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"THE BATTLE OF Willow Creek took place at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Mr. Tanner told the class, who all seemed to be bored out of their wits. Arwen for sure was.
The blonde had barely bothered in dressing appropriately for school, wearing a simple dark red jumper and black track pants and a pair of sneakers. Her hair was slightly tangled from not brushing it, but it wasn't too bad. Arwen ignored Bonnie's judging look when she got in the car. She was fucking tired and she hated school, so why would Arwen bother dressing up good for it? She was impressing no one. Arwen glanced at Stefan next to her at his desk.
"How many casualties resulted in this battle?" Mr. Tanner continued. "Ms. Bennett?"
The dark-skinned girl jumped in surprise, not expecting being called out. "Uh..." Bonnie smiled sheepishly. "A lot? I'm not sure, but like, a whole lot."
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett."
The future witch frowned.
Arwen wanted to groan out in frustration but she didn't want the attention, so instead she slouched in her seat, crossed her arms and dug her chin into the collar of her jumper, putting on some sunglasses to hide her closed eyes. Arwen just wanted to nap through this entire class. Modern history fucking sucks, especially when it was about some town she barely knew.
"Mr. Donovan?" Mr. Tanner spoke. "Would you like to use this opportunity to break your jock stereotype?"
Arwen snorted quietly. Sass.
"It's okay Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," Matt replied, smoothly. The class chuckled.
Mr. Tanner scanned the class before landing on the pretty brunette protagonist of the Vampire Diapers – I mean, Diaries. "Elena?" he called. "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most historical events."
"I'm sorry," Elena whispered, swallowing. "I don't know."
Mr. Tanner clenched his jaw. "I was willing to be lenient last year due to obvious reasons, Elena. But those excuses ended with summer break."
Jeez-Louise.
"Arwen!"
Arwen jumped in her seat and her glasses fell off. The entire class laughed as she staggered in her seat. Arwen's cheeks turned a subtle pink. She must have drifted off a little because she hadn't noticed Mr. Tanner get closer to her desk.
"Huh?!"
"Sleeping in class," Mr. Tanner said, tautly. "Surely this means you know the number of casualties in the Battle of Willow Creek."
Uh, fuck. Remember, bitch, because this was a funny scene, right? Arwen knew it wasn't a thousand, it was at least in the hundreds somewhere. She didn't know all of the digits but she was gonna just wing it.
"Uh." Arwen's mouth was slightly ajar. "Over three hundred?"
Mr. Tanner sighed and paced over to his desk, grabbing a sheet before striding back and slamming it on her desk, knocking off her pencil. Damn, boy, calm your fucking horses, you're teaching for a reason. For kids to learn not for kids to already know shit. Of course, Arwen didn't say this out loud. But she wanted to.
"Perhaps a third spare sheet will jog your memory," Mr. Tanner said through clenched teeth. "Anything else, Arwen?"
Arwen leaned forward in her seat, smiling tightly, her own anger rising. "My middle finger salutes y-"
"There were three-hundred-and-forty-six casualties, unless you're counting the local civilians," Stefan Salvatore spoke up from the desk next to her.
Mr. Tanner straightened and looked at the vampire. "That's correct, Mr...?"
"Salvatore."
"Salvatore," Mr. Tanner repeated. "Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"
"Well," Mr. Tanner said, turning to the class. "Very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."
Stefan spoke up again as the dickhead teacher went to walk behind his desk. "Actually, there were twenty-seven, sir. Confederate soldiers fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. And they were wrong. It was a night of great loss."
Damn, Stefan for the win. Arwen bit her lip as she looked at him. When Stefan looked her way, Arwen immediately looked down to the floor where her sunglasses landed and picked them up. It was as if she were never looking at the vampire - at least, that's how she think she looked.
Stefan smirked at her with a gleam in his green eyes before turning back to the teacher. "The founder's archives are in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts... Mr. Tanner."
The class gaped at Stefan and murmured amongst themselves. Arwen tried not to smile from under the collar of her hood. She had made herself comfortable again, but without her sunglasses on this time.
