[1x01; Pilot]
If there was one thing Lucy Gilbert knew about the first day of school it would be that first impressions were important. And, after the summer she had, she needed to make a good impression. One that said, 'My parents are dead but I'm fine, thanks for asking.'
Lucy didn't think there was an outfit for that, though, so she settled with the type of clothes she would normally wear. If anything, that would give the impression that she was back to normal.
She only wished she was back to normal. A summer's worth of grief and yet she still didn't feel like herself, like the person she was before her family's SUV ran off Wickery Bridge. But that was fine—her parents were dead; she was allowed to not be all right. If it took her longer than four months to grieve, that was her business and her business alone.
Still, a carefully crafted mask and outfit would have to work for now.
Lucy quickly pulled on her clothes and checked her hair, her lips quirking in satisfaction when her brunette curls bounced perfectly in place. She fixed her moonstone locket against her upper breastbone and left the bathroom that she shared with her brother, heading straight into her room.
After gathering her school supplies and bag, Lucy wandered downstairs. The closer she walked to the kitchen, the louder the voices coming from it were. She perked up when she heard her older brother's voice playfully arguing with her aunt, Jenna, and older sister, Elena. Joel had just started his sophomore year at Whitmore, so she didn't expect to see him.
"I can make toast," Jenna proclaimed, shutting the refrigerator door as Lucy walked into the room.
"The last time I saw you use the toaster, you almost burnt down the house, Jenna," Joel teased his aunt from his seat at the island. He picked up a doughnut from the white carboard box in front of him and put it on a napkin, pushing it over to her.
"Besides, it's all about the coffee," Elena added, pouring some coffee into her usual purple mug.
"Is there coffee?"
Lucy, who had been watching her family interact from the kitchen door, jumped as her younger brother, Jeremy, pushed past her and walked over to Elena, taking the coffee mug from her hands. Elena scoffed and turned, grabbing another mug to fill up.
"It's your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared," Jenna sighed. She wandered over to the dining table where her purse was sitting and rummaged through it, pulling out three five-dollar bills. "Lunch money?"
She held out two of the bills for Elena and Jeremy to take and looked over at Lucy, smiling as she held out the other bill. Lucy grinned back and took the money.
"Thanks," she mumbled, slipping the money into the small pocket on the front of her purse.
"I'm good," Elena denied, pouring cream into her coffee.
Jeremy shrugged and took Elena's share along with his. Lucy and Joel exchanged at look at his actions, thinking the same thing; more drug money for Jeremy.
Joel quickly recovered. "You know, I could use—"
Jenna interrupted him, "That's funny, Mr. IT Guy," she scoffed and went back to her purse as Joel smiled sheepishly. "Anything else?" she asked the younger siblings. "A number two pencil? What am I missing?"
Lucy frowned thoughtfully and reached into the doughnut box, picking up a glazed one. "Don't you have your presentation today?" she asked Jenna.
Jenna huffed. "I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at—" she checked her watch. "—now. Shit!"
Jenna hurriedly took the elastic out of her messy ponytail, allowing her strawberry blonde hair to fall around her face. She grabbed her purse and a large binder, looking at the Gilbert siblings guiltily.
"Go on," Joel waved her off. "I heard Dr. Castor is a bitch. I'll take care of things here."
"Thanks," Jenna sighed in relief and started to head to the front door, calling, "Have a good first day and Joel, make sure you go to class!"
The front door opened and shut quickly. Joel turned to his younger siblings, a mischievous smirk on his face. "So," he started. "Who wants to skip school?"
Lucy rolled her eyes while Jeremy snorted in amusement. Elena, however, was not happy.
"Shut it, Joel," she gave him a warning look before she turned to Jeremy. "Are you okay?"
Jeremy sighed, aggravated, and put his mug on the counter. "Don't start."
Elena pursed her lips as Jeremy stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room.
"Don't let it bother you, Lena," Lucy spoke up, giving her sister a comforting smile. "He's just taking time to grieve."
"And smoking a bunch of weed while he's at it," Joel commented. As an afterthought, he added, "And who knows what else."
"Joel," Lucy hissed warningly, afraid that Elena's forehead vein would burst from anger. She took a bite of her doughnut and quickly chewed. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
Joel grinned and smacked the counter, standing from the stool he was sitting on. "I'm here to take you to school. I don't have class until later and I'm off today, so…"
"Bonnie's giving me a ride," Elena grimaced apologetically at her older brother. The front door slammed, making Lucy and Elena turn toward the foyer. "And I think Jeremy decided he was walking."
