A/N: I'm on a roll! I feel super happy about writing again and I can't stop. Please R&R!

Chapter 5 - The call of Youth

~X~

"The battle of willow creek, took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls" Tanner was going on and on about the war again. He was a very arrogant man that saw himself as a superior to others because he had a degree. He probably thought that he belonged at a college where people actually wanted to learn and not a small town high school.

Harper had a hard time in school. She was a good student and tried her best, but somehow she never got that sweet A grade. And while Tanner was talking about the war, Harper was only half-listening. She was way too busy trying to scribble all of the information down in her notebook.

"How many casualties resulted in this battle" Like anyone in here would know, Harper thought as she waited for Tanner to answer himself. Some students looked around the room, and as Harper had predicted, no one seemed eager to answer.

"Miss Bennett?"

"Umm.. a lot, I'm not sure.. Like a whole lot" Bonnie said, hoping that Tanner had suddenly obtained the ability to get a joke.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant Miss Bennett" Tanner stated and remained a stoic face, as he switched his gaze towards someone else.

"Mr. Donovan! would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" Tanner grinned from ear to ear. Matt was a star player on his team, and he wished every time he asked one of his players that surely today was the day they had started to study for real.

"It's okay Mr. Tanner, I'm cool" Matt smirked. But surprise, surprise, he didn't get any flame like Bonnie had gotten. Favoritism? oh no Tanner would never.

"Elena, surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significant historical events" He asked and looked at the girl who sat in front of Harper. If anyone would know, it was Elena. After all, she came from one of the founding families.

"I'm sorry, I don't know," Elena sighed.

"I was willing to be light on you for obvious reasons last year Elena, but those personal excuses ended during summer break" Harper's eyes widened. Not by the super mean remark he just said towards a student. But there was a possibility of being pardoned from Tanner's assignments and questions.

"Last chance Miss Bellrose, founding family and all,'' Tanner looked straight into Harper's soul. Knowing full well that she didn't know the anwser. He knew that she wrote everything of value down each class, and since he had never mentioned this battle before today, it was next to impossible for her to know about this battle. He just wanted to use her as a springboard to launch an attack on the class for not knowing the importance of the civil war era of history.

"346 casualties, unless you are counting local civilians" The new guy answered and Harper was quick to write it down.

"That's correct, Mr?" New favorite student? Of course. Harper thought and it made her stomach turn. She had tried so hard to be the best, but she was never able to catch a break with the glorious Mr. Tanner.

"Salvatore" The new guy said, but the way he said it sounded almost unsure. Like he wasn't sure if he would use that name or make up another.

"Any relation to the original selleters here?" Tanner asked with a big, stupid grin on his face.

"Distant" Once again did the new guy sound unsure about the information he was giving to Tanner.

"Very good, but of course there were no civilian casualties in this battle" Tanner stated and walked back towards his desk, totally dismissing the new guy.

"Umm actually there were.. 27 people died when confederate soldiers fired at the church, believing it to be housing weapons, they were wrong. It was a night of great loss" The whole classroom was silent as the new guy talked. "The founder's archive is stored in civil hall if you want to brush up on your facts"

Sure it was a brave display towards Mr. Tanner. But Harper just rolled her eyes at the gesture, he poked the bear. Now the rest of class would be hell.

~X~

Later the same evening, Harper was sitting on her fluffy cloud bed making flash cards for her science class when Tyler walked in. Not only did he not knock, but it didn't help that Harper was only wearing her old pair of ugly purple sweatpants and a matching tank top. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she wore her reading classes, which made her look at least 90 years older.

"Do you want a ride to the party?" Tyler asked, but also chuckled as he got a proper view of what she was wearing.

"There is party tonight?" Harper asked and looked up from her books and notes. It was so embarrassing for her to be seen like that, but since she legally was his foster sister, she would be forced to get used to his 'no knocking before walking in' attitude.

"Yeah, a bonfire.. you didn't know?" Tyler asked, but realized that Harper was not anywhere near his social circles. So of course she didn't know.

"No" Harper muttered and looked down onto her books about the human digestive system. She felt like a loser.

"Well there is.. so do you need a ride or are your friends picking you up?" Tyler asked. Harper looked at him with a raised eyebrow, why would she need a ride? She wasn't even invited.

