Disclaimer: I don't own The Originals. That honor goes to Julie Plec, Michael Narducci and the CW.

Hello, my lovely readers. I have far too many stories in my que that need to be finished but I really wanted to post this one for some time because there are so few Rebekah stories and even fewer Rebel stories. If you have any questions feel free to ask me in a review or in a pm.

Chapter 1: I Dictate My Own Future

"It's not you, darling. It's just not where Mikael thinks that you belong," Esther was trying to explain to her most willful of children, Rebekah.

"I shall decide where I shall and shall not belong," Rebekah replied hoarsely. Walking out of the study, Rebekah felt satisfied only when she slammed the door closed. She refused to allow her father to treat her as a child. She was not a child. Rebekah was a grown woman. If nothing else proved that then that fact she had her own house should. Yes, she lived with five other girls but that was a mere detail. Once she had her degree in law she would be able to go to work and purchase her own house.

Hurrying down the driveway, she hoped to avoid her older brothers. They were all working for their father at their firm, Mikaelson and Mikaelson. Of course, being the only girl in the family and the youngest, every one of the men in the family believed that she should just settle down and have a family of her own. There was absolutely no reason for Rebekah to want anything more from her life than to take a hand out from her brothers. Not bloody likely. Thank you.

Rolling her eyes in irritation and tossing her hair, Rebekah only stopped in mid-step when she saw her favorite brother, Nik walking toward the house with one of his many trollops. Whoever she was, Rebekah could care less. Throwing herself into a bush, Rebekah tried not to curse at the feeling of tiny twigs poking into her skin.

"I had fun last night, Klaus," the girl was whispering into his ear and Rebekah narrowed her eyes. She thought about making herself known with a nasty quip about how many girls she had heard that out of but she decided to stay hidden.

"I did, too, sweetheart," Klaus was whispering back. "I'll call you." Rebekah closed her eyes and cringed at the sound of the two kissing loudly. "Bekah, would you like to come out of the bush now?" Opening her eyes, Rebekah was relieved to see the girl was gone. But her brother was still there with that smug smirk on his face that always grated on her nerves.

"Oh, do not look so smug, Nik," Rebekah snapped, standing up and then gingerly taking a step out of her leafy camaflouge. Her brother extended a hand and pulled her the rest of the way out. Rebekah scowled and began to fix her hair. "I did not need your help. I could have gotten myself out of the bloody thing all by myself."

Klaus sighed deeply, staring at his feet before he looked up and grinned. Rebekah knew that grin from childhood. Trying to run but not being quick enough, Rebekah found herself being tossed back into the bush. "Wanker!" she shouted after her brother as he walked toward the house laughing as she struggled back out of the bush.

"I will kill you one of these days," Rebekah promised Klaus' back as he disappeared inside their childhood home. However, at that very moment she had better things to attend to. She needed to get to class. Hurrying toward the end of the driveway, she took a quick left and practically ran toward where her roommate, Hayley, was parked.

When Rebekah got into the car, she waved a hand in the air and stared at Hayley. "Where is it?" Hayley groaned and pulled her hand inside the car from where it had been hanging out the window with a cigarette clenched between two fingers. "That is a disgusting habit," Rebekah scowled and took the thing. Throwing it out the window, Rebekah shook her head. "Hayley, you will die slowly and painfully if you do not stop that."

"So?" Hayley shrugged. "Life is screwed up. Why should I care?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes at her friend. "So, how is work?"

Shaking her head, Hayley looked unhappy. "You mean tossing mail on a bunch of desks of guys who only want to stare at my ass and say shit about me when they think I can't hear them. I mean who the hell needs to do that kind of work."

"At least you have a job, Hayley," Rebekah snapped. Yes, she knew that the job was shit as Hayley put it. Rebekah had once worked in the mailroom of her Father's law firm and it had been horrible. It had been her first "real" job while she was working on her undergraduate degree and everyone treated her well. At first she had thought it was because she was doing such a good job. The employees would always compliment her. They never made vile comments about her or toward her. One day she had gone to have a lunch with one of the younger associates, Damon Salvatore, who was a friend of Nik's. Damon had informed her that everyone was so very nice to her not because they liked her or that she did a good job but because she was Mikael's little girl. No one wanted to piss off the boss. And to be frank, she sucked at her job. Half the mail she delivered went to the wrong places. The other half, who knew?

