1.7 - The Plan
"Could I get a caramel macchiato to go, please?" Aria said, smiling at the barista, proceeding to hand over her credit card.
As she was in the process of paying, she heard a familiar voice. Turning over her shoulder, she saw him: it was Stefan, giving her that same sincere smile and staring at her with his piercing, brown eyes.
"Aria? Right?" He said, bowing his head down a little bit in acknowledgement.
"Yeah," Aria replied, shyly, "Stefan right?"
Stefan laughed, "Right. Sorry for saying that too many times," he gestured for them to sit at a nearby table.
As they sat in silence a moment, Aria brushed one strand of her raven-black hair across her face, "So how do you like Rosewood Falls?," she asked.
Stefan gave a coy smile, "I like it. I've met some interesting people here." His stare narrowed on Aria's doe-like, hazel eyes.
Aria looked at him with a flirtatious smile, "Yeah?"
Stefan, "At the risk of sounding repetitive, but, yes," He smiled back.
Even though The Rear Window Cafe was crowded with its usual mid-morning traffic, to an average passerby, Aria and Stefan looked at each other as if they were the only two people in the room. Their attraction was magnetic, electric, and any other words you would use to describe their intense connection.
Stefan cleared his throat, "So you write?" he said, gesturing to her notebook on the table.
Aria looked startled. No one had ever asked about her writing before. I mean, aside from the snarky Sylvia Plath-type jokes she got from Damon, "Yeah. I've been writing for my whole life, It's just something that I have to do, you know, writing down observations, thoughts I have during the day. I'm always worried I'll forget something unless I write it down."
Stefan smiled, "Me too," he replied. Aria then glanced at the same brown leather notebook in Stefan's backpack that he'd been writing in on that first day of school.
Suddenly, Hanna barged into The Rear Window, looking frantically for Aria, praying Damon hadn't let their little encounter slip to his sister.
"Aria!," Hanna yelled. She rushed over to the table and then stopped, "Oh, I didn't know you were with someone," she said, as she extended her hand out towards Stefan, in a slightly awkward motion, not knowing what to do, "I'm Hanna."
Stefan smiled at Aria and then turned to face Hanna, "Stefan."
Hanna gestured to Aria, "So should we head out then? I have something I want to talk to you about," said Hanna, as she nodded in approval at Aria's "choice."
Aria looked pleadingly at Hanna but then gave in to her friend's urgings, "Okay, Han," she replied. As she got up and gathered her stuff, she looked once more at Stefan, "You should come to the Grill with us tonight. It's where all of us kind of hang out after school. So, you should come." She giggled nervously.
"Will you be there?" Stefan asked, their intense gazes matched each other's.
As Aria began to mouth the words, Hanna jumped in, "Yeah! She'll be there!"
Stefan smiled, "Okay, see you there," he replied softly.
Hanna then grabbed her friend's arm and bit her lip slightly in excitement for her friend, "Omg he's so hot, Aria!" Hanna said as she turned around and left the cafe, Aria in tow.
Aria ran with her little legs, trying to catch up with her annoying yet lovable best friend, "Han!" she shouted, with a laugh.
"Care! I'm home!" Hanna shouted as she entered through the front door of her house. She rolled her eyes, dropped her purse on the floor and continued to dance around to the song that was playing through her phone.
Dancing her way to the kitchen, she opened up the fridge to see what kind of after school snack she could find in their leftovers. As she finished making her snack, she turned around to the counter and jumped.
"Okay who are you and what're you doing here?" She yelled, startled.
Klaus appeared. Wearing an unkempt black henley, his hair ruffled slightly, he murmured at Hanna, "Oh please love, don't stop on my account," he said, giving her a sickening grin.
Hanna ripped the ear buds out of her ears forcibly. She stared at Klaus with an equally menacing glance.
"I'm gonna ask one more time, what are you doing here?"
Klaus gave her a polite smile, his hands behind his back, "I'm here for Caroline."