"I don't have any friends" She stated and looked him in the eye. She just wanted him to leave now so that she could continue with her work.

"Fine.. get dressed because you are coming with me" Tyler stated and walked up to her closest to find something of value. Harper just remained on her bed.

"What, no I'm not?" She asked, Tyler looked over his shoulder and shrugged. He threw a black hoodie and a pair of jeans at her, making the girl flinch.

"You need to make some friends," He said. And one hour later they were in the middle of the woods and at the bonfire party. Now Harper had never been to a party before that wasn't Henrys, and now that she was with Tyler, she felt ten times more nervous.

"Are you drinking? B-but you are our ride" Harper's eyes widened as Tyler accepted a red plastic cup filled with whatever the host was serving.

"Okay then you drive" Tyler stated as he chugged the cup, meanwhile Harper was contemplating whether or not it would be worth it to just take his car keys and go home right now.

"Are you sure?" Harper asked. Not about driving. But more so about her staying as long as him, probably most of the time by his side, to make sure that they went home together.

"Yes, unless you also want to drink" Tyler scoffed and waved his empty cup in her face. He knew that Harper didn't drink. She had never done it and wouldn't start now at a bonfire party.

"No thanks" Harper muttered and looked around the party. Suddenly her eyes landed on the new guy, Stefan Salvatore. He was literally eye candy, like the very definition of it.

"So you like the new guy" Tyler observed and Harper quickly snapped out of her daze. She didn't even notice that she had gotten into one.

"No.." She said, but her voice sounded as weak as her denial over her actions and feelings.

"You are blushing" Tyler stated and scoffed as Harper showed signs of teenage girl crush. He knew exactly what kind of guy Stefan Salvatore was, even though he did not know him. The new guy would play the 'I am so mysterious and unknown' card until he would settle into the 'popular but not popular because I am edgy' situation that would eventually happen. Tyler was surprised by the protectiveness he felt towards Harper but he didn't want her to get caught up in Stefan's act.

"It's the fire" Harper said, but clearly it was not the fire. Her face was as red as a tomato.

"If you say so.. but just a heads up, Elena Gilbert already has her talons into him. Don't do anything stupid" Tyler pointed over to the two lovebirds and he saw Harper's shoulders sag in defeat.

"I won't," She stated and smiled. But Tyler knew it was fake. The night was pretty boring to Harper after Tyler had passed his sixth cup, she didn't know anybody and she felt like an alien. Studying human behavior to try and fit in. But she was failing. She was sitting on a log bench, nursing a Red Bull that a girl from the cheerleading squad had given her out of pity. The girl hadn't stuck around to talk though, but it was clear that she had been a friend of Henry's.

"Hi Harper" A voice came up behind her, scaring her so much that she jumped up from her seat. Only to see the cutest guy in school smirking back at her, nearly laughing at her reaction of him saying hi to her.

"Hello Matt" Harper said and looked around for Tyler, but she couldn't find him.

"I didn't mean to scare you" Matt chuckled and took another sip of his own cup. He was upset about something, but Harper couldn't tell what it was.

"You didn't.." She tried to come up with something to cover up her jumpy behavior, but she couldn't. For a split second there was an awkward silence, both of them just looking at each other, not really knowing what to say or do.

"So.. did Tyler give your comic back to you?" Matt asked. He had originally wanted to give it back to her himself, since he wanted to talk to her without her running away. But this seemed to do just fine.

"My comic- Oh! Yes he did, thank you for picking it up" Harper said and tried to calm down. Her palms were sweaty and her mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour. She had no idea what to do to make this ice between them break. She felt so awkward, like a total loser.

"You seemed to be in a hurry that day," Matt said and smiled. Harper couldn't help but smile as well, but also kept looking at the most fascinating spot on her boots.

"You have no idea" She mumbled, hoping that he would be able to hear her.

"I guess I look scary then-" Matt teased, not realizing that Harper had a hard time seeing the difference between teasing and a normal statement.

"You don't! I mean- You look great-" Harper stammered and once again her face felt all hot and her brain all mushy. It isn't easy being a teenage girl.

