The amount of times I've nearly forgotten to update this can't be counted on both hands. I need to set a reminder.
DarkestAngel18 - it'll be a while until they figure out who they're texting. like...a long time. have fun yelling through your screen when the little nerds can't figure out who they're chatting with. ;)
"I hate this," Finn slumped down into the seat next to Bonnie, "Coming back to school after winter break is so lame. We don't have anything to look forward to."
"We have spring break to look forward to," Jake pointed out to him, "but it'll be a while. March is three months away."
Finn huffed again. "Yeah, but the year basically sucks until summer, and then it sucks some more until Christmas."
"That's not a very optimistic outlook, Finn," Lady said to him, "It's surprising, coming from you. Usually you're the one spreading positivity and Jake is complaining."
"Maybe some Freaky Friday stuff has gone down and they've switched bodies," Elle looked up from her phone and squinted at Finn and Jake as if they were hiding something, "Better switch back before the Christmas dance."
Bonnibel blinked in confusion. That didn't make sense, and not the switching bodies part. "Christmas dance? Christmas was nearly three weeks ago."
"Yeah, but Principal Citron had to put off the winter dance because the caterer he always books couldn't make it." Elle explained. The disdainful way she talked about Principal Citron indicated that she hadn't been very happy with that decision. "He was going to just cancel the dance all together but then we protested. I'd already bought my dress, and like hell was I going to waste it."
"Elle made everyone sign a petition. She was really persistent." Lady added and nodded over to Marceline's distant figure. "She even managed to make Marceline sign it."
"That was probably one of my greatest victories last year." Elle smiled proudly, her phone a mild distraction; she didn't bother looking up from it as she spoke. "I told her I didn't care that she liked being cold and apathetic. I used her little 'rebel against authority' complex to get her to sign. Told her Citron wouldn't like it."
Bonnibel glanced over at Marceline, who was stood about ten feet away from them. She stood with Keila, Marshall and two other boys who Bonnibel didn't know the names of, but she didn't like the look of them. Marceline wasn't contributing much to their conversation, apparently, just nodding and shaking her head at the appropriate times.
Almost as if she came equipped with some sort of Bonnie sensor, Marceline looked up and sent Bonnibel one of her trademark glares.
Usually, Bonnie would've looked away in embarrassment, but instead she responded with the sickliest sweet smile she could muster, coupling it with an exaggerated wave.
Marceline rolled her eyes and made a rude gesture, smirking when it elicited the response she wanted from Bonnie; an offended look and a loud scoff. Not wanting to satisfy the other girl, Bonnibel quickly made herself appear impassive and emotionless, folding her arms across her chest.
She jumped when a cold hand rested on her shoulder.
Looking up, she sent Marshall a soft smile; she hadn't even noticed him walking over. "Hey. How're you?"
"I'm good. Did you have a nice winter break?" He sat down in the empty seat next to her, sending the rest of the group a smile and a nod in greeting. "I went to a crazy New Year's party. I told your friends to invite you but they were all too drunk and I don't have your number."
So her friends had been doing something on New Year's Eve. It was only natural that she felt excluded, but parties weren't her thing, so it wasn't like she would've gone anyway.
Still, an invite would've been lovely.
"I watched Orphan Black reruns and texted a friend on New Year's Eve." Bonnie told him. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask who her friend was. Answering with funny, I don't actually know myself probably wouldn't be a very good idea and would attract attention.
Also, he might know the number she'd been texting. As much as she liked guessing her friend's identity with herself to pass time, she didn't actually want to know. That would ruin the whole anonymity thing.
Thankfully, Marshall latched onto something else she'd said. "Orphan Black? My sister watches that. I don't like it that much."
Blasphemy. That was the first word that went through Bonnie's mind. She resolved that she'd change his mind. Obviously, Marceline hadn't shown him the first episode or something. That could result in confusion.
(She was a little repulsed that she liked the same thing as Marceline, but she tried to ignore that.)
"It's an awesome show. Humorous and suspenseful." Bonnie said. "You'd like it if you got into it. Clone drama is awesome."
"Nah, I think I'll stick with Marvel. Agents of Shield is my favourite show and Marceline isn't too into that. We have constant fights over the television remote." Marshall joked. He glanced down at his feet and Bonnibel noticed him playing with his fingers in nervousness as he continued. "So, are you going to the late winter dance?"
"I don't know." Bonnibel spoke up to address the rest of her friends, interrupting Finn and Jake's mini debate over Batman and Superman. "Are you all going to that dance you mentioned before?"
"Yeah, we're going as a group," Finn was the one to answer her with a wide smile, "Why, do you want to come?"
Bonnibel turned to look at Marshall again and shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess that's a yes. Are you going?"
