Elena was sitting in the office with an icepack pressed to her eye. She was regretting all her life choices right now. Sure, beating Bonnie's ass had felt good, really good, but it was not going to be worth the lecture and punishment she was sure to get when she got home.
Elena had tried desperately to get the principal not to call anyone. Technically, her file said she was eighteen, which meant she was legally an adult. Of course, the principal wasn't having any of that. He only quoted school policy to her, which insisted that a parent or a guardian be called in situations like this. She supposed it didn't matter anyway. There was no way her family wasn't going to find out about it. However, she would've liked for them to hear it from her instead of the principal.
Elena did get lucky in one aspect. She'd convinced the principal to call Klaus instead of Elijah. She might have told a little white lie to get that to happen. She told him that Elijah was out of town. Again, she wanted to be the one to tell him, without the principal there to interfere. Teachers and principals never took sides. They didn't care who started it when a fight broke out. They punished everyone.
Elena looked to the other side of the main office and saw Bonnie, who was also holding an icepack to her face, only her face looked much worse than hers. She couldn't help but smirk at that fact.
Just then, Klaus entered the office looking rather annoyed. He then saw his niece with an icepack pressed to her face. Annoyance turned to rage. "Who did that to you?"
Elena glanced over at Bonnie once more.
Klaus glanced over at the Bennett witch and began to smirk. He had to give credit where credit was due. His niece had wiped the floor with the witch.
"She threw the first punch, I swear," Elena said.
"Mr. Mikaelson?" the secretary asked as she looked at him.
Klaus nodded.
"You can go in. The principal is waiting for you," she said as she pointed to the principal's office.
Klaus nodded before heading into the office the woman pointed to.
Rebekah and Jeremy entered the office moments later. They weren't supposed to be there, but neither of them cared. "Are you alright?" Rebekah asked.
"Aside from the fact that I'm screwed when I get home, sure," Elena said.
"Elijah is fair, Elena. No doubt he won't be pleased, but he'll listen and deal with you fairly," Rebekah said. Honestly, she didn't think Elena should be punished at all since Bonnie was the one to instigate the entire thing, but even if he did punish her, she knew he would do so appropriately. He was strict, but not unfairly so. "Is he here yet."
"No, Klaus is. I may have told the principal that Elijah was out of town. I just want him to hear it from me without the principal's bias," Elena said.
"Bias? You think he'd take Bonnie's side?" Rebekah asked.
"No, I think she means that teachers don't usually care about how a fight starts, and they make that clear to parents. In the principal's eyes, Elena should've walked away or gotten a teacher. I'm guessing he didn't even let Elena tell her side of the story," Jeremy said.
"Nope. I tried and he said it didn't matter who started it," Elena said.
Jeremy nodded. "Which means parents don't get the full story from him, and they usually take the principal's side."
"That's ridiculous. Well, it won't happen with Nik," Rebekah assured him.
As if on cue, they heard Klaus yell moments later. "Suspended?! For defending herself?! You're going to punish the girl for sticking up for herself from a bully!"
Elena started groaning at the word, suspended. She was so screwed. She was most definitely going to get grounded, and it wouldn't be a short grounding either.
They could all hear the principal talking to Klaus, but they couldn't make out what he was saying. Klaus' response, however, was clear as day.
"I don't give a damn about your bloody policy. As far as I'm concerned, when someone hits you, you hit them back harder. If you think I'm going to punish her for defending herself, you have another thing coming! That girl has been bullying her for weeks! She had it coming!"
Elena smiled slightly. Her uncle was definitely badass right now, and she loved it. Of course, if it went much further, he might end up killing somebody, literally. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to call him.
Klaus came back out moments later looking pissed. "Let's go before I rip someone's throat out."
"I'm suspended?" Elena asked.
"Yes, for three days. Don't worry about it. You did nothing wrong. Let's go home," Klaus said.
"I'm not sure Uncle Elijah will agree," Elena mumbled before standing up.
"I'll see you later, Elena. I'll come by after school," Jeremy told her.
Elena nodded before going off with her uncle. "That was really cool, Uncle Nik."
Klaus stopped and looked at her in surprise. That was the first time she addressed him as her uncle. She had called him 'Klaus' until now. He didn't blame her either. He knew it would take time for her to really see him as her uncle, if she ever did. He'd done a lot of damage to her. "What did you say?"
"Oh, I called you Uncle Nik. Is that okay? I know most people call you Klaus, but everyone in the family calls you Nik. Well, except Uncle Elijah and Uncle Finn, but I figured Uncle Niklaus would be a bit of a mouthful," Elena said.
"No, it's perfectly fine, and never call me Niklaus," Klaus said before putting an arm around his niece and leading her out of the room.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Elena was in the living room watching TV with Jeremy later that night. She figured she should enjoy her last few moments of freedom before her Uncle Elijah got home and found out she was suspended for fighting. She'd gotten lucky that he wasn't home when he got there. Of course, that meant she had to wait in trepidation until he did get home.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, Bonnie got suspended too, and her dad didn't look pleased when he picked her up," Jeremy said.
"It does not. Bonnie's dad never punishes her. He feels too guilty about not being around enough," Elena said. It was times like this where she missed living with Ric. She loved her aunt and uncles very much, but living with Ric was so much easier. He never punished them.
Just then, Elijah walked into the room. Elena looked at him, but she couldn't get a reading for how pissed he was. Her uncle was so hard to read most of the time. He never let people know what he was thinking before he voiced it.
