The Devil's Daughter

First Day

Eventually Kate went to bed. Honestly, Damon had no idea how she could sleep. She must've just been in shock. Little did he know that she was just lying in bed, listening to his conversation with Stefan.

"This has got to be hard for her," Damon muttered.

"Hard? Damon, she just found out that her mother wasn't the person she thought she was, that she'd pick Katherine over her, and had to kill her. This is more than just hard."

"I realize that, brother. I just, don't know what to do."

"You can be there for her."

"How do I do that?"

"You talk to her, try to get her to do things that will distract her. You act like a father."

Damon ignored that last one. "How do I distract her?"

Stefan thought for a moment. "You could get her to come to school with me and Elena. We all know that school is just social hour for vampires, and it'll be nice for her to make some friends."

Damon pondered that for a minute. "Okay."

After agonizing silence, a thought popped into Damon's head. "How am I supposed to act like her father?" Stefan put a hand on his shoulder.

"You make her feel like more than just a visiting friend. Make her feel like she belongs here. Make her want to stay."

Damon looked at his brother. Why couldn't it have been him with the child? He obviously had a pretty good handle on this. Damon had no idea where he would be without him.

When Damon brought up the idea of going to school, Kate jumped at the chance. Even if she wasn't staying long, she couldn't bear to spend another second in that house. She needed something to take her mind off of what happened. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see her mother desiccating before her eyes.

Kate hopped in the passenger seat of Stefan's car and slid on her sunglasses. "You ready?" he asked.

"I've done this four times, I think I can handle it," she said dryly. Any other time, she would have seemed like she was in a mood. Considering how she'd been acting the past few days, though, dry humor was a major improvement.

They walked into the main office and got Kate's schedule. With a little compulsion, Stefan was able to get her into the same history class as him, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline. Unfortunately, that wasn't until fourth period. He'd have to wait until lunch to see how she was holding up.

Kate walked off to her first class, Algebra, and handed her teacher the note explaining who she was. She took a seat in the back and pulled out a sheet of notebook paper.

Honestly, Kate liked math. She liked that it could straightforward and just come out and ask you what it was looking for. There was no guessing. A note landed on her desk. Hit me up ;) xxx-xxxx Kate wanted to throw up. Guys got more and more idiotic as time went on. She tossed the note on the floor and kicked it over to the trashcan. She heard a few guys snicker beside her. Kate blocked them out for the rest of class and decided to pay attention. She must have been doing better than she thought because she barely noticed when the bell rang. It scared her so much that she dropped her bag.

As Kate scrambled to pick up her things, someone placed her pencil on her desk. She looked up to meet a guy with dark hair.

"Thanks," Kate mumbled, picking up her bag.

"They're jerks," he said, helping her get her belongings.

"What?"

"Whoever threw you that note. Let me guess, some witty remark about how they want to hook up?"

Kate shook her head. "Nope, straight up asked. I'm Kate, by the way," she introduced.

"Jeremy, I'm Elena's brother."

"Did she ask you to check up on me?"

"No, it just seems like everyone knows who she is." They both stopped at their English class. "Well, it looks like we have the same second period. Feel free to sit next to me if you want me to intercept anymore notes."

Kate laughed. It was nice to joke around. She handed the teacher her note and took a seat next to Jeremy. Apparently, they'd been studying To Kill a Mockingbird. Kate decided that she wouldn't participate, but things started to get interesting.

"What do you think the overall theme of the book is?" the teacher asked.

"Always put arms in your costume," a jock joked. Before Kate knew it, she was talking.

"Coming of age, and how innocence is lost, whether it be for better or worse."

"Can you elaborate?" the teacher asked. All eyes were on Kate now.

"Um, Scout learned not to judge people based on rumors she'd heard, which was for better. They learned that everyone has a story. At the same time, though, they learned that the world can be a dangerous place. People you'd never expect can hurt you in ways you can't imagine," she explained. The teacher smiled.

"It's nice to have someone in here with insight."

Kate spent her next class by herself since Jeremy wasn't in art. When she walked into lunch, Elena waved her over. Bonnie and Caroline were already sitting down, and she could bet that Stefan would be here any minute. Sure enough, he plopped down with a tray of food.

"How's your first day?" he asked. Kate shook her head.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," she joked.

"Welcome to Mystical Falls," Bonnie teased.

"I met your brother," Kate said to Elena.

"Please tell me he wasn't an idiot," Elena groaned. Kate laughed.

"No, but he stopped quite a few notes from them in English." They all laughed. Kate tried to think of the last time she had a conversation this...normal. She didn't really have friends in the past, except them.