PLOT: Tatum Bridges was your average sixteen year old girl from Boston. She had many friends and a good relationship with her family. She loved life. But that all changed over the summer when her parents got into a mysterious car accident ending their lives. After the accident, Tatum moved to Mystic Falls with her uncle Alaric. *Multiple love interests*
Chapter 1- The First Day
Tatum and her uncle unpacked their stuff in their new apartment. She was having a hard time getting used to all of this. Her parents were dead and she moved to a new town without knowing anybody except her uncle.
The reason they moved to Mystic Falls instead of staying in Boston was because of Alaric wanting to find out more information about his dead wife's death, Isobel. He thought that Mystic Falls would be the answer which made no sense to Tatum. He also got a job as a history teacher at the local public school, the one that Tatum would be attending. It was already a few months into school, so Tatum would have to adjust quickly. Or so she hoped...
Tears started to run down Tatum's eyes as she thought about her deceased parents. She missed them and of course she loved her uncle too, but it just wasn't the same. It would certainly take a lot of getting used to.
"Oh Tatum, don't cry. It's going to be okay. You know you can talk to me about anything, sweetheart?" Alaric said and pulled his niece into a hug.
Tatum wiped her eyes. "I know. I'm just missing mom and dad."
Alaric gave his niece a reassuring smile as they continued unpacking.
Tatum looked all around her new room. Everything was unpacked. The walls were white. Her dresser had all her clothes in it. Her small twin bed was set up against the wall with her lavender comforter over top. Beside her bed, she had her nightstand with her lava lamp, diary and alarm clock. Her posters of popular movies were hanging on the wall and her Dad's old recliner chair was in the corner. The room was quite small, but Tatum didn't care. It would now be her new home.
"Home..." Tatum said out loud to herself.
'At least it has a window.' she thought. She sat down in her Dad's old chair and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
She woke up to her alarm clock going off.
"Uh." Tatum groaned as she turned off her alarm clock. She opened her window and looked out. "Can today please be a good day?" she said to herself. Tatum dressed quickly and put on her necklace her mom got her for her sixteenth birthday.
In the kitchen Alaric was making breakfast. "Good morning Ric." Tatum said as she swung her school bag over her lap.
Alaric smiled at her as he put two pancakes on a plate for her along with a glass of milk.
Tatum began eating her food as Alaric asked, "are you nervous for school?"
She nodded. Why wouldn't she be nervous? It was the first day of school in a new town without her parents.
"Me too Tatum, I hope the kids will like me." He admitted.
"They will love you Ric." Tatum grinned at him.
"I sure hope so, but I'm sure they'll love you as well." Alaric reassured her.
Tatum took a sip of her milk. "I'm counting on it."
"Well, I guess there's nothing left to do but leave." Alaric said as he took her dishes and put them in the sink. They left to go to school.
Alaric pulled into his assigned parking spot. He got his briefcase out of the car. "Good luck." He said with a wink.
Tatum nodded her head and said, "ditto."
The school was not very big, but not small as well. The building was a dark colour and the mascot was a timber wolf, Tatum soon found out as she looked at the walls.
Alaric headed to his History class as Tatum headed to the school office.
Tatum spent what felt like ages looking around for the school office. She was finally helped when she saw a cute boy with dark hair coming her way. He bumped into her accidentally causing Tatum to drop her stuff.
"O-oh, I'm so sorry." He stammered and helped her pick up her things.
'He has a cute voice.' Tatum thought to herself.
"No worries." She told him and thanked him for helping her.
The boy smiled. "I'm Jeremy Gilbert, nice to meet you. You must be new."
Tatum nodded her head. "Yes, nice to meet you too. I'm Tatum Bridges." They smiled at each other.
"Hey, um if you want I can take you to the office. I'm assuming that's where you're headed?" He asked her, pointing in the right direction.
"Thank you, that would be nice." She said relieved.
Jeremy led her to the office. She thanked him and he said, "I know this is probably random but if you want, you can eat with me and my friends at lunch. "
Tatum grinned. "Okay sounds good."
Jeremy left with a smile and she walked into the office.
"Hello. How can I help you?" The lady at the front desk asked.
"I'm new here. My name is Tatum Bridges. Could I please have a schedule?"
The lady nodded and got up to look at Tatum's folder and get her schedule. The lady handed Tatum the schedule. "Your first class is Math with Mrs. Halpern." The secretary said.
"Okay thank you." Tatum said and put the schedule into her bag and left the office to look for the math room. She could look at her other classes later.
After five minutes of looking around, Tatum finally found the class. She knocked on the door and Mrs. Halpern let her in. "You must be Tatum. Welcome to trigonometry!" She exclaimed. Mrs. Halpern looked around forty and was pretty for her age. Tatum smiled at her and nodded.