"Turn it off please," Elijah said, referring to the television.
Elena did as she was told and shut the TV off.
Elijah went over and sat next to his niece before talking her by the chin and turning her towards him, so he could get a good look at her eye. "It doesn't look too bad. Are you in pain?"
"Some, but it's not that bad," Elena said.
"You'll put some more ice on it once we're done," Elijah said.
"Should I go now?" Jeremy asked.
"You may stay if Elena is okay with it, but if you interfere, I will ask you to leave the room," Elijah told him. Normally, he would ask him to leave because this was private, but there was the possibility that Jeremy would come to live with them eventually, and Elijah thought it was a good idea for him to have an understanding of how he'd be parented if that happened.
Elena nodded that she was okay with it.
"Now, Niklaus told me that you were in a fight with Bonnie Bennett. I'd like to hear what happened from you. The first thing I want to know is why I was not called first, since I am your guardian on record," Elijah said.
"Because I told the principal you were out of town," Elena told him quietly.
"And why did you do that? You couldn't have believed that I wouldn't find out," Elijah said. He was more than a little annoyed, but he wanted to hear why before he admonished her for it.
"No, I knew you would. I wanted you to hear it from me. I wanted you to listen to my side," Elena said.
"You thought that I wouldn't?" Elijah asked patiently.
"A lot of parents don't. They take the principal's side without hearing us out," Jeremy said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interfere."
"It's alright," Elijah said before turning back to Elena. "Elena, I'm not like all the other parents. No matter what happens, I will always listen to your side. And as long as you don't give me a reason not to, I will believe you. That doesn't necessarily mean I will agree with your actions, but I will always hear you out."
"Okay," Elena said.
"Good. So next time you will have me called first when something happens. Your uncle is not the best person to deal with the school system," Elijah said.
Elena chuckled. "Yeah, he yelled at the principal. It was really cool."
"I'm sure you thought so. Now, I'm listening. Tell me what happened?" Elijah said.
"Bonnie hit me first. The three of us were arguing, and then Bonnie started talking about my mom. I know you said I should ignore her, but what she said was really cruel. She tried to say that my mom left me because she didn't want me. So, I said something about her mom. Then she punched me," Elena explained.
"I'm going to stop you for a moment because I want to make sure you understand something. You know that what she said about your mother isn't true, right? She was saying it to be cruel. Your mother has proven how much she loves you," Elijah said. The most important thing right now was that Elena understood that her mother loved her. He wouldn't have her believing otherwise.
"Yeah, I know, but it still made me mad that she'd say something like that, so I decided to hurt her back. After she hit me, I pushed her and it just kind of escalated. The next thing I knew, Jeremy was holding me back and Ric had come out and figured out what happened," Elena told him.
Elijah sighed. He had to put a stop to this. He couldn't allow this to continue. It only seemed to get worse. He would have to deal with the Bennett girl somehow. Perhaps a meeting with her father was in order. However, that was only part of the problem. His siblings had been right when they said that Elena couldn't really fit in at school as she was. She was a fifteen-year-old girl forced to act older than she was. They had to consider that this town might be the best place for her. However, he wasn't going to consider leaving until they figured out what was going to happen with Jeremy. "I'm not happy that you were fighting, but I can't fault you for defending yourself.
Elena looked at him with a hopeful look on her face. "Wait, do that mean I'm not in trouble."
Elijah sighed. That was a good question. "I wish you hadn't engaged with Bonnie at all. In an ideal world, you would've walked away before it even got to the point where punches were thrown. However, I know that that is easier said than done. This girl has been bullying you for weeks. I can't expect you to not fight back at some point. And, again, I can't fault you for defending yourself. I told you that if someone put their hands on you, that you could use whatever means necessary to keep yourself safe."
"Well, I wasn't exactly in danger. I probably could've walked away," Elena admitted.
"Thank you for admitting that. It shows a lot of maturity that you're willing to admit that you had other options. However, I understand that in the moment, it was probably hard to see that. Once a fight starts, it's hard to stop. That's why I'd prefer it not start to begin with. I want you to stay away from Bonnie. If she approaches you, I want you to walk away. Do not even let her speak to you. Just don't engage," Elijah said.
"Okay, I'll try. Am I grounded?" Elena asked.
"Not this time. You've been suspended for three days. I think that is punishment enough under the circumstances, however, if I find out about any more fights, there will be consequences. Understood?" Elijah asked sternly.
Elena nodded before hugging him. "Thanks, Uncle Elijah."
Elijah hugged her back and smiled. "I know things are hard. I'm very sorry your friend has turned on you."
Elena pulled away. "I still have Jeremy, Caroline, and Matt. I don't need her."
"That's my girl. Go ahead and grab some ice for your eye. Dinner will be in an hour. Keep the ice on until then," Elijah said.
Elena nodded before getting up and heading out of the room.
"You're not so bad, you know," Jeremy said to Elijah.
Elijah chuckled in response. "Thank you, Jeremy. Will you be joining us for dinner?"
"If that's okay," he said.
"Of course. Go ahead and let Alaric know. I'll bring you home after dinner," Elijah told him.
"Ric won't care," Jeremy said.
"I would still like you to call and let him know please," Elijah said.
"Fine," Jeremy said before taking out his phone.
Elijah smiled before getting up and leaving the room.