A/N: For now, this will stay rated as K+. I am not sure if I will have to change it or not as of right now. This story is set in Mystic Falls, but some of the characters are a little out of character from the show. I thought it would be fun to play around with them a bit and see where I could go with them. This is my first story for The Vampire Diaries, so I hope you enjoy it. I am a huge fan of the show!
He could hear her laughter from across the lawn as he stood in a circle amongst his friends. That loud, obnoxious laugh that everyone seemed to love. Except him. He turned slightly to look at her, to watch her sway across the grass in her light blue skirt, hugging her books to her chest. She was surrounded by her two closest friends, Bonnie and Caroline. Her laughter ignited once again as she waved to an assortment of people as she walked by, never acknowledging him for even a second. He didn't expect her to. In fact, he was glad she didn't.
The first bell rang and he found himself following his own group of friends, Matt and Tyler, among others, towards the school entrance. Another three weeks and school would be out for the summer. He couldn't wait. Two whole months away from school work. Two whole months without having to get up early. And most importantly, two whole months without having to see Elena Gilbert. Yes, summer was looking promising for Stefan Salvatore.
With seconds to spare, the last of the students shuffled in to Mr. Saltzman's room and took their seats. Everyone was still chattering amongst themselves while Mr. Saltzman wrote across the whiteboard, but no one seemed to notice. With summer break exactly three weeks away, everyone was too excited about summer plans to worry about last-minute school work the teachers had planned for their students.
Stefan watched Elena lean over and meet Bonnie halfway in the middle of the aisle. They were excited about something, but Stefan could not hear what it was. Since the beginning of the year, Elena had sat in front of Stefan and he found it both annoying and amusing. Half the time, she annoyed him to death with her little miss "I'm always right" attitude she had had since he could remember. The other half of the time, their seating arrangement gave him the perfect opportunity to torment her, whether it was his close proximity while one-upping her on an answer she had just shared or kicking the bottom of her seat all throughout class. Silly, childish things that infuriated her.
But she gave as good as she got with him, always picking his answers apart or spreading a rumor that he had made out with the 100 year old librarian at their school. Everyone who knew Stefan and Elena came to expect this behavior from them. After all, the two had known each other since they were in diapers. Stefan and Elena's parents had been good friends and both were founding families of the small town, so the two families spent a lot of time together, especially at the various parties and functions in the community. Play dates were in order as well since Stefan and Elena were the only two similar in age that had lived in Mystic Falls their entire life. Stefan's friends and Elena's friends had all moved to Mystic Falls later on, but their parents had always thought it was good for Elena and Stefan to spend time together. Unfortunately, Stefan and Elena had never felt the same way. The tormenting and the fighting had started at an early age and had only escalated as they grew older. The harder their parents tried to make them get along, the more Elena and Stefan fought it.
Now, at 17 and juniors in high school, Stefan and Elena only had to see each other in school and at community functions, which to them, was way more time than they needed to spend together. Hence Stefan's excitement for the summer break. Elena and her family were going to The French Riviera for a few weeks; this would give him plenty of a break away from her. Stefan had plans to do nothing really. Sleep in and hang out with his friends. Thus, he did not need to cross paths with Elena.
Elena leaned back up in her seat, but not before turning slightly back to look at Stefan with a smirk on her face. Stefan glared, realizing that she and Bonnie had been talking about him. He glanced at Bonnie who smiled and looked toward the front of the room. Stefan watched as Elena's shoulders relaxed as she focused on the writing on the board. A small grin played on his lips before he leaned back in his seat and popped his right foot up, kicking the bottom of her seat.
Elena spun around in her seat, her sparkling brown eyes now clouded with irritation. "What?" Stefan asked innocently. "You know what" Elena replied in a low, quiet tone, letting him know that she was serious. Elena turned back around while Stefan smiled. She was in a very irritable mood today, he decided. This would be fun. Mr. Saltzman began his lecture for the day on something about the Civil War, but Stefan was planning his next move.
Stefan waited about three minutes before kicking under her seat again. "Knock it off!" Elena said, raising her voice as she turned around to face him once again. The quiet classroom turned their attention to Elena and Stefan, as did Mr. Saltzman. Stefan portrayed his innocence. "Miss Gilbert. Mr. Salvatore. Are we interrupting something?" Mr. Saltzman asked.
