"Is Elena not giving you rides anymore?"

Bonnie spun around to see her father looking at her strangely as he shuffled from the kitchen to his office with a mug of coffee.

"She's-,"

"And what are you wearing?"

Bonnie chewed on her lip. She still hadn't had time to go to the mall two towns over to get more outfits, outfits that also made her feel less on display, but she knew she had to play Caroline's game until that time.

"I'm trying out for a play. I'm trying to be in character," Bonnie said with a fake, wide grin. Her father blinked, scratched his head, and she could see him trying to decide if he'd missed something big. She hoped he pushed, she hoped he'd pry. Instead, he just gave a weird sound.

"Well, I hope you get the role, Sweetie. Is that…Caroline Forbes?" He said, shadowing his forehead to glance out to the car that was coming to pick her up.

"Yes," Bonnie winced, knowing she couldn't afford to lie. Her father just smiled.

"I'm glad to see you reaching out to old friends!" he waved, and Caroline, to her credit, gave a polite wave back.

"Dad, I'm going to be late," Bonnie huffed, grabbing her backpack. Of all the days he decided to be a father…she was shocked he even knew that Elena had been her previous carpool because he refused to buy her a car.

"Are you repeating your outfit from last week?" Caroline asked snidely as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Yes," Bonnie said, trying to keep her voice level.

"No, that can't happen again. At least, not within a month. I don't care if you mix and match, but girl, we are not outfits repeaters," She said the words like they were nasty bugs.

"Right," Bonnie winced. She was still trying to learn the rules of being a 'Heather' and shockingly, there were many. She was sure Caroline had only offered to give her rides to nitpick all the ways Bonnie clearly did not fit into this world.

"Mhh, we're going to need you to write a doctor's note," Caroline continued as the car rolled through the sleepy streets of their hometown, "For weirdo Mr. Saltzman's class. Have you seen the way he looks at my butt? Gross."

Bonnie always thought that Mr. Saltzman wasn't too bad. Certainly not the worst teacher at Mystic Falls High, but she couldn't afford to say that. So she just agreed.

"For all of you?"

"Specifically for me. If you don't get the other Heathers, whatevs. They'll deal." Caroline huffed, "I just literally cannot spend my day in his classroom learning about The Red Scare, you know?" She said, pausing at a red light on a suburban back-road.

"Right, right," Bonnie said, fishing out her bookbag to get started. Saltzman's class was third period, meaning she needed to be working like yesterday on this.

As they waited for the light, Bonnie caught a familiar face out of the corner of her eye,

"Hey, look, that's where Kai lives."

"Who?" Caroline scrunched her nose. Bonne nodded to a house, with the 'SOLD' sticker still slapped on a housing picket, where Kai was exiting and grabbing his bike from the garage. Caroline peered over Bonnie.

"Oh, him," She said, completely uninterested, "It's weird you even know his name."

"He's…" Bonnie knew she shouldn't bring up Liv, descend Caroline's anger further upon her former friend, "Obsessed with me, or something," She decided to go with, adding a girly giggle. It was true, she told herself. Kai popped up around her far more than a normal person should.

"Get used to it, darling," Caroline said proudly, as though Bonnie was her child she'd reared from birth, "This sort of attention is what you can expect all the time. Soon you'll get better options than the resident serial killer," She said, "He totes gives off 'stab you in the woods' sort of vibes, don't you agree?"

As the light turned green, and the car rolled forward, Bonnie caught Kai looking straight at her in the car. Try as she might, she could not pull her eyes away from him. But she also felt completely truthful in snorting and replying, "Yeah. 100% that's the sort of guy he is."

That should make her run screaming.

So why did it seem to draw her in even more?

XXX

She should be expecting Kai to pop up unannounced at this point. He had this freakish ability to just appear out of nowhere, always right behind corners, and scare the living daylights out of her. It seemed to please him immensely to see her jump and give a squeak of surprise, to nearly give her heart attacks at least once a day.

