Dear Diary,

It's been a year since I was the new kid at school, a whole year since I started my new life in Mystic Falls and it has been so incredibly normal. Maybe that's why I haven't written, there hasn't really been much to tell, just the usual day to day life of a highschooler which included boys, girls, arguments with friends, and then there was the summer. This summer things seemed different, Elena's parents died, we lost touch after that, a lot, but I didn't want to pester her, didn't want to linger near her and ask the same questions everyone else wanted to 'are you okay?' she just lost her parents, of course she wasn't okay.

Then there was Caroline, we hung out quite a lot over the summer, shopping, gossiping, boy talking, that was just what the two of us did. Bonnie, well she went to see her family, and the rest of the time I spent very much alone. But now it's back to school again, the whole gang is going to be back together again and i'm looking forward to it, who would have thought I would ever day that about high school. I missed us all being together again, I missed the normality of it all.

And my alarm just went off. School begins, maybe if anything interesting comes up i'll write in here again.

Until then.

Elizabeth was quick to shove her diary away, frowning a little, once upon a time she kept a detailed diary of nearly every day of her life, but now everything was content, she was in a place that she had surprisingly come to love and she didn't ever want to leave, the people there had come to love her, they knew to give her space when she needed it, Mystic Falls felt more her home than anywhere else had. But that seemed to be enough pondering for now, she had to push herself up from her bed and get ready for the first day back. She released her blonde hair from the braid she kept it in as she slept, straightening it before her mirror. She looked like every other teenager in Mystic Falls at that moment, a small amount of class to her style, earrings that hung low from her ears, makeup that lined her eyes perfectly causing the vibrant green to stand out even more.

She was ready.

She grasped a drink from the fridge before she left, drinking the most of it before tossing the bottle away. Keys were in the usual bowl in the kitchen, a jingle sounding from them as she unlocked the door and started towards her car. Much like Mystic Falls, it too was very normal, silver in colour, rounded shape, the typical teenagers first car as far as anyone else would see, and she looked after it well enough, the engine springing to life with the turn of the key before she left her home and took to school where she was already set to meet Caroline.

Even though they were 4 girls, they each had their main, Caroline and Elizabeth were the two blondes, a year in school and that was how they were known, stuck to one another's hip and Elizabeth wouldn't have it any other way. She couldn't remember ever really having a best friend before, but Caroline was definitely that, and though they had definitely fought before, a day later they were hugging and making up like nothing had ever happened.

She had only just stepped out of the car when she as tackled by Caroline herself, a bright smile on her friends face as they stood back and looked over one another's choices for the first day back outfit.

"Very memorable, and are those..."

"The earrings you got me for my birthday, of course. Caroline, this year is going to be our year, it's decided, were going to rule the school."

Caroline beamed at her friend, wrapping an arm around her shoulder holding her phone before the two of them. A selfie, a picture of the two of them on their first day back that would most likely end up on many of her social media pages. Elizabeth wasn't one to groan or care about that though, not like Bonnie and Elena who seemed to avoid most chances to have a picture taken, they had a few good ones of the four of them on various occasions through the year, but unfortunately, not many.

With the phone stashed away Caroline and Elizabeth entered the school, making their walk down the hall simply enjoying the people that looked at them both before they went to their own individual lockers. Of course Caroline was side tracked by Elena being there, immediately going to her to talk, something that once again Elizabeth put off, opening up her locker to stash some books away, out of the corner of her eye though she saw someone, and she had thought they had been looking back but the moment she turned all she saw was back.

"It's a hot back," came Bonnie's voice from behind her, a small laugh coming from Elena as Elizabeth turned to them both.

"It's good to see you Eli, sorry about...you know, not being in contact."

"Elena you don't need to explain yourself, I wanted to give you all the time you needed. But i'm glad to see you back in the world of the living once again." Elizabeth smiled at the nickname they had given, the girls had already decided that her full name was a mouthful, Liz wasn't really her, so Eli it was. "Now, as for mister hot back, i'm sure come lunch Caroline will already know everything about him, you can count on it."

"Almost like when you started right?" Elena questioned giving her a grin.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes a little at that comment, it was true that Caroline had done the exact same thing when she had been the new kid, she had scoped out all the information she could get before asking her to come sit with them at lunch. It was strange to her at first, but then Caroline recited things she had already found out about the girl and right there and then told her that they were meant to be friends, written in the stars or something like that. It was what she loved about her best friend, she was direct about these things, didn't dance around the truth and definitely didn't hold anything back.

"Anyway, I will see you two at lunch, usual table." Elizabeth shut her locker and flashed her friends another smile before heading off to her first class. Unfortunately she didn't share many classes with her friends, something that made them a little dull from time to time, but she pushed through the first few periods, an exhausted sigh escaping her when she finally sat down at their table.

"We're only half way through the day and you already look like you want to bail," Bonnie stated.

"You try sitting next to Ken Jones who clearly forgot his deodorant this morning." Her statement earned disgusted looked from the three girls around her. "Now then, Caroline, you look ready to burst."

"Okay, so his names Stefan-"

"I bumped into him outside the mens room." Elena stated.