On the edge of tears Rebekah had walked out of the lunch feeling miserable and frustrated. She had turned in her notice the next day and had left with her box of personal items, trying very hard not to cry. Damon had jumped on the elevator with her before she could leave. "Hey, Bekah," he said cheerfully and Rebekah had stared at her feet. She did not want to speak to him.

The ride down was awkward until the doors opened to the lobby and Rebekah had gratefully gotten off and headed away from Damon. "Bekah," Damon called.

Stopping, Rebekah spun around on her heel. She was about to tell Damon off when she spotted his fiancée, Elena Gilbert, hurrying across the floor, her heels clicking. "I think someone else wants your attention," Rebekah informed Damon with a wide smile. Whirling back around, Rebekah began to walk away once more when Damon jogged in front of her and she sighed heavily. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? "I quit. Aren't you happy?" Rebekah snapped.

Damon looked shocked as Elena came to stand by his side. "What's going on, Damon?" Elena questioned Damon, looking from him to Rebekah.

"Coffee. Now," Damon ordered them and then placed a hand on Elena's and then Rebekah's backs, guiding them toward the double doors of the building. He led them to a café that was five blocks away and around the corner, although there was a perfectly good café with much better coffee right next door.

After they sat down with their coffees, Damon loosened his tie and wrapped his arm around the back of Elena's chair. "Look, Rebekah, I didn't mean to come off like such a jackass the other day. All I could think watching you doing that job was that you didn't belong in that mailroom. You do suck at the job but I noticed how you were always listening to the cases that we were discussing. I know that look. That's the look that I always had back when I was in law school. I couldn't wait for it to be my turn. Not just being on the sidelines." When he was done with his speech, Damon sat back and looked expectantly at Rebekah.

Rebekah could only sit in her seat and blink at Damon. She had never really thought about the idea of going to law school. It just wasn't something that she had ever been encouraged to do. At that point Rebekah had been at the end of her freshman year of college and had not put much thought into what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She had planned on majoring in History or English or… she didn't know what.

"I think that you would enjoy law school. I've seen you arguing with your brothers. You're good, Rebekah," Damon continued, staring at her intensely.

"I don't know…" Rebekah had said.

"Well, think about it. If you decide that you want to I can tell you about some good programs and who to contact," Damon had told her and then he thought about it. "Not that you need my advice. After all, you always have an entire family to help you figure out the details."

Now, Rebekah was pondering the irony of Damon's words. Oh, yes, she had an entire family to help her get into law school. That had become exceedingly clear when her father had lost his temper after Rebekah came to him with the letter of acceptance from Yale Law School. He had simply shook his head slowly. "Rebekah, this is not for you," he had told her. That was it. The word of Mikael Mikaelson had been the law in her house her entire life. If Rebekah turned her back on her Father and decided to do as she pleased then he would cut her off completely.

This was the last term before she graduated and she wanted to finish up. Maybe she would take a year off and travel in spite of what she had told her Mother this morning. Feeling the urge to scream, Rebekah got out of the car when Hayley stopped. "Let's get a cup of coffee before class," she had suggested.

They walked into Rebekah's favorite café next to the campus. Striding to the counter, Rebekah ordered a large black coffee that could make her jittery. Better jittery than sleepy in class. She had to keep her grades up. Why? Because she was a Mikaelson. Taking a sip, she cursed under her breath when the liquid touched her tongue. "Too hot," she muttered.

"Brownie?" Hayley offered, holding out a brownie the size of her hand, Hayley grinned happily. Chocolate always made Hayley happy. "Hey, look at this. They're going to have live music tonight. We have to check this out."

"I don't have time to check out live music tonight," Rebekah replied. "I have work to do tonight."

"It's a Friday, Bekah. You have to take a night off sometime," Hayley pointed out, taking a bite out of her brownie.

