(CHAPTER TEN :
PAGEANT PLAY)

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MISS MYSTIC FALLS WAS fast approaching and everybody was under pressure to add the finishing touches to the pageant. In the words of the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, Caroline Forbes, anything less than perfection was unacceptable — it was her coveted duty to ensure every minute detail was immaculate. Even as the job list dwindled, she kept the volunteers proactive and enlisted us to help the contestants. According to the bubbly blonde herself, April Young was the person Elena and her were rooting for, so I simply had to meet her. When I noticed the insistent eye twitching from Caroline, I didn't dare object when she demanded I tag onto her visit to the contestant's room.

As it turned out, April Young was a teenager with ebony coloured hair and a tendency to be indecisive. Upon arriving in the changing area, she dangled two dresses in front of us, struggling to choose between the red and the blue. Due to my personal style, I gravitated towards the more risqué crimson dress and decided it would compliment the female's fair skin tone better. Over the changing decades, I accumulated some style knowledge as fashion evolved so I figured the sapphire garment would wash April out. Rather than voicing my opinion immediately, I waited for a very frazzled Caroline to take the lead.

"Blue." In unison, Elena and Caroline replied to the girl with a stubborn enthusiasm. Neither of the two even spared a thought for the red alternative.

"Really?" April cocked her head, scrutinising the blue gown. "The blue seems a little safe." As her mouth stretched into a frown, her eyes flickering between the two dresses with a budding anxiety.

Following their lead, I looked closer at the two dresses, my glance lingering on the bolder choice for longer than the other. "I agree, the blue is safe — do you want to be safe? In my experience, taking risks pays off and I think the red would be more of a risk. It's dangerous and daring, nobody would be be able to take their eyes off you." I riled the contestant up, watching how her face lit up with excitement at the thought of stealing the show.

Caroline's smile tightened, becoming almost artificial. "Dangerous and daring is overrated, Lottie." She patronised, but I knew she only had good intentions. "You're a vampire, you can be heedless in taking risks, but April can't afford to be so thoughtless." Not wanting the Young girl to hear about my supernatural status, she lowered her voice.

"Nobody's ever died from wearing the wrong dress, Caroline." I hissed, knowing my friend was overthinking my words. I didn't have an underlying meaning when I told the contestant to take risks, but I knew this was where our opinions divided. Whereas Caroline was careful, I could be irrational and spontaneous at times.

"Safe is good when it comes to the judges." Elena reaffirmed. "Looking classy would grab the their attention just as much." She stood her ground, enlarging her eyes to sway me into submission.

Caroline was elated by this, bobbing her head in agreement with the brunette. "She's right. Gracie Lockwood had a three-foot slit her year and practically got laughed off the court." She seethed, the vampire being disgusted by the memories from that day. Not that I had any recollection of that pageant, I could only assume it was before I arrived in Mystic Falls as I only attended Caroline's year.

Before I could defend my choice further, I paused, hearing approaching footsteps. On guard, I whipped my head around to see who our guest was, only for it to be my old friend. Damon Salvatore swaggered through the door and I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile. After my embarrassing voicemail the other night, he called back and we met up at the Grill. He apologised — a rare feat for the man — for not contacting me about his survival, but he had his suspicions the town wasn't for me and didn't want to hold me back anymore. Everything was patched up between us that night and we returned to normal. Amidst him dancing on the bar and all the shots we had, I didn't think to tell him of why I came back to town or the Curse. Looking at him made me ashamed, but the secret was no different from the things he kept from me.

"She got my vote." Damon asserted, no doubt having listened in on our conversation.

I scoffed. "Don't be a dick, Damon."

"Ah, ah, I'll have to reevaluate our friendship if you continue to talk to me like that." He feigned offence, leaning his weight against the door frame. "All I was saying is she looks hot." Damon defended, but we all knew there was a desirable undertone to his initial comment. At times, the Salvatore could be such a pig.

Caroline was furious by his sudden appearance, throwing a hairbrush at the man. Damon barely caught the end of the object as it hit him square in the chest. "Get out, lurker!" The blonde screeched.

Placing at hand on his chest, he pretended to be hurt. " Ouch." He muttered sarcastically. Soon after, he turned serious. "Where's Professor Shane?" Damon interrogated, carelessly tossing the hairbrush to the ground.

"Check the judge's table." Caroline answered abruptly, failing to disguise her distaste towards the older brother.

