April
To my dearest writing companion,
The pressure to be perfect… to be someone, something I am not, is growing. Everyday my parents' expectations grow higher and higher. Get better friends, play more of this sport, jump higher, run faster, read harder books learn this language. The list goes on forever. Unfortunately, my dearest sister Elizabeth cannot walk well, she barely speaks, and she is not as talented as my parents wanted her to be, so all of their expectations of the "perfect child" rest on my shoulders. The load is almost too heavy to bear. I am about to collapse.
We live in England, and every vampire from here to Japan knows who I am. I cannot stay here any longer. There has to be a place to escape. Somewhere I can blend in until they think I am long dead. I have heard talk of a place where everyone is free to be who they choose. Maybe I should go there. My father has a friend who lives in that place. He said barely any vampires live there because it is only a few centuries old. Most of the families in Europe are thousands of years old.
My family is one of the most well known in our world. My grandfather did much and my father has done the same. I have no desire to be them. I am myself, and I am determined to stay such, even if I have to leave my family behind. They will miss me, but I will only miss Elizabeth. I actually pity my sister. Our parents have paid so much attention to me, so I think they barely notice that they have a daughter. It is sad, but I can do nothing about it. I will try this "free country". We will see if a life on my own is what I really need.
Yours Truly,
Gavin Jones
April 29
Dear Diary,
My family recently moved from the west coast to New York. I had to transfer schools and move across the country away from my friends and the rest of my family. My parents promise we will visit every summer, but it's not the same. I also started at my new school today and it was a living hell. All of the girls were mean, and the guys cling to the girls as if they were moths flocking to a flame. Naturally, they ignored me too. If they did have something to say, it was an insult. Even my teachers were cold. What did I do? Most people have never left the state. They don't need to. Everything is here, just an hour's drive at the most.
Everyone here also has a one-track mind. It is almost like, "if you weren't born here, you don't deserve to be accepted". I was made to introduce myself and when I said I was from Washington, everyone burst out laughing. Someone even asked me if I liked to get wet. Okay, so, Washington is a rainy state, but even my goldfish could come up with a better insult than that As you can tell, no one here is very bright. It's actually very irritating.
I had hoped that my new school was going to be like my old school in any way, shape, or form. I guess that hope was in vain because this school is the exact opposite. What you wear is the most important thing besides who your friends are. Right now, I have no friends and I don't know if I ever will.
The best thing to do is to play this game day by day. All I can do is hope for the best. I can survive this and I will lock the pain in my heart. I can and will survive this.
Sincerely,
Melanie Meyer
To my dearest writing companion,
I asked my father's friend about America, and he would not tell me anything. He insisted my place is here in England. In America, I would have no one, and I would have to go to a school to blend in. Naturally, there are hundreds of humans at decent sized high school, and he thinks I might not be able to control my thirst if I go there. Vampires and humans cannot live well together. Prey and predator are not supposed to exist in harmony. One exists to hunt the other, and the other exists to feel the other. That is not necessarily true, and I will prove it.
He threatened to tell my parents about my sudden interest in a new country if I talked about it further so I shall keep quiet for now, but now I am more interested in this place. It is time to do some research on my own. There is a library in the nearby human town. I can tell my parents I need a book to read.
After an entire hour of research, I found out what I need to know. Life there is much like life here, but people have more rights, and children can leave their parent's house when they are 18 and everyone can make their own choices. I have decided that it is time for me to leave. I cannot stay here when I know that there is more somewhere else.
I will pen my family a letter and leave it with my sister. Elizabeth is my first priority. We do not express it very well, but we are very close. She will miss me for all of the right reasons. I suppose what drove me to make this decision without a second thought was what I overheard one night when my parents were having one of their talks. They said I had to follow my father's example. Our family runs a small business, and I am expected to take over it. They do not care at all about my personal drams or goals. Elizabeth is fine. Father will not allow her to take over the business.
I am leaving very soon. As soon as Elizabeth awakes, I will say good-bye to her told my parents that I left on a vacation, and that I will take over the family business as soon as I return. My father is close to retiring, but he has other heirs besides me. I will find a friend and ask him to write to my parents saying that we were hunting when humans killed me and severely injured him so he could not return for my body.
It will sadden them, but I cannot stand to stay where my feelings and opinions mean nothing to my loved ones. My flight leaves in two days, then I will be free.
Yours Truly,
Gavin Jones
April 30
Dear Diary,
It was the second day at my new high school, and I have discovered that there are others like me outcasts that no one likes or wants anything to do with. At lunch, a girl sat across from me. She smiled at me. It was not a smirk, but a real friendly smile. She told me her name is Jessica. We became fast friends, and now, I think I might be able to bear going to school here.
The classes are easy. I am still barely speaking to my parents, and I have a new friend. Other than that, there is nothing more to write. Everything is good… sort of. I will write again when something interesting happens.
Yours,
Melanie Meyer
April 30
To my dearest writing companion,
I left my family late last night. Fortunately, Mother and Father had a dinner party with some old family friends last night. They left Elizabeth in the care of our maid, Joy. Elizabeth could sense something was troubling me, so she waited up until I came to see her. I told her I was leaving, and that she must take care of our parents in my stead. She did not ask where or why I was leaving. She simply nodded her head. I left a letter for our parents with her. She will give it to them in the morning, after my flight has left. They will assume I am hunting until then.
I told them that I was going to stay a friend in the north and if I do not return within a month, I was probably killed. They have no idea where that friend lives, so if I never return, they will assume I am dead. Elizabeth will not betray me.
Currently, I am sitting in the airport. It is dusk, so I have all night to fly across the ocean. If the flight does not reach America until dawn, I will find a way to blend in. From what I have heard, I assume the best way would be to attend a human school. So far, my thirst has been controllable. I leave in half an hour.
The flight went well. The humans thought I was just another tourist on my way home from a vacation in Europe, and now that my body is slightly used to denying my thirst, I can blend in easily. We are in New York City and there is an opening for the junior class at a high school. They asked where my parents were. I explained they were dead, and that I had to drop out to take care of my sick grandmother. I am 18, and I needed to go back to school to get on with my life.
I start in this new school in three days, on Monday. Until then, I must find a place to settle, and buy a suitable wardrobe with the money I had saved for this occasion. Maybe life here will not be as bad as I thought it would be at first. For the first time, I am free; I can be me without anyone telling me otherwise. Starting over was and is worth the freedom.
Yours Truly,
Gavin Jones