Chapter 1: Pilot
With a tired groan, I blindly slapped my hand out towards where my alarm clock was blaring loudly. Today was the first day of school, and I dreaded going and facing everyone. After the death of my parents earlier this year, everyone had started looking at me differently. There was constantly a sadness in their eyes, and it appeared as if they pitied me. Of course, I wasn't the only one who faced this. My identical twin Elena and little brother Jeremy all had experienced the same thing. Sitting up, I stretched before climbing out of bed and jumping into the shower.
Stepping out of the shower, I started fluffing my hair around with my hand while looking in the mirror. While me and Elena were identical twins, there were some differences between up. While she had straightened her hair almost every day since we started high school, I almost always left mine in its natural waves. I rushed through my morning routine, before running down the stairs. When I got down there everyone else was already up and ready.
"Morning" Elena said to me in an unusually cheery voice.
"Ya, morning. Coffee?" I said, turning to Aunt Jenna.
Ever since the death of our parents, Elena had somewhat retreated into herself. I couldn't blame her, but we handled their deaths quite differently. I threw myself into activities to keep myself busy and repressed as hard as I could, while Elena distanced herself from everyone.
"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?" Aunt Jenna said, holding out a few bills towards us. I shook my head towards her along with Elena, While Jeremy stepped forward and took all of the money out of her hand. I rolled my eyes towards him, and poured some coffee into my travel mug.
"Scar, you're coming with me and Bonnie right?" Elena asked me, turning to look at me. Usually I would drive myself to school, or catch a ride with Caroline. My cherry red 2008 Mustang was my pride and joy, however I didn't see the harm in not driving her this one. "Yeah I am, but I'm meeting Caroline after school at the grill so I'm catching a ride with her after"
"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing here" Jenna asked, sounding worried.
"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Elena questioned, looking somewhat concerned.
Jenna nodded, glancing over at the clock "I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at…now, Crap!"
I laughed quietly, sipping my coffee "Well, don't worry about us. Seriously, we'll be fine" I told her with a smile. Jenna quickly hurried out the door, and Elena turned to Jeremy after she left.
"You okay?" Elena asked him, concern showing in her eyes. I turned towards him with a somewhat tight lipped smile on my face. I knew Elena had good intentions, but Jeremy would not be responsive to this approach at all.
"Don't start" Said Jeremy as he quickly left the house. I looked over to Elena with a sigh, before throwing on my favorite jacket over my shirt.
"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking..." Bonnie rambled on as we drove towards the school. I started to tune her out and stare out the window, just wanting to get out as soon as possible. While Bonnie had always been a little bit closer to Elena than to me, we were all friends. Caroline had always been my closest friend, and the four of us spent the majority of our time together.
"Elena! Scarlett! Back in the car" Bonnie said loudly, breaking me and apparently Elena out of our distant stares.
"I did it again, didn't I? I'm sorry Bonnie, you were telling me that…" Elena said, urging her to continue her story
"Some psychic hoodoo?" I added in playfully "I caught that part"
Bonnie shot me a look in her mirror before smiling "That I'm a psychic now".
'Ya, sure' I thought to myself
Repressing the urge to let out a famous Scarlett snide comment, I pursed my lips slightly and raised my brows at her.
"Right, okay, well then predict something. About me and Scarlett" Elena suggested, turning fully to look at her in anticipation.
"I see…" Bonnie trailed off thoughtfully. Suddenly a crow slammed into the front of the car, and Bonnie swerved to the side. In a panic filled tone, Bonnie quickly looked at both of us "What was that?! Oh my god, you guys! Are you okay?"
Breathing somewhat shakily, I nodded at her, attempting to wipe the look of fear off my face, "Don't worry, it's not your fault, but holy shit that came out of nowhere" I rushed out.
"It's okay, we're fine. We can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of our lives" Elena told her sincerely.
With a new determination, Bonnie smiled and said "I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you two are going to be beyond happy."
"Major lack of male real estate. Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot — can I still say "tranny mess"? Or is that over" Bonnie asked, staring at a girl down the hall.
"No, that's over." Elena told her, and I nodded in agreement with a laugh.
