A/N: Not my first fanfic, but the first I'm posting on here! I am obsessed with girl-falls-into-TVD-world fics, and I had an idea for one of my own that I just had to write it.

Starts at S1, E1. I'm going to keep the plot almost the same, though there will be quite a few drastic changes here and there. I have a lot planned out, and around mid-season 3 the show plot will go POOF and it'll all be my own storyline from there.

I see Carmen as Barbara Palvin with blonde hair, and I even kept the right height. If you're wondering what she looks like, the cover picture is of her, and there's also another picture linked on my profile.

With the whole OC/Original thing, that's my lazy way of saying the love-interests with be Elijah, Klaus and Kol. I haven't decided who I'd like her to end up with yet, so I guess we'll see as the story progresses.

DISCLAIMER:

I don't own The Vampire Diaries or its characters, only my OCs Carmen and Cassie and whatever changes I make to the show's plot.

Chapter 1: An Unusual Awakening

The sound of a shower woke me up, and it was as I went to rub the sleep from eyes that I noticed the first thing wrong. I poked myself with my nails, which was unusual, because I always had horribly weak nails that were too short to poke myself with.

I sleepily managed to open an eye and stare at my hands. The blurry image of naturally long, blood-red painted nails on tan fingers stared back at me. What the fuck? Those were definitely not my hands! It was the start of spring, and I'd stayed inside every day during the winter, leaving me as pale as a corpse. So how the hell were my hands tan?

That's when I noticed the second thing wrong. As my sluggish mind began to wake up a little more, I noticed my surroundings. First, I was in a large bed, probably queen-size. Which was odd, because my bed was only a single. There were similar sheets at least – this bed had a pastel blue fluffy blanket, while mine usually had a pastel purple one.

I looked around the room, and while confused, I wasn't exactly scared. It was definitely a teenage girl's room. Next to the bed was a wide window with a window seat, and even a shelf that held several photos in pretty frames inlaid into it. The curtains and window seat upholstery were a matching forest-green. The walls were painted royal-blue and covered with endless posters and a few shelves holding books, CDs and DVDs, while the floor was a dark wood, with a pretty Persian rug.

There was a wooden vanity table, strewn with endless perfume bottles and makeup, a low chest of drawers next the vanity, and a bedside table to my left, but no other furniture I could see.

There were three doors in the room. The first I saw was between the foot of the bed and the vanity, and I immediately knew it was a closet door. The next was located between the far corner of the room and the chest of drawers. It looked like it could be the bedroom door, but so did the other one, which sat alone on the left wall.

I knew for sure that I had never seen this room before in my life.

It wasn't long before the third thing wrong came to my notice. I shook my head to wake myself up – because this was a dream, obviously – and my hair fell loose from the ponytail it'd been in. I glanced down only to realize my hair was now blonde. Blonde! I'd never been blonde in my life. My hair was, and always had been, your generic chocolate brown.

Feeling entirely wrong, I threw myself out of bed and stumbled over to the vanity's mirror. The girl who stared back at me was my age, but definitely not me.

She was tan, like the hands showed, but it was slightly olive-toned and definitely natural. Her fair hair was blonde like I'd noticed, unquestionably natural too, and fell messily down to her bust in layered waves. Her cat-like eyes were light blue unlike my hazel ones, and had naturally arched brows. Her lips were rosy-pink and pouty, while her nose small.

This girl in no way looked familiar. She was beautiful, her face looking like it belonged on the cover of Vogue. I decided I didn't mind being this girl, because she was undeniably gorgeous, more so than I had been. This dream was certainly pleasant, to say the least.

I looked down at my new body and was amazed that I seemed to be way taller than my usual 5'3'', and I was unquestionably slimmer than before. A toned kind of slim too, something I'd never achieved. I was only wearing a black tank top and matching pajama shorts, but it actually looked good on this body.

And if it couldn't get any better, it did. My bust was around the same size – a little larger than normal but not obviously so – though now my boobs were far perkier. I grinned.

