Aurora sat in Tanner's class the next day listening to him dread on and on about the subject of the day.
"World war II ended in... anyone got anything?"
The class was silent as Aurora looked out the window watching a crow fly and take a seat on a branch near by, it tilted its head at Aurora causing her to furrow her eyebrows confused.
"Miss Sommers, maybe you can enlighten us."
This caught Auroras attention causing her eyes to dart to the teacher, "I'm sorry?"
"When did world war II end?" Tanner deeply sighed becoming slightly irritated causing Aurora to swallow and sit up straighter.
"oh, 1945. Sir." Aurora responded
"very good." Tanner complimented causing Aurora to raise an eyebrow suspicious on why he was being so nice all of a sudden but she shrugged it off.
"How about Pearl Harbor." Tanner wondered glancing around the classroom to see Elena and Stefan exchanging glances.
"Miss Gilbert?" Tanner called out gaining Elena's attention, "hmmm?"
"Pearl Harbor?"
"Um.." Elena trailed off
"December 7th, 1941." Stefan replied
"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." Tanner rolled his eyes causing people to chuckle
"Anytime." Stefan smirked
"Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall." Tanner challenged.
"1989." Stefan replied and based off of Tanner's suspicious expression he added on, "I'm good with dates, sir."
"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act." Tanner ordered
"1964."
"John F. Kennedy assassination."
"1963."
"Martin Luther King."
"'68"
"Lincoln"
"1865"
"Roe vs. Wade."
"1973"
"Brown vs Board."
"1954."
"The battle of Gettysburg."
"1863"
"Korean war."
"1950 to 1953."
"Ha! it ended in '52."
"Uh, actually, sir. it was '53." Aurora nodded in agreement
"Look it up, somebody. Quickly." Tanner ordered causing students to pull out their phones.
"It was 19....53." a student replied causing Tanner to become defeated resulting in Aurora to glance over at Stefan as he sent her an impressed exchange causing her to give him a tight smile before turning back to the lesson.
Heading outside, Aurora noticed Bonnie and Elena over at cheer practice which she was going to. However, something caught her eye. Stefan sat on the bleachers, watching the football team practice. This caused her to sigh before heading over to him and sitting down next to him on the cold bleachers.
"You know, if you like football enough to drool over it then maybe you should just try out."
Stefan chuckled lightly, "how do you even know if I'm any good?"
"I heard about that throw against Tyler and Matt. It sounded impressive."
"Much like your historic knowledge. How do you know so much about the past?"
"I'm assuming the same way you do. Lots and lots of alone time, puzzles and -"
"-reading." they said together causing them to look at each other understandingly.
"It keeps my mind off of things. Let's me be able to do the things I need to do." Aurora admitted Stefan nodded understandingly.
"Well, I know this might sound a bit strange since we don't really know each other but at my house there's a huge library that you're always welcome to use if you ever need that escape."
Aurora furrowed her eyebrows as if she was debating it and nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."
"or the alternative option if you don't feel comfortable with that, name a book you've always wanted to read and I'll bring it to you."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Aurora wondered
"Why are you so surprised that someone is being nice to you?"
Aurora fell silent at this glancing over to her friends who were glancing around probably looking for her. Seconds after she locked eyes with Bonnie who almost seemed to be ushering her over causing her to stand up resulting in Stefan to straighten.
"Gone with the wind." Aurora stated glancing at Stefan who looked surprised.
"That's the book I want to read one day. I don't know why, but I have always held a special interest ever since I heard one of my English teachers in the past say it and since then I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy." she paused "I'm really sorry, but I have to go to cheerleading. You know, let's go Timberwolves." She cheered sarcastically causing Stefan to chuckle lightly as the girl walked off towards the cheerleading squad.
"gone with the wind." Stefan repeated making a mental note. It seemed so familiar to him, like he had saw it before somewhere but he couldn't put his finger on it. Puzzled, the boy eventually shook it off focusing his attention back on the team playing in front of him.
"Took you long enough." Bonnie teased
"Sorry, just making new friends."
"See Bonnie! If Aurora can make friends with Stefan than you can at least try." Elena begged causing Bonnie to sigh and Aurora to furrow her eyebrows, "what is she going on about?"
"We're having a dinner tonight." Elena informed the girl
"We are?"
"Yeah, between me, you, Bonnie and Stefan."
"I don't really have a choice do I?" Aurora wondered causing Elena to shake her head causing the girl to sigh.
"Fine. I'll go." Aurora agreed with a nod causing Elena to smile satisfied when a car pulled up.
The girls looked over curiously to see Damon Salvatore driving it and Caroline in the passenger seat. The blonde leans over and kisses him causing Aurora's eyebrows to raise surprised.
"Uh...." Elena muttered just as shocked.
"Oh, my god. That must be the mystery guy from the grill." Bonnie concluded
"That's not a mystery guy." Elena sighed
"That's Damon Salvatore." Aurora finished glancing back over to Damon who looked over at the girl as Caroline got out of the car and smirked at the strawberry blonde who only rolled her eyes in response looking back at her friends ignoring Elena confused glances between the two.
