Anna and I were currently at the Grill studying. I wasn't sure why Elena was so mad at her. I mean yeah she lied…actually she didn't lie since I doubt that Katherine was ever brought up. We never thought that Katherine would come here. I was wearing some of Anna's clothes including a navy lace short-sleeved blouse and black skirt.
"So was there anything that you wanted to do at the barbecue?" I asked Anna. If we needed to make any last minute menu changes, now would be the time for it.
"How about not talk about Katherine?" She suggested. Well I was pretty sure that was already something that planned on doing. I didn't want to talk about her at all.
"That we can definitely do." I stated. It might have been a good idea for us to talk about Elena. She was going to miss it, probably just because she didn't want to be there. "We won't even bring her up."
"What are you kids up to?" Damon interrupted as he appeared suddenly. I really didn't want to talk to him at the moment. Couldn't he see that we were having a conversation that did not involve him? Of course, Damon always liked to insert himself into everything.
"Well, we were trying to avoid all annoyances and study." I declared as I stood up and grabbed my book. I knew that Anna probably already knew all of the answers, but it was nice to just do something with her that was not related to vampires. "I guess that's something that we can't do here."
"Okay, then I will see you at Jenna's barbecue later today?" He stated as we started to walk away. I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him. I probably shouldn't have been surprised that he was coming since once again he liked to insert himself into things.
"How do you know about that?" I asked in confusion. I still wanted to know why he was going to be there.
"Please it was my idea." He scoffed as I raised an eyebrow. "Jenna and Mason were old school chums, so I had Ric suggest to her that she should invite him over and poof instant party."
That definitely did sound like something that he would do. I was a bit annoyed by the fact that he was coming over, but maybe it meant that Stefan would come over as well. I probably wanted him to be there, especially since Caroline was going to be there.
"You know that Jenna doesn't like you very much." Anna pointed out before a waitress came over and handed him a box. I couldn't help but wonder what was in the box. I supposed needing to pick something up would be a legitimate reason for him to be there. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't follow us there.
"Thank you." He replied as she walked away. It looked like it was a dessert box. "That's why I'm hoping that this apple pie will help soften her up a little bit."
"What are you up to?" I questioned. I wasn't even sure if he was going to tell me. He seemed like he really wasn't keeping as many secrets as he was before. I still hadn't told him about my transformation, but I wasn't sure if I even could do it. I wondered if I would ever find out who compelled me.
"I'm going to put some silver into Mason Lockwood." He whispered into my ear. I wasn't sure why he felt the need to do so. He should know that even if Anna didn't hear it, I would just tell her. Also, we didn't find anything about silver being a werewolf's weakness. He then walked off and I decided to stay for a little while longer.
"So, your birthday's coming up soon. Do you know what you want?" Anna asked. I was glad that she remembered it.
"A car." I answered. I was going to be 16 and my motorcycle just wasn't cutting it anymore.
"What kind: Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Bugatti?" She responded. I didn't think she would want to buy me a car. I was pretty sure that it would be a bad idea for me to have one of those cars.
"I'm not letting you buy me a hundred-thousand-dollar car for me." I answered. It would also stick out way too much in a town like this. "Plus, it would look bad and raise questions where you got all of that money. Just buy me some clothes. They don't have to be designer. They just have to look nice."
"I think I know something to get you. I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I think you will like it." She told me. Now I wanted to know what it was.
Later in the afternoon, we were at home where we found Mason in the kitchen with some beer. I was pretty sure that Jenna was onto me and wouldn't let me drink anything. I didn't have any idea where Elena was, though I figured that she and Bonnie were hanging out. It was kind of awkward that Caroline becoming a vampire made the two of us closer. I was currently pouring some chips in a bowl while I waited for Stefan to arrive. So far, he was late, but not that late. I took the bowl outside and called him only to get his voicemail. I sent him a text asking where he was. I still couldn't believe that he had a voicemail box. Caroline and Anna were out on the porch.
"Are you texting Stefan?" Caroline asked as I handed her the bowl of chips. I couldn't help but think that her outfit combined with her appetite gave off more the look that she was pregnant than a vampire. I wasn't sure why she was being so nosy.
"Yeah, I don't where he is." I explained. I was surprised that he hadn't come over yet.
