AN: Hi everyone! I'm trying something different here, I hope you like it!

Important: This is AU! Elena is a vampire, Damon is human and attending high school. This may sound weird, but give it a shot? please?

Also, since Damon isn't over a hundred years old, I tried to make him a bit more like the human Damon we saw on the show and in the 'Stefan's Diaries' books.

This first chapter is kind of an introduction, so not much will happen in the first half, more interaction between the characters in next chapter :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries.

Damon POV

Damon was lost. He couldn't believe he'd managed to lose his way in such a small town. Before it became his new home, he hadn't even heard from Mystic Falls. And no wonder, there was nothing to see. It had been ten o'clock when he'd left his house, and at that time, people usually got ready to go out, parties started, clubs opened their doors. Not in Mystic Falls. He'd passed by the Mystic Grill, but he'd left almost immediately to look for something he liked better. After walking around for an hour, he realized the Mystic Grill was the only place to hang out.

And now he couldn't even find it! He cursed himself for thinking he'd found a shortcut, the narrow alley he'd figured would lead him to the town's square, had led him to a maze of little streets.

As if losing your sense of direction in an unfamiliar town wasn't bad enough, it now also started to drizzle.

"Great. Just… Great." He mumbled, pulling up the collar of his leather jacket. He wasn't dressed for cold weather, he hadn't planned on being outside. He cursed and he pushed his hands deeper in his pockets.

When he heard people talking, he hoped he was going the right way, and walked faster. Coming closer to the source of the voices, he realized they were arguing. He couldn't hear the exact words, but he could make out a girl's voice yelling at someone with a lower voice that sounded just as angry. He knew that if he rounded the corner, he would be able to see them, but he hesitated. Did he really want to get in the middle of that? He never planned on getting in the middle of something, but somehow it always happened. Someone had told him it was because of the always-present smirk on his face, and that people just wanted to hit him when they saw it.

Damon himself chalked it up to his chivalrous nature. When he got involved in a fight, it was always about a girl in trouble. He just defended her, and especially if it meant he could hit someone he didn't particularly like. Which was the case with about half of the people he knew. And he never lost.

But right now, he wasn't in the mood for such things, he'd come out to relax and have a good time. As he thought about turning around, he heard the girl gasp. And it wasn't a gasp in reaction to something the guy had said, he could hear that. It sounded as if she'd been…stabbed? He didn't know what she looked like, but he could already imagine her doubling over, clutching at her stomach.

He had to stop watching crime series.

It had become eerily quiet, and Damon silently stepped around the corner. At first he didn't see anything but the empty street lit by some streetlights, then he saw something move.

The girl he'd heard was sitting on her knees against the wall, her back straight and her face looking up at the sky. He approached her, trying to determine whether she was hurt. He stayed in the shadows of the houses and his steps didn't make any noise, so she didn't notice him, but she was sitting right in front of a streetlight, and he could see her face clearly as she held it angled up. Her breathing quickened and she seemed to brace herself for something, pressing her lips together. She brought her hands to her stomach, and his eyes grew wide as he saw her fingers close around something that seemed to be sticking out of her. The light had to be playing tricks on him, she couldn't really have something piercing her body, right? He remembered thinking about it only seconds ago, but really seeing it was a bit different. Shouldn't he call an ambulance?

Before he could do anything, the girl yanked at the thing in her hands, pulling it out of her stomach. He remembered learning in First-Help classes that you should never pull something out of someone's body, because a person would bleed even more. Clearly the girl had never attended any of those classes. She tossed the thing away before he could see what it was, but he saw that it resembled an ordinary branch.

He stepped away from the shadows, she would definitely need help now. She quickly turned her head to look at him, her eyes wide and her expression one of utter surprise. She pushed herself away from the wall and stood upright, her eyes holding his the whole time.

"Hey… Are you alright? You seemed to be having a… problem." Damon couldn't believe how stupid that sounded. A problem? She just pulled out something that pierced her stomach. How was it possible that she was still standing on her feet?

She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and casually straightened her clothes. He searched for the place where blood should be, but she zipped up her jacket and crossed her arms.

"You must've seen wrong. I'm fine, but I should be going now." She said kindly, but she made it clear that they wouldn't continue this conversation.

