If you reviewed on the original Twilight at all, thank you. If you are reading this story, thank you. It pained me to delete my oldest story from ff. net, but it was lacking and I want to fix it. The song is "Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over" by Fall Out Boy. Also, if you want to access the old story, it's on my website which you can access through my profile.
Prologue
I could walk this fine line between elation and success,
but we all know which way I'm going to strike
the stake between my chest.
Don't call on me, don't call on me, don't call on me . She slouched lower in her chair, her luck was horrible, it always had been. "Miss Braxton, you seem anxious to answer."
Shit, Kate cringed. Math was not her strongest suit, but then again, who like math? She looked down at the homework assignment that they were going over, no answer. Damn. "The answer is…" Jamie, her best friend, scooted her assignment to the edge of her desk, "thirty-seven."
Mr. Collins smiled, "Very good," he turned toward the black board and started to explain why the answer was thirty-seven. Kate mouthed 'thank you' to Jamie.
"You owe me, again," she whispered. Kate just smiled. Mr. Collins droned on for twenty more minutes about the homework before moving onto their notes for the day. Kate didn't bother listening, Jamie would, most likely, let her copy the assignment. If not, she could fake it like she had today. It wasn't like she was going to need math in her future. Well, at least not calculus.
At 2:30 the last bell rang and Kate said a silent prayer of thanks to the Goddess. "You want to grab a bite to eat?" Jamie asked her.
Kate cringed inwardly, Jamie did not know what she was proposing. "I'm meeting Tamyn at 3:30."
"Which gives you an hour," she pointed out. "You meet up with him everyday. I'd think he could spare you this once."
Kate shrugged, "I like meeting up with him." They gathered up their things and headed to their lockers. She groaned, "Do you thing Ron's ever going to take that stuff down?"
Jamie looked over at the locker Kate was talking about, "He said he'd wrap his locker in blue and orange wrapping paper if the Bears won the Super Bowl."
"I'm quite aware of that, thanks," she put her books in her locker and grabbed her backpack, "But they won last January. It's been over a year."
"You just fail to appreciate the zeal of a true football fan."
"And for that, I am truly grateful."
Jamie slammed her locker, "So, are we eating?"
"Don't we always?"
They walked to the back parking lot where Jamie kept her car. "Where are we going?"
"The food is free at your house."
She nodded, "You do have a point. But it's free at your house, too."
"The brat is at my house, remember?"
"Brat? Emmy is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen!" She pulled out of the parking lot and turned right, going to her house. "You're just jealous that your parents adopted a kid."
"Whatever."
Fifteen minutes later they pulled into her driveway. The two story house was painted mustard yellow. It had a three car garage where her parents and her brother parked their cars. Since she was the youngest and had the oldest car, she had to park outside.
They walked in through the front door and Jamie called, "Mom, I'm home." Mrs. Caldwell was sitting at the kitchen table.
"Hey, Jamie, Kate. I just made some lemonade if you want it. We don't have that much to eat," she smiled apologetically, "I need to go shopping soon."
Jamie shrugged and Kate said, "That's alright." They each grabbed tall glasses of lemonade, Jamie put three ice cubes in each. They went into the room that Jamie shared with her little sister Carolyn. Kate shut the door behind her.
"Mom's pregnant," Jamie said without preamble.
"Am I happy or pissed about this?" Kate asked.
"She's forty years old, she should not be having another child." She flopped down on her bed. "Isn't four kids enough? Me, Carolyn, Mark, and Ricky, really, she doesn't need anymore. I don't even want to think of how that kid came to be."
"Well," said Kate, "You'll be going off to college next year, so you won't have to deal with the kid. Mark, Carolyn, and Ricky, however, will be kept up every night by it's screaming. That's got to be a happy thought."
Jamie smirked, "Yeah," then her face fell a little, "But I'll have to work extra hard for the scholarship, kids are expensive."
Kate shrugged. They talked for a little while longer, then listened to music. At 3:00 Kate asked, "Will you take me to Tamyn's?"
It was part of their routine, Jamie just stood up. As they walked out of the house, Jamie yelled a goodbye to her mom. Once they were in her car and heading into the city, Jamie said, "I can't believe your parents let you go to your boyfriend's apartment alone. I know I say this at least once a week, but it's still true. And I can't believe that you actually tell then that you go to your boyfriend's apartment alone, everyday."
Kate smiled. Jamie couldn't understand why her parents were so cool about it. And she couldn't explain it to her. "They trust Tamyn, they like him. And if anything ever happened to me, Dad has a shotgun, a shovel, and connections with the Cook County police department."
They drove into the city and in front of Tamyn's apartment complex. It was definitely high end. "How does a twenty year old afford this?"
Kate looked at her solemnly, "The Mob." Jamie gave her a disbelieving look, "I've told you before, his parents are loaded." She grabbed her book bag. The light was red at the intersection. "See you tomorrow." She got out of the car and the doorman let her in. In the elevator, she punched the button for the fifth floor. Tamyn's apartment was at the end of the hall, 514. She unlocked the door and was treated with a view of the lake.
Tamyn was sitting on the couch, his head drooping. The phone was sitting next to him.
"Hey," she said, sitting down next to him. He stood up and started pacing, as if he hadn't noticed her. "What's the matter?"
"My father died."
Kate closed her eyes tightly. "Who did it?"
He stopped pacing and sat in the arm chair. "Who else? Hunters, goddamn vampire hunters. My uncle called and told me."
"There's something else."
"I'm going back east. Things need to be put in order. And I'm the one that needs to put them in order."
Kate met his eyes, but she was otherwise frozen. "You're not coming back are you?"
Tamyn didn't say anything, but he didn't need too.
"You bastard," it came out a whisper.
"I won't tell them about you or your family."
She sprung up from her position, "That wasn't what I was talking about. Should I thank you? You told me that you left that world! I know that it hurts, I can feel how much it hurts you, but it is no excuse to go back. After what you've told me about your father, I'd think you'd almost be glad."
"Calm down, Kate. You're going to regret what you say."
She laughed, "That's rich, I'll regret what I say. Because I have nothing else to regret? Do the past four years mean nothing to you?"
Now he stood up, "They mean everything to me!"
"Then why are you leaving?"
"Gods, Kate, you act so mature most of the time that I forget that you're still a kid. I can't not go back. He was my father, and he was murdered by some humans. If I don't take control…"
"Go! Take control, that world was always more important to you!" She picked up her backpack and walked to the door. "Burn in hell." She slammed the door as tears started to stream down her face. The hallway stretched on forever, but she made it to the elevator, then, before she knew it, she was on the street and hailing a cab. Three cabs passed her before one stopped. She gave him the address and could tell that he was calculating how much he'd make on this one passenger. Gods, she thought, I'm so stupid.
I can't wake up to these reminders of who I am:
A failure at everything... 18 going on extinct.
Well, now is the time when people do the reviewing.