"I was thinking about it. Maybe I will." He nodded to himself, but Bonnie couldn't help but notice a little disappointment in his tone. "Yeah, okay. I'll come with you guys in your group thing."
"Sounds good, man," Jake replied before Bonnie could, "Listen, we need a third opinion. Who do you think is cooler, Batman or Superman?"
Marshall rolled his eyes. "This is like Captain America vs Iron Man all over again."
Bonnibel tuned out as Marshall joined their argument, not caring who won the debate. Superheroes weren't her area of expertise. She'd seen The Avengers, but only because Bubba had made her go to the cinema with him, and she really didn't understand any of it.
If she was being honest, she'd spent most of the movie marvelling over Scarlet Johannsson. Her character – Bonnie couldn't remember the name – was so cool. She was the only avenger who didn't have superpowers and she still managed to kick some serious butt. Bonnie had major respect.
Aside from that, she hadn't found any of the other characters interesting. Maybe if Scarlet Johannsson's character was given a solo movie, she'd go and see that. It had the potential to be very interesting.
"Hey, how was your Christmas?" Marshall nudged her again and she subtly shuffled away from him. "You never told me."
"It was fine. Peter and I watched Christmas specials and exchanged gifts which was nice, and I helped him cook a dinner. We nearly burned the turkey, though." Bonnibel thought back. It had been kind of a fiasco, cooking dinner. She was usually alright when it came to cooking, but they'd lost track of time while watching a film. "Christmas Eve was fairly uneventful, though."
"Same here. Marceline came home from work and stayed upstairs for most of the night, so I spent time with Dad. We just watched TV." Marshall recounted. "Christmas Day was basically the same. We opened presents in the morning and then ate dinner. Dad invited a few of his work friends over which was kind of awkward."
"Teachers?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow. It was awkward seeing teachers out of school – she knew from experience. Once, she'd gone out for a meal with Bubba and run into her old school's science department. They'd fussed over the two of them for far too long and then assumed that they were a couple and announced it multiple times during class.
"Yep," Marshall replied, popping the 'p'. "Obviously Marceline and I went up to my room and played on the PlayStation for a while. GTA is much better than forced conversations with Citron."
Bonnibel nodded, but kept quiet and waited for him to return to Finn and Jake's little debate. Then, she pulled her phone from her pocket and kept it close to her chest as she typed.
Bonnibel (11:04AM): Hey! I hope you had a really awesome winter break and that life is treating you well. Do anything interesting over the holidays?
She smiled, satisfied with her text, and kept her phone in her palm so she could answer it quickly when it buzzed. Since the conversation between her friends wasn't all that interesting, she might as well start her own with someone else.
Unknown (11:05AM): my holidays were boring. I didn't do much aside from hang with friends. you?
Bonnie (11:05AM): Basically the same thing, minus the hanging with friends. I didn't do much of that. Orphan Black rewatching for the win. Which lesson do you have next? ;)
Bonnibel read over her text after sending it. Lesson. Did Americans say that? Or did they just say class? She didn't want to give herself away, and she'd mostly been careful with her dialect so she wouldn't give any indication of her nationality.
(She was fairly certain she was the only English girl in her school.)
Unknown (11:06AM): I'm in music theory. you?
If they'd noticed her slip-up, Bonnie couldn't tell. She'd just have to be as careful as she could from now on.
Bonnie (11:06AM): I have English. I didn't realise I was talking to a musician. What instrument do you play?
Bonnibel hoped that the question wasn't too invasive. Who knew, maybe the person would say that they played guitar and it'd turn out to be Keila. Sure, Bonnie wouldn't have made a new friend, but they'd have something to laugh about.
Unknown (11:07AM): I play a few. guitar, bass, piano, violin, cello, mandolin, ukulele, harp and a lot more that I'm too lazy to list
Unknown (11:07AM): I sing too
Bonnibel blinked down at the screen. So…maybe it wasn't Keila. Besides, she had Keila's number saved to her phone, so she probably should've remembered that.
Even if it was Keila by some sort of weird miracle, it was still impressive.
Bonnie (11:08AM): Wow. That's really cool. I wish I could play music like that. I played piano when I was younger but I stopped when I turned thirteen.
Bonnibel prayed that her unknown friend wouldn't ask why. That wasn't something she was in the mood for explaining.
Unknown (11:08AM): you should start again
Unknown (11:08AM): who knows, if we ever reveal our identities/meet, we can do an awesome piano duet ;)
Bonnibel laughed. Taking into account the amount of instruments her friend said they could play, she doubted that her talents would be up to par. Especially considering she'd gone three years without playing.
Either way, Bonnie decided to humour them.
Bonnibel (11:09AM): Hah, maybe. I doubt I'll be as good as you, though.
She paused in thought before sending something else. Hopefully her proposition wouldn't sound too invasive or pushy. She didn't want to scare her friend off.