"Harper I was teasing you" Matt said, trying to calm her down. To him, Harper acted super cute. Meanwhile Harper was having a total teenage meltdown.

"Oh.." Harper said and took a deep breath. "You don't make this easy"

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, raising his eyebrow while studying her face. Harper was a small and thin girl, her face was spotty with pale freckles and pimples. She had round cheeks, big brown eyes and her lips were the most beautiful when she smiled.

"I feel like a jumbled mess whenever I open my mouth" She sighed and hugged herself. It was getting kind of chilly, even with the fire so close to them.

"But that's good," Matt argued and took a step closer to her. Harper's eyes widened and looked up at him. Matt was buzzed and lonely, his ex was at the party with the new model handsome friend.

"How is that good?" She asked, her heart was beating so hard against her ribcage that it felt like it was going to burst. Matt Donovan, a jock on the football team, ex boyfriend of queen Elena Gilbert, was getting closer to her and flirting with her.

"Because-" He said, but stopped and looked over Harper's shoulder, "Vicki?" Harper turned around to see a bunch of people gather around Jeremy Gilbert as he carried her out of the woods.

"Vicki!" Matt ran towards his sister.

"Oh my-" Harper felt sick to her stomach as everyone rushed to see what was going on. But Harper had been through this before, she knew what happend to girls that left the woods like Vicki did.

"Give her some room! Hey, back off!" Tyler roared and helped Matt and the rest of the gang to keep Vicki stable. Meanwhile Harper was walking away from the scene. In her mind, Vicki was Henry, bleeding from her neck. This was happening all over again, dejavu at its finest.

"Someone call 911!" Was the last thing Harper heard from the party before she grabbed the first bottle of amber liquid that she could find and ran away from the scene.

~X~

Harper was walking down the road that led to the Wickery Bridge. Correction, Harper was stumbling down the road that led to the Wickery Bridge. It was really late, she could tell by the small amount of alcohol that was left in the bottle. At first she had hated the taste, she wanted to throw up as soon as it hit her taste buds, but then she stopped caring and all of the sudden the taste wasn't a problem anymore. With the bottle in one hand and her phone playing a Youtube video about kittens in the other, Harper had decided that she was going for a swim. She would jump off the bridge and hopefully swim to the shore. But her plans seemed to fail as a very familiar car drove up beside her.

"There you are! I have been looking around like crazy" Tyler looked furious, but his voice lacked poison.

"You shouldn't drink and drive" Harper stated and looked at her foster brother. That's when he knew that something was very wrong with her.

"Harper, get in the car" He said as he drove slowly by her side. Harper shook her head and just looked straight ahead.

"No"

"Harper! Get in the car" Tyler shouted at her, making her look at him again. He could see her tear streaked cheeks and red irritated eyes. She was utterly broken.

"I don't want to"

"Are you drunk?" Tyler asked, finally spotting the bottle in her hand. It was a cheap brand of whiskey that someone must've taken with them to the party. It was the kind that tasted awful but did its job quickly with one glass.

"No"

"Harper Bellrose, the very definition of a wallflower. The girl who doesn't drink, is drunk and walking down the road in complete darkness" Tyler stated, and this made him laugh. Not just chuckle, but really laugh hard. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Stop laughing!" Harper screamed, and Tyler stopped. He knew that he was being a dick right now. She didn't deserve that kind of judgment from him. Not after Henry's passing and this night's events.

"I'm sorry.. but could you at least stop" Tyler said and looked at her with pitiful eyes. She hated that look but stopped anyway. She guessed that she would have to take a raincheck on the dip in the river.

"Good, now get your flat gorgeous drunk ass into the car so that we can get home" Tyler opened the door to her and helped her inside the vehicle. She was like a ragdoll, cradling the phone and the bottle in her clumsy arms.

"I'm hungry" She stated when Tyler made a U-turn back into town. Tyler chuckled when he realized that Harper was whiny when she was drunk. Damn, he had hoped that she was the singing type.

"Okay food, then home" Tyler said, he himself also craved a lot of cheeseburgers.

"I want fries.. soo much fries'' Harper said and looked at him with pleading eyes. Tyler realized that he was hooked and that during the summer she had become much more than a stranger. A bond had taken its form, only time would tell what kind of bond that would be.

"Sounds good to me"