Nina's Birthday

Nina

Agh, where was he? He promised that he would be here today! I sulked in my room for the better part of an hour, wondering where he was. We had a deal: if he came to America for my birthday, then I'd go to England for his. Not that I wouldn't go anyway, but still. A deal is a deal.

A knock sounded on the door, which opened when Gran walked through, a small smile on her face. I made a grumbling sound, something resembling "Go away," which made her laugh.

"Nina, tomorrow is your birthday, and you're just going to sit here alone?" she teased, coming over to sit on my bed with me.

"He promised he'd be here," I shot back. "He promised."

"You're right," a voice came from behind the door. "I did promise."

My heart leaped as Fabian walked inside, a smile on his face. He came! I jumped off the bed and ran to give him a hug, which he returned happily. I had all but forgotten Gran was in the room until she laughed, causing us to jump apart, embarrassed.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said in a too-nice voice. "I'm just going to go fix up the guest room while you two catch up." Gran left, shooting me one last smile before walking out.

Fabian took my hand, pulling my mind away from any bad thoughts I was aiming at my Gran. I sat beside him, wondering what to say. We hadn't seen each other in a month and a half, but we still knew each other, so why couldn't we carry on a conversation? Eventually, I offered to show him the guest room. I knew Gran was just behind the door, listening to our conversation.

I was proven right as I opened the door and she almost fell through, making Fabian and I laugh. Once she was standing and everything, I led Fabian down the hall to the guest room. His bag was already sitting on the bed, showing that Gran had indeed gone in there –she never let guests put their things in their room themselves –but I knew she had only been in there a second.

I helped Fabian unpack, setting the few things he brought in the dresser while we started talking. We talked about random things until he finally told me why he was late. He had been running late because the airport had misplaced his bag and it took an hour to find it.

I had to laugh as he recounted the tale of rushing around the American airport to find his luggage, everyone commenting on his accent and asking him if he was British. He had gotten fed up after a few times of being asked that question and told someone that he was Russian. I wished I had been there to see their reaction.

"So they actually thought you were Russian?" I laughed as we walked out of the room.

"Yeah. They were asking me if I had ever been to Moscow and if I owned a fuzzy hat," Fabian said with a smile.

"I can't believe it. There's no way someone actually thought you were Russian. It's just not possible."

"I'm telling the truth. They actually thought I was Russian. They left before I could tell them the truth, though."

"Well, don't you two look cheerful," Gran commented, surprising me. I thought she was downstairs. "What's so funny?"

"Fabian told someone at the airport that he was Russian and they believed him," I explained.

Gran let out a laugh as she led us to the kitchen, where she had made a snack. It wasn't much, just some chips and fruit, but at least she tried. Just like back at Anubis House, I was sitting at the head of the table and Fabian to my right. Gran said she was going to leave for her book club meeting in a few minutes, so we had to be good.

"Gran!" I said, embarrassed.

"What? I'm leaving two teenagers alone for three hours. I think I have the right to ask you to be good."

"GRAN!"

She laughed again, walking out. I hung my head in embarrassment, my face flaming red. Fabian laughed once Gran was gone, taking my hand in his. I let him, though I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on until I felt something small and box-like being pressed into my palm.

"Huh?" I asked stupidly as I looked up and saw Fabian placing a small jewelry box in my hand. Oh god, please let it not be a ring. I knew that was a stupid thought, seeing as neither of us were yet seventeen –my birthday was tomorrow, so technically I was still sixteen –but I couldn't help but think it.

Fabian laughed. "Open it."

Mentally crossing my fingers, I slowly opened the black, velvety box. When I saw what was inside, I gasped. It was a beautiful oval pendant on a silver chain, a small emerald in the center. I gently held it between my fingers, marveling at the gift. He shouldn't have gotten my something like this.

"Look on the back," Fabian said to me.

I did as he said, turning the pendant over to see the inscription on the back. When I read it, I smiled.

To Nina, my Chosen One

Love, Fabian

"It's beautiful," I said softly. "And it's too much. You seriously shouldn't have."

"That's where you're wrong," Fabian said with a smile. "How could I let your birthday go without getting you a present?"

"Fabian, you know what I mean. You shouldn't have gotten me such a pretty necklace. It must have cost a fortune!"

"You're worth it," he said, leaning closer and giving me a kiss.

I couldn't argue with him, though I still felt like it was too much.

The next morning, I woke up in disbelief. There was no way Fabian was in the house. It was summer, and he lived in England. At least, I was in disbelief until the door opened and Fabian and Gran walked through, smiles on their faces.

"Happy birthday!" they chirped cheerfully, walking over and sitting on the edge of my bed. I let out a squeak of pain as Fabian accidentally sat on me, but he moved just seconds after.

"Moring everyone," I yawned, sitting up.

"Happy birthday to you," they sang, launching into the song. I buried my head in my hands, wishing the song would be over soon. Unfortunately, they sang at least three verses, making each slower than the first until it sounded like a funeral march.

"Stop!" I begged, covering my ears. After a few minutes, the song dissolved into laughter.

"Happy birthday, Nina," Gran said, giving me a hug. When she let me go, she said "Now it's time to get up."

"But it's only eight o'clock," I whined, falling back down onto the pillows. "And it's my birthday. Can't I sleep in?"

"Not while there's a guest," Gran said. "You know the rules. If everyone else and the guest is awake, then you have to wake up."

"It'll be alright," Fabian said to her. "Let her go back to sleep."

"No, I'm up, I'm up," I said, sitting back up. "Now everyone out! I need to get changed."

Gran and Fabian left, leaving me alone to get dressed. After throwing on a tee shirt and a pair of jeans, I clasped the pendant Fabian got me around my neck and walked out of my room. Gran was waiting on me in the living room, holding a red-wrapped box in her hands.

"Gran, I told you not to get me anything!" I protested as she forced the package into my hands.

"When have I ever listened to you?" she joked, laughing. "Now go on, open it."

After much grumbling, I gave in and ripped the paper off, revealing a plain cardboard box. Confused as to what might be inside, I opened the box. When I saw what was inside, I let out a small gasp. Gran had gotten me the nicest dress I had ever seen.

It was a pale, almost grass green, with subtle ruffles along the skirt part, and thick straps to hold it up. It looked like it would come to about knee length on me, which was just short enough in my opinion. It was beautiful and completely me, but it was too much.

"Thanks," I said, holding it up to look at it better. "But you shouldn't have gotten me anything!"

"What kind of grandmother would I be if I didn't get you anything for your birthday?" Gran asked, smiling. "Now you two have fun while I go out to the store and pick up the cake."

She left, leaving Fabian and I alone. Again. I think she had planned this before Fabian came. After she was gone, Fabian spoke up.

"So, is there a nice place in town for us to go tonight?" he asked, startling me.

"What?"

Fabian laughed. "I want to take you out to dinner tonight, so I was wondering where we could go."

"Oh, well, um . . . There's this one place, but it's more of a restaurant/dancing place and neither of us dance, so it might not be such a good idea."

"We don't have to dance," Fabian said. "But if the moment calls for it, then what have we got to lose?"

"Um, our pride, our reputations?" I suggested.

"What reputations?" Fabian joked. "Come on, Nina. It'll be fun."

I eventually agreed, and we spent the rest of the day talking and touring the house. I ended up showing Fabian the entire house, right down to the basement. He made a joke about there being a secret tunnel in there, but I shot that down quickly. There was nothing strange about this house.

Later that night, I was getting ready for my date with Fabian. What was I going to do for his birthday next month? Just as I was about to consider the possibilities, a knock sounded on the door. I ruffled my hair a little before leaving the bathroom, almost running into Fabian.

"Are you okay?" he asked, steadying me.

"I should be asking you that," I told him, standing straight. We both looked at each other and smiled. We were actually going on our first date in America. I just hoped we didn't run into Jess –a friend from my old school. She had been hounding me for the last few weeks to tell her when Fabian got here because she half-believed I made him up.

After telling Gran we'd be back later, we walked out of the house and to the driveway. Gran was letting us use her car for tonight. While we were driving to the restaurant, Fabian started asking me questions about my life in America.

"So, any friends here?" he asked as we pulled into the parking lot.

"Um, a few," I said cryptically, not wanting to tell him about Jess.

"Interesting," Fabian mused, turning off the car and opening the door. He walked around the front of the car and opened my door for me. I thanked him as we started walking to the front door. Unfortunately, the waitress at the front was none other than Jess.

"Happy birthday!" she cried as we walked up to her. "And who might this be?" Jess added as she noticed Fabian.

"Jess, this is Fabian Rutter," I said. "Fabian, this is Jessica Porter, but everyone calls her Jess."

"Well, Jess," Fabian said, extending his hand. "It's nice to meet one of Nina's friends from America."

"And it's nice to meet Nina's boyfriend from England," Jess said, shaking his hand. "Here I was thinking she had just made you up! Now I feel like an idiot."

And that was pretty much how the next few minutes passed. As Jess led us to our table, she started telling Fabian all sorts of embarrassing stories about me, right down to the time she had convinced me to go skateboarding with her and ended up in the hospital for two days.

"Nina skateboarded?" Fabian asked in an amused tone.

"It wasn't all that funny," I said in a quiet voice. This was humiliating.

"Yeah, but I haven't been able to get her on the board since," Jess said. "Oh, crap, I gotta go. You know how it is; places to be, people to serve."

She said her goodbyes, leaving us by ourselves. We started talking, mostly about what we could do in England when I came to visit, but the conversation quickly turned to Fabian trying to convince me to dance. I gave up after he promised not to tell any of the Anubis residents when we went back to school, and followed him out onto the dance floor.

There were already two other couples dancing, but the second the next song started, it felt like we were alone. I didn't know what it was, but it felt like the entire world was just gone, leaving the only person who mattered at that moment with me.

We swayed to the music, his hands on my waist and my arms around his neck. We weren't as close as we should've been, but it was closer than we'd been at prom. I smiled as Fabian tried to twirl me around, but I ended up tripping and almost falling. He caught me, making it look like he had dipped me while we were dancing. I smiled up at him, wondering what I had done to deserve such a great guy in my life.

"Nina?"

"Yes, Fabian?"

"Happy birthday," he said quietly just before kissing me gently, making the whole world seem to fade away.

Happy birthday indeed.