Number of words: 5 993

IMPORTANT: THIS IS UNBETA'D! ALL MISTAKES ARE MINE!

Chapter Eight – Whispers

Monday

"So, when do I get to know who the mystery guy is?"

"Just wait till lunch," was the annoyed response.

"But lunch is still so far away," I whined. "Just tell me, Mike!"

The jock rolled his eyes and shook his head. His cheeks were flushed.

"Yes, tell us Mike! I want to know, too," Cailey chimed in. Seeing Mike shaking his head, she tried her luck with Jeremy next. "C'mon Jer, please?" she begged.

Jeremy seemed uncharacteristically moody today. A dark scowl was sent at Cailey, immediately shutting her up. "You can wait," he snapped.

"What's wrong with him?" Cailey whispered into my ear. The blonde seemed genuinely hurt by Jeremy's cold attitude this morning. He'd been this way since the moment he arrived at Mike's house, fifteen minutes later than we'd previously agreed upon. He was dressed in dark clothing today, which may be because of his mood, but who knows?

"I dunno," I whispered back. "Maybe Elena is being a bitch to him?"

"Nah, she looks too nice to be a bitch."

I snorted at the blonde's reply and decided to silently watch as our group continued to walk along the road. Our group consisted of me, Cailey, Jeremy, and Mike. Mike was supposed to give us all a lift today, but halfway to school his car broke down…so here we were, walking to school.

"I swear to Merlin, if it starts to rain…" Cailey trailed off threating. I smiled as I remembered her love for Harry Potter, which started like two days ago. That reminded me; we still had to go through my camera to look at the pictures from Friday night…

"What will you do, Cay?" Mike piped up. He grinned at her dark look.

"If it rains, I'm gonna castrate you for making us WALK to school," Cailey said quite seriously.

Mike paled somewhat, though his confidence quickly returned. "You wouldn't, you love me too much."

Mike's reply caused Cailey to scoff. "That's what you think," she muttered, loud enough for only me to hear. I laughed softly and bumped my shoulder into hers'. "Cheer up, Cailey. It won't rain."

You know what happened next? It started pouring. Like, the rain hit our bodies like icy shards, which was quite painful.

Cailey screamed and started running. "OH MY GOD, YOU JUST HAD TO JINX IT, DIDN'T YOU?!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"SORRY!" I yelled back. I grimaced and started running too, not wanting to be left behind. Pretty soon I was starting to have difficulty breathing normally, so I slowed down to a light jog. What was the point of running, anyway? We were already soaked to the bone. I noticed Jeremy slowing down ahead of me and waiting for me to reach him. I smiled gratefully and slowed down to a fast-paced walk. Jeremy didn't say anything, so I decided to keep my mouth shut. I wanted to ask him what was bothering him, but was hesitant to do so. I didn't want him to blow up at me. I cleared my throat to break the slightly awkward silence, and said, "We're never gonna be on time for first period."

Jeremy simply shook his head. I glanced at the brunette through my peripheral vision, studying him critically. Jeremy's soaking clothes stuck to his body like a second skin, but it didn't seem to bother him too much. I noticed the heavy bags beneath his eyes and frowned, worry entering my system. What was up with him?

After another few minutes of silence, I decided I've had enough, and started to jog again. As soon as I was ready, I sped up until I was sprinting. The whole way I made sure to keep my breathing as steady as possible, knowing that by doing that, I'd be less tired out later.

I finally reached Mystic Falls High School and jogged to the office door. The rain was still unforgiving, and the wind harsh, so I had some trouble opening the door. As soon as I wrestled the door shut behind me, I sagged with relief. Wow, what a friggen mission!

"LOOK, LARISSA IS HERE! Now you can see we weren't lying, Mr Colt!" Cailey cried.

I looked up from the floor to assess what was happening. An angry Mr Colt (the vice-principal) was holding a bunch of towels in his arms and glaring at Mike and Cailey, who both looked like drowned rats. Cailey's makeup had run down her face, making her look kind of scary. If I had to guess, I'd say I didn't look any better. "What is the meaning of this?" Mr Cole demanded. "Why are you so late?" he directed this question at me.

"I'm sorry, sir, I got caught up-"

I was rudely interrupted. "If I wanted an excuse, I would've asked for one, Miss Nieuwoudt!" he snapped. "You arrived a whole ten minutes after these two! What should I do with you now?"

