once again, i'll post the prologue later.

just curious, anyone else DYINGto see The Hunger Games? yes. this girl right here? me? I AM! Gah! March 23rd needs to GET HERE! :( I've watched all the trailers, and even though, yes, Peeta's supposed to be a little taller than Josh Hutcherson, Josh is actually how i pictured Peeta. I love their choices. so...random ranting.

and if you haven't read the books? I STRONGLY recommend it. personal opinon? it's better than Twilight. If you hate me for saying that, fine, but it really is.

so they have been recommended. and come March 23rd, i will be unavailiable, 'cause i'll be flipping my crap all day. literally. then i have a drumline competition in another state the next day, BUT I WILL SEE IT. :) if there's a flipping midnight premiere, which there SHOULD BE, you better believe i'm there. :)

now, on to this...after i tell you that if you HAVE read The Hunger Games, i'm about to put a fanfic up for it. :D

but seriously. this series is very important too. :) i will continue this. promise. :) and i do hope you continue reading, even through my other series rant and super long time periods through updates...and please review. thanks! :D

the chapter song? I LOVE IT. :D it cracks me up, too. it seems so happy, but if you listen to it, it's like, "Oh. Wow. Ouch." bahaha. XD

01. Five Years: Tonight Alive

I think we're heading up there soon—Spring Break, ya know.

I was a little leery as I read the text message from Brynk that March Monday, uncertain how I wanted to respond. Of course I wanted them to come up here, especially considering that it was the same time I was possibly getting married. That was something that was still yet to be determined, and I couldn't believe we were still having this argument.

Does it not make more sense to get married in June, after school is said and done? It makes way more sense to me.

Anyways, Brynk's wording was a little odd. She normally would've said, "We're coming up there soon." No explanation. Something was on her mind, though, and she needed an excuse to come up here.

I showed Edward the text and began running my hand up my numb arm. During all the Christmas madness, I never really thought about what was numb and what wasn't, but it was now March, as I stated earlier. There was nothing left to distract me from it, nothing but wedding plans that is. Even those weren't enough to distract me.

My arms were numb, all the way to my shoulders. Both of my legs were the same way, but the strangest thing was, it wasn't numbing my insides. It only numbed the outside, so, for example, to be blunt, I would still be able to enjoy my honeymoon, and I could still feel a muscle tear. My arms, however, are starting to numb from the inside out, so I guess the rest of me will, too. Most of my skin is numb, really, but there are still places that a vampire's touch triggers in my senses.

It's a strange, complicated process. I'm just happy to be here, thanks.

Are you okay? Need to talk about something?

"Oh my gosh," Jessica said snidely as she sat down beside Bella at the lunch table. "Did you hear?"

Upon Angela's request, I still continued to sit with her, along with Edward and Alice, of course. Bella wasn't happy about it, but we rarely ever even acknowledged each other's presence. The guys still occasionally tried to make moves, whenever Edward happened to be away for the moment, but they were backing off a lot.

Did they really think they had anything to compete against Edward with? Really?

"What?" Bella asked curiously.

"Maria is pregnant with Connor's kid," Jessica said clearly, not trying to quiet her voice at all, before shuddering. "And to think I went out with him."

"Ew," Bella said rudely, making a face as she shook her head slowly. "That's just gross. Why would you even do that? I mean, seriously."

"You're gonna do it one day," I reminded her icily, no longer finding myself able to just sit back and listen to this. "And, besides, maybe they really love each other. You never took that into consideration."

"You're standing up for her?" Bella asked doubtfully. She was looking at me with a gaze that resembled something she used to gaze at her worst enemies. Her eyes were suspicious, too, but I really didn't care. "Why?"

"I don't know," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "Uh, maybe because gossip is stupid, and it could really hurt someone. Have you ever heard of those people who kill themselves because what people say about them?"

"This is different," Jessica said snidely. "We're not gonna tell her. She'll never know. I mean, just look at them. Even if they are in love, that's still weird. Marriage, hello?"

"Since when are you a saint?" I asked curiously, crossing my arms over my chest in irritation. "Jessica, you have absolutely no right to judge either one of them, because, you're not perfect either. You don't know why they did it. Even if they did it for the reasons you think, you have no room to say anything."

"You weren't even in this conversation," she said. She pushed her hand up in my face before turning back to Bella.

"Put your hand in my face again, and I'll snap it," I promised. "When you're at a lunch table, anyone can join a conversation. You don't like it? Suck my non-existent dick then, 'cause I don't care."

Edward was biting his lip beside me, stifling back a laugh, and his cold hand came and rested on my right knee.

Alice had her lips pursed to stifle back a laugh, but you could look in her eyes and see she found this amusing. She knew one day it would work out between her and Bella, but while they hated each other, it was okay to find this funny.

"You're just mad because I don't talk to you anymore," Bella snorted. "Look, Mayze, grow up, okay?"

"You're telling me to grow up?" I asked with raised eyebrows. "Wow. Never heard anything so stupid. You're the one who doesn't talk to me, even when I try really hard."

Her eyes narrowed. "I have my reasons."

