Author's Note: AND HERE IS CHAPTER THREE :D Anyway, words that are bold and underlinedare said in Afrikaans, so that means that no one in Mystic Falls knows what is being said. I just thought it would be a bit confusing if I had to add the translations at the bottom of the pages. Also, VERY IMPORTANT: Bonnie and Jeremy never dated/are never going to date!

Thank you so much to Real Emma Gray for being an awesome beta :)

Chapter Three – Mystic Falls

When I woke up Sunday morning, I was confused and didn't know where I was. The room I was in was painted in different colours: One wall was apple green, then the two walls opposite each other were white, and the wall opposite the green one was painted with soft, pastel colours. It was nice and cosy, but I was still lost. My bed was pushed against one of the white walls, which had a huge window seat facing the driveway. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my old Blackberry. I dialled my dad's number and he answered on the first ring.

"Hello, sweetheart. How is Mystic Falls?"

I felt like slapping myself. How on earth could I forget? My breathing slowed down to normal and I said, "I don't really know, Dad, I just woke up. I'll go explore in a while."

Dad grunted. "And who is looking after you? Have you heard from Klaus or Jackson yet?"

"No I haven't," I replied. "A young woman is looking after me. Her name is Kerri, and she's cold and doesn't talk much. I think she hates me already for some reason. And I haven't heard from them yet, Dad. I'm still waiting."

"She seems nice," Dad said sarcastically. There was a voice in the background, followed by my dad saying, "Sorry Hun, I've gotta run. Tayla is demanding to be let into the house."

My heart squeezed. "Tell her I miss her, please Dad," I whispered.

My dad made an affirmative sound and hung up.

I sighed and glanced at my phone's screen. I had 30 missed calls, 23 text messages, 15 BBM messages, and 6 WhatsApp messages. And I wasn't even exaggerating. Half of the missed calls were from Tayla, two were from her brother, six were from Megan, and the last five were from Unknown Numbers. It was the same with my text messages and WhatsApp messages. On BBM I had loads of messages from my friends wanting to know where I was and what was going on. I read them but didn't reply. What was the use, anyway?

I sleepily walked out of my room and down the stairs. What was with me always having a room upstairs? Eh, I didn't know and I was too tired to think about it. I trudged to where I guessed the kitchen was, but stopped when I saw how beautiful it was. It was really modern and everything about it screamed WEALTH! I was extremely shocked. Since my father didn't earn THAT much, I was used to having the basic or plain things. He was a professor at one of the Universities that wasn't that popular, and he taught Philosophy. He also had his own business, but it was still kind of new. So, yeah, we didn't even have cable or watched TV for that matter. So seeing this extremely fancy and really expensive kitchen sort of scared me. What if I broke something?!

"You're not going to break something," a voice came from behind me.

I screamed and fell onto my butt. My hand clutched at my heaving chest as I stared up at a casually dressed Kerri. She regarded me with her cool blue eyes. "You scare easily. Hmmm," she said thoughtfully.

I felt insulted, and at the same time my stomach clenched. What if she told Klaus that I was easily scared? Would he send me back to South Africa, with my memories gone?

"You're going to need to grow some balls soon," she said cryptically, and then stepped over my fallen body. She grabbed something out of the fridge and stood in front of my still-fallen body. "I'm going out. You should do that, too. Get the hell out of the house, meet new people… socialize and all that. Don't be home before dark. I have the only keys," she said. With that she walked back out and to the front door, and I listened as it slammed shut.

Slowly I stood up and made my way back upstairs. I went to the bathroom that I assumed was mine (since everything was new and untouched) and climbed into the shower after undressing. The water was nice and hot, soothing my aching muscles. I kept my mind perfectly blank as I didn't want to darken my mood again.

After about half an hour I was done. I wrapped my towel around me and trudged to my room. I closed my blinds and opened my bag filled with clothes. Now, what to wear? It was really warm so I grabbed black shorts, a red tank top, a gray cardigan, and brown sandals. It looked alright, but it missed something. I went to my Special Memory/Jewellery Box and opened it. I put on the special bracelet Tayla gave to me, and the silver locket. Now it looked great.

