Chapter 2

Fourth period found Jessenia in Alaric's class and she sighed a huge breath of relief, thankful her cousin had been right. So far, Jessenia wasn't having the best first day at Mystic Falls High School. First period found her trying to read a book, but that was quickly ended when the teacher in there decided to give them a forty minute lecture on how to be quiet.

Her second class was math and of course the teacher had to put everyone in a group exercise. She didn't know anyone and ended up with two people that wanted nothing to do with her. Third period was gym and Jessenia forgot her uniform to change into, so she ended up having to run in her jeans, which was not comfortable.

Alaric looked up when Jessenia walked in and smiled at her before going back to looking over his paperwork. "Is there anywhere specific I should sit?" She asked him, thankful she was the only one in the classroom.

"You could take a seat anywhere, I don't have assigned seating." Alaric replied softly, shuffling more papers on his desk and started writing something on a pad.

"Thanks."

Looking around, Jessenia finally decided to take a seat near the back so she would be out of sight. She sat down and pulled out the notebook designated for this specific class along with her math book, a pen and pencil. One by one, students began filing into the class and Jessenia just kept to herself, feeling very lost. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for her to move away from Maryland her senior year of high school.

"Hi."

Jessenia looked up at the greeting and stared at a brown doe-eyed girl that sat next to her. "Hi." She greeted back politely, looking very uneasy.

Elena smiled, extending her hand and ignored the worried expression on Stefan's face. "I'm Elena."

Jessenia took her hand, shaking it gently and winced slightly from how strong Elena's grip was. "I'm Jessenia, most call me Jesse or Jess." Elena released her hand thankfully and Jessenia shook it a little to get the circulation going again.

Elena chewed her bottom lip, not realizing just how strong she was now that she was a vampire. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your hand." She apologized in a mumble, grabbing her bag and decided maybe it wasn't a good idea to come so soon.

"No problem, I'm fine." Jessenia assured her, watching as Elena stopped from grabbing her bag. "You didn't hurt me."

"Really?" Elena grinned when Jessenia nodded, physically relaxing and looked over at Stefan, pleading with him to say something.

"So Jessenia, are you new in town?" Stefan asked, his voice smooth and already knew the answer, but figured this was the best way to change the subject.

"Yes."

"Where are you from originally?"

"Maryland." Jessenia answered, turning her attention to the front when Alaric began the class.

"First of all, I want to thank you all for showing up on time. Now then, let's get started." Alaric wasn't about to embarrass Jessenia by pointing her out to the entire class.

"Umm Mr. Saltzman, don't you think you should introduce the new girl?" Caroline asked sweetly, sitting next to Elena on her other side and peeked over to wave three fingers, flashing a pearly white smile.

Apparently, Caroline was going to do that for him. "Jessenia, do you want to stand up and introduce yourself?" Alaric asked, deciding to let her make the decision and watched as she slowly stood up in her chair.

This was nerve-wracking, but Jessenia wasn't about to back down, clearing her throat. "Not sure what to say, but my name is Jessenia Winters." There really wasn't anything else she could say so Jessenia sat down, causing Caroline to get the class to applaud her.

"Alright people, let's get down to business." Alaric directed the attention off of Jessenia and back to schooling, not believing Caroline just did that.

"Not cool, Caroline." Bonnie whispered, leaning over since she sat beside Elena.

Caroline just shrugged, paying attention to what Alaric was teaching.

After class was over, Jessenia was the last one to walk out of the classroom and wasn't surprised when Alaric stopped her. "I'm fine, it wasn't that bad." She whispered, assuring him the blonde hadn't bothered her with what she did. "Oh and thank you for the necklace." Jessenia fingered the charm again, which had reminded her that he was the one that got it for her. "I appreciate it."

It took a few seconds for Alaric to realize what Jessenia was referencing, finally nodding once he eyeballed the necklace. "Keep that on, it will protect you." He murmured quietly, patting her shoulder and sent her out the door to go to her next class.

Confused, Jessenia could only nod and shouldered her bag, walking out with a million questions in her head. That was the second time she had been told to keep the necklace on. What was going on? She headed to her locker, thankful it was just a few feet away and opened it to swap out her history book for her science.

