(chapter one: history repeating)

Do what you want but you're never gonna break me (Oh)
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh, oh-oh

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On And On And On softly played on the radio in the car on the way to go Mystic Falls high school. One of the most underrated by ABBA since no one ever talked about it, at least that is if you would ever ask Olivia Saltzman, Liv for friends.

Or Livy as her father and uncle called her.

Her father and uncle were used to it by now that almost every time they were in the car, ABBA or Taylor Swift would play.

Her father, Alaric Saltzman, was a strange man. At least that's what the girl thought at times. Despite his weirdness she still loved him. He was the best father in the world and she would never want anyone for a father.

Was she crying?

He was there with her favorite movies and a box of chocolates.

Was she laughing?

He would probably told her some weird dad-joke nobody found funny but he was laughing so hard, making his daughter also laugh with him.

Was she anxious about something?

He was there to give her the most amazing and original pep-talk you would ever hear.

Yes, she loved her father. He was the most important person in her life and she vowed to herself that he would always be.

She didn't want to end up losing another parent.

Without a doubt if you had asked Isobel Flemming or Alaric Saltzman five years ago if their daughter was a mommy or a daddy's girl was, a big smile would always grace Isobel's lips as they both replied in union that she was definitely a mama's girl.

Until she wasn't.

And who was there to support her while grieving himself?

Her father.

The two had never been as close as they had become in the last two years.

And who were there with her father?

Sophia Hart and Davina Claire.

Olivia's best friends, who she sadly had to leave behind to come to Mystic Falls.

And let's not talk about her ex-girlfriend and how that ended.

The car slowly stopped and the now sixteen year old girl heard her father turn of the engine of the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe.

Her dad turned to her. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay, sweetheart?"

The worry in his voice was noticeable. It wasn't just noticeable because she heard her dad speak in that tone a lot.

No, it would be heareable twenty miles away. But she couldn't forbid him from being worried. It's was the first time she was somewhere else that's not her home in her entire life. Olivia Saltzman didn't know anything but home.

Her home. Her friends and her family.

But Alaric knew she would make friends fast after all that's what she did back at home.

"I'm fine, dad." She answered, reassuring him. She surprisingly really was okay. She could still contact her friends and like her father had said multiple times before now: this could be a new chapter in her life.

Or so she hoped.

"I'll see you later, dad." She kissed his cheek before stepping out of the car with a quick wave before looking down at the papers in her hand, hoping she would find the school office fast.

"Have you even to talked to Bonnie?" Elena asked Caroline as the two were walking to school.

"No, I'm mad at her. She needs to make the first move." Caroline answered with a stubborn tone.

"Be the bigger person." Elena said, trying to convince her.

"Impossible in her presence." Caroline stated.

"Why are you so pissed at her anyway?" Elena asked.

"She's a thief, that's why. I gave her my necklace, and she refuses to give it back. It's a matter of principle."

Elena sighed. "All right. Well, I tried. I'm officially out of it."

The two friends passed Matt, who had expected that Caroline would greet him after what had happened a few days ago, but she didn't. She wasn't even looking at him.

"Hey, who's that?" She asked Elena as she pointed to Olivia who stood a bit further away from them, still trying to figure out her paper.

"I don't know. I've never seen her before." Elena said, also looking over but before the two could even say something else, Olivia started walking inside. And for some reason Caroline was sad to see her go.

Once Olivia had figured out the map and actually went inside she found the school office in no time. Luckily for her there was no one else their except for the secretary so she didn't have to wait.

"Hi, I'm Olivia Saltzman. I come for my schedule."

"Olivia Saltzman." The woman muttered a few times as she went through the papers, trying to find the right one. "Here we go."

"Thank you. Have a good day!" She said, before leaving the office again to go to her first class, given by her father.

It seemed like she was there before her father. However there was only two seats left, one in the middle of the classroom and one next to a window.

Olivia chose the one next to the window. Knowing if she spaced out, she could at least watch what was happening inside. But she would try to pay attention since it was her dad's first class in this school but Alaric Saltzman was one of the most loved teachers at her old school so she knew he would be okay. Unless the people walking around here were aliens. Then there was no saving him.

Her father walked in after a girl quickly ran in, sitting in the seat in the front. As she watched the girl walking in, she caught the stare of the boy in the seat next to her. She gave him a smile before turning to her dad.

"Alrighty." He spoke as he picked up the chalk and wrote his name on the board. "Alaric Saltzman. It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce 'Alaric' but it's 'Alaric' okay? So, you can call me Rick. I'm your new history teacher."

Fifty minutes later class ended and Olivia was really proud of herself on how she only turned away a few times to look outside. History had never been her thing, unlike her father, she was more of a drama or English girl. More of drama girl is she was honest. She had always dreamed of becoming an actress since she figured out what an actress was.

"You need any help?" Someone spoke up, standing next to her. It was the boy who had been staring at her. What she didn't know was that he had been staring at her the whole entire time as Alaric was speaking. But how could he not? He had finally found his mate.

He would have to protect her from Damon, though. He knew if Damon found out that he had found his mate, Stefan was sure Damon would use her as some revenge on him. He could not let that happen. He could not let her get hurt now that he had finally found her.

"Yeah, actually I really do." She said, flashing him a beautiful smile. At least that's what Stefan though. He hoped he would be the one to put that smile on her face in the time to come. "Do you know where English is?"

"Who's your teacher?" The Salvatore asked her. Maybe if luck was on his side, they would have the same class now.

"Davis." She replied looking at the name under her father's on her schedule.

"Ah, I have her as well." Stefan said, smiling at her. "I'll walk with you."

