Ch.1; "Hello, Hello."

¤ First day of school after summer vacation; Senior year

¤ 6:45 a.m

The last thing Jeremy Gilbert wanted to do was get out of bed and drag his ass to school, except he was pretty sure if he didn't, his Aunt Jenna Sommers would be the one doing the dragging. It had had been years since he's seen his Aunt, and when she got in last night, he was already passed out so their inevitable meet & greet for the first time in who knows how long was just a few minutes away.
Why he even needed someone to 'watch over him' was beyond him, he had been doing fine with Zach Salvatore checking in on him every now and then during the summer; Now, he was going to lose all the freedom he had, which meant no more all night sexcapads with Vicki Donovan after getting sky high after scoring his usual from the weird kid down the block who always had the good stuff. Vicki. The only reason Jeremy got his ass out of bed.

He didn't even bother showering, instead just threw on some clothes that he grabbed off the floor and inspected to make sure they were at least somewhat clean; He was only going to hell, no reason to be clean for that. Grabbing his backpack off the chair, he headed out and locked his bedroom door behind him in case Jenna got a little snoopy while he was at school and decided to evade his space.

"Aunt Jenna!" He called out from the top of the stairs, seeing his Aunt move around the kitchen as he took two steps at a time and sauntered in, grabbing one of the apples from the fruit basket. Instead of getting a reply, all he was greeted with was a blank and confused stare as maybe she had no idea who had just stormed through the kitchen and committed fruit robbery.

"... Who are you?" Finally the woman spoke. Not intelligently, but it was a start.

"...I'm Jeremy." He was pretty sure at any moment her serious looking expression was going to change into an 'Ahh, gotcha!' one but still nothing.

"Jeremy's six." Jenna's voice came out so matter-of-factly sounding as if there wasn't a chance in hell that they boy standing in front of her was actually Jeremy Gilbert.

"I'm 16." He didn't even sound as if he believed himself, yet he was the one that was telling the truth.

"Then you're not Jeremy."

Either he was still sleeping and having some warped dream where his own Aunt hadn't a clue how old her nephew was or the woman standing in front of him wasn't Jenna. Except it was.

"Are you high?" It was a logical question with the way she was acting.

Jeremy didn't have time for dealing with her lack of parental skills right now. He had to get to school and see his soon-to-be girlfriend. At least that's what he hoped for.

He left her standing in the kitchen; she followed him and was talking every step of the way to the front door except at this point, he had put his earphones in to his Ipod and turned the sound way up so he didn't here a single word that she said as he slammed the door behind him.

¤ 7:15 a.m

"Just Ignore her." Bonnie Bennett scoffed, turning away from the bright red convertible that just pulled into the Mystic Falls High School parking lot; Being driven by none other than Katerina Petrova. She turned away from the car and started to head into the building when she noticed that her best friend wasn't following her and still had her eyes glued to the car. "Care... Caroline, hello! Did you hear what I said? Just ignore her."

"Easy for you to say, she didn't sleep with your boyfriend." Caroline Forbes pouted, finally turning to face her friend.

"I didn't even sleep with my boyfriend." Bonnie sighed.

"That's because your boyfriend is Tyler Lockwood and he doesn't even know you exist." Caroline retorted with a huff. She had real problems with her real boyfriend...err ex-boyfriend to work through and Bonnie was giddied up on some fantasy bad boy.

"Hmm, my little Ty Ty." Bonnie looked off into space, grinning slightly as she swayed in dreamland with her dream boyfriend, obviously not hearing a word of what Caroline just said.

Bonnie was so busy fantasizing about Tyler, and Caroline was too busy rolling her eyes that neither girl noticed Katerina walking up to them; No time to run and hide.

"Hey girls, Caroline... Bonnie" Katerina smiled, what was surely a fake as can be smile. This was the first time that Kat had actually come face to face with Caroline after she found out that she slept with her at the time boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore at the end of junior year. "I'm really sorry Care... you know, about last year. I was so vulnerable after breaking up with Matt... it was wrong for Stefan to take advantage of me like that."

Bitch.

Before Caroline could rip Katerina's hair out, Bonnie jumped in; Almost just as visibly upset about Kat's words as Care was. "Is that what you call shoving your hand down his pants and begging him to fu..." Bon was cut off from finishing the rest of her sentence as Caroline yanked on her arm and started pulling her towards the front doors of the school; She didn't want to hear anymore.

"Sorry!" Kat called out after both of them, the sarcasm leaking heavily through for anyone too smart to believe her games. Slut wasn't sorry.

