Chapter Text
When MJ had gotten in her car to get to the first day of junior year, she'd felt shivers. If only there hadn't been a freaking animal attack on the news. She wouldn't have had anything to worry about if that hadn't happened.
Animal attacks.
The phrase always raised red flags in her head, but eventually, she'd have to stop being paranoid. Maybe that day was today. Not every single potentially supernatural situation was actually supernatural, and even if it was, even if there was a rogue vampire running around the town, that didn't mean it was gonna alter her entire life.
She could just be Mira Jung, MJ, new girl, soon to be 'remember her?' girl.
She'd been in Mystic Falls for a week.
And other than the animal attack on the news that morning, nothing exciting had happened - which was a good thing. She kept telling herself that. She was going to be busy with school, meeting people, getting used to the town, she didn't need to learn her new home was a vampire nest or something. She just needed to slip into the town's world for a year, then move on. The routine she'd built up.
As she parked at the school she looked at her phone. It was attached to the dashboard and had been recording all of her thoughts during the drive.
"De todos modos...te amo, habla pronto," She pressed pause and saved the file.
Her brother was in another country, and busy, she couldn't just phone him every time something happened in her life, but pretending she was talking to him was a habit she'd developed. It was a moment where she didn't have to be wary of anyone around her, and she could be open and honest, a modern-day diary. She sent the files to her brother at the end of each week, so he'd know what she was up to, and she could already feel him judging her for choosing to live in a place called Mystic Falls and expecting anything other than a vampire attack.
Whatever.
She just went to where her map told her to go, and it had never steered her wrong before.
She turned off her car engine, slipped her phone into her pocket, took a deep breath, and got out of the car. Opening her door right into a guy in a brown jacket and sunglasses.
"I'm so sorry," she was laughing a little, she couldn't stop herself, and the guy seemed fine. If she didn't know better, it almost felt like a meet-cute.
"Don't worry, I should've been paying more attention too."
His voice was calm, collected, and he wasn't carrying any kind of school bag.
"You a junior here?" she asked carefully, noticing a few people looking in their direction and trying to work out which of them was attracting all the attention.
"A new one, yeah."
"Same," she held out her hand, "MJ."
He took it, "Stefan."
Interesting.
"Well, see you around fellow newbie," She said as warmly as she could, before acting like all her attention was on grabbing her bag from the other side of her car. She was actually watching his shadow walk slowly away.
Maybe now wasn't the time to stop being paranoid about vampires.
Or maybe her witchy intuition was wrong, and he was just giving her normal bad vibes over supernatural bad vibes.
A ring on his finger was shining in the sun as he walked through the crowd.
Mierda.
One vampire and an animal attack on the news didn't have to mean anything.
It wasn't her business. It wasn't her business.
No.
Her business was meeting her tour guide at her new locker, finding out about the clubs she'd want to join, and making sure her grades stayed perfect so she could slip away without a problem in June.
Most of the watching eyes had followed the vampire. Fair enough, he was attractive, but she was far more interested in what type of vampire he was over what type of girl he liked.
Stefan. He'd said his name was Stefan.
'Stop. Thinking. About. Vampires.'
MJ sighed. She needed to find her locker.
The rest of her day was a lot less stressful.
Her student buddy was called Ava, and she'd been nothing but helpful, and the school had chosen her deliberately, thinking the pair might hit it off. Ava was on the track team, something MJ's file indicated she might be interested in, and all of Ava's friends were far more welcoming than most teenagers were to new kids.
They also tended to eat outside most lunchtimes, meaning MJ had been pulled straight out of the end of their History class, to quickly grab food from the cafeteria, then follow Ava through an exit. MJ wasn't complaining about being pulled away. The vampire had been assigned the seat in front of her, instantly ruining one of her favourite subjects. She'd tried to focus on the dates, and the facts, and the teacher's droning voice, but she kept noticing the stupid eyes he was giving a girl further forward.
The last thing she needed was a vampire stalking a High Schooler.
"So," Ava stood in front of a group, pointing at each person as she said their name, "Elliot, Briar, and Kate," Then she pointed to MJ, "Properly meet MJ!"
MJ had spent the morning doing the whole 'hey, I'm new, nice to meet you,' stick in every class, so she hadn't really gotten formal introductions to anyone.
The group was part of a larger crowd of people eating on the bleachers. A cluster of girls at the top, chatting lightly and paying her no attention, some guys to the left, all in letterman jackets. There were also two guys standing up and passing a football about, one blonde, one brown-haired.
