MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

"Major lack of male real estate," Bonnie Bennett declared as she and Elena made their way to their lockers. "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot — can I still say 'tranny mess'?"

"No," Elena screwed up her face remembering what Aella told her last week. "Aella told me that's derogatory."

"Oops, our little TV geek knows her stuff!" Bonnie smirked then sighed loudly, "Ahh, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy, busy year."

Elena looked over Bonnie's shoulder to see her ex, Matt, standing at his own locker, staring sadly at her. Waving at him, she was met with a blank stare before he shut his own locker and walked off, "He hates me."

"That's not hate," Bonnie tried to summarize in a glass half full way, "That's 'you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits.'"

"OH MY GOD!" came a familiar voice turning their attention from Matt to the brunette pulling the embarrassed blonde through the crowd. "Who is that hot Bennett girl standing there looking so fine?!" Aella smirked at her other best friends.

Bonnie laughed, pulling a dramatically confused face, "Don't you mean hot Bennett Cousins that just look so freakin' hot even Matt Bomer would turn straight!"

"Ooohhhh," Aella jumped on the spot clapping excitedly. "That's a good one, yes, please!" She then jumped to Bonnie, hugging her tightly, "Morning cousin!"

Bonnie squeezed her back just as tight, "Morning!"

"Okay, who spiked Aella's coffee this morning?" Elena questioned as Aella jumped over to her hugging her 'Good Morning' even though she'd seen her this morning.

"She's been like this since she arrived at my house," Caroline grumbled, hugging Elena and Bonnie. She took care to follow Aella's rules, "Quoted 'Full House,' and did a John Wayne impression in my Kitchen."

"You guys are boring!" Aella rolled her eyes, opening her locker and quite happily throwing her bag in it. She slammed the door quickly before it, and anything else could fall out.

"Oh!" Caroline squealed as she looked at her phone. "New hottie spotted walking through the courtyard! Finally, someone to look at who didn't go through puberty with us!"

"How the hell did you find that out, Pirot?" Aella asked, leaning against her locker.

"Because I'm fabulous!" Caroline smirked, opening her own locker and placing her bag in there as she took out her folders. "And... I have eyes and ears everywhere."

"Ladies and Gentleman," Aella announced, clapping sarcastically. "Sharpay Evans, our resident Musical Theatre nerd, who is really using that disguise to hide her real identity: Big Brother!"

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of flattery," Caroline smirked, looking back at her phone as the three girls laughed to themselves at her mix up.

"Well, I'm bored!" Aella declared before skipping to History class, ignoring the looks everyone gave her as she skipped past them.

"That's never good," Elena groaned as the two girls ran after their hyperactive best friend pulling Caroline by her arm as she read updates about the new hottie.

Finally, they reached Aella, who had now slowed down to walking like an average person but singing Britney Spears' ' Hit me baby, one more time' to herself.

"Hold up!" Bonnie stopped pulling Elena, who pulled on Aella. "Who is this?"

At that question, Caroline, who had been receiving live updates from her spies, looked up instantly at Bonnie's words.

"It's the new Hottie."

"Where?" Aella jumped looking over her friend's shoulders, It sucked being the shortest of your friends when they all wore heels.

Bonnie pulled her sleeve, bringing Aella to the front of them.

"Hubba hubba!" She smirked, looking up at all her friends, laughing as they shoved her in warning.

"I'm sensing he's from Seattle," Bonnie smirked at her best friends. "And he plays the guitar."

"No way!" Caroline shook her head, shaking the blonde curls, "Sensitive, most definitely. But I'm thinking more New York than Seattle."

"Well, you know what they say, right?" Aella questioned.

She spotted Jeremy make his way to the men's room, his eyes so irritated Aella could see them from her position at least four feet away. When she realized her friends were waiting to hear her theory, she smirked, "Sensitive on the streets, sexy in the sheets!"

They all giggled, not noticing Stefan look over his shoulder, smirking at the comment.

Except for Aella.

"Oh no," Elena sighed, seeing Jeremy.

Aella shook her head at Elena when she saw the emotion build up in her friend's eyes, "Leave it to me."

Elena smiled in appreciation as Aella walked over to the men's bathroom and stepped in without an issue.

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"Boo!" Jeremy jumped at Aella stepped around the divider giggling.

"Bitch!" Jeremy laughed and continued adding the drops to his eyes.

"Jerk!" Aella shot back, laughing as she sat on the sink next to the one Jeremy stood at.

Aella leaned back against the mirrored wall as Jeremy checked the redness in his eyes, she wasn't going to shout at him as she knew Elena would do, she knew the mentality Jeremy was in at the moment, and that didn't need tough love.

"So is this the effects of last night's high, or is this a Monday Morning fix?" She asked, picking at her nails.

When she was met with silence, she glanced up at the annoyed look growing on his face, obviously waiting for Aella to shout at him as Elena and Jenna would. Aella hastily raised her hands in surrender, "It's an actual curiosity. You know me J, even vitamins make me gag! I mean, even thinking of it makes me-" she stuck out her tongue and screwed up her face "-gag!"