"Fine," Joel shrugged and grabbed his car keys off the counter. He grinned at Lucy. "Just you and me, Lou."
Lucy grimaced, not at the thought of her brother driving her to school, but at the thought of a car at all. She had ridden in cars since the accident, of course, but it took a lot of her courage. And she was already using up a lot of her bravery even stepping foot in the school.
Joel caught the hesitation on her face and patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, we'll take our time," he began guiding her out of the house, looking back at Elena to shout, "Have a good day, Lenabug!"
Joel closed the door shut behind him and Lucy. Walking down the porch steps, he clicked the button on his car keys, unlocking his truck.
Lucy slowed to a stop right outside the passenger door, looking at the vehicle hesitantly.
"Hey," Joel, who had been walking around the front of the vehicle, paused and looked back at Lucy. "I'll be careful, I promise."
Lucy swallowed dryly and nervously nodded. "I know."
She opened the door and climbed into the truck, struggling slightly due to the sheer height of the vehicle. Once she was situated in the seat, she clipped on her seatbelt and looked over at Joel, who was waiting patiently.
"How are your classes going?" Lucy asked him as he pulled away from the curb in front of their house and started down the road.
"Psychology is kicking my ass," Joel admitted, somewhat sheepishly. "But Jenna said she'd help me."
"What about that girl," Lucy raised her eyebrows at him. "What was her name, again? Marcy?"
Joel rolled his eyes. "It's Marty and I think she's a lesbian."
"Why do you think that?"
"She introduced me to her girlfriend," Joel said, glancing over at her.
Lucy shrugged. "She could be bi or pan."
"True," Joel conceded, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
As a new song came on the radio, he reached over to adjust the volume just as Lucy did the same. Lucy winced slightly as they touched, a tingling sensation thrumming through her fingers.
"Ouch!" Joel hissed, quickly pulling his fingers away from Lucy's. "You shocked me, Lou."
"Sorry," she apologized, lowering her hand. When Joel turned the volume knob, a new ring he was wearing caught her eye. "When did you get that ring?" she asked curiously.
Joel winced and looked down at his ring, the band thick and silver with a large blue stone set in the middle. "Uh," he hesitated for a second, biting his bottom lip thoughtfully. "A friend gave it to me. Do you like it?"
"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "It's nice."
Lucy spun the dial on her locker, trying to make her combination work. She always had trouble with the combination locks at school and so far, this year was no different. Luckily, she still had time before the bell rang to figure it out.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone step up to the locker next to hers, quickly twisting the dial with ease. Lucy was slightly envious but she focused on her lock, sighing in relief when it finally opened. She pulled her various notebooks and binders that she, Elena, and Jenna had gotten the week before and organized them neatly in the metal box.
"Do you always have trouble with your locker?"
Lucy raised her eyes and turned, following the unfamiliar voice. It was her locker neighbor and he must have been new, because she had never seen him around school or Mystic Falls before.
"Yeah," Lucy confirmed, smiling shyly. "It's my third year of high school and I'm still working on it," the new guy chuckled slightly and, being the nosy person she was, she asked, "Are you new?"
"That obvious, huh?" he asked. "I'm Stefan Salvatore."
Stefan Salvatore was very handsome, Lucy realized the more she spoke to him. He was tall, towering over her five-three height, and slim. His eyes were a forest green color that Lucy was intrigued by and his sandy-blonde hair was styled like most of the boys in school. For whatever reason, though, Lucy didn't think that Stefan was like the other guys that she went to school with. She just couldn't put her finger on why.
"Salvatore?" Lucy hummed, grabbing her history notebook out of her locker and shutting it. "Like Zach Salvatore?"
Stefan nodded, his smile faltering only slightly. "He's my uncle. Do you know him?"
"Not personally," Lucy informed him. "But I used to beg my mom and dad to teach me about the founding families of Mystic Falls. I'm Lucy Gilbert, by the way."
"Gilbert, another founding family," Stefan guessed, recognizing her last name.
Lucy shrugged. "Yeah…I better head to class, the bell's going to ring any second."
"Yeah, I should too," Stefan agreed. "Uh, do you know where the men's room is?"
"It's around the corner, down that hallway," Lucy pointed to right where the hall they were standing in intersected with another. "It's hard to miss."
"Thanks, Lucy. I'll see you later."
