The Start Of Something New.

14.

"So that wasn't you on the phone last night?" I asked Monty in the hall the next day in school.
Monty adjusted his bag as he gave an apologetic look.
"Yeah no, I mean it was me who apologized in the beginning but then Jace kinda took my phone away." He shrugged.
I made a face.
"So what, you two are dating now?" I asked him.

"And if we are?" Came the others voice as Amy walked up with Jace, her eyes on me as I looked to Jace.
He smirked.
"Don't tell me the princess is jealous that her best friend got a boyfriend, before she did." He tried to look surprised but it passed over with his eyes rolling at his own acting.

I glared softly.
"I'm not jealous that Monty is dating you, I'm irritated at his poor tastes in people." I spat slamming my locker.
Jace shrugged.
"Eh, I've been called worse." He said not bothered before his eyes fell on Monty now.
"I have to get to art, so I'll see you in...yep, I'll see you." He smirked as Monty rolled his eyes.
"If you want more classes with me, you could always talk to the principal." He suggested now.

Jace scrunched his face up.
"And talk to more annoying humans?" He boldly kissed the other in front of those who looked our way.
"No thanks." He smirked.
"I'll just do that thing, where I skip and come find you. See ya." He said as the bell rang.

I turned to Monty.
"Of all the guys in this school, why him?" I asked now.
Monty blinked.
"He's cute?" He shrugged.
I frowned.
"So you're perfectly okay being with the guy, who tried to kill you the other night?" I asked him.
Monty looked at me.
"He wasn't going to kill me Lexi, he just wanted to get my attention." He argued now.

I made a face.
"That's a pretty fucked way to get someones attention." I said.
"What is?" Came Carter's voice now.
Were anymore vampires fixing to walk up behind us?
Because by all means!
Show up now, rather than later when my guard is actually down.

Monty looked to Carter.
"Your girl toy-"
"My what?"
"Ignore him." I hissed.
"Doesn't like the idea of me and your brother dating." He told him now.
Carter blinked, looking to me then back to Monty.
"You..You and Jace are actually dating?" He asked the other.
Monty nodded as the second bell rang.
"Yeah." He said heading to homeroom.

I crossed my arms facing Carter now.
"Can I trust Jace with Monty?" I asked him.
Carter inhaled sharply but gave off a reassuring smile.
"Yes, if Jace is actually interested in Monty. He'll start to tame himself down, but only for Monty. I don't see Jace actually hurting him in the way you're fearing." He said now.
I sighed softly.
"Okay.. I'm taking your word on it Carter, I want Monty happy but I don't want him to get himself hurt in the process of dating," I looked around then back at Carter.
"A vampire." I said quietly.

Carter smiled softly.
"You were fully prepared to date me that day at my house, but you let your thoughts consume you that turned to fear. Monty is the complete opposite, knowing Jace hurt him. He still charged head on and is okay being with my brother, knowing at any point Jace-"
"Jace what?" I asked.
Carter looked at me.
"Could kill or turn Monty." He told me.

My eyes grew wide.
"What? Carter-"
"Shh, he won't do either. Jace cares about Monty's safety right now, Jace won't harm him." He told me now.
I frowned softly.

"Ms.Grimes, would you like to join us for class or are you going to flirt with Mr.Jensen a bit longer?" Came Mrs.Pearson's voice from homeroom.

Carter smirked as I blushed now.
"I'll see you in bio." I told him.
He nodded as he walked past the substitute.

I went to walk into the class but the other stopped me.
Mrs.Pearson looked at me.
"Don't make me the bad guy here by sending you to the office, Ms.Grimes. But when the first bell rings, you're supposed to be headed to your homeroom, and when the second bell rings you're supposed to be in class at your desk, ready to learn. Do not make us wait for you to finish flirting-
"I wasn't flirting-"
"Ah ah ah, I don't want to hear it. Get to your desk, and open your text book to 230 and start your warm up questions." She instructed.

Not saying a word I did as she said, taking a seat next to Sage who looked at me frowning.
"Where were you?" She whispered.
I looked to her.
"I was talking to Carter about something and got wrapped up." I told her.
She frowned softly.
I sighed.
"And now our substitute thinks I'm a bad student for being late." I mumbled.
"She doesn't think you're a bad student," Sage argued.
"But you should be careful about being late, if it was Mr.Warren-"

{"Good morning students of West Bridge High."} Came Principal Burke's voice over the intercom.
We looked up at the speaker as our principal got everyone's attention.

{"I have something very sad to share with each of you, its a rather unfortunate thing but as most of you know. James Warren, algebra's homeroom teacher had recently left out for a few weeks due to another job of his. I received a phone call from his wife this morning, and it burdens me to say this. But Mr.Warren was found dead yesterday morning in his office at work."} He told the school.

