Hey everyone, welcome back. Okay, I promised they would age one year every ten chapters and that begins next week (for more details check the bottom note). Yeah, thank you to everyone who got me 100 reviews. Whoa! There were some questions in the reviews about whether Hayley would interfere with either Klaroline or Kalijah. I will say she will not interfere with Klaoroline. Although I can't say that there won't be times at which Klaus or Caroline might not date someone else in the group as they grow up. However, they are end game. As for Katherine and Elijah vs. Hayley and Elijah, I have no idea. In this story there probably won't be a lot of Haylijah. As for the future, well, the stories kind of write themselves and sometimes I' m surprised to see who involves themselves with whom. So, please bear with me and I'm sorry about the super long note. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 10: The First Year
What can I say about my first year in Mystic Falls? Quite a bit, actually. Unfortunately it would take many books to encompass all that has passed and all that will pass. I suspect I will not have time to tell you everything during this discussion but I will continue to give you the highlights. Now, where we? Oh, yes, it was the end of my first year in Mystic Falls and our group was continuously expanding.
"What is a dare club?" Jenna asked, looking around at the rest of us.
Damon smirked at Jenna. "I dare you to wear your swim suit on your first day at middle school. That is what a dare club is."
"What?" Jenna asked, her face draining of color.
"Are you in or out, Jenna? The clock is ticking down." Katherine tapped the clock next to her. We were at the Gilbert's for our meeting and Katherine thought that meant she was in charge. "Oh, and Elijah, I dare you to tell everyone that I am your girlfriend for the first day of school."
Elijah sighed. "Fine." Looking at me he smiled. "I dare you, Niklaus…" He paused thinking about what he wanted his nearly seven year brother to do. "Hmm… join a ballet camp for the summer."
"Ha. Klaus in a tutu." Damon began to laugh hysterically and fell off the bed.
"And I dare you to join him," Andie told Damon, who stared at her in shock.
"What? No! You just joined. You can't dare me to do something that bad this quick," Damon protested.
"I can dare you to do whatever I want," Andie snapped as she glared at Damon. "After you dared me to flush my goldfish, I think revenge is sweet."
Glowering, Damon shrugged. "I just wanted to see what would happen," he mumbled.
"What's done is done, Damon," Alaric told him, patting him on the shoulder.
"Says the guy who isn't stuck taking ballet during the summer." Scuffing the carpet with his shoe, Damon looked at his little brother. "Hey, Stef, you want to take a ballet class with Klaus?"
Stefan shook his head. "No, Damon, I'm playing football with Ty and Matt."
Fuming, Damon glared at his brother. "Come on, Stef. It'll be so much more cool. Please, Stef."
Stefan just stared at his brother. "You can't make me." He yelled before hiding behind Elijah.
"You suck, Stef," Damon snapped at him.
"Suck," Rebekah echoed. I rolled my eyes pulling my baby sister into my lap.
"Don't talk like that Bekah." I whispered. She looked up at me and grinned before grabbing my nose.
"Love you, Nik," Bekah replied, leaning against me.
"Love you, too, Beks," I responded.
Damon stared at us. "You know I would like to trade your sister for my brother. I'm sure Bekah would rather take ballet than play football. Wouldn't you, Bekah?" he cooed at my sister.
Bekah grinned and crawled over to him to climb into his lap. "Fickle girl," I called to her with a grin which made her giggle. I did not miss the way that Elena Gilbert frowned at Damon and Bekah.
The younger Gilbert sister sat beside me with her older sister in front of her on the bed. "Kat," Elena called as she tapped her sister on the shoulder, trying to get her attention.
Katherine twisted around to look at the little girl. "Kat, I want to take ballet. Can you dare me to?" Elena asked quietly, making sure the others weren't listening. She didn't seem to notice my attention on her and the conversation.
Shrugging, Katherine smiled. "Elena, I dare you to take a ballet class this summer with me and Elijah. Oh, and Elijah, I dare you take a ballet class."
"I dare myself to take a ballet class," Caroline announced, staring at me.
I felt my cheeks burn as Damon scoffed. "You can't dare yourself to do something." Sucking in a deep breath, Caroline looked like she would burst into tears when Damon rolled his eyes. "I dare anyone who isn't going to be playing football and who hasn't been dared to join the tutu wearing group of weirdos to join the stupid ballet class."
Leaping across the bed, Bekah had to scramble away as Caroline threw herself into Damon's arms. "Thank you, Damon." She kissed him on the cheek, causing his face to turn red.
"You're welcome. I guess." Damon told Caroline as she moved back to sit next to Elijah and Katherine.
