At school, Margret ran into her friends. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, ready for practice today?" Amy asked.

"You know it." Margret said. "I was thinking of trying out for track, but I think this could be interesting."

"So, what was up with you're sister this morning?" Melody asked.

"I think Bonnie was trying to talk her out of dating." Margret said. "Which is strange, even for her."

"She's been acting kinda strange since school started." Rob pointed out. "Staring into space during class, writing the weirdest things in her notebooks."

"You've been sitting next to her again, haven't you?" Melody asked.

"I wonder if what she has is some form of ADD." Rob said.

"That doesn't make sense." Margret said. "She's a straight-A student. Well, with the exception of history."

"So, you coming to practice, man?" Alex asked.

"I don't think so. I'm already locked up on the basketball team." Rob told him.

"So, I'm doing both." Alex pointed out.

"Not all of us are that talented." Melody pointed out.

Margret and Amy were walking outside when they noticed Bonnie walking away from Elena. "Hey, you two aren't fighting or anything, are you?" Margret asked.

"Of course not." Bonnie told her. "I'm just not sure about the new guy."

"You know, you could at least try to get to know him." Amy said as she walked off. "Even I'm not that shallow."

"Hey, guys." Alex ran into Matt and Tyler on the field.

"Look... there's Elena and her new boyfriend. Now, what are they doing? Oh, they're walking, walking, walking. Yep. Right into the sunset." Tyler said.

"Dude, give him a break." Alex told him. "It's hard being the new kid."

"How would you know?" Matt asked.

"Melissa transferred here in the middle of the year, remember?" Alex pointed out.

"Oh, yeah." Matt ran his hand through the back of his hair. "Anyway, what am I supposed to do, Ty? She made her choice."

"Let her know she made the wrong one." Tyler said.

"What are you doing? Ty, don't!" Tyler threw the ball at Stefan.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Alex asked. Margret and Amy were walking past, so they saw all of what happened next. Not only did Stefan manage to catch it, he threw it back to Tyler. All of the guys looked at him in surprise.

"Am I dreaming or did you see that, too?" Amy asked. Margret nodded.

In the cafeteria, they sat with the others. "You guys should've been there." Amy said. "Tyler tried to deck the new guy with a football…"

"And he intercepted it." Alex finished.

"Exactly." Amy said. "It sounds like you might be getting a new teammate this year."

"I'm not sure if it's anything he'd want to do. I mean, the guy just moved here." Melody pointed out.

"Last I heard, Elena was trying to convince him to try out for the team." Rob told them.

"I guess it'd be cool, but then there's Tyler." Alex pointed out.

"Of course. The team narcissist." Margret said. "Honestly, why does he always have to be such a jerk?"

"Well, he is the Mayor's son. All that pressure is probably part of it." Melody said.

"Or the fact that he and you're brother are both have it bad for Vicki Donovan." Rob told them.

"Whatever the case is, he's got to back off." Amy said. "If he doesn't change after this game, I'm quitting. I'm not going to cheer for a total pain in the ass."

"Well, at least we know you haven't changed." Melody said.

As soon as classes were over, the girls joined the rest of the cheerleading squad. Everyone was surprised and glad to see Elena arrive.

"Oh, my God! You're here!" Bonnie said.

"Yep. I can't be sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were." Elena told her. "Oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight."

"I am?"

"Mm-hmm. You, me, Margret and Stefan." Elena explained. "You have to give him a chance."

"Tonight's no good." Bonnie told her. "Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett. You're going to be there."

"Come on, Bonnie." Margret said. "I don't know much about him, either, but I'm willing to give him a chance."

"What are you afraid of?" Melody added. "It's not like he's Spiderman or something."

"Fine. I'll go." Bonnie said. "You've all talked me into it."

"Good." Elena said.

On the football field, Alex noticed Tanner and Stefan talking. It looked like he convinced him to at least give it a try. "First my girlfriend, now the team?" Matt asked.

