Stefan ran home that night. After his mystery girl left, he ran straight home and left all of his guests there for Damon and his mother to take care of. He burst through his door with Matt rushing in behind him. The first thing Stefan did was pull out a pen and paper, resting it on the kitchen counter and running to grab his laptop. Matt stumbled in, wide-eyed.
"So remind me again…" he said, "What are we doing?"
"Here," Stefan said, sitting Matt down on a bar stool and placing the laptop in front of him, "I need you to find out everything you can about Jo Saltzman."
Matt frowned at this, but shrugged, knowing he probably didn't have anywhere better to be, since the ball sucked for him. All night, the two boys wrote down every possible option as to who Jo Saltzman could be, but all they could find were male car dealers and realtors. Stefan kept reminding Matt that the necklace and hairpiece belongs to a woman named Jo, exactly as Caroline had told him.
By the time the sun rose, Matt was asleep with his cheek on the keyboard. Stefan had decided to give it a rest for a little bit and started lying on the couch, thinking about what he would say to her once he finally found her. He started to think about how she would end up with a necklace from Jo and what kind of relationship she would have with her.
It was 7:00am when Lily finally walked in the door, seeing Stefan awake on the couch while Matt was snoring against a laptop. She quickly and lightly tapped Matt's shoulder, causing him to snort before he fell over onto the ground.
"It's time to go home, Matt," Lily said.
Matt rubbed his eyes and nodded, "On it."
Lily sighed and started to head towards the couch.
"Stefan…" she said softly, "Look at yourself, you've been up all night. I'll have the cooks make you something to eat."
"No," Stefan said, sitting up and stretching his arms, "I can't eat or rest until I've found her."
"You've been doing all you can," Lily insisted, "If she wants to be with you, let her find you instead."
"I will find her myself," Stefan argued, "I have to."
Lily shook her head and sat on the arm of the couch.
"Now what makes her so special?" she asked, "You didn't know a thing about her before the first ball and now after the second ball you claim that she's the girl you can't live without?"
"I don't know how and I can't explain it but I am falling in love with her," Stefan said.
Lily started to chuckle to herself, "In love? Name 5 things about her that you could possibly love about her."
"Easy," Stefan shrugged, "She's honest and real. She understands me and makes it easy for me to talk to her. She's spontaneous and brave. She's a beautiful dancer and she's witty. Not to mention, she's the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on."
Lily always hoped she would hear these words from her youngest son one day, but she never imagined it would happen this way. His eyes were red from not getting enough rest, but he also looked like he had a full heart that was aching. She placed her hand on his back and started to rub gently.
"Mom…" Stefan whispered, "All my life I've been thinking if there was ever someone out there who was different and special… and now I know it's her."
"Then you will keep searching for her," Lily nodded, "I just hope you're not falling for a fantasy."
"She's real. I know she is. I'm going to find her."
By Monday, it had already spread around the school that Stefan Salvatore was searching for his Cinderella with only two clues; a hairpiece and a name. By lunch time, people couldn't stop whispering about who Jo Saltzman could possibly be. Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena entered the cafeteria and the butterflies started filling up her stomach. It was awful that Stefan was losing his mind looking for her, but she had to admit, it made her happy that he listened to her and really meant what he said when he told her he was falling in love with her.
"This is insanity," Elena gasped as the group made their way to a lunch table.
"I know…" Caroline sighed, resting her head on her hand as Stefan walked in, carrying his tray and walking beside Damon.
"He really is trying hard," Bonnie said with wide eyes, "I guess it almost makes Damon's pursuit of Elena look pathetic, huh Elena?"
Elena shook her head and stuck her tongue out at Bonnie.
"What do you see in Stefan anyway?" Elena asked, "I mean, Damon's the bad boy with the prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen… but what can Stefan offer in comparison."
Caroline frowned at Elena and shook her head, "You're kidding, right? How do you NOT see how wonderful he is! Oh yeah, because he told me he was never himself until he met me." Elena and Bonnie laughed, but Caroline kept looking Stefan who was sitting at a table just straight ahead of them. He wasn't smiling like he was at the ball, but she knew that already. "He's… compassionate… romantic… smooth… intelligent… understanding…"
"Alright, we get it," Bonnie said.
Caroline looked over at Elena and then back to Damon, who was sitting next to Stefan.
"Are you ever gonna tell Damon it was you?" she asked her.
Elena's face started to turn red and her eyes went wide, trying to keep staring at her tray so no one could see her frightened expression. She shrugged in response to Caroline's question.
"Okay…" Caroline said with a sigh, "I say, you and I are gonna make an agreement. When Stefan finds out it was me, you'll tell Damon it was you."
"But-."
"Nah uh!" Bonnie protested, "You are not gonna chicken out of this!"
"That's not what I was gonna say! I was gonna say I was planning on doing it sooner…"
"What?!" Bonnie and Caroline both shouted.
"Yeah…" Elena said quietly, "I mean… I already know who he is and he's not gonna go on a manhunt to find me… so why not take matters into my own hand? I already have the power right now, I might as well take advantage of it."
"I guess you're right," Bonnie shrugged, "You guys were too chicken to flirt with each before the ball, so he'll most likely believe you when you finally come clean."
Caroline play shoved Bonnie and laughed. "You guys should come over to my house today. We'll make Elena look pretty so she can go catch her man."
Elena blushed again. "Okay… now I'm starting to rethink all of this…"
From across the cafeteria, Stefan and Damon were eating lunch with only a few other people around them, but they were sucked into their own conversations. Stefan was otherwise occupied with a blonde girl sitting at the table a little distance away from them. Damon's phone went off and he reached into his pocket to find it, wiping a bit of food from his bottom lip.
"Hey, what's that girl's name again?" Stefan asked, "She looks familiar."
Damon's eyes went wide when he looked at his phone. "Who cares? I found out who Jo Saltzman is."
"You did?" Stefan asked anxiously, "Well, come on, man. Who is she?"
He held out his phone in front of his younger brother, showing him a picture of Jo next to dozens of prom dresses.
"Jo Saltzman is actually Jo Laughlin," Damon said proudly, "World famous dress designer and author." He slid his finger to the left to show him the cover of Jo's book entitled 'The Perfect Fit'. "She was born and raised here, attended this very institute of learning we now sit in, but hated her family so much that she changed her last name from Parker to Laughlin. She married some guy recently and if your girl knows her well, then that's probably why she used her married name instead of her famous name. That girl is sneaky-."
"Parker?" Stefan asked, "As in Liv and Luke Parker? The crazy twins from hell?"
"To be fair," Damon defended, "I think Liv is the only crazy one-."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Damon. What I'm saying is… Liv might have been actually telling the truth."
"No way," Damon scoffed, "There is no way in hell Liv Parker is the girl of your dreams."
Stefan shrugged, "She did tell me she acted more like herself around me."
Damon looked around, trying to change the subject or find any girl who looks like his mystery girl to take his mind off of it, but instead, he sighed and patted Stefan's back hard.
"There's only one way to figure out this whole thing," he said, standing up out of his chair, "Looks like we're going to the Parker's house."