Change upon Change

For if my face is turned too pale,
It was thine oath that first did fail, –
It was thy love proved false and frail, –
And why, since these be changed enow,
Should I change less than thou …

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"Down the corridor, fifth room on the left."

"Cheers."

It was... disturbingly easy to get access to a patient's room if you knew their name.

The plastic bag wrinkled as I adjusted the bundle of flowers and walked down the hall. A sterile scent drifted in the air. A ringing phone interjected the small quiet, along with the occasional cough and groaning. I moved passed door after door, peering in until I saw a blonde boy sitting in front of his unconscious sister, head in his hands. I gently knocked on the doorframe.

Matt Donovan's baby blues turned toward me, confusion clouding over the distraught look in his face, and I took a moment to compose myself. I'm not gonna get used to this.

"Hi." I whispered, not wanting to wake the poor girl. I took a small step in, awkwardly adjusting the flowers. "I um… is she-" I gestured briefly to the tired sleeping girl. "-Vicki Donovan?"

He nodded, brow furrowing. "Yeah." His gaze glanced at the big bar of chocolate and a small bundle in my hands. "Uh, sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Sam." I introduced myself, and placed the flowers on her bedside. "Um, she doesn't know me, but I was at the party. I heard what happened- literally, I heard someone scream." His brow raised at that, and I quickly cleared my throat and added, "Uh, sorry for imposing. I just figured she could… do with these."

At first, I thought he was gonna just call security, but there was a tiny warmth that entered his expression. "That's… real sweet of you."

"I didn't know what chocolate she likes." At least that wasn't a lie. They didn't expand much on Vicki's character other than addict and 'I don't trust anyone'. "I hope that's okay."

Matt sat up. "It's refreshing, actually."

"The chocolate?" I asked, momentarily baffled. "It's just plain, no mint or anything." I looked at the bar. "Well, I wouldn't actually know, American brands kinda allude me."

The blonde's mouth twitched. "I meant more along the lines of going out of your way for someone you don't know."

I'm a dumbass.

"...Oh. Sorry, I'm a little-" I knocked on my temple. "Airheaded."

"Not at all." He shook his head lightly, and adjusted Vicki's blanket, moving more of it over her. "I'll make sure she knows you brought em in, I'm sure she'll appreciate someone caring. Sam, right?"

"Samara Clarke." I cleared my throat, holding out my hand to him. He gave me a slightly bemused look but leaned over, returning the handshake. His hands had a little bit of callouses, and were a tad sweaty.

"Matt. Donovan." He inclined his head, releasing my hand. "So you go to Mystic Falls High school?"

"Yeah." I pressed my weight on a nearby contraption, accidentally knocking something off it. A pen. I fumbled but caught it, my cheeks aflame. Smooth, Sam.

"How's that going so far?" He asked, taking mercy and not mentioning my clumsiness, though I saw a ghost of a smile. He moved his pillow, lifting it to a more comfortable position.

"It's going… okay-ish, for a new school that is."

"Getting lost a lot?" He rolled up his sleeve, scratching at his arm.

Embarrassingly, he was right on the nail. "...Yeah, actually."

He smiled a little, but it faded a little too soon as his eyes flickered over my face. He seemed… tired. "I'm sure it'll get easier... Actually if you want…" He hesitated. "If we bump into each other at school, or if you need any help getting around, I can give you a hand."

It surprised me a little at first, then I realised he probably just felt a small debt since I was nice to his sister. I was about to decline, but stopped. This would help me get close. It could help me get an in with Vicki and maybe help save her life. Huh. Turns out if you're nice to people, they try to pay you back sometimes.

That, and I knew Matt was a good guy. Which is why this felt a little dirty. This manipulation.

"Yeah, I'd like that." I nodded anyway, a bit too eagerly. He didn't seem to mind. "So do you… want my number?"

He casually shrugged. "Fine by me."

We quietly exchanged numbers on our phones. The curtains were closed, but a glint of the morning sun shone in from a small gap. I wiped my eyes when I caught the glare. "Well I hope she's okay, I gotta get going. I don't wanna be late for school. I already bunked off yesterday."

He smiled. It was friendly like before, but the bags under his eyes made him look older than he was. "See you around."

"Bye." I gave him a little wave, and walked out of the room. Once I was out of earshot, I released a sharp exhale and relaxed my shoulders. God. Super weird. Mega weird. Never gonna get used to meeting 'characters' face to face.

