Hello, my lovely readers. I know, it's been a little while, but we're back, at least for this week. If you have time, check out my new fic, "Summer of '15" starring Caroline, Damon, Stefan and Hayley as siblings who drive each other crazy during a summer vacation who meet the Mikaelsons. Includes also Klaroline, Delena, Stefan & ? and Haylijah and many more. On with the show…

Chapter 21: The V. P.

The one thing Matt Donavon had never told anyone, mainly because they never asked, was that he wanted Mystic Falls in his review mirror. That is a thought that he had every day when he entered the halls of MF High. Every. Single. Day. It was okay when Vikki was still there. He could find her and she would talk to him until she had to run off with her cheer pals. And he also had the chess team guys. They were cool. They were much better than the popular crowd, who had targeted him since he was kid in glasses.

Today, on the first day of his junior year, Matt was determined to keep a low profile. Things would be good. No one would bother him if he just kept to himself. Dodging a football that went sailing past his head passed from senior, Klaus Mikaelson to his best friend, Damon Salvatore. Caroline Forbes protested when the ball went flying back the other way. She was teetering around on high heels. Matt didn't know why she had changed her look. Now, she looked like every other girl here. A made-up doll.

Rolling his eyes, Matt ignored the in-crowd as he shuffled to his locker. He shoved books he would not need until later that day inside and headed down the hall to enter his first class, A. P. English. It wasn't his best subject. Nor his worst. As long as he wasn't forced to recite Shakespeare, everything was cool. Taking a seat, Matt relaxed until he found Klaus standing over him with his arms folded over his chest.

"Hey, ya mind?" Klaus asked with a smile. "I was going to sit there?"

"Klaus, we can sit somewhere else," Caroline informed her fiancée. Matt squelched the desire to roll his eyes. He just didn't get the whole getting engaged when you're in high school thing. Not to mention that part that Klaus seemed to forget, where he was a senior, and Caroline was still a junior. It didn't matter that she was probably going to graduate a year earlier (like Matt), she was going to MIT, (like Matt). Did Klaus really think he had a chance with a girl who was going there, and not Notre Dame?

"Fine," Klaus groaned. "See you later, Donavon," he called over his shoulder.

"What happened to 'He Who is Nice to Every one?'" Matt heard Caroline asked Klaus who shrugged.

"Don't know. Just something off. Ask Damon," was Klaus' idea of a response.

Matt scoffed under his breath and went back to watching people take their seats. It looked like everyone who was still here was jammed into this class. Or at least the people he knew. Enzo was sitting on the other side of the room. Damon was coming in with Kol Mikaelson. One of the Gilbert triplets, he suspected Amara, came in with Bonnie. Anna Zhou entered, looking drawn alongside Hayley Marshall, who was chewing gum rapidly as she talked even more rapidly. Yep, it was just another year. Then some guy Matt was not familiar with came in and nodded at Liv who scrunched down in her seat, groaning.

At a little past 7:30 their teacher, who looked like Anna Kendrick's doppleganger came into the room with a bounce in her step. "Hello, everyone. This is A. P. English. This year we have a very exiting reading list." She pulled open a notebook and began to scroll down it. "Including the Bronte sisters. Oh, I think you'll enjoy that," she said with a chuckle as the class groaned. Matt didn't really care what they read as long as he kept his grades up.

"Now, it's time for that thing that we always have to do," Anna announced. "I'm going to call your name, and you're going to raise your hand. 'Kay?" her eyes were glowing and Matt wished for a quick death.

"Okay. Let's start. Donavon, Matthew," she called with smile. Matt raised his hand and the teacher actually cheered. Oh, this was some kind of new hell. She got through the names one, at a time, while Matt counted off minutes of his life that she had taken away until she came to a new one. "Malakai Parker?" she called and there were a series of ohs when the tall guy who had waved at Liv lifted his hand. "Are you Liv's brother?" Anna asked with another cheery smile as she waved a pen at Malakai.

"Cousins. Distant cousins!" Liv inserted when Kai opened his mouth to reply. Liv shot him a searing look before he could speak.

Malakai smiled at the teacher. "And I prefer Kai," he told her politely with one of those smiles that made Matt want to puke.

