What Lies Beneath

Chapter 57: Know So Well

The first day of senior year was supposed to be some important milestone in a teenager's life but considering everything that Bonnie Bennett had been through, it wasn't even in her top five. Besides school was boring no matter how you tried to dress it up. Granted school in Mystic Falls tended to be sort of like living in a haunted war zone sometimes, she was still expected to learn and do homework and pass all of her quizzes. Going back to that and adding that stress on top of everything else she was dealing with didn't inspire energy to actually go. But she knew that she had to because graduating was the only way she would get to leave Mystic Falls and go to college. Hopefully with Damon somewhere close by.

Also it meant a whole new wardrobe and that she could always get behind.

She'd tried on several different outfits—because danger or not she wanted to look good—before deciding on a slinky green and black dress with an overlay of dark lace. It made her feel pretty and girlie and honestly reminded her of a time when that kind of stuff was all she cared about. Looking fierce yet still retaining her own sense of style. There were quite a few things she missed about the past but she could never decide whether she would go back if she had the chance. Being blissfully unaware of vampires and werewolves and hybrids just didn't seem worth losing Damon. Not even getting her friendship back to the place where she and Elena considered themselves sisters was worth losing Damon.

Tried as she might she couldn't help missing her "best friend"; they'd been through too much together for her not to. But it was becoming clearer and clearer that Elena either didn't feel the same way anymore or she just didn't have time to remember how close they'd once been. All she tended to care about these days were herself and boys, which was pre-vampire Caroline to a tee but it wasn't the same. Elena had never been as selfish as she was behaving now. It was as if having so many people willing to go to bat for her to protect her suddenly made her think she was entitled to it. As if the people around her had no other purpose but to serve her.

Honestly her attitude—and those of a few others—almost made Bonnie never want to lift another finger to help her. At least not until she acknowledge that the only reason she was still walking around was because of a group effort that usually hinged on her magic. God help her little group if she ever lost her powers for good.

Blotting her pink lips with a rough paper towel, she tossed it into the trash and fluffed up her long black curls. Satisfied that she looked cute she exited the girls' bathroom and headed towards her new locker, swinging her shoulder bag around in front of her so that she could put in the books she didn't need. She waved to a group of people that called her name and twirled in the combination, jerking open the metal door open with a loud clank.

Stylish shoes appeared within her eye line and she arched a brow, peeping through the nearly closed slits to see Stefan Salvatore's handsome face. "Stefan."

"Hey Bonnie." He said with a little smile. "How are you?"

She shrugged and swapped books. "I'm okay I suppose. Better than I was a few days ago. You?"

He folded his arms across his chest. "I'm okay." Pause. "I uh—I just want you to know that I support your engagement to Damon. You've been a really good influence on him and I'm happy that he's happy."

She finished what she was doing and then closed her locker. "Really? I mean I don't doubt that you're happy he's happy but I expected a long conversation about me actually agreeing to marry him."

He chuckled. "Believe it or not there was a time when all Damon wanted was to get married and have children. Or at least that is what he seemed to want. After Katherine everything changed." He shifted and leaned against the lockers. "I don't really think it's my place to question your relationship, at least not anymore. It's obvious you two care about each other and marriage is the next step. I do however think it's good that you're waiting."