Bonnie was on high alert. He was going to pop up…somewhere. It was usually before lunchtime. He liked to make his presence known to her early.

She was tempted to ask why he'd decided to torture her, but then again, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. Or deep down, she also wasn't sure if she wanted him to stop.

Just when she let her guard go for one second to re-apply her lipgloss…

"Bon-Bon!"

"Jesus!" Bonnie dropped the lipgloss and watched it roll on the linoleum floor, "What do you want?" She said, frowning at him.

"I saw you this morning," He said, leaning in close enough that she could smell his minty toothpaste on his lips, "Slouched and riding with Forbes. Why are you riding with her anyway?"

"Because I don't have a car."

"I could give you rides, now that you know where I live."

Bonnie didn't think for a second he was being flirty. She gave a bark of laughter, "You have a car?"

"I have a bike," He hummed, "And putting you on my steering wheels seems just so…" He searched for the word with an eerie, almost off-putting grin, "Retro. What I should do. Come to a small town. Meet a small-town girl. Become a brainwashed small-town boy. All of that."

"Hard pass," Bonnie rolled the lip-gloss back to her with her foot. She refused to pick it up when he was standing there. He'd probably find some preserve pleasure to see her bend over, "You're going to have to do better than offer me just a greasy bike," She said.

Kai's eyes lit up, "So if I think of a better offer-,"

"I misspoke," Bonnie said, catching the way that Vicky was glaring at her, or maybe specifically Kai, from down the hall, "I have no interest in you."

She meant to say 'carpooling with you', but two of the words seemed to vanish as soon as she started to say her stance. It was cruel, but Kai just shrugged.

"Alrighty, Bondite." He said, rhyming her name like 'Aphrodite', which was a stretch and just another on the long list of weird nicknames he had for her, "Whatever you say," He said with a weird hand motion. Then, he vanished, like his body just floated into the particles of the universe, vanishing before Vicky managed to reach Bonnie.

"That kid is the definition of W.T.F," Vicky spat as she approached, "And it's unseemly to be seen around him too much."

"I don't try to," Bonnie argued through gritted teeth, "He's just…persistent."

"Then be meaner," Vicky blinked at her, as though obvious, "Hey, so, I hear you're getting Caroline out of Saltzman's next hour…?" Though ended in a question, Bonnie knew it wasn't. She put on a fake grin.

"Of course. Just give me a few moments." She thought about reminding Caroline that too many suspiciously timed 'doctor's notes' for the entire crew, they would surely be picked up on by Saltzman, and she knew he'd dig. He wasn't like some of the other teachers that hardly seemed to recognize that there were even students there.

"Aww, you're so obedient. I just love that for you," Vicky said with a faux smile. Out of all the Heathers, Bonnie despised her the most. And that comment just about pissed her off.

"Come find me at the end of this hour," She said with a too-kind smile, "And you'll for sure get a reason to leave Saltzman's."

"Perf!" Vicky squealed, walking away and shoving through people that didn't notice her coming through the halls.

Bonnie got out her pen and began writing.

She wondered what the chances were she could write that Vicky had 'volcano diarrhea and needed to be seen by a butt doctor. Hey; it would get out of class like she wanted, right?

XXX

The next day, Bonnie had just settled down with her salad when the commotion came from the other end of the cafeteria. Kai had not bothered her at all and some part of her worried, stupidly, he'd actually taken her words to heart. Yes, her lips said she wasn't interested, but he was smart enough to know she didn't really mean it, right?

"Should we go investigate?" She asked Caroline, who looked bored as ever as her friend meticulously picked off the olives on her pizza.

"Really, pizza?" Rebekah said to Caroline with a scrunched nose and a disappointed look.

"I know carbs scare you worse than the monster-under-the-bed," Caroline rolled her eyes, "But it's my skip day. Keep your comments to yourself." She said snappishly. Caroline was in a historically bad mood today. Maybe because she'd been nearly caught skipping class yesterday. Not that it was Bonnie's fault; her passes were flawless. No, it had been a user error. Not that Caroline had come for Bonnie's head, but she was going to be prepared to fight back if Caroline blamed her. She was not as meek as Rebekah or Vicky, at least when it came to her honor.

