"Holy crap, Elena. It's like 3 in the morning," Audrey moaned as she struggled to follow her sister and Alaric into the woods. It was still dark out but the sun would be rising any moment from now. Elena rolled her eyes as she looked back at her sister.

"It's 5:30 almost 6 o'clock in the morning," She replied in a 'duh' tone.

"That's still so early," Audrey whined, rubbing her tired eyes. Last night she didn't sleep at all. She was still upset over all the events that happened over the past few days. Klaus saving her, Stefan turning off his emotions, Elena constantly mad, it was all becoming stressful. When they arrived to the place where Alaric was training Elena, Audrey plopped down onto a stump.

"So what are we doing first?" Elena asked Alaric. He set up a couple mannequins and handed Elena some device you slide into your sleeve so that when you punch someone it ejects two stakes.

"The pressure of your punch will eject the stakes," Alaric explained.

"Easy enough," Elena smirked, turning to face a mannequin. She tried to punch it in the chest but nothing happened. "That's weird," She mumbled, attempting to do it again. When she got the same response she raised an eyebrow at Alaric. "Must be jammed or something," Alaric shook his head and chuckled.

"You're not strong enough. Better start lifting some weights, put some meat on your bones," He laughed. Audrey laughed as well. Elena shot her a glare and crossed her arms.

"You think this is easy?" Elena snapped harshly.

"Whoa there sissy, calm down," Audrey chuckled standing up. She walked over to her sister and unhooked her from the sleeve. Audrey put it on and faced the mannequin. She threw one hard punch and instantly the stakes ejected. "Just put your body into it," Audrey said looking back at her shocked sister. She slid the sleeve off of her arm before high fiving Alaric. "Honestly, didn't think I'd get it," Elena was still glaring at the two of them until Ric pulled something new from his bag.

"You know what this is?" He asked as he held out a vervain grenade.

"A vervain grenade. I've used one before," Elena answered.

"Then you know the element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire," Ric stated, pulling the pin out of the grenade. "Surprise," He threw the grenade into Elena's hands.

"Oh my god!" She acted quickly, throwing the grenade in the air. It exploded loudly and rained back down on all of them. "This isn't a joke to me, Ric,"

"You think I'm joking? Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want. And they'll do it without remorse. It's their nature," Ric snapped.

"You don't have to use pronouns. You can say Stefan," Elena mumbled crossing her arms.

"Look, I get why you're here. Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again," Ric sighed. He wasn't looking down on her or judging her. He just knew her better than she thought.

"But you think I'm crazy. To believe that I can protect myself from a vampire who's flipped the switch on his humanity," Elena said with a shake of her head.

"I think you found a way to get out of bed this morning. And that makes you the strongest person I know," Alaric explained, bending down to pick the sleeve with stakes on it up. "I think that you can pretty much do anything," He handed it to her and watched as she slowly smiled. Audrey smiled at her sister too. When they were finished training they all went back home so the girls could get ready for school. After showering, changing, and putting on a little makeup they left to meet up with Bonnie and Caroline. All four girls stood in front of Mystic Falls High School basking in it's glory.

"Here we are. Senior year," She sighed happily. She slung her arm around Audrey's shoulders and pulled her close. "Thank God, my best friend gets to share the experience with us," She giggled. Audrey laughed too and kissed Caroline on the cheek.

"Anyone else think it should feel slightly more empowering?" Bonnie asked.

"Okay. So prank night was a bust. But we're accepting it, and we are moving on," Caroline stated, hoping to cheer everyone up.

"You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriends hinder this experience?" Bonnie said sarcastically.

"Yes! And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a damper on an otherwise fabulous day!" Caroline replied in a cheery yet even more sarcastic tone.

"Today's our anniversary. Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year," Elena mumbled sadly. Bonnie, Caroline, and Audrey all shared a look before enclosing Elena in a hug.

"Yeah. You win," Caroline sighed.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" Bonnie asked as they all pulled away. Elena smiled sadly but nodded.

"I have to be here. I have to put it behind me. New year, new life," Elena said confidently. Everyone looked at each other but said nothing as they walked into school. Audrey had split up from everyone to go to her locker and put all her books in it.

"No. No! Audrey Gilbert is actually back?!" A familiar voice shouted. Audrey smiled and closed her locker before facing the owner of the voice. Matt Donovan was smirking like an idiot when Audrey turned to him. She dropped all of her stuff and immediately ran over to him.

"Matthew Donovan, I never thought I'd say this, but God I've missed you!" Audrey laughed when he picked her up to spin her around. He laughed with her drawing attention from nearby students. When he set her back down she shook her head at him. "You know, getting kidnapped by a psycho hybrid really opened my eyes to life,"

"Yeah? I bet," Matt chuckled, slinging his arm around Audrey. "While you were gone Caroline was a mess. I swear, I've never seen that girl not be able to function,"

"I thought you two weren't speaking," Audrey said looking up at him as they walked back to her pile of stuff.

"I mean, I don't care what she does anymore but I still wanna watch out for her. It's so messed up but it's how I feel," Matt sighed.

"It's not messed up. You're a great guy Matt," Audrey smiled. "You've got the biggest heart out of all of us,"

"Says the girl who almost died just to save her sister," Matt teased nudging her friend. She rolled her eyes at him playfully. "I mean seriously?! You've got some big balls for a girl who's only 5 foot 3,"

"Hey! I'm 5 foot 6 now, thank you very much!" Audrey exclaimed smacking his arm. Caroline saw the two talking and walked over to them.

"Hey guys!" She smiled widely. Matt cleared his throat and looked at Audrey.

"I'll see ya around little Gilbert," He chuckled. He gave Caroline one last glance before walking away. Both girls turned to watch the football player leave.

"He hates me," Caroline pouted.