"Dude, this is an opportunity. Football's a contact sport. Sometimes people get hurt." Tyler pointed out.

"True, but not everyone's into football." Alex said.

"Then why are you still here?"

"Because my parents say it'll look good on my college applications." Alex explained.

"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asked the others.

"I don't know. It's not like her. Try her again." Elena told her.

"It's weird that the captain of the cheerleading squad is running late." Amy said. "And I've never known my cousin to miss practice." Just then, a car pulled up and she came out. There was some other guy with her.

"Whoa. Who is that guy?" Melody asked.

"Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the Grill." Bonnie said.

"He's really hot." Amy said.

"He's taken, Amy." Margret pointed out.

"Please, like I'd stab my own family in the back?" Amy pointed out.

"That's not a mystery guy." Elena explained. "That's Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore, as in Stefan?" Bonnie asked.

"I didn't know he had a brother." Amy said.

"She didn't find out until the other day." Margret told her.

"Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy." Caroline told them. "All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say?" The girls started practicing the routine. Margret noticed her sister seemed a half step behind. Caroline must've noticed too.

"Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Ok?" Caroline asked. "Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top." Elena walked away from the group.

"Hey, is she okay?" Amy asked as they continued to practice.

"I don't know." Margret told her.

"She was kind of rude to her." Melody said

"Well, you know what a perfectionist Care is." Amy pointed out.

"True, though I've never seen her so down during practice before." Margret said. "Something is up."

The guys ran through a few football drills on the field. "I hate to say it, but he's got skills." Matt admitted.

"I think he needs a buddy pass." Tyler told him.

"Really? You don't get to walk on the field and act like you own the place after 5 minutes."

"Just hang one up there and I'll take care of the rest." Tyler said.

"I think we could use the help. We got our butts kicked last year, remember?" Alex pointed out.

"Do it again." Tanner told them. They ran through it again.

"Oh, God! Look out!" Alex warned. Too late, though. The guys walked off the field.

"Hey. That was my bad." Matt said as they left.

"It's all right." Stefan told him. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem." Alex said. "That's what teammates do. Look out for each other."

At home, Margret sat in the living room. "They'll be here soon." Elena told her.

"What's up with Bonnie lately?" Margret asked.

"She doesn't seem to like Stefan for some reason." Elena admitted. "But I'm hoping that this will change her mind."

"Well, no one really knows much about him." Margret said. "I can kinda see where she's coming from, but he seems nice."

A few minutes later, the group was sitting around the living room. "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked him.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right."

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and..."

"Yeah, I heard."

"I was there, too." Margret told them. "I thought it was amazing how you did that. No wonder my sister has a crush on you."

"Margie!" Elena felt herself blushing. Stefan ran his fingers through his hair. Bonnie glanced at her.

Finally, she spoke up. "Well, this is awkward."

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?"

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie explained.

"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." Elena told Stefan.

"Here we go." Margret said.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie said.

"Well, it's certainly interesting." Stefan told her. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie explained.

"Really? Salem witches? I would say that's pretty cool."

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asked.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan told her.

"Yeah, they are."

"Well, I can't argue with that." Margret added.

"This coming from the one who's into New Age?" Elena asked. She was smiling. Margret lightly shoved Elena, who returned the gesture. Then the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that could be." She opened the door to find Caroline and Damon.

"Surprise!" Margret stifled a groan when she heard Caroline's voice. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert." The four of the teens inside gave her room to come in.

"Hope you don't mind."

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked. He seemed really tense.

"Waiting for Elena to invite me in." Damon told him.

"Oh, yeah, you can..." Elena began.

"No, no, no. He can't, uh... he can't stay." Stefan interrupted. Margret got the feeling he was hiding something.

"Get in here." Caroline said.

"We're just... finishing up."

"It's fine. Just come on in." Elena finally said. Once that was settled, the four-now six-people in the house returned to the living room.