¤ 7:32 a.m

"Shit!" Jeremy shoved his books in his locker and slammed it closed, the late bell to first period echoing through the almost deserted hall that signaled he was late. "Great." He mumbled as he headed towards class, the last place he wanted to be; He hadn't even seen Vicki yet and it didn't look as if she was going to show.

"There you are..." The female's voice called out, her footsteps quickening as she hurried closer to him.

Jer had just turned the corner when he heard a familiar sounding voice from behind him and looked over his shoulder, but was shoved to the side and through an open door which turned out to be a storage closet. He barely had time to get a word out before the door was shut closed and he was slammed against; Vicki tongue practically being forced down his throat.

Always the multi-tasker, Vicki's hands worked their around Jeremy's pants, just about to pull his zipper down but to no success as Jer's own hands swatted hers away.

Vicki didn't seem affected by the rejection and instead started feeling her hands all over his pockets. "Got anything on you?" Her eyes gleamed with hope that he had at least some pills or something for a quick fix.

Sometimes it was hard to tell whether Vicki liked him for him or just because he could supply her.

It was true; Jeremy was head over heels in love with Vicki, but that was the problem. Over the summer, being fuck-buddies was more than enough, however Jer went and did the unthinkable as most would call it. He fell in love. 1) Vicki wasn't the type of girl to fall in love with; She was more of the free-spirited type who couldn't be in a committed relationship to save her life and 2) She had a boyfriend... yet here she was in the storage closet with him... hence number 1.

Shaking his head no with a shrug, he wished they could just talk about something other than drugs for once. "I didn't want Jenna catching anything on me."

"Jenna, who?" For a moment Jeremy thought he may of saw a flash of jealousy in Vicki's eyes but if that's what it was, it was gone faster than it took him to blink.

Without waiting for an answer, Vicki walked back over to him and pressed her body up against his chest and once again made another go at his pants.

Like before, Jeremy swatted her hands away and started to protest but Vicki's voice talked over him.

"What?" This time there was no doubt about it, she was more than annoyed by the rejection; And if everyone only knew one thing about Vicki, it was that she was a bitch when she didn't get what she wants.

"What about Brady?" With any luck at all, she would say that she dumped his ass.

Vicki's flirty demeanor returned again, seemingly forgetting about the rejection just seconds before. "Sorry hun, you're not his type. Brady prefers girl on girl threesomes." She smirked, wrapping her arms around his neck and playing with a few strands of his hair.

Jeremy sighed, knowing damn well that she knew that's not what he meant. "Vicki, I don't think I can do this anymore..." He wanted her, but he was tired of sharing her.

"You weren't saying that last weekend..." She grinned, looping her index fingers through the belt loops of his pants and giving them a tug.

This girl just never quits.

"Well that's what I'm saying now." Jer removed her reluctant hands away from his pants, hopefully for the last time, and took a step back.

Now she was pissed.

"You know what your problem is Jeremy? You don't think with your dick enough." Most girls would appreciate a guy who used their brains. Not Vicki. For the life of her, she just couldn't understand why he couldn't just fuck her and be done with it. It wasn't like he hadn't before.

Once again, Jeremy was shoved to the side as Vicki pulled open the door and stormed out in a huff, slamming it closed behind her.

After she was gone, Jer ran a hand through his hair as he leaned against the door and took a deep breath. He wished he had a guy friend to talk to for some advice but he was seriously lacking in the bromance area.

Suddenly he was thrown forward as the door was pushed open; He almost fell forward against the wall except he managed to catch himself on one of the metal shelves and gain his balance. When he turned around, he was expecting to see Vicki standing there, but instead it was just one of the custodians. Without saying anything, Jer picked up his backpack from the floor and hurried out.

¤ 8:45 a.m

"So what? You're just going to ignore me now?" Katherine slammed Stefan's locker closed after she said 'Hi' twice but was replied to with nothing but silence.

Stefan blinked a few times before he reluctantly turned his head to look at her. "What do want, Katherine?" Clear annoyance in his voice. "It's not enough that you hound me over the summer after you ruined my life, now you want to make senior year hell for me too?"

"Ouch." She wasn't even offended at his cruel remarks."Someone's a little touchy this morning, wake up on the wrong side of the boarding house bed?" A smirk crossed her lips as she leaned forward, placing a hand on his shoulder as she whispered in his ear. "I have the place alone tonight, wanna come over?"

He nudged her off of him like he couldn't shake her off quick enough. "That's never going to happen again, Katherine. Don't you get that? You don't mean anything to me."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you pulled your dick out of your pants." Katherine snapped back at him, turning on her heel as she flipped her hair over her shoulder with a freshly manicured hand and headed off.

