"Are you sure it's going to work?"
"Puh-lease, Klaus, I've known her since the sandbox. It may take a while, but if you pay her overt amounts of attention, you'll annoy her and she'll bite. Stems from her craving attention, never getting it, so when she does she tends to get a little antsy."
"Whatever you say," Klaus said tentatively.
xxx
Caroline was frantic. As a second year, she'd just finished her third year biology exam, even though it went fine, she was still panicking. She had one to go and it was intermediate physics. Caroline love physics, but sometime the formulae just kicked her butt.
She sat down in the vast library, and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. It was business time. She was going to go through all her unit notes today so, by tomorrow, she would be ready to do practice papers.
Caroline was born to study. She was diligent, and thorough. She could concentrate for hours at a time with caffeinated aid.
But today, she just couldn't focus.
There was a funny prickling on the back of her neck. She kept shifting in her seat, trying to get comfortable. After what felt like hours (but was really only 30 minutes) Caroline looked up, trying desperately to refocus her brain.
As she looked up, she caught the eye of a crazy attractive guy sitting three tables away. He had dirty blonde curls on top of his perfectly dimpled face. His rosy lips were perfect kissing size, and the stormy grey-blue eyes seemed to gaze into her, straight to her soul.
She always loved attention, so she gave the guy a flirty smile, but she then went back to her study.
She really needed to get through this.
The little flirt seemed to be enough to put her mind at ease, and she managed to plough through a good hour and a half of work.
xxx
Klaus picked up his phone and dialled a number.
"Jesus, what do you want?"
"It's been nearly two hours, and she's only noticed once."
"I told you, it'll take a while. Give it another hour."
"You better be right, or my brother will find his girlfriend kidney-less."
"Yeah, yeah, Klaus. Always with the kidney threats."
xxx
Before she knew it, Caroline was getting antsy again. She looked up and the same guy from before still staring at her. Caroline went back to her books, but peaked looks at him every few minutes.
After another hour, however, Caroline was utterly fed up with his little routine. So decided to storm over there and cause a fuss.
xxx
"Umm, can you not?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Look, I don't know what your problem is, or whether I have spinach in my teeth or something. But can you please quit it with the weird Marina Abramović thing you've got going…"
"You know Marina Abramoić?"
"… I'm trying to study for my last exam. It is a only a week away and I am so far from…"
"You're studying for an exam and it's a full week away?"
"… Being ready it isn't funny. Why the hell did I decide to do physics, I tell you…"
"You study physics?"
"… I'm honestly about this far from calling security…"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"… And having you kicked out of the library…"
"Caroline?"
"… For harassing the other students…"
"Caroline?"
"… I mean who sits and stares at someone for…"
"My god, love, you know how to talk."
"… Three hours while they are…"
"CAROLINE!"
Caroline stopped mid rant.
"Wait, you know my name?" He very much enjoyed the look of bewilderment on her face.
"I do, love."
"How do you know my name?"
"That's classified, sweetheart."
"But how do you know my name? I've never even seen you before."
"Would you like to go on a date with me?"
"What!?"
"You heard me."
"I would never in my right mind go on a date with weird-knows-my-name-Abramović guy."
Klaus slid a piece of paper across the table.
"That is my phone number, you can put it in your phone under 'weird-knows-my-name-Abramović guy'."
"But I'm not going on a date with you."
"Yes you will."
"Well you're mighty confident, aren't you?"
"Indeed."
"What makes you so sure?"
Weird-knows-my-name-Abramović guy chuckled.
"Well, for starters I know it's just killing you that I know your name, but you don't know mine. I also know you study physics, which means you're not one to back down from a challenge. And I'm certainly challenging you. You want to know how I found out your name. And you also want to know why I was staring at you." The guy's smirk widened as Caroline couldn't find a rebuttal to his logic. "So, it stands to reason that you will come on a date with me."
"But, I… I don't…"
"Finally, she can't find her words. I'll pick you up at your dorm room at 7pm. Make sure you wear something comfortable, and warm."
"But how you do know where I live?"
Weird-knows-my-name-Abramović guy just smirked some more and picked up his things and left quickly.
Caroline slumped in the nearest chair. Not many people managed to get one over on her. Yet the staring guy had.
What was worse, was that he was right. She would go out with him, if only to find out the answers to her questions.
xxx
The next evening, Caroline was frantic again.
She had a date with a stranger who knew all about her and she knew nothing about them. It was all a little too much for exam-addled brain.
"Whoa, Care. What's got you running around like a headless chicken?"
"I have a date, Kat. In thirty minutes! And I have nothing to wear! And it's practically a blind date, because I don't know him. And I am stressed to the max. But I HAVE to know how he knows me!"
"Settle down, Carebear. It'll be fine. What were you thinking of wearing?" Katherine shushed her friend, sitting her down on the bed.
"He said comfortable."
"Easy!" Katherine said, going to rummage through Caroline's dresser. She pulled out Caroline's dark skinny jeans, a bottle green slightly cropped tank top, some black boots and Caroline's favourite black jacket. "Done."
"Oh my god, Kat. You're a lifesaver."
Half an hour later there was a knock at the door, "Oh my god! He's here. How do I look?"
"Sexy. Now, go get him."
Caroline opened the door, "Hi Weird-knows-my-name-Abramović guy, how are you today?"
"Well, sweetheart," he chuckled. "Let's get going."
As Caroline stepped out of her dorm, he popped his head through and winked at the brunette on the couch, who just smirked and said "Have her home by quarter-past-make-sure-she-gets-laid. She's horrific when she's sexually frustrated."
He just smirked some more and shut the door behind him.
xxx
The date went perfectly. She found out his name was Nik and studied art, art history and business.
"I want to open my own gallery sometime in the future," he had told her.
Nik took her to get take-away pizza before driving them, in his red vintage Cadillac, to a drive-in cinema where they watched 80s classic The Breakfast Club on big screen, while eating pizza, snuggled under a rug together.
Caroline found out that weird-knows-my-name-Abramović guy was actually not creepy, but so sweet and thoughtful.
As he walked her back to her dorm after the evening was done she asked, "So, how did you know then? I've been very patient all night."
Nik smirked.
"My last name is Mikaelson."
Suddenly it all clicked. Kat was dating a Mikaelson. Nik must be a brother, and asked Katherine who Caroline was. He would have asked Kat how to get her attention (obviously, annoy her while she was studying), she would have told him she never likes anyone knowing more than her (so make phrase the date as a challenge), and then that her perfect date was pizza, John Hughes, and romance.
"I'm gonna kill her."
Nik just chuckled, understanding her train of thought. Then he leaned in to place his perfect lips onto hers and gave her a soft, sweet kiss.
"Thank you for a beautiful evening, Caroline. I do hope we can do it again soon," Nik said, before placing another fleeting kiss onto her lips, and turning to leave.
Caroline had never been more thankful that Kat was a meddling best friend ever.
xxx
The next morning, Caroline got her morning cup of tea and went to check the mail.
In the mailbox was an envelope, addressed to her.
She opened it and found five sketches and a watercolour of her face. She looked beautiful. The note attached read:
This is why I was staring, love, because you're beautiful.
Looooool!
Hope you like.
Marina Abramović is a performance artist who, for one of her pieces, sat staring blankly at anyone who sat across from her at the table. There's a youtube clip of it, and it is simulataneously horrifically unsettling, but so so beautiful and oh my gosh recommend.
Plus, if anyone cute is reading this (which will be everyone, because I honestly believe everyone is cute) the date Klaus takes Caroline on in this is my dream first date. Just so's you know ;)