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a/n: charlotte's outfit is the same as the last chapter

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ━═☆

Neutral, and a little hurt, Charlotte made her way to the Mystic Grill to order that cheeseburger Damon once bought her, it never failed to lighten up her mood.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, the Mystic Grill was busier on that particular day, some bachelor event was happening and she didn't really have someone to ask what that was, without having them gaping in utter disbelief. She sat on one of the tables, opposite to a blonde who looked quite familiar.

Charlotte didn't have time to wonder where she had seen that blonde before when a waitress interrupted her thoughts, "Hi, can I get you anything?"

The Bernard nodded, smiling politely, "Yes! I mean...yeah..a cheese..burger? Yeah, a cheeseburger with e-extra fries," She ordered, stuttering slightly as she tried her best to remember their exact pronunciations.

"You want anything to drink with that?" The waitress wrote down her order before asking.

Charlotte hummed, "Yeah...you have lemon juice?" She asked and the waitress nodded, "Great, then I will have that. Thank you very much."

"No probs, will be here in ten," The waitress said before disappearing into the small crowd, leaving Charlotte stuck in her thoughts once again.

Some way along with her, tormenting and nonstop, thoughts, Charlotte had decided to listen to the crowd instead and the first thing she had seen was the blonde girl sat next to her offering some redheaded girl flowers, in a congratulating manner.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Donovan," The blonde girl smiled brightly.

"Okay, just stop. Stop trying so hard," The redhead, Mrs. Donovan, huffed, meeting the blonde's smile very rudely in Charlotte's opinion, "This thing you're doing, this nice thing, it's fake," She said, and the blonde's smile faltered as Charlotte frowned.

Mrs. Donovan added, "Like you. Like your mom. And for some reason, Matt fell for it, but that doesn't mean that I will," She finished it off with her most unloveable smile as Charlotte inwardly glared at the redhead, "I don't like you, okay?" She smiled before saying, "So tell plumber boy I'll be at the bar."

"Okay," The blonde girl nodded, as the rude redhead walked away. It was clear as the blue sky how hurt the blonde girl was by Mrs. Donovan's presumptions.

Charlotte, being Charlotte, stood up from her seat to sit in front of the blonde, and as soon as the blonde had seen Charlotte, she smiled welcomingly, "Hi?"

"Hey, I am Charlotte, Charlotte Bernard. I am new to town," Charlotte smiled, extending her hand for Caroline's to shake.

"Bernard? As in Serena Bernard?" Caroline shook the girl's hand, as she asked.

"Uh...my relations to the founding families around here are pretty distant...," Charlotte lied through her teeth, it was true that lying was not a habit of hers, she always despised lying but she couldn't exactly say that she is the youngest daughter to the first Bernards to ever settle in Mystic Falls.

Caroline nodded then said, "Mhm, oh wait! Forgot to introduce myself...I am Caroline Forbes," She grinned ever so angelically, reminding Charlotte where she had seen the blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and the most gracious smile.

Angelina Forbes.

The Bernard girl nodded at Caroline, her smile growing even a million times than before as the waitress came in with her order, "Thank you," Charlotte thanked the waitress before turning back to Caroline.

"So...that woman was really very rude," She commented, munching on some of the fries.

Caroline sighed, "She's my boyfriend's mom...and, as you can see, not my biggest fan."

Charlotte stopped eating, as she said, "I can see why," She paused as Caroline raised an eyebrow, taking it with offence, "I mean, who would be a fan of her, right? I, for one, have just seen you and I can already tell that you are not fake, but she is...That woman looks forty-something and she is trying so hard to look gorgeous and young...uh, she is just jealous of you."

After processing what Charlotte had just, Caroline had a small faint smile on her face. Charlotte pushed the tray of food to the middle of the table, "C'mon, what is it people say nowadays? Sharing is Caring?"

"Thank you, I-"

Sensing that she might decline, Charlotte cut her off, "I don't like to eat alone and we have been sitting together for longer than eight minutes so I am about to assume that you like my company?"

"Well, yes, and as a matter of fact, I think we can be really great friends,"  Caroline assured the brunette, her mood brightening up since Charlotte's appearance.

"Well, friends share...and this burger is delicious!" Charlotte raised an eyebrow as if persuading who shook her head before Caroline started eating from fries and Charlotte cut the burger into two halves.

"So, you are enrolling in Mystic Falls' High?" Caroline asked, using a tissue to wipe some of the ketchup off her mouth.

"Yes...pretty soon," Charlotte responded, according to the Urban Dictionary, a city's name followed by High, means a school for people above thirteen years of age but not more than eighteen.

"Then when it comes to extracurricular activities, you need to go for cheerleading! I am cheer captain, so everything will be easy, trust me," Caroline took a bit of the cheeseburger as she said so, succeedingly raising imaginary question marks above the Bernard girl's head, she hadn't gone that far into the dictionary.

"What's cheerleading?" Charlotte asked, dumbfounded and Caroline's mouth dropped open, followed by a blink of disbelief,

"You are joking," Caroline shook her head at the Bernard who made no move to confirm so, "Oh My God...you seriously don't know what's cheerleading?"

"Not at all...? I have been away from the daily normal teenage life for a while...," Charlotte cleared her throat, taking a sip of the lemonade to calm her nerves.

Caroline raised an eyebrow at that, as Charlotte made up another lie, silently praying for God to forgive her for two lies in one hour, "I have been in a...coma...so modern life and this stuff is just so new?"

"Oh My God...I am so sorry, I didn't know," Caroline apologized for the insensitivity before changing the subject, "But, hey, I can teach you! I mean cheerleading is totally my passion and I would love to teach you."

Charlotte smiled, "Thank you, I would really appreciate that."

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Caroline and her mother offered Charlotte's a ride but she declined it, wanting to have the way from the Mystic Grill to the Salvatore Boarding House as some time to think and do some deducing. Surely her life wasn't perfect at that moment, but she made a new friend, she looked gorgeous, and she had eternity.

Charlotte needed to do one thing to complete all of her plans and that was listen to Paulina's advice, for once in her life.

"Never let your world stop for one boy."

The Bernard wanted to stop caring so much about everyone and everything, but it just wasn't in her DNA to not care, she was born to be a compassionate soul in a world of selfish ones. Her father always told her that the right is always right, even if no one is doing it, and the wrong is always wrong, even if the whole universe is doing it.

Charlotte sighed exasperatedly before stepping foot into the Salvatore house, "Good evening, little Char. I saw you at the Grill today with Blondie, seems like you are making up for old friendships?" Damon greeted her, in his own way.

Charlotte gave him a look, rolling her eyes, "I was just getting to know people around here...socializing."

"Mhm...," Damon nodded, smiling faintly.

The Bernard's finger fiddled a little with the ends of her cardigan before she asked, "How do I get enrolled in a high school?"

Damon raised an eyebrow, surprised she would ask so before commenting, "I am not surprised you would take the Stefan way and get into a high school like a normal teen," He emphasized.

Charlotte scoffed, "I am not getting to high school so I could follow through Stefan's steps," She turned to Damon, speaking seriously, "I want to be normal, have friends...graduate? Live! Because for one hundred and forty-three years all I have been doing is rot in a tomb, Damon. I am sick of this, I want to forget all about Stefan, Katherine, being a vampire...," She trailed off.

"I want to focus on me, for once."

✵ ✵ ✵