***
"WAKEY WAKEY, eggs and bacey!" I hear my brother- well adopted in heart brother -wake me up. I only groan and hold my pillow over my face, but there's another pillow under that, seeing as I'm always prepared. Stefan, my best friend that's more of a brother, is quite predictable. I've also learned over the years to be prepared for anything. Once, on my fifty-fifth birthday morning Stefan brought in a Mexican band to play really loud to wake me up. Not the worst way to wake up, honestly, but not the best either.
"Stefaaaaaaan!" I squeal as quietly as possible when I feel cold water being poured on me, the freezing liquid drenching my hair, then slowly slipping down my neck, making me shiver as I wipe it off of me. Stefan laughed a booming laugh before passing me a dark blue towel to wipe off with- my favorite color. Yes, Stefan's a pain sometimes, but so am I. In fact, he's older than me in vampire years. I kind of beat him in human years though, since I'm twenty-two in human years and he's only seventeen. I quickly reach over and grab the half-full bucket of water and pour the rest on him, his freshly styled and blow dried hair getting soaked, along with his clothes for school. I somehow managed not to leave the warm bed yet. He held his hands up in mock surrender.
"Oh... You're on, sister. Watch your back," Stefan warns, before sending me a teasing glare as he walks back to the bathroom, probably to dry and style his hair again. As he does that, I quietly slip out of the bed, not wanting to wake Zach. Stefan always forgets about how he actually needs sleep, since he's human. I walk down the hall, rubbing my cold arms quickly as I open the door to one of the four and a half bathrooms in the house, slipping in and rummaging through my towel pantry, seeing as I claimed this bathroom as mine when Stefan said we were moving into the house. I slip out of my big tee shirt and strip down as I grab a light blue towel and sit it on the closed toilet lid, taking my chestnut brown hair out of it's ponytail. Today, it has decided to be kind of wavy, so naturally I'll let it go with its flow. I slip in the shower and turn on the warm water, washing my hair with vanilla scented shampoo and cinnamon scented conditioner, before washing off my body with a nice smelling body wash.
I shower, but soon I hear my bathroom door creak open and see a shadow standing in front of the curtain... Much too tall to Stefan, and much too muscular and fit to be Zach. I, being myself, open the curtain a little and peak out, but only to find nothing. I sigh and run a hand through my clean hair, certain that I'm going crazy. Lex always told me I was the craziest person she knew, maybe that's staring to be literal. I step out, hearing talking downstairs between Zach and Stefan, Zach asking who the hell I was and Stefan responding something along the lines of "my family". It was sweet for him to say that I'm his family and everything, seeing as his brother is nothing to him now. I met the man back in the 90s, and Stefan wasn't too happy. He wore a leather jacket and a smirk that seemed to never leave his face while he was around me.
After I dry off, I apply some mascara and lip gloss before slipping on a pair of ripped jeans and a black V-neck shirt, pinning the front parts of my hair out of my face. I then walk downstairs and slip on a pair of galaxy sneakers and slip my AT&T cellphone in my jeans pocket before hearing Stefan call it's time to go, his keys jangling in his hand. I can't decide whether to take my black Jeep, or ride with Stef. That encounter with the shadowy figure in the bathroom still has me on edge, so for the first time in a while, I open up the door to Stefan's car and decide to ride shotgun. This is also the first time in a long time that I'm attending school, after he saved this girl who looked like a spitting image of this girl he dated a while back.
Stefan gets in the driver's side and sends me a brief look of confusion, but just leaves any questions he had stirring up unanswered. We drive in comfortable silence the entire way to Mystic Falls high. That's not uncommon between the two of us. Sometimes we think so much that we forget the other's presence. We pull in and immediately Stefan scopes out the place to find that girl, and I watch as his eyes land on her, making me roll my eyes. Young love... oh how temporary. It never lasts, and I say this relationship will last two months top
Stefan and I walk inside the school, our totally inappropriate shades on. We walk inside the office, our papers filled. Weird... Public school, I've never even been to school. "Your records are incomplete. You're missing immunization records, and we do insist on transcripts," The secretary in purple says to us, as Stefan is the one to slip his shades off first. That means ninety-nine Stefan, forty-two Charlotte. I don't understand how he reaches his shades first every time! Especially with all that animal blood!
"Please look again. I'm sure everything you need is there," Stefan says in a monotone voice, staring straight at the woman. He compels her, and I listen into the conversations going on around the school. "I hear they're actually dating..." One gossiper said about Stefan and I. "Who's that hottie with the body?" I heard one guy mutter to someone, and then the rest was about mysterious Stefan, thank goodness. I don't want to hear any more scarring things being said about me.
