Book One: Panacea (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Four

Diana walks into the classroom where her fellow students are already hanging out, flirting, and catching up. Diana takes a seat next to where Elena and Caroline are sitting

"So what happened with you and Derek?" Elena asks Diana who shoots her a look.

"Nothing" Diana answers, Elena gives her a look back.

"I heard you two last night, when he stopped by" Elena offers. "Did he upset you?" Diana huffs a little and then shrugs.

"It doesn't matter" Diana defends. "We made up" Elena raises an eyebrow. "We're fine" Diana whispers softly. The final bell rings but the teacher isn't in the room. The door opens. Everyone turns to check out – Bonnie Bennett as she walks into the classroom. When she realizes all eyes are on her she hangs her head and then hurries to her table next to Elena's. Elena mouths 'Are you okay?' to Bonnie. Bonnie shrugs back in answer. Diana sets her notebook on the table and then digs in her bag for her pen. Alaric then walks into the and heads straight for the chalkboard where he writes his name. Mr. Saltzman.

"Good Morning everyone. Alrighty." He proudly surveys his first class. His eyes fall upon Diana. "Holy shit." Diana looks up to see Alaric, who is looking totally adorable in his blue shirt with his hair neatly groomed, this is such a better look for him, and damn him for it. She is as surprised to see him as he is to see her. The chorus of chatter falls silent and all the students turn to see who Alaric is looking at. Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline look back and is stunned to see that Diana is the focus of his attention. All four girls exchange looks. With all eyes still on her, Diana's phone rings, signaling she has received a text message.

"Sorry." Diana whispers and quickly pulls her phone from her bag and silences the ring. Alaric clears his throat and composes himself.

"I'm Alaric Saltzman." Alaric continues but there is a nervous waver to his voice now. "It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce 'Alaric' but it's 'Alaric', okay? So, you can call me Ric." Alaric realizes that he is rambling now, he clears his throat. "I'm your new history teacher." Diana looks down at her phone. A shiver runs up her spine as she reads...'Maybe he fools around with students all of the time. A lot of teachers do. - X'

................

Diana remains at her desk after the rest of the classroom empties, she can't move. She physically can't make herself move. This was not something she expected to happen today. She never expected to see him again. That was it. That night. What they did. Oh, this is so bad. This is going to be so bad. But it was so very good. She's never been touched like the way he touched her that night. Which is bad. Alaric looks up from his desk. Notes that they are alone. He looks at her for a long moment before he speaks.

"You told me you went to Whitmore." He accuses.

"No." she counters. "I said I was thinking about majoring in English" She argues. "And that's true." She assures him. He looks down at his desk, his fingers touching the textbook there, he closes it then looks back up at her. She reads his frustration. She lets out a breath and then stands and collects her things. She approaches his desk and leans against it. He lets out a breath and looks at her.

"Look, the other night" he starts and then sighs trying to find the right words. "I think you're amazing, Diana." she smiles at him, her heart warmed slightly by the admission. "And there was something between us...." She moves her hand over to touch his, his eyes glance down at the touch. He moves his hand away from hers. "But you're a high school student...you're just a kid" he shakes his head. "It's not right" Alaric stands and walks toward the door. He opens it and looks at her. She nods a little. Understands. Diana walks out of the classroom before she turns back to him.

"Alaric." She starts, he raises an eyebrow. "Did you tell anyone about us?"

"No, I didn't" He assures her and then goes back to his desk. Diana looks down at her phone, the text still loaded on her screen.

"Well, somebody knows." She whispers to herself and then walks away, Alaric glances up to watch her go, a sadness flickering across his eyes.

.................

Later, in the history classroom. Jeremy walks into Alaric's class and greets Alaric, who is eating his lunch at his desk.

"Hey, Mr. Saltzman, I'm Jeremy Gilbert. You wanted to see me?" Jeremy offers. Alaric finishes chewing and sets down his sandwich.

"You know that your old teacher had a jackass file? No joke." Alaric holds up the file. "It's typed on a label. It has all the troublemakers in it. But really it's just an opus-- to you." Jeremy looks at him in alarm. "Don't worry about it" Alaric throws the file in the trashcan. "I'm not him. Clean slate. Now...let's talk about grades."

"I know it's been a rough couple of months, but I've been trying to turn them around."

"Yeah, I saw that. But, the problem is, we're halfway through a semester and half a fail is still pretty bleak." Alaric counters, Jeremy remains silent. "This is the part where you say to me, 'But what can I do to change that?' I'm glad you asked! How do you feel about extra credit?" Jeremy nods his head in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah, totally! Whatever." Jeremy agrees, Alaric smiles.

"Good! Write me a paper, then."

"Okay. About what?"

"History. Pick a topic, keep it local, and no Wikipedia-regurgita. These old towns have a rich history, so just get your hands dirty, make it sing, and your back on track. Deal?"

"Yeah. Deal." Jeremy notices a large ring on Alaric's finger. "That's a cool ring."

"Oh, thanks," Alaric responds slightly awkward. "It was my father's. A little garish, but family, you know?" Alaric clears his throat. "You've got a week" Jeremy nods and then stands from the desk. Alaric follows suit as Jeremy leaves his classroom and looks down the corridor to where Diana is stood at her locker, her camera in her hand.

"Diana!" Jeremy shouts, Alaric snaps his head up and moves closer to listen in as Diana approaches her little brother.

"Jeremy" She greets with a look. "You don't talk to me at school, you know, I'm the embarrassment, so what's going on?"

"Will you give me a ride home tonight?" he asks.

"Can't, busy" Diana offers as she fiddles with the camera in her hand.

"Come on, Di" Jeremy begs her. "I've never asked you anything"

"That's not true" Diana accuses. "You once asked for those fruity chews, remember?" She asks him, he smirks and chuckles. "I broke into a vending machine with a spork." He smiles, remembers that fondly. "For you....and you promised..."

"I would never ask for anything ever again," He tells her. "I was seven, Di" he defends himself. "I just need a ride...."

"And I told you, I can't...I have a meeting with the paper" she explains. "Then I need to get started on my art project...then I have to pick up a stack of sheet music from the store....and then, finally, before dinner, I have to pick up my negatives from the darkroom...Now, unless you want to sit around and wait for me to get through all of that...."

"Nope," Jeremy tells her. "I'll just walk" she gives him a smirk.

"Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go take photos of the cheerleaders..." She holds up her camera. "And the football team" Her eyes peer over Jeremy's shoulder to find Alaric lingering in his classroom doorway watching them. "I have to go," Diana tells Jeremy before walking away, basically fleeing this whole situation. Jeremy frowns as he watches her running away from him, well, from Alaric.