The Daughter of Damon Salvatore
Chapter Nine
Monday morning came around quicker than Jessica wished. She had spent the previous evening making sure she had all her papers and tests ready to hand in. She had completed most of them before Damon had shattered her peaceful study environment the night before.
Jessica was restless during the night but got enough sleep that she knew she would get through her first day. It didn't stop her groaning when her alarm clock shrilled through her foggy mind. Sleepily, she shuffled around her room, getting ready and pulling out some clothes to wear.
She grabbed her schoolbag and headed downstairs in search of Stefan.
"Good morning, Sunshine" Damon quipped as she made her way into the kitchen for some cereal.
Jessica groaned in response to seeing the proverbial thorn in her arse stood in her way of the kettle.
Damon frowned as she poured herself a cup of tea.
Jessica raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to comment.
Damon cleared his throat and tried another line of conversation.
"Once you've finished breakfast, we will head off for your first day at school" Damon announced.
Jessica tried not to choke as she drank her tea.
"Er…I thought I was going with Stefan…" Jessica said in uncertainty.
"You were but plans change. He's gone to protect his girlfriend from our unknown vampire" Damon informed her.
Jessica silently cursed her uncle for leaving her to the mercy of Damon on her first day at a brand-new school.
"Awwww Sweetie, don't pout, I'm not ecstatic about this either" Damon remarked.
"Urgh, let's just get this over with" she stated having lost the small appetite she thought she had.
She quickly washed her mug and then grabbed her school stuff and headed for the front door. Damon followed her out to his car not daring to comment on her lack of breakfast in fear of pissing her off even more.
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The journey to the school was quiet.
When they arrived, Damon parked up near the front building and Jessica unbuckled her seatbelt and went to get out of the car.
However, she noticed Damon turning off the ignition and starting to get out of the car as well.
"Woah! What are you doing?" Jessica asked.
"I've got to check you in with the main office" Damon shrugged.
Jessica sighed as she got out of the car.
All eyes were on her and Damon as they walked through the doors of the school and followed signs for the main office.
Damon walked through the school like he owned the place.
Jessica just kept her gaze focused downward, hating the attention she was drawing to herself by being 'the new girl'.
When they reached the office, a woman smiled up at them kindly.
"How can I help you this morning?" she asked.
"Hi, I'm Damon and this is Jessica, she's due to start here today. I'm here to ensure that everything is in order with her paperwork" Damon said.
"Ok…and what is your full name dear?" the woman asked, looking at the young teen with a reassuring smile.
"I'm Jessica Salvatore" Jessica replied.
As Jessica stated her full name, she noticed the kind woman's expression changed from warm and friendly to cold disapproval.
"Ah yes, Principal Weber has requested to meet with you before you begin. I will let him know you are here" the woman stated in disdain.
Both Jessica and Damon raised an eyebrow at the woman's sudden change in attitude. Damon then frowned and turned to look at Jessica questioningly. Jessica returned Damon's look with a shrug.
A minute later a man, who Jessica assumed was Principal Weber, appeared in the doorway to the office.
"Jessica Salvatore? My office please" the principal stated.
Damon and Jessica followed the principal into his office and took a seat when prompted.
"Hello Principal Weber, I'm Damon Salvatore, Jessica's guardian. Is there a problem?" Damon asked, confused at the meeting.
"Nice to meet you Damon" the principal and Damon shook hands.
The principal took a seat in his chair and leant his elbows against his desk.
"Before I welcome you to Mystic Falls High, I need to talk to you about a couple of things…" the principal began.
He pulled open one of his desk drawers and pulled out a stack of paper which he dumped on the top of his desk with a thud.
"…this is a full report regarding your attitudes and behaviors from your previous school in England. It also has intimate details surrounding your expulsion and ALL the police reports. I surprised you're not currently in a prison cell to be honest with you. Now, I am an educator, and I believe in second chances. I am willing to give you ONE chance at this school to put your education to better use than what you did in England. However, one wrong move, and you are gone. Am I clear?" the principal warned.
Jessica nodded, looking down towards the floor. It was harsh but fair considering he had read her file.
Damon, now bewildered, noticed her contrite actions.
"Please excuse me principal however, I feel like I'm missing something here…" Damon trailed off.
The principal looked at Damon in shock.
"I apologise Mr Salvatore; I presumed you knew. Did you not get a copy of this paperwork?" the principal asked.