I'd always loved change. Whether it be meeting new people, or visiting somewhere different for the first time, it didn't matter. I found monotony boring to the extreme. I always had to have something occupy my time, and I could never fall into a consistent routine. My old body wasn't something I enjoyed, but rather one I dealt with, so waking up like this was a dream come true.

Well, if I'm not actually dreaming.

Happy with the turn of events, whether they were real or not, I decided to check which of the identical doors led where. I went to the one in the corner first, and it opened up to a vaguely familiar hallway. I was certain I hadn't been in this house before, but maybe I'd seen a photo or something? I did plan on finding out soon enough.

Closing that door, I walked to the other one. The sound of the shower I'd heard seemed to have come from this direction, but it had stopped a few minutes earlier. I cautiously opened the door to see an empty bathroom, and sighed with relief. I didn't think I was ready to meet anyone yet.

The bathroom was actually pretty large for a shared one, which I knew it was not only by the sound of the shower earlier, but because there was another bedroom door opposite mine. There was a large mirror on the wall above the sink, and the shower and bath were one, with a plain white shower curtain, and a toilet in the corner.

There was a towel hanging on a rack beside the door, with the name Carmen embroidered into it. Was I Carmen? And if so, was my family fucking rich or something? I hoped that was the case, and grinning, I decided to take a chance and have a shower. I happily noticed there were locks on the inside of both doors as well, so whomever I shared this bathroom with wouldn't walk in on me.

After my shower, when my body was no longer damp and letting my hair air-dry, I went over to the chest of drawers to find some underwear. The first drawer held bras only, and I found a simple white lace one to wear, despite the numerous different colors and styles to choose from. In the second drawer were the panties, and I found a pair that matched the bra.

This girl was really starting to grow on me. But if it was only dream... Dammit, I never wanted to wake up.

I fiddled with some of the random stuff sitting on top the chest of drawers, like pieces of jewelery, an antique gold box full of rings, and little scented candles. I made my way to the closet and opened it cheerfully, expecting to find clothes I'd usually wear. Our taste was so similar thus far, so I assumed our style would be the same too.

I was utterly disappointed. There were only three dresses, less than half of what I owned, and no skirts at all. I frowned at the sight of mostly shirts, blouses and jackets. I flounced back to the chest of drawers, and opening the third one down, found it to be full of jeans. So many jeans. All in black and different shades of blue.

One drawer left, and I was filled with hope. Only to have it crushed when I found that it didn't hold any skirts, and instead was filled half with denim shorts, and half with socks. I never wore shorts! I examined the dresses in the closet again, but I intended to dress casually, and all the dresses were for fancy occasions.

Reluctantly turning back to the drawer full of jeans, I dug through it until I decided on a pair of black skinny-jeans with stylishly ripped knees. I added a loose white top from the closet, and found a pair of black flats with silver star-shaped studs on them. Good enough, I guess.

I considered finding a cardigan to wear, but I decided it was unusually warm for the early spring days I'm used to, and I probably didn't need one. In fact, it was too warm for early spring. I caught sight of a calender sporting Salvador Dali's art and noticed the month said September. Which was early spring where I lived. So why the hell wasn't it cold anymore?

I went to the window and sat on the seat, looking outside. It was early in the morning, so it should be far colder than it was. Unless maybe there was a hidden heater in the room somewhere, or a central heating system in the house. I sighed and looked at the little shelf beside the window seat.

There was me, or the girl who's body I was possessing, posing in most of the photographs with another dark-haired girl who I again swear I recognised, though I didn't actually know her. I frowned, but at least I knew how this girl did her makeup now; thick mascara and frosty pink lipstick, with a hint of blush on her cheeks. She might not have the wardrobe for it, but I suspected she was a girly girl at heart.

I skipped to the vanity, and using the makeup I found there, applied it like the girl had in her photos. I inspected the perfume bottles until I found one I just knew I had to wear: Daisy by Marc Jacobs. I gave a girly squeal of delight as I sprayed it on my wrists and rubbed it behind my ears.

I used a hairbrush I found to comb through my now half-dry hair, and decided that keeping it down looked good enough. I pawed through a dish of earrings until I found a simple pair of diamante studs, and slid a few silver rings on my fingers from the gold box.

