【 ➳ ∞ ↞ 】
These past few days have been nothing but hell for poor little Avery. After her day off, she was put to work like an Amish horse. She had gone to school the day after her day off, taken Jeremy to see Vickie at the hospital while not even knowing he had seen her early in the morning, and went to work. She had been given grueling assignments to finish at the end of the day, but she could not finish those assignments because work did not let her off until 1 a.m.
The very next day, she was called to speak to each of her professors, scolded for not finishing the assignments given, and given even more work than they expected to be done by the end of the day. Once more, she was put to work and not let out until midnight, all because of the festival happening in town.
This gave her a headache as it was already the very next day, and the assignments were locked. She knew her professors would kill her or give her even more work, and they did.
Once she entered her classes for the day, her professors gave her these icy glares that meant she was in trouble. Avery sighed and went to her seat to take notes of each lecture. After each class, she was held back for another scolding and extra work to finish.
By the end of the last class, Avery was mentally drained and cursing out her professors under her breath. She entered her car, only to bash her head into the steering wheel several times.
"If these professors major in psychology, why are they such assholes?!" Avery shouted to herself.
Avery snapped to see a couple staring at her outside the car. "What the fuck are you staring at?!"
Avery yelled, lowering her head to start her car, swerve out of the parking lot, and head off straight to work. "GOD! I hate that school! I hate this job! I hate this town! I HATE ME! Fucking SHIT!"
Avery spent her time getting to work, ranting to herself about how shitty everything was and how much she hated it. Getting to work, she immediately had to get to work, almost not having any chance to change and get her things put up. When she arrived, she was given a table and needed to take care of them immediately.
For the time before the high school kids came in, Avery dealt with quite a few NICE customers. She was given excellent tips, and everyone was super friendly to her.
Once the teenagers started to come in, their obnoxious parents came with them. She had to deal with teens trying to convince her to give them alcohol and their parents joining in. As a manager, she was obliged NOT to give anyone that young any alcoholic drinks and had to explain the rules of the Mystic Grill establishment to both the teenagers and their parents.
Avery noticed that her sister and the girls didn't show up and checked her phone for any indication of why they were not at their usual spot. She only noticed a text from Elena saying that she had cheerleading practice and wouldn't see Avery until she got home. That is if she got to go home for the night.
"I forgot that some teenagers do sports." Avery hummed to herself, putting away her phone to get back to work.
She noticed that Vickie was finally returning to work, but the other manager for the night seemed to be giving her not too much of a big load and giving that load to other employees. Avery took a note of that mentally to mention to the big boss before her shift would end. She felt terrible for the ones who got the extra loads but was glad that nothing was put on her after taking up a lot of Vickie's work while she was gone.
After a while, Avery saw Matt and Tyler walk in, looking sweaty and gross. Avery decided to tease the two as she approached them while she had enough time to.
"Hey, I've been getting complaints about a rank smell. You wouldn't seem to know where it is, right? Customers are saying it smells like two smelly jocks that just got back from football practice." Avery smirked, sliding in to sit with the two boys.
"Shut up, we don't smell that bad." Tyler scoffed, lightly shoving the oldest Gilbert.
Avery chuckled and leaned her elbows on the table. "I'm kidding. You guys do smell, though. Anyways, how was practice? Was it grueling? Did Tanner give you smelly kids a tough time?"
"You wouldn't believe it. He put the new kid, Stefan, in to join the practice, and in the end, Stefan was accepted into the team!" Tyler complained while Matt just nodded along.
"Well, was he good?" Avery inquired.
"Oh, yeah. He got Tyler to land on his ass a LOT." Matt smirked.
"Hah! That's why you're pissy." Avery laughed.
"I'm not pissy about it! I think we shouldn't be allowing newbies in halfway through the season. Even if they're good." Tyler scoffed.
"Well, I'll be honest, Tyler. The team sucks. I don't know if Tanner doesn't understand how to coach or if the team isn't...teamly." Avery shrugged.
"The team is fine! We're like a family! It's Tanner who doesn't know what he's doing!" Tyler scoffed.
"Really? You gave Sam a wedgy the other day." Matt pointed out.
"Oooooooo. You just got called out, Tyler boy. It seems the football team has a bully in their midst." Avery smirked.
"I'm not a bully! Am I?" Tyler scoffed.
"Yes. Yes, you are, Tyler." Matt sighed.
"Well then.... You just got called out a second time. And I have to get back to work—also, Matt. Please ask your sister to stop asking the other manager to give her less work. My employees are being worked like dogs. Thank you!" Avery gave her goodbyes to the boys before returning to her work.
