Asher and Amanda

~~~~~

{outfit for chapter above}

"making friends was easy, but keeping them was the hard part."

~~~~~

Alora woke up with the sun.

The rays of sunshine peaked through her white curtains, casting a golden glow across her room. She peacefully laid in bed for a moment, listening to the birds chirping outside her window, singing a beautiful little tune.

Arthur stirred against her. The cat had been sleeping on her stomach as usual. He lifted his head up before standing up on his paws. He walked forward on her, his small paws eventually pressing into her chest, causing Alora to let out a pained chuckle.

She loved cats with all her heart.

But that action was not something she appreciated.

She lifted Arthur off of her and placed him on the bed. She then sat up and swung her feet off the bed, feeling the soft rug beneath her feet.

Alora stood up and walked across the floor to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Once Alora was done, she went down the stairs, closely being followed by her orange cat. When she got downstairs, she pulled out a jar of overnight oats from the fridge—she had finally found time to make herself breakfast, even if it had been the night before. She placed the jar on the counter and put the kettle on the stove.

As she waited for the water to heat up, she got two cups ready. One for herself and the other for her father, who was bound to walk down the stairs at some point. With the cups and herbs prepared, Alora grabbed a spoon and sat on one of the barstools. She twisted the lid of the mason jar and began to eat the oats she had prepared the night before.

"Oh, gross," A voice commented from behind her, "your eating that mushy stuff again.

Alora turned her head to see her dad entering the kitchen. He was wearing a black tee accompanied by Marvel sweatpants that she had gotten him as a gag gift—he ended up liking them, even though he would never admit it.

"It's good," She argued.

"It's not."

There was a long standing argument between the father and daughter about Alora's breakfast choices.

"It is," Alora urged. "You've never even tried it."

"Uh-huh. I think I'll stick to actual foods, ones that don't resemble whatever the hell that is," Dean replied, pouring the hot water from the kettle into the two cups once it whistled. He slid her mug over towards her, staring distastefully at the jar of oats once more.

Alora went back to eating her food as her father walked around the kitchen.

"You looked pretty friendly with Elena's aunt last night," Alora commented after she finished off her last bite and went to wash out the jar.

"Who?"

"The cute strawberry blonde you were chatting up."

"Oh, her. I was just trying to find someone to talk to, seeing as you disappeared on me," Dean replied.

"First off, you were the one who encouraged me to go and talk to her," Alora noted, turning off the faucet and drying the glass jar. "Second off, for once in your life, you didn't look like you wanted to hit the person you were talking to."

Dean just hummed in acknowledgment.

Alora narrowed her eyes at her father.

"I mean, I saw you talking to this other woman, the one with dark brown hair and that really false smile. When you talked to her, you looked like you wanted to be anywhere but there, but you actually seemed to enjoy the conversation with Jenna," Alora continued, even though her father didn't even seem to be paying attention to her.

"Don't you have more important things to worry about?" Dean questioned. "Like getting to school on time instead of berating me about who and who I don't like to talk to. It's not really any of your business."

"Sorry," Alora mumbled.

Dean winced at her deflated mood. That had never been his intent of the words he had said, but it didn't come across that way. "Look, Lor, I didn't mean it that way," He tried.

"No, it's cool," Alora gave him a small smile, though it was semi-forced looking. "I know you don't like me doing that. I'm sorry."

If there was one thing Alora was sure about, it was her father's dislike for talking about women. Alora was pretty sure he still hadn't ever fully gotten over her mother or that he was just panicked that someone else would leave as easily as Ivory did.

Alora blamed her mother for all of it.

If only the woman hadn't just left her father and her high and dry.

"Come on," Dean sighed. "I'll drive you to school."

