Chapter 19:

The next day is not a blur. It's a slow crawl up a hill that just doesn't want to be climbed.

School is horrible; yet again. It is classes about things I already know; again. Elena still trying to reconcile a relationship with me that never started; that's failing. Stefan still being a complete ass, but at least this time he seems content to ignore me while being that complete ass. Let's not mention that Tyler has made it his sole mission to sleep with me; which I don't want to.

Like I said.

Not a good day.

The only thing that makes it any better is that Caroline still seems to like me. She's the only one that I've talked to all day. Well more like, she's talked, I've listened. Besides that, I've sat in the back of each class feeling content to just watch.

Well, except in Mr. Saltzman's room. Or Alaric, as he likes to be called.

New age teacher. Who knew?

He's the only teacher in this hell hole of a school that has seemed to take an interest in me.

And I don't know why?

I don't answer any questions in class. I arrive on time, and I'm always well-behaved. I do everything to stay out of the spotlight, but Alaric seems dead set on putting me exactly in it.

And for that—I hate him.

Sort of.

Like today. After class, Alaric called me up to his desk because we needed to "talk." He told me a lot of bullshit about being concerned about my lack of participation and liveliness. But we both knew I was up here for something different. The difference between him and I was that he knew what he wanted. I had no clue.

So I told him:

"What do you really want, Mr. Saltzman?"

"I told you to call me Alaric, Bella," he said, running his hand through his tangled hair. I just gave him a don't-give-me-that-shit look.

Alaric sighed.

Looked at me straight in the face and said:

"I just want to warn you, Bella," I raised my eyebrow. He continued, "Just…just be careful."

It was the second person that had told me that in two days, and I was starting to worry that something was seriously wrong with this town. First it was Damon (which I understood), but now my History teacher?

That's just not right.

It's only my fourth day in Mystic Falls, but I already knew one thing for sure.

Something wasn't right with this town.

I just didn't know what.

Caroline wanted to meet me at the Grill tonight.

I said yes, because that's what you say to the one person that's your only friend in this town.

Again, I went there early. I kept telling myself that it had nothing to do with wanting to see Damon—who I hadn't seen all day—and it was just the fact that I wanted to meet some new people.

That was a lie.

I had no desire to meet anyone new. To be honest, most people in this town scared the shit out of me.

They look at me. Judge me. Walk away.

Bitches. Dicks. Jerks. Assholes. Whatever you wanted to call them, there seemed to be a lot of them in Mystic Falls.

It's why I feel my stomach crunch when I don't see the already familiar jacket sitting at the bar. It's why I was about to walk back out of the door. But because of my amazing luck, that doesn't happen, because someone had come in behind me. And when I turned around I ran smack into a five-foot-nothing girl.

She's pretty. Not like Elena was, but still—pretty. Silky black hair frames her face and falls over her shoulders. Her almost black eyes are smiling at me, and her pale skin is almost shining in the dark lighting of the Grill.

"Hi," the peppy girl chirps, "I'm Anna." She reaches her hand out in greeting. I don't take it.

"I'm Bella." I say with a small smile.

"Oh, I know." Anna cocks her head to the right. It reminds me of a bird. "I've heard a lot about you, Bella Swan."

The way she says it sends shivers rushing through me. It's dark and scary. But the thought that the happy girl in front of me is dark and scary is completely off. She probably just heard about me because of my new girl status.

"I…"

"Bella, you're early!" Caroline's voice is racing towards me. And the next thing I know, the girl herself is rushing towards me too. A mess of blond, bangles, and something that smells like violets.

She's my own personal savior.

And I'm glad I have her.

"I already ordered us some mozzarella cheese-sticks for a starter. I don't know about you, but I am just craving something fried. Oh my God! I forgot to tell you about this thing that Matt did for me, it was just so…oh hi Anna."

"Caroline." Anna doesn't seem fazed by Caroline. She just seems amused. She turns to me, "I see you have plans. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Maybe." Is my reply. Because I can't tell her I don't want to see her again. That's just mean.

But it was true.

I truly never ever ever wanted to see her ever again.