Bonnie stood at the bus stop surrounded by freshman and sophomores. She was very tempted to turn around and go right back home but the big yellow atrocity was less than half a block away. She stayed to the back of the group and was the last one to board. The driver gave her a big smile, "Bonnie Bennett haven't seen you in ages." The witch smiled politely and sat down a few seats behind him.
This was the worst day she'd in a long time. It started with the midnight call from Grams. Bonnie barely survived the interrogation. Fortunately, Grams had only seen the fight between Damon and Stefan with her in the background. She counted her blessings because Grams probably would have had a heart attack if she saw what happened in the backseat of her car.
Her car. That was another casualty. The "talk" with her father hadn't gone very well this morning. She was grounded for two weeks and he'd taken away her car on top of that, which was why she was riding on the big yellow school bus with all the underclassman. She'd almost lost her cell phone too, but fortunately she'd been able to convince her father to let her keep it. She felt bad using the excuse of all the animal attacks that had happened in their town, but she was desperate.
The third strike of the morning had been the appearance of her monthly visitor, which she knew was coming. Overall, Bonnie was in very bad mood. She sat stiffly on her seat, staring out the window at the passing scenery. Her phone buzzed with a text message:
WRU?
Sent from Caroline's Blackberry
Shit. She completely forgot about meeting Caroline 'first thing' this morning. Bonnie chose to ignore the text until she could think of yet another lie, to explain why she was grounded since she couldn't tell her friends the real reason.
Just then Bonnie felt something smack her in the back of the head. Instinctively she reached her hand to the back of her scalp and felt the goo. Bring her hand back in front of her face she saw the green slime known as FLARP.
"Who threw this?" Bonnie stood up in her seat and turned to rest of the kids on the bus. They just laughed and pointed at her. The fury rose inside the witch and the bus began to rock from side to side.
"EVERYONE SIT DOWN!" the bus driver yelled as he tried to control the vehicle.
Bonnie eyes scanned the crowd of students and centered on one sophomore who was holding a yellow container with the word FLARP on it.
"Yeah, I threw it at you. What are you gonna do about it, Bennett? Get your little cheerleader friends to beat me up?"
Bitch. Bonnie's mind screamed. She sat down in her seat and focused her power, bringing the bus to a screeching halt. There was a jolt as all the passengers except Bonnie were thrown forward.
"What the hell just happened?" someone yelled.
"IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT?" the bus driver yelled as he hurriedly put the transmission in park and went to check on all the students.
Bonnie turned around in her seat glancing at the sophomore. The girl was wiping the blood from her nose and crying. A twinge of remorse went through the witch. I've definitely been spending too much time with Damon.
She rooted through her bag, grabbed a pack of tissues and went back to where the girl was sitting.
"Here," Bonnie handed her a Kleenex, "are you ok?"
The girl held the tissue against her nose and nodded.
"Okay kids, everyone back in their seats," the bus driver called loudly.
Bonnie left the rest of the tissues on the seat.
"Thanks," the girl said to her as she stepped out into the aisle. "and I'm sorry about the FLARP."
"I'm sorry too," Bonnie replied.
Her guilty conscious bothered her the rest of the ride to school. She could have really hurt someone. This wasn't like before, when she couldn't control herself. What she had just done was intentional and she wasn't going to let herself go down that path. Dark magic was the most powerful kind, but also the most dangerous. Right now she had enough to worry about, specifically one vampire named Damon Salvatore.
-o-
"Put your notebooks away," Alaric told their history class, "It's time for a Pop Quiz. I'm curious to see how many of you are keeping up with the reading assignments."
Bonnie wanted to cry as she slid her notebook off the desk. She hadn't done any of the assignments in over a week.
"You knew about this didn't you?" Caroline hissed from behind her. "That's why you were studying last night. Next time your witchy mojo senses a quiz – could you give me a heads up?"