Lucy waved as Stefan walked away and started down the hall, heading toward her History class. The class was taught by Mr. Tanner, the biggest jackass she had ever met, including her uncle, John. It was just her luck that the advanced placement classes were full so she was stuck with Tanner, who seemed to have a personal vendetta against the Gilbert family.
She was almost to the classroom when the bell rang, signaling the five minutes until classes started. She waved at Caroline Forbes as they passed each other in the hallway, not having enough time to catch up and talk about what had been going on in the two days since they last saw each other.
Lucy dipped into the classroom and smiled when she saw Bonnie Bennett sitting toward the back. There was an empty seat beside her, right in front of Matt Donovan, Elena's ex-boyfriend and a good friend of hers.
"Good morning," Bonnie greeted her enthusiastically, her lips stretched into a bright smile.
"Hey," Lucy smiled back at her, sliding her bag off her shoulder and sitting at the empty desk. She twisted slightly in her seat to face Bonnie and Matt. "Hey, Matt."
"Morning, Luce," Matt replied, tapping his pencil lightly against the desk. "How are you?"
"I'm trying my best," Lucy shrugged. Being around her friends made her feel better. Her whole summer had been mostly her isolating herself with the exception of her family and Caroline. It was nice to see Bonnie and Matt again. "How about you guys?"
"I made varsity," Matt stated proudly, pointing at his letterman jacket.
"That's great, congratulations!" Lucy exclaimed happily. Matt was a great football player and his position of quarterback would let him show off his leadership skills. "What about you, Bon?"
"Nothing much," Bonnie shrugged before leaning forward, lowering her voice so only Lucy and Matt could hear her. "Grams is saying I'm psychic."
"Really?" Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Any substance to her theory?"
"Well, I did predict Heath Ledger."
"May he rest in peace," Matt said somberly at the mention of his favorite actor. Lucy and Bonnie exchanged eye rolls.
"Okay, class is starting!" the annoying, smug voice of Mr. Tanner filled the classroom just as the final bell rang. "Let's cut the chit chat. Brian, I'm talking to you!"
While Tanner calmed down the chatting students, Lucy rolled her eyes once more and twisted once again in her seat, this time facing the front. To her surprise, Stefan Salvatore was in the seat in front of her. He was staring slightly ahead, right at Elena, who glanced back at him.
"We're starting in unit one, the origin of Virginia's split into two different states," Mr. Tanner declared after attendance had been taken, they went over the syllabus, and Tanner lectured for almost a half an hour about talking out of turn in his classroom. "Once our home state of Virginia joined the Confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Can anyone tell me when the state officially divided?"
While Tanner waited for an answer, Lucy looked around. No hands were up, no answers given. Sighing, she raised her hand to give Tanner the answer. History was one of her best subjects after all.
"Lucy?"
"1863."
"Yes, thank you," Mr. Tanner pointed at her and went on with his lecture. "Like Lucy said, Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the Union…"
Lucy flinched slightly when her cell phone began to vibrate where it rested on her thigh. She picked it up and unlocked it, seeing that Bonnie had sent a group message between them and Elena.
Elena, hawt-e staring u
Lucy inwardly cringed at Bonnie's abbreviations and looked toward Elena, seeing that Stefan was once again looking at her sister. She chuckled slightly and when Tanner had his back to the class, she slipped her phone into her bag, not wanting to be distracted again.
"How are you doing that without a calculator?" Elena asked Lucy as she situated herself on the ground next to her.
They were at the Gilbert plot in the cemetery, visiting their parents. They usually visited once a week and the two sisters thought it was a good idea to go today. After telling their parents about their first day at school, they sat across from their shared headstone; Elena wrote in her journal while Lucy started her calculus homework.
"It's math," Lucy shrugged indifferently.
"Right," Elena scoffed playfully. "I forgot that you're your own personal calculator. I can't even multiple by fourteens."
Lucy smiled and nudged Elena's elbow. "It's that Sommers blood running through your veins," she laughed slightly. "You, Joel, and Jeremy inherited Mom and Aunt Jenna's inability to solve equations."
Elena rolled her eyes, knowing that Lucy was right. "All right, Miss Smarty-pants, at least I didn't get Dad's awkward rambling skills!"
Lucy gasped dramatically, not at all bothered by Elena's teasing. In fact, she was glad she and Elena were joking around with each other like they used to before the accident.
"I can't believe you just said that!" she wiped a fake tear from her eye. "I could cry right now!"
"Uh-huh," the older girl snorted, grinning at her sister. "I can clearly see you're devastated."
