Friends and Games:

"I'm meeting up at the Grill with some people." Beth told Alaric as they sat down on a bench. He had finally found her walking around. People were basically getting ready for the fireworks display and it was getting pretty crowded. "Is that cool?"

"Yeah, sure. I told you you'd meet some people. Who are they?" He asked curiously as he stopped. He wanted to make sure it wasn't any bad kids.

"Tyler Lockwood, Caroline Forbes, and Matt Donovan. Student of yours?" She questioned and he nodded. They were pretty much good kids. He knew she would be fine with them, though Tyler was a bit of a flirt, he knew that Beth could handle him if he came on to strong.

"Yeah, they're fine. I'll pick you up later though, okay?" Alaric asked, more than told her. He didn't want to sound too controlling cause he didn't want her to think he didn't trust her but he wanted her to be safe. She nodded in agreement. He was still new to this whole guardian thing and she understood his cautious nature, but it seemed to be more than that.

"Don't worry so much, Ric, you'll get wrinkles." She joked and he gave her a sarcastic look. "I also met another girl. She was pretty nice too. She said her name was Elena Gilbert. I think she said she was in your class"

Alaric nodded; he had seen her around here in costume too. "Yeah, she's a good student, her and her brother both. She's excellent at History too, Might even give you a run for your money." He joked.

"Yeah, sure." She said. "I'm going to go meet up with them now. I'll see you later." She waved and left him there. He just sighed as he watched her walk off toward the building.

"You made it!" Caroline squealed excitedly as she walked up to the entrance of the grill. Beth just smiled at her. "I hope you'll forgive about that stupid question, earlier. I didn't know, I shouldn't have said anything it."

"It's okay, Caroline, seriously." Beth said trying to reassure her. She was past that and she just wanted to move on. "I just glad you guys invited me!"

"Of course, Tyler seems to like you too." Caroline winked and Beth just laughed as they walked in and saw the guys at the table, looking uncomfortable. Caroline noticed Beth noticed the tension between them too. "Don't worry about them, they're in a fight cause Tyler made out with Matt's mother when he was drunk." Beth's jaw dropped open in shock and Caroline saw that and realized what she said and tried to cover up. "But, please, please, please don't tell him I told you! Tyler would kill me if he found out I spilled the beans about that."

"Don't worry, I won't say anything." Beth promised her and Caroline smiled, gratefully at her. They saw Tyler leave the table to go over to the pool table. "Let's go kick their butt in pool!" Beth said as they walked over to them. Caroline liked this girl. She didn't seem to be bitchy or conceited.

They went over to Matt first. He smiled when he saw Caroline and stood up to kiss her. "Hey, this is Beth. She just moved here from LA." She said introducing them.

"Nice to meet you." Matt smiled at her, politely. "Mystic Falls must be a big change for you, from being from California."

"Likewise and it takes some getting used to but it's nice here." She replied as they both sat down again. She decided to give them some space. "I'm going to go play with Tyler." She said pointing to him behind her. She left and walked over to the pool table and Tyler smiled once he saw her. "Hey."

"Hey. So, are you up for a game? Winner buy's the other a milkshake." He asked challenging her. "But I have to warn you I'm pretty good at this. Hardly anyone can beat me." Beth grabbed a pool stick. He walked over by her.

"Well there's always a first, right?" She replied and he just laughed, thinking she wouldn't know what she was getting herself into and started to set up the rack. He knew that he could win this easily so he might as well give her a chance. He offered for her to break. "You sure?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think it'll be fair." He said confidently and she shrugged with a small grin on her face. She leaned down and broke the rack. 3 different balls all made their way into the pockets. She smiled smugly at Tyler as she leaned against the stick. "Beginner's luck." He waved it off but he was secretly impressed.

"Right." She said. She took the next shot. It was pocketed, also. Shot, after shot she made almost every single one. Tyler was close to her score but after another shot she won the game. She raised her hands in victory. Caroline and Matt stopped talking and watched from afar, shocked at her win. "Yes!"

"I can't believe you just kicked my ass." Tyler said in disbelief, as he racked up the balls again. He just got beat…by a chick.

