"Leora! Wake up!"

I groan and cover my head with my pillow, not wanting to get out of bed. I roll onto my side and ignore Elena, preferring to go to sleep rather than go to school. I feel the covers get yanked away so I open my eyes to the scowling face of my very annoyed sister.

"You're going to be late." Elena says, exasperated. I turn away from her.

"What do you care? This is the first time you showed any interest in a while." I mumble, turning to look at Elena. There's a flash of hurt on Elena's face before it quickly turns back into her emotionless façade. She looks out my window.

"It's easier this way." Elena whispers, her mind far away from here. I reach out and grab her hand, gently squeezing it.

"Not for us." I say, jerking my head in the direction of our brother's bedroom. Elena looks out into the hall and bites her lip. She sits there for a moment, consumed by her own thoughts, but then seems to figure it out and gets up.

"See you downstairs in five." Elena says, not looking at me, as if we never had this conversation. I scowl and when she doesn't answer, Elena takes it as a yes and walks away. Finally, I get up, because I know I'll be made to go to school whether I want to or not, so I'd rather start school wearing clothes and not pajamas.

I look towards Jeremy's room and sigh.

"Are you going?" I ask him. He looks up at me, glaring because I didn't knock. I roll my eyes. "Get over it." He turns away from me and grunts.

"Screw off." He hisses. "And get out of my room." I feel tears threaten to spill over. I hastily wipe them away, not wanting to show him how much his bitterness hurts. He looks at me and his expression softens, the way that it only does for me, and he gives me a hug.

"Fine. I'll go." He says, smiling apologetically. I smile back.

"Great." I say. "You won't leave me, right?" I look at Jeremy with pleading eyes, no longer asking about school. Jeremy understands this and smiles.

"Don't worry. I won't leave you guys."

Despite being three years apart, Jeremy and I are only one grade apart because I skipped two grades, and I was entering high school this year. Jeremy's the biological son of our parents, he was born October 13th, 1994 and I was born on May 1st, 1997. I always wondered why they adopted me after having Elena and Jeremy, but I'm not complaining of course.

Jeremy and I are pretty close. After the death of our parents, we grew even closer since Elena became distant. I couldn't lose both my siblings, so I turned to Jeremy, and he had no choice but to hold it together for me and I held it together for him. Jeremy and I helped each other deal with the grief from not only losing our parents, but our sister as well.

However, Jeremy can hold a very long grudge, and he's not too happy that Elena turned her back on us. I don't blame Elena for doing that, she felt like she was all alone with her pain. And of course, some of her pain we couldn't understand, since Elena was the only one in the car when it went over. So I don't blame Elena for detaching herself, she felt like the death was her fault.

But it still hurt. A lot. And although Jeremy would never admit it, he was hurt by the action as well.

So now Jeremy refuses to forgive Elena. She's trying, but it'll take a lot more to get him to forgive her. For me, I'm just happy that we have her back. The only problem is, now I feel that I have to choose between Elena and Jeremy. Jeremy's harsh and cruel towards me when it looks like I'm forgiving Elena, because he fears that he'll lose me too. But if I don't forgive Elena, she becomes more guilty and sad and pushes us away even more. Drifting siblings, plus losing my parents, plus starting grade nine, means life is quite the ride right now.

I shake myself out of my thoughts and start to get dressed. When I'm done, I look in the mirror at my outfit. Satisfied, I grab my backpack and run down the stairs grabbing an apple on the way out.

"Wait hold on!" My Aunt Jenna calls. I pop my head into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" I ask, and then take a bite out of my apple.

"What's for lunch?" Jenna asks, staring at me sternly. I smile at her attempt to sound parental. This thought quickly turns to my parents and my smile disappears, replaced with a sad expression. Aunt Jenna looks at me worriedly. "What's wrong?" I plaster on a fake smile.

"Nothing." I say. I lift my wallet. "Don't worry, I have lunch money." With that I run off in the middle of Jenna's anxious goodbye.

I run out to my sister's waiting car. Jeremy isn't out yet so the front seat is open for me to take. I hoot at my good fortune and jump into the seat. Elena smiles at me cautiously and I beam back at her. This seems to raise Elena's spirits because her smile gets more confident and genuine.

"So, are you excited for grade nine?" She asks.

"Not really." I answer, uninterested. Elena laughs.

"Yeah I guess that makes sense." She muses, looking at me. She looks down at the clock and curses. "He's gonna make us late! Leo, can you go in and get him?"

"You do it. He'll take my seat if I do." I whine. Elena frowns; her mouth forms a grim line.

"He doesn't even interact with me." She says, looking out the window sadly. "He hasn't in a while." I frown back at her.