"Accurate though, I will say" I added, bumping my hip into her playfully.
"Ahh, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year" Bonnie said to us, giggling a little bit.
I glanced around the hall, strongly hoping that I wouldn't run into Tyler. We had dated for about a year, but after catching him cheating on me with Vickie freaking Donovan early in the summer, I had ended our relationship. Looking over to Elena, I saw she was not so lucky. Matt was standing across the hall at his locker, looking in her direction sadly. Elena waved to him with a halfhearted smile, and he ignored it, shutting his locker and walking away.
"He hates me" Elena moped, feeling sorry for herself. I turned towards her and raised my brows "You did dump him out of the blue" I reminded. Bonnie elbow came sharply into my side and I looked over at her "What? It's true".
Bonnie glared at me for a few seconds before turning to my twin "No, that's not hate. That's 'you dumped me and I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits'".
Caroline appeared out of nowhere, rushing towards us with her arms open.
"Elena, Scarlett! Oh my god" She squealed, hugging us one after another. While Elena had pretty much avoided her and anyone else all summer, I still had been seeing her fairly regularly. I went to the cheer camp with her over the summer that had become our tradition, along with Bonnie, while Elena had skipped out. I loved my best friend, but she could be overbearing sometimes…and a little bit insensitive.
"How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you. How is she? Is she good?" Caroline asked Bonnie, clearly speaking about Elena. I groaned internally 'Great Care, off to a good start'
"Caroline, I'm right here. And I'm fine, Thank you" Elena said, and I could immediately hear the lie in her voice. She sounded almost robotic, like she had practiced saying this. I couldn't blame her, people always felt the need to give their condolences and baby us. Miranda and Grayson had been well known and respected people in Mystic Falls, and as their precious twin girls, we seemed to warrant concern.
"Really?" Caroline asked skeptically, her eyes flickering to me briefly before looking back into Elena's eyes.
"Yes, much better" Elena reassured her, putting a little bit more pep into her voice.
"Yeah Care, Elena is doing okay. She just needed her space this summer" I added, smiling at Caroline.
"Okay good…Oh you poor things" Caroline said, before pulling us back into a tight hug.
"Hey, need to breathe" I choked out, trying to pull myself back slightly.
Caroline finally released us from her grip, and smiled at us "Okay, I'll see you guys later? Scarlett, we're going to my house after school" she added the last part as a statement, before walking away. Elena stared at her before laughing slightly "No Comment".
"I'm not going to say anything" Bonnie said, and I laughed in response.
"She means well" I stated, opening my locker and grabbing my books for history out of it, "We should head to history. You know tanner would freak if we were late".
The three of us started to head in the direction of Tanners class, chatting casually. I kept scanning the halls for Tyler, dreading a run in. After I had found Vickie and him half naked in his room we hadn't spoken more than a few words to each other. He had tried for about a month to talk to me, but eventually had given up.
"Hold up. Who's this?" Bonnie said excitedly, breaking me out of my thoughts. We were standing outside of the office, and there appeared to me someone we had never seen before speaking to the secretary. Newcomers were quite rare in a small town like Mystic Falls, and almost everyone at this high school I had gone to school with my whole life.
"All I see is back" Elena said, staring at the new kid in the office.
"That's all I need to see, damn" I said suggestively, winking in her direction.
"It's a hot back" Bonnie said in agreement with me, "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar".
"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" Elena said with raised brows, and incredulous look on her face.
"Pretty much yeah" Bonnie agreed, a smile on her face.
"Jeremy, good batch man!" I heard a voice say loudly down the hall, and I turned towards the source at the same time as my twin. 'Oh great, this isn't going to be good'
"We'll be right back" Elena said with anger in her voice, before turning to me briefly, showing me to follow.
"Uh yeah, what she said" I called out as I walked off with my twin. While I didn't support Jeremey's extracurricular activities, Elena took it every seriously. She managed to put a new strain on their relationship every time she lectured him. We followed Jeremey into the boy's bathroom, and I leaned against the counter by the door, letting her take the lecture lead.