"Well maybe he doesn't want to come because he doesn't want to think about how to avoid biting your neck." Caroline opined. That would be strange because he hadn't had issues around since before we started dating.
"No, that's never been an issue before." I pointed out, checking my phone. I couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't texting me.
"I'm just saying that you are a constant temptation to him with the sweet smell of your blood." The blonde continued. What was she doing?
"Can you please stop doing that?" Anna requested. She looked like she needed to take some deep breaths. "You're making me hungry."
"Well, I don't think a relationship between a vampire and a human can work. That's why I had to break up with Matt." She told me. I had to chock that up to call being Caroline who doesn't always think before she says stuff. I was pretty sure that she wasn't deliberately trying to upset me, she was just having a hard time adjusting and the fact that she bit Matt must have messed with her head. Maybe I should tell her that I didn't need her opinion on my relationship, but I did not want to make her mad.
"Hey, the food's ready." Ric replied as he came out. I was pretty hungry, and I wanted some of the ribs that Jenna had made.
"Finally, I'm starving." Caroline declared as she walked in. Maybe putting some food in her mouth would prevent her from putting her foot in it.
One thing that I really liked about living in the South was that everyone had their own recipes for ribs and the Gilberts were no exception. The sauce contained a spicy mix of cayenne and habanero peppers with a touch of lemon for added flavor mixed in with standard barbecue ingredients. It was probably something that we could sell if we wanted to.
After dinner, we all went to the living room to play Pictionary. It was Damon's suggestion, and everyone just went along with it. He was lucky that we all knew how to play. I was up first. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I drew a ninja holding pom-poms.
"Ooh Cheerleader Ninjas!" Caroline shouted. That was close but it wasn't quite it.
"No." I responded.
"Ninja Cheerleaders." Anna responded. I had a feeling that she would be the only one to get it since we had seen the movie a few nights ago. It was pretty campy and also pretty bad.
"That's not fair." Caroline replied as I handed the marker off to Damon who proceeded to draw…a dog wearing some sort of tutu. What the fuck? The guesses ranged from strange to bizarre. Wait a minute. It kind of looked like…he wouldn't do that, would he?
"It's Dances with Wolves." Mason declared. Of course he would. That was totally a Damon thing to do. I glared at him for his lack of subtlety. Though I wasn't sure if Damon was ever subtle.
"How is that a wolf?" Jenna asked. It was pretty obviously some sort of canine. From there I headed into the kitchen and saw the dessert that was still in the box. Damon then walked into the kitchen. I couldn't help but wonder when we were going to eat that. Could I just take some?
"Aunt Jenna seems to be getting tipsy." He commented. I decided to use the opportunity to grab a beer can out of the fridge. I would lead by the example that she was setting, even though I thought beer tasted terrible out of the can. However, before I could even drink any, she came into the kitchen, and I hid it behind my back.
"There, you are. Isn't this fun?" She asked. I wasn't sure if I would call it fun and I was still wondering where the hell Stefan was.
"I want to thank you for inviting me, Jenna." Damon remarked. I was pretty sure that she didn't invite him, and he only came because he was Ric's friend.
"Did I have a choice?" Jenna responded. Yeah, she didn't invite him. Last time he was here, he liked her a lot more. I wasn't sure what had changed since then.
"Ooh those are nice." Damon commented, noticing some old silverware. That seemed like a random thing to say, but I suppose he felt the need to change the subject to distract her from her apparent disdain for him. We both looked at them, so I supposed it worked.
"They're my grandmother's silver set." Jenna explained. I couldn't help but sigh as I realized that she had given him an idea. I still thought it was a bad idea since the silver thing really only came up in about half of all werewolf stories. She walked out of the kitchen, and he grabbed a knife from it. I had a feeling that if it didn't work, it would only make Mason mad.
"Damon, don't do anything stupid." I warned him. It probably wouldn't work though. I still couldn't help but wonder where Stefan was since he still wasn't answering my calls. I was beginning to get worried, even though I knew the chances of him being dead weren't very high.
A few minutes later, everyone was in the kitchen for dessert. I really hoped to get some of the pie since I loved apple pie. I noticed the handle of the knife sticking out of it.
"Mason why don't you start us off?" Damon suggested. I glared at Damon once again. Mason looked at it hesitantly before turning it around and grabbing a slice with his hands, which I hoped he had washed. We all stared at him. Was the silver thing true then?
