Prophecy

Miss Mystic Falls

Chapter Seventeen

MFH Hallway

Bonnie

"I can't wait to accept the crown. It's the only thing I know I'm good at. And the competition doesn't bother me really," Caroline tells me as we stroll down the hallway at a leisurely pace.

I've never been one for beauty contests, so I never signed up for Miss Mystic.

"The Fell cousins don't have a shot, and Amber Bradley is only on the court, so the pageant doesn't look like it's just for the founding families—which, of course, it is," Caroline remarks as we finally spot the auditorium in the distance.

We're late. Caroline asked me to fill in for Matt for this dance lesson. How she manages to make it to school on time is beyond me. She's late for everything else.

"So that leaves Elena and Mila. They both totally have the sympathy vote since their parents died. And Mila is the worst! I thought Elena was competition, but she's new, precocious, drop-dead gorgeous, and a real thinker. She's deep. How can I compete with that?" Caroline muses aloud, as if she didn't just voice her thoughts.

I can't believe she's talking about them like this. Despite my radio silence, Mila and I are still friends. I've been very unfair to her. Especially since she didn't even know we were opening the tomb. I need to talk to her.

Shaking my head, I say, "very nice, very sensitive."

"Oh, I'm sorry. This must sound really unimportant. In light of everything," Caroline says, but I'm still a little shocked.

"It's okay, I get it. You want to win. But do it because you're better at this, not because you're in competition with Mila and Elena," I advise her.

"Well, my grandmother was Miss Mystic, and both of my aunts. My mom is the only one who didn't get the gene, and I want this. I actually deserve this," she asserts as if it's some rite of passage.

I know how jealous she can be, so I'm not going to hold it against her, especially since I see Elena with Stefan. God, I don't want to do this right now...

"Bonnie. Hey," Elena says, making a beeline for me.

I wave awkwardly. "Hey, how are you?"

I don't answer. What am I supposed to say? That it's okay that my grams is gone because of him and his devil brother?

"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt; he had to work today," Caroline chimes in, completely missing the tension in the room.

Elena looks at me with sympathy all over her face.

"Bonnie, do you have a minute?" she asks, and I cringe.

I shake my head. "We only have 30 minutes for rehearsal."

"It'll only take a minute, please?" she insists, not taking no for an answer.

We step out into the hall, and I can't wait to get this over with.

"Bonnie, you have to tell me what's wrong," she says, oblivious.

Shrugging, I say, "It's not worth talking about."

"What do you mean not worth it?" She asks, hurt evident on her face. "You barely said ten words to me, and you won't even look at Stefan. Is that what it is? Is it Stefan?"

I sigh hard. "Listen, Elena, I can't just pretend that everything's okay. Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb. And now they're out, which means she died for nothing."

"I'm so sorry, Bonnie. What can I do to make it better?" she asks, as if there is anything she can do.

"That's just it, there's nothing you can do," I say bitterly. "I blame him, Elena, him, and Damon, and I'm not gonna put you in a situation where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it, okay?"