Mr. Tanner flicked through a book on his desk, looking a little embarrassed. "Yes, well..." he turned to the chalk board and Arwen covered her ears with a cringe. She hated the sound of chalk.
When class was over, Arwen was eager to get home and get ready. Swiftly, she had managed to avoid Stefan since he was distracted talking with Elena after Tanner's class.
So, Arwen had hopped in Bonnie's car and went to her gram's house to get ready for the bonfire tonight. The dark-haired girl had practically forced Arwen up the stairs and into the bathroom to shower and look presentable tonight.
It's been little under two days since Arwen had met Bonnie Bennett personally, and the future witch had become very familiar with her. Arwen didn't mind it. It was a good feeling to have a friend here. Even if it was practically forced at first by Sheila. The two of them actually had quite a lot in common. They both loved music, movies and most important of all, food.
When Arwen got out of the shower, she got dressed in some clothes Bonnie set out for her. Speaking of the girl, she had just slipped into the bathroom to have a shower of her own.
Arwen sighed and closed the door before dressing in a pair of jeans, a white singlet and a red, plaid jacket. She left it open instead of buttoning it up, Arwen thought she looked better like that. After making sure she looked semi-okay in the mirror, she slipped on a pair of black-and-white sneakers.
The wonderling grabbed her phone from the end of the bed then paused. Why did she still carry this around if it didn't work? She has to start remembering to ask Sheila about getting a new one.
Arwen waited for Bonnie to finish getting ready in the lounge room. The blonde didn't ever bother putting on makeup or trying on various outfits. It just wasted time and Arwen had a thing about wasting time. So, instead, Arwen just read a book about something uninteresting until the future witch came down.
When she did, Bonnie looked at Arwen incredulously. "Are you reading an autobiography on Eminem?" she asked, her eyebrows raised and her brown eyes wide.
"Yep," Arwen replied, laying on the couch lazily with the book in her hands. She wasn't actually reading, more like skimming through it.
"That's sad."
"Mhm."
Bonnie smiled. "You ready to go then?"
The wonderling tossed the book to the side and got up. "Fucking finally."
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"JUST ADMIT IT, Elena!" Bonnie said, smiling widely with a red cup in her hand. Arwen cringed at the alcoholic contents inside, she was never a drinker. Arwen was too realistic. She didn't find the purpose of alcohol.
Elena rolled her eyes beside Arwen, cup-less. "Okay, so he's a little pretty."
They were talking about Stefan.
The dark-skinned girl in front of the brunette shook her head, amused. "He has that romance novel stare," she said. Then Bonnie turned her gaze to Arwen who was standing there, looking bored with her freezing hands in her plaid jacket's pockets with her eyes narrowed lazily, fixated onto the ground below. "Please, Arwen, tell me you've at least noticed it?"
Arwen looked up and behind Bonnie she could see Stefan talking to Caroline, though he looked unimpressed as the blonde flaunted herself. "Uh," Arwen said, looking at Bonnie. "Sure?" What the fuck was the question, again?
God, she just didn't want to be here. Arwen forgot parties weren't her scene. At least it was outside?
The wonderling glanced up again at Stefan and Bonnie groaned. "You're so not reliable in romance, aren't you?" she asked.
Arwen shrugged. "Probs not."
"Where is he anyways?" Bonnie asked.
Before Arwen could reply, Elena did. "I don't know," she said. "You tell me, you're the psychic one." Arwen decided to just let them talk and walked away. She wasn't sure if Bonnie was going to end up doing her witchy voodoo thing but Arwen was too uncomfortable standing around to just... stand around.
Arwen approached Stefan, who had escaped from Caroline somehow. The vampire looked in her direction and she noticed how he seemed to light up immediately.
"Hi," he greeted with a small hand-wave.
Arwen waved back. "Yo," she replied, calm. All she could think about was how she just wanted to chill and read fanfiction or something – but no, it's the early 2000s and Arwen didn't have a computer or a phone that worked in the timeframe. "Escaped the clutches of the sea-witch?"
"Sea-witch?"
