A/N: Ok, so, I've been having this idea nagging at me for a while, and I wanted to get it down on paper! This is basically a reboot of TVD with Caroline as the central character and Klaroline the central romance plotline. I'll be changing a lot of stuff from the show, and there'll be a few elements from the books (like Meredith, and to help with visualization I think of school-age Meredith as Troian Bellisario) but mostly I'm gonna be figuring this out as I go along (like what I'm gonna do about the hybrid plotline if I keep it, etc). So yeah, basically I just wanted to try my hand at a reboot/makeover, and I will do my best to keep true to their characters as much as possible! R&R is always much appreciated, but please don't bother with blind hatred. I will respond much more positively to constructive criticism than 'you suck gtfo'.

That said, here's the first chapter, and I hope you enjoy!

She Looked at Me From Across the Room

The shrill sound of an alarm clock blared through the blankets Caroline had pulled down over her head. Trying to ignore the alarm was useless, no matter how she tried to plug her ears—which was really the point, so at least the alarm was doing its job. With a groan Caroline sat up, tossing off her blankets and reaching across to her nightstand to slap the alarm, cutting off the shrill tone. She glanced at the clock—it was seven-thirty. She had half an hour to get dressed, eat, brush her teeth and get to school. "Plus side to Mom never being home," the blond grumbled, standing and combing her fingers through her tousled hair. "She never gets the messages the school leaves when I'm late."

As she expected, when she made her way down to the dining room there was a note on the table next to a box of cereal. "Gonna be a busy day at the station, I'll be late so don't wait up, blah blah blah," Caroline muttered, grabbing the note and tossing it into the trashcan. For a small town like Mystic Falls, her mother sure was kept busy at the police station. "Wonder if it has to do with those animal attacks that keep getting reported?" she mused aloud as she poured a bowl of cereal. Talking to herself beat the silence that permeated the house every day, even when her mother was home. It seemed like ever since her dad had left for some guy things were tense and uncomfortable and they had nothing in common any more.

At least that little tidbit of information hadn't made it to the grapevine, though. Caroline wasn't sure she'd be able to handle the gossip if it was about her life. There were definite upsides to being the Queen Bee of the school, and damage control was one of them.

It was seven forty-five when Caroline pulled on her favorite denim jacket to complete today's ensemble, ran a brush through her hair (one of the benefits of having easily manageable hair was that she didn't have to spend an hour styling it every morning) and grabbed her car keys and book bag. She'd finally gotten her driver's license the week before, after half a year of proving she could drive with an adult in the car and not get into a wreck, so she didn't have to take the bus any more. And even though she was fairly certain it had been a pity present along the lines of 'I'm sorry we never talk, here, have a car!' she wasn't going to turn her nose up at the Nissan now parked in the drive.

She had the whole ten minute drive to coach her expression into the proper 'I'm the queen and I know it' look. At least at school things went her way. She had an amazing boyfriend (the quarterback, of course; it only made sense since she was the captain of the cheer leading squad), she had all the friends (some more followers than anything, but really, what was the difference?) a person could need, the teachers liked her, the principle liked her. So what if her home life wasn't as stellar as she let everyone believe? School was where she went to get away from the emptiness, after all.

As soon as she got out of her car, there was the usual gaggle waiting for her, but as usual after saying her hellos she looked over their heads for the only people who were actually her friends, as far as she knew. She spotted Meredith and Bonnie across the parking lot; two of her best friends since preschool. She could remember the day they'd met like it was yesterday. The playground bully had broken the princess crown Caroline had gotten from her father for her birthday that morning, and she had started crying. Then Meredith, who'd seen the incident, had walked over to him and hit him in the face. (Of course, as they were four years old at the time, she didn't do much damage.) Meanwhile Bonnie and Elena had come from two separate sides of the playground and hugged her at the same time, even though they'd never played together before. They'd been inseparable ever since.