"I am devasted," Lucy insisted, her eyes drifting over to her parents' headstone. She faltered when she saw a pure black bird sitting on top of it, staring at her and Elena as though it knew them. "…that's weird."
Elena looked to see what Lucy was talking about and frowned when she saw the bird. "Okay…hi, bird," the bird squawked, as though it was greeting her back. "That's not creepy or anything."
Lucy snorted and went back to her homework, looking down at her textbook. Her eyes fell instead upon the fog that was starting to surround her and Elena, permeating the area around them.
"What the hell?" she breathed, sharing a confused glance with her sister.
The bird squawked again.
"All right," Elena, being the brave one between her and Lucy, stood up and stomped toward the bird, shooing it away. "Shoo!"
The bird flew away from the headstone, making both sisters sigh in relief.
"That's what I thought," Elena mumbled in victory.
She turned back to Lucy and stopped in her tracks, her eyes on the top of the statue Lucy was leaning against.
"Luce, get up," she ordered, eyeing the bird casually sitting on the statue. "We're leaving."
Lucy, hearing the tightness in Elena's voice, stood up immediately, grabbing her bag and homework. She narrowed her eyes as the bird squawked; Elena grabbed her wrist and started pulling her away from their parents' grave, looking freaked out.
Lucy didn't really blame her; the fog and the bird was kind of ominous to her.
They had walked through half of the cemetery when Lucy looked back at her parents' headstone to see if the bird was still there. It wasn't, but she was sure there was a man instead, halfway hiding behind a large headstone.
Lucy gasped, panicked, and tugged Elena's hand. Elena looked back as well, seeing the same thing that Lucy had. Together they started running, trying to get as much space between them and the man as possible.
They ran down a small hill that was toward the back entrance of the cemetery, going much faster than they should have. Elena tripped over a root and fell down the rest of the way, grunting in pain.
"Elena!" Lucy exclaimed, rushing toward her. "Are you okay?"
Elena grimaced as Lucy helped her up. She reassured her younger sister that she was fine, her voice faltering as they came face-to-face with Stefan Salvatore.
"Woah!" Lucy gasped, clutching her chest in fright.
"Hey," Stefan greeted them, looking at Elena in concern. "Are you okay?"
Lucy looked at him suspiciously; clearly he had seen Elena fall. "Were you following us?" she demanded, somewhat rudely.
Stefan's eyes slid to her, amusement hidden in them. "No, I saw you guys running."
"Hmm, and you just happened to be hanging out in a cemetery?" Lucy continued to question him, not quite believing him. Sure, Stefan seemed like a nice guy, but she had seen a male figure behind them and now Stefan showed up? She was a suspicious person by nature, and this seemed fishy to her.
"Lucy," Elena hissed, embarrassed by her sister's behavior.
"I'm visiting," Stefan informed Lucy, his lips twitching. "I have family here."
Truthfully, Stefan found Lucy's accusation kind of amusing. Earlier in the day when he first spoke to her, she hadn't seemed like she had much of a backbone. In fact, she seemed a little depressed. It was nice to see her a bit livelier.
Lucy's face fell in realization; she felt bad that she was questioning him so harshly. After all, he was doing the exact thing she and Elena were—visiting their dead loved ones.
"Sorry," she mumbled, embarrassed. "It's just—"
"There was some random fog back there and it was making us kind of foggy," Elena piped in, backing up Lucy. Stefan smiled politely, making her ramble on, "There was a bird, too. It was all very Hitchcock for a second. That's the bird movie, right? The Hitchcock?"
"Hitchcock directed the movie," Lucy corrected Elena, unable to help herself.
"Right," Elena nodded, smiling at Stefan. "I'm Elena."
Stefan grinned. "I'm Stefan."
"I know," Elena said. "We have History together."
"And English and French," Stefan added. He looked at Lucy. "And Chemistry and Gym."
Lucy grimaced. "Oh, Gym."
Stefan chuckled and scratched his chin. Lucy noticed a large ring on his ring finger. It was bigger than most of the rings men wear, with a large oval blue stone settled in the band, an ornate 'S' in the middle. She cocked her head slightly, noticing that the blue stone was the same color of the ring Joel had been wearing this morning.
"Nice ring," she told him politely when he caught her staring.
"Oh," Stefan fiddled with the ring, looking back up at her and Elena. "It's a family ring. I'm kinda stuck with it. It's weird, huh?"