"Caroline," Arwen said. "Heard she's desperate for men, finds Elena as competition." Arwen hated to be mean, but Caroline was annoying in the first season – kind of still is later on. But Arwen couldn't complain. Everyone was fucking annoying in this goddamn show.
Stefan's lips twitched in amusement but then frowned. "You okay? Your leg is tapping."
Oh, Arwen didn't even realise she was moving her leg up and down. She does that when she's either anxious or impatient. "Uh, yeah, sorry," Arwen said. "Parties are just not my scene, you know?"
"Why'd you come, then?" Stefan asked. "Just curious."
"I didn't think it through." Arwen then shook her head as Stefan moved his head to the side slightly as if he were trying to figure her out like some maths puzzle.
The blonde girl shook her head and raised her arm, her hand in a fist. "Welp, it doesn't matter. You're here."
Stefan looked down at her fist and did one of his own and met hers with it. "I'm here," he said, looking back up into her grey-blue eyes with his green ones – a twinkle of something in them that Arwen couldn't decipher. Oh, well, it didn't matter.
"Hey," Arwen said, looking around. "Can we walk and talk? I'm not really in the mood to stand still, right now."
Stefan smiled. "Sure." He guided her through the crowd with a hand hovering over her lower back. Arwen let him, more focused on getting past all the drunk teenagers and avoiding littered glass bottles and plastic cups.
It was only moments later they both reached a pathway leading into a small cluster of trees with a sturdy bridge that went over a creek ahead.
There was only silence between both Stefan and Arwen, and the blonde enjoyed the quiet. The sounds of the party were better from a distance, it was less overwhelming that way. Though, passing the couples making out in the shadows was a little gross because not only were they basically licking in each other's mouths out but they made sounds while doing so.
Arwen just decided to focus on Stefan as they walked. She turned her gaze to him as they walked along the dirt trail. It was a little difficult to see him in this light, only the faint light from the bonfire past the trees and the moonlight barely peering through the leaves above giving her any idea what his face was doing.
He was concentrated on the path ahead, it seemed, with a neutral expression. But his eyebrows were kind of furrowed, as if he were trying to identify something or was thinking about something that didn't make sense to him.
"You're a mystery to me," Stefan said, suddenly. He turned to look down at her, blinking in the darkness as they reached the bridge.
"How come?"
Stefan smiled softly. "I can't tell what you want," he said. "Like, the goals you have in life. I don't even know what your hobbies are."
"So, basically, you want to get to know me?" Arwen asked, snorting. "Then just ask."
Stefan's eyes glinted in the dark, almost like a cats, like he accepted some sort of challenge. It made Arwen a little nervous. It was like she forgot he was a vampire and Stefan definitely wasn't human – even if he pretended to be in Mystic Falls.
"What are they then?" he asked. "Your hobbies?"
Arwen's mouth opened slightly and she looked away, her eyes training onto the ground again. "Uh, I guess..." she trailed off. "I haven't done it lately since I moved and all, but I like gardening."
"Gardening?" Stefan asked. "Like, flowers?"
"You're making me sound like a bloody florist," Arwen said, rolling her eyes. "No, I mean like... growing herbs and fruit and vegetables. I mean, I had this huge passion fruit named Paul and it was a struggle to keep the snails away from eating him but eventually, after three years, he grew his first fruit."
Stefan let out a laugh. "You named your passion fruit vine?"
Arwen blushed, crossing her arms with a pout. "Is something wrong with that?" she hissed, avoiding his eyes and instead glared daggers into his chest.
"No," Stefan replied, but his voice was soft and it almost sounded affectionate. "No, there's nothing wrong with it. It actually makes me even more curious about you. I knew you had a playful side from what I saw in class today but I never imagined..."
Arwen looked at him. "You're acting like naming a plant is the most shocking thing you've heard," she said, smiling a little. "That's not even the weirdest thing I've done, Stefan. Trust me."
The handsome vampire's lips twitched. "I'd like to hear the stories sometime," he said. "Any other hobbies I should know about then?"
"I guess I like to read and write," she said. "I'm more of a fantasy and paranormal girl, though. Not really into the mystery books. I find keeping up with Sherlock Holmes is a little hard."