Hanna rolled her eyes, "Oh. You're one of them. Just get your stuff and leave then. I know the drill. My sister's not gonna come down and make you breakfast or whatever." Hanna started to walk away but then was blocked by Klaus.
She looked over her shoulder and then back at him, wondering how he could've moved so quickly.
"Hm... you're a brave girl. What's your name?"
Hanna squinted her eyes at this weirdly precocious stranger, assuming that he was one of Caroline's many loser hookups, "Hanna, I'm Caroline's sister. What's yours, weirdo?"
Klaus smiled. He couldn't resist the directness and forcefulness of her attitude.
"Klaus," he replied, with a wide, evil grin.
Hanna matched his grin, "Well Klaus, the back door's to the left. Have a good day," she said, as she rolled her eyes, took her bowl of cereal that she had just made and continued to listen to her music while she walked upstairs.
Klaus followed her walk with his head until Hanna was completely upstairs: Who was this intriguing, surly, blonde-haired girl really?
"I don't think he's going to show," Alison said to Katherine in a snarky tone. They both were sitting at one of the booths in the back of the Grill, avoiding the crowds of people during the late afternoon rush.
"Patience Ali. Klaus always keeps his promises," Katherine replied with a menacing smile.
She motioned to one of the waiters, "Excuse me, another scotch please?" Katherine said, waving her glass in the air.
The waiter obliged and Katherine drank it in one greedy gulp and daintily wiped her mouth.
Suddenly, Alison felt a rush of air blow past her. Katherine looked towards her side: It was Klaus.
"Good afternoon Ladies," Klaus spoke, motioning to Katherine's empty glass, "a bit too early to be getting drunk Katherine?"
"Well, if you had been on time then I wouldn't have had to order so much and it's almost 'happy hour' anyway," Katherine sneered.
Klaus smiled politely at Alison, "Sorry, I had a prior engagement," he replied, as he scootched himself onto Ali's side of the booth, "Don't get sloppy Katherine, I need you both for our next plan."
"So what is the plan," Alison replied, as she rested her hand delicately on her chin and glared at Klaus with a semi-flirtatious glance.
Klaus smiled, "We need to find the witch to help us find the cure."
Katherine leaned forward, "Bonnie? She left town."
Klaus bent over the table, getting close to Katherine's face, "a different witch, love, one that is even more powerful than Bonnie and those pesky Bennet witches."
At this point, Alison also began to lean in, her face matching Klaus and Katherine's evil glances, "So that's why you need my help."
Klaus looked back towards Alison, proudly. His protege was becoming a fast learner. Then, he leaned backwards, smiling to himself, "We need to find Emily Fields..."
Far away from Rosewood Falls, Bonnie Bennet stood in her kitchen. Her finger hovered over her phone as she contemplated pressing Emily's number. It had been months since she had broken things off with Emily and she didn't want to cause her anymore pain. But this call was more important than matters of the heart.
Bonnie gazed at Emily's contact photo - a picture of the two of them smiling, right before they decided to go out - Bonnie pressed the number and held the phone to her ear.
Voicemail: Hi, It's Emily. I'm not here right now, um, please leave a message and I'll try to get back to you? Thanks! [beep].
Bonnie hesitated for a moment and took a breath, "Hey Em. It's... Bonnie. Please don't delete this message. I just wanted to tell you that I still miss you. I love you, Em. So much. That's why you need to help me. You and your friends are in trouble. You probably already knew that since Alison and Katherine are in Rosewood Falls right now. Protect yourself Em, because they're after you and are going to use your powers for some ultimate evil plan. I'll try to get there as soon as I can, but I trust that you'll know what to do, Em. You're more powerful than you think. I love you."
Bonnie removed the phone from her ear and pressed "END." She felt proud of herself from what she had just done. Then, she ran out of her kitchen to her room, hurriedly grabbed her suitcases and spell books and sprinted to the car. She had to get to Rosewood Falls, ASAP. She had to protect her friends, and, most importantly, she had to protect Emily.
