Disney owns all, I am insignificant! I finish the chapter and the site goes down before I can post it!
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Bonnie's Curse – Chapter 10
"Ron, time to wake up!"
"Five more minutes, Mom!"
"Ronald, you have to get up. We have to take Kimmie for more tests."
The young man's head shot up, as the events of the last couple of days came back to him in a rush. Beside him stood Kim's mom, with a patient hand on his shoulder. He looked back down on Kim. "What time is it?"
"It's almost 9:00 am, I told the nurses to let you stay and sleep. Now, I brought you some breakfast, and I want you to go home to shower and change." Ron began to protest before she cut him off quickly. "Ronald, you have to eat, and Kimmie will be in tests for a couple of hours. Your mother has already called the school, so you will eat on the way home and wash up, and then you can come back here. After all, if Kim wakes up, we don't want your smell to knock her out again, do we?"
"All right." He stood up and headed for the door, but paused, his hand on the knob. "Dr. P?"
"Yes Ronald?"
"How are you able to maintain a sense of humour through all this?"
The older woman just smiled at him. "If I didn't, I'd just start crying again, and that won't help anyone. Just… try to remember what Kimmie would want you to do. She'd want you to be strong, for her!"
Ron nodded, looked over at Kim, and headed out the door.
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School that day was incredibly hard for Bonnie. Not just for the lack of sleep, the visions hitting her hard that night, or even the fact that Kim was in a coma and Ron wasn't there at school. It was the glares! They'd never say anything; after all, she was the bitch of the school, the one who could make their lives very miserable with a word or a gesture. But she could see so many of them, feel so many of them, just glaring at her. Like they were blaming her or accusing her. Not that any of them even knew she had gone with the pair, but they blamed her just the same. As if they suspected some comment of hers threw Kim off in a vital moment, or were just waiting for her to celebrate her rival's downfall. For the first day, she just kept her head down, avoiding talking to as many people as possible, hanging out with only Tara during lunch. They ate in silence as the glares continued.
The biggest surprise of her day came after fourth period, when she saw Brick standing by her locker, looking decidedly uncomfortable. His head was down, his left foot twitching back and forth, it was almost cute. Despite his massive ego and grandstanding, he was really a very shy person, getting almost the exact same look when he made a move to kiss her in private during a date. That was one of the things that so endeared him to her, that almost innocence when they were together alone. Granted, he would put on a show when in front of others, so no one could see how he really felt, but she didn't mind. Everyone had their masks, most definitely her, and she was happy to be one of the few to see the softer side of Brick. If only he didn't get so jealous for the stupidest things. That was the main reason their on again off again relationship was in the off position right now.
She walked to her locker, smiling lightly. When he looked up to see her coming though, the frown remained on his face. She stopped in front of him, giving him the time he needed to say what he needed to. When he finally did, it surprised her.
"Umm… Bonnie. I know you've been having a hard time lately, and I know you don't want to talk about it, but… uhh… if you ever want to, you know, talk about it… I mean… I am here for you, you know?
The look of shock on her face must have evident, as Brick got even more nervous. "I… uhh… I should get going." He turned to leave, but Bonnie grabbed him by the arm. He turned to look down on her, the shock gone, replaced by the slight smile on her face from before.
"Thank you, Brick!"
She wrapped her arms around him, and just hugged him. He held her like that for a few moments before he saw the time. "We should get to class, you know?"
Bonnie smiled up at him, before grabbing her books from her locker.
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Bonnie rushed to her seat before the bell rang, sitting beside Tara. She noticed Mr. Barkin was running the class today, and wondered to herself when this severe teacher shortage was going to end. Barkin wasn't exactly the friendliest teacher around. As she cracked open her books, she noticed Tara smiling at her. "What?"
Tara just kept smiling, "So, you and Brick are back together again?"
Bonnie would have choked if she had been eating anything at that moment. "What?"
"Well, I heard you two were hugging in the hallway before class."
"I knew the rumour mill was fast here, but not that fast! That only happened five minutes ago!"
"So, it's true?"
