At the Boarding House, Stefan woke up when he heard something moving in the house. He got up and went into the hall. The door was closed, but he could've sworn he'd heard it open. "Hello?" He asked. There was no answer. He looked around. Suddenly, someone jumped on him from behind. He fell to the ground, surprised.
"Oops. I keep forgetting you're not as strong as most guys." He looked up and saw a blonde girl wearing a denim jacket.
"Lexi?"
"Hi, Stef." The girl said, hugging him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to surprise you. I'm in town for the day." Lexi told him. "Plus, the door was unlocked."
"I'm really glad to see you."
"Happy birthday."
The two of them headed up to Stefan's room. "So, the last time I tried karate with that guy, I took him down. He was impressed." Lexi was telling him.
"I always knew he talked a big game and could never back it up." Stefan said. "Speaking of which, did you hear about what happened at the Founder's party?"
"Yeah, but I'm only here for today. My boyfriend's taking me out to a concert this weekend." Lexi told him.
"Remember that time where we ended up double-dating with the two siblings?"
"Yeah, that was the weirdest date I'd ever been on." Lexi pointed out. "So, what's with this new girl you've told me about?"
"Her name's Elena." Stefan pointed out.
"I just hope she's not like the last girl you got hung up over."
"You transferred schools a month after she left." Stefan pointed out. "You didn't even know her."
"If I did meet her, I'd kick her ass for what she did to you." Lexi said. "Even harder than when I hunted down that idiot last week. Speaking of which, where's your brother?"
"He's probably gone out by now." Stefan told her. "I have to check on something. Will you be okay here alone?"
"Of course." Lexi told him. "Besides, not like there's really much to do in this little town."
"You're protected, right?"
"I never leave home without this." Lexi pointed out, touching the necklace she was wearing. (A/N: It is not the same one as Elena's in the show, it's a different one)
Stefan started to leave, but then he turned back. "Hey, Lexi? I'm glad you came today. "
"What are friends for, Stef?" Lexi pointed out.
At the park, Stefan ran into Matt on his way. "Hey."
"Hey, whatever you did to help Vicki, thanks." Matt told him. "She seems a lot better now."
"It was nothing." Stefan told him, even though he had no idea what Matt was talking about.
"I've gotta go. Running through practice with some of the guys. Later." Matt left. Stefan kept walking until he found Elena sitting on one of the benches.
"Hey. I wanted to see if you were okay."
"Jeremy's still taking it kind of hard." Elena told him.
"I'm sorry." Stefan said. It was all he could say about it. He wasn't sure how else to respond.
"I don't know if I can keep doing this." Elena admitted. "Every time I look at Jeremy, all I can think of is how this never would've happened if we hadn't been turned. And Matt is still clueless as to Vicki's sudden personality change. It's too much."
"Hey, the way I see it, you didn't have much of a choice but to make her forget."
"Look, I need to get home. I'll call if I'm ready to talk about this more clearly." Elena got up and left. Stefan watched her leave. He wished that he could do something to help her, the problem is he didn't know how.
Back at the Boarding House, Lexi was asleep on Stefan's bed. She heard something move and woke up to find Damon looking at her. She threw a pillow at him. "Really?"
"I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"I came to visit my best friend. Is that such a crime?" Lexi said.
"How long are you staying?"
"Just for the day." Lexi told him. "Besides, it is Stef's B-day."
"Well, if anyone can cheer my brother up, it's you." Damon said.
"This coming from the guy who makes him feel miserable most of the time." Lexi said.
"That hurt."
"The truth does sometimes." Lexi pointed out. "But, I know you mean well." She looked out the window. "You guys should really bond sometime. Stef says you've been distant lately."
"It's been rough." Damon told her.
"Trust me, you don't know what it's like until someone's…" Lexi didn't finish her statement. Instead, she just walked out of the room.
Bonnie was packing her stuff at her Gram's house. "You leaving?"
"I have to. Dad doesn't like when I stay here too long." Bonnie pointed out.
"He just doesn't trust me very much." She noticed the crystal on the table. "You should wear that."
"It doesn't belong to me." Bonnie pointed out.
"It was your ancestor's, so it does belong to you." Sheila attached the necklace to her granddaughter's neck.
"Why don't you wear it? I mean, Emily's your family, too."
"It didn't find me, it found you." Sheila pointed out. "A witch's talisman is powerful. You shouldn't give it to just anyone."
"I still think I should give it back." Bonnie admitted. "It doesn't feel right wearing it."
At home, Elena and Jeremy sat next to each other. "Will this ever get easier?" Jeremy asked.
"I don't know." Elena told him. "But, we did the right thing."
"I get that. It doesn't make it hurt less, though." Jeremy said.
