Hello, readers. I have to say that I was truly disappointed in the response to the last chapter. For further thoughts consult the end note. On with the show…
Chapter 40: Oh, Brothers
This would have been my beginning of my last year of elementary school back in Mystic Falls. Unfortunately I was far from Mystic Falls and I was bored. How many times could I say how very bored I was. Of course it was the end of summer and I was not allowed to go home. When Father sent Elijah to tell me that I would not be returning for the summer I could not believe my ears.
Now, I was alone. Even Enzo had gone home to whoever his parents were. No one really knew because he did not speak of them. As for Damon and Marcel they had also left. Damon had not wanted to leave me here by myself, but he also wanted to be with Stefan and Elena and I knew that. Therefore, I practically shoved him out the bloody door.
This was the week that the new students would be ushered in and the old students would return. I had taken the time to fix Damon's and Marcel's side of the room and to place a frog in Enzo's bed and one in his set of drawers. And in any place that I thought he might go because little did others know that Enzo had a frog phobia.
"Nik," someone shouted and I turned to find Kol running toward me and then he stopped. "Frogs," he shouted and dashed toward the sound of one of the four legged, jumpy animals. "Thanks, Nik."
I opened my mouth to mention that I had not found them for him and to ask why he was even there when Elijah appeared in the doorway. "Elijah," I shouted almost as excited to see my oldest brother as Kol had been to see the frog.
"Niklaus," Elijah replied with a wide grin as I flung myself into his arms. "How has your summer been?"
"Dreadful," I replied. "It has been one the worst of my life. But Damon and Marcel should be here soon and then things will be much better," I told Elijah who was looking at a space above my head. "Lijah. Lijah, what's wrong?" I had a feeling of dread that Elijah would tell me something awful like Caroline had told me mere months ago had occurred.
"May we step into the hall for a moment?" Elijah inquired, looking at Kol who was talking to the frog he was holding in his hand. I nodded and we moved out into the hall, walking a few feet away. "Niklaus, Father has decided that you shall continue your studies here through your high school years."
"No," I protested and Elijah looked in the direction of the room in which Kol was.
"Not so loud, Niklaus," I hated it when people said my name too much. It was as if they thought that would have some sort of soothing effect. However, it bloody well did not. My temper was getting the best of me and I was about to begin yelling. "He has also decided that it will best if Kol should do the same."
"What?" I shouted. Then Kol came to the doorway and peered out at me as he patted the frog's head.
"I have tried to argue with him but he tells me that it is out of my control, if I had behaved properly this would not be happening," Elijah told me as Kol walked back into my room, silently. "Kol has been acting out lately. He set fire to a bush just last week." I did not mention that Damon might have dared him to do that. "Father told me that it is in everyone's best interest. And that there will be consequences if I do not adhere to his warnings."
"Like what?" I demanded.
"Apparently he has found Hayley's adoptive parents and he tells me that if I do not comply with his wishes, he shall alert them to her whereabouts," Elijah told me.
Feeling my head begin to ache, I placed my fingers to my temples. "Fine. I will deal with being here for the time being. But Elijah, you must find a way to get us out of here. I need to come home."
"I know that, Niklaus," Elijah told me, resting his hand on my shoulder. "He has also made plans to send Bekah to a school for girls in Colorado."
"Lijah, no," I said, thinking of my sister being removed from our family was horrific.
"That's not all. He has heard reports that Finn was seen with Sage and I overheard him on the phone with some sort of boot camp for out-of-control teens," Elijah told me, looking defeated. "I wish that there was something I could do."
"Nik," Damon shouted, effectively ending my conversation with my brother as he came careening down the hall and knocked me to the floor. "Did ya miss me?" Damon asked from his position on top of me.
"Of course," I replied when someone else threw themselves on top of Damon.
"Yeah, and I brought company," Damon announced as Stefan's head popped from behind his brother's back and into my line of sight. "And that's not all." Damon looked behind him and then I felt another body pilling on top. "Don't kill him," Damon ordered.
"Why not?" Bonnie shouted as she appeared, standing beside me. She was holding hands with Caroline who knelt down by my side.
'Hi, Nik," Caroline whispered and I wanted to lean forward and kiss her. I stopped myself as Elena rolled off of Stefan and on to the floor. Damon got off of me with Stefan still on his back.
"Hope you kept our room in shape," Damon yelled as he walked into the aforementioned room and then Kol began to shout excitedly.
"Where is Jeremy?" Kol could be heard shouting.
"With Rose," Damon announced. "And Marcel."
"Marcel?" I perked up.
"Yeah, he's downstairs flirting with Rose. I guess he doesn't know she has a boyfriend," Damon said with a shrug.
"I'm going to go get him," I announced, already taking off toward the stairs. Caroline ran after me, her feet pounding the floor only a couple of feet behind me. I slowed down and took her hand and then we were flying toward the stairs. When we got outside Jeremy was running around in circles with a kite. Rose was on a phone that looked far too large and had no wire. 'Why would anyone want to run around with a phone attached to their ear?' I wondered. "Marcel," I shouted when I noticed Marcel who had grown another three inches and was beginning to lose some weight.
