White Lies (The Vampire Diaries)

| 5 | Dinner

Presley scrolled through another news article about the couple killed last night on her phone, secretly hidden behind Stefan's back in front of her while Mr. Tanner droned on about the lesson of the day. Every article claimed they were attacked and killed by some animal from the woods and, unfortunately, due to the late hour of the night, there were no witnesses in the area when it happened.

This morning, before school started, she visited the Sheriff's Station to compel a couple officers in order to find out if they kept any unreleased evidence to themselves instead of sharing with the journalists. Each one admitted it was strange, yet nothing else explained their deaths except for an animal attack. None of the officers believed anyone was capable of killing the couple in such a way.

She went in to attempt to cease the worry building within her, except a small part of her wondered if another vampire was in the area and clever enough to tear up the bodies to mimic an animal attack.

The phone was lowered to the desk as she buried her face in her hands, exhaling through her mouth. Stress seeped into every crevice of her mind. Every officer and news article believed the attack was from an animal and, yet, Presley still felt on edge at the consideration of another vampire in Mystic Falls. Perhaps, she was plagued with fear because she felt so protective of Elena and all of her friends.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls." Mr. Tanner moved around his desk at the front of the classroom and stood in front of it, observing all of his student, noting the ones who were paying attention and those who weren't.

Presley covered her phone with the sleeve of her leather jacket and watched her teacher absentmindedly walk around the front of the room. Her fingers latched around her phone and slyly slid it back in her backpack on the floor before the electronic device could be seen by Mr. Tanner.

All of the news articles backed up what the officers at the station stated. It was an animal attack.

"How many casualties resulted in the battle?" Mr. Tanner scanned over his students before he settled on Bonnie, aimlessly doodling in her notebook. "Ms. Bennett?"

Bonnie's head snapped up at the sound of her name, eyes widened with surprise, confused by the situation she found herself in. She quickly looked around the classroom, suddenly aware of how everyone was staring at her. "Um, a lot?" She guessed, unsure of her answer. "I'm not sure, like a whole lot."

A few students giggled in response to her comment. Presley smiled to herself, amused by her friend's lack of attention to the class.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett," Mr. Tanner told her, disappointed.

The smile fell from Presley's lips within a second at the snippy comment. Mr. Tanner was her least favorite in the school. He was unnecessary rude to all of his students, especially all of her friends, when none of them deserved it. He enjoyed tormenting his students and it was only a matter of time before Presley lost control and snapped, resulting in her slamming his head against the chalkboard a few times.

A hint of a smile returned to her lips at the idea playing out in her head. Her tongued poked against the inside of her cheek as she resisted the urge to follow through with her thoughts.

"Mr. Donovan," Mr. Tanner directed his attention onto the blonde boy sitting across from Presley. "Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's okay, Mr. Tanner," Matt responded, smirking at his teacher. "I'm cool with it."

The class chuckled.