Hello, my lovely readers. This is Jenna's chapter and it's about a very serious subject broken up with bits of humor. One little reminder that next Thursday is Thanksgiving/my birthday so I will not be able to post on that day. You'll probably see chapters on either Wednesday or Friday of next week. On with the show…

Chapter 8: Suicide Prevention Hotline. How Can I Help You?

Friday nights were the worst to be working the hotline and that is why the counselors would advise students to rotate shifts. That is why Jenna Sommers found that she was sitting at a desk on a cold night, two weeks before Thanksgiving. While other people were making last minute plans for their break, she was twirling around in her chair. For some reason, no one had called yet. Pulling out her notes for her French exam, she started to conjugate savior.

Although she had already taken two years of Italian, she still wanted to learn another language and was considering majoring in foreign languages in college. Jenna was on "Je sais" when the phone rang. Picking it up, she greeted the caller. "Hello," she stated calmly, "Suicide Prevention Hotline. How can I help you?" She never asked for names because that was one of the rules. Everyone had a right to privacy. That's why they called.

"Hi," a male voice called back. "I…"

"It's okay. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," Jenna said smoothly. She knew that it was important to make the caller feel as if they had her full attention.

"It's the vampires. I'm seeing them again," the voice said. She could hear his breathing coming in and out in hitches. This was the same caller that had been calling last year. She knew who he was but would never thinking of outing him.

"Are they there right now?" Jenna asked with a touch of concern but enough to make him feel more afraid then he already did. These hallucinations may not be real to her but they were very real to the caller. Harper. He was a friend one of her nieces, Elena, and a few of Elena's friends. She knew from word of mouth that he had undergone treatment for a nervous breakdown the year before. And if the hallucinations were what sent him over the edge the first time, it was a good sign that he was trying to get help now.

"Yes," Harper said. "I close my eyes and try to make them go away like my therapist told me to, but when I reopen them they're still there. I'm really scared. I think they're going to kill me. I don't want to die. Please, help me," Harper begged on the edge of tears.

"Okay. I want you to close your eyes for me," Jenna ordered Harper. "Are they closed?"

"Yes," Harper replied.

"Okay," Jenna said slowly. "I'm closing my eyes too. And I am going to come over. Okay?" Harper grunted and she took that as an affirmative. "Now, I want you to imagine that I'm coming over to your house. We've never met before, but you know that I'm your friend because we've talked many times. We know everything there is to know about another person. You hear the doorbell ring in your mind and you get up to open the door to let me in."

"Is it okay if I'm imagining that you look like Halle Berry?" Harper asked and Jenna laughed.

"Sure. You can imagine that I look like whoever will make you the most comfortable," Jenna told him soothingly. "Now, we're walking up to your room. Just to talk. No funny stuff, young man."

Harper begins to laugh and Jenna smiles on her end of the line. "Okay, now what would you ordinarily do with a friend?"

"We'd play cards. One of my friends cheats, I think, because he always wins and that is mathematically impossible," Harper tells Jenna.

"Yeah, do you like math?" Jenna inquires.

"No, not really, but I still understand odds pretty well and no one's odds are that good," he states with an air of certainty.

"I will agree with you on that. So, tell me, Harper, who's going to cut the deck, you or me?" Jenna murmurs.

"You. I trust you not to cheat me," he replies with a childlike innocence that makes her want to cry.

"Alright," Jenna says and spends the next hour pulling up an imaginary card game in her head. Harper's right. No one can win every time, so he wins two hands and she wins one.

"See, it's all about odds," Harper tells her and Jenna nods even though he can't see her.

Sucking in a deep breath, Jenna goes for the million dollar question. "Do you still see the vampires?"

For a moment there is no noise on the other end of the line and Jenna is afraid that she lost him when Harper returns to the line, "No, they're gone. Thank you," he says and Jenna feels better as she leans back in her seat.

"Good," she replies with a nod. "I'm happy to hear it."

"I think I'm going to call that friend and ask him to come over for a rematch," Harper announces.

"You do that and don't forget to call me if you ever want to talk," she tells him.

"What's your name?" Harper asks.

"Jenny. Jenny Summers," she tells him because you never tell anyone your real name. Hanging up, she hits a button and answers. "Hello, Suicide Prevention Hotline. How can I help you?"

