won the pageant before."
"You should go." Anna told Jeremy. "We can talk about how you read Elena's diary later."
Meanwhile, Stefan and Amber were still AWOL and Damon knew he had to do something. He looked over at Tina.
"Baby, I think I need to fill in for my brother." He told her.
"What?" Tina whispered angrily.
"I know it's not what you want to hear, but I don't want Elena to have to be alone." Damon replied. "It doesn't mean that I'm into her, but she's my friend and I want to her help."
"Fine, but I want to go home with you afterwards." Tina told him as she began to applaud her sister.
Once all of the girls were outside, they started the dance, which was oddly set to some alternative song. After the non-touching part was over, the waltz started. Tyler was a surprisingly good dancer, though she had no interest in dancing with him.
When it came time to announce the winner, Amber was still a no-show. If they didn't live in a town with vampires, Jessie wouldn't be too worried and would just think that they got cold feet, but considering that they did, she was nervous the girl who was not from a founding family's safety. Mayor Lockwood took the stage.
"Before I crown a winner, I'd like to thank all of these young ladies for our efforts to better our community." He stated as he started a round of applause. "Now without further ado, it my honor to announce our own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Jessica Fell."
Jessie was a little shocked. She didn't think that she actually stood a chance. The sash was presented to her. She knew that she wouldn't have won if they knew what she was. She was glad that she was so good at keeping it a secret and only a few people knew.
Jessie was walking around back. She needed some air and everyone congratulating her was starting to get annoying. Once she was outside, there was Anna.
"So I take it to being queen isn't all that's cracked up to be." She quipped.
"You could say that." Jessie replied. She then noticed something in the distance. There was a girl running. It looked like Amber. "We need to get over there."
The two rushed over and managed to get there before Stefan could hurt her anymore. Jessie grabbed onto Amber as Anna tried to hold off Stefan. At the same time, Elena, Damon, and Bonnie ran over.
"Amber, listen to me." Jessie told her. "You went for a walk and you got lost. You're very sorry."
"I'm very sorry." Amber repeated before Jessie bit into her wrist and fed Amber some blood so she would heal up. Luckily, it didn't make a mess. She went and took the girl inside.
"Oh thank God." Mrs. Lockwood replied. She turned to Amber. "Where have you been?"
"I'm very sorry." Amber apologized. "I went for a walk and got lost."
Unfortunately, there was a spot of blood on her shirt. The sheriff seemed to notice it. Luckily, no one suspected Jessie as being anything other than the Good Samaritan that brought her back. Anna then walked back in.
"Is everything okay?" Jessie asked her.
"He got away." Anna whispered. "But he has definitely reached the problem stage. Another incident like this and we might have to kill him."
"Look Anna, I really think that you should be with Jeremy." Jessie told her. "It's not going to work between us."
Anna didn't say anything and just walked away. Jessie knew that she was breaking her own heart, but she thought that Jeremy was better. Anna deserved better.
Jessie has some self-esteem issues. Things aren't good between her and Anna now, but next chapter will change things. Also in the next chapter, somebody finds out Jessie's secret. I decided to have Jessie win for the irony of a vampire winning Miss Mystic Falls. So, please don't forget to review