Hey, guys! Happy Friday the 13th! Lol. I know, ironic, right? I update on the unluckiest day of the year. Well, I guess for some people it's your lucky day! I've been crazy busy lately because of school and it's a miracle if I ever have any time or energy to sit down and write, so I hope you guys will be patient with me for the later chapters.
Thank you guys so much for all your reviews! Seriously! I was not expecting this many people to review on the first chapter! Thank you for your kind words! Your reviews just make me 10x more excited to write this story! I can't wait for you guys to see what I have in store for this story.
Oh, and to the person who asked: yes, Caroline and Elena are both human, and all the other supernatural characters who are supernatural on the show are supernatural here, too (Unless I say otherwise).
Also, if anyone was wondering, this story will get darker. I'm not saying it will be heartwrenchingly angsty, but it won't be all cotton candy and rainbows, either. So if you're not into dark Klaroline... then don't blame me.
I hope you guys like it ;)
Caroline released the deep breath that she had been holding in ever since she first put on her school uniform. She had been looking herself over in the mirror over and over again for over ten minutes now. She had on her sleek black rounded-toe Jimmy Choo pumps that had a buckle circling her ankles. She was so thankful that the school allowed them to accessorize their uniforms, or else she probably would have had a fashion melt down.
Her skin-tight black and navy argyle socks stretched along her long legs, landing just above her knee. She wore a matching tartan pleated miniskirt- which was regulation for the school uniform- stopping at her mid-thigh. She adjusted the corresponding tartan tie that hung around her neck and below that was the cotton Ralph Lauren button up collared shirt that she had to wear from now on.
Since it was her first day, she decided to put in an extra effort by making use of her curling iron to ensure that her hair looked perfect for the day, then made her makeup a bit more dramatic to leave an impression.
"You ready?" Elena called, stepping out of the bathroom.
Caroline turned around to face Elena. "No. But it's not like I have a choice. How do I look?"
Elena smiled, staring Caroline up and down. "You look beautiful, Care. Really."
Caroline pointed to Elena. "If you're lying to me, I'll be really pissed."
Elena walked up to Caroline and grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face the mirror again. "Caroline, look at yourself in the mirror. You're gorgeous. Trust me, the biggest problem you'll be having today is trying to keep the boys at bay. I'm serious. You'll probably have to use an oar to beat them back."
"Wait. What?"
Elena smiled. "Relax. You'll be fine. Just try to keep a low profile. Trust me, that's how you survive. That's what I've done since Freshmen year and I'm still alive."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Here, I'll give you the tour before breakfast and then I'll tell you who's safe and who's not."
"So in other words: who will or will not kill me?"
"Yeah. Pretty much." Elena extended her hand, the expression on her face saying, 'please?'
Caroline groaned, taking her hand. "Let's just get today over with."
"Wait. So let me get this straight: they have a nurse's office, but they don't treat their patients in there?" Caroline asked Elena as they walked into the cafeteria.
"Yup. That sounds about right. Although, it sounded more normal in my head."
"Then, where do they treat the sick kids?"
"The principal's office."
"That makes no sense."
"The fact that this school even exists doesn't make any sense."
"So it's just there?"
"To the staff I guess it's just there."
"Why don't they actually use it for something?"
"My theory is that someone got their mommy or daddy to pay them off, so they wouldn't use it anymore."
"Why? I mean… it's a nurse's office. All the infirmaries I've ever been in usually smelled weird and made me feel like I was surrounded by sick people- not exactly your ideal hangout hot spot."
Caroline and Elena picked up a black tray and laid it down in front of the buffet of food, each of them taking a glass of cold freshly squeezed orange juice.
"Word on the street is: the popular kids renovated the place. They broke down the walls to make the room bigger than a club. They got rid of the furniture, re-painted it and put it their own- leather couches, a bar, coffee tables, lamps, and who knows what else." Elena responded as she placed a waffle covered in blackberries on her tray.
"Um. Can you do that? I mean, especially since this is a school for... you know. I would think they'd be a lot stricter than most schools, right?" Caroline questioned as she set a plate of berry-filled crepes on her tray. Caroline and Elena turned around, exiting the breakfast buffet.
"Yeah. Well, some people think they can just defy logic and for some reason everyone else believes they can, too. Just remember: don't go to the nurse's office, ever."
"But what if I get hurt during gym?"
Elena stopped and held Caroline's shoulder, almost making her drop her tray of food. "You go to the principal's office."
"Okay. The next time you want to make a point, make sure my crêpes are out of harms way first. I did not get the luxury of crêpes at my old school."
"Fuck the crepes! Caroline, focus."