Elena exhaled the angry breath she had been holding. "No, Mr. Saltzman. Please, continue" Elena said in the sweetest tone she could muster up. However, annoyance continued to bubble up in her as she sat in her chair, fully aware of the amused smirk that was plastered on Stefan's face. She did not have to be facing him to know it was there. "Good" Mr. Saltzman replied, finishing up what he had to say. "Okay then, talk amongst yourselves for a few minutes while I get you guys paired up for your final project" he instructed.
Stefan leaned forward and grabbed a strand of Elena's hair that was resting along her back, and casually flicked it over her shoulder. "Thanks for not ratting me out" he said smugly. Not that he would have cared anyhow. He went to grab another piece of her dark, silky hair, when she turned around abruptly and grabbed ahold of his finger. "Touch me again, and I will permanently remove this finger, do you understand me?" she warned. Stefan smiled, grabbing hold of her wrist with his other hand and pulling her closer to him. She glared with surprise at his sudden presence of strength, realizing that she no longer held any control over him in the situation. At least not physically. Stefan pulled her until her nose was inches from his. He smiled lightly and then let it fade. "Don't threaten me, Elena" he said with a low, serious tone. She glared at him for a long moment before he pushed her back and pulled his hand away from her. Elena was now seething from anger and Stefan knew it. He could see it in her eyes and the way her body tensed.
"Alright class" Mr. Saltzman said, grabbing their attention. "Here are your pairings for the project. I don't want any whining or arguing. No trading of partners either. I have my reasons for the pairings, so I want you all to work with who I tell you to, got it?" he asked. Several of the students groaned. Elena wasn't worried. Her teacher was shacking up with her aunt, so surely Elena knew she would be paired with Bonnie if Mr. Saltzman, or Ric as she called him outside of school, knew what was good for him. "Caroline and Matt. Meghan and Josh. Sarah and Brett …" he went on, calling even more names. Elena looked out the window at the beautiful sunny weather as she waited for her name to be called. "Bonnie and Tyler" Ric said. Elena's eyes shot back up to the front of the room. "Which leaves" he paused. "Elena and Stefan" he smiled, setting his piece of paper down. The room grew dead silent. Stefan and Elena both stood up quickly. "Are you kidding me?" they both shouted simultaneously.
Ric frowned. "No, I believe that you two could each bring something unique to this project" he stated. "I'm not working with her. I'd rather work by myself" Stefan stated stubbornly. No way in hell was he going to be stuck working with her after school. "Well, Stefan, this project calls for you to work with another classmate. So, if you and, Elena" he said, eyeing her. "Cannot work together, then you both can take an F for the entire project, worth 50% of your grade, mind you, and repeat the course over your summer break" he announced. Stefan and Elena's jaws both dropped. "We're clear, then?" he asked. Stefan and Elena both sat down, still completely shocked. Elena looked to Bonnie who gave her a sympathetic look. "Now then, turn to page 330 in your book" Ric said, turning his attention back to his teaching. The class fell silent the rest of the period.
When class was dismissed, everyone hurried out of the room. Elena and Bonnie both exited the room when Elena felt a hand grab her arm and stop her. To her dismay, Elena turned to see Stefan. "Get him to switch us" Stefan demanded. "Get your hand off me" she demanded back, pulling away from him. Stefan noticed that the other students had stopped to watch them. Not wanting to be the center of attention, Stefan began pulling her down the hall, ignoring her protests. He let go of her when they rounded the corner in an empty hallway. "I'm serious. I refuse to have to see you more than I already do. Tell him to switch us" Stefan told her. "You think I want to work with you?" she shot back. "I can't make him do anything. And I am pretty sure he had his mind set on this." Stefan refused to believe that. "He's sleeping with your aunt. That has to give you some weight to throw around" he reminded. "Shhh" Elena said, looking around for anyone who could be listening. "That's not public knowledge" she warned.
"Just talk to Jenna and figure something out" he said harshly, leaving her to stand in the hallway alone. Elena groaned as she turned and went in the opposite direction to her next class.
The day slowly went on, though Elena expected nothing less with it being Friday and having had the worst day ever. She walked quickly to her car, parked between Bonnie and Caroline's cars, and got in. Backing up quickly, she threw her car into drive and sped off with one destination in mind. Aunt Jenna's.
