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ATHENA HUNT USED TO ENJOY SCHOOL. She had friends, she was on the cheerleading team with all of her best friends and her girlfriend, and she was happily gunning for valedictorian, even though they were still just juniors.
All of that changed, after the accident. She lost her girlfriend, all of her friends, and every bit of her self-esteem that summer. And it was only because of sheer spite, and a brand new Mercedes from her dad that he swore wasn't a bribe, that she was returning back to school. It really wasn't her choice, at the end of the day. Because if it was, she would've died before she chose to go back to Mystic Falls High School. Home to the Timberwolves, and everything she once held dear.
She was trying not to resent her father for making her go back. He had her best interests in mind, and it was a losing argument. Most arguments in their household were moot points because her dad had no qualms about using his fancy, framed law degree to win against his teenage daughter.
Raphael was a successful man, who was very book-smart but lacked a lot of common sense. He was a bit of a control freak, and he always had the air of someone with their head in the clouds, but also never missed a beat. He was also as stubborn as a mule, and if nothing else, Athena knew she'd inherited that trait from him.
It was just them, it always had been. Her mother died during childbirth, and her father never remarried, or even really spoke about the woman, so Athena was used to it being just the two of them. She couldn't be sad over a woman she'd never met, let alone never even seen a picture of, after all.
She'd grown used to a certain kind of solitude, especially this past summer with most of her time spent in a doctor's office, learning how to smile without creating scar tissue, and how not to sleep on her side anymore, since her injuries were so severe.
She hadn't talked to anyone besides her father and her doctors for the past three and a half months, and she was aware of the fact the more her father spoke as she half-heartedly ate her bowl of cereal.
He was asking her questions that always came off as slightly interrogative, a habitual of his career. Asking if she was trying out for the varsity cheer squad this year, or perhaps trying volleyball again instead. He sprinkled in a few mentions of Caroline and the girls, who she hadn't seen since a particularly nasty visit to her hospital room in May, but she couldn't fault him for that. He had no idea about anything that had happened in the aftermath of the accident outside of her physical well-being.
Letting out a slightly frustrated sigh, she spooned a bite of cereal into her mouth and chewed, using a crumpled napkin to pat at the milk drops in the corners of her mouth. "I don't know what they're doing, Dad. I, uh, I haven't talked to them in a few days."
Months, more like it, but he didn't need to know that. He'd just start interrogating her about that, and she really didn't want to talk about it. She'd done more than enough thinking.