"Hmm," I murmured. I was stroking my imaginary beard for a second, but then, I shrugged. "Alright. Just because your boyfriend stinks doesn't mean you can hate me for mine."

She glared. "This has nothing to do with that."

"Then please," I suggested before locking her eyes in mine. Edward had taught me how to hold someone's eyes so they couldn't look away, since my eyes were changing too. I could see a little more clearly as of now, but I was still able to hold normal human's gazes. "Tell me what this whole thing is about."

"You don't listen to me," she started, but she had nothing else to say. There was nothing I didn't listen to her about other than all her false accusations about Edward.

"To whatever you say about Edward," I finished for her. "So, that's what this whole thing is about." I couldn't help but smile. "Bella, honestly, I love you, but, I'm not gonna cry over you. If you hate me, fine. I'll live. I have been for the past year now. I think I can pretty much say I don't need you, Bella. Maybe not talking to you doesn't work, but when I needed you, all you did was point fingers and rub it in my face. I got through without you, so that means I can get through the rest of my life the same way."

She just rolled her eyes at me before looking back to Jessica. "So, anyways, what I was telling you in Pre-Cal—"

The bell rang, which cut her off. I took my quick escape out while I could. Edward's fingers immediately interlaced with mine to give me support on the way out. He brought my hand up to his mouth and quickly kissed it before smiling down at me. "I'm proud of you. But, honestly, I don't think you should fight with Bella over me."

"It's not just over you," I assured him. "Even without you in the picture, this goes on. I really think it's mostly because she thinks she's doing the right thing, but she's too blind to just look for herself. It's got a lot to do with Jake, also. More-so than it has to do with you."

He just sighed.

"Whoopsie," I said apologetically with a sheepish grin. To try and help make it better, I kissed him softly. "Sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to bring that up. I really am sorry. I'll make it up to you somehow. I'll . . . ." I tapped my chin. "I'll . . . ."

He chuckled before putting one arm around my waist. "Baby, don't worry about it. It's not your fault I left. That's all mine. And, besides." He paused when we got to the Chemistry room, a smug grin on his lips. "Saturday night was all I needed."

I felt my cheeks heating up a little, and he laughed triumphantly as his fingers began tenderly rubbing across the warmer skin. "Okay. Well, uh . . . I'm glad, but I am sorry about that. It kinda got out of control, and—"

"Mayze, stop," he insisted. "We stopped ourselves before it got way too far, and I really have to take some of the blame for that. It didn't help, like I had hoped it would. It really only made March seem that much better." Then, he frowned at me. "You're not gonna keep trying to figure out the honeymoon place, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nah. I might just torment you for fun. It's actually a lot more entertaining than you even realize."

"You know, what would you do if I ever did that to you?" he asked curiously as we finally walked through the door. Of course, he was still frowning down at me. "I think I should."

I chuckled darkly and sat down in my seat, grinning up at him. "Remember, Edward? I'm dangerous. The most dangerous thing on the planet. I know how to seduce a vampire." For fun, I decided to give him my taunting smile that always drove him crazy. "And, I'd win because I may have impatient human hormones on my side, but girls are better at that than you even know. Guys, vampire or not, just don't seem to be."

He just frowned deeper, causing me to laugh at his irritated expression. It wasn't a real irritated, sorta like a playful irritated. Funny, either way.

"But," I went on. "I have to admit, I was proud of you. You did very well. That's the first time you've been able to do that. You know . . . not give me what I want. Good practice, though, because it won't happen again until we're married. None of it—besides kissing, of course."

"Let's get married tomorrow," he said swiftly, eyes widening in excitement. "Ooh. That sounds like a great idea."

I laughed and scrunched my nose up at him. "Nah. I was thinking maybe a year or two . . . ."

His eyes narrowed to almost slits at just the idea of having to wait that much longer. "I was thinking hell no."

"Fine. A month?" I continued laughing, even as the bell rang to start class.

He scowled. "April. Why not March? Such a perfect month. March, March, March. That sounds better and better each time I say it. March."

I shook my head. "Sorry, babe, but I was really thinking maybe after graduation. Like, honestly. I mean, why not wait until after high school?"

"But, there's also the other question," he pointed out sincerely, no longer laughing or scowling. It was all seriousness. "Why wait until after high school?"

"Because," I said lightly. "I promised Charlie I would be staying home, and besides. He doesn't want me getting married until I move out. I promised him I wouldn't until I was going off to college, or off to Antarctica to keep from slaughtering the human population."

He cringed at my choice of words but sighed. "Whoo. Penguins."

I grimaced and began quickly shaking my head. "Penguins? I was thinking more along the lines of those weird things . . . walruses? Either way, they hurt all the other animals. Maybe some of those."

"They live underwater," he reminded me. "Have fun getting that."

"I'll swim," I offered. "I will not hurt a penguin, or polar bear." Then, I frowned. "Maybe Antarctica isn't the best idea . . . ."

He shook his head. "Nah. Honestly, we'll probably go stay with the Denalis while you're getting used to things. From what Laurent says, though, you're really not going to have that much of a problem."

"Alright," Mr. Matthews, the Chemistry teacher, said loudly as he walked to the front of the room to begin the day. "Let's get started . . . ."