Half an hour later and Elena was letting herself in to her aunt's apartment, neither bothering to knock or even call out to announce her arrival. Instead, Elena let out a huge groan as she sank into the couch. "Rough day, huh?" Jenna asked, peering around the corner. Elena closed her eyes. "The worst" she sighed. "All thanks to your boyfriend" Elena spit out. Jenna raised an eyebrow. "What happened?" she asked, coming to sit down next to Elena. "He's hell bent on ruining my life" Elena replied. Jenna smacked her in the leg. "No, what did he do?" she asked. Elena opened her eyes and stared up at her genuinely curious aunt. "You know that final project he's been droning on and on about?" Elena asked. "Yeah, what about it?" Jenna questioned. "Well guess who he paired me with?" she asked. Jenna stared at her blankly. "Stefan Salvatore" Elena replied in disgust. "Stefan?" Jenna asked, pretending to be horrified which only irritated Elena. Jenna placed her hand over her chest and stood up. "He paired you with Stefan? That cute, well-dressed, quite wealthy, might I add, charming young man?" Jenna asked in surprise. "How dare he!" she demanded in a mocking tone. A smile played on Jenna's lips before she broke into laughter.
Elena threw a pillow at her. "This isn't funny!" she declared. "I hate that guy. He's arrogant, and rude, and he is so NOT cute!" Elena argued. "You have got to get Ric to give me a different partner." Jenna sat back down, shaking her head at her niece's theatrics. "You know I can't do that. I don't get involved in his work" Jenna reminded. Elena huffed. "This project will take weeks Aunt Jenna. That means hours spent after school and weekends with Stefan. Do you want me to suffer? Do you?" Elena asked.
Jenna placed her hand on Elena's knee in a comforting manner. "No, Elena. I do not want you to suffer. I want you to put your differences aside and work with Stefan to get this project done" she added. "You and Stefan have been at each other's throats since you could walk. Don't you think it's high time you two got along for once?" she asked.
Jenna seriously hoped that Elena was considering what she had just said. "No" Elena answered as she stood up. "I have nothing but ill feelings toward Stefan. And the feelings are mutual." Elena moved around Jenna. "Where are you going?" Jenna asked. "To prepare my admittance to the psychiatric hospital" she said sarcastically before disappearing into the guest bedroom to think. No sooner had she sat on the bed did her phone buzz. She read the text message from Stefan asking if she had been successfully at getting Jenna to change Ric's mind. "No" was all she replied back with.
Stefan cursed as he sank into the chair in his room. He should have known that Elena would fail miserably at getting them new partners. He sat in his chair and contemplated just doing the project himself and putting her name on it. Problem solved. They would surely get an A and he would not have to see her outside of school. Sighing heavily, Stefan rested his head on his desk and closed his eyes. Why did life have to suck?
Elena heard a faint tap on the door before seeing her aunt appear. "Are you going to stay for dinner?" Jenna asked. Elena checked her phone and saw that it was just after six. Shaking her head no, Elena stood up and collected her things. "No thanks. I'll grab something on the way home" she answered. Jenna gave her a sympathetic smile before pulling her into a hug. "It will be okay. You'll see" she said softly. "Yeah. Right" Elena grumbled as she pulled away. Before Elena could walk out the door, her aunt called to her. "Hey. Drive safe. And tell your brother to call me." Elena smiled. "Will do."
Elena skipped stopping in town to grab something to eat, figuring she could wait until she got home. She exited off the main road, opting to take a back road to avoid the small town's traffic that built up around this time at night. It was a quiet road that not many people knew about, except for the locals. Elena checked the time, hoping to make it home by seven. She switched the radio station until she found an old country song she liked but would never admit to. As she sang along to the words, she noticed the road all of a sudden get a little bumpier. The further she drove, the bumpier it got. She immediately pulled over and got out to examine her car, fearing the worst. "Damnit" she cursed, studying the flat tire in the back. Elena went to grab her phone. "You've got to be kidding me!" she said, holding her phone up. No service. Frustrated, she threw her phone back in her car and leaned against the door. She had two options. Sit there and hope that someone would drive by or walk the 12 miles to her house. She knew that she would never make it by dark, and the thought of walking by herself in the dark did not sit well with her. Then she thought of how worried her parents would be when she did not show up or call. Elena placed her hands over her face and groaned.
Please review! I would like to know what you think and whether or not I should post the next chapter, which is currently on my screen right now :o) Thanks.