The More Things Change

Six

I found the bulbs in a downstairs storage closet.

Hunting for them gave me something to think about other than Damon's threats and the insanity of being stuck in a television show. I went to change the bedroom's first, but when I threw the switch, the light turned right on. A test of the rest of the lights were the same. The lights worked just fine.

I tried to convince myself it was a wiring issue, but there's no denying I felt more vulnerable in the Gilbert house.

Replacing the bulbs back into the supply closet, I continued snooping around. I didn't find anything exciting. The vampire-related weapons and diaries were at the lake house. My biggest discovery were the heirlooms and a ton of documents related to the family's history stored in the basement. I only glanced through some of it before going back upstairs.

Back in Elena's room, I settled in for some homework. My poor performance in Biology and Tanner's comments in History convinced me to finish it before the party tonight. Besides, it was a normal thing to do, nothing supernatural involved. Trigonometry took the longest, but by the time I was done with the chapter questions for history, the sun was getting low in the sky. "Hope you appreciate this, Elena," I muttered before huffing out a tired breath.

I was scouring Elena's closet when the phone rang.

Picking up a cordless handset from her desk, I said, "Hello?"

"Elena," Caroline said in a frantic rush, "I needed you here an hour ago!"

Crap. "Sorry. I lost track of time." I grabbed the first thing I could reach that had long sleeves. Elena had nothing but nice clothes, anyway. I couldn't go wrong.

"Well, get over here."

Uh, where was here? I wondered if there was a non-suspicious or weird way to ask this when the phone clicked and the dial tone hummed in my ear. "Great."

I ended up looking the park up online. It wasn't that difficult to get to from highway seventy-five, one of three roads that led out of town.

I hurried through another shower and was drying my hair when there was a knock on the connecting door. I fiddled with the hairdryer until I found the power button. "Yes?"

There was a beat of silence. "I heard you're driving again, but the car was in the garage," Jeremy said, voice muffled by the wood.

"Someone else took me to school today, but yeah. I drove to the Grill."

"You driving to the party?"

"I'm leaving as soon as I'm done. Caroline wants my help."

"Can I ride along?"

"Oh. Sure."

"Cool."

"Let me finish up."

Jeremy agreed and left me to it.

Once I was dressed and ready, I knocked on his door. He walked out in a hoodie and jacket. Together we made our way down to the kitchen. Jenna hadn't come home yet, so I left a note on the fridge saying we'd be at the falls.

The sun was on the last leg of its journey across the horizon. The sky was flush in pastel pinks and violets, gradually settling into molten gold. It was pleasant enough out to roll the windows down as we pulled out of the garage, letting in the song of crickets. Jeremy plugged his mp3 player into the stereo and alternative rock pounded out the speakers.

"Doesn't driver pick the music?"

Jeremy's answering shrug was largely swallowed up beneath all the layers he wore.