"Welcome," Elliot shifted his bag to make more space, then offered her some of his crisps. He had a headphone in but no one seemed to mind, so she didn't either.
"Thank you," MJ sat down, letting herself relax. No vampire in sight, "What you listening too?"
"Beyoncé, I'm determined that this day is going to have good vibes, and she's gonna get me through it,"
"Fair," she laughed, "My friend choreographed a whole dance to Diva and made me learn part of it for a video we made. Been on my get hyped playlist ever since,"
"Pics or it didn't happen," he sat up, smiling.
"Give me a minute," she pulled out her phone.
"You're a dancer?"
"Not really, did stuff when I was younger and kept up gymnastics on the side. She mainly just wanted me to do tricks," she found the video near the start of her camera roll, "Here."
"Just because she's a new girl doesn't mean you have to go straight to GBF mode, El," one of the guys on their left called over, "At least act like you're not a cliché for a minute."
A few other people in the group started to snigger while Elliot stuck two fingers up at them. Her eyes narrowed into what would become a trademark judge-y glare.
"And you would be?" MJ asked
"Aris."
"Dumb name,"
"Yours?"
"MJ,"
"Like spiderman's girlfriend!" he had the dumbest grin on his face, like that was the smartest thing he'd ever said.
It probably was.
"Jackpot," she rolled her eyes, "Please tell me you're not a track team jock, I don't wanna have to put up with you long term,"
"Football actually." Of course, "You're a track girl?"
"Was giving me WAG energy," a different one snorted, giving her a far too invasive once over.
"Calm it, Christian, if she wants to try out, we don't want you putting her off," one of the guys who'd been tossing the football spoke up, "Who knows, looks can be deceiving."
"You trying to say I don't look like I could keep up with your team?" MJ spoke innocently. The guy smiled.
"You're wearing a skirt right now, you can't exactly race me."
"The skirt will just make my win that much more satisfying."
"Big talk."
"Uh-huh," MJ glanced at the football, "Could probably throw as far as you too."
"I'm Tyler."
"I didn't ask," she stood up, "Don't need to know your name to kick your ass."
"You really want to do this, a race and a throwing contest?"
"I'm game if you are."
"I mean, not to interrupt, guys," Ava put two hands up to grab their attention, "But that feels like you're setting up for a tiebreaker. If we're going full pre-football trails; it's laps, agility, and throwing practice, right?"
"Best of three?" MJ suggested.
Tyler may not have been the main problem out of the group of guys being 'funny', but she didn't have the energy to waste time on people like them. She liked people with potential.
"Matt, you got a stopwatch on you?" Tyler said to the blonde boy he'd been tossing the ball with.
He'd been in her history class too, but she hadn't been able to catch his name.
Matt.
"Eh, yeah," he'd been somewhat zoned out, looking up at the girls near the top of the bleachers, but the idea of doing something got him to smile.
That was how MJ found herself standing on the field, an agility circuit set up from a pile of cones that had been lying on the grass, watching Tyler ease his way around it. He'd offered to go first, 'give her a chance to back out,'
She had a feeling she was going to like Tyler.
Matt was by the final cone, crouching down to get the most accurate time. Good to know they were just as competitive as she was. That said, it didn't seem like Tyler was trying too hard.
Eh, his fault for underestimating her. He wouldn't be making that mistake again.
As she stood by the starting cone, giving Ty an 'impressed' smile, she rolled her shoulders and stretched a little. Ava and her friends were watching, so were the guys, but the girls at the top still didn't seem bothered.
Then she heard Matt yell, and she took off.
Agility Tests had always been one of her favourite activities in P.E. lessons, she was a quick thinker and a sprinter, and occasionally they'd throw a basketball into the circuit to make it even more fun. She couldn't do middle distances to save her life, she could never work out how to pace herself, but sprinting and long-distance running was a lot easier to master.
She skidded to a halt after the final cone, took a few deep breaths then looked to Matt.
"Sorry to say, dude, but she beat you," Matt held the stopwatch up to Ty, a shit-eating grin on his face, "Only just, but she did,"
"Best of three, I let her have this one to make it interesting!" Ty shook his head.
"Laps or throwing?" MJ asked him, twisting her ankles out and making them crack loudly.
Ty gagged, "That's awful."
"I'm secretly made of glowsticks," she shrugged, cracking her knuckles too.
"Stop!" he laughed.
"Throwing or laps?" She repeated.
