~ Unpleasantville ~ Part One ~
Ronnie's POV
"You know, when you said you needed my help, I didn't think you meant this." I pointed out as Damon looked through the shelves of books. When he didn't find the one he wanted, he would throw it on the ground, but I would put it back in its place.
"Yeah, well, excuse me for not telling you every little detail." He muttered as he threw another book to the ground.
I gave him a sarcastic smile, letting out a fake chuckle. "So funny, Damon. You should become a comedian."
"Already tried, but I couldn't stop eating the audience."
"It's sad that I can't tell whether you're joking or not." I told the vampire.
"What are you lookin' for, Damon?" I heard Stefan's voice from behind me, making me glance over my shoulder. "And why did you rope Ronnie into it?"
"Neither are your concern." Damon responded, his eyes sweeping over the books.
"No, but putting Elena in harm's way, that is my concern." Stefan stated.
Damon hummed out a short laugh, his eyes not looking in his brother's direction. "What are you talking about?" By now, I had stopped looking through the books. I leaned against the shelves, watching the brothers.
"I'm talking about Atlanta." He said, making me roll my eyes.
"Oh, yeah. Elena and I had a blast." Damon smirked, looking at his brother.
Stefan smiled, nodding his head. "I get it. You're just bitter because one of us gets to be with the person that we love, and poor Katherine is just out of reach." Stefan said, making my mouth fall open. "Unless there's another way for you to get into that tomb. Is that what Bree said?"
"You're pathetic when you're fishing." Damon said, continuing to look through the books.
"You're transparent when you're deflecting." Stefan said, making his brother stop and look over at him. Now was when I was starting to get uncomfortable. This felt more like a family problem.
"Don't you have school?" Damon asked, making me purse my lips, looking over at Stefan, who only smiled and nodded.
When Stefan was about to pass me, he paused and looked at me. "Come on. I'll give you a ride."
"Uh, I don't think so. This one's helping me." Damon objected.
I gave him a look, raising a brow. "Well, this one needs to get to school." I said, pointing towards myself. "And I'd love a ride, Stefan." I said, not looking at Stefan, but instead at Damon. I gave the oldest Salvatore brother a sardonic smile before grabbing my bag from the ground. "Later, loser."
~~~~~
When it was time for lunch, I went outside, taking a deep breath of the fall air. It was always my favorite time of the year. I clutched the brown paper bag that was holding my lunch, looking around for a free table. I smiled slightly when I saw Sebastian sitting at one, reading a book as he ate his lunch.
I made my way towards him, forcing a smile at the people who greeted me along the way. I walked up to him and when he looked up, he sighed and rolled his eyes not so subtly. Furrowing my eyebrows, I watched as he took out his headphones, closing his book. "Hey, Bashy. Something wrong?" I asked as I sat down in front of him.
Sebastian sighed once more, putting his headphones and his book into his backpack. "The fact that you don't even know says enough." He said, about to stand up when I grabbed his wrist.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked in confusion, letting go of his wrist when I saw he tensed up.
"Ronnie, you were my first friend here and I tried to be nice, but you just don't seem like someone I want to hang around with." He spoke, giving me a small shrug.
I blinked, standing up, trying to be at eye level with him, but remembered he was a foot taller than me. I tilted my head up to look at him. "I don't understand. Did someone tell you something about me or...?"
"No, no one told me anything about you." He shook his head. "I came to this town for a fresh start. I need to surround myself with good people."
An offended look crossed my face. "I'm good people."
"You don't seem to care much about anyone other than yourself." He pointed out, making me a bit angry.
"What the hell? What gave you that idea?" I scoffed, crossing my arms.
"Yesterday was the second time you left me hanging. You didn't even text me to tell me you weren't coming." Bash said, annoyance on his face. This was the first time I had seen him without a smile on his face.
My shoulders slumped as I realized I stood him up. "Oh, my― I completely forgot."
"How could you forget? We were going to get food right after you got your car." He said, making me close my eyes for a split second, not sure what to tell him.
"I know, I know. It's just that my mom texted me telling me she's back in town and she's stirring up a lot of drama and it just slipped my mind." I told him the truth, only lying about her texting me she's back in town.
"I'm sorry, Ronnie. I just can't be friends with you." He said before a small laugh slipped through his mouth as he shook his head. "I don't even know why I'm saying sorry to you."
"Sebastian―"
"I knew being too nice would come back to bite me in the ass." He said, throwing his backpack over his shoulder before walking away.
I had a confused look on my face as I watched him walk away. "What the fuck?"
~~~~~
"I can't believe you're adopted. I never saw that coming." Bonnie said, making me nod in agreement.