My blood ran cold as I sat there, paralyzed to move as I heard the sound of kids around me whispering.
Some began to cry.

{"Class will be dismissed early for the great loss of James Warren, here shortly vice principal Mullen will be coming in for kids to call home, for those who don't ride the bus or have their own car. I apologize for news like this, and later today I will be posting on the schools page about our teachers funeral for those who want to attend."}

The voice died down as I sat there.

I glanced to Monty who ripped himself out his desk, as he ran out of the classroom into the boys bathroom to throw up.

Bryce sat there, his brows knitted as he looked to me and Sage.
"He didn't say what the cause was" He said quietly.
I looked to him.
"Does he need to share the cause with us?" Sage hissed with her eyes burning.
"Mr.Warren was his cousin, its probably classified because they don't want to tell the school what killed our teacher." She hissed getting up as she walked out to go clean her face from the tears.

I sat there for the longest time.
My heartbeat slowing down more and more as a bitter taste filled my mouth from it.
"Lex." I jumped feeling Bryce's hand on my shoulder, to snap me back to reality.
I looked to him now with tears in my eyes.
He frowned softly.
"Come on." He said getting up from his desk now.

Getting up I grabbed my bag, following the other out of homeroom.
And in seconds, Carter was in front of me.

"Hey." He greeted as girls walked by, comforting each other as they cried.
I wiped the stray tear away as I sighed.
"Hey." I greeted back as Bryce studied us.
"I'll go check on Monty." He said heading into the restroom.

Carter looked his way then back to me.
"I was going to stop by the Grind House for a drink, care to join me? It may help get your mind off today."
"Today didn't even begin, we were in class for ten minutes before Burke told the whole school our teacher died." I told him.
He frowned softly.
"I know.." He said.
I looked at him for a moment then sighed softly.
"Sure, tea sounds good right about now." I said now.

He nodded.
"I'll let Jace and Amy know, so they can go home wit-"
"Um? I'm not going home with those things there." Came Jace's voice, he walked over to us as he looked around.
"Wheres-"
"In the bathroom, being sick." I told him as Jace headed straight into the bathroom.

I looked back to Carter.
"Those things?" I questioned confused.
Carter frowned.
"Our relatives came in yesterday, Jace isn't exactly a fan of them..and they're not exactly a fan of him either, especially seven of them." He told me.
I arched a brow.
"Seven? Just how many relatives came into town yesterday, Carter?" I asked him.
He frowned at the question.
"A handful of them, and we're not sure how long they're staying. But Jace is avoiding going home because it means nothing but hell for him." He told me.

"But doesn't he already cause hell?" I asked.
"I do, but they're not things I want to associate myself with." Jace said walking out with Monty and Bryce who watched the two closely.

"We all have family we don't like, but isn't calling them things childish?" He asked.
Jace blinked then looked to Carter.
"So you're going to the Grind House?" He asked flat out ignoring the other.
Carter glanced to me as I sighed now.
"We are, I'm assuming you're coming?" He asked him.

Jace looked to Monty.
"Coffee sound good to you?" He questioned.
Monty still looked pale from the news, but he managed a nod.
"Yeah sure, coffee sounds good."He looked at me.
"Are you okay with us coming?" He asked.

I blinked.
"Do you really think I'd say no?" I asked him.
Jace rolled his eyes now.
"You want to say no, its not hard to read your expressions, princess." He said now.

I frowned as Sage and Emberly walked up to us.
"Where are we going?" Sage asked.
Carter smiled my way.
"I guess its now a party." He said.
I sighed.
"I guess." I looked to Sage.
"Grind House, are you two coming?" I asked.

Sage looked at to me.
"Sure, why not?" She looked to Emberly who nodded in agreement.
"Then lets go, we can split the up in the vehicles." I said walking out of the school with the others behind me and Carter.

Carter glanced to me with a smirk.
"So much for it just being us." He said.
I sighed looking to him.
"Yeah, but whats done is done. Plus, Monty and Sage both liked Mr.Warren." I told him.
He nodded as we walked into the parking lot.

"So who is riding with who?" Bryce asked at his jeep as Monty unlocked his truck.
I frowned.
"I'll ride with Monty." I told him.
Bryce frowned with a nod as Sage and Emberly got in Bryce's jeep.

I climbed into the back seat with Carter as Monty and Jace got in the front.
The entire way there.
It was quiet.
----
"So four hot chocolates, one chai and two coffees with sugar except one with milk." Bryce said looking at us at the rounded booth.
We nodded as Bryce walked off with Emberly who offered to help carry the drinks back.

Sage ended up running to the bathroom to retouch her makeup back up.
So again.
The four of us sat in silence.
Until Jace looked to Monty.

