Mystic Falls Loner Club - A Vampire Diaries Fic

Chapter 6: Interesting Conversation

I wake up to my alarm blaring in my ear and I hit it aggressively to turn it off. I groan as I get out of bed and walk to the bathroom. I knock twice before swinging open the door and starting my morning routine. After briskly washing my face and dampening my hair, I slick it down into two low ponytails and braid it. As I brush my teeth, I wrap the front of my hair with a black bandana and fumble for jeans and a top. 

As I finish, I can hear Jeremy stumbling out of bed. Before he can come in, I dry my face and rinse off my toothbrush. I leave the bathroom in a rush and find a white t-shirt and blue mom jeans to put on. I put on my black leather converse and grab the leather jacket from the edge of my mirror. I don't remember buying this... I think to myself before I make my way downstairs. 

Jenna is setting the dining room table and Elena is helping move some utensils to the placements. "Morning," I say, looking around at the chaos of the kitchen. "Jenna thought it would be nice for us to sit and have the first meal of the day together," Elena says, coming over to me and tucking her hair behind her ear. I nod, glancing over at the table before saying, "Cool. What's for breakfast?" "Well, there are waffles, some fruit, and hash browns in the toaster." I nod and smile. "This looks great, thank you."

Jenna smiles and replies, "Of course, KJ. And I know you were expecting to spend more time with Bonnie but we want you here just as much as she did." I nod and give her a toothless smile before sitting down. Elena sticks her fork into a bowl of fruit and spears a piece of canteloupe. With her mouth partially full, she asks, "KJ, is that a new jacket? It's cute." I shrug and sit back in my chair. "I honestly don't know. I found it hanging on my mirror." She laughs and puts her fork down on her plate. "I'm gonna go check on Jeremy. Be right back." 

Jenna's moving around the kitchen, putting the freshly done hashbrowns on a plate, and attempting to fan the air over the toaster to get rid of the smoke. I laugh to myself and glance down at the jacket, pulling on the lapel. "Where the hell did you come from?" I wonder to myself aloud. 

---

"Does anyone have lip gloss I can borrow? I switched purses last night and left mine in the other one." Caroline asks, digging around. "I have one." I volunteer, opening the front pocket of my bag and grabbing my lip gloss. "Fruit punch, nice." I smile and glance back at the doors as they open to see who's coming in. "Expecting someone?" I hear behind me. 

I turn and see Matt standing with his workout bag on his shoulder and in a grey tank top that is drenched in sweat. I laugh and answer, "Morning Matt. And no, I like to be aware of my surroundings."  He nods, mocking me with a fake concerned face, and replies, "Right. And I just wanted to be sweaty for no particular reason." I roll my eyes as he laughs walking away to the locker room. 

Elena nudges me before crumpling a piece of paper, hitting Matt square in the back of the head. "Maybe you wanted us to look at your muscles because you're self-absorbed." She yells. Caroline finishes looking in her small mirror and hands me back my lip gloss. "Thanks, KJ. You're a lifesaver." I nod and slip it back into my bag, glancing at my watch. "I'm gonna head to class early. I have an odd feeling that we have a pop quiz in physics." 

Elena frowns and states, "Thanks for reminding me." I lightly laugh and see Stefan making his way over. "Don't look now but your boyfriend's on his way over." Elena pulls on her backpack strap and turns toward the double doors, tucking her hair behind her ear. "See you later, Caroline," I announce. She's aggressively texting someone back on her phone so I don't wait for a response and head down the hall. Talk about self-absorbed. I think. 

There are a few people I pass in the halls, most of them with unfamiliar faces. I turn down the left corridor and see Tyler Lockwood leaning against my locker. I make my way toward him and cross my arms. "If there's not an apology waiting on that tongue of yours, I don't want to hear your voice, Lockwood," I shove him out of the way, opening my locker and grabbing a few notebooks. "You could've just asked me to move." "I didn't feel like it. And I've moved you out of my way before. What do you want?" 

I start walking down the hall and hear him sprint to catch up with me. "For someone that's shorter than the average woman's height, you sure do walk fast." I roll my eyes and stop abruptly. "Tyler cut the crap. If you really need tutoring, I can do it. I shouldn't but because I'm somewhat nice, I'll do it. But again, unless you're going to apologize to me, I don't want to talk to or help you."

He sighs and looks behind him before saying, "Look KJ, I know we just met but I really need your help. I know you're supposed to be some genius from a prestigious Boston school or whatever but now you're here in Mystic Falls. I don't know if the advanced curriculum fried your brain past the point of help but I really need it."

I arch my eyebrows and stop in front of my classroom. "I didn't hear an apology in there. So I can't help you." I chuckle softly in the middle of my phrase and finish, "Actually, I won't help you." I swing the door open before Tyler can say anything else and walk to my seat. I grab my physics notebook and a pen before dropping my bag onto the floor next to my desk.

It's still early so no one else is in class. I pull my iPad from my bag and start doodling another tattoo design. It's inspired by the lightning bolt from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I use the pen to sketch the outline when I hear banging on the glass window outside. I glance up and see Damon standing, smiling in my direction. I scrunch my eyebrows together and get up, sliding the window open.

"Damon, the day hasn't even started. What do you want?" I ask, leaning against the ledge. He chuckles before reaching forward and starting to pull my jacket off. "I would like to have my jacket back." I pull the rest of the jacket off and hand it to him. "That makes sense. I put it on this morning and had no clue where it came from." Damon smirks before replying, "You do look considerably better than I do. I almost let you keep it."

I frown and walk to sit back in my seat. "Why can't I? You have enough jackets to clothe a cold biker gang." He laughs and in a blink, is next to my chair with his jacket on, leaning against the desk and messing around with one of the beakers. "I would love to but this jacket specifically is my 'casual' one and since I was out, I figured I should come and get it." I roll my eyes and glance back down at my iPad, starting the sketch again.

"You were bored which means 'its time to bother KJ' time in Damon's vocabulary," I comment, not meeting his eyes. "Hey, I don't only come to you when I'm bored." I arch my eyebrow and respond, "Then why do I only see you at night?" "Because that way we can have more private conversations about my lifestyle. You're also in school all day so the most I can do is drive you to and from school. We could even do lunch at the Grill."

I smile and look up at him. "Perfect. If you do grab lunch, I love pickles." I continue doodling and hear the class door lock. I glance up and Damon's still here but now he looks more serious. "Alright cut the crap. Do you want to do this or do you want to just keep staring up at me through your lashes?" I put my stylus down and cross my arms over my chest, leaning onto the table.

"I don't know what we're doing. And to be honest Damon, I don't know why you don't go after someone else that would rather be your loyal blood bag without compelling them. Caroline's jaw practically dropped to the floor when she saw you walk past at the Grill so I think you should start having her follow you around." In a rush of wind, Damon's next to me and his hand is lifting up my chin. "I don't want to compel someone to be with me. And I don't want to use anyone as my walking blood bag." With the way our eyes lock, I don't like the way it makes me feel. 

I raise an eyebrow and Damon bites his lower lip quickly. "Okay, that's a lie. I wouldn't mind having someone I could drink from every here and again because blood is just better from the vein but I mean if I'm gonna-" Before he could finish his sentence, the bell rings, letting everyone know they should start heading to class. 

Damon's hand drops from my chin and I look away. "That's your queue," I comment, rubbing my arms with my hands. He shrugs out of his jacket without hesitation. "Here, you look better in it anyway." I pull it on and before I can say thank you, he's gone. I sigh and get up from my stool, unlock the lab door and sit back down to finish my tattoo doodle.