"Let us go with a warning?" I suggested hopefully.

"You have missed three classes, and you want me to let you go with a warning?" he said in a deadly calm voice, making both me and Cailey wince.

"No, sir, I guess not," I said weakly. A shiver wracked through my body, and only now did I notice how loudly my teeth were chattering. Bloody hell it was cold! A towel caught me off guard and hit me in the face. I clenched my jaw to keep myself from giving Mr Cole a piece of my mind. That had been totally uncalled for, and unprofessional. I thought the vice principal would be more…I don't know, polite, maybe? Clearly not, in the case with Mr Cole.

"I'll have to think of your punishment. It's lunch right now-"

Jeremy's arrival interrupted Mr Cole, who glared daggers. "DETENTION!" he snapped, his eyes slightly crazed. "Detention, all of you, for the next month! DISMISSED!" The remaining towels were thrown to the floor in a clear fit of anger. Mr Cole spun on his heels and stormed out of the office.

There was a moment of silence.

The next moment the four of us burst out laughing.

"Immature, much?" Mike joked.

I hummed in agreement and started towel drying myself. As I was drying my hair, a thought suddenly occurred to me. "Guys…where's our school bags?"

A moment of silence was followed by a chorus of "SHIT!" I felt like slapping myself.

"I think our bags are still in Mike's car!" Cailey complained. She sent a glare at the jock standing next to her. He lifted his arms and said, "Hey, it's not my fault! None of us have our bags, Cailey, so don't go blaming just me."

"Mike is right," Jeremy spoke up. "Besides, if we had taken our bags, our books would be ruined by now."

"Never mind my books," I groaned. "My poor Blackberry is dead!"

"Try to switch it on," Mike suggested. "Maybe it still works?"

Feeling doubtful, I did as my friend suggested. To my surprise, it worked! "I cannot believe my luck right now!"

After checking the rest of the phones, we learned that Cailey's was still in her bag, Jeremy's was too, and Mike was in need of a new cell.

After we were all dry (or as dry as we could get) we just stood staring at each other. "What are we supposed to do now?" I asked.

Mike's stomach growled loudly. Cailey snickered and I grinned. "Let's get lunch, shall we?" she suggested.

I walked behind the group, opting to listen as they joked with one another. Jeremy seemed to be in a better mood now, for which I was grateful. I just wanted to know why he was so grumpy in the first place.

"Hey, so are you gonna tell us who the mystery guy is now?" Cailey asked suddenly.

I perked up and moved so that I was walking next to Cailey. I quickly stopped her and wiped off a smudge of make-up underneath her eye. "Thanks," she muttered. I nodded and watched as Jeremy and Mike gave each other a look. "Come on, out with it!" I said impatiently.

"Fine," Jeremy said. "You can tell her, Mike."

Dark brown eyes widened in horror. "No way, man. You tell her!"

Just then someone crashed into Cailey, who was standing next to me, sending her sprawling to the ground. My mouth dropped open in shock. "What just happened?"

Jeremy glared at the guy also collapsed onto the ground. "You're a real jerk, Nathan," he told the raven-haired guy. Then, turning to me, Jeremy said, "This is the guy who gave you that mark on your neck." If I wasn't mistaken, there was a little bit of jealousy in Jeremy's voice. But why?

Nathan, who had managed to once again find his feet, flushed a deep red. After standing up, he quickly offered a hand to help Cailey up, which she accepted. She looked him up and down critically. "Not bad," she said to me in a stage whisper. I had to agree, he was good looking. And appeared to be, like, eighteen.

I smiled uncomfortably, feeling unnaturally warm all over. This was so embarrassing.

"Um, yeah… hi Larissa," he said uncomfortably. His dark blue eyes looked everywhere but at me, causing me to smile. At least I wasn't the only one embarrassed. "About Friday night…" he trailed off.

"I had a little too much to drink," I blurted. Wow, real smooth, Larissa.

Looking relieved, Nathan offered me a small smile. "Yeah, me too… It's not that you're not attractive, it's just. Um. I think you're a bit young for me and…"he stuttered.

Aw, he was so adorable! "I understand completely, Nathan, really. Let's just pretend that this never happened?" I suggested.

