New York City. The first time Elena has ever been away from home. She still continues to maintain contact with both Jenna and Jeremy. Her brother has been able to stay out of trouble, especially with Alaric around as a father-figure until his passing before she left for college. Most of her friends had decided to go to Whitmore college. Entering her first class at NYU, she picked a seat that was near the center of the room. New York was much larger in both population size and city. She had just replied to Jenna until their professor entered the room. Elena had stared in awe at the attractive man who stood before them with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. There was something familiar about him, about how he presented himself as if not from New York.
Apart from the blue eyes, their professor had sported a pair of dark jeans, black boots, and navy blue cashmere top paired with a white long-sleeved buttoned up dress shirt. Both tops were rolled half-way up his forearms. The man introduced himself to the class as Mr. Salvatore. "You may not refer to me by my first name while though it's indicated on the syllabus." Then he started on discussing the details of the syllabus and moved on to the first lecture. Elena had sworn she had seen him somewhere or that his name had sounded familiar to her. She wondered if there was any relation between him and Stefan. She couldn't remember if Stefan had mentioned he had any siblings. Did she even ask? She felt herself beginning to stare at him and had only noticed that he had caught her. The second she turned away, she found herself blushing indefinitely.
As soon as class had ended, the students were dismissed. Elena had lagged behind the rest of the class, only because she had something to ask him. She had to wait until everyone had left the room. "Prof… Mr… Uhm…" Elena suddenly found herself stumbling over her words. His presence alone was near intimidating, especially in a classroom setting. Damon Salvatore, only aged 32, stood before the young woman. Throughout the lecture, he often caught her staring at him and was unsure of why. Now that he saw her more clearly, a sudden thought had crossed his mind that this woman was beautiful. "Call me Damon, and you are?" He raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk. Almost immediately Damon had seen her cheeks blush a bright pink. He knew he had done something right today.
"Elena Gilbert." Elena replied.
"Right, Elena. What can I do for you? Do you have any questions about the class or are you confused about the syllabus?"
"No, I don't have any questions about anything school related." Elena wasn't sure how to properly ask her question to Damon. Well, it was sort of school related. Damon stayed silent in order for Elena to continue. From the way he had spoken to the way he presented himself to the class, Elena was sure that he was not from New York, at least not born and raised in this city. "I don't know if you remember me. You went to high school with my mom." However, Elena wasn't referring to Miranda, her adopted mother. She was referring to Isobel, the woman who had given her up for adoption at the age of 16. The same woman whom Elena's never met but only seen in pictures. She wasn't sure if Damon had known of the mother she was talking about. "Isobel?" She had given the name, seeing his confused reaction.
"You're Isobel's daughter? She told me she had given up her baby for adoption. I didn't know the baby's you." It must've been a relief for Elena to hear that someone knew her birth mother. "We lost contact after high school and separated ways well into college. Have you at least tried to get in contact with her?"
"No. My aunt has been taking care of my brother and I. Her fiancé knew Isobel because they went to college together. I think you might've known my dad too, John?" Elena saw that the name had seemed to ring a bell. Though, there wasn't much conversation happening there. Damon nodded slightly before saying that he has a class to teach in one hour. "Do… Would you like to have lunch with me? Or would that be inappropriate?" Elena couldn't refuse. She had found herself being drawn to Damon in ways that she couldn't explain, as if they were meant to find each other. She shook her head and agreed to have lunch with him.