Author's Note: This story is highly based on the show Vampire Diaries as well as the Twilight Saga series. I've chosen each of the characters specifically, so if you don't see your favorite character, that's why.

The car slowed to a stop in the sole parking space available, making not much of a difference to the crowded parking lot since nobody turned their heads to see who had arrived. Thankfully, that was what she wanted. Turning the key so the car turned off, she leaned back in her seat rubbing her temples. She normally wasn't like this. The first day of school was always an exciting day for Courtney Montgomery, considering school was always her safe haven. She loved to learn, to be shown an entire world of different subjects that she wanted to understand. Plus, the first day of your last year in high school should always be a blast. She just didn't feel that way.

"Let's just get this over with," she groaned softly, sitting up and reaching over to her passenger seat where her dark green bag laid, which contained all of the textbooks she needed for this year and other things she would have to use in class. Throwing it over her shoulder lazily, she took her keys and stepped out of her vehicle. The building looked as it always did: tall, bulky, and old. Wawanakwa wasn't a town for modern things. It was a place where nothing ever changed, thanks to Mayor McLean. He was a man of traditional values, so to speak. Courtney didn't really care. At the end of the day, their town still looked like trash.

That wasn't to say the people were trash, however. On the contrary, most people in Wawanakwa were very nice. Since it was such a small town, Courtney knew practically everybody, and they knew her. They knew her full name happened to be Courtney Viviana Montgomery, she was the eldest of two siblings to Mildred and Jonas Montgomery, has been the class president since the sixth grade, and that she was striving to become a lawyer like her father. They also knew her three closest friends, as well as their families.

Speaking of the devil, the three of them were making a beeline for her once they spotted her from the glass doors that led into the school. The three of them looked the same as they always did. Gwen was the shortest of the trio, baring pale white skin and a thin body type. Her hair barely reached past her ears, stained black and blue from the dyes she insisted on using, forbidding everyone to see that she was actually a brunette. She wore a black-like corset with blue sleeves over a short skirt that fell down to her midthighs. Underneath were black leggings melting down to her black combat boots. She looked like all of those photos of everyone's 'emo phase', but it suited her.

Bridgette had sun-kissed skin with hunter green eyes. She was slightly taller than Gwen with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She often wore her blue hoodie along with green shorts, leaving her thin legs bare as well as her feet, that were always encased in beach sandals. Bridgette looked like any stereotypical surfer chick, which seemed fitting seeing as Wawanakwa had waters of its own for her to use, despite the town still being as small as it was.

Trent was the tallest of the lot with light skin and bright green eyes that were the exact opposite of Gwen's black irises. He wore a short sleeved shirt with a splattered hand print on the front as a design. He wore a camo sweater underneath and black pants with green sneakers. He represented the boy band look, which seemed fitting seeing as he could play guitar and sing.

Anyway, the three of them were approaching Courtney quickly, all with worried faces.

"Hey," Gwen got to her first, which seemed fitting since she's the quickest. "How was...this morning?"

"Perfectly fine," Courtney said mechanically, flipping her hair and beginning to walk past them toward the glass doors. The others fell in to her sides, with Bridgette on her left, Gwen on her right, and Trent on hers. "Look, you guys don't have to be worried. Everything's just fine! With Mom and Dad gone for the seventeenth trip, it gave me the opportunity to get ready and get here without all of the stereotypical hugs and kisses as well as tears because it's my last year."

"Maybe, except for the fact you had to share the morning with Cody," Trent commented, snorting. "Has he cut you a break?"

"Not in the slightest."

"He'll come around, Court, he's your brother," Bridgette assured. "Don't let the fight ruin the beginning of your senior year. Cody's just...mad about your parents. It's them who should be dealing with all of this." She was right. But Courtney wasn't about to say that. But deep down she did blame her parents for all of this animosity flowing through the Montgomery home.

During the summer, her parents were finally around more often than not. Usually, they were always away on business, her father having to work on a new case while her mother spent her days on a plane going back and forth because she had patients in some city that desperately needed her, apparently more so than her own children. But they told Courtney and Cody two weeks prior to today that they'd be going on their longest trip yet. They wouldn't be back until second semester began, which wouldn't be until January. It was August right now.

When they had left, Cody had thrown a fit. He began spurting curses and insults toward their guardians which ticked Courtney off a bit, considering she always turned a blind eye to their parents' absences. Not expecting her not to take his side, Cody had taken his anger out on her instead, his high-pitched awkward yelling making most of the noise that night. Since then, the two siblings hadn't spoken to each other. Typical siblings forgave and forgot, but since Courtney and Cody were two of the most stubborn beings in Wawanakwa, there would be no apparent forgive and forget. It'd be a lot easier to handle if they didn't live in the same house.

"Didn't even look at me today," Courtney huffed as they walked inside, the bright lights momentarily blinding them before they made their way to the 'senior' hallway, which contained all the lockers solely for them. "He just got dressed and hitched a ride with Shawn. His first day of sophomore year and I didn't even get to properly send him on his way. I only hope I don't run into him today. I think the time apart will do us good and we'll be able to talk it out tonight."

"Maybe," Gwen snorted, "Alright, let's get back to the positives. Tired of us all being bummed. Classes haven't even started yet."

"Gwen's right, we should be excited!" Bridgette exclaimed, throwing an arm over Courtney's shoulders. "Senior year...starting next year, we'll hopefully all be kissing Wawanakwa goodbye."

