As I said, Stefan and I just talked last night and then he left. I mean it wasn't like I was going to kiss him. It was nice to have a friend. I did hope that he understood that friends was all that I wanted to be though. I woke up early in the morning because I wanted to see Vicki in the hospital. I tried to quietly sneak out of the house. Unfortunately, Jenna found me.
"Where are you going so early?" She asked. I knew that I would have to come up with a lie quickly. I tried to think of something before I came up with one.
"I have to finish a project for Home Ec at school." I replied easily. I had been thinking of it. It was contingent on Jenna not knowing that the school didn't have a Home Ec class though. I also wouldn't take Home Ec even if we did have one. It was one of those girly classes and while there wasn't anything wrong with being girly, I didn't want to be girly myself.
"Okay, make sure that you do well." She told me. I couldn't believe that she actually bought it. From there, I began to walk to the hospital. I decided to take some time to think.
I felt bad for Vicki because she was attacked by an animal. I thought maybe if I hadn't yelled at her that it might have not happened, even though I didn't really have anything that could lead me to believe the contrary. She had been a pretty good friend to me, even if she was pretty messed up. While I only drank alcohol, she was into all sorts of drugs that I didn't want to deal with. I knew that they were a lot more dangerous than alcohol, plus they tasted weird. I looked at her. She was asleep, but she seemed to be okay.
"You can't be in here, Hon." A nurse told me. I needed to be better at being stealthy. "Visiting hours don't start until 9:00."
"What kind of rule is that?" I asked. Why would they even let people in if they weren't going to be open. It was probably too late to lie and say Vicki was my sister. I didn't think that the nurse would know any better. "Anyone who wants to visit her has school."
"That's how the rules go. I don't make them." She replied. I thought about sitting in the lobby and waiting until 9:00 because I didn't have much to do at school, other than possibly see Stefan, but we weren't even in any classes together. There was only a small chance that I'd see him, and I really didn't want to go to Mr. Tanner's class. He was a dick who had it out for me. I would be perfectly okay if he just dropped dead.
I decided to go to school because if I couldn't see Vicki myself, I could talk to the next best person. Matt would probably tell me more about what happened than the doctors since they didn't like to bring things up unless they were talking to family. Things were still going to be kind of awkward when I talked to him.
"Matt, I need to talk to you." I declared. We hadn't actually talked since he and Elena broke up aka before I was turned into a girl. Another thing that I was surprised about was that I hadn't had anything to drink this morning. Maybe being with Stefan managed to get me out of a hangover somehow. "I wanted to know how Vicki is."
"She seems like she's fine." He told me. That was good to hear at least. "She slept normally last night, and they managed to stop the bleeding with some stitches. I want to thank you. She might be dead if you and Elena hadn't found her. Do you have any idea what she was doing out there?"
"No." I stated quickly. Maybe I should have said something, but I wasn't sure if he would even believe me. Not to mention the fact that Vicki was kind of loose didn't help matters. I wasn't sure how many people she had slept with. "So, did they know what attacked her?"
"She said it was a vampire." He explained. How would she know what a vampire even looked like? I mean it wasn't possible that it was actually a vampire, was it? I needed more information.
"She was awake?" I asked in surprise.
"No, she mumbled vampire in her sleep." He explained. Maybe she was just having a dream about a vampire then. "We know that she was drunk. I bet it was a wolf or puma because she passed the rabies test. I was going to see her again after school. So, what is this that I'm hearing about you and the new guy?"
"I mean I talked to him, but I'm not interested in dating him." I explained. I couldn't help but wonder if people thought I had been in a relationship with anyone before.
I decided to skip Tanner's class because he was focusing on local history, and I already knew enough about that. I heard from the hall that he was talking about this comet that was passing over the town tomorrow night. That had nothing to do with American History or even local history. It was astrology…or astronomy. I always get those two mixed up.
The thing about being at school was that there really wasn't a place to get a drink. I didn't have any liquor bottles stashed in my locker because I was not a moron.