"You're ridiculous," Jeremy laughed. "But it's a 'last night' thing," he shrugged. "I thought the first day back at school needed a clear-minded me."

"I'm glad."

Jeremy jumped on the sink next to her and leaned back, taking a heavy sigh. They sat in silence for a few minutes, which surprised even Aella, who was pretty sure that she could never be quiet for that long.

"A," Jeremy sighed, playing with his ring. "Thanks."

She smiled at her hands before looking over at the brunette boy. She shrugged off the thanks, "You're like a little brother J. I'll always be there for you, Elena-" she chuckled to herself "-even Jenna."

"I know."

Aella nodded against the mirror, letting things go quiet for a moment before she jumped off, clapping her hands and grinning at Jeremy, "Enough of this mushy emo moment! Let's scare some guys and hope they piss their pants!"

Jeremy laughed out loud and jumped off the sink, he followed Aella to the divider, which provided some privacy for the bathroom. Aella sniggered as they crouched down, waiting for an innocent bystander to walk in the bathroom. When Aella heard the door open a little, she jumped up and out of her space, "Boo!"

"Agh!" The boy screeched, and when Aella opened her eyes, she could see it was Matt, which made her laugh even harder, holding her stomach.

"Lia!" Matt growled, holding his chest, breathing heavily, "What the hell are you doing in here?!"

But Aella couldn't talk from laughing too hard and tapped Matt on the arm as passed him, his lady-like-scream echoing in her mind as she left the bathroom, still giggling. Until she slammed into a chest... Which felt more like a wall.

Opening her eyes, she wasn't greeted by the many spotty faced freshmen that had started today but the face of a Greek god, "Whoa!"

"Uh, pardon me." The Greek god spoke, and it was then that Aella realized this was the guy whose ass she was staring at just 10ten minutes before "Um...is this the men's room?"

"That?" Aella pointed at the door, still a little shocked the tight ass guy had a handsome face to mask. When he nodded with a small smirk, Aella laughed, "Yes! That is the men's room, I was just uh... I... um... I am a guy! Surprise!" Smiling as she gave him a smile and shook her hands like a Broadway fool.

When the Greek God laughed instead of looking at her like a freak, Aella summarized he must have some sense of humor.

"I'm Aella Bennett," she stuck out her hand. "And I really am a girl."

"That's good to know," he smiled. "I'm Stefan Salvatore," he placed his hand in hers, going to shake it when he felt a spark almost shoot through his entire body. And at the slight jump from Aella, he knew she had felt the same sensation.

They stared at one another before she shook her head slightly and pulled her hand away from his, "Do you need to use the bathroom?" She pointed at the men's room.

"Huh?" He stared at her, confused for a second before he quickly shook his head, "No. I'm just getting to know the layout of the school. I was heading to History with Mr. Tanner after."

"Me too!" She smiled. "Brilliant idea about the men's room," Aella nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "Bathroom location is a must know in any location."

"Do you mind if we walk and talk West Wing style as we head to History?" Aella pointed behind Stefan to the corridor she needed to be going down.

"I'll be Toby?" Stefan smiled hesitantly, which grew when Aella practically jumped on the spot. "I'll be CJ, you know West Wing?"

"Best TV show on TV," Stefan shrugged as they started walking to class.

"After Full House, of course," Aella returned, nodding in a severe tone, to which Stefan nodded along, "Of course, what was I thinking?"

Aella glanced over at him, laughing, enjoying their chat so far.

"So, Aella is a pretty uncommon name?" Stefan asked.

"My parents were hippies born in the wrong decade. I think it means 'whirlwind' and was the name of an Amazon warrior in ancient times?" Aella shrugged. "But, I guess that just makes me more legendary!"

Stefan laughed again, shocked how many times he had laughed already today. The cause was definitely the giggling girl walking next to him. If Stefan wasn't already enamored by her smile, her humor just drew him in more and more.

"It was..." Stefan confirmed to her. "An Amazon warrior's name. Aella was killed by Herakles during his quest for the Hippolyta's girdle."

"Wow! Well, I guess Irene Adler was right when she said 'brainy is the new sexy,'" Aella smirked. "And what does Stefan stand for? Defender of mankind? Or Protector of the innocents?"

"Not that impressive," He grinned at the suggestions. "Stefan was one of the seven chosen to assist the apostles and was the first Christian martyr."

Aella was silent as she thought it over, then leaned over to Stefan and whispered, "Not as good as an Amazon Warrior, right?" She winked, pulling away, laughing with him.

"But honestly," Aella shrugged, slowing down to a stop outside door 315. "It's an amazing skill to memorize all that information. I mean, I can only just remember the order of the planets in our Solar System, and that's only because of a dumb rhyme I saw on a British TV show years ago!"

Stefan raised his eyebrow, prompting her to tell it to him, and she sighed dramatically, "Okay, if you're begging me to tell you!" She cleared her voice and prepared herself, causing Stefan to chuckle, "Many Vile Earthlings Munch Jam Sandwiches Under Newspaper Pile! Tada!"

