High school… I think its human's new way to torture teenagers. And do they even care about the jerks here? I think not… But if I'm pretending to be human, then I must act like it doesn't matter… Like this is the best part of my life. Yeah right.

I shut my diary and tucked it into my bag as Stefan, Elena and I walked onto school grounds.

"You keep a diary too?" Elena asked. I shrugged.

"Attempting to, yeah…" I mumbled. She nodded and sensing there was nothing else to say, she turned to Stefan with a smile on her face.

"Here's what we're going to do. Are you free tonight?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. Dinner. My house. Eight-o-clock. You, me and Bonnie. You two will spend some quality time and she'll get to see what a great guy you are. Mission accomplished." She said. Behind us, Tyler threw a football at Stefan's head. Stefan spun around, caught it and threw it back. When Tyler caught it, it knocked the breath out of him and he stumbled back. Elena laughed. I smirked at Tyler. Served him right…

"Psst… FYI, our team sucks. They could use you." Elena whispered to Stefan during history. He tried but failed to hide a smile from showing on his face.

"Can't." He whispered back.

"Pearl Harbor." The teacher said.

"I'm a loner." Stefan added to Elena.

"Miss Gilbert?" The teacher said. Some part of my mind reminded me his name was Mr. Tanner.

"Hmm?" She asked, looking up.

"Pearl Harbor?" He repeated.

"Umm…"

"December 7, 1941." Stefan answered for her.

"Thank you, miss Gilbert." Mr. Tanner said sarcastically.

"Anytime." Stefan said, smiling.

"Very well… Fall of the Berlin Wall?" He asked Stefan.

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir." Stefan said. So am I. We both lived through it, remember? I thought, looking at him.

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy Assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luthor King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865." I couldn't help but think about that year myself. The year after we were turned into demons… It was shocking for everyone. His wife had a mental breakdown shortly after.

"Roe VS Wade."

"1973."

"Brown VS Board."

"1954."

"Korean War."

"1950 to 1953."

"HA! It ended in 52!" Mr. Tanner cried.

"Uh, actually, sir, it ended in 53." Stefan argued. Mr. Tanner looked annoyed. He looked around at the rest of the students.

"Well, someone look it up!" I whipped out my phone, already knowing Stefan was right but needing proof. I typed fast into my internet search as the second it came up on screen, I looked up at Mr. Tanner.

"It was 19…53." I said, smirking at Mr. Tanner. Everyone applauded Stefan while Mr. Tanner steamed by himself.

I skipped over to Jeremy as school ended later that day. He looked over at me in surprise as I matched his pace walking out of the building.

"You seem to be in a good mood." He noted.

"My big brother totally beat the teacher on dates of historical events. He's awesome. You should have seen him." I said, grinning.

"Huh, sounds cool… Hey, are you going to be at the Grill tonight?" He asked. We stopped walking to look at each other. I tried to keep the smile off my face, but failed miserably.

"I have time, if you want… Like a date?" I asked.

"A fake date, not a real one. I want Vicki to think that I have a girlfriend even though I don't." He said. He started to walk off, apparently expecting me to follow. I glared at his back. Can't he take a hint that I liked him? I groaned and hurried after him. Well, a fake date was better than nothing.

"I'll be there. What time?" I asked.

"A little before eight... Elena's having some dinner with a couple of friends and I'm avoiding that." He said. I nodded to him.

"I'll be there."

When we got home, I was telling Stefan about how Jeremy and I were going on a 'fake date' as we headed up to his bedroom. I stopped mid sentence when we saw Damon sitting at Stefan's desk, reading his journal.

"How were tryouts? Did you make the team? Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many… adjectives." Damon told Stefan. Stefan ripped the journal out of Damon's hands.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked.

"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and… I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother and if you want to live a normal, happy human life then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it too. I can learn to be a non-living, living person… Maybe there's hope for us both." Damon said. He tried to keep a straight face but ended up laughing. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe I actually started to believe him for a second there.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." Stefan reminded him. I walked over to stand by Stefan's side again, folding my arms across my chest.