"Have a nice evening." She said with a small smile, and then she turned away.

Damon frowned. What was this? He'd only had one drink, and that had been at least two hours ago. Maybe he was just tired. He saw her walk away with quick, confident steps, she wouldn't be doing that if she'd been stabbed. He blinked a few times and looked around. He had been disoriented, too. Maybe he was getting sick. Well, he shouldn't be standing in the rain if that was the case. He turned around and tried to retrace his steps so he would find the centre of the town again.

*oOo*

The next morning, Damon opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. Was he feeling alright? He thought so. What happened the night before wouldn't leave his thoughts, but he didn't feel sick, so he got out of bed and took a shower. It would be his first day at Mystic Falls' high school, and he didn't look forward to it. Not that he'd ever had any problems at school, he was good-looking and not too stupid, so most students liked him and the others stayed away from him. He didn't think it would be any different this time. The only thing he dreaded was people asking for his 'story'. As if each student who arrived at a school in the middle of the year had an interesting history. They expected him to be thrown out of his previous schools, or be a broken boy who'd just lost his parents and needed to get away from his old life. And in fact there was nothing to tell. He lived with his uncle, who had to move a lot because of his job. If people asked why he lived with his uncle, he ignored them.

Damon arrived at school early, he wanted to be able to look at ease, not frantically searching for the right room. He talked to some of the guys who were practising on the football field, and one of them pointed out the way to the right office.

At lunch, Damon met up with the same guys. They minded their own business and weren't overly helpful, he liked them. When most students had chosen a seat, Damon saw a group of girls enter the cafeteria. The one walking in the middle caught his attention and he frowned. He couldn't see her face, but the way she walked and the way her hair flowed down her shoulders... He saw her when she turned around, it was the girl he'd seen the night before. He remembered the way she'd looked up at the sky, her jaw set. The way she'd smiled at him, kind but detached.

He saw her eyes widen in surprise when they met his, her mouth opened slightly and then closed. She quickly looked away and sat down at a table faced away from him.

"Who's that?" He asked the rest of the guys, pointing at her with his chin.

"The blond one? That's Caroline."

"No, I mean the other one, brown hair." He hadn't even noticed the blonde, but he could understand why they would think he had.

"Oh, you mean Elena. She's okay." A guy named Tyler said. His answer surprised Damon. Normally, guys would comment on a girls looks, or her attitude if she was horrible. Of course, by 'okay', Tyler could've meant that she looked okay, but it hadn't sounded like that.

"What do you mean, she's okay?"

"You know. Doesn't have that attitude most popular girls have. People like her." Tyler shrugged. Damon sensed that he wanted to say more, but that he thought the others would say he talked like a girl. Damon didn't think they would. They seemed to agree with Tyler, as they watched her with something similar to respect in their eyes. It gave him a weird feeling, so he just nodded and ate his lunch.

While sitting in the cafeteria, Damon began to think about what he'd seen the night before. The more he thought of it, the more sure he became of what he'd seen. He hadn't been sick, he hadn't seen wrong and the light hadn't been playing tricks on him. She'd lied to him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have reacted the way she had when she noticed him here.

When the girls got ready to leave, he did, too. He caught up with them in the hallway and Caroline smiled at him.

"Well, Hello! You must be Damon." She said brightly.

"And you're Caroline." He said, grinning. She'd looked like the prototype of a high school queen bee from afar, but he noticed that her smile was surprisingly real and she didn't pretend to be bubbly, she was bubbly.

He turned to Elena. "I just wanted to make sure you're alright, I really don't think I was seeing things last night."

"I'm sorry?" Elena frowned.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Elena?" Caroline's eyebrows lifted and she gave Elena a playful push.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I would love to talk to you some other time. It was nice meeting you, Damon." She smiled politely, reaching out to shake his hand.

He shook hers, frowning.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Damon, but Elena's right. We need to get to cheerleading practice and we're already running late." Caroline grimaced at him and he nodded, too confused to answer.

As he saw the girls hurry down the corridor, he opened his hand to reveal a small piece of paper. Elena had pressed it into his palm while shaking his hand.

"After School. Sport Supplies room. E."

AN: So, what did you think? What was good? What could be better? Do you like this idea and should I continue it? Please, let me know!

thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it :).