"Sounds like a great idea, Larissa. Anyway, um…I have to go now…bye!" and with that, Nathan disappeared.

"Oh my gosh, he's so cute!" Cailey gushed the second he was gone. "If he was younger…"

I nodded in agreement. "Too bad he pushed you to the ground, though. Are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly okay, thanks for asking," here, she sent a pointed stare at Jer and Mike. Seeing their irritated faces, Cailey added, "And he did apologize."

"So, you don't like him?" this was asked by Mike. He shot a quick look at Jeremy which I couldn't understand. What was it with these people and looks? Jeez.

I shook my head. "He may be handsome, Mike…but he's just a stranger to me. I don't think I will ever date him." I shrugged, not sure how to explain myself. That was just exactly how I felt.

"That's good!" Mike said happily. He then walked over to me and slung his arm over my shoulder. "You're still our little Larissa."

"Miiikkeeee," I complained, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, nothing," the blonde replied cheerfully.

I rolled my eyes at my strange friend as we continued walking to the cafeteria. Sure, he was strange…and everyone had their faults, but I still loved each and every one of these three.

~IYCSMN~IYCSMN~

TIME SKIP, AFTER SCHOOL

"Thanks again for giving me a ride, Elena," I said again.

The brunette smiled at me as we drove. Jeremy was seated next to me, and he seemed to be in an extremely good mood. It was a strange and somewhat stark contrast to this morning, but I liked seeing him smile. It made me happy.

"It's no trouble, really Larissa," Elena said for the tenth time. "But before I drive you home, let me offer you a nice cup of coffee. Something tells me you've had a long day." The sympathetic look in her eyes immediately let me know that she heard the rumours.

I blushed as Jeremy shot me a questioning look. Yeah, I've had a bad day, alright. But I wasn't about to tell anyone about it. Rumours were bound to pop up, anyway. "Um, that would be amazing, thanks." And to think that I didn't like Elena at first. She was actually super nice.

The rest of the drive to the Gilbert's was filled with Jeremy trying to get me to talk. I wasn't in the mood for talking, though. I never want to experience a day like today, ever again.

Five minutes later Elena parked her car. I climbed out silently and followed her into the house. "Would you like a change of clothes?" she asked me. "I heard from Jeremy that you and your friends had gotten caught in the rain."

"I doubt I'm your size…" My brows furrowed. I mean come on, Elena was like super thin.

"I have some loose fitting clothing, you know," she said with a laugh. I decided not to argue and followed her up to her room. "Here, take these. If they don't fit, I'll get some of Jer's clothes." Elena handed me a pair of jeans and a red tank top, and asked, "Oh, and do you want a hoodie or-"

I interrupted her. "A hoody is fine, thanks." I accepted the clothing and walked to the bathroom to get dressed. I noticed it was once again one of Jeremy's hoodies, which caused me to smile. When I was done, I followed the sound of talking and walked into the kitchen. My eyebrows rose when I saw Mr Saltzman talking to Jeremy quietly. I'd forgotten that he had moved in. The pair stopped talking when they noticed me standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Hi, Mr Saltzman," I said casually. He nodded at me with a slight smile, which I returned as I walked over to Jeremy. "Thanks for the hoodie," I said. "Batman is super awesome."

He smiled gently at me. "You look good in it," he said. His eyes were intense as he stared into mine. Butterflies appeared in my gut, and suddenly I didn't know what to do. I mean come on; this is Jeremy for Pete's sake. Jeremy. So, taking an imaginary deep breath, I grinned cheekily at him. "Thanks!"

My Blackberry started to ring. "Sorry," I apologized to Mr Saltzman and Jeremy. "It will take a minute!" I purposely ignored Mr Saltzman's knowing look as he watched me and Jeremy interact with each other. I cleared my throat and said brightly, "Hello, Larissa speaking."

"Larissa, thanks for finally answering," Klaus said dryly.

"Sorry…I was at school, you know."

"School ended half an hour ago, love," the Original replied.

I rolled my eyes. "I was getting dressed. Don't even ask. Anyway, how can I help you?"

"We need to meet, now."

"I can't, I'm at Jeremy's house right now."

"Good. I'll just talk to you over the phone, then," he said in his scary cheerful voice. The Original stayed silent for a moment. "You never showed up last night." His voice had a hint of anger in it, causing me to wince.