Bonnie just smiled at her friend, "No, it's not true. He just… noticed I haven't been myself lately, and offered to listen if I wanted to talk."
Tara got an almost dreamy look on her face. "Awww! I knew he could be a sweetie when he needed to be. Now if you two could just…"
"Ladies?" Their eyes quickly turned to Mr. Barkin, who was now standing directly in front of them, a none too pleased look on his face as he stared down at them. "Perhaps you ladies would like to continue this discussion in detention? Or will I be able to teach this class without further interruptions?"
Both girls mumbled their apologies and turned to the work at hand.
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Bonnie felt a bit better by the end of the day, after talking with Tara. Of course, the only thing she could talk about was her and Brick getting back together, but it was nice to take her mind off things, even if only for a while. Unfortunately, the long walk home gave her plenty of time to think. The walk to school after a night of head throbbing visions generally gave her time to process everything, but she really wished she had driven today, just so she wouldn't have to process the events of the last few days. When she got home, she didn't even bother seeing who was home, just grabbing her keys and heading out again, hopping into her car. Driving was a release, just riding along without a care, playing the music loud, and letting the cool wind envelop her. She enjoyed it! However, she had only been driving about ten minutes when she realized where she was. The hospital. She almost considered turning around, but she knew she had to do this at some point.
Parking the car, she sat there for a few minutes longer. Just because she knew she had to do something didn't mean she had to like it. Finally, she worked up the courage and opened the car door and stepped into the early October air.
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She stood at the door, looking through the little window. She could see the small room, a private one arranged by the hospital, considering the guest within. There was Kim, lying there. The bruises were still evident, and a large patch of hair was missing. Bonnie didn't know why it came to mind at that moment, but she knew Kim would freak to find her hair like that. Ron sat there beside her, head lying on the bed beside her while sitting in the chair, holding her hand while he was sleeping. He was in different clothes from when she saw him last night, but didn't think he had left her side for any real length of time. He looked exhausted, the normally goofy grin he always kept on his face replaced by a frown, even in sleep. She wanted to go in, to talk to him, to tell him it would all work out, but she didn't want to disturb him. She stood there a few moments more, before turning and leaving the hospital.
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The next couple of days followed the same basic pattern. Visions at night that left her tired, glares at school, though fewer than on Monday, lunch with Tara, where they'd talk about inane things like relationships and projects and such, and then home, where she usually spent the night by herself. She thought about visiting the hospital again, but couldn't bring herself to go.
Thursday was a different matter though, something she would normally be looking forward to, but with Kim in the shape she was, was something she didn't want to face. Cheerleading practice. She had postponed them as long as she could, but they had a competition in a couple of weeks, and the squad had to be ready. Bonnie was in charge, a job she had wanted all along, but not this way. Tara had told her not to worry, that the squad would be fine, that she had talked to them already, but she couldn't help but worry, just a bit. When the last bell rang, she rushed from the classroom, hoping to get changed and out there before the rest of them.
She changed quickly, before any of the others got there, and started setting everything up for practice. Tara was the first to come out, followed quickly by the others. None of them appeared to be in much of a mood to be doing this, but they all knew it needed to be done. Bonnie quickly started them on their stretches while she stood in front of them.
"We're going to be doing Kim's routine for the competition, but we're going to have to… modify a few positions. Tara, you're the lightest, so you'll be taking top spot. Rebecca, you'll slide into Tara's spot. Think you can handle that?"
The two nodded, though Tara looked a little mortified to be taking Kim's spot in the routine. Bonnie put her hand briefly on her friend's shoulder before turning back to start the music.
"OK people, from the top!"
It began flawlessly. The group, despite missing it's captain, moved as one. Bonnie focused on her moves, while trying to make sure everyone else was falling in as well. They were approaching the end of the routine, where the most problems could occur due to the change of positions, but everything else had gone well up to this point, so she wasn't too concerned. OK, move through the twist… and into the backfl-needle piercing the skin, driving into her arm-ip! The loss of concentration, from the vision that struck without warning, proved costly. Already halfway through the backflip, she lost control, landing flat on her back with a loud thump. Dazed, she looked around, trying to get her bearings, the rest of the squad looking down on her with concern. Slowly, she started to pick herself up.
