The Other Gilbert Girl

Under Control

"Come on, Jeremy, heading to school. Walking out the door now." Elena says walking towards the door me right behind her.
"You forgot this." Jenna says giving Elena her jacket.
"Thanks." She says and opens the door to reveal Uncle John. When I see him I smile. I've always been close with Uncle John.
"Uncle John, hi." Elena says.
"Elena. Jenna. Phoebe." He says and opens his arms for a hug.
"Hey Uncle John." I say and hug him.
"John, You made it." Jenna says.
"I said I'd be in by noon." He tells her.
"What you say and what you do are two very different thing." Jenna tells him.
"Uncle John, what's up?" Jeremy asks walking down the stairs and out the house.
"I had some business in town. I thought a visit was in order." He tells us.
"Well how long are you staying?" Elena asks.
"Not sure yet." He says.
"Okay, Well. we're going to go to school. We'll see you later." Elena says and takes my hand to take me outside.
"See ya later Uncle John." I say and let Elena drag me away.

▫️▫️▫️

"Why can't we have lunch together?" Jo asks me.
"I told you, Ric wants to have lunch so we can get to know each other more. We're probably going to have lunch more often now too. He's just trying to be there." I tell her.
"And your sure it's not because your trying to avoid a certain someone?" She asks me.
"No, I'm not avoiding Hunter. He's giving me time, just like I asked him. And what's up with you? You never liked Hunter." I ask her.
"No I didn't. But he made you happy, and I think that's what matters." She tells me.
"Okay, I have to go. I'm already running late." I tell her and walk to the rest of the way to Ric's classroom. I open the door and find Elena and Ric there. "Oh, hey Elena." I greet her. "We're still having lunch today right?" I ask Ric.
"Yeah, of course, I was just talking to Elena about one of her papers." He tells me.
"Okay, well, should I come back?" I ask her.
"No, we're done." She tells me and makes her way to the door. I pull up a chair to his desk and share stiff about ourselves and eat.

▫️▫️▫️

"I have no interest in the founder's day kick off party." Jeremy tells us at dinner.
"Sure, you do. It's tradition." John tells him.
"Far be it from us to break from tradition." Jenna says.
   "The Gilbert's have been a part of this town for 150 years, one of the founding families, and with that distinction comes certain obligations, including going to the party. One day, when you can appreciate the significance, I'll tell you all about your heritage." John tells us.
    "Hmm. The Gilbert family legacy. I forgot how sacred it was. I'm not a Gilbert, so I was never cool enough to hear it." Jenna says.
    "It's okay, Aunt Jenna. I'm not a Gilbert either, Saltzman blood runs through my veins." I tell her and give her a side hug with a laugh.
    "Of course you're a Gilbert Phoebe." John tells me.
    "Thanks John, But I have come to terms with my birth parents. Even getting to know my birth dad." I tell him with a smile. 
    "You've met your birth dad?" He asks me.
    "Yeah, It's Mr. Saltzman." I tell him.
    "Why does she hate you so much?" Jeremy asks John as I take a sip of my water, referring to Jenna.
   "We used to sleep together." He says and I start couching on my water, Jenna throws something at him.
   "I'm standing right here." She says and I'm calming down from choking.

                               ▫️▫️▫️
(Her founder's party dress is in the media above.)

    "Who got the music like this?" I asks Elena and Jenna as I walk up to them.
    "Oh, uh, Stefan, He bribed the guy or something." Elena told me.
    "He should go down as a town hero, this is the best founder's party I've been to." I tell her.
     "History teacher 3 O'Clock." Elena tells her and I look to see Ric. I smile and wave at him.
"How do I look?" She asks.
"Beautiful."
"Gorgeous." Elena and I say at the same time.
"Ah, I've been looking for you." He says to Jenna walking up to us.
"Here I am. I haven't seen you in a while." She tells him.
"Yeah, well, uh, things have been a little crazy." He says looking at me. "But I'm here now. Do you want to get a drink?" He asks her.
"Sure." She says and they walk off.
"That's your dad and our aunt." Elena tells me.
"Oh, please, don't." I tell her groaning and she laughs.
"When did this happen?" Matt asks.
"DJ had a change of heart." Elena tells him.
"Do you want to dance?" He asks her.
"I don't know." She says.
"Yes. Yes." He tells her and takes her out onto the dance floor.
I float around for about an hour and people I don't know come up to me, people who knew my parents and knew me when I was little. I see Hunter and quickly look around for a way out. I turn and see Elena and Matt my one of the side doors and make my way over to them.
"Hey, help me. Hunter alert." I tell her.
"We're about to get some air. Join us." Matt tells me.
"Thanks." I tell him.
"You guys haven't seen my mom have you?" He asks us.
"No, not for a while." Elena says and I shake my head no." We walk outside and what I see shocks me. Kelly Donavan and Tyler Lockwood, lips locked.
"Oh my god." Elena says and Matt rushes over to them Elena and I look at each other before following.
"What the hell are you doing man?" Matt asks as he rips Tyler off of his mom.
"Whoa. Dude. Calm down." Ty tells him and it's not too long before they're on top of each other, fighting. I go up and try to pull Tyler off of Matt and get hit right across the face in the process. I slide back towards the wall. Elena is yell for help as I sit up, so I'm not laying on the ground. Ric comes over and pulls Tyler off of Matt. The mayor comes in and takes over for Ric and he's at my side. That's when I realize that my nose is bleeding and I have a bruise on my cheek.
"Oh my.. Are you okay? Why did you get in the middle of it?" I look around and see a crowd of people. One of the is Hunter, we lock eyes before I look away at Ric.
"I was just trying to help." I tell him.
"Okay, let's get you cleaned up." He tells me and helps me stand up.
"It's okay. I'm just gonna go clean up and head home." I tell him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Thanks though, for caring." I tell him.
"Yeah, of course. I told you, I'm here." He tells me.
"You really are, aren't you? I'll see you later." I tell him and give him a quick hug before heading to the bathroom.

After I clean myself up I head home with Elena and Jenna. We're walking up the stairs of the house.
"Not so excited that we have another month of these founders day events." Jenna tells us.
"Tell me about it." Elena says.
"I triple that." I tell them with a laugh.
"I call shower first." I tell her and she groans.
I go to my room and get my stiff to shower. I take a long hot shower and just relax. I head back into my room, crawl into bed and fall asleep instantly.