"Salvatore, as in Stefan?!?" Bonnie asked surprised
"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline smirked approaching her friends throwing a wink their way before walking towards the squad "Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say?"
The group of girls gathered together to begin their routine. Aurora had on the occasion continued to show up to practice after Miranda and Grayson passed away while Elena on the other hand did not so she was a bit off course with the cheerleading routine so as Caroline called out steps and performed them for the group to copy Aurora looked over next to her to see the brunette struggling to keep up. Sending her an encouraging look, Aurora muttered over "You've got this, look over at me if you need any help."
Elena nodded thankfully as they continued to repeat Caroline's steps until the blonde abruptly spoke, "Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Ok?"
Elena slightly off guard, nodded and stepped back to observe causing Aurora to frown glancing over at Caroline confused. She was never this abrupt with her friends, sure Caroline could be a bit much at times she truly was a sweetheart once you got to know her and Aurora knew this. So she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right with her. Caroline noticed the girl's glance of disapproval and spoke once again knowingly, "Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8."
~~
Unknowingly to Aurora, Stefan went home later that day with her on his mind. But it wasn't in the same way that he thought about Elena, but instead it felt like he had a need to impress her tonight at dinner so that they could hopefully be friends. Her light and up beat energy and need to help people reminded him so much of Lexi and right now with the Damon drama he had to deal with he needed that in his life.
So, he headed to the Salvatore's library to find the book that Aurora wanted and grab it, along with another one that he thought she would like. Pride and Prejudice.
In seconds he found the Jane Austen book but frowned confused when he couldn't find the one she wanted. Heading back to his room slightly defeated he saw Damon sitting there reading his diary.
"How were tryouts? Did you make the team? Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many...adjectives."
Stefan rips the diary out of his brothers hands in retaliation, "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and...I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us." Damon tried his hardest to keep a straight face but in the end couldn't do it.
"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon."
"Of course it doesn't."
Damon glanced at the book in Stefan's hands and furrowed his eyebrows, "I never took you as a Jane Austen fan brother."
Stefan looked at him confused before remember the book in his hands he quickly set it down on his nightstand "It's not for me. It's for a ... friend. She actually wanted Gone With the Wind... but it doesn't matter."
"hmm." he paused with a slight knowing smirk before continuing "I saw Elena today, BTW. That means "by the way." She was at cheerleading practice with that hot cousin of hers. What was her name? Aurora? She looked so perky in her little short shorts. Just...simmer down, I didn't go near neither of them. I've got my own cheerleader now. Ooh, that reminds me...I got to run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck."
Stefan sighed slightly frustrated as Damon left, he glanced down at the books on his nightstand and shrugged deciding to stick to this book until he comes across the one Aurora wanted as he was cutting closer to the time for dinner unaware that Damon then headed off to his bedroom to get ready for his date, when he looked at his bedside table to see Gone with the Wind sitting on top of it. Feeling the need to grab it, he did and tucked it into his back pocket before heading out for the night.
~~
Aurora stood in front of her mirror in a dark green long sleeve top with a leather jacket over it with dark pants and boots. She had her hair nicely done in a down haired style and her makeup done as well when her cousin shouted her name.
"Rory! Bonnie's here!"
"Be down in a second!" Aurora replied she applied the last few things to her look which were just some rings that she usually wore.
"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial breaks come on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie elaborated on her experience.
"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena tried to come up with an excuse.
"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" Bonnie continued
"Maybe we should play the lottery. Have you talked to your Grams?" Elena wondered
"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"
"I don't want to be a witch." Elena shook her head as she poured the to - go food into a bowl as Aurora walked downstairs.
"Putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Aurora hummed as she spotted the girl's action causing Elena to shake her head with a smile noticing her friends appearance.
"Ok. Serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena muttered as she glanced around the kitchen while Aurora poured herself some water.
"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie spoke together causing the three friends to look at each surprised
"Ok, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times." Elena reminded hopefully
"Yeah, I'm sure that's it." Aurora muttered uncertain as she took a sip of her drink causing the two girls to glance at her uncertainty themselves as the doorbell rang causing Elena to jump slightly before clearing her throat and glanced away from her friends with a smile.
"Ok. He's here. Aurora can you get that while I finish setting the table please?"
"Sure." Aurora nodded before heading over and opening the door to see Stefan standing there.
"Aurora, hi." Stefan greeted
"Hey. Elena's just finishing setting things up would you like to come in while we wait?"
"Sure, thank you." Stefan responded stepping into the house.
"Oh, also. Before I forget, I couldn't find the gone with the wind yet but I know its around somewhere, but until I find it I grabbed another one I think you'll like."
Stefan passed the girl the book.
"Pride and Prejudice. I've heard about this one, it's supposed to be good. Thanks Stefan, I appreciate it."
"Of course." Stefan smiled as Elena entered the room.
"Stefan hey come on in." she greeted with a smile.