Of course, she had to get something in before she left. With a quick turn, "Believe me Stefan, if you continue to ignore me or treat me like a piece of trash; I will personally make every day of your senior year a living hell for you."

Stefan stared at her back as she sauntered off, her heels clicking down the tile floor as she walked; He couldn't believe that he ever laid a hand on her, much less a finger. Caroline was already making him pay for that mistake, so was Katherine; Both for entirely different reasons.

¤ Lunch Break

"Isn't he just the hottest thing to walk the Mystic Falls cafeteria?" Bonnie asked to an unpaying attention Caroline as she played with one of the carrots on her plate. Bonnie wasn't even paying attention that Care wasn't paying attention; She was too infatuated with Tyler, who had just sat down at the table in front of them.

"Earth to planet, Bonnie." Caroline finally looked up from her lunch plate, not even realizing she had said something moments earlier and flicked a carrot at her head.

"Ow." Bonnie yelped as the carrot hit her right in the middle of her forehead, she picked the carrot up and threw it right back at Caroline except she managed to dodge it just in time...

"What the hell?" Tyler turned around, rubbing the back of his head as he scanned the floor for the object that had just came in contact with him, before shifting his gaze right at the table Bonnie and Caroline were sitting at.

Caroline slowly turned around, coming face to face with Tyler; Had it been Bonnie, she probably would have passed out from being so close to her 'Little Ty Ty', and apologized while Bon just sat there blank eyed and speechless. Tyler hadn't said anything in response, just glanced between both girls and then turned back to his friends.

"If ever the time was right for you to say hi, that would have been the moment." Bonnie glared at her friend, huffing at her comment. "Because I want to be known as the girl that threw a carrot at his head? Why'd you have to go and dodge it anyway?'"

Caroline rolled her eyes just as Luka walked over and sat down next to Bonnie. "Hey Luka..."

Luka Martin has the hugest crush on Bonnie, everyone except Bon knew that of course; She was too blind as she was busy crushing on Tyler to see that there was a sweetheart dying to make her his. A few of them, Caroline included, had tried to convince him to tell her how he felt, but he was too scared that she wouldn't feel the same and didn't want to ruin their friendship.

"Hey Care, hey Bon..." Luka flashed both girls a smile. "I saw Stefan in the hall... he said he'd like to talk to you." He directed at Care.

Care just shrugged, she spent the whole summer ignoring Stefan after what he did with Katherine; She intended on doing the same thing the whole school year. Of course it was harder to do now since they saw eachother every day, and even a few classes together. "I'm not ready to talk to him yet..." Honestly, she didn't think she ever would be.

"You should at least hear him out..." Luka added, Bonnie nodded in agreement and they were both replied to with cold glares. "I'm not saying what he did was right, it wasn't, but it's clear he's sorry for what he's done..." Luka smiled apologetically, he was best friends with Stefan and Caroline and hated to see either of them hurting.

"At least for closure if nothing else..." Bonnie added, nibbling on a carrot; She was speaking to Caroline but her eyes were still glued to the back of Tyler's head.

At the moment, Caroline saw Stefan walk in the cafeteria and sighed quietly to herself. "Maybe you two are right..."

¤ End of 3rd Period

"... Hey Caroline, can I talk to you for a moment?" Mr. Salvatore stood from his desk as Caroline was headed out with the rest of the students after the bell rung, ending third period.

"Sure." Caroline smiled politely, wondering that he needed to talk to her about; She had always been nervous around him since he was Stefan's brother... Stefan's extremely hot older brother. And it wasn't just that... There was just something that had 'Womanizer' all over him.

"Is everything alright? ... Given the circumstance of course." For a moment, Caroline actually believed that he cared about what his brother had done to her and what she was going through but then she remembered who she was talking to.

"I know you've been going through some personal issues... but your school work shouldn't suffer, last year you barely passed this class... had I not given you those extra points..."
He leaned over and placed his hand on Care's forearm, which sent a shiver down her whole body.

"I appreciate what you did but this year will be different, I'll earn my grade." Care nodded, keeping her stance and trying not to show how nervous or intimated she was; Damon only smiled in return.

There was something behind his smile, an ulterior motive. "If there's anything you need... anything at all, you know where to find me." He seemed so cocky and self assured of himself, different in every way from his brother.

Caroline had known Damon for a few years now, and everyone in town knew that he had a way with the ladies; He always seemed to be with a different one every week and surely knew how to charm a lady.

