A few days later, Margret was downstairs with Jenna. "I'm just glad Amy and Care are finally back to acting like friends again." She told her.

"That's the thing about family, they can fight as much as they want, but at the end of the day, they'd never let anything hurt someone they cared about." Jenna told her.

"I know." Margret said. "Have you been reading my books again?"

"No." Jenna took a sip of her coffee. Just then, Elena came into the room.

"Jenna! Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?" Elena asked.

"Uh-huh."

"And you have no objection?"

"He could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak." Jenna told her.

"Wait, you know Vicki's upstairs?" Margret asked.

"How did you know…" Elena began.

"Hello, we're twins. He can't hide anything from me, not to mention I saw her go in his room."

"Oh, and just so you know, I won't be home for dinner." Jenna said to them.

"Oh, so you're actually going to do it. You're gonna go out with Logan." Elena said.

"Did I miss something?"

"I'm going to show up and torture him, yes. And have you heard from Stefan?" Jenna asked.

"Not since that very vague message three days ago. "Hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days.""

"Maybe he's making sure his brother is locked away somewhere." Margret said. She was still angry at Damon for what he did to Caroline.

"Haven't you called him?" Jenna asked.

"Nope. Not going to, either." Elena said.

"The key to any relationship is communication, Elena." Margret pointed out.

"I know, but he's been really off lately." Elena explained.

"And you're ok with everything?" Jenna asked. Margret knew what her sister was going to say.

"No, I'm not ok with any of it. But I'm not gonna cry about it, either." She told them. "You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy."

"Okay, then." Jenna said, stunned.

"I'll be fine." Elena told them.

"I have trouble figuring out what to write, too. Especially when I can't sleep." Margret admitted.

"You keep one, too?" Elena asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I mostly write because my friends just don't get it sometimes." Margret explained. "There are some things that are just personal, you know?"

"Yeah." Elena said. "Come on, we'll be late for school."

Up in Caroline's room, Amy was helping her get ready for school. She checked to see if there were any new marks or scratches. "There is nothing wrong with me. I told you a million times, I'm fine."

"You said that after we found you shivering in the cold. What happened?" Amy asked. Bonnie was with them.

"I remember the party. Damon came up behind me, and he was kissing my neck, or biting my neck. I passed out. It's like there's holes in my memory lately." Caroline explained. "It's just weird. Maybe I let him bite me."

"Why would you do that?" Bonnie asked. Amy looked at her, surprised.

"Can we just not talk about it, ok? Don't want to talk about Damon. I don't want to talk about any of it. Just want to go back to normal."

"Hate to say it, but I did warn you he was trouble from the start." Amy pointed out. She noticed Bonnie concentrating on a candle. "What are you doing with that candle?"

"Um... Nothing. What's this?" Bonnie asked, looking at a necklace that she found in Caroline's things.

"Damon gave it to me." Caroline explained. "Or he was going to give it to me. All I know is, it's mine now."

"It's ugly."

"Well, get your hands off it."

"It looks kinda old, doesn't it?" Amy asked.

"I don't think I wanna know." Bonnie said.

"Maybe I'll talk to Margie later. She likes figuring out stuff like this." Amy said.

"Well, if we keep standing here, we're all going to be late." Caroline pointed out.

Melody ran into Margret at school. "So, she was right about him, wasn't she?" Melody asked.

"Yeah. Good thing she's safe now." Margret said. "No one should ever get involved in that kind of relationship."

"I even stayed over at her house all weekend to make sure she'd be okay." Amy told them. "But as far as I'm concerned, she's gone back to her normal self."

Just then, they noticed Caroline passing out flyers for the car wash. They were all surprised. "Can you believe this?" Amy said as Elena and Bonnie walked by.

"Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened." Elena said.

"Lies and denial." Bonnie pointed out.

"And I thought Amy had it bad." Melody said.

"Excuse me?" Amy glared at her.

"Really, you're going to do this here?" Margret asked.

"Hey." Everyone turned around to see Stefan.

"Hey. You know, I gotta go. Be somewhere right now." Bonnie left in a hurry.

"This is awkward." Amy said.