Eager to free the room of the elder vampire, the Forbes girl stormed towards the entrance way, ushered the man away and proceeded to slam the door in his face. Utilising his advanced reflexes, Damon caught the door and pushed it open again with ease. Of course, nobody could rid of him that easily — it took me decades to shake him and, even then, we found our way back to each other.

"Red one, definitely." Offering his unwanted advice to April Young, he stepped into the room and shoved Caroline in Elena's direction.

"Damon isn't exactly somebody I'd rely on for fashion advice. Just do the opposite to what he says, that's what I've been doing for deca — — a long time." I covered my slip up around the human, forgetting she was there as I reminisced the nineties fashion disasters caused by the Salvatore's tips. "Forget I commented, the blue is . . . sophisticated. Aren't these pageants all about the questions anyway? Put 'world peace' and 'save the children' into every answer and you've already won." I recommended, never being one to have much interest in beauty pageants. My Mother judged me enough, I didn't need anybody else to continue with that.

"Come on, without me, you'd still be wearing bell bottoms." He sneered, to which I blushed at. In my defence, they were actually flare jeans one time in the noughties on a dare.

Caroline jumped in before our bickering escalated. "We've already agreed that the red one is a little bit too showy." Turning to Elena for reinforcements, the vampire huffed.

Damon lead with a smirk. "It's a pageant. That's the whole point." He mused.

Resting her hands on her hips, Caroline glowered at Damon. "Did you win Miss Mystic last year? No, I don't think you did." Bitterness lurked under her proud words, the smug remark aiming to get under the man's skin. Albeit, I understood, it was my favourite pastime to annoy Damon Salvatore.

"Neither did Elena and she wore blue." He stumped the former Miss Mystic, looking towards the silent doppelgänger.

Accepting her loss, the woman narrowed her eyes into slits. "Nobody cares about what you think." Caroline bluntly stated, making me repress a snort at the childish comeback.

"I care." April muttered softly. As a result of the four of us, the poor girl was even more torn than when we arrived.

"See? April cares." Damon was triumphant. "Red, right, Elena?" He faced his brother's ex — or crush, whatever she was to him — and depended on her to throw him a life preserve in this complicated disagreement. Knowing she preferred the blue one and even I failed to change her mind, I held back a chuckle. There was nothing more amusing to me than seeing Damon being rejected — in strictly a harmless form, of course. Our friendship was founded on each other's innocence torment.

Chewing on the corner of her lip, Elena shrank under the pressure of the room's burning gaze. All of us were impatient for her response. "The red is pretty." She admitted to the shock of Caroline and I.

Dramatically, Caroline's expectant face dropped and I found myself grinding my teeth. How did Damon convince her in a few minutes when she was repulsed seconds prior to his entrance? Even I backed down from the red option to prevent the rage of Caroline Forbes and — to a lesser extent — aggravate Damon. Yet, she was batting her eyelashes at the boy, ignoring how she told me 'safe was good' earlier.

His grin stretched to a level beyond Cheshire Cat creepy. "And my work here is done." He announced, bowing out with a boosted ego.

"That wasn't cool, Lena." I tutted. "I don't give a damn about the back and forth romance with you and Damon, but I do give a damn about how you chose him over the girl you've known since pre-school. You know that the little debate then goes deeper than a dress." I lectured, glancing to Caroline for reassurance. Yes, I preferred the red, but I stuck by Caroline when it came to it. Damon was my best friend, but in such shallow situations, I prioritised my girls. "Anyway, I should go because it looks like the seats are doing pretty fast out there." I excused myself, truthfully not wanting to be the middle man for the second time today.

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Whilst waiting for the pageant to begin, I chatted quietly to Matt, thanking him for his help when I returned to town and making general small talk. Our conversation temporarily froze so I could spare a look at an approaching Elena — a scowl was freshly engraved on her face, her feet dragging as Caroline trailed behind her. From one glance, I gathered they weren't on the best terms, the blonde bumping shoulders with the brunette on her way to the stage.

"Hi, everyone, I'm Caroline Forbes." Caroline introduced herself, clearing her throat into the microphone. "As the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic Court." Her picture perfect smile never faltered causing me to erupt in an encouraging cheer.

Without hesitation, the crowd clapped and whooped for the contestants, the sweet introductory music flowing through the venue as an array of glamorous females strutted into view. Following Matt's lead, I copied his actions and applauded when he did, but I didn't necessarily enjoy pageants — especially the excessive amount that occurred in this town. Over a century ago, I was forced into a variety of superficial events and despised them all. Somehow, the sour feelings never did completely disappear.

