"Dude" Zeke hisses as his elbow digs into my side, rudely bringing me back into reality.

  "What?" I grumble, rubbing at my side that is now surly bruised.

  "Mr. Emmett totally just called you out!"

  "No!"

  I suddenly take notice of the rest of class giggling and staring in my direction. Even Damon has turned around and is smirking at me, that mischievous twinkle in his eye.

  "You would think after missing half the week you would want to pay attention Miss Morelli!" Mr. Emmett scolds me from the front of the class.

  "Two days doesn't exactly count as half a week" I mumble, earning me another jab from Zeke's elbow.

  Damon chuckles softly before turning back around in his seat. Not that he was paying any attention either I am sure, but he isn't the one who got caught.

  "What was that?" he raises his voice and takes a step in my direction.

  I am sure he heard me just fine, but rather than risk getting detention I decide to change my tune.

  "I am sorry sir" I say louder so there is no mistaking.

  I slouch in my seat defeated, thankful when everyone's eyes slowly return to the white board rather than me.

"Quite so!" Mr. Emmett nods triumphantly, as if some little battle had just been one.

  I must say, I am not the toughest advisory in the room so I don't know why he is so proud of himself.

 "Jill, how about you? Wanna give it a go?" He turns his attention to Jill who perks up at the notice.

  "Of course!" she proceeds to give the answer to the next problem on the sheet we are reviewing.

  I bet she didn't even figure it out herself! Probably copied it off of some poor sap who turned to goo at a flash of her smile.

  I try to follow along, ready in case I get called on again, but my will isn't strong enough. Within minutes my eyes stray from my paper and find their way to none other than Damon. I know he says they are trying to blend in, but I think I would go crazy if I was forced to go though all this again.

  I wonder if he already knows all this stuff? Then again has he actually gone to school since he died? I can't imagine the educational system was all that great back then. Would it be rude to ask? Probably.

  I idly play with the locket that now hangs around my neck, running my thumb over the designs in the cool metal. Again, for the millionth time, I think about everything that has happened. It's strange to me how quickly I have been able to accept everything. How in just days I've gone from being the clueless friend of vampires, to terrified of them, only to return being friends. Minus the clueless part this time at least!

  I have always hated in those stupid teen movies where a girl accepts the truth about these things without a second thought, and things jut move on like normal. Zeke is right though I guess, what else is there to do? We either accept things or we decide they are too dangerous and kill them. Even just the thought of hurting them makes my heart painfully twist, so turns out that's not really an option. So we accept things, we move on. I guess I can't judge some of Zeke's movies so harshly anymore.

  Thankfully today turned out to be pretty uneventful, a welcome change of pace. Then again I have been keeping myself pretty busy with catching up on all my missed school work. Wouldn't exactly say I do best in school, but I can't stomach the thought of falling behind.

  Spending my lunch and free hour in the library took care of that! Sure I got a few grumbles out of Zeke, but after reminding him he could use the time to read his new books I didn't hear anymore complaints. Other than a few moments in passing between class I haven't really had a chance to see Stefan and Elena, but it was pleasant when we did. No mention of the supernatural drama, instead made plans to meet up after school to pick up some stuff for tomorrow.

  Zeke is ecstatic about getting all dressed up for the game. Turns out Leo is totally into school spirit, has been volunteering all his free time to help set things up. With those two constantly jabbering about how fun things will be, how could I possibly say no?

  "Are you serious?" Zeke waves a hand in front of my face, forcing me to realize I was once again zoning out.

  "Sorry," I sigh quickly looking around to make sure I am not the center of attention once more.

  Surprisingly we are the only ones left in class. All except Mr. Emmett that is, who is now glaring at me from behind his desk.

  "The bell rang space cadet." Zeke laughs as he stands, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

  "Right!" I quickly stand, almost tripping over a desk leg in my rush. "Totally knew that. Was just waiting for you!"

  I stick my tongue out at him and bolt towards the door before he can reply.  

  "See ya tomorrow Mr. Emmett!" I call over my shoulder as I flee from the room.

