The bell rings.
She quietly groans.
The ringing of the bell means that it's time for her least favorite period of the day, Mr. Salvatore's history class. His class is notoriously difficult and no one and I do mean no one has ever made higher than a C in the course.
And the lucky recipient of that one lone C was none other than the girl's best friend Elena Gilbert. After Elena received such high marks there were whispers and rumors around the school about what she did to deserve said grade. They were all mostly started by Caroline, but would soon spread like wildfire.
Bonnie didn't possess any desire to think bad thoughts about her best friend and whether or not she deserved her grade. Be that as it may, she still secretly wondered if the rumors were true.
Elena was dating Mr. Salvatore's cute younger brother Stefan and she did spend a lot of time at the boardinghouse with both brothers. Nonetheless, Elena was a good girl just like Bonnie. But unlike Bonnie she had actually passed the class and the witch was sure that Mr. Salvatore had decided to flunk her the moment he laid his glacial eyes on her.
Although she didn't want to, Bonnie gathers her belongings and sulks her way to Mr. Salvatore's classroom.
On her way to the class she notices the autumn decorations lining the hallway. She'd forgotten that it was the day of the fall dance, but clearly she was the only one.
Once she finally made it to the room it was obvious that nearly half of the class decided to skip history in order to prepare for the upcoming festivities.
The girl dutifully took her seat in front as Mr. Salvatore entered the class dressed in black tailored slacks and a crisp white buttoned down shirt, his usual uniform.
"Even though most of your classmates decided that renting tuxedos and dying their tips was more important than my class today, I will not start a new lesson. Instead you may work quietly and independently at your desks on the essay I've assigned for next week," Mr. Salvatore says before turning his back to the class and walking to his desk.
Great. Bonnie thinks. She could have skipped like everyone else and wouldn't have missed a thing. Right now being a good girl sucked.
The witch put those thoughts aside and pulled out her assigned essay that she'd managed to finish ahead of schedule. It's not like she had anything else to do. Since her grams had died and her dad left town for work, she'd been living with some not so nice relatives. So instead of spending quality time with them in the den watching games shows, she worked ahead on her homework and practiced her magic.
After reading and re-reading the completed essay at least a dozen times, Bonnie put it aside and began her calculus homework for the night.
Somewhere between exponentials and functions, Bonnie realized there was a dark shadow looming over her. Her emerald eyes looked up and were greeted with piercing blue ones that seemed very angry.
"Ms. Bennett, I was not aware that I taught Calculus," Mr. Salvatore growled
"You don't sir," Bonnie responded softly.
God his eyes are really blue and really scary, she thought to herself.
"Then please explain to me why you are completing Calculus homework in my history class?!"
"Umm…I'd already finished my essay yesterday and I checked over a bunch of times. But then I looked at the clock and noticed that there was still 30 minutes left in the class so I thought I would use it wisely…sir."
"If you are done with your essay and you're sure that it is perfect then hand it here."
"You want me to hand it to you?" she questioned
"Give it to me Ms. Bennett so that I may grade it," he clarified
"But…"
"No buts. You said you finished it last night then examined it thoroughly so it must be ready for grading," Mr. Salvatore said holding out his hand.
"I…" Bonnie says desperately searching for her words.
Mr. Salvatore ignores this and snatches the paper off of her desk. She slinks down in embarrassment.
He excitedly strolls to his desk as if he has just been given a new toy.
He must really hate me if my miser can make him this excited, she thinks.
After he sits, he pulls his favorite red ink pen from his desk drawer and begins marking feverishly across the girl's paper.
30 minutes later and Bonnie still hasn't recovered from the embarrassment and Mr. Salvatore is still grading.
Then a blessed miracle occurs and the bell rings, meaning the end of the day has finally arrived and Mr. Salvatore no longer has the same power he wielded mere seconds ago.
Bonnie stands and collects her things as the rest of the class files out of the room. Bonnie is so close, one more step in she will be out of the door. Somehow Mr. Salvatore realizes this and looks up from his grading.
"And where do you think you're going Ms. Bennett? I am not done grading your paper."
"Sir I have to catch the bus. School is over."
