"I've got it!" Lily announced as she paraded down the stairs of the Salvatore house. Stefan and Damon, who were sitting peacefully in their sofa in front of their TV, suddenly turned their heads.

"What have you got, mother?" Damon asked, a little concerned.

"I've got the perfect idea to get wonderful publicity for you both and maintain all of our healthy images," Lily clapped.

"Mother, I'm sure we're thrilled that you think so highly of us that we can get a girl whenever we want, but picking one for us is an option I'm not willing to accept," Stefan argued, casually.

"Of course, darling," Lily said, sitting herself down next to Stefan, "Which is why you're going to pick for yourselves at your birthday masquerade ball!"

"You hear that, brother?" Damon mocked, "The prince is giving a ball!"

"Shut up," Stefan said, throwing a pillow at his brother.

"Oh come on," Damon sighed, grabbing the pillow and hugging it to his chest, "It sounds like fun! Women in masks throwing themselves at you and you won't even be able to see their faces, so you can act like it never happened."

"Forget it, Damon," Stefan said, "I really don't feel like having ANOTHER ball supporting my mother's foolish attempts at getting me a girlfriend."

"Don't say emphasize the word ANOTHER like it's happened a lot," Damon said, "It's only happened like..."

"Five times," Stefan groaned.

"No!" Damon gasped, "Has it really been five times?"

"No it hasn't!" Lily argued, "Only four!"

"Either way," Stefan said, "We're not having another ball."

"Yes we are," Lily declared, "What you boys are failing to remember is that we have an image to keep up."

Both of Lily's son's leaned back onto the couch with a groan while rubbing their eyes and stretching their arms.

"We get it," Stefan sighed, "You want Damon and I to get into good relationships so the public knows that you're a good mother on and off the screen."

"We've heard this speech a thousand times," Damon said, "we don't need to hear it again. We get it."

"Good! Then it's settled," Lily said, happily, standing up and clapping her hands together, "We're having another ball! Happy Birthday, Stefan!"

"If this is for my birthday, then this ball should be on my terms," Stefan said, "I will not stand around and let you introduce me every pretty girl you lay eyes on. I'll find her my own way."

"Fine," Lily nodded, "As long as you keep your mind open."

"When do I not?" Stefan said with a smug grin.

Lily smiled and touched her cheeks with her index fingers. Both of her sons rolled their eyes and stood up, dragged themselves over to either side of their mother and kissed her cheeks. She smiled happily.

"I love my boys," she said proudly.

Almost automatically and robotically, they responded, "We love you too, mother."

Stefan's phone beeped in his pocket and he picked it up, looking at it for a moment before groaning.

"I gotta go," he said, heading for the front door.

"Whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Damon asked.

Stefan turned around, "Matt needs my help."

"Alright," Damon shrugged, "Can you actually recruit the quarterback to do some heavy lifting for the-."

The door slammed and Damon sighed, sitting back down on the coach.

"Damon," Lily said, taking a notepad and paper, throwing it in his lap, "We're going to start handing out flyers and invitations IMMEDIATELY! First, we're going to need a declaration from Stefan himself that he will dance with every girl at the ball until he chooses the one he wants."

"Mother, I don't mean to pry," Damon interrupted, "Actually I do mean to pry, but that's beside the point. I don't think this is what Stefan meant when he was talking about finding a girl on his own-"

"Sweetheart, just take this down," Lily said sweetly, beginning a grand pace around the living room, "Let it be known that Stefan Octavius Salvatore-."

"Octavius?" Damon asked, raising his eyebrows, "I know for a FACT that Stefan definitely does not want his middle name on the poster."

"Damon. Octavius," Lily said sharply, "Anyway, where was I? Stefan Octavius Salvatore is giving a ball to celebrate his 18th Birthday!"

Damon scribbled the words on the notepad as her mother elegantly proclaimed them. He held it up and looked at it for a moment. Lily ran behind him and looked at the yellow lined paper with the blue ink writing. She smiled and clapped her hands together.