  "Reza!" Leo waves, getting my attention from down the hall.

   I glance over my shoulder to make sure that Zeke is close behind and push my way threw the crowd.

  "I still can't get over that shirt!" I laugh out as soon as I'm within normal talking distance.

  "What?" He laughs and looks down at his shirt, black with crazy colorful designs all over it that looks to be just a bit to small for comfort. "Its Throwback Thursdays! I loved these crazy shirts as a kid."

  "I think I'm about to have a seizure just looking at all those random patterns." I tease.

  "Ignore her, I think its great!" Zeke jumps in.

  "Says the person who dressed up like a boy scout" I laugh.

  "Your just not cool enough to understand our awesomeness!" Zeke puffs out his chest and Leo nods in agreement.

  "Staying late today to finish any last minute decorations?" I change the subject.

  "Naw. It's all set, at least for the rally tomorrow. I will come in Saturday morning to help set up for the dance though!" Leo beams.

  "You are far more committed than I" I laugh.

  "Obviously! You still wouldn't dress up for today!" Leo shakes his head at me in disappointment.

  "You're lucky we are getting her to wear blue and white tomorrow, I wouldn't push it." Zeke shrugs.

  "Well of course she is!" Elena calls as she makes her way to us.

  "Ok guys, lets calm down here!" I put my hands out in front of me as if they are going to get out of control. "I said I would look to see if there was anything in the school store I liked. I didn't promise anything!"

  "Well lets go!" Zeke hooks his arm in mine and leads me in the direction of the cafeteria, and in turn the little store that holds anything and everything that could work to show school pride.

  "Where is Stefan?" Leo asks as we walks, looking around as if he is about to pop out of nowhere.

  "Family called, has some stuff he has to take care of." Elena shrugs, sliding me with a look to say we will talk more later.

------------------Damon's POV--------------------

  "When was this decided?" I below as my rage overwhelms me.

  "Well what do you expect Damon" Stefan shakes his head as if this is just obvious. He leans back against my car, impatient for us to get going. "We have been here longer than any other place."

  "And who's fault is that!" I snap as I begin to pace, glancing back at the school where I know Nereza to be.

  "I thought you would be happy about this." He sighs.

  I clench my jaw, for once not having an instant reply. Since we arrived that's all I have been talking about is getting out of here, but now....

  "There is something here!" I command, as if my words could somehow make this true. There is something here, I can feel it. This draw pulling me in.

  "Really?" He challenges. Crossing his arms over his chest and shifts to make himself more comfortable.

  "Can't you feel it?" I stop my pacing and stare at him. "Can't you smell it?"

  I feel like I am going crazy here. No matter what I do, where I go, I can't get away from her. Her scent ever haunting me, pulling me to her. I have watched for any signs that they have noticed it, but so far not even a hint. Even now, when I am finally trying to broach the subject all I get met with is his skeptical stare.

  "There is nothing here Damon." He sighs.

  "What about the fact she is able to block us? Don't think I didn't notice you forgot to mention that little detail yesterday!" I return to my pacing as I search my mind for even the slightest hint of something supernatural here, besides us.

  "She probably already had something with Vervain and didn't even realize it" Stefan brushes the thought away " Many of the old trinkets contain it. You remember when everyone was paranoid"

  "Does she seem to be someone who would have old family heirlooms lying around?" I sneer at him "Her dad would have sold anything valuable off years ago." I grumble to myself as anger flares up inside me again.

  "Is Damon Salvatore having emotions?" Stefan smirks as he tries to tease me.

  "Don't change the subject!" I snap, needing him to acknowledge my point.

  "I think you do!" His eyes widen as if he had a sudden realization. "I think you like her."

  "I do not!" I cringe at how childish I sound.

  Clenching my jaw to keep from saying anything further I turn my back on him.

  "Where are you going?" Stefan calls after me.

  "I am not going to indulge you with this wild goose chase any longer! If you want to send someone to check out a place Elena can go." With closed fists I storm towards the school.

  "Damon!" He calls after me but I don't even glance back.

-------------------Nereza's POV-------------------

  "Oh, I like this one!" Leo takes off as soon as we enter the store to go look at sweatshirts.