I felt like slapping myself. How the hell could I forget a meeting, with Klaus of all people? Er, vampires. Whatever. "I'm so sorry, Nik. I completely forgot!" I exclaimed. "Was it important?" I asked somewhat pathetically. Of course it was important, you idiot, I scolded myself.

"Yes, it was. I'd realized that the Doppelgänger was still alive."

I froze. Crappppp! "Oh?" I asked faintly.

"Yes," he replied coolly. "And I also found out that you knew she was alive, too, and did not tell me."

"Look, Nik, I hadn't realized-"

The line went dead. Oh…oh jeez…Klaus was seriously pissed off. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. I was dead meat.

"Larissa, are you alright?" Jeremy asked with concern. "Who was that?"

I bit my lip and opened my eyes. I didn't really want to lie, so I just said, "It was Nik."

"Your brother Nik?" he questioned. "Wasn't his name Nico or something?"

I opened my mouth to deny it, but then realized that this was actually an opening. So, taking this opportunity, I nodded. "He wanted me to phone him last night, and I'd completely forgotten. Nik – Nico, I mean – was quite upset." I worried my bottom lip between my teeth.

"I thought you two weren't on speaking terms?" Elena asked. I jumped, not having realized she was in the room. Elena looked a little bit confused, but seemed happy that I was once again talking to "Nico".

"Um, we aren't really. But it was something about my dad."

They seemed to notice my reluctance to talk, so Elena instead handed me my coffee. I smiled in thanks. An awkward silence then settled in. "Let's go to my room, Larissa," Jeremy suggested suddenly.

Ignoring the looks that Mr S and Elena were giving us, I quickly followed Jer up the stairs and to his room. I placed my mug on his desk and collapsed onto his bed. I breathed in the clean scent deeply. "Your bed is so comfy," I mumbled.

"It's not that comfy," Jer said with a chuckle.

"Mmhmm," I replied, feeling suddenly very sleepy. "I think I'm gonna close my eyes for just a little bit, 'kay?"

In answer, Jeremy lifted his duvet from under me and covered me with it. I smiled as I felt his hand smooth my hair, and drifted off into the world of sleep.

"Did you hear…?"

"That Larissa Nieuwoudt kissed Nathan York? YES, I did!"

"How could she? Nathan doesn't date, everyone knows that!"

"Nathan is too good for her. She's just a silly little girl from South Africa…she doesn't know anything."

"Did you see the mark on her neck?"

"Ugh, yeah. What a skank."

"What does he even see in her?"

"Larissa, did you hear anything I just said?" Cailey demanded, breaking my concentration.

I shook my head, my cheeks flaming. "No, sorry Cailey…it's just…the whispers…" I bit my lip, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Cailey frowned. "They're just jealous that you got to make out with Nathan. You should just ignore them, Larissa."

I knew she was right, but it didn't make me feel any better. In fact, it made me feel even worse. "It's easy for you to say, Cay, but if the whispers were about you…you'd go crazy, believe me."

"We were drunk, Larissa," Cailey said quietly, but firmly. "Fuck the rest of them, okay? Don't listen to what they are saying, because it's not true, okay?"

I nodded mutely. "Okay," I repeated.

"I heard they slept together…"

"I kind of hope that they didn't use protection. Then she'll get pregnant and be forced to leave."

"Stupid bitch needs to fall in a ditch and die."

The last one caused tears to well in my eyes. What had I ever done to them?

"Larissa… hey Larissa, wake up. It's just a dream…" Jeremy said quietly.

My eyes opened and I realized that I was crying my eyes out. "I-I'm sorry," I said as I wiped my eyes.

Jeremy's warm eyes stared into mine with genuine worry. "What's wrong, Larissa? Please tell me so that I can help you…I hate seeing you upset."

"I-it's nothing, honestly," I sniffled. "Just a bad d-dream."

I could see in Jer's eyes that he knew there was more to the story, but he thankfully let it go. What he did next surprised me. He laid down onto the bed next to me and pulled me into his side. He put an arm around me, allowing me to snuggle into his chest. The floodgates opened again and I cried into his chest. He whispered soft, soothing nothings into my ear as I continued crying.

