"Happy birthday Nessie!"
My eyes shot open as a pair of cold hands lifted me from my bed and into a strong hug.
"Thanks mum." I smiled as I hugged back, then paused, "It just hit me how weird this is... what with me looking 2-3 years older than you..."
"Lots of people look young for their age."
"Mom that wasn't really-"
"And you've already stopped growing since last year, so I find no problem." She gave me an infectious smile and I laughed.
"Well I hope you guys didn't throw me another one of those patented birthday parties. After last year's, I don't know if I can handle..." I stared at my mother and could immediately see through her beguiling eyes, "You guys did, didn't you?"
"Your aunt Alice couldn't resist. You know how much we all love you, so try to put on your best smile and lets head downstairs."
--
"Happy birthday to you!" The last line of the ever popular song ended as I applauded and blew out the 22 tall stalks of wax implanted into the small cake of frozen perfection. I never much had a liking to human food but ice cream was the one thing I could never turn down.
"Thank you guys."
"Happy birthday Nessie." I turned around and was greeted by a warm embrace. Jake.
"Thank you."
"No problem." He said quietly in my ear. There it was again. The safe feeling.
"Uh, Nessie, why don't you open some presents?" My father interrupted. His strong arm pulled me away from Jake and towards the big pile of presents sitting by the living room.
I could of course always count on dearest daddy to ruin a special moment, but to be terribly honest I was too excited to see all of my presents to resist.
"Open mine first!" I heard my aunt Rose say, "It's the biggest!"
"No no mine is the biggest."
"It doesn't matter grandpa," I reassured him, laughing, "I'll love them all equally."
--
I lied.
Not to say that I didn't love all of my presents (a new purple sweater, a leather wallet, and a brand new pair of designer shoes), but as I walked up to my room all I could think of were the barrettes in my hair which were given to me from Jake. As soon and I laid my eyes on them, I knew I had to try them on, clipping them into my bronze curls.
"I didn't know that you could get prettier," Jake had joked, which earned him a punch in the arm from my mum. Grandpa Charlie tells me that my mum and Jake used to be very very close. I wonder if they ever...
Scratch scratch.
I looked to my window and found Jake sitting outside. My eyes widened and shook out of my deep thought to open the window and let him in.
"What are you doing here? I thought you went back home."
"I had to give you your birthday present Ness."
"I already got them," I grinned, "And I love them."
"What, those things? Come on, you should know me better to have gotten you something better than that."
I was confused at his confident smirk, though I wasn't all that surprised at his remark. For my fourteenth year of birth, Jake had bought me a brand new camera with all the latest built-in technology and whatnot- and was still worried if I'd like it or not.
"Jake for your information, I love these barrettes. And you know, you don't have to throw money away for me! I'm old now, I know better." I said smugly. Yet secretly I was thinking inside of all the times I happily accepted and even expected lavish gifts from Jake when I was younger. I must have been such a pain.
"Well you'll be happy to know then, that I didn't spend a single penny on this one." He held out his hand and a faint sparkle twinkled in his palm.
"What is it?" My voice said, suddenly hushed, and after a small pause, he quietly replied,
"It's an ancient Quileute chain. My dad gave it to me. Its supposedly sacred."
I took a closer look and saw that it was indeed a silver chain, but with a modest little sapphire gem hanging towards the ground. It was overwhelmingly beautiful.
"Jake... I-I..."
He took notice of how overcome I was and quickly got in a hearty mood. "Or at least that's what my dad tells me. I mean, who can trust that old man anyways? I just found it in the attic one day, all dusty and such, and thought it'd be a nice present."
I could tell how he was trying to underplay the whole situation, but I saw through everything.
"Jake, this... I... I can't just take it."
"Of course you can Nessie. See?" He grabbed my right arm and placed the necklace into my hand, "It's yours."
"No Jake, look I know-"
"Listen." His tone turned surprisingly serious, "I want you to have it. Really Ness. When you're wearing it I'll always know where you are. If you don't want to take it for you, at least accept it for me. Please?"
I sighed, and couldn't resist the urge to smile. "Okay Jake, for you."
A quiet moment passed by. "So Jake. This present. It's all just to keep me on a leash? How heartfelt."
"Ha ha so very funny." He responded sarcastically, "But if you don't mind, I think you should try it on. Just to, you know, see how it looks."
"You're lucky your tracking device is so pretty."
He flashed my his Jacob grin and took the necklace from my hand. "Turn around."
I did so, facing my mirror, as I felt him hook the silver clasp together.
"Stunning."
A tingling feeling ran up and down my body as I tried hard to muster out my next words.
"Jake, I'm not-"
"Oh you thought I meant... No no I meant the necklace. Oh no.. you... but I didn't... wow this must be so awkward for you..."
"Shut up!" I laughed, half disappointed and half relieved,
"Well I guess you look stunning too. Really, really, really stunning."
"Thank you." I tiptoed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Jake chuckled nervously. "Uh.. heh... I should... get back. T-To my pack. It's hunting day."
"Okay." I gave him a hug and he squeezed back. "I love you Jake."
"More than you could ever know."
I want to thank everyone who's been reading so far! Hopefully I can continue with this story and hopefully you guys can continue to enjoy this story as much as I am!