"Well, you're right. So it is," The secretary says to Stefan and I with a smile. I smile back politely as two girls outside the office talk about us. They ask who I am, and who Stefan is. I then heard the smoothest voice of the two say she senses Seattle, and Stefan plays the guitar. The other one was talking about her being psychic, and they made a sly comment on Stef's back too, I think. I heard one say she'd be back before walking off. After receiving our schedules, Stef pulls me aside and tells me that one of the girls talking was her, the girl he had saved and stayed in Mystic Falls for.
"Thank you," Stefan calls to the secretary as we walk out of the small office together, him sending glares to the boys talking about me. They all quivered a bit as they caught his ice cold glare, and they stop after they receive it. "I'm heading to the bathroom, Char. Don't wander off too far, seeing as we're new here and I don't want to lose you just yet, like you always do when we go someplace new." I scoff jokingly and cross my arms, deciding to just send him a nod.
I watch as Stef walks up to the bathroom door, but a girl walks out with a bag slung over her shoulder and a light jacket on. The two clash together, causing me to wince. Stefan looks at the girl, then the door sign, then the girl again. "Uh, pardon me. Um...is this the men's room?" Stefan asks, obviously confused. I swallow down a laugh, seeing as both of them are pretty awkward right now, even Stefan. I cringe at the encounter, not thinking much of it.
"Yes. Um, I was just, Um—I was just—It's a long story...." the girl explains, and Stefan doesn't question it, only steps to pass at the exact same time she does. He then steps aside for her and the girl thanks him, before walking away. Stefan goes into the bathroom, and I stare at my schedule. He used my same last name: Fray. I decide it wouldn't do any harm to find my class and text Stef once I'm inside. I look at the room number and saw that the number was #233, Mr. Tanner's class, American history. I walk to the room and sit, forgetting to text Stefan about where I went. The bell rang and after seven minutes had passed, Stefan walks in, a relieved look on his face when he sees me. He sits in front of me as Tanner asks why he was late.
"Sorry sir, I was looking for my sister. I didn't know where she went," Stefan explains, sending me a glare. I shrug as I text him: 'Sorry. I meant to text you, if that makes anything better...?' He looks down at his phone, explaining in another text that it doesn't, and that I should've listened to him. I agree in a text with him and he sighs. Tanner quickly changes the attendance, marking Stefan as present before he starts to drone on about our history.
"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union..." Tanner drones, as the girl I found to be Elena and Stefan exchange looks, and a blond-haired blue-eyed boy was looking at Elena. From what I can see, which is very well, his name is Matt, since his notebook says his name on it. Elena gets a text, probably from her friend who is also on her phone. Matt had also looked when the girl in the purple jacket- Elena's friend -was typing. Elena sneaks a look at Stef, then looks back at the front.
While Stef is out chasing the "love of his life", I'm stuck at home on watch duty. I decide now's a good time to write in my journal Stefan's making me keep. It's so I "don't forget the memories", apparently. I walk upstairs to my bedroom and grab the black leathery book, its soft leather feeling like a feather to my palm. However, the weight of the book itself wasn't, it was a decent weight, and I could maybe document a year and a half of memories in this journal. I'm quick to walk downstairs, at first almost tripping and falling hard onto the wooden floor, but I catch myself. I clear my throat and adjust the black V-neck tee as I sit down on the long couch and begin to write:
'August 23, 2009
Dear Diary,
I have had an... interesting day. Between seeing Stef awkwardly bump into this Elena girl he saved a while ago, and a cute blond stalker dude, I can say that today wasn't half bad, besides the boring teacher Mr. Tanner. It's been a while since I've been in school, so it was quite new. Seeing as my school consisted of my mother teaching me. But high school is even more gruesome than it's made out to be! This boy asked me to show him my boo-'
I am cut off by a sleek black crow flying inside the house through an open window, perching on the couch. I believe it to just be Stefan, compelling the poor crow to watch over me. But this crow seems different... More intelligent, like it's staring into my soul. He has beady eyes that in a way glare at me, and I sigh. I go back to writing, ignoring the crow.
However, when I feel a presence next to me on the couch, peering over my shoulder, I take in a deep breath. I catch a quick look at Damon Salvatore, the oldest Salvatore brother. He stares at what I'm writing, not saying a word. Cautiously, I continue to write as my left hand reaches for my cellphone next to me. I have to call or text Stefan, I think. But as I grab the phone, Damon starts to avert his gaze from the journal to my slowly moving arm. I let the phone slip out of my hand as I pay no mind to Damon, seeing as he hasn't changed since before. Same leather jacket, same black hair, and probably the same light blue car.
