With Monica and Hope finally being freed from the pit, their first instinct was to go back to the Salvatore school. When they arrived at the entrance a car that was familiar to them was driving in, as the gates to the school opened.

The car pulled to a stop as the driver saw the two girls trying to enter the school. "I didn't see you there— are you two okay?" Dorian suddenly asked them as Hope answered without thinking, "Yeah Dorian, we're okay."

The confused man continued, "Glad to hear it, but how did you know my name?" To which Hope looked worried. Monica glanced at the car before pointing at the windscreen, "Your parking pass!" She blurted out quickly.

Dorian looked at the pass before he chuckled, "Always hated that picture." He admitted before he looked back to the Montgomery and Mikealson. "What brings you out here tonight?"

"A friend." Hope blurted. "Well, we're all locked up here. Everyone's gone for summer." Dorian replied to Hope. "Okay.. thanks." Hope said before quickly as she grabbed Monica's hand and lead the girl away from Dorian.

Once they were out of sight, Hope let go of Monica's hand and looked to her. "Now we do what we do best. Sneak back into the school without being caught."

❤︎

Monica ran through the woods as Hope raced behind her. They stopped when they found a movie set up by the old mill, and seated closely together on the lounge were Ruby and Maya.

"Who is that?" Hope asked quietly before Monica frowned, "Is Ruby sneaking girls into the school?" She asked suddenly.

Ruby and Maya had been hanging out for the past couple of weeks, and with the idea from Jordan, Josie and Landon, the Waithe invited the girl over to watch a movie with her, with their cool set up.

It was the only time this would be an option, with barely any students in the school, and Landon was able to lure Rafael away from the Old mill for a few hours.

Ruby glanced at Maya lovingly. "Uh oh." Monica blurted, as Hope stayed quiet as she watched the pair. "Hey I just wanted to say that... I've really enjoyed hanging out. You've made my summer a lot better." Ruby said to Maya, as she caused the Machado to smile. "And mine too... I was so worried about not knowing anybody and having quite a lonely summer... but i've made a pretty awesome friend."

The friend comment made Hope settle a bit, as the Waithe had been friendzoned. But what happened next, she didn't fully expect.

Ruby glanced down at Maya's lips for a moment, before she quickly looked back up into her eyes. Maya caught this and grinned. "Friends? Is that all we are?" Ruby asked which caused Maya to smirkee, as she leant closer to the pinkette. "We don't have to be just friends." She said in almost a whisper, until the inevitable happened. The pair shared a soft, but passionate kiss.

"Hope..." Monica sighed sympathetically, before she looked to Hope, who now had tears rolling down her cheeks. The Mikealson quickly turned away and left. Monica took one last glance at the lovebirds, noticing how happy Ruby looked, before she left to go after Hope.

❤︎

Monica and Hope stood in Alaric's office, at Mystic Falls High. Hope had cried it out and now acted like nothing was wrong, so Monica did the same.

Alaric looked at Hope, "You are a blank slate, Miss Hope... Marshall. Parents Tom and Kathleen. No transcripts from your last school..." He trailed off before he looked to Monica, "The same goes for you Miss Monica... what did you say your full name was?"

Monica panicked before she blurted out, "Monica Monroe!" He gave her an unsure look so she confidently declared, "My mother is Cynthia Monroe, member of the Luna coven." Seeing as though she was confident Alaric nodded, deciding to believe her.

Alaric looked back to Hope as she spoke, "I think they must've just gotten packed away or something. Like I said, we move around a lot."

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, if you are gonna be here in Mystic Falls, you have to go to school." The Saltzman said as he looked between the two girls, who nodded in response. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing we're here, right?" Hope asked him.

Before Alaric could say anything the school bell rang, signalling that the girls had to head to their classes. "Can we go now?" Monica demanded, before she took Hope's arm, ready to lead them both out of the office.

Alaric nodded before he stopped them, "You know, I, uh... I've got two daughters, and I know when they're not telling me something. So, you know, if there's, uh, anything going wrong at home, you know, if you're in any trouble and you need to talk, just know I'm here to help, okay?"

"We're fine, thanks." Monica decided before she left the office, taking Hope with her.

❤︎

Monica walked down the hallway of Mystic Falls high as her heels clicked loudly on the floor, while all eyes were on her. The Montgomery couldn't help but to smirk, as she took in all of the attention.

She stopped by her new locker, where she was greeted by Ethan. "You seem new here." He spoke as Monica, who was facing away from him, bit her lip. She didn't want it to be that obvious.

Quickly, the blonde changed her expression before she turned to face Ethan. "It looks like you are too." She replied which caused Ethan to chuckle. The pair walked together and talked for a bit, but Monica stopped as an announcement was called over the PA.