"Like I said, there's a first for everything. And I believe you owe me a milkshake." She reminded him smugly as she placed the stick down and they went over to the counter to order.

"I can't believe you did that! Where did you learn to play like that?" He asked her.

"I've been playing pool since Alaric taught me when I was 8 years old." She admitted with a smile as she sipped her chocolate milkshake. He nodded, now realizing how she got so good. "Don't feel so bad. Maybe one day you'll get as good as me." She winked at him, teasingly. He couldn't help but smile. Even though, he didn't take defeat well, this girl was something else. He liked her.

Caroline came over to them. "I saw you totally take out Tyler! No one's beaten him in like forever." She said sitting down next to her.

"Well, like I said it was beginner's luck." Tyler told them both. Caroline just rolled her eyes at his excuse. "I expect a rematch after you're done." He walked back over to the pool table after setting some money on the table.

"That was so not beginner's luck!" Caroline praised her and Beth laughed at that. "You've got skills. And seems like Tyler likes you." She nudged her playfully. Tyler usually got all bent out of shape if he lost anything or if anyone was better at anything than him. Before Beth could respond she heard her cell phone ring.

"Give me a sec. It's probably Alaric, freaking out." She sighed and Caroline nodded as Beth walked near the exit as she saw a guy in a suit walking over to talk to Tyler. She answered and it was exactly who she thought it was. "Ric, seriously I'm fine!"

"It's not that." He said quickly covering up. "I had to help a student out and the roads are really crazy tonight. Maybe we should head home?" He asked. He didn't want to ruin her chance at making friends but he wanted her to be home where a stray vampire couldn't attack her, while they were rounding them up. "Please? I promise I'll make it up to you."

She looked over at Tyler. Caroline and Matt had gone over to him and the older guy was leaving now. She wondered what was going on. "Yeah, okay, fine." She sighed and he told her he would be there in 5, she hung up the phone as they walked over to her.

"Hey, sorry, to cut this short but my dad needs us to get home." Tyler said resentfully, but his father seemed really worried, which was out of the norm for him. "Rain check?"

"Yeah, sure. I get it." She smiled.

"Do you need a lift? We can give you one." Caroline offered her, feeling slightly bad about leaving her.

"No, it's fine. I can call someone to pick me up." Beth said.

"All right, good game though. See you later." Tyler smiled at her and Matt said good-bye too. Caroline gave her a sad smile as she waved and they left. Beth waited a while and then headed outside too, just as Alaric was pulling up, with a guilty expression. She just got into the car. He felt bad for ruining her time but just wanted her to be safe.

"So how was it?" Alaric asked after a few moments of silence. Beth just shrugged looking out the window at the passing houses. "Were they nice to you?" He asked and Beth shrugged and nodded. He sighed. "You're going to make me feel guilty the whole way home aren't you?" She pretended to think about it and then nodded. "Listen, I know I'm being a bit over bearing but it's your first day here. I'm new to this whole guardian thing. I'm usually the fun person. I need time to get used to it. I promise I will try to be a bit more lenient."

Beth was still silent for a few moments until she spoke. "Fine, I get it. It's a new thing for both of us but you still owe me." She sighed and he smiled at her as they made they're way back home.

Okay, so first day could have been way worst. Even though I had to leave cause Alaric was getting really paranoid over nothing. I met Tyler Lockwood, Caroline Forbes, Matt Donovan and Elena Gilbert. They were all really nice. Caroline is very bubbly and her boyfriend Matt is sweet. They're cute together. Elena is kind, she understood about my parents. Tyler…Tyler was different. I could feel something different about him, not evil, just different. I liked him though; he was nice and pretty cute.

I nearly had a panic attack when I got home though. I thought I had lost my talisman when I was unpacking. I looked everywhere; I was scared I left it back in California. I'm so glad I remembered to stuff it in my pillowcase with my book before I left so I could find it.

Alaric was being strangely overprotective today especially when he took me home. He's probably just trying to get used to having a teenager in the house. I still think there's something he's not telling me. I'm just grateful he took me in. Hopefully he'll chill out after a few days. I felt a weird sense of familiarity about Mystic Falls. It was strange having not been here before. Let's just hope that's a good sign.

Beth