Things were so simple back then, Caroline thought now as she realized Elena wasn't with them. Everyone had heard what had happened over the summer at Wickery Bridge—Grayson and Miranda Gilbert had died, Elena had survived. Jeremy, Elena's younger brother, hadn't been in the car with them, thank God. Caroline couldn't imagine what it must've been like to lose both her parents in one night, but she couldn't imagine how Elena would have survived if Jeremy had died too. Elena and Jeremy had been sent to their aunt's, and everyone had been saying that they'd be back in time to start school, but it didn't look like either of them were here.

"Meredith, Bonnie!" Caroline called, waving to them as she made her way across the parking lot. The girls both looked her way, smiling. Bonnie drew her into a hug first—Meredith had never been the 'hug out your feelings' type, but Caroline pulled her into a hug next and even got a squeeze back. "How was your trip to Paris, Mer? And your Grams', Bonnie?" she asked; as usual, she'd been left mostly alone for the summer. Meredith always had some sort of trip planned, and Bonnie had been spending summers with her Grams for the past eight years. Elena and her parents usually went camping but, well… this year she was away for a different reason, obviously.

"It was great, actually. The architecture is simply marvelous, especially in Notre Dame. It took over two hundred years to build, and yet it looks like it all went together seamlessly. And-"

"What about you Bonnie?" Caroline asked, quickly cutting Meredith off; it wasn't to be rude, but because Mer was getting that far off look in her eye like she was about to go off on some long tangent about her current passion which no one else would understand.

"Oh, Grams was teaching me about palministry this time. You know, telling the future from your hands?" It was no secret that Bonnie's Grams was a little… odd, but every time Bonnie got back from visits to her she was excited to try out some new 'mystical' thing she'd learned, with sometimes eery results.

Before she could offer to read their palms, though, a voice sounded behind them. "Hey guys."

The three of them turned at the same moment when they heard the familiar voice. "Elena!" Caroline exclaimed, as the three of them took turns pulling her into a hug.

"Are you ok, Elena? How's Jeremy?" Bonnie asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine. We're fine," was the reply, but Caroline didn't buy it. She knew that tone, it was the same one she used, with the same fake smile, when pretending her life was perfect.

But she also knew it was the tone she used when she didn't want to talk about it.

Before Meredith, who had all the tact of a bowling ball dropped from the top of a hundred story building, could ask the questions everyone else was thinking but didn't want to say, a sleek, black Porsche purred into the parking lot.

In front of a small town school like Mystic Falls High, the car stuck out like a sore thumb. Within five minutes it would be buzzing all over school, and already people were wondering about the new arrival.

"Who is that?" Bonnie breathed; Caroline was momentarily speechless, and Meredith and Elena had just turned to look.

"And who would waste a car like that on a teenager?" Meredith asked, eyebrows raised; she was obviously impressed, which wasn't an easy feat.

"Forget the car, check him out!" Bonnie muttered, though she needn't have bothered; their eyes were all glued to the now-open door of the Porsche and the guy who was climbing out of it.

"He is gorgeous." Caroline was usually pretty good about not ogling guys who weren't her boyfriend, but no one could blame her for it this time. Even though he had Ray-Bans covering practically half of his face, it was easy to tell that he was incredibly good-looking—and tall, but not too tall. From where she was standing, Caroline could see as the boy—young man, really; he looked like one of those guys who could pass for twenty-six even though he was probably only seventeen—started to smile as though someone had just told a joke, and his dimples were killer.

"Where can I get one?" Elena asked, and the spell the new student's arrival had cast over them was broken; it was a relief to hear something normal from her best friend, since none of them really knew how to talk to someone who'd lost both her parents so recently. The four of them laughed and made their way towards the school building as the first bell rang.

Caroline didn't see him again until she was at her locker, which happened to be just outside the office. She couldn't help but stall a little, slowly stowing her books except for the one she needed for first period. He seemed to have taken off his sunglasses and was having an intense conversation with the office secretary. Then she nodded and he straightened; Caroline drew in a breath as he started turning, wondering what his eyes looked like.

