I was in the kitchen, pouring water into my glass when I saw Stefan walking toward me.
"Stefan? What are you doing here, in my house?" I asked him.
He came closer and held my cheek. "You don't need to listen to him."
Aaron: "To whom?"
Suddenly, someone banged on my kitchen window. I startled.
Stefan: "No. Don't listen to him. Don't look at him."
I couldn't control my curiosity, and despite Stefan's warning, I looked at the window to see who was banging. I saw that it was me who was banging.
"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM," my lookalike screamed at me through the window.
"Ughh—" I woke up with a bad headache. That scream was still echoing in my ears.
I closed my eyes for a moment. Some events were unfolding in my memory. I couldn't clearly see them, but I saw Stefan in them, telling me to forget something.
But forget what? What did he tell me to forget?
I squeezed my head. I didn't think I could go to school today.
I heard a knock on my door.
"Come in," I said loudly.
Caroline slowly opened the door. "Hey, why are you not ready yet? Also, you came home suddenly yesterday. Are you okay? Did anything happen?"
I looked at Caroline. I couldn't tell her that I felt bad because of Jeremy and left the party early.
"No, I'm fine," I said to assure her.
Caroline: "Really? So are you going to school today?"
Aaron: "No. I have a bad headache."
Caroline: "Shouldn't you go to a doctor? You've been having headaches lately."
Aaron: "It's okay. Maybe it's just a normal headache."
Caroline: "Okay. Bye."
I waved at her. "Bye."
I lay down on the bed. I looked at the hoodie that was slung over the back of the chair.
Shit. I forgot I have to return the hoodie to Jeremy.
Lately, my grades have been dropping because I'm not paying attention in school or even going regularly. Mom still hasn't noticed anything because she's busy with all the animal attacks.
I closed my eyes and tried to think about my dream.
Why did I say "Don't listen to him" to myself?
Did he mean not to listen to Stefan? Why?
Is Stefan hiding something from me?
Suddenly, my head started to hurt, and a flash of memory came to mind.
I was beating Damon Salvatore—but why?
"Ughh," my head hurts. I should stop thinking about it now.
Elena and Jenna were sitting on the couch.
Jenna: "You're wallowing."
Elena: "So are you."
Jenna: "My wallowing is legitimate. I was dumped."
Elena: "Yeah, well, Logan is a jerk. You didn't get a brush-off email saying, 'I'm leaving, see you.'"
Jeremy, who was studying at the dining table, finally made a sound.
Jeremy: "Wanna keep it down over there?"
Jenna: "Why? What are you doing?"
Jeremy: "Homework."
Elena and Jenna both looked back at Jeremy in shock.
Elena: "Since when do you do homework?"
Jeremy: "I gotta finish this. I'm way behind, and I have a quiz tomorrow. So…"
Elena couldn't believe what she had just heard. She then asked Jenna,
Elena: "What do you think? Alien?"
Jenna: "Some sort of replicate."
Jeremy let out a chuckle. "Screw you guys. I'm going to Aaron's. We'll do group study."
Jenna: "Oh, but it'll be night. Do you want me to pick you up?"
Jeremy: "It's okay. I'll just sleep at Aaron's."
Jeremy then packed his bag and left.
.
.
I had just finished my shower when I heard the doorbell ring. I quickly put my clothes on and went to see who it was.
When I opened the door, I saw Jeremy standing there.
Aaron: "Hi, Jeremy. What a surprise."
Jeremy came inside and made his way to my room.
Jeremy: "I'm sleeping here."
Aaron: "I'm okay with that, but is something wrong? Is everything alright?"
Jeremy: "No. I got bored at my house and needed a new place to study. So I'm here. Let's do group study."
I was shocked to hear that from Jeremy. It's true—we used to do group study and sleep over at each other's houses in the past. But everything changed after his parents died.
Jeremy called from my room, "Aaron!"
I quickly composed myself.
I shouted from downstairs, "Yes, I'm coming."
When I got to my room, I saw Jeremy already sitting at the table studying.
I thought to myself, Is it really Jeremy? I heard from Care that Vicki left town. I thought he'd be sad after she left, but he seemed normal.
Jeremy's voice brought me back to reality. "Hey, come here. Why are you standing like that?"
Aaron: "Yeah."
I slowly got closer to him. Jeremy was completely focused on studying.
I then quickly went to Caroline's room, brought her chair into my room, and sat beside Jeremy.
Jeremy was doing math, and I also started studying after looking at him.
After some time, we finally finished all the homework. Jeremy stretched his arms above his head.
Aaron: "Hey, do you wanna eat something?"
Jeremy: "I'm actually not hungry, so I'll just go to bed."
Aaron: "Okay. Do you need pajamas?"
Jeremy laughed and patted my head.
Jeremy: "I'm glad you're still the same old kiddo, Aaron."
Aaron: "Hey, I'm not a kiddo, and we're the same age."
Jeremy: "And you still wear pajamas."
I looked at myself. All my clothes were handpicked by my mom and sister, and Caroline even got us matching pajamas. I was wearing blue pajamas with stars printed on them.
Aaron: "Look."
