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Summer was beautiful in Mystic Falls. Everything seemed so much greener than it usually was, and everyone's mood seemed to brighten along with the sky. Summer had always been my favourite season, I enjoyed being able to use the temperature as the perfect excuse to wear shorts, and of course you could get a tan, one that didn't come out of a bottle. When it was a nice morning like this, I walked to school. You didn't get there as fast, obviously. But I enjoyed the feel of the morning sun on my skin and the peace to be alone with my own thoughts, as long as I had my earphones, walking anywhere wasn't something I minded at all. Unless it was raining. The rain I didn't mind at all either, it was just something I'd rather appreciate while sitting at the window watching in comfort, while completely dry.
My iPod was on repeat, I had the same album playing over and over again. That's usually what I did when I found an album or a particular song I enjoyed. I played it on repeat until I could no longer stand to listen to it anymore. Flavour of the week just now was Chris Stapleton, country music wasn't something I'd ever been a fan of before but it was really starting to grow on me.
I was late, which really wasn't anything unusual for me, my mom was always telling me id be late for my own funeral one day. And I couldn't argue with that. The large halls were empty as all the other students had already headed to class and started their day. I, however had just made it to my locker, only to discover I had left the key on my bedside table. I rested my head against the cold metal door and sighed. All my workbooks and pens were inside here, so I had nothing for any of my classes today. The temptation to just turn around and head home was strong. But I couldn't, my dad was off work today, and I didn't feel like I could come up with any excuse for showing up before the school day had ended. So I made my way to history. Ignoring the look I got from the receptionist as I made my way towards my first class. One I was already twenty minutes late for.
"Ah, so you've decided to join us Miss Fell." The history teacher smirked as I walked into the quiet room, trying my best to look regretful about my late timing.
"Sorry." I mumbled as I walked past his desk to the other side of the classroom and took one of the empty seats.
"That's alright, we knew you'd show up eventually." He smiled over at me from behind his desk. "Jeremy will show you what page you need to be on."
"Ummm, I don't have my book." I admitted "It's in my locker, but I forgot my key." Mr Saltzman shook his head at me, a frown crossing his forehead.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Jeremy laughed as he pulled his chair forward, bringing it to the side of my desk. "We can share." He placed the heavy textbook on the desk and pointed at a paragraph of information. "It's really boring." He whispered quietly for my benefit.
"Nothing new there." I laughed and dipped my head down to start reading, information I'll no doubt have forgotten by the end of the day.
oOo
Matt had offered to drop me off, he was giving Jeremy a lift home today and since my house was only around the corner was kind enough to agree to drop me. Driving wasn't something I could do, too much coordination and concentration needed. My dad had tried to give me a lesson once, when I had just turned 16. He thought it was a good idea but quickly changed his mind when I hit the gas instead of the break and drove his ford focus through the new built fence surrounding our lawn. He never offered again, which was fine by me.
The smell of lasagne hit me the minute I walked through the front door. That's what I loved about my dad, his cooking skills. That's something else I'd never been able to master, I could make toast, and maybe on a good day some pasta out of a packet. But that was a push, and I don't think cereal counts as a meal, you just need to pour that into a bowl and add milk.
"You've been busy." I inhaled the wonderful smell as I made my way into the kitchen, my dad was sitting at the breakfast bar, typing away on his laptop as I walked into the room.
"Hey honey." He smiled up at me for a second before returning his attention back to whatever he was doing. He brows furrowed as his glasses slipped down his nose a little. He looked a little annoyed with whatever it was he was replying to, but I thought it was better not to ask and just let him deal with it.
"Just shout me when dinner is ready." I reached into the fridge and pulled out a cold bottle of water, making a hasty retreat up the stairs and to the safety of my bedroom. Our house was too large for our needs considering there were only the two of us here. There were four bedrooms, we only needed two. One for him, one for me. I think it was sentimentality that kept us here, for my dad more than me. This was the house he and my mom had chosen together, I always wondered why he never moved us after she had died, especially if this house held so many memories for him but I never had the heart to ask. Considering he was the guy to go to in Mystic falls if you wanted to buy a house, I'm sure he would've been able to sell it easily enough.