I then saw Tyler surrounded by a group of guys and girls.
"So have you seen Vicki yet?" I asked him. I wanted to hit him. I wished that I wasn't so weak.
"No why would I do that?" He responded. Even though he wasn't tormenting me anymore, he was still a Grade-A Douchebag.
"You just seemed really into her last night so I would at least think that you would care enough to go see her in the hospital." I explained.
"You can't hold that against me, I was drunk." He pointed out.
"So was I, but you didn't see me throwing myself at whatever guy I could find, did you?" I challenged. I was a little surprised that I had said that. I didn't want to think of myself with any guy.
"I heard that you hooked up with the new guy." He replied. I seriously want to know who started that rumor, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was Tyler himself. I figured that there was no point in me refuting it. People were going to believe what they wanted to believe whether I said anything or not.
I went to the hospital after school to check on Vicki and see if she was awake yet. They definitely wouldn't be able to keep me out of the room. At least I hoped that they wouldn't.
I went to the hospital and happened to run into someone. It was Stefan yet again. What was he doing at the hospital?
"We've got to stop meeting like this." I told him as I rubbed my head.
"Yeah, it could hurt." He agreed with a laugh. He did have a really nice smile.
"So, I don't know if you pay attention to the rumor mill at school, but everything seems to think that we're having sex." I told him as I ran a hand through my hair. "Just to let you know, I'm not really interested in a relationship."
"If there's one thing that I've learned, it's that high school students love to talk." He stated. I couldn't help but wonder why he was saying it like that. Like wasn't he also a high school student? He was a high school student, wasn't he?
"So, what are you doing here?" I asked curiously. I wanted to know why he had decided to come to the hospital.
"I was thinking about donating some blood, but I decided against it." He replied. That didn't make a lot of sense, but it could be a reason why he decided against it.
"I'm surprised that you even considered it due to you freaking out around me and also Vicki at the party." I joked. "So, were you going to go home then?"
"I am." He confirmed.
"Do you mind if I go with you?" I asked. There was something that I wanted to see but never really got around to doing. "I've always wanted to check out the Salvatore Boarding House."
"How about you go on ahead, there's something I have to do, but I'll meet you." He explained. That was weird. What was he doing that he couldn't go with me. Luckily, I did know how to get there, and it wasn't too far to walk. I did a lot of walking since I was too young to drive. "My uncle will probably be there to let you in."
Okay, that was weird. I decided to head to the house from there. I rang the bell, which was not a doorbell, and knocked on the door, causing it to push open. I decided to walk in and saw a bird fly through the house. They needed to close their windows. It was then that I saw a man with long, dark brown hair. He probably wondered what I was doing there.
"I'm so sorry that I just barged in." I apologized. I then figured that I should tell him why I was there. "Stefan said that he would meet me here. So, are you his uncle?"
"No, I'm Damon, his brother." He replied. I didn't know he had a brother, but he hadn't really talked about himself that much.
"He didn't mention that he had a brother." I declared. I tried to determine how old the guy was, but I was pretty bad at determining people's ages by looking at them.
"Well Stefan's not one to brag." He remarked. "So, you must be Mary."
I guess that while Stefan hadn't mentioned his brother to me, the opposite wasn't true.
"I can see why my brother's so smitten. You're very pretty." He complimented me. Though, I was surprised that Stefan liked me like that. I thought I made it clear that I only wanted to be friends.
"No offense, but it sounds creepy when you say it." I remarked. It made me uncomfortable for anyone talk about me being pretty, but someone who was clearly in his 20s made me feel even worse. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm kind of 15."
"I apologize, but I'm thrilled." He replied. He seemed to have it in his mind that Stefan and I were dating. I hoped Stefan hadn't led him to believe that. "I thought he'd never get over the last one."
"The last one?" I questioned in confusion. It was probably an ex.
"Katherine, his girlfriend?" Damon replied as I just stared at him. "I take it you haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet. Oh well, it's definitely going to come up now."