"Perfect!" she cheered, "Have that printed and put them up all over the school and wherever you kids hang out these days."

"So you expect me to go prancing out all over Los Angeles shouting 'the prince is giving a ball'?" Damon frowned.

"Yes!" Lily smiled, "Now you're getting it! Go on then, darling."

Lily's phone rang and she kissed the back of Damon's head before answering the phone. Damon frowned at the paper again and drew several lines over "Octavius" on the paper, feeling slightly better about himself afterwards. Shortly afterwards, Damon picked up Xeroxed copies of a fancy flyer that was redesigned by professionals. Soon, him and several other hired people were walking all over the mall nearest to the high school on a Saturday afternoon. Damon couldn't be more prouder of his timing.

"Stefan Salvatore is having a masquerade birthday ball!" he shouted, "EVERYONE is invited! Come one and all! Did I also mention he's planning on dancing with every girl who attends?"

The area around Damon was suddenly filled with girls with their arms stretched out toward him as he handed flyers out to each and every one of them. Every time one of the arms disappeared, another would grow back in its place. It almost scared Damon.

Luke, being one of the only boys who emerged from the crowd, looked at the detail of the flyer and found the date and time. He listened in on the girls whispering about how Stefan is going to fall in love by the end of the night. Having Stefan Salvatore fall in love with Liv was the one thing that he knew was going to shut her up for life. He quickly rushed into the nail salon, not caring about the wondering eyes that followed him once he stepped inside, and held the flyer out to Liv, who was sitting in a pedicure spa chair.

"Luke, you know I can't hold that," she said, raising her newly waxed eyebrows and freshly painted fingers.

"Whatever," Luke said, "Stefan Salvatore is hosting a masquerade birthday ball."

"Shut up!" Liv cried, snatching the flyer from him.

"Miss Parker, your nails," the pedicurist warned her.

"Oh bite me," Liv snapped, continuing to read the flyer, "and what are they saying about this ball?"

"Damon's letting all the girls know that Stefan is willing to dance with any girl who attends."

"This is it!" Liv said triumphantly, "This will be the night when Stefan Salvatore finally falls in love with me! This is the first step to my future, Luke."

"Yeah, whatever," Luke said, shaking his head, "We just need to tell dad so he can give us money to buy us outfits-."

"Ugh! No," Liv said with a gag, "Anything dad wants to buy for us is going to be frumpy and ancient. We're paying for this ourselves."

"But dad will-."

"I don't care what dad says," she protested, "When have I ever cared what dad says?"

"When you come home at midnight drunk off your ass and you say 'Luke, dad can't see me like this. Hide me'."

"Shut up," she said rolling her eyes, "I didn't ask for an example."

"I'm just saying, life would be a whole lot easier if you just told dad you want to be called Liv instead of Olivia and you want some more freedom in your life. Maybe then he'll actually start accepting his gay son who wants to be called Luke."

"Whatever! I didn't ask for your commentary either!" Liv screeched. She looked around afterwards and saw the judgmental glares, so she lowered her voice to a whisper, "After my nails dry, we are getting a dress that will make Stefan Salvatore gasp when he sees me. He won't be able to keep his hands off me... I bet he's just dying in anticipation."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Stefan said when he walked into the mall and saw a flyer for the ball on the glass door.

"You're having a birthday ball?" Matt asked, taking the flyer down, "That's a little ancient, don't you think?"

"I know, so is my mother's ideals," Stefan complained and snatched the flyer from Matt's hand. The two of them walked into the mall and saw Damon stapling flyers to walls and taping them on store windows, "Damon! What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh hey, Stefan!" Damon said, trying to be sweet, "Good news! You're throwing a party next weekend."

"How could I miss it?" Stefan said, "There are people literally saying the words Stefan, birthday, ball, and girl all over the mall. Did mom make you do this?"

He nodded, "Right after you left."

Stefan threw his hands in his hair, "I can't believe you went behind my back."

