[ON HOLD temporarily] 𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍 | 𝐑. 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍

Chapter 05: Game Night

"Varsity trials were last spring, Mr. Gilbert," Tanner said, looking pointedly at Elliot.

"I'm well-aware of that, Mr. Tanner. But Stefan wasn't here then, and I think he has some skills that we can use on our team."

"Which is?"

"Reflexes. He was able to catch a ball with Tyler's full swing from behind him."

"Really?" He cocked an eyebrow at Stefan, "What do David think– Actually, don't answer that. I already know."

"Aww, coach, how you know me," David from beside Elliot put his arm on Tanner's shoulder, making the teacher rolled his eyes in annoyance but didn't push his arm off, "Of course I agree with Elliot. You should've seen Stefan this morning though, he was AMAZING!"

Tanner glanced at David dramatics then at Stefan, and said, "Just to see you get knocked on your ass and see if you can replace our suspended player."

Elliot smiled, patting encouragingly on Stefan's shoulder, while David jumped up in the air and threw himself onto Stefan, almost screamed into his ear, making the latter winced at his loudness, "I'll borrow you my gears before coach change his mind!"

At night, Elena had invited Bonnie and Stefan over for dinner, and for proving Stefan as a good guy and disproving Bonnie's recent visions. Though She could already sense the difficulty of her wishes as a piercing silence inevitably settled between them, while they chewed their restaurant-quality food as if it was wax, unbearable.

"So....Stefan, did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked in curiosity, finally breaking the deafening silence.

"He didn't really get the chance to give me a hard time, I think. Elliot and David basically convinced him to let me on the team."

"That's really good," She turned to her quiet friend, "Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and–"

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie abruptly cut her off, glancing up quickly at the pair, then back at her untouched food, pushing them around.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" She asked, unaffected by her friend's coldness.

"......Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad," Bonnie replied uninterestedly.

"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches, it's really cool," She shifted her attention to Stefan.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use."

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan said, resting his elbows on the dining table, and Bonnie finally met his gaze for the first time, "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by the way of Salem," Bonnie said with more warmth.

"Really? Salem witches?"

"Yeah."

"I would say that's pretty cool."

"Really? Why?"

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity."

She let out a small fond smile, "Yeah, they are."

<<<>>>

Meanwhile the dinner was getting warmed up and the tension between Elena's old and new friends began to diminish, Elliot drove to the secluded part of Mystic Falls and parked in front of a residence.

"I'm home," He announced loudly as he entered the small residence, and two pairs of footsteps was heard immediately, one with larger strides and the other was audibly tiny.