A/N: okay, so i'm having trouble with the formatting on this site, so just bear with me if i'm frequently changing this update, the submitting process is really pissing me off. Also, sorry for the wait, i've had most of this chapter done for awhile but writer's block has been a bitch.

Chapter Three - Vampire 101

Three Months Later

"Damon, this isn't funny!"

I've just stepped out of the shower to find that all the towels from my bathroom have disappeared, along with the set of pyjamas I was wearing before I got in the shower.

"Really? I think it's hilarious. You should have thought of that before you left the bathroom door unlocked."

Ever since I got settled in the Salvatore boarding house, Damon and I have had some sort of prank war going on. It probably started when Damon stole all of my bras and hid them in a box full of vervain (which, by the way, is poisonous to vampires. I learned that the hard way). As revenge, I hid Damon's daylight ring in a bird's nest. It all went downhill from there.

"Damon, bring me my towels! Elena? Jeremy?"

Jeremy is Elena's younger brother. Apparently, he was dead, but then somehow came back to life with some sort of witchy juju I don't quite understand yet.

"Elena left for college half an hour ago, and Jeremy's on his way to school. I packed his lunch and everything, even cut the crust off of his PB&J."

Sighing in defeat, I unhook the shower curtain from its rod, wrapping it around my body. There's absolutely no way I'm letting Damon win this time. I sneak out of the bathroom, quickly tip-toeing my way to my bedroom. Unfortunately, as I reach the end of the hall, a woman walks out of Stefan's still-empty room, my body colliding with hers as we fall to the ground.

"What the hell!?"

Her voice sounds like Elena's, but with a different tone to it. Less vulnerable and more confident, with a hint of sexy.

Katherine.

I quickly scramble to my feet, apologizing incessantly as I do so. Instead of insulting me as I expect, Katherine stares at me with wide eyes; three-quarters in surprise, one-quarter in recognition.

"You."

I take a step back, holding the shower curtain tightly to my body as she studies me from head to toe. "How do you know me?"

Her baffled expression quickly transforms into a smirk. "You don't remember?"

"Remember? Remember what?"

"Wow," she chuckles, "you really were drunk."

Before I can respond, Damon comes up behind me, his fists clenched as he approaches Katherine.

"Damon," she snarls, averting her attention to Damon, "It's been a long summer."

"Cassidy, go get dressed," he hisses, "I'll deal with her."

Before Katherine has a chance to respond, I dash to my room at top vampire speed, shoving the shower curtain in my laundry basket as soon as I've closed and locked the door. I quickly dress myself in a pair of blue jeans and a black tank top, carefully avoiding the small beams of light that stream through the cracks between the pieces of cardboard I've used to cover the windows in my room. After I apply what I deem to be a sufficient amount of makeup, I head downstairs, finding Damon and Katherine sitting across from each other in the parlour, each of them sipping on a glass of bourbon.

"What did I miss?" I ask, sitting down next to Damon. He places his glass down on the coffee table, his fists curling into tight balls.

"She wants to stay here," he grumbles.

My eyes flicker from Damon to Katherine, who, even in her disheveled, human state, makes me feel uneasy. "I want her gone," I mutter.

"Oh, please." Katherine rolls her eyes as she speaks, in a tone that's almost condescending. "You hardly even know me."

"I know enough to know that you're a psychotic bitch."

Just as Katherine's about to respond, the Salvatore House landline rings. Before Damon has a chance to get the phone, Katherine swiftly picks it up. "Salvatore residence. Hello, Principal Weber. This is Elena. Oh, dear. We'll find him." She hangs up, smirking as she puts the phone back on it's dock. "So, Jeremy's been expelled. Elena will be okay with that, right?"

Damon rolls his eyes, groaning. "I'll go look for little Gilbert. Cassidy, keep an eye on Katherine 'till I get back. If she tries anything funny, kill her."

"Gotcha." As much as I hate the idea of being left alone with Katherine, it will give me a chance to question her without Damon knowing. As soon as I hear his car leaving the driveway, I pin Katherine to the wall by her neck.

"You have ten seconds to tell me exactly how you know me," I snap. Katherine claws at my hand, gasping for air.

"Cassidy...Stop...Please..."

"NOW!"

"Fine! I'll tell you!"

I release Katherine from my grip, feeling only the slightest bit of remorse as she drops to the ground in a coughing mess. "Richmond, three months ago. Some lame high school grad party. Don't you remember?"

"I remember being left for dead in the woods, only to find out I was transitioning into a vampire. Your face doesn't come to mind."

