Sookie Stackhouse pulled into the student parking lot of Shreveport High, her small yellow Datsun chugging along as she drove past the rows of cars and students making their way to the big brick building. She found a space at the end by a flashy red Corvette, which seemed a bit out of place.

As she parked and removed the key, she forced herself to take a deep breath. She could do this. It's only nine months, and she'd be free. Free to be on her own, return to her friends, go to LSU. One more year of high school, and she could do whatever she wanted. Though, at 18, she was legally able to do that right now.

She'd been a year older than all of her classmates since the third grade. It was when she was 6 years old, the summer after finishing second grade, when her family was ripped from her. Her parents and older brother drowned in a flash flood while going over a bridge. She'd been in the car, as well, but somehow was the only one who made it out alive. Her memories of that day were still a blur. When she thought real hard, the only thing she could remember was laughter, followed by being surrounded by water.

All the doctors kept assuming she was traumatized and kept testing her and questioning her. She was sad, sure, but strangely at peace with the situation. They kept her out of school trying to discern the lack of hysteria in the little blonde-haired girl.

Her Gran, a sweet widow who lived in the old family farmhouse, had taken her in after the flood, being the only family she had left. And for a while, she worried as much as the doctors did, coddling and questioning Sookie to no end. But, after six months with no change, and Sookie asking when she could go back to school and see her friends, they both approached the doctors and principals.

Sookie had never been happier to return to school. Her old friends were a year ahead, but she didn't care. She saw them enough at school, and she met a couple of new friends, a beautiful girl named Tara and a funny, sweet girl named Amelia. Ever since that first day of third grade, they'd been the best of friends.

For years, they grew closer together. Things seemed to go as normal. Until life turned Sookie's world upside down once again. The summer between junior and senior year, Sookie worked with Tara at the local grille called Merlotte's as waitresses. Sookie did so to save enough money to go to LSU after graduating. She worked as many hours as her boss, Sam, would allow, and looking back at it now, she wished she hadn't done so.

If she hadn't offered to work that double shift, she'd be home when Gran had a massive stroke and lay helpless for hours on the kitchen floor. Sookie found her early in the morning when she got home. She was alive, but the damage had been done.

The next few weeks were full of hospitals, doctors, nurses, rehabilitation experts. It passed in a blur for Sookie, who rarely left her Gran's side. When the final determination came through to them, that Gran's needs were more than Sookie could provide herself, they made a decision. Gran would move from the farmhouse she'd lived in most of her life and live out the rest of her days at a nursing home in Shreveport.

For a while, Sookie figured she'd stay there herself, finish school, and continue with her plans to attend LSU next fall. But then the bills started to roll in. And Sookie had a sudden and harsh life lesson. Property taxes, house insurance, maintenance, on top of keeping her Datsun in running order, would cost take more money than she currently made. Gran's savings and pension income were now going to cover her medical bills and nursing home stay.

They had no choice but to sell the house and surrounding land. Given the history of it and their offer to sell it furnished – minus a few items Sookie and Adele refused to part with – it sold within a month. Gran insisted that most of the proceeds go to Sookie, taking only a percentage for herself, just enough to keep her through the rest of her years.

Sookie wanted to balk, to say it was Gran's house and she should keep the money, but she had no place to stay. Tara and Amelia offered to let her stay with them in Bon Temps, but Sookie couldn't bear to be so far away from her Gran now, only visiting her on the weekends in Shreveport. The drive would be a problem, as would the miles it would put on her already straining car the three girls promised to stay in touch and reunite when they all three attended LSU the next fall.

And so, once again, Sookie found herself alone, going to school by herself. But this time around, she wasn't the little girl pulled this way and that and had choices made for her. Now she was 18 and legally able to make her own choices. The first one being a small apartment she rented for the year. Situated between the school and the nursing home, Sookie could easily drive to either in 15 minutes.

The money sitting in her bank account now was tempting to use, but she felt no need to splurge and buy things just because she could. Any other teenager in the same situation would've taken advantage, but Sookie couldn't. Not knowing how she came to this point, through tragedy and heartbreak. It made her what she was today, and she felt no compunction to celebrate that.

She walked from her yellow Datsun through the parking lot to the imposing building. Shreveport High differed from Bon Temps High in size only. She walked through the front door and almost felt a sense of déjà vu. It was the same loudness as her old high school, the same waves of energy bouncing off the walls, groups of people huddled and there, scurrying past her.

There were so many people, Sookie wondered if she'd actually be able to make a friend or two. Just the thought of it, though, made her miss Tara and Amelia even more, and she wondered how their first day of senior year was going. She shook off the feelings of regret and upset and followed the signs to the main office, where she'd been instructed to report to on her first day.

She was so intent on dodging people and trying not to get lost that, rounding a corner, she ran into a wall. Or what she thought was a wall at first. But walls, she soon remembered, didn't have arms. Or smell really good. Nor did they grab onto you.

