AFTER SCHOOL ONE DAY, ELEANOR WAS GETTING FAMILIAR WITH THE CAMPUS. She liked knowing exactly where everything was in case something happened. She needed to be able to know her surroundings. She hadn't always been so paranoid, but she had had a few unpleasant experiences throughout her many years of life...or death depending on how you want to put it.

She was walking along the track, heading over to where the cheerleaders were getting ready to practice. Caroline had told her to come and watch to see if she would be interested. Eleanor already knew the answer, but she had nothing better to do that afternoon.

The football team was practicing on the field, and she spotted Stefan in pads, showing off his vampire skills. She looked away, but almost as soon as she turned her head, a ball came sailing her way. She quickly lifted her hand and caught it with ease before it could come crashing into her face, and she looked around to see where it came from. She almost audibly groaned when she saw Tyler Lockwood jogging over to her. She sighed when he stopped a couple of yards away from her.

"Well, if it isn't the dick who tried to force himself on a defenseless girl in the woods," she commented, tilting her head to the side in an almost slightly threatening manner, warning him not to get too close to her.

He extended his hand for her to shake, reminding her, "You can call me Tyler."

"I don't think I'll be calling you anything," she informed him, ignoring his hand and just tossing the ball back to him. He caught it, and she turned around to continue her walk. However, he called after her, causing her to pause.

"It's Eleanor, right?" he asked. It seems that he had done his research. She turned back around with raised eyebrows, asking him why he was trying to start another conversation. "Why don't I take you out sometime? Maybe I can change your opinion of me."

She seriously doubted that, and a smirk made its way onto her face when she realized that she got to tell this loser why she would never be interested in him. "As appealing as that sounds, I play for the other team, buddy."

"What?" he questioned, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment while he processed her words. All of a sudden, his face lit up in realization. "Oh..."

"Yeah, nice try, though. Really flattering," she responded with a smile. She turned once again and kept walking down the track, trying to stop herself from laughing at the look on his face.

He yelled after her, "Nice catch by the way!" She just continued walking until she reached the end of the bleachers. She noticed a bunch of girls in athletic clothes stretching, so she figured she was in the right place. However, Caroline was nowhere to be seen.

And then Damon's car pulled up with her in the passenger seat. The sight made Eleanor's blood boil, not just because of the fact that she was obviously sleeping with him, but because of the scarf wrapped around her neck. She knew what that meant. The older Salvatore was feeding on her.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind," Caroline said smugly after she kissed Damon, got out of the car, and went over to Elena. She then made her way to the front of the group. "Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the double pike herkie hurdler, what do you say?"

Risking the fact that Caroline might kill her if she did not go to the practice, the Chetwood girl sped off after Damon's car, which was pulling away. She stopped right in front of it just as it was about to exit the school. Damon slowed to a stop before climbing out with a smirk. "Eleanor, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I think you know," she responded. "Leave her alone."

"Oh, come on, Nora. Let a guy have a little fun," he groaned jokingly. He was stupid to not be scared of her, knowing what she was capable of. He knew about her history, and it was not smart to be a vampire on her bad side, despite the fact that she was one herself.

She scoffed, crossing her arms as he moved closer to her. Damon was a hell of a lot older than Caroline, and not just in vampire years. A seemingly twenty-five-year-old man should not be dating a high school junior. "She's seventeen, Damon, and it's creepy. I'm not going to let you compel her into sex. She's a person."

"This is not the Eleanor Chetwood I remember. I seem to recall a period of time when you and I were not so different," he reminded her, stepping even closer to her and leaning in to mutter in her ear. "That was my favorite Nora. She was so hot too."

"Get the hell away from me," she ordered. His seduction attempts were useless on her. She was immune.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. I'm not your type," he chuckled, taking a couple of steps back and holding his hands up in surrender. He obviously knew something, and it was making her mad. "Still, I think you and I have a common interest, and I'm not just talking about Blondie over there."

She wanted to grab a tree branch and shove it through his heart, and it was taking everything in her to remain calm because she was intrigued by what he was talking about. "Get to the point."