"Neither have you." I whisper. I look at Elena warily, not wanting to make her mood shift too much. There's a moment of anger in Elena's expression before it goes back to sadness.

"I know and I'm sorry, I really truly am. I want to try to fix this." Elena says, looking at me solemnly, as if she needs to convince me of her words, get me to trust her again.

I shake my head. "It's not me you have to be convincing."

Elena just looks back out the window, not acknowledging me. I sigh, only hoping that Elena took my advice to heart and that she works her ass off to repay him.

Finally, Jeremy gets into the car. I look at Elena, expecting her to mention how late he is, but she remains aloof, not talking to him or even looking his way. I scowl and turn away from her, instead turning toward my brother.

"You're late." I say, disappointed. Jeremy just shrugs, annoyed simply from being in the car with Elena. I scowl at him and look away sadly.

I turn back to face the front and the three of us sit in an uncomfortable silence. Suddenly, Elena clears her throat.

"So, are you guys excited for school?" She asks us. She looks at him awkwardly through the rear-view mirror. I look away uncomfortably, not wanting to choose between Elena and Jeremy.

"What do you care? You didn't even look at me when I got in the car." Jeremy says harshly. Elena bites her lip, tears pooling in her eyes. She angrily wipes them away, her breathing hard and fuming.

I look to see if Jeremy saw the tears, but he's too busy scowling out the window. I poke him hard in the knee and give him a look. Give her a chance, I mouth to him. Jeremy just shakes his head and scowls, now angry at me for even thinking that Elena deserves it.

"I do care." Elena says calmly and softly. She tries to keep her voice from shaking too much, but I notice and seeing from Jeremy's guilty expression, he does too.

"I'm not that excited. School's school so there's not much to look forward to." Jeremy answers grudgingly. Elena smiles at Jeremy but he looks out his window, either not noticing her smile or choosing to ignore it. I guess the latter based on the eye roll he gave her after her smile. Thank god, Elena didn't notice the eye roll, meaning we won't have to deal with another break down.

Eventually, we pull into Bonnie's driveway and she opens her door and runs out to the car.

"Hey Bon, I like your dress!" I say, giving her the thumbs up. Jeremy looks at Bonnie and gives her the once over, smirking, causing Bonnie to nearly faint.

"Thank you." She says, her voice surprisingly steady. She gives me a warning glance and her eyes flit over to Jeremy and back at me. I smirk at her and mime myself zipping my lips closed and throwing out the key. I then turn to Elena.

"Your outfit's pretty, too, Lena!" I say, using the nickname I gave her when I was young. I hadn't called her that since the day dad and mum died. My eyes open in shock when I realize what I said, and I look at Jeremy worriedly. He has his jaw clenched and he's eyeing me with a look of betrayal. I duck my head and look out the window.

We sit in silence for the rest of the car ride, the atmosphere so tense you could cut it with a knife. Before it becomes too tight and claustrophobic, we pull into the school parking lot. Jeremy opens the door and bolts out of the car before Elena could even say goodbye. Bonnie, Elena and I get out after him. Elena watches Jeremy retreat and the hurt on her face is flashing like a strobe light, causing me to cringe every time I look at her.

I reach out to touch her. "Elena, are you-"

"Don't touch me. Just leave me alone." She snaps, turning away from my outstretched hand. She grabs her backpack, stalking towards the school with an expression of barely contained anger.

Bonnie looks at me and turns to follow Elena, because poor little Elena's too fragile to deal with her brother's harsh behaviour on her own. I scoff at how hypocritical my sister is. She's getting all upset from how cold Jeremy is, when she ignored us for a good 5 or 6 months.

Her harsh words circle in my head and I bite my lip and look down at my hands, tears pooling in the corner of my eyes. I'm watching her leave when Caroline approaches with a disgusted look on her face. I wipe the tears but smile at her.

"Elena being a bitch?" She asks, tone condescending. I frown at her.

"Just because you guys aren't on the best terms, doesn't mean I like when you insult her," I respond, before turning to look at her. Caroline has the decency to look ashamed.

"Jeez, I run my mouth, don't I?" Caroline sighs, and I shrug. "And yes, even if she pushed me away, and yeah, it hurt, I still care about her," Caroline looks at me sincerely. "And I know how much it must have hurt you and Jeremy when she pushed you guys away if it hurt me as much as it did." She sighs.

"I'm sorry she hurt you," I replied. "And yes, it hurt me as well." Caroline gives my hand a squeeze.

"It's not up to you to apologize," Caroline said. "But she really does love you guys." She assures me, and I look up at the sky.