【 ➳ ∞ ↞ 】
When it hit 9 o'clock, Avery was finally let off because another manager stepped in to help them. The big boss lets Avery off after seeing how much she has worked to make up for her time off. He gave her the time off for telling him about the other manager giving Vickie that time off when he wasn't supposed to. She left just before Jeremy and Tyler had their fight, so she wasn't there to scold her little brother.
When Avery got home, she found Elena having a dinner party with Bonnie, Stefan, Caroline, and some random dude.
"Avery. You're home early. Did you get let off work for once?" Elena questioned, standing up.
"Yeah. What's going on here? And who's the random guy?" Avery pointed at the dude, giving her a creepy look.
"I'm Damon. Stefan's older brother. You must be the famous older sibling everyone tells me so much about." Damon smiled, standing up when Caroline got up to hug Avery.
"Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you. Is that your car outside? It looks familiar. What model is it?"
"Oh, yes. That is my beautiful 1969 Chevy Camaro convertible. Isn't she a beauty?"
"Yeah. I swear I've seen the car around before, though. How long have you been in town?"
"A couple of days. You must've seen me driving around before."
"Ahhhh, then you must be the asshole that almost hit me a couple days ago. Thanks a lot. I was almost late for work." Avery gave him a fake smile before bypassing him to see the others.
"What's with the dinner party?"
"I wanted to give Bonnie a chance to get to know Stefan more. Would you like to join?" Elena smiled.
"That would be great, but I have some homework to do before I get killed by my professors the next time they see me. Maybe I'll come down to get myself a bite later. Have fun, you youngsters." Avery smiled before heading upstairs.
"She's peachy, isn't she? She must be a doll to live with." Damon chuckled from downstairs.
"She just works hard, that's all. She doesn't mean to be rude." Caroline defended.
Avery furrowed her brows in either frustration or confusion about how Damon acted. She shrugged and entered her messy room to begin her schoolwork. It took her the entire night to finish everything on time, and by the time she was done, everyone was gone or asleep for the night. Avery sighed as she closed everything and went downstairs to pour herself some water. She wasn't expecting Elena to be awake and staring at nothing.
"Holy shit. You scared me. What the hell are you doing up? Don't you have school tomorrow?" Avery gasped, going for their cups.
"Oh, sorry. Had a bad dream. Did you finish your homework?" Elena mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she set down her cup of water.
"Yeah. Did you guys have fun? Also, when would I be told that you now have a boyfriend? I thought you and Matt broke up because you needed time alone." Avery hummed, pouring herself some water.
"Yeah... I wasn't expecting to fall in love, you know? I think maybe I just needed a change for once. And yes, we did."
"Change, as in something to forget your past from when Mom and Dad were still here?"
"I-I guess so, yeah..."
"Mmmm... Yeah. It sounds like you're trying to forget that guilt. Also, what's with Stefan's older brother? He's creepy."
"I don't have any guilt. And I think Damon is just a little messed up in the head. He did explain tonight that he and Stefan have seen everyone they love die."
"Damn, just like you? You know, why did you go to that party? Just argue with Matt?"
"I- I'm not getting into this Avery. I'm sorry that what happened to Mom and Dad happened, and I'm sorry I snuck out, but it wasn't my fault."
"Ah, yeah. So, who or what are you going to blame? Hm? All I remember is that you snuck out to a party, fought with Matt, and called Mom and Dad to pick you up because you were upset. Bringing them to drive you home, over Wickery Bridge might I add, and crashing into the lake."
"Avery..."
"Sorry, sorry... I'm just frustrated with all the work I have to do. I'm going to get some sleep. Goodnight."
Avery left her little sister all alone after that, not caring if she didn't get any sleep or if what she had said could've hurt Elena. Avery believed that what she needed to say was deserved, and she wouldn't take it back. She was done with keeping the blame a secret and tired of all the work she had to do.
【 ➳ ∞ ↞ 】
The next day, Avery woke up to her alarm and got ready. She did it quickly and efficiently to head downstairs for coffee just before her siblings woke up. Once she had her coffee and a banana to eat for the morning, she grabbed her bags and keys and headed to the door. She missed Elena, who called for Avery, but the older Gilbert ignored her and headed to her car.
Once Avery was in school, she got a nod from her professors and felt relief wash over her, happy she wouldn't be scolded again. She went through her classes quickly and efficiently, just like she did when getting ready. The drive to her work felt refreshing and went without a hitch.