"Our mother may seem sweet, but she's very threatening," Damon said, then looked over to Matt behind Stefan's shoulder, "Don't be deceived by her America's Sweetheart demeanor."

"No, this isn't happening," Stefan protested, "I'm calling it off right now. This is too big of a deal."

"How can it not be?" Damon asked, "You're one of the Salvatores. Everyone adores us! Besides, you get to dance with every girl in school. Literally, there is not one guy in the world who doesn't wanna be you right now."

Matt shrugged, "That's a little true. I wouldn't mind a chance to dance with Elena Gilbert..."

"Alright, that's enough out of you," Damon hushed Matt, "How is this NOT on your terms? You wanted to find a girl without any pushing-."

"And dancing with every girl at school feels a little like pushing," Stefan argued.

"BUT you have to right to reject them," Damon said, "Think about it, you've danced with a million girls halfway through the night. You think you're tired and done for and you're ready to give up. Suddenly, your gaze wonders to the top of the stairs and BOOM! There she is! The girl of your dreams! Everyone's staring at her because she's so beautiful yet no one knows who she is behind the mask. But she wants to dance with YOU because you're the guy everyone's talking about. You therefore have the girl of your dreams all to yourself and everyone envies you. Huh? Sound like a plan?"

Stefan paused and started to imagine what Damon was talking about. While it was incredibly cheesy and sounded like the plot of a fairytale, he had to admit that it sounded a little intriguing.

"Fine," Stefan sighed, "I'll play along. But if I don't find a girl, we drop this subject and no one pushes me about finding a girlfriend. Deal?"

"Deal," Damon said, patting his brother's back.

Just then, Damon's phone vibrated in his pocket. He picked it up and his eyes looked wide at the screen.

"What's that?" Stefan asked.

"A list from mother," Damon said, "I'm going to have to hire somebody to get all of this stuff. I'll see you later, bro."

"Later. I'm going home," Stefan waved and they headed off in opposite directions.

As Damon headed toward his first destination, he bumped into someone and paused to look back. Once he saw the brown eyes with straight brown hair to match, he knew his list would have to be put on hold for just a little bit because Elena Gilbert was now standing in front him. Usually she had her girls around her and Damon was surprised to see that she was along as far as he was concerned. Elena's cheeks started to turn pink as she looked at the ground. Both of hem opened their mouthes to speak, but Damon was the only one who could make sound come out.

"Hi..." Damon said softly.

Elena started to speak, but nothing was coming out. Her nervousness made Damon nervous, so they eventually smiled, shrugged, and turned away. Elena threw her face in her hands as Bonnie and Caroline laughed on either side of her.

"Hi? That's it?" Bonnie chuckled.

"Shush," Elena whined, "I'm no good with words around him."

"You can't seem to form any words at all with him," Caroline laughed.

"Ha ha," Elena said, looking ahead and finding flyers all over the place, seeing almost every person in the mall with one in their hand.

Caroline approached a bench that had a stack of them on it and she picked it up.

"Stefan Salvatore is hosting a Masquerade Birthday Ball. Everyone is invited," she read.

"And it's next weekend," Elena said, taking the flyer out of Caroline's hand.

"Prince Charming is giving a ball?" Caroline mocked, "Of course he is."

"We should go!" Bonnie encouraged.

"Why? So Elena can look at Damon and say "Hi" again?" Caroline laughed.

Elena playfully pushed Caroline's shoulder.

"It'll be fun!" Bonnie said excitedly, "We'll get to dress up in big gowns, wear a mask, be three completely different people for one evening. Come on, we all know Caroline could use a night off."

"No..." Caroline said, looking at the ground, "I couldn't. It wouldn't be right for someone like me to be at a party like that."

"Listen to yourself!" Bonnie said, "You sound like your evil stepfather! Can't you just ask to take one night off just to be a regular high school girl instead of a house maid?"

"He'll say no," she said, "There's no point in asking."