"It was also the night before Elena shoved the cure down my throat. Granted, I was trying to kill her - I'll admit, that was a bit nasty of me, but she deserved it."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Katherine sighs. "What I'm trying to tell you is that I was still a vampire the last time we met. I was a vampire, and your life was pathetic. I was doing you a favor, Cassidy."

"A favor!? I haven't been able to walk in the sun for three whole months because of you!"

She rolls her eyes, slipping her bracelet off of her wrist and lazily throwing it in my direction. "Here, this should help. Think of it as an "I'm sorry I killed you" gift. If anyone asks, you stole it from me. Got it?"

I nod.

"Great. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower. Oh, and is there any food in this place? I'm starved."

"Um...I think there might be a bag of chips in the cupboard."

"I asked for food, not packaged poison. I guess I'll have to go grocery shopping later."

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen. Damon told me to watch you. You're not going anywhere."

Katherine rolls her eyes. "Fine then, come with me."

"I don't have a car."

"Compell yourself one. God, it's like you don't even know how to be a vampire."

"Well, considering I'm not allowed to kill anybody, and I haven't been out of the house in months, I haven't really had the chance to explore the perks of being a vampire."

Katherine's eyes widen in surprise. "You mean you've never compelled someone before?"

I shake my head.

"Okay, you are seriously behind in Vampire 101. As soon as I'm done showering, we're going out, and I'm teaching you how to be a proper vampire. Got it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not unless you want to spend the rest of eternity cooped up in this place."

"Fine. But just so you know, this doesn't mean we're friends, and this doesn't mean I like you."

"Agreed."

... ... ... ... ...

"It's not that hard, Cassidy. All you have to do is look deep into his eyes and tell him exactly what you want him to do. Honestly, I don't know how you even made it five minutes as a vampire."

I roll my eyes, keeping my target within my sightline. For my first compulsion, Katherine's chosen a wealthy, middle-aged lawyer, driving a more-than-decent black SUV. We've taken to hiding behind a dumpster, in a corner store parking lot a few miles away from the Salvatore house. Katherine, who'd decided to borrow my clothes for the time being, spent the entire walk complaining about the fact that I didn't own any shoes with less than a two-inch heel, to which I responded with the statement that not all of us could be naturally tall. The selection of my target was a lengthy process- Katherine and I spent nearly an hour standing by the corner store, simply observing the people coming in and out of the store. By the time we finally chose a suitable person to be the victim of our Grand Theft Auto, I'd already recieved five missed calls from Damon, followed by 17 "where the hell are you?" texts, the last of which explaining that if I wasn't back by sundown, he'd assume I'm dead and tell Jeremy to be on the lookout for any 'ghosty gingers' wandering around.

"Ugh, what's taking him so long?" Katherine groans, impatiently tapping her fingers on the side of the dumpster.

"He probably can't choose between Sports Illustratedand Maxim," I grumble.

"Men," she mutters, "always such perverts. I've lived over 500 years, and I've only met about three decent guys."

"I haven't met one. Oh, look, here he comes." We duck down behind the dumpster.

"Just remember to make as much eye contact as possible. You have pretty eyes, use them." She quickly fixes my hair and clothes, straightening out every wrinkle and imperfection. "Okay, go."

I leap to my feet, my movements systematic as my brain processes Katherine's words, hanging on mostly to the "You have pretty eyes" part. The last time anyone complemented me, It was my mother, telling me I looked 'very grown up' in my prom dress. Of course, I didn't actually stay at my prom for longer than ten minutes, after which I fled home and got drunk alone in the attic. When my mother complimented me, it felt forced, and insincere, and it definitely didn't make me feel nervous and self conscious about my appearance.

Get it together, Cassidy. She's just some girl.Only, she's not. She's the girl who turned me; the girl whose blood is more or less running through my veins.

The girl I can't stop thinking about.

Shaking the thought out of my head, I approach the owner of the SUV. "Okay, I want you to listen very closely. Don't say a word until I tell you to, okay?" I say, looking deep into the man's dark eyes. He nods in response.

"You're going to give me your car. You're going to think you're giving me this car because mine broke down and you're paying it forward. You won't go looking for it, or me. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Great. Now, give me your keys, walk away, and forget we had this conversation."

The man nods, hands me his keys, and walks away, just as I've instructed him to. After he's left, Katherine joins me next to the car, grinning proudly.

"That wasn't half bad, Carrot Top. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

I roll my eyes. "We're not friends."

Katherine shrugs. "Whatever. Just get in the car."