The next day my alarm clock started blaring at 8 am sharp, but it only lasted a minute or two. I'd been up since 7:45, getting ready for my first day of Sixth Form.
I fixed the duvet on my bed and went to the bathroom to touch up my hair. I'd already showered, brushed my teeth and hair, and applied my makeup for the day, but my curls had fallen a little flat after all the running around my room I'd done.
I'd dressed casually enough to be comfortable but also give good first impression, a navy blazer over a white blouse and a navy pleated skirt with black suede bootie wedges. I'd already packed a small canvas bag of notebooks and pens for school so the only thing left for me to do was fix my hair and grab some coffee before Stefan dropped me off.
When my parents disowned me and I lost the right to live in the states I also lost the right to my beautiful black Jeep convertible. Stefan's working on getting them to give it back to me. I figure he'll sell them some story about how I'm an adult and how he has a busy schedule and that the public transit here is expensive and unsafe, which I didn't know if that was really true, but for now he'd have to be my chauffeur. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the sixth form. I hesitated getting out of the car.
It looked like one of those stereotypical posh private schools that you read about in books or see in the movies. I idly wondered how many students actually went here. I only saw about two or three dozen loitering about the front lawn. I hugged Stefan and hopped out his car, eager to get this over with. If I were to be completely honest with myself I wasn't nervous. I didn't see any reason for me to be. New school? No problem. It's not like I was heading into a den of bloodthirsty vampires. It was just a collection of my peers. I strut to the main office, keeping my eyes forward and chin up.
"Hello, I'm Caroline Forbes. I'm here to pick up my schedule." I smiled at the front desk lady. She pushed a few forms over the desk for me to fill out. By the time I finished filling out all the forms she had found, copied, and given me my schedule. She gave me some quick directions to my first class and a pass for the teacher. I loathed that I was late on my first day after already missing a week of class. So not a good first example.
Lucky for me my first class was on the first floor of Building A, which was right across from the Admin Offices. The bell had already rang while I was in the office collecting my things, so I took a deep breath and entered the classroom with a slight knock. I handed him the pass from the secretary and stood there while he looked it over. The professor was middle aged and looked like he hadn't slept in three weeks. His brown hair was an absolute wreck, as though he ran his hands through it too much, and he had stubble that looked like it was about a week away from being a beard.
"Right then. Welcome. I'm Professor Saltzman. Why don't you take a seat next to Bonnie?" He pointed to a brunette at a desk near the front of the class. Mr. Saltzman returned his attention to something he'd been writing on the board before I walked in.
As I walked towards my seat I could hear a few people here and there whispering about me. Did you hear her? She's American! And then something about my crazy accent. I even heard a few of them trying to mimic it. It was kinda cute. I mean Americans do the same thing when they hear a British accent, you know when we're done swooning over it. It'd be a little weird hearing people point out my accent or the way I say certain things, but hey I don't mind that much.
"Now, I know this is Folklore and we'll be dealing with legends, mythology, folklore, fairytales, and all those lovely things. But first I'd like to backtrack a little and delve into the origins of most of these stories. We should get to the roots of the general topic before we go into subsections etcetera so I'm going to pass this around and you and your desk partner can look over it together. Got it? Good."
The girl next to me, Bonnie according to Mr. Saltzman, passed me the papers. She had smooth brown skin, long brunette hair, and pretty forest green eyes. She looked them over briefly, rolling her eyes at a few of the things on the list like they were too tedious to comprehend. I was inclined to agree. Some of the stuff on this list just sucked the fun straight out of fairytales. I had a feeling Mr. Saltzman would end up crushing all our childhoods with the truth behind our favorite movie memories. Princess Jasmine would have worn much more clothing, married who her dad chose, and never would have spoken up like that. You're welcome.
"Hey, I'm Bonnie Bennett. What's your name?"
"Caroline Forbes."
"Nice to meet you. Welcome. Heads up, Ric is one of those teachers that likes to try to play hardball, but he's a total softie." we laughed and I thanked her for the tip. What're the odds that I meet a relatively cool person first period?
After class I caught up with Mr. Saltzman to ask for the work I must have missed and which textbook I would need for the course. He handed me a bunch of worksheets to catch up on the preliminary stuff I'd missed, like the difference between folklore and fairytales. He said I wouldn't have to hand them in but that I should still go through them to catch up on everything before the first test.
