Chapter Eleven: Unknown Territory

On her way to the history class she was checking her phone. Bonnie wasn't too keen on sitting in the history lesson today because Kai had been right. The presentations had started and she had to listen to an awful lot of horribly boring information about battles that had no importance in the outcome of the war. Kai had done the right thing to stay away from class.

She hadn't seen him the whole week. The timetable for their preparation got tighter and tighter so she decided on texting him about their next meeting. Focusing on her phone and the message she was about to send, she didn't pay any attention as she stepped into the classroom and took her usual seat. When she was about to send the message she saw that she had received a message from Kai instead.

It was picture and Bonnie waited while it downloaded to maybe adjust her message. She flinched as she saw the picture he had send her. It was a girl with dark hair up to her chin, sitting in a chair in a classroom, surrounded by students. That girl was her. Kai had sent her a photo of herself sitting in this classroom right now. But he could have only taken this picture if…

Bonnie turned around to the direction the photographer had to be and saw him sitting by the window, a few seats between them. He had his elbows on his desk and was supporting his head with his hands. In one of them he had his phone and his head was turned to look at her. He grinned at her as he realized she had finally seen him and opened the hand that wasn't holding his phone to wave at her.

Without a second thought Bonnie grabbed her stuff, which she fortunately hadn't spread all over her desk yet, and went to the empty seat next to Kai, tossing her bag onto the desk there.

"What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting to see you anywhere near the school for at least another week!" Bonnie was surprised at how random this sounded. She didn't judge him anymore for staying away, she got used to his behavior.

"Well, apparently you DIDN'T see me when you came in, sooo." He laughed at the memory of her being a Smartphone zombie. "I didn't plan on showing up today but Jo needed a ride to school because her car broke down, so now I'm here."

"Well, you could have just given her your car." Bonnie suggested without even thinking about that she just advised him on how to ditch school.

Kai looked at her like he thought she had lost her mind. "Of course that could have been a possibility, NOT! Do you think I am delusional? I won't let my sister drive my car." He said like it was so obvious.

"And why is that?"

"Please, have you seen my car? And have you seen my sisters driving? Those two are not made for each other."

"I would have never taken you for such a cliché man." Bonnie mocked him.

"Because I am not. I am just capable of assessing the situation at hand." He said and Bonnie looked at him nodding in disbelieve. He smiled. "So what were you going to text me about, as you entered the room?" he asked.

"I was just wondering when we should finish our project. My timetable says that we should get this done by this week. I mean I left a little space for inconvenience but I think if we can manage we should get done by the end of the week."

He only shook his head and grinned at her. "You're so predictable."

"Sorry that I am the person to ensure that we actually pass this thing and you know that I am!" She was referring to her extra task of evaluating his commitment. Kai's smile disappeared and he glared at Bonnie, which send a shiver down her spine. But it was only for a fraction of a second and he was back to his good-mooded self.

"Well, I am there for your service." He commented.

"Good, how about the weekend? If my calculations are right we shouldn't need more than one day to finish this up. Two tops. So I think Saturday maybe? Or is Sunday better with you?"

"It's like you can choose between pest and cholera." He leaned back in his chair and put one foot on the table. Now it was Bonnie's turn to glare at him. She had thought that the time they had spent together had made them some kind of friends but obviously he still hated spending time with her. Realizing the reason for her anger he quickly stepped back. "Not why you think! I can just imagine at least 100 different things I could do this weekend, rather than spent another hour with the casualties of the Second World War."

Bonnie was weirdly relieved to hear him say that. Mr. Bright's words were still ringing in her ear about Kai not being honest with her. In his defense so wasn't Bonnie but she could never tell him that. And last Sunday she had actually decided to give a crap about her principle's warning about him and give him a chance.

"Saturday then?" she asked him and he nodded. She smiled, opened her calendar and noted the meeting. Ms. Gibbens entered at she decided to text Kai about the meeting point later.

"Hello EVERYONE!" Ms. Gibbens said, stressing the 'everyone'. "I can't believe I would ever see this day but I can actually say that everyone that is signed in this course is here, today. Welcome back, Mr. Parker."