"People who love you aren't supposed to hurt you. There not supposed to leave you behind when you need them the most." I say angrily.

"Sometimes there are bumps in life, and people forget that they love you. This is just one of those times. But that's what love's like." Caroline says haltingly.

"That's stupid, and not an excuse." I whisper, looking towards Elena, who's standing near the doors, talking to Bonnie.

I think of all the times Elena retreated to her room for weeks on end, only talking to us when she was angry at us. And the times when Jeremy got so furious from the grief that he became aggressive, both verbally and physically. How is that love?

"You have to take the good with the bad, Leo. Love's being with someone through the bad parts so you can be with them for the good." Caroline wraps me in a hug.

"Thanks Car." I whisper, a slight smile on my face. She nods and looks at the school nervously. "You can go to class if you don't want to be late. I'm just going to stay here for a bit." Caroline smiles at me. I open my mouth anxiously but she cuts me off.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her." She says. I give her a grim smile back. "But that doesn't mean I won't be angry at her for the rest of the day." I nod and she smiles at me again, giving my hand a little squeeze. "Stay safe." I roll my eyes at her.

"From what? It's Mystic Falls." I smirk and Caroline laughs shrugging her shoulders.

"Use your imagination." Caroline smirks. "Maybe there are werewolves" She tilts her head back and howls. "Or vampires." She bares her teeth at me. I laugh at her, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah okay." I laugh, my mood already shifting from sadness to contentment. She smirks at me and walks towards school, running to her class. I look at the door and Elena and Bonnie are gone, probably already at their locker, and I see Caroline walk into the school. After she's out of eyeshot, my smile disappears, replaced by the melancholy that I try to keep inside of me every day.

I close my eyes and lean back against the car, breathing slowly, trying to contain myself. Once I feel like I'm not going to burst into tears, I stand up and walk to the school. I make it to class right before the final bell.

"Leo!" I hear someone shout and I turn towards them, waving. "Come sit with us!" My friend, Jess, calls. Well, I wouldn't say friend, as she only became my acquaintance when my parents died. It's a pity friendship in all sense. But they're 'friends' so who cares if I don't really really like them? I have Elena, well had. She was once my friend and Bonnie and Caroline are my friends too.

"Oh, did you see the new guy?" My other friend/acquaintance Kara asks, but I shake my head. She wiggles her eyebrows and points behind me. I turn around and see Elena flirting with some guy, who I assume was the person Kara was pointing to.

He has dirty blonde hair with dark eyes and pale skin. He's average height and average build and Elena's smiling at him. An actual smile that has her eyes engaged in the equation as well. I feel a pang in my heart to think that she hasn't smiled like that for her own siblings for at least a year.

"Who is he?" I ask, not taking my curious gaze off him. At that moment, I see him turn around and his eyes are black, the veins around his eyes darkening. Shivers of fear race up my spine and my heart pumps wildly even as I try to shake it off, trying to rationalize everything in my head.

Suddenly, a hand grabs my shoulder and I jump. "Jesus, don't scare me like that!"

Caroline smirks at me. "Sorry Leo." Then she frowns and looks at me seriously. "How are you?"

"Fine." I see her suspicious glance and I rush to continue. "No really. I have decided not to let Elena or Jeremy bring me down with them because of their petty grudge." Caroline smiles warmly at me.

"You go girl." Her gaze drifts over to Elena and the new guy. "Well I'm going to go sit with them." I nod, and she waves, walking towards Elena and Bonnie.

Kara grabs my attention then, her expression amazed. "You are so lucky you're friends with Caroline." I raise my eyebrows at her. "Like, her and Elena are like the most popular people in this school."

I shrug. "Elena is my sister you know." Kara rolls her eyes, and gives me a look, like she's the teacher and I'm the slow student.

"Which is even more reason for Caroline or Bonnie to not be your 'friends'-" she uses air quotes when she says friends, "-since, like, it's almost a rule that siblings can't share friends." I fight the urge to roll my eyes, instead sending her a friendly grimace. Before Kara can continue on about how awesome Elena is, I get up and say goodbye. However, before I can get to the door, Elena calls me over. I roll my eyes before I turn around to face her, plastering on a distant smile and walking to her table.

The new kid's sitting with her and he looks at me, wide eyed. I narrow my eyes at him and he averts his tense stare, instead deciding to shoot the wall with his glare.

"Yeah?" I ask. Elena looks out the window, expression unreadable and then looks back at me. I send Caroline a nervous glance, wondering if she told Elena about my breakdown and that's why Elena's acting weird, but Caroline shrugs her shoulders.

