Hey everyone!
Apologies for not updating sooner. I've been as busy as a bee and found it difficult to find time to update. However I'm here now, and I bring you a nice, long chapter and one which I'm sure you will enjoy!
Again, I don't own TVD (but would very much like Damon... very, VERY much...)
Elena's POV
Elena roved her eyes over her class timetable, praying to God she didn't have Math first thing on a Monday morning - and success, she had English!
"English, really?" moaned Caroline.
"You'd moan no matter what lesson it was" joked Bonnie while folding her timetable into her bag.
"I don't recognize the teacher initials" said Elena to no one in particular. She felt Bonnie hover over her shoulder as they spotted the initials 'DS' on her paper.
"Looks like we have new blood in our midst" announced Bonnie while Caroline rolled her eyes.
"Great, I wanted hot new boys and I get what's probably going to be a fat, balding English teacher."
The girls sniggered as they made their way to class, weaving their way through the throngs of students in their path towards the English Department.
Upon entering the building, Elena's eyes instantly clocked onto the person she least wanted to see. Even more so than Stefan. At the end of the hallway was her Uncle John, standing outside of his classroom door, watching his new students with a stony expression as they made their way inside. Everything about him made her blood boil and she subconsciously gritted her teeth, just like she had so many times in the first few weeks after her parents death to bite back the endless list of abuse that she wanted to scream into his face. She felt sick at the memories and felt her stomach tense painfully. Unwanted flashbacks of how he brushed herself and Jeremy's feelings under the carpet as if they didn't matter. Which was coincidentally after hearing her parents' will, and that his brother had left nothing to him. Not a single penny. It was all given to Elena and Jeremy, safely stored away until they were adults. Even in the darkest days when Jeremy went completely off the rails, John ignored Elena's pleas for help when she and Jenna felt hopeless. He was a cold, selfish and detached man who just didn't care. Elena only wished she could erase him from her memory.
Thankfully he didn't see her as she and her friends rounded the corner. At least that was one confrontation avoided. Her stomach eventually eased itself out of it's coil and she felt so much better knowing she was about to begin her favourite subject.
The girls entered classroom E6 and automatically looked to the front to find their new teacher - who was no where in sight.
"Lets grab a desk over there," said Bonnie, tugging on Elena's arm and leading the way. Caroline was quick to busy herself with catching up on the latest gossip with some of the other girls in the room.
Bonnie was smart and claimed a desk for them towards the back of the room, which meant they were behind Stefan who was several tables in front. There wouldn't be a single chance of him staring at Elena, passing notes or even talking to her during the lesson. But still, as Elena motioned between the desks to her seat she could sense Stefan was watching her with a sorrowful stare. She caught him in the corner of her eye as he turned back to face the front and chat to Matt beside him.
"So where's this teacher at?" pondered Bonnie as she made herself comfortable in her chair.
"Dunno" Elena mumbled, yanking her note pad and pencil case out of her bag. Taking out her frustration on the inanimate objects and slamming them down on the desk.
"What if Care was right and they are some fat old perv?"
Elena forced a quick laugh as she opened her note pad, ready to begin the lesson and forget about her Uncle, forget about Stefan and was more than ready to concentrate on something other than her parents for at least ten minutes. She had to try.
"It's a shame we don't have Mr Saltzman. He's gorgeous" said Bonnie, biting down on the end of her pen in a daydream.
"He's alright."
"Alright? Just Alright? Pfft, if someone better looking comes walking through that door, I'll give you my allowance for the year."
"I wouldn't worry about that," said Elena, looking up to the classroom clock that ticked 09:07. "It doesn't look like they're turning up anyway."
Damon's POV
"Shit, shit, shit!"
Damon was now on his hands and knees, crawling around the table in the faculty lounge trying to find the briefcase he had left behind. It included class registers, his timetable, lesson plans, pretty much everything that was vital.
As he slammed his fist angrily on the table top, he hadn't noticed someone enter the room.
"You okay down there?"
Damon looked over to find a woman, probably just a little older than himself, half-smiling down at him with amusement.
"Not really, i've lost my briefcase" he said, raking a hand through his raven, black hair. "Good first day, huh?"
She silently walked passed him towards a small closet by the window. She opened it for him to look inside.