"Hi, Kai!" Hayley said, waving from her seat beside Matt. Matt gave the head cheerleader a disgusted look as she ignored him and eyed the new kid.

Matt was oh, so, happy when the class ended. He would have done a backflip, if he were prone to such displays, which he was not. Once he escaped that class it was not long before he had to endure History where his friends, Tyler and Marcel, were talking about their plans with their girlfriends, Gym where Klaus tried to take his head off during volleyball, Computer Science where everyone asked for his help, and lunch where his friends were with their girlfriends, Geometry was a no-brainer, but Chemistry was a joy.

Chem turned out to be his last class of the day and Matt could not have been happier for two reasons. One was that it was the last class of the day. And two was it was the only time that Caroline had a class that Klaus was not a part of (after he and Damon tried to blow up the lab during their freshman year). "Hey, Care," Matt greeted the girl who had changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that with an anime character on the front.

"Hey, Matt," Caroline said with a smile. She was pulling her hair into a ponytail and Matt could not believe that Klaus was so dense that he could not get how much cuter she was this way. "I'm sorry about Klaus today. He was being a total dick," she explained, fingering the ring hanging from her necklace, thoughtfully.

"It's okay. I'm used to it," Matt told her with laugh. Inwardly, he wanted to say, "What do you see in that guy?"

"Klaus is having a tough time. He was going for a football scholarship this year, but I'm not sure it's working. I told him to go for an art one… He's a really great painter. Have you seen any of his art?" Caroline asked with a wide smile.

Matt shook his head. He could care less about Klaus' so-called art. Right now, he did not want to talk about art or Klaus. "What about you, did you hear back from MIT?"

"Not yet," Caroline replied glumly. "I think they may have put me on the wait list. Which sucks."

"Nah. I think they'll find out how awesome you are, and they'll snatch you up," Matt reassured the girl who smiled. She opened her mouth to reply but that was when their teacher came in and that was it for socializing with the girl of his dreams. Matt sighed. If he only got to spend two minutes a day with Caroline, he would die happy.

For the next hour, Matt went through the paces of an experiment that he could have done on his own. He was bored out of his mind, and he could see that Caroline was bored, too. Maybe this is why Klaus and Damon had blown up the lab, or because they were idiots. When the class was over, Matt felt that it was a bittersweet moment. Caroline walked out to the hall with him, but that was as far as she got before she ran into Amara and Jackson, and Matt lost her.

Deflating, Matt turned around and nearly ran into Kai Parker, who had just been standing around the hallway, observing people. "Hey," Matt called to the tall boy who did not look at him. Matt shook his head. Of course, he was just another one of them. Moving to walk past Kai, Matt was caught up short when a hand caught him by the shoulder.

"Matt, right? We're in A. P. English together." Kai grinned at Matt like they were long lost pals. Matt nodded, not nearly as pleased as the other boy. "Great. So, as you can tell, I'm new. And I'm trying to find someone who can fill me in on how this place works," Kai told Matt.

Matt's eyebrows lifted. He wondered what exactly this guy was on. Had he never been to a high school before? From what Matt knew of high schools, they were all pretty much the same, except one might have a roof that leaked and another one didn't. Something like that. But the hierarchy in schools stayed the same. "Ummm…" Matt began when Kai leaned closer.

"Where are you headed?" Kai asked with another one of those grins like they were the best of friends. "Goin' to get high?"

"No. I'm going to the Chess Club," Matt replied. "To meet up with some of my friends."

"Chess Club?" For a moment Matt was sure that Kai would start, pointing and laughing.

Instead, the Parker kid, smiled. "Cool. Can I come with?" he asked, placing his hands in the back of his pockets that looked like they had come from about ten years ago.

"Sure," Matt nodded. He just hoped that Kai didn't have a gun. It was bad enough when Elena Gilbert's dad went loco. It would be worse if Kai turned out to be crazy and killed Matt and his friends. Entering a room at the end of the hall, Matt waved at Ty who was sitting with Marcel. They waved back and gave Kai curious looks.

"Hi, I'm Kai," Kai told them with a wide grin and Tyler's head bobbed while Marcel shook his extended hand.

"Yeah. A. P. English," Marcel replied with a grin. "I was the new kid last year."