"You have a beautiful home, Elena."

"Thank you."

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be ceiling." Caroline said. "But good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage." Damon added. "You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."

"By the way, could you please tell him to leave my twin brother alone?" Margret asked Stefan. "They don't exactly get along well and I'm worried he'll get hurt."

"I'll do my best, though I doubt he'll listen."

"Elena wasn't so lucky today." Caroline continued. "It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

"Hey, I know the routines and I didn't go, either." Margret pointed out.

"Well, I'm sure Amy helped you." Caroline pointed out.

"I'll work with her." Bonnie said. "She'll get it."

"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline suggested. Margret ignored her rude comments and focused on her breathing.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon said.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died." Caroline announced as if it were the most casual thing in the world. "Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity."

"Yeah, I'm sure of that." Margret said. Everyone looked at her. "They were my parents, too, you know, Care."

"I didn't mean…" Caroline began.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents." Damon said. "In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." There was something about the way he said it that gave Margret the creeps.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan said.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." The girls looked at each other. The evening had just gotten more awkward.

A few minutes later, the group had split up and Margret was with Bonnie. "Hey, you know Caroline didn't mean that, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Of course I know that." Margret said. "She just has the habit of saying the stupidest thing at the worst time."

"And yet you still hang out with her equally annoying cousin."

"Because as annoying as she is, she at least gives me some space." Margret pointed out. "At least she gets how rough its been on us."

"It's really effected you're sister hard. She thinks we don't see how it's hurt her, but we do." Bonnie explained.

"I got into cheerleading because of her. She was the one who pushed me to audition." Margret told her.

"At least you've got all of us even if she decides to drop it." Bonnie told her.

"You know, you're not the only one who notices things, Bonnie." Margret explained. "You don't need to feel so shy about being descended from a line of witches."

"I thought you didn't believe that stuff."

"I don't, but I wouldn't judge you even if you did."

"I should see if Elena needs help." Bonnie said. "I'll see you at school."

"Hang on, I made a couple of these last night." Margret handed her a charm bracelet. Bonnie looked at it. The stones were a mix of purple, aquamarine, and red.

"What's this clear one in the center?"

"I don't know the name of it exactly, but it's supposed to pass on properties to the other crystals." Margret explained.

"You know, I'm starting to think you know more about this than me." Bonnie told her, smiling.

The next day, the group met up at lunch. "Hey." Amy said.

"What are you so down about?"

"You're sister quit the team." Amy told her.

"It's fine, Amy." Melody said. "Besides, your cousin was kinda mean yesterday."

"I told you, she's a perfectionist." Amy pointed out.

"At least she's not coach of the football team." Alex said. "She'd be hard to please."

"Speaking of which, how's the new guy?" Rob asked.

"He actually let him on the team if you can believe it." Alex told him.

"That's amazing." Amy said. "It must've taken magic or something to convince Tanner."

"That or just luck." Melody told her.

"Well, I appreciate the fact he's on our team." Alex said. "We could use his help."

"Not to mention the fact that we'll be out there cheering for both of you." Margret pointed out. "I saw you during practice the other day. You were good."

"You think so?" Margret nodded.

"Well, we've all got practice this afternoon." Rob pointed out. "I'll see you around."

When Margret got home, she noticed her bracelet on her drawer. The weird thing was she didn't remember leaving it there. For some reason, she couldn't open the locket charm she added to it. Then she found a note. It read:

Always wear this bracelet no matter what happens.

There was no name on it, but she placed the bracelet on her wrist anyway.

The night of the football game, everyone was getting ready. The girls were already in uniform. "Wow, I forgot how amazing you looked in that." Margret told Melody. It was true she looked like a model in the cheerleading uniform.

"Thanks, but really, red is so not my color." Melody pointed out.