"Forgive me, I'm an animal." He apologized. I didn't know if that was supposed to be a pun or something.
I then went in and grabbed myself a slice with the knife because I really didn't want anyone else get any before I did. I did use a fork to eat it because I knew that not doing so was frowned upon. My mom always told me not to eat with my hands. I just wished that she was still here.
"So, Mason, you and Jenna never dated?" Ric asked curiously. You know I had never thought of that especially since I heard that she had hooked up with John, which I found a little disgusting.
"Nope, she was always lost in Logan Fell Land." Jenna declared. I wasn't sure what she had ever seen in him. He just seemed like he was a jerk.
"My greatest mistake." Jenna admitted. At least she had realized it. "Mason was a catch. He had woman lining up for him."
"You know I always pegged you for a lone wolf." Damon remarked. I wanted to slap him for that. He needed to stop.
"I'm sure that I wasn't half of the lady killer that you were." Mason retorted. Now he was doing it too. I still had a feeling that Jenna wouldn't get it if they outright said that they were a vampire and werewolf. All I knew was that I needed to get out of the house and away from all of the puns. I went out to the living room with Anna and Caroline and grabbed my bag as I began to look for Jenna's keys. Yes, I was going to take her car to go see Stefan. I was pretty sure that she wouldn't even notice that I was gone.
"Are you leaving?" Caroline asked. It might have been a little rude to do while we had guests, but I needed to go see Stefan.
"I'm going to the boarding house because I need to see Stefan." I announced. I hadn't really had a chance to drink anything, so I was pretty sure that I would be able to drive, and I was only a few days away from 16. "I know it's not a good thing for a friend to do, but I've been calling him, and he hasn't answered and I need to see him to make sure that he's okay."
"He's probably fine." Caroline responded. She was acting like she knew something that I didn't. "Take it from me, there's nothing worse than being a clingy girlfriend. You should give him some space."
"She's not being clingy." Anna argued. I did wonder if Anna was a little jealous. "She has the right to be worried about him since he's not here."
"Okay, then I'll drive you." Caroline offered. I guess it meant not having to find Jenna's keys. I probably could drive since I only had one beer, but Caroline doing it would be easier. I went out to her car and got in the front seat. It looked like she dropped something because she bent over before she got in. That was a little bit weird. "Okay, to the Salvatore house."
One thing that I definitely didn't like about riding with her was the music. I thought Caroline would like to listen to fun pop songs and not some indie crap. Yes, I'll admit that I like Lady Gaga even though I thought she was pretty weird. I don't like to hear people whining about how their girlfriend won't have sex with them anymore. I got over the emo music pretty quickly when I figured out that it sucked. I needed to make sure that I put CDs in my car whenever I got one, assuming I got a car with a CD player. That was another thing that you couldn't do on a motorcycle because it wasn't safe to listen to headphones while you were driving.
"You know I'm still not sure where you see your relationship with Stefan going." She commented. Why were we talking about this? The only reason it might not work out was because of my feelings for Anna, but I didn't want to be that kind of girl. Before I could respond, the car started swerving and she pulled off to the side of the road. It was there that we noticed that she had a flat. I began to look at it for something to fix it. I wished that I wasn't wearing a skirt at the moment, but it had to be fixed, and I just had to bend correctly so I wasn't showing anything.
"What are you doing?" She asked. Had she never seen anyone fix a tire before?
"I'm looking for a spare." I responded as I opened the trunk.
"How do you know how to change a tire?" She questioned.
"My dad taught me when I was 12." I answered. It didn't matter that I was a guy back then because I still remembered it. "Do you seriously not have a spare?"
"I'll just call a tow." She offered. I sighed and took a seat on the hood. I couldn't believe that I had gotten myself in such a mess. It was also a little bit hot. I wondered if I could just walk to the boarding house from where we were.
After about half an hour, we were still waiting. Just who had she called that was taking so long?
"Did you call the company that your mom uses?" I questioned. I knew that law enforcement had access to better towing, and I imagined that she had given Caroline that number.
"I called the first one that came up." She replied. I took it that was a no then.
"Could you call them again?" I requested. I was beginning to get a little irritable from waiting so long.
"I don't want to bother them." She declared. Sometimes you had to bother them to make sure they didn't forget about you.
