Hey people! so sorry for the late chapter- it's a mixture of me being completely lazy and me being busy- I went to a book signing of my favourite authour (Michael Grant) last Saturday! Thanks to AlisaPhenom for the awesome review, and to anyone else who reviewed, THANKS.
Damon had never been a fan of hospitals. Over the cloying scent of antiseptic, all he could smell was blood, making it hard for him to control himself and basically just making him feel agitated. Let's just get this over with. Damon sighed and strode over to the front desk, giving his most charming smile to the mildly attractive receptionist.
The receptionist looked over at Damon from her computer on which she had been furiously typing, pushing a strand of red hair from her face. "Can I help you?"
Damon nodded shortly, glancing at the nametag on her shirt," Yes... Natalie." He read the name, looking straight at the receptionist." I need to visit my friend Will Schuester. He was in an animal attack a couple days ago?"
Natalie raised an eyebrow at Damon," Are you from the press?"
Damon shook his head, mentally cursing the annoying woman," I am not from the press. Tell me where I can find Will Schuester." He stared right into her eyes, using his strong compulsion to which poor Natalie was entirely susceptible to.
In a daze, Natalie murmured," Ward 20, room 11 on the second floor."
Damon smirked at her," Thank you. You have a nice day." He sauntered out of the waiting room, glancing at the people there already as he did so: a couple sitting close together, trying to console each other, a heavily pregnant teenager with her hands clasped around her boyfriend's. In the corner, though, a dodgy-looking guy with most of his face covered by a black hoodie and a baseball cap, a newspaper was folded up by his side. He didn't look like he was young enough to be school age, and he was staring right at Damon, giving him a death-stare. Who was that? After giving the guy a confused, 'what the hell is your problem?' look, he turned towards the door. He turned back before it closed, and the guy was gone, his newspaper still lying on his seat.
Damon refused to be creeped out by this as he finally found the room- he hadn't realised how big the place was. There were probably a million explanations for angry-weird-guy-in-the-waiting-room-who-disappeared, all of them were reasonable. There was no reason to immediately assume the guy was a threat- they hadn't even decided whether there had even been a vampire attack or not yet. He put the guy out of his mind.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The incessant bleeping of the heart monitor sounded as Damon walked into the room. It was empty except for the man sleeping on the bed. All exposed surfaces of tables and chairs were completely covered with 'Get well soon' cards, and vases filled with flowers. A tube fed blood into Mr Schuester's wrist; a bandage was wrapped tightly round his neck.
Damon was suddenly unsure of what he was supposed to do here. It wasn't as if this teacher was going to wake up anytime soon to tell him. He was about to walk over when a doctor suddenly walked into the room and glanced suspiciously at Damon," You can't be in here." She insisted, frowning at him over her thick-lensed glasses," Visiting hours aren't until later."
"I'm allowed to be here." Damon once again used his compulsion. "You need to tell me all you know about the animal attack."
The doctor nodded once and launched into explanation," He was found in the school's parking lot at about eleven the other night."
About an hour after they had arrived in Lima...
"And," the doctor continued," the way he was attacked was strange for an animal. His neck was, like, the only place he was injured."
Just like a vampire attack...
"I think it's real strange, though," she carried on," I mean, do you see a wild animal just wandering round the middle of Lima?" she twisted a strand of hair around her second finger.
Oh crap.
Damon forced a smile," Thank you. I need you to forget I was ever here. Oh, and tell me where they keep the blood bags in this place."
Damon had stuffed as many blood bags as he could into the bag he had 'borrowed' from some random guy walking past, and was now completely convinced that he and Caroline were not the only vampires in Lima. He badly needed to call Ric, but all the others were at school and probably wouldn't appreciate being disturbed. They would have a discussion later.
The second day of Elena's at McKinley was almost over. The last lesson of the day was Chemistry, and Elena found herself partnered with an over-exuberant Caroline.
"Elena! Can you believe that we actually got into the Cheerios? I mean, I knew we would but now its official, the cheer squad here is so much better than the one at Mystic Falls..."
Elena nodded as Caroline carried on talking, barely listening. They wore the Cheerios uniform, which Elena felt completely self-conscious in; she had seen guys staring at her as she had passed down the hall.