"Hi, I need… I don't know. I'm sorry this was a mistake," a female voice calls into the phone. She sounds awfully young to Jenna.

"Don't hang up. I'm here to listen to anything that you need to talk about," Jenna calls into the receiver, hoping the girl had not already disconnected the call.

After a moment, the girl comes back on the line. "I just don't know why it is that guys have to be so mean."

Jenna smiled but forced down any trace of sarcasm before she replied. "They can be, yes. So, tell me about him."

"He doesn't even know that I'm there," the girl said. "And it hurts. It's like I see him and I think about all the wonderful things that he does and I try sooooo hard to impress him but it's like I'm not even there."

"Maybe it's because he's afraid to see you. Maybe you intimidate him in some way with your many talents," Jenna replied. "Why don't you tell me about these talents that my crystal ball is telling that you have?" Jenna coaxed and grinned when the girl began to laugh. "See, there's one right there. What guy in his right mind would not like a girl with a great sense of humor? But I bet that you have many other things that you're great at. Tell me about them."

"I like to paint. I mean I love art period, but I really love to paint," the girl said. "I think that I want to be a painter after I graduate from high school."

"Ah," Jenna said. "So, you've got your life mapped out already. I can't imagine being able to figure out which pair of socks I want to put on in the morning, let alone plan my entire life out."

"You can't pick out socks?" the girl scoffed. "That's a joke, right?"

"You bet. And you found it funny. Just a little, right?" Jenna teased the girl.

"Maybe," she replied noncommittally. "I think you're a little odd."

"Everyone has a hobby. Mine is to say odd things to strangers on the phone," Jenna replied and the girl laughed. "At least I got your mind off of this boy you like. Now, I want you to promise me something. Okay?"

"Okay," the girl replied slowly.

"On Monday, when you walk back into school I want you to take a long look around yourself and realize that there are a lot of guys here. Then I want you to remember that not one of them made you a painter because that came from you. So, no one defines you, except yourself." Jenna finished her little speech that she had concocted on the fly and hoped that it made sense to the girl.

"I'll do that," the girl said and then added. "Did I mention that he's really, really cute?"

"I'm sure he is. I'm also sure that you can't give him this much power over you. Got it?" Jenna asked.

"Yes," the girl replied and then hung up.

Hitting another button, Jenna sat back in her seat. "Hello. Suicide Prevention Hotline. How can I help you?"

"I'm gay," the male voice said and Jenna nearly spit out the coffee that she had started to sip.

"Okay? And you wanted to talk about that?" Jenna inquired, feeling unsure about what the issue was here. She really hoped this was not a prank phone call.

"I'm in the closet. None of my friends know that I am. And I'm in love with my best friend," the male voice told her and she could swear that she knew who he was but she couldn't place him for sure.

"And is he or she gay, as well?" Just because someone sounded like they were male did not mean that they were or wanted to be referred to as such.

"He. No, he's straight. So, I can't tell him how I feel. He'd freak out and think that I was coming on to him. It just hurts to be in the same room with him and not be able to tell him," the teen said and then Jenna realized who it was. Alaric Saltzman. That explained a lot. Damn. And she had such a crush on him. Oh, well. "Are you still there?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll be here until midnight," Jenna replied cheerily. "As long as I keep drinking coffee I can stay up, talking till noon tomorrow."

"Uh huh," Alaric replied with a chuckle.

"So, here's what I can tell you. Eventually, you've got to tell people, otherwise you're going to end up married, had kids, and bought a house with a white picket fence. Then one day you'll end up leaving because you can't take it anymore. Your only other choice is not an option. Got it, buddy. That's a no fly zone. We do not park there. We do not even validate parking there. What we do do is accept that either these people are your friends or they're not. And if they're not, then that's on them. It's not on you. And there is a wide world out there with plenty of people that will not care if you wear a lampshade on your head. Okay?" Jenna paused, waiting for Alaric's response.

"Alright," he replied quietly.

"That doesn't mean that you have to tell people tomorrow. It just means that for your own sake that you shouldn't wait forever," Jenna murmured.

"Thanks for talking to me," Alaric whispered and then hung up.

