Okay, so I know like it seems like I've lost interest in this story, but that's not true. What I've lost is my free time. I hardly ever have time 4 anything anymore. . .Sports, friends, family, parties, getting ready 4 school . . . It really is crazy. Actually it's really quiet sad that I rather b at home on my computer wenever i'm out. But I make do, have fun and make the best of everything. Even tho the longer I go w/o writing I feel like withdrawel is hitting me. Anyway, I'll try and make this chapter better . . . Seeing that ppl r filing complaints.

Pressure

I sat on the steps outside the dance studio, waiting for Austin to pick me up. I had my own car but I hadn't driven here. I'd gotten a ride with my friend Diana. She'd offered me a ride home but I'd declined, saying that Austin was picking me up. But he was running late, he'd texted saying that football had run late and he was on his way. But the school was at least twenty minutes away, and I doubted I could just sit there waiting much longer.

I sighed and rested my head on my knees, knotting my fingers into my hair tightly. I just felt really stressed lately. With school starting back up again there was bound to be a decent amount of stress but this was insane. I had dance every afternoon after school and then I had to work on all my insane homework. I usually liked to go to the Kardigan's, but it was becoming a hassle. Luna was keeping everyone up so they were all on edge, especially Austin. Kate was taking a leave from school so her and Domingo didn't have any other obligations to really worry about. But Austin had school, football, homework, Council meetings, and could never sleep when he was home. He was especially exhausted and sometimes came over my house just so he could sleep.

It was the middle of October. Luna's baby shower a few weeks ago had gone pretty well, other then the Odysseus and Attis episodes. We were able to keep those on the DL pretty much though. There was a brief article in Azimon tabloid about how Attis Payne (son of Aquilon Payne, Mayor of Askelpios, an Azimon city in southern Canada) had supposedly been half drained by Princess Vitani, but it was brief and there was no proof.

Vitani had been spiraling since then, just like all of us. We suspected that she was Blood Bound to Attis, but she had refused to feed from him since, and was slowly losing her mind. Her antics ranged from talking to herself and writing nonsense on her walls to throwing major fits and spending nights on the roof. Attis, I'd heard, was also losing it from not being fed from by his vampire in weeks; it would drive a Blood Donor crazy. Athan was just completely confused by all the strange behavior, I'd been told. I felt bad for him.

Not like things were going so smoothly for me either though. I was busy and stressed all the time, and so was my best friend and boyfriend. Not to mention, my little sister was acting like a pysco. I felt like I was about to crack too, waiting for things to get better. But they weren't, and I had no idea how long it would take. When Athan found about Vitani's affair? When football season ended? When Luna could sleep through the night? When?

I moaned out loud, not sure when all of this would just stop. I could just feel this pressure over all of this . . . Like someone was about to break. Like something was going to happen. Like something was going to change. And it wouldn't be good. I wasn't sure if it was a pyscic feeling or just a regular old paranoid feeling. It was hard to tell . . . But I felt like I was waiting for something . . . Just sitting around and waiting for something bad to happen so I'd know what I had to fix. So I'd have a purpose, a challenge to worry about. A problem to solve. It was better then sitting around and waiting and losing my mind.

I looked up when the lambo pulled up front. I sat still as stone though, not making a move for the car. I felt frozen for some reason. I'd gotten a strange prick in the back of my neck, telling me that something was about to happen immediatly. After a few seconds, Austin got out of the car and walked around to the other side. He looked beat. He'd changed back into his normal clothes but his hair was saturated with sweat. He had shadows under his eyes but he looked concerned.

"Becca?" he asked, walking over to the stoop and sitting down, "You okay?"
I didn't make a move; I still felt frozen. But he probably thought I was giving him the silent treatment.

"You mad at me or something?" he asked, "I'm sorry I'm late. Practice ran late."
I still didn't answer.

"Becca?" he repeated, "You're not really that pissed are you?"
I still felt paralyzed as I tried to decipher the meaning of the weird feeling I'd just gotten. Was it good or bad? I couldn't tell . . . It could be either.

"Rebecca," he said in a voice like the crack of a whip, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
My body jolted and I shook my head, noting how I'd regained movement.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, "I got a weird feeling."
"Again?" he asked, "That's like the third this week."

"I know . . . "
"They're getting worse, I think," he said.

"Yeah me too . . . And I'm getting less visions. Just feelings . . . Feelings, feelings, feelings," I ranted, "I hate feelings. I hate feeling."
"Would you rather be emotionless?" he asked, seeming oddly serious.

I looked at him. "Sometimes," I said.
"Me too," he agreed, "Like right now."

"Why?" I asked, expecting him to break some kind of horrible news.
"Because I feel so nervous I feel like I'm going to be sick," he said, and that's when I noticed the way he was anxiously tapping his foot. He didn't do that often.

"Why are you nervous?" I asked worriedly. What would he have to be nervous about? Was Aurora coming back for us? She'd been dormant for so long . . .
"Because of this," he said, shocking me into silence as he moved so that he was on one knee in front of me. He pulled out a jewelry box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful ring with a huge beautifully cut diamond. The silver band was adorned in all sorts of different colored tiny crystals. They reflected the sky light, causing a rainbow of light all around. I sucked in a deep breath.

"So . . . You wanna marry me?'