  "I think the blue one next to it would look better on you." Elena offers and follows him over.

  "Hey," Zeke whispers and hangs back to talk "I asked mom for some extra money, you know, if you need any." He shrugs.

  "Thanks." I mumble, feeling slightly embarrassed that just a few weeks ago I would have needed the help.

  "Dad gave me some though. Once I told him I was planning to go he was practically shoving money at me." I perk up. "Who knew giving up drinking would make it so we actually had extra to spend" I smile trying to make a joke, but still I can't shake the nagging embarrassment.

  "Who would have thought!" Zeke laughs, going along with me.

  "In that case," He run over to a rack full of large gray sweatshirts. "I think you should get this!"

  He pulls up the hood to reveal that it makes you look like you have fins. A hysterical attempt to make the wearer look like a Stingray, our school mascot.

  "Oh yes!" Leo laughs loudly as he runs over to inspect the sweatshirt closer.

  "I think I will pass on that one." I turn my back, denying the idea right out.

  "What about this?" Elena holds up a blue and white jersey shirt for me to look at.

  "Eh." I shrug not to excited about the idea.

  "Yea, I wasn't too sure about it either."

  "How about this?" I ask, pulling out a black tank top with a carton stingray on the front ready to attack.

  "No black!" Zeke yells from somewhere behind me.

  "I'd have to agree with him" Elena laughs. "But I think these would be really cute!" She holds out a pair of white bows with little plastic stingrays in the center of them.

  "Yea, I guess so" I look at them skeptically before hesitantly taking them from her.

  "Oh and then we can get these!" She excitedly grabs two pairs of knee high socks, one blue and the other white, each with our school name on them. "We can split them, that way we will both be rocking the white and blue!"

  "You really do get into this huh?" I laugh as I accept the socks from her.

  "I guess so." She shrugs as she continues to look through the accessories. "I used to at least. Before all this I actually used to even be a cheerleader, believe it or not"

  "No!" I gasp making her laugh at me.

  "Yea, crazy right! It's kinda nice to put everything to the side and just enjoy being normal again. Guess I might be getting a little caught up into it."

  "Well, one of us has to know what we are doing" I tease making her laugh at me again.

  "If you wear your black shorts then all we have to do is find you a shirt!" she starts digging through a pile of white t-shirts making me cringe away from them.

  "Have to show that school pride."

  A bored voice startles me from behind. My heart skips a beat and my body freezes. How does he always catch me by surprise?

  "Damon shouldn't you be with Stefan?" Elena scolds him, momentarily forgetting about shopping.

  Slowly I turn around to see him surprisingly close, only inches away.

  "He sent me to get you." He mumbles

  "Is everything ok?" A hint of panic enters her voice as she steps closer to us.

  "Peachy. Apparently they found a suspicious body a few hours from here in some place called La Paz. " He waves his hand like this is nothing worth discussing.

  "How is that perfectly ok?" I whisper harshly, glancing around to make sure no one is paying any attention.

  "Well I already looked into it, not one of us." He shrugs.

  "Well then what is it?" Elena pushes.

  "Well that means that we have options. There is also a Salem a couple hours in the opposite direction." He absentmindedly looks around the store, not seeming to find anything of interest.

  "Options?" I ask, my stomach dropping with the feeling I am missing something.

  "I didn't want to ruin your weekend with this," Elena glares at Damon, but he doesn't take any notice. "But we are starting to look into where else we might have to look."

  "You're leaving?" I shoot the words out in a panic.

  "We don't want to" she steps closer, putting her hand on my arm to try to comfort me. "But we can't seem to find anything here."

  "Things to do, a world to save" Damon chirps in, earning himself another glare from Elena.

  "Well how do you know what you're looking for isn't here? Maybe I can help!" My mind is racing trying to think of some way to get them to stay.

  "We have gone through all the records and  searched the entire town looking for anything that could suggest foul play." Elena shrugs.

  "But," I glance up to Damon who is refusing to look at me.

