I walked downstairs and it into the kitchen. Jenna and Elena were already there. It was the weekend, so I had slept in a little. I was kind of grateful that the game was cancelled because it meant that I got to change out of that cheerleading outfit. The TV was on, and Jenna did not seem particularly happy about it.
"Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you." Jenna cursed. I couldn't help but wonder if she was starting to go insane.
"Is there any particular reason you're swearing at the TV?" I asked. I wondered if it was from all of the drugs that she used to take.
"Him." Jenna replied pointing at the reporter. Okay, so she wasn't swearing at the TV but instead the person on the TV. That was probably better but still pretty not normal.
"He's cute." Elena commented. I didn't want to think of him that way. Plus, his hair looked weird.
"He's not cute. There is nothing cute about him." Jenna declared. I then realized where I had seen him before.
"Is that your old boyfriend?" I asked. What happened between them that it seemed to make her so irrationally angry?
"Yes, also known as Logan Scum Fell." Jenna replied before she turned off the TV and looked at us. "Did your mom ever tell you two why I left town?"
"You seriously left town because of a guy?" I questioned in disbelief. That seemed like a pretty extreme reaction. That was probably part of being a girl that I didn't seem to get. It also made me glad that I didn't want to date anyone, even though I was pretty sure that I wouldn't do anything like that.
"Well not seeing his face everywhere made my life easier." Jenna explained. I supposed, but she could just not watch the news. "So, what are you doing with all of this stuff?"
"Yeah, what are you doing with it?" I repeated as I noticed the various trinkets on the table that she was cleaning. There was one thing in particular that stood out to me.
"Mrs. Lockwood asked for things for the heritage exhibit at the Founder's Party." Elena answered.
"We could just maybe take it to the pawn shop. I bet this stuff is worth a pretty penny." I quipped as I grabbed Dad's old watch. I didn't want them to have that. Dad said that he would give it to me. Of course, that was when he was alive, and I was also a guy.
"There's no way that you're doing that." Elena remarked as she snatched the watch out of my hand. It seemed like she didn't have much of a sense of humor.
"I was joking." I told her. I still didn't really want her to have such a thing. "That stuff was Mom and Dad's. You can't just give it away."
"It's a loan, Mary. They'll give it back." She replied. At that time, I heard the sound of the doorbell ringing. I answered it and there was Stefan. I grabbed him and pulled him through the door and suddenly up to my room. Once we were inside, I took him to my room. I was pretty sure that Elena might have thought we were making out. I wondered if I should tell him about what happened with Damon. I couldn't help but notice that he looked a little uneasy.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He declared. I couldn't help but wonder if he was trying not to stare at my breasts in the tank top that I was wearing. I hadn't really changed after bed. I had only put a little bit of makeup on because I wasn't sure if I was going to go anywhere today.
There was something else that I wanted to talk to him about. I was a little nervous because I was afraid that he would think it was a date, but I was going to go to this thing, I would want to go with something and being with him would keep everyone else away from me.
"Okay, let's change the subject." I suggested. "How do you look in a suit?"
"I think I can pull one off." He answered.
"Well tomorrow is the Founder's Party and while I think it will be lame, I want you to be my date." I told him. "I mean I'm not asking you on a date, but I have to go, and I think us going together would be good."
"They still do that?" He questioned. How did he know about it if he was new to town? That didn't really make much sense. You know I didn't really know where he had lived before he lived here because it had never really come up.
"Yeah, they do it every year." I explained. "How did you know about it anyway? Have you been?"
"No, the Salvatores don't get invited anymore." He replied. Everyone got invited, though. That was kind of the point of the thing. "But I would be glad to accompany you, Ms. Gilbert."
"Well make sure to wear something nice, Mr. Salvatore." I instructed. I flirted a little, but I hoped that he had understood that it was meant to be more playful than anything else.
Later I decided to go to the Grill, which mean that I needed to get dressed. I noticed that Tyler was talking to Vicki. He then walked away. I was a little bit disappointed in her to be honest.