"Could Monica Monroe please come to reception."

The Montgomery span around to face Ethan, a slight smirk on her lips, "Looks like I gotta go, see you around." She said as she was about to leave when Ethan reached out and grabbed her hand.

Monica turned back around to face him and looked down at their hands. After a moment Ethan withdrew his hand as he blushed,"Sorry I just— you're really pretty... can I have your number?" He asked the blonde.

Monica smiled for a moment. Ethan was cute and definitely a boy she could see herself having a bit of fun with... but then her face fell, as she thought about Lizzie.

"I have a girlfriend." Monica quickly said as she left before Ethan could say anything, before she made a beeline for the bathroom. Truthfully, she had a girlfriend.. but said girlfriend now had no idea that she existed.

Feeling a sudden emptiness at the realisation that her girlfriend had no idea she existed, the girl's shoulders sank. Tears fill her eyes, as the only girl she had developed romantic feelings for, would have forgotten about her.

Monica wanted to run into the arms of her best friend, and cry. For Ruby to tell her that everything would eventually be alright... but this time it wasn't going to happen because as well as Lizzie, she didn't have her best friend, either.

Or her family.

She had finally found Jordan, her brother, and now he had no idea who she was either. Suddenly, Monica's world felt very dark and cold.

❤︎

Professor Vardemus paced around the front of the classroom, speaking. "How does the existence of dragons and dryads and phoenixes change what we know about magical biology? It could be the discovery of a lifetime."

Jordan rolled his eyes before he started to write a note that read, "He is such a pompous ass." Jordan then folded it up and chuckled to himself before he passed it to Ruby, who sat at the next desk over.

Ruby took the note and unfolded it before she laughed and written back on it, "At least he hasn't tried to kill us all?" Not meaning any bad intent towards Alaric, but more for the fact that she had bad vibes from this new headmaster, she didn't trust him at all.

Receiving the note Jordan written back, "You really don't trust him either, do you?" To which he received the note back moments later with Ruby's reply being, "Not a chance."

Suddenly Josie entered the classroom, and quickly took a seat beside Jordan. "There you are. Hi." The Montgomery smiled as Josie smiled back, "Hey. I made you a flat white. Just how you like it." Josie said as she offered out a reusable cup to her crush.

Jordan took the cup and smiled back at the Saltzman, "Thanks Jo." He replied before he took a sip from it.

Once placing the cup down on the desk, the male witch asked, "Um, are you okay? You kind of rocketed out of class earlier." Josie turned to Jordan, "Um... Yeah, it's just, with my dad not being here and us-" Josie paused as Jordan now looked worried, and she quickly said, "It's, um, no, it's just a lot of change is all- It just kind of got to me."

The Montgomery nodded in understanding, "Well I mean, we can cancel dinner tonight, if you feel like we're moving too fast..." He suggested, before he then asked, "Do you think we're moving too fast?" As the last thing he wanted to do was make the Gemini witch uncomfortable.

Josie quickly shook her head, "No. Ab— uh, no.
Not unless you do." She stammered as she seemed a little embarrassed. Jordan shook his head, "No, I don't think so." He admitted.

"Okay."

"So... Dinner still?" The raven haired boy asked as Josie nodded eagerly as she had a a wide smile, "Yeah. Sure." She answered.

"Great... Um, sushi?" Jordan suggested. Josie seemed a little hesitant but despite this still responded with, "Yeah." Jordan didn't notice this and added, "I love sushi. Sushi it is."

"Awesome."

Once silence fell upon them Jordan looked over at Ruby, who was scribbling in the corner of her notebook. "Hey Jo... should we invite Ruby and Maya?" The Montgomery asked, as he turned back to her. "I.. would prefer if it was just the two of us." The Saltzman replied. Jordan nodded, "Sure."

❤︎

Monica, who had totally forgotten about the announcement, wandered through the hallway again as she was trying to get her mind off of Lizzie, Ruby and Jordan... and preferably anything to do with her old life.

The hallway was empty as the students had gone back to class, Monica was alone... at least she thought.

Monica suddenly froze as she heard footsteps approached her. She spun around as veins began to pop put from under her eyes, as she beared her fangs. Though she froze when she realised who was standing there.

"I guess you didn't hear the announcement.."

Suddenly Monica found herself being thrown against the lockers, as she let out a groan. She looked up to the woman standing in front of her. "Cynthia..." The vampire blurted out as she hadn't expected her brother's mother to show up at the school, especially when she was using her surname as her alias.

"Monica Monroe.. is it?" Cynthia asked as Monica got back to her feet, as she met eyes with the angry and confused witch. "You have a lot of explaining to do."