One Story, Four Lives, and the Thing that Changed Them All

I was born a poor black boy. 

Lol JK. But if you don't get that movie reference... well then... well, I guess it's an old movie. But it's freaking hilarious. Anywho...

Okay then. That was probably the worst intro ever. Now to my real point... As soon as I figure out what that is. Maybe we can talk about Vinny. I like Vinny. 

Vinny was born a poor black boy. 

Yea nevermind. 

I suppose he was born like every other vampire. With parents and stuff. Except they were no ordinary vampire parents! Oooooooh. I know, vampires aren't exactly ordinary anyways. 

Except his parents were super geniuses. Like amazing schools and over 4.0 GPA and million-dollar jobs geniuses. And so naturally they want him to be, too. He went to a private Elementary school in New York, and then his parents moved him here to this 'private'-ish school (we'll go into that later) for specifically people with our... attributes. Like pixies and vampires and shape-shifters and the various subspecies in existence. But enough on that. 

So he joined the football team freshman year and was instantly sucked into the group of jocks that Spencer and Aiden and another kid named Glen fearlessly led. And by default, he was soon introduced to us. 

Remember how we said that hybridization is frowned upon quite heavily? Well in the high school we went to, there was interracial dating, but never anything more serious than holding hands, PDA and the occasional hookup. But the 'No Glove, No Love' and 'Don't be silly, wrap your willie' portion of our health curriculum was stressed very heavily, and the whole female population was forced to attend a semesterly birth control seminar. 

But anywho, sophomore year I encouraged him to ask out Amelia. Well, there was more than encouragement to be done, but it happened. And they were happy for the last two thirds of sophomore and first half of junior year. Until he broke up with her for no good reason. 

But don't you worry, dear reader. There was a reason. And I found out not long after.
**

"Uuuuugh why?" I groaned, coming out of the dressing room stall. I was wearing a pretty much adorable dress, but I didn't like what I would be wearing it for. 

"It's cute," Amelia said, picking at the fabric and straightening it. She already had hers picked out. A super cute baby blue strapless. Perfect for homecoming. 

I, on the other hand, had managed to find another pair of Converse, two more pairs of skinnies, and a couple really cute tops. But nothing resembling the reason why we went shopping today. I hated dresses. An dances. And the fact that you have to wear dresses to dances. And the fact that you have to dance. Dance in a dress, no less. Cruelty. 

"No." I escaped back into the dressing room and peeled it off. By the time I was done, another one had been hung over the door. This one was cute. 

It was short, one-shouldered and long sleeved. It was satin with burgundy rose-patterned lace fitted over the top. It was pretty and elegant and I really liked it. I slipped it on, letting Amelia zip up the back. It was comfy, too. 

"I think this is the one," I said, touching the hem. 

Amelia grinned at me. "Really?" I nodded and was pushed back in the stall. She banged on my door as I was pulling on my jeans. 

"Fredrick wants us back at the house soon," she called. I frowned. The only true enforcement he did was a strict eleven o'clock curfew, given by Amelia's father, and a relatively healthy diet. He never really wanted us anywhere. 

"Why? Is your dad coming back?" I asked, naming the only idea I could think of as I wriggled back into my Converse. 

"God I hope not. He just left yesterday." I envisioned her lip curling. "Egh. Anywho, he didn't say. I think dinner is getting close to being done. Anyway, he wants us home soon." She paused.  "Six o'clock. We have just enough time to get you some shoes!"

I threw open the door. "How about no."

"Oh, C'mon. Just some black pumps. They'll go perfectly."

"Cool then you can pick them up for me before homecoming. You rock." I pushed past  her to the cash register and pulled my wallet out of my purse, but Amelia cut me off with a grin and a Happy Birthday. She handed me the bag and we left, stopping to get Starbucks on the way home. 

We pulled up to her house and I noted Vinny's car. I smiled inwardly and Amelia slid her car in next to it. We walked up the steps and into the foyer. The main sitting room- the one with the TV where we usually hang out- was dark, which was odd. I glanced at Amelia, but she passed me, going into the dim room. I followed her suspiciously-

-and was nearly flattened against the wall by the deafening 'Surprise!' and blinding lights. 

I choked on my spit a bit because if the shock, but managed to muster up a pitiful 'oh' to go along with it. I didn't manage much more than 'Thank you's and 'You rock, too's for the next few minutes. 

Soon, music was blasting, food was out, and it was a full-scale party with pretty much every senior and a few juniors, Freshman being the youngest and only sophomore. I feel we really did go out of our way to make her feel special. 

A while later I realized that I was still holding my bag with the dress in it. I started up to my room an saw Vinny standing awkwardly while a girl made great efforts to get in his pants. I winked at him, not really an invitation, but enough of one that I wasn't surprised when he appeared in my room a few seconds after me. 

"Happy birthday," he grinned, wrapping me in a hug. 

"I hate surprises," I murmured. "But this one was okay." He chuckled and pulled me closer if that was even possible but it happened and it took me a second to realize that this really shouldn't be happening right now and that the dress still needed to be hung up. 

I mumbled some awkward words that would hopefully result in my excuse and grabbed a hanger out of the closet. 

"Avery-"

I turned around to face him. "Honestly, just not today. I just... Aaaah."

"I don't understand why you're fighting it."

I don't either. "Because Amelia-"

"Amelia what? Amelia probably wouldn't care."

I frowned. "What if... We can't risk-" I put my hands on my face and rubbed my eyes. "What if we like eachother too much?" That seemed to suffice because he didn't have a response to it. "I'm sorry," I said. 

He  opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by  quiet knock in the door. I set the hanger down next to the still unhung dress and went to answer it. Freshman was standing there looking like she had just seen a ghost. 

"Am-Amelia is looking for you," she stuttered. 

"Thanks, Love. I'll be down in a second."

Vinny slipped out the door while I finished putting the dress away, then I headed downstairs. A huge chorus of Happy Birthday started up as I entered the living room. A table had been set up with a four-tiered cake on it. It was pretty much my life on a cake. 

The bottom layer was Supernatural meets Doctor Who. There was even a shirtless close-up of Season 1 Sam and Dean(their best looking season in my opinion) and  on the other side cute little Adventure Time-esque drawings of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors. The next layer was all Criminal Minds with emphasis on Spencer. The next-to-last layer had Converse and Sally and puppies and some random flowers on it, and the final layer was dedicated to the Impala and the TARDIS. 

I thought I was going to cry. I walked up to blow out the birthday candles, and paused, taking it all in. "I don't even want to cut into it. Do you think we can go get me a cheap Walmart came and just save this one?" I asked Amelia. 

"No," she laughed. "Fear not. We took a shot ton of pictures."

I cautiously blew out the candles and almost slapped Fredrick's hand as he wheeled the table-that-was-actually-a-cart into the kitchen to murder my beautiful cake. 

But as I shoved my piece into my mouth, it was pretty much worth it.