AN: Hi everyone! This is my first official Steroline fic so I hope you all enjoy it! I won't post a lot of AN's for the sake of people just wanting to get on with the story instead of reading my lame comments. So without further ado, the second chapter!
There is not much to complain about when one lives in the hills of California bordering the city of Los Angeles. Everything is luxurious and overdone while people wait on richer people hand and foot without complaint. That was the life of the Salvatore's who lived in a grand stately mansion on the side of a hill by itself. No one ever came to their house because no one was ever invited in. There were two brothers who lived inside and they kept to themselves for fear of getting people involved in their mess of a personal life. That didn't matter. Everything was sweet without other people interfering.
On a good morning, Stefan Salvatore would get up, throw on a white tank top with his plaid pajama shorts and maybe do some push-ups if he had enough energy. He wasn't the supposed hottest guy in school for no reason. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Stefan was quite the handsome guy. He was only 17 years old and he had a toned body, good bone structure, and a sweet personality to match.
Next, Stefan would brush out his hair so it was neat and tidy, then he would head down his stairs and start to find his favorite box of cereal for breakfast. This time, however, he found his older and bigger headed brother lounging on the couch, crunching something in his mouth with a blue box in his lap.
"Damon," Stefan sighed, "You're eating my frosted flakes."
The dark haired brother looked down at his lap and shrugged, "We're switching things up today, brother."
"How so?" Stefan asked.
"Look who decided to grace us with her presence before rushing off to the office?" Damon said with a smile.
From the outer terrace and into the living room marched Lily Salvatore, the most successful actress in Hollywood. She was known as America's favorite mother, both working and "raising" two boys of her own. Stefan and Damon were like her trophies more than her sons, which is what both boys grew up to believe. When mother dearest stepped into the room, both of them rolled their eyes.
"Good morning my beautiful boy!" Lily said excitedly, quickly rushing to Stefan and kissing his cheek.
"Good morning, mother," Stefan said plainly.
"How did you sleep?" she asked, pressing her hands together hopefully.
"Why do you care?" Stefan asked, raising his eyebrows and walking over to Damon, "because the last time we actually saw you come home from work before we fell asleep, we were twelve."
"I was thirteen," Damon added.
Stefan mockingly laughed at him and snatched his box from Damon's grasp.
"Well if you must know," Lily said, "I've been missing my boys lately, so I thought I'd stop by and check up on you."
"Uh huh," both of them said.
"Now tell us what you're really up to, mom," Damon said, "You've never bothered to check up on us before. What do you want?"
"Can't you tell?" Stefan asked, taking a seat next to his brother, "Mother needs us to be her devoted and loving sons in public so she looks just as sweet and nurturing as ever."
Lily gasped, "I am so shocked that you boys think so lowly of me!"
They raised their eye brows.
"Fine," she sighed, "I got a call from my studio last night. They said I'm starting to look overprotective since my sons don't seem to be dating anyone."
"You? Overprotective?" Stefan asked, "Why don't you just tell them we're raising ourselves so we don't have to date random girls and you still keep up your image."
"Hold on, brother," Damon said, "Maybe meeting a few girls isn't such a bad idea."
"Is that what you're asking us to do?" Stefan asked, "You want us to get girlfriends so you don't look bad."
"Not just me!" Lily said, "You'll look desirable if you're seen dating other girls."
"Yes because our dashing good looks don't make us desirable enough," Damon scoffed, "Thank you, mother."
"You know what I mean!" Lily protested, "Will you do it? Will you at least try?"
Damon shrugged, "I'll give it a shot."
"You've got to be kidding me," Stefan muttered.
"Good!" Lily clapped, "I have to go to the lot now, but I promise this will be good for all of us."
She bent down and pinched both of their cheeks before clicking her heels quickly out of the door.
"Really, Damon?" Stefan said, rolling his eyes.
"What?"
"You'd sell yourself out just for the camera?"
Damon shrugged, "Hey, I guess it's just another day in the life of Prince Charming, isn't it, Stefan?"
Stefan groaned, "Enough with the Prince Charming thing, okay?"
"I didn't give you that nickname," Damon said, "The girls who are madly obsessed with you did... Hey! Why don't you just take one of them out."
Stefan shivered, "God no. Who knows what kind of legal things I'd have to go through to get rid of them."
Damon laughed and snatched the box from Stefan's hands.
"Hey!"
"No time to eat. We're gonna be late for school."
Stefan sighed and got up before going up the stairs and changing into a pair of jeans and a casual t-shirt for school. It wasn't that deep to dress for a school day. There was no need to dress up in a leather jacket to look good, even if Damon thought that was the way to go. Damon was the one who usually drove the car to school as Stefan sat in the passenger seat watching all of the craziness of Hollywood pass him by. Things seemed to get simpler as school got closer and closer, but still the hype of an adoring crowd surrounded the brothers wherever they went.
Normally, girls would come up to Damon and Stefan, asking them if they'd sit with them at lunch or if they'd take them to one of their mother's movie sets. They would try to get inside the building, but the crowd could barely fit through the door. It would last until they got to their lockers next to each other and the first warning bell went off.
"Alright ladies, that's enough for right now," Damon said, "Why don't you meet us in the cafeteria at lunch."
They giggled and said yes in various high pitched and flirtatious voices. The girls backed up down the hall, not seeing who was behind them as they continued in their path.
"Ow!"
As the girls faded away, a blonde girl was on the ground with her books all over the floor with two other girls watching her in shock.