"Oh, so sweet to see you missed me Ms. Gibbens." Kai said with the usual snark in his voice. Ms. Gibbens turned away from the class and ignored his comment. Every other student with a similar reaction would have been send to the principle but Ms. Gibbens knew that other rules applied when it came to Kai. A comment like this was just a normal 'good morning' for him. If she would send him to the principle for this, Kai wouldn't be attending any classes anymore due to spending his entire time at Mr. Bright's office.

The lesson wouldn't end. It felt like 10 hours of torturous information that were handed to them but in fact it had only been 30 minutes. Bonnie had finally given up on following Camilla and Josephine and took a look around the room. A room she had come to know every single detail about due to the fact that she had been nonstop scanning it for the past five days. Her eyelids got heavier by the second ands he was fighting the need to close them and drift away in a relaxing slumber.

Turning her head to the windows to check the weather, she was distracted by the view of one Kai Parker. He was clearly not listening to what the two up front were telling the class. A crossword was spread all over his desk for everyone to see and he was quickly adding the missing words from it. Bonnie got jealous because he had been as smart as to take some kind of distraction with him, something Bonnie hadn't been thinking about on any day the past week.

In that moment the clouds in the sky made way for a brief time and weak sunshine broke though them and brightening everything they touched, giving the impression that spring was just around the corner. The light touched Kai's face perfectly and Bonnie imagined him being in a perfume add in TV right now. She had to swallow hard as she was trying not to stare at him. But she couldn't turn her eyes away from his appearance.

Like he felt her gaze he turned to look in her direction, raising an eyebrow in question. Bonnie blinked the irritation away as the clouds sealed the sun back up. Faking a smile and pointing to the window to insure him she had been watching the sun, which she basically had, and not him she turned her head back to Camilla and Josephine. She was thankful for her darker complexion, because she could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks.

After another horribly boring presentation which she had tried to follow because she hadn't dared to look around the room again, they were free to leave. With the bag on her desk Bonnie put everything back inside and bravely turned to Kai. "Are you going to stay for lunch?"

Kai laughed. "Have to. Can't leave Jo behind, can I?"

"Obviously." Bonnie smiled to herself and shouldered her bag while she was slowly pacing towards the door, waiting for Kai to catch up. They were headed to the cafeteria as Bonnie's phone buzzed.

Wanna go to the mall after school? We got a water-pipe burst at home. Craftsmen are on their way but it's pure chaos here. So take your time, Purchase is on me! Mom

Bonnie's eyes widened as she read her mother's text. She groaned and must have made a stupid face because Kai was eying her warily.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Well, if you would call a water-pipe burst alright, then yeah." Bonnie sighed.

"Uuuuh, that's nasty." He commented.

"Yeah, my mom just texted me. She wants me to take my time coming home from school today because apparently our house has been taken over by water and plumbers. Hey? Wanna come to the mall with me? I have a few hours to crash after school."

"Go shopping? I think I'll pass on that." He laughed as he saw Bonnie's fake pout. "Don't worry little Bennett, we'll find an occupation for you." He swung his arm around Bonnie's shoulder, leaning a bit of his weight onto her. Bonnie didn't know why but the gesture gave her some kind of reassurance and it didn't surprise her at all that it didn't feel the tiniest bit awkward. Given how close the two of them had become during the past weeks she almost craved actions like these. She turned her face to Kai and smiled at him, happy to see that he was returning it.

As they arrived at the canteen the row in front of the serving counter was already reaching far into the room. Bonnie's belly gnarled in anticipation of the food and they got in line. Kai was leery watching the food, mentioning how they always served fried things and Bonnie countered that she didn't mind today because she could eat everything at once, as someone pushed through the line to get to where they were. Bonnie could make out some 'heys' and 'watch outs' before she turned to see who was trying to shorten their waiting time.

"Here you are. I was starting to think you already left." Bonnie heard Jo say and Kai turned to the familiar sound of his twin's voice. "Hey Bonnie!" Jo continued in Bonnie's direction, with a voice more soft and sweet then the one she had used with Kai, and Bonnie had to try hard to keep her poker face because she was a little surprised at Jo's nice greeting, since they weren't exactly friends or talking much at all for that matter.