"So, you like coffee with milk and sugar?" He asked him quietly.
Monty glanced to him.
"It tastes better that way." He defended.
Jace shrugged.
"I just thought it was kind of adorable was all." He confessed not raising his voice higher than he had to.
Monty looked to him.

Bryce and Emberly walked back, passing our drinks out as he looked around.
"Where's Sage?" He asked.
I looked to him.
"She went to touch her make up back up." I told him as he took a seat.
Emberly made a face.
"She doesn't need to wear makeup, I thought she looked cute without it." She said now.
I smiled softly.
"Most girls at West Bridge High think make up is how they'll get noticed by the football players." I looked to Bryce.

He rolled his eyes.
"Okay sure, girls with make up on is a plus but when they come to school bare face. Its even better." He said.
Jace looked to him.
"So you like looking at potatoes all day?" He asked him.
Bryce blinked then frowned.
"Yes, if you want to call girls who don't like wearing make up, potatoes. Then yeah, I enjoy looking at them." He shrugged.

Jace rolled his eyes then took a drink of his hot chocolate.
I looked to Emberly.
"I'm going to go check on Sage." I said getting out of the booth, walking towards the restroom.

"Lex!" I went to turn, to only bump into someone.
"Jesus, I'm sorry." I hissed looking up.
There were a group of guys in front of me now.

In seconds, I felt myself being ripped backwards.
But it wasn't by Carter or Bryce.
It was by Jace.

He stood in front of me glaring at the blond haired guy, who smirked down at him.
"Hello, Jace-"
"What the fuck are you doing here?" He growled at the four guys in front of the two of us.
Immediately, Carter was over at our side, pushing me behind him as he stood at Jace's side.

"What? Are we not allowed to visit the town during the day?" The black haired guy asked, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Carter frowned.
"Our parents came to an agreement about you staying in that house, not coming here." He said.
The blond glanced to me.
"I guess the sweet treat behind you knows our dirty little secret, by how she's remaining calm." He pointed out.
"She isn't calm." The red head said now.
"Her heart is racing, shes terrified." He smirked.

Carter looked to me.
"Go check on Sage, we'll deal with this." He told me.

Not saying a word, I went to walk by to only have the guy with wavy black hair grab my wrist, holding me still.
"She isn't under your compulsion, Carter. And yet she lis-"
My eyes grew wide watching the guy being shoved back, harshly.

Jace stood there, the blue veins trying not to appear.
"Don't touch her." He growled now.
Carter motioned for me to go as I ran into the bathroom.

To only freeze.

Sage was pinned against the wall.
This blonde had her hand wrapped around Sage's neck, as she grinned.
"I've been needing a snack since I got here." She said, the veins appearing.
Without thinking, I stormed over fixing to rip the other off Sage.
But only let out a surprised scream, being grabbed by another female.

The strawberry headed vampire sighed.
"Don't interfere sweetheart, you'll have your turn next." She promised.

"We came at a terrible time." A third female stormed in.
Her black hair done in curls before she stopped, then glared at the two vampires.
"Madeline, Ellie. Control yourselves, we made an agreement to our uncle and aunt we'd act as the humans, not by feeding on them as soon as their backs were turned." She scolded.
Her brown eyes full of annoyance.

Ellie smiled wickedly.
"But you can smell their blood too, Stella." She purred with delight.
"Its enough to get you hot and bothered." She declared.
The one known as Stella frowned at her.
"You're only hot and bothered because mating season coming, now. Both of you, let those poor girls go before they run screaming." She demanded.

Madeline and Ellie exchanged looks before sighing as they both let me and Sage go.

Stella looked to them.
"Jace and Carter are both here." She said.
My eyes widened as the other two allowed their eyes to turn black.
"That bastard is here?" Ellie snarled.
Stella glared at her.
"Control yourself, Ellie. This isn't the time or place to try and kill our cousin." She told her.

Stella looked to me.
"I apologize for these two, their brains don't work half the time." She told us.
Sage rubbed her neck with her face flushed.
Stella looked to her as her lips pursed.
"They didn't mean you no harm, I trust you'll keep your mouths closed about what happened in here?" She asked us calmly.

I frowned with a nod.
"Yes." I told her.
She smiled at that.
"Good." She said walking out of the bathroom, to only hear yelling from the outside.

I ran over to Sage who let out a scared sob.
"Shh, its fine. They're gone." I wrapped my arms around the other.
Her fingers dug into me.
"I-I don't know what happened," she cried.
"Those two came in here and all I did was smiled, cause I can be strong after my teacher dies and that blonde haired vampire grabbed me, while the red head hid, waiting for another person to come in. Which was you, but o-oh my god Lexi." She cried hugging me.