Jeremy crossed his arms. "Okay, I'm looking."
Aaron: "No, I mean—"
Jeremy let out a chuckle. "Let's go to bed, kiddo." He patted my head again.
I turned over and saw him lying on my bed. Suddenly, I felt a little angry, remembering how he told me to wait last night and never came back.
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at his face.
Jeremy looked shocked. "What?"
Aaron: "You sleep on the left side today."
Jeremy: "But I always sleep on the right side of the bed. It's my favorite spot."
Aaron: "I don't care."
Jeremy smiled and rolled to the left side of the bed. "Happy?" he asked.
I nodded.
I was having a nightmare. I was running—I didn't know who I was running from. Suddenly, I saw Damon Salvatore in front of me. Then I saw someone who looked like me beating Damon. He was angry, shouting something at damon. I couldn't fully understand what he was saying. Everything was blurry.
I tried to move closer to hear what he was saying. I heard my lookalike say, "I'm gonna tell Mom about this."
About what?
At that moment, Stefan grabbed my hand. "Forget about it."
I woke up breathing heavily. I looked beside me—Jeremy was sleeping peacefully.
I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash water on my face. But when I turned on the sink and looked in the mirror, I saw my reflection telling me,
"Remember."
I woke up. Jeremy was shaking me.
Jeremy: "Aaron, wake up. You're having a nightmare."
As I opened my eyes, I felt intense pain in my head.
I slowly sat up and asked, "What happened?"
Jeremy: "I don't know. You were shaking in your sleep, so I woke you up."
Aaron: "Thanks."
Jeremy:"Everything is okay? You wanna talk about anything?"
Aaron :"No. Everything is fine."
Jeremy and I then left for school. School was as usual, but after school hours, I received a message from Caroline saying there was a party at the Grill.
Why was she hosting a party out of nowhere?
Well, if I didn't go, I might as well say goodbye to my peaceful life.
.
.
I arrived a bit later than everyone else. I saw Caroline still pestering Bonnie to give her the necklace. She said she hated the necklace—then why bother Bonnie again for it?
Then I saw a blonde girl playing pool with Stefan Salvatore. After all the dreams I'd been having about Stefan, I figured it would be better to ignore him.
I tried to bypass everyone and find a quiet spot to sit, but Elena waved at me.
Fuck. I don't want to socialize.
I gave her a light smile, hiding my real feelings.
Elena: "Sit here."
Aaron: "Yeah."
Elena: "So Jeremy spent the night at yours."
Aaron: "Yeah. We did some homework and went to bed."
Elena: "Thanks, Aaron."
Aaron: "For what?"
Elena: "For being there for Jeremy."
Aaron: "That's what friends are for."
Some time passed, and I got up to find Caroline since I hadn't seen her in a while. I finally spotted her eating curly fries at another table.
I went and sat beside her.
Caroline: "Aaron, can I ask you something?"
Aaron: "Sure."
Caroline: "Am I shallow?"
Aaron: "What? No."
Caroline: "You're lying. I'm worse than shallow. I'm a kiddie pool."
She started crying.
I hugged her. She was drunk—but she was also hurt.
Aaron: "No, you're not shallow, Care. Who told you these things? It's all a lie."
Caroline: "No. It's true. What Damon said was true."
My head started to hurt when I heard Damon's name.
I tried to calm Caroline down and saw Matt passing by.
"Hey, Matt. Can you take Caroline home? I have something to finish."
Matt: "Sure. Is she okay?"
Aaron: "Yeah—no. She's drunk."
Matt: "Okay."
Matt picked Caroline up, and I went straight to find Damon Salvatore.
On my way, I saw two people dragging the blonde girl I had seen earlier with stefan away.
I didn't care about anything else. I went straight to Damon and punched him in the face. He fell to the floor.
As soon as I hit him, my headache worsened—and I remembered.
I remembered the night I found out Damon was abusing my sister. I was so angry that I was going to tell Mom, but Stefan stopped me—and after that, I forgot everything.
Damon quickly composed himself and stood up.
"I remember," I said. "I don't know how your brother did that and made me forget—but I'm not sparing you tonight."
I punched him again.
As I tried to hit him once more, Damon grabbed my fist. "Move away. I don't have time for this."
Aaron: "Fuck you."
Damon hold his hand high to punch me but then he stopped. It felt like he wanted to but he couldn't do it at the same time. He threw me to the ground, looked me in the eyes, and whispered so only I could hear:
"You will forget that I ever abused your sister. And if anyone asks why you were fighting me, you'll say you were being overprotective about your sister dating someone. Got it?"
Aaron: "Yes."
Damon shoved me away and ran outside.
.
.
Stefan and Elena were watching from a hiding spot.
Lexi bared her fangs and attacked her captors. Sheriff Forbes shot at her, but it didn't harm her. Lexi twisted the sheriff's arm and fled. Watching lexi flee away safe, stefan then let out a sigh of relief.
Damon came outside holding a wooden stake. When he saw Lexi escape, he kicked the air.
"Damn it."
He then went to help Sheriff Forbes.
The sight of Damon coming out of the Grill with a wooden stake did not escape Stefan's eyes.