"Well, there has to be something we can do." Elena said. "Maybe we should focus on our schoolwork." Jeremy looked at her.
"What's the point? We're already behind in class."
"No, you're behind in class." Elena said.
"Well, guess it beats sitting around being miserable." Jeremy said, getting up. Elena headed up to her room. She ended up lying down looking at the ceiling. Bonnie came in a few minutes later.
"You up?"
"No." Elena said. Bonnie sat down next to her.
"You haven't called back." Bonnie said. "I got worried."
"Sorry." Elena said.
"What's going on?" Bonnie asked.
"I've been having a very bad week." Elena told her. "I've been trying to avoid Stefan."
"Why?"
"There's just too much going on." Elena said. "Too much I can begin to explain."
"I'm sorry. I'm always busy when you need me the most." Bonnie said. "Is there something I can do?"
"Unless you can get my mind off this…" Elena began.
"I think I know a way." Bonnie said. She ripped open one of the pillows.
"Hey!"
"First, I need to swear you to secrecy."
"Great. Like I haven't got enough to worry about." Elena said.
"Please, I'm not supposed to be showing you this."
"Okay, I swear."
"There's no open windows, right?" Bonnie asked.
"No." Elena said.
"No fan either."
"What are you…" Elena began.
"I just learned this from Grams." Bonnie told her. She put her hand over one of the feathers and it levitated. She set it down before levitating a several of them at once. They surrounded Elena.
"Oh, my God!" Elena said.
"It's true, Elena. Everything my Grams told me. I'm a witch."
"I believe you." Elena said, remembering she wasn't supposed to know she was a witch. That meant Bonnie couldn't find out that she knew her secret long before she did.
Outside, Caroline ran into Damon. "Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."
"Actually, I wanted to ask you something." Damon told her. "I want to do something for Stefan's birthday tonight."
"Well, we could try throwing a party at the Grill." Caroline suggested. "I know it sounds kind of lame, but…"
"Hey, I'm willing to try anything." He told her. "Anyway, Bonnie told me she got the crystal from you."
"I can get it back from her." Caroline told him.
"I'm not going to force you to do that, Caroline."
"I know, but I feel bad for giving it to her without your permission."
At the Boarding House, Lexi and Stefan were in the living room. "From what I'm hearing, it sounds like this Elena is either in denial or fighting it." Lexi said. "And apparently, so are you."
"This isn't about me." Stefan pointed out. "I don't want to push her into something she's uncomfortable with. Besides, we don't think it'll work right now anyway."
"Please, you are in serious denial." Lexi said. "So, what are we doing tonight?"
"Actually, I had an idea about that." They both looked up as Damon came into the room.
"Care to tell us what it is?" Lexi asked.
"Caroline invited everyone to a party at the Grill."
"I don't know, Damon." Stefan said.
"I'm in." Lexi said. Stefan looked at her, surprised. "Well, there's nothing better to do." She pointed out.
Back in Elena's room, she and Bonnie were talking. "After all these times joking about being psychic. I really am a witch. Weird, right?"
"I've believed weirder things, trust me." Elena said. "But shouldn't you keep this a secret?"
"You're my best friend, I can't keep secrets from you." Bonnie told her. Elena felt guilty for not being able to tell her.
"I have a secret too." She said. "But I can't tell you. It's just not the right time and I don't know how you're gonna take it."
"It's okay, Elena. You don't have to tell me right now." Bonnie said. "I have to get back home, anyway. Caroline's been trying to reach me."
At the Boarding House, Lexi had finished changing clothes and went into Stefan's room. "I'm almost ready."
"You really think this is a good idea?" Stefan asked her.
"Since when do you turn down a good party?" Lexi pointed out.
"It's just that everything's been a little off lately." Stefan pointed out.
"Who cares?" Lexi said. "At least you're brother's trying to reach out to you for once. The least we can do is go with it."
"Alright, you won me over." Lexi decided to leave the room at that point.
Elena arrived at the Boarding House. She knocked on the door. "It's open." An unfamiliar voice called. She entered the house and found Lexi. The blonde girl turned around and noticed her. She looked at her carefully. "How did…who are you?"
"My name's Elena. Who are you?"
"Lexi. I'm a friend of Stefan's."
"Is he here?"
"He's in the shower." Lexi told her. "I'm sure he'll be out soon though."
"This was a bad idea." Elena said. She turned and headed for the door.
"I'll tell him you stopped by." Lexi offered.
"No, really. It's okay." Elena told her. She left the house.
Lexi headed back up to Stefan's room. "Okay, you left out some important details." Lexi said.
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked.
"You forgot to mention that the girl you're crushing on is a vampire." Lexi said.
Sorry there's not much Stelena in this one, but I felt bringing Lexi in was important. You'll find out how she knows their secret next chapter.