My next class was a psychology course in the same building but three floors up. I took the elevator up and found the room no problem but when I got there the room was completely empty. I couldn't have possibly been early. It was ten minutes past the scheduled time slot…where was everyone? Just as I was about to leave a young man walked in the room, jumping the second he saw me, almost spilling his coffee. That actually sounded so good right about now, I could really use a cup of coffee.
"You must be the new American student. Hi, I'm Professor Johnson." He couldn't have been more than 26 years old. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. He looked so much like Damon it hurt. He had disheveled black hair, ice blue eyes, and a lazy look about him. He looked so much like my brother it made me want to cry. I sucked it up for the time being.
"Uh yeah…hi, Caroline Forbes. I'm sorry but where's the rest of the class?" Surely I couldn't be the only student in his class. That would be so weird. I would think they'd just cancel the class and allow any over flow into the full classes. As though right on cue a few students filed into the classroom each of them carrying a cup of coffee or a bagel or some kind of confection.
"Oh yeah…" he mumbled, shuffling some papers at his desk. "this class usually starts 15 to 20 minutes late. I don't enjoy dealing with caffeine-less or hungry students. It makes them cranky and unless I'm adequately caffeinated myself I can't handle that. Besides this is English 110. Most of my students already speak English."
Right…whatever. He must be fresh out of college, not intent on really establishing himself as a serious professor yet. Eventually he'll get sick of the constant rotation of rowdy, unappreciative students who don't want to learn. I shrugged off my urge to kindly inform him that lax policies weren't efficient. It wouldn't do him much good and really when had a teacher ever taken such advice from a student?
A few minutes into reading over the syllabus the rest of the class finally began to pour in. They all looked relatively fit for the class. Lax professor, lax students. Some of them looked like they'd just rolled out of bed, messy hair, dead eyes, and all. The only thing keeping me from bolting to the office to switch professors was my willingness to give everyone at least one chance. If I wasn't careful I'd slip back into my old habits. I mean for all I knew this would be a very intriguing class. Prof. Johnson could have some really innovative methods to help us look at literature in a different way. I could still excel in this course if I just gave this foreign policy a chance.
"You're in my seat." A voice startles me from my thoughts. I look up to find that a guy is standing directly next to me, practically hovering, with a small smirk on his face. I was slightly taken aback at how laid-back he seemed. The only students who cared enough to sit this close to the front were either super nerdy or wound tightly together, like me.
"Sorry, no one mentioned a seating plan. I'll remember that for tomorrow" I didn't want to seem rude but it was just a seat. Then again, for all I knew he had one of those conditions where a routine had to be followed for them to be within their comfort zones. Plus I hadn't really bothered to ask if there was, in fact, a seating plan. I just assumed there wasn't. Could a teacher who didn't care if his students were 20 minutes late honestly be concerned enough with the order in which they sat?
"You misunderstand, yank. That was me telling you to get the hell out of my seat, darling." His smirk had disappeared and he was currently glaring at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes at him. Who did he think he was that he could just demand, very rudely, that I move? I highly doubt things were different enough here for that to be socially acceptable behavior.
"It's quite alright, Kol. We can sit in the back today." A guy comes from behind him and claps a hand on Kol's shoulder. Kol sneers at me like I'm the scum of the earth, but listens to him. The guy is fairly attractive. He has stormy blue grey eyes and delicate dirty blonde curls. He smirks at me, broadcasting his dimples. "I apologize on behalf of my brother. He isn't really fond of you Americans."
Just like that he joins his brother in the back of the room. I cant even begin to explain how insulted I felt. Okay so America isn't the most likable country in the world. In fact its among the least likable. The shit that goes on there is hardly justifiable at time but that didn't give someone the right to not like me or be rude to me purely because I'm American. Last time I checked that kind of prejudiced racist crap wasn't acceptable in any properly developed country. Maybe it was my melting pot mentality at work but people of all nationalities should be able to get along amicably enough. Whatever, I brush off the extremely rude encounter as Prof. Johnson finally deigns it an appropriate time to start. Unfortunately all my hopes for the course were dashed when he announced our first book would be Twilight.