  "Reza, please don't let this ruin your weekend" She softly rubs my arm as she tries to calm me. "Nothing has been decided yet. We are just starting to look at the option."

  I bite my lip, trying to suppress the tears that spring to my eyes. Its too soon! We just got everything settled! They can't be leaving yet!

  "Oh yea, can't have you losing any of your pep for the game tomorrow" Damon gibes.

  "Well why those places?" I ask in an attempt to understand what is driving them.

  "Not now" Elena sighs "If you insist on knowing more I promise I will fill you in later ok?"

  "Promise?"

  "Of course" She forces a small smile.

  "I'd make her pinky promise" Damon leans in closer pretending to whisper, "you never know with these people"

  I am unsure if he is trying to make a jab at Elena, or just trying to make a joke. Either way I chose to believe he is just trying to tease and allow myself a little giggle.

  "Enough of this!" Elena perks up, reverting her attention back to the clothes in front of us. "What about this?" She picks up one of the white shirts and holds it out to me.

  "Ummmm" I eye the shirt like its poison.

  "Really?" Damon chirps in looking at it just as skeptically.

  "What its cute!" she defends the shirt, holding it to herself like we hurt its feelings.

  "I think it would look great on you." I offer, hoping to turn attention to herself.

  "Hm, maybe I will get it." She looks down at it more thoughtful now.

  "Here" Damon reaches up and pulls down a shirt that was hanging out of my reach. "I think this is more you."

  He hands over a black and blue tie-dyed long sleeve shirt, which of course has a fierce carton stingray on the chest.

  "I mean, if you insist on participating that is" he adds almost shyly and shrugs.

"I said no black!" Zeke suddenly pops up beside me.

  I yelp in surprise, as if I just got caught doing something wrong, and spin to face him with a glare. Elena and Leo laugh beside us, Damon returns to his bored glancing around the store.

  "Its got blue on it?" I smile sheepishly, but he only raises an eyebrow at me.

"Oh come on Zekey," A mocking whine interrupts us.

  I cringe as I turn to see Jenna, her long blond hair curled into tight ringlets the way she used to style it in middle school. She would look surprisingly innocent, if it weren't for that cruel smile. She is all dolled up in her baby pink leotard and tutu, looking just as she had when she won the talent show with her ballet.

  The twins follow close behind her wearing a matching set of jumpers, the way their parents used to dress them back in grade school.

"You have to loosen up." She stops a few feet from us, leveling me with a twisted smile. "You know she can't pull anything else off"

"Well that's to say she can even pull off black" Jill sneers and Jackie laughs.

  I tense and look at the door wishfully, could I just walk out? No, I suppose that would just make them follow, their insults shooting at me like darts. Elena steps beside me, as if to tell me I am not alone. I appreciate the sentiment, but honestly I hope she just stays silent as well.

"Oh, are you actually going to come to the game?" Jenna pretends to get excited. "I guess, if you bring all your daddy's beer cans to the market you might be able to get enough change for the ticket!"

"You're right, he does drink enough" Jackie chirps in as if the insult wasn't made clear enough.

"He has quit drinking, for your information!" Zeke announces, stepping in front of me protectively.

  I cringe, I know he means well but really that's not helping. They just burst out laughing.

  "Right" Jenna says unconvinced. "Can I take your word as a boy scout?" She spits her words out at him as she looks up and down at his outfit.

  "Why don't you tippy toe on out of here" He shoots back at her, making fun of her ballerina outfit, and shooing her with his hands.

  "Pah-lease" Jenna emphasizes her words as she puts her hands on her hips. "Why don't you scamper on home and do whatever you nerds do."

  "Preparing to rule the world" Zeke smirks, making her rolls her eyes at us.

  As she does Damon catches her attention. Standing up straighter she completely forgets about us as she takes a step towards him.

  "Oh hey" She purrs, "What are you doing with these guys?"

  "Oh you know, a little bit of this a little of that" He shrugs casually.

  My stomach lurches as I watch her move even closer, putting her hand to his chest pretending to be admiring his leather jacket.

