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roisdoherty · 2 months

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Stoner Tea (1/3) 2.6k

The one where Rebekah’s solution to Bonnie’s panic attack is serving stoner tea at her anti-curfew party. 4x03

TW: dissociation/panic attacks.

If you asked Bonnie how she got to history class—well—she’d struggle to answer. Her morning blended into one big blur. Someone else must’ve woken up, drove to school, and walked into first period because she didn’t remember a thing. It was like the times she sleepwalked, but worse because an invisible barrier separated her from the world. It left her trapped in a fuzzy haze, while everyone else buzzed in the background at their desks. Was she even there? Awake? In a weird lucid-magical-dream?

A yelp across the classroom tore down the mist that clouded her mind. Her head snapped toward Elena, who yanked a bloody pencil out of her shoulder. The black veins rippling under Elena’s eyes made Bonnie’s chest tighten. Elena was one of them now. A vampire. All because Bonnie failed to bring her humanity back from the Other Side before she transitioned. Grams had warned Bonnie against dark magic, had tried protecting her from the spirits’ wrath and succeeded that time. Then, Klaus kept pushing and pushing her to put him back in his original body and Gram’s grip on her hands had gotten tighter and tighter—no—she couldn’t think of that right now.

Bonnie shifted her focus to the smug thousand-year-old vampire instead. Rebekah. She looked how Bonnie wanted to feel: like she didn’t have a care in the world. Rebekah offered a faux-sweet smile to Elena and slipped into a chair at the front of the class.

The bell rang before it could escalate further. Good. Bonnie’s temple already throbbed enough without a vampire fight breaking out at eight-thirty. She needed one day where everyone got along. No neck snaps or death threats—just one normal day of senior year. Was that too much to ask?

Speaking of normal; a new teacher took over the class and offered a standard introduction. Ms. Hawthorne: a newbie right out of college. She wrote her name on the blackboard and shared her philosophy about her approach to teaching, which centered on collaborative learning. “Teamwork among students fosters an environment where you can learn from each other, share ideas, and work together to solve problems.” It sounded like a literal nightmare.

Bonnie rested her cheek on her palm and doodled during Ms. Hawthorne’s ten-minute rant about the importance of “peer learning.” But then came the big guns: middle school styled ice-breaker activities that required everyone’s participation.

Ms. Hawthorne got everyone to write their name on a scrap of paper and collected them into the round whisker basket. The idea was to pair random kids together to interview each other so they could share interesting facts about their partner to the class. Students went up to the desk one-by-one and plucked a random name out of the basket hung at the end of her desk.

The exercise sounded simple, right? Except for Rebekah’s turn. The blonde’s reception in class was hard to ignore. First, came the bad. Stefan tapped his daylight ring against his desk, paranoid she’d provoke Elena into snapping.

Everyone else had more positive reactions. Jeff Gillies, David Bance and John Albrecht sat side-by-side in the center row, wiggling their eyebrows behind Rebekah’s back as she stood up. Sarah Beasley’s desk screeched as she twisted it to face the Original vampire, and Savannah Davis drooled in the row beside Bonnie.

Rebekah’s popularity had been pretty obvious since the day she stole the cheerleading squad right out from Caroline. But there was a difference between everyone smiling at you in the hallway and people gaping at you like you owned the world. They either wanted to be her or be with her. It made sense, really. A pretty girl with a pretty accent who made hearts stop when she walked into a room. She possessed this mysterious magnetism, that certain ‘je ne sais quoi,’ which all her family had in one way or another.

Maybe humans subconsciously sensed Rebekah's power and their blatant admiration and flattery for her was their way to submit to the predator.

Or maybe they just wanted to kiss a pretty girl.

Well, that was Bonnie’s theory, anyway.

The one thing for sure? Everyone wanted the chance to be her partner—even Elena—who sat up a little straighter with a sharp pencil poised for attack. And Rebekah? She flipped her hair over her shoulder, graced the room with a knowing hiked eyebrow, and went to dip her hand in the basket.

Stefan shot across the room a little too fast to be normal and swiped the paper out of Rebekah’s hand. He didn’t even bother unfolding it before he declared, “Bonnie’s your partner.”

“Liar,” Rebekah accused. “It says Elena, doesn’t it?”

He leaned against the desk in a pretty bad attempt to look casual and said, “Nope.”

“Hand it here, then,” she said.

“Do you have something against Bonnie?” he asked.

“Nope,” she mocked him, halfheartedly trying to grab the paper.

“Sounds like you do,” he insisted.

“I do not.”

He shrugged and asked, “Then what’s your problem?”

“I don’t seem to be the one who has a problem. What’s the matter, Stefan? Afraid to let fate decide? I wonder why that is. Hmm?” Rebekah asked, waving her index finger toward Elena. Rebekah’s smug smile radiated superiority. “Oh—Elena—there’s a splotch of blood on your shirt. Wonder how that got there? You should really be more careful. I see why Stefan’s up here and not you. Wouldn’t want you to get a papercut, would we?”