"Kind of, yeah—"
"No, no," Elena interrupted Lucy's bluntness, much to Stefan's amusement. "Uh, I mean, there are rings and then there's that," she nodded at his hand.
Stefan smiled and lowered his arms. A sweet scent caught his attention, making his mouth salivate heavily.
Blood.
He subtly followed the scent, careful not to give his uneasiness away to the Gilbert sisters. The scent came from Elena's leg and it was fresh, probably from the fall he witnessed.
"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked the older sister.
"Huh?" Elena hummed absentmindedly. Lucy turned to her sister, concerned.
"Did you hurt yourself?"
"Oh, uh," Elena looked down at herself. "I don't know."
"How do you not know?" Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "You're either in pain or you're not?"
"It could be adrenaline," Elena shot her sister a glare and lifted her foot on a nearby tree stump. She rolled up her jeans and grimaced when she saw a small but bloody gash on her shin. "Look at that. It's not pretty."
"Gross," Lucy gagged and covered her eyes; she always hated the sight of blood. "Cover that up, Lena."
"You should go take care of that," Stefan added, sounding uncomfortable. Lucy couldn't see him with her hand still covering her eyes, but she assumed that he didn't like blood either.
"Really, it's nothing," Elena assured both Stefan and Lucy. She lowered her jeans and looked up, surprised to see that Stefan had disappeared. "Uh, where'd he go?"
Lucy uncovered her eyes, thankful that Elena had covered her wound. Stefan was no where to be seen, though, and she hadn't even heard him walk away.
"I have no idea."
Lucy walked into The Mystic Grill, pretty much the only restaurant and bar in town, with Bonnie and Caroline. They were fulfilling their yearly tradition where they met for milkshakes and fries on the first day of school. It started when they began sixth grade and they'd been doing it ever since. Granted, they came a bit later in the day now that their curfews were later.
Caroline had been her usual bubbly self since she picked Lucy up. They had talked about their day on the way to Bonnie's house and when Bonnie joined them, they started a conversation about the male population of Mystic Fall High. There weren't many guys to talk about—Matt and Tyler Lockwood were among the cutest guys at the school, but Matt was like a brother to Lucy and Tyler was a jerk who bullied Jeremy.
So, eventually, as they walked into the restaurant, the conversation turned to Stefan. He had apparently caught Caroline's eye during their brief meeting in the math class they shared together.
"His name is Stefan Salvatore," she informed Bonnie, who hadn't been introduced to Stefan. "He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. He's from a military family so they moved around a lot. He's a Scorpio and his favorite color is blue."
Caroline grabbed the virgin cocktail she had ordered from the bar tender and turned around, smirking at Bonnie and Lucy. Lucy raised her eyebrows, impressed but slightly freaked out by the information Caroline had somehow already learned.
"You got all that in one day?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.
"Oh, please," Caroline scoffed. "I got all of that between third and fourth period."
Lucy snorted in amusement. "Wow, Caroline, and I thought you couldn't get any scarier."
"What can I say, it's a gift," Caroline winked at her best friend.
"Come on," Bonnie laughed. "Let's get a table."
"I'm craving cheese fries," Lucy agreed quickly.
Half an hour later, Caroline had abandoned Lucy and Bonnie to play pool with Tyler. Lucy was almost finished with her cheese fries and was halfway listening to Matt question Bonnie about Elena.
Elena and Matt used to date and they were a lovely couple until Matt started talking about a future together and Elena didn't know what she wanted. They broke up the night of the car accident and had hardly spoken since. Matt was having a hard time moving on, and Lucy felt sorry for him, but Elena just wasn't the same person anymore.
Neither was Lucy, if she was being honest.
"How's Elena doing?" Matt asked Lucy and Bonnie, a dejected look on his face.
"She's doing her best," Lucy said, repeating what she told them in history class. "But it's only been four months since the accident."
Matt nodded understandably. "Has she said anything about me?"
Bonnie and Lucy exchanged looks; Elena had talked about Matt a little to each of them, but it wasn't anything that Matt would want to hear. It wasn't anything mean about him or their previous relationship, but Elena had moved on.
"We're not getting in the middle of this," Bonnie told Matt, Lucy nodding with her. "You have to pick up the phone and call her."
"I feel weird calling her," Matt admitted. "She broke up with me."
Lucy smiled sympathetically and though she was usually the one her friends came to for her blunt honesty, she couldn't tell the truth this time. Something about Matt's sad blue eyes made her sad. "You just have to give it more time, Matt."