She wasn't naive, nor was she that 'type' of girl. If she needed consoling, then she would lean on Bonnie's shoulder; If she needed to pick her grades up, then she would pull all night study sessions with Bon. What she was not going to do was sleep with the teacher.

Hot or not... Definitely hot. Didn't matter. Sure there were times when class got boring and she would drift off to fantasy land... She shook the thoughts out of her head.

Caroline shrugged and politely removed his hand from her arm. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." She took a step back and then turned around before Damon had a chance to say anything else or touch her again, and walked out of his classroom with only one thought on her mind.

If she was ever that type of girl, she would know exactly how to get back at Stefan...

¤ 2:33 p.m

The last bell of the day just rung and that meant two things; 1) It was time to get the hell out of Mystic Falls High School and 2) Caroline didn't have to deal with anymore of Katerina's slutty force-feed remarks.. until you know, tomorrow.

"Today wasn't so bad..." Bonnie said, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself as well and not just Caroline as she grabbed her books of the desk and headed out of Alaric Saltzman's classroom.

"For who?"

Caroline waited for an answer, only to hear nothing but silence and turned around thinking maybe Bonnie hadn't heard her question but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Bon?" Caroline gazed over the crowd trying to figure out where her best friend wandered off to without saying so much as a goodbye; She probably got side-tracked by her 'Little Ty Ty' and followed behind him like a puppy.

Caroline couldn't help but laugh at the thought.

But her laugh was cut short when she finally laid eyes on her friend down the hall, kneeled down by one of the lockers talking to... her.

Even from far away, Care could tell that it wasn't a pleasant conversation; The girl's face was completely red as if she had been crying for hours and still was... The closer Caroline got to the two girls, the more she could see how terrible it was.

She slowly approached them, glad that Bonnie had noticed her in the first place and was trying to console her for whatever was wrong. At first she didn't say anything, just lightly bit her lip and stood off to the side not knowing what to say.

This wasn't her friend. She was Bonnie's.

"She's pregnant..." Even just saying the words sent the girl into another sob of tears as she brought her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. Bonnie looked over at Caroline, also with the same helpless look of not being sure what to do.

"How far along is she... are you?" Caroline wasn't sure who to address, she didn't want to be rude and talk about the girl like she wasn't sitting there but she didn't want to go sticking her nose in her business either.

But she didn't mind sharing.

"Three weeks..." She answered Care's question and then some; Probably re-telling everything that she had just told Bonnie a few minutes ago before Caroline walked over.

"I don't know what to do... My boyfriend's out of town... and I don't know how to tell him." It wasn't any secret who her boyfriend was, in a small town like this; It was hard to hide the fact that a 17 year old girl was shacking up with a 23 year old who was probably only using her for one thing.

No wonder she didn't know how to tell him.

Bonnie did some more consoling, and even Caroline sat down next to the girl and rubbed her back softly. Around 15 minutes later, the girl didn't seem as bad. Her face wasn't as red, and she had stopped crying; Even said that she felt a little better and thanked the both of them.

She had to go; She may not have told her boyfriend, but she did tell her mom and said mom, was waiting outside to pick her up so she couldn't possibly get herself in any more 'trouble.'

As if things could get any worse.

Bonnie and Caroline were left standing alone in a nearly empty hall as most of the others kids had cleared out by now.

"I'm never having sex... it ruins lives." Bonnie said with a look that was way to serious.

"What?"

Earth to planet Bonnie.

"Well, it's true. I'm way too young to get knocked up and you though Stefan was the perfect guy for you..." Bonnie trailed off, knowing that she didn't need to finish that sentence and bring up what happened with him and Katerina last year.

Both girls stood in silence for a few moments, in a seemingly depressed state as they thought about the issues in their lives when a confused expression crossed Caroline's face.

"Wait...

Ben's been out of town for two months... My mom spoke to his dad last week, they're still on that family vacation in Colorado."

Bonnie blinked, not quite sure what Caroline was getting at, but as she thought about the previous conversation, it dawned on her.

Meredith said she was three weeks pregnant.

Which meant Ben wasn't the father.

That's why she didn't know how to tell him.

"That whore had a one night stand." Caroline looked off in deep thought, pressing her lips together as she tried to figure out who Mer could of got knocked up by.

"I'm sure that's not what happened... or at least I hope not." Bonnie had known Mer long enough to know 'one night stands' were not her thing and just hoped something worse hadn't happened.

"So if Ben's not the father...

... then who is?"

Author's Note: Please, read and review!