I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I only own Tiffani.

Story Start

There are times in your life when everything feels like it has fallen apart. I was now going through one of those times. My parents were getting a divorce, and guess what, neither of them wanted their 17 year old daughter. I'm not kidding either. However, they were happily fighting over my little brother. He was more of the good child anyways. I was considered weird to my family because I was a loner that enjoyed studying the occult, nature, and anything out of the ordinary.

It was their loss. I'm not being an angst-filled teenager when I say this, but I've never fit in with my family. They were a sweet traditional value type family, so having a kid that preferred being by herself and studying things that weren't considered normal was unheard of for them. They would go spend a Sunday at church while I would sneak out to go explore the supposedly haunted cave systems an hour away from our home.

As soon as my parents decided to get a divorce, everything was being brought out in the open. They didn't have any trouble fighting about how they couldn't stand the other, but neither of them wanted me. They made sure to say how they really felt whenever I was nearby or in hearing range. The best part was they even said it to my face.

My response was to go to the court and emancipate myself. Now I was moving out of their house and I was going to go stay with my cousin Caroline Forbes. She wasn't my favorite cousin, but I didn't have any other options right now. We used to be closer but after she discovered makeup, a bra, and boys, we stopped being so close.

"Please buckle your seatbelts and return to your seats to their sitting up positions, we will be landing shortly," the pilot's voice announced over the plane intercom system.

"To new beginnings," I thought as I moved my dark red hair out of my face and my light grey eyes stared out the window. Caroline's mom would be picking me up from the airport. "Let's hope Aunt Elisabeth is as cool as she used to be," I muttered after leaving the plane. My aunt was always more accepting of me even though she was afraid I would get myself killed when I used to go hiking by myself to go explore cemeteries. She never let me bring Caroline, but my cousin never wanted to go anyways.

"Tiffani," a woman with short blonde hair and a sheriff uniform called out once I reached the main area of the airport.

"Aunt Elisabeth," I called out with a smile and rushed towards her and smiled more when she pulled me into a hug. "Thanks for letting me come stay here until I can get my own place," I said after we pulled away from the hug.

"No problem, you're parents are idiots, my sister included," my aunt said and I couldn't help but agree with her. "Caroline is excited to see you," she said and I just rose an eyebrow at her. "Really, she is. I know you two haven't had the closest relationship since she became a cheerleader and stopped talking to you as much, but I think she's finally getting some sense knocked into her," my aunt continued as we walked out to her car. I was excited that she came and picked me up in the patrol car. I only had a suitcase and a carryon bag so there was no need for a big car with a lot of trunk space.

"Well if she's really excited to see me then cool. It'll be nice to actually hang out with my cousin again, but the first sign that she starts wanting to change me into a mini-her, I'm dying her hair black," I told my aunt, who just gave me a stern look. "Kidding," I said and held up my hands but I was totally not kidding. My cousin might have told her mom that she was excited to see me, but I would believe it when I saw it. Last time I visited my aunt and cousin, Caroline practically ignored me the whole time or tried to embarrass me in front of her so-called friends. Let's just say I ended up giving some of her cheerleader friends black eyes when they tried to harass me.

"Not much has changed on the outside," I muttered as we drove through Mystic Falls, Virginia. A town I had not seen for at least five years now.

"It might look that way but I can promise you that the teenagers around here sure do cause a lot of issues," Aunt Elisabeth said with a roll of her eyes.

"I thought that was what normal teenagers were supposed to do," I said teasing her and she just reached over and smacked my arm. "Don't worry, I'm not normal so you won't have to worry about that kind of trouble from me," I told her as she pulled into her driveway.

The two of us took my bags inside and she showed me to the guest room. It was cute, really bare, but it would work. I threw my stuff on the bed before noticing my aunt in the hallway. She looked about ready to cry, which was rare for her.

"I still can't believe how they treated you," she whispered and I just gave a shrug before I ended up with her almost hugging me to death.

"It's their loss," I told her as I patted her back.

My aunt just nodded before pulling herself together. She pulled away from me and wiped her eyes. "You must be hungry, how about I take you to the Grill to get some food?" she suggested but she was already nodding and walking out the door. I just shook my head and followed her. She was having a harder time dealing with all this than I was. "They have the best food in town," she said once we were back in the car. "Also, Caroline and her friends might be there too since it is after school. Oh yeah, you'll start at the high school tomorrow," she said and laughed when she saw my expression.

"Oh yay, learning," I muttered as we drove deeper into town.

"You act like you don't like learning, miss I skipped a grade and make all straight A's," my aunt teased and I just winked at her. "Anyways, this place has the best food," she said when we pulled into a parking spot near the restaurant/bar. "Let's go see if my daughter is there with her friends," she said excitedly as we exited the car and started walking to the grill.