A/N So you might find this kind of a boring chapter since it mostly focuses on the Miss Mystic Falls and romance of the whole show. I hope you guys like it anyway!

Elena and I walked out of school together at the end of the school day.

"You know, there's going to be a MissMysticFalls pageant. It might be a good idea for you to try out. You'll convince people you're-." She leaned in to whisper. "-Not a vampire."

"I'm not good at being in the spotlight." I told her.

"You're still shy? I thought you got over that."

"No, I got over it for when I'm with you. I'm still awkward around even people like Jeremy and Bonnie and Caroline!" I informed her.

"Hmm… Still, you should try. You can ask Jeremy to be your date." She suggested.

"And that's sounding better!" I said.

"Ah, know you're talking!" Elena told me.

"But I thought you had to sign up ahead of time?"

"No, that was just me and actually… my mom signed me up… Besides, you're one of the founding families, so they'll love having you as one of the competitors. I'll sign you up, all you have to do is show up for everything and look pretty." She explained.

"Fine, I'll do it. Thanks, Elena… Where's Jeremy? I want to ask him and give him some time to get ready, should he actually accept." She looked around for him.

"Right there." She pointed towards Jeremy. I hurried over.

"Jeremy!" He turned.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to sign up for MissMysticFalls… And I wanted you to be my date." His face fell. I knew what the answer was going to be and I scrambled to explain myself.

"I mean, just…just because you're like the only guy that… that I really know and…and I understand it's a little out of the blue but-." I stuttered.

"It's just that Anna's my girlfriend know and it would be kind of wrong to be on a date with another girl so-." He said at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah, I understand. Thanks anyway." He nodded and walked off. I turned and saw Tyler behind me. He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Need a date?" He asked.

"Um… Yes. Are you offering?"

"I am. Gilbert dump you?"

"No! He just has a girlfriend. Who is not me…"

"Ah… So, we going together? My mom wants me to be someone's partner since I'm her son and all that crap." He said. I nodded.

"Then, yeah. I'd like that."

"Cool." We smiled a little and walked off in different directions.

A couple of days later, Mrs. Lockwood was teaching all the hopeful MissMysticFalls and their dates how to do the famous dance at the school gym.

"Honor your partner. Stay focused, right hand around. Flirt with your eyes." Everyone laughed at that.

"Left hand around!" Tyler stumbled as we switched sides.

"How come you're so good at this?" He asked me. I was around when it was invented.

"I cheated. My brother Damon knows it, so I had him teach me so I wouldn't look like an idiot." I told Tyler. He nodded as we continued our dance, keeping our hands an inch or two apart.

"I wish my mom had taught so I wouldn't look like an idiot." He muttered as he stumbled again. Mrs. Lockwood called for us to switch sides again.

"You're not that bad."

"Gee, thanks."

The day of the MissMysticFalls competition, I sat in front of a vanity, letting Bonnie straighten out my normally curly hair while Jenna did the opposite with Elena a couple feet away.

"Thank you for helping me, Bonnie." I told him.

"You're welcome. I like helping you out. Besides, no offense, but you can't apply make-up or fix up your hair worth a crap by yourself." We both laughed. She finished with my hair and turned my chair around to start with my make-up.

"And… Done!" She said as she finished. She handed me my dress as Jenna and Elena left the room to help Elena change into her dress. It had a light pink hoop skirt with a white corset top.

"You've worn dresses like this every day in the 1800's, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Yep. Girls my age were supposed to." I told her.

"Must've been… uncomfortable."

"It was." I assured her.

"I'll watch the door so you can change." She walked out, shutting the door behind her. I quickly changed into my dress, but I couldn't tie my corset.

"Hey, Bonnie, could you tie my dress for me?" I asked. She came back into the room.

"Of course." She fumbled with the strings, but got it tied. I shoved my feet into white high heels.

"The girls are already lining up on the balcony. Come on." She led me out of the room where the other girls were at the balcony. She hurried downstairs and joined the crowd down there. Elena went over to me.

"Do you see Stefan?" She asked. I looked over the balcony. I saw Damon, but there was no Stefan down there. I shook my head.

"I'm sure that he'll make it; he wouldn't miss it." I assured her. There were already calling out names. Carol Lockwood went over to me.

"You're next, honey." I nodded and went to the top of the stairs.

"Miss Elisabeth Salvatore escorted by Mister Tyler Lockwood." I walked down the stairs, painfully aware of the heat in my cheeks. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, Tyler took my arm.

"You made it." I whispered.

"You didn't think I would?"

"I've grown up with two brothers who couldn't keep a date if their life depended on it… I guess expecting it with every man is hard wired into me." I whispered. We went outside. I saw that Elena was being escorted by Damon instead of Stefan. I had to wonder where he was. We began the dance. I absentmindedly did all the moves.

"What's the matter?" Tyler whispered.

