It had been three days since Ruby had left her dorm room. Three days.

Hope had spent most of the three days with her, and brought her blood, coffee and just overall spent time staying with her, but hadn't managed to get her to leave the dorm.

Monica decided to give it a go, and suddenly burst into their shared room, with two mugs of coffee in her hands. Ruby groaned, at the light that shone into the dorm room. "Good morning, I brought you coffee." The Montgomery chirped, handing the Waithe a mug. "Thanks, Mon." Ruby said as she took the cup, before she sat up.

Monica took a seat beside Ruby, and leant her back against the bedhead. "How are you feeling?" Monica asked, facing her best friend with an empathetic look. Ruby faced the blonde, "Empty." She replied, holding her hands around the mug. Something the Waithe wasn't getting used to was constantly feeling cold.

Monica nodded, "That's understandable... you guys have been together your... entire lives." She sighed, before placing her hand on top of Ruby's knee. "If there's anything I can do.." She trailed off as Ruby nodded, "Thank you.. but you have been great. So has Hope. I'm really grateful for you both." The Waithe spoke genuinely.

"Oh yeah.. we're going to the Grill, in half an hour." Monica added as she got off of the bed once she finished drinking her coffee. "What?" Ruby blurted out, "I don't need to eat food anymore, remember?" She reminded the Montgomery. Monica giggled and nodded before she smiled, "But the Grill has awesome milkshakes, remember?"

❤︎

Monica held out a strawberry milkshake while Ruby held up her cookies and creme milkshake, before they clinked their glasses together.

They then sipped their milkshakes, before Monica held out a poster, "Have you heard about this?" She asked. Ruby shook her head, before she studied the poster, which read "Salvatore: The musical."

"Yeah.. are you in it?" Ruby asked as Monica nodded, "I'm playing a girl named Lexi Branson." She said, with a smile. "Would you be interested in participating?" The Montgomery then asked, though Ruby shook her head, "No I don't think so."

Monica nodded and decided not to push the issue, though she knew that Landon had put aside a part for Ruby.

Soon the best friends were back at the school, and Landon seemed happy to see that Ruby was out and about. "Have you heard about the play?" He asked chipperly, as Ruby nodded. "Monica told me about it." She answered.

"Well.. I was wondering if you were wanting to play a part in the show." The Kirby boy suggested as Ruby shrugged, "I'm not really interested.." She admitted as Landon seemed a little disappointed.

"I saved a part aside for you." He confessed now as Ruby blinked in surprise, "What?" She asked with surprise. "It's for a girl named Bonnie Bennett, she's an all powerful badass witch and... I couldn't think of a more suited person to play her role, than you." Landon explained as Ruby frowned, "I'm the furthest thing from a witch." She reminded him.

The Kirby shrugged, "Perhaps.. but you're a badass supernatural being that is a person of colour and incredibly selfless." He said, with a smile. Ruby smiled back weakly, but didn't say anything. "At least... think about it?" The boy asked as he handed a script to Ruby. The hybrid took it before examining it. "Okay."

❤︎

After reading through the script, Ruby decided to consider taking the role of Bonnie in Landon's play. The hybrid entered the theatre, as her eyes darted to the stage.

Last time she was on the stage, she was so happy... she was singing with Monica and watching most of their classmates get electrocuted. Weirdly, life seemed simple back then. She was just a girl, with a werewolf gene that laid dormant. Now, she wasn't just adapting to being a werewolf but also a vampire. Not to mention, her biggest supporter had been moved to a prison world, to avoid death. She wished things could be simple again.

On stage the group were rehearsing. Monica (who played Lexi) stood in front of Kaleb (who played Damon). Kaleb had imitated a stabbing motion, with a wooden stake that was being used as a prop.

Monica widened her eyes, a look of betrayal flooded her face before she asked with a tone of surprise and hurt, "Why?" Kaleb just smirked before he said in a loud whisper, "It's part of the plan." Kaleb stepped away from Monica, as she suddenly fell to the floor.

"Perfect! You guys are really perfecting that scene!" Jordan (who sat beside Landon) called out. Kaleb helped Monica back onto her feet, "Thank you Jordy. I would hope so, I've only faked dying about 20 times." She joked.

The Montgomery's eyes then averted to Ruby, who had slowly made her way to the stage. "Ruby, hey. It's nice to see you." Monica smiled, as Lizzie joined her side. "I've decided.. I want to play Bonnie.. in the play.."

❤︎

Sometime later, and after some last minute rehearsing, the play was nearly underway.

Wearing a dark blonde wig, Monica was seated in a chair while Lizzie sat comfortably in her lap, leaning her head against the Montgomery's. They peered onto Monica's phone screen, watching Tik tok videos and giggling.

Ruby paced around as she seemed a little worried as she watched some members of the cast make some last minute changes to the stage, before the curtain was set to open.

"You look great." A voice piped up, as Ruby span around to see Josie, who was wearing a dark wig and was dressed as Elena. Ruby smiled, "So do you, Jo." She replied.

Josie reached out and took Ruby's hand in her own, for a moment. "I'm glad you're here." She spoke quietly. Ruby smiled back weakly, before their hands separated, and Josie rushed onto the stage as the curtain opened. Ruby thought about Josie's comment, unsure whether she meant that she was relieved the Waithe was in the play, or she was relieved she had stayed at the school.

One student began to sing, as they were playing the Sheriff, Liz. "If you decide one day to visit our town. There's a sign you'll see as you drive on down. It says welcome to Mystic falls!"

Lizzie, who Ruby hadn't even heard approach her, suddenly linked her arm through the hybrids. "Are you ready?" Lizzie asked, as Ruby gave the Saltzman a nod. Monica quickly placed a kiss on Lizzie's cheek, before the Saltzman and Ruby walked onto the stage, pretending to talk, as the boy playing Matt centre stage was singing.

Jed who was playing Stefan, bumped into Josie, (or Elena) as the song suddenly stopped. "Sorry." Jed said, "I'm Stefan." Josie smiled, "Elena." She replied.

Lizzie and Ruby exited the stage, meeting Monica who was excited. "I'm going up soon." The Montgomery hummed excitedly, as she'd perfected her part as Lexi. "Mon, your wig is crooked!" Jordan suddenly whispered loudly, as he raced over to fix it. The Luna witch hadn't wanted to participate in the play as an actor, but made sure all of the actors were looking their part.

"How does it look now?" Monica asked, once Jordan fixed it. "Perfect." Lizzie chirped, before she leant forward to kiss her girlfriend. Monica closed her eyes and kissed the Saltzman girl back.

Jordan and Ruby turned away from the couple, to talk. "Did you pick a song to sing for Bonnie?" He asked. Ruby nodded, "Yeah, I did." She answered. "Perfect, you'll be on a bit later. I'll let you know when." The witch said, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder as she gave him a smile.