"Whoa! Pants down chicks!" Some random guy in the bathroom yelled as he quickly yanked up his pants. I glared at him and raised my eyebrows "Couldn't care less. Out" I stated firmly, and Elena threw me a disapproving look at my attitude before turning to Jeremy. She gripped his face in her hand and examined his eyes.
"Great. First day of school and you're stoned" She exclaimed, and he yanked his face out of her grasp.
"No, I'm not!" Jeremey protested, but he was clearly lying.
"Yeah no, I can smell you from here Jer, not subtle at all" I added casually.
"Where is it? Is it on you?" Elena said in an almost manic tone, checking all over his body. I sighed quietly, rolling my eyes to myself. She really took on the overbearing mom roll easily.
"Stop, all right! You need to chill yourself" He said to her, shaking off her hands. I couldn't help the short laugh that escaped me.
"That's hilarious" I said sarcastically, stepping towards him to stand next to Elena. I crossed my arms over my chest, and stared at him in the eyes. I was about to drop some caring sister wisdom on him when Elena cut me off.
"Chill myself? What is that, stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool" She said mockingly, sounding like a typical stoner.
"Look, stop! I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?"
"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy! I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself. No, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it? Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person."
"Elena, I mean… you do sound a little bit crazy" I said to her, raising my hands in mock surrender.
"You know what? I don't need this" Jeremey said sharply before storming out of the bathroom.
"That went great sis, really. Perfect technique" I said sarcastically, before we both walked out. I walked out second, and stepped out just in time to witness her bump into someone. From the looks of his jacket and the fact that I had never seen him before, I concluded that he must be the new kid. He was extremely attractive, and from the look on my twins face she was very interested in him. I shot her a grin and winked before walking off to class, leaving her to her flirting.
The day went by fairly quickly, and I managed to avoid engaging in conversation with the large amounts of people who clearly wanted to apologize for my loss. Elena was too nice for her own good and ended up being stuck with the brunt of it. I met up with Caroline after school, and we drove over to her place to study and get ready for the grill tonight. I knew Tyler being there as unavoidable as he was part of our friend group, and was mentally preparing for the tension. Especially since Vicki worked there.
"Don't even worry about Tyler! Matt will be there too so Elena will be feeling the same thing, kind of" Caroline said cheerfully, almost as if she was reading my mind. "Plus, you're going to look so hot that he'll be begging for forgiveness".
I smiled at her efforts to cheer me up. Caroline always had a certain energy about her that I loved, and she always tried her best to be a good friend.
"Yeah, I'm sure he will after you're done curling my hair. It always looks better when you do it" I complimented, putting on lip gloss.
Caroline grinned in agreement, spraying hairspray on my newly perfect curls "It's a talent!"
After she finished my hair and we were both ready, Bonnie picked us up and we headed over to the grill. Elena would be meeting us there, and I was just as excited as Caroline was about grilling her over the new kid. Caroline briefed me and Bonnie on him as we walked into the grill in typical Caroline fashion.
"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue."
"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie said in slight amazement, eyebrows raised.
"Never underestimate the skill of Caroline" I said to her, earning me a large grin from Caroline.
"Oh, please, I got all that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding."
After a little while, Elena walked into the grill. I saw Matt stare in her direction, and I turned, before letting out a little dramatic gasp "Brought the new guy with her, she moves quickly". Matt stood up immediately and walked over there, a testosterone filled manliness radiating off him. I felt bad for him, he was so good to Elena. But she needed her space from him, and it seemed that she was moving on. After a few minutes of that mini standoff between the two guys, the three of them walked back over to the table.
"Nice" I whispered approvingly in my twins ear, and I saw a small shy smile spread over her face. Stefan turned slightly towards us as I said that, and I thought I noticed a tiny twinge of a smile appear on his face.
"I'm sorry I didn't get to introduce myself earlier. I'm Stefan, it's nice to meet you," Stefan said to me politely, and leaned over towards me to shake my hand.
I smiled at him, shaking his hand, "Don't worry about it. I'm Scarlett, Elena's twin…obviously" I added the last part as an afterthought, considering the fact that we were identical.
Before he could say anything in return, Caroline jumped in, unable to wait any longer, "So, you were born in Mystic Falls?"
"Yeah, moved away when I was still young"
"Parents?" Bonnie asked.