"Throwing."
Maybe MJ shouldn't have agreed to do a 'Best of Three', considering she'd never really thrown a football before. Most of her guy friends at previous schools had been into basketball, which had meant she'd learnt how to 'shoot hoops', not 'pass a pigskin'. But she carefully watched how Tyler did it, and prayed her fast learning skills in the classroom would come to her aid now.
They didn't.
Her throw didn't really matter though since it was blaring obvious that even if she had had a clue what to do, there was no way she would've been able to throw as far as he did. He was a football player.
She didn't even fake clap, she was genuinely impressed with how far he could chuck that ball.
Her feeble attempt afterwards resulted in laughs, but considering she was laughing too, she was cool with it.
"Had to let you have this one, make it interesting," she winked, earning a laugh from Matt.
"You should've just let us teach you how to throw it properly first," he suggested.
"Maybe another time," she nodded.
Matt seemed nice.
Since there was a pause she grabbed her water bottle from her bag. A homemade smoothie,
"I don't know whether to demand a rematch for that part of the game or not."
There was a very loud fake cough from behind MJ.
She moved to make space for a girl with blonde hair. She'd been one of the girls sitting at the top of the bleachers, all her friends were still sitting and eating, pretending not to watch the conversation. MJ's walls went up a little. She felt like she was being set up for something, and she wasn't a fan of that.
"Um, hey, Caroline," Matt spoke carefully, and MJ very much noticed how he glanced at Tyler before looking up to the top of the bleachers.
Caroline ignored his greeting and turned to her, "You're new!"
"Yeah," MJ wasn't sure what tone she was supposed to use in response to that, "I'm MJ."
"Caroline," the girl 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," she put her hands together, "Where did you come from?"
Interesting way of phrasing.
MJ would've preferred 'so when did you move here?' or, 'what was your last school?' over 'Where did you come from?'
It just felt unnecessarily challenging.
"LA."
"Oh! California! That's great. I bet you were quite the beach girl."
MJ didn't know what that meant.
"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?"
"Trying out for track tomorrow..." 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 the bleachers.
The group she had been eating lunch with were all chatting and laughing, still at the bottom of the bleachers, and when they saw her looking, Ava sent her a supportive thumbs up.
"So you're just choosing to spend your time with them. Lovely,"
"Did you come here with a purpose Caroline, or are you trying to scare her?" Tyler joked, causing Caroline to whack him on the arm.
"I came to be nice!" She paused and MJ noticed the devious smile appearing on her face, "And, to make sure you told her about the back to school party tomorrow."
"We were getting to it," Matt's voice was quiet, he still hadn't looked back from the bleachers.
"You know what," Tyler focused on MJ, speaking smoothly, "A group of us are hanging out at the Grill tonight, you should come to that too."
"What's The Grill?"
"It's a place in town," he nodded, "Serves food, pool tables, dartboards,"
"Sounds great."
"Yeah, definitely," Caroline was glaring at Tyler, but the pep in her voice kept up the façade of niceness, "You should come, we can get to know you better."
It felt like a challenge. Like Caroline was going to learn everything about her, whether MJ wanted her too or not, and MJ didn't really know how to back down from challenges, so she responded with,
"Can't wait."
~***~
Tyler and MJ didn't end up doing their tiebreaking race. Caroline had stayed to talk to Matt and Tyler, so MJ had drifted back over to Ava and her friends, who were all very proud of her for surviving her first Caroline Forbes run in. Apparently, she'd tone down the crazy after a few days and was actually pretty nice. Elliot had been in the cheer squad with her since freshman year, the others didn't really have much to do with her or her friends beyond Tyler and Matt. Kate basically didn't talk all lunch, she was napping, MJ had respect for that, and when the bell rang, Briar offered to be MJ's lab partner since they both had Chemistry, saving her from having to do the awkward spare seat scan.
After school finished, MJ had a small to-do list. She had to meet the owner of a bookshop in the centre of town to hopefully get a job, then she needed to get all her homework done, then she'd contemplate whether she should actually go to The Grill. Annoyingly enough, since she hadn't been set that much schoolwork, she found herself wanting to go out.
Matt and Tyler were sitting in a booth and happily chatted with her before ordering food. They were easy to talk to, which was nice. Everyone who worked at The Grill had blue shirts and name tags on, and their waitress was a tall girl with brown hair called Vicki.
Once she'd put their food down, she turned to look intensely at Tyler.
