"BONNIE! BONNIE! THANK GOD YOU'RE HOME!" Caroline yelled when her, Charlie, and JJ saw the Bennett girl standing with Elena. The blonde bounded off to hug her friend while the other two followed right at her heels. "I know we talked everyday, but I missed you."

"How are you doing?" the Lockwood girl asked, and when the Forbes stepped away, she was next to embrace Bonnie.

The witch sighed before answering, and Charlie pulled away so that she could look the girl in the eye as she spoke. "Better. Better. You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy."

"Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick up the perfect dress for the Founders' court. Oh, and JJ, of course," the blonde girl told her.

The werewolf furrowed her eyebrows. "JJ, of course, what?"

"She's on the Founders' court," Caroline explained, and when they all looked at her in confusion, she thought they didn't know what the Founder's court was. "You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today, and JJ, Elena, and I are all on it."

"You're doing Miss Mystic Falls? And you didn't tell me?" the Lockwood girl exclaimed, whipping her head to the blonde girl.

She shrugged, avoiding her girlfriend's eyes. "My mom signed me up when we first moved here. She thought it would get me more involved in the community and all that."

"Oh, my God. We signed up for that so long ago...I completely forgot," Elena spoke up, interrupting the couple's conversation, but something seemed off about her.

Caroline seemed hopeful. "So, are you dropping out then?"

"I can't," the Gilbert girl responded, looking down at her feet, and they could all tell that something was off.

The Forbes girl furrowed her eyebrows. "No?"

"Her mom is the one who wanted her to enter," Bonnie informed them, and Charlie could tell that her blonde best friend immediately felt bad.

After the awkward moment with Elena, the four girls walked to the best dress shop in town according to Caroline. She explained on the way there, "It's a little small, but the quality is amazing."

"I still don't know what color suits me best," the Martin girl informed them as she and Caroline searched through the thousands of dresses in the store for one good enough for the pageant.

"I think neon yellow is the way to go for you," the Forbes girl told her after looking her up and down. Both Bonnie and Charlie shot her a look, seeing that she was quite obvious trying to sabotage the other girl, and she sighed. "Or a pink."

JJ seemed to pick up on what was happening. "Hey, Caroline, I just want you to know that you don't have to worry about me. I'm just doing this to keep my mom happy. I'm not actually going to try or anything. Not that you couldn't win if I was trying."

"Really?" Caroline questioned with a small smile.

Charlie's girlfriend nodded, confirming. "Yeah, and if I have to fall down the stairs and take some people down with me, just let me know."

"I think I'll be fine," the other girl chuckled.

"Now," Bonnie called, stepping out from behind a rack with a stack of dresses of all sorts in her hands and an excited grin on her face. "Who's ready for a fashion show?"

☾❄☽

THE MISS MYSTIC FALLS PAGEANT was a really big deal in their town, and that is why almost every single person that lived there came to watch it. If anything, that made Charlie even more nervous to dance with her girlfriend. She was wearing a black dress with whit flowers on it to match the suits of the other escorts.

"Didn't think this was your kind of scene," a voice said from right next to her ear, causing her to jump. She settled down when she realized that it was just Damon.

She turned back to face the front of the room so that maybe he'd take the hint and leave her alone. She really didn't have the patience to deal with him at that moment. She was already on edge because of the whole pageant thing and having to escort her girlfriend in front of the entire town. "I could say the same for you."

"What are you talking about? I happen to love supporting my community," he informed her, putting a hand on his heart and looking at her like he was offended. She just raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a look, and he sighed. "That's a lie. Why are you here?"

"If you must know, I'm escorting my girlfriend. She's in the pageant," the Lockwood girl explained, looking up at the top of the stairs that the blonde girl would be coming down any minute now.

Her furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Shouldn't you be waiting with the escorts then?"

"I was just about to head over there," she spat back with a sarcastic smile. "And then you came over here and stopped me with your stupid questions."

"Geez, someone's got their grumpy pants on today," Damon muttered.

Charlie just rolled her eyes in response before changing the subject when she noticed the absence of Elena's boyfriend. "Where's Stefan?"

"Probably off brooding somewhere," the Salvatore told her, "Feeling sorry for himself because his life's so freaking hard and miserable."

"Can you find him please? It's about to start, and he needs to be here," she ordered before leaving him to go stand in line with the other escorts. She felt judging and confused eyes on her, but she refused to give them the satisfaction of getting to her.

Once the event officially started, the mayor began calling down the girls one by one. "Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore." As she came down the stairs, the boy in front of Charlie stepped forward and offered his arm out to her. The brunette girl began to tap her foot nervously as they walked away, leaving her as the center of attention.

"Miss JJ Martin, escorted by..." Richard trailed off in shock when he saw the name on the card, and Charlie fought the urge to burst out laughing. She settled for a small smirk though. "Escorted by Charlotte Lockwood."

Her smirk dropped, and her mind went completely blank when JJ came into her view. Her jaw fell, and she could barely form a thought. She was so stunning. She was wearing a light green dress that brought out her eyes, and her hair was in a half-up style.

"You look gorgeous," Charlie stammered out, and she held out her arm for the blonde to take. They began walking to the door, and they could feel the eyes on them.

JJ smiled as they walked down the stairs outside and assumed their position beside Tina and Bartholemew. "You don't look too horrible yourself."

They waited for all of the other pairs. Caroline was behind them with her fill-in escort since Matt had to work. Amber was missing, so she wasn't out there. What shocked them the most was when Elena walked out on Damon's arm. Charlie guessed that he couldn't find Stefan in time.

Once they were all in their spots, they straightened up as the music started. The partners bowed before beginning the dance. The Lockwood girl knew it by heart since her mother made her learn it for the future. She would definitely have no problems with the dancing portion when she was forced to participate in two years.

JJ and Charlie stared at each other with loving eyes and smiles. The brunette girl's eyes wandered just for a moment, but it was long enough for her to catch her father's eye. He was staring at the pair with an unreadable expression on his face. She just shot him a smug smile before turning back to her girlfriend.

And then she realized that she didn't care about any of the judging stares or gossiping whispers. She just cared about that moment.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

this is really short and rushed, but it's really late, and i just wanted to finish it.