I grabbed my old Blackberry, text my dad my new number, and switched it off. I put both of them in my baggie though. I wanted to phone Janco, but I remembered that I'd forgotten to ask for his number. Oh well, I was bound to see him somewhere. With that thought I left the house to see what my new home had to offer.

~IYCSMN~ IYCSMN~ IYCSMN~ IYCSMN~

A couple of hours later and I was exhausted. Mystic Falls was great and all, don't get me wrong, but I felt so out of place. Everyone was dressed so nicely and here I was in shorts and a tank top. People also laughed at my strange accent. It wasn't my fault, jeez. You could swear they never saw "exotic" people. (Some guy called me exotic… don't ask.)

I was hungry and bored and tired when I saw this place called The Mystic Grill, and I immediately went inside. The place was extremely crowded for a Sunday. The Grill was beautiful, though. I looked around, feeling a little lost, when this blonde guy approached me. "Hey, I'm Michael. You new here?"

I guessed he was a waiter. "That obvious?" I asked him sheepishly, but nodded.

He smiled and led me to an empty table. "What can I get you?" he asked.

I thought for a minute. "Um," I started, but I was interrupted by a smooth voice. "She'll have a chicken burger with fries, and I'll take a beef burger and a beer please."

I immediately jumped up and attacked Janco with a hug. He stumbled back and his arms went around me. "I thought I wasn't going to see you again!" I exclaimed.

"Of course you'd see me again!" He laughed and let go of me. We took our seats while Michael went to place our orders. Today Janco was dressed in a neat black suit, and I was a bit confused.

"What's with the suit, Janco?" I asked him interestedly.

He smiled a sad half-smile and said, "Well, it was my ex girlfriend Nikki Richardson's funeral. When I heard she passed, I just had to come and say goodbye one last time. I loved her so much, Larissa. We broke up two weeks ago about some stupid thing… and we never even got the chance to make up for it again."

My mouth fell open. I immediately felt bad for him. "I-I don't know what to say," I admitted softly. I gave his hand a quick squeeze and removed it again, in case he got arrested for being in a relationship with a minor or something. I didn't know if that law still applied.

He gave me a grateful smile. Just then Michael handed Janco his drink. He thanked Michael and downed it, leaving me shooting a helpless look at Michael. "Another one, please," he said softly.

Michael glanced askance at me, and after I few seconds I nodded slowly. "This is your last one," I told Janco sternly.

"Ja, ja, sure," he mumbled. (JA JA is like Yeah, yeah just in Afrikaans).

I sighed and twiddled my fingers. I didn't know what to say, and I was really starting to dislike the silence that settled in as Janco had his second, third, fourth and then fifth beer. After that he had a few other drinks that I didn't bother listening to the names. "That's enough, Janco," I said softly. I didn't like people drinking, I've had bad experiences involving drunken people before.

The blonde must have heard something in my voice, as he blew out sharply and said, "Shit, I'm so sorry Larissa…." his voice trailed off.

I shrugged, trying to get rid of my discomfort. It wouldn't do anything for him. Our food arrived and we ate in an uncomfortable silence. When were done we just sat there staring at each other.

"Well this is awkward," a sarcastic voice said from behind me.

I turned around, irritated, and met eyes with light blue eyes. The man looked to be in his early twenties. He was pale and appeared to be fit. He had dark brown hair that went to just below his earlobes. He was attractive, I had to admit. Add that to the fact that I loved his choice of clothing. Dark jeans, a black button-up shirt, black boots, and a black leather jacket. I absolutely LOVED leather jackets. Unfortunately my witchy senses were tingling, trying to tell me something.

"And you are?" I asked, irritated. My senses were tingling, warning me that something was off about this guy.

He flashed me a sarcastic smile. "Damon Salvatore. And you, Blondie?"