I quickly gasp as I feel my poor journal being ripped from me, causing me to abruptly stand and try to grab it from its kidnapper, however, I underestimated Damon's height, so when he holds it up and starts to read it, I have no way to stop him. "Dear Diary, I had an interesting day," Damon started, but groaned when I kneed him in the groin. Once he bent down to hold his soft spot, I snatch my journal back. That is what happens to people who try to read my journal. "Ah, haven't changed a bit, sweetheart." Damon then gives me that smirk before hugging me, as I grimace and accept the hug. "Long time no see, Little Flame." He calls me the nickname he gave me back in the nineties. I can't believe he still remembers... After all this time..
[FLASHBACK 1993]
"Come on, Charlotte," Stefan motioned for me to follow him, giving me a hopeful look. The city lights were glowing bright that rainy night, as all three of us were soaked. I saw that infamous smirk, and I couldn't resist... I blushed. The man took my small gloved hand and placed a soft kiss on it. "Damon... Get away from her, now," Stefan warned the raven-haired man. It was obvious the two knew each other, but I didn't know how, I hadn't been aware of the fact that Stefan had a brother back then.
"It was just a harmless kiss on her hand, brother." Damon looked over at Stefan with a smirk. "What? Don't want me flirting with your new girlfriend? She looks exactly like Katherine's friend Corinthia Cabello." He tilted his head at me, "Although this one looks younger and more gorgeous than Cori ever did. And I used to think Cori was gorgeous... Pfttt." I blushed again.. Me and my damn blushing.
"Don't bring them up, Damon..." Stefan muttered, gritting his teeth. Stefan crossed his arms and Damon smirked, making me glare at him. This guy was turning out to be more of a dick as the seconds grew to minutes. I heard him say something about my ass, before he reached over to do something to me. What? Well, I still don't know. All I know is that I slapped him. Damon smirked and rubbed his cheek, "Whoa, Little Flame. Simmer down."
Stefan then glared at Damon and grabbed my arm, speeding us back to our apartment. Stefan explained that night that we had to move, so we packed and left a few hours later, since we had little to no possessions. We moved to Ohio for a few years, then Georgia, and finally he explained that we had to stay in Mystic Falls, and that I was going to school this time.
[PRESENT]
I pull away from Damon as I brush some hair behind my ear, "I can't believe you remember the nickname.." I reach down for my cellphone as I'm speaking, but Damon snatches it from my hand and slips it in his leather jacket, putting his hand in the pocket to keep me from grabbing it. Damon shakes his head with a small smirk, sighing. He gives me a look like, 'Do you really think I'm that stupid?' I look down in embarrassment as he sat down on the couch.
"Don't worry, I don't want to harm Stefan... or you, especially not you," Damon jokes, sending me a wink. "Just don't tell Stef, I want to... surprise him," He says with a devious glint in his eyes as he smirks. I don't want to trust him, but I don't have a choice. He has my cellphone, and he's older and stronger than me in every way possible. I silently nod and he smiles, "Thanks, babe. I owe you one." Damon pats my arm once before sending me one last wink and jumping out the window, speeding off into the distance.
Stefan came home with Elena's journal, explaining how he scared her and she dropped it, and he lost control as his bloodlust got the best of him. His veins and fangs came out, and I gasped and comforted my poor best friend the entire time. Right now, I had to be his moral support at this time, like he always is for me. Then I encouraged him to find Elena and return her journal to her, and he took the advice. After writing in his own journal, he said a goodbye to Zach and I and went to to give Elena her journal.
***
Now, I sit in my room listening- well eavesdropping -to a conversation between Zach and Stefan, Zach sounding distressed, and Stefan is being honest. "You promised," Zach says to Stefan, and it sounds like Zach was showing something to Stefan.
"This was an animal attack," Stefan promises to Zach, and I narrow my eyes. If it wasn't Stefan and it wasn't me... Ugh, it was Damon, great. He's already stirring up trouble in the town, and I shouldn't have expected less. I sigh and listen more to the conversation. Zach says that he knows how vampires work, and that he thought Stefan had it under control. Stefan responds by saying he does have it under control. Zach warns Stefan about people remembering the vampires, and how Mystic Falls is a quiet place now, saying Stefan and I being here will stir things up. Stefan tells him it isn't his intention, and Zach asks why he came back. Stefan tells him he doesn't have to explain himself, and Zach tells him he doesn't belong here anymore. After Stef asks where he does belong. Then, Zach says that coming back here with me was a mistake. I gasp and cross my arms. Well thanks Zach... it's great to know how he feels about us being home..