Briefly, I glanced at the time, and saw I still had an hour before school started. I went home to check my emails, to see if any work place had gotten back to me. I had two responses. One was just declaring they weren't taking any new people on and apologising for the false advertisement, which irritated me. The second was a confirmation for an interview at a local grocery store, as an assistant. My chest lightened a little, and I was about to respond that I'd be available for it, but was distracted by a distant buzzing from my phone.

"Hi." The text read. My brows furrowed at the greeting and I checked the number. Like before, I didn't recognise it. Is it spam? Is it someone at school trying to prank the new kid? Or am I being too paranoid?

"Hi." I humoured them, staring blankly at my screen.

"Do you need help, Sam?"

My bones chilled slightly, putting a skip in my heart. How the hell do they know my name? "Who is this?"

"Don't worry, Sam. I'll help you soon :)"

"The fuck...?" I said aloud, practically whispering. I blocked the number. Nope. I wasn't dealing with creepy texts. Not on top of everything else I had to juggle already. No sir-ree. There was no response or persistence, to my relief. I slid my phone aside on my desk, and muttered under my breath. "Yeah. Fuck off, thanks..."

You could escape your life, but not weirdos, apparently.

Ignoring that brief disturbance, I went back to the interview. It seemed they needed someone to assist bagging groceries, the salary wasn't all that great but it was more than enough to grab the stuff I needed. It was on weekends, short hours and I wouldn't need to worry about it cutting into my school schedule. Perfect.

I closed my laptop down, and got ready for school, donning simple washed jeans, a shirt I stole- borrowed from Ashley, and a pair of comfortable running shoes. Not exactly the prettiest, but I didn't care too much right now. It wasn't my priority. Besides, running from the supernatural in heels was a big no-no. Fuck that. I wasn't taking chances in this town.

There was a knock on my door as I tied my laces. I paused, craned my head up, and saw Hilde standing there, putting one of her earrings in. She was popping her head in through my door. "Everything okay, Sam?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"You didn't go to school yesterday." She reminded me, and I rubbed my hands over the top of my jeans.

"Yeah, I just felt ill. I'm better now."

Her hazel tinted eyes narrowed. "You sure you don't wanna stay home?"

"I'm good." I defended myself. "You know, parental guardians everywhere would be happy their kid isn't trying to skip."

"Extenuating circumstances." She said simply, lowering her hands as she put in her earring and crossed her arms. She tapped her heel. "You sure you're okay? Are you taking your medication?"

"I feel fine." I tried not to be too dismissive, but she grew sceptical. To catch her off guard, I added, "I made two friends."

The distraction worked and she straightened slightly, brightening. "You did? Who? When?"

"I'm gonna be late to school, Hilde." I prompted, hoping to get out of story time, but she didn't relent.

"Tell me about it on the way then, I'll give you a lift!" She eagerly walked into my room, picking up my backpack from the side before I could protest. "Are you ready?"

I sighed, but stood from the edge of my bed. I left out that I wanted to go back to bed, and that I could nap for half a day still. More like three days.

"Yeah. I'm ready."

"She take my mo-oney when I'm in neeed," I sung along quietly to myself, sitting cross legged, keeping to myself under the shade of a relatively tall tree. "Yeah, she's a triflin' -friend indeed. Oh, she's a gold digger. Way over town, that digs on me..."

Bright side of being stuck in the past, music was timeless. I felt like a reverse Captain America, instead of being stuck in the future I was in the past. My references would go straight over people's heads. Sadly, I didn't have an MP3 player or iPod. Maybe it was something I could afford when I got a job. Expectations and hopes were high that my interview this weekend would go well. If I didn't get the role, oh well, there was no doubt more positions hanging around. I was even planning to hand my CV (or résumé as they called it here) into the Mystic Grill at some point if the grocery place didn't work out.

Throughout the school day, I hadn't recognised anyone else that was seemingly portrayed by an actor or actress from the show. Unfortunately, that included the one who played Jeremy. I could just about vaguely recall a scene between Jeremy and Tyler. He was storming across the field, or behind the school , to confront the dormant werewolf about the uncomfortable sexual pressure he put on Vicki. But I hadn't seen any of them.

Excluding that pair, I didn't know where to find anyone else.

Half of the day was mostly just me attempting to catch up with everyone else. I did miss a day, and I didn't exactly have the same curriculum as others. Not to mention, they taught things in a different way sometimes. Different methods to solving equations, other figures I'd never researched before in parts of history my own school didn't deem important enough to teach. I was behind, in more way than one. The principal did assign me a tutor for after school hours on a certain days I'd learned, but I was already exhausted, never having studied this much or focused this hard on work. Least to say, I wasn't exactly a top student back when I'd actually been to school and college.