I gritted my teeth. No one, and I mean NO ONE, was allowed to call me Blondie. "Larissa Nieuwoudt," I snapped. I flashed a quick look at Janco, whose unfocused gaze was directed somewhere behind this Damon dude. Some help he was! "And that's Janco Steyn," I added more calmly.

"You're new. You must be, otherwise I'd have recognised you. I don't like new people," Damon said through narrowed eyes.

Jeez, this guy had issues. "Uhm, yeah. Not my problem," I replied and stood up.

Some other cute blonde came over then and collected our dirty dished. He looked up and spotted Damon. "Already harassing Mystic Falls' newest residents?" he joked.

Damon rolled his eyes and the two of them started bickering. Annoyed, I stood up and moved to Janco. I tugged his arm and said, "Come on, Janco. Time to go."

Janco made no move to get up, he just watched me through glassy eyes. "Can't we stay?"

I shook my head. "No, Janco, we need to get you to your home. Nikki's family must be worrying about you." He still made no indication of listening to me.

"Need some help?" a kind voice asked.

I glanced up and met eyes with a nice-looking girl with an oval face, light olive complexion, almond-shaped brown eyes, and smooth, long, straight dark brown hair. She seemed to be seventeen or eighteen years old.

"Nah, I'm good thanks," I replied as I tugged annoyingly on Janco's arm. "Just get up, Janco. You can drink more at home," I told the stubborn man. When he still made no move, I muttered a spell in Afrikaans which made him stand up and cleared his head a little. I tugged on his arm again.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" the brunette asked.

"She's fine, Elena," Damon told her. YES, THERE'S SOMEONE HERE WHO THINKS I CAN LOOK AFTER MYSELF!

"No, she's not fine," Elena argued back. "She's got a drunken brother or friend or whatever he is to look after, and she's so young!"

"She is standing right here," I interrupted with annoyance. Stupid girl. "And she is fifteen! Not that young. I'm fine, really."

The brunette, Elena I reminded myself, shook her head and watched me with concern. It bugged me. I hated it when people looked at me that way. I didn't need their help! I was a witch, for goodness sake! I'm capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much!

Arrogance and annoyance was taking a hold of me quickly. I was a powerful witch from an ancient line, and she was just a stupid normal human of no importance. I squeezed Janco's arm tighter and did a silent spell to sober him up more just enough to actually listen to me. It took a few seconds before Janco shook his head and mumbled, "You're right. Let's go."

Finally! I shot a dirty look at Damon and Elena and dragged Janco to the exit. Before leaving though I made sure to quickly pay our relatively high check. I stopped as soon as we were in the parking lot, though. What now? How the heck was I supposed to get Janco home without a car or without a clue where he was staying at the moment?

As if in answer to my thoughts, a feminine voice called out from behind me, "Oh God, Janco!" High heels clicked on the road as the figure ran towards us. It was a nice-looking girl. Around seventeen, if I had to guess. She had dirty blonde hair that was done up in an elegant up-do. Her eyes were a dark green, and were rimmed in black kohl. She was dressed in a formal black dress and strappy heels.

"Not to be rude or anything, but who are you?" I asked her when she reached us.

She lifted her finger in a "one moment" gesture and bent over forwards to catch her breath a bit. After a few seconds she straightened and looked me in the eyes. "I'm his deceased ex girlfriend's little sister. And you?"

I noticed with some surprise she had a South African accent. "Oh. I'm one of Janco's friends. We've known each other since I was little," I said. "Right, Janco?" I nudged him with my shoulder.

He nodded. "Meg, can you take me home? I'm not feeling so good."

A concerned expression crossed Meg's face. She smiled hesitantly at me and moved to take Janco's other arm. "Help me lead him to my car? It's the old double cab bakkie over there." She nodded towards the furthest point of the parking lot. [Bakkieis South African slang for pick-up truck, I think.]

I nodded to her. Slowly but surely we made our way to her black bakkie, all the while supporting Janco's stumbling form. When we reached our destination, we carefully helped him into the back seat. He almost immediately fell asleep. Meg closed the door gently and turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry, it's just… Janco is a bit emotionally unstable after the funeral, you know," her voice trailed off, and I nodded in understanding.