The class stared at her. "Class, meet your new classmate, Tatum." Mrs. Halpern said and smiled. "Hi Tatum." The class mumbled back.
"Please find a seat Tatum." She said and pointed to the only available chair left in the classroom. The chair was beside a girl with long blonde hair and a plain face. "Hey, I'm Tara Forbes. Welcome to this little school us students call hell." She said and winked.
Tatum couldn't help but giggle. "I'm Tatum. It's nice to meet you."
After two more of her classes, those being English and Spanish, it was time for lunch.
Tatum walked in with her new friend Tara. The cafetaria was swarmed with students, but not as many as Tatum's old school had.
Tara and Tatum discovered that they had all classes together. Tara understood Tatum as they shared a similar sense of humor and she also lost her parents in a tragic accident so she lived with her Aunt Liz and cousin Caroline.
Tatum told Tara she met a boy named Jeremy and that he asked if she wanted to eat lunch together.
"Oh, you met Jeremy? He's my best friend!" Tara said with a smile.
Jeremy saw the girls and went to sit with them. "Hey Tatum, I see you met my friend Tara. My sister and her boyfriend are coming over to sit with us too." Jeremy said and waved them over.
Tatum smiled at the couple and nervously fumbled with her necklace. "Tatum, this is my sister Elena and her boyfriend Stefan." Elena was gorgeous, one of the prettiest girls Tatum had ever seen. She had brown hair that went past her shoulders, dark eyes and a petite figure. Stefan was classically handsome. He had forest green eyes and a mysterious gaze.
The couple smiled at her. "Nice too meet you Tatum."
"Nice to meet you guys too."
They ate their lunch and Tatum told them all about her life. She told them things from her childhood, to the accident and her first day so far. It turned out Elena and Jeremy's parents died too last summer.
Tatum found out that Stefan lived with his brother Damon and today was his my birthday.
"Happy Birthday!" Tatum said to Stefan who thanked her.
"If you want you can come with us to the Grill later. It's where we all hangout." Elena said to Tatum.
"Sure. I would like that."
Elena grinned.
"I can introduce you to our other friends. It will be a blast!" Tara said.
Tatum smiled. They continued eating their lunch and chatting as the bell for class finally rung.
Tatum walked out of the school with her headphones in her ears blasting music. She got into the car and waited for her Uncle.
Alaric opened the front door and climbed in. He asked his niece, "How was school? Did you make any new friends?"
Tatum smiled. "Yes and yes."
"What are their names?"
"This boy named Jeremy and his friend Tara, also Jeremy's sister Elena and her boyfriend Stefan." Tatum said proudly.
Alaric smiled at his niece. "I'm so glad to hear it, Tatum. See I told you it wouldn't be so bad." He said and gave her shoulder a pat.
"Is it okay if I go out later with them to the Mystic Grill? Tatum asked nervously, hoping he'd say yes.
Alaric nodded. "Don't have too much fun though." He said and winked at Tatum.
Tatum got ready to go out. She took her hair out of the ponytail and curled it with her curling iron. Elena texted, and said she was waiting downstairs for her. Tatum said bye to Alaric, put on her jacket and headed downstairs to leave with Elena.
The two girls chatted aimlessly as they started walking to the Mystic Grill.
"Tatum, meet my best friend who I have known forever, Lexi." Stefan said to Tatum introducing them.
"It's nice to meet you Tatum." Lexi said shaking her hand.
"It's nice to meet you too."
Tatum was introduced to all of Elena and Jeremy's friends. She met Bonnie and Caroline who were Elena's best friends. Caroline seemed like a ditzy blonde but sweet, as Bonnie seemed more relaxed and smart. Tatum could definitely see herself being good friends with Bonnie.
She was having a great time as they were all playing pool together.
Stefan's brother Damon came in and walked over to them.
"He is gorgeous!" Tatum whispered to Tara, sneaking glances up at the man.
"I know right!" Tara gushed.
Damon smirked at Tatum. "You must be Tatum." He said, holding out his hand for her to shake.
Tatum slowly nodded and shook his hand. His grip was strong and hard. "And you must be Damon." She smirked back, trying to appear confident.
"That's me," Damon said with a wink. "I'll be back and will be looking forward to getting to know you later," he added and walked away.
Tatum watched him leave, sighing.
Damon came back later when Tatum was coming out of the washroom.
He appeared right in front of her.
She jumped and held her chest. "Oh my god, you scared me!"
"I told you I'd be back." Damon spoke before his lips curved into a smirk.