At least Caroline had stuck up for her when Vicky had come snarling to rip Bonnie's head off about her doctor's note. Luckily, Caroline had just read the note and smirked.

"Well, this does seem like a very pressing issue, Victoria. It's a good cover."

And that was all that was said on it, because clearly, Caroline had made her opinion of Bonnie's passive-aggressive chess move clear. And Vicky was not going to fight it now. She'd had her chance and Caroline had shot her down, and pretty much assured that Vicky wouldn't be asking for a faux note for a while. So Bonnie was in a very good mood today.

"No." Caroline said, and it took a moment for Bonnie to realize she was directing an answer to Bonnie, "Not yet. We'll see if we need to intervene in a second."

"What a little punk!" Bonnie heard Tyler sneer at someone, and she glanced back to see Matt and Tyler ganged up on someone, though their bulking bodies hid who.

Then, something happened, a ripple through the crowd, a murmuring of anticipation and nervousness, like lightning waiting to strike.

Bonnie couldn't help it.

"I'm going to see," She decided. Vicky stood, but then realized Caroline hadn't okayed it. Caroline pursed her lips, sucking in her cheeks, then waved a hand.

"No, no, good idea. We should be at the front of any news." She decided to allow Bonnie this instead of getting into a power struggle.

She strode forward, elbowing Bonnie to the back of the group of four. By the time they made it through, not long as the crowd parted for them, it seemed that things were already going down.

"Yeah, you wanna try something, weirdo?" Tyler said, throwing his hands on the table, "You're all bark no bite!"

It was Kai. They were having some sort of altercation with Kai.

Of course, they were.

Kai looked pleased as punch, not cowering like they probably hoped he would be.

"Boys, boys. I'm trying to eat my state-mandated nutritional goop," He said, pointing to his soup. The worst option on the menu, something that even a few days in, Kai should have figured out. He made a big deal of sipping from the spoon, "Mhh. Just like our overlords make it."

"What is he saying?" Tyler frowned, looking at Matt, "He's saying all sorts of shit."

"Just being a weirdo. Big brother shit and all," Matt rolled his eyes, "But I remember you threatening to punch our faces in the gym. Everyone heard you."

" Uhm, you cheated at dodgeball. And I didn't mean right now," Kai sighed, "Are you going to let me eat in-," Tyler swatted at the bowl, making it fall to the floor, "I guess not."

"Holy shit!" Someone squeaked, "Are they gunna fight?"

"It won't be much of a fight," Tyler said, turning and giving a wink.

"Not with that attitude it won't!" Kai said, cracking his knuckles. A flash of worry bolted through Bonnie, for some unfathomable reason. Why did she care about Kai, who looked far too skinny to be going up against two football players? God, they'd pummel him alive. He'd be leaving the school in a matchbox.

Rebekah grasped Bonnie's arm, as though guessing that she was going to dart forward to stop her. Bonnie wasn't sure if she wanted to see this play out or because she was trying to protect Bonnie from making a fool of herself.

Out of bravado or just straight-up insanity, Kai made the first punch. The sound echoed around the cafeteria and Tyler stumbled back from the hit.

"Holy shit!" Those two words were now spinning around the lunchroom at the absolute gall of a basically nobody that gave one of the two star football players a shiner that would look ghastly by tomorrow morning.

Inside, secretly, Bonnie cheered for Kai.

Usually, Bonnie stayed away from fights. She didn't think she had any interest, and she thought she'd be disgusted now. But watching the boys size up Kai and watching Kai shake out his fist, biting his lip as he decided his next move, stirred something in Bonnie she hadn't ever felt before.

A girl broke away from the circle to call for a teacher, but Bonnie grasped her arm with more force than she thought she would have.

"Stay," She said, and because she was now a Heather, the girl meekly whimpered and nodded. Caroline gave an appraising nod from a few heads over; no reason to ruin this when it was just getting good.