When she closed it, Jessenia jumped about a foot in the air at the sight of a man towering over her, jade eyes wide. Her heart was pounding like a beating drum against her chest as Jessenia stared into his ice blue eyes, trying to learn how to breathe again because he was truly breathtaking. He had short cropped jet black hair that looked a little haphazard, which Jessenia thought was incredibly sexy and his eyes were the lightest of blues, reminding her of an aquamarine stone. He wore a leather black jacket with a black shirt, black pants and black shoes.

"Hi." Jessenia was proud of herself that she'd found her voice finally after staring at him for what seemed like hours.

Damon smiled charmingly back at her, leaning against the lockers. "Hello there." He greeted smoothly, ignoring the warning looks both Stefan and Elena were shooting him from across the way. "You dropped this."

Breaking eye contact, Jessenia blinked and looked at the book the gorgeous man was extending to her, flushing a little. "I didn't even realize I dropped it…" She started taking it from him, raising a brow when he instantly pulled it back.

"Not very observant are you?" Damon observed snidely, glancing at the book to see what it was. "Hmm science…my favorite subject in school, especially biology..."

"Good for you." Jessenia snatched the book from his grasp, holding it against her chest tightly, not appreciating the tone of his voice while shutting her locker. "I hate science. If you'll excuse me, I really must be going." Turning, Jessenia started walking away and stumbled a foot back when the man was right in front of her again.

"Now that wasn't very nice. We were just getting to know each other." Reaching out, Damon fingered a tendril of her soft light brown hair, smirking when she recoiled. "Aww what's the matter? Is the little girl scared of me?"

This guy had to be on crack or seriously deluded if he thought for a second she was. "Actually no, I just don't like being touched by assholes."

Both Stefan and Elena were gaping at Jessenia now, eyes wide.

"Is that right?" This woman had a fire about her that Damon couldn't walk away from, not yet at least. "So you're calling me an asshole?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I am. You're not as slow as I thought you were." Jessenia retorted, jade eyes narrowed, wondering what he wanted with her.

"You don't even know me, girl."

"You're right and I don't care to know you." Jessenia stated, meaning every word that came out of her mouth, smiling coldly. "Now get out of my way, I have to get to class."

"Why you-"

"That's enough, Damon." Stefan decided to diffuse this situation before it got out of hand, seeing how pissed his brother was for being mouthed off to. "Let her go."

If only Damon could kill his meddlesome brother, then he would force this girl to get to know him…personally. "Very well." He put his hands up, stepping away from her and snorted. "She's not worth my time anyway."

Elena shook her head at Damon, looking up at Stefan, frowning. "Get him out of here please. Come on, Jesse, we have to get to class."

Jesse? Was that the little bitch's name that just called him an asshole? Damon filed that information away in his mind and decided to leave for now, but he wouldn't be leaving the grounds. He would go outside for some air, deciding he would be paying miss attitude a visit later on.

"Leave her alone, Damon."

"Did you hear what she called me?" Damon demanded, sounding hurt even though he wasn't, just mildly irritated.

Stefan smirked, nodding. "Of course I did and so did Elena. We thought it was amusing." To his knowledge, a girl had never stood up to Damon that way, not even Elena when she first met him. "And now you will leave her alone or we're going to have problems."

"What's so special about her?"

"Because she's Meredith's cousin." Alaric stated from behind, causing both brothers to turn around, his eyes narrowed in on Damon. "She just moved here recently and you WILL leave her alone or Stefan won't be the only one you have problems with, Damon."

Meredith's cousin…That meant she had the bloodline to one of the Founding Families, just like him. The Founding Families was originated back in the 1860 and the Fell Family was one of the original families to be part of it, one of the founders of Mystic Falls. Meredith was also a member of Mystic Falls Founder's Council, which was a body of high-ranking civil servants who officially were in charge of commemorating the foundation of the town.

However, their true goal was to protect the town from the threat of vampires.

Being a cousin to one of the Founder's Council, Damon decided maybe he'd been a little too rude to Jesse and would rectify it. "I will." He walked away from Stefan down the hall, stroking his chin in thought while staring up at the sky.