Alora nodded and followed after him.

~~~~~

"I'm not saying don't date the guy," Bonnie commented to Elena as they walked across the grass. "I'm just saying take it slow."

"You were the one who said to go for it."

"Now I'm saying take it slow."

Flashes of Stefan Salvatore's life went through her mind once more. All the horrors and the darkness that she felt from it—from him.

She didn't want her best friend to be around someone like that.

"Why the about-face?" Elena questioned.

"It's not an about-face," Bonnie denied. "You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field."

"Oh, because I'm so that girl," Elena shot back. "Seriously, what are you not saying?"

"It's stupid," Bonnie muttered, slowing her steps.

"Bonnie..."

"What?"

"Spit it out."

Bonnie turned to Elena. "I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling."

Bonnie thought back to all the comments her Grams had made about her being a witch. Then she thought of the words that Alora had told her the night before. Finally, there were the visions that she saw when she touched Stefan. It all led her back to the same place.

Were witches real?

Was she a witch?

She shook her head.

That was impossible, right?

"Is that it?" Elena questioned, but noticed that her friend had spaced out. "Bonnie," She lightly touched Bonnie's arm, snapping her out of it.

"It was bad bad!"

Bonnie didn't know how else to describe it.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena asked.

"You know what?" Bonnie brushed it all off with a shrug. "I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

"And I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that."

Bonnie just smiled for her friend.

"I'm just—"

"Good morning, Elena," Stefan greeted, by accidentally cutting off what Bonnie was going to say. "Good morning, Bonnie."

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. I also need to meet up with Alora for some assignment. So I'll see you guys later," Bonnie told the two of them before she walked off.

"Bonnie, wait...."

Bonnie heard, but didn't bother to turn around and converse with her friend.

"Bonnie!"

Hearing the familiar, happy voice, Bonnie looked over to see Alora quickly approaching her. The girl was once again decked out in her peculiar fashion and mass amounts of jewelry. Bonnie smiled when Alora finally made her way next to her.

"Morning," Alora properly greeted Bonnie.

"Hi," Bonnie's smile widened.

"So, you look like a woman on a mission," Alora began as the two started to walk again. "Where are you off to?"

"Looking for Caroline," Bonnie answered. "Have you seen her by chance?'

"Caroline? The bubbly blonde?" Alora received a nod in response. "I haven't seen her since last night before we went to search for Vicki, sorry."

"It's fine," Bonnie shrugged. "She's probably with some guy."

She didn't sound too sure of her own words, but Alora decided not to press any further.

"Has anything new happened with the whole 'witch' thing your Grams has been pressing you about?" Alora questioned, trying to be discreet as possible about it all.

"It's strange. You'll think it's weird or something."

"Try me."

"I woke up today being obsessed with three numbers: 8,14, and 22," Bonnie told her, noticing that there was not a single judgmental look on Alora's face.

"Maybe it's a premonition?" Alora offered with a shrug. She was most certain the numbers were hinting at something that was going to happen, but she couldn't outwardly say that, now could she? Her father would be pissed at her if she did, and she definitely didn't want that.

"Maybe," Bonnie bit her lip. "I'm not sure. I haven't been able to talk to my Grams for a little while. But if I went to her, she'd tell me to embrace it, and I don't want to embrace it. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

She was one.

Alora paused, "It kind of sounds like fun."

Bonnie laughed, "Well, if I am a witch, you will be the first one I tell."

"Oh, really?" Alora joined in with the girl's laughter. "That feels like such an honor."

"It is," Bonnie grinned at her as the two walked into history class together and took their seats, which were coincidentally next to each other.

As usual, the class was boring and Mr. Tanner was insufferable. Nonetheless, Alora sat in the class, knowing that she could always go back home at the end of the day and complain to her father about the man.

Dean loved gossiping whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Alora let her gaze drift, not paying attention to a single thing that her teacher was saying. Her eyes fell onto the notebook that was in front of Bonnie. The girl was scribbling down the number "8", "14", and "22" over and over again. All in different sizes, styles, and even into their own little images.

Well, shit.

That had just confirmed the suspicions that Alora was having.

Something bad was definitely going to be happening...and soon.

"World war II ended in...Anyone got anything? Miss Juan?" Mr. Tanner spoke, pacing back and forth at the front of the classroom. "Miss Grey?"

Alora snapped her attention away from the journal and to the teacher, who was now staring at her very intently.

"1945," Alora responded, giving him a smile when he saw the shock written on the man's face. She was going to heavily thank her father for getting her into history.

Mr. Tanner looked at her, skeptically, "And the day?"

He was testing her.

The dick.

"September 2."

He then turned away from Alora, pleasantly surprised that he had a student who actually knew their history. Those types of teenagers were few and far between. "Pearl Harbor," Mr. Tanner addressed the next historical event. "Miss Gilbert?"

Elena looked startled at being called on. She had absolutely no clue what was going on, seeing as she had been having a conversation of her own with Stefan.

"Hmm?"

"Pearl Harbor?"

December 7, 1941, Alora answered to herself, not vocalizing it.

"Um..."

"December 7, 1941," Stefan answered.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert," Mr. Tanner joked, not hiding the annoyance he felt.

"Anytime."

The class quietly laughed at what had happened.

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin Wall," Mr. Tanner questioned. He really loved testing his students, almost like he wanted to see them mess up just to fuel his own ego.

1989

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir."

Of course you are, Mr. Vampire, Alora thought. You were literally alive for them.

But then again, so was her father.

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

1964

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy's Assasination."

1963

"1963."

"Martin Luther King," Mr. Tanner was walking closer and closer to Stefan's desk as he questioned the teen vampire.

1968

" '68."

"Lincoln."

1865

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

1973

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board."

1954

"1954."

As the events and dates were being rattled off one after the other, Alora had been answering them herself. Along with that, she had been taking note of every single date that Stefan knew. She was going to use that to piece together the era that Stefan had transitioned into a vampire.

Always know you ( potential ) enemies.

"The Battle of Gettysburg."

1863

"1863."

"Korean War."

1950-1953

"1950 to..." Stefan briefly paused, "...1953."

"Ha!" Mr. Tanner exclaimed, excited. "It ended in '52."

He sounded way too pleased with himself.

The smug bastard.

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53," Stefan piped up.

"Look it up, somebody. Quickly," Mr. Tanner ordered.

Everyone went to look through their textbooks like idiots, while one singular smart soul decided to use their phone to search up the dates.

"It was 19...53," The student replied, causing the rest of the class to have a freak out session.

Mr. Tanner sighed in annoyance before he began to teach again.

Alora looked down at the desk, biting back a grin.

Who knew Mr. Tanner's class could be entertaining?

