Hi everyone! Here is the first chapter of my new multi-chapter fic. The entire story is written so there shouldn't be too much of a wait between chapters. The story is about 15 chapters long, but that could change depending on how I feel about the story as I post. I hope you enjoy this and as always let me know what you think.

"Welcome to Mystic Falls High School," is what the sign outside my brand new school said as I stood in front of it my first day. At least this time I had Caroline by my side. It was my fourth new school in as many years, being a new vampire makes it hard to blend in. The year I became a vampire, three years ago I took a bite out of a student. It took a healthy dose of compulsion to make everyone forget that one. That was in New York. The year later I was in San Francisco and I thought I could trust someone. I was totally in control and I fell in love. I told him what I was and showed him my fangs, needless to say he tried to have me committed as a monster so my father and I ran. Last year we were in Atlanta and the only good thing to come from Atlanta was Caroline Forbes. She was just like me in that she was a vampire. Things were going well, at least until my dad up and disappeared. He didn't even leave me a note. It was unlike him but he had been acting weird for a while. I didn't know where he was and if he was coming back but it was time to run. This time instead of it being my father and I, it was Caroline and I. We considered packing up and moving to another large city, somewhere where blending in wouldn't be a problem. But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that hiding somewhere small would be the way to go. No one would think of looking for us in non-descript Mystic Falls Virginia. Besides there was no record of Caroline and I even existing as vampires, my father kept my records completely sealed. As far as anyone knew there never was an accident three years ago. My accident was completely stricken from the record. My name was simply Elena Gilbert and I was just a typical teenage girl. Here in Mystic Falls no one would ever find out that my life wasn't as simple as it seemed. I would just have to take care not to make the same mistakes I made in either of my other homes.

"So are you ready for this Lena?" Caroline asked me. She didn't have to come with me here but I was glad she did. I didn't want to go through life completely alone. Without my father I didn't know what to do.

"I'm glad you're with me Caroline. I'm as ready as I ever am." I told her, clutching my forged forms to enter the school. I had gotten good at forging my father's signature. He insisted I learn in case something ever happened to him. The idea of something happening to the most important person in my world caused my stomach to churn.

"I wouldn't ditch you. Especially not now after your father disappeared. So what do we do first?" She asked and I smiled.

"We go to the office and check in, get our timetables and stuff. Then we start trying to fit in. We need to prove to them that we're normal teenage girls." I told her and she nodded.

"Normal I can do. I've been pretending to be normal for almost five years now. I can do high school like you wouldn't believe. If you don't mind I really think we should check into being cheerleaders." She suggested.

"Cheerleaders really?" I asked with my eyebrows raised as we started walking into the school.

"Yeah. Cheerleaders are popular. If there is someone out there looking for us then it's best we fit in. They're not going to be checking every single popular cheerleader in the continental US. They'll be looking for the girls standing out." She said and I agreed she had a point. I wasn't convinced someone was after us but for Caroline's sake I wanted her to think there was. Blending in wasn't Caroline Forbes's strong suit.

"But cheerleading? Really?" I pleaded hoping there was another option.

"Well cheerleaders and hot jocks are the blending in way to go." She said and I laughed. I knew Caroline so I knew she wouldn't have a problem getting a boyfriend. I on the other hand found it hard to connect after San Francisco. I felt deep in my soul if I still had one that anyone I started trusting would betray me in the end. All I had in this world was Caroline, and until I got my dad back she was all I would need.

"Hello dears can I help you?" The secretary asked me. I offered her a bright smile and turned to Caroline.

"My friend and I just transferred here from Atlanta. You're supposed to have gotten our files from them? Our names are Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes." I told her and she filed through the files on her desk.

"Ah yes here you are. Here are your locker locations and combinations. Your timetables." She said sliding papers across the counter for us.

"Thank you so much." I said offering her another bright smile.

"Ah yes just in time Mr. Donovan." She said when a sandy brown haired guy came into the office. He offered Caroline and me a smile before turning to the secretary whose name I never bothered to get. "Matt here is going to give you a quick tour of the school."

"Shall we head on out?" He asked us and we both nodded. Caroline gave him a flirty smile and sidled up close to him.

"So you're our guardian angel, are you?" She asked coyly as I rolled my eyes and followed them out of the office.

"I guess if that's how you want to look at it. I'm just here to show you around." He told her with a blush. I also found the blush completely adorable but it appeared that Caroline was already smitten. It didn't take much for her.

Matt walked us through the hallways pointing out the rooms on our timetables. Caroline and I had study hall together at the end of the day but aside from the mornings and lunch it was the only time we'd see each other all day.

"So what brings you two to Mystic Falls?" Matt asked and I smiled because this was a question I had a prepared answer for.

"My father got a job at Whitmore College but he didn't want me living in a bigger city again so he moved us here. He's just gone a lot. He depends on me and Caroline to take care of ourselves." I told him.

"I know how that is. My mother only shows up once in a while. I pay the bills and go to school. So why didn't your dad want you in a bigger city? You're going to find Mystic Falls boring if you've ever lived anywhere bigger." He asked.

"I don't have a good track record with bigger cities and bigger schools. This is my fourth new school in four years. So we're trying something new this time around." I told him. His questions weren't invasive they were just friendly.