"Are you okay?" the short-haired girl asked the blonde.
Stefan and Damon saw this happening and ran to the group of three girls.
"I'm sorry about that," Stefan said, not seeing the blonde's face.
"It's not your fault," she sighed, picking up her books one by one, "It's those girls who mindlessly chase around those pompous snobs."
Ignoring the comment, Stefan handed her a book and the blonde girl took it, looking up at him and her mouth opening wide. He laughed a little bit at her reaction.
"Just like those ignorant popular guys," he chuckled, "Not caring if they're in anybody's way."
She shrugged and took the book from his hand. "Thanks... sorry about that-."
"Don't apologize," Stefan said, "I get how hard it must be... going around unnoticed so no one cares if they're knocking you down."
The blonde looked like she wanted to laugh, but she let out a small "ha".
He got up and put the last book on her pile that was resting in her arms. "I've seen you around here before... what do people call you?"
She laughed, "That you don't wanna know..."
"Then what's your name?"
"Caroline..." she said, "Caroline Forbes."
"Caroline Forbes," Stefan repeated, "I like it."
She shrugged, "It grows on you, I guess."
The other brother resting his arm against the lockers suddenly lost his mojo when he caught sight of the familiar brunette with her only book held tightly to her chest, her red highlights showing brightly on the front of her hair.
"Hey Elena..." Damon said with a giggle.
Elena opened her mouth to speak, but shrugged her shoulders and ended up taking a deep breath instead.
"H-Hi," was the only thing she said back as Bonnie Bennett stood next to her, biting her tongue. Meanwhile, Stefan and Caroline were still staring at each other.
This kind of moment would be either really embarrassing or really magical, so of course, Liv Parker has to burst into the scene and ruin Caroline's moment.
"Hey Stefan," Liv said, leaning up against the locker so her bare waist was showing, "I haven't seen you around in a while."
"Yeah you have..." Stefan said, "I see you in History pretty much every day."
Liv giggled and twirled her finger in her hair, "Of course you do! God, you're so smart..."
"Uh huh..." Stefan said awkwardly, backing up with his hands in his pocket at the sound of the bell, "I'll see you around Liv... Nice meeting you, Caroline."
Caroline raised her hand in the air, hoping it would turn into a wave, but her fingers seemed numb to the action.
"Ugh, what is your problem?" Liv spat with a scowl at Caroline. She was soon joined by her equally intimidating twin brother, Luke.
"Nothing..." Caroline said quietly, "I just fell. He was being nice. That's all."
"Well don't even think about being nice back," Liv said.
"That's right," Luke added, "All of these other girls like to think they can get Stefan Salvatore, but in the end, it's going to be Liv that he chooses."
"Wow you guys are seriously wound up a little too tight," Caroline laughed, "I have no interest in Stefan like that, so no need to worry."
"Do you think we're stupid?!" Liv yelled, "You're pathetic. A joke. Invisible."
"How'd you like to see my invisible fist?!" Bonnie yelled back. She took a few steps forward, but was stopped by Caroline's arms.
"Whatever," Liv said, shaking her head, "You guys are losers."
Liv and Luke turned away, to the delight of Caroline and her friends. It took them a while for them to say something as they watched their seriously overly dramatic strut down the hallways while literally no one else watched or cared.
"I can't believe you put up with those two," Bonnie said, rolling up her sleeves.
"I think the fact that she's stayed so long shows her strength," Elena said.
"Besides," Caroline said, "I'm just waiting until I leave for college when I can do whatever whenever I want and nobody can stand in my way."
"Still," Bonnie said with a shrug, "If I were you, I would have beaten both of their asses a long time ago."
Caroline has always dreamed of the day she finally gets to say whatever she wants to her two awful step-siblings without fear of what will happen next. For now, she would have to ride home on her crummy little bike while Liv and Luke traveled in their italian sports cars. She never let it get to her head, though. She liked her bike and didn't want to ask for anything more.
When she got home, she propped her bike against the wrack and locked it in place before going down into the depths of her work space; aka: the kitchen. There was a long winding staircase next to the kitchen space in the basement that lead to where the "civilized people" eat meals. According to Caroline's step-family, it was uncivilized to eat on the same floor where your food is made. She never understood it.
The second Caroline threw her bag down on the kitchen counter, a voice rang through the walls as thundering footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.
"Ah good!" Joshua said, slamming a yellow piece of paper onto the counter, "You're home! Get started now."
"On what?" Caroline asked, "I just finished a list for you this morning."
"But there is always much to be done," Joshua said, "Don't you know that a maid's job is never done? Hurry up and finish. I'm so glad you don't have a social life so you have the time to work."
He smiled and rushed back up the stairs. Caroline rested her left hand and picked up the paper, which was actually folded and fell almost to the floor. She groaned and threw her face into the granite of the table.
At least there were the nights right before she went to bed when she didn't have to hear anyone calling her name and yelling at her to do something ridiculous. In her bedroom, she had her own little rocking chair that rested in a corner right by a window with a journal that rested beside it. Every night, if something came to her head, she would sit down in her corner with a pencil and write in her journal, except she never wrote about actual events in her life. She would only write herself a better life in a fantasy land where nothing would ever go wrong. In her journal, she could be whatever she wanted to be. But the only her dreams could come true were in the contents of that journal. It was sad to have to put down the pencil and come back to reality, but at least she had a fantasy to escape to whenever things got hard.