Rebekah was not having a good day. Between Matt seemingly avoiding her and the doppelgänger and her crew trying their best to make her life miserable at every turn, she was regretting her decision to hang around at this ridiculous farce of a school.

She was heading towards her next class when someone ran into her. She stumbled back a step while the other person fell backwards, both of their books landing on the floor.

"Watch where you're going!" Rebekah snapped.

"I'm so sorry," said the figure on the floor, which Rebekah was now realizing was a girl. "I wasn't watching where I was going. I didn't mean to run into you."

Rebekah watched the girl as she gathered up both their things before recognizing who she was. "You're Isabella right? Caroline Forbes cousin?"

The girl cringed. "Um yeah. I go by Bella though." She stood up and handed Rebekah her things. "Here. Sorry about running into you."

"Don't worry about it," Rebekah said with a smile. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I've just been a having a trying sort of a day is all."

"You and me both," Bella muttered. She looked down at the paper in her hands. "If it's not too much of a bother, could you tell me where Mr. Saltzman's classroom is?"

"I'm headed there right now if you would like to walk with me," Rebekah offered.

Bella gave her a small smile. "That'd be great."

As they started to walk to class together Rebekah decided to try and see just how close Bella was to her cousin. "So, Caroline wasn't available to show you around?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

Bella shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't actually seen her that much since I got here. We didn't even come to school together so I couldn't ask her to show me around."

"Well, if you need a tour guide I would be happy to help. I just started here recently as well so I know it can be a little difficult to find your way around."

"I don't want to be a bother…" Bella trailed off, unsure.

"It's no trouble at all," Rebekah assured her. "Us new girls have to stick together, right?"

Bella bit her lip for a moment before smiling at her. "You know what? A tour sounds great."

"Brilliant! Are you free after class? We could go grab lunch and then, after we eat, I can show you where the rest of your classes are at."

"That would be great!"

They had reached the classroom at the same time as Elena and Caroline, who had spotted the two girls walking together and had immediately started freaking out.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Bella blinked at Caroline. "Uh, walking to class?"

"Not that," Caroline snapped. "I meant, what are you doing with her?" Her tone implied that she thought Rebekah was trash.

Bella's eyes hardened and her fingers clenched around her notebook. "Her name is Rebekah and she was nice enough to walk with me to class."

"Okay then, " Caroline said with a forced grin, obviously trying to soothe Bella's palpable annoyance. "Well, lets go introduce you to Mr. Saltzman." She ushered Bella into the classroom without a backwards glance.

"Stay away from Bella," Elena warned Rebekah. "She isn't involved in this."

Rebekah walked past without bothering to respond. She took her seat and watched as the hunter handed a book to Bella as he welcomed her to Mystic Falls. Bella shifted uncomfortably and gave him a small smile back before turning around and scanning the room. When she saw Rebekah she smiled at her and walked over.

"Is this seat taken?" She nodded her head towards the seat next to Rebekah.

Rebekah was taken aback, having expected her to sit over by her cousin but was pleased that she had picked her over Caroline. "No ones sitting there; feel free."

Bella looked slightly wistful for a moment before she sat down and opened her notebook to a blank page, grabbing a pen from her backpack. Rebekah glanced behind her to see Caroline glaring at her and Elena giving Bella a worried look.

"So," Rebekah said, turning back to Bella. "Decided not to sit with Caroline today?"

Bella grimaced. "Caroline can be a little… overbearing sometimes. She's just always so energetic and it's hard to handle. We've never really gotten along before so I tend to try and avoid her so that she doesn't get upset."

"Ah yes. She certainly is spirited. Although I should warn you, I am on the cheerleading squad with her and I did help plan the last school dance."

"Oh the horror!" Bella gasped. Then she grinned and said, "As long as you don't try and make me wear heels or short skirts then I think we'll be good but as soon as you start wanting to dress me up as some sort of life-size Barbie, it's over."

Rebekah laughed. "You say that now but just wait; I'll have you asking me to take you shopping."

Bella laughed too. "Keep dreaming."

"Alright," called Mr. Saltzman, calling the classes' attention to the front of the room. "Sorry about the wait, but it took a few more minutes than I had anticipated to get everything ready for you guys. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce you all to a new student, Miss Isabella Swan." Rebekah watched as Bella turned bright red and slunk down as low as she could in her seat. It seemed as if she didn't like having any attention focused on her, the complete opposite of her cousin. "Isabella is new to Mystic Falls so I expect you all to introduce yourselves to her when you get the chance and to help her out if she needs it. In other words, don't be complete jerks," the hunter finished with a smirk.

Bella looked like she wished she could make herself invisible and Rebekah couldn't help but feel a small twinge of sympathy for her. "Chin up," she whispered. "You have to own it. The more you react, the more people will pay attention to you."

Bella stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodded. She sat up straight in her seat and uncapped her pen before beginning to copy the notes that were written on the blackboard. Rebekah smiled at her again before turning back and paying attention to the lesson, mentally correcting all the facts the teacher gave that were wrong. She caught Bella's eye halfway through the lesson smiled at her. Rebekah hoped that this girls appearance would finally liven things up for her.