The Other Gilbert Girl

Founder's Day

    "Ow, this dress hurts." Elena whines.
    "Suck it in, baby." Aunt Jenna tells her. We helped Elena put on one of those old century dresses for the founder's day float. It's green and has some yellow in it. Also has some floral patterns on the skirt. I'm dressed in my cheerleading uniform because we're in the parade.
   "Okay, come on Elena. I'll drive." I tell her and she nods. We make our way to the school. When we get there she goes off to find Stefan and I go to see Caroline and Bonnie.
    "Oh, my god. I can't believe it. Is that Miss Mystic Falls as I live and breathe?!" I ask with a gasp, Caroline just smiles wide.
    "Hey, your all dressed and ready good. You are in charge of the cheerleaders today. You are to report back to me how everyone was. I've already threatened all of them so they should be perfect." She tells me.   
    "Ai yi, Captain." I say and give her a quick salute. I feel someone jump on my back and move my hands to hold them up. I turn and see Jo. "Hey there. Want to get a picture with Miss Mystics herself?" I ask with a smile and she nods. We both get on either side of Caroline and Bonnie takes our picture on my camera.
   "Perfect." Jo says.
   "Okay, we should be going." I tell them and take Jo's hand and walk away. "Okay, can you hold my bag while I'm in the parade and meet me at the grill afterwards? I'm going to want to change afterwards." I tell her.
   "Yeah, no problem." She tells me.
   "See you from the parade." I say and walk away.
   "I'll be the one cheering you on, cheerleader." She calls out and I laugh.

                               ▫️▫️▫️

    "Thank you so much." I say to Jo as I change in the bathroom of the grill.
    "No problem." She says and I walk out of the stall. I'm now wearing gray plaid pants and a black crop top, with my white converse.
    "I'm so ready to go home, but Uncle John would kill me if I left." I tell her.
    "Why?" She asks confused.
    "He's big on all the founding family stuff, remember?" I ask as I brush out my long hair.
"Right, that's annoying. But you like him though." She says.
"Well, yeah, he's family. But lately, ever since I've been getting closer with Ric he's all annoying about him being my dad." I tell her with a sigh. "I mean, he's been a real ass to him."
"That sucks." She says and we walk out out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, and of course I'm taking Ric's side because, well he isn't being the ass." I say.
"Nice. Okay, I'm gonna go grab some seats for us. Fireworks will be on in like 5 minutes." She tells me and walks off. I smile and turn and ram right into somebody.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was... hi." I say as I realize it's Hunter.
"Hey," He says and puts his hands in his pockets. "Could we talk?" He asks.
"Well, Jo is waiting." I say as an excuse.
"It will only be a few minutes I promise." He says and I nod. We walk away from the crowds so we have some privacy.
"I'm so sorry-" He starts but the fire works start going off. I look from him to the fireworks.
"They're so pretty." I say, I look back over at him when I hear groaning. I see him laying on the ground clutching his head. "Oh, my god, Hunter! Are you okay?" I ask him and kneel next to him taking his head in my lap. "Somebody help!" I call, I see a police officer running over to me. "Thank god, he just collapsed.." I start and I'm instantly confused when he picks up Hunter and takes him away without saying anything to me first. He's gone before I can even process it. I start to look around for anyone I know. I see Ric run down some stairs and run over to him. I run down the stairs to see Stefan, Ric and Elena.
"Phoe-" Elena starts but I cut her off.
"Some guy just took Hunter away. He fell and was holding onto his head when a police officer came and took him." I explain.
"Okay, we're going to go get him, Ric is going to take you home." Elena tells me.
"What? No! Elena, I need to make sure he's okay." I tell her.
"He'll be okay? I promise. You will be the first to know when I have news." She tells me."But for now, just go home with Ric." She tells me and I look over at Ric and he nods.
"Okay, fine." I say and Ric leads me away.
We spend quite a while looking for Jeremy. After about 15 minutes we find him and make our way home. I can't calm my nerves at all. I'm jittery and I can't stop my hands from shaking. When we pull into my driveway Jeremy gets out but when I go to close my door Ric stops me.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asks.
"I-I never told him that it didn't matter. I mean all the secrets the lies, when I saw him on the ground like that... none of it mattered." I tell him.
"You will be able to tell him. I promise." He tells me taking my shaking hands into his.
"I just hope it's not too late." I say with a sigh. I go to get out when my phone buzzes.

Hunter❤️💕: I'm back at my house. The cop thought I was drinking. They did a alcohol test and I was released. Sorry we didn't get our talk.

I sigh in relief and look over to Ric.
    "It's Hunter, he's back at his house. Can you drive me over there?" I ask him and he nods. I close my door and we make out way there. When we get there I thank Ric for the ride and make my way to the door. I knock and a few seconds later Hunter opens the door.
   "Hey, I got your text but I needed to see you." I tell him and he opens the door for me to come in.
  "It's no problem, what did-" He starts but I cut him off by kissing him, he pulls away.
   "Wait, we still haven't talked about anything." He says.
    "I don't care, if you're keeping something from me than I believe it's for a good reason. When I saw you on the ground tonight all I could think about was how much time I was wasting by keeping us apart. I love you, Hunter. And I want to be with you." I tell him, and he pulls me in for another kiss. We kiss for a few more minutes before my phone buzzes.
    "Just ignore it." He says kissing down my neck.
    "I can't, it might be Elena wondering where I am." I tell him as I pull out my phone and read the text that was in fact from Elena, Hunter doesn't stop kissing my neck. "Oh my god, I need to get to the hospital." I tell him. "John was stabbed and he's there."
    "Okay, I'll drive." He tells me and leads me out the door. The ride is silent on the way, my hand is held in Hunter's. It's not one of those awkward silences. It's a comfortable silence, except for that I don't know what happened to my uncle. "He'll be okay, Phoebe." He tells me and I just nod.