Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

Chapter Six

Everyone muffled laughter as AJ walked in to 'Mr. Saltzman's' class, late as usual.

He huffed, turning on her. "AJ, are you ever going to make it here on time?" He looked down at his wristwatch, "I see you've broken a new record. You're thirty minutes late!"

She looked at him innocently," Ala—I mean Mr. Saltzman, I have a very good reason for today!"

"Oh? And what might that be?" He raised a challenging eyebrow. Even though they were friend outside of school and she had a perfect hundred percent in his class, he wanted her to start showing up on time.

She gave him a pointed look, one that said she couldn't say it in front of everyone. His eyes widened ever so slightly and she knew he understood. Damon had briefed him about Elijah days ago. For appearances:

"AJ, just go take your seat. I'm tired of hearing excuses." He sounded worn out—and maybe he was what with all the vampires—so the class believed him.

She shrugged and turned around, seeing the class in whole. She noticed Luka among them. Waving at him as she took her usual seat next to Stephen, since he was the only one in their circle of friends that had first hour with her, she thought the guy seemed nice. Then she thought as she narrowed her eyes at the whiteboard that he had better be nice, or else. Bonnie was her friend and she had her back.

After listening to Alaric lecture for several more minutes, the bell rang signaling the short break between first and second period.

Stephen caught her before she tried to escape from what was bound to be an interrogation.

"You spoke to Elijah?" he asked quietly as he narrowed his eyes at her, not appreciating the fact that she had tried to avoid him.

"Yep," she said shortly, hoping the questions would end there but knowing they wouldn't.

"What about?" Stephen pressed, curious. And worried. Sometimes he wondered if AJ made the right choices, sometimes he trusted her. Right now, he was worried that maybe she wasn't making the right choice.

"The beautiful weather, what else?" she said sarcastically, but joking just the same as she smirked.

"AJ—"

"Oh, gee Stephen, would you look at the time? If I don't hurry, I'll be late for second period. Wouldn't want that!" She called back to him as she fast walked down the hall, successfully losing him in throngs of students. He stared after her surprised and even more curious. She was hiding something.

Suddenly feeling like school was a waste of the remainder of the day, she acted on the impulse she actively suppressed when at school. She left. When she walked through the front doors, the secretary saw her but said nothing. She knew that AJ had perfect grades, so she didn't really care if she left.

Making her way to her car, AJ suddenly had the feeling that she was being watched. She stopped and turned in all directions, feeling like one of those paranoid people you hear about on TV. There was no one in sight, but that meant nothing. Oh gosh, she thought to herself, now she was one of those paranoid people. But still, it held true. Anything from a vampire to a witch to a werewolf could be watching her, and she knew it. What a splendid idea it was to leave the presence of many witnesses to be all by her lonesome, she thought, mocking herself. She sometimes didn't think before she did things, and she knew that.

Continuing on her way to her car, she got in and locked the doors. She wasn't going to start hyperventilating, she wasn't going to take calming breaths, she was just going to start the car and leave. Because anything other than that would give away the face that she was scared, at least a little bit. But then she felt the card in the pocket of her shorts and pulled it out, looking at it. It comforted her, oddly. She thought about Elijah. He was extremely handsome, that much was obvious about him. He was a gentleman, too. The way he carried himself said that. But there was so much about him that she was curious about. How long has he lived? Has he ever been in love? Can Originals love? How much has he learned in however long he's been alive? Does he have family? How much has he seen? How many languages could he speak? She was so curious about all these things, and yet she was left thinking that he was her own personal puzzle. He didn't seem to interact with the others, only her. After a moment longer of staring at the card, she pulled out her cell phone and plugged the numbers in. She put him as speed dial 13 since that was her lucky number. She figured that if she ever needed to call him, she'd need all the luck she could get.

At that moment, her tattoo caught her eye. It wasn't hard to miss, nor was it easy to. It was on her wrist, but small. She didn't want an obnoxious one like she'd seen other people get. This had special meaning to her. Dum spiro, spero. She loved it, and it helped her get through some rough patches in her life. She remembered when she got it, back when she was sixteen. It had been possibly the most painful thing she'd ever had happen to her, which was saying something. Her daredevil tendencies had left her with many a scar and bruise, but this had been far worse.

Finally starting the car, she sped out of the school campus and onto the open road. She needed to clear her head. Putting some soft music on, she let her mind drift. She was the Warrior. She could be good or bad. That was the thing that scared her most about her new responsibility: she could be good or bad. And she was both of them. She knew it. She knew that much about herself. But the others didn't know it. They didn't hear the way a little voice inside her head would want the bad things to happen, the horrible things. They didn't know about the way part of her would want to do the bad thing instead of the good. And they could never know. No one could. She realized that now. It was her kryptonite, and it would have to remain buried. She wouldn't let that part of herself come out and she wouldn't let Klaus convince her, no matter how much part of her wanted to. And she knew that a part of her wanted Klaus to convince her the moment Elijah spoke the words. She was scared. She was afraid of herself.