I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.
-Duane Michals
-o-
"So, you all ready for school?"
Swallowing back the almost overwhelming urge to yawn in his face, I shrugged at Kol's smiling face and avoided his eyes as I popped a small spoonful of cereal in my mouth. Eugh. I hated breakfast. How was it considered even remotely normal to eat food at that time of the day? I grimaced and Kol's face fell a little.
He had shown up last night just before I'd gone to bed, hands in his pockets, expression completely neutral and had began trying to coax conversation out of me.
As if nothing had happened.
I ignored him. I was still ignoring him, brushing off any and all efforts at conversation and remaining stoic when he smiled at me. And, you know, why should I feel guilty for hurting his feelings when he had left me first? Plus, he was refusing to tell me where he went. I knew that without even asking- if he was going to tell me, he would have done so the night before. Kol isn't exactly a person who can keep anything to himself, so I knew there was something up if he kept secrets from me. He never kept secrets from me.
"Oh, c'mon, Bon!" he groaned, slumping into the seat across from me, "Talk to me!"
I studied him carefully. Kol never aged, he had looked like the same, strikingly handsome nineteen year old boy from the very first day I met him- but, right then, he looked at least twice his age. Maybe three times. I took pity on him.
"Where did you go to last night?"
His mouth pinched and his hand twitched with the need to run it through his hair, "Around."
Right, of course. I rolled my eyes, "I have to go, Kol. School, you know?"
Not looking at him, I grabbed my bowl from the kitchen table and got up to put it in the sink. My mind was spinning and, I'm sorry to say, so were my emotions. Hurt, anger, confusion. Why was he behaving like this? What the heck had gotten to him? I didn't know, but I was determined to find out- whether with his help or without it, I didn't care.
Ignoring Kol's frustrated shout of my name, I ran upstairs, careful not to wake my father up and got ready for school.
-0-
"Hey, Bonnie."
Elena's brown eyes were tired as she smiled at me and I laughed a little when she caught my name on a yawn. Looking sheepish, she shrugged and leaned over to throw my backpack into the backseat as I climbed into the front.
"Morning, Elena. Sleep well?"
"Not really," her mouth turned up into a tiny grin, "I stayed over at Stefan's last night."
Ah, well, that would explain it then. I swallowed my discomfort at the not so subtle mention of sex and forced a giggle, beaming at her.
Secretly, I was hoping she wasn't one of those girls who... you know, went into detail. I wasn't a prude or anything- at least, I really hoped I wasn't- it's just, I didn't have much experience in that department. Or any, really. It was kind of hard to get a boyfriend when, for all intents and purposes, you're certifiably crazy and see people who aren't really there. Plus, any of the guys that I knew from my old homes and stuff were pretty gross. Kol was probably the cutest guy I knew and the idea of kissing him made me feel slightly queasy. That would be like kissing your brother. Ew.
Thankfully, Elena wasn't the type to dish out the dirt and instead asked, "Are you nervous about starting a new school?"
I shook my head, staring out at the greenery that flew past the window, "No, not really. My dad doesn't usually like to stay in one place for too long, so I've got experience with this sort of thing."
Elena frowned, "And what about your mum? Does she like moving around?"
Probably I should have been used to that question by now. After all, ten years is a long time to get over something, but I guess I wasn't. Over it, I mean. Even after all of the therapy and everything, the subject of her death still made my palms sweat and my knees feel weak.
My stomach churned and I looked away from the window sharply, afraid that I might throw up in Elena's pretty car if I stared at the blurry landscape any longer.
"Hey, Bonnie... are you okay? You look a little pale." Elena's voice was concerned and, when I managed to pluck up the courage to look at her, she was alternating between stealing glances at me and the road. I smiled at her- or tried to. I'm pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace than anything.
"Yeah." I shut my eyes tightly, leaning back against the seat, "My mum... she died when I was six, so, no, I don't think she minds, really."
The images crashed through my mind, completely unwelcome;
Mum, bloody and wide eyed.
"Run, Bonnie! Run!"
BANG!
"Crap, Bonnie, I'm so sorry." When I opened my eyes, ignoring the slight sting of moisture in them, Elena herself was looking pretty darn pale too, "I...Uh, shit, I didn't know."
"Well, how could you have?" I peer at her, confused, "You only met me yesterday and I didn't mention it to anyone."
She shifted uncomfortably and pulled the car into a parking space.
"We're here." she said timidly, avoiding my eyes.
I balked, staring out the window sheild. Well, damn! That was the quickest trip, ever! Wordlessly, I undid my belt and grabbed my backpack from the backseat, climbing out of the car.
The place was swarming with people. Like, literally swarming with them.
Everywhere I looked, there was a bunch of teenagers, all laughing, complaining, or just looking plain bored. My head felt dizzy just looking at them all and, since I was still shakey from the episode in the car, it wasn't all that surprising when I felt my legs begin to give way.
"Bonnie!"
I made a feeble attempt to catch myself on Elena's car, but it was too far away, just outside of my grasp. Of course it was. Wasn't everything? It was a longer trip to the ground than I expected- or was that just because everything was moving in slow motion?- but as I slid further down towards the concrete things began to blur- I could see faces peering at me curiously, people from school, but, curiously, it was my mothers voice I could hear in the background.
"You're a special girl, Bonnie. A very special girl."
"You've got your grandmothers genes, baby." a beaming face, "I can tell."
"Run, Bonnie! Run!"
And then, suddenly, I wasn't falling anymore. Arms encased me, circled my waist, and I felt warmth shoot through my veins.
"Easy there," a warm voice to match their touch. Masculine. "It's okay."
I looked up. Found a pair of ice blue eyes looking back at me. Smiled.
Passed out.
-0-
"Damon! What are you doing?"
He ignored the voice, staring down at the girl in his arms with rapt concentration. Electricity sparked where their skin touch and he inhaled sharply, winding one arm around her tiny waist and hoisting her up into his arms. She weighed about as much as a feather.
Eyes narrowed, Damon carefully brushed some hair out of her face, shivering slightly when the electric continued to travel through his blood stream, and swept his gaze over her features; smooth skin, soft to the touch, waves of shiny brown locks that fell to just below her shoulder and a tiny, fragile frame that felt breakable in his arms.
Damon exhaled sharply.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked Elena hoarsely, "Why didn't you tell me that there was a Bennett witch in town?"
-0-
a/n:
Short, but this was basically just a filler chapter.
Big thank you to isis for the review. I hope this answered your question!
Review!
-lolita