"Of course it doesn't. I saw Elena today, BTW. That means 'by the way'. She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her short shorts… Just simmer down… I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now. Ooh, that reminds me… I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me look." He hurried out of the room again. I turned to Stefan.

"He has a date? You know what? I don't even want to know. I have to go pick out the perfect 'fake date' outfit." I hurried to my bedroom.

"Hey, Beth." Jeremy greeted me as I walked into the grill. I grinned at him and wrapped my arms around one of his.

"So does my outfit look like something to wear on a real date, even though I'm going on a fake date?" I asked. He glanced down at my skinny jeans, tank top and leather jacket only for a second.

"Sure, sure…." The tone of voice sounded like he didn't give a crap. I rolled my eyes at him, but said nothing about it.

"She's my sister and I love her, but sometimes she can make you work for it." Matt murmured as we walked over to him, probably referring to Vicki.

"I find it pretty easy." Jeremy said. Tyler purposely bumped into Jeremy, knocking him off balance. I put a hand on his back to help him keep his footing.

"All right, I get it. Hit me to impress her… That's…that's real nice." Jeremy said. I sensed a fight coming on and I tightened my grip on Jeremy's arm.

"I don't need to impress her. I already won." Jeremy shoved him hard enough to send him stumbling backwards. I caught Jeremy's arm and pulled him backward.

"Now you're dead!" Tyler threatened. Tyler moved to get at Jeremy. I darted in front of Jeremy, hoping to block any blow, and Matt grabbed Tyler's arm to pull him back.

"Am I? Cause it seems like I'm standing here waiting for you to man up!" Jeremy said behind me. I turned and shoved Jeremy back, not hard enough to hurt just enough for him to back up.

"Ty, don't!" Matt said as he struggled to keep Tyler back. Tyler shook Matt off. I tensed, waiting for him to come at Jeremy. He didn't.

"The next time I see you, Gilbert-."

"No the next time I see you!" Jeremy stormed out of the Grill as Tyler went out the other way. I shot at glare at Vicki but Matt spoke first.

"What are you doing, Vick?"

The next day, everyone was talking about the football game that night. Stefan had joined the football team, so I was going to the game just to support him. During the day I was a little clingy to Jeremy, just making sure he didn't run into Tyler. Anytime I heard Tyler's voice or saw him coming, I steered Jeremy the other way not so subtly. I lost Jeremy that night during the pre-game wildness. Instead of finding him, I let him go and watched Tyler closely from a distance instead. I found Elena while the coach (and history teacher Mr. Tanner) was talking.

"Hey, have you seen your brother?" I asked.

"Not tonight. Why?"

"Last night at the Grill Tyler and Jeremy said next time they saw each other, they… well, they didn't say what they would do. I assume it would be bloody. I've been steering Jeremy away from Tyler all day, but I lost him. Tyler's over-." I turned and saw Tyler had disappeared.

"Crap." I heard the sounds of a fight behind us and Vicki yelling for Tyler to stop. I spun around and ran towards the sounds. Elena, Matt, Stefan and the rest of the students were also going to stop the fight. Jeremy was on the ground, getting punched repeatedly by Tyler. Stefan grabbed Tyler's wrist. I ran to pull Jeremy up off the ground. He shook me off.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" Tyler spun around and punched Stefan. Stefan didn't even flinch. Matt grabbed Tyler and hauled him back right as Jeremy grabbed a broken beer bottle and slashed at Tyler. I put my hand up instinctively to grab Jeremy's wrist. Instead of broken bottle slashed across my palm. Stefan grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back, turning me as he pulled me back. I was almost against his chest.

"Jeremy, really? You're bleeding, put your head up!" I examined my already healed palm. Stefan looked like he was trying to think up an excuse for the fact that I had no wound.

"Beth, are you okay?" Elena ran over to me, spinning me around and grabbing at my hand. She tried to uncurl my fingers to see my palm.

"Let me see how deep it is, Beth!" Finally I uncurled my fingers. She saw nothing and confusion showed on her face. She looked up at me.

"It didn't cut me. It was Jeremy's blood on my hand." I told her, smiling weakly and hoping she believed me. Elena gave me a weird look like she didn't believe me and then turned on Jeremy.

