AN: Okay, here we go. This is my first try at a "real" fanfic. Sadly I don't have much time to write at the moment, but I will try to upload the next chapter as soon as it's finished. Happy reading!
Being 17 is difficult. You have to figure out who you are, what you want to be and where you want to be it. At the same time you have to deal with being seen as a child when you want to go party, and as an almost adult when it comes to laundry and chores. Oh, and then there's the thing about love. "The teenage years are the best! Enjoy High Scool!" Yeah right. People saying things like that probably forgot how it really was. Now, if you combine all that and add the nervousness of having to start your senior year at a new school, you're pretty close to how Caroline felt. And of course it was Monday too. She and her mom just moved to Mystic Falls this weekend after her parents got divorced. After 18 years of marriage Caroline's dad had apparently decided to announce he was gay and had a boyfriend. Liz knew of course. But Caroline still had a hard time accepting it. Walking down the stairs she could hear her mom talking on the phone.
"Yes, it's her first day today. I know… Sure, I will. Bye."
"Who was that?"
"Oh, good morning dear. That was your dad. He said hi."
The pleading look in her mother's eyes made Caroline sigh.
"Okay. Thanks."
"Sweetie, please don't… Today is a new beginning. We should start this part of our lives being happy, don't you think?"
"Sure mom. I'm all happy, see?" She put on her happy face. The one even her mother couldn't quite see through. Liz smiled. "It'll be fine. I can't wait to hear about your first day."
"Uh, mom, shouldn't you be at the cake factory?" Liz looked at the watch hanging on the kitchen wall. "Oh my..! Here's your lunch, I really have to go. Love you!"
As Caroline watched her mom run out the door, she decided to make the best of it all. She found a jacket and her bag and started to walk to school.
The halls of Mystic Falls High School were crowded with teenagers still trying to wake up. Caroline found an office and knocked on the door.
"Excuse me, but I'm new here and… where should I go?"
Mrs. Clarke looked up from her desk and smiled.
"You must be Caroline Forbes, right? Please, come in."
Caroline got a lot of papers while the halls cleared. Then Mrs. Clarke followed her to class.
"It's in there dear. Welcome. I'm sure you'll feel at home very soon."
"Thank you." Caroline felt very nervous as she saw the woman walk away. The sound of a man talking came from behind the door.
"Okay, you can do this." She took a deep breath and knocked on the door twice. Silence. Two seconds later the door opened and revealed a man looking to be around 30 years old. He looked at her questioningly.
"Uhm… Hi..? I'm Caroline…"
The man smiled and waved at her to come in. "Welcome Caroline. I'm Alaric Saltzman." He turned towards the class. "Everybody, this is Caroline. She'll be finishing the year with you guys, so be nice!"
The girls started whispering and a few of the boys smiled at her. And then there was the guy with curly blond hair in the back. He didn't even look up from the paper he was furiously drawing on.
"You can sit next to Stefan. He started a few months ago." Alaric said and pointed to a boy with green eyes and dark hair. He smiled politely and moved a book so Caroline had room for her things.
"Thanks" she whispered and sat next to him. As she listened to Mr. Saltzman talk about Odin and Thor, she noticed Stefan kept glancing towards a girl on the front row. She had very long dark hair, and she would look back once in a while, when Stefan wasn't looking.
"I think she likes you too." Caroline whispered to Stefan. He looked at her with red cheeks. "Who?" "You know who." He smiled a shy smile and looked back to his book. "Maybe." Caroline laughed quitly and looked up to see the girl look at them confused. Caroline shook her head and mouthed "no, just talking. He likes you". The girl looked down and smiled, then mouthed "thanks."
When the bell sounded, Alaric tried to yell his final words before the class disappeared through the door. The girl with brown hair and a dark girl walked over to Caroline, when Stefan left with a couple of guys.
"Hi. I'm Elena, and this is Bonnie. Do you want to eat lunch with us? We could show you around too."
"Yeah. Thanks. That'd be awesome." Caroline smiled and walked out with the girls. Before she closed the door, she saw the curly haired boy was still sitting in the back. "What about him?"
Elena looked back in. "Oh, that's Klaus. Just leave him alone. He doesn't talk much." Caroline felt bad for him, but followed the girls outside.
They sat under a tree and talked while they ate. Caroline asked Elena about Stefan, and her whole face got red. After a while Bonnie asked Caroline "why did you move?" "My parents got divorced…" she looked down and suddenly lost her appetite. "Oh." Bonnie said, and looked to Elena for help. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. But if you do, we're right here, okay?" Caroline felt Elena's hand on her arm and smiled sadly. "Thanks. That's good to know" After a long silence, Bonnie sat up straight. "You know what? I had a strange dream. This time it was about Matt. I should tell him." "Yeah, you do that. We'll see you in class in five." Bonnie left and Elena looked to Caroline trying not to smile too much. "She's… Well, she thinks she's psychic. And sometimes she's right, but… just go with it, okay? She's a nice person." Caroline nodded. "Sure." As they walked back inside, Caroline saw the boy with the blond curls stand alone next to a bin while he ate. It seemed as if he was invisible to everyone else.
After class the girls said goodbye, and Caroline started to walk home. She had only left the school grounds when a boy ran after her.
"Hey! Wait!" She stopped and turned to look at him. "Me?" He stopped next to her with a wry smile on his face. "Yeah, you. I just wanted to invite you to a party tomorrow. At my house. My parents go away for the weekend, so… you wanna come?" "Uh, okay. But.." "I'm Tyler. Ask Elena and Bonnie, they know where it is. Got to go!" He ran back to the school as Caroline stood there not sure what she just got herself into. She wrote a message to Elena as she walked home. *Hey. Do you know a Tyler? He just asked us to come to his house tomorrow to party. C* A few minutes later she got a message back. *I know him. We can go, but be careful. He invites all kinds of people. See you tomorrow. E* Caroline felt kind of excited already.