"Stefan and I are not really together." I told him. I did have to admit that I was interested in finding out about Katherine now, though. It was mainly due to my curious nature. I wondered if Stefan would tell me anything about her.
"Hello Stefan." Damon remarked. I looked and saw that his brother was there. I hadn't even heard him come in.
"Damon, I didn't know that you would be here." He declared. There seemed to be tension between the two of them.
"Well, I just wanted to spend some time with my brother." Damon stated with a smirk. "You know I should break out the family photos but be warned this one wasn't always a looker."
I didn't care what Stefan looked like as a kid. I didn't why Damon would think that I did.
"Now isn't a very good time, Mary." Stefan responded. Yeah, they definitely had issues. I decided that it would be a good idea for me to go home from there.
"I need you to move from in front of the door." I told him. He stepped aside and I went out before heading home. It looked like I would be walking home. Maybe I should see if I could get a bike or something.
When I got home, I noticed that Elena and Jenna were making dinner. I actually didn't feel that hungry. I had noticed the selection of drinks in the living room, but it's generally not a good idea to accept drinks from someone who might be a rapist. It was kind of something that I was afraid of now that I was a girl. Even though, I didn't have anything to make me believe that Damon was a rapist, I still shouldn't have asked for a drink from him.
"Hey, we're making dinner." Jenna told me.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry." I replied as I started to head upstairs. Suddenly, Jenna threw the apple in her hand and hit me in the back. "Ow, what the fuck. That's child abuse!"
"Quit skipping class or you're grounded." She ordered. How had she even found out about that? Tanner. Tanner must have said something to her.
"You might not want to listen to Mr. Tanner." I told her before I headed up to my room.
A little while later, I heard a knocking on my door. I had taken out my flask and was drinking from it. The door opened and it was Elena.
"What do you want?" I asked her. I wondered if she was going to judge me some more.
"I wanted to talk about Stefan." She replied.
"Not you too, I'm not sleeping with him." I remarked in frustration. "I don't even know him that well. Plus, he just got out of a relationship, and he has raging family issues."
"But he's nice and smart. Why wouldn't you want to be with him?" She asked me. I hated that she was trying to convince me to go out with a guy. I didn't want to go out with a guy.
"If you like him so much, you date him!" I shouted before I pushed her out of my room and closed the door. I didn't want to slam it because I didn't want Jenna to yell at me any more, even though I really didn't care what she thought about me.
The next was the…Comet Is Passing over the Town Festival. Small towns sometimes had really sad events. There was fucking face-painting. What the fuck did face-painting have to do with the comet? I was wearing a leather jacket with a white blouse and jeans. At least I still had jeans even though they were kind of tight.
I found that Vicki was inside of the Grill. She wasn't working, but I thought that maybe she could sneak me some booze. It was easier to forgive someone when they almost die.
"So how are you?" I asked her.
"I want you to know that I'm sorry, even though it wasn't my fault." She replied. "I'm hurting all over."
"Well, you should probably take whatever they gave you for that." I suggested. What did she expect me to do?
"They gave me the weak stuff. They're onto me, Mary." Vicki explained. Again, what did she expect me to do?
"Well, it's not something that I can do anything about." I told her. "I'm not a drug mule and you know I only like stuff that you can drink. Being high is just depressing. Speaking of which, do you think you can give me something?"
"I'm not allowed behind the bar when I'm not working." She replied. I sighed. Well, that was unfortunate. It looked like I would have to go with any alcohol for the night.
After dark, I went outside where everyone was lighting candles. I figured it was because they turned off all of the lights so people could see the comet. It was kind of cool to see even though there wasn't anything particularly impressive about it. I decided to grab a candle and looked for someone to help me light it. The only person that I found was Tyler. I sighed and let him light my candle before I looked for someone who needed a light of their own. It turned out that person was Stefan.
"Hi." I greeted him nervously.
