Chapter 4: Cake and Apologies

It was ten thirty at night and I was stuck not being able to sleep. What had happened at school kept replaying in my mind and each time I remembered how J's cold hand caressed my check, my heart pinged. He had to be a vampire because of how cold he was, but that wasn't the only thing that had me wide awake. My craving for my mom's chocolate pudding cake made my stomach rumble and it wasn't going away no matter how much water I drank. It was the best cake I have ever had and I couldn't wait until my eighteenth birthday. Mom told me she would give me the recipe then and after that, it would go from generation to generation. It was worth waiting for, but I had no patience for this. I would have Francine analyze it and find out the ingredients yet, I've been told that was going overboard and crazy. I ran my hand over my face and got out of bed. I was going for the cake.

I stretched my limbs and tied my hair into a better bun before tiptoeing to the door. As I carefully opened it, I peeked my head through the small crack and looked at my parents' door. It was closed, but the lights were off. I slipped out of my room and snuck past their room, making my way downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and counted to three before opening up the refrigerator slowly. I cringed at the velcro-like sound it made and paused for a second, checking if anyone was coming downstairs. I sighed a breath of relief and bent down to search for my objective. I found it on the bottom shelf behind the salad and a pan covered in saran wrap. A smirk formed on my face as I placed to the salad on the top shelf and slowly slid the pan to the side. As I grabbed the cake container, I noticed the whipped cream leaning against it. It began to fall as I moved the cake and my hand quickly reached for it. I knew mom placed it precariously so it would crash against the bars of the shelf, alerting mom and dad that I was trying to get another piece of cake. I shook my head and put the can upright before taking the cake out.

I placed it on the counter and took off the top. The scent of chocolate hit my nose and my mouth began to water. Finally, it was going to be mine. I picked up the smallest piece of cake and bit into it. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as the cold, moist chocolate touched my taste buds. I silently moaned and went in for another bite as someone tapped my shoulder. I whipped around with wide eyes only to see my thirteen year old brother standing there with an eyebrow raised. With my eyes narrowed, I moved away from the cake and let Ken get his piece. He stared at it in awe for a bit before taking the biggest slice and stuffing almost half into his mouth. He groaned and nodded, taking several bites. I nudged his shoulder softly and smiled. Ken smiled back and I moved to put the top back on the container when he grabbed my arm to stop me. The top skittered out of my hand and fell into the sink with loud clanging. I gasped and grabbed it, popping it back onto place and putting the cake back in the fridge in the position it was in before. With the salad bowl in front of it again, I glared at Ken as we both hurried upstairs as quickly as we could without making noise. The greedy bastard probably got us found out.

As I got to my room, I could see that the light in my parents' room had turned on. I cursed and ran back to my room and closing the door. I jumped into bed and assumed my position underneath my covers. I knew mom or dad would come check on me . I closed my eyes as I heard my door open and feigned sleep until I heard the door close again. I waited a few seconds before removing the cover and sighed. That was a close call. I sat up and fixed my tank top, seeing that I got some chocolate on it. I rubbed it away at the same time that I heard a clink at my window. I lifted my head and paused for a bit to see if I was just imagining it. Our tree in the backyard was starting to grow a lot more so maybe one of the longer branches was scratching against my window. I would have to tell dad about this in the morning if that was the case.

There was another clink and one louder than the previous. It definitely wasn't the tree. I threw off my covers and hurried to the window. Everyone would hear this if it kept continuing and it wouldn't be good for me or the other person, whoever they were. I opened my window and a pebble hit my forehead, making me recoil. I bit my lip to keep from crying out and rubbed at the spot. I heard a small "shit" and I looked back outside. To my surprise it was Aimme standing there. Why was she here and how did she know where I lived? I moved away the curtains and frowned at her. She waved at me before signalling that I should move back. She was going to come in?! I let out a whine and moved away from it as she climbed tree and leapt toward my window ledge. I turned back to my door and decided to lock it. When I turned back to my window, Aimme was inside pushing her bangs out of her eyes. I didn't notice it before, but her hair was a very weird shade of blond. It was close to white and seemed to glow yellow. This wasn't the time to worry about her hair though. She had no reason to be here unless Carly sent her and if that was the case, I made a grave mistake by letting her in.

"What do you want?" I whispered. She rubbed her hands together and cleared her throat quietly.

"I'm sorry for what Carly did earlier." Aimme said, her dark blue eyes boring into mine. They were full of sincerity and regret, but I didn't want her apology. I averted my gaze and sighed.