One month later:
Classes were over and we were on summer break. Caroline was working with Katherine and the older girls on creating a chart of dares we had to complete so everyone would always know what we had to do. Today was the first day of our summer dare. My father wanted to know why Lijah, Finn and I were enrolling in a ballet class. We claimed it was because we were supporting our friends.
Mother dropped us off in front of the studio and Elijah led us inside. Damon was grumbling as he walked into a room which had a large mirror and long bar. "These pants suck," Damon complained, pulling the leggings out of his butt. I grinned inwardly.
"They are not terribly comfortable," Elijah told Damon, who sighed.
Caroline came into the room in a pink outfit and tutu. She was followed by Elena in a matching blue one and Bonnie in a green one. Katherine came in a black leotard, Andie was wearing a red one and Jenna was wearing a white one. Alaric came in, sighing as he sat down next Damon. "You owe me one, man." He informed Damon.
"Thanks, Ric," Damon replied, looking grateful that his other best friend was there.
Alaric grinned. "I heard the teacher is hot."
In walked Anna. "Hey, guys," she called.
"Anna," Caroline cried, jumped to her feet and ran over to Anna for a hug, followed by Bonnie and Elena. "Who is ready to learn how to perform beginning ballet?" Pivoting on her toes, she showed them a pirouette.
"I want to do that," Katherine called to Anna.
"Well, first you will need to learn how to warm up." Sitting down on the floor, Anna folded her legs, pressing her feet together. "Okay, everyone, I'm going to show you how to do some stretching before I show you the first five positions." Moving her legs out so they spread like in gym class, she began to lean over her leg, reaching out, gripping her toes. "Don't worry if you can't touch your toes yet. As the weeks go on, you'll become more flexible."
I suppressed a laugh when Damon reached his toes easily and looked pleased with himself. "You're super flexible, D," I whispered to him. Damon sneered at me, then looked over at Katherine who was trying to wrap her fingers around her toes and grunting in frustration.
"Having problems, Kat?" Damon called reaching for his other foot. Katherine sat up and glared at Damon.
"I dare you to go climb on the barre. And you can't get off until I say so." Crossing her arms, Katherine nodded at the barre and Damon groaned as he walked over to it.
Anna's head turned as she silently watched Damon approach the barre. She tilted her head to stare at Katherine, who was grinning at Damon as he stepped in front of the barre. "He won't be able to get up there. And he'll fail the dare." Katherine told us, her eyes glowing.
"Why do you want him to fail the dare?" Jenna asked, puzzled by her friend's thought process.
"Because then he'll be on dare club probation and he'll have to do all the dares we don't accept to get off. For a year," Katherine told Jenna happily.
"How do you know that?" Andie asked.
"Because I'm the one who suggested it to Damon and Klaus. And they accepted," Katherine told them before staring at me pointedly.
I frowned. I should have known Katherine wanted to add that rule to hurt Damon. I would have to make an adjustment and figure out a fitting punishment for Katherine. "Lijah. Ric. I dare you to help Damon with his dare." I called to them, leaning back on my elbows and giving Katherine a look that said "challenge me."
Glaring daggers at me, Katherine crossed her arms, watching Elijah and Alaric go over to help Damon. Picking Damon up, they boosted him onto the bar. Damon's eyes widened as he sat on the barre. I could see he was trying to not scream in pain as my brother and Ric stood watching him, although Damon refused to get down.
I expected Anna to say that Damon needed to get down. But she simply watched looking concerned as Damon's face turned red. "Stop," Katherine called as Damon opened his mouth and howled. Elijah and Ric grabbed him.
"Okay, everyone," Anna called, causing us to pay attention to her. "Katherine, since you seem to be fascinated by the barre, would you like to show us how to use it to stretch?"
Katherine paled visibly but she got up. "Of course," she walked over to the barre and watched Anna place her foot on it and begin to stretch. Katherine placed her left foot up and then moved to lean forward, when her ankle began to wobble.
When she began to fall, Anna caught her. Straightening her up, Anna stared down at Katherine. "Again." She ordered Katherine whose jaw dropped. Looking at the barre, she placed her foot up. She tried, again. And fell, again. "Again," Anna ordered. Katherine looked miserable as she pushed herself up. After eight more tries, Anna told her to stop.
Katherine sat back down and looked like she was going to cry.
"Jenna, do you want to try?" Anna called. Jenna jumped up and hurried over to the barre. She wobbled but managed to stretch for five minutes before she tipped over.