Ashley kept to herself, in her popular group of friends. I had sat down with them when it was the lunch hour, but zoned them out for the most part. Other than that, it wasn't really an eventful day at school.

Above me, the gentle wind knocked a dying leaf down from the tree I was sitting under. My gaze drifted to it as the leaf fluttered down onto my lap. It crinkled when I picked and held it up, twirling it by the stem. Sunlight glinted through small holes and tears in the small blade, illuminating charming reddish and golden colours.

My lips pursed, as I stared at it like it had all the answers.

It was still surreal how lucid everything was.

Am I missing, in my world? I asked mentally, to no one in particular. Is time different?

"Sam!"

Jumping, I dropped the leaf, lifted my head and looked around. From the school entrance, I could see a darker skinned girl waving her arm. I squinted at the person next to her. Taller in height, but skinny and bright hair-

Oh for fuck sake.

Feeling every fibre of myself tense, I forced myself through it and used the tree behind me to stand up. I was weighed down by unease, but pushed forward, gripping my bag and awkwardly avoiding the burning gaze of the popular blonde girl standing in the distance. Gradually, I reached them, and painted a polite smile on my face.

Bonnie gave me a slightly sheepish expression, and gestured to the pretty blonde in introduction. "Hey Sam, this is Caroline. She's a really good friend of mine."

"Hi." She said almost immediately after Bonnie finished speaking. There was an automatically intimidating air hovering around the young Forbes. Beside the fact she was beautiful without barely trying, her eyes were icy in analysing me despite the friendly expression she wore. It was almost shocking how she could balance the two. "So you're the Sam girl."

"I'm the Sam girl." I confirmed, trying to keep a light hearted air. I hid my hands behind my back, feeling a thin layer of clamminess grow over my palms.

"Bonnie tells me you're new." She took a small step toward me. Subtle, almost barely noticeable. She towered over my shorter height, and tilted her head with a too sweet smile. Her eyes raked a little over my clothes, taking the image of me in. "You settling in okay? Bonnie mentioned you were... struggling."

The darker haired girl shot her a look, but Caroline just gave me another pretty smile.

She wasn't a bad person. Caroline went from being one of my least favourite, to the top spots overall as the series progressed. She was a little unlikable and shallow to begin with, a little conceited and selfish. She was practically telling me through body language that she was in charge, and making sure I knew it. However, she was nice to her friends or the people she was close with, if a little competitive. I knew that much. Even season one Caroline.

Maybe I feel even more awkward because of what I did to her mother...

I didn't want trouble. I didn't want to upset her, but I also didn't want to be a doormat.

"Yeah, I'm settling in just fine." I said, and straightened my back a little. Very faintly, I could have sworn her brow twitched, but I was also unsure if it was just my paranoia. "Me and Bonnie are going shopping actually, she's gonna show me around town a bit more, since I haven't had the chance to explore."

"Shopping?" Her eyes flickered to my outfit again, not so subtly. "Perfect! I'm coming too then, you'll absolutely look better after I throw cute clothes on you."

Any momentary confidence slowly melted. I felt like running away.

She glanced over innocently to Bonnie, who was giving her a certain look. Disapproval reflected in her eyes, but the blonde quickly looked over to me, mouth spreading into another smile. Her tone reaching impressive levels of cheerful. "Oh! If you're okay with that, of course. You're fine with it, though, right?"

I was hoping I could get Bonnie alone. But I knew Caroline was stubborn, and... well, her fashion sense was admittedly nice. If there was one thing she was right about, my style-or AltSam- needed a swift change, and now I admittedly had the perfect person to help me. I just hoped it wouldn't take nine hours and make my feet bleed from the amount of walking we were about to do from browsing different clothing stores.

"Okay." I decided happily, to both of their surprise. "I'm in. I don't know too much about clothes, but you seem like you do. I love your earrings, by the way, They suit you so much."

"Oh! Thank you!" Caroline was taken aback, but brightened up ever so slightly. Bonnie rolled her eyes and gave me a mirthful 'now you've done it' look as she crossed her arms. The blonde gave a slight nod of approval and then looked me up and down again. Her gaze changed slightly from before. Now it was less hostile, and stoically analytical. "Don't worry, we'll fix you."

My eyebrows quirked up.

"Fix me?" I asked, more amused than anything at her bluntness. She didn't seem to hold any malice in her words, but I could understand why people thought she 'said the wrong thing' and misunderstood her intentions. She probably still distrusted me, but less so now that I'd complimented her sense of style... or it literally could be the prospect of make over shopping that's made her a bit less iffy.