"So why are you two living together? I just don't hear about too many teenage best friends moving in together around here." Matt asked Caroline.

"Elena and I met last year and I wasn't in a good situation at home so Mr. Gilbert offered to take me in. I didn't want him doing me a favour because I'm very independent but he convinced me by saying he didn't want Elena living alone so often." She told him our predetermined story.

"It's good you want to stick by your friend like that." He told her as we stopped in front of the library.

"Thanks. So do you have any idea if we can audition for cheerleading?" She asked hopefully.

"Ah cheerleaders? You want to cheer your school Timberwolves to victory? I happen to be the quarterback." He said and Caroline grinned.

"Really? So auditions?" She probed.

"I'll talk to my girlfriend Rebekah about it. She's the captain of the squad." He told her and Caroline visibly wilted.

"Captain of the cheerleaders and the quarterback of the team. Sounds like a match made in heaven." She said inserting her typical cheeriness into her voice.

"It really is. She's amazing." He said she smiled.

"Well we should really get to class. Let us know about those cheerleading spots." She said cheerfully.

"Have you led cheer before?" He asked and Caroline and I both nodded. We were cheerleaders at our last school, I wasn't overly fond of it but Caroline loved it. I still wasn't convinced it was going to help us blend in, but it was worth a try. Her argument was logical. "Then I'm sure you'll get on the squad. We're short a couple girls this year."

"Thank you Matt. It was great to meet you." I said before gently pushing Caroline in the opposite direction that I was heading. Matt waved goodbye and walked in the other direction.

When I got into the classroom as always everyone looked at me. It was something I was used to being the new girl all the time.

"Can I help you?" My history teacher said and I smiled.

"My name is Elena Gilbert, I appear to be in this class." I told him.

"Ah yes, Miss Gilbert. You do appear to be in this class. Well take the one open desk and look at your partner's text book until I can get you one." He said as I sat down in the vacant seat. All the heartbeats in the room didn't even affect me. Blood pumping in veins wasn't a problem for me anymore. The problem for me was the intoxicating smell of the cologne next to me. It was musky and fresh. He could be a problem for me.

"Elena Gilbert meet Damon Salvatore. He's going to be your partner for the semester. Damon meet Elena, despite your best wishes you aren't alone this semester." Mr. Saltzman said.

"Hi. I'm Elena." I greeted him and he just glared.

"I'm Damon and if you think I'm going to do your work for you this semester you've got another thing coming." He said and I rolled my eyes.

"Well you're certainly not the friendliest guy in the world. Who peed in your cheerios?" I demanded sarcastically.

"I just don't choose to associate with preppy bitch cheerleaders." He hissed and I rolled my eyes again.

"You know there happens to be more than meets the eye but for the sake of arguing, I don't hang out with surly loners." I said sitting back in my seat and peering at his text book which thankfully he slid across to me.

It was a long hour and when the bell finally rang I packed up my books and tried to flee.

"Don't worry, you'll catch up. Damon is brilliant." Mr. Saltzman said and I shook my head.

"I'm not really behind. I learned enough and besides even if I was behind I wouldn't need his help. I'm quite adept on my own." I told him. He flipped through a file on his desk and chuckled.

"I'd say you're very adept at history. You'll be just fine." He said when he saw my A plus in the class last year.

"I enjoy history. It interests me." I answered with a shrug.

"Well I hope to keep it interesting for you Elena. I'll have a text book for you tomorrow." He said as he finally dismissed me.

Thankfully Damon wasn't in anymore of my classes before lunch. When the bell rang I walked to the cafeteria where Caroline said to meet her. I found her surrounded by a bunch of jocks. Caroline was holding court, that didn't take long.

"Elena, get your ass over here." Caroline called and I walked over. "Guess what? Guess what?"

"What?" I asked with a grin. Matt was at the table as well with who I assumed was Rebekah his girlfriend and captain of the cheerleaders.

"We're officially cheerleaders." She said and I fought back my reflex eye roll.

"Great." I said masking my sarcasm so only Caroline could hear it. She rolled her eyes at me and I sat down and picked at the lunch she had bought me. I used to love pizza but now it didn't hold the same fascination with me. Now blood held that spot of honour in my stomach. It wasn't fair. Life really wasn't fair.

"Hi." A sandy haired guy said sitting down next to me and I offered him a small smile.

"Hi." I greeted.

"My name is Stefan, and you are?" He asked.

"Elena." I answered. Stefan was so much like the guy from San Francisco. There was no way I could ever get close to him.

"So how are you liking Mystic Falls so far Elena?" He asked and I laughed.

"It's small but I like it." I told him and Caroline nodded encouragingly as she turned to a dark haired jock.

"It is small, but it's all a lot of us have ever known. My brother and I were born here." He told me and I nodded politely.

"I was born in New York." I told him and he smiled.

"You really are a big city girl. What brought you here?" He asked and I smiled.

"My dad is a professor at Whitmore. But he wanted me and Caroline to live somewhere small and safe." I told him.

"Well you're certainly not going to find anywhere smaller or safer than Mystic Falls. Nothing ever happens here." He laughed and I smiled. I hoped he was right.