Taking a moment to sip some of her coffee, Jenna hit the button and recited the same lines to a different person. What the person said in return made her stop dead in her tracks. "I hate myself," the caller said in a whisper. "If I went ahead and downed these pills, no would care. Not really. They tell me that I'm pretty, but I don't believe them. I don't feel pretty. I hate my hair and the way my clothes fit. I hate all of the stupid games. I hate the classes. I hate the teachers. I hate my so-called friends because they're only around because they think it'll make them popular. Who cares? We're all going to get married, have babies and sit on couches watching too much daytime TV and getting fat. I can't stand it. And he's the only one who sees me. And I hate him because he doesn't care. He hates me, too. He doesn't care who I am. He thinks I'm a bitch and he's right, I am, because I don't care."

Not moving a muscle, Jenna cannot believe her ears as she listens to this girl. Hayley freakin' Marshall. This is not possible. Of all the people she expected to be talking to it would be Rebekah Mikaelson before Hayley. "You haven't taken any of the pills yet, have you?" Jenna asks, her fingers poised to call 911.

"No, why do you care anyway? You don't even know me. Or maybe you do. Does it matter? I probably did something awful to you on my way up to the top of the pyramid. And, look at that, my English teacher thought that I didn't know what a metaphor was," Hayley said sardonically.

"Who's this guy that hates you so much?" Jenna asked. Maybe switching the topic would refocus Hayley's thoughts.

"He's a train wreck but I bet he's not sitting in his parents' tub right now with a bottle of pills, playing Jewel," Hayley snapped.

"Huh. I didn't know that people listened to her anymore. Don't you think that Taylor Swift would be more appropriate?" Jenna joked, feeling her throat tightening.

Hayley started to laugh. "You know that my dad hates me. He told me so last week. Of course it might not help that he's got a brain tumor and doesn't even know who in the hell I am. He bought me a Ferrari because he thought it would make up for not telling me until my birthday that he's not going to make it. My mom can't even get out of bed. I bet everyone at school would say oh, poor, you and then I would punch someone in the face. It's just so stupid. Because what the hell? I was a colossal bitch and now the universe is rewarding me for my wonderful achievements."

"Did it occur to you that you did not cause your father's brain tumor? And that if you want to feel badly about how you treat people, then you should live so that you make up for it?" Jenna questioned the girl who was sobbing angrily. "Got that. And maybe your mother needs you to live because she's about to lose her husband. Do you think that losing her daughter will help?"

"She doesn't even know I'm there," Hayley choked out.

"Then make her see you," Jenna replied. "Okay. Don't let her fade away. Make her live. Don't give up on her. Remind her that you're still there and that you need her, too," Jenna urged as Hayley let out another gasping sob, but this one did not sound so angry.

"Now, can you get out of the tub and put the pills in the toilet for me?" Jenna asked Hayley.

"Uh huh," Hayley whimpered. Then there was the sound of rustling and water dripping followed by the sound of a toilet flushing.

"Now, go find your mom and talk to her. And when you're done I want you to call me back. My name is Jenny Summers," Jenna said quietly.

"Thank you, Jenny," Hayley said. "I'll call," she promised before a dial tone rang in Jenna's ear. Getting up, Jenna walked across the room and toward the coffee machine. It looked like it was going to be another long night as she punched the buttons and pulled the cup out before returning to the phones. She just hoped that she was actually making a difference in someone's life tonight.

Thoughts? Opinions? Hit the review box!

Thank you for reading, faving, following and for reviewing.

Answers to reviews:

Alexis2106: Thank you.

b-positive: Thank you.

ObsessWithElijah: Yes, that plot was interesting and poor Jer doesn't know he was caught in the middle of a much bigger plot to come. I don't think that Gia will be joining the cast because there are far too many people in here to begin with. It's okay. I forget plenty of details. Thank you.

Guest: That could be a possibility but I don't want to spoil anything.

Starlight000: I kind of forgot how much I loved Jeranna but there will be more about them in this story. I have no idea yet since there is a ton to deal with in between. I can try to fit in some Bonnie/Kol flirting since Bonnie is a flirt in this story.

JuseaPeterson: I know. Don't worry too much about Jer and Anna. They'll find their way back to each other but there are a ton of events that will happen in between.

Peace,

Jessica