Caroline walked ahead of them, away from the stack of flyers. Bonnie and Elena looked at each other as if Caroline was crazy not to want to go to a glamorous ball for one night just to have a little fun. They quickly followed after her, but she was already way ahead of them, standing in front of a window to a store with a dress in the window. It was bright pink all around with a white neck line and a light pink bow in the back. She sighed and started to remember why she hated working for her stepfamily so much. She turned to Bonnie and Elena proudly.

"You know what? I'm gonna ask my stepdad if I can go to the ball," Caroline said confidently, "I'm gonna make it impossible for him to say no."

"That's the spirit!" Bonnie cheered.

A sports car pulled up in front of the Parker Mansion that same day as Liv and Luke came out of the back, followed by Joshua shortly after from the passenger seat. The driver turned around and headed straight for the garage. Caroline held in her hands a tray full of each of their favorite snacks. Apples and peanut butter for Luke, a non-fat no calorie milkshake for Liv, and a beer for Joshua.

When they entered into the house, Joshua walked right past Caroline and sat on the couch.

"Olivia, Caroline and Lucas are taking you out dress shopping tomorrow after school for Stefan's birthday party," Joshua called as Liv ignored him and Caroline, walking up the steps.

Luke stopped in front of Caroline and smiled at her, taking the apples and peanut butter.

"Ooh! My favorite," Luke said happily, "Thanks."

"No problem," Caroline said.

Luke headed up the stairs and Caroline placed the tray on the coffee table in front of Joshua.

"Actually, about Stefan's birthday party-."

"Great! I'm so glad you mentioned that," Joshua said excitedly, "We're having the After Party here so I need you to stay and make sure the house is ready for it."

"Oh..." Caroline sighed, "Well, since Stefan is inviting all of our school to the party, I was thinking maybe I could go too. It would just be one night and I can even come home early and set up for the After Party."

Joshua chuckled and sat forward on the couch. "Caroline... Stefan Salvatore is the host of this party. The Salvatore Family are very high up in the social monarchy. If this were a fairytale kingdom, his mother would be the queen, he and his brother would be princes, I would be a noble man with my two noble children, and you would be our scullery maid. Now really, do you think the princes would want a scullery maid at the palace unless they were working? I doubt it. Use your social standing for where it's most needed: here, cleaning the house where you belong."

"But-."

"Do not deny me," Joshua said strictly, "Now go make your brother and sister dinner. They seem hungry."

Joshua got up and left the room, leaving Caroline alone in the living room in shock.

"Caroline!" he said sharply, causing her to jump in her skin.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "Dinner will be ready within the hour."

"That's more like it," he said.

Caroline got up and headed down the long winding staircase that lead to the basement kitchen. She went to the stove and began to turn it on, but when it wouldn't even spark, she gave up on it and a tear fell down her face. She tried again and it worked this time, so she put the pot of water on the stove. She moved to the counter in the middle of the kitchen and opened the cabinet to reveal the books she kept down there to entertain herself. Her journal rested at the top, so she picked it up and started to read her own stories she wrote about herself. On the first page, she read about being a princess in the desert, rich with priceless fabrics and people bending to her ever will, with men all around her who go mad for her while she sits confidently on her throne. She grinned and turned the page again to her more adventurous stories. Caroline was a bandit in a poor village, scraping for food and never getting caught. She was always searching for danger and facing it head on. On one of her adventures, she went into a jungle and suddenly came face to face with a wild cheetah. The whistle of the boiling water went off and she dropped the diary to turn the water down and get the pasta box from the cabinet.

After she finished setting the pasta to cook, she picked up the diary where she dropped it on the counter and found the page where she drew herself as Cinderella at the ball. She had to laugh at her 12 year old self when she wrote this, thinking that her life as a maid in her own mother's house was going to get better and turn out okay for her in the end. So far, things were looking pretty bleak. Caroline tore the page out and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it into the trash bin. It was better to escape entirely than imagine a fake version of this life where things are magical and happy. She had to wait until college, and even then, she would never be free of the torture she endured. She turned the page again and continued to read as she took a deep breath in, and breathed out.