Alaric passed out the tests, smiling as he saw the forlorn looks on his students' faces. "Oh come on, some of you must have read a little bit…"
Bonnie caught Elena's smug expression. The witch imagined that she and Stefan probably spent the whole night discussing the war. Hell, Stefan was probably there and remembered everything. Isn't that some form of cheating? It certainly wasn't fair to the rest of the class that Elena had her own living (well sort of living?) Cliff Notes.
Bonnie looked down at the first question. It started with the word "Explain" and ended with a few names and places that weren't remotely familiar. She pressed the tip of her pen against the paper and began to write a total bullshit answer.
Most conflicts occur when there is a difference of opinion between two parties. Both sides feel that their opinion on the situation is the correct one and so a dispute will begin. In times of war the difference between right and wrong is not always clear. In most instances we are forced to choose a side in world where everything is a shade of gray. Everyone has their own interpretation of the aforementioned color, therefore we cannot accurately identify the motives behind the decisions these individuals make.
Bonnie sighed as she put down her ink pen staring blankly at the page. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tyler Lockwood frowning at the single sentence he'd written. She saw Stefan scribbling fiercely on the back of the paper. Dear God he's writing a freaking novel!
The witch sat back in her seat waiting for the torture to end.
-o-
Bonnie tossed a few books in her locker in preparation for lunch. She had just slammed the door shut when she sensed Stefan behind her. Dropping her eyes to the floor she turned around slowly.
"We should talk," he said.
"After practice?" Bonnie suggested.
"Now," the vampire voice was low but urgent, "come with me."
Bonnie followed Stefan down the hallway. They fought against the sea of students headed toward the cafeteria. Then snuck into the empty woodshop classroom where Stefan led Bonnie behind a large cabinet.
"What's going on between you and Damon?" he stood in front of her, blocking her into the corner.
"It's private," Bonnie frowned barely able to look at him.
"I NEED to know, Bonnie," Stefan's voice was firm, "I can't let him hurt anyone." He reached forward, pushing her hair back over her shoulders.
"He didn't bite me," Bonnie informed him as he checked every inch of her neck.
"Take your pants off," Stefan ordered.
"Excuse me?" Bonnie snapped.
"The femoral artery is in your leg…"
"So?"
"Aside from the jugular, it yields the fastest flow," Stefan explained.
"Damon hasn't bitten me," Bonnie insisted.
"The prove it," Stefan's gaze narrowed.
"I can't fucking believe I'm doing this," Bonnie began unfastening her pants, then she remembered her Aunt Flo was visiting. Maybe this wasn't the best time to undress in front of a half-starved vegetarian vampire.
"I have my…," she trailed off.
"I know," Stefan replied matter-of-factly.
"Will it make you…?"
"No," Stefan lowered his head.
"Why?," Bonnie asked, sickly curious about such a taboo topic.
"It's not very… fresh," Stefan answered.
Ugh, gross. Bonnie thought to herself, but at least now she knew.
Stefan stood there with his arms crossed, waiting patiently.
She wiggled her jeans over her hips and down to her knees. At least most of her body was covered this time, making this moment only slightly better than the full frontal show she'd given him yesterday. Stefan squatted in front of her, running his hands along the insides of her thighs, coming uncomfortable close to her bikini area.
"Are you done yet?" she asked impatiently. It was one thing to be caught with Damon, getting caught at school with Stefan would be absolutely disastrous. "Are you smelling me?" Bonnie inquired with a hint of revulsion.
"You haven't drunk his blood either, have you?" Stefan looked up at her with confusion.
"NO!" Bonnie exclaimed as she pulled her pants back up to her waist.
"So he hasn't been feeding on you and he hasn't tried to turn you," Stefan ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "This is very out of character for Damon."
"I'm hungry, Stefan," Bonnie's stomach growled on cue.