This wall did all three, the last of which she was extremely grateful, as falling on her ass in a new sundress surrounded by her soon-to-be new classmates was not her idea of making a good impression.

"Whoa there, you okay?"

Sookie's hands clasped onto the first thing they came in touch with to steady herself, which happened to be his forearms, strong and warm under her fingers. Once she got her feet under her again, she looked up to thank her rescuer.

Who happened to be very tall. Their closeness required her to look up further than she believed she should. Damn, she thought. He had to be well over 6' tall. Rangy, but muscular, not skinny. His tight black t-shirt clung to his shoulders, and her eyes caught sight of a claw hung on a silver chain around his neck.

Then blue eyes met blue eyes, and Sookie blinked at the effect. Same color as hers. And long hair held back, blonde, same as hers. Like looking in a funhouse mirror, she thought. Then he smiled, and her mouth dropped open.

"You're new."

"Huh?" Her grunt of a response brought her back to her situation, and the fact that she was standing very close to and holding onto – and being held – by a very tall, very cute guy. Way to sound intelligent, Stackhouse, she thought.

"You're new," he repeated, speaking a bit slower as if she were slightly hard of hearing or lacking in brain capacity.

"Uhh, yeah." And with that response, she smacked herself mentally. Where are your manners, young lady? She could hear her Gran berating her in her mind. "I'm Sookie Stackhouse. It's very nice to meet you." She would have extended her hand to him, but he still held her shoulders, and her hands gripped his forearms.

His eyebrows rose at her words, and he smirked. "You're a sweet thing, aren't you?"

His accent was decidedly non-Southern, and she'd usually wonder where it came from, but his retort at her friendly greeting annoyed her. "Not really. Just trying to be polite. If you'll let me go, I need to get to the office before I'm late."

He let her go, but not after rubbing his thumbs over her shoulders. For a second, Sookie wished she hadn't been wearing a cardigan over her sundress, but she shook that thought away. She dropped her hands from his arms as he let go of her and walked around him.

"My name's Eric Northman."

Sookie risked one final glance up at him while she walked away and smiled, "Nice to meet you, Eric."

"Doing your famous impression of a redwood tree, dear brother?"

Eric heard Pam's biting drawl at his shoulder and tore his eyes away from the blonde head he was watching walk down the hall to the equally blonde head of his sister as she stood next to him. "Pam, so nice of you to show up on the first day of school."

"Nothing better to do," she said, shrugging. "Father hadn't left for work yet this morning, so I couldn't ditch."

Eric nodded his head in sympathy. Their father, lenient as he was with them, had one rule. Go to school. An addendum on that rule stated that they receive decent grades. The payoff at the end was that, diploma in hand, he would back whatever decisions they made for their lives upon graduation.

Pam had her decision set in stone already, and if Eric's summations were right, she'd formed it once they moved to Louisiana from Sweden three years ago. Get out. She had her application filled out for university in New York City, with plans to get degrees in business and fashion, by the end of their sophomore year.

Eric had much the same mindset, which wasn't much of a stretch considering they were fraternal twins and often shared the same viewpoints and thoughts. But his decision only matched Pam's halfway. He wanted out, as well, but he wanted all the way out, back to their home in Sweden. He missed it so much sometimes that he'd load Swedish music on his iPod and listen to it for hours on end until the homesickness passed.

Nothing about this city nor this school held his attention for very long. That is, until a few minutes ago. He glanced away from Pam ahead of him again to see Sookie Stackhouse reach the main office and go in.

Pam followed his gaze. "Mm, who's the dish in yellow?" she purred.

"Sookie Stackhouse," Eric answered, and then more emphatically, "And she's mine."

"Are you sure she bats for your side?"

"I may not be a genius, Pam, but I do know when someone's attracted to me."

"Please," Pam snorted. "You think every woman here is attracted to you."

When he didn't retort to her insult, Pam saw he wasn't looking at her, but down the hall through the glass of the office window, where a blonde head stood at the counter. Light blue cardigan over a pale yellow sundress that showed her curves without being slutty, this new girl did make quite an impression. And, she knew, what kind of an impression it was.

"Holy crap, Eric. The bell hasn't even rang!"

"Huh?"

She shook her head at him. His mind was obviously elsewhere, and Pam couldn't quite believe it. After years now of high school honeys throwing themselves at him without ever getting closer than a date or two, Eric seemed to have found someone to hold his attention for more than a minute.

"Nothing. Come on, Eric. We need to get to homeroom."

Eric allowed himself to be dragged away, but not before he started to make plans in his head to make Sookie Stackhouse his, in every connotation of the word. He thought his senior year would be yet another nine months of tedium and boredom, with the odd cheerleader to keep him company when he felt the need for a release. But now, within five minutes of walking in the staid building, he found himself looking forward to the school year.