"Thanks, Vick." Matt said, getting no response.
MJ smiled, happily picking up a chip and watching whatever was about to happen.
"Do you need another refill?" Vicki asked, her voice a little lower than it had been.
"I'd love one." Tyler lent forward then watched as she walked away with his empty glass.
God, boys.
"Please tell me you're not hooking up with my sister."
So Vicki was Matt's sister. Good to know.
"I'm not hooking up with your sister."
"It seems like you're trying to hook up with his sister," MJ picked up her burger.
Tyler looked at MJ once, then turned back to stare at Vicki.
"You're such a dick," Matt tossed a chip at him, shaking his head.
"And who's that she's talking to?" MJ asked innocently, as another student approached Vicki at the bar.
Matt looked up and swallowed hard, "Jeremy Gilbert."
"And?"
"Oh, uh, nothing."
"His ex-girlfriend's little brother," Tyler explained Matt's sudden shift in attitude,
"Oh, is this ex-girlfriend one of Caroline's friends? In our history class?"
"...Yeah," Matt raised a cautious eyebrow.
She put her hands up defensively, "I noticed you staring."
Caroline and another girl were walking through the room, a drink in Caroline's hands as they were talking about something until they spotted them. Caroline waved and rushed right over.
"So happy you could make it, MJ!" Caroline slid into the booth next to Tyler while the other girl grabbed a spare chair, "So what's your story?"
"Straight to the point," the other girl rolled her eyes, "Bonnie, by the way,"
"MJ, nice to meet you,"
Caroline cut off their introduction, "Your Facebook page shows you've moved around but it doesn't exactly give a reason why."
Caroline wanted answers, and she wasn't going to be discrete about it. Respect to her.
"Oo, careful, stalker Caroline mode activated," Tyler joked.
"I have moved quite a bit," MJ admitted, "I grew up in New Orleans, then New York, then Chicago, then LA, now I'm here." MJ took a sip of her drink, "My dad's a pilot and my mum's a music teacher in the McKinley area."
"What made them want to move here?" Bonnie asked.
"After being in big cities for so long, they wanted something quieter. My dad's always flying off so a place to actually relax when he isn't seemed like a good plan."
"And you don't mind moving?"
"Not really, I've got to see places."
"Which was your favourite?" Caroline seemed to relax.
"New Orleans. It's like the city is run on magic," She did love a play on words, "New York would be second,"
"I've never really left Mystic Falls," Caroline frowned, "Must be nice to get out,"
"Moving has made some things weird, I mean you guys probably know everything about each other."
"Yeah, we've all known each other since we were little," Matt nodded.
"I bet it's impossible for any of you to lie to each other,"
"You'd be surprised," Bonnie mused, which caused MJ to laugh.
"Yeah, like Matt likes to lie and tell people he can beat me at pool," Tyler winked at his friend.
"Since we didn't get finish our showdown earlier, wanna play some?" MJ suggested.
"Warning, I'm reigning champ,"
"I'm sure I'm about to be very impressed," she responded sarcastically.
Matt stood up so MJ could get out, grabbing her drink and letting Tyler lead the way.
"I'm coming too, I still have questions!" Caroline jumped up behind them.
That was how MJ spent most of the evening, playing pool with Tyler, while answering Caroline's questions. MJ knew how to be careful. She couldn't just have an answer for everything at the tip of her tongue, no one in real life had exact dates and opinions ready during an unplanned conversation, and, MJ didn't want to get too specific about anything. She didn't know how fact check-y Caroline was.
Tyler was chalking up his stick while MJ potted her last yellow ball, when the room went tense.
"Tyler." Caroline was looking at the doorway.
Stefan, and the brown-haired girl he'd been staring at in history walked in together. Pausing as they noticed the group all watching them.
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" MJ whispered.
"Matt's ex," Ty explained.
Matt stood up from their booth. He walked over to meet the pair, holding out a hand for the vampire to take. He was being the bigger person. Go Matt.
Caroline was gone from the pool table the second the vampire went to sit with Bonnie, the brown-haired girl by his side. Tyler looked at her like she expected her to dip too.
"I'm about to win," she pointed out to him.
"When did that happened?" He'd missed her pot three balls in a row, then miss the black.
"I'm sure you can catch-up," she snorted.
Matt came to join them now he'd done his initial good impression. He was going to be a good ex but he wasn't going to play twenty questions with the new guy.
MJ looked at the top of her stick, "Can I have the chalk?"