~~~~~

Alora was requested by her photography teacher to take photos of all school held events. Her teacher had raved about all the things that happened with the school. But when Alora agreed, she didn't realize that it included having to occasionally snap photos of the football team practicing.

She had never liked football.

She much more enjoyed lacrosse.

It was the main sport that was played at her old school in California.

But apparently, Alora was going to have to deal with it. She didn't want to make a bad impression on the teacher by denying the request. Plus, she didn't want to have her grade suffer.

Alora had found a seat on the metal bleachers. She had her camera in hand, which her father had bought her many many years ago on her eleventh birthday. It had become one of her prized possessions.

Either that or the mass amounts of first edition books her father had given her.

All of which had been signed by the authors.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

Alora was briefly startled by the voice, having not recognized it. She looked over and saw that another girl had sat down next to her. She had a friendly smile as she spoke and a teasing undertone in her words.

"That's what everyone keeps saying," Alora fiddled with the camera in her hands.

"I know that feeling all too well," The girl replied. "I've moved like six times in the past two years, eventually landing in this town in the middle of Sophomore year."

"Six times?" Alora questioned, earning a nod. "I'm afraid to say it, but I have you beat."

The girl's jaw went slack, "For real? You've moved more than six times."

Alora hummed, "In the last two years, I've been the 'new kid' about nine times."

"You're shitting me," The girl laughed. "That's insane! Why the hell do you move around so much?" She paused. "Shit, sorry. That was rude of me. I don't even know your name and you don't know mine, and yet here I am already asking you intrusive questions. My brother gets onto me a lot for that, sorry. I really need to work on that."

Alora watched with wide eyes and an amused smile as the girl talked about a million words per minute.

"Chill out, Mandy. Otherwise you're going to scare off the new girl."

Another voice joined the conversation.

Alora looked to see that one of the football players had jogged over towards him. He had stopped beside the two of them and had taken off his helmet, revealing his sweaty features from practice.

"I'm Asher," He greeted Alora. "The charming fast talker is my sister."

"I was getting to introduce myself, sorry," She apologized again. "Amanda, Amanda Chu."

"Alora Grey.'

"Cool name," Asher commented. "Please don't let Amanda here scare you off. We didn't get a lot of new kids around here—"

"What about that Stefan guy?" Amanda interrupted her brother. "Isn't he new here as well? I mean, he even joined the football tryouts, didn't he?"

"I was getting to that," Asher passed his sister a glance before looking back at Alora. "Anyways, you seem ten times better than him. No hate to the guy and all that, but he seems way too perfect, as well, everything."

"Already formed an opinion on her from yards away on a football field?" Amanda shot back at him.

Alora's eyes bounced back and forth between the two siblings like she was trying to keep up with a well-played table tennis match.

"Sure," Asher shrugged his shoulders. "Have you got any good photos yet?"

"Oh, uh, not really," Alora replied. "There haven't been many good shots yet, but I'm sure I'll get some eventually."

"If you don't get them now, I'm sure you'll get some at the game. Are you coming tonight?" Asher told her, earning a nod in response.

"Oh my god..." Amanda exclaimed. "Oh my god! Is that Caroline Forbes?"

Asher and Alora both looked to see where Amanda was looking. She was peeking through a part in the bleachers. Through the separation, they could all see Caroline sitting in the passenger seat of a car next to an older man with black hair. She gave the man a kiss and then exited the car with a content smirk on her face as she passed by Elena.

Alora felt the same vampiric chill she always got. She narrowed her eyes at the raven-haired man, knowing that he was the other vampire in town.

"What the hell," Asher and Amanda said in sync.

"He looks like he's way too old to be doing anything with her," Asher commented, both the girls agreeing with him.

"He is kind of hot."

Asher pushed his sister, "Gross. Don't ever say that again."

"Sorry."

"Chu!" Mr. Tanner called out. "Does this look like socializing hour!?"

Asher rolled his eyes, "Well, that's my cue. Nice to meet you."

He then ran back towards the field.

"He seems nice. You both do," Alora told Amanda, sincerely.

She liked meeting new people.

"So which one of you is older?"

"He is," Amanda replied. "I'm exactly a year and half younger than him. I was supposed to be a year behind right now, seeing as most schools think that if your birthday is so close to the end of summer that you belong with the kids below you, which makes no sense. Anyways, being held back a year didn't happen. Obviously. And I'm talking a lot again, sorry."

"You don't have to apologize."

"But I do. I mean, we just met and here I am talking really fast and about everything. Like whatever comes to mind, I just say it without even thinking about what I am saying. Normally, people get super annoyed with me because of it. I'm