Chapter Thirty- Six: Game Of Girls-Night
The date wasn't nice. Not at all. The fact that Bonnie agreed to this date just to piss of Kai was only making it worse. Connor had decided to take her to dinner and the movies. She was almost relieved when they sat in the dark cinema and she could finally stop acting like she was enjoying herself. No matter that the movie was horrible but it was the most amusing part of the evening for her. She had insisted on arriving separately so they had to say goodbye right after the movie was over.
Connor had leaned forwards slowly and Bonnie's eyes widened with ever inch his lips came closer to hers. She was paralyzed and couldn't do anything when she finally got her grip back and turned her face away. Connor looked at her with grief.
"I'm sorry." She whispered and he looked away, embarrassment written all over his face.
"No, it's okay. I guess I had to try, didn't I?" His voice was strong but he couldn't hide the fact that he was hurt.
"I'm really sorry, I just, I don't feel this way about you and to be honest I shouldn't have agreed to this date in the first place." Bonnie admitted, thinking back at the way Kai looked at her.
"I had a feeling you were only agreeing to piss him off." Connor said and that raised Bonnie's suspicion.
"To piss who off?" she asked with a little spite.
Connor looked at her and his expression turned dark. "That Parker kid."
"Why would you think I wanted to piss him off?" Bonnie asked dumbly. She hadn't told Connor anything about her and Kai.
"Come one Bonnie, cut the crab. We all know that you have a thing for him. Why do you think I asked you out in the middle of the crowd when I could have asked you at the table when we were all alone? I wanted him to hear it. I wanted to rub it in his arrogant face that I was going on a date with you."
Bonnie watched Connor with an open mouth. Connor had wanted to see Kai jealous. He wanted to use her as some kind of trophy over him. She couldn't believe it. She was pissed. At Connor for using her like that and at Kai for acting exactly the way Connor wanted him to and not having any business acting that way. Without saying goodbye she turned around and headed to her car. She was so enraged that she texted Kai a hateful message, about what he was thinking acting the way he did yesterday.
The only response she got was a short 'Take it your date did go too well? ;)' and she smashed her phone onto the passenger seat and went home.
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The traffic had been horrible so now Abby Bennett was going to be late to the student conference that she didn't want to participate in the first place. She didn't know what her purpose was going to be there. With Kai's father present and all the teachers there was no need for her to be there too. Of course this was kind of what she signed up for when she agreed to take the position of parent representative, but until this point she never had be part of a conference where the accused had been a kid that she knows and likes. No matter the outcome, she was not going to be any help for Kai today.
Abby parked her car in the school parking lot and watched the clock in her car. Shit, she was already 5 minutes late. Joshua Parker was not going to be her biggest fan today. Well, so be it. Maybe it would take him off his son's back for a little while.
When she entered the corridor of the school she saw that the conference had already started without her. There was no one to be seen but a single person, who was sitting on a chair in front of the room where the conference was held. Kai looked like he was waiting for his execution and Abby sighed a little.
When she was closer to him, she decided that she could spare a few more minutes and sat next to him. She was late already; they wouldn't mind another two minutes.
"Hey, Kai." She greeted him.
"Hi." Kai said without looking up. He didn't seem sad or afraid, just… bored.
"So, you think I am going to be in a lot of trouble for being late to this?" she asked jokingly.
"Don't worry, you're not gonna be in as much trouble as I am."
Abby sighed. There was no time to build this conversation up in a slow burn so she just said what she wanted to say.
"Listen Kai, I know things are a little tough right now, but do you even know that with your behavior you could screw up your future? I mean, come on, you don't need to be sitting here, waiting for your conference. You're a smart kid. Why do you keep doing these things that get you into trouble?"
Kai looked at her now. "Because I can, that's why. How do you even know it's tough right now, huh? Did Bonnie talk to you? Did she tell you to talk to me?"
Abby hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to make this any worse for her daughter than it already was. Bonnie was trying to convince her that she was alright, that this fight didn't hurt her the way it did, but Abby knew her better than that.
