Vlad sighed as he flipped through an old photo album. He would stop every few seconds and stare at a photograph. Usually it would be one of a younger version of Vlad and of a young redheaded girl who looked somewhat like Jasmine Fenton. But it definitely was not Jasmine Fenton. Her name had been Madeline Lisa Porter, and she was only a few months younger than Vlad.

Now she was Madeline Lisa Fenton, and it pained Vlad so to be reminded of that every time that pathetic half-ghost Daniel showed up. It pained him to be reminded that Daniel was not his son, but Jack's. It pained him to know that Madeline had chosen someone else over him. Why? They had been so happy together. What had changed?

Vlad stared at a photograph of he and Maddie their sophomore year. It was actually during the summer beforehand, and there weren't any more pictures from that year until the next school year. Vlad's right arm was wrapped around Maddie's waist, and they were both laughing. Vlad sighed deeply. He remembered what had happened just a month earlier.

"Vlad, I'm sorry," Maddie said, her tears welling up. "But I can't be with you anymore. I… can't take the pressure of being the perfect girlfriend. I…" Vlad closed his eyes and sighed. He knew what it really was.

"I understand, Mads," he said softly. Maddie hugged him and then headed off to her house around the corner.

"Something wrong, Vladdie," a voice asked, and Vlad turned around to see his older sister Janie smiling at him. When she saw his expression, her smile turned into a frown. "What's the matter, sport?"

"Maddie just… broke up with me," Vlad said. Janie crossed her arms in annoyance.

"What did you say to her? You had to have done something, she was so totally in love with you," Janie accused. Vlad looked at his feet.

"I…" Vlad said, trailing off. He looked up to see his sister's glare and shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see his sister's expression at his next statement. "We…she came over one night when you weren't home. I… I didn't force her to do anything, I swear." He could feel his own cheeks heat up and he could feel Janie's undying gaze on him.

"Vladimir Ishmael Masters, I cannot believe you!" Janie screamed. "If you'd have said something to her, that would have been different. You can take back words. You can't take back… Vlad, I can't believe you would do something like that."

"I… I'm sorry," Vlad said. "She probably hates me now." Janie closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she saw a tear fall to the ground at his feet. She wrapped her arms around her younger brother and hugged him longingly.

"She doesn't hate you," Janie said. "She just… wasn't ready. She needs time to think. Then she'll get back together with you. Give her some space, okay?" Vlad nodded against her chest and she let him go. "Now, go on home. I'm headed to the store to get some milk. I'll see you in a little bit." They parted, heading in opposite directions.

Then, a few weeks later, Maddie had approached Vlad with some horrifying, if not surprising information.

"Vlad, I want to get back together with you," she said, then held up her hand when Vlad opened his mouth. "It's not because I'm done thinking about what happened. There are more pressing issues at hand that are to be addressed first."

"Like?" Vlad asked, wanting an explanation. Maddie sighed.

"I'm… I'm pregnant," she said. Vlad just stared at her in shock. "And I'm scared."

If you looked close enough and really scrutinized the photograph, you would see that the younger Maddie did indeed have a small lump in her belly, but it was extremely small and unnoticeable to the glancing eye. The reason there weren't any pictures throughout sophomore year:

According to Maddie and Vlad, that whole year didn't exist.