"Who is he, again?"
Head cheerleader Caroline Forbes was standing in the middle of the Mystic Falls High schoolyard, surrounded by her fellow cheerleaders when something - or more like someone - catched her eye while scrolling through her news feed. A few of her friends leaned closer to her phone curiously.
"Who, him?" Amanda pointed to the picture of the mysterious guy that had piqued Caroline's curiosity.
"Yeah, right next to that sleazy bitch."
By 'sleazy bitch' she referred to no other than Rebekah Mikaelson, her most hated rival and current girlfriend of star quarterback Matt Donovan, also known as Caroline's ex-boyfriend. Also known as the asshole who ditched her for that bitch a month ago.
"His older brother, Niklaus. Moved here from abroad a few weeks earlier." Of course Vicky Donovan would know that; after all, his brother dated Rebekah, Caroline thought irritatedly. The question whether Vicky and Rebekah were already besties was on the tip of her tongue but she managed to resist the urge and just raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Then why isn't he tagged?"
"He doesn't believe in social media. Probably doesn't have an account."
Caroline looked up from her phone and scoffed incrediously. "Is he for real? Anyway, how would you know that, Vic?"
Suddenly Vicky occupied herself with studying her nails but failed to show any interest in them which made it crystal clear she was avoiding eye-contact on purpose.
"I might have met him at the Mik... At a party."
"Riiight."
At that moment Caroline wanted to strangle Vicky on the spot, she truly, really did. They used to be close before Matt decided that his and Caroline's relationship was over and moved onto Rebekah quickly, the new hot thing in town. Now she hangs out with that skank already? It's been a month, for heaven's sake!
But before she could have started a commotion, one of the girls squealed excitedly, "Ooof, he's hot!"
"He is average at best, Mandy, anyone with eyes could see that", Caroline snapped at the poor girl, then turned back to Vicky. "I wonder where could I bump into him?"
"Why?" Vicky couldn't hide the smirk on her face. "Are you into him? Are you into 'average', Care?"
"Duh, please. Hardly. Besides, he is a Mikaelson. I'm genetically programmed not to like him."
"Then what's your deal?"
"I have my reasons." Oh, she did have her reasons. After everything Rebekah Mikaelson had put her through since she dared to move into her town a year ago, steal first the Miss Mystic Falls title from her, then her boyfriend, she had no choice but bring her down. Hard. "I just want to say hi, that's all."
She had the perfect plan to sabotage Rebekah for good but she needed help and this Niklaus fit into that plan perfectly, even if he didn't know that. Even if he would never participate if he knew.
"He draws and paints all the time. That's all I have. You could try the drawing room."
A huge, satisfied smile appeared on Caroline's face but her blue eyes remained ice cold.
"Perfect."