CHAPTER FIVE | SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

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IT WAS THE FIRST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR, AND RILEY EVANS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN HAPPIER. The strawberry blonde witch just desperately wanted to get her life back on track. She wanted to put everything behind her and move on with the rest of the world. Riley headed to her locker with an array of books in her hand whilst her phone began to buzz in her pocket. As she pulled it out, she noticed it was Damon calling.

"I literally felt the house thirty-minute ago. Are you checking up on me?" Riley lightly chuckled. She held her phone up to her air with a shoulder as she stuffed her books into her locker. "I told you this morning that I'd be fine today."

"I don't doubt it. I was actually calling to let you know that things back here have gotten a little weird." Damon's voice trailed off slowly.

Riley began to tense up when she heard the tone of Damon's voice. Usually, it was not a good sign. "And why's that?"

"We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus."

"Rebekah? She's at the house?" Riley asked as she slammed her locker door shut. "Why?"

"Because she's stranded," Damon stated whilst Riley rolled her eyes at the thought of bumping into Rebekah on the way to the kitchen. "Apparently, Klaus left her in the dust after I name-dropped Mikael."

"Ugh. Brilliant." The strawberry-blonde rolled her eyes and rested her back up against the wall of lockers. "Do I even want to ask what the no-humanity Salvatore is doing?"

"Oh, you know Stefan. Journaling, reading, shaping his hair." Damon teased with a slight chuckle.

"I can tell when you're lying to me, you ass,"

"Is that the bell? Oh, ring-ring. Don't wanna be late!"

"Da—" Riley called out but Damon had ended the call before she could get another question in. As much as she loved Damon, she absolutely hated it when he kept her in the dark about things.

"Riley!" The voice of none other than Stefan Salvatore called out toward the strawberry-blonde. "What a surprise bumping into you here."

"Hm. Almost like you didn't know I went to this school, right?" Riley rolled her eyes, then folded her arms across her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm going back to school." The Salvatore scoffed with a smirk across his lips. "Go Timberwolves."

"Right." Riley rolled her eyes and attempted to leave, but he stepped in front of her.

"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on Elena. I'm just doing what I'm told." Stefan shrugged. "Don't pretend you're not happy to see me, Riles. After all, you are my best friend."

"Whatever, I have class." The girl tried to move past the vampire again, but he grabbed her by the forearm and yanked her backward. She immediately flinched at his touch. "Let go of me, Stefan."

"Class is this way," He informed with a smirk while his hand still remained tightly clasped around Riley's forearm.

Stefan's grip only tightened on her arm, so she focused all her energy and caused him to grab his head in pain. She had caused a blood vessel to burst in his brain. "Stay the hell away from me or I swear to God, I will do more damage next time,"

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It turned out that not only had Riley been cornered in the hallway by Stefan, but Elena had, too. The shaken-up females headed to Alaric's classroom to discuss the situation. "What the hell is he doing here?" Ric asked whilst he set textbooks down onto each desk.

"Klaus compelled him to watch over Elena," Riley answered simply and crossed her arms over her chest. "She's important to Klaus now since her blood can create a Hybrid. All that effort he went to to try and kill you, now he's making sure you're safe. Funny."

Alaric scoffed in disbelief. "So, now he's a bodyguard?"

"I don't know what he has, but he's definitely not Stefan." The doppelganger shook her head with a look of refusal. The school bell began to ring and a few students poured into the classroom. "Look, his being here is not good for any of us. We have to do something."

"Come on." Riley grabbed Elena by the arm and pulled her toward their desks just the rest of the students wandered in. Eventually, Stefan stepped in with a smirk on his lips.

"You're in my seat." He told a student, who had chosen to sit just beside the doppelganger. The boy simply got up and moved seats, which allowed Stefan to side right at Elena's side. "Hey, you."

"Welcome back, seniors." Alaric clapped his hands together as he turned around to speak to his history students. "Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders: The Native Americans."

"What about the Vikings?" Rebekah's voice called out as all eyes averted to her. She stood in the doorway with a devilish smirk on her lips before she moved to an available desk.

"Oh, my God," Riley whispered softly whilst she, Caroline, and Elena all exchanged looks.

"There's no evidence Vikings explorers actually settled in the United States." The teacher furrowed his brows as he watched the blonde simply sit down at a vacant desk. "Who are you?"

"My name's Rebekah. I'm new, and history is my favorite subject." She innocently grinned toward Alaric.

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Riley had been the one to inform Damon about everything that had happened during their day at school, but Elena was determined to work through her anger. The strawberry-blonde told Damon to meet them at Alaric's apartment, and as he wandered in he saw Elena lifting weights.

"What? You gonna bench press a vampire?" The Salvatore mockingly asked as he wandered over to Riley and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"She's pissed because Stefan called her a human blood bag." Riley sighed heavily as she then glanced back at Elena, who grunted whilst she lifted the weight back up in the air. "She is right, though. He's a completely different person now."