By lunch I've already forgotten about being behind, lax teachers, and rude Kol. I was just intent on getting through the rest of my classes without any more annoyances. I was intent on getting through the day without so much as a scratch on me. I sat at a table outside shaded by a huge tree when Bonnie and some blonde came over.
"Hey, Caroline, mind if we join?" I'm a little thrown off by it but nod anyway. I'd figured that, if anything, she'd just end up being one of those class friends. Like the one you go to if you miss a day or if the teacher says to pair up. I didn't think she'd be so forthcoming as to attempt a real friendship with me. It was odd considering I didn't really do female friends my last year or so back home, but it felt nice. I was welcome to it if she was. "This is Lexi."
"Hey," she briefly assessed me, as many girls are prone to do. Females need to size one another up, to see what they were dealing with or if they liked the person. I sized her up in return and gave her a pending stamp. She had good hair, classic features, and what looked like great style but for all I knew she could be a grade A bitch. "love your look. I figured Americans just went to class in their pajamas."
"You as well. Decent mix between girly and I'll kick your ass if you disrespect me." Lexi's eyebrows shot up in surprise. A slow smile crept onto her face.
"I like her. So how do you like it here?"
"Well, I've already been subject to an anti-american but other than that it's fine. Not high school, not college. It's decent."
We spent the rest of our break talking about everything from classes to shoes. In general I got along with them really well. Lexi was a kindred spirit and Bonnie was funny and down to earth. Lexi left before Bonnie of I did, citing that she had to jet to psych before her teacher Freud-ed her to death. Bonnie took a few more stabs of her salad before tossing it out and asking me what class I had next.
"Politics, with Smith." I took a swig of my snapple. My classes were really generic. Math, english, psych, and then politics and folklore as my electives. All in all it wasn't that bad. I suppose when I chose what I wanted to do with the rest of my life I'd have to put in some real work. I was intent on putting that off for as long as possible. Say, long enough for my trust fund to kick in? Whatever, if Stefan could get away with not going to school so could I.
"Ditto. It's a shit class. By the way, get ready for some stare-downs. The new american is the talk of the town."
I shrugged. That was nothing major to be honest. The new kid was usually the latest gossip, I suppose my being american made it more fascinating for them. Especially when they've all settled into their patterns and I've only just arrived. Bonnie and I hesitantly left the courtyard and she led the way to our class.
Ugh, 10 minutes in and I already want to blow my brain out. This was hands down the most boring class I've ever been subjected to in my life. God, I feel like this is one of those 'hits blunt' classes. Even Bonnie, who'd answered every question so far, looked like she was half dead. At the halfway mark I begin to wonder why I'd chosen this. Out of all the electives I could've killed time with, why this one? But then it comes to me that I hadn't been the one to sign up for this. My parents had absolutely insisted that I take this course with the hopes I'd want to make a career in it I think. Politics is synonymous with power, Caroline. This family could always use a little more power. Bullshit. We didn't need more anything. No more family, no more money, no more power, nothing. Just as I was about to attempt to persuade Bonnie to duck out early with me the guy from my english class burst through the door with a bottle of bourbon in his hand. Smith immediately fixes her hawklike eyes onto him and glares.
"Care to explain your blatant absence, Mr. Mikaelson? You've missed half the class."
"Why would I allow you to waste 60 minutes of my life when you can only afford to waste thirty? Go on, get on with the damn lesson." He took a huge gulp from the bottle and I stared in awe. He was guzzling it down like it was water. Impressive.
"Give me the bottle and sit down." Smith rubbed at her temples like she suddenly got a grand headache and I just stared at them, trying to understand this dynamic. If a normal student came to class obviously drunk, with the bottle still in his hands mind you, they would be expelled on the spot. So why was I getting the feeling that this guy wasn't exactly normal? He either had a connection to the teacher or was able to pull some serious strings. He ignored her in favor of sitting on her desk, insisting that she move on with the lesson.
"Why don't you just get the fuck out, Klaus? You're wasting everyone's time." A tan, broad guy near the back of the room piped up, looking highly superior. Klaus shot his gaze over to him and smirked.
"Who are you to order me around, Lockwood. I practically own you." The tan guy glared at Klaus, a snarl forming on his lips.