"I get it. I'm curious though, why was the funeral held on a Sunday of all days?"

She smiled a sad smile, her eyes far away. "Nikki always said that she wanted her funeral to be on a Sunday. No one knows why, but we suspect that it held some special, personal meaning to her."

"Oh." I shuffled my feet, my earlier bought of annoyed arrogance forgotten. "Well… I need to go now. Please take good care of Janco," I said softly.

She nodded determinedly. "He's important to me, practically my brother. I will take the best care of him I possibly can."

I smiled gratefully and handed her my number. "For if he needs me," I explained.

She nodded and got into the truck. Meg reversed and soon she was gone.

Now what to do with myself? I turned around only to see those Damon and Elena characters behind me. Elena opened her mouth to say something, but my glare shut her up immediately. With a smirk I turned around and left The Grill's parking lot. The place was lame, anyway. But the real question was: What was I supposed to do with myself now? It was only four pm, and I couldn't go home before nightfall.

I sighed and started to walk aimlessly down the road. It was better than just standing like a loser in the middle of nowhere. The walk was long and boring, my mind troubled by thoughts of Janco. Why didn't he tell me that he had a girlfriend, or that she'd died? Especially after I told him about my Mom? But maybe that was why he didn't say anything, he didn't want me to feel even worse about myself. But in reality it did make me feel like absolute crap. If I still knew Janco as good as I used to, he was bottling almost everything up and that wasn't a good thing. He was going to blow soon, and I knew from experience that it wasn't pretty at all.

It was 18 January, Janco's 15thbirthday. When I arrived at his house I expected to find his large group of friends, some really attractive girls that made me feel insecure about myself, some loud music, decorations… everything you could ever imagine at a 15thbirthday party. That, in itself, sounded like a horror story to me. I hated parties, especially the ones Janco and Nico had. My brother and Janco was loud and obnoxious when they were with their friends, different than they were with me. But when I arrived, what I found was much, much worse. I would take loud parties over this any day.

I walked on, trying to push the memory back down into a lead box to keep it away forever. It was never nice to see someone blow up, especially if you were close to said person. But, ultimately, you can't keep quiet forever.

There was blood everywhere. Not the fake blood you'd expect to see on Halloween… no, this was the real deal. The blood was soaked into the ground, into the torn up pieces of decorations everywhere. My heart was struck with horror and a suffocating fear. What the Hell was going on?

Tears pricked at my eyes as I tried desperately to concentrate on anything besides that one, disastrous birthday. The events that no one knew about, except for Janco and I. Not that Janco knew I knew, of course. He would never talk to me again if he knew what I saw.

Janco, too, was covered in blood. He was sitting on a soft spot of grass underneath my favourite tree, the one I always read underneath on hot, sunny days. The tree that used to be my favourite spot up to now. Now all it was, was a place of horror and death. Yes, death. My witchy senses could pick it up. Janco's eyes were blank as he stared at his bloodied and bruised hands, which were shaking slightly. He moaned pitifully and grabbed at his hair.

"What have I done?" he cried into his hands. "Oh, God, what have I done?"

My vision was so blurry that I didn't even see the person up until I crashed into them. I was sent sprawling to the ground, crashing my head hard onto the pavement. I groaned and clutched my head. Gosh that hurt like a sucker. I was faintly aware of a voice in the background. I concentrated a little harder to make out what was being said.

"Hello? Are you okay? Can you hear me? Crap, I'm so sorry!"

I sat up slowly and squinted at the person talking. The guy appeared to be eighteen. He was quite handsome with a tall, muscular and toned body. His hair was blonde and he had beautiful blue eyes. He reminded me somewhat of those stereotypical football players I always saw in the movies (but never in real life.) He looked like the guy I saw earlier at the Grill, the busboy.

"I'm fine," I muttered, and the guy stopped talking abruptly.

"You're not fine," he said with wide eyes. "You're bleeding and crying!"