"You realize that you had to ask him to ask you, don't you?" I replied. She could do a lot better than him. I didn't know who exactly, but I was pretty sure that she could do better. "Why would you even want to go out with him? He's a tool."
"Well, I need to cover for the fact that I want to meet someone else there." She replied. That left me a bit intrigued. Who was she seeing that she didn't want to be seen with? She hadn't told me that she had been dating anyone. Why did I care so much anyway?
Another reason that I wanted to go to the Founder's Party was I might be able to sneak some booze. It was only the light stuff like wine and champagne, and I might only get a glass or two, so getting drunk wasn't likely. Jenna wouldn't give me my flask back, so I didn't have that option.
The next day, I was downstairs when I heard the sound of the doorbell. I opened it to see Tyler. I prepared to slam it in his face, but he stopped it with his foot before I could.
"I'm here for my mom." He replied. "He said there was a box of things."
"Here it is." Elena replied as she came down with the box. Hopefully she wouldn't notice that I had taken the watch. She handed the box to him. "Please be careful."
"Yeah, be careful, Dick." I added. I didn't know why I decided to say such a thing. Maybe it was because I just didn't want to hide my disdain for him.
"Come on, I don't want a fight here." Elena complained.
"It's nothing. She's just being a bitch." Tyler replied. I glared at him before she went upstairs. I tried to close the door, but he stopped it again. "Hey, would it make a difference if I said that I liked Vicki?"
"Not even if you meant it." I declared before I slammed the door. I needed to get ready. I was finally getting to the point where taking a shower wasn't weird anymore. I had just come out of the bathroom when suddenly my door opened. I quickly grabbed my towel and wrapped myself in it, seeing Elena in the door. "Dude, could I have some privacy?"
"Where's the watch?" Elena asked angrily. Damn it. She must have realized that I had taken it.
"What watch?" I responded, feigning ignorance.
"The old watch of Dad's from the box." She explained. "It was in there and Mrs. Lockwood called me freaking out. She thinks she's the one who lost it."
"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it." I suggested to her.
"Don't give me that. If I go down to the pawn shop am I going to find it there?" She asked. I was starting to get really angry, and it wasn't exactly easy since I had to hold onto my towel. "Is that how you pay for your fake IDs and liquor?"
"Fuck you." I told her as I grabbed the watch from my bookshelf. "I would never sell this."
"Then why did you take it?" She questioned. She now seemed more confused than angry at me.
"Because it was supposed to be mine." I replied. I wished that I could tell her what I really wanted to say but I still couldn't. Why couldn't I tell anyone what happened? I did still have something prepared to tell her. "Dad said that it would usually be passed down to the firstborn son, but since it's just you and me, he said he would give it to me when I turned 18."
"It's still yours, Mary." She stated. She looked like she wanted to understand. "They're just borrowing it. They'll give it back."
"Just take it and get out." I ordered. "I need to get changed."
So, I was going to be in a bad mood going into the party. On top of that I also had to wear a dress. I really hoped that Stefan would be able to cheer me up.
A few hours later, I was fully dressed and made up in a strapless white floral dress. I was also wearing some earrings and the necklace that Stefan had given me. I was just waiting for Stefan to arrive so we could go together. Elena was going with Bonnie. I decided to put on some lip gloss at the last minute when Elena came in my room again. She said nothing and put the watch down on my desk before she walked out. Well, that meant that I would be in a better mood. I didn't know what caused her to change her mind, but I was grateful that she did.
The doorbell then rang and there was Stefan. He was wearing a black suit and tie. It wasn't fancy and I never really did know anything about men's fashion. I knew more about girls' fashion, and I had only been a girl for a few months. I supposed it was the more important kind.
"Well, you look handsome." I remarked. I felt like complimenting him even though it wasn't a date. I was also nervous because I had never been to something like this before as a girl. "Do I look okay?"
"You happen to look very beautiful." He declared as I blushed. "We should get going."