"Stefan was supposed to escort Elena today, but Damon had to step in. Normally Stefan is more dependable than that, especially for Elena…" I answered. The dance ended. There was going to be a couple minutes before the MissMysticFalls was announced. Tyler walked over to talk to some of his friends. Jeremy walked over to me.

"What the heck?" He asked.

"What?" I demanded.

"Your date is Tyler Lockwood?" He asked.

"Yes. And?"

"I hate him!"

"And you said no without much thought to the matter, didn't you? What did you expect me to do, Jeremy? He saw that and he offered. I didn't have to ask him. And for the record, just because you hate someone, doesn't mean I have to hate them too!" I snapped.

"But-."

"Is that it?" I interrupted him. Tyler walked back over and put an arm around my waist.

"There a problem here, Gilbert, or can I take my date back?" Tyler asked him. Jeremy glared at both of us before backing away again.

"Yeah. Take her." He snapped. He hurried off. Tyler looked down at me.

"Do I need to know?"

"Nope. Just Jeremy being… well, a jerk. Let's go, their about to announce the winner!" I told him. We headed up on stage with the other girls and their dates.

"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better the community." Mayor Lockwood said. Does killing vampires count as an effort to better the community? Everyone applauded.

"So, without further ado, it is my honor to announce our very own MissMysticFalls… Miss Caroline Forbes!" Everyone applauded. Tyler leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Probably better... You don't seem like the girl who would want to be in the spotlight." I smiled slightly and turned back to whisper to him.

"Good guess…"

There was a party afterwards, with much more dancing and lots of human food. Damon found me slightly after dark while I was talking with Tyler.

"I need to take my sister back. Thank you for being her date, though." Damon said sincerely. Surprised to hear this coming from Damon, Tyler nodded. Damon pulled me away and over to Bonnie and Elena.

"Where's Stefan?" I asked.

"There were signs of struggle upstairs in the bathroom…. There was blood and that Amber Bradley girl is missing." Damon told the three of us.

"He wouldn't hurt her! He won't!" Elena protested.

"Let's just find him, okay? Get your coat, Elena." He told her. She hurried off to go and get it. He headed out the door, pulling me by the arm with him. He stripped off his suit jacket and handed it to me. It was more out of habit that anything else; vampires didn't get cold. I put it on anyway, rolling up the sleeves so I could use my hands without them getting in the way. Bonnie and Elena joined us. We went through the woods, searching for him. We ran up to him as he bit into a girl's (Amber I guessed) neck.

"Stefan!" Elena yelled. Stefan released the girl. Damon and I ran over to him.

"Stefan, come on, get it together! It okay!" I told him, grabbing his arm. Stefan threw me back. I hit a tree and landed on the ground.

"Stefan, stop!" Elena yelled again. Bonnie caught up and held out her hand. Stefan dropped to the ground, holding his head painfully. Once he was on the ground, Bonnie stopped. Stefan got up. He looked around, horrified.

"Stefan, it's okay!" Damon tried to convince him. But Stefan darted off into the night…

Bonnie, Elena and I stood in front of the sheriff.

"You didn't see anything?" She asked.

"No we just found her and called Damon." Elena said. Damon walked over to me, putting an arm around my shoulders. I put my head against his chest, faking fear.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Bonnie asked.

"It looks like, yeah. Why don't you girls go back to the party; Damon and I can take it from here?" The sheriff suggested. We nodded and walked off towards the party again. Tyler ran over to me as we got back. Elena and Bonnie walked off; leaving us alone.

"Are you okay, Beth? I heard about the police and about that injured girl that was in the woods." He told me. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I assured him.

"Okay, good… You need a ride home?" He asked.

"Umm… Actually, sure… My brother's working with the sheriff so I don't want to bother him." I told him. He nodded and led me towards his car.

"Thanks for this, Tyler." I said as we climbed into his car. It was awkward in my dress, but it was nothing I wasn't used to doing.

"No problem. You are my date, after all."

He drove me home as we talked about human things (football games, school papers, etc.) and walked me up to the front door. I turned when we reached it.

"Thanks again."

"Yeah, sure…" Then he leaned in and kissed me. Not two seconds later, the door opened and I jumped back. Damon was there.

"Interrupting something?" He asked with a smirk.

"I'll go." Tyler said before going back to his car. I turned to Damon.

"You had to interrupt that, why?"

"Come here." He pulled me into the house and down into the cellar.

"What are we doing?" I asked. Elena was down by the door to the jail-room.

"Stefan's gone Ripper… He needs to be contained." Damon told me. I looked into the jail-room at Stefan. He was weak and had obviously been Vervained.

"He's a Ripper again?" I asked.

"Almost… Too close." He pushed Elena gently towards the stairs. He grabbed my arm and pulled me with him. I shook out his grasp and went back to the door.

"I'm sorry, Stefan."