"And it gets weirder." Elena began, holding a fry with ketchup on it in the air. "I looked at my birth certificate. It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birth parents. None of it makes any sense."
"Well, your dad was a doctor. Maybe he bent the rules or something." I shrugged, eating one of my own fries.
"Which is why you should ask Jenna." Bonnie pointed out, making Elena groan. "First of all, the Elena I know would always want the real truth. Good or bad."
"And second of all?" Elena asked.
"You just found out your boyfriend is a vampire," Bonnie quieted her voice when she said vampire. "So unless your birth parents are aliens... how bad can it be?" She tried to cheer up our friend, which worked.
"Ah, okay, look, I have to go to the store. My outfit for the dance is severely lacking accessories." Elena said.
"Okay, Ronnie and I will split the bill." Bonnie stated.
"Dance? What dance?" I asked in confusion, my eyes flickering between my two best friends.
Bonnie looked over at me, giving me a look. "How can you not know about the dance? Flyers are plastered all over the school."
I scoffed, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't pay attention to the decor in that hellhole."
Elena laughed at me, putting her purse strap over her shoulder. "Bye."
I looked at Bonnie, "When is this stupid dance?" I asked as we both got up. I threw my half of the money down on the table, her doing the same.
She chuckled. "It's tonight, Ron."
We turned around, jumping when we saw Damon standing right in front of us. "Asshole!" I shouted, slapping his arm while a few eyes looked over at us before going back to their own business.
"What do you want from me?" Bonnie demanded to know.
"I think we need a fresh start." Damon said, a smile on his face. "Can't have the best friend of my only friend hating me." He threw an arm over my shoulder. I scoffed, removing his arm from my shoulder.
"You tried to kill me." Bonnie said as if it was obvious they wouldn't become friends anytime soon.
"But I didn't, and if I wanted to, I would have. Does that not count for anything?" He asked.
"You know, I can start fires with my mind. Fires kill vampires, right?" Bonnie threatened, making me have to suppress my smile. "Just stay the hell away from me."
"Everything okay over here?" I heard a familiar voice from a few feet away. While Bonnie and Damon continued to have a stare off, I looked at the person who spoke. I think he used to go to school with us. Ben something. He was a football player, I think. But damn was he hot.
"Yeah, we're fine." Damon answered, both of them finally looking towards Ben.
"I wasn't talkin' to you." Ben started walking towards us.
This conversation sounded very familiar. It was almost identical to the one I had with Sebastian and Damon not too long ago.
Damon smiled, looking at the boy, while Bonnie's eyes flickered between them. I was just ready to bust out the popcorn and watch whatever was about to go down. Damon let out a small laugh, turning towards me and grabbing my arm. "Let's go." I rolled my eyes, bidding Bonnie farewell.
"Quit touching me, will ya?" I asked in annoyance as we walked out of The Grill. "What do you want?"
"I still need your help, princess."
It was later that night and I was currently sitting in the Salvatore house. Damon was sitting at a desk and I was in the empty seat next to Damon, watching as he wrote down names. I wasn't sure why I was here, but I was glad to be out of the house. My parents were still fighting and if I hear anymore yelling, I'll go deaf.
We heard a door open and we both looked up, watching as Stefan walked towards us, holding something behind his back. "You got the hair right." Damon said right before Stefan dropped an old looking book down onto the desk. I suddenly remembered the dance was tonight. Oops. "Why are you bringing me dad's journal?"
My eyes flickered between the two brothers, somehow caught in one of their little quarrels again. "'Cause you were looking for it." Stefan said, crossing his arms over his ugly shirt.
Damon looked up at his younger brother. "And why would I want it?"
"Gee, I don't know, Damon. Maybe you wanna do a little bit of posthumous bonding." Stefan sarcastically said, mindlessly walking to the side before looking back at his brother. "Go ahead. Enjoy it. Read it. I have." Stefan said as Damon grabbed it. "Nowhere in it does it say anything about Katherine or the tomb or how to open it." He said in a bored tone.
"I'm not surprised." Damon spoke, flipping through the pages. "Man could barely spell his own name."
"I'm really sorry that it won't be of any help with your diabolical plan, the sequel." That made me let out a small snort, earning a look from the vampire sitting next to me. "You know, I could help you."
"You, help me? Aw, I don't know. Seems a little unnatural." Damon leaned back in his seat before motioning towards me. "Plus, I've got Ronnie on my side. She's helping me."
"I didn't know there were sides." I rolled my eyes, crossing one of my legs on top of the other, leaning back in my chair.
Stefan glanced between me and Damon. "I'll do anything to get you out of this town, even release Katherine." Stefan said, leaning his palms on the desk.