"No, she didn't. Even though she does talk to me. At least she did. Now she tries to cover her pain up but I can still see it. I know she did something that pissed you off and you probably have every right to be mad at her, but… she is hurting too. She cares very deeply for you, you kind of won her over in a storm. You know, seeing my daughter like this, isolating herself, brooding all the time-just basically sad- it hurts me too. I won't tell you what to do but just think about everything, what she means to you and maybe you'll find a way to take a step towards her."
Kai looked at her with a serious expression on his face. It wasn't rage or anything like that, it didn't seem like he was mad at her for talking to him about this topic, he just seemed to consider her words. Could it be that she actually had gotten through to him?
The door where the conference was held got opened and Kai and Abby both looked towards it.
"Ms. Bennett, glad you could make it." Joshua Parker's icy voice rang to her ears and Abby rose. Without saying anything, she went inside the room, only nodding at him when she passed him. She heard him tell his son to come inside, while she got to her seat.
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"And you think that's okay?"
"Sure, why wouldn't it be?"
"Well, maybe because it is at your house and I don't know, some other people living there could have something against it?"
Bonnie looked at Jo, trying to figure out if her invitation to 'dancing with the stars night' was meant sincerely or if the oldest Parker girl had something up her sleeve. But Jo did not purport that it was like that in any way.
"Bonnie, you are my friend and I want to spend tonight with my friends watching dancing with the stars and if Kai has a problem with that he can stay in his room, where he belongs." Jo stated businesslike.
Bonnie nodded, considering her invitation. She was free tonight and she hadn't spent time with Jo in forever due to the whole Kai mess. Dancing with the stars was in no way something Bonnie was interested in and the fact that Jo's friends Olive and Jessica would also be there, making this kind of a girls night, didn't necessarily push her willingness to join them either but Bonnie kind of missed spending time with Jo, so before she could think about it she heard herself accept Jo's invitation.
Jo didn't let her have a second thought about it, only telling her when to be there and to bring some chips, then she was gone. Bonnie stood there like an idiot because Jo had disappeared so quickly, that it must seem to other people that she was talking to a ghost or something.
While Bonnie turned around to her locker she thought about searching for Kai, who should be around somewhere since he had attended school every day for the past few weeks, and ask him if he was okay with her coming to his house tonight but she quickly decided against it. She didn't owe him any explanation. Just like Jo said, if he has a problem with her seeing her friend he can go deal with it on his own.
There hadn't been much interaction between the two since that fatal date with Connor. She still thought his jealousy was misplaced and he still seemed to give a shit about what Bonnie thought. Except for the occasional 'hi' in school, they didn't have anything to say to each other. So she wouldn't seek him out and ask for his permission to do something. Hell no!
When the school day was over she went to the supermarket and got some chips for the evening. She only briefly went home to tell her mother where she was going. Nowadays, she was making sure she always told her about her whereabouts because she only barely got away with her lie about the other night she had spent with Kai and wanted to avoid any of this ever happening again.
Getting ready in no time, Bonnie jumped down the stairs and went into the kitchen where she had stored the chips. When she grabbed them she spotted something laying on the kitchen table, a paper with some picture printed on it. She got closer to look at the picture when she realized it was a picture of a blue car. It was a VW Polo, not the newest car but seemed to be doing its job pretty well.
"Do you like it?" her mother's voice reached her ear.
Bonnie turned around, a skeptical frown on her face. "Yeah, it's lovely."
"Good! It's yours if you want it." Abby stated while stepping next to her daughter.
"What?" Bonnie's eyes widened.
"Yup, talked to the owner and trust me it is really a good car. And the prize is pretty good too. I just wanted to get your acceptance and then I'll go get it."
"But mom, I still don't have my share of the prize yet." Bonnie argued.
"Don't worry, babe. You can pay me back when you have the money."
Bonnie was full of joy and jumped into her mother's arm, screaming in joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She put small pecks across her mother's cheek and heard her chuckle.
"You're welcome, Bonnie. But for now, take my car and get to your friends house. I'll see you later, have fun." Abby nearly pushed her out the door because Bonnie was still busy telling her how grateful she was. With a big grin on her face Bonnie drove to Jo's house. She had packed the photo of the car into her purse before she had left and was very eager to share it with a certain someone before she remembered that that person wouldn't care. Her euphoria stopped for a moment and she sighed heavily before she finally rang the bell and waited for Jo to open the door.