But Bonnie's reasons were more personal, she realized with a growing sense of embarrassment. She felt her face flush warm and her stomach start to churn as she pressed forward to align herself in the front of the crowd.

She should find this horrible. She should be arguing with Caroline right now to end this; that seeing the new kid get beaten half to death was not a spectator sport.

But she wasn't.

Instead, something about this felt…right.

She couldn't think of any other word to describe it. It was the sense that this fight in itself made sense. She logically had a sense of dread for Kai, but some unseen part of her felt like maybe he might just make this out.

"I shouldn't watch this crap," Bonnie muttered to herself, forcing herself to halfway turn away. Matt and Tyler picked fights. Often. Or, rather, Tyler picked fights and Matt backed him up like a good best friend. Most fights, if they came to physical altercations, hardly made it first the first punch, when most kids realized that it hurt like hell and they weren't as brave as they thought they were.

Surely, Kai must be realizing that now?

The itch to watch clawed at her brain.

"That's not who you are," Bonnie angrily hissed under her breath. She had never been someone to enjoy pain inflicted on others…well unless maybe they deserved it. But did Kai? She didn't think so.

Yes, her moral compass side comforted her and assured her that with any other fight, she'd be running to grab a teacher, but this fight was different.

And yes, fuck, it was because it was Kai.

Because with this kid?

God damn.

He wasn't just not standing down, no, he was holding his own. While Matt and Tyler had the pounds to pummel anyone, Kai had speed and maneuverability. He was stringy and able to weave out of their attacks like he was dancing. But it was more than that; plenty of kids were skinny. What Kai had was something that was alight in his eyes; something crazy, something violent, something that even when Matt or Tyler did manage to grab him, he wasn't going to stop. The desperation of sorts, a need, or maybe no fucks given at all.

If he was going to leave with a broken rib, he seemed determined to make sure that Matt and Tyler had one too.

As she watched him fight, some unbridled wildness to the way he punched, Bonnie had the weirdest moment of fantasy.

She had this thought. Follow along, or try to. If Kai was so willing to fight like this, even when he knew on some level he had to lose, it seemed he just didn't care.

Bonnie was one that always cared far too much. It's how she ended up with the Heathers; a blessing and a curse, she knew this very well. And because she cared how others saw her, she was going to bite back her frustrations.

But maybe Kai wouldn't care. Maybe he'd teach her to care less. Would he hold her hand in the halls and tell others to fuck off if they said anything? Would he be brave enough to go toe-to-toe with the Heathers if they tried to look down on their relationship? Would he protect her from the sneering, the judgment that everyone else seemed so ready to rain down on anyone they didn't like?

And perhaps this would give Bonnie a strength too; strength to stand proudly beside Kai. To stick up for him to Caroline in a way she couldn't do with Liv. To let herself have something that she really desperately wanted for no good reason other than Kai had wormed his way into her mind, taken hold, and was not letting it go.

Yes, perhaps her fascination was just that, and they wouldn't work as a couple, or maybe they weren't fated to be a couple at all.

But god, Bonnie couldn't help but wonder.

No one, not even her own father, had ever fought for her.

Perhaps Kai was just the one person she thought could, or hoped would.

"Bonnie!"

Bonnie snapped her head to see Liv pushing through the crowd, a horrified look on her face to see her cousin black and blue. He was laughing maniacally, as though this was just the pep he needed in his day. Honestly, though, Matt nor Tyler looked much better.

"Bonnie!" Liv hissed again, pointing towards the back of the lunch-room doors where a teacher was appearing and hastening over quickly.

Bonnie understood in an instant. Matt and Tyler were lauded as football legends. Teachers seemed to generally like the dumb puppy-dog act they played, having no idea what jerks they were outside of the presence of adults. Two against one; Kai would be fucked over, even if they technically started the actual fight.

Kai looked up and seemed, too, to realize that his time was nearly up.