After what felt like hours, my tears dried up and I was left feeling exhausted. I breathed in Jer's amazing scent, allowing it to calm me. "I'm here for you, Larissa, always remember that. I'll protect you, I promise." He said it so quietly I was sure that he thought I was asleep. He squeezed me tight, and I felt warmth flooding my heart. Jeremy's always been so sweet to me, and he was always here when I need him…and with a start, I realized something.

Something huge, that I hadn't noticed before.

I liked Jeremy. As in, falling-in-love-with-him, liked.

And you know what? I didn't care. I liked him, and maybe he liked me too. Only time would tell.

As if in answer to my thoughts, Jeremy pressed a kiss to the corner of my lips. I smiled slightly and finally allowed myself to drift off.

~IYCSMN~IYCSMN~

Tuesday

Whispers followed me wherever I went. There was just no escaping it. The first three periods today had been horrible. I'd been bombarded by questions, and someone even had a photo of me and Nathan making out. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never ever get out again. Why were people so worked up about this? I'd been drunk, for heaven's sake, and it was one night only! Wasn't I allowed to kiss anybody?!

And Cailey and Mike weren't any help, either. In fact, they both avoided me like the plague. Why? I didn't know, either. They were probably afraid of getting a bad reputation or something silly like that.

To make matters even worse, I haven't seen Jeremy all day. The last I saw him was when he dropped me off at Kerri's house. He'd pretended that he hadn't kissed me, which was understandable, I guess, since I pretended to be asleep. But still!

I stopped walking suddenly as I saw Elena standing next to Jeremy. They appeared to be arguing. Think about the devil, and he shall appear, I thought somewhat bitterly. I leaned against a random locker and watched them argue. My eyebrows rose as I heard the names Stefan and Klaus, and then for some reason, my own. Slight warning bells went off in my head. They couldn't know of my involvement with Klaus, could they? No. Apparently something big had happened last night, something about Stefan going completely crazy? I wasn't sure.

Jeremy stopped talking suddenly, and I realized he'd noticed me standing there watching them with a blank face.

He said a quick goodbye to his sister and came my way. "Hey, 'Ris. What's up?"

"Not much, just a little tired. But I saw you and Elena arguing, so is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sure," was his unconvincing reply. Smooth, Jer. I shrugged and started to walk away. "Larissa, wait!" He started to walk towards me, but I shook my head and turned around. I got the point; he didn't want to talk to me. Fine. I walked away, out of the school. I didn't have the energy to face anyone right now.

I walked to the spot where Jer and I usually met up at; my little spot in the middle of the woods, away from everyone. I just needed some time to myself to really think about things. I sighed as I sat down, resting my back against a tree trunk. How had things come to this? Klaus was furious with me…I hadn't even been in Mystic Falls for a month, and my reputation's already been ruined. I hadn't even asked for this. I wish I could just go back to South Africa and see all of my friends. I wish I could once again see Gabriel, the best guy friend who was there for me every step of the way, no matter what.

I took my BlackBerry out of my school bag, my old one, and switched it on. I knew the chance that Gabriel would answer was next to none, seeing as he was still upset with me, but I just had to try. One last time. I slowly punched in the number I knew by heart. I pressed the call button and put the phone to my ear. Please answer, Gabby, I need you.

The dial tone rang, and I knew he'd ignored my call. I tried again, and this time it went straight to voicemail. "This is Gabriel. I can't get to my phone right now, so leave your name and number and I'll call you back. BEEP."

"Hey, Gab," I started. I chewed my bottom lip as I tried to think of what I could possibly say. "I know you're ignoring me, and I get that. I really do. I just…I needed to hear your voice. And I did, even though it was just your voicemail." I laughed wetly, shaking my head at myself. I was being so pathetic right now. "Some things have been going on at my new school. People are spreading rumours about me because of one little mistake I made. One mistake, Gabriel, one mistake I made when I wasn't even in my right state of mind. I got drunk, Gab, and I know you're probably disappointed in me. But being drunk for a few hours actually made me forget all the bad things in my life, and I was able to have fun. I even kissed the most untouchable senior in my school! But you see…that's where the stories started. I'm now known as a whore, Gab…and I hate it. I wish I could just turn back time and refuse to climb onto the Airplane that took me out of South Africa. I just want to go home. I miss-"

The phone beeped, letting me know that my time was up. My face got all pinched up as a wave of hurt rolled through me. I drew my legs up and hugged them to my chest. Everything was wrong, and right now I didn't want to return to the real world.