Damon shook his head.
"I am aware that Jessica was expelled from her school in England however, I don't know why, nor have I ever seen that paperwork before. I believe it was sent to you directly from England. Is there something I should know about?" Damon asked.
"I will just get Dorothy to print you a copy to take away with you before you leave today Mr Salvatore" the principal said as he quickly stepped back out to the front office and spoke to the woman on the front desk about preparing a copy of Jessica's file for Damon.
Damon took the moment alone to turn to Jessica.
"What the hell is going on?!" Damon exclaimed.
"Damon, I…" Jessica started to whisper but was cut off when the principal returned.
Jessica refused to let the tears build up in her eyes, she would not show weakness here.
Damon noticed this and his frown and concern deepened.
"Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Jessica, your behavior at your previous school was unacceptable. I have a zero-tolerance policy for that kind of misbehavior at this school. The list of your previous indiscretions is endless, let's discuss…" the principal paused as he pulled one very long summary page of her file.
Damon glanced at Jessica and noticed her mortified expression as she started turning red. Damon didn't really know what was going on, but he knew he did not appreciate the principal causing the expression that Jessica was currently displaying. Damon placed a hand on, and squeezed, Jessica's knee lightly in what he hoped was comfort. He was surprised to feel her knee shaking and he noticed her uneven breathing for the first time.
Jessica was avoiding the eyes of both men in the room. Damon waited for the principal to start talking again.
"…Miss Salvatore, in the past, you have done the following: got into fights which resulted in drawing blood and stitches of the teacher, been caught smoking all kinds of questionable substances on school property, turned up drunk or hungover for classes and exams, swearing and general disrespect towards your teachers, attempted to seduce male teachers, and been caught on separate occasions with classmates engaging in fellatio and other sexual acts, on school grounds, whilst ditching class. To name a few…" the principal read.
Jessica sighed; she knew that many of those things happened whilst she was in a dangerous place. However, she knew that didn't excuse her past. She had almost received a criminal record to prove it. She could feel Damon's disappointed eyes on her again.
Damon just stared openly at Jessica in shock as the principal read out a shortened version of her previous transgressions. He was a bit disheartened; he didn't understand. He knew that Jessica was a bit of a 'loose cannon', but she wasn't that bad…was she?
Damon focused back on the principal.
"Well…anything you would like to say for yourself? Now is the time to speak up" the principal stated.
Jessica cleared her throat, all eyes on her.
"Um…I understand that my file paints the picture of the worst kind of student imaginable. However, you do not know me nor the circumstances surrounding it all, and I would appreciate it if that were how we could start my education off here…as if you don't know anything about me" Jessica said quietly.
The principal chuckled.
"Well, only time will tell. Personally, I doubt you will last long here. As you know, you are not just 'the worst kind of student' as you put it but also, according to the police records from England, you are a 'menace to society'" the principal deadpanned.
"Woah! Ok! Principal Weber, I appreciate the position you have been put in here and I am beyond thankful that you are agreeing to enrol Jessica into your school despite her record however, I think she is more than willing to prove her worth here with a fresh start" Damon attempted to defend his daughter.
"Dear god, you really haven't read these files, have you?" principal Weber marvelled at Damon.
Damon hesitated; he had no clue what was happening.
Principal Weber cleared his throat upon seeing Damon's hesitation.
"Ok, firstly, Mr Salvatore, please read this file in full. There are a few things in there that you should have definitely been made aware of as her guardian. Secondly, Jessica, you may collect your timetable from the front office on your way to your first class. I am willing to give you one fresh start…so do not disappoint me. Thirdly, did you do the tests and papers we requested of you?" the principal said.
Jessica nodded.
"Yes Sir, a couple of papers are incomplete as I was only given the paperwork on Saturday. However, the rest has all been completed in full as requested" Jessica replied as she pulled all the paperwork out of her bag and handed them to a stunned principal.
He hadn't expected to her to have done a thing.
The principal quickly leafed through the papers the young teen had just given him. He then looked at her and gave her a small, short, smile.
"I'm surprised you did any of this at all. Maybe there is hope for you yet Miss Salvatore" the principal murmured.
With that, he stood and bid Jessica and Damon a good day and showed them out of his office.
Back in the front office, Damon was handed Jessica's very large personal file whilst Jessica was handed her timetable and a small map of the school.