He pushed Tyler to the ground and with one final blow, stomped down on his jaw. The sound of teeth breaking echoed around the cafeteria and everyone gave a simultaneous shudder.

"Tyler!" Vicky cried, flocking to her boyfriend, tears rolling down her face, "Oh my god, baby, are you okay?"

"Matt," Caroline said, drawing the circle in. Rebekah, always lusting over Matt, was right behind her.

Bonnie took her chance.

Kai had stumbled back against the cafeteria bench, blinking woozily into the light.

Bonnie, in the cacophony of the end of the fight and teachers arriving to break it up, grasped Kai's elbow.

"What are we-,"

"Shh!" Bonnie said, pulling him quickly through, throwing her jacket over his head as she pushed him into the back hallway.

"What's going on?" Kai seemed out of it, for he had no witty or inappropriate quips for Bonnie. Just confusion.

"Just…quiet!" She said, glancing behind, worried someone was going to follow, pointing an accusatory finger and banishing him away for good. If he was expelled…she'd never get to find out more about him, about what they could be.

The door to the unused basement was to her left. She made a sharp turn and pulled him down the dusty, vacated stairs, and into an old hallway that probably hadn't seen foot traffic in ten years.

She didn't stop until they'd turned and turned and turned in this labyrinth and found an old classroom where it wasn't locked. She flicked the light on; it was still part of the school, so therefore, it still had power.

She brought him over to a very old and very moth-ball-scented couch, helping him ease onto the springy cushions.

"Awe, fuck, I really just did that, huh?" Kai asked, laughing a bit. She stood back and examined his damage for the first time. Knuckles split. Broken nose with a stream of blood pouring over his lips. He rubbed his jawline, and she could already see the faint hues of a bruise starting to form. Plus, probably other wounds she couldn't see, wounds beneath his clothes.

And damn, if this wasn't a red flag, still, there was something sexy about him battered and bloody.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Bonnie sighed with a sense of regret but knew that he couldn't go back up looking like this.

Kai, who was gingerly touching his nose, managed a smirk in her direction, as though he could read her mind and knew her hesitations.

"What qualifications do you have to be touching me, Nurse Bennett?" He teased, regaining a bit of his wit. Good, it probably meant he didn't have a concussion.

"I took a CPR course back a few years ago."

"Mouth to mouth, then?" Kai asked, brightening a bit.

"I mean, I'm not a doctor, but you seem to be breathing just fine," Bonnie said and found an old shirt from the early aughts promoting an art fair at the school. She tore it into strips and knelt next to him, motioning to his hands first.

"I can absolutely hold my breath until I pass out," Kai responded, and for some reason, she believed him.

The blood on his hands mostly seemed to be from the other boys, though she knew that his hand would smart for a few days.

"You punch really good," Bonnie said as she held his hands in hers, examining them, asking him to clench and unclench, "You lasted longer than I thought you would."

"Yeah, well, fuck 'em. I wasn't going to let them get away with their toxic masculinity," Kai muttered sourly.

"You know," Bonnie said with a pearl of laughter, "I agree. But don't tell anyone I said that. They certainly deserve to get knocked down a peg or two."

Kai grinned widely at that. He only sucked in hard as her fingers found a small wound, which she did her best to clean with the materials on hand.

Moving onto his nose was more delicate.

"Careful, don't ruin beautiful," Kai teased, seeing her hesitation.

"It's not…you look fine," Bonnie said dryly, tripping over her response a bit.

"Fine. Wow. What a resounding compliment. I'm going to put that in my diary tonight. Bonnie Bennett told me I looked fine. I swoon." He said, clutching his heart dramatically.

She scowled; no way in hell was she going to admit that she thought he was attractive.

"Yeah, you know what, I change my mind. Your ego also could go down a peg or two." She said, deciding to just go for it, and began to dab away the blood from the bridge of his nose. Kai only inhaled, locking his jaw, but didn't say anything about the pain. If anything, and she was not going to ask, she watched his pupils dilate as though…

Was pain turning him on?

Was the fact that this was turning him on turning her on?

