Chapter 5: Falling Apart

Jake's POV:

I swallowed the last bit of cereal in my mouth and sighed. I still wanted more Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Ever since my vampirism kicked in, it never tasted like the sugary cinnamon cereal it once was to me. It didn't quite satisfy me anymore either. I suppose it makes sense though because the only thing that will fill me up now is blood. The thumping of footsteps came down the stairs and a wave of anger filled me. Ah, it would seem Alexandria was in a bad mood again and we were all going to be scapegoats. I thought about if it was because of her boyfriend, but that was an obvious answer. I grabbed the milk from the fridge and walked back to the table.

Alexandria growled as she stomped into the kitchen and yanked the refrigerator door open, almost breaking it. She grabbed a bottle of blood and noticed me sitting at the table when I began pouring another bowl. I ignored her and kept pouring my cereal when she suddenly slammed the fridge door closed. I frowned and glanced up at her before looking back at the milk jug in my hand. She walked over to the table and loudly dragged a chair away from the table. She sat down, smiling and taking small sips of the blood. I knew it was only a matter of time before she exploded on me. I raised an eyebrow at her as I put the cap back on the milk and took a spoonful of cereal into my mouth. She sighed and cracked her knuckles while glaring at me. I rolled my eyes which only made her growl. I had to try hiding my smirk by eating more cereal as she leaned closer to me. The cereal went down the wrong pipe and I started to choke, coughing in her face accidentally. Her eyes turned black and I internally groaned. I just wanted to eat my cereal in peace.

"Little brother, you have to tell the girl about being mates before I do it instead." She snapped. I blinked at her before taking a swig from her blood bottle. I took another spoon of cereal while looking at her. I chewed slowly and then swallowed.

"Vinnie already knows... I'm pretty sure. If she doesn't, she'll know soon enough at the party anyway. And stop calling me your little brother." I huffed and continued to eat my Cinnamon Toast Crunch. One of the best cereals out there. She stood up abruptly, making the chair fall back and grabbed my shirt. I dropped my spoon and groaned as it clattered on the floor. She stared into my eyes before leaning over to my ear.

"You are younger than me, Jake. Don't forget, I will end you!" She whispered and I scoffed. She let go of my shirt, shoving me back.

I smirked, "You and what army?"

"What's up with the yelling, man? I'm trying to sleep." Alexandra huffed as she rubbed her eyes. She glared at Dria and opened her mouth but I cleared my throat and spoke first.

"I'm only 6 seconds younger than both of you." I retorted.

"Shut the fuck up and Alexandra, stay out of this." Dria snapped.

"Is it your time of the month or something?" I tilted my head to the side, smiling.

Her eyes widened at my remark and I could see the depths of hell burning in her eyes. I just made her very angry. I could hear Lex chuckling and I started to laugh too. Dria flipped the table over and launched herself at me. My cereal! I stood up and tried backing away, but I slipped in my spilled cereal and fell onto the floor with Dria on top of me. I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut as pain radiated in my ankle and arms. Dria punched my chest repeatedly before I pushed her off. I opened my eyes to see her eyes filled with tears. I raised my eyebrows in concern but she growled and ran at me again.

I put her in a headlock and made sure I wasn't actually choking her out. She squirmed and whimpered as she tried to get out of it. As Dria tried and failed to, Lex jumped on my back, laughing evilly.

I gasped and jolted forward but made sure I didn't accidentally bust Dria's head open by rolling, but I landed on Lex. She yelped and pushed me off of her which made me let go of Dria. I fell against some cabinets and one of them broke off. I cursed under my breath at what the destruction we had caused but started to laugh along with Lex who was rubbing her back. Dria wiped her face quickly, thinking neither of us would notice, but we did. Lex and I glanced at each other and she started laughing too. We decided not to ruin the atmosphere with questions and just went along with it. Her bad mood seemed to have passed.

A tall figure appeared in the entryway of the kitchen and we all froze.

"Dad..." We said together.

"What is this mess!? What the hell did you three do to the kitchen!?" Dad yelled. I flinched while Alexandria backed behind me and Alexandra. Damn. We were in big trouble now.

I got up from the floor after Alexandria got off of me. I was going be sore tomorrow but my bruises were already healing. I smoothed out my clothes and got some cinnamon milk on my hands. I frowned and wiped it on the dry parts of my pants. It should be inside of me not on me. I'm going to get Dria back for making me waste my cereal. No one comes in between me and my Cinnamon Toast Crunch. No one. Not even Vinnie. Well, that's a maybe.