Matt nodded sadly in agreement and Lucy hoped he would at least try to move on and be happy, but when she looked up and saw Elena and Stefan walking into The Grill together, she knew he wasn't going to be. Matt followed her gaze and frowned at the sight of his ex-girlfriend and the new guy standing side-by-side.
"More time, huh?" Matt said sadly, getting up from his seat.
"Matty," Lucy tried to console him, but he walked away from the table, heading straight to Elena and Stefan. She glanced at Bonnie, "Oh, I hope this goes well."
"Matt won't do anything," Bonnie assured her.
Bonnie was right; Matt simply introduced himself to Stefan, said hello to Elena, and then went over to the pool tables where Tyler and Caroline were. Caroline excused herself as Elena and Stefan approached the table, greeting them enthusiastically and sitting next to Lucy.
It was only five minutes later when she started interrogating Stefan about his life.
"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" she asked as though she hadn't already known that.
"Mmhm," Stefan confirmed, politely answering her questions. "I moved when I was still young."
"Parents?" Bonnie joined in on the questioning.
"My parents passed away."
Lucy lifted her head slightly from her palm at his answer, looking at him sympathetically. Her and Elena could definitely sympathize with that. Losing your parents was absolutely horrible, no matter how much time had passed.
"I'm sorry," Elena mumbled; Stefan nodded his thanks. "Any siblings?"
"None that I talk to," Stefan said, making Lucy raise her eyebrows. So, he did have a sibling—or more—but they didn't speak to each other. She couldn't imagine being estranged from Joel, Elena, or Jeremy. "I live with my uncle."
There was a slight lull in the conversation as Stefan and Elena got lost in each other's eyes. It was kind of uncomfortable for Lucy, Caroline, and Bonnie.
Caroline, ever the talker, spoke up, "So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."
Stefan looked confused.
"It's a back-to-school thing at the falls," Lucy informed him. "You should come."
Stefan looked to Elena. "Are you going?"
"Of course, she is," Lucy said, smirking at her sister. Elena gave Lucy a warning glance, but she just ignored it. If Stefan could make Elena feel better, then he should have a chance to.
Lucy only hoped that she'd feel better eventually as well.
"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Mr. Tanner declared, pacing at the front of the classroom. "How many casualties resulted in this battle?"
Lucy raised her hand automatically, continuing to write notes in her eligible cursive-print hybrid.
"Why don't we give your classmates a chance to answer, Miss Gilbert," Mr. Tanner sighed; Lucy rolled her eyes and lowered her hand. "Miss Bennett?"
Bonnie looked up from her notebook where various doodles were drawn. "Um, a lot?" she said uncertainly. "I'm not sure. Like, a whole lot."
Lucy snickered under her breath along with Matt. Mr. Tanner, however, didn't look that pleased.
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Miss Bennett," Tanner smirked. "Mr. Donovan…" Matt looked up at the ass of a teacher. "Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," Matt quipped.
"Hm," Mr. Tanner moved onto the next student while the rest of the class laughed again. "Elena, surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"
Lucy couldn't see her sister's face but she did see her shoulders slump.
"I'm sorry," Elena apologized. "I-I don't know."
Mr. Tanner looked disappointed. "I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena, but the personal excuses ended with summer break."
Lucy's jaw dropped at the sheer audacity Mr. Tanner had. Two people—their parents—had died. And, sure, that didn't excuse them from school or anything else, but they didn't deserve to have it thrown in their faces. Elena didn't know a question that pretty much no one else knew, yet Tanner singled her out specifically.
Lucy was practically seething and she would have said something if it wasn't for the fact that Stefan spoke up instead.
"There were three hundred and forty-six causalities," he answered Tanner's original question. "Unless you're counting local civilians."
Mr. Tanner turned to Stefan, looking impressed. "That's correct, Mister…?"
"Salvatore."
"Salvatore," he recognized the name just as Lucy had the day before. "Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"
Stefan nodded. "Distant."
"Very good," Tanner nodded in approval. "Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."
Mr. Tanner went to walk to his chalkboard but stopped in his tracks when Stefan spoke again.
"Actually, there were twenty-seven, sir," he corrected the teacher, much to Lucy's amusement. "Confederate soldiers fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss."
Lucy couldn't help but smile at the chastised look on Tanner's face. Stefan wasn't finished, though.
"The founder's archives are stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner," he said firmly. Chuckles and teasing sounds rang around the classroom.