"Nik," Marcel greeted me. "Long time, no see, old friend," he replied with a wide grin. "I've been talking to this lovely lady here and plan to give her an official tour of the school later."
I grinned back at my friend and then remembered something. Pulling Marcel aside, I whispered. "She has a boyfriend."
"Details," Marcel said, waving me off. "That's not a big deal."
"Really?" My eyebrows went up as I thought about what he had said.
"Nik, come with me," Caroline said, taking my hand, she began to tug me toward the side of the building and then looked around to make sure that no one else was around. "Nik, I have to show you something," Caroline told me, looking excited. I opened my mouth to reply when she pulled her shirt up. "It's my first bra," she announced proudly. I nodded, not sure what she wanted me to say because she did not look like she actually needed one at this point. "Katherine told me that I was at the age that I should start wearing one. She wanted me to buy one of these push-up things but I thought it looked stupid. Want to feel my new boobs?"
My eyes widened, "What? Caroline, I'm not sure that I should be-"
I was not able to finish when Caroline let her top drop down and she looked angry. "If you don't want to, then you don't have to," she started to walk away when I grabbed her elbow.
"Caroline, don't be mad. Please, love. It's just that you don't really have that much," I began. Then Caroline turned toward me with rage in her eyes and I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.
"Niklaus Mikaelson, I hate you," Caroline spat out before turning and running away in tears. I could not believe that my nine-year old girl friend. No, friend who was a girl wanted me to touch her chest. And it was having some sort effect on me that made my stomach warmer. I needed to ask Elijah why I would have that feeling.
Stalking back toward the school, I had no idea what to do to make Caroline feel better. I had hurt her feelings but it wasn't really my fault. She shouldn't have been asking me to do that in the first place. Kicking a stone, I watched it go flying through the air. It landed by a young girl who was sitting under a tree by herself.
The girl looked up when the rock went flying by her. She turned, pinning me with her gaze. The girl looked sad like she was heartbroken or some type of emotion I did not yet have words for. "Hello," she called and I walked toward her.
"Hello," I replied and she picked up my rock and handed it to me. I rolled it in the palm of my hand. "Are you lost?" I inquired, taking a look around us to see if there was anyone that she might belong to.
"No," the girl replied with a wan smile. "I'm… visiting my brother," she told me.
"Oh," I nodded.
"Do you skip rocks?" she asked, tucking a piece of long, red hair behind her ear and looked up at me with large, clear blue eyes.
"No, not really," I told her and she looked disappointed. "But I guess you could show me how to." The girl cheered up instantly. Bending over, she scooped up a hand full of pebbles nestled near the base of the tree she was sitting beneath.
The girl got up and dusted off her dress before walking with me to the nearby pond. "It's all in the wrist," she said, tossing a rock, it went skipping six times before it sank. "There. Now, it's your turn."
"Alright," I replied, tossing the rock in my hand, I watched it sink.
The girl began to giggle. "Okay. Here," she took my hand and adjusted my wrist and then placed a pebble in my hand. "See it was probably the size of the rock. You don't want anything too heavy; otherwise it will get weighed down. That's what my dad says about life. You can't let it weight you down, Genevieve," she said, trying to make her voice lower and it came out sounding very odd.
I began to laugh and Genevieve giggled as she tossed another stone. "What's your dad like?"
"He's not that nice," I replied, tossing another pebble, making it skip ten times before it sank.
"That's was wonderful," Genevieve told me, clapping her hands together. "Please, do it again."
"Alright," I replied and tossed another rock. After my tenth I decided to go inside. "Bye, Genevieve."
"Good-bye," she called, waving to me. "I hope to see again some day."
"Maybe," I shouted over my shoulder. When I got back to the main school building, Bonnie was waiting for me and she looked angry.
"What did you do to Caroline, Klaus?" Bonnie demanded, her tone telling me that she was about to tear into me.
"I didn't do anything," I snapped. Why couldn't the girls in Mystic Falls be as uncomplicated as the girl with the pebbles?
"Then why did she lock herself in the bathroom for the last half hour?" Bonnie questioned me while I jerked the door open and headed toward the stairs.
"I don't know. Maybe she's got PMS," I snapped at her. That sounded like something that Damon would say but I didn't care right at that moment. Bonnie did not have a right to ask me about things that were really none of her concern.
"She's my friend, Klaus, and if you hurt her, I will make you regret it," Bonnie warned me and I turned around and strode toward her until her back was pinned against a wall.
"Do not threaten me, little witch. You have no idea who I am," I snarled at Bonnie, seeing her tiny body shudder as I slammed my hands on either side of her head. "If you don't like the way that I behave then I suggest that you call your grandmother and tell her you want to go home. Otherwise, stay the hell out of my way." Slapping the wall to empathize my point, I turned and headed up the stairs.