I rubbed my eyes and saw Dad standing in front of us, his face contorted in anger. If he was a balloon he would have already popped.

"What is..." He looked back and lowered his voice.

"What is going on?!" He whispered.

I guessed mom was sleeping and he didn't want to wake her up. She was sleeping for three (twins). It runs in the family from Dad's side I guess.

"Well," I began."Dria started it. She kept telling me to tell Vinnie and she kept calling me her little brother. She just suddenly attacked me." I scoffed and crossed my arms.

"I'm very shaken up." I cleared my throat from the "lump" that had formed and blinked back fake tears.

I turned to glare at Dria. My eyes met her fully black ones and I growled instinctively. My eyes chilled over. Once a vampire sees another vampire with their black eyes staring at them, instincts kick in telling them it's a threat. I hissed at her and she hissed back, her fangs descending. Dad sighed and walked over to us. We looked back at him.

"Alexandria's right. You have to go to the mate party tonight and tell the girl you're her mate. She probably doesn't even know what she's feeling. Isn't she human?" He gave me a stern look and my eyes warmed back up. Dria stuck her tongue out at me. So immature.

"Go get ready. All three of you and go upstairs quietly." I looked at my clothing and sighed.

Now I would have to change and take another shower because I smelled like cinnamon. I groaned and pushed Dria on the way upstairs. She yelped and tripped over a step, falling down but not before grabbing my ankle. I fell and hit my chin on the top stair as I slid down a few. I growled and rubbed my chin as I narrowed my eyes at her. She smiled innocently. Before I could say something, dad growled.

"I said quietly!" He roared.

I scrambled up the rest of the stairs and ran into my room, pushing Dria face first into her closed bedroom door. She huffed at me as I closed my door and stuck my tongue out at her. I decided I could take a few hours since the party wasn't until 10. I guess I could relax in the meantime and find out how I was going to talk to Vinnie about being her mate since it seemed she couldn't tell at all. I guess I'll figure it out after I see her at the party. Aimme told me she would definitely be going so of I needed to look my best when she saw me again. I threw off my shirt and looked in my closet for some new clothes. It was then that I realized I had barely anything that looked good. I sighed and thumbed through the clothing until I came across a pair of black jeans and a navy blue shirt. I smiled and took them down, finally happy I had at least some pairs of impressing clothing. I laid them on my bed and went to go take a shower. Damn you Alexandria Rein.

* * *

I went downstairs and picked up one of my black converse sneakers that I had left down here, putting it on and fixing my hair. I looked at the time on my phone to see that we had spent most of the afternoon getting ready. It was already 10 pm and I was all ready to go. Well, I was but it seems one person wasn't near being ready. I sighed and plopped down on the couch, playing Tetris as Lex came down. She was in a pair of black sweats and a purple tank top, hoodie in hand. I grimaced and shook my head as she tied her hair into a messy bun. She was never happy about the mate parties and everyone in the family knew she would probably be the last one to find hers. As she sat down, Dad came out of the kitchen with four bottles of blood. He gave me a look and headed back upstairs, no doubt to deliver those to mom. Maybe that would be me in a few years if everything between me and Vinnie went well. I smiled to myself.

Dria finally came down the stairs wearing a pink dress with a strawberry pattern all over paired with light pink vans to match. I sighed and got up, stretching.

"I'm ready." She beamed and I rolled my eyes. For someone already having a mate, she certainly dressed to impress.

"Finally. We thought you died up there." Lex and I murmured. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the keys and I huffed. I was supposed to be driving but I guess this was fine too. As long as it wasn't Lex. It was time

________________________

Carly's POV:

I glared at my ceiling as I lied in bed. Apparently there was a snitch and somehow the principal had found out what had happened. I was suspended and they called my parents which is why I'm in my room and not at that mate party. I groaned and grabbed a pillow, throwing it at my mirror above my dresser. I watched it wobble before the hook came loose and it fell onto my wooden floor, shattering. I groaned and stared at it for a while. I could just use my powers to fix it, but I didn't feel like doing that. Instead, I turned on my speaker and blared some rock music at full volume to make my parent mad. They could eat shit. As I started to lay down, my phone started vibrating and I sighed. Aaron had been calling me multiple times trying to get back together just because he was human and I wasn't. I'd been screening his calls since after school yesterday, hoping he'd get the hint. Apparently he didn't. I looked at the caller ID to see it was Aimme.