There was a long line when we got to the Lockwood mansion. Like I said, everyone was invited. Finally, it came to our turn, and no one was paying attention, but it was rude to walk in uninvited. I knew I would need to get someone to invite us in.
"Mayor Lockwood?" I asked, trying to get his attention.
"Hey, come in." He invited us before we stepped inside. For some reason, he seemed to like me.
His parents liked me even though I didn't like either of them. His dad was kind of an asshole, and his mom was a Stepford wife.
A little bit later, Stefan and I were looking over the exhibits. They had one for each of the Founding Families. Well all of them except for one…
"You know there should really be a Salvatore exhibit." I commented. The Salvatores were one of the Founding Families, but no one really talked about them since the only one that I knew in town was Zach and I didn't know him since he seemed to be mostly secluded in the boarding house.
"Well, we have plenty of stuff, but no one asked." Stefan replied before I looked over the Gilbert exhibit and saw my parents' wedding rings. "Your parents'?"
"There's a lot of stuff here that makes me wanna cry." I told him as I resisted the urge to do so. I didn't want to cry in front of him because I didn't want him to see me look vulnerable "Let's look at something else. Hey, they have the original town charter. It's got Mayor Benjamin Lockwood, Dr. Jonathan Gilbert, Sheriff William Forbes. Does that say Damon Salvatore…and Stefan Salvatore?"
"The original Salvatore brothers." Damon interrupted. Caroline was by his side. I scowled upon seeing him. I also wondered if I should tell Caroline that he tried to kiss me. "Our ancestors: there's an interesting story to that."
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan responded. Was there something that he didn't want me to know?
"I actually like a good story of the past." I commented. I was a bit of a history nerd. I was kind of a nerd in general, but everyone always told me how pretty I was, and it made me feel uncomfortable.
"Well, I'm bored." Caroline declared. "I wanna dance and Damon won't dance with me. Do you mind if I borrow your date?"
"Stefan can do whatever he wants." I responded. "He's not my boyfriend, so you're free to dance with him all that you want."
"I'm not really much of a dancer." Stefan replied. I suppose he probably would need to have some say in it though.
"Sure he is. Stefan does it all: the waltz, the jitterbug, the Soulja Boy." Damon argued. Now that I definitely had to see. I wasn't sure if Damon was lying, but I would pay to see Stefan do that dance.
"Well, I'm not going to take no for an answer." Caroline remarked as she dragged him off, leaving me with Damon. Okay it looked like he wasn't going to have a say in it. I started to walk away.
"Wait." He told me. I stopped because I was polite. "I want to apologize. I shouldn't have tried to kiss you. My therapist says that I'm trying to punish Stefan."
"You go to a therapist?" I questioned in disbelief. People suggested I see one after the accident, but I refused. I wasn't even sure if he was telling the truth. "What would you need to punish Stefan for?"
"It's all in the past and I want to put it behind me." He explained. That was strangely vague. "Let's just say the men in the Salvatore family are cursed with sibling rivalry and it all started with those guys. I just hope our version turns out better."
"What happened to them?" I asked curiously. I couldn't help it. I loved a good historical story. It was one of the reasons that I loved old horror stories so much.
"There was a battle here." He started.
"The Battle of Willow Creek. I know about that. Confederates set Fell's Church on fire with people in it." I responded. It was one of the most important things that had happened in Mystic Falls…it was probably the only important thing that had happened here.
"What the books don't mention was that the people weren't there by accident. There were believed to be union sympathizers. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in there. When they tried to save her, they were shot on sight." He explained. You know I couldn't help but think it was odd that they would share the same names as their ancestors from so long ago.
"Damon, I don't know what happened between you and Stefan and Katherine, but please leave me out of it." I begged. Maybe if I asked nicely, he would leave me alone.
We then walked downstairs and outside where Stefan and Caroline were no longer dancing. They had drinks. I needed to get one of those.
"We have returned." I remarked. "How is everything going?"
"It's good." Stefan replied. "Drink, Damon?"
"No thank you." Damon answered.