"You guys will," Trent groaned, shrugging his head beneath his shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

"Your dad again?" Gwen asked worriedly. Of course it was. Trent's father was the sheriff of the town, so he was as well known as Mayor McLean was. He was a very kind man, often greeting Bridgette, Gwen and Courtney when they came to visit and doing a lot for them. Since he was a single father, he was very much involved with Trent's personal life, the girls included. He considered them to be his own, which was great, but he also struggled with the choices Trent made for himself. Despite him wanting to become a musician, Mr. Williams continued to shove pamphlets on becoming a cop underneath Trent's nose. It was very apparent he didn't want his son to leave Wawanakwa. To put it bluntly, he didn't want to be left alone.

"Yeah, he signed me up for an internship at the sheriff's department this upcoming summer. I didn't even know you could do it this early," Trent sighed impatiently, running a hand through his black hair. "I don't know how to tell him I don't want any of that. In a town like this, hardly anything ever even happens. Radio silence every night."

"Don't say that like it's a bad thing," Courtney snorted, "Don't forget he's the one who often does the night patrol."

"Of course I'm grateful for it, but it's still not what I want to do," Trent sighed, stopping in his tracks since the girls did. Courtney reached out and placed her hand against the blue locker before her. It was hers. "What's first on the schedule? I wanna get my mind off of my old man if that's okay." He took the schedule from Gwen's awaiting hand and peered over it. "Economics...I've got that, too. Bridgette? Court?"

"Economics!" Bridgette chirped happily.

"I've got calculus," Courtney grumbled, opening her locker and placing a few of the textbooks inside before closing it. "But I've checked all of your schedules, and we have the same lunch, so that'll be good. Please make it to class on time and don't make complete fools of yourselves. It's the first day." The three of them exchanged a grin before they laughed and nodded.

"We'll be fine, Mom," Gwen teased, "Have fun in calculus. Don't know why the hell you wanted to take that."

"My father insisted," Courtney rolled her eyes before waving and taking off toward her first class, a bit thankful for the silence now. She loved the other three, but with how she was struggling right now about how Cody was and where her parents were...she could really just use the time for herself. Kids passed by her, all talking amongst each other excitedly over what classes they shared or where their lockers were. Courtney solemnly wondered whether any of them were having the struggles she was. Did they have a pissed off brother and absent parents? Speaking of which, she has yet to even get a text from them. They probably forgot today was the first day of school. Typical.

Entering the buzzing classroom, Courtney looked up to see if she recognized anyone. Harold McGrady...Beth Keller...Noah Welsh. She paused. Out of all of them, she personally knew him best. Shrugging off the initial nerves, she went to take a seat to his right. He didn't greet her. He was too busy with a book he had in his hands, which was apparently far more interesting. However, a moment later he spoke, "So the princess of Wawanakwa is back."

"Sharp tongue for someone who loses every election for the student council president," Courtney teased.

"Touché," he snorted, finally closing his book once he marked his page. He turned so he could face her. "Safe to assume none of your posse is taking this class? I would've thought Trent, at least, would want to take a crack at this."

"Nah, he's not much of a math wizard," Courtney shrugged.

Noah laughed, which was a rare sight. Amongst everyone in their class, Noah Welsh was perhaps the hardest to get along with. He was sarcastic, painfully so, and he often had his nose pressed in a book. His social skills were lacking, no matter how much he wanted to pretend he was Mr. Big Shot. Courtney enjoyed him though. After beating him every time for student council president, it was hard not to get to know your opponent. They actually had a lot in common.

More people piled in, none of which Courtney was really friends with. At last, the door was shut and the teacher made his way to the front of the class to begin with the syllabus. Before he could even finish his name, a knock came to the door. Courtney was surprised. As said before, it was the first day of school! How could one be tardy? Nevertheless, he straightened his tie and approached the door, opening it and letting whoever was on the other end inside.

It was a boy, about the same height as Courtney was. For a moment, she thought he was Gwen's long lost twin brother or something. He had fair skin, brilliant blue eyes, and a lean body type. His hair was sheared into a horrid green mohawk, while his shirt took the form of a skull on the front that went over a vanilla coated long sleeve. He wore cut off shorts that fell over huge red sneakers. His face was adorned with piercings, including his eyebrow, nose, and ears. He also wore a dog collar. Everything about him screamed the opposite of calculus. For a moment, Courtney assumed he just walked into the wrong classroom. Apparently the teacher did, too.

"This is calculus, sir. I think you're looking for woodshop; it's on the other side of campus," he said. Some of the kids laughed, including Noah. Courtney, however, remained silent and rooted in her seat. There was something about this boy that made her feel a little nauseated. It was weird. She was around Gwen all the time, and she wore similar clothes to him.

"I'm in the right place, trust me," the boy replied. His voice was deep, but with a tone of light-heartedness. "Duncan Myers. Should be on your list." With that, he turned to the rest of the class and looked around for a seat, just before his eyes landed on Courtney. His gaze made her stiffen. No, it wasn't his appearance that made her nauseous. It was something else, but what? He wasn't quite displeasing to look at, but there was definitely something about him. He was obviously not from Wawanakwa. Courtney recognized everyone in this town. He had to be new.

He walked as if he were walking towards her, but he was only moving into the seat behind her. Courtney felt a shiver run down her spine. There was just something about her that she didn't like. She must've been the only one, though, since everyone else dismissed him and turned towards the teacher instead. Courtney, however, felt different The new kid. He was just a new kid! If it was so insignificant as that, why did she feel suddenly colder as she felt his gaze meet her back?

Maybe she was just overreacting. She was already set off to begin with because of Cody. It just made her paranoid.

That didn't stop her from yelping as she felt Duncan Myers tap her on the shoulder to talk to her.