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"Oh my god, they are so bad." Olive complained.
"Yeah, totally. If they don't go home tonight I swear I won't watch anymore." Jessica agreed while she was hovering over Olive's fingernails, trying to paint them in a special kind of red.
Jo said right next to Bonnie and if she had an opinion on the couple that just finished their dance, she kept it to herself. Bonnie was glad for that. No matter what these girls liked about this show, it didn't seem to infect Bonnie. Actually, she hated this show and couldn't wait for it to be over.
Olive and Jessica were nice, as always and of course Jo had been a wonderful host. It wasn't so much as the company but the show itself that made Bonnie want to flee the room.
Right before the next couple would hit the floor, Jessica jumped up and declared that she needed to pee, leaving the three girls alone.
"Hey Bonnie, how do you like the color?" Olive asked and shoved Bonnie her painted nails.
The red was really intense and on any other person it might have looked nice but Olive's pale skin just didn't fit. It made her look like she tried too hard but Bonnie wasn't going to say that. "I like the color, really intense." Bonnie said and it wasn't even a lie.
Content, Olive turned back to the TV and watched some unknown actor and his dance partner try the waltz when Jessica rushed back into the room.
"Jo, I know you don't want to hear this but I can't keep this to myself." Jessica warned. "Your brother is just gorgeous!"
Jo moaned next to her. They clearly already had this conversation over and over again. Suddenly, Bonnie felt uncomfortable. Nothing compared to how Jo must be feeling but still, she didn't want to talk about how cute Kai was with these girls. It didn't seem right.
Jessica continued to fancy. "Just ran into him when I wanted to go to the bathroom. Man, he looks especially handsome today and he's not even trying." She turned to Olive now, who seemed to be more than interested in the information she was getting.
"What did he say?" Olive asked, full of anticipation.
"He just said hi and then went downstairs- but goooosh, he is perfect. He even smells nice."
Jessica and Olive started giggling and Jo tried to get them to shut up. "Alright, girls that's enough. You know I don't want to hear you swoon over my brother, okay?"
"Come on, let's have this little fun." Olive demanded while giggling.
"Yeah, and I guess Bonnie is totally on our side on this one, so we are the majority." Jessica laughed.
Bonnie looked up, eyes widened. "Me? Why would you think I agree with you?"
A little panic spiked in her. Had her mime or body language giving anything away? Or did these girls just sense that Kai Parker was a delicate topic for her. Next to her, she felt Jo shift uncomfortably. She for sure knew more than the giggling girls in front of Bonnie, how much she wasn't sure, but she felt Jo's eyes on the side of her face, like she was checking on her.
"Because we assume you have eyes in that pretty little head of yours." Olive explained. "Kai is like the supermodel type and any girl that is free can see that. Or do you have someone special so you would be blind to his appearance?"
Bonnie swallowed down the lump that had been building inside her throat. "Eh, no I don't."
"See, than you have to admit it." Jessica pushed further.
"I… I…" Bonnie stammered. She had no idea how to react to his and was more than grateful when Jo finally cut in.
"Let it go, you two. This is my house, so my rules and I say no swooning over my brother, end of discussion." Jo said in her mature voice and Jessica and Olive reluctantly gave their okay. Bonnie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and watched the two girls in front of her exchanging glances and giggles, but they let it go.
Bonnie's head turned in Jo's direction and when she saw her looking back she mouthed a 'thank you' and Jo smiled, touching her arm lightly in reassurance.
Even though they had dropped the topic, Bonnie felt more and more uncomfortable in the room. It seemed like it was too hot in there and she couldn't focus any more. The babbling of Olive and Jessica wasn't helping either and so she got up and excused herself for a second.
When she got to the hallway and closed the door behind her, she sighed heavily. Having a door between herself and these two girls was relieving. She turned away from the door and leaned next to it on the wall and closed her eyes.
"The girls can be tough, right?"
Bonnie quickly reopened her eyes as she recognized the familiar voice of Kai. She turned towards the sound and saw him standing in front of his door with a bowl full of popcorn in his arm.
"Yeah, they are. I mean, they are nice and all but… you know…" Bonnie tried to sound nonchalant.