"thanks." Stefan smiled as they shared a quick kiss before entering the room. Aurora set the book on a nearby table before heading over to the table to begin the meal.
"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan as they began to eat their food.
"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan concluded
"Bonnie, Aurora, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and..." Elena began to rant but was cut off by Bonnie.
"Yeah I heard." she stated quickly causing Aurora to stifle a chuckle at how awkward this interaction was as she pushed her food around on her plate.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena told Bonnie desperate to strike some kind of conversation or connection between her new boyfriend and her friends.
"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie stated awkwardly.
"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." Elena elaborated
"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie muttered
"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan admitted.
"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie commented
"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan repeated
"Yeah." Bonnie agreed
"I would say that's pretty cool."
"Really? Why?"
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan told Bonnie causing her to let out a small smile, "Yeah they are."
Quietness enveloped the group as Aurora took a sip of her water wishing she was anywhere but here. The silence was interrupted, by a doorbell to ring again.
"I wonder who that could be." Elena spoke before getting up and heading over to open the door as Aurora began to put the dishes in the sink to wash later. When Aurora headed back to where the group was she saw two additional people - Damon and Caroline.
"Oh, hi." Aurora greeted surprised.
"Caroline and Damon heard we were having dinner so they brought dessert." Elena explained to her cousin as the group sat in the living room while Caroline beamed at Aurora waving her over causing Damon to move over to make room for her next to him on the couch, reluctantly not wanting to be rude she smiled at him and sat down next to them.
"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it." Caroline complimented Stefan
"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." Damon concluded but something in Aurora's mind told her he never once told him that.
"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." Caroline sighed causing Aurora to frown.
"I'll work with her. She'll get it." Bonnie spoke up reassuring Elena who smiled at her friend thankfully.
"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline hummed
"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon commented
"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity." Caroline elaborated causing Aurora to squint at her friend wondering why everyone was at everyone's throats this evening.
"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon told the girl
"Well that's a morbid conversation topic." Aurora muttered under her breath.
"We don't need to get into that right now. Damon." Stefan told his brother seriously.
"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mmm."
After Damon said this Stefan seemed to tense up a bit which caused Aurora to raise an eyebrow, who was her.
Probably an ex girlfriend, it would make sense but something stirred inside Aurora while a thought floated in the back of her mind over the fact that it was probably a lot more complicated then she had ever experienced.
The rest of the night went as smoothly as it could've so when the group left, Aurora helped Elena finish cleaning up before saying goodnight and heading upstairs with the book Stefan gave her in her hand. She went to put it on her night stand when she noticed a book already sitting there. Furrowing her eyebrows confused, she picked it up. She looked at the book title noticing it immediately as it was Gone with the wind.
Opening the book she saw a note written inside,
'hope you enjoy.'
Smiling softly figuring that Stefan actually ended up finding it out of instinct she began to head to find Elena in the room next to hers sitting on her bed writing in her journal.
"Hey Elena"
Her sister looked up.
"yeah what's up?" the brunette asked
"Since you'll probably see Stefan first, can you make sure to thank him for me."
Furrowing her eyebrows she questioned, "yeah of course. But can I ask what for?"
"He gave me two copies of books that I've been dying to read. I think he's trying to get on my good side." she winked playfully walking over to sit down next to her cousin.
"Well if there's any way to do it its that." Elena chuckled lightly tucking a strand of hair behind her hair and taking the book that Aurora was holding out for her to look at.
"Margaret Mitchell. Does he know the connecting behind this book?" Elena asked immediately recognizing it.
"No." Aurora shook her head sighing "I told him that I always wanted to read it, hint the passage in it."
Elena opened the book and read the passage written on the front page frowning.
"Rory.." she paused looking up at her cousin "this isn't Stefan's hand writing."
"What?" Aurora spoke shocked grabbing the book to look at it once more.
"Than who's is it?"
Elena shrugged at this, "did Stefan say anything when he gave it to you?"
"He didn't. he gave me pride and prejudice because he couldn't find this one. I assumed that he ended up finding it and just left it on my bedside table."
"Hmm, strange. Well you should read it again, see if there's any writings or anything."
Aurora nodded in agreement, "You're right. that's a good idea, I'll definitely do that." Before she began to get up to head to bed
Elena smiled, "Hey Rory."
Aurora stopped again and turned around at the door.
"I'm really glad that you and Stefan are getting along. He means a lot to me."
Aurora smiled at this, "I know. I am too. I'm happy that he makes you happy. Sleep well Lena, I'll see you in the morning."
After the girls said goodnight, Aurora headed back to bed and climbed in opening up the book and began to read. Word after word, her thoughts drifted to her dad.
How she wished she knew him like she knew her mom.
How she wished he never left when she was a child.
How she wished she remembered what he looked like.
And most importantly, how she wished she had more of a connection to him that a random book that she found in the attic and a few weeks ago she ended up losing it.
Eventually the young girl drifted into a deep sleep after her eyes glanced to a picture of her and her mom. Wondering, what tomorrow was going to bring her in this small little town that she called home.