I Hate That I Love You

Chapter 10

"Dad? Dad, what's going on?" Josie said, surprised to see that a bunch of adults with grim faces were gathered in her dad's office. She had her morning bagel still clutched in her hand, and she quickly hid it behind her back to avoid looking like an idiot.

"Josie. You're up quite early," Alaric said, forcefully putting on a smile. "This is my daughter, Josette," Alaric said to the people in his office. "Josie, you know Sherriff Mac and Mayor Donovan," he gestured to the Mayor, and to Ethan and Maya's mother.

"Of course," Josie said, smiling at the Sherriff and the Mayor politely.

"And these are Mystic Falls High School's Board of Directors," Alaric turned to the remaining four adults.

"Nice to meet you," Josie said.

"Nice to meet you, too, Josette," a woman in her late forties replied kindly. "Now, as we were saying, Alaric-"

"I understand," Alaric sighed. "And of course, the Salvatore School will be more than willing to help. Just give me the morning to talk to my students about this."

"Of course. The citizens of Mystic Falls thank you for this," the woman said sincerely.

Sherriff Mac and the four board members all left the room, leaving only the mayor, Josie, and her father in the room.

"What's going on, dad?" Josie asked. "Why were those people in here?"

Alaric handed his phone to his daughter without a word. Josie took it in her hands, and turned up the volume of the news footage.

"Authorities have yet to find out what the cause of this disastrous yet silent explosion was. A bomb capable of so much destruction should have alerted everyone in the vicinity, and yet, nothing was heard last night as Mystic Falls High School was blown up in flames."

Josie's eyes widened.

"Though there were no casualties, major damage was done to the public school, and it will have to undergo weeks of construction before it can be usable again. Mayor Donovan has personally involved himself in the crime scene, as has told us that he will be requesting the help of the two other high schools in Mystic Falls. Over one thousand students have been left school-less, and will remain so, unless the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted and the Mikaelson Academy for the Elite and Superior step up to help these children," the news anchor finished.

"It's not the best solution," Alaric sighed.

"I'm aware of that," Matt said. He glanced at Josie, who set the phone down on her father's desk as gently as she could. "Obviously, the supernatural students of both schools could risk blowing the secret that the founding families of Mystic Falls has kept hidden for so long. And then there's the more immediate danger of the Mikaelson Academy's students deciding to take this whole thing as a joke. Those vampires at Freya's school feed straight from the source, don't they?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Alaric said. "Freya doesn't stop her vampires from feeding on the locals, as long as the humans who are fed on are healed afterwards."

"I'll send the majority of Mystic Falls High's kids over here, to your school, then," Matt said. "They're still going to be at risk here, but I trust you a hell of a lot more than I trust the Mikaelsons."

"If only that were possible, Matt," Alaric sighed. "We both know the Mikaelson Academy is much larger than my school, and the Board of Directors knows that, too. You won't be able to convince them to send more kids here. It's not a logical choice in their eyes."

"Still, I've got to try," Matt said.

The two stayed silent for a moment.

"God, remember the old days? They were much simpler times, weren't they?" Alaric laughed quietly.

"Doppelgangers and curses and travelers and sirens? Not to mention the time Klaus Mikaelson took over your body?" Matt said, shaking his head. "Whatever, Ric. I'm going to go talk to the board."

Matt left Alaric's office, and immediately, Josie turned to her father.

"What happened to Mystic Falls High?" she blurted out.

"Emma and Juliet are down there right now, trying to figure out what happened," Alaric said. He had sent the two witch teachers to Mystic Falls High as soon as he had heard the news. A bombing in a small town like Mystic Falls was strange, yes. But it could be passed off for human activity. But when it's a bomb that makes no sound as it explodes... Alaric had instantly realized that they were dealing with a rogue witch.

"An out-of-towner?" Josie asked. "Or someone from one of the two schools?"

"I have no idea," Alaric answered. "But don't panic. Freya's over at the explosion scene, too. With her ancestral magic and Emma's nature magic combined, I'm sure they'll be able to figure out what happened in no time."

Alaric was silent for a few seconds. He had known from the beginning that by opening up a supernatural school in Mystic Falls, he was going to be putting the entire town at risk. With so many young vampires, witches, and werewolves roaming around on the same streets, in the same malls, and at the same parks as the human residents of Mystic Falls, something had been bound to happen.

Someone getting fed on had been expected. A person being killed had been terrible news, but unsurprising, nonetheless.

But this? An entire school being blown up? This wasn't the work of a young supernatural who didn't know how to control their powers. It was quite the opposite, actually. It was the work of a devious-minded person who was perfectly capable of bending their supernatural side to their will.

*****

"I don't know how long it will take for Mayor Donovan to find a permanent solution to the Mystic Falls High School problem," Alaric spoke to all of his students at Assembly. "But until then, the human teenagers of Mystic Falls will be attending lessons here, with us. Meaning you will have to exercise extreme caution when going about the school."

Worried chatters spread throughout the crowd in an instant.

"However, just because humans are coming here does not mean that your lessons will be affected in any way. With the help of our witch teachers, I've set up a few cloaked classrooms in the East Wing. I will make sure the Mystic Falls High kids know that those rooms are off-limits to them. Witches will continue to receive their magic lessons, and werewolves and vampires will keep on receiving their training," Alaric said.

"I know I'm asking a lot from you. Obviously, there's some tension between our school and theirs. They think you're all a bunch of troubled rich kids, and they will treat you that way. But try to be open-minded and friendly. And don't use your powers as an advantage over them, because you're all better than that," he finished.

There were some grumbles and dissent, but overall, the students seemed to be nodding and listening to him. Alaric sighed, and glanced at his watch. The Salvatore School's portion of Mystic Falls High kids were going to be arriving soon.