"So it may be, but that doesn't change the fact that I am not done grading. Please retake you seat."
"Sir, I would but if I miss the bus then I will have no way home. I don't live in walking distance so I really need to leave like now."
"Ms. Bennett you are not dismissed and if you do anything but retake your seat I will write you up and have you suspended for disobeying me. Try getting into any school worth its salts with that on your record."
No question about it, he despises my existence, Bonnie thinks. Nonetheless, she does as she is told and returns to her seat, dropping her backpack on the floor.
After another fifteen minutes, Mr. Salvatore finally hands Bonnie back her paper. It is covered in red ink and at the very top is a big fat D.
"A D?" she asks with her shoulders deflated.
"Besides your multiple grammatical errors, you talked around the subject and never offered any concrete facts supporting your main topic."
Bonnie couldn't believe this. How could that paper, the one that she slaved over all night, how could it be a D?!
"You made me miss my bus just so you could humiliate me with a low grade?" Bonnie said in disbelief, partly because she can't believe he did it and partly because she can't believe she had the courage to say it.
"Excuse me Ms. Bennett. What did you say?" he asked, his blue eyes dancing with something that Bonnie couldn't distinguish.
"Nothing sir…I…nothing."
"Good. That's what I thought."
Mr. Salvatore returns to his own desk to begin gathering his things.
"You're dismissed Ms. Bennett" he says looking up from his briefcase
"Sir I have no way home."
"Well aren't you going to the dance? You can wait around the gym until then."
"In these clothes? No. And besides I don't have a ticket to the dance because I didn't have any intentions of going."
"It's your senior year isn't this a memory you want to cherish forever," he says sarcastically
"I couldn't afford a ticket to the dance. Those things are like 30 bucks."
"Surely, your date could have purchased the tickets."
"No one asked me," she said quietly looking down at her lap.
Damon knew he had pushed her too far, and he regretted it.
"Well don't look so down, it's their lost."
"Sure," she said as she got to her feet. She grabbed her bag from the floor and began walking to the door.
She didn't deserve his hatred, but she surely did not want to earn his pity.
"Where are you going? I thought you didn't live in walking distance?" he asked, something in his voice stopping her in her tracks.
"I don't, but I figured I would get out of here before everyone starts showing up for the dance."
"Don't be silly. I'll drive you home."
"You'll drive me? Don't you have a rule against being nice to your students?" the words came out before she knew what she was saying.
Crap I have to stop being so honest, she promises
"Ms. Bennett there is hardly a need to be rude. It is my fault that you missed the bus, I am simply trying to make amends."
"Okay," she replies apprehensively
"After you," he says waiting for her to walk out of the class room first.
Awkward cannot begin to describe the trek to Mr. Salvatore's car for the girl nor can it describe the subsequent car ride to her aunt's house.
"Umm…nice car," she said as she struggled for small talk.
"Thank you. I've had it for a while."
"So did you and Stefan inherit some like big fortune? I noticed that he drives a Porsche and you drive this so…"
Mr. Salvatore eyes her in a way to let her know that this topic is not up for discussion. Bonnie sharply turns her head in order to stare out of the window and avoid the uncomfortableness of it all.
The silent moments between the two drudges on excruciatingly slowly. Too slow according to the girl.
Damon sighs and taps his fingers softly against the stirring will.
"Our father left a sizable estate after he passed. We were able to invest the money in different avenues so it doubled and grew in size," he explains.
"You didn't have to tell me. People are private about money, I get it."
"It's not that I didn't want to discuss the money. It's that I didn't…"he trails off
"You didn't want to discuss your dad." She finishes for him
"Exactly," he responds eying her with what she believes to be appreciation.
"It's not like you have a monopoly on the world's daddy issues. I have my own believe me."
"Probably not as complex and dysfunctional as this though," he challenges.
"Try me."
"Okay. Stefan was always my father's favorite. I did everything I could to try to please him. It wasn't enough. He died. The end."
"Short and sweet huh?"
"It's already complicated enough without a long and drawn out story."
"Well my dad can't even stand be around me. He says I remind him too much of my mother who abandoned us. So I'm living with my aunt and her husband and their son because my dad decided that it would be easier to work all the time than raise me all by himself."