Tatum blushed, tucking a red curl behind her ear. "I see." She said, pausing. "Well, I'm glad to see you're back."
He stepped closer to her, consciously backing her into the wall.
Tatum was backed up against the wall, his dark eyes narrowing. His breath was cool on her neck. She thought for a second that he was going to kiss her.
Damon suddenly backed away when Tara came around the corner. "There you are, let's go play another round." Tara said with a grin and pulled Tatum away, not even noticing Damon.
Tatum sighed. What would Damon have done if Tara hadn't have came?
They were all playing another game of pool.
The sheriff walked in and started speaking in hushed tones to Damon. Damon nodded his head.
Damon and Lexi started talking to each other and then they walked out. The sheriff followed.
Tatum frowned and looked at Elena and Stefan. They whispered something and walked out after them.
Two police officers came in and wouldn't let Elena and Stefan leave. Tatum got up and asked what was going on.
The police officers said, "two people were killed outside and no one is allowed to leave yet."
Tatum gasped, shocked.
"How were they killed?" Stefan asked.
"They were drained of blood." One of the police officers answered back, suspiciously.
Why did Stefan care how they died?
Tatum frowned, something was fishy around here.
Stefan frowned and nodded to Elena. They walked over to the back door.
Tatum tried to follow but Stefan stopped her.
"Tatum you have to stay here." Stefan told her.
She shook her head.
"Tatum you will stay here." Stefan tried to compel her but it didn't work.
"No I'm coming outside with you guys." She pushed, aggressively.
Stefan frowned and whispered to Elena, "she must be on vervain."
Tatum heard him."What's vervain?" She asked and followed them outside.
Stefan shook his head and said "doesn't matter."
They stopped and peeked over the wall.
Lexi, Stefan's friend was standing near the wall. Damon was walking over to her with a weird looking stick. He suddenly plunged the stick into her abdomen and stabbed her.
Lexi fell to the ground and Damon picked her up and placed her into the cop car. The sheriff thanked him before they both got into the car.
Tatum tried to scream but Stefan covered her mouth.
Elena held Stefan, so he couldn't do anything.
"I'm going to kill him." Stefan muttered, darkly before they both looked at Tatum.
"Compel her Stefan, so she'll forget." Elena said with tears in her eyes.
"I can't Elena. She's on vervain." Stefan snapped and stared at Tatum.
"Try taking off her necklace." Elena quietly said.
Stefan held Tatum's gaze and unclasped her necklace. "You will forget this happened. You will only remember meeting us all and having a great time. You saw Damon drive Lexi home and you decided you needed to leave too." Stefan ordered, compelling her as he did so.
Tatum held onto his gaze, listening to his every word. She shut her eyes.
"Tatum, you dropped your necklace." Stefan said with a forced smile.
Tatum's eyes opened and she smiled back. "Thanks Stefan. I had a great time tonight but I think I should get home."
Her eyes met Elena's who forced a smile as well. "Hopefully we can all hangout sometime again." Elena told her, still smiling.
Tatum put her necklace back on. "I'd like that.
"Come on, I'll drive you home." Stefan said and they walked over to his car.
"Did you have fun?" Alaric asked as Tatum walked into the apartment. He was seated at the kitchen island, sipping on some alcohol with a book in hand.
"Yes, I had a great time and I met lots of nice people."Tatum told him, fiddling with the intricate designs on her necklace. She truly did have fun.
Alaric then smiled at his niece."That's good, sweetheart."
"I'm going to shower and then go to bed. Good night." She said and went over to her uncle to plant a kiss on his cheek.
Tatum took a long, hot shower. She changed into her pajamas and went into her room. She got out her diary and her pen from her nightstand drawer.
"Dear Diary. Today was a good day. It was my first day at school and everyone was very nice and welcoming. I made some new friends and we hung out at Mystic Grill. I also met an intriguing guy named Damon. He was very attractive but something seemed strange about him. Anyway, I hope I get to hangout with these people again soon."
With a yawn, Tatum turned off the light and climbed into her bed. She drifted off to sleep within minutes.
"Stefan. Come on don't be mad! I said I'm sorry, it had to be done." Damon said trying to apologize to Stefan for killing Lexi.
"Whatever." Stefan said and slammed his bedroom door.
Damon sighed and opened his door. "That Tatum girl looked oddly familiar." Damon said to Stefan who didn't answer him. "Okay, fine, don't talk to me." He rolled his eyes and shut the door.
"Wait Damon, what did you do?" Stefan asked sounding worried, just before the door was fully closed.
"I didn't do anything." Damon lied.
He shut the door, and it creaked closed.
Damon smirked. He was going to make Tatum his.