"Fuck the crêpes? Fuck you! I am so over the shit that the cafeteria ladies tried to pass off as food. I am passed that and have moved on to the Castlewall cafeteria. Who knew that I would have to go to school filled with dangerous almost-convicts before a school would actually start feeding me real food?"
Elena shook her head at the blonde that had been ranting about the food she had been deprived of. "Let's just go find a table before you start worshiping the orange juice."
"Oh, trust me, I have a lot of commenting to do on this subject." Caroline called to the brunette as she followed her outside.
Caroline and Elena sat at one of the small, sleek, round stone tables behind the school, the cool fall breeze blowing their hair freely. Caroline scanned the area and saw a large elegant fountain in the middle of the place, the water glistening as it ran down the sides. It looked like a fountain she would see at a mall or in front of a ridiculously expensive mansion. The entire scenery looked like it belonged in a fashion magazine- the ones that made you sad to read because you know you would never have it.
She saw all the different tables and could already make out all of the different cliques at the school- even at a school for psychotic criminals there were cliques: the jocks who dunk the Freshmen in the toilet, the people who you know carry pocket knives, the people who should carry pocket knives, the mean girls who will drag you into the bathroom and cut you, the fake cheerleaders who pretend to be your friend- but when you least expect it, they stab you in the back- literally.
"You checking out the enemy?" Elena asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"That depends... which one is the enemy?"
"All of them."
"Oh, come on. They can't be that bad. There's gotta be at least a few good seeds in the mix."
"Oh, yeah. Sure there are." Elena nodded. Caroline let out a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be okay. She was just overreacting last night. These kids were just like her. She had to remind herself of that. "There are plenty of good seeds... until they grow up to be evil trees."
Caroline's jaw dropped. "Again. If this is your way of trying to convince me to not run away from this school, I strongly recommend that you not become a lawyer when you grow up."
"Look. I'm not saying that everyone at this school will jump you when you go to your locker."
"Gee. That's such a relief, because I've been thinking about that exact scenario ever since I woke up this morning. Thank god you told me because I was so worried about getting ambushed at my locker. You know, because that's what all normal Americans think about at 7:49 A.M."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out, but just know that you shouldn't trust anyone. No one, Caroline. You can ask someone for a pencil or talk to them if you have to collaborate on a project, but don't get close to anyone. Do not let your guard down for a second."
"Whoa. Elena, if I can't trust anyone, does that mean I can't trust you?"
"... If you were smart, you wouldn't... but I wouldn't be telling you these things if you couldn't trust me."
"But how do you survive in a world where you can't trust anyone? No one makes it on their own, Elena. No one."
"Luckily, I only have one more year to go and you only have to make it for one year, too. Keep your head low and you'll come out of this place in one piece."
"Have there been people who haven't?"
"... You haven't heard, have you?"
"Heard what?"
"Caroline... last night a girl was murdered."
"Wait. What do you mean a girl was murdered? Was a girl murdered in China? Connecticut? Russia?"
"A girl was murdered here, Caroline. They found traces of her blood on school ground. Her body was found a few blocks away from the school."
Caroline began hyperventilating. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die if I stay here! Elena, I'm not ready to die!"
Elena grabbed the blonde's wrists, shaking her until she finally calmed down. "Get a grip, Caroline! You're not gonna die! I'm not gonna let you!"
"What are you gonna do? Stand on top of a table and tell everyone not to touch me? Yeah. I'm sure that'll go over well."
"I've managed to survive here for three years. I'll teach you everything I know."
"You mean, you'll teach me how to run and hide for a year?"
Elena slammed her hand against the table, making Caroline jump. "Do you wanna survive, or not?"
"What I want is to have a somewhat pleasant senior year experience and your method is... somewhat less than desirable."
"You know what's less than desirable? Dying a painful, bloody death and having your killer rip your limbs apart and leaving you there for the public to take pictures like you're being put on display. Is that what you want?"
"No."
"Then don't let your pride get in the way and listen to me." Elena returned to her waffles, using her knife and fork to cut another piece.
Caroline sighed and used her fork to bring another piece of her berry crêpe into her mouth. She turned her head to take another look at the people she would be spending the next few months with, trying to read each of them and deciding what kind of person they were. Caroline froze when her eyes landed on him. He was tall, with dark blonde, curly hair and stubble that made him look dangerous. He was wearing the regulation uniform for the guys- a black blazer with the school's symbol stitched on, a black and navy striped tie, an expensive-looking navy button up collared shirt, loose gray pants, and black Italian matte-leather shoes. But there was something different about the way he wore the uniform compared to all of the other guys she's seen at the school. Maybe it was the way the clothes just clung to his body. Or maybe it was the fact that he was drop-dead gorgeous.
