"How about more?" Damon said, sounding drunk again.
"Stefan, you stil got that five hundred in your wal et?" Stefan didn't, nowhere near it, but he didn't think he'd need to pay up. He nodded but, at a glance from Damon, played reluctant. "I don't know, Damon..." he said.
"Don't worry about it," Damon said expansively. "Easy money, right?"
Jimmy was watching them, his eyes alert. "Five hundred it is," he agreed, smiling.
"I'l break," Damon said, and went into action. After a moment, Stefan rested his pool cue against the wal . He wasn't going to get a chance to shoot, none of them were; Damon was moving with clockwork precision to pocket one bal after another.
He wasn't making any effort to hide that he and Stefan had been running a hustle, and Jimmy's and David's faces darkened dangerously as the last few bal s rattled into their pockets.
"Pay up," Damon demanded sharply, setting down his cue.
Jimmy and David were moving toward them, scowling.
"You two think you're real smart, don't you?" David growled.
Stefan poised himself on both feet, ready to fight or run, whatever Damon wanted. They wouldn't have any trouble fending off these guys, but with the disappearances and attacks al over campus, he'd rather not cal attention to themselves.
Damon, cool and relaxed, gazed at Jimmy and David, his hands open. "I think you want to pay us the money you owe us," he said calmly.
"Oh, that's what you think, do you?" Jimmy said sarcastical y. He shifted his grip on his pool cue, and now he was holding it more like a weapon.
Damon smiled and unleashed a wave of Power into the room. Even Stefan, who was half expecting it, was chil ed as Damon lifted his human mask for a moment, his black eyes cold and deadly. Jimmy and David staggered backward as if they'd been shoved by invisible hands.
"Okay, don't get upset," Jimmy said, his voice shaking.
David was blinking as if he had been slapped with a wet towel, clearly unsure of what had just happened. Jimmy opened his wal et and counted out five hundred dol ars in fifties into Damon's hand.
"Now it's time for you to go home," Damon said softly.
"Maybe you don't want to play pool for a while." Jimmy nodded and didn't seem to be able to stop nodding, his head bobbing like it was on a spring. He and David backed away, moving quickly toward the door.
"Scary," Stefan commented. There was a hol ow place inside his chest stil , an empty ache of missing Elena, but he felt better than he had since that day she walked out the door alone. Tonight, he realized with a slight shock, he'd had fun with Damon.
"Oh, I'm a terror," Damon agreed lightly, pocketing al the money. Stefan raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't care about the money, but it was typical of Damon to assume it was his. Damon grinned. "Come on, little brother, I'l buy you a drink."
Chapter Seventeen
"That was amazing! Seriously," Bonnie said happily, skipping along with her hand in Zander's. "I am, like, the Queen of Quarters. Who knew I had this hidden talent?" Laughing, Zander threw his arm around her shoulders and pul ed her closer. "You are pretty awesome," he agreed. "Drinking games, visions, astrology. Any other skil s I should know about?"
Snuggling against him, Bonnie frowned in mock concentration. "Not that I can think of. Just be aware of my general wonderfulness." His T-shirt was soft and worn, and Bonnie tilted her head a bit to rest her cheek against it. "I'm glad we got our friends together," she said. "I thought Marcus and Meredith real y hit it off, didn't you? Not romantical y, at al , which is good since Meredith has a super-serious boyfriend, but it was like they shared the same secret jock language. Maybe we can al hang out in a group again sometime."
"Yeah, Meredith and Marcus real y bonded over their workouts," Zander agreed, but there was a hesitation in his voice that made Bonnie stop walking and peer up at him sharply.
"Didn't you like my friends?" she asked, hurt. She and Meredith and Elena had always had what they privately cal ed a "velociraptor sisterhood." Cross one of them and the other two would close in to protect her. Zander had to like them.
"No, I liked them a lot," Zander assured her. He hesitated, then added, "Elena seemed kind of ...
uncomfortable, though. Maybe we're not the kind of people she likes?"
Bonnie stiffened. "Are you cal ing my best friend a snob?" she asked.
Zander stroked her back appeasingly. "Sort of, I guess. I mean, nice, but just kind of a snob. The nicest kind of snob.
I just want her to like me."
"She's not a snob," Bonnie said indignantly. "And even if she was, she's got a lot to be a snob about. She's beautiful and smart and one of the best friends I've ever had. I'd do anything for her. And she'd do anything for me, too. So it doesn't matter if she's a snob," she concluded, glaring at him.
"Come here," Zander said. They were near the music building, and he pul ed her into the lit alcove by the front door. "Sit with me?" he asked, settling on the brick steps and tugging her hand.
Bonnie sat down, but she was determined not to snuggle up to him again. Instead, she kept a distance between them and stared stubbornly out at the night, her jaw firmly set.
"Listen, Bonnie," Zander said, pushing a long strawberry blonde curl out of her eyes. "I'l get to know Elena better, and I'm sure I'l like her. I'l get her to like me, too. You know why I'm going to get to know her better?"
"No, why?" said Bonnie, reluctantly looking at him.
"Because I want to know you better. I'm planning on spending a lot of time with you, Bonnie McCul ough." He nudged her gently with his shoulder, and Bonnie melted.