I blushed and quickly wiped at my eyes to get rid of my tears. I didn't cry a lot, and this was the first time since my mother's death I truly cried. "Okay, so maybe I'm not fine," I replied reluctantly. "But I will be."

He frowned at me. "Can I at least take you to the hospital?" he asked hopefully.

I attempted to stand up and show him that I didn't need to go to the hospital, but a wave of pain hit my head and I started to fall back down. Luckily the blonde jock quickly grabbed me. "Okay, let's go to the hospital," I said faintly.

I tried to protest as the blond picked me up bridal style, but he refused to listen. "You're hurt," he'd simply told me. I knew I couldn't fight against him, so instead I relaxed into his hold.

As we walked to the hospital, I couldn't help but be grateful to this blonde guy. He was the one who crashed me out of my thoughts, making it possible for me to lock the memory away. I never wanted to think about it again, nor about the rest that had happened. The ending was worse than everything else combined…

"We're here," the blonde said and soon we entered the hospital. I didn't really take notice, and soon I was in one of the hospital rooms on a bed. I sighed and clutched at my head, my other hand covering my face.

"Oh, I'm Matt by the way," the blonde said.

I peeked through my fingers and met his blue eyes. "Larissa," I replied. "Thanks for helping me."

"Why are you thanking me? All I did was bring you to the hospital," he said, puzzled.

I just shrugged. He'd helped me more than he would ever know. Just then a doctor entered the room. I didn't take notice of her name, I was more focused on the stupid light she shone into my eyes.

"You'll be alright," she finally said. "You just have to take it easy for a few days. All that is left is some stitches to your head wound."

Luckily the stitches were over quickly, with minor discomfort. "Are you done?" I asked breathlessly. I hated needles and pain and all those nasty things.

Thankfully, she nodded. I smiled gratefully at her. A text buzzed on my phone and I quickly checked it.

FROM: Unknown Number
MESSAGE: Took care of the bill. Keep out of trouble – won't help you next time. Klaus

I was shocked, but luckily able to hide it. I subtly looked around, but couldn't see the Original anywhere. When the doctor asked about payment, I told her it'd been already taken care of. The receptionist at the front desk confirmed that.

Soon we were outside and I shot a glance at Matt. "Thanks again," I said softly. "It was nice to meet you."

He smiled at me. "Can I call anyone for you to come pick you up?" he asked concernedly.

I shook my head. "I'm living with my sister, and she'll be out all day. I forgot to take my keys… I'll just hang around a little, I guess," I told him. At his look, I added, "I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

Matt frowned. "I bet you can, but you're still new here, Larissa. It's not safe."

Something in his tone told me he was serious, so I nodded. "Good point. But what am I supposed to do?"

He was silent for a moment. "You can come to my house, if you want. I promise I don't bite," he laughed a little, and I guessed it was some inside joke. "My friend Jeremy will be there, too, so you don't have to worry."

I considered Matt through narrow eyes. Could I trust him to not be some psycho? My phone buzzed again, interrupting my thoughts. I lifted my finger in a 'one moment' sign and checked my phone.

FROM: Unknown Number
MESSAGE: SAY YES. K

A shiver ran down my back and I once again checked my surroundings for a lurking Original. After a few seconds I gave up and agreed to go with Matt. The walk to The Grill was quick, and soon we approached his car. "Nice," I grinned and climbed in.

"So, where are you from?" he asked as we drove away from The Grill.

"South Africa," I replied.

He laughed. "I couldn't place your accent, so thanks for telling me."

I grinned and shrugged. "I guess you lot don't see a lot of foreigners, then?"

"It's not that we don't see foreigners," Matt replied. "Just not any Africans. Or South Africans, for that matter."

I nodded in understanding. "To tell you the truth, I've never been overseas before this," I said.

"Why did you come, if I might ask?"

I shot a look at him, trying to see if he was genuinely curious. He was. "My mother died a few years back," I said nonchalantly. "And I couldn't stay with my dad anymore. He was going backwards. And my brother Nick… well, let's say he wasn't really coping either. He turned into such a jerk, I couldn't see him anymore. My half-sister Kerri offered me a place to stay away from the memories and everything else."