I bunched my lips to the side, nibbling on the inside of my cheek as I debated on whether to answer it. I kind of wanted to be alone and didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. Even Aimme wasn't on my side and I was kind of hurt. My thumb hovered over the answer button and I bit my lip. She was my best friend so I should probably answer it. Maybe I could also apologize. I sighed and slid the answer button as I shut my music off.

"What?" My voice held an annoyed tone but I hoped Aimme didn't notice. It was hard to turn off my mean side when I was always putting it up at school. I didn't want her to get mad at me for something that wasn't directed at her.

"Carls... no, Carly. I've been doing some thinking about our friendship and I've come to realize that I don't want to follow you around anymore. I'm tired of being your lackey and being treated like... like shit! From here on out, I don't want you to text me, call me, or contact me ever again. I'm done... I have to be." She sighed and I frowned. Was that how she saw me?

"Wait... Aimme, that isn't-" Before I could finish my sentence, she hung up and all that was left was the call ended screen.

I dropped my phone onto my dresser and sat there stunned. I mean I knew I shouldn't have tried to act tough with Aimme considering she was the only person who truly understood me. It was just that I wanted to be stronger and seen as confident. I guess I really blew it though. I didn't know how to react to this and it was taking all my willpower to not cry. Maybe it was just a joke and tomorrow I'd facetime her like nothing happened. I swallowed and tried calling her instead. The call was instantly sent to voice mail and my eyes widened. She blocked my number? I stared at the picture of Aimme and I on her contact photo as tears blurred my vision. She had her tongue sticking out and I had mine out too. Tears began to fall from my eyes and I tried to blink them back once. What the hell was today? I just lost my friend since childhood just because I was being a total bitch. The sobs racked my body and I started my music again. I let them out and threw my phone at the wall before burying my face in my pillow. Why am I breaking down like this? I haven't cried like this since elementary. I fucking hate this.

*Flashback*

I was sat there sobbing as the group of kids picked on me for wearing thick glasses and having short hair. One of the instigators, Michael, grabbed at my hair and pulled it. I screamed at him and started crying more. I looked around but everyone in the background was ignoring my cries for help. Even the teacher was staring at his phone, not paying attention to the bullying. My parents didn't even believe me and told me it was just kids being kids. Michael let go, grinning at me as tears ran down my cheeks. They all kicked dirt onto my pink dress and walked away to play on the jungle gym. Mom was going to be angry with me for getting my dress dirty again. I put my face in my hands and cried. What did I do to deserve this?

Footsteps were coming towards me and I flinched, looking up. I thought they were coming back to taunt me but when my eyes focused, it was a girl with blond pigtails and bangs. She pulled tissues out of her jeans and crouched down to me, taking off my glasses. I moved away but she smiled at me as she wiped away my tears. She put my glasses back on and stood up, holding out her hand.

"Here." She smiled and I frowned. I took her hand.

"I'm Aimme. What's your name?"

"I'm C... Carly." I pushed up my glasses. Aimme smiled at me.

"It's nice to meet you."

I sniffled, smiling a bit at how nice she was being. Maybe I could finally make a friend, but I would have to become mentally and emotionally stronger if I wanted to stand next to her one day. I needed to take back my life instead of being the victim anymore. I would no longer sit here and take the bullying. I'm not going to be on this side anymore. I took out a tissue and wiped my eyes then my nose. I marched over to where Michael was and kicked him in the nuts. He fell down as all the other kids crowded around us. A teacher came out to see what all the commotion was as he started crying. I smirked down at him as he looked up at me. This was it. This power... I needed it.

*End of flashback*

That day changed my life forever and made me into who I was. I promised myself that I wouldn't let anyone stand in the way of what I wanted and no one would pick on me anymore. I guess that's why I started doing all this. How did I become the exact person I had hated? I met Aimme back then and it'd been a good ride with her, but now I have no one. My heart clenched and I rolled onto my side, trying to breathe through my stuffy nose but to no avail. My eyes were hot and I couldn't picture anyone I could turn to. Certainly not Emily or Aaron. She just follows me around like a lost dog and I didn't even like Aaron. We weren't even really dating. I sat up and wiped my eyes. I stood and grabbed a big piece of my mirror, taking out my contacts. Everything went instantly blurry but I didn't mind. There was only one thing left for me to do. I climbed to the other side of my bed to avoid the glass and walked out to my balcony. I looked up at the night sky and took deep breaths, cold air swirling in my lungs. I got up on the bars and squeezed my eyes shut. I knew the jump would probably kill me and there was only one way to find out. Soon I'll be in peace and maybe then... I would find redemption. I leaned forward and felt my body fall down. Everything went black.