"Stefen Salvatore. "

Elena went on ahead, while Alex joined Jenna to pay a visit to the principal.

Principal Webber was delighted to see Alex again, and why wouldn't he be? Alex was in the top 3 for academic performance, and was their star wide receiver, and cornerback. Alex lead the nation in touchdowns, while simultaneously leading in interceptions. He dragged their less than stellar team to the state championship, which they unfortunately ended up losing.

However, it was good publicity for the school, something Principal Weber was quite ecstatic about. Unfortunately for principal Weber, after his awakening Alex couldn't in good conscience continue playing football.

After they were done in the principals office Alex made his way to his first class, History.

As soon as Alex strutted into the classroom, all eyes turned towards him, including the new teacher's Alaric Saltzman. The students immediately started whispering, no doubt they were whispering about Alex.

Alex unfazed by his classmates whispers walked up to Alaric, with an apologetic smile on his face for being late.

"Hi." Alex greeted.

Alaric returned his smile before speaking. "You must be Alexander Gilbert. The wanderer." He joked.

Alex chuckled faintly. "That's me." He confirmed.

"Nice to finally meet you. I'm Alaric Saltzman, your new history teacher." He introduced himself. "Please take a seat, we'll talk after class."

Alex nodded in agreement before taking his old seat, which unfortunately happened to be right next to his ex, Caroline.

Caroline was everything you could ever want. Beautiful, and smart with a perfect body. However, her flaws were numerous. She was shallow, enjoyed gossiping way too much, annoying with her non-stop talking and insensitivity.

If Alex was honest, he only stayed because the sex was great, that was another positive he supposed.

Alex wasn't proud of himself for doing that though. It was unfair to Caroline, treating her like nothing more than a pound of flesh, and giving her false hope of a future where the two of them would get married.

Alex settled into his seat, and almost immediately, Caroline's high-pitched voice pierced his ears. "Just so you know, I've already moved on," she declared with a snarky victorious tone, as though she had just won a prize.

Her actions didn't match her tone. Alex noticed her eyes trailing him up and down, admiration at his new body evident within them.

Alex's rolled his eyes, unsurprised by her behavior but still slightly annoyed. He turned to her, smiling gently at her. "Good for you Caroline." He replied with sincerity.

Caroline looked at him surprised, no doubt expecting him to say something smarky in return.

Despite his grievances with her, he hoped that whoever she moved on with would be able to give her what he couldn't, love.

Everyone deserved love, even someone as shallow as Caroline.

Caroline looked away from him quickly, arms crossed in frustration, her golden locks fluttering as she did, annoyed that she couldn't make him jealous.

Alex ignored her little hissy fit, and turned his attention back to the lesson.

History flew by quickly like a summers breeze, and while everyone piled out of the classroom Alex walked over to Alaric's desk for their conversation.

Alaric leaned back in his chair, looking at Alex with a thoughtful expression. "Well Alex." Alaric remarked. "I looked at your grades, and judging by them I don't think you'll need my help catching up." He looked genuinely impressed. Alex suspected that it was because of his status as a jock.

Alaric leaned forward, interlocking his fingers and resting his elbows on the desk before he spoke. "Since you've missed the start of the new term I'm going to need you to need you to right a paper about the civil war."

Alex nodded in understanding, appreciative of Alaric's help. "Sure, I can do that." Alex replied with gratitude in his eyes.

Alaric nodded, impressed with his attitude. "You have a week." Alaric told him.

"I'll have it to you by then Mr Saltzman." Alex replied before walking out of the classroom.

As he exited Alex heard Alaric's voice once more. "By the way, call me Rick." Alaric offered.

Alex already liked this new teacher way more then that sour prick Tanner.

Alex felt slightly terrible for his thoughts but Tanner was a massive asshole, even so he didn't deserve to die, but Alex couldn't bring himself to truly care about his death.

Outside he was immediately ambushed by his best friend, and the biggest asshole he knows Tyler Lockwood.

Tyler threw his around around Alex, a massive smile on his face. "Hey man, you're finally back. Where the hell have you been?" He asked.

Alex couldn't help but smile as well, happy to see his asshole of a best friend again.

"You know here and there." Alex answered vaguely. He knew Tyler didn't really care. The only thing Tyler cared about is sex, women, and football.

"You excited to play football again?" Tyler asked, his brown eyes glimmering with excitement.

Alex grimaced, knowing his best friend wasn't about to like his answer. "I'm not playing any football anymore."

Tyler's eyes shot up to his hairline. "Are you serious?" He asked, his tone dead serious.

Alex's brow furrowed, his lip turned doward into a solemn frown. "I am." Alex replied. "After my parents death, I realized I wasn't really into football. I only played because of my dad."

Tyler faced shifted into an awkward expression, uncomfortable by Alex's confession.

Tyler wasn't good with emotions, something that Alex was banking on. He knew Tyler wouldn't try to change Alex's mind after what Alex told him.

Tyler clapped Alex's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him. "You'll be missed man." Tyler said, his tone tinged with regret.

In a sudden shift, Tyler's demeanor changed. A shit eating grin replacing his somber expression. "Forget all that." Tyler declared trying to lighten the depressed atmosphere. "Now that you're back, we have to celebrate. We're throwing a party in your honor tomorrow night in the clearing." Tyler announced, leaving no room for discussion in his tone.

Alex cracked a smile, at Tyler's enthusiasm. "Sounds like a plan." Alex replied, slightly excited by the notion of a party. A party was exactly what he needed to unwind after a few months of fighting mythical creatures, and if his deduction was right, his fight wasn't over yet.

"Perfect" Tyler rejoiced for a moment. Suddenly his cheerful mood shifted, causing him to grimace. "Now let's go to maths, we don't wanna be late and get an earful from Mr Jones."

Alex agreed, he knew all too well how unbearable those lectures could be.

The two set off quickly together, hoping to avoid a lecture.

The rest of the school day flew by swiftly. Most of his time outside of class was spent answering the same questions "Where were you?" "How'd you get so big?" or fending off the many girls asking him out, or catching up with friends or his old teammates, all of who were disappointed by his retirement, but reluctantly accepted it.

After school, something interesting happened. As Alex and Tyler were exiting the school, Alex spotted Elena standing with an interesting person.

It was a teen, he looked about 17 years old but something about him made him seem older. His brown hair was perfectly styled, framing a face that was near perfection. He reminded Alex of an old timey model, but there was something off about him.

Intrigued, Alex asked Tyler about the teen. "Hey Tyler who is that?" Alex nodded towards the teen.

Tyler looked in the direction Alex nodded, and almost instantaneously he glowered at the teen with hatred in his eyes.

"That's Stefan Salvatore. Him and your sister have been dating for a while. Guys an asshole." Tyler practically growled as he spoke. Alex could feel the hatred pouring from Tyler directed at Stefan Salvatore.

Alex was curious about what exactly happened between Tyler and Stefan for Tyler to hate Stefan as much as he did.

Alex figured out, why he got that weird vibe from Stefan, it was a feeling he felt a few times during his absence, Stefan was a vampire.