Stefan clapped as Aella took a bow ignoring the looks from others as they walked down the corridor. "I like it," He nodded. "Strange but memorable."

"Exactly! Well, Mr. History nerd welcome to hell, also known as History class with the most idiotic annoying man in the entire planet!"

Stefan raised an eyebrow at such a harsh statement, "100% honest!" She declared her own eyebrows, almost reaching her hairline. "He always gets my name wrong, and he's taught me for two years! If you can't get a student's name right, how the hell are you supposed to remember important things?"

When he didn't lower his eyebrow, Aella shook her head smiling brightly, "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Stefan opened the door for her, ignoring the stares he received almost immediately, "I will apologize should I find your correct."

"Yes, you will," She smirked and stuck her nose up in the air as she walked past him into the room. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Stefan smirked, following her down the lanes of desks and chairs until she sat down on a free one, and he sat down in the one directly to her right.

They both started getting their equipment ready for the class when Stefan heard a female voice whispering Aella's name. Yet, the sarcastic girl he had grown fond of already was blissfully unaware of her name being called as she hummed to herself, getting her books and pens out. The Full House theme Stefan believed which made him smile to himself.

"Aella!"

"Pssst Aella?"

Said person was now drumming her two black ink pens on her desk as she went through the theme again only slightly louder.

Stefan glanced over at Aella just in time to see a pencil fly from the Blonde haired girl's hand and hit Aella right on top of the head, "Fuck a duck! Who threw that?" Aella moaned, standing up, rubbing her head and looking around.

"Well, if you had answered the first time instead of drumming out to a banned song! You would have heard me," Caroline hissed leaning over to Aella.

"The show is banned, not the song!" Aella hissed back, leaning closer to Caroline.

"Page two. Paragraph six. Line three. I checked last night after you left me three voicemails last week singing the theme to annoy me!" Caroline smirked, leaning back happy she finally had Aella's attention and one over the brunette.

"Ugh!"

"So..." she smiled, ignoring the glare Aella was sending her. "We totally followed you and the hottie until you reached the classroom, does he sound as hot as he looks!"

"No comment!" Aella glared, sitting back in her seat. "You threw a pencil at me!"

Stefan laughed to himself as the apparent best friends argued. The rest of the class didn't even bat an eyelid, which obviously meant this was a usual occurrence.

"Best friend contract states we must tell each other everything about hot guys!" Caroline whined.

Aella turned back to Caroline, smirking, "Page Two, Paragraph Six, Line Three Billion, says otherwise! Check it!"

"I hate you!"

"Puh-lease! You love me."

Smack! Caroline's head met her desk, and Aella snorted to herself.

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"Once our home state of Virginia joined the confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south."

Aella rested her head on her left hand. She drew silly pictures on her notepad, trying to keep Tanner's monotonous voice from putting her to sleep.

Buzz! Buzz!

Aella's phone buzzed in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out, opening the group chat between her, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie.

Caroline: HAWT-E. STARING @ U

Elena: Six times already!

Bonnie: He keeps smiling @ A & frowning @ E!

Aella: What did u do E?

Elena: IDK?

Aella turned to look at Elena directly behind her to see her smelling her hair, wondering if Stefan didn't like how she smelt.

"Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union-"

Aella snorted, turning around quickly to face Tanner as she put her phone back in her pocket.

"Well, Miss Giggles," Tanner frowned over at Aella, making her quickly sober up. "Let's see if you were listening, in what year did the northwest region break away to join the union?"

"Huh?" She frowned, totally confused as the class laughed at her response.

Tanner shook his head, sighing heavily, "Moving on, "Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union-".

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After school had finished, Elena was quick to run off to the cemetery without seeing her friends due to having a different final class to Aella, Bonnie, and Caroline.

The remaining girls slowly walked to their cars that were parked next to each other.

"So... Grill tonight for our annual first day back catch up sesh!" Caroline declared as they reached their cars, Aella and Bonnie nodding at her.

"Wouldn't miss it," Aella drawled, earning a smack from Caroline.

"So!" Bonnie exclaimed, sitting down on the bonnet of Aella's shiny red car when she unlocked the car. "Whose turn is it to drag Elena from the cemetery?"

Bonnie and Caroline looked at each other, smiling before looking at Aella as she threw her books into her back seat, smirks on their faces. At the quietness, Aella looked up directly at their smirks and moaned loudly, stamping her foot, "No fair! Pick on the girl who also hasn't got parents and slow reflexes!"

"Oh, please!" Caroline waved her off, ignoring the pout on her best friend's face. "That excuse ran out when you got drunk last summer screaming 'no parents no rules!'."

Bonnie nodded at Caroline, then faked her own pout glancing over at Aella and wiped fake tears away. Caroline patted her back in comfort, "I lost my aunt and uncle too! So I'm still feeling the pain."

"You two will burn in hell!" Aella glared as the sad faces of her closest friends quickly turned into smiles as they ran over to Bonnie's black car.

"But, we'll get fabulous tans!" Caroline smiled, waving. She and Bonnie got in her car and quickly reversed, leaving Mystic Falls High and a glaring Aella behind.