Tyler handed it over, their hands grazing, and something clicked into place in her brain as static shock up her arm.
How good his throw had been earlier...
He wasn't a vampire, no, and he wasn't fully supernatural either, he was, he was, he was an untriggered werewolf.
God, Mystic Falls had gone from being the most uneventful place she'd ever lived to just as supernatural crazy as all the others.
She tried to keep her cool, using the chalk quickly and watching as Tyler potted two balls then missed. He still had one more to go until he would be trying for the black too.
She took a deep breath, positioned herself, then did something she wasn't too proud of. She wanted to win fairly, but an untriggered werewolf and a potentially threatening vampire was a lot for her to process at one moment. She needed to get out of there. Quickly. She hit the ball and as it bounced off the wall she blew softly towards the table, causing it to spin into the pocket.
MJ stood up straight and put on a smirk, "We can do a rematch some other time, but I should probably get home."
"You have to go?"
"Yeah. I'll leave cash on the table," she knew how much her food and the pool game cost.
"See you tomorrow," Matt tried for a smile, but he was still clearly focused on his ex and Stefan.
"Tomorrow," she nodded.
She had to go to the booth to grab her bag and get her purse out, and she stood behind Bonnie, not bothering to introduce herself to anyone and assuming that Caroline would explain who she was to Matt's ex once she was gone.
"Leaving so soon?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah, I need to walk back and my mum's texting,"
"Hello, again."
Of course, he spoke to her.
"Stefan, right?"
He nodded, "MJ?"
She forced a smile, "Yep," then she looked to the others, "See you all tomorrow,"
The second she was through the door she breathed out in relief.
~***~
MJ got to school the next day and felt a bit better about everything. There hadn't been another animal attack overnight, and, when she thought through the whole untriggered werewolf thing, well...he wasn't triggered! She'd need to keep an eye open on the next full moon to work out if there was a pack in town, and if Tyler knew about them, but, other than that, he was just a teenager. He hadn't killed anyone, and hopefully, he never would.
After making her peace with that, she'd gone on a research binge about the town. She'd looked into Mystic Falls before moving there, but, now was time for memorising and spotting supernatural details.
She walked into her history class the next day and found herself able to focus.
Nothing like an evening of researching a hyper-fixation to bring peace to the mind.
"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Mr Tanner said.
MJ had her personal notes on the desk, as well as some lined paper she was sketching lightly on.
"How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms Bennett?"
"Um..." Bonnie had been staring out of the window, "A lot? I'm not sure...Like a whole lot."
Mr Tanner sounded unamused, "Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms Bennett."
Ass, he was supposed to be teaching them this information.
"Mr Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's okay, Mr Tanner, I'm cool with it."
MJ laughed along with the rest of the class as Matt casually lent back in his chair.
"Hmm. Elena?"
So, Elena, that was the name of the brown-haired girl.
"Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significant historical events?"
"I'm sorry," Elena looked down, "I - I don't know."
"I was willing to be lenient last year," Tanner crossed his arms, "For obvious reasons, but the personal excuses ended with summer break."
Damn.
MJ didn't know what those personal excuses were but, god, he was a dick.
"There were 346 casualties," Stefan spoke up, breaking the awkward silence, "Unless you're just counting local civilians."
"That's correct. Mr...?"
"Salvatore."
"Salvatore," Tanner straightened up, "Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"
Stefan paused, "Distant."
MJ would happily bet that Stefan was that original settler, or, at the very least, the child of the original settler.
"Well, very good. 346 - except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."
"Sir," MJ spoke while continuing to sketch, "There were thirty-three civilian casualties."
"Hm," Tanner didn't sound convinced.
She looked up from her page, "Confederate soldiers fired on the church thinking there were weapons hidden in the basement, there were thirty-three people hiding in there."
"They'd been told to hide there by the Founding Families," Stefan nodded, "It was a great loss."
"And you two know this because?" Tanner asked.
He'd been frustrated that no one had known the answers for something he should've been teaching them, but then he didn't like students knowing the answers either?
MJ really didn't like him.
"The founder's archives are stored in the town hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr Tanner," Vampire boy had her respect for saying that.
"I just did the recommended reading," MJ shrugged, looking at the small smile Stefan sent her and deciding to match it.
It could've just been an animal attack. Just because he was a vampire didn't mean he was evil, or, that he was responsible.
MJ went back to staring at her page, half checking the notes she'd premade for the Civil War topic with the information on the blackboard, half continuing to sketch, and noticing Elena smiling at Stefan with heart eyes.