Now that I was done with getting ready, I only had one last task before I left the room – find out who the hell I was. My suspicions that this body's name was Carmen stuck with me, and I really hoped it was, because my real name was Cassie and they were similar enough that I wouldn't be too confused.

It kind of shocked me how well I was accepting that this was my new body, and that I was entirely willing to act like her... to be her. I was taking over somebody's life. Though the rational part of my brain kept reminding me that this was a dream, and I could wake up at any moment.

But again, I didn't want to wake up. This world was so detailed and perfect so far, I wanted to stay forever. It felt so real too. I couldn't really be dreaming, could I?

I eyed the room again, and noticed a silver phone lying on the bedside table. I didn't think I could get more shocked, but I did. This phone was old. It was an LG slide phone that I'm pretty sure my friend had when we were in grade 9... and I graduated from high school a year ago. At least I knew how to use it.

I found the contact list and clicked through, hoping to get a good idea of names. I was left disappointed, but slightly amused. The list was made up of nicknames. Weird nicknames. I scrolled through and couldn't help but laugh. Aunty Awesome (really?), Barbie, Bitch (good bitch or bad bitch?), Bitch's Ex, Nihon, Perky, Stoner. Just to name a few.

There was a retro leather schoolbag resting against the bedside table, and I knew I was about to get some answers. There were a bunch of exercise books inside, with the name Carmen scrawled in pretty cursive on them. Thank the Lord and all that is holy! And I even knew Carmen's surname now, which was Gilbert.

Like in The Vampire Diaries, I thought, grinning happily. It was one of my all time favorite shows, by far. Or like that girl who was in the grade below me. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Ashley!

Happy that I finally knew my name and could answer to it, I exited my new bedroom and began to make my way down the stairs. This house was definitely familiar, and so were the faint voices I heard talking from somewhere below.

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." I was halfway down the stairs when I heard that sentence. That one sentence that made my heart slow for a few moments. I felt as if the world just stopped spinning and time itself had frozen.

No. No, no, no, no. This couldn't be right. Shit, I was definitely still dreaming. That was Elena fucking Gilbert's first line to her Aunt Jenna in season one of Vampire Diaries. Not just season one, but episode one.

My mind continued swearing incoherently.

"Is there coffee?" Yep, that was definitely Jeremy. Holy fucking shit help me.

"Your first day of school, and I'm totally unprepared." Aunt Jenna stated as she went to her bag. She saw me frozen on the stairs and gave me a cheeky grin. "I'm sure you'll want some coffee as well. Because you in the mornings? Oh boy."

I smiled weakly, my mind pretty much dead with shock, but from Jenna's reaction, it wasn't out of character for Carmen. But wait... If I was in the Vampire Diaries world, and my apparent last name was Gilbert, then was I Jeremy and Elena's sister? I appeared to be Elena's age, though physically I looked like Jenna more than anyone else because of my new fair hair.

Weird.

Gathering my wits, I finished making my way down the stairs to have Elena, who was shockingly about three inches shorter than me, pour me a cup of coffee. She smiled tightly, almost nervously, at me. I wondered if we'd had a strained relationship in the past. Seeing as Carmen wasn't even in the show, I had no idea. But if she didn't like Elena, then good. I didn't either.

I drowned my coffee in milk, and drank it quickly without adding any sugar while Jenna asked if anyone wanted lunch money. I shook my head and smiled. Their conversation continued but I didn't pay attention. Though a minute later I noticed Elena keep glancing at me as if she wanted to say something, so I raised my eyebrows at her. Why couldn't she just spit it out already?

"Bonnie's giving me a ride to school, and we were both wondering if you'd like to come with us? I know you're okay with driving yourself around after the, uh, accident, but I'd feel better if you were with me. It's our first day of junior year, so I'm feeling a bit anxious."

I shrugged, and went to rinse my coffee mug out. "Sure, thanks." I threw her a quick smile, though it was mostly at how good my new voice sounded to my own ears. And I was a junior as well, huh? That confirmed my suspicion that Elena and I were the same age.