"Fucking daddy issues," he responds to her admission
"Fucking daddy issues," she joins in as Damon pulls up outside of her aunt and uncle's house.
He turns off the ignition.
They sit in overwhelming silence. After a while Bonnie grabs the door handle and turns to leave.
"Wait. I'll get that." He says it as more of a demand than an offer. Nevertheless she stays in her seat as he strolls around the car to open her door.
"Thanks."
"Not a problem." He says shutting the door and leaning against it.
"And for the ride too."
"Not a problem." He repeats with a smile.
"Okay. I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow Mr. Salvatore."
"You will."
"Bye." she says turning to head towards the door.
"Wait," he calls out again, stopping the girl in her tracks.
"Would you mind if I took your paper home with me this evening? I would like to re-grade it."
"Why would you want to do that? I thought my paper had multiple grammatical errors. Plus I talked around the subject and never offered any concrete facts supporting the main topic."
"You did do all of that, but maybe I missed something."
She stares at him for a while.
"Well?" he asks her
"I don't understand." She confesses finally.
"What do you not understand Ms. Bennett?"
"I thought I was like your least favorite student since like ever. Why would you want to re-grade my paper when you obviously don't like me?"
Damon didn't know what to say. What did he do to give her that incredibly idiotic impression? I mean he knew he could be an ass. But he never wanted to intentionally be an ass to the caramel skinned girl who made each day worth living. He knew he was her teacher, he knew it was wrong to feel what he felt for someone so much younger than him, but he felt it. His body lite afire whenever she called him by his name or whenever she flashed her emerald gaze upon him. She was his favorite part of the day so how could she form the conclusion that she was his least anything? I mean he'd even considered failing her just so she would have to take his class again. And this evening, it took him two seconds to grade her paper, but he wanted no he needed one-on-one time with her. He wanted to know her, but each passing second between the two of them made that possibility less and less likely.
"Ms. Bennett that is a ludicrous statement. I treat all my students the same and for you to imply such a thing is not only slanderous, but quite frankly it's moronic."
She stares at him with her mouth agape attempting to process his statement.
Not only does he hate me, but he also thinks I'm a moron. Nice going Bonnie, you might as well kiss college goodbye and say hello to a lifetime of working at the Grill, she thinks to herself.
"I…I'm not a moron. And if you think that I am so dumb and so stupid I'll just get my schedule changed to Mr. Saltzman's class. Then you won't have to worry about my grammatical errors or my moronic statements."
Fuck. He thinks.
After she finishes her brief speech she flounces away heading straight for the door. Damon knows that this is his last chance to say something to say anything to her before she crosses the threshold and might be forever lost to him.
Even though it's daylight, he uses his vampire speed to catch up with her and block her path.
"How did you do that?" she questions
"Shhh. You are going to forget this conversation. You are going to forget that I even drove you home. You caught the bus, came home and revised your paper," he tries to compel, placing his arms on her shoulders to hold her steady.
"Like hell I am. What was that?" she asks looking at his long white fingers placed on her body.
Why can't she be compelled? He thinks in a panic.
Is she a vampire? She can't be. I can hear her heart and she's out in the sun without a daylight ring.
Is she a wolf? No. She doesn't stink.
No. Maybe she's a witch? There is a long line of Bennett witches from Mystic Falls. Maybe she is a descendent of Emily? Could she be?
"Hello, earth to Mr. Salvatore. Why were you talking like that?"
She pulls him away from his thoughts. His brow is furrowed, but he quickly retreats his hands.
"I…Ms. Bennett I don't hate you. I don't think you are moronic. In fact you are one of my brightest students and I actually find you to be quite intelligent. I apologize if my behavior towards you does not correspond with my words. However, my words are sincere and it would really be a shame if you felt the need to transfer out of my class because…"
"Because of what?"
"Because you are the best part of my day," he answers with an unapologetic tone.
"I…I" she is flabbergasted. Did he really just say what she thinks he said?
"Goodnight Ms. Bennett. I hope to see you in class tomorrow."
"I…okay," she finally manages as he gets in his car and drives off.
I'm the best part of his day.
