Chapter 2
Dani left the Mystic Grill after paying her bill and walked back to her car.
After having dinner at the Grill, Dani felt the exhaustion sink into her bones. It had been a long day and it was high time that she got to bed.
She drove back to her new home, and noticed that all the lights were turned off. Figuring that Ms. Tabby had gone to bed already, Dani got into the house as quietly as possible, locked the door behind her, then tiptoed up the stairs to her room.
She changed into her pj's quickly, brushed her teeth, put in her retainer and washed her face. After she had finished with her nightly routine, she flipped back the plush cover of the bed and climbed in between the sheets.
With a sigh, she settled in and fell asleep in a matter of minutes.
Since Dani had moved in Saturday, she had her whole Sunday free before she had to be into work on Monday. She walked around town and visited the school to familiarize herself. She had lunch at the Grill again and chatted with Ted while she ate.
On Monday morning, she woke up a whole lot excited and a whole lot nervous.
Dani showered, untangled her curly hair, brushed her teeth, got dressed, gathered her stuff and headed downstairs where Ms. Tabby was cooking breakfast.
Dani licked her lips when the smell of bacon hit her nose. Stepping into the kitchen, she saw Ms. Tabby at the stove.
"Good morning Ms. Tabby," Dani said as she set down her bag against the wall.
Ms. Tabby turned to her and flashed a smile. "Good morning Dani dear. I'm almost done breakfast, so why don't you have a seat?"
Dani sat at the small wooden table and Ms. Tabby served both Dani and herself. They chatted a bit while they ate until Dani had to be off to school.
Ms. Tabby wished her luck as she walked out the door. On the way to the school, Dani felt her nervousness get worse and to release some tension, she put in a CD and turned up the volume.
"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world! Life in plastic, it's fantastic!"
Pulling into the parking lot, Dani did not miss the looks she got. She figured that it was either because she was a newcomer or that she was blaring Aqua's "Barbie Girl" at full blast. Probably the first one.
She smiled at students as she got out and started walking to the front doors. Some smiled back at her awkwardly and others gave her curious looks.
Dani walked through the front doors and weaved her way through the crowded hall to get to the office. The secretary there greeted her cheerfully and introduced herself as Cathy. She gave Dani a schedule of her classes and gave her directions to her class.
Dani thanked her and walked out to go find her class. It was pretty easy because her classroom was on the first floor. No one was inside yet so Dani took a few moments to take out her things and look around.
The class was of a moderate size, having about 20 desks and a white board at the front. Her desk looked exactly like the ones she'd seen her own teachers seated at all through her years as a student. There was a bulletin board at the back, three windows lining the wall facing the door and posters of famous literary quotes and people on the other wall.
The sudden knock at her door surprised her out of her thoughts.
A man who looked to be in his late thirties stood in the doorway. He had sandy brown hair, hazel eyes and a five o'clock shadow besides it being eight in the morning.
Dani smiled politely at him. "Hello, may I help you?"
"Actually, I was under the impression that I was here to help you."
At Dani's confused look, the man stepped further into the room and reached out a hand. "Alaric Saltzman, history teacher."
Dani shook his hand and introduced herself. "Danielle Court, English and Spanish teacher. Everyone calls me Dani though."
"Nice to meet you Dani. You can call me Rick."
"Oh good. That's easier than saying Alaric all the time."
Rick chuckled. "That's what people keep telling me. Anyway, I'm here to act as a sort of mentor. Any questions you have, just come ask me. I'm three doors down that way," he said pointing.
Dani thanked him. "I appreciate the help. I don't know anyone in town except for my land lady but I only just met her a few days ago."
Rick shrugged. "It's not a problem. If you want, some of the teachers are going to the Mystic Grill tonight for dinner and drinks tonight. Something that we do to kick off the start of the school year. You can come along and meet some more of the teachers and hear all the horror stories too."
Dani grinned. "Sounds like fun. What time?"
After Alaric gave her the details, the first bell rang and Alaric said goodbye before heading to his own class.
When he had left, Dani found her nervousness returning with full force. She took some deep breaths to calm herself down and hoped for the best.
Dani sighed as the last student walked out of the classroom. Slumping into her seat, Dani thanked higher powers that the day was done.
It hadn't been as bad as she had previously thought, but her nerves had exhausted her. Since it was the first day of school, she had just gone over the course outline, taken names, and gotten to know some of her students.
A few had given her a bit of lip, but she just stared them down, letting them know that just because she was new, she wasn't going to take any crap. Some had gotten the message, others would take some more time but she was determined to let these teenagers know she was no pushover.
She gathered her papers and material, twirled her keys around her finger and headed for the door.
She still had a few hours before meeting up with Rick and the other teachers, so she decided to go to the Mystic Falls library and check out their selection.
She'd looked up the address during her lunch break and was delighted to find that it was only a few blocks away from the school. Since it was such a nice day anyway, Dani dropped off her things in the trunk of her car and started her walk to the library.
The Mystic Falls Public Library wasn't that impressive on the outside, but when she got inside, she felt the bookworm inside her surge to the surface.
In front of the entrance, there was a small reception/check-out desk where a nice looking lady, who Dani guessed was the librarian, was talking with a young mother holding an infant. They both looked at her momentarily when she walked in and smiled in greeting before continuing with their conversation.
Beyond the desk lay rows and rows of shelves, and the shelves were covered with books. Dani giddily made her way into the stacks. It took her twenty minutes to survey the whole floor, and when she found stairs leading upstairs to another floor filled with shelves, Dani did a little happy dance.
An elderly man gave her a queer look but she just smiled happily at him and went on exploring. She made a quick mental map in her mind of the library: fiction on the bottom floor and non-fiction on the top, non-fiction films filed with books, audio books on the top floor at the side. DVD's were near the front doors and there were bathrooms both upstairs and down.
Dani grabbed a few books and sat down in a comfortable looking love seat stationed in a cozy corner on the fiction floor. She didn't know how long she sat there, but when she reached for her phone to check the time, she saw that it was nearly six.
Quickly, she grabbed her books and went to the front desk.
The same lady from before smiled at her from behind the counter and reached out to take her books.
"Are you new to town? Would you like to sign up for a library card?"
Dani nodded enthusiastically and filed out the information card that the librarian handed to her. She handed it back when she was done, watched the librarian type a few things on her computer, then she handed Dani a shiny new library card.
"My name is Carol and if you ever have any questions, just come up and ask. Here's a pamphlet with lending information and our web address. Our hours of operation are on the back along with our phone number. Oh, and here," Carol said as she reached down behind the desk. She handed Dani a cloth bag with the words 'Mystic Library' printed on the side. "Every new patron gets a free gift."
Dani thanked Carol and put her newly borrowed books in the bag before walking out.
She made it back to the house at six thirty, which meant that she had thirty minutes to change and get to the Grill. She sprinted up the stairs to her room, dumped her things on the bed and got changed.
Racing back downstairs, almost running down Ms. Tabby in the process, Dani hurriedly grabbed the keys and headed for the door.
"Where are you going Dani dear?"
"Ms. Tabby, I'm so sorry that I can't have dinner with you, but one of the teachers from the high school invited me to dinner tonight at the Grill to meet some of the school staff."
"Well that's alright Dani dear, I was headed over to the neighbor's house anyway to play some bridge. You go and have fun. I'll leave the porch light on for you."
Dani smiled and thanked Ms. Tabby. She walked down the porch steps, got into her car and made her way to the Grill.