"What about the other 26 vampires?"
"No, no, no. They can't come." Stefan dismissed the idea.
"Yeah, even though I'm "On your side," I agree with Stefan." I said, putting air quotes when I said I was on his side.
"They have to stay put, but Katherine, I would consider that." Stefan said.
Damon tilted his head. "What are you doin'? Hmm? What's your angle?" Stefan shook his head and shrugged.
"Think about it."
Damon was silent for a moment before he chuckled, picking up his pen that he had laid down minutes ago. "Why would I trust you?"
"See that's your problem, Damon. You apply all of your shortcomings to everybody else. If history's any indication, there's only one liar among us." Stefan's lip tilted up for a second, Damon's doing the same. Stefan then put his hand on their father's journal, sliding it towards his brother. Then he walked away.
"Do you trust him?" Damon asked, picking up the journal.
"Why does my opinion matter?" I breathed out, suddenly wanting to go home and sleep.
"Because I trust you." I knew I shouldn't feel flattered, but I did. "So do you― trust him?"
I pursed my lips, looking off in the direction Stefan went. "Not one bit."
About twenty minutes went by after Stefan left. Damon was reading his fathers journal, and I got one of the books from the ground and started reading it. Someone's phone ringing is what broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up before looking at my phone that was laying on the desk, seeing it wasn't the phone ringing.
Damon got up from his seat, walking over towards a jacket, digging through the pockets and pulling out a phone. "Stefan's phone. How may I help you?" He answered the phone, turning towards me, mouthing Elena and rolling his eyes. I nodded, going back to reading my book. "He's on his way to you, forgot his phone." A few seconds went by before he started talking again. "You're welcome." I looked up and saw he had a smirk on his face as he said this. He hung up the phone and I chuckled, shaking my head.
"What?" He asked, feigning innocence.
I dramatically rolled my eyes, shutting the book and throwing it to the side. "Oh, nothing." I smirked before getting up. "I'm going home. Gotta get ready for this stupid dance." I picked up my bag and phone, rolling my eyes.
"Have fun. Don't die." He said, not meaning a word he said.
"Wow, really feeling the love, Damon." I said sarcastically, walking towards the front door.
Before I walked out the door, I heard him call out, "It's what I do best."
~~~~~
Walking into the crowded gym, I tried to look around for any of my friends. I saw Sebastian laughing with Tyler and some other jocks and I had to refrain myself from walking over to him. I knew I wasn't welcomed by him anymore.
It was a good thing my mom was home when I got there because I didn't have an outfit for this thing. She made me wear a navy blue collared dress that was knee length with short sleeves. The white buttons going down the middle stopped when it met the belt. Molly styled my hair like Marilyn Monroe styled her own hair. It would've looked better if I was blonde, but she didn't care.
Suddenly Bonnie and Caroline were standing in my view, looking as gorgeous as ever. "Oh, my god! Look at you!" Caroline shouted over the music, pointing at me. "You look amazing."
"Me? Look at you two!" I smiled at them, getting uncomfortable with the compliments.
"We think we saw Elena over there, wanna come?" Bonnie asked, pointing to someplace behind her.
I didn't respond, just nodded and followed after them. I felt like someone was watching me, but when I looked around, I couldn't find anything. I shook it off, wanting to let loose and have fun tonight. When we got to the table Elena was standing at, she smiled at us. "Having fun?"
Caroline let out a humming sound, acting like she was thinking. "No, but this took me about two hours, so I'm at least staying half the night." She gestured towards herself.
My eyes widened. "You wasted two hours of you life on this?" I gestured towards her outfit and hair before shrugging. "I can't really judge though. It took an hour to do my hair."
"Yeah, well, not all our moms have superpowers." Caroline raised a brow at me.
I looked over at Bonnie with an accusing look. "You told her?"
She gave me an apologetic look. "It just slipped out."
"Your moms in town?" Elena asked in shock, making me give her a small nod.
"Has been for a day or two." I rolled my eyes, looking out to the dance floor.
"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie suddenly asked, looking past Elena.
We all turned to look at Damon, who was conversing with his younger brother. "He wanted to come." Elena simply said. "I promise. He'll behave."
"So what is this, like, a threesome now, you and the Salvatore brothers?" Caroline asked, a tinge of jealousy in her voice. I quietly looked down at the cup of punch I had grabbed on the way here, taking a sip of it. I shared a look with Bonnie, both of us feeling uncomfortable.
Elena gave her a look, tilted her head to the side. "No, but if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon. Plus, it appears as if he's Ronnie's new best friend."
My mouth opened and closed. "What? It's not my choice. I owe him." I chose my words carefully, knowing Caroline still didn't know about the supernatural. "It's not like I can kill him to be out of his dept."