Still on his knees, Damon shuffled over and hidden underneath a fallen coat was his briefcase. He yanked it out and sighed deeply with relief.
"Thank you so much," he said, incredibly grateful for her help. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name..."
"It's Isobel,"
"Thank you again Isobel." He smiled, flashing her one of his winning smirks in appreciation.
Then he remembered what time it was, and suddenly felt panic swell in his chest.
"Well i'd better get going..."
"Good idea. You're ten minutes late for your first lesson. But don't worry, Damon. Your secrets safe with me" she said with a slow flutter of her eyelashes, "i'll see you later."
On her way out she picked up the files that she originally came in for and left. Damon, only just realizing he was pretty much hugging his briefcase, clicked it open and began shuffling around for his timetable as he walked towards his classroom. He spared a thought to think about what he might walk into. When he found his timetable and saw he had a class of adolescent sixteen year olds, he actually felt a little scared.
"Please be kind" he mumbled to himself as he closed his briefcase outside his door. With a deep breath, he yanked down on the handle and walked in.
"Sorry I'm late everyone," he called out as he marched over to his desk. The loud talking was beginning to quieten down at his presence.
As he planted his case onto his desk, he flickered his eyes to study his class for a brief second, before picking up his marker pen and proceeding to write his name on the board.
"My name is Damon Salvatore," he said while he meticulously wrote his name, "however the powers at be seem to have an issue with you calling me by my first name, so how about we just stick to Mr Salvatore?"
Damon turned around to find pretty much everyone was writing his name down in their books. A few of the girls were noticeably whispering to one another. A wolf whistle echoed from somewhere at the back of the room and everyone laughed, including Damon, feeling slightly embarrassed as he fished through his papers for the class register.
"Alright, alright, lets run through the register so I can get to put some names to some faces" he said, sitting down in his plush, leather chair. "okay first name on my list," he clicked his pen, "Bonnie Bennett?"
Elena's POV
"Sorry I'm late everyone"
Elena looked up from her desk to finally see her new teacher.
She was instantly startled and shaken to see how breathtakingly beautiful he was. And for a few moments, Elena Gilbert could barely breathe.
"My name is Damon Salvatore, however the powers at be seem to have an issue with you calling me by my first name, so how about we just stick to Mr Salvatore?"
Elena could hear her heart pounding away in her chest as she noticed everyone else around her were writing his name in their notepads. Her whole body felt heavy and she could barely function, barely take her eyes from his body as he continued to write on the board. When he turned to look around the classroom, Elena waited long enough to see the brilliant blue of his eyes before scrabbling for her pen and messily writing down his name on her work.
A loud wolf-whistle pierced through the air, sending the class into fits of laughter.
"That was so Caroline" sniggered Bonnie.
Elena grinned, tucking her long hair behind her ears as she dared to look up. Oh God... he was smirking. It was the most delicious look Elena had ever seen and her stomach fired up with lust. It was completely crazy, she'd never felt this way about anyone before. Never at first sight. This was something else entirely.
"Okay, first name on my list... Bonnie Bennett?"
Elena was quick to avert her gaze from his to the table, unable to look at him properly without feeling herself go completely undone.
"Here's sir!" called out Bonnie with a raise of her hand.
He continued to make his way down the list and Elena knew her name was coming up. She knew as soon as she'd meet his stare, he'd instantly be able to tell she had a crush on him and she'd be permanently exposed. In her head she knew that sounded incredibly pathetic and it would mean nothing to him. However the nerves continued to build as she rapidly rapped her pen against her note book.
"Caroline Forbes?"
"I'm right here Mr Salvatore,"
From across the room, Elena actually saw Caroline under her veil of dark hair, give Mr Salvatore a little girly wave. It wouldn't surprise her if she winked too. She was too bold for her own good, Elena thought, though she secretly wished she could have just a slice of her confidence.
"And next we have... Elena Gilbert?"
As the blood in her veins rushed through her body, Elena blinked up to find those incredible blue eyes scanning the room to match a name with a face. Trembling, Elena slowly raised her arm, words escaping her completely the moment his eyes narrowed on hers.
Damon's POV
She didn't say a single word as her arm remained in the air.