My bedroom, again like the rest of the house was a little big. In theory that should be a good thing, but it just meant I had more space to make a mess in. I sighed and looked at the discarded clothes that were lying around the floor from my attempt to get dressed quickly this morning and scowled. Maybe if I stared at them long enough they would just disappear. Wishful thinking. I knew I should've really started to clean up the mess I had made but I just couldn't find the energy to really care about it, I lifted my iPad from the top of my dresser and threw myself down onto my bed, opening up Netflix and making the conscious choice to do nothing for the rest of the night.
oOo
Every Saturday morning my dad would go into town, pick up whatever groceries we were needing, collect a fresh bunch of flowers and drop them off at the cemetery. Except from the Saturdays that he was working, if he had houses to show or paper work to catch up on. Then it was my job. It's not that I minded, well not really. I just found the ritual a little depressing. I found the cemetery creepy, it freaked me out no end knowing when I was walking between headstones that I was standing over someone's dead body, not cool.
I placed the roses onto the ground just in front of my mother's head stone, which was surrounded by others inscribed with the word 'Fell'. Our family had a crypt, which is as weird as it sounds but that was now full, so there were a collection of head stones just off to the side. Someone decided that we should all be kept together, which giving how much most of the Fells hated each other, it seemed pointless. But hey, it was a tradition. Maybe if I got married one day I'd be able to change my last name and dodge the bullet on this one.
"Do you always sit around in graveyards looking bored love?" I jumped from my seat on the bench, spinning around in the direction of the voice. He was tall, standing at about 6 foot. It wasn't hard for some to appear tall to me, if you were above 5 foot 4 you were tall in my books. He had dark blonde hair, the type you could describe as dirty blonde, bright blue eyes and a beautifully deep dimple on the right side of his face. It was present because he was standing there, smirking at my reaction.
"Do you always sneak up on people?" I quipped back, not even trying to hide the scowl that was directed towards him.
"Sometimes." He shrugged. "It's easy to do."
"Cool story." I went back to pretending like he wasn't there, lifting my discard bag from the bench and walking away from him.
"Don't be grumpy love" he followed behind me at a slower pace. Always a few steps behind.
"Leave me alone, or I'll tell the sheriff about the creepy British guy harassing people in the cemetery."
"This isn't harassment." He answered back but stopped following behind, I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding, relief flooding through me when I finally made it onto a street. One with normal people, next weekend my dad could go lay the flowers. I doubt I will agree to that again anytime soon.
oOo
My best friend Sophia was raiding through the hangers in my closet, determination across her face to find something she deemed as suitable. Apparently with it being a Saturday evening that meant we had to go out and have fun, and her idea of fun was dragging me along with, kicking and screaming if she had to, to a party at the old Lockwood cellar. Which happened to be a rather disturbing idea, but along with being her best friend came the duty of having to play wingwoman in her attempt to pull Matt. She was obsessed. And not in a healthy way, I was becoming increasingly concerned. She always stared at him with doe eyed fascination, I mean sure Matt Donovan was good looking, even I couldn't deny that. But I don't think he's obsess every day since we started school good looking.
"Soph, can you just pick something please so we can leave and get this over with." I shouted over to her from the other side of the room where I was currently trying to scrape my hair back into a ponytail.
"I'm trying…" she left the closet with a few hangers draped over one arm. "Don't you have any party clothes?"
"The amount of founders events I have to attend, I have lots of party clothes."
"No, I mean proper party clothes. That maybe aren't so modest. This isn't a founding family luncheon to celebrate the awesomeness of one's last name." The sarcasm just dripped from her voice when she attempted a curtsey.
"You're hilarious." I stared at her in the mirror while she eyes her choices she had laid out on the bed.
"Let's go with this one" she sighed lifting up the black dress and running her hands over the material.
"Okay, that'll do." I agreed getting up to take the hanger from her hands "But I'm picking the shoes. Nothing with any kind of heel."
"You're short, you should appreciate heels." She mumbled back, shaking her head when I lifted a pair of black flat dolly shoes from the shoe rack.