“I’ll show you a papercut,” Elena said, standing up.

Bonnie tried to defuse the situation by ‘spontaneously combusting’ the remaining paper inside the whisker basket. Grams’ pained face flashed behind her eyes, stopping her in her tracks. A sharp jolt rippled through her skull when she tried again, making her grip her pencil so tight that the tip snapped against her notebook.

The crack caught the vampires’ attention.

“You okay, Bon?” Elena asked, eyebrows drawn together,

“Peachy,” Bonnie replied, grabbing one half of the pencil and placing it over her heart. She asked under her breath, “Do I need to snap it into thirds?”

Rebekah snorted.

Stefan sighed.

And Elena flopped back into her chair.

Tension successfully cut.

“Okay, kids, obviously there’s history here,” Ms. Hawthorne said. “As much as I love teen drama, let’s all take a deep breath and calm down. It’s the luck of the draw, okay? No special treatment here. It’s designed this way, so no one feels left out. Now, Stefan, Rebekah, how do you think this bickering makes Bonnie feel?”

Bonnie almost laughed at the concern and offered, “Oh, I’m totally fine going partnerless. Thanks.”

“I don’t condone exclusion in my classroom,” Ms. Hawthorne said. Did she blink back tears? Great. Someone clearly bullied this woman in high school and now she projected her issues onto the nearest tangible target. Bonnie. “Now one of you two will be her partner, and that’s final. But the choice won’t be down to either of you. Bonnie? What do you say? Who do you want to be your partner?”

“Why do I always get caught in the middle?” Bonnie muttered.

“My bad,” Stefan said, not-so-subtly nodding in Rebekah’s direction as he dropped the name-slip he stole at her desk.

Bonnie unfolded the scrap of paper and revealed a name scrawled in a familiar handwriting. It said Elena. Ugh. Stefan might’ve been dramatic about it but he was right. Elena and Rebekah? Talk about the worst possible scenario.

“Well?” Rebekah said, sauntering over and placing her palms on Bonnie’s desk. “Who shall it be? Saint Stefan or little old me?”

“Guess we’re partners, Mikaelson,” Bonnie said.

“Goodie,” Rebekah said, sliding the nearest combo desk close to Bonnie. “I’m so over their drama.”

Like she didn’t impale Elena with a pencil. “Uh-huh.”

“I know that look,” Rebekah said, narrowing her eyes. “You think I’m a wretched, heartless bitch. Join the club.”

“I don’t think anything,” Bonnie denied, doodling in her notebook with an ink pen. Black overshadowed the page. Creepy, wispy shadows that looked like they belonged at a death ritual. Yet she kept sketching, letting her subconscious throw up on the page. “Besides, I don’t have time for extracurriculars.”

“The point in this exercise is to speak freely,” Rebekah said, swiping the pen away.

Bonnie rolled her shoulders back, watched the pen spinning between Rebekah’s fingers, and said, “Right.”

“I won’t bury a pen in your chest if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Bonnie scoffed. “I’m not scared.”

“So, I’m not even a blip on your radar? Is that what you’re saying?” Rebekah asked, leaning in close and bopping Bonnie’s nose with the blunt end of the pen. “That may be even more offensive, Bonnie.”

“You like cheerleading, you’re average at physics, and you’re a big on family,” Bonnie listed. “What else is there to know?”

“A lot of things.”

“Like your crush on Matt?”

Rebekah’s nose scrunched. “I think that died the moment I sent him off that bridge, don’t you? I realized I didn’t like him much, anyhow.”

“Oh?”

“Spend nearly a century in a box and your judgment on romantic prospects may suffer temporarily. No matter. My taste is back and better than ever.”

“Do I want to know?”

“That’s the point of this exercise, is it not?” Rebekah asked, tilting her head to the side. “To get to know one another better?”

“I guess so.”

“Your enthusiasm is infectious.” Rebekah’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’ll start. First, my physics is flawless, thank you very much. I’ve recently taken up baking in my new state-of-the-art kitchen. I notice you clench your jaw quite a lot. Baking a great stress reliever. You should try it sometime.”

“You’re lecturing me on my stress levels? Seriously?”

“Don’t think of it as a lecture and more as sound advice,” she said, actually sounding kind of genuine? Rebekah’s eyes locked onto Bonnie’s, and Bonnie couldn’t help but be struck by how pretty they were—how blue—like the kind of shade you’d find in the ocean on a stormy night. How sincere. “You’re having heart palpitations even now with zero stressors. That can’t be healthy.”

“Zero stressors?” Bonnie repeated, scoffing at the thudding of her heart. “Hello?”

“Elena is being a brat today, I give you that.”

“I can’t with you,” Bonnie said, laughing at the girl’s purposeful obliviousness.

“Oh, speaking of stressors, my brother “died” at the hands of your teacher. Mr. Saltzman was a threat to the rest of my family. There was only one way to take him out. Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.”