"There's a thought." Bonnie hummed.
"Hmm. I'll help." Caroline smiled as they tapped their plastic cup against each other.
Elena and I both smiled, shaking our heads. A couple of minutes passed and Elena lingered away from us without any of us noticing. We were talking about something I had no care for when Damon walked up to us, smiling at my best friend. "Hi, Bonnie. Wanna dance?"
I rolled my eyes at him, watching as my two friends looked at him in distaste. "I'm out of here." Bonnie said, about to walk away when Damon stepped in front of her.
"Please give me another chance." He said, only to be ignored. She walked right past him, heading off somewhere. Caroline scoffed then, taking a step towards the vampire. "Back off, Damon."
Right after the blonde walked away, I started slowly laughed. "Way to go, idiot." He only gave me a mocking smile.
"Where did they go?" I heard Elena's voice from behind me, making both Damon and me turn towards her, seeing Stefan right by her side.
Damon looked back to where they walked off, "I don't know." He said, making me scoff out a small laugh.
"What'd you say to 'em?" Stefan asked.
"I was perfectly polite. Right, Ronnie?" Damon asked, looking down at me.
"You know, I wasn't really listening." I lied, giving him a smug smile as he glared at me.
He then looked at my brunette friend. "Elena... would you like to dance?"
"I would love to." She smiled, making Damon smirk at his brother and my eyes widen. "May I have this dance?" She asked, turning towards her boyfriend. Stefan held out his arm, smiling down at her as she accepted it.
I held a hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh as we watched them walk towards the dance floor. "Ronnie..." He said, slowly turning towards me.
A laugh finally escaped my lips, before I pouted out my bottom lip. "Aw, sorry, Damon. I don't dance with desperate people." I patted his cheek and then I walked off, in search of Caroline and Bonnie. I grabbed my phone from the purse my mother gave me, texting Bonnie.
Ronnie: Where are you guys?
Bonnie: We're at the grill now. Sorry, Ron.
I sighed, rolling my eyes as I put the phone back into the purse. I looked around the room, observing the people. I saw Jeremy at the punch table, talking to some girl. My eyes wandered over to the dance floor, seeing Stefan and Elena dancing. Then there was Sebastian who was dancing with some pretty girl I had never seen before. I huffed, rolling my eyes as I traveled towards the punch table. Jeremy nodded at me, the girl looking at me with jealousy, or maybe it was annoyance for interrupting their conversation. Either way, I didn't care. "Sup, little dude." I didn't acknowledge the look the girl gave me, just giving the Gilbert a fist bump. "That your girlfriend?" I asked, picking up a chip and throwing it into my mouth.
He smiled, his cheeks becoming a slight pink as he shook his head. "No, no. This is Anna. She's a friend I met at the library."
I gave her a smile and nod. "She's cute." I told Jeremy, embarrassing him. "Don't fuck it up." I then looked toward the girl. "Names Ronnie." I said, holding my hand out, her quickly grabbing it, giving me an awkward smile. "Do you go to school here?"
She shook her head. "Homeschooled."
"Sweet." I muttered, my eyes then moving towards the punch. My eyes slowly moved back towards Jeremy, narrowing them. "Got any alcohol?" I leaned forward, lowering my voice.
He laughed, thinking I was joking. His laughter died down when he saw I wasn't laughing along. "What? Ronnie, no, I don't have alcohol."
I clicked my tongue as if I didn't believe him. "Come on. I'll give you twenty bucks."
"Still don't have alcohol." He said, making me roll my eyes.
"You're no fun anymore." I muttered in annoyance, making him chuckle. "I mean, good for you." I gave him a fake smile and thumbs up.
I heard a chuckle from behind me, making me turn around, seeing the boy who claimed he didn't want to be friends. "Asking kids for alcohol? Shame on you."
"Yeah, well, I've hit a new low in my life." I told him as he came to stand next to me. I noticed Jeremy and Anna were talking at the end of the table, leaving me to talk to Bash. "I thought you didn't want to be friends." I could practically taste the bitterness in my mouth.
He let out a small sigh, his eyes focused on the table. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I tend to rash things when I'm mad." Bash gave me a sheepish smile.
Looking at him silently for a moment, I finally let a small smile crawl onto my face. "You can make it up to me by dancing with me."
He grinned, nodding. He held out his hand. "May I have this dance, Miss Tate?"
I grabbed his hand, grinning as well. "Of course, Mister Chamberlain."
*I'm already lovin Ronnie and Damon's friendship. I'd love to know what you guys thought about the chapter and the new friendships blooming.
-Alyson*