Two hours later, I heard footsteps crashing through the woods. The steps were heavy, so I knew it wasn't Jeremy or Mike's. The first thing I noticed was the fancy shoes, and then as my eyes travelled up and took in the suit and fancy spectacles, I sighed. "Hi, Mr Webber," I said softly.

My English teacher nodded at me. "So this is where you've been hiding all day, Larissa?" he asked me. He glanced around the clearing and then back at me, clearly impressed. "It's beautiful."

"I know, Mr Webber, that's why I come here."

My English teacher surprised me when he took a seat on the wet ground next to me. "Now I know you wouldn't just skip class for anything," here he sent me a look daring me to correct him, which caused me to smile faintly. "So what is the matter? What's bothering you, Larissa?"

I searched his eyes, not sure what I was looking for. "Why are you here, Mr Webber?" I asked instead. "Don't you have a class to teach?"

"I do," he agreed. "Your class, in fact. You have double English today, and I noticed you weren't there. So I gave the class some work to do and set out to find you. I was quite lucky to find you here."

"Oh… and how did you know to find me here, sir?" I asked.

"You once drew this very clearing on the back of an essay you did. I recognized it, and I decided to try my luck."

I stayed silent for a while, just thinking. Finally I asked, "Am I in trouble?"

"No, Larissa, not at all. I think the teachers all understand…"

"Understand what? That I'm an outcast, now?"

"That you're still adjusting," he said pointedly. "Everyone has setbacks, Larissa, and this just happens to be yours."

I snorted. "A setback? More like the end of my world."

Mr Webber shook his head. "Don't think like that. Things should start to look up soon. And if it doesn't, I will have a word with the faculty and demand that they do something about the gossip and bad-mouthing going on. I swear to make this go away." From his tone of voice, I knew he was being serious.

"Why do you care?" I asked. I didn't say it in a snappish way, but softly. I really wanted to know why he'd go through all this trouble for me.

He smiled somewhat sadly. "I know this will sound weird, and maybe even creepy. But my little sister looked just like you. The same hair, eyes…everything. You remind me of her."

My heart ached for Mr Webber. "What happened to her?" I asked gently.

"She…she got abducted when she was around your age. That was almost fifteen years ago. She'd be 29 now."

"I'm sorry, Mr Webber. I wish I could help in any way that I could." I truly felt helpless as I stared at my teacher. My young teacher who couldn't be over 40 years old.

Mr Webber smiled at me and patted my hand. "Are you ready to go back to school?"

I sighed and nodded my head. "I can't stay away forever, can I?"

He shook his head as he stood up. I accepted his hand and brushed myself off. "No, you can't. It doesn't help to avoid your problems, Larissa…it's better to just deal with them and move on."

Wise words from a wise man, I thought.

We arrived back with fifteen minutes left of my English period. It was almost lunch, but Mr Webber still insisted that I go to class. I dragged my feet all the way but didn't once complain. Instead, I decided to be grateful. Mr Webber had managed to make me feel better, even if it was just a little bit. He showed me that, no matter what, I had to move on. These cruel words will blow over, and I would be able to live a semi-normal life again.

I hope.

When Mr Webber and I entered the classroom, I felt a dozen set of eyes burning holes into me. I lowered my eyes to the floor and took my usual seat at the front of the classroom. Mutters started but Mr Webber sharply told them to "Be silent!"

Thanks, Mr Webber, I thought. You're seriously the best teacher ever.

The rest of the day dragged on. To make matters even worse, I had detention today, with the group of "friends" who had been avoiding me All. Day. Long. I stopped in front of Mr Saltzman's class and groaned. He just had to be my detention teacher, didn't he?

Mr S looked up as I entered the classroom. "You here for detention?" he asked. I nodded and handed him my detention slip. He whistled and said, "Detention for a whole month? That's impressive, Larissa. What did you do to anger Mr Cole?"

I shrugged. "Missed three periods. Today, too."

Mr S winced sympathetically. "Ouch. Don't mind Mr Cole. He's moody…100% of the time. Well you can take a seat anywhere, Larissa, and just…keep yourself busy. But no cell phones, okay?"

