• Prolog: http://www.gaiaonline.com/arena/writing/fiction/vote/?entry_id=102691213#title

    I'm seventeen now. I've moved 21 times to keep my secret, and had gotten better at it as I went along. The time that I stayed in one place got longer each time, and The last one was almost 6 months. I was aiming for a year.

    Some of you may be wondering why I can still live like this. I was nine, so why am I not still nine? Doesn't the sun burn? Do I sleep in a coffn, or at all for that matter? No. A lot of those tales are lies. I can still grow. I'm going to keep growing until I reach about 20. As for the sun, a lot of the vampires don't like human kind to begin with, and the only thing the sun does is make everything brighter than usual, giving us nasty headaches. Something so simple, that I only have to wear sunglasses outside, all year round. And I'm not going to reside from human kind, because that would mean I would be embracing what I am. I hate what I am.

    Another big question would be what I drank. Yes, I have to drink blood, but I can't drink animal blood like a now popular believe from a recently published novel. A good way to solve this problem is to drink from those that no one would miss, the drunks and homeless. And I hate it. Sometimes they'll say they were going to kill themselves anyways, and it makes it a little bit better, but I still feel guilty. I haven't once tasted pure, untainted blood, a fact I proud myself in. I don't plan to.

    But I still try. I try to fit in. Pretend I'm human. I won't give in, and no one can make me.

    Which is what I'm doing this morning. Going to a new school. Like a normal new kid. Not like a vampire.

    I walked to bus stop. I got on the bus. I rode to the school. You can imagine the things I'm describing, so I'm not going to go into very much detail. I went to the office to get my schedule. English, Science, Trig, then the electives I chose. I didn't hate the teachers, but I didn't enjoy the classes, so I knew this school wouldn't be too bad. I went to lunch. Apparently they had enough tables, but not enough students, so I ended up with a table to myself. I figured it would be like that most of the time, what little time I would be there. I went to my electives, band, choir, art. The kids were excited it was Friday. The day ended. I went home. I didn't mind the never ending routine, the constant, not changing. I waited for school again, yet still glad I didn't have to go submit myself at a chance of spilling the secret.

    School came again, and I went. A girl who sat next to me in Science was starting to talk, to make conversation. I felt sorry for her, but I played along. She said her name was Cassidy, and I liked it; it stood out. I went to lunch, and to my usual table. Apparently Cassidy had friends, so I wasn't going to bother her. She didn't say anything about it, so I assumed she didn't mind.

    It was half way through lunch, the first time I saw him. He made the mistake of walking past, accidently bumping my arm. I smelled his blood, and my instincts made me look up. He turned around and muttered something that could have been "sorry". And in that brief moment our eyes met, my heart stopped. Yes, it's corny, but if you've ever experienced it, you would know it was true. You would know that is what happens when you fall in love.

    And in that same moment, my now stopped heart broke.