Entering my room, I found Elena giving me the evil eye while Rose was trying to coax Caroline out of the bathroom. Walking over to Damon, I rolled my eyes, "I don't see what the big fuss is about," I said with a sigh. "She's just a girl being a typical girl."
"And you're a jerk being a typical jerk," Elena snapped at me as I sneered at her.
"So why's Care pissed at you?" Damon asked me.
"'Cause she wanted me to touch her boobs. But she doesn't have any. I swear she doesn't. So, what am I supposed to do? Pretend to save her feelings?" rolling my eyes, I looked up to see Stefan and Kol pulling open the drawer with the frog inside as Enzo walked in the open doorway.
"I'm home, mates. Who missed me?" Enzo shouted when three frogs came hopping toward him and he screamed. Marcel doubled over laughing and Caroline came out of the bathroom with some sort of black stuff all under her eyes and on her cheeks. It was awful sight.
"Oh, Caroline. How much mascara were you wearing?" Rose asked, shaking her head.
"You look like you're wearing an O' Halo's Eve mask," I told Caroline who glared at me.
"Let's get on with a game of dares with some dares and a side of dares," Damon suggested and I felt relieved. "Rose, take your top off. I mean I dare you to take your top off."
"Dear God, this again," Elijah groaned as Rose stripped her top off to reveal a bikini top.
"Now, those are breasts," I told Caroline, extending my hand in Rose's direction as Caroline gasped and crossed her arms as her face became redder and redder.
"I dare you take the swim suit off," Enzo shouted, having recovered from his fear of the frogs which had been retrieved by Kol, Jeremy and Stefan.
"I dare you to respect the lady," Elijah told Enzo, grabbing Rose's shirt off the floor and covering her with it. "She is not here for your little pre-pubescent fantasies to run wild."
"I don't need the lady for that," Enzo said. "I have a girl back home for all my problems."
"Do not," Damon said, shaking his head.
"Do to," Enzo replied. "Name's Maggie. She's the love of my life and we're going to marry when we're all grown up and stuff. Then we'll have lots of sex."
"Oh, dear," Elijah rolled his eyes.
"Bet you've never had sex," Enzo told Elijah.
Damon began to laugh, "He's had lots and lots of sex with two girls."
"At least," Elena muttered, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Elijah snapped at Elena.
"You're a pig," Elena told him. "That's what all the girls at my school say. They say that you had my big sister but you weren't cool enough so you had to go out with another girl. And now Kat can go back to being the Queen because she is. She's a queen and you were lucky to have her and she's got a new boyfriend and he's so much nicer to her and buys her nice things. So, you suck," Elena said and then sat down on the floor, still glaring at Elijah.
"I like Bekah," Stefan said proudly. "I like her and I don't care that it's not cool to like girls because they have cooties. I like her and her cooties, too. And I want to marry her and have sex," he finished and everyone gawked at him.
Damon coughed and then looked at Stefan, "Stef, do you know what sex is?"
Stefan looked at Damon like he was an idiot. "Yes," he replied but did not add to his comment until everyone continued to look at him. "No, but when I'm older I'm going to marry her and we're going to do that because that's what people who are in love do. Like in the movies that Elena likes."
"What?" Rose looked at Elena with her jaw hanging open.
"And Damon and Elena have sex," Stefan announced.
"What?" Elijah and Rose shouted.
"No, we don't," Elena cried out, looking horrified.
"Damon said you do to the other guys," Stefan said and Damon began to curse as Elena glared at him. "And daddy said that I could come to school with you this year, Damon."
"Oh, no, you're not," Damon yelled at Stefan who began to pout, stroking his frog.
"Please, tell me that you're not having sex," Rose pleaded.
"Nothing below the shirt or the waist," Damon muttered and Rose rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
"Where did you get these thoughts from?" Elijah questioned them.
"The TV," Damon answered.
"Cosmo," Elena told him.
"Katherine," Caroline added and Elijah groaned. That's why on a sunny, summer day Rose and Elijah gave our little group our first talk on sexual activity and we all found it to be more of an educational event than out last year of school.
Thank you to those who faved, followed and read this story.
Answer to reviews or lack thereof:
Okay, I'm going to try to not write like a page or a page in half in spite of my raging disappointment.
So here goes…
The last chapter was NOT some ill disguised attempt to force readers to like or to pity the character of Hayley. The chapter was meant to shine a light on a social problem that many people have a hard time discussing, let alone thinking about. It was also meant to begin a discussion of sexuality and choice into the story.
This is NOT the first time that the topic of a young girl nearly becoming a subject of an act of sexual violence appeared in this story. I'm sure that hardcore fans of the story remember when Katherine was nearly attacked by the mayor. She was lucky because she had friends. Hayley was not because she had no one to take an interest in her wellbeing. She is a fictional character who is standing in for many children who fall prey to predators EVERY SINGLE DAY.
While I cannot teach anyone to be compassionate, even toward people they do not like, I, at the very least attempt try to show my readers how to be aware of the pain of others even, if they can't see it or hear it.
Of course this only works if you choose to be open. The choice is yours and yours alone.
Peace,
J