A devilish smirk appeared on Damon's face as he sauntered over to the weight Elena was lifting and applied a little more pressure so she was unable to lift it. "What are you doing?" The doppelganger breathlessly spat.

"Helping you out." Damon chuckled. "Come on, Buffy."

"Stop it!" Elena yelled out of frustration. She dropped her hands from the weight, though Damon's grip remained on it so that it wouldn't crush her. He simply placed it back onto the stand whilst Elena desperately tried to catch her breath.

"Don't be a dick." Riley rolled her eyes as Damon sauntered back over to her and snaked his hand around her waist.

"Like one obnoxious Salvatore isn't bad enough," Elena muttered under his breath once she had sat up from the bench press.

"Riley called, I came." Damon shrugged once his attention was taken by the array of stakes that were laid out on the table. "What's your plan, oh warrior princesses?"

Riley tilted her head toward her boyfriend as a heavy sigh escaped her lips. "Uh— we wanna lock Stefan up. Just until Mikael comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks."

"Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood, okay? A lot of it." Damon's attention flickered between his girlfriend and the doppelganger.

"We've gotten him off of it before." Elena yanked her ponytail out once she got up to her feet.

"This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Elena. His humanity's gone. Lights out. No one's home."

"Well, do it for me." Riley took one final breath as Damon's gaze was solely on her. "Every single time that I look at him, I don't see Stefan. I see a monster. He's can't hurt Elena— he wouldn't because of Klaus. But, I feel like if I put one foot wrong, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me. I used to be his best friend, and now it's like I don't even matter to him."

"I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Riley. No one's gonna hurt you. Especially not my brother." Damon's eyes were confident. He would die before he let anything happen to the woman that he loved.

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The bonfire was the perfect distraction for the plan, they knew that Stefan would never suspect something to happen whilst at an event with dozens of people. Riley and Elena were supposed to lure him away from the bonfire, where Alaric was prepared to shoot him with a vervain dart to get him into the back of his car so they could lock him up at the old Forbes jail cell.

The strawberry-blonde sauntered over to the keg, where Stefan and Rebekah were refilling their cups. "Sorry. Am I interrupting?" The strawberry-blonde slurred. "Oh, yeah, that's right. I don't really care."

"Riley, hi." The humanity-free vampire tilted his head. "What're you doing?"

"Having fun, Stefan. You know, that thing you're positively incapable of having without ripping people's heads off their bodies." The witch taunted with a slight chuckle.

"Ouch," Rebekah smirked and wandered off in the direction of Damon, who was seated alone toasting marshmallows. Damon was supposed to distract Rebekah, who seemingly went everywhere that Stefan did, though Riley couldn't help but feel jealous when he watched the two together.

"Uh, oh," Stefan called out in a taunting tone once he noticed the strawberry-blonde's gaze that was firmly on his older brother. "I spy jealousy."

"Are we playing I spy?" Riley raised an eyebrow toward Stefan as she took another sip of her drink. "Because I spy an emotionless psychopath who needs to leave me the hell alone."

"But you're my best friend, Riley. Don't be like that with me." Stefan innocently answered as if the strawberry-blonde had hurt his feels.

"Don't act like you have feelings. Don't pretend to care. It's pathetic." Riley chuckled softly as she glanced back at him. "Why the hell are you following me around, huh? Go find Elena. You know, the doppelganger you're compelled to protect."

Riley watched Stefan look up, almost as if he were searching for Elena. He was unaware that the doppelganger had taken herself off in order to get him alone and out of the way. Within seconds, he had disappeared with the intention of locating her. Just as he did, Rebekah shoved a large stick straight through Damon's chest.

"Bitch," Damon grumbled once he got up to his feet and yanked the stick from his chest. His eyes caught a flustered Riley as she headed over in an attempt to assist him. "Riles, you good?"

"Me?" Riley looked down at his chest. She gently lifted his shirt to see the wound had properly healed. "You're the one that just got staked by Barbie."

"He's getting to you, isn't he?" Damon noticed how upset Riley looked after the small conversation she had with Stefan. "Riley, whatever he's said to you, it isn't him. This version of him is a total jack-ass, and you know that."

"I know, it's just hard." The witch took a deep breath. She shook her head in an attempt to shake the thought from her head. "You and Rebekah seemed cozy toasting marshmallows together."

"Keeping tabs on us, were you?" Damon raised an eyebrow as a small smirk suddenly grew across his lips. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say my brother was right. You were jealous."

The strawberry-blonde witch rolled her eyes. "What if I was?"

"Then, I'd tell you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about." Damon extended his hand to her cheek and gently cupped her face with a smile. "I love you, Riley." His lips gently pressed against hers.

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