"You would be my lifesaver, uhm-"

"Stefan Salvatore." Extending his hand and Olivia grabbed it, shaking their hands. "Olivia Saltzman." Stefan gave her another smile, wanting to be more to her than just her 'lifesaver'.

The girl quickly said goodbye to her father as she picked up her books. Except for her, Stefan and her father there had been no one else in the history classroom. The two had also been very oblivious to the glaring Alaric had done at the back of Stefan's head for the past two minutes.

"So, Olivia Saltzman, new history teacher's kid?" He asked her as they walked out of the door.

"Oh no, we just have the same name and we are somehow both new on the first day." Stefan let out a laugh. "Yes, he's my dad."

"Why did you move here?" He asked, curious.

"My dad's job. When he heard that there was a position for history teacher open, he applied and he got it. He said it was because the last history teacher was killed. Does that happen a lot here?" She asked him, with a frown on her face. She didn't want her dad to be next.

"No." Stefan reassured her, even though he was lying a bit now, he wanted her to be calm. "It was an animal attack?"

"An animal attack? Like an mountain lion or something?" Stefan nodded and Olivia felt bad for the man who had been killed, not knowing that he was an absolute ass who was killed by Stefan's brother. She couldn't imagine being killed by an animal. Another thing she loved. Animals.

"Yeah." Stefan responded as he nodded his head to a door signalling that this was Ms. Davis's class. The two picked the two seats in the back, again close to a window.

"So, how long have you been here?" Olivia asked him. It was time she got to know something about him.

"Not long either, to be honest. Start of the school year." Stefan answered.

"Really? Why did you move?" Olivia asked, interested.

"I came back actually." He could've said he came back for his uncle but then he had to say Zach was dead. Also killed by his brother, surprise surprise. And he didn't want to scare her off.

And he couldn't say he came back for Elena, which he had done. Yes, he never planned to start something with Elena if she was even interested, because he didn't want to hurt her by leaving her for his mate.

And even if he would've been together with Elena he would've left her in a heartbeat not that his mate was sitting next to him. No offence to Elena, though.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I missed it."

"Understandable. From what I have seen it's a cozy town." She had not seen much of Mystic Falls since she had been here only a day but from what she had seen it seemed like a fun town.

"Oh it is."

☀️☀️☀️

After English the day pretty much flew by. Stefan had suggested she could eat with him and his friends but Alaric had made her swear she would eat lunch with him the first day. Why she had had no idea why, she had just gone.

It's where she met Jeremy Gilbert. The second person who's name she knew. She had wanted to leave, not wanting to interrupt the conversation between him and her dad but her dad had rolled a chair towards her, making her sit down.

The girl had been so busy texting Sophia and Davina everything that happened on her first day of school that she had not even noticed Stefan walking inside the Grill with his older brother.

But Stefan had definitely noticed her from the minute he had stepped in the Grill. Her scent was the first thing he noticed. The girl smelled like strawberries and an early summer morning. His favorite scent now.

Stefan started to look around in the Mystic Grill for her as Damon made his way over to the bar for Bourbon, Stefan slowly following behind him as his gaze landed on Alaric Saltzman and the only possible person who could sit with him would be his history teacher's daughter.

"Dad." Olivia said as she saw Stefan and his brother standing at the bar. "I'm gonna get something new to drink."

"All right, sweetheart." He replied, looking up from the homework he had been correcting for the past hour that they had been at the Mystic Grill.

"Hey Stefan." Olivia said as she stood in front of him, if they hadn't been sitting Olivia would've stood in the middle of them.

"Olivia." Stefan said, smiling at her. He wasn't planning on being mean to her just to get her away from his brother. Damon looked from his little brother to Olivia, suspicious.

"And who is this pretty lady?" He asked, taking her hand and kissing it, seeing the look in his brother's eyes. A look Stefan had not held in his eyes since Katherine had 'compelled' him to love her. And the look of jealousy Stefan had after Damon had kissed her hand, gave it all away.

"I'm Olivia. I'm new." She introduced herself to him.

"Damon."

"So, Olivia, what are you doing in the Grill?" Stefan asked, being quite done that his mate's attention was on his older brother.

"My dad thought it was a good idea to come here and get a better look at the town." The girl said with a little chuckle. "I don't mind though. They have the best strawberry milkshakes here. And we're also here, waiting for uncle Alex, so we'll probably stay here for a while."

Stefan gave her a smile. He was happy to be in her presence. That was until a certain Gilbert interrupted "Hey, Olivia!" Jeremy greeted as he joined the three.

"Oh, hey Jere." Olivia said, smiling back at him.

Stefan was glaring at Jeremy. "Jeremy." He nodded at the Gilbert with a short nod.

"So," Jeremy said, staring weirdly from Stefan to Olivia. "my aunt Jenna is flirting with your dad." Olivia looked over to the table were Jeremy had been sitting for the past hour, to see her dad sitting on his place. It kinda felt weird to see her dad laughing with another woman like he had done with her mom, but she knew sooner of later he would start dating other people.

She didn't really know what to answer to that and luckily for her she didn't have to. Her uncle was walking into the grill, over to the four of them.

"Hey, Livy, ready to go?" Alexander Saltzman asked. It didn't seem like his brother would stop talking to woman next to him soon.

"Yes." Olivia said, saying her goodbyes quickly and walking out of the grill with her uncle.

"You okay, kid?"

"Yeah." Olivia answered.

Words: 2478

Published: April 12, 2024

First chapter!

Questions:

-> should I make Aurora a soulmate of Olivia or not? (to me it's just better for the plot)

-> What do you guys think? I know it's a lot of love interest but why not?

Be sure to comment. I love reading them and it keeps me motivated!

x Kat