"I'll take it." I offered as I took the glass out of his hand and downed it quickly before anyone could see me with it. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to get drunk, but something was better than nothing. "So, Stefan, do you have another dance in you?"
"I certainly do." Stefan replied as he grabbed my hand and took me to the dancefloor. I wished that the music was something better, like maybe a contemporary alternative ballad or something. We still began to move to the music slowly. I wasn't sure why I wanted to dance, since he wasn't my boyfriend. Maybe it was just because everyone else seemed to be doing it.
"So, I hope that Damon wasn't too much of a nuisance to you." He remarked.
"Actually, he was on surprisingly good behavior." I told him as we continued to move. "He told me about some of your family history and he told me that his issues go back to Katherine. So, what can you tell me about her? What was she like?"
"I don't want to talk about that right now." He responded. Why was he so hesitant to talk about her? What happened between them?
"Stefan, I understand that it may be hard to tell me about her, but I don't know anything about her: what she looked like, how old she was, or was she a Republican or Democrat?" I responded. Granted, some of those things I didn't need to know, but I did need to know something about her. "I really don't even know that much about you either."
"We really don't need to do this now." He replied. What the hell was going on? Why was he being so defensive all of a sudden?
"Stefan everything that I know about you I've learned from someone else." I pointed out. I wasn't even sure if some of that was even true. "I need you to know that you can talk to me about stuff because I'm your friend."
"Don't you see what Damon is doing?" He asked. Why was he blaming Damon for him not talking? "He is trying to sabotage our friendship."
"No, he's not, but you seem keen on it." I declared as I walked away from him in frustration. It looked like we had just had our first fight. I knew friends did fight with each other. I was a little surprised at how I reacted. I grabbed a slice of cake because I was hungry.
Later, I found that I needed to pee from the champagne I had consumed. Once I was done, I stepped in front of the mirror and began to touch up my makeup. Caroline then came in and began to do the same.
"So how are things going with Stefan?" She asked curiously.
"We had a fight, but they're going to be okay." I explained.
"I guess my radar must be off then because I thought you were dunzo." She said. We couldn't be dunzo because we weren't together. It was at that moment that I noticed something under her choker.
"What is that?" I asked as I moved the blue rose-shaped neckband and saw a red mark. She swatted my hand away. "Who did that to you? Did Damon hurt you?"
"No, of course not, it's just my mom would kill me." She muttered. I then noticed another one thing the holes of her cardigan and pushed it away. It looked like a bite mark. "Damon would never hurt me."
"Caroline, we need to tell someone about this." I remarked. Suddenly, I realized that I was wrong about Damon. Why was he biting her? That's such a weird way to abuse someone.
"Damn it, leave me the fuck alone." She cursed as she walked away. She seemed like a standard victim trying to rationalize everything. I knew that I could not let it stand.
I then went and found Damon, delivering a punch right to his face. He didn't seem fazed or injured by it, but it kind of hurt me. I wished that I wasn't so weak. I probably didn't know how to throw a punch correctly either.
"Stay away from Caroline." I ordered. I then remembered that there was someone who do a lot more to him than I could. "I don't know what you're doing to her, but if I see you with her again, I'm going to tell her mother, the sheriff."
I then walked away and found Stefan still near the dancefloor.
"I was wrong about Damon. He's a fucking psychopath." I explained.
"What did he do?" Stefan asked.
"There are bite marks all over Caroline's body and he's got her denying everything." I told him.
"Mary, I'm handling it." He declared. What the fuck did that mean?
"Handling it? Did you call the police?" I questioned.
"I know you don't understand, but I need you to trust me." He responded. Now I was even more confused.
"I can't trust you if I don't know what I'm trusting you with." I told him as walked away yet again.
Later in the evening, I found Caroline alone in the grass. Her neck was bleeding, and she was freaking out. Now I knew that the next time that I saw Damon I was going to kill him. I didn't know how, but I was going to kill him.
So Mary and Stefan hit their first roadblock in their friendship. Also she did not react well to finding out Damon was biting Caroline. Please don't forget to review.