"You know, I love this look," She suddenly pouts slightly, pushing her bottom lip out in attempt to look seductive "But its not very telling, I was hoping to see how little Damon dressed." she runs her hand down his chest, stopping at the bottom of his jacket

"You're looking at him. Have had the same style for more than a decade" He nonchalantly responds.

  Zeke suddenly bursts out laughing as he realizes that Damon is possibly telling the truth. I slide him with a glare, trying to get him to shut up. Obviously everyone is supposed to think he was joking, but it wasn't that funny! Jenna also glares at him, not appreciating the interruption.

  "And what about you?" She narrows her eyes at me, stepping away from Damon now that her attention was drawn back to us. "It's so hard to tell when you're trying to dress up from." She looks me up and down, tilting her head considering me. "You know, considering you've been wearing the same rags since we were kids." I tense and fold my arms over my chest like a shield.

  "Why mess with what works," Damon surprises everyone by responding.

  Without hesitation he slips his arm around my waist, as if it's the most natural thing for us.

  "Right doll?" He smirks down at me, I just stare up at him with wide eyes.

  How am I supposed to respond to this? My heart feels like it's going to leap out of my chest! My body is on high alert, tingling where his arm rests against me. Involuntarily I feel myself lean into him, a blush creeping over my cheeks. I bite my lip and try to smile, but I feel shaky all over. Giving a little nod he smiles approvingly at me.

"Have everything we need?" He asks me, giving me all his attention.

  My throat is dry and I don't dare try to speak, instead I just nod again.

  "Good, lets get out of here. It's suddenly feeling a bit overcrowded." He leads me past Jenna and the twins, never even sparing them a glance.

   I however, couldn't help but enjoy their look of shock.

  "Oh my God! Please tell me you saw their faces?" Zeke jumps excitedly in front of us once we step outside of the school.

  Damon stayed by my side the entire time I was checking out, and even now his arm is still holding me close beside him. For how strong he is, his touch is surprisingly gentle. My mind lingers on this, and refuses to cooperate in making in other coherent thoughts. I manage to laugh however, feeling giddy as I do.

  "That was brilliant" Leo laughs along with me.

  "Seriously! I've never seen Jenna look jealous of anyone before!" Zeke bellows, my blush only deepening as his words sink in.

  "It's true," Even Elena is laughing as we continue to walk away from the school. "They stared at you guys the entire time we were leaving" She eyes Damon thoughtfully.

  I become acutely aware of the fact that even though we are completely out of Jenna's sight, Damon's arm remains around my waist. It's not until we make it into the parking lot does he slowly release me, his hand trailing across my lower back as he does. I feel suddenly bare, lonely almost, as I take a hesitant step away from him. I shake my head, attempting to shake away this feeling, but it stubbornly lingers. I don't dare glance at Damon, but I can feel his gaze on me.

  "Do you guys need a ride home?" Elena asks and I'm surprised to not hear any argument from Damon.

  "Naw, I am good. I'm to hyper to just go home." Zeke continues to practically bounce next to me.

  "When aren't you hyper?" I tease, earning myself a playful push from him.

  "Come on, tell me walking home doesn't sound great on a wonderful day like this?"

  "OK, I guess" I shrug, but a smile tugs at my lips.

  I have to agree that it is a pretty wonderful day. The sun is out and shining, the wind is being kept at bay. Today might be one of the last nice days before winter rolls in, so maybe we should enjoy it.

  "Walking sounds good" Leo chirps in, shrugging like he doesn't really care one way or the other.

  "OK then." I nod like its settled. "Well here" I dig in my bag and pull out one of the socks from the pair I bought.

  "Oh yes, good thinking! I almost forgot." Elena grabs the offered sock and grabs me one from her set.

  "What are you guys doing?" Leo watches us confused.

  "Making it so we each have a white and blue one" I shrug.

  "Duh" Elena laughs like its obvious.

  "You guys are all so weird" Leo shakes his head and just laughs.

  "Hey, none of that!" I teasingly poke him in the chest. "You started all this school spirit business, so your going to deal with the consequences."

"Yea!" Zeke cheers beside me, making everyone laugh.