Chapter Ten:

Birthday Pains and Gains

For some reