A Shade of Vampire 8: A Shade of Novak(12)

He stood beside me, holding out a gorgeous shell necklace.

“Happy birthday.”

“Oh my.” I gasped, reaching out to take the necklace from him.

“I’ll put it on you. It’s quite delicate.”

“Yeah, good idea,” I muttered.

I bunched up all my hair above my head and he reached his warm hands around my neck, fastening the hook.

“I wish there was a mirror here… Did you make this yourself?”

“Yup.”

“It’s beautiful. Thanks man,” I said, giving him a high five. “Since when did ol’ Griff start getting in touch with his feminine side?”

“Since I realized I should probably start giving the princess better gifts than home made chocolate pigs every year… which my mom made, by the way. I just took them from the kitchen and pretended they were from me.”

“I always thought those pigs tasted suspiciously good,” I said, giggling and shoving him in the shoulder. “What did you get Ben?”

“Oh, pigs again.”

“So the princess was deserving of a better gift, but the prince wasn’t?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said nonchalantly, reaching a hand behind his head and running it through his hair. “Maybe I’ll think of something better for him next year. But for now, it’s pigs.”

“I see,” I said. “And why did you need to bring me all the way here to give me the necklace?”

“Oh, I dunno. Just thought the setting matched the gift.” He averted his eyes to the ocean and placed his hands on the banister next to mine. He cleared his throat. “Rose, uh. I also wanted to ask you if…if you—”

“If I still want the pigs too?” I asked, grinning up at him.

He chuckled and shook his head.

“No, actually. I mean, you can have them too if you want but… I-I wanted to ask if you–”

“Rose!”

I whirled around to see Ben emerging from the woods.

“Just a moment, Griff,” I said, looking at him apologetically.

“O-okay. Yeah. Sure.”

I ran over to my brother.

“Now’s the best time to do it,” Ben whispered hurriedly. “Almost everyone has gone, but Corrine is still there with Ibrahim.”

“Okay,” I said, casting a glance back at Griffin. “Just let me say good bye to Griffin.”

I left Ben and ran back over to my friend.

“Griff, I’ve got to go.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him in for a tight hug. As I placed a kiss on his cheek, I felt taken aback to see him blushing.

Feeling awkward, I took a step back. It’s not like I’ve never hugged him before. What’s up with Griff? I didn’t have time to ponder over it, however, since Ben was waiting impatiently for me.

“I’ve really got to start, uh, packing for my trip. But thank you again for such a stunning and thoughtful gift. You’d better keep up the handiwork though, because I’ll expect a crown next year…”

“All right, princess.” He smirked, slipping his hands into his pockets. “The necklace does look beautiful on you.”

“Thank you…” There was an odd silence between us as he stared at me. “Oh yeah, what was it that you wanted to say to me?”

“Oh, it was nothing,” he said quickly. “Really, I’ve even forgotten what I was going to say.”

His cheeks were still a bright red color.

“Oh, okay. Well, if I don’t manage to see you again before I leave, I guess I’ll see you when I get back in a couple of months.”

“Sure thing.”

I patted him on the shoulder and ran back over to Ben. We rushed through the woods together until we arrived at the lawn.

I scanned the area for my parents. They appeared to be deeply engrossed in a conversation with Vivienne and Xavier.

Certain that they wouldn’t notice me, I left Ben’s side and walked over to Corrine, who was still sitting on the grass next to Ibrahim. I took her hand in mine and tugged on her to get up.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I need to talk to you in private,” I said.

Corrine looked surprised, but followed me. I led her away from the field and into the woods. I didn’t stop walking until we’d reached the Sanctuary, and refused to offer any explanations along the way.

Once we were safely inside her bedroom, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out two passports, laying them on the table in front of her.

She raised a brow at me. “Rose, what?”

I cleared my throat.

“I told you to wait before giving me a birthday present this year, because I had something specific in mind.”

“Yes, and?”

I flipped open Ben’s and my passports and pointed to the date of birth inscribed on each of them.

“I want you to work a little magic on these dates,” I said.

Her eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“I want you to change them. Set them back.”

“Why?”

I sighed.

“My mom keeps saying that this will be our last summer away. Our last summer as normal, human teenagers. Well, if that’s the case, I don’t want to spend it wallowing around in mud.”