"And I can see that you've found your place in this system already. Was it hard to fit in at first?" Kai asked and Marcel laughed. Kai's smile slipped an inch. "What?" he asked with nervous laugh.

"Man, are you like the male Drew Barrymore?" Marcel questioned Kai, placing his elbows on the table and leaning closer.

"Drew Barrymore?" Kai looked seriously confused now. "That's the actress in the Adam Sandler movies?"

"Yeah, she was also in this flick called 'Never Been Kissed' about this lady who was a reporter, who infiltrated a school, trying to get the deal on what kids are like after she graduated," Marcel explained, drawing Matt and Tyler's gazes. "Hey, don't look at me like that. Bekah and Liv were hanging out, thanks to my man, Ty, and my girl made me watch the whole damn thing."

"Oh," Kai's eyes had widened considerably and his mouth was opening and then closing as he searched for words when Tyler clapped him on the back.

"He's kidding, man. But, seriously, Liv never told me that she had a cousin that was going to be coming here," Tyler said with a smile as he set up a chess game.

"Yeah. It must have slipped her mind. My sis- cousin can be a little absent minded sometimes," Kai explained. "Hey, are those friends of yours?" he asked, pointing out the window at Elena Gilbert and Elijah Mikaelson.

"Not exactly," Matt replied, feeling his stomach sink because the duo were staring at him. Elena waved for Matt to get up. Reluctantly, Matt got to his feet and moved toward the door. "Yeah?" he addressed the two.

Elijah grabbed Matt by the shirt collar and dragged him out the door, effortlessly. "No need to panic, folks," Elena called to the people left in the room. "You'll get him back in one piece. But we need him for a minute, or twenty. Carry on being the world's biggest dorks." Laughing, Elena fell into step with Elijah who was looking for an empty room.

"Are you two going to kill me?" Matt asked, gulping when Elijah locked the door behind him after half throwing Matt into the first empty room they found. With these two, you never really knew what would happen.

"Relax. Sit down," Elena said, coming up behind Matt and taking his hand. There was a time, when Matt was a little boy, that he thought that Elena Gilbert was the prettiest girl he had ever seen and since there were three of her, that was kind of great. Since that time, Matt had seen Elena grow into a depraved youth that he preferred to stay away from.

"What do you want?" Matt asked as Elena pushed him into a seat and moved behind him. He tried to keep his eyes on the girl, but Elijah was coming toward him, with a knife. That was when Matt moved to get up, and flee the room. And he would have if Elena had not settled on the Bio lab table behind him and looped her legs around his shoulders, forcing him to sit still.

"We just want to talk," Elijah told Matt, beginning to clean beneath his nails with the knife. "Or did you have somewhere else you had to be at? I would hate to stop you." When Elijah smiled, Matt was sure he was going to pee his pants.

"No. I have absolutely no-where else I need to be," Matt replied quickly, barely remembering to breathe.

"Okay. That's good, Matty," Elena said, patting him on the shoulder.

Matt stiffened under Elena's touch. They were crazy. They were both certifiably nuts. There was no other explanation for their behavior.

"Matt, we need a favor. And we feel that you can provide that favor for us. Do you think that you can do that?" Elijah asked, coming and kneeling down in front of Matt, letting the knife wielding hand rest on top of Matt's left knee.

"Sure. Anything," Matt gasped.

"Good," Elijah winked at Elena who laughed. "You know there will be elections for Senior and Junior Class presidents this year. Correct?"

Nodding, Matt opened his mouth, lost the nerve to speak and closed it. After a moment, he found his voice again. "Yes. What does that have to do with me?" he asked weakly.

Elena and Elijah both laughed at that one. "Well, you see, Elena fancies the idea of running for Junior Class president. She needs a good running mate. That would be you," Elijah finished and Matt blew out a long breath.

"That's it? You just want me to run with Elena," Matt could laugh from pure joy in that moment. And here, he had been thinking that he might lose a finger from this encounter.

"No, I want you to run with me, and I want to win, Matty," Elena snapped, swatting his head lightly. "God, is it so hard to keep up. Maybe I should find a better running mate. And here I thought you were a genius or something. Okay, Elijah, he's all yours." Elena flipped her leg over Matt's head and started to leave Matt with a smirking Elijah. That was when Matt began to panic.