Stefan nodded absently and moved out of her way. As she walked across the room to the door, she saw his face deep in concentration. She could practically hear the gears in his head spinning. Bonnie knew he had a point, Damon's actions were suspicious.
-o-
If the school day hadn't been long enough, cheerleading practice was taking an eternity. Caroline's 'new' routines were a nightmare for everyone except the captain herself, who was going to be front and center the entire time.
Bonnie stood with Meredith as the rest of the team worked on the final pyramid. Luckily they weren't involved in Caroline's chaos this time. All they had to do was a few back handsprings across the front, which Bonnie could do in her sleep.
There was a scream as Caroline came tumbling down from the extension.
"I swear if you drop me again, I'm coming up swinging!" she screamed loudly.
"We should help spot," Meredith mentioned glancing down at her fingernails.
"We should," Bonnie agreed.
Neither of them moved an inch.
"Bonnie, who's that?" Meredith nudged her side.
"Who?" Bonnie followed her friend's gaze and saw Damon walking across the field with a small gift bag in his hand. Not here, Not now, and NOT in front of Caroline.
"That's Stefan's brother," the witch answered briefly.
"He is gorgeous," Meredith uttered dreamily. "Too bad he's so old."
"Yeah, old," Bonnie sighed. That was the understatement of the year.
"OMG, he's looking at you!" Meredith squealed into her ear.
A sudden flash of deja vous washed over Bonnie. She watched Damon go behind the small set of bleachers by the soccer field.
"He's probably looking for Stefan," Bonnie said to Meredith, "I'll be right back…" she tried to walk slowly, but her pace increased until she was at a light jog. As she approached the bleachers she slowed down again, not wanting to seem overly anxious.
"Headache gone?" Damon asked grinning ear to ear.
"You shouldn't be here," Bonnie said in a low voice, "Caroline might see you."
"I brought you something," Damon held up the gift bag.
Bonnie fought the smile that threatened to show itself. "You got me a present," she took the bag from him and hastily untied the ribbon holding the handles closed.
"I was hoping you would wear it tonight when you came over."
Bonnie felt herself blushing. No one had ever bought her lingerie before. She ruffled through the tissue paper and frowned, "There's nothing in here."
"Exactly," Damon wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling their bodies close together.
"Damon, I can't," Bonnie arched her back, creating a few inches of breathing room between them, "I'm…"
"I know," he ran the bridge of his nose along the groove of her neck, "I don't mind a little blood. I am a vampire."
Just thinking about having sex on her period make Bonnie want to gag, but there was something about the way his breath tickled her ear when he said 'vampire' that made it seem almost sexy. She probably could have talked herself into it except for the other roadblock.
"I'm grounded," Bonnie mumbled still shivering from Damon's seductive voice.
"I'm sure I can convince your father to let you out for one night," his teeth grazed her collarbone.
One night. Just one night. Bonnie was tempted, very tempted. But then she remembered the lies, and her grandmother and what happened on the bus that morning. She need a few days away from him.
"No," she reluctantly tore herself away from Damon, "we should wait."
"No," he locked his eyes on hers, "we shouldn't."
"It's just a few days," Bonnie insisted blocking his attempt to compel her.
"I want it NOW," he said stubbornly tightening his grip on her.
"NO," Bonnie said firmly.
"Your loss," he informed her arrogantly as he released her. "There are plenty of fish in the sea."
"Damon," Bonnie said pleadingly but he continued walking away, ignoring her. For a split second she thought about using her magic to stop him. But there were too many people around to risk it.
"BONNIE!" Caroline's sharp wail pierced through the air.
The witch took one last look in Damon's direction before heading back to practice. She knew that strut too well. He was pissed. It was no secret Damon didn't take rejection well.
Bonnie felt the flush in her cheeks. He probably would just get it elsewhere, from some random girl. And that shouldn't bother her; he was free to do whatever (or whoever) he wanted. It's not as though they were together.
It's just that in the last week; it was beginning to feel that way.