Damon, lost for words himself, couldn't believe how beautiful this girl before him was. Never one to be left thoughtless or speechless, Damon knew this young girl, Elena Gilbert, was already something special.
"Here, sir" she said, her voice a little husky which made his stomach quiver.
"She's sixteen - snap out of it" spat his conscience.
That was all he needed to make himself focus.
"Pleasure to meet you Miss Gilbert," he rushed, quickly completing the rest of the register so he could begin his lesson properly.
"Okay, I'm sure you're barely able to contain your excitement about the literature you'll be studying this year" he explained, making sure to look around his students to maintain their attention and keep them focused. "And I can promise you Hamlet will not disappoint."
A wave of groans floated around the room and Damon half-smiled nervously. He would not lose them... yet.
"It's not like that Romeo and Juliet is it?" moaned Matt from the front.
"Nah, this is one for the boys as well, Mr Donovan" Damon explained, already getting a preconceived idea that this kid probably wasn't the brightest button in the box.
Damon glanced to the back of the room towards Elena Gilbert. As if she could feel him staring, she looked up with her big, beautiful doe eyes and Damon could barely string a single thought together.
"Sixteen. Sixteen. Sixteen" reminded the old brain that rattled around in his skull.
Damon tore his gaze from Miss Gilbert's to pick up a cardboard box full of copies of Hamlet. As he ripped through the celotape, it took everything he had not to glance up to her again.
"Okay you get one copy each," he announced, slamming the pile onto his desk as if it would get rid of his frustration. "Lose it, you pay for it. Are we clear?"
The class mumbled in response as Damon began walking between the aisles handing out books. The very eager Caroline Forbes, made sure to touch his hand as she grabbed her copy. She was definitely going to be quite the character this year. Mr Donovan and Stefan... Damon couldn't remember his last name, took the books from him in a less than enthusiastic manner.
"Each week we'll read so many acts and i'll prepare you an exam question to do in your own time, ready for our next lesson."
As Damon heard himself rambling on, he noticed he was getting closer to her desk. It was his goal to avoid eye contact. However he found that looking at the floor caused his eyes avert straight to her slender legs that were clad in black, skin-tight jeans.
"Fuck..."
"So make sure you listen, write your notes clearly and come back each week with a grade A essay."
He came to her desk, and he failed. He was lost in her eyes instantly.
"SIXTEEN!"
Her innocent face stared up at his as she accepted her copy of the book from him. She was incredibly beautiful for her tender age.
A small smile flickered on her lips and Damon quickly looked to Miss Bennett, handing her a book and turning to move back down the next aisle. He was terrified he was making it obvious as he made his way back to the front. As he sat in his chair, he ruffled a hand through his already tousled hair, opening his own copy to page one.
"Alright, Act one, Scene one; do we have any volunteers to read the parts of Barnardo, Francisco and Horatio?"
To his surprise, a few of the boys in the room raised their hands and began to read. Although rather slowly.
Throughout the lesson, Damon would occasionally look up in Miss Gilbert's direction. She was concentrating on reading every time and writing down the odd note. It actually infuriated him a little when she never seemed to be looking at him.
"Sixteen remember?" droned his conscience for the millionth time.
No sooner they were through the first scene, the school bell shrilled through everyone's ears for the next period. On cue, everyone leaped from their seats to leave, shoveling their books into their bags and shrugging on their jackets and coats.
"Okay guys, thank you for a brilliant first lesson."
She still wasn't looking as she packed away her belongings.
"Remember to read scene 2, pay attention to the language and scenarios, make notes where you can..."
Finally, she looked and Damon held her gentle stare.
".. and I look forward to seeing you all next week."
His view was obstructed by Caroline's blonde head of hair bouncing over to Elena. As he wiped away his writing from the white board, he watched Elena and her friends be the last to exit the room.
He promised himself right then and there, that he would never look at Elena Gilbert that way again...
So there you have it! Damon and Elena's (kind of) first meeting!
Next chapter will be up in about a week, I promise. However if I received plenty of reviews, it may inspire me to update MUCH sooner. I have big plans for this story, including a lot of intense, character driven moments that I cannot wait to get going.
Thank you, and I look forward to seeing what you think!
Anna x