I was shocked about the truth I told Matt. I'd at first wanted to lie to him, but the truth came pouring out. It was true, my dad and Nico hadn't been the same since Mom died.

"Oh," Matt said quietly. "I'm sorry."

I smiled at him and said, "It's okay, you know. This is a new start for me, and hopefully I never have to go back home again."

"But they're your family, Larissa. Shouldn't you go back sometime, even if it's just for a few days? I'm sure your dad and Nick will miss you," Matt told me with a frown.

I shook my head sadly. "My dad will miss me, but hopefully me leaving will wake him up a bit. And Nico," I laughed bitterly. "My brother and I aren't on speaking terms."

The rest of the drive to Matt's house was silent. I missed my dad so much, but these days all he ever did was work. He sometimes worked at home from his laptop, but even then we rarely saw him. He didn't have time for us anymore.

And Nico… well my brother really did love me. I knew he did. But ever since our mother died he became more distant. I could still remember the days when I could tell him everything. We were there for each other when Janco left, when mom died… he was always there for me, even when it was uncool to hang out with his annoying little sister. But as the weeks went on, he grew distant and cold. I guess I couldn't blame him, though.

We arrived at Matt's house and climbed out. I followed him inside. He looked a little embarrassed about the place, so I said, "I love it. It looks exactly like my old home from when I was younger. It's comfy and homey."

He smiled gratefully at me and led me to the kitchen. He handed me a Coke and I accepted it thankfully. The doorbell rang and Matt yelled, "It's open, Jer!"

A guy who appeared to be sixteen entered the kitchen. He was really handsome. He was tall and muscular. His hair was short and brown, as were his eyes. He looked at me through careful eyes. "Hey, I'm Jeremy Gilbert," he introduced himself.

"I'm Larissa Nieuwoudt," I said quietly, suddenly shy again.

"I bumped into her earlier today," Matt explained. "She needed to get stitches."

"Ow," Jeremy winced sympathetically.

I half-smiled and took a sip of my drink.

"So how old are you?" Matt asked as he handed Jeremy a drink.

"I'm turning sixteen in April," I said. "And you guys?"

"Well, I'm sixteen, almost seventeen," Jeremy said.

"And I'm eighteen," Matt finished.

I nodded. "Cool. So I guess I'll be seeing you at school tomorrow."

Just then my phone rang. Not the Blackberry Jackson gave me, but the older one. I frowned. I thought I'd switched it off? Clearly not. Without looking at the screen, I said "Sorry, excuse me," to the guys and answered.

"Hello this is Larissa?"

"Where in the name of all that is holy are you?!"a voice I knew all too well demanded.

I winced. "Tayla…." I started to say, only to be cut off.

"Don't Tayla me! Do you know how worried we all are? And Gabriel won't even talk to me! He just said you weren't ever going to come back! Is that true? Are we ever going to see you again? This is BS, Larissa, and you know that! I am your best friend, you can't just abandon me! This isn't how it works. You're practically my sister, and family doesn't abandon each other."

I bit my lip as pain chorused through my body. "I had to leave," I told her. "I couldn't stay there anymore."

"No, you were just selfish. If you wanted to get away from your family, all you had to do was ask me and you could've moved into our house immediately. But no, you just had to run away, to who knows where? You always run away from your problems, Larissa. You need to grow up and get some balls."

The line went dead. "Okay then," I muttered to myself and put my phone away. My hands were shaking and my head was reeling. I never expected her to actually call me.

"Are you okay?"

I started. I'd forgotten that I wasn't alone. I shot a sheepish look at Jeremy and Matt. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just some friend trouble, is all."

"I guess they're not happy that you left?" Jeremy asked knowingly. I shook my head.

I got to know Jeremy and Matt a little more over the next few hours. They were fun, nice and sincere. But I could feel that they were hiding something. In this town my witchy senses were tingling permanently, and I knew something bigger than Klaus was going on here, and I didn't like it. My dad promised me though that I was safe as long as I was loyal to the Original. Which I was going to be, even if it killed me.