Tara helped her to her feet. "Bonnie, are you all right?"
Bonnie tried to laugh it off. "Yeah, I'm fine. I must be getting as clumsy as Stoppable!" She realized, after she had said it, that it probably wasn't the best thing to say at that point, but it was too late to take it back. Tara still looked concerned.
"You must have banged your nose at some point. It's bleeding!"
Bonnie brought a hand to her face, and when she pulled it away, saw the red that covered her fingertips.
"Come on Bonnie, let's go get that cleaned up." Tara took her by the arm, and led her to the change room.
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Bonnie held a tissue to her nose, waiting for the bleeding to stop, Tara standing beside her. There was a few moments of silence before Tara spoke. "I know you didn't hit your nose. You had a vision, didn't you?"
Bonnie sighed lightly before turning to her friend. "Yeah, I did."
Tara was frowning. "The headaches have been getting worse, and now nosebleeds. You need to talk to someone about this, before it kills you!"
"Who am I supposed to talk to? There aren't exactly specialists who deal in these things!"
"I know, I know, but there must be someone you can talk to. I'm getting scared that we could lose you, and I couldn't stand losing my best friend."
Bonnie paused a moment, trying to calm down. "Look, I was planning on going to the hospital tomorrow to see Kim. I'll… take the day off school, and go see Dr. Possible. If that doesn't work, I'll see if Ron can help me get in touch with that teacher of his in Japan. He said he's had some experience with this type of thing."
"Thank you."
Bonnie smiled at her friend. "My parents are out of town again. You want to come over tonight, work on that history project?"
Tara immediately began smiling, "And I can bring over that new Orlando Bloom movie. We can watch it when we get tired of working!"
"Sounds great!"
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The rest of practice was uneventful, and went a bit longer than usual to make up for lost time. Their routine was great, with just a few bugs to work out. Bonnie was now on her way home, enjoying the drive. Tara would be there shortly, after she cleared things with her parents. That left her enough time to get something cooking for her and Tara to eat.
She was quite surprised when she pulled into the driveway; her mother's car was still sitting there. They were supposed to have left by two. I wonder if they had to take a later flight? She parked the car, and walked to the door. She fumbled with her keys, darkness starting to set in, but as she got them in hand, she noticed something that disturbed her. The door was slightly ajar. Slowly she pushed it open, noticing none of the lights were on. She reached for the light switch, flicking it, but nothing happened. Bonnie slowly entered, inching along. She peeked into the living room, seeing nothing but darkness, the curtains blocking what light remained outside. She reached for the light switch in the living room, but again, nothing happened. With that, she decided to take a chance. "Mom? Dad?" Only silence through the house.
Moving forward into the living room, she stopped when she thought she saw motion in the back corner, near her Dad's favorite chair. "Is someone there?" It was definitely motion. Slowly, a figure began to take shape as her eyes adjusted to the low light. The figure leaned towards her, and as she managed to make out the grinning face, a look of shock and horror crossed her face. Then, the figure spoke.
"Hello my dear, I've been waiting for you!"
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Author's Notes – I thought it might be nice to show some of the other players in my little drama. Not too much mind you, but just enough to show the supporting cast. I thought it was necessary with so many concerned I was turning the whole thing into some straight-up R/B story, which was why I was taking Kim out of the picture. Granted, it may happen! Or, it may not! I just like having possibilities, and I just thought I'd introduce a few more!
And thanks go out to;
mattb3671 – I can't promise anything! The story has changed considerably from when I started writing, and it has a life of it's own. At this early juncture, anything is possible! And as this chapter showed, anything can still happen!
GargoyleSama – Thank you, that means so much! And as for the Japanese, I just did a google search for Japanese swear words, and figured it worked.
Worker72 – No, he won't, and yes she will!
I'd also like to thank orphanwolf and ron-sama!