Great; this is just what she got for choosing to save him from the consequences of his actions.

"Think I'll be expelled?" He asked quietly.

"Would you care?"

"No. But Liv would be mad. And my aunt. And I like my aunt." He admitted quietly, "I guess I just fucked up. First time I'll be leaving a school on my mistake, and when I actually don't hate it here."

It seemed he'd said more than he meant to, from the way he shifted away and turned his head.

"Look, my grandmother is the guidance counselor. She's well respected. I'll…talk to her. Maybe you'll get off with a suspension. It probably didn't help to break Tyler's teeth though."

"Pfft. Like his daddy doesn't have the money to buy him a whole new set."

Bonnie shrugged. That wasn't untrue. Even a few days in, Kai already knew the way that Tyler threw his parent's money around.

"We'll figure something out."

Kai raised an eyebrow, "We'll?" He echoed.

"I just mean…I'm…" Bonnie flustered, focusing very hard on the drying blood on his broken nose, "I hate Matt and Tyler. By default, I'm on your side."

"Your secret's safe with me, Bon," Kai said, leaning back so casually and sinfully it just infuriated her.

"What secret?"

Kai winked, "That you like me."

Bonnie puffed, "I do not!" This was, despite the fact that just moments ago she'd been imagining them dating. Besides, Caroline would have her head if she tried to date Kai, especially after what he did to Matt and Tyler. He was officially the school pariah now if he wasn't already.

"Just a little secret." Kai assured, "I know how it is."

"There." Bonnie said, refusing to reply, "Pretty good."

"What about this?" Kai said, pressing his finger underneath his nose where the blood had stopped flowing over his chin.

"You can wash that off yourself."

Impulsive, something it was clear Kai was, he lunged for her and before Bonnie could think about what was happening, Kai had grasped her hair at the nape of her neck and was pushing her down on the couch, the other hand at her hips, pressing her into the floral fabric.

Then, he was kissing her. She tasted copper on his lips, and despite the fact that this should 100% gross her out, it made her hungry for more; for more of Kai and his wicked ways, for how he just didn't care, for how he'd gotten the blood there in the first place.

"What are you doing?" She managed to mumble when they both came up to breathe.

Kai pulled back suddenly and Bonnie, still delirious, moved with him, wanting more. She didn't realize what she'd done until Kai grinned triumphantly.

"Cleaning off my blood," He said, wiping a palm across the remainder of his blood. He looked at Bonnie and his finger caught on her bottom lip, "Though you might need to clean up a bit too now."

When he took his thumb off, the memory of the pads of his finger burned like a plumping lip gloss or a token of how fucked she officially was.

Kai found a dingy mirror and tried pushing his nose back.

"Uhm, that's going to hurt like-," She began, but there was a crack before she could finish, "Hell."

Kai swore loudly, shaking out his body as he turned.

"Not my first broken nose, sweetie," He said with a casual shrug, tilting his head to look at himself in the mirror. The way he looked at his own reflection, it was as though he didn't recognize or register his mirrored face at all.

He sniffled, rubbing off the last little spurt of blood from setting his nose back right.

"So, this sorta feels significant? I'm going to meet your grandmother, huh?" He teased. Bonnie shoved him away from the mirror to wipe away the blood and toucher her hair back into place.

"She is your lifeboat, Kai, so no funny business. She is not Bonnie's Grandmother when we're up there, she's Ms. Shelia. Got it?" She said firmly, that the last thing she wanted was her grandmother to pick up on what had happened.

Kai saluted, "Aye, aye, Ma'am." He gave a little jiggle, "Ooh! Hmm, is that a new kink?" He asked with a devilish grin.

Bonnie sighed, though secretly she liked it, pushing him out the door, "Up. There we go. Last comment on the subject; it was a good fight." She paused, "You're not going to…" she motioned back to the couch.

"You're clearly not ready for all of this awesomeness," Kai said, motioning to himself, "So fear not. What happens in the dark-creepy-basement-room stays in the dark-creepy-basement-room."