"My parents passed away" He told her, and I frowned.
"I'm sorry" Me and Elena said at the same time, both understanding exactly how he felt.
"Any siblings?" I asked him after a moment.
"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle" he said, and I was intrigued by the answer. It sounded somewhat cryptic.
"Mysterious" I commented with a laugh, and Caroline nodded excitedly in agreement.
"So, Stefan, if you're new then you don't know about the party tomorrow," Caroline told him, leaning forward to rest her chin on her hand.
"It's a back to school Mystic Falls tradition, everyone goes" I told him, trying for Elena's sake to get him to come.
Stefan looked over at Elena and asked her, "Are you going?"
"Of course she is" Bonnie answered for her, and Elena smiled at her.
"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" Tanner asked Bonnie, picking on her because she appeared to not be paying attention. Tanner was the teacher that all the students tended to hate, and for good reason.
"Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett. Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it." Matt responded and the class laughed.
"Hmm, Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"
"I'm sorry, I-I don't know" Elena said in response, and I stared at Tanner hard, knowing he would say something harsh. Even though I was only older than Elena by 5 minutes, I was quite protective of her.
"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break. That goes for you too Scarlett, remember that" He added the last part in warning, staring at me. I was about to rip him a new one, willing to accept any consequence that came, when Stefan's voice chimed in confidently.
"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians."
"That's correct. Mister...?" Tanner questioned.
"Salvatore."
"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"
"Distant."
"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Tanner said, before turning back to the board to continue the lesson.
"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner." Stefan said, looking him in the eye.
The whole class had a mixture of looks of awe, respect and amazement at the fact that someone so confidentially stood up to Mr. Tanner.
I stood with Elena and Bonnie at the back to school party, sipping a beer. They were discussing Stefan and I was fully planning on getting drunk.
"Oh, okay, so he's a little pretty." Elena told Bonnie at her urging, and I laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Elena, he is smoking hot." I clarified, laughing.
"He has that romance novel stare." Bonnie chimed in, smirking at me.
We chatted for a few more minutes, and I walked away from them, deciding I should go find Caroline. As I was walking away, I noticed Stefan, and I walked up to him, smiling.
"My sister is over there by the way" I casually said, grinning.
He smiled at me in thanks, before heading over in her direction, "Young love" I said to myself.
Walking off, I heard a familiar voice behind me "Hey Scar".
Taking a deep breathe, I turned around, and was faced with Tyler. He was very clearly drunk, and ever so slightly stumbled at me as he stared at with an almost predatory look in his eyes, "You look great".
Rolling my eyes, I jabbed my finger into his chest "Yeah I know. This took work".
"Well, you look even better with less. Actually, with nothing". With that, he leaned forward cupping my cheek "I miss you baby".
I cringed at the intense smell of alcohol coming from his breath, and glared at him "I don't. Go find that slut Vicki Donovan, I'm sure she will do." I said angrily, before roughly shoving him back.
"Fine, whatever, I will. At least she's fun".
I felt tears start to go to my eyes from anger, and I stalked back to the fire where I saw some girls from the cheer team. Tyler had been my first love, and I wasn't fully over him. Him cheating on me had shattered my heart, but I kept my confident cool girl act on fully to protect myself.
Not too long after, I hear my twin yell "Somebody Help!", and I quickly turned around to see what was happening. Not that long ago I had seen her walk off with Stefan, and she seemed happy. I jogged over and saw Jeremey carrying Vicki. I clenched my jaw slightly, about to leave when I saw the issue.
"What the hell" I exclaimed, noticing all the blood around her neck.
"Somebody call an ambulance!" Matt yelled to the crowd, panic clear in his voice.
"It's her neck. Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood." Elena said, checking her wound.
Not too long later an ambulance showed up to help her, and the party was ending. Bonnie and Caroline had already left, and I found Elena.
"Hey, are you okay?" I said to her, noticing she looked a little spooked.
"Yeah it's just…something Bonnie said to me…she said this is just the beginning" Elena told me, anxiety in her eyes.
I frowned at her, concern in my eyes "Well…let's hope not?" I stated, noticing Jeremey walking over.