"Hey Jo." Bonnie quickly answered before she saw that Jo's attention was switching back towards her brother but not before she gave Bonnie another friendly smile.

He only tilted his head to the side and watched her, saying nothing in return.

Jo seemed to get annoyed by him and sighed. "I just wanted to say that you don't have to take me home. Jessica has a date tomorrow and she needs Olive and me to go through her outfit options so I'll catch a ride with her." Jo said.

"It's all the same to me." Kai answered shortly and had his attention focused back to the food already.

"Remember to pick up the dry cleaning after school?" Jo asked him but he had reached the kitchen lady and was very invested in a conversation with her about the ingredients of the potato casserole so he didn't give her an answer.

"KAI!" Jo almost screamed at her brother.

"My god, my memory isn't a sieve, Josette. I think I am very capable of remembering this one thing that you have been nagging me about the whole ride here." He spit back to her and she glanced at him.

"Good! I trust you one this!" she gave him a last look and took her food onto her tray when he turned back to her and said, "Say 'hi' to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum for me. And maybe Jessica will let you try on some of her clothes, too, since you're going to need a bigger size soon if you keep this up!" And he was nodding in Jo's food's direction.

Bonnie took her own food as she watched Jo's face turn all white and all the warmth in her eyes had faded. She was shooting lightning at Kai and he was angrily smirking at her.

"My condolences to you, Bonnie. I have no idea how you can bear spending so much time with the horrible person that is my brother. I would have killed him by now." Jo said to Bonnie.

"Don't tempt me. It's not that I haven't thought about it." Bonnie responded and the two girls laughed.

"Oh, isn't this sweet to see how the two of you bond over your combined hatred over me." He said coldly.

"It's not the hatred that we bond over!" Jo stated.

"It's the being hacked off about you 24/7." Bonnie finished Jo's statement and the two girls fell back into laughter. Kai rolled his eyes on them and turned around, leaving the two behind.

"But seriously, can you remind him of the dry cleaning again, Bonnie? If he doesn't pick it up today, our dad is going to freak out because we're going to have to wear something that he would consider 'inappropriate' on Sunday." Jo said.

"Of course I will. We all know how he handles responsibilities." Bonnie snickered.

"And he really shouldn't piss off Dad." Jo added and placed her hand on Bonnie's shoulder, making her think she was about to head to the table her two best friends were already seated but Jo turned to her one more time. "I'm really glad you get along so well, though. Kai isn't usually this nice to people and I know he can be a pain in the ass but he really likes you."

"How do you know?" Bonnie was curious what made Jo say something like that. Did Kai say something to her?

"I'm his twin sister. I am probably the person who knows him best. I can see the way he acts around you and the fact that he is actually listening to you, gives a lot away. Plus, intuition, a big sister always knows what's going on with her siblings, especially her own twin." She smiled at her but Bonnie was a little confused right now because of why she even brought it up. Jo mistook this confusion with uncertainty about Kai's attitude towards her because she said, "Don't worry. You can trust my judgment. I know that Kai isn't showing this directly, and he probably will never show you how important you really are to him, but with time you'll learn to read the signs. He's usually not letting people in, but maybe you can get him out of his shell." Another reassuring smile and Jo had turned, leaving Bonnie with the need to clarify her and Kai's status to her, because it seemed like his sister thought that they had something more coming than friendship. And more importantly she felt the need to talk more to Jo about Kai. She was right, Jo knew him best and Bonnie only got started to try to figure this boy out and could really use the help of someone who has been on it for her entire life.

Bonnie shook her head and followed Kai to a table nearby. He didn't look up from his food as she placed herself next to him.

"They can't be serious about this stuff. Who in the world is supposed to eat this?" Kai scooped some of his casserole onto his fork and watched it warily, as if it was about to jump off and attack him, then he watched Bonnie shove a huge fork of her own food into her mouth and he started to laugh, nearly making Bonnie choke on it because she had to suppress a laugh of her own.

"Don't judge me, I am hungry." She could muster between two bites. He only shook his head and slid his tray to the side without taking a single bite.

In that moment Liza and Perry approached their table. They didn't have a tray with them and they were rushing towards Bonnie and that made her wonder what the deal was with those two.

"Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie! Found you! You will not believe what we just found out." Perry placed himself next to Bonnie and Liza stood next to him watching down on Bonnie with a big smile.

Bonnie's questioning face made Perry spill the beans right away. "Mr. Collins is sick, he just left the school. Some virus or so, I don't know, but he just told us that the math class isn't going to take place so we are good to go right now."

Liza made a little jump behind Perry that made Bonnie believe what she just heard. The three of them hated math and Mr. Collins was really not their favorite teacher so a reaction like this would only be evoked by something as true as this. But Bonnie couldn't feel happy about this. She looked to Kai and he watched her judgingly.

"Hey, why isn't she happy about this?" Liza asked Kai.

"Because now she has to find something to fill the rest of her day, because she can't go home since they have a pipe burst." he explained to her friends.

"Oh, no. That's too bad. I'd say you could come with us but Liza and I are headed to the local animal shelter for our biology project and we know how much you like being with dogs." Perry said ironically and Liza added that she was still very welcome to join them but Bonnie declined. There was no way she was spending her free time with fuzzy dogs and cats that would most definitely start to lick every single limb of her body. She shivered at the thought only.

"Is this really true? Are you guys so lucky that you can leave already?" Faye was approaching with Connor in tow.

"Wow, news travels fast." Liza stated and Faye let herself fall onto a chair.

"Like my day couldn't get any worse. Now I am stuck here at school without you guys and I didn't even get any of the casserole because it was already empty." Faye sighed.

"Lucky you, I have just a portion of it waiting right here." Kai shoved this tray in Faye's direction and her face lit up in anticipation. Then doubt crossed her face.

"You don't want eat that?" she asked Kai pointing to the untouched casserole.

"Hell no. If I wanted to get food poisoning I'd eat something my sister made." As Faye still hesitated to eat, he put the fork into her hand to ensure his unwillingness to eat and she happily smiled at him and started. Like Bonnie, Faye had a real big appétit today.

"You know, you are really missing out on something. This is like the best food you can get in this canteen." Faye said with a full mouth and it was hard to understand her.

"That's not really true; remember that chicken teriyaki they made last year? That was delicious." Bonnie mentioned with an equally full mouth and the two girls reminisced about that meal.

"I can see why you guys are friends. You seem to share the tendency for inappropriate table manners." Kai said but he was suppressing a smile so Bonnie knew he really didn't bother. She locked eyes with Faye and the two started laughing.

"Oh, dear. You haven't even seen inappropriate with these two." Perry said judgingly and they all laughed. He was always the one complaining about Bonnie's and Faye's choice of meal, behavior at the table or the combination of food the two were eating. In that matter Bonnie and Faye were soul mates, they share their eagerness to experiment with different tastes.

Bonnie took a look around the table. It was an odd picture but it made her happy. Her best friends in school were casually chatting and laughing with one another and Kai seemed to fit right in. If someone would watch them, that had no clue about the social structure of the school, they wouldn't doubt that he was right where he belonged. That made Bonnie euphoric. So she wouldn't have much trouble including Kai further into her life if he seemed to get along with her friends as well. She happily and silently continued eating her meal while she listened to Perry, Faye and Kai start a discussion about the one time Faye had crossed French fries with hazelnut-crème, as her gaze got stuck on Connor who had oddly stayed silent the whole time since he had arrived at the table.

He was eying the scene that took place with something in his eyes that Bonnie could only describe as uncontent. His critical gaze wandered between his half eaten plate and Kai. Bonnie tired to make eye contact with him and as she did she raised an eye brow in question but he only shrugged and looked back at his plate. What was his deal?

"As nice as this little get together is turning out to be we should get going if we want to catch the bus to the animal shelter. Are you ready, darling?" Perry asked Liza and she nodded and got up from her seat.

Everyone said their goodbyes and Liza and Perry went to the exit, leaving Faye, Bonnie, Connor and Kai alone. Faye was already back to interrogating Kai about this and that as Connor took a look at his watch and turned to Faye.