"Andie," Anna called. Andie walked over and began to stretch with ease. She seemed to be quite content to simply do that as Anna called Elijah and Alaric over. My brother began to make faces as he lifted his leg and I began to laugh out loud.
"Something funny, little brother," Elijah called to me as he placed his leg up on the barre. "Wait until you're old enough to do this. Then you will not think this is so funny." I continued to laugh as Caroline crawled over to me.
"Hi," Caroline, said looking at me. "I can see your underwear."
Damon began to laugh while clutching at himself. "Damon, you shouldn't do that in front of other people." I told him. "My mother said it's improper."
"It hurts," Damon groaned as he rubbed at himself. "That barre hurt me real bad, Nik."
Caroline stared at Damon. "Haven't you ever sat on a pony?"
Staring at her, his eyebrows raising, Damon looked confused. "Not the same thing, Goldilocks," he snapped.
"It looks like the same thing," Caroline marched over to the barre. "Up," she demanded staring at Elijah and Alaric. They hesitantly picked her up and sat her on the bar. She flipped a leg over and straddled it. "It doesn't hurt, Damon," she called. "You must have sat on it wrong. Down," she called to my brother. Walking back over to us, she plopped down in front of Damon. "Maybe there's something weird about you."
Glaring at Caroline, Damon snapped. "Yeah, me and all the guys here. You know what? Forget this stupid class. I don't like any of you anymore." I felt my jaw drop as Caroline stared at him.
Hopping up from her place on the floor, Elena ran after Damon. I walked over to the doorway with Caroline by my side. Popping my head into the hallway, I saw that Damon's shoulders were heaving. "Damon," Elena called. I couldn't make out what she was saying as she rubbed his back.
Titling my head to the side, I watched Damon turn to the side and hug Elena. He buried his face in her shoulder and cried, causing them to both shake. "I miss my Mom." I heard Damon wail. Elena continued to rub his back. I felt someone lift my arm and pull it over her shoulders.
Looking down, I found Caroline tucked under my arm, watching Elena and Damon, her eyes wide. "I hope my Mommy never dies." She whispered to me.
"I hope she doesn't either," I whispered back. When Damon looked over at us, he began to walk in our direction.
"Let's dare Elijah to ask Andie to a movie," Damon told me.
"Why?" Elena asked, peering up at him.
"Because your sister sucks," Damon informed her, rocking on his heels.
"Cool," Elena replied. "Can I do it?"
Damon nodded in approval. "Lijah," Elena called as she ran into the studio.
Anna was smiling at us. "I'm glad you care about each other." She told me, ruffling my hair. "You're a good kid, Klaus. I hope you stay this innocent." I wasn't sure what she meant. But it seemed to be important.
"I'll try." I told her with a wide grin.
"You're hot," Katherine told Anna. She then shrugged before sticking her tongue out at Jenna, who was laughing.
Alaric sighed before he flipped his legs over the barre and began to hang upside down. Elijah began to spin holding his hands above his head. I began to laugh until Elena growled and lunged at me. "What the heck?" I yelled.
"You stole my outfit," Elena exclaimed while pulling at my shirt.
Katherine began to giggle. "Stop," She called.
"Andie, would you like to go to movie with me?" Elijah asked.
Andie stared at Katherine sighing. "I'm sorry, Elijah. I'm getting a nose job that day."
"Is there something wrong with your nose?" Elijah inquired perplexed by Andie's answer.
"Nope. I just want to look more like Kat," Andie told him rolling her eyes toward the ceiling shaking her head.
Elijah peered over at Katherine. "Well, if that is the case maybe you should try going by the local hospital and donating some of your favorite toys to the children's ward. I heard a rumor that Katherine did that once. And I believe outward appearances are much easier to change than the inside which is what counts in my book." Feeling pleased with himself Elijah walked past Katherine. "I do believe that class is over, Katherine."
I felt proud of my brother because one week later Katherine Gilbert was seen entering the children's ward of Mystic Falls Hospital. She handed over several stuffed animals, several Barbie dolls and one large dollhouse. Afterward she went about asking other kids from our school to do the same. Having renewed my brother's faith in her not being completely evil, contrary to Damon's opinion, he took her to the movies that Saturday.
Thank you to everyone who is reading, faving, following and reviewing. The next chapters are part of "The Year of the Birthdays," the first one will be Elena's but if you want to request to see a specific birthday in chapter 12, send me a review.
Thank you to Elijahlover, Rucky, Twinkers, ferrylis, redbudrose, LizGarza, Guest, WeasleysGroupie, BSLover1812, Sissymac, klaroline4everlove, Heidiionaanita and TheIrishShipperholic.
Love,
LL