Kai smiled and nodded. "So, you're enjoying yourself?"
"Yah, sure. We have a lot of fun, you know. It is a real girls-night. We tattle, doing each other's nails, laughing, eating, enjoying the show." Bonnie slowly moved over to where he stood while talking. "Just a very nice evening."
Kai looked at her when she had finally reached him and raised an eyebrow, seeing right through her act.
"Alright, you got me. I hate it." Bonnie admitted and Kai laughed at that. "I mean, it's not them, it is me. They ARE nice and all but- Dancing with the Stars? I mean, really? This entire show is ridiculous and lame, I want to puke if I have to see just one other couple failing horribly at the waltz. I need something with a little bit more demand. I don't know what Jo was thinking when she invited me."
It took a few more seconds for Kai to stop laughing and when he did he was wiping away the tears that formed in his eyes. "I thought Jo was joking when she told me she invited you to girls-night. It was ridiculous. I couldn't picture you with Olive and Jessica at all. This entire thing was doomed from the start"
"Thanks for giving so much credit." Bonnie pouted.
"No, it's not that. You are just not the type of girl that would enjoy something like this. That's all." Kai tried to comfort her, his voice still laced with the aftermath of his laughter.
They smiled at each other and after that a silence spread out between them. After a while Kai broke it. "So, I'm rewatching Game of Thrones season 3. Wanna join me?"
Bonnie looked at him with surprise. Did he really mean it or was he just being polite. "Really? I mean, is that okay? I don't want you to feel obligated to ask me."
"Hey, it was just an offer. Feel free to rejoin the happy clique of girls waiting for you back there-"
"No!" Bonnie cut him off mid sentence. There was no way she would go back in there. She was feeling bad for Jo, because her behavior was really not the best right now, but this show and these girls were making Bonnie go crazy and the prospect of spending some time with Kai was just too tempting. Jo would understand.
Kai smiled and opened the door to his room. He motioned for her to make herself comfortable on the bed while he set the Blu-ray player. It felt a little weird being back in his room, but Bonnie still placed herself on his bed by the window and soon Kai sat next to her and started the Blu-ray.
"Would I be pushing it, if I asked you if you'd share a little of your popcorn?" Bonnie asked playfully.
Kai's head turned to her and with fake outrage he said. "Okay, enough is enough, Bonnie. I'm already saving you from the horror that is Dancing with the stars, so don't be so greedy." But he smiled and offered her the bowl. Bonnie reached inside and through a popcorn into her mouth, a smile on her face.
They watched the first episode. They talked more than Bonnie had expected them to. She thought that showing her the mercy to let her watch a movie with him was all she could ask for, but the constant commentary of what happened on screen soon turned into a lively conversation about this and that. It almost felt like old times, but of course it wasn't. Kai didn't want it to be like that.
Half an hour into the first episode, Jo came rushing into her brother's room. "Kai, have you see… oh."
Jo hesitated as she saw the two of them sitting next to each other on his bed. She eyed them, trying to find out if this meeting was friendly or if she needed to intervene to keep them off each other's throats. "So here you are. We already thought we scared you off." Jo said to Bonnie.
"No, you didn't. I'm sorry, I should have said something." Bonnie admitted shamefully.
"Oh no, it's alright, really. Now that I know where you are, I can stop worrying." Jo said and a huge smile built up on her face. After a short silence she added. "It's nice to see you are friends again. Was about time." She locked eyes with Bonnie and something in her gaze told her that this had always been her intention, that Jo had only invited her to girls-night to secretly force her and Kai to overcome their differences. With that content smile, Jo closed the door again and left them alone.
Kai turned his attention back to the TV, not reacting to anything Jo had just said and that made Bonnie watch him intensely. He seemed to be comfortable right now, and Jo's interruption hadn't changed that but why didn't he react to Jo's comment about them being friends again?
"You didn't object." Bonnie stated and his head turned so he could eye her.
"Huh?"
"Jo's comment about us being friends. You didn't object."
"Oh, that." Kai said casually, shrugged and turned back to the TV.
Bonnie still looked at him, while he was still watching the TV. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why didn't you?" Bonnie pushed. She knew that maybe she was pushing too hard but she felt like she was onto something here. Hope and excitement rushed through her, even though she was trying to tame it.