"This poor girl needs my help, Bonnie, why wasn't I invited sooner?" Caroline gushed, and the three of us started walking down the street, slowly putting distance between us and the school.

The walk to the local mall was a little long, but it gave Caroline plenty of time to badger me with questions, and confirmations about what she'd heard about me. "So what's your last name, Sam?"

"Clarke." I said, feeling an anxious tinge curl up in my stomach. Her mother didn't mention me, right?

But judging by the lack of reaction on her face, she hadn't. It gave me a little relief, and my shoulders relaxed a bit.

"What's your sign? Oh, and your birthstone." Caroline asked next, excitedly. "Maybe I can give you a palette that correlates with it. No, wait, lemme guess." I'd barely had two seconds to get a word in. Bonnie mouthed 'sorry' to me and I shrugged with a small smile. "Capricorn? It would explain why you go for a comfortable type of style."

I supposed that could be seen as rude, but I reminded myself she was just... Caroline. "Nope, keep guessing."

"Oh my god, really? I could've sworn." She looked over at Bonnie. "Your turn then, miss psychic." There was a small unsettled glint in Bonnie's features. Caroline nudged her when Bonnie didn't answer, standing on her right side. "Bon?"

"Can we... not talk about that?" Bonnie asked, an uncomfortable tinge over her face.

"What? But I thought you were all about that stuff!" Caroline prompted, not taking the hint. Her heeled boots clicked along the pavement, the side buckle slightly jingled. "She wouldn't shut up about it for the past few days! Her Grams kept telling her stories about the witches of Salem and being related to them, it might have gotten to her head a little." She waved her hand. "But if she is psychic, she can help me study, since she'll know all the answers."

"Care." Bonnie said, a little exasperated. "That's not how I said it worked, for a start, and can we talk about something else?"

"Fine." She sighed, miffed. "Sam, what's that short for, Samantha?"

"Samara."

"Do you have a middle name?"

Gosh, when Caroline wants to know about someone, she really interrogates.

"Edi."

"Your sign?"

"Taurus."

"Edward or Jacob?"

I tried not to cringe. "Is this necessary?"

"Did I stutter?"

She continued to badger me along the trip to the mall, but eventually Bonnie distracted her with talk of the new hottie. I followed them, seeing as I had no idea how to get to the local mall. I wasn't even aware there was one until Bonnie mentioned it to me in a text.

I kicked a lone can of some off brand fizzy drink out of my path, squinting through the bright weather and adjusting the thin hoodie I was wearing, eventually tearing it off me. September or not, it was still Virginia. I'd need to buy skirts, shorts, maybe even say fuck it to the trainers I was wearing and grab a pair of sandals. These jeans weren't cutting it, and I felt like I was about to die of heatstroke. This was summer weather in England.

"You alright Sam?" Bonnie's question of concern brought me from my zoned out zombie shuffle.

I lifted my head over to her, fanning myself with my hand. "Yes, I'm.. I'm good. It's just I'm still not used to this weather."

"Because of dreary old England weather, right?" Caroline mimicked my accent, which made me eye twitch. "Is it true it always rains over there?"

"It's more... it changes every few days. We could have snow one day and then it could be blistering hot another." I exhaled, hoping it would expel the heat building up, to no avail. "I need dresses. Water- hell a god damn swimming pool filled with ice."

"It's not that bad, is it?" Bonnie slightly grinned.

I rose an eyebrow. "Hey, I wouldn't be British if I didn't complain about the weather. We're never happy." She giggled at my dry tone, as we approached a relatively medium sized building made up of several stores, just situated over a busy road. "Oh, so this is a strip mall. I admit, I was picturing something else a bit more sleazy."

"Why did you agree to come if you thought that?" Caroline shot me a mischievous smirk. I felt myself redden a little.

"I mean, when in another country wouldn't you try things?"

Caroline laughed. I wasn't sure if it was at me or with me. Maybe a bit of both.

Her blonde hair bounced along her shoulders as she walked in, Bonnie followed behind her and held open the door for me. As soon as I walked inside I was hit by the absolutely soothing cold air from the AC. Caroline continued ahead, already scanning the neatly dressed mannequins set up around the store, but Bonnie turned to see why I wasn't behind.

"Holy shit I'm never leaving this spot." I breathed out much to Bonnie's amusement, inclining my head down so the AC breezed over the sweat on the back of my neck.

"And I thought Caroline was a drama queen."

"Hey." I held up a finger, pointed it at her slightly, and lacked the mental capacity for a witty come back. "Shut up."

