SEASON ONE — EPISODE ONE
"𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙤"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ THE THIRD CLASS OF THE DAY was History and Brooke was sat in the back corner, her elbow propped up on the single desk, her chin leaning on her knuckles. She hadn't gotten much sleep that night, so she continuously fell asleep, being awakened by Mr. Tanner's loud voice every two seconds.

She had almost fallen asleep again when a small piece of scrunched up paper was thrown at her face, causing her to straighten up quickly, yawning in silence. Brooke looked over to see who the culprit was, seeing not only Bonnie's eyes on her, but Matt's too.

Bonnie seemed unaware of Matt's stare as she pointed at the guy beside her, mouthing 'new guy' and Brooke's eyes snapped over to the unfamiliar boy beside her, immediately noticing how handsome he was. His hair was medium brown, and looked softer than most, and he had the most piercing eyes, they were a similar colour to her own, which she admired.

Brooke looked back over at Bonnie and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, causing Bonnie to giggle when a loud voice interrupted them, "Miss. Elliot. Did you get enough sleep last night or am I boring you?" Mr. Tanner questioned, and everyone turned to stare at her, making her feel slightly overwhelmed but she brushed it off, trying not to think about the several pairs of eyes glued to her.

"Can I say both?" Brooke asked, and Bonnie giggled again, finding the question amusing, which brought the attention upon herself.

"Is something funny, Miss. Bennett?" Tanner slapped his ruler onto his hand, losing his patience and Bonnie's amused expression quickly turned into a serious one, her posture straightening up.

"Uh, no?" Bonnie replied, her answer sounding more like a question than a statement, and Tanner scoffed, turning around and rounding his desk. Everything went quiet and Bonnie cautiously turned her head to look at Brooke, both girls unable to keep a straight face.

At the end of the lesson, Brooke was walking out with her books in hand and her bag over her shoulder when another shoulder nudged into hers. She turned her head to see who it was, her eyebrows pinched in anger but her expression softened when she looked up at Matt.

"Hey." Matt hovered over her, being nine inches taller than her, and she smiled, fidgeting with the corner of her History book. They manoeuvred their way through the extremely crowded hallway until they reached Brooke's locker, Matt leaning against other lockers as she opened hers, "So, I was wondering how Elena's doing. I figured you'd know since you're cousins and all."

"Um... Am I the messenger now? Is this the only reason you're friends with me? To get secret information on Elena?" Brooke raised a brow at him, watching as his expression instantly changed to panic mode, and he stuttered, trying to find the right words to say when she laughed, shaking her head, "I'm just kidding. She said she was feeling much better, if that makes you feel any better?"

"Yeah, it does." Matt chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. He was close with Brooke, they were best-friends growing up and they'd always spend their free time together, sometimes they'd use each other as plus ones to parties if Elena wasn't able to go. The youngest Elliot was close with Vicki too considering how much time Brooke spent with Matt, but after Vicki started indulging in drugs, she distanced herself. It was the same situation with Jeremy Gilbert though Brooke stayed somewhat closer to him considering they were cousins.

"Good. How're you doing?" Brooke pointed her finger to him, the tip of her index finger against his chest and he chuckled, watching as she closed her locker, presuming she was finished looking through it. The two began to walk side-by-side towards Matt's locker, which was on the other end of the hall.

"I'm... coping, I guess. It's been hard, you know that. I mean, I've been listening to Air Supply's Greatest Hits, can you believe it?" Matt spoke in disbelief, shaking his head with a scoff. He thought he was stronger than that, he assumed he'd get through the breakup as easy as Elena did, but he just loved her way too much. Brooke's laugh brought him from his thoughts, "What?" He laughed a little himself, slightly unsure about why she was laughing.

"Nothing." Brooke swallowed her giggles, trying to hide them away as much as possible so she could be there to comfort her friend. Everything was just so coincidental that day, and it wasn't even over yet, "Any luck on your sleep?" She asked, knowing he'd been struggling to sleep due to his slight depression and overthinking.

"Nope, I tried those melatonin gummies you recommended but they aren't working at all." Matt told her, opening up his locker and she stood behind him, her eyes trailing along the multiple pictures of him and his friends, and there were quite a few still up of him and Elena. A smile spread across her lips when she saw a photo of her and Matt as kids, playing in Miss Donovan's backyard.

"You know, if you ever want to get over Elena, you're gonna have to take these intimate pictures down." Brooke pointed towards the bundle of photos, specifically towards the one of Elena kissing Matt on his cheek at a party. Matt's eyes drifted over and he rolled his eyes, feeling a wave of sadness wash over him for the seventh time that day.

"Could you at least try to be sensitive?" Matt turned to look at her and she shrugged, showing him that she wasn't that bothered. Considering Elena was her cousin, there'd been quite a few dinner parties over at the Gilbert household whilst she was dating Matt, and Brooke had to sit through several complaints about how Matt was always bringing up the topic of marriage and having kids, something that made Elena slightly uncomfortable.

After a minute or two, Matt had grabbed his books and they both headed towards another class they had together, this time it was Biology. On their way through the busy hallway, Brooke felt her cellphone buzz in her back pocket, and she pulled it out, looking down at the notification as they walked.