As they left the office, and wandered into the now empty halls, Damon noticed that Jessica was desperately trying not to burst into tears.
"Look, I will pick you up from school later. I will read this, and we will discuss this tonight" Damon said somewhat gently, indicating to her file.
Not getting a verbal response from the girl, Damon sighed and turned to walk out of the school. His mind was whirring.
However, before he reached the doors, a voice softly broke through his thoughts, and he halted and turned back to Jessica.
"Damon, whatever you might read, it's not all as it seems" she whispered pleadingly.
Damon didn't know why, but his throat suddenly went dry, and he found his chest aching in…concern?
He nodded at the distraught looking teen and headed out to his car, leaving Jessica alone in the hallway.
Damon was walking towards his car, when he noticed the Caroline girl he had been messing with. Momentarily forgetting about Jessica, he approached Caroline and compelled her. He gave Caroline the compass and ordered her to call him once the compass led her to the unknown vampire. Damon would take it from there.
Satisfied that they would know the identity of the unknown vampire before nightfall, Damon relaxed a little. He looked down at the large file in his hands, he had an awful lot of reading to do today.
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Meanwhile, Jessica finally managed to find her first class. She had nearly walked away from the school when she realised her first class of the day was history with an Alaric Saltzman. As she knocked softly on the door and was told to enter, she tried not to cower under the curious gazes of her classmates.
"Can I help you?" the teacher asked.
"Um…hello. I'm a new student, this is my first day, and according to my timetable I'm supposed to be in this class" she said shyly as she showed Mr Saltzman her timetable.
Alaric checked her timetable and noticed that she was correct and looked around for an empty seat.
"That's fine, what's your name?" Alaric asked her.
"I'm Jessica, Jessica Salvatore" she confirmed.
Alaric's eyes widened at her surname.
"Another Salvatore? Any relation to Stefan Salvatore?" Alaric asked.
Jessica nodded.
"Any relation to the original Salvatore settlers of Mystic Falls?" Alaric asked.
Jessica gulped.
"Distant" she replied.
"Cool, I take it you weren't born and raised in America judging from your accent?" Alaric questioned.
"No sir, my ancestors were from America, but I was born and raised in the UK. I've just moved to America recently" Jessica replied.
"Well, I think you'll fit in here nicely. Welcome to Mystic Falls High School Miss Salvatore, please take a seat. We are covering Aztec legends this week" Alaric said.
Jessica nodded and went and took a seat at the only available empty desk in the room. She quickly grabbed her notebook and pen as Alaric turned back to teaching.
"Hi Jessica, welcome to Mystic Falls High" the guy sat next to her whispered.
Jessica stared at him.
"Thanks…what's your name?" she whispered back.
The guy smiled.
"I'm Jeremy, Jeremy Gilbert. My sister is dating Stefan" he continued to whisper.
"Ah, well, it's nice to meet you Jeremy" Jessica grinned back.
The bell sounded a short time later indicating the end of class. As everyone quickly packed up their materials and headed out the door, Jeremy hung back to talk a bit more with Jessica.
"So…you live at the old boarding house with Stefan and his brother?" Jeremy questioned.
Jessica nodded.
"Yep" she replied.
"Cool, so what classes are you taking? I was going to ask if you need help finding your classes…that map they give you is a load of crap" Jeremy joked.
Jessica laughed.
"It looks like I have Chemistry next" Jessica groaned as she looked at her next class.
Jeremy laughed.
"I have Biology, our classes are in the same building. Come on, let's head that way before we get in trouble" Jeremy said as they walked through the halls.
Jessica's day progressed much like that. Fortunately, Jeremy was in a few of her classes and was able to show her around. During the lunch break, Jeremy showed Jessica around the grounds of the school. They were getting along just fine, until….
"Hey Jessica!" Tyler shouted as she passed by him and a few of his friends.
"Hi Tyler, it's my first day here" Jessica smiled as Tyler approached her and the two shared a quick hug.
"How have you been?" Tyler asked.
"Ok, bit busy…getting used to everything" she replied.
"Cool. I was worried because I didn't hear from you after…you know" Tyler said.
Jessica tried not to blush as Jeremy and Tyler's friends looked between the two with mild interest.
"Yeah, I got busted…BIG TIME! I was grounded, phone taken etc." she replied.