The darker haired girl chuckled and gently went to grab my arm, before my instincts kicked in and I automatically flinched away, creating a thick, awkward air for a moment until I laughed nervously and said, "I'm gross and sweaty, I wouldn't touch me if I were you."

"Don't be silly," She said, brows furrowing slightly. Her olive green eyes reflected a slightly dejected scepticism that made my chest tighten. Fuck. "Do you... have a problem with people touching you, or something?" She eyed me, discerning my face carefully for my reaction to the question. "Or... just me?"

No, no, no. "No, Bonnie, I promise you it's not that."

She shook her head slightly, and I could see by the uncomfortable tinge in her soft features that she'd already made up her mind on why I acted so weird. "Whatever, I'm gonna go find Caroline, she's probably traumatising the clerk with a hundred questions or something..."

She quickly walked off, and I could've knocked my head into the wall in frustration. God dammit.

Leaving the sanctuary of the AC, I trailed after the two girls. I faintly heard Caroline asking Bonnie if she was okay, but the girl didn't respond when I came over. There was a small awkward quiet, and my stomach churned. Fuck. This isn't good. This can't go wrong. This can't go this way. I can still fix this. Just, how?

"Okaay, whatever's happening between you two, save it off until later, kay?" Caroline gestured at Bonnie, then me. "I've gotta try on these clothes, and I need opinions, so wait here, I'll be right back."

With that, the blonde walked into the changing room, leaving me and Bonnie in a thick bubble of tension. There wasn't any movement or sound between the two of us until Bonnie sat down stiffly on the dark grey, circular ottoman set beside the changing room. I slowly shuffled over, setting myself down next to her, but she went onto her phone to avoid me.

"Hey, Bonnie, can I talk to you real quick?" I muttered, feeling panic start to sink it's claws into me.

"Not now." She said, a little flatly. I grimaced.

"Please? I-I really need to explain."

"Fine, what?" Her eyes snapped from her phone to me, and I struggled with my words, but Caroline came out before I could.

She sauntered out, head raised and arms lifting to pose in her new outfit. In the back of my head, there was something off about it, and a wave of dizziness swept over me. I swallowed and held my head in my hand, feeling the world spin. Oh god what the hell?

"Sam?" Someone, I wasn't sure who, prompted, but I couldn't respond for a second. "Sam?"

"Y-yeah? Sorry." I blinked away the slightly blurring filter that clouded my vision. The irate look in Bonnie's eyes faded, overcome by more of a concern. I wiped my eyes and nodded. "Yeah it's good, I like it."

Caroline huffed. "Okay I don't want the pitiful pretending 'oh yeah honey it looks good' I want honest answers." She flattened the skirt out and it finally snapped why I had the weird extreme sense of Deja Vu.

Didn't she wore that when she started dating Damon? Yes! The founders party dress... what happens if she never buys it?

I started to wonder if the butterfly effect principle applied here. If she never bought that dress, if I somehow stopped her from meeting Damon or being compelled- would she be tormented that way? Would Damon stop targeting her when he found out she was useless to him? He uses her to find that necklace. I remembered. So what happens if I interject here?

Only one way to find out.

"Uh..." I pursed my lips. "You're right. I don't like it. I prefer the purple one on you. It looks so much better."

"An honest opinion!" She called out in triumph. "That's how it should be. Thank you." She put her hand on her hip. "I wouldn't want anyone to let me go into a party looking like I puked out my outfit- which is why I'm going to tell you something Sam." She quickly grabbed my shoulders before I could register, catching me off guard. Oh shit! Oh no- ohsh-

Whatever she said to me was completely muffled, as reality fizzled away.

Dark sky. Chilly air. Caroline talking to tall figure. Dark hair. Pale skin. Piercing blue eyes. Wicked smile. Glint of light on fangs. Dark red veins. Scream. Everything was smothered and heightened to impossible lengths at the same time, but the scene transitioned, rippling like disturbed water. It broke away, piece by piece. The scene is suddenly different. Sky isn't as dark. Door opens, blonde girl stumbles in. Bonnie follows. My hand pats the roof of car. It drives away. I watch it leave.

Caroline's blue-green eyes widened a little as I gasped and recoiled away, falling backward off the ottoman. My butt hit the floor harshly, and the palms of my hands felt the friction of the carpet, leaving a small burn. Bonnie had jumped up to her feet, a small click visibly going off in her head as she stared at me, understanding seeming to slide over her heart shaped face.

Oh.

As always, I appreciate your love guys! ^_^

-Avian