Next to them on the bench, Puck and Finn were attempting to do some kind of neutralisation reaction and failing miserably. For one, they weren't even concentrating on what they were doing; just talking with each other about some football game that had been on the previous night. It was surprising they hadn't exploded anything yet.
Finn nudged Puck, gesturing over to Elena and Caroline," Hey, I told you they'd make the squad."
Puck looked over, as if he hadn't noticed already," Congrats." He said smiling over at the two new cheerleaders.
Finn seemed to consider a second before saying," Hey, are you guys doing anything tonight?"
Elena thought for a moment. That night all they'd probably be doing was worrying about Klaus and the possible vampire attacks," I don't think so, why?"
"Well we're always looking for new members for the Glee club- can you guys sing?"
Elena considered," A little, I guess." She hadn't had much experience with music, except piano lessons as a child and karaoke with her friends on nights out. "Caroline can sing really well, though." She added, remembering the night she had sang to Matt at Mystic Grill.
Caroline nodded, enthusiastic," We should go to see what it's like, it'll be fun!"
Elena smiled at her friend's eagerness," Ok," she said to Finn," what time does it start?"
After the bell rang, signalling the end of chemistry, Elena found herself walking down the hall with Glee Club members Mercedes, Tina, Sugar, Rachel, Brittany, Santana, Quinn, Kurt and Blaine. All of them were talking about a shopping trip going on that Saturday.
Elena pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to Matt as they walked, telling them where they'd be. The halls were starting to empty, kids were collecting their things from their lockers so they could leave for the day.
"So, Elena," Kurt was saying," that Cheerio uniform looks great on you!" They seemed to have got over the awkwardness of their first meeting.
Elena smiled at Kurt, and was about to reply when Sugar spoke up," But it'd look way better on me." Elena gave her a what-the-hell look, and Sugar shrugged," Sorry, Asperger's." They carried on walking.
"Anyway," Kurt carried on talking," you and Caroline need to come shopping with us all on Saturday! I could help pick out some new clothes; it'll be so much fun!"
"Course we'll come!" Caroline cut in, bounding over," right, Elena?"
"Sure." It was hard to not be drawn in by Caroline's enthusiasm.
After that, she had mostly zoned out, content to let the conversation wash over her, and so didn't notice that it had happened until both Kurt and Tina let out a yell. All conversations ended abruptly and the group became graveyard silent. Suddenly alert, Elena looked around for the threat just in time to see two bulky football players walk off, high-fiving each other and laughing as if that had been the funniest thing that had ever happened in the world.
Turning to Kurt and Tina, Elena saw them covered in red slushie that was dripping all over their clothes from their faces, looking defeated," What just happened?" Elena demanded.
"Yeah, this kinda happens a lot." Tina explained.
An awkward silence passed before Blaine spoke up," Hey, Kurt, you have spare clothes in your locker, right?"
Kurt nodded," Yeah, we'll meet you guys over at Glee Club."
Tina, Kurt and Blaine walked back in the opposite direction toward their lockers, whilst Elena, Caroline and the rest of the Glee girls carried on walking down the hall.
"That happens often?" Caroline asked Mercedes, as they neared the door.
Mercedes nodded," It's one of the hazards of being in Glee Club."
"One of them?"
They pushed open the doors and entered the choir room. Most of the people who they had sat with at lunch were there, sitting on the seats at the side of the room. Elena sat down in a seat near Puck and Finn; Caroline sat down next to her.
Mercedes addressed the guys who were already there;" Tina and Kurt were slushied." She informed them, before taking a seat near the front. Everyone looked really annoyed at this, including Puck, who looked especially pissed off. "This suc ks!" he exclaimed, looking as if he wanted very much to go and teach those jocks a lesson via his fist.
Elena nodded, agreeing, just as Ric walked into the room.
Alaric glanced around the room at the Glee Club. Suddenly feeling nervous for some unknown reason, he forced himself to appear confident. He seemed surprised to see Elena and Caroline, and they gave him a reassuring smile as he started to speak," Hey, Glee Club. My name is Alaric Saltzman, but you can call me Ric. I'll be teaching the club for a couple weeks, until Mr Schue comes out of hospital after he recovers from the animal attack."