"Oh I do." I nodded pointing to the pairs that were currently tucked away. "Just not for a stupid party in a dark, damp infested cellar."
Sophia drove us as close as she could get to the Lockwood cellar, which was in the middle of the woods. I was grateful that unlike her I'd gone for the flat option, the ground under our feet wasn't suited for those kind of shoes and she was struggling, I had to bite back a laugh every time she stumbled and had to grab onto my shoulder. I could hear the music blaring and people shouting in the distance, at least we were getting closer.
"Hurry up Soph, I really want to get this over with."
"See, you're already killing my buzz." She pouted over at me.
"What're you doing here?" Jeremy walked up from the steep steps, looking a little out of it as he approached, a nearly empty beer bottle in his hands.
"Same as you." Sophia answered quickly, letting go of my arm to walk down the old steps and down into the underground cellar.
"Nah, I meant Isla." Jeremy laughed in response. "It's not like you to join in."
"I was forced." I replied quickly, I could feel the bitterness in my own voice.
"C'mon then, let's go get you something to drink." Jeremy pulled at my arm and led me towards the steps.
oOo
The music was loud, excessively so. I don't know if it was the large empty room, the sound just seemed to echo off of the stone walls. The part had obviously started long before we arrived, nearly everyone had been drinking, empty beer bottles and plastic cups were scattered around. I can only imagine the trouble Tyler would be in if his mom found out about this.
I stood, leaning against one of the cold walls sipping on some fruity drink Jeremy had brought over to me watching Sophia talk to Matt, the eyelashes batting constantly.
"You look as bored as I feel darling." Someone said from behind me, I turned around to look at the stranger and felt my eyes widen in surprise, but only for a moment.
"Parties aren't really my thing." I turned back around to supervise Sophia's flirting with Matt.
"What is your thing then?" he asked intrusively, mocking my accent in the process.
"Are you lost?" I turned my head around again to find him smirking deeply. "You definitely don't belong here."
"That hurts my feelings." He feigned sadness while his eyes continued to convey nothing but mischief.
"Sorry, but that accent alone makes you stand out from this crowd."
"I'm looking for my little sister. Her names Rebekah. We need her home." He stood out a few steps and scanned the crowing crowd of Mystic Falls pupils.
"Aw, that new girl." I remembered hearing about her, she was in the year above us in school, the same year as Matt so I hadn't actually met her. I had heard she was blonde and beautiful though, and was giving Caroline Forbes a run for her money.
"Yes, the new girl." He continued to look around and then frowned when he couldn't see her. "I'm Kol." He held out his hand for me to shake but I just eyed it warily.
"Do you have a last name to go with that?"
"Mikaelson." He grinned widely at my response. "I see my charms haven't had the effect they should."
"What charms would that be Kol?" the creepy guy showed up, out of nowhere, his hand on Kol's shoulder.
"Great, creepy guy from the cemetery." The blonde guy's smirk dropped quickly enough as Kol's smile widened.
"Creepy, that's one of many words used to describe my brother." Kol winked over at me as his brothers face scowled between us both. "Don't look so sour Nik, I'm only teasing."
"Have you found bekah? I just may kill her."
"Don't be dramatic brother." Kol sighed turning to take in the crowd again. "We'll find her."
"Yes, well, Mother wants her home. Something to do with this ball she's planning. Apparently it can't wait." Creepy blonde guy added.
"I'm so sick of hearing about this bloody ball." Kol walked over to me and lifted my hand, placing a quick kiss on the back of it he added "I do now I hope I'll see you there." His brother looked between the both of us before turning to leave, he walked up the stairs without another word. "I think that's my queue." Kol sighed and followed behind him.
"Who the hell was that?" Sophia slurred, staring after him as he left.
"That new girl." I waited for Sophia to actually look like she was paying attention to my answer before I continued "Her brother."
"That's an impressively good looking family." She said, looking off to the girl standing with Matt. "That's her, she's so blonde!"
"She is gorgeous.." I commented looking over at the tall slim blonde chatting to Matt.
"Not helpful" Sophia huffed as she headed towards the stairs. Grateful that I finally got to leave.