“Can we not?” Bonnie asked, rubbing her temple. “I’ve got a raging headache. I don’t feel like being collateral damage when you and Elena brawl it out again.”

“I’ll have you know I tried burying the hatchet with her. I even invited her to—” she grabbed a flier and planted it on Bonnie’s desk, “—my anti-curfew party, which you are more than welcome to attend. Think of it as a clean slate. Let bygones be bygones. What do you say?”

Parties in this town never played out well. Not for Bonnie, anyway. Everyone thought they could kick back and destress and then someone’s body got drained of blood or a poor sucker got compelled to jump off a balcony. She got swept away to perform some emergent spell most of the time and didn’t even get to have one drink. What was the point?

Just when Bonnie was about to say no, she caught Rebekah’s fingers crossed. And Rebekah remained motionless too, as if her breath were trapped in her chest.

Huh.

What was that about?

“Okay, time’s up, everyone!” Ms. Hawthorne said, clapping her hands together before Bonnie could give Rebekah an answer. “I want you to tell me three things about your partner. First, their name, and two interesting facts about them. It’ll make it easier for me to humanize you when I’m grading your papers. Let’s start with Rebekah and Bonnie. Hopefully, it was worth the drama?”

“Ladies first,” Bonnie said.

“Well, if you insist . . .” Rebekah agreed.

“Good luck with that,” Bonnie whispered, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat.

What could Rebekah say about her, anyway? That she successfully transferred Rebekah’s brother’s soul to another body—not once—twice? Or she had a habit of napping during physics class and Rebekah only noticed because she liked to throw balled up papers at the back of her sleeping head?

“This is Bonnie Bennett,” Rebekah said, starting off strong. “Aquarius. Some might say martyr. And she’s in desperate need of a stress detox. So, in the spirit of “teamwork,” I’m assigning myself the duty of making sure she has fun today. What say you, Bonnie?”

Bonnie did a double take and said, “Say what now?”

“Wow! Hold that thought, Bonnie. I need to capture this for my records. I can’t believe I hooked up a bullied student a new friend on my first day,” Ms. Hawthorne said, taking out her phone and pointing it in their direction. “Smile!”

Bonnie’s mouth dropped open and asked, “What is even happening?”

Rebekah smushed their cheeks together and posed for the photo. “So, that’s a, ‘yes?’”

“You’re not going to stop, are you?”

“Nope,” Rebekah confirmed

“Fine.”

“You won’t regret it.”

“Now, Bonnie, it’s your turn. Two facts about your new friend,” Ms. Hawthorne said.

“Stress bakes. Awful at physics,” Bonnie deadpanned.

An awkward silence stretched out, followed by Ms. Hawthorne’s cheery, “I’ll take it.”

Ms. Hawthorne moved onto the next pair. The next half hour went in the same vein. Except no one else got roped into being a pet project. Bonnie resumed doodling and occasionally peeked at Rebekah, who leaned back in her seat, humming low under her breath. The bell shocked Bonnie out of her spell. No one wasted time and rushed off to their next class. Rebekah stuck around, though, dragging the strap of her handbag over her shoulder.

“Unclench your jaw,” Rebekah said, tapping the side of Bonnie’s face. “Your car is a white prius, right?”

“Uh—yeah?”

“We’re leaving after gym class. You’re driving.”

With that, Rebekah left the classroom, not giving Bonnie a chance to argue. Bonnie didn’t have time to process because Stefan came over with an apologetic smile.

“Hey, Bon,” Stefan said, patting her shoulder awkwardly. “Sorry for throwing you to the wolves. I figured staying by Elena’s side was my best option today. Speaking of, uh, Elena’s emotions are heightened right now. She’s clinging onto anger, anger that’s honed in on–”

“Rebekah,” Bonnie finished for him.

“Exactly. You have gym together and I was hoping you’d keep an eye on them. You know, give them a little headache if things get out of hand.”

Gram’s pained face flashed in Bonnie’s mind. “The last time I did magic, my Grams, she . . . I got out of control.”

“I understand, but—”

“She got hurt.”

“Elena might get hurt—”

“You don’t understand,” Bonnie cut him off. “The spirits hurt Grams to punish me. I can’t let that happen again. So, no, Stefan. I can’t risk it.”

“Is there a problem here?” Ms. Hawthorne asked from across the room.

Stefan shook his head, headed for the exit, and said, “No. No problem.”

Bonnie packed up the rest of her stuff and came across the doodle she drew. She inhaled. Grams. A distorted version of Grams who pried apart two halves of a shadowy curtain. Black veins traveled all the way from her neck to the tips of her fingers. And her eyes. Her eyes were like shattered mirrors reflecting the pain of a thousand cuts. The dim glow from Grams’ eyes flickered a beacon in the darkness that was a silent cry for help, a plea for Bonnie to end her suffering. The violent imagery grounded Bonnie for a solid ten seconds before the familiar sights and sounds of the busy hallways distorted. An almost familiar warped lens settled in front of her eyes again.

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