"Yeah, maybe we should just go." Margret said. The girls took off, leaving Elena to deal with him.

"I cannot believe he saw us arguing." Amy said.

"Talk about embarrassment." Melody added.

"Hey, I'm sure he wasn't standing there the whole time." Margret said.

"Could've fooled me." Melody pointed out.

"Wait, isn't Damon his brother?" Amy asked Margret.

"Yeah, why do you…" Margret paused, realizing what she meant. "Amy, no, we are not eavesdropping on them."

"Look, Caroline is my cousin and his brother screwed up big time." Amy pointed out. "I can't just let it go."

"Fine, we're coming." Melody said. The girls went back to where Stefan and Elena were talking. Caroline walked over to them.

"Stefan, where is Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do." She explained.

"Guess she's not as out of her mind as I thought." Amy whispered.

"He's gone, Caroline." Stefan explained.

"When is he coming back?"

"He's not coming back. I'm sorry."

"This is a good thing, Caroline." Elena said.

"I know that." Caroline told her.

"Thank goodness." Amy said. "Though I did warn you he was trouble."

"Yeah, I know." Caroline said. "It's like he had some kind of effect on me. I'm just glad it's over now."

"We're going to be late for class." Melody pointed out.

"Hang on, are any of you coming to the car wash tomorrow?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know, Care. None of us really have the right look for that kind of thing." Margret pointed out.

"Not to mention I don't have a swimsuit." Melody said.

"Well, we could always use some more volunteers anyway." Caroline told them.

After school, Margret called Melody at home. "Can you believe we got roped into doing this?"

"It's Caroline. Of course it doesn't surprise me." Margret pointed out.

"Yeah, and now Amy's willing to follow her blindly."

"That is not true and you know it. The only reason she's going is to make sure she doesn't go running off to find Damon or something." Margret said.

"You're still mad, aren't you?" Melody asked.

"He hurt one of my sister's friends and my friend's cousin. Of course I'm still mad." The call waiting went off. "Hang on, that's probably Amy. Hello?"

"Hey, Care wants us to help out with putting up the rest of the flyers." Amy told her.

"We'll pass them out while everyone gets set up." Margret told her. "Hang on, I'll conference Melody in."

"Hello? Margie, are you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. We're dealing with Caroline again."

"Doesn't that girl know when to quit?" Melody asked.

"Apparently not." Amy said.

"So, we'll just have to deal with her when the time comes." Margret said. "I so can't deal with this right now. I'll call guys later." She hung up and sat down, exhausted. A few minutes later, Elena showed up. She looked as frustrated as Margret felt.

"Bad day, huh?" Margret asked.

"Kinda." Elena said. She nearly walked into Jeremy. "Oh, God! Sorry."

"I'm sure she didn't mean that." Margret said.

"You ok?" Jeremy asked.

"Is Vicki in there?" Elena replied.

"Don't answer a question with another question. Maybe." Jeremy told her. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm miserable."

"Well, you should go get something to eat."

"What was that about?" Margret asked as soon as Elena was out of earshot.

"What was what?" Jeremy asked.

"Don't answer my question with another question, twin." Margret said.

"Fine, I was hoping she'd work things out with Stefan, so I invited him over."

"Wow, who knew you could be a romantic?"

"Watch it, sis. I don't need you spreading it around."

"You're secret's safe with me." Margret said, heading up to her room. Just then, her cell phone rang. It was Amy again.

"What now? Is Caroline driving you nuts already?"

"Actually, I just remembered something. What do you know about really old crystals?" Amy asked.

"Well, I know that most of them have protective properties." Margret told her. "How old are we talking?"

"Really old." Amy said. "I found it with Caroline's things."

"Can I see it? It'd give me a better idea of what I'm working with."

"Sorry, Care has it." Amy told her. "Remember the last time I tried to borrow something without her knowing?"

"Good point." Margret said. "Can you describe what it looks like?"

"I can't remember the color. I think it was gold or something. I don't know, sorry." Amy said.

It's okay. We can talk about it another time." Margret told her. "I'll see you later."