I nodded and took a seat way at the back next to the windows. I took out my notepad and decided to write a small letter to my Original Hybrid.

Klaus,
I'm sorry for angering you, and lying to you. It was wrong, I know. And I know I should be punished for this. Just don't be too harsh, okay? But I'll understand if you are. Just make it quick.
How can I make it up to you?
- LN

I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. I pictured the letter arriving in Klaus's hand. After a few seconds, I felt a surge in my magic. When I opened my eyes, the letter was gone. I smiled with satisfaction. At least my magic hadn't left me…yet.

The arrival of Jeremy caused me to shift my attention to Mr S as they started quietly conversing. After a while, Jeremy sighed and looked at me. "Larissa," he started.

"Don't, Jer," I said quietly. "Just don't."

I heard Mr Saltzman quietly asking Jeremy what was going on, so I tuned them out and scrawled random quotes onto my notepad. The door once again opened, revealing a tired looking Mike and an annoyed Cailey. I immediately deemed them to not be worthy of my attention, at least not right now. They were followed by a few Goth kids, and a nervous looking Nathan. My eyebrows lifted in surprise, and I wondered what he did to land in detention. He immediately noticed me and, after handing Mr Saltzman his slip, walked over to me. He slid into the seat next to mine. I offered him a half-hearted smile.

"God, I'm so sorry Larissa," he whispered. His eyes looked pained, and I could just see that guilt was overwhelming him. "I never meant for this to happen. What they're saying about you is awful and completely out of line."

I was saved from having to reply by Mr Saltzman telling us to settle down and keep ourselves. "And no talking," he added unnecessarily.

Fine by me, I thought, and continued to doodle in my notebook. I felt surprisingly better now than I did this morning. I guess breaking down really did make a person feel better.

For the whole two hours that detention lasted, I could feel eyes boring into me. The Goth kids had no interest in me. Nope, it was Mike, Cailey and Jeremy. I think Nathan was still feeling guilty for he just quietly sat next to me.

As soon as Mr Saltzman said "Time's up," I was out of my chair and leaving the classroom. I think I would explode if I spent one more second with those eyes on me. I was also trying to avoid a confrontation from any of my friends.

Unfortunately, they caught up with me. I tried ignoring my three supposed friends, but Mike made that impossible as he grabbed my wrist. This caused anger to burn through me like a fire. "What?" I snapped. "Can't you just leave me the hell alone?"

Hurt flashed through Mike's eyes. "We just wanted to talk to you, Larissa."

I snorted. "Oh, so now that no one else is here I'm suddenly good enough for the three of you? Yeah, it doesn't work like that."

"We get that you're angry, okay, but-"

"But nothing." I interrupted Cailey. "You ignored me, okay? Do you know how that feels? To be ignored by your closest friends?" they clearly didn't get how hurt I was.

"We didn't mean to hurt you," Jeremy said quietly.

Genuine regret showed in his eyes. But you know what? I didn't give a damn. "Well you did. I'm done talking to all of you. Don't bother me, understood?" I gave each of them a hard glare.

A car rolled up behind me, one I recognized as Klaus's. I was surprised, but I guess he didn't mind blowing my cover. I didn't even care that Jeremy was standing right there. Klaus's window rolled down. "Get in the car, sweetheart. It's time to go, and I am in a bit of a hurry."

I smirked at Jeremy's shocked face and climbed into the car. Just to be spiteful, I leaned over and pecked Klaus's cheek, lingering just a little longer than was necessary. "Thanks for fetching me, Nik. I've had a fucking terrible day, and seeing you just makes me feel a lot better." I was surprised at how true this statement actually was.

"Glad that I can help," Klaus replied. He revved his engine, and we tore out of MFHS's parking. We drove a few moments in silence. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"I was being spiteful," I replied bluntly.

"And the little kiss?"

I blushed, but tried to not let my embarrassment show. "Um, I wanted to get back at Jeremy."

Klaus hummed. "Trouble in paradise, I see." I decided to not dignify that with a response. "I got your letter," he said finally, after a few minutes. "And it made me think."

"And what have you decided?" I asked without emotion. Nervousness churned unpleasantly in my stomach as I tried to think up what my punishment would be.

What he said, however, hadn't been one of them.

"That it's time for you to go home."