Suddenly, she noticed a group gathering in the distance. "Oh, my God!" Margret ran over as fast as she could. Just as she feared, Tyler and Jeremy were at it again. Further in, she noticed Alex and Rob trying to break up the fight. She heard Vicki yelling at Tyler to stop, but he didn't hear her.

Knowing how stupid it was, Margret threw herself between them. "Hey, leave my brother alone!"

"Margret!" She kicked Tyler in the groin. He fell to his knees.

"Okay, enough." Margret was pulled out by Rob and Melody.

"Are you insane? You could've been hurt."

"He could've killed Jeremy." Margret pointed out. She looked to find the others. Matt pulled Tyler aside and Elena was with Jeremy. She found Alex near Stefan, wondering how she didn't notice him there before. He was holding his hand.

"Are you okay?" Margret asked Alex.

"Yeah. I'm fine, they didn't get to me." Alex told her.

"Hey, are you two going to be okay?" They both turned to Stefan.

"Yeah. Thanks for trying to help." Margret told him.

"It was nothing, really."

"Oh, god. Your hand." Elena came over to look at it.

"It's fine." Elena looked at it and was surprised.

"But, the glass cut your hand…"

"I'm okay." Margret looked to her sister and noticed something was off. "I'll see you after the game."

"I'm going to make sure he's okay." Alex told them. "Break a leg out there." He told Margret.

"What were you thinking?" Amy asked once Margret and Melody returned to the rest of the group. "If you had gotten hurt, my cousin would probably have kicked you off the team."

"He's my brother. I wasn't just going to stand there and let Tyler kill him." Margret told her. "And maybe this is a foreign concept to you, but I actually care about my family."

"Hey, you three with us or not?" Caroline called to them.

"You two can work this out later." Melody said. "Right now, we've got a pyramid to do." Amy and Margret didn't say a word on the way there. Caroline was struggling to help a girl with her positioning.

"Can someone please help Tiki?" She asked.

"I'll do it. Believe it or not, I like helping my team members when they're down." Amy said. Margret looked away from her. She and Caroline really were a lot alike.

"Can you believe her?" Margret asked as Melody came over.

"Just ignore it, Margie. By tomorrow, she'll probably be back to her old self." Melody told her. "Hey, isn't that your sister?" Margret turned to see Elena talking with Bonnie. "I thought she quit."

"She did quit." She and Melody looked at each other.

"Feel like eavesdropping?"

"Anything to get away from Amy right now." Margret told her. The two of them managed to blend in with a group of cheerleaders, but were still in hearing distance. "No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it?" Elena asked. "Did you see something, Or..."

"It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about... 8, 14, 22."

"Yeah?"

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it..." Bonnie cut off.

"And what?"

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like." Bonnie said. The girls looked at each other.

"What is she talking about?" Melody asked.

"It's nothing." Margret told her. Only she and Elena knew about Bonnie's family because she was there when she first started talking about having visions, which she still didn't entirely believe.

Elsewhere, Alex was with Matt and Stefan. "You gonna be able to play?" Matt asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good."

"Are you sure? That looked pretty bad." Alex pointed out.

"It'll be fine." Stefan told him.

"Uh, what you did back there... you had Jeremy's back."

"Ah, he's a messed-up kid. Somebody's gotta look out for him."

"Yeah, for Margie's sake, I hope he gets over it soon." Alex torld him. "She'd never tell her family, but it kills her to see him that way."

"This week at practice I was a dick." Matt admitted

"You had your reasons." Stefan pointed out.

"No excuse. Good luck tonight. We're lucky to have you." He and Alex left for the field.

Sometime later, the group had separated. "Okay, we're leaving." Amy said. "There was an animal attack nearby. It got one of the teachers."

"What?" Melody and Margret asked at the same time.

"We better go." Margret said. "Knowing my sister, she'll probably panic unless I'm safe at home."

"See you tomorrow." Melody called after her. Margret ran off as fast as she could. She had no idea what was going on in town, but she didn't like it.