Matt quickly noticed how she was distracted, staring down at her phone and not looking where she was going, so he held onto her arm with his free hand and moved her out of the way of others to avoid her completely bumping into someone.

Luckily, it was just a message from Nate asking her if she would go and get some bread after work from the grocery store, and of course she replied saying yes. They were never able to buy a full load of groceries due to their financial hole, so they'd just buy more of something if and when they needed it.

"Thanks." Brooke smiled over at Matt, who nodded in reply as she stuffed her phone back into her back pocket, the two entering their class.

"By the way, I can drive you to work today, a lot of us are heading over there to chill." Matt quickly informed her and she grinned, grateful for the ride. But, she had no chance to actually thank him since they had to make their way to their seats — which were across the room from each other — before the class started.

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MATT KEPT HIS OFFER, and gave Brooke a ride to Mystic Grill before he wandered off towards the direction of her ex-boyfriend and his best-friend; Tyler Lockwood. She wouldn't say he was her ex since they never labelled anything, but they did fool around a little during their freshman year, he was her first.

Now, the Lockwood was apparently messing around with Vicki, according to the girl herself. Both girls worked together, meaning that they spent their short breaks eating leftover fries and chatting about their lives in the storage room. That night, they both worked the same busy shift, helping each other out when needed.

Brooke — her hair now tied back into a high ponytail — was noting down a takeout order that she had memorised in her head when Vicki rushed over, picking up a tray holding a plate of steak, some fries and a little bit of salad on the side. Jeremy approached, smirking over at Vicki, "Hey."

Vicki turned and her eyes went wide, she glanced between Jeremy and Brooke, who wasn't even listening whatsoever since she was so concentrated having forgotten some of the order like an absolute asshat, "I'm working." Vicki told him and walked off, hoping he'd leave her alone.

The smirk was slapped off of Jeremy's face and he stared at the bar counter, feeling defeated when Brooke spoke up, "What the hell, dude?" She rolled her eyes with a huff, rushing off into the kitchen to give most of the order to the chef.

The chef, Tony, was stood flipping beef burgers when a post it note was slapped aggressively on the hood of the stove, "Careful, you're gonna break my stove, señora!" He waved his spatula in the air frantically and Brooke ducked, moving behind him to grab the fresh plates of burgers and fries.

"Sorry, Tony! I'll get out of your hair." She smiled, finding him to be amusing as she headed out of the kitchen, carefully manoeuvring through the tables until she reached the table number that was stuck to the tray.

On the table sat Caroline and some friends, and Brooke began to place the plates onto the table as Caroline rambled on, "We're planning a June wedding, Brookie!"

"For who?" Brooke questioned, ignoring the judgemental eyes she was receiving from a few girls at the table. She knew Caroline hung out with the wrong crowd, but she supposed that they were all just like the blonde, followers, just like Brooke was.

"Stefan Salvatore and I." Caroline grinned, interlocking her hands together on the table in front of her, expecting Brooke to know who that was but the Elliot girl just scrunched her brows towards her best-friend, having no clue who he was.

"Who's that?" Brooke held the tray with her hand on her hip and two girls giggled humiliatingly towards Brooke, causing her eyes to snap over to the two blondes she didn't know the names of, "I'm sorry I don't know everyone, I actually have a life unlike some of us."

The girls went silent, rolling their eyes instead of replying, knowing better than to argue back and forth with Brooke, the girl who would never stop, even if she had work to do. Caroline glared at her friends before she turned back to Brooke, a grin still slapped on her face, "The new guy, haven't you seen him? He's hard to miss, he's gorgeous!"

"Oh! Him, he's in my History class. Have you spoken to him?" Brooke smirked, an eyebrow raised and one of her hands leaning on the table. Caroline scoffed, chuckling a little under her breath, clearly not expecting a question like that.

"Uh, well, no! But, I'm going to, we're gonna get married, trust me!" Caroline giggled, her friends joining in and Brooke smiled, brushing some hair out of her face, taking a step away from the table since she still had an hour left on her shift.

"If so, I have to meet him first. Can't have my girl dating a total loser!" Brooke leaned down, pressing a kiss to Caroline's head before she headed away from the table and back to the bar to serve another customer. She looked up from where she was wiping down a side behind the bar, and locked eyes with a man she'd never seen before.

He had bright blue eyes, even brighter than Matt's if you'd believe it. His pale olive skin was clearer than any skin she'd ever seen before and his hair was dark, extremely dark. He was the guy one would describe as tall, dark and mysterious, and just with one look, she felt her legs become wobbly, so she gripped onto the bar to help her stay stood.

"Hi, what can I get 'ya?" Brooke smiled in the friendliest way possible and he smirked, tapping on the bar whilst he just stared into her eyes with what looked to be admiration, making her feel appreciated in a way.

"How about a Booker's?" Damon raised an eyebrow, and Brooke couldn't help but hitch a breath in the back of her throat. She'd never seen someone raise a brow so sexily and she nodded, putting on a wide smile.

"Of course, sir, just a second." She turned, heading for the other side of the bar to grab the bartender, Peter, who was old enough to serve alcohol, but when she glanced back, the man had disappeared mysteriously and she let out a heavy sigh, turning back around, "Time waster."

But it was okay because he was hot.

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