"What the hell was that about?" Alaric had walked out of the classroom to get some water from the drinking foundation and noticed Damon had approached Jessenia.

"I have no idea, but I'll find out." Stefan said, nodding when Alaric handed him a hall pass before they went their separate ways.

Once inside the science classroom, thankfully Jessenia and Elena weren't late, they both sat beside each other while the teacher explained what they were going to be doing throughout the first part of the semester. Jessenia couldn't pay attention, her mind solely on the mystic blue eyed man that had lit her blood on fire in both a good and bad way. It was sweet of him to pick her book up, but his snide behavior just got under her skin in ways nobody ever had. Jessenia really wanted to clock him in the face, but settled for just calling him an asshole.

"Don't let Damon bother you." Elena whispered, seeing how deep in thought Jessenia was and patted her hand gently. "He's like that with everyone."

"I didn't even do anything to him." Jessenia whispered softly back, hoping Elena could hear her.

"Doesn't matter, like I said, he's like that with everyone." Elena knew that better than anyone, remembering the first time she met Damon.

She had gone to find Stefan at the Salvatore Boarding House and had first been polite, but then mentioned Stefan's ex-girlfriend, Katherine. He planted seeds of doubt in her head about her relationship with Stefan about being a rebound for him and Stefan walked in on their conversation. Stefan was very distant and told her in a polite way to leave, only for Damon to try persuading her to stay, but Elena decided it was better that she left. He kissed her hand before letting her leave, pulling off possibly the best charming hoax act.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Science was a lot better than the first three because Jessenia had someone to hang out with and she didn't have to search for a partner when it came for a group assignment. It was all about chemistry right now, which Jessenia wasn't very good at, but thankfully Elena was. Jessenia couldn't help thinking back to what Damon said about biology and physically shivered, unable to stop it.

"Cold?" Elena raised a brow at her partner, sounding amused.

"Yeah, sorry." Jessenia lied, hoping it sounded smooth enough and did the next step for the assignment. "I get cold easily."

"It's eighty degrees outside." Elena pointed out the obvious, not able to resist.

Jessenia didn't respond to that and just focused on what they were doing, appreciative when Elena changed the subject. Once class ended, Jessenia was relieved because it was lunch time and she was starving. She went to the snack bar, buying a salad with ranch dressing and a chicken sandwich.

Deciding she felt claustrophic in the cafeteria, Jessenia decided to eat outside, smiling when she found a nearby tree with some shade. Settling in for the next half hour, Jessenia opened her salad and began pouring the dressing on it, humming softly to herself. It was such a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly and warm, but not humid.

"Mind if I join you?"

Jessenia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up because she could feel hot breath on her ear, her breathing turning heavy and her heart rate sped up several notches. She closed her eyes briefly, knowing exactly who it was and soon broke out in goose bumps. Every part of her lit on fire once again, every nerve-ending sparking, Jessenia had never felt like this before and it honestly scared the hell out of her.

"I rather you didn't, Damon."

Chuckling, Damon moved to sit beside her anyway and could feel the annoyance from her. "So you know my name, Jesse? How kind of Elena to inform you." Now he sounded slightly annoyed, raising a brow at the salad that was on her lap.

"My name is Jessenia. Only friends and family are allowed to call me that." She corrected him coldly, suddenly losing her appetite, but Jessenia knew she had to eat something and stabbed her salad like it personally did her wrong.

Damon closed his eyes when she said her full name, a soft growl escaping him. "Mmm Jessenia…" He could feel her shiver beside him and smirked, turning to fully face her. "I think I prefer Senia."

Jessenia finally looked up at him, blinking. "Senia?" Nobody had ever called her that before and it felt…weird, but not necessarily in a bad way. "What do you want, Damon?"

"You're very judgmental you know that?" Damon shot back, sitting with his knees drawn up, his elbows resting on them, ice blue orbs unreadable. "I mean, I was nice enough to pick your book up that you dropped and you're treating me as if I'm the biggest dick in the world." Which he was, but Damon wasn't about to admit that to her…yet.

She would soon find out.