Rebel Just For Kicks: Kol Mikaelson [1]

~ PROLOGUE ~

"Who is that?" Caroline Forbes was sitting at the top of the Mystic Falls High School bleachers with some of the girls from the cheerleading squad, as well as Elena and Bonnie. It was the first day back at school after the summer, Elena was pretending to be fine, and Bonnie had suggested eating somewhere other than the super crowded cafeteria to give her a moment to breathe.

Bonnie was also hoping that by being outside, with the cheer team, Matt and his friends nearby, things would go back to normal just a little bit quicker.

The boys were always doing macho-offs, so it wasn't a surprise to hear a competition down on the field, and they didn't feel the need to take an interest until they heard Matt laugh.

Matt had been the brooding ex-boyfriend all summer. Brooding exes didn't laugh.

The girl standing in between Tyler and Matt had copper tinted hair, the top part pulled back into a loose braid, tiny pieces of metal clipped along it. Her skin was warm, tanned, and she had a petite face with round eyes. 

"She was in our history class," Bonnie shrugged, looking to Elena.

"She was?" Elena had not noticed.

"Her and Mr-Hot-Back."

"So she's new?" another one of the girls asked.

"Must be," Caroline frowned and leant forward, looking at the floral skirt the girl was wearing, and the bracelets up her arms, "She's pretty,"

Bonnie and Elena shared a look, "Stand down, Care,"

"What! It would be rude to not say hi,"

"Caroline," Bonnie tried to grab her arm as she stood up, but Caroline was on a mission. 

There was no stopping her.

The girl was drinking from a water bottle that seemed to be filled with a smoothie, smiling at Tyler and Matt as they talked about sports, and none of them noticed Caroline's arrival until she coughed.

"Um, hey, Caroline," Matt spoke carefully, glancing at Tyler then looking up to Elena and Bonnie.

Caroline ignored his greeting and turned to the girl, "You're new!"

"Yeah," the girl wasn't sure what tone she was supposed to use in response to that obvious fact being declared, "I'm MJ."

"Caroline," Caroline put on a smile and held out a hand for her to shake. 

MJ quickly took it and bit her lip. She couldn't laugh at the falseness of it all, fake nice was better than outright mean. 

"I just wanted to give you a proper Mystic Falls welcome, it can't be easy being the new girl....Where did you come from?"

"LA."

"Oh! California! That's great. I bet you were quite the beach girl."

"I liked surfing," she shrugged.

"Surfing?" Tyler perked up, "My uncle lives in Florida and he surfs a lot."

"Do you ever go out with him?"

"Oh no, he's the not the teacher type."

"Sad, you're missing out."

Caroline cleared her throat to get their attention again, "So you're into sports?"

"Yeah, trying out for track tomorrow..." It was clear MJ felt super awkward under Caroline's intense gaze.

"It's good that you were given Ty and Matt as guides then,"

"Oh, I was given Ava," MJ pointed to a group of people eating at the bottom of the bleachers, all happily chatting about other things while half watching.

"So you're just choosing to spend your time with them. Lovely,"

"Did you come here with a purpose Caroline, or are you just trying to scare her?" Tyler joked, causing Caroline to whack him on the arm.

"I came to be nice!" She paused then smiled somewhat deviously, "And, to make sure you told her about the back to school party tomorrow."

"We were getting to it," Matt's voice was quiet and he was staring up at the bleachers wistfully.

"You know what," Tyler had an irritated look on his face, and a goal to piss Caroline, "A group of us are hanging out at the Grill tonight, you should come to that too." 

Caroline glared at him. Goal achieved.

"What's The Grill?" MJ asked.

"It's a place in town," Tyler summed up, "Serves food, pool tables, dartboards."

"Sounds great."

"Yeah," Caroline gritted her teeth, "Definitely. You should come. We can get to know you better."

The pep in her voice kept up her façade of niceness, but it still managed to make MJ feel somewhat threatened.

She'd never been one to back down though.

"Can't wait."