"Well, we could probably walk from here. It really isn't that far." I pointed out as I put my feet on the ground.
"I don't wanna leave my car." She whined. I supposed that I would be then.
"Caroline, you have about five seconds to tell me what is going on." I told her. Something was up and I wanted to know what it was.
"Fine, I don't think that you and Stefan can work out. One day, you're going to be 30 and he's still gonna look the same." She replied. Stefan already looked old for his age because that was how people looked in 1860s.
"Caroline, my relationship is none of your business." I retaliated. I didn't feel the need that I might ask Stefan (or Anna) to turn me some day. At that time, the tow truck arrived, and I decided to just bail and walk to the house.
The door was open, and I walked in. That wasn't exactly the best sign. I was a little nervous going into the house. Something felt off.
"Stefan?" I called for him.
"Hello, Mary." A voice that sounded not too different from Elena's replied. I looked over and saw her: Katherine. "It's good to see you again."
"You look just like my sister." I remarked. I then realized that wasn't very important. I then realized what she had said. "What do you mean again?"
"Haven't you ever wondered how you got turned into a girl or why you can't tell anyone about it?" She stated. Katherine had done it. That made a lot of sense when I thought about it. I didn't know why she did it, but it made sense that she would. "Stefan and I spent the entire day making love with each other. There were even some chains involved. It was really kinky."
"You're lying." I declared. I knew Stefan wouldn't have sex with her. He probably wouldn't even if he knew that I made out with Anna.
"Am I? Why don't you ask him yourself?" She responded before she sped out the door and Stefan ran up the stairs. It was at that moment that everything came together. Well not everything since I still couldn't figure out why she turned me into a girl, but I figured out what was wrong with Caroline, and I knew that I needed to tell Stefan about it.
"Katherine is blackmailing Caroline to try to keep us apart." I told him. "Are you okay? I know that you weren't having sex, but it can't be easy spending the day with her."
"I'm going to be okay." He told me. I couldn't help but wonder if he was going to tell me about what happened. "Are you hungry?"
"Well we had this barbecue that you kind of missed." I explained. "I could go for some ice cream though. I think we need to test my theory to see if it's true."
One thing that was sad about our town was that we didn't even have an ice cream parlor. We had to get it at the Grill, which did have good ice cream, but you couldn't really get anything mixed into it like Baskin Robbins. I couldn't help but notice that both Caroline and Damon were there.
"Mary…" Caroline replied as she stood in front of me. "I am so sorry about what happened earlier. I don't know what came over me."
"It's alright, Care. I know that you're still a little stressed out." I said as Stefan, and I headed to a table. It was time to go over what we had rehearsed in the car. "So, what was Katherine doing there?"
"Do you think that I slept with her?" He asked.
"I don't know. It's what she said happened." I pointed out. I also decided to test something, but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. That confirmed it. I then went back to my next point. "Is this going to be another of those situations where you just ask me to trust you?"
I stormed out and headed home where I found Anna was downstairs.
"Stefan's in your room." She told me. I wasn't surprised that he got there before me. Still he could have waited for me.
I went upstairs to see him. The first thing that I did was give him a kiss. I needed to tell him the information that I had learned.
"I hated that fight." I declared. I didn't like yelling at him even if it wasn't real.
"But you were right. Caroline was hanging onto every word we said." He pointed out.
"So why did you fake a fight?" Anna asked as she appeared.
"Katherine asked Caroline to spy on us." I explained. "Now that we know, we'll be one step ahead of her. There's something else that I needed to tell you, especially since both of you are here. Katherine was the one responsible for me being turned into a girl."
"How?" Stefan asked. "And why?"
"I don't really know the how, but I do know that Katherine was pretty good at getting witches to do favors for her." Anna replied.
"There's more. I tried to tell you at the Grill, but I couldn't form the words. I was pretty sure that it was because Caroline was there. I'm pretty sure that she compelled me not to be able to tell anyone I know. That's why I haven't been able to tell any of my family or the people that I went to school with. That also explains why I have been able to tell the two of you, because I didn't know either of you at the time." I explained.
"So, we need to find out why she did it." Anna replied. It might be a good idea to find out what kind of spell she had used because it might help us reverse it. The only problem was I wasn't sure if I wanted to reverse it.
So Mary finally found out that Katherine was responsible for her transformation but she hasn't found out why. Please don't forget to review.