ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [1]

XII • UNPLEASANTVILLE

twelve. unpleasantville

Mystic Falls High School

The bell rings loudly, indicating the end of class of every level. Students get up from their desks and start to leave the classroom. Jeremy is packing up his stationaries when a piece of paper is thrown down onto his desk by his History teacher. Jeremy looks down at the paper and picks it up to see a giant red 'A' is marked on the paper. Jeremy smiles, stunned by his grade.

Mister Saltzman spoke, "Surprised? It's a good essay. Your thoughts are clear, and your argument is well laid out. It's just, uh, you don't actually think there are vampires in Mystic Falls." He sits down behind his desk.

"No. I mean, I think statistically there's been more animal attacks, mysterious deaths, uh, people gone missing, more than any other place in the whole commonwealth of Virginia." Jeremy considered aloud, smiling.

"It's conjecture, but creative, which is why you got the 'A'. I just wouldn't get too, uh, caught up in the whole conspiracy theory of it all." Alaric reviewed.

"Ah, I won't." Jeremy finishes gathering up his stationaries, gets up from his seat, and starts to walk out of the classroom when his teacher spoke again.

"Oh, uh, Jeremy, the source that you cited for the 1860s info, uh, Jonathan Gilbert...?" Gilberts. One of the Founding families in the town of Mystic Falls.

Jeremy stops and looks back at him, "Oh, my ancestor's journal?"

"I'd really like to see that sometime." The thirty-three-year-old nods.

A friendly smile makes it's way up to his young boy-ish face, "Really?"

"A first-person account of the Civil War? That's like, uh, porn for a history teacher." Alaric Saltzman playfully commented in an honest perspective.

Jeremy retrieves the journal from his backpack, "You think my essay's creative, wait 'til you get a load of this thing." He skillfully tosses the old journal onto the teacher's desk, which his teacher picks up carefully.

Jonathan Gilbert was a mad genius, that's for certain, and Jeremy Gilbert can never be more proud and honoured to be the man's great grandson.

Mister Saltzman smiles, truly grateful of borrowing it, "Thank you."

Jeremy nods and walks out of the classroom for sophomore level as the last student. Alaric looks at the old, vintage leather journal and unbinds it with genuine curiosity and impatience to read it through. Out in the front courtyard, Caroline, Elena and Rosie are walking across the lawn together. Caroline is observing the pretty necklace, filled with a herb called vervain which is toxic to vampires, around her neck which Elena just gave her.