"I like to do both, too," Stefan said as they stepped off the other side of the bridge, guiding her to the right path that led back to the party. "I write in my journals about my days often, its therapeutic."
"I tried having a journal," Arwen said. "I kept forgetting about it."
"You don't think your life is important enough to write down?" Stefan asked, frowning now.
Arwen stopped walking and stared up at him. "No," she said. "I don't know. Never thought about it before." She decided to change the subject a little. "What books do you like?"
"The classics," Stefan said. "Jane Austin and all of that stuff."
Of course, he was a vampire from the nineteenth century. Its what he grew up around and read for many decades. Its not like he's going to go from Shakespeare to Harry Potter so suddenly. Or perhaps he did read those books? Arwen couldn't assume. Stefan seemed the type to read Percy Jackson or something.
"Sorry," Arwen said. "I'm not really good at conversation am I?"
"No," Stefan replied. "No, you're fine. Why?"
"I just thought you were going to get bored of our conversation," Arwen explained. "It wouldn't be the first time. I'm not very interesting. Or I could be, but my personality makes it hard."
Stefan blinked down at her as they reached another bridge. "I think your personality is good."
They both stopped in the middle of the bridge that overlooked the bonfire ahead.
"Really?" Arwen asked, disbelieving. "People find me annoying when I'm excited or they find me disheartening when I'm chill."
"You must be surrounded by a lot of sad people, then."
"Sad?"
"People who find someone better than they are but are too insecure to admit it," Stefan explained. "Just a theory. I just think you're fine just the way you are." He then cocked his head to the side and leaned against the railing.
Arwen felt heat rise in her cheeks and she leaned over the railing to peer down into the black, still water below. She admired the brown, orange and yellow colours of leaf-litter floating calmly on the surface. Arwen would always look at things and have the urge to paint or draw it or even describe it in words, but the blonde never had the skills of a good artist or a laptop present to type on.
The blonde sighed and stood up straight, wrapping the plaid jacket around herself so nobody could any longer see the white shirt underneath.
Stefan looked into the water, too.
"Elena likes you," Arwen said, suddenly. She thought it would be a good idea to bring this up since her existence was kind of ruining the storyline. Arwen was pretty sure Stefan was supposed to be walking with Elena, not her.
Stefan didn't look at her. "I know." He almost sounded disappointed.
"Well?" Arwen inquired. "What about you?"
The vampire remained silent for a moment before replying. "I don't know," he said, looking up at the starry sky. "At first I was enamoured by her... but I think something's changed..."
Arwen became nervous. "How?"
Stefan turned to look at her with a hopeful expression and opened his mouth to say something but he immediately stopped himself.
Slowly, Stefan straightened up and took a step back. "I'm going to get us some drinks," he said, quickly, avoiding her eyes. He then hurried past her and back to the bonfire.
Arwen blinked after him, confused. Fucking drama shows, seriously. Arwen could tell Stefan had conflictions about something, but he didn't have to dramatically walk away without another word... Did he have a vampire craving moment? She didn't see any weird veiny eyes. Arwen didn't even want to think about almost being ripper chow.
That's when Arwen caught herself caring about something like this. Ew. Arwen always was one to dwell on something not so important when it came to useless conflict. It was a gift and a curse.
The blonde shook her head from these thoughts and decided to head back the way she came. She needed another walk. Arwen didn't plan on going back to the centre of the party any time soon.
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(3089 words)
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
AH! Don't kill me, this is a slow-burn. Sort of. Stefan and Arwen aren't already in total love. But it's confirmed now that Stefan does sense something is changed in his pursuit for Elena now that Arwen is in the picture. I repeat, they are not rushing into it! Phew, now you get it. Though, I am glad I wrote how Stefan and Arwen went for a little walk during the Bonfire, it was kind of sweet. I love a good Elena bashing brewing up.
Ya'll are going to be terrified once you read what happens with Elena and Arwen later. Any theories? I'm all ears hehe.
Anyway, I know, we still haven't met Damon. But don't worry, he's REALLY close. Like, next chapter, kind of close. I wonder how Arwen and Damon's first interaction is going to go? Hm...
- DUCKY