Kenzie Gilbert: The Mute Twin (1)

21: Uncle John

Chapter Twenty-One

"Come on, Jeremy," I rushed as I was heading to the front door. "Walking out the door now."

"You forgot this," Jenna said. I turned to see her slipping my notebook into my bag.

"Thank you," I replied awkwardly. It's been a week. She was still not talking to me much as she was busy with Elena now days, and obviously on her side about the whole thing. Elena avoids me like the plague, she even walked to school early this morning.

I opened the door and was shocked to see my uncle John about to knock. "Kenzie?" He questioned, shocked. It was the hair. I loved it.

"Yeah. Uncle John. Hi," I said. I hated him. He was just so irky. And full of himself.

"Jenna," John smiled at my aunt. John was dad's brother while Jenna was mom's sister, the two were not related and did not get along.

"John. You made it," Jenna muttered. I looked her in confusion and distaste. Thanks for the heads up.

"I said I'd be in by noon," John said, stepping past me so I moved out of the way.

"What you say and what you do are typically two very different things."

"Uncle John, what's up?" Jeremy finally came down the stairs, unenthusiastically.

"Hey," John greeted. Jeremy patted him on the shoulder and walked past us all outside. That was my cue. "I had some business in town. I thought a visit was in order."

"How long are you staying?" I asked.

"I don't know yet," he answered.

"Mm. Okay, well, I'm gonna go to school. I'll see you later," I told them both before leaving the house. Jenna shut the door behind me before we shared an agitated look.

***

"I made a copy of a paper that Jeremy wrote for me. I think you should take a look at it," Mr. Saltzman said. He held Elena and I both back after class. He held it out between us but I grabbed it first. I was the oldest and it was clear Jeremy and I were closer.

I looked at the paper to see the title, "Fact or Fiction: The Truth About Vampires in Mystic Falls." What the hell? Hmm. Well, then. Now I know what local topic he picked for that extra credit paper he was telling me about forever ago.

"Jeremy wrote this?" I sighed looking at Mr. Saltzman or Ric as I handed the paper to Elena.

"He was very clear that he didn't think it was real."

"I really hope you're right, because I have done so much to protect him from all this," Elena said and I just crossed my arms. I didn't know how to feel. Obviously we couldn't really tell him, at least after his memory was cleared with the Vicki thing. I didn't want him caught up in the drama now if he didn't need to be. Though wiping his memory was not how to protect him. He's still caught up in danger and vampire stuff with Vicki and now Anna. Oblivious and naive may not keep suiting him like everyone else we know. Plus for me, lying to Jeremy was the hardest thing in the world.

Elena handed the paper back to Ric who sighed and put it down. "So how do you deal with it?" Ric asked.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"With all the lies and the secrets. You have to lie to everyone who's important to you."

"It's not safe for them to know the truth. So, yes, we keep it from them, but it's only because we love them," Elena said. Yes, that was true, but really it wasn't my secret to tell. I couldn't just shout vampire and put Stefan and Damon, mainly Stefan, in danger. Just no.