Lucy joined in, satisfied to see Tanner so embarrassed after humiliating Elena and rubbing their parents' death in both of their faces. She mentally thanked Stefan, finding herself beginning to like him.
"Uh, uh," Elena tutted, grabbing the bottle of beer from Lucy's hand and throwing it on the ground behind them. "You're too young."
Lucy gaped at the bottle, unbroken but spilling the drink everywhere. "You're sexist," she claimed, her eyes slightly blurry from the drinks she had already. She didn't drink often, so she was a lightweight compared to her siblings and friends. "Jeremy's younger than me and drinking. You don't say anything to him."
Elena sighed. "I'm not sexist, Jeremy just won't listen to me."
"What does that have to do with me?" Lucy complained; she looked at Bonnie for help, but she just laughed slightly. Lucy promptly turned back to her sister. "You know what? I think you need to relax. Caroline says that sex helps relax people. You should have sex," she gasped in realization. "you should have sex with Stefan!"
Bonnie laughed at Lucy's rambles while Elena gaped at her.
"Woah, woah," she said, stopping Lucy's giggles. "First, I think you need some water or something. Second, what do you mean I should sleep with Stefan? He's—I'm not attracted to him."
Bonnie and Lucy laughed together, not believing a word Elena had just said.
"Yeah right!"
"Just admit it, Elena," Bonnie said, nudging her.
"Oh, okay," Elena sighed. "so, he's a little pretty."
"He has that romance novel stare," Bonnie said. She lowered her voice, as though reading a book, "Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul."
Lucy burst out laughing, Bonnie and Elena following shortly after. They laughed for a couple of minutes, sighing when they calmed down.
"So, where is he?" Bonnie wondered, looking around the area that the bonfire next to them lit up.
"I don't know," Elena shrugged. "You tell me, you're the psychic one."
"Right, I forgot," Bonnie nodded. "Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate."
"Wait, wait, wait," Lucy spoke fast and bent down, retrieving the beer bottle Elena had knocked out of her hands. "You need a crystal ball."
She held it out to Bonnie, their fingers brushing. Both girls gasped; Lucy felt the same tingling in her fingers as the day before when she touched Joel. Bonnie, however, felt an aching sensation in her hand, combined with a vision flashing through her head.
"What was that?" Elena asked as Lucy and Bonnie frantically pulled away from each other.
"That was weird," Bonnie said, looking over at Lucy who was staring at her fingers. "When I touched Lucy, I saw a crow."
Lucy looked up with wide eyes, while Elena asked, "What?"
Both of them remembered the previous day at the cemetery.
"A crow," Bonnie repeated. "There was fog, a man," at the concerned looks on Lucy and Elena's faces, she went on, "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Okay, I'm gonna get a refill."
Bonnie walked away without a response, leaving Lucy and Elena dumbfounded. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her sister in confusion and was going to ask Elena if they should follow after their friend when she saw Stefan walking up behind her.
"I'm going to follow Bonnie," she told Elena, nodding at Stefan. "See you later."
An hour passed since Lucy walked away from Elena and Stefan and she had been hanging out with Bonnie, Caroline, and Matt. They spent time drinking and laughing at the goofiest jokes they could remember or come up with.
There were several times when Lucy had to distract Matt from staring at Elena and Stefan while they talked. Lucy felt for him, she really did, but he needed to move on from her sister. Elena was clearly interested in Stefan. Matt wasn't getting the memo; he took off toward Elena as soon as she and Stefan separated.
It was only a few minutes after Caroline took off to get another drink, Bonnie following shortly after her, that Elena walked over to Lucy. She had an angry look on her face as she grabbed Lucy's elbow and started dragging her to the woods without a word.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked, sobering from alarm. She almost tripped over a root as they continued on into the woods. "Lena!"
"We're following Jeremy," Elena said quickly. She looked ahead of them, yelling, "Jeremy!"
"Jere!" Lucy joined in, hoping they'd find him fast. "Jerebear, where are you?"
Eventually they caught up to their little brother, who was stumbling, clearly very drunk.
"Jeremy, where the fuck are you going?" Elena asked loudly, a few feet behind Jeremy.
"I don't want to hear it!" Jeremy yelled back at her, turning around only to fall to the ground.
Lucy and Elena stopped just behind him, gasping in horror. Jeremy had landed on Vicki—Matt Donovan's older sister, the girl Jeremy was in love with—who was laying on the ground, bloody and unconscious.