For the rest of the day, Avery worked like a dog in heat with the massive rush right before the game for the night. Avery knew that while there would be a game that night, they would have another rush later, so Avery had warned everyone to prepare themselves. They were also short-staffed that day, seeing how some workers would be at the game.
During the rush, work was fast, but once it was over and everyone was going to the game, it started to get slow. Because of how slow it was, Avery moved to check for any updates from her siblings or Aunt Jenna. Jenna texted her, saying the game was fixing to start, and she got a text from Elena saying that Jeremy got in a fight with Tyler Lockwood.
"Really, Jer?" Avery sighed, disappointed in her little brother.
Avery shook her head before putting away her phone and checking on her tables. She found that the grill was almost empty, and she had no tables anymore.
"Holy shit, that's surprising for once. Everyone must be excited about the game." Avery chuckled, sitting at the bar with her coworkers.
"Yeah, it's shocking not to have that many customers." Emily laughed. She was the bartender for the night.
Avery laughed and joined in on the conversation that everyone was having about their bets on the game. The entire discussion was about how the Timber Wolves would lose to another team again. They weren't expecting the shocking revelation that the game was canceled. Avery furrowed her brows as her coworkers checked their phones to see the news, and then Avery got a call from Aunt Jenna.
"Excuse me, I gotta take this," Avery mumbled, stepping away from everyone to answer the call. "Hello?"
"Oh, thank god, Avery. There's been another attack, and this time, they died. I-I can't find Elena or Jeremy anywhere. I need an extra hand here."
"Okay, okay. I'll be there in just a second." Avery hung up and ran to her coworkers.
"Hey guys, my Aunt just called. Someone was found dead at the game, and she needed help finding my siblings. I have to go. Can you guys handle the grill until I get back?"
"Yeah, yeah. Go, go." Steve, the other manager, waved her off.
Avery thanked them and ran to get her things before leaving the grill to her car. She spun her car out of the parking spot and sped to the game where her Aunt was expecting her. She wasn't expecting what would happen next.
In another car, a couple was arguing, cursing each other for some petty mistake about money. The girl spent too much on her last spree at the mall, and her fiance scolded her.
"WATCH OUT!" The girl screamed as she saw something run across the road.
The guy swerved out of the way, running straight into Avery's car. The impact sent Avery's car to swerve, hit the curb, roll in the air, and hit a tree.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! We just hit someone!" The girl panicked.
"Calm down, Amy. Call the police, and I'll go check on them." Amy's fiance reassured her, stepping out of the car.
"Okay, okay..." Amy nodded, grabbing her phone and calling the police while her fiance jogged to Avery's car.
"Hey! Is anyone in there? Are you okay? I am so sorry; something ran across the road and- Hello?" The guy peeked through the window and stepped back in shock.
"Oh my god!"
Inside, Avery's head was to the side, with blood leaking out of her mouth. She had a branch sticking through her window from the tree, stuck in her throat. She looked dead. The guy heard a weak cough come from Avery and looked back in to see Avery coughing up blood weakly.
"Holy shit! You're alive! I- we got an ambulance coming; hang in there!" The guy stressed, not knowing what to do.
Not too long after, an ambulance, police, and some firemen were at the scene. They worked diligently to get Avery safely out of the car and into the ambulance. They had to keep the branch in her, or she would bleed out, and it wouldn't be removed until surgery.
【 ➳ ∞ ↞ 】
Jenna came running into the hospital, alone as Jeremy and Elena were kept at the house. They didn't know their older sister had gotten into an accident.
"Sheriff? Oh my god! Please tell me she's okay." Jenna sobbed, running into Liz Forbes, the sheriff of Mystic Falls.
"Jenna, calm down. They have her in surgery right now." Liz comforted the stressed woman.
"I- I never should've asked her to come and help me. Oh my god, I killed her, didn't I?"
"No, no. Jenna, she will be okay. Have some faith in her doctors."
"Okay...Okay." Jenna nodded and went to sit down, hugging herself in anticipation.
After a whole hour of surgery, Avery's surgeon came to meet with her Aunt and the sheriff. Everything was silent as Jenna stared at all the blood on the surgeon's hands, letting out a screaming sob as all she got was a shake of the head.
Avery Gilbert, the oldest daughter of Miranda and Grayson Gilbert, older sister to Elena and Jeremy Gilbert....was dead.
【 ➳ ∞ ↞ 】
Oh my god! This was so stressful for me to write down! I am so sorry if this scene seems rushed. I will be editing it to perfect it later on. But Avery is dead! And don't worry, as you know, this is not her end. If you have any questions, please do ask; I will answer to the best of my abilities without spoiling the story! Happy reading!~