"Yeah, we get it. You get to be a dick because your last name is Mikaelson. Doesn't mean we have to be subjected to your fuckery." he'd stood up from his seat now and had edged his way closer to Klaus, close enough to shove him a little at the end of his sentence. Klaus took one last swig from the bourbon before slamming him down on the table with his forearm around the guys neck.
"Fucking bastard!" the guy yelled. He let loose a string of expletives aimed at Klaus, who, for his part, nodded as though he was considering what Lockwood had to say. Klaus carelessly smacked the bottle against a table, causing the girls by the desk to squeal, and held it to the guys neck.
Nobody in the class got up to do anything, nobody even moved really. I don't know if this was normal or frightening for the other student or what but I was interested in seeing how this would end. Ms. Smith had left the room long ago, probably off to get some authoritative reinforcements. I almost felt bad for the poor guy, except it was his decision to try and tell off a drunk. Besides how was Klaus even holding him down? Klaus was lean but, obviously, muscled and couldn't be more than 5'11. The Lockwood kid he was holding down with a broken bottle to his throat was the broad type of muscly and definitely broke 6 foot. He looked like he could have easily gotten Klaus off of him. But that wasn't the case as he just laid there limp and helpless. Klaus leaned in to whisper something in his ear. The guy went paper white and nodded, finally shoving Klaus off of him just in time for the security guards to barge into the room.
They flanked him on either side, strangely enough not bothering to attempt to subdue him or take the glass from his hands or touch him even. Everyone was staring at him trying to see what he'd do next. Whatever it was, he was taking his goddamn time doing it. He ended up coming over to where Bonnie and I sat, bending down so that we were eye to eye. He reeked of liquor.
"Hello, love. I apologize for not properly introducing myself earlier. It completely slipped my mind." He smirked at me. His tone was very polite and conversational, as though he didn't drunkenly interrupt a class and threaten a peer. Before in English he'd seemed totally harmless. The way he was interacting with me now I still would've assumed he was perfectly harmless had I not just witnessed all that. "I'm Klaus Mikaelson."
"Caroline. Can I help you?" I made no attempt at hiding the rudeness or the suspicion in my voice. Why did he feel the need to introduce himself to me? And right now of all the times?
"Sadly, not at the moment. But, unlike my brother, I do intend to make you feel very welcome here." He gently caressed my face, his thumb briefly grazing my bottom lip. This guy was obviously suffering some kind of mental break. Before I could smack him away from me and admonish him for daring to touch me, a stranger, he'd already straightened up.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I got the feeling that the appropriate reaction to his antics would be to swoon or be insanely attracted to the whole bad boy thing, but I wasn't. While I may have partied hard back home I knew where the limit was and not to push it. He'd crossed so many lines that he wasn't even in the field anymore. "Do you generally attempt to make people 'feel welcome' by touching them randomly without permission?"
"Only pretty foreigners." He winked at me salaciously. Klaus began to saunter out the class room, lingering in the doorway for a minute to remind Ms. Smith to fax his missed work in a folder for him to pick up later.
I turned to Bonnie curiously. She just stared after Klaus with a disgusted look on her face. He sure was a rowdy son of a bitch. I could probably chalk him giving me his attention up to the fact that I was like a shiny new toy here. Like Bonnie said, I was the talk of the town today. I contemplated asking her what his deal was but decided it was best if I just dropped it. Out of sight, out of mind. By this time next week this would be a thing of the past, long forgotten. For the rest of the class Ms. Smith just had us read up on King John, the dick who made the english parliament necessary in the first place while she took the guy Klaus threatened, I'd learned his name was Tyler, to the nurse.
Bonnie and I parted ways after Politics, she had chem and I had math, which she insisted was called maths. I dragged my ass to class, grateful that it was my last one for the day. After this I could go back to school shopping. Stefan had offered to pick me up but I needed some me time. Retail therapy was a very spiritual act through which I could get to know myself a little bit more each time. I'd already lived and shopped in New York, now it was time to tackle a different fashion mecca. I was doodling in my notebook waiting for class to start when something, someone, blocked my light.
"Alright if I sit here?" Klaus was smirking down at me, gesturing at the seat directly beside me. I looked at him skeptically.