A couple of hours later I received another text, this time it was Kerri telling me she was home. It was already eight pm, and I felt so bad for imposing on Matt.

"Thanks again, Matt," I said as I climbed out of his car. He insisted on driving me, which I found really sweet of him. "I appreciate today a lot."

He grinned. "It's no problem. I'll see you tomorrow, Larissa. Sleep tight."

I waved and walked to the front door. I didn't need to knock, seeing as Kerri already opened the door for me. "I see you made friends," she observed as we walked to the kitchen.

I shrugged and grabbed myself a bottle of cold water from the fridge. "Yeah, I guess," I replied.

"That's good. Listen, I've been given some funds to take care of you. I bought you some new clothes, you better wear them. Klaus was the one who told me what he'd prefer you wear," Kerri said.

A little confused, I nodded slowly. "Sure. Look I'm going to bed, I'm really tired."

Kerri nodded. "You need to get up extra early tomorrow to get ready. I'll have to drop you off early, ok?"

I nodded and left the kitchen. I went upstairs to my room. I was exhausted. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

xxxXXXxxx

Monday morning came way too early, especially with Kerri waking me up at half past four. Back in my hometown, I usually got up at five to be at school by half past seven. But this? This was a bit extreme. I slowly made my way to the bathroom and got into the shower. The water was icy cold at first, which woke me up completely, and then it heated up. The shower was nice, relaxing all of my tense muscles. After cleaning I climbed out, wrapping a towel around my hair, and another around my body. It was extremely cold, so I ran as quickly as I could to my bedroom.

While I sat on my bed I quickly checked Mystic Falls' weather, and saw that today would be miserable and cold. After drying and putting on my underwear, I stood in front of my closet looking at the new clothes Kerri bought me. Almost everything was black, red, dark purple, and silver. I pursed my lips and tried to decide what to wear. I was really nervous, to tell the truth. Back in East London, every student had a standard uniform that we had to wear. But here in Mystic Falls, we could wear whatever we wanted to. Which made me nervous. What if what I wore looked horrible?

As if sensing my thoughts, Kerri entered my room still dressed in PJs. She waltzed to my closet and grabbed a few items. She then dumped them on my bed and left again. Curious, I trudged to my bed to see what she picked out. It was black tights, a dark red tank top, a gray cardigan, black no-heel boots, and some pieces of silver jewellery. It was a silver rhinestone necklace and silver diamond earrings. My eyes were wide. They had to have cost a lot. Oh well.

As I looked at the clothes, I wasn't so sure if it would look great. But when I had them on and I was looking at myself in the mirror, it actually looked fantastic. My hair was still wet, so I added the needed amount of hair product to prevent frizzing, and to make the curls fuller. I also put on the bracelet I got from Tayla. No makeup for me, though.

I walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where Kerri was seated drinking coffee. She looked up when I walked in and nodded approvingly. "I was doubtful, but it looks good on you," she said.

My eyes widened with shock. Kerri, complementing me? Wow. "Thanks," I said and walked to the fridge. I grabbed myself a bottle of water, and on the kitchen counter I grabbed an apple.

"Is that all you're eating?" Kerri asked.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?"

She just shook her head and finished her coffee. I quickly went upstairs and brushed my teeth. I looked into the mirror one last time to check my appearance. My skin was pale, like it usually was. My face was oval shaped, my lips a little bit uneven. Freckles dusted my cheeks, so light you had to stand really close to see them. I was average height, not tall like my father. My hair was curly, dirty blonde, and reached just above my elbows. The length irritated me. I'd have to get a haircut and soon. My facial features looked a lot like my dad's, which made me miss him even more.

"Larissa, we're leaving!" Kerri called from downstairs.

I hurried downstairs and climbed into Kerri's expensive sports car. I wasn't good with cars, so I had no idea what it was. When we arrived at school, Kerri turned to look seriously at me.