Not her business.
Once the day was finished, and it was properly dark outside, it was time for the back to school party.
"MJ!" Elliot was standing in a small group and holding a beer can in his hands, "Come meet people!"
"Happy too," She took a drink from the table behind them.
Strawberry and lime cider.
"Lucas and Jason," Elliot pointed to two boys he was with.
"Both of you were at the track meeting," MJ remembered.
The one called Lucas nodded, "You're the new girl who showed Ty up, we heard about that,"
"Wouldn't say showed up, it's technically it's a draw."
"Eh, whatever keeps Ty humble,"
"I can toast to that," Ava hit her drink against Lucas's and they both then proceeded to chug their cans.
"Jason!" Aris and the guy who'd called her a WAG (she was pretty sure Tyler had called him Christian) rocked up, "Lucas."
They were patting both guys on the shoulder in that unnecessary look-at-me guy manner.
"Where've you guys been?" Christian asked them.
"Just, around." Jason answered casually, "Who wants to dance? Briar?"
"Uh, yeah?" Briar sent him a half-smile then looked to the rest of them.
Jason didn't seem to want to hang around those guys unless he had to.
"I'm down for some actual fun," MJ finished off her drink as quickly as she could.
"I was hoping you were one of those girls," Christian needed to be banned from speaking.
"Um?"
"Don't worry about it, it's a good thing," he offered her another drink.
She turned and held out her hand to Elliot, "Please, take me away?"
"Ignore them, their dicks," Elliot whispered.
"Noted."
"Then let's party."
If only she could've stayed partying with the group all night.
The music was good, and the drinks table wasn't too far away so they could get top-ups quickly, but, she had to take a moment to catch her breath eventually, and that moment meant she heard something she didn't like.
"Wow!" It was Tyler's voice, "Vicki Donovan says no, that's a first."
She didn't need to know the context to know she didn't like that. Tyler was stomping towards her as the girl, Vicki was left with someone else.
"I didn't need your help,"
"It seems like you did."
And Tyler noticed her watching.
He caught her not so friendly look and stopped to match it, "What?"
"What just happened?"
"None of your business."
"You're drunk, in a forest, and a girl is saying no, and you're pissed about it, get yourself together, Tyler, no means no."
"You think I don't know that?"
"Didn't sound like she thought you did."
"You've been here, what? A day, back off."
"Defensive. So I'm right?" She scoffed, "What would Matt say if he'd been the one to hear that conversation?"
"You're not going to tell him!"
"Why not?"
"Because – Because..."
"Relax," She clicked her teeth and looked down, "I'm not about to do that to Vicki, it's her situation, just, get lost."
She walked straight past him to go further into the woods, walking past a guy in a black hoodie, and eventually finding Vicki Donovan sitting on a log, breathing heavily.
"You want some water?" MJ had picked some up when she'd left the main area of the party.
"Oh, um," Vicki wiped her hands on her face, blinked quickly then looked at her, "Uh, yeah, thanks...you're the girl that was with Matt and Ty yesterday."
"Yeah, I'm MJ, mind if I?" she pointed to the space next to her on the log.
"...If you really want to..." Vicki sat up a little straighter and took the bottle from MJ, "There isn't something in it is there?" She tried to joke.
"Nah, wouldn't do that to ya," MJ rummaged into her dress pockets.
She didn't wear clothes that didn't have pockets, and she pulled out some gum and offered it too. Vicki shook her head.
"So, why...what brings you away from the party?"
"We don't have to talk if you don't want to..." MJ looked at her and instantly Vicki clicked that MJ had heard whatever had gone down between her and Tyler.
"Thanks."
"I know we're basically strangers, but if you need a hug."
Vicki swallowed and closed her eyes hard, tears starting to brim, then she nodded her head furiously and buried it into her neck. MJ wrapped her arms tightly around the girl and let her sob for a moment.
"You gonna talk to Matt about this?"
"No,"
"Why not?"
"Because Ty was just drunk, he's not usually like that,"
"Are you sure?"
Vicki moved away from her quickly and MJ instantly knew she needed to make her tone a little softer and more relaxed.
"Not saying he isn't, just wanting to make sure you're okay,"
"Yeah," Vicki nodded, "Today was just a bad day, for both of us,"
MJ tried for a smile, "If you're sure – Some friendly drunk girl advice, if you'll take it, definitely talk to him about it when you're both sober, if he isn't usually like it then he'll be happy to hear you, and if he isn't, dump him."