"I... I want Carly... to apologize, not you." I rolled my eyes and rubbed at my forehead as it started to throb. Damn rock.

"She even doesn't know I'm here right now and it'd be a long time before she actually does this herself. I wanted to help you back then but..." Aimme rubbed her eyes.

Before I have time to respond, she was crying her eyes out and I threw my head back. I always hated it when people cried. It made me uncomfortable and had my eyes start burning with tears because I didn't want to see someone hurt. I walked up to her and placed my hand on her shoulder and patted it. I didn't know what to do at this moment but I knew Aimme was a good person. She was just following the wrong person. If she wasn't Carly's best friend, I had a feeling we would be on good terms. At the moment, our relationship was just awkward. Especially at this moment as I kept trying to quiet her down and comfort her to my best ability.

"I forgive you, but... not Carly. She didn't need to... slap me. I didn't even... do anything." I gulped and rubbed my cheek, blushing when I remembered J touched it. She let out a soft sniffle and nodded. Aimme pulled away from me and wiped her face. I went to my tissue box and grabbed some, giving them to her. She wiped the corner of her eyes and rubbed her nose. A small smile formed on my face as she did. It reminded me of a little kid.

"Would you like to go to a party?" Aimme asked, smiling at me. I raised my eyebrows.

A party? Why would she think that someone like me would go to a party? I wasn't a social person and a party would only make my anxiety kick in. I couldn't do it. I didn't want to have a cup of tampered water or juice and wake up in the bed of a random stranger. I looked at her and shook my head. She frowned.

"Your friends will be there. I'm sure they'd want you to come too." Aimme replied and I shook my head again

"I'm okay with staying home. I don't go to parties. This has been a nice talk but, it's pretty late." I smiled and walked to my window. She ran a hand over her face and cast her eyes to the ceiling. She gasped and grabbed my hand.

"Jake Rein will be there." She grinned and I stopped. His name started with a J and his last name was Rein. He was going to be at the party too so... it wouldn't hurt to go too. Heat built up in my cheeks as I looked at Aimme. My face heated up as I looked down at Aimme who was still smiling. She knew something I didn't know. Either way, I wasn't going to go, but all that filled my brain was yes.

"Where is it?" I groaned internally. I didn't want to say that at all. Maybe Aimme could get people to agree to things they didn't want to.

"2909 Terrance Drive on Clover Street. The party is tomorrow around... ten." She smiled. "I guess I'll be seeing you there."

"Tomorrow!?" I exclaimed as she stepped a leg out the window. I covered my mouth and looked back at my door just in case anyone heard me. No sounds came from the hallway and I removed my hand.

"I can't. I have-"

When I turned back, Aimme was gone. I hurried to the window but she was nowhere to be found. I rubbed my eyes and sighed, closing my window. I sat down on my bed and stared at the blue curtains, processing what was just said to me. Aimme, what have you done? Now I'm actually considering going since I said I would. I laid down and slid underneath my covers. I grabbed my stuffed giraffe and closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep.

I was in this place again, except now there were more animals than ever and in the middle of them was Light sitting down and staring up at the stars, smiling. Everything was the same, yet different. The biggest difference out of everything was... I could finally see Light's face and he looked just like Jake. I blinked and rubbed my eyes as I walked toward him, jumping over sleeping animals. He noticed me coming closer and smiled. I stood in front of him and knelt down, clenching my jaw. He was real and all I needed was to ask. Then I'd ask him why he hid it from me for two months. My heart was pounding in my chest and I couldn't meet his eyes. He sat up straight and put his head in my line of sight so that I was forced to look at him.

"You-"

"Are you... Jake Rein?" I asked, staring into his eyes. The same ones. He moved away and sighed.

"Yeah... that's my name. I'm sorry Vinnie, I just didn't... have the guts to tell you." Jake grabbed my hand. I raised my head and touched his face.

"This whole time I've been calling you Light. I like Jake better." I smiled.

His face deadpanned and his eyes blackened. I gulped as he looked down before looking at me again. I was about to say something when he came forward and kissed me. As he did, the stars started shining brighter and I could hear a gentle hum come from somewhere around us. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. Jake pulled me closer before pulling away. He held my hand and chuckled nervously. That was my first kiss. Well, dream kiss.

"I'm sorry. You just said my name and it... made me happy." He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at me. I smiled and hoped the rest of the dream would end well. As long as he was holding my hand, there was no doubt that it would.