He was walking beside a tall blonde girl who was just as beautiful as he was and there was another boy with spiked chestnut brown hair standing on the other side of the girl. Caroline didn't understand why, but she felt a pang in her heart, seeing the boy with curly hair laughing with the blonde. It didn't make sense because she didn't even know him. Why should she care?
She sighed, watching the three figures walk in her direction. The scene was so flawless that she could've sworn she saw this scene in a movie- except the producers would have brought in a fan by now to blow their hair back. Thinking about it, though, the cool breeze of autumn was enough to reenact the scene. Caroline stared in awe, imagining how it would feel if she were one of them. How lucky do you have to be to be that infallible?
Elena looked up to see the look of admiration on Caroline's face and reluctantly turned around to see what she was staring at, completely unfazed when her eyes landed on the three God-like people that walked past them. "I see you've already spotted the Mikaelsons." She rolled her eyes.
Caroline's mind snapped back to reality when she heard Elena's voice. "The what?"
"The Mikaelsons."
"Who are the Mikaelsons?"
"The most evil people you will ever meet."
"Seriously?"
"I'm dead serious. See for yourself." Elena nudged her head in the direction of the table in the center of the food court; it was the only table that was placed right next to the beautiful fountain.
Caroline turned her head in the direction of the Mikaelsons, and saw the blonde girl snap her fingers, causing the tables filled with mean girls and cheerleaders to rush to her aid. The mean girls began pulling out wet wipes from their designer purses, vigorously scrubbing down the stone table and bench, while the girl barked orders at the cheerleaders. Caroline gulped. "Well... she seems nice."
"Keep watching. It gets better," Elena told her.
Caroline watched the blonde continue to yell at the cheerleader for another moment before the cheerleader was struck across the face with the back of her hand. The cheerleader fell to the ground, grabbing her now-red cheek with tears rapidly streaming down her face. Caroline gasped, not expecting that. The blonde kicked the girl in the ribs until she was far enough away that she crawled underneath another table that was being occupied by a different group of students. Caroline could feel her heart race so fast it felt like she was already in a near death experience. All she could think about was that she could be that girl on the ground one day.
"Meet Rebekah Mikaelson," Elena began. "A.K.A. Prom Queen. Head Cheerleader. Homecoming Queen. And the Queen Bee. Guess what the 'B' stands for."
"Benevolence?"
Elena gave her a sympathetic look. "Please. I don't think benevolence is in Rebekah's vocabulary."
"So that thing she did to that girl... that's not an everyday thing, is it?"
"More like every hour."
"Oh, well that's just great. You know, no big deal. I mean, I used to get in fights everyday at my old school, too, just like any normal American would. I've got this." Caroline looked like a nervous wreck as she attempted to not have a psychotic break just at the thought of accidentally angering Rebekah Mikaelson.
"Just don't make eye contact with her. Unless you're in her inner circle she finds it offensive and God forbid we upset the queen of this school. Even when you're talking to her, look down. Look anywhere. Just don't look directly in her eyes. You can think of her like Medusa. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if you found a pound of snakes underneath that blonde hair."
"That's ridiculous! I can't even look at her when I have a conversation with her? What the hell is that? Then people will start to think I'm talking to myself!"
"Better for them to think you're crazy than to let Rebekah notice you. She could declare war if she doesn't like you, or worse..."
"What's worse than getting the ass-whooping that other girl got?"
"Oh, Rebekah doesn't hate her. They're actually good friends."
Caroline's eyes widened, not wanting to think about what Rebekah did to the people she hated.
Elena continued. "What's worse is if Rebekah wants you to be her friend."
"How is that worse?"
"You remember what happened to that girl?" Caroline nodded. "She gets that everyday because she made the mistake of being Rebekah's 'friend.' The only people Rebekah really respects are the people in her inner circle. It's a very high-standarded, selective list of people. Think of it as an invisible wall you'll never be able to penetrate. They're on Mount Olympus." Elena raised her hand high, horizontally above her head. "We're down here." Elena lowered her hand beneath the table. "Yeah. We're even lower than Tartarus. They are Gods. We are worth even less to them than the Titans." Elena moved her hand up and down, switching between the two positions her hand had been in. "They're up here. We're down here. Mount Olympus. Lower than Tartarus. Gods. Us. It's a sad story. I know. Welcome to Castlewall Academy."
Thanks for reading!
Yes. I know. I know. Don't yell at me for not letting Klaus and Caroline meet yet. They will... eventually. I just want Caroline to be introduced to each of the Mikaelson's reputations before they come face to face. Plus, come on, don't you wanna know how the school views the Mikaelson's and who they are known as in the school, and I know that most of the characters in here would probably never pass for a high school student... but let's just pretend for a second that they could. Lol.
Anyways, I know not much happened yet, but it's the beginning and I just want to ease into it, you know? So leave me a review and let me know what you think.