"You could have really hurt her, Jeremy! She could have needed stitches for that if you'd actually got her! Oh, and you're drunk. Great!" Elena said sarcastically. I turned to Stefan.

"Get back to the game. I'll make sure that Jeremy doesn't be an idiot." I whispered. Matt and Tyler had already gone back, so Stefan nodded. I walked over to the truck bed where Jeremy was sitting and sat down next to him.

"So you're my babysitter now?" He scoffed.

"If I have to be, yes."

I sat silently with Jeremy while he talked to his other druggy friends. It wasn't ten minutes later that Damon was suddenly there beside the truck. I hopped down out of the truck bed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. Then Jeremy noticed him and hopped off the truck bed too. Damon gave me one of his 'stop him before I kill him' looks. I backed up into Jeremy's chest; subtly stopping him from walking any closer.

"And who are you?" Jeremy asked him. Damon gave him a smirk as he leaned against the truck. He looked back over at me.

"I can't see why you like him, little sister; but sure enough he's the punk you'd go for…. And I feel over crowded, lets go dark in this lonely, dark corner." Damon suggested teasingly, reaching for my arm.

"Whoa, not happening. She's staying here." Jeremy said. As much as I appreciated the protectiveness, there was really nothing Jeremy could do to Damon to stop him. Besides, even if Stefan had lost faith in Damon's humanity, I hadn't. I put my hand in Damon's outstretched one.

"It's okay, Jer. He's my brother."

"That's not Stefan." Ah, now the drunkenness was showing and he began swaying a little bit. I turned around and pushed him gently back down on the truck bed.

"Okay, honey, just stay here." I told him, letting the patronizing tone slip in my voice. I let Damon lead me out of hearing distance of them before ripping my hand out of his and turning to him.

"Stefan doesn't want you here."

"He knows I'm here. There's nothing he can do about it. And what's more important is if you want me here." He told him.

"And if I say no, then will you leave MysticFalls?" I asked him, folding my arms across my chest. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"No, but I'll be offended. Listen, little sister, I have some work to do here that I can't leave without during. By the way, you're going to need a new coach." He said. Then he disappeared.

"New coach… What are you…?" Then it hit me what he meant. I sprinted around the building. I nearly ran into Matt and I skidded to a stop.

"Have you seen Mr. Tanner?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I was looking for-." Suddenly he stopped talking and was looking over my shoulder. I turned too. Mr. Tanner's body lied drained of blood a few feet away. Matt acted quicker than I did.

"Somebody help!"

I walked numbly to my bedroom later that night. Stefan followed me, not saying anything until I was sitting on my bed. He sat down next to me.

"You okay?"

"Zach was right, Stefan… We shouldn't have come back. Damon followed us and this is our fault." I told him, raising my eyes to look at him.

"No it's not, its Damon's… And I won't let him hurt anyone else." He said. He stood up and walked out.

Sometimes I think that Stefan is really going to kill Damon… Then he doesn't. Yet I worry every time they get into a fight. Is this how our eternity is doomed to go? This time is different, though. I have friends. Elena has been nice to me, nicer than anyone outside my family has been for a long time. Matt's okay too… He's nice and kind and not like Tyler at all! Tyler and Vicki I could live without, but… They are still humans. And then there's Jeremy… Damon is not going to hurt Jeremy Gilbert. Not while I still have a stake-free chest.

A/N Just some quick notes about the story:

1. I know that Beth seems to be all over the place. In the first chapter she was shy and clingy, then in the second chapter she seemed blunt and outgoing around Jeremy and now she's a normal mix between the two but she's supposed to be kind of random. Stefan's the calm, cool and collected one and Damon is... well, Damon. She's supposed to be different from them. I don't want her to be a copy of either one of them because I want to give the character some depth.

2. Is anyone hoping for a romance between Jeremy and Beth? I'm planning them to date for a bit (you'll have to wait, read and see!).

3. About the relationship between Beth and her brothers: Although it seems like she's closer to Stefan, I want to make it clear she loves both of them, she just lives with Stefan because she shares his diet and Damon drinks humans instead.

Thanks to all my readers! Please continue to read and review! ~RoniCullen