"I should get going. Can't be late for my class. Want to accompany me, Faye?" His voice was oddly emotionless and Bonnie started to worry about her friend. Faye also picked up on it so she turned to Bonnie and Kai and said her goodbye took her tray and left the table but before that she gestured to Bonnie to give her a call later. Bonnie smiled and nodded. And then they were gone.

Bonnie sighed, which made Kai look up from his phone.

"What? Are you still unhappy about having to leave school early? You might be the only person on this planet that feels like this." He joked.

"I guess you wouldn't like spending so much time alone with nothing to do either."

"On the contrary, I would pretty much enjoy it." He paused as if an idea started to form in his brain. "Aren't you a lucky lady to have me as your savior? Let's just get this presentation done once and for all and you wouldn't have to spent all your time alone and we would have a free weekend, what do you say?"

"Wait? Are you proposing to get to work right now? I think I need to mark this day in my calendar." Bonnie teased but then she went serious again. "But what about Jo? Don't you have to drive her?"

"Hello? Have you been present in the conversation a few minutes ago? She's staying with a friend so I am off taxi-duty."

Aaah, right. She remembered now. "What about your classes?" she asked.

"Please, I didn't plan on coming here either way so it is not a huge loss if I actually ditched them."

Bonnie waited, not sure if she wanted him to ditch school for her but he was right, the idea did sound tempting.

"I don't know, I mean where would we even do it? It is not that we can just stay here. You might get caught and get send to Mr. Bright and then I am back to spending my time alone."

"We'll go to my place. Everyone is still out so we can actually work there." He said and after another hesitant pause from Bonnie he added. "Come on, BonBon, don't pretend like you're not curious about my house!" He twitched is eyebrows mockingly and got off his seat.

She had to admit she really was curious. She had been imagining his house and his room for the past few weeks but she could never really picture anything because he was such an unpredictable person, it was impossible for her to assume anything about his choice of furniture. Also she had heard that the Parker residence was supposed to be amazing, so she got up and followed Kai closely.

On the way to the parking lot they encountered Perry and Liza again and after a quick chat they learned that Kai was headed to the same direction the two of them needed to go so he would give them a lift.

The parking lot was awkwardly empty, given that a lot of the students were affected by Mr. Collins sickness, as the four of them headed in the direction of a black Audi A1. Bonnie mentally whistled at the sight of Kai's car. She understood now what his concern was about his car was about earlier. It seemed like it was never even driven before, brand new to a layman's eye, only the tires gave it way that the car was recently moved through a muddy street. Getting inside, Bonnie's impression was only confirmed. Everything was neat and clean and she couldn't make out any knick-knack like she had the one time she had been in Jo's car.

After a five minutes ride Kai stopped to let out Perry and Liza at the animal shelter and after another invitation to accompany them, which Bonnie declined, they were alone again. Kai pulled onto a small parking lot and got out to get the dry cleaning Jo had been nagging about and they got going again.

"So, what's the deal with you and mankind's furry friends?" Kai had picked up on her unease concerning going with Liza and Perry.

"Nothing, I think it is wonderful that people are caring about animals, as long as said animals are staying five feet away from me." Bonnie admitted and earned a laugh from Kai.

"What, you wanna tell me that you love all the animals that are out there?" she asked angrily.

"Most defiantly not. But it seems like you never seem to stop surprising me Ms. Bennett." Kai turned into a quarter of the town Bonnie only knew from driving through it. It was where the properties were huge, so you could have a football game played on them. It was perfect for rich people or families with a lot of kids. It almost seemed rural here.

"Why do you say that?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, I have gotten a pretty good picture of what is Bonnie Bennett but some details just don't seem to add up. Like, you have a teddy bear by your bedside but you don't seem to like pets or animals of any kind."

"I am not as girly as you might think." She said bitchy.

"Believe me; I would never mistake you as girly." And with that statement Kai parked his car in front of a big white house at the end of a road.

Author's note: So this chapter is the beginning of a multiple chapter storyline playing out during this day. I have a lot to include into this part of the story so that's the reason for splitting it into more parts. I have to say that now that it is revealed that Bonnie's character won't return for a possible ninth season, I am really hoping the producers are wrapping the story up in season 8. Can't say I am the biggest fan of the show any more. So, hope you enjoyed it. Until next time, LiLaAir.