"I'm leaving early, skipping fifth. Can you walk home?" She asks me. My glance flits over to Caroline and Bonnie. "They're coming with me, we're skipping." I raise my eyebrows at her disapprovingly, and I see Elena shift uncomfortably. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah whatever."

"Can you let Jer know?" I give Elena a glare, but it softens when I see her pleading expression.

"Fine." I grumble. I walk away during Elena's quiet thank you, but I'm too far to respond.

I trudge through the rain, head down, and hood up. Grumbling, I curse my stupid siblings. Stupid Elena, for skipping fifth and leaving me to walk home in the rain because she's too cowardly to face Jeremy's anger at her disdain. Stupid Jeremy for first, insulting me when I asked him to walk home with me, and second, deciding to get high with the other druggies instead. Stupid me, for even thinking that they could prove me wrong, that they'll turn out to be nice for once.

I'm wallowing in my self-pity when I see someone approach me. The person walks up to me until I can see them clearly and I narrow my eyes.

"Elena?" I ask, but I instantly realize that this look alike isn't Elena. She's cold and scary and a cruel smile slithers up her face.

"Who, your sister?" The look alike asks. She scoffs, causing me to shift nervously. "No honey. I'm worse." She bends down to look at me and I see the veins around her eyes darken, just like the new kid at school. Startled, I stumble back.

"Who are you?" I ask harshly, surprising myself. I seem to have startled the look alike too, because she looks dazed. Her expression quickly turns mocking however and she sneers.

"My name's Kat." She says, amused. I cock an eyebrow.

"Cat? As in a kitty cat?" I ask, mostly trying to get on her nerves. I don't know, just something about her irks me and I can't help but push her buttons. It works though.

She scowls. "No, you imbecile. Kat as in K-A-T."

I nod, pretending to finally understand. "Okay." I look at her quizzically. "Well, what do you want?" I smile at the end, just to make sure she knows I'm not trying to be rude or anything. I just want an answer, so I can go.

But the smile she gives me causes my heart to pump fearfully and my instincts to kick in, alerting me that she's dangerous. She locks her eyes on mine and I gasp. The veins around her eyes are dark again and her eyes are red. When she opens her mouth, I see fangs, so I scream. But she quickly puts her hand around my mouth, surprisingly strong, and she keeps me from running.

"You will not scream or move." She says, and I feel my body obey her while my mind is yelling at me to run, to scream, to do anything to get away. But I'm not able to listen so I just stand there as she plunges her teeth into my neck.

After what feels like forever, she pulls away, her mouth bloody and eyes red. I struggle against her, trying to pull away, and she looks at me shocked. My curiosity doesn't last long at why that is though, and I continue to struggle. She grabs my chin and forces me to make eye contact with her.

"You will not tell anyone about this." She hisses, and again I feel myself obeying, despite how much my mind contradicts the command.

But before I can really comprehend on what just happened, and who the hell this Kat person is, she disappears into thin air. Touching my neck tenderly, I pull my hand away to see that it's still bleeding. Cursing, I try to stop the bleeding with my hand, to no avail. Running out of options to try and get the blood off my throat, I have only one left and that's to let the rain wash it off. It slaps down onto my raw neck and I wince; a couple of whimpers escape as it hits the open wound. Once the blood has washed down my coat and into the puddles, turning them slightly pink, which succeeded in grossing me out enough that I almost puked, I take some soggy tissue out of my bag and hold it against my neck. I then proceed to walk home.

But life decides to throw me another curveball. As I'm walking past the graveyard, the new kid walks out. He stops, and his head snaps up to meet my eyes, expression threatening. I stand still and fight the instinct to run, knowing that if he's anything like Kat, I won't stand a chance. Right away, I know he's like Kat, due to his darkened veins and red eyes. Let's not forget the fangs. Because a vampire isn't complete without their fangs. And yes, I figured out that Kat's a vampire, due to the sucking of my blood incident, and seeing how the new kid has uncanny similarities to Kat, I figured he's one too.

He seems to be fighting his bloodlust because he shuts his eyes quickly, breathing deeply, mouth firmly clenched shut so I can no longer see his fangs. But it doesn't seem like he's too in control, he's like a live wire.

I scowl. "Okay, Vampire. I've had enough of blood sucking today, so if you don't want to be staked, I suggest you move alone." I don't really have a stake, but I hope he doesn't realize this.

My words seemed to have shocked him. "You know what I am?"

"Yes. And I prefer not to have my blood sucked out of me." I say, surprisingly confident. The adrenaline courses through me, making me continue with my cocky attitude, like it did with Kat, even though I wouldn't ever talk like this to any normal stranger. Usually, I'm pretty shy, but I guess running into deadly strangers' changes that.