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Chapter 3
"Oh crap! I'm late again!" Caroline muttered to herself as she scampered along down the hallway and into the large studio for her drama class. She dropped her messenger bag against the wall with the rest and scurried to join everyone else in warm-ups. She noticed with relief that the instructor wasn't there yet.
A moment later the room was full of chatter as the new Advanced Techniques teacher strode in. He was barefoot as a fox, dressed in custom black skinny jeans, a brilliant blue shirt that made his eyes pop and that wolfish smile.
"Oh dear God I could sleep with that," the girl on her left murmured.
"Oh f – me," the girl on the right gasped. Caroline watched as Klaus' grin widened a little bit. She didn't have the heart to tell them that he could hear every word. She wondered if he'd take them up on their offer.
"Good morning," Klaus smiled, "I trust that everyone has warmed up. My name is Klaus – that's all you need to know that and I'm going to show you how to make theater an art form." He looked at the group before him.
"Okay let's see what you've got in you," Klaus said. "You sir, what's your name?"
"Shawn"
"Okay Shawn show me what you've got." The young man launched into a credible version of Hamlet's soliloquy. At the finish Klaus applauded as did the others. A couple more presented him with famous scenes.
"Okay, okay so the feeling is there. You can deliver with passion the words of others…but what's in you?" he asked. He called one of the other girls up to the front.
"What's your name?"
"Amber"
"Okay Amber I want you to just be someone…anyone you want and I want you to build this character. I'll jump right in and we'll build the scene playing off one another." The girl began by being a drama student. Four minutes Klaus tried to add drama to the scene but she just wasn't following. Finally frustrated Klaus sent her back to join the others.
"You have to be able to make it believable. It has to be real for the audience. You – the blonde in the middle right there," Klaus pointed at Caroline. She very subtly arched a brow before she stepped forward. He smiled at her.
"What's your name?"
"Caroline"
"Okay Caroline, where are you from?"
"Mystic Falls Virginia."
"That sounds quaint. What's so great about Mystic Falls? What is its claim to fame?"
"Well they say there are vampires there."
"Vampires as in real blood-sucking vampires?" Caroline nodded. He had to hand it to her. She had guts.
"Okay Caroline…let's be in your Mystic Falls..." Klaus smiled. Caroline backed up commanding a spot on the 'stage'. Then she held her hand up to her ear.
"Bonnie, yeah Bonnie I'm on my way there okay…I just…" she looked down. "Crap I dropped my car keys…look Bon I'll call you back on my way okay. It's starting to get dark out here." She bent down to pick up the imaginary keys and Klaus darted to her left – although at a humanly quick pace. Caroline looked to the right with an expression of worry.
Suddenly Klaus whipped her around and gripped her by the neck pretending to pin her against the imaginary car. Her eyes were wide with fright.
"Klaus. What are you doing here?"
"I don't appreciate being made the fool Caroline," he growled angrily. She reached out her hand and gripped him by the throat as well. He reached up and easily removed her grip and saw her fear rise.
"You forget baby vampire that I have a thousand years on you," he leaned in close to say the line and her breaths were coming uneven.
"You forget that I don't care," Caroline said boldly.
"You have a quick mouth love," he gave her his best wolfish grin. He released her neck and instead put his hands on her shoulders. Their eyes were locked with one another and they had almost forgotten the rest of the room was there. He pulled her close and leaned in placing his mouth against her neck and she released a soft moan of imagined ecstasy as he pretended to bite her. Then he stepped back and the class cheered.
"Not bad but you need to study up on your vampires," one of the guys spoke up. "Bites hurt and no way would one vampire bite another."
"Yeah I think you need to watch a little Twilight," the girl that had been on Caroline's right said. Wordlessly Caroline returned to her spot and the class continued.
On her way into class Elena stopped to wait next to Shelby-a girl in her English lit class- who was leaned against the wall and started to gossip with her boyfriend Jack.
"I swear-Amber told me about the hot new drama teacher named Klaus," Shelby said her Carolinian accent heavy. Elena's interest was piqued. She knew that Elijah was here as her new teacher-but Klaus as well? She just prayed that Elijah wasn't her teacher for this class.
The moment that Elena walked in, she went straight to the middle row. Sitting down, she pulled out her notebook and pen as she began reliving the moment she had that big blow out fight with Elijah. Her feelings for him were pretty strong but she didn't want him to know that so she walked away from him just as he had from her over two years ago. She was brought back to the present when a few of the girls began saying, "isn't he dreamy?"
"Totally hot."
"I wonder what he's hiding under those suits…" Elena looked up and nearly dropped her pen as she saw Elijah was at the podium of her English lit class with a briefcase sitting in front of him.
"He is our new teacher?" Jack asked and Shelby ignored him as she focused on Elijah.
"Oh my Lord! I didn't think that teachers could look that hot!" It took everything in Elena to not move from her seat and leave the classroom. It also took a lot in her to not rip out the hearts and throats of every female student surrounding her as they spoke about how hot Elijah is.
Try as she might, she couldn't help focusing on his voice which had some sort of hypnotic power over her. He was taking roll and when he got to her name, she managed a soft 'here' that made him look at her.
"Here" she got out a little bit louder and she could have sworn that he was smirking at her.
She was doomed.
"OMG I need Ben & Jerry!" Caroline exclaimed as she opened the door to the dorm room. Elena didn't answer as she was already at the breakfast bar with a container herself. Caroline got one out of the freezer and joined her best friend.
"He's teaching my Advanced technique class! He showed up in these hot black jeans and this shirt that made his eyes look AH-mazing and then he makes me do a scene with him. Improv and what does he choose…vampires!"
"I barely managed to take roll," Elena groaned.
"Hey guys – oh holy cow it's like a meat locker in here!" Bonnie gasped as she entered their dorm room. Then she noted the Ben & Jerrys before each of her best friends. "That good huh?" Caroline and Elena proceeded to tell Bonnie about their encounters.
"Nailed it!" Rebekah cried triumphantly as she entered the room to join the rest of the girls. "Hey you're hogging all the celebratory ice cream!" She noticed the expressions on their faces. "Okay what did my brothers do now?" Elena and Caroline told their stories once again. Then Rebekah looked to Bonnie.
"Not a thing. I haven't seen Kol all day. In fact despite that I've been having a pretty good day. We had a pop quiz and I managed to get a 97 in 19th century theology and the occult."
"I got picked to head the design committee for the Debutante ball in April!" Rebekah squealed.
"OMG I forgot we can go this year," Elena remarked.
"You have got to let me help!" Caroline pleaded.
"No one else I'd ask," Rebekah grinned.
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