Vicki laughed, "Dump him?"
"Yep."
"It's that simple?"
"It's always that simple. A boy ain't treating you right, there's someone out there who will."
"Maybe for a girl like you,"
"Now what's that supposed to mean?"
"You're pretty, and nice, and probably super smart and talented, and then...I'm just a waitress," she sounded so disappointed with herself.
"You're gorgeous, and you have a job, so you're hard-working, and you've got to have people skills, and be able to multi-task." MJ took her hand in hers, "You've just gotta learn your worth,"
Vicki curled her lips in and looked to the water bottle, she'd finished it off.
"I'll get another bottle for the both of us," MJ stood up slowly, "Be back in five, don't move."
Maybe she wasn't the best person to be on helping people duty. She didn't exactly know the forest well. It took her a hot few minutes to find her way back to the party, and then she needed to get to the drinks table, only to learn the main one was out of water bottles. The next one wasn't, but then she needed to find where she'd dumped her bag because she knew she had some sober-up stuff Vicki might like tucked away at the bottom of it.
Then she heard a scream, and then the Elena girl was running towards them.
"Somebody, help!"
"Vicki?" Matt yelled from a few metres away, "Vicki, what the hell?!"
The guy in the black hoodie was carrying a body, Vicki's body.
Mierda.
Mierda, mierda, mierda.
MJ had left her alone for five minutes and now she was passed out and bleeding. Two holes that were dripping blood across the front of her n, giving her a slit throat kind of look.
She scanned for Stefan Salvatore...and she could see him standing not too far away.
Yes, vampires had super speed, but,
God, not the priority.
"Move!" MJ shoved her way through the crowd
"What happened to her?" Tyler rushed over too as the hoodie guy put her down on one of the benches in the area.
"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt was trying to check her pulse and look for his phone at the same time, meaning neither task was getting done properly.
"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler started to push people back. His voice was loud and pretty commanding, and no drunk teenager would want to get caught in the middle of a bloody body situation anyway.
MJ pulled out all the medical crap she had in her bag and finally got through the crowd, "Let me look."
She didn't mean to shove Elena out of the way, but she didn't know how much blood this other potential vampire in town might've taken and she needed to make sure Vicki lived to get into that ambulance.
She took a cloth and tipped some of the water from the first bottle onto it, then took two fingers, dipped it into a rub she'd made awhile back, and pushed that all over the cloth too. If the vampire had attacked the second MJ had left Vicki, and if they'd just dumped her on the ground, it could be infected if left untreated, and she needed to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding.
"What are you doing?" Tyler's eyes were wide.
"Helping," she wrapped the cloth around her hand and pressed it onto the wound, "Unless someone has an ice pack for me to tie to her neck, this will have to do."
Vicki flinched as it stung a little.
"Can someone hold her up, we need to keep her awake and slightly elevated."
"Vicki," Matt did as she asked, "Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me."
MJ used her free hand to take her heart rate, "Please tell me someone did call for an ambulance?"
"They'll be here in five," Ava yelled from a little way off.
MJ stayed with Matt and Vicki until the ambulance got there. A lot of people cleared off. Their parents would kill them if they knew they were out partying in the woods, drinking, etcetera etcetera. Matt even said he totally got it if she needed to bolt too, but MJ wasn't doing that until she knew Vicki was alive.
MJ kept closing her eyes.
People would probably assume she was trying to sober up, or that she was tired. In reality, she was saying phrases in her head. She couldn't risk chanting out loud with so many people around.
She just needed to wait for the ambulance to get there and take over.
Vicki was put on a stretcher and ferried off, Matt jumping into the back after her the second the ambulance doors were open. MJ relaxed.
"That was really cool of you," Bonnie approached her carefully.
"Eh, thanks, not my first time having to call an ambulance at a party," MJ laughed nervously.
It wasn't that much, anyone would've had the common sense to stop the bleeding eventually.
"I'm heading to get some sober up coffee with Caroline," Bonnie pointed behind her, "Wait for any news and stuff, you want to come?"
"Totally," MJ nodded.
She needed to get home eventually, but waiting a little bit to know Vicki was okay wouldn't be the end of the world.
Sober up coffee at The Grill was mainly Bonnie and MJ making sure Caroline drank as much water as she could handle, and stuffed her face with food before Bonnie had to take her home. Caroline's head was on the table, occasionally groaning while Bonnie and MJ talked.