"No," Rebekah retorted. That was the final word she would have to say on the subject.

Nine o'clock that night:

"I cannot believe that I allowed you to talk me into this," Rebekah growled, walking back into the café that night. She was wearing a short black dress that barely covered her arse. This was just so wrong. She had no idea if she actually wanted to listen to these people. There was a mound of work piled up on her desk and Hayley had made her put on this stupid dress. Although her roommate was wearing a loose shirt and an old pair of jeans.

"When was the last time you were out on a date?" Hayley argued.

"What does that have anything to do with anything?" Rebekah had snapped back.

"It has to do with the fact that you need to loosen up, Bekah. You're wound way too tight," Hayley had said as they took a seat in the middle of the room. Slumping down in her seat, Rebekah reminded herself that Hayley had her best intentions at heart. Looking around, she wondered where the entertainment was. They were supposed to be taking the stage in the next five minutes. On the other hand, if they did not then she could use it an excuse to leave early.

When there was one minute left, Rebekah grabbed her purse and started to get up when a tall man walked onto the stage followed by a blonde girl. They walked over to the center of the stage and the man bowed to the young woman with a wide grin and a wink. "Hello, everyone," the girl called into the microphone. "Are you all ready to hear us sing a little song for you?"

"Yes," the crowd shouted.

"Good. We always love to entertain a happy crowd," the man called into the microphone.

They began to sing together and Rebekah could only watch in awe. She had never heard anything that sounded this good. Or maybe it was just that she liked the sound of their voices. They synchronized well. Leaning forward in her seat, Rebekah found herself staring at the man. His eyes connected with hers and she felt her mouth go dry.

When the two were done, they hugged each other and the spell was broken. Rebekah figured that they were a couple and that it was eleven in the evening. She had yoga at eight in the morning. She needed to get up in the morning. Getting up, Rebekah grabbed her purse. "Hayley, I think it's time to go."

Not waiting for an answer, Rebekah turned to leave when she found herself face to face with the male singer. "Hi," he said, grinning down at her. "Leaving so soon? Were we that bad?"

"No, you were wonderful," Rebekah told him with a smile of her own. Feeling her cheeks heating up, she looked at her feet.

"So, we were so wonderful that you are trying to sneak out when one half of the group would like nothing more than to buy you drink?" the man questioned Rebekah who began to feel her lips moving against her will into a wide grin.

"But there aren't drinks here," Rebekah protested.

The man looked around him and smiled. "Sure there are. They'll keep you up all night. But I don't need to sleep tonight. Do you?"

Shaking her head, Rebekah couldn't help but smile at this charming stranger. "Marcel," someone called from behind the man and his partner appeared causing Rebekah's smile to freeze. "Oh, hi," the girl called, waving at Rebekah cheerfully even though she was only a foot away. Rebekah figured the girl was a cheerleader when she was in high school. That is if she had ever finished high school. She looked fairly young. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, you're not," Rebekah reassured the girl. "I was just leaving."

"Wait," Marcel called when Rebekah walked around him and headed for the door. "I thought we were going to have enough caffeine to keep you up till midnight tomorrow."

"You thought wrong," Rebekah called over her shoulder. "Good night, Marcel."

"Bekah," Hayley shouted, "Slow down." Rebekah only paused in the doorway long enough for her roommate to catch up with her before she walked into the cool evening air.

"What was that?" Hayley questioned Rebekah. "Did you just turn that guy down for a coffee date? Because he is hot. What were you thinking?"

Whirling on her roommate, Rebekah snapped at Hayley. "I have had enough of everyone's opinions of what I should or should not do. From now on I choose my own path." With that said she strode away from Hayley. Rebekah had enough of people trying to push her around. She would make her own destiny. That began with Yale.

Okay, so that was the first chapter and I hoped that you liked it. There will be a couple of appearances from characters from TVD. Damon Salvatore will be one of them because he's one of my all time favs of both TVD/TO and Caroline Forbes because I am an avid Klaroline fan. However, I respect everyone's right to ship or not to ship at all what they will. I hope you enjoy the inclusions of the various cast members and the story overall.

Peace,

Jessica