Kai didn't look at her when he answered. "Maybe I didn't object because there was nothing to object about. Maybe Jo was just stating a fact?"
Bonnie's heart hammered wildly in her chest. Did he just imply that he was willing to be friends with her again? Bonnie's eyes widened so much and there was no way of pushing back the excitement, it was already winning her over. "Are you- are you saying that, that we, I mean you and me, you'll give our friendship another chance?"
"I guess that is what I just said."
"Are you sure? I mean, did you think about it enough? You're not gonna regret this tomorrow or next week? I don't want you to rush into this decision when-"
"Stop. Talking." Kai turned to her and cut off the stream of words that came out of Bonnie uncontrollably. "Or I'll change my mind." He slowly turned back to the TV.
Bonnie was feeling like she had just won the lottery. She couldn't imagine that there was another scenario that could make her feel so happy and relieved. It seemed like all the bad feelings she had been carrying inside her for the past weeks had vanished in one second. Her mouth seemed not willing to stop forming this ridiculous smile and she bit down on her lower lip to hide it from him. But she could only contain her happiness for a few more moments before she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and making a squeaking sound. It didn't matter how ridiculous she was behaving right now, she just didn't care. She had her friend back. Probably not in the way like before but it didn't matter right now. She was friends with Kai again and she needed to show him how happy she was about that.
Kai had been surprised by her sudden bear hug and so he only slowly and weakly returned it. Bonnie yelled 'thank you' into his ears over a hundred times before she pulled away and sat on her knees right next to him, not able to stop smiling. Right then, her mind came up with all the things she had wanted to tell him the past few weeks but couldn't because she was sure he didn't care but she didn't want to scare him off right away with all her babbling so she chose to just inform him about one thing at a time.
"I'm going to have a car." She randomly yelled at him and quickly covered her loud mouth with her hands. She didn't want to yell but she was so exited she couldn't hold it back. Kai looked at her, confused about the sudden change of subject.
"Hide your wife, hide your kids?" He said with a little mockery and a lot of confusion.
"Ha ha, not funny." She punched him lightly on the arm. "My mom showed me this car earlier and she's arranging everything, so if I am lucky I'll have it by the end of the week. I even brought a picture but it is with my stuff in Jo's room so I can't show you. It's blue, though."
"You brought a picture? To show to the girls? They don't give a rat's ass about cars." Kai chuckled.
"No, I actually brought a picture to show it to you and then I realized that we weren't friends anymore and I kept it to myself."
"Hm, then I guess we have to get your stuff."
Bonnie wasn't too keen on going back to the girls. Jo already knew where she was and seemed to have planned this, but Olive and Jess probably had no idea and she wasn't interested becoming their personal newspaper on all things Kai, and they would for sure want to know.
"No, need. I'll just get my stuff later." Bonnie avoided him but of course Kai kept pushing.
"Well, if you don't want to get it, because of the dooming atmosphere of girls-night, then I'll go get it." Kai jumped off the bed and headed towards the door.
"NO!" she screamed. Kai heading into the lions cave without knowing was going to cause a whole lot more than chit chat with the girls. Poor Jo wouldn't get a rest and the prospect of her two friends drooling all over Kai was just something that didn't sit well with her. "Just come watch this episode with me and then I'll go get my stuff myself, okay?" She added with a soft tone.
"Okay… weirdo." Kai sat back down and took a few popcorns but not to eat them but to flip them all over Bonnie. That was the start of a heavy popcorn war between them and within minutes his bed was full of it and the bowl was mostly empty. Bonnie had to hold her ribs from the pain the laughter had caused and finally leaned back on the bed, breathing heavily and Kai joined her. They shared a smile.
"I really missed you." Bonnie finally said into the silence.
Kai watched her closely and straightened his position, a little uncomfortably. "Bon, you know this is not going to go back to the way things were in no time, right?"
Bonnie nodded, her smile dying. She had expected this. She knew Kai too well to expect him to forgive and forget and just finish where they left off. "I know, but I am happy right now with whatever bone you're throwing at me."