"Nah, he just doesn't know what to say around you. I mean ya did break his heart Care," Audrey joked, slapping her hand to her heart. Caroline tried not to smile but caved in. She nudged her friend before they walked to class.

"Please tell me you're joining the Spirit Squad this year. I need a co-captain and it has to be you Aud," Caroline pleaded. Audrey raised an eyebrow at her friend before giving her an exaggerated sigh.

"Well, I've put 5 years of my life into cheerleading so far. Why not make it one more," Audrey said looking at Caroline. Caroline squealed excitedly and hugged Audrey tightly.

"Oh my god! This year is totally going to be bitchin. Oh! Don't forget we have the Spirit Squad Back to School Bonfire tonight," Caroline said as they stepped into first hour. When fourth hour kicked in Audrey and Caroline were trying to hang as many flyers for the bonfire as they could. Elena walked over to them and looked at the flyer.

"I forgot about the bonfire," She mumbled. Caroline spun around to face her.

"You have to go! It's our first spirit squad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year," Caroline explained dramatically. Elena chuckled at her friend while shaking her head.

"Relax Caroline, I'll be there," Elena assured.

"Thank you. It's just that-," Caroline began only to get cut off by her boyfriend walking over to them, planting a kiss to her lips.

"Happy first day!" Tyler laughed happily. Audrey frowned in disgust at the hybrid. He was never this cheery.

"Is that blood?" Elena asked pointing to the red stain on Tyler's shirt. Caroline's eyes immediately widened.

"Oh my god!" She shouted before dragging him to the nearest bathroom. Audrey and Elena followed closely behind them. After checking the bathroom to see if it was clear she began to freak out. "Vampire 101, don't wear your breakfast to school!"

"Chill out! It was just a blood bag," Tyler defended. Audrey rolled her eyes and slapped her hand to her forehead. Tyler was an idiot.

"From where?" Caroline asked.

"Rebekah hooked me up," Tyler answered like it was the most casual thing in the world.

"Rebekah? And what are you even talking to her for?" Caroline questioned feeling her chest constrict.

"Klaus told her to keep a watch on me. Protect his new asset," Tyler smirked. At the mention of the original, Audrey's cheeks immediately inflamed.

"His new what? Why are you so amused by this?" Caroline nearly screamed. Everyone knew how she could get but even Elena was agreeing with her over dramatic attitude.

"I'm his first successful hybrid, Caroline. Don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?" Tyler smiled at his girlfriend. Caroline stared at him in shock. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead in annoyance.

"I cannot believe you just said that!" Caroline growled. Elena looked between the two before grabbing a few paper towels and handing them to Tyler.

"So I'm going to go. Good luck," Elena stated before exiting. Audrey looked at Tyler and smacked him upside the head.

"Are you insane? Klaus nearly killed you and now you're kissing the ground he walks on? Get a grip Tyler!" She shouted trying to back up Caroline.

"He saved me. Now I won't shift during a full moon, I mean do you realize how awesome that is?!" Tyler scoffed. "He saved your life too, ya know. You should be thanking him too," Audrey flared at the mention of what Klaus did. She had been trying so hard to forget about the incident but now that it was brought back up it took over her mind. She shook her head at Tyler before leaving the bathroom. As she walked out she spotted Stefan pushing Ric against a locker. Audrey sprinted over to them and punched Stefan in the face. It didn't hurt him but he let Ric go anyways.

"I'm suppose to be protecting you but you're tempting me to kill you," He spat trying to intimidate her. She rolled her eyes and went to punch him again but he grabbed her arm before she could.

"Oh, go cry me a river you stupid ass. Klaus turned off my emotions, wah. I get you're a soulless shell now, but taking your anger out on us isn't going to make you feel better," Audrey rarely got angry, but when she did it was almost terrifying. If she wasn't so innocent and frail she could maybe scare people. "So protect us from a distance and shove your bad attitude up your ass,"

Stefan smirked at how furious Audrey was getting. "Wow, look who Klaus rubbed off on. Bet you think about him all the time now, huh? You're pathetic Audrey. You think you can be brave for everyone but let's face it. You'll always be a scared little girl,"

"If Klaus rubbed off on anyone it's you!" Audrey shouted. Stefan dropped her hand from his grip and rolled his eyes at her.

"Stefan just stop this," Alaric spat aggressively.

"You're not gonna want to get in my way.Okay Ric? I will see you both in history," Stefan smiled sarcastically. He spun around on his heels and walked to class.

"Fuck you!" Audrey shouted after him. When she looked back at Ric and Elena they were watching her in amusement.

"Easy there killer. You might break something if you keep doing shit like that," Alaric laughed. Audrey blushed and scratched the back of her neck.

"Sorry. I just get a little crazy sometimes," She muttered innocently. Both, Elena and Ric shared a laugh before they walked to class. Later when history class rolled around, Audrey and Caroline each took a seat beside each other. Caroline was on the right of Elena, and Audrey was on the right of Caroline. The trio were mingling quietly when Stefan walked in. He looked at the boy sitting beside Elena and raised an eyebrow.

"You're in my seat," Stefan stated sternly. The boy didn't wait another second before giving his seat up to Stefan. When Stefan sat down he looked at Elena and smiled sickly. "Hey you!" Elena ignored him and continued to stare at the front of the class. When the bell rang Alaric began to teach. He wrote AP AMERICAN HISTORY across the blackboard and turned to the class.

"Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders...the Native Americans," Ric explained.

"What about Vikings?" Rebekah's voice asked as she stepped into class. She saw Audrey and took the seat next to her. The blonde smirked at the young Gilbert sister.

"There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. Who are you?" Ric asked confused.

"My name's Rebekah. I'm new and history's my favorite subject," She answered sweetly. Audrey rolled her eyes and slammed her head on her desk.