"Be normal, Larissa," she advised me. "Blend in and make friends. Don't let the people know you are a witch, there is a counsel here who wouldn't be happy. You can make up any story you like, but just tell me tonight what it is so that I can back it up. Lastly, here is a house key."

I nodded and accepted the key. "Thanks, see you later." I grabbed my bag and climbed out of the car. I was really early, and there weren't a lot of people at Mystic Falls High School yet. I walked to where I guessed the office was. The lady at the front desk looked up and smiled kindly at me.

"Hey, I'm Larissa Nieuwoudt. Uhm, I was told to come here first?" I said awkwardly.

She smiled and rummaged through some papers on her desk. Finally she found what she was looking for and handed the paper to me. "This is your class schedule, dear."

My subjects were English, History, Physical Education, Maths, Chemical and Physical Science, Biology, and Consumer Studies. Not my ideal subjects, but whatever. The lady handed me another two pieces of paper.

"This is your school map, and that is a slip I'd like all of your teachers to sign for me. Please hand it in at the end of the day."

I nodded. "Thanks, ma'am." I said goodbye and left the building. My Blackberry vibrated and I saw that I had a text from Jeremy asking me where I was. I told him and put away my phone again.

When I spotted Jeremy a smile lit up my face. I gave him a quick hug and we walked together to the cafeteria. "This is a nice school," I told him. "Big, compared to my previous one."

He nodded. "Yeah, I like MFHS a lot. Most people do."

I felt eyes on me and turned to see who it was. It was that Elena chick from the Grill yesterday, and next to her were a witch and a blonde. My witchy senses immediately picked up that this blonde girl was a vampire.

I scowled and Jeremy laughed. "Ignore them," he told me.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"That is Elena, my sister. The blonde is Caroline, and the other one is Bonnie," he pointed to each person.

"Oh, I didn't know Elena is your sister," I mumbled.

"Jer!" a voice called. It was that Bonnie witch. "Who's this?" she asked when she reached us.

"I'm Larissa Nieuwoudt," I introduced myself.

"Bonnie Bennett," she replied and shook my hand. There was a little zap, our magic connecting. She frowned, but I pretended to not know what it was. "Weird," I muttered for show, and then shrugged.

"I've got to go to class now. Bye guys," Bonnie said and quickly left.

"Interesting girl," I commented as soon as she was gone. Jeremy laughed and asked what I had first. "History with Alaric Saltzman," I replied.

He grinned. "You'll love Mr Saltzman. C'mon, I'll walk you."

xxxXXXxxx

Mr Saltzman was great, just like Jeremy said. He was fun to be around, and made the work interesting. He also didn't embarrass me in front of the class, for which I was grateful. When the bell rang he asked me to stay behind.

"What's up, Mr Saltzman?" I asked when I reached his desk.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up," he replied.

I shrugged. "It's different than what I'm used to," I admitted. "But I'll get used to it, I'm sure."

He nodded and after chatting a few more seconds, sent me on my way.

The rest of the day passed by in a breeze. Unlike in the first period, people stared at me and whispered about me. They laughed at my accent and my mix up with some of the words. They asked a lot of questions, leaving me feeling shy, awkward, and uncomfortable. In Physics I was totally lost. Here in Mystic Falls they were far more advanced than what we were back in South Africa.

When the final bell rang I was so grateful to get out of there. Outside Jeremy spotted me and invited me to go to the Grill with him, Matt, and some others. Thinking about Kerri's advice, I agreed. I got a ride with Elena, who didn't look to be too happy about it. Soon we were at the Grill though and I was able to relax. At least I was until I got another text.

Tell them you're going for some fresh air. We need to talk. Klaus

My eyes widened. This was it, I thought. I would see Klaus for the first time since my thirteenth birthday. Today would determine what was going to happen. It was now or never. I took a deep breath and quickly excused myself. Matt and Jeremy were confused, but thankfully let me go. I walked outside and waited. I tapped my foot and bit my lip, both nervous habits that I had.

"Larissa," a voice said from behind me. Klaus. "You have grown so much."

xxxxx

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