"Hi." He reciprocated. I didn't know what to say next. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't really myself."
"Why didn't you tell me that you had a brother?" I asked him.
"We're not close. I haven't seen him in years." Stefan explained. "So did anything interesting happen to you yesterday after you left."
"Well, my aunt got onto me for skipping class." I replied. "Also, your brother seems to think that we're dating too."
"Why are you skipping class?" He asked in a tone that didn't seem as judgmental as it was curious.
"The teacher is a total tool and he's out to get me." I replied. "I can't help but wonder if Mr. Tanner spends his free time thinking of new ways to torture us."
"Probably, but you should still go to class." He suggested. He didn't seem to have a reaction to the dating part.
"So, Damon told me about your ex, Katherine." I responded.
"What did he say about her?" He asked curiously.
"She broke your heart." I repeated. I wanted to know how she broke his heart. I wasn't even sure why to be honest.
"That was a long time ago." He replied.
"It couldn't have been that much long ago." I pointed out. I mean he was what, 17? "Look, Stefan, in a lot of ways we're alike, we both have issues with our siblings. I think we can be friends, but I don't want to be anything more."
I then walked away. I wanted to see if I could find Vicki again because I really needed a drink. I went inside the Grill where everyone seemed to be seated together. Did I miss some kind of announcement of a meeting?
"Has anyone seen Vicki?" I questioned them.
"Why do you want to sleep with her too?" Tyler cracked. I mean I would probably have sex with her over Stefan, but I didn't think I wanted to have sex. "Or do you just want her so she can sneak you something from the bar?"
"You're the one who tried to sleep with her." I pointed out. "Quit being an asshole already."
"I don't think that I want Stefan's sloppy seconds anyway." Tyler replied. What did that even mean? I would definitely never have sex with him.
"How about you just shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt suggested. Everyone got up, but Elena grabbed me.
"So, is this your game now? You're getting Vicki to supply you with drinks? You know she could get arrested for that." Elena asked. "This is going too far, Mary."
"Why can't I drink?" I challenged. I was getting really sick of her judging me. "You drink."
"I don't drink as much as you do." She argued. "Why don't you just talk? Well, I have an idea. We could send you to a therapist, or rehab where you'd be forced to talk."
"I vote for none of the above." I replied as I walked away. I guess I just wanted to go home. None of that would even help when I couldn't talk about what was really bothering me.
I headed home and up to my room. I found that the door was open, and Jenna was inside. I was already having a bad enough night and I didn't need anything else.
"What are you doing in my room?" I asked her angrily.
"How about you tell me why you have this?" She responded, holding up my flask.
"You're one to talk." I argued. "Mom always talked about you didn't do anything but smoke pot."
"Okay, I'm not her. Are you happy?" She asked me. "But I am trying. I get that you don't respect me, but all that I want is for you to be happy."
It was at that moment that I realized something. Even though I didn't like him romantically, I still felt good talking to Stefan.
"Okay, then I need to go." I told her.
"I can't let you go anywhere. You're grounded." She declared.
"If you want me to be happy, you should let me go." I suggested. She got out of the way, and I began to head to the boarding house. I was a little surprised that worked on her. I managed to get there okay, but I figured out quickly that I should not walk back. It was too bad that I wasn't old enough to drive and I doubted Jenna would let me get a motorcycle. Actually, maybe I could convince her to do that because I wouldn't have to walk everywhere. I would just have to learn to drive one.
I rang the bell and Stefan answered the door. I was glad it wasn't Damon.
"Hey, would you like to come in?" He asked me.
"Yes." I responded as I stepped in. I could have looked at the comet, but it really wasn't all that important. "So, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have walked away from you. While there are probably reasons why we shouldn't be friends, I forgot one reason why we should."
"What's that?" He asked me curiously.
"Being around you makes me happy." I explained.
So Mary got to meet Damon. It also seems like something is developing between her and Stefan. How will she feel when she knows the truth? Please don't forget to review