Bonnie (11:09AM): You should call me sometime and play for me. I'd like that. You don't have to talk if you think it'd give you away. You don't even have to do it if you don't want to.
Unknown (11:10AM): alright, maybe I will
Bonnie's face broke out into a smile. They hadn't said no. That was a nice surprise.
Bonnie (11:10AM): Cool. Just let me know if/when you're going to call.
Saying a quick goodbye to her friends, Bonnibel stood up and made her way towards the school building upon noticing the time. She should probably get to class.
Her phone didn't buzz again by the time she'd entered her classroom and sat down in her usual seat next to Keila – English language and German were two of the classes they shared – so she assumed that her friend wasn't going to reply. Either that or they were suddenly caught up in something else.
It wasn't until she'd pulled her notebook from her backpack that her phone buzzed in her pocket.
Unknown (11:12AM): no worries. let me know when you're free. :)
"Texting an unknown number, are we?" Keila smirked as she sat down next to her. "Risky. Unless you know who it is."
"Shut up," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "They're a friend. They're really sweet."
"What's their name?" Keila frowned at the messages that Bonnie was scrolling through. "Please tell me that you actually know who this is. It could be a sexual predator or something."
For the second time in the past ten seconds, Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "I don't know who it is and I like that. Having an anonymous friend is cool."
Keila snatched her phone from her hand and clicked on the contact, reading the number. "I'm checking to see if I have this number. Just to calm my nerves. I don't want my friend being stalked."
"If you do, don't tell me who it is." Bonnie watched as Keila searched the number in her contacts, keeping her gaze directed off the screen. "And don't tell them who I am. I like being able to confide in someone with no repercussions."
Keila seemed to have found something, judging by the way she was looking at her phone. She was staring down at the screen, her worried expression pulled into an amused smile. "Oh, this is awesome."
Bonnibel blinked in confusion. "What happened to 'it's a sexual predator'?"
"It's not a sexual predator." Keila quickly responded. "It's- wow. This is amazing."
Bonnibel squinted at her. She couldn't tell if it was amazing in a good way or a bad way. "I don't want to know who it is. Just- um, I don't like the way you're so amused."
Keila shook her head. "I can't wait until you guys find out. I want to be there for that. Oh my god."
Bonnie frowned and grabbed her phone from Keila, typing out a quick message to her friend. Maybe they'd know why Keila was acting so weirdly.
Bonnie (11:14AM): Do you know Keila?
Unknown (11:14AM): we might be acquainted. why?
Bonnie (11:14AM): She says she knows who you are. She has your phone number. I've asked her not to tell you my identity and I still don't know yours but…I don't know. She's acting weird about it. Would you by any chance know why?
Bonnie waited for an answer with Keila's hazel eyes burning holes in the back of her head. There had to be a reasonable explanation that wouldn't reveal her friend's identity.
Unknown (11:15AM): she was the dickhead that wrote my number in the back of that library book
Bonnibel breathed out a soft sigh of relief. That was a perfectly logical explanation. "You wrote their number in the back of the library book, didn't you?"
Keila laughed. "Yep. About a year ago. I refused to tell her which book it was and I wouldn't erase it because it was funny when she was sent random dick pics. But hey, if I hadn't she wouldn't have made friends with you."
"I'm talking to a girl?" Bonnibel frowned down at her phone. She'd tried not to assume gender and she was almost comforted knowing that she was talking to another girl. Still, there was a little worry at the back of her mind when she thought through Keila's friends. "It's not Marceline, is it? If it is I'm going to block her number."
(She had a plan to avoid Marceline. Especially considering she might've let slip to Mr Abadeer how unhelpful she was being with their project.)
Keila laughed again, shaking her head. "Nope, not Marceline. Trust me, she'd probably have already blocked your number. Unknown numbers are an automatic no when it comes to Marceline. Honestly, most numbers are an automatic no for her."
Bonnibel looked Keila over. She didn't seem to be lying, but there was one little problem with what she'd said. "But she's your only female friend."
"The only female friend you've seen me with." Keila corrected. "The girl you're talking to was a partner of mine on a project last year in English lit. That's why we were in the library. We don't talk as much anymore."
Bonnibel nodded and looked down at her phone. "Well, tell her I think she's really sweet. And maybe when we're both cool with it, we can hang out sometime."
Keila's smile wasn't the same as usual when she replied. "I'm sure she'd like that. Once you're both cool with it."
Bonnie smiled to herself and read through a few of her past messages as the bell rang, signalling the start of her next lesson.
She didn't notice the little flash of worry across Keila's face as she looked down at her phone. The screen was still showing the results of her contact search, the name Marceline Abadeer at the top of the screen.
Nope. Bonnie didn't notice anything.
Yet.