As our friend listed off names, Matt shuffled closer to me. "Have you seen Jeremy?" He breathed out, tensing his muscles.

I squinted, searching the boy amongst the escorts. "Not since he ditched us this morning for you." I said pointedly, adding a laugh for good measure. "But seriously, is he running late? There will be enough tears from the girls without one being left dateless." I mentioned, hiding the bird's nest of worry that had built in my gut.

"That's what Elena thought." He claimed with a sigh. "But Caroline told me to wrangle the escorts. He's not here." Matt divulged, squaring his shoulders and shaking his head.

Suddenly, that worry expanded. "Oh." I exhaled, uncertain of what else there was to say.

"Did he tell you about his nightmares?" Matt quizzed, quieting our shared apprehension. However, his attempt at an ice breaker failed, only making my worry mutate into a monster. Nightmares . . . Things weren't great between us, but it was the first I heard of it from anybody.

I refused to meet the human's eyes. "No, we spoke the other night, but I don't think I'm his favourite person right now. What are the nightmares about?" I braced myself for the worst.

Matt placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "It's not your fault what happened between you both." He reassured me. "But, the nightmares . . . They're bad. Jeremy told me they change every night, sometimes he kills Elena and other times, he kills you. Stakes you in the chest after you appear out of nowhere." He flashed me an apologetic look, spotting my distress. "Other nights, it's a combination. You go to save Elena from him, plead with him, but he has no control and murders the both of you." The boy elaborated, his voice wavering with the uncertainty of if he should continue.

I held up my hand to stop him. "No, that wouldn't happen. He wouldn't hurt me, I've done some treacherous things to him and he never retaliated beyond words." I cemented my belief in Jeremy overcoming his fears. "And it's not like I would be able to save Elena. I didn't manage that the first time." I had meant to lighten up the situation with my self-decapitating honesty. Beyond that, a seriousness lurker. If I had went with Stefan that fateful night, if I pursued Rebekah when she fled, Elena would never have become a vampire.

Grabbing my chin, Matt tilted my head up so my eyes met his soulful ones. "Listen, don't beat yourself up about that. Nobody blames you for leaving." Lie, I mentally accused. Jeremy hated me for leaving. "I need to rain check this conversation though, April's about to be left without an escort." He realised, dipping out of the crowd.

Once he had left, I snuck away from my seat. The details on why Jeremy fled were miscellaneous, but if it was because of the nightmares I was the subject of, I had to be the one to find him. If only that boy learnt how to answer his phone for once . . .

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Thirteen missed calls, five voice mails and still nothing. I almost gave up on finding him with the winner about to be announced, but on the last ring, my hearing picked up on a familiar Fall Out Boy tune in the distance. Unmistakably, that was his ring tone and hope rippled through my body in waves. Without thinking, I was running towards the sound and came to a halt when I caught sight of an unstable pair. Both of the Gilberts were at a stand off, Elena's vampire was out to play and Jeremy's inner hunter was out for blood.

"No." Jeremy gaped at his blood stained hands. Notably, my eyes lingered on the blood for a short while, but I pushed my vampire features back, determined to help the siblings above all. Deep down, I knew that I didn't need that blood and fought for control.

"Get — — get it away from me." Elena pleaded shakily when her brother brought a wooden stake into view.

Observing from afar, I hoped Elena and Jeremy could find the same control I did. However, I burst between the middle of the two when I realised the boy intended to attack his sister whilst she tried to hide her new nature from him. Before he could attack, I grabbed his wrist and pinned him to the ground, my weight hovering over him as I counted down the seconds until his senses returned. His eyes bolted open what felt like hours later, causing me to release the breath I forgot I was holding. Offering him a hand, I didn't register the evil flicker amidst his warm exterior, barely registering his next move as he jammed a stake through my neck.

"T—this is just like my d—dream." He hyperventilated.

"Well, it's time you wake up." I growled, shaking off an apologetic Elena as I yanked the stake out of my neck. As I stormed off, a number I didn't ever want to call again was already ringing.

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A.N: I'm shocked how often I'm updating too but I'm at the point that I want to give Lottie a conclusive story and I'm just excited for upcoming chapters. I have it planned out. Also, Kol will appear next chapter! It's hard because he doesn't appear much in the show so I need to squeeze him in sometimes.

Who's your least favourite character in TVD/TO and why?