I brushed the hair that fell into her face, out of the way as I frowned.
"But you're okay, right? She didn't hurt you did she?" I asked.
She shook her head, shaking.
"N-No, but if you hadn't shown up.. I don't know what would of happened." She whispered harshly, the tears falling so easily now.

I grabbed some tissues as she dabbed her face with them.
"Okay, I'll stay right here until you're ready to walk out." I told her sitting on the sink.
She nodded taking a seat next to me, her hand taking mine as her knuckles turned white.
I lost feeling in my right hand, but it was okay for being scared like this.
I know I was.
I've only dealt with one female vampire, and that was Amy.
And she was insanely nice to me.

Immediately Emberly ran into the room, fear in her eyes for a moment.
"Are you two okay? We heard Lexi scream, and then next thing I'm seeing. Is that Jace kid and this blond haired dude fighting, these three girls came out but when they saw what was going on. They ran." She explained the situation from what I've missed.
"I think they came here on purpose." She added.

Sage looked at her as Emberly frowned.
"You're as white as a ghost, are you okay?" She asked her.
"Vampires, Em. Those guys are vampires, they attacked Sage and then me." I told her.
Emberly's eyes grew wide.
"Shit." She hissed walking over to us as she caressed Sage's face.
"You're going to be okay, just breathe and calm down. They left, you're safe." She told her.

Sage nodded as the tears fell.
I frowned looking to Emberly.
"I'm going to see if everything is cleared up outside." I went to move but Sage snatched my wrist, shaking.
Emberly took her hand looking at her.
"Its fine, I'll stay here with you." She told her.
Sage looked to her but nodded as I took that as my chance to leave.

I walked out and froze at the sight.
Jace's face was all busted up as the blond remained untouched,

"What happened, Pierce? Did you lose your mojo?" He taunted.
Jace spit out the blood in his mouth.
"Ja-"
"Don't." Carter caught my forearm as I looked to him worried.
"Carter, do something!" I demanded.
Carter looked to me.
"Vampires aren't supposed to interfere with personal grudges that these guys hold against Jace, it'll just end badly if I step in." He told me.
"Then let me step in." I hissed.
"No." He growled.
"They'll kill you without a second thought." He hissed at me.

I looked past the crowd of people watching, my eyes fell on Monty and it looked like he was having the same thought.
He wanted to step in, this was his boyfriend after all.
The vampire he was into.

As soon as the blond went to swing again.
My heart stopped as Monty threw his coffee at the other, nailing him directly in the face.

The blond hissed harshly moving towards Monty.
But Jace was faster, he stood in front of my best friend, breathing heavily as he glared at him.
"Don't." He growled.
The blond stopped as he laughed.
"Don't." He mocked in a more whinny tone.

"Get the others out of here." He commanded.
In seconds, the other three guys were moving fast around the cafe.
Using their compulsion.
And in a moment, it was just us and them.

"We come to this town, because your father wants us to unite as a family. But there's a problem with this whole thing." The blond glared at Jace.
"You're still alive and kicking, while Deidre is dead." He spat.

I looked to Carter for an explanation but he shook his head.

"You may not live in the past like we do, but Deidre was fucking family!" He growled.
Jace stood there glaring at him, but that glare died down into a smirk.
"Did you really come here to pick a fight with me, because you lost your favorite vampire?" He asked him now.

The other three all hissed at him as their eyes turned black.
Jace looked to Monty who stood there, glaring at the four in the middle of us.

Jace spit out blood.
"She was killing our own kind! Using compulsion on each of us, because she wanted to take over being the Queen vampire. You were each blinded by the fact, she was beautiful and dangerous. You would do anything for that whore." He spat.

Jace pressed his chest against the others, staring him straight in the eye.
"I did you a fucking favor by killing her." He growled.

It felt like my world was spinning as those words came out of his mouth so freely.
The blond stared down at him.
"So you don't regret it? Killing the one who saved you from dying?" He asked him.
Jace studied the other.
"Not a single ounce of regret filled me as I shoved that stake into her heart." He answered.

The blond growled as his eyes turned black.

"POLICE!" Three police officers ran in with their guns raised high, aimed at the four outsiders.
My dad walked in, and his eyes fell on me with confusion yet anger.
"You're all coming down to the station, for a disturbance of the peace and for damaging public property." He stated.

The blond chuckled, his eyes on Jace.
"You don't regret killing her? Then I won't regret this." He moved away from the other fast.

My eyes grew wide as the blond bit into my dads neck, men firing their guns into the others back.
The blond leaned his head back as blood ran down his mouth.
And just like that.
My entire world turned upside down.

Watching the vampire snapping my dads neck, before vanishing with the other three.