Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, but I own Cassie and her plotline which is obviously made up by me :-D

This idea has been in my head since I read Vampire Diaries, but I've never acted on it. But even though I'm busy with my other stories, I just couldn't wait any longer and started writing! For each book, there will be a new story. So this story starts from 'The Awakening'.

Please review!

Cassie Gilbert was awoken by the sound of her sister's hairdryer.

Urgh, she never stopped waking her up with that thing! Every morning- vruuuuuh, vruuuuuh. It was as if she was trying to win the National Hair-Dryer Olympics, and Cassie was her specimen to try out on. She placed a pillow on her face, trying to block out the noise- but it was impossible to ignore.

Her hands clasped the pillow and took it away from her face roughly, slamming it onto her stomach.

"Elena!" she wailed.

The hair-dryer clicked off, and even through the wall Cassie could hear Elena laugh at her.

"It's off!" she heard her sister yell through the wall.

Now fully awake, Cassie sat up in her bed and looked at her alarm clock. Damn you Elena- she scowled. She could have had twenty more minutes of sleep if it hadn't been for that blasted hairdryer.

She stood up, her pajamas freshly wrinkled. Thankfully there were no other boys in the family except Robert- who never came upstairs-, which was a good thing because her pajamas consisted of tiny shorts that exposed her legs, and a pink tank top. Only Elena saw her in the mornings, so she never thought to change before leaving her room.

Cassie shut her bedroom door after her, running her hand through her long blonde hair and sighing. Her long side fringe passed over her eyes all the time, so she had to continuously sweep it away.

She went straight into Elena's room, not even bothering to knock. It was their first day back at school from their long stay in France, and no matter how hard she covered it- Elena knew that Cassie was scared. She could always tell.

Elena was always telling Cassie off, mothering her slightly, and at school Elena was always calm and reserved- never the sister that Cassie had grown up with before the accident. After the death of their parents, it felt like Elena had turned ice cold inside, while Cassie's fire remained. But they got through it together, like they always did.

"Your hairdryer should be hanged," Cassie scowled, sitting herself down onto Elena's bed.

Elena smiled at her like she always did- Cassie always said the exact same thing every morning. Her elder- by ten months, she liked to point out to people!- sister was wearing a pale rose top and white shorts.

"We can't all have perfect hair like you, Cassie. Some actually have to blow it till it looks acceptable," she sighed regretfully, and walked over to Cassie- running her fingers through her hair.

"Whatever," Cassie said, blushing slightly. She had never been one for compliments, and just never believed them. She was just the girl that was random, funny, and just wasn't scared, all the time.

Elena- who was trying her best not to show it- looked worried about something, and Cassie got up from the bed and gave her elder sister a hug.

"We'll be okay today, won't we? It's only one day, then everything will be back to normal- as if we've never left," she said into Elena's hair.

"Of course we will," Elena said, hugging her back tightly. Then Cassie felt her stiffen up a little before saying, "I just can't seem to shake off the feeling that something bad is going to happen though."

"That's probably nerves. But, is there anything you're worried about? Homework you've forgotten? Stabbed someone and forgotten to bury them?" she giggled at the thought of someone like Elena stabbing a person, but when she pulled back from her sisters arms- Elena didn't say anything and gave Cassie a worried frown.

"Oh god! Have you stabbed someone?!" Cassie exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"No! You silly girl, I haven't stabbed someone! I'm just... no, you're probably right- it's just nerves," Elena smiled comfortingly at her, but Cassie could see in her eyes that she didn't believe it- and she had to wash and dress, otherwise she'd be late to school. Comforting thoughts would have to wait till school.

"I gotta go get ready, maybe some cute boys have joined the school since we were gone," Cassie smiled, walking toward the door.

"What about Justin?" Elena asked sadly, brushing her hair into a rose colored bow.

Cassie's smile faded, her hand on the doorknob.

"He cheated with Caroline, Ley-Ley," she said, the way she spoke voicing how heartbreaking the news had been to her. She used her old crappy childish nickname for Elena- it made her feel better somehow. Bonnie had called while they were in France, and while she hadn't wanted to ruin their holiday- that was what she'd ended up doing. Cassie had cried and cried the night she'd found out, but somehow... she had expected it somehow. Cassie had been a virgin, and still was, but Justin hadn't been- so his girlfriend who won't put out goes to France for a long time, he liked sex, so what guy wouldn't have cheated?

But Cassie didn't blame herself. Elena wasn't a virgin, but at least she had respected herself and not blabbed it around the school like Caroline had probably did- and Cassie would find out that today. There was no doubt that everyone would know. Caroline hated the Gilberts with a passion, mostly because she didn't get as much attention from men as they did. So she resorted to sleeping with Cassie's boyfriend, which was kind of a sad thing to do. Cassie was glad that she was still a virgin, she didn't feel like a slut. And no doubt if she had slept with Justin, she'd be feeling even worse now.

"Yeah, I know. Make sure she pays, but don't do anything rash on the first day back Cass," Elena said.

Cassie wanted to protest, but she knew that Elena was right. Caroline deserved to pay, but not on the first day. Hehe, that rhymes- Cassie giggled in her mind. She had a temper that Elena didn't possess. Elena had such a cold facade, which numbed her temper- but Cassie's... well...

Cassie just smiled, and left her sister to get in the shower for school.

As the hot water calmed the muscles in her back, Cassie ran her hands through her hair- thinking about what she was going to do when Justin appeared. Caroline would be laughing at her, and no doubt talking about it all day- but Cassie simply would not let the whore get to her.

Today was about getting back to the school routine, meeting friends, shooing boys off when they stared- which Cassie still didn't understand. She and Elena looked similar, but there wasn't a striking resemblance. For instance, Elena had violet colored eyes, while Cassie's were a deep brown. Elena had pale skin, but Cassie had a hint of tan in her skin tone- but not much.

"I'm leaving now!" Elena's voice came from the door, startling Cassie out of her daydream/reverie.

"Er, I'll meet you there!" she called out, wringing the ends of her hair of water. She didn't want to rush to school, and anyway, a hot shower would calm her nerves.

Cassie clicked the shower off, grabbing a towel from the cabinet next to the bath. She wrapped it around herself and jumped out of the shower and into her room again. Blow-drying her hair never held much excitement or use for her, so she just towel-dried it and left it be. It only took about ten minutes to dry after that, and when that time passed, she'd be down at breakfast. But she was already running late...

Oh god- Cassie thought to herself.

I'm gonna have to use the hair-dryer from hell.

Oh, god, how do I turn this thing on?- she thought, panicked, as she held the device in her right hand while brushing through her hair with the other.

At last, the hair-dryer started working, and when Cassie had finished drying, she ran her hand through it. Wow, it's even silkier- she thought, surprised. Her hair had always been like silk, and now it was even better?

Cassie threw on her tiny denim shorts and the silver sandals she had gotten from Paris, then a white top that covered up her cleavage. Elena was slender, and while Cassie was too in a slightly smaller frame- she was curvier in all the right places. Slightly bigger boobs, flat perfectly-toned stomach, and gorgeous hips. A man's dream- both girls were.

She quickly grabbed her bag and ran straight out the door without saying a word to Aunt Judith or Margaret- but they wouldn't have minded. Cassie was known for being 'the late and slightly wild one'.

She walked down the path, and set off in the direction of the school, the strap of her bag digging into her shoulder like a problem that just wouldn't go away.

Robert E. Lee High School was waiting...