"Vicki?" Jeremy breathed in shock. "Oh, my God, it's Vicki!"
"Oh, my God, she's bleeding!" Lucy exclaimed, panicked.
"We have to get help," Elena said nervously.
Her younger siblings agreed. Jeremy picked up Vicki and held her securely in his arms as they walked out of the woods as quickly as possible. Lucy was struggling not to vomit the whole way but tried to keep it down, she wasn't going to cause a scene when Vicki was so injured like this.
"Help!" Elena and Lucy called in unison as they cleared the edge of the woods. "Somebody help!"
The crowd around the fire split, allowing Lucy and Elena to guide Jeremy to an empty picnic table where he could set Vicki down. People whispered behind hands to each other, shocked at what they were seeing.
"Vicki?" Matt called, seeing his sister's unconscious body and running over to them. Tyler followed shortly after. "Vicki, what the fuck?"
"What happened to her?" Tyler asked the Gilbert siblings.
"Somebody call an ambulance!" Lucy instructed. She pulled her scarf from around her neck and handed it to Elena. "It's her neck. Something bit her. Press this against the wound."
"Everybody back up!" Tyler yelled at the surrounding crowd. "Give her some space!"
"She's losing a lot of blood," Elena said frantically, firmly pressing the scarf against Vicki's neck, already saturated with blood.
"Vicki, Vicki, come on," Matt begged wetly, tears welling in his eyes. "Open your eyes, look at me."
Lucy looked up at the crowd, hoping that someone was calling for an ambulance. Her eyes caught Stefan, who was looking at the situation horrified. He backed away slowly, disappearing from the crowd.
Lucy shook her head; she couldn't believe she had been distracted while Vicki was practically dying.
"Did someone call 9-1-1?" she asked loudly.
"I did! They're on their way!" someone, Lucy was pretty sure it was Bonnie, said from behind her.
Lucy breathed in relief, though it wasn't much. Vicki still had to survive waiting for the ambulance to get here and the drive back to the hospital. With the amount of blood she was losing, it wasn't looking good for the oldest Donovan.
Thankfully, the ambulance arrived quickly and Vicki was loaded up as soon as the paramedics could situate her on the gurney. Matt was allowed to ride in the ambulance with her, so he quickly boarded and they set off.
Lucy and Elena watched the ambulance go, worried looks on their faces. Bonnie approached them, a sad smile on her face.
"Hey," she greeted. "Me and Caroline are gonna go mainline coffee and wait for news."
Elena nodded and subtly pointed in Jeremy's direction, where he was sitting on a table, still drinking. "We gotta take Jeremy home."
"Elena, Lucy," Bonnie bit her lip, hesitant. "There's no way I'm psychic, I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling…"
"What?" Lucy asked as Bonnie trailed off unsurely.
"I feel like this is just the beginning."
Lucy inhaled sharply, wondering what Bonnie meant. Did she mean the fog and crow that she saw when she touched Lucy? Why had that given her such a strong feeling of foreboding doom?
Lucy was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Bonnie leaving. She only came to when Elena grabbed her elbow once again and led her over to Jeremy. Jeremy finished his bottle of beer and threw it to the ground as she and Elena came to a stop beside him.
"You okay?" Elena asked him, putting her hand on his arm. He shrugged her off. "I called Jenna. She's on her way."
Jeremy didn't say anything. He picked up another beer on the table next to him and twisted off the cap, taking a long swig.
"Those people in uniforms, last time I checked, they're the police," Lucy reminded him, keeping her tone from being too judgmental. She wasn't a hypocrite.
Jeremy was still quiet, taking another drink.
Elena sighed impatiently. "People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jere," she said, remembering what Mr. Tanner said to her earlier that day. "They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too."
Jeremy scoffed. "I've seen you in the cemetery writing in your diary," he said to Elena before looking at Lucy. "You have to give yourself pep talks to get into a car. Joel hardly wants to come home. Is that supposed to be you guys moving on?"
"Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this," Elena said somberly.
Lucy sighed, knowing that Jeremy and Elena were right. She wasn't moving on. The past two days she had been thinking that Matt needed to move on from his relationship with Elena, and he should, but she was being a hypocrite. Sure, losing your parents was different than being dumped, but she still wasn't moving on from the accident.
Lucy was just letting her life pass her by, not really living or enjoying the time. Like Elena said, her parents wouldn't have wanted that for her. So, from that moment on, she was going to try to do something about it. It would be hard to grieve and move on, but she at least had to try.