"Oh, ouch!" Tyler laughed.
"Yeah, it wasn't the best. Stefan and Damon were pissed" Jessica laughed back.
"Well, that's not so bad. I thought I had done something to upset you…but that all makes sense now. Also, that night could have been worse, we could've got busted by the cops as well" Tyler stated.
"True" Jessica agreed.
"Well, I will let you get back to vanilla Gilbert who I am sure is about five seconds away from pissing on you to mark his territory" Tyler said, trying to get a rise out of Jeremy.
Jessica frowned.
"Dick!" Jeremy shouted as he made to throttle Tyler.
"Woah! Jeremy…calm down! Why don't you show me the way to the cafeteria so that we can eat some lunch?" Jessica said, trying to placate the situation.
Jeremy was still glaring at Tyler but nodded at Jessica's request.
"Ok, good. Come on" Jessica ushered Jeremy away from Tyler and his friends.
As the two headed towards the cafeteria, Jeremy calmed down.
"So…you know Tyler?" Jeremy asked.
Jessica nodded.
"He was the first person I met, besides Stefan and Damon, when I first arrived in town" Jessica stated nonchalantly.
Jeremy nodded and didn't question further. As the two made their way to an empty table, Jessica noticed Stefan approaching her.
Jessica was confused as to why he was here in the first place, wasn't he backing away from school?
"Hi Jessica, how's your first day going? I'm sorry I left you with Damon this morning" Stefan said apologetically.
Jessica just shook her head.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. My first day is going well so far" Jessica informed her uncle.
"Good…and I see you've met Jeremy" Stefan stated as he said hello to him.
Jeremy returned the greeting.
"So, what are you doing here?" Jessica asked.
"I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Also, it's the careers fair tonight and I was hoping you would want to go. It might help you think about what you might like to do in the future" Stefan said.
"Yeah, Jeremy mentioned it earlier. It could be a good idea" Jessica replied.
Stefan nodded.
"That's good. You might want to wait around here after school. Damon's gone off the radar again and I have no idea what he's up to, and I'm not going to be going home later" Stefan informed her.
Jessica frowned; she really didn't want to hang around at school all afternoon.
"It's cool Stefan, she can come back to mine. Jenna is making dinner and then me, Jenna, and Elena are coming back to school for the careers fair later. I'm sure it won't be any trouble if Jessica joins us" Jeremy said.
"That's actually a really good idea. If you're sure it's cool with Jenna" Stefan agreed.
"Yeah, it will be fine. Is that good with you Jessica?" Jeremy asked.
"Beats sitting around at school for hours" Jessica shrugged with a smile.
"Great, either Damon or I will be around to collect you from the careers fair tonight, ok?" Stefan said.
"Ok, see you later" Jessica answered.
Stefan smiled and walked away.
As Stefan disappeared from the cafeteria, Jessica noticed two girls casting curious glances her way. She slowly recognised them as the girls that were there that dreadful night of the crystal destroying spell.
The two girls approached their table and sat down.
"Hi Jer" the brunette said as she sat.
"Oh, hi Elena, hey Bonnie. Er…this is Jessica, Stefan's cousin…it's her first day at MFH today" Jeremy said.
Elena nodded.
"Yeah, hi again. I think we met briefly before. I'm Elena, Jeremy's sister and this is my best friend, Bonnie. It's nice to be able to meet you properly this time" Elena introduced.
"It's nice to meet you both properly, I've heard a lot about you already" Jessica replied sensing Elena's unease at mentioning their previous meeting in front of her brother.
Jessica surmised that Jeremy was clueless to the supernatural chaos that he was practically buried in, so Jessica wisely kept quiet about it all. The four of them sat for the rest of lunch talking and getting to know each other a bit better. Jeremy informed Elena about Jessica coming home with them later and Elena agreed that it would be a good idea.
The bell sounded to announce the start of afternoon classes and the four separated.
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After school, Jessica was invited into the Gilbert home and was introduced to the fun Aunt Jenna. Jessica really liked Aunt Jenna and knew she wanted to spend more time with the woman already.
After dinner, Jenna drove the teens back to school for the career's fair. Jeremy and Jessica headed off in their own direction and Elena hung back with Jenna.
A short while later, Jeremy had gone off to look at the art stuff. Jessica was not that creative, but she was slowly starting to be drawn towards history, maybe that was just the charm of Alaric Saltzman though.
