MONSTER, stefan salvatore [2]

Dead Man on Campus

CHAPTER 17: DEAD MAN ON CAMPUS

The Door Room

Natalie, Caroline and Elena stood by their bags of things they had just bought as they watched Bonnie make a video to say hello to her vampire mother, who didn't have a whole lot of contact with her daughter in a while, but as Bonnie was finally alive again, she decided to say hi.

"Hi, Mom. I know we haven't seen each other, or talked in a while...so I wanted to make you a video update. I finally finished my whirlwind summer tour, got a new 'do and, I'm in college at Whitmore, where Grams taught. And this is my dorm! It's huge, right? It even has a fireplace! I mean, what dorm has a fireplace?" Bonnie chuckled as she looked at their really luxurious dorm.

"Hey, guys! Say hi to my mom!" Bonnie turned the camera over to the three vampires, who quickly waved enthusiastically at the camera. "They're planning me a welcome party. Just something, just low-key. I miss you. Please come visit when you get a chance. I'll, um, talk to you soon. Bye!" she planted a kiss on the screen with her hand.

But as Bonnie hung up, Elena spoke up, mimicking Bonnie. "By the way, Mom, I'm not a witch anymore, because I died and then came back from the Other Side."

Caroline nodded and continued on. "Yeah, I'm this supernatural anchor that connects the two worlds together, so..."

"So, I'm actually kind of a ghost that people can see and touch but... eh." Natalie finished with a sarcastic shrug and short smirk at the former witch in front of them.

"Okay, so I left out a detail...or two. I'll explain when she visits," Bonnie responded sheepishly before glancing at everything the girls had bought for their party. "How big is this party going to be?"

Elena faked thinking about as if she was wondering just how big it would be. "Well, let's see. Silas and Tessa are gone, and you finally aren't."

Caroline jumped up excitedly as Natalie faked a smile at the rememberance of Silas dying in front of her and didn't even think about her next action, which was to touch her cheek the same place Silas had trailed his fingers down and left blood. But Caroline was a whole lot happier. "Which equals a massive cause for celebration!"

And Elena continued happily with a wide smile. "Which equals a massive party. Hopefully. I mean, since Natalie and I have only made one friend in college so far, and Caroline has made exactly none."

And Natalie raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement. "And I haven't heard or seen mine since he kissed me and Stefan attacked him. And Elena hasn't seen hers since he was at a tea party for an evil vampire-hating secret society."

"Hmm... Augustine, right? The one who covered up your roommate's death and wants you kicked off from campus," Bonnie tried to see if she was correct, only to find weird looks being sent from her best friends. "What? I've kept up! The Other Side is boring. What else am I supposed to do?"

"Alright. So, Augustine wants us gone. Who cares? It doesn't matter. It's not gonna happen. We're moving on with our lives, together, as functional vampires," Elena pointed at Bonnie in confusion. "A former witch, anchor-thing. I don't know. And we have a party."

"With Jell-O shots." Caroline smiled and tilted her head happily.

Bonnie smiled but then looked at her phone and saw what time it was and cursed under her breath as she saw it. "Oh, shoot. Um, I have to go register for classes," but then Natalie, Caroline and Elena exchanged looks as they knew what she was really going to do. "What?"

"Nothing," Elena denied and Bonnie smiled and turned around, only to hear Elena speak in a low and teasing voice as she turned. "Have fun registering."