"I'm guessing that part of the reason you're back in town has to do with what happened the last time we were both here," he said, tilting his head as he leaned back against the hood of his car. Eleanor had perfected her poker face long ago, and it came in handy then.

She just shrugged. "Maybe the reason I'm back isn't any of your business."

"Whatever you say, Nora," he sighed, kicking off the hood and making his way back over to the driver's seat. He winked at her and nodded, and she just kept her glare. "You know where to find me if you change your mind."

《❂》

THERE WAS A FOOTBALL GAME THAT NIGHT. No matter how interesting the game could have gone, it would still be nothing compared to what happened beforehand. There were arguments and fights and a whole lot of partying. The Mystic Falls teenagers really came up with any excuse they could to drink, and there was a shocking lack of teachers considering they were right outside the stadium.

Elena had quit cheerleading, and Craroline talked Eleanor's ear off about it, saying that she needed to get back out there and expressing how worried she was about her friend. She also did not fail to mention that that meant there was an empty spot on the team, in case anyone wanted to try out. Wink wink.

The Forbes girl finally had to gather her team for the game. Eleanor, having nothing else to do, sat down in the bed of one of the trucks parked. There were other people there, but she did not really pay them any attention until someone spoke to her.

"You look exhausted," a voice said, and she looked over to her right where Jeremy Gilbert was sitting with a bottle in his hand. He was clearly drinking fairly heavily, but he did not seem all that affected by it. What caught her attention, though, was the huge black eye that he had.

"It's been a rough day," she responded. That day had seemed strangely long, and she still had a whole football game to get through. She was probably going to end up leaving early and going home, but Caroline might have an actual heart attack if she told her that. "Where'd you get the shiner?"

He sighed, shaking his head like he didn't want to talk about it, "I've pissed off quite a few people today." He then held out the bottle, offering it to her with raised eyebrows. She seemed hesitant, and he told her, "It really helps, I promise."

"I'm okay. Thanks, though," she answered.

"More for me," he replied with a shrug, taking another swig from the bottle. After he swallowed, he stared at her for a moment with furrowed eyebrows, as if trying to place who she was. "You're the new girl, right?"

She nodded, and she took her hands out of her jacket pockets to extend it toward him. He really did not seem like the shaking hands type, but she did it anyway. She thought it was a polite way of greeting someone. It was a habit she was taught as a child, and she never grew out of it. "Eleanor Chetwood."

"I'm Jeremy Gilbert," he introduced, but she already knew that. He accepted her hand shake, and he did not seem too weirded out by the gesture, which was good.

She had done her research on a lot of people around town, including him. She knew who his sister was and what happened to his parents, but she could not let him know that she knew that. She asked something else she already knew the answer to. "Are you related to Elena?"

"Yeah, she's my sister," he confirmed. He barely let her say that Elena seemed nice before telling her, "Crazy overprotective. Our parents died a couple months ago, car crash. So, she's been really weird about me."

"I'm sorry for your loss," the Chetwood girl told him. She never knew how people wanted others to react when told about deaths in their life.

"It's okay," he assured her, waving her off like it was nothing. She realized that he was probably stoned and drunk off his rocker, and he might not even be fully registering the conversation. She would be shocked if he remembered it in the morning. "Enough about me. What's your story? Any siblings?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Just me."

"Only child. Lucky," he breathed out, leaning back and looking up at the sky as if thinking about what life would be like if he did not have a sister.

Both of their heads snapped up when they heard shouting, and Eleanor searched the scene until she spotted Matt Donovan flagging a bunch of people down. There was a body on the ground in front of him, and he was begging for someone to come. "Somebody help!"

As football players and cheerleaders ran over, Eleanor followed them. She peeked over their shoulders to see her history teacher and the football coach — they were the same person — lying on the ground, blood seemingly drained from his body. The female vampire pursed her lips and began glancing around her surroundings. She paused when she saw Damon standing at the end of the sidewalk. He waved at her with a smirk before disappearing around a corner.

That son of a bitch.