"Elena! No! Wait! Don't go! I can do this. I will make sure you win. I'll… I'll rig the election if I have to," Matt cried as Elijah placed pressure on his kneecap. "I'll do whatever it takes."

"That is what I like to hear from a running mate," Elena replied, coming to stand beside Elijah with a wide smile.

"And you need to find Elijah, here, a running mate, too. Someone that people would like. Preferably hot," Elena mused when Elijah gave her a sour look. "Not that you're not, Elijah. You're smoking. Yeah, okay. Where was I? Oh, yes, they have to brains. And they have to have mass appeal. They need to be someone that both the Brains and the Popular Crowd want to be close to. Know anybody like that?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Ummm…" Matt thought about it. Then it occurred to him who they should go for. "Yeah. I think I know someone matching that description."

"Great!" Elena clapped her hands together. "This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership."

"Why exactly are you doing this?" Matt asked Elena because he was sure this was her idea.

"Because Damon freakin' Salvatore and Hayley Marshall need to be kicked off their thrones. They might have ruled this school last year, but not this year. Things are about to change around here. For the better," Elena spoke with confidence as she headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Matt called.

"To get whoever it is that you said Elijah should run with," Elena replied and Matt rolled his eyes.

Elijah shook his head. "Lena, he didn't give you a name."

"Oh, yeah. My bad," Elena laughed, leaning against the door. "'Kay. Name, please?"

"I want something in return for my help," Matt said in a much steadier voice than he expected to be using.

"Really? I thought not sending you to the ER was a gift," Elijah quipped, eyeing his knife.

"Elijah," Elena snapped. "Stop playing with him. Can't you see he's about to piss himself? And that would smell." Turning her head back to Matt, she strode over and shoved Elijah with her hip before leaning over Matt. "What do you want?" she asked with a slow grin.

"I want a date with Caroline Forbes," Matt stated calmly.

Letting out a laugh, Elijah looked down at Matt with a sneer. "You want a date with my brother's girl?"

"Done," Elena said with finality. "Name?"

"You cannot just force a girl to go on a date," Elijah protested.

Elena sighed, rolling her eyes before she glanced at Elijah, her eyes dull. "I have forced people to do worse. Besides, Matty's harmless, aren't you?" she asked, pinching his left cheek.

"Kai Parker," Matt exhaled and Elena stood up.

"That's done. It's always a pleasure doing business with you, Matty. We'll be in touch." Elena called as she spun on her heel and exited the room with Elijah in toe.

It was not until Matt was driving home that he realized that he had just put his entrance into MIT in jeopardy by making a deal with the devil. "What did I do?" he moaned, pulling over and placing his head on the steering wheel. Then he thought of Caroline. He thought of her a year from now, living in New York because Klaus suddenly thought he was an artist and their having babies and screaming at each other about the electric bill being late. He saw Caroline depressed and lonely and Klaus walking out on her. No, he did the right thing. He was going to use this opportunity to save Caroline.

Feeling better, Matt drove home with a smile on his face.

Reviews show you care.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and for reviewing.

Answers to reviews:

Guest: I will think about it.

Jenny: Thank you. I love Klaroline a lot and Damon, of course.

Imagination Running Wild: Thank you and I wish that I could keep them in that happy bubble but it is a new year with whole new chaos erupting everywhere. As for the Elijah friendship, that will continue to develop from other perspectives as they continue to run amuck.

Val: I know and don't worry. There will be more Delena as we progress. Look forward to when Elijah and Damon square off for Senior V. P. while Elena pulls some puppet strings.

1artist: Thank you. I love that you enjoyed this version of Matt's chapter.

JuseaPeterson: Thank you. I really enjoyed writing chapter twenty because I wanted to kind of give readers a happier moment which I think usually happens around the end of a school year. Now, they're back in school and all hell is about to break loose, again.

ObessWithElijah: Thank you. Damon really doesn't like people messing with his rep and telling people things that he didn't do makes him pissed. Elijah likes to torture everyone, except for Bekah. I also enjoyed making Damon into the match maker of Klaroline happiness in this story, maybe he'll be Klaus' best man at the wedding.

Lisajeann: Thank you for reviewing and letting me know that you really missed this fic. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter.

Peace,

Jessica