The next day, the girls were helping out at the car wash. "I can't believe she talked us into this." Melody said.

"Tell me about it. At least she didn't make us wear those embarrassing lifeguard suits." Amy said.

"Yeah, after it took us an hour to convince her that we don't look good in any kind of swimwear." Margret said.

"All I'm saying is, I'm against using this…" Melody said, indicating to her body. "To help run a school charity."

"Uh, tell me about it." Amy said. "If she weren't such a control freak sometimes…" The girls got to work on one of the cars. They were almost finished when...

"What the hell?" The girls turned around.

"Whoa, what happened over here?" Margret asked, rushing over. One of the girls had gotten soaked.

"I have no idea." The girl said. "One minute, I'm washing a car. The next thing I know, I've been soaked."

"Is there anything we can do?" Margret asked.

"I think there are some towels in the supply closet." Amy said. The girls headed inside. Melody stayed behind to keep her company.

"Why are you so mean to others?" Melody asked.

"I don't know. Guess I'm just tired of being put down by everyone." The girl said.

"You know, I could help you with some of the cheerleading routines if you want." Melody offered.

"It would be nice to have help."

"Here." Margret handed her a towel.

"I wonder what happened." Amy whispered to Melody.

"Same here."

Amy headed over to the counter to find Elena by herself. "Hey, where's Caroline?"

"I don't know. She went to go get towels and left me here." Elena told her.

"Great, I'll bet she's taken off again." Amy said. She went back over to Margret. "Guys, I'm going to see if I can find Caroline. It's not like her to ditch a charity drive she set up."

"Wait, we're coming too." Melody said, dragging Margret with her. "Anything to get out of this place."

The girls left the car wash and were headed over to Caroline's. "So, what's up with your sister and the new guy?" Melody asked.

"I don't know. He's been acting kinda distant lately." Margret said. "She thinks something's up, but can't figure out what it is."

"Do you feel the same way?" Amy asked.

"Not really." Margret admitted. "I believe in respecting other people's business unless it's a real emergency. Whatever's been up with him, it's between him and his brother."

"Wow." Amy said. "Sometimes I wish I thought like that."

"Well, if everyone thought the same, that would be boring." Melody pointed out.

"Tell me about it." Amy said. The girls laughed.

Once they got to Caroline's house, they found no sign of her. "Who's there?" A voice called. A woman appeared in the living room. "Amy, I didn't know you were visiting."

"Hi, Aunt Elizabeth." Amy said.

"Have you seen Caroline?" Melody asked.

"As far as I know, she's at the school car wash." Caroline's mom told them. The girls turned to each other.

"Well, we better go." Margret told them. "Thanks, Sheriff Forbes. And sorry about nearly breaking in."

"It's fine, Margret." The girls went outside.

"Try calling her again, Amy." Melody suggested. Amy called Caroline's number.

"Hello?"

"Caroline, where did you go?"

"I went out for a walk, that's all." Caroline said. "I'm on my way home now. It's been a rough day." Amy turned to the others.

"She's okay." She told them before responding to Caroline. "I'll see you at school Monday."

"Don't remind me." Caroline said. "Bye."

That evening, Margret was writing in her journal when Elena came in. "Hey."

"Hey." Margret said. "What's up? You look tired."

"I've been trying to figure something out. I kind of need your help." Elena told her. "Do you know anything about a stone called lapis lazuli?"

"I know it's one of the healing crystals, but I don't think that's what you're looking for." Margret said.

"Are there any legends or something tied to it?"

"A lot of gemstones have legends tied to them." Margret pointed out. "But there are a few things I've picked up on about this one. Supposedly, they're a symbol of friendship and truth. It's also said to bring wisdom and clear thoughts."

"Anything else?"

"Well, according to really old sources, people used to believe that it had magical properties." Margret explained. "Why do you want to know all this?"

"No reason. It's just…I've been thinking about supernatural legends lately." Elena told her.

"You don't believe in that stuff." Margret pointed out.

"Well, I think I'm beginning to. I have to go. I'll see you in the morning." Elena left the room.

Margret turned back to her diary, wondering what was up with her sister these days.