High school wasn't the fondest time in Odette's life. In fact she hated thinking about that time in her life despite the fact that she graduated from high school eight years ago. All that angst, hormones along with the typical boy problems and issues with the mean girls was something that Odette didn't like to reminisce about at the best of time as it had taken her a while to get past everything that she had went through in high school. The last place Odette ever wanted to return to was high school, hell she was even planning on turning down going to her ten year high school reunion that would be coming up in two years. But yet here Odette was back in high school although thankfully it wasn't hers. Mystic Falls high school was throwing this decade dance and Ric had asked her to tag along to help him chaperone. Well more like told Odette that she was coming, he had pulled the older cousin card saying that she needed to get out of her apartment and have some fun. Odette was still experiencing a bit of writers block and she was continually avoiding her boyfriend's calls so she had agreed to come, even finding time to get a costume as the decade for this dance was the 50's. It was just something to get Odette out of her apartment for a few hours even if it meant supervising several teenagers. But Odette wasn't going to et that bother her, she would just try and enjoy herself as best as she could, she did get all dressed up and all.

As she aimlessly wondered around the school gym towards the refreshment stand Odette took in the loud music, the kids dancing with each other and having fun with each other in the decorated gym. It kind of reminded Odette of what she had missed out on when she was back in high school as she hadn't been the girl that boys had asked out and that had been fine with Odette. She had never really felt like she had missed out on too much stuff when she was in high school. College had kind of made up for the most of that which is why she didn't really dwell on her high school days much. Eventually Odette finally found the refreshment table and got herself a glass of a glass of punch.

"Why if it isn't my little friend Swanny from the other week? I've been worrying about you."

Turning around Odette saw that the person who had been standing behind her was Damon Salvatore, the guy she had met in the grill when she had first arrived in Mystic Falls. Damon had the handsome guy who read the tattoo that she had down her back and the two of them ended up talking for a while, the last place Odette had expected to see Damon again was here of all placed. "Well if isn't the guy who likes to go around reading people's backs. Where's your costume? You do know that these theme dances generally require costumes."

"I'm a bit old to be dressing up at theme parties and the whole costume deal was never really my thing." Damon replied and Odette found herself laughing.

"Oh you're never too old to put on a costume and pretend to be someone else for a while and if you're too old to be dressing up then that means I'm way too old to be dressing up as well as you don't look much older than me." Odette retorted before she took a sip of her drink, at times Odette used to think that she acted way older than her age but Damon was something else. "I would have thought a member of the towns welcoming committee would have almost certainly dressed up for an event such as this."

"Okay, so maybe I lied about that." Damon admitted.

"Ya think?" Odette replied with a small chuckle. "So why are you here? If there is no welcoming committee and you don't seem to have any particular interest in this dance in the slightest so why are you here?

"You ask a lot of questions don't you?"

"I find that funny coming from the guy who practically interrogated me upon our first meeting. I think it's only fair that I get to ask a few questions myself." Odette quietly replied as she glanced over to the kids dancing, keeping a sharp eye out, as after all she was here to chaperone and not strike up a conservation with the handsome man that she had met in a bar a couple of weeks ago. Apparently at these dances kids were prone to spiking the punch bowl with alcohol, not that Odette knew anything about that.

"Are you ever going to let that drop?" Damon asked with a small smirk on his face and Odette looked him in the eye momentarily before nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders. Damon was good looking, there was no doubt about that but Odette wasn't here to be flirting and making small talk with nice looking men. She was here to supervise this dance and more importantly help her cousin get down to the bottom of what had really happened to Isobel. Odette had to remind herself that she couldn't get distracted and had to remain focused on the bigger picture here as after everything that had happened Alaric deserved to get some closure over what had happened to Isobel. "What about you? What brings you here?"

"Well it's clearly not to relieve my high school years." Odette grimly stated as she took a sip of her fruit punch. Unfortunately for her it had not been spiked in the slightest which was too bad as she could have done with something a tiny bit stronger. Maybe something with a bit of vodka or rum in it. Then again Ric would kill her if he caught her drinking here of all places.

"That bad?" Damon questioned.

"Worse, when I was in high school I was very awkward and quiet, I hadn't really come into myself and I had glassed and braces so the popular kids took to calling me the Ugly Duckling. I wasn't comfortable within my own skin at the time, it wasn't until college that I really grew into myself. My dad always used to tell me that all high school is really a social experiment of some sorts that basically prepares young people for the adult world. I don't know where he got that from as high school was pretty much hell on earth for me, from my first day I practically counted down the days until I graduated. It was horrendous and for some reason it never actually changes, the people may come and go but the players all stay the same with the beautiful cheerleaders, jocks, nerds, stoners and then the bullies who are world class jokes." Odette wearily commented.

"Who were you?"

"The ugly duckling." Odette retorted.

"I find that hard to believe." Damon commented and Odette couldn't help but smile. "So if you hate high school so much then why are you here?"

"My cousin roped me into chaperoning, he said not enough people had volunteered and they needed all the help they could get and since he's been getting a bit of grief about the whole thing from the school he commandeered me from my work for the night."

"School, huh?" Damon asked and Odette slowly nodded.

"Yeah my cousin is the new history teacher, he took over the job after the last teacher got killed several weeks ago. He's kind of the reason I'm here as after he got the job, I decided to take a break from my life and hang out here in Mystic Falls with him and help him get settled. But enough about me Salvatore, why are you here? Don't think I haven't noticed that you've been avoiding answering my question about what your doing here for the majority of this conversation." Odette couldn't help but point out and she noticed a small smirk appear in the corner of Damon's mouth.

"Chaperoning too I'm afraid, my younger brother is a student here and so I'm playing the responsible older brother for only tonight. I'm doing it as a favour despite my opinions on theme dances." Damon explained and the sarcasm was clear from his voice.

"Didn't take you for being an older brother, you seem more like the only child type if I'm honest."

"What about you? Got any siblings named Robin? Dov? Raven or my favourite Phoenix?" Damon asked and Odette couldn't help but laugh as she should have seen that coming considering her name was most commonly associated with that of the white swan in the swan lake ballet.

"Only child but my cousin Ric has always been more of a big brother than an older cousin to me. We're pretty and speaking of him, I better go and check in with him otherwise he may think I got lost at the closest bar and bailed on him. It was nice seeing you again Salvatore, maybe we'll do this again sometime…"