"So that rub thing you used?" Bonnie asked.
"What about it?"
"What is it?"
"Ah, a homemade remedy," MJ tapped her fingers together, "I know WebMD says not to use homemade stuff when you get bitten, but that's more to stop people trying to use vinegar. The cream, well it's a mixture of crushed plants with antiseptic properties,"
"Oh,"
"I know it's weird," MJ waves her hand a little and looked down.
"No! Not at all, it's just, a bit..."
"Weird," MJ repeated.
Bonnie laughed, "Maybe a little, but, I can't judge, my grandma is convinced we're witches."
"I was raised to believe in the higher power of nature," MJ had a glint in her eye.
Bonnie Bennet... good to know, MJ needed to somehow make contact with her. See if there was some dormant magic in there.
"Seriously?"
"I know it's hippie woo-doo or whatever, but, my mum's side of the family are all like it, and, I don't know, it works. I'm never sick, cuts heal quickly, I rarely get spots; natural remedies and a little belief do me good."
"You really believe in magic?" Bonnie said it as a joke, and MJ let her have it.
"Yeah, I do," MJ smiled to herself.
"Well, you certainly give off those 'One With Nature' vibes,"
"I'm taking that as a compliment,"
"It was."
Caroline looked up, her eyes half-closed, groaning louder than ever.
"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked.
"No."
"Keep drinking," Bonnie checked the time on her phone, "I gotta get you home - I gotta get me home."
Caroline didn't seem to hear her, "Why didn't he go for me?"
Ah, teen boy drama. Fun.
"You know, how come, the guys that I want, never want me?" CAroline started to move her hair about with one hand.
"I'm not touching that."
"Who?" MJ didn't know if it was her place to ask, but she was nosy.
"Stefan, the new guy,"
"The guy who's been giving eyes to Elena for two days?" MJ shouldn't have said that.
"I'm inappropriate!" Caroline declared, "I always say the wrong thing. And...Elena always says the right thing."
She sighed.
"She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and...I'm never the one."
MJ knew it was the alcohol making Caroline say all of these things so openly, but that didn't change the fact that she clearly had confidence issues and a massive inferiority complex. MJ's last drunk girl support session had ended with a vampire attack, but hopefully this one wasn't about to repeat that.
"It's not a competition, Caroline," Bonnie tried.
"Yeah, it is."
Okay, MJ wanted to wrap her up in a massive blanket until she felt better.
"You know, if he's dumb enough to settle for the first girl to smile at him, that's his loss," MJ finished off her coffee, "Don't you want more passion than that? More connection?"
"Maybe?" Caroline sounded slightly more hopeful.
Her phone started to buzz. An alarm she'd set for the latest she should be leaving the party.
"I got this," Bonnie assured her.
"You sure? You're parents not want you home?"
"I have another twenty minutes before my dad will start getting nosy,"
"Only if you're sure."
"Gooooo," Bonnie pointed to the door.
MJ did as she was told, heading into the night and turning left. She walked straight into a guy with black hair, wearing a leather jacket. She was knocked back a little, the feeling of ice cubes running down the back of her shirt throwing her. He gave her a devilish smile and patted her arm.
"You okay?"
"Fine," Her voice was tense and he gave her an odd look, she put on an innocent smile, "Sorry, have a good night."
As she walked away, she let her eyes go wide.
Okay, two vampires.
Two. Vampires.
And the second one definitely drank human blood if the energy he gave off was anything to go by.
He was in front of her.
He'd rushed in front of her.
"I think we're going to have a problem," There was something about the way he spoke that made it clear he enjoyed having someone to prey on.
He narrowed his eyes, trying to work out who she was, and how she'd known he was a vampire, and when he couldn't place her in his memory, he slammed her into the wall of The Grill.
"I think you should stay the hell away from me," she muttered.
He bared his fangs, "Now, why would I do that?"
"Big mistake."
She shoved her hand against his chest and letting it glow red.
Contact was all she needed to siphon the magic out of any supernatural creature.
His eyes became bloodshot, darkness crawling up his face as he panicked.
Orange veins began to appear up her wrist, he collapsed to his knees, and she let go, panting slightly. She was pretty sure she'd just killed any human blood buzz he might've had.
"What the hell are you?" He spat out.
She didn't answer. She didn't want to give him time to recover and make a second attack, and she didn't want him to have any information to potentially find her again. Not until she knew if he'd been the vampire to attack Vicki.
MJ just stormed away.