"The...mens room?" Eli's question seemed to be shared.

"I was in there with Jeremy, i'm just having a few too many issues with him at the moment, but yeah, I came out and bam, there he was."

"And is the front as hot as the back?"

"Eli?!"

"What? These questions have to be asked Elena."

"Well...yes, the front is probably better than the back."

It earned a grin from them all hearing that, perhaps Elena really was back and ready, though they all knew that if her and Stefan did become a thing it was going to deeply hurt the feelings of Matt. Matt was her ex, they broke up after Elena's parents had died and from all the longing looks he had been giving her through the day he very clearly wasn't over her, something Eli could understand, though she wouldn't voice anything about it, she was there for her friends and that meant not putting a dampener on new found happiness no matter where it came from.

The rest of that school day was just as normal as the first half had been, the rest of lessons went by and soon she was off home, Caroline and her talking hands free about the party that was going on that night. Apparently it was tradition, Elizabeth had been dragged to it on her first day last year, but this year she was a little more prepared for what to expect, herself and Caroline had already picked out what they were going to wear, Caroline stating that her current conquest was going to be Stefan before Elena could get her hands on him and all of that made Eli laugh a little.

"Alright Care, I just got home, i'll see you tonight okay?"

Hanging up she slipped back into the house again, draining another drink before preparing the long task of getting a teenager ready for a party with lots and lots of alcohol. None of them were exactly legal, but that didn't mean these things didn't happen, if anything they drank more than they probably would if they were actually 21, but now was the time to live and have regrets before they fell into the monotony of adult life.

Much like many other teenage girls it took Elizabeth a few hours to get ready, each hair had to be in the perfect place, any speck of dust had to be off her clothes and she quickly called for a cab to come and collect her bringing her to the party a little later than some of the others. By the time she arrived it was already loud, a few people already seeming drunk which caused her to mutter 'lightweights' under her breath before she sought out her best friend.

"So what are we drinking?" she asked, startling Caroline before she grinned and shoved a solo cup into her hand.

"It's a surprise."

At those words she drank heavily from it, the taste of hard liquor hitting her immediately which caused her to drink some more. She could handle her alcohol, perhaps a little better than most others could, but that just meant that Caroline knew exactly what to give her to ensure she still got drunk along with the rest of them.

"Elena showed up here with Stefan..."

"Are you kidding me? Damn, Matt isn't going to be happy."

"He already saw him, sized him up a little too but wouldn't really say a word to her, I don't know why she's so shocked, I mean keeping out of a relationship and then acting like she's in one. Pretty bitchy move."

"Caroline, you're clearly looking for more reasons to try and steal Stefan away," Eli pointed out giving a small laugh.

"You caught me," she replied holding her hands up before filling up both their cups again. "So...any new boy conquests from you?"

"Unless Mystic Falls gets a mister tall, dark and handsome I don't think so, I haven't exactly found anyone my type here so far."

"There's still time," Caroline assured linking Eli's arm as they walked into other groups of people to socialize.

The night was going by perfectly, and a lot better than it had done the previous year where Elizabeth had tried not to be dragged off to talk with anyone else, she'd preferred to stay close to her three new friends than try to go near everyone else, it was surprising how much could change in a year. Elizabeth herself noted her own changes, she had become a very different person to the one that had first arrived in this place, she was somewhat a queen bee at the school, reaching that status quite quickly after knocking a few people down a peg or two. That of course didn't mean that everyone liked her, but they pretended to and she could live with that.

As the music blared and people danced a voice cried out from the woods, the more it cried out the more silence there was until she heard those words.

"She's been attacked, she's losing a lot of blood."

Elizabeth could see the girl that was in question, Elena by her side helping her into the clearing, blood covering her neck where a very distinctive bite mark was. One that made Elizabeth pale a little, as she forced herself to look away from the injured girl she saw someone else with a very similar reaction. Mister hot back, Stefan, he was staring at the girl too until he caught her eye and proceeded to stare at her.

In that one moment it was as if everything else around them faded, as if all noise had completely gone and there was only the two of them staring at one another. Elizabeth knew that this was the start of something she had come to Mystic Falls to avoid, that this place was no longer going to be it's normal self after what had just happened, and that this was only the start of it all.

Stefan had looked away from her for only a moment to check on Elena once more, but when he looked up she was gone, and that told him everything that he needed to know.

It wasn't late when Elizabeth got back home, a light turned on to reveal the emptiness of her home. She never invited anyone there, avoiding anyone questioning the fact that she lived there alone, there were no parents in that place, no siblings or any sign that there had ever been any of either, there was no fruit in the food bowl, no food in the fridge, there was nothing to say about the person who lived there, but as she reached for her diary and began to write she couldn't help but raise her eyes to look around her. The bookshelves contained many other diaries too, and perhaps too many for someone who had lived a normal life, there were hundreds, each of them documenting the many years of her life, each of them a reminder of how the world had changed over those years.

She had come to Mystic Falls to find something normal, and yet somehow, who she was always caught up with her no matter how hard to tried to live normally.

And she knew exactly what had attacked that girl in the woods, the exactly same thing that she was herself.

A vampire.