He was interrupted by a tough-looking guy with a Mohawk. "They're saying he was attacked by an animal, how's an animal just gonna be randomly walking round the middle of Ohio?" he asked, looking sceptical.
"We visited him yesterday, Puck." The short brunette who he had been told was called Rachel said," the injury on his neck was just like an animal had done it."
"It was probably a vampire. It's the only explanation." A blond cheerleader sitting near the back called out, she looked pretty resolute of this conviction.
Ric was caught off guard by his comment- he could also see Caroline look up as they heard this- and probably would have said something completely stupid if Puck hadn't rolled his eyes and scoffed at this," Don't be an idiot, Brittany. Vampires don't exist."
Ric relaxed as this was said, and was about to begin talking again when three more people walked in. Two of them had wet hair, as though they had had to wash something out of it- which was probably the case. They all looked annoyed and dishevelled.
"What happened?" Ric asked, as they walked over to the seats.
"We were slushied." One of the boys explained as they sat down. He was holding hands with another guy- presumably his boyfriend and they sat next to each other. Ric decided he probably didn't want to know what 'being slushied' consisted of.
"So... As I was saying, my name's Ric, and I'm the substitute."
"I don't know much at this Glee thing, so you guys are all gonna have to put in a lot of work to help us through, and hopefully Mr Shuester'll be back by the time we're ready for sectionals. One thing I definitely know about this club, though, is that you guys sing, right? Anyone wanna volunteer to sing for us, to get us into today's lesson?"
It didn't look like anyone was surprised when an eager-looking brunette girl's hand shot up.
By the time Glee had finished, Elena felt pretty tired. She hadn't sung anything this lesson, but was going to prepare a number for a lesson later that week. She was pretty nervous, though, Rachel and the rest of them had been amazing.
When most of the club had left, Puck walked purposefully over to Elena," Hey, um, Elena? Can I talk to you a second?"
Elena nodded, motioning for Caroline ahead of her," What is it?"
Soon they were the only people standing in the choir room.
"Look, Elena. Remember when I asked if you wanted to go out sometime? I wasn't kidding. You wanna go out with me, later this week?"
Elena's thoughts inadvertently went to Stefan and Damon. She remembered how they had both told her that they loved her. Elena took a deep breath, about to politely refuse, when she wondered if maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. She needed time to straighten out her life, and maybe being with Puck would be just the thing she was looking for. "Ok, I will. Maybe we can sort out a day tomorrow? I have to go." She was surprised to find herself saying these words, but didn't attempt to take them back.
Puck, too, seemed to be surprised, but after a second retrieved his bad-boy air," Sure, ok. I'll talk to you tomorrow then. He left the choir room, looking pretty pleased.
"You said what?" Caroline had been waiting by the lockers for Elena.
"I agreed to go out with him." Elena confirmed, rummaging through her locker as she spoke.
"Wow. I wonder what Damon will say about that."
"Say about what?" both girls jumped as Elena closed her locker and Damon was standing there, leaning against the wall.
"Damon? What are you doing here?" Elena asked, confused as to why he had suddenly turned up here.
"I was worried about you, Elena, ok? I didn't know where you were." Elena saw something in Damon's face that was completely uncharacteristic- concern- before it was hidden again.
"I was just at Glee Club." Elena defended herself, whilst trying to keep a nonchalant tone." How come you're here, anyways?"
"I went to the hospital to see the 'animal attack' victim."
"You did what?" Caroline had finished taking books out of her own locker and turned to face Damon.
"Well, I don't just sit watching reruns of Project Runway all day, you know." He shrugged," anyways, we needed blood- I also got a couple bags."
"Well, what did you find out?" Elena was sure Damon wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."
"I think there are more vampires in Ohio than me and Caroline," Damon admitted," and I don't think they like our being here, either."
As the three of them started walking off down the corridor, they didn't notice a figure standing behind a door. Jacob Ben Israel held his paper and pen in hand, finally getting a story for the school newspaper...
So... Puck and Elena... Interesting... Tell me what you guys though of this chapter!
And any song suggestions would be gratefully recieved, for any of the characters.
Thanks for reading, sorry for the late chapter, and PLEASE review, and you shall recieve double cookies!