She was watching him so intently that she was startled into shrieking when she felt an arm snake around her waist, pulling her into an embrace. It took her a moment to overcome the 'fight or flight' response, programmed into her by having a cop for a mother, to being suddenly accosted by an unknown male. "Tyler!" she gasped, finally seeing his face. Then he started laughing, and she smacked his shoulder, glaring at him. "You should warn me next time, you scared the crap out of me!"

"Well gee, Caroline, maybe you should listen when I call your name next time," he said, his voice teasing. When Caroline's glare deepened, he relented. "I'm sorry," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "Better?"

She couldn't help it; she smiled. "Yeah," she said, before kissing him back. The two-minute bell rang before they could get into a full-on make out session, though, and Caroline pulled back, surreptitiously glancing around the hall. The new student was nowhere to be seen, and she was surprised at how disappointed that made her. "I have history first period. You?" she asked, moving her concentration back to Tyler. Her boyfriend. You shouldn't be making googly eyes at other guys, Care, jeez.

Tyler shook his head. "Math."

"Well, I gotta go or I'm gonna be late." She leaned forward for another quick kiss, before pulling back and heading down the hall. "See you at lunch!"

Meredith and Elena had the same first period history class, and they had saved her a seat in front of them, which she slipped into just as the final bell rang.

"Cutting it close, huh Care?"

"Oh, you know me, Mer. I live life on the edge."

"Alright, cut the chatter everyone, you heard the bell right?" There was a collective groan as Mr. Tanner started talking. He had a reputation for being a dick. "That means this is my time, not yours. Now, we have a new student joining us today, hailing from… England, was it?"

"Bristol, yes."

Caroline's eyes widened as she turned to face the front and her eyes landed on the guy with the Porsche standing in front of the class. She hadn't expected to see him in her classes—she'd figured he was a senior. But here he was standing in the front of the class, and though he'd only said one word she could tell his accent was totally to die for. He met her eyes suddenly, and a cheeky grin played about his mouth as though he was waiting for her to be the first to look away. Caroline's eyes narrowed to a challenging glare and she stared right back, even though she knew she was blushing furiously.

"Right, well, give us your name, Mr…"

"Mikaelson," he filled in. "Niklaus Mikaelson. But please, call me Klaus, everyone else does."

He was looking at her again, and Caroline's eyes narrowed even further; to an onlooker it had to have seemed like she was trying to set him on fire with her stare or something. I'm not looking away first, you d-

"Right, well, Mr Mikaelson, the seat next to Miss Forbes is free."

Klaus was still looking at her, and she could swear the corner of his mouth twitched upward. "I hate him," she whispered fiercely, turning her head just enough so that her friends could hear her.

"What? Care, you don't even know him," Elena said, but Caroline stubbornly shook her head.

"Did you see the way he was looking at me just now? He's a total d-"

"You're Miss Forbes?"

Caroline inhaled sharply—during her ranting, Klaus had managed to get right next to her desk without her realizing. "Caroline. Yes," she said coldly, turning back to face the front and crossing her arms. She knew that it was irrational to be so certain she hated him after knowing him for all of five seconds, but she didn't care. Sometimes you just got a gut feeling that you hated someone, and it was hard for someone as stubborn as Caroline to overcome that.

"I'm Klaus," he continued, as though completely oblivious to the mental daggers Caroline was sending his way. He sat down in the desk next to hers and extended a hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Yeah, it's a real pleasure," Caroline told him through gritted teeth, keeping her arms crossed and very pointedly ignoring his outstretched hand. When she chanced a glance at him out of the corner of her eyes, he had an even more infuriating (if it were even possible) smirk on his face, and he didn't seem perturbed at all by the fact that she hadn't shook his hand as he settled back in his seat. If anything, he seemed smug about the whole thing.

Caroline didn't like him. At all. And she was certain this year was going to be torture, especially if he was in any of her other classes.