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In the small town of Mystic Falls, where darkness lurks beneath the surface like an overplayed teen drama, witty loner Emery Gilbert had modest plans--finish high school, mend her family's sanity post-parental tragedy, and then flee this 'charmi...
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"Scum ball... Scum bucket..." Jenna listed off, looking in disgust and annoyance at the television set. I sat at the kitchen table adjacent to where she stood, trying to get the rest of my math homework done so I wouldn't have to worry about it later.
Scribbling a random answer into one of the blanks, I commented, "How about the more traditional variation of the insult—'scumbag'?"
"Perfect," she answered in a scarily gleeful manner. And though I honestly had no clue why she was tossing out insults at the TV, I was happy to help. "Scumbag," she repeated in satisfied vindication.
"What are you talking about?" Elena asked as she entered the room, looking sorely confused at the spiel of insults.
"The news guy, also known as Logan "Scum" Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"
I looked up at that with a raised brow, kind of disappointed. "Because of a guy? Really? Tisk, tisk, Aunt Jenna."
Jenna frowned, narrowing her eyes at me. "I admit it wasn't my proudest moment. I was young. You'll make your fair share of mistakes someday too."
Elena was instantly intrigued. "Oh, no way. You and him? He's cute," she added, tilting her head as she inspected the news guy. I audibly gagged.
"He is not cute," Jenna shot down quickly. "There's nothing cute about him." She angrily grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. "What are you doing with that?"
At the immediate change in subject, I glanced at Elena, now sitting across from me at the table, noticing the box she had in front of her. "I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display."
At that, I figured homework was now pointless and unnecessarily time consuming, so I shut the textbook and moved down a few seats to rummage through the box with them. A lot of old documents with fancy script, some pretty jewelry, an old fashion pipe and lighter, and many other knickknacks. I had seen these heirlooms before, the last time being when Mom and Dad opened the box to give me my ring for my sixteenth birthday.
As if reading my mind, Elena looked at the ring on my finger as my hand searched through the objects in the box.
"Grandma Beth's wedding ring was on the list of items for the heritage display too, Em."
Hearing that, I instantly pulled my hand to my side.
"I didn't know you had Grandma Beth's ring, Emery," Jenna inquired, trying to get a closer look at it.
"It was a birthday present," I said, not meaning it to come out as defensive as it did. They didn't seem to notice.
Jeremy came into the room then, catching the conversation and looking in interest at the box.
"Originally it was Great-Great-Grandma Mary's wedding ring. Mom believed it's been in the family even longer than that though. Which is why Mrs. Lockwood wanted it for the display."