Well, fuck me. I'm seventeen again, like in the Zac Efron movie, but not as drastic. Yesterday I was nearing my nineteenth, and today? Goddamn seventeen years old.

I ran upstairs and grabbed my school bag and a dark blue cardigan in case it got cold, because this was Mystic Falls and I definitely didn't trust the weather to stay warm, then decided to sit on my bed until Bonnie arrived. During that time, I got to think.

I was in the Vampire Diaries universe. Not only that, but I was in the body of the main character's sister... who doesn't exist in the show. It was the very beginning of season one, which meant I got to experience the arrival of the Salvatore brothers, among other things. I couldn't be dreaming either, because there were lots of details here that I would've forgotten since I last watched season one of the show.

Lots of stuff I'd noticed started to make sense. I was in America now, and so summer had just ended, not winter where I lived in Australia. That explained the warm weather. The house also looked familiar because I'd seen it so often in the show, but I didn't realize straight away because I'd never actually been here.

And the girl in the photos? Probably someone who was an extra in the show. I just hoped I would find out her name soon. I had a good guess that she was Carmen's, well now my, best friend. I hoped she was someone I'd like to be around, though I did tend to get along with everyone.

But oh God, Caroline in season one is just horrid! Elena is actually bearable for a while, I think, and Bonnie is cool when she's not being all 'Vampires are all evil and bad and I'm judging you'. Then there was the whole Vicki thing... Fuck, season one was not my favorite season at all. In fact, I didn't start obsessing over the series until Elijah arrived in season two, and Klaus soon after.

Well fuck, this who body-possessing thing may be exciting, but it'll also be boring.

Could I change anything? Could I go out of my way to stop a character from, say, getting killed? I didn't know if changing the storyline would fuck it up entirely, but I had a feeling that the presence of Carmen would do that anyway.

So maybe I could have a little fun. I knew everything that was going to happen. If I was careful, I could make sure I was there for the exciting events, absent for the boring ones, and even meet Damon earlier than any other character if I wanted to. You know, for shits and giggles.

But I couldn't let anyone know that I'm not Carmen, and instead a girl named Cassie who knows everything about their lives, and their future. They would either think I'm crazy, or distrust me completely. Especially the Gilbert's and their friends.

For now, I had to go with the flow. But that didn't mean I wouldn't drop hints every now and again. As long as I sounded sarcastic, of course. Nobody would be none the wiser.

My new crappy phone buzzed with a text from 'Bitch', and curious to who it was, I couldn't open it fast enough.

Bitch: Bonnie just arrived, time to go.

I couldn't contain my giggles. So Elena was bitch, and from the way she acted around me, I had a feeling I meant it in the insulting way. Remembering my other contacts from before, I gave a good guess that 'Bitch's Ex' was Matt, 'Aunty Awesome' was Jenna, 'Stoner' was Jeremy, and 'Barbie' was Caroline. Bonnie wasn't exactly a perky person though, so I didn't know who that was. My mystery best friend, maybe? And who was Nihon? I knew that that's what Japan is called in Japanese.

Turning my grin into a light smile, I rushed out the front door and into the backseat of Bonnie's car. I had my first day of grade 11 all over again. And if this body-possession was permanent, then I'd have another two fucking years of school. I squirmed in my seat nervously and felt my smile fade even more.

At least this was the Vampire Diaries world. There would be enough supernatural crap stirring up trouble to make everything worth it.

Well, there was the first chapter! It hasn't really fallen into the storyline just yet, but I wanted this just to be an introduction chapter. Hopefully the next one will be longer as well, as will the others.

You may or may not have noticed that Cassie often switches between 'she/her' and 'I/my' when she talks about Carmen or Carmen's belongings. I did this on purpose to show how confused she is about everything, despite being completely okay with it. And I'm only telling you now to avoid any confusion. When Cassie learns more about Carmen and settles in to her new life, she'll transition to I/my completely.

And does anyone want to guess who Carmen's best friend is? I'll give you a hint: she doesn't have any lines until near the end of season 2, and she's very enthusiastic.

Please review what you think, and I'll get the next chapter out to you very soon!