Protecting The Petrovas

【ｔｗｏ】

Ако съм направил нещо както трябва в моя живот,

то е било, когато ти дадох сърцето си.

Ako sam napravil neshto kakto tryabva v moya zhivot,

to e bilo, kogato ti dadoh sartseto si.

'𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎,

𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞.'

2009AD

AUTUMN

AN OVERWHELMING MIXTURE OF BODY SPRAY AND SWEAT occupied the hallways, threatening to penetrate the safety bubble of the classroom. Aleksandria, now Alex Michaels, stood in front of the whiteboard as she used a dry erase marker to write her name in large cursive lettering. She should have been doing something valuable with her time, having been alive for over one-thousand years. Instead, she continued to repeat high school and college. Compelled her way out of tuition fees and collected degrees that usually attracted nothing more than dust on her shelves.

Her family would laugh if they could see her now; a shell of the woman she once was. She grew bored with the mundane day-to-day. Of the constant need to persuade her way out of anything and everything. Though she still looked 22 years old, she was well past her prime. Why she now spent her days teaching students, she would never know.

She kept her façade as well as she could; packed lunches with homemade meals and handwritten notes on napkins. She did everything right, by the book, lest she get caught and have to take off. While it hadn't happened in decades, it was always a thought in the back of her mind.

The murmuring of the surrounding classroom stifled as she turned to face the students, though their thoughts continued to weasel their way into her ears. She looks like she should be sitting with us. Is she even old enough to teach? Who let her in here? Why would I listen to someone who looks like they're my age? How much could she know that I don't? Who is this teenager pretending to be a teacher?

While the thoughts of the others flooded her mind, her own thoughts went to the boy on the end of her sword. Even after all this time, he still haunted her. Alex shook the image from her head before she could spiral. She took a deep breath and composed herself. It was a reminder that she needed to feed as soon as the last bell rang. With hunger came the loss of control, and she couldn't let that happen again.

"Welcome to your first day of Composition and Literature." Her accent dripped from her lips, the Bulgarian eager to find its way into the atmosphere. It was the one thing she couldn't shake throughout the years. Many thought it was enchanting, others swore it was fake and used solely for attention. Alex let her eyes briefly scan the classroom.

There were faces she didn't quite recognize, students she'd only ever seen throughout the halls of Mystic Falls High School, scattered before her. In the center, however, sat Tatia. Or, at least for a brief blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, it seemed like Tatia. The woman she once loved sat before her, donned in her corset and gown with her intricate braids scattered throughout her hair. To Tatia's left sat Caroline Forbes, and on her right was Bonnie Bennett. When her attention returned to where Tatia was seated, Elena Gilbert was firmly in her place.

She let out a quiet sigh, not realizing she had been holding her breath. As she took attendance, the door to the classroom swung open. The noxious smell from the hallway wafted in as a boy, no older than 17, made his way into the classroom.