As she was looking through the potential careers she could go into with history, she was approached by a guy she did not recognise.
"Hi, I apologise for interrupting you…are you enjoying careers night so far?" the stranger asked her.
"Er…sure, I think it's a bit early to tell what I want to do with my life yet though" she replied.
"Ah, that accent suggests that you're not from around here. So…hello, I'm Logan Fell, I am the news reporter for the town" he said as he stuck out his hand.
"Nice to meet you Logan, I'm Jessica" she introduced herself as she shook his hand.
She tried not to freeze at the familiar feeling she had come to associate with vampires, this must be the vampire that Stefan and Damon had been searching for.
"I apologise for approaching you, I was just wondering if you knew where the journalism section was set up. I should probably head over there and talk to the young hopefuls of the future" Logan grinned.
"Sure, it's down the corridor and through the second door on the left" she indicated.
"Awesome. Thank you! It was nice meeting you Jessica" Logan replied.
"Sure, you to" Jessica said.
She watched as the Logan guy headed down the corridor in the direction of the journalism section. She looked around the other rooms and eventually found Stefan talking with Elena and Jenna.
"Hi Stefan, I need to talk to you" Jessica said.
"One second Jessica. Jenna, you mentioned that Logan turned up at your house last night?" Stefan questioned.
Jessica looked shocked. She had been right in her assumptions that Logan was the guy Stefan and Damon were after.
"Yeah, he turned up at the house. Kept trying to get me to invite him in" Jenna said casually.
"Oh, Logan the news guy? He just introduced himself to me, said he was heading towards the journalism area down the corridor" Jessica inputted, staring strongly at Stefan.
Stefan looked at Jessica and she nodded in return. The two seemingly having a silent conversation between them.
Stefan took off down the corridor and left the three girl's standing in the corridor. Elena and Jessica shared a knowing look, and Elena pulled Jenna away towards the history section where Jessica had just come from. They got distracted talking to Alaric Saltzman.
Jessica was left alone again and as the night went on, the place started to empty out with no sign of Stefan.
"Come on kid, time to go home" a voice eventually called out to her.
Jessica turned to see Damon.
"Where have you been? Did you get that Logan guy?" Jessica asked.
"Don't worry about all of that. I've come to take you home" Damon said.
Jessica nodded and they got in Damon's car.
"How was careers night?" Damon asked as he drove.
Jessica shrugged.
"I didn't know what I want to do in the future, and I still don't know what I want to do in the future" was Jessica's reply.
Damon nodded, then he sighed.
"Look Jessica, I read that file…" Damon began but was cut off.
"Please, not tonight, Damon. I really don't want to approach this tonight" Jessica pleaded.
Damon shook his head.
"Ok, not tonight. But we will need to sit down and talk about it soon. There is some pretty heavy stuff in that file, and I want to hear your side of things" Damon stated.
Jessica did not respond and just looked out the window instead.
Damon cast a worried glance at the girl, he had read the file that morning and what he had read angered and concerned him.
"Right, I'm going to see you inside and then I've got to go back out in a bit to meet someone" Damon stated cryptically as they pulled up outside the house.
"Isn't that Elena's car?" Jessica questioned as they walked through the front door.
Damon nodded and frowned.
"She must have given Stefan a ride home" Damon shrugged.
"Well, I'm knackered. I'm going to go shower and get into bed" Jessica said as she began to climb the stairs.
"I'm going to get changed before I go back out" Damon said.
"Cool. I wonder where Stefan and Elena are?" Jessica said.
"Who knows" Damon responded as the two headed up the stairs.
Halfway up the stairs, Jessica noticed a grimace form across Damon's face. She was about to ask if he was ok when she was drawn to sounds coming from the direction of Stefan's room.
As she listened in, she immediately knew EXACTLY what Stefan and Elena were up to.
"Oh!" Jessica exclaimed as the sound of moaning became clear.
Jessica and Damon stood awkwardly in the hallway a moment longer before snapping out.
"Right, shower and bed. Night Damon" Jessica muttered as she went into her bedroom.
Damon didn't answer but, whilst she was getting undressed for her shower, she heard the front door slam and the sound of a car engine roaring into life and then becoming distant.
Jessica showered and climbed into bed.
She would have to wait until the morning to ask Damon and Stefan what had happened with the Logan guy.