He smiled a small smile and cuddled into his pillow, turning his attention back the TV. Bonnie did the same and they watched the rest of the episode in comfortable silence. After it Bonnie grabbed her stuff from Jo's room, only quickly saying good bye to the girls and hugging Jo, who whispered in her ear that she was glad Kai had finally forgiven her, and rushed back to his room to show him the picture of her future car.
Of course he would make fun of the old wagon, she hadn't expected anything else but she also knew that he was happy as long she was content and happy about it as well and even admitted that it was quiet a good first car. They watched another episode after this and somewhere in the middle Bonnie rested her cheek on Kai's shoulder, fully aware that she might be overstepping their fragile new friendship but she had missed him so much that the pull towards him was just too strong for her to ignore. To her surprise he let her rest her head on his shoulder for the rest of the episode. Or at least until Bonnie fell asleep next to him a few minutes later. All the stress of the past week had fallen off her and the exhaustion for dozens of nights without proper sleep had claimed her body.
She woke up when he got off the bed to turn off the TV. She stirred and he looked at her apologetic.
"Did I wake you?"
"Yeah, but it's okay, I needed to wake up anyways."
"Oh, I would have woken you up. I just wanted to give you a little bit more sleep." Kai said while he fished the blue-ray out of the player and put it back into the case.
"Yeah, I would have claimed that too if I were you." She said ironically.
"Of course I would. After I witnessed you freak out about not telling your mother were you were the last time, I thought it was appropriate to help you prevent that from ever happening again. Plus, I don't want to anger your mother, she kind of did me a solid at my conference the other day."
"She did?" Bonnie asked and he nodded. "How did it go anyways?" Bonnie added while sitting up in the bed.
"Well, it was unnecessary as always. Had to listen to all the teachers ranting on and on about how unreliable I am and blah blah blah. They were about to suspend me, even my father was on their side, but then your mom kind of lost it. She said that this was a complete waste of time because she didn't understand why they were talking about suspending me when I still managed to get all the workload done and had good marks. She said as long as I don't physically or mentally hurt anyone she sees no reason to punish me with something that I was likely not going to see as punishment after all. So… they dropped it."
"Wow, never knew my mother was such a tiger. She must really like you."
"I guess she mostly did it to piss off my dad. They really don't get along at all."
"No, they don't. My mom hates your dad." Bonnie laughed and Kai joined her.
"Well, I guess I know the feeling."
Bonnie got out of the bed, grabbed her stuff and moved closer to him. "How is everything going with your dad? Is he still pissed?"
"Totally, but he went from yelling at me all the time to ignoring me, when mom told him it was enough. I'll manage, don't worry." He put off with a wave of his hand.
Bonnie sighed. She wished she could help him but she knew he wanted to deal with his father on his own and maybe it was just not her place yet to interfere with that screwed up relationship when she was still busy trying to fix theirs. "I should get going, I am really fucking tired." Bonnie said and hugged him, now he was even hugging her back.
"That's the best thing, I am finally allowed to hug you again." Bonnie laughed and Kai rolled his eyes.
"Don't expect it to happen too often, young lady." He scoffed and opened the door for her, accompanying her downstairs.
"Oh, you won't even have a say in this." Bonnie taunted, knowing fully well how much Kai thought of unnecessary, physical declarations of affections but she wouldn't give him a choice on this one. Bonnie slipped into her shoes and before she got out of the door she smiled at him once more and he returned it. Then she stepped outside into a warm June night and waved at him, getting to her mother's car. On her way there she heard the door closing and thought that maybe next time she came here, she was going to have her own car already.
Full on pleased she drove back to her house and hoped her mother was still up to tell her the news.
Author's note: Thought it was time to smooth their relationship. So there a way calmer waters ahead for the two of them. Maybe. ;) So, this is the last update before my very busy time of spending the holidays with my family and friends and after that I'll disappear into my computer to write my bachelor thesis. I still have a chapter ready but I don't think I will be updating until January because I know I won't have time to update in January at all and I don't want to let you wait two month for an update, so I will delay the next chapter into the next year. Speaking of, I want to thank everyone for reading this story and leaving such lovely and encouraging comments. I love you guys and I love how strong the Bonkai community still is, even though it's been 2 seasons. I wish everyone who is celebrating wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah, everyone else nice last days of December. Love you guys, until next year-LiLaAir