A Shade of Vampire 8: A Shade of Novak(11)

I looked at the three friends who had stayed back with me after the picnic just so they could continue to ogle my brother. Ben was the heartthrob of all the girls on the island. Whenever I was with them while Ben was around, it felt like I might as well not exist.

It was my birthday as well as Ben’s, yet throughout the whole picnic my friends had done almost nothing but stare at and gossip about my brother. Occasionally I found myself wondering how many of them were friends with me just so they could get the inside scoop on my brother.

I, on the other hand, didn’t seem to get as much attention from the boys my age. Sure, I caught them looking at me, but it was rarely more than that. My girlfriends thought that maybe I intimidated them, being princess of The Shade. My theory was that they were intimidated by the males in my family. I thought that perhaps the prospect of having both Derek and Ben Novak breathing down his neck was just too daunting for a young man to bother. Because my brother was just as protective of me as my father. There were after all plenty of other pretty girls on the island with less obstacles.

I couldn’t say that any of this bothered me much though. My life didn’t revolve around finding a boyfriend as my friends’ seemed to.

I didn’t know if it was just my imagination, but my girlfriends’ gossiping seemed to have become worse in recent months and I found myself spending more and more time with Griffin. When he wasn’t around, I’d got into the habit of hanging out with my parents’ friends instead. I realized that I had more in common with them than most of my contemporaries, who were all still human.

The Shade was an odd place. Although most of my parents’ friends were technically in their late teens and early twenties, many had been alive for hundreds of years. In a sense, I got the best of both worlds when I spent time with them. They were still young at heart, yet had so much experience – with centuries’ worth of knowledge and stories to share.

“Would you do that for us, Rose?”

I looked up to see my three friends staring at me.

I’d drifted off into my own thoughts and completely lost track of their conversation.

“Sorry, what?” I mumbled.

“We want you to give us a tour of your brother’s bedroom,” Jessica said, her chestnut brown eyes wide with expectation.

“Oh,” I snorted. “No. Trust me. You don’t want that. It’s such a mess, you have no…”

My voice trailed off as I spotted Anna and Kyle taking a seat on the lawn a few feet away from us with their children, Ariana and Jason.

Although Ariana was four years younger than me, I knew that she would make for better company than my friends right now. I stood up and shook the grass off my dress.

“I’ll see you guys around,” I muttered, waving a hand and walking away before they could object.

All four looked up as I approached.

“Happy birthday, princess.” Kyle grinned. “You want to sit with us?”

“Thanks.”

I plopped myself down next to Ariana. Everyone on the island joked that we were twin sisters because our features were similar.

“Happy birthday,” Ariana said through a mouthful of cake. “What’s up?”

“Ah, nothing much.” I sighed, leaning back and looking around the lawn once again. Most of the attendees of our picnic had left by now, with just a few latecomers stopping by to drop gifts off for us and pick up some lunch. “I wanted to thank you so much for the gifts.”

“You liked them?” Jason asked, poking his head around Ariana’s shoulder to look at me. The ten year old’s mouth was covered with strawberry icing.

Anna had knitted pajamas for Ben and I, and they truly were works of art. I hated to think how many hours she must have spent on them.

“They’re the most beautiful pajamas I’ve ever seen,” I said, ruffling Jason’s hair. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, darling.” Anna smiled.

“Hi Rose.”

I swivelled around to see who had spoken.

A tall red haired boy with warm hazelnut eyes. And now possibly the best friend I had on the island: Griffin.

“Sorry I couldn’t make it earlier,” he said, grinning sheepishly.

“Oh, that’s fine.”

He had one hand hidden behind his back, while he reached the other down to pull me to my feet.

I turned back to Ariana and her family.

“Sorry, guys,” I said. “I’ll catch you later. Enjoy the rest of your cake.”

“Bye!”

I turned back to Griffin and attempted to see what he was hiding. He stepped away, blocking my view.

“Wait,” he said, laughing. “Not yet. Follow me.”

He placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me forward toward the entrance of the woods.

“Where are we going?” I asked, looking over my shoulder and narrowing my eyes on him in mock suspicion.

“Just trust me,” he said, still smiling. “It’s a surprise.”

He led me forward, refusing to answer any of my questions until we reached the Port. We stepped onto the jetty and he walked me right up to its edge.

“Keep your eyes forward,” he said.

I placed my hands on the banister and stared out at the dark ocean. I heard a clinking behind me and then Griffin said, “Okay, you can look now.”