"Since you seem to have grasped the idea of consent, sure." He sat down and began copying what the teacher had written on the board for our warm ups. I hadn't noticed the teacher come in, and delved into the work as well. Or at least I attempted to. The warmups he'd written required the textbook. I raised my hand for his help. Instead of addressing me he came towards my seat to ask what was wrong. "I was wondering if I could borrow a textbook."
"Why don't you have a book yet young lady, its been a week." I open my mouth to answer him but Klaus beats me to the punch.
"How could she possibly have the textbook when it's her first day, you twit?" The stout teachers already rosy cheeks grew red and flustered. Klaus casually glanced up from his work at him as though he was confused as to why he was standing there. He dismissed the teacher with his hand like a dog. "Piss off, mate, I'll help her. Just do your job and tell her what materials she needs."
I wanted to scream. How did this guy get away with being such a fucking jerk? He came to class drunk and still drinking, sassed a teacher, assaulted a peer, and was just a plain bully. He was such a douche! Why was no one saying anything or standing up to him? I couldn't help but wonder if his brother was the exact same way. I had a hard time believing he would be any different considering how rude he'd been to me.
"You should get a psych evaluation. You're obviously unstable." Klaus rolled his eyes playfully and scooted his chair closer to mine.
"A simple thank you would have sufficed." It was my turn to roll my eyes and I reached for his textbook so I could just start the damn assignment but Klaus intercepted my hand. I tried to pull it away but he had a viselike grip so all I could do was glare at him. Then, without breaking eye contact he kissed my hand. His lips were featherlight against my hand. I tore my hand away from him while his hold had softened. He paid no mind to my apparent repulsion instead opting to flirt. "You've got gorgeous eyes, Caroline. Baby blue with gentle flecks of green."
"Oh spare me. Do girls you use that line on usually fall for that?" he chuckled softly and leaned back in his seat, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he did so.
"Normally, it takes much less." I didn't reply, efficiently ending the conversation. We didn't say anything to one another for the rest of the lesson, after which I handed him his textbooks. He winked at me. "Until next time, Caroline."
I scowled at the way he said my name. It rolled off his tongue a little too languidly for my tastes. I couldn't wait for the 'shiny new toy' thing to wear off so he'd leave me alone. I had him in three of my classes, so if it didn't wear off, soon, I'd be subject to constant harassment. No. I was so not down for that. I'd dealt with a lot of jerks like him back home, I knew how to handle them. But the only thing was that he was definitely a handsy douche like them, but he seemed to have a lot of sway in this place so he wasn't quite like the other pigs. Whatever, the sooner I got to the shops the sooner I could put that jerk behind me.
I left the school, looking up which bus I should take to get to the nearest non-shitty mall. There were black town cars and even a limo or two lined up outside the gates and I was momentarily confused until I remembered that most of the kids here were loaded. My parents wanted me to be with 'our kind'. I would once again rub elbows with the children of major business moguls, minor royalty, and government officials. Just like home before I burned all those bridges and jeopardized both the Forbes and the Salvatore names. God forbid the daughter of Governor Liz Forbes and Giuseppe Salvatore, who's from a mayflower family aka very old money, step even a fraction out of line, much less jump straight over it. Whatever, I don't mind them loving their public faces more than me so long as it meant I didn't have to deal with them nearly as much as any normal daughter would.
I stare at the line of sleek vehicles for a moment before I decide what the hell, it wouldn't kill me to blend. The bus wasn't my thing anyway. I'd never taken one back in New York, why start now? I still had father's credit card and provided he didn't cancel it to punish me I could order my own car, which I did. There's no reason I should burden Stefan or take public transportation just because they took my jeep away. I'll just take town cars until they wised up and gave me my precious convertible back.
The car came about ten minutes after I called and parked behind the rest of them, like finding the hay in the haystack. It was fine though. I found it and told the driver that I wanted to go shopping and that it would be absolutely lovely if he could wait.
Two hours later I was giving the driver a generous tip and heaving several bags up to Stefan's apartment. My stress had started to dissipate twenty minutes into my spree, right after I bought a drool worthy black leather boots. Now, completely at ease, I could just help Stefan with dinner and head to bed. The bland, vanilla lifestyle suited me well to those who were unable to see past it. Settling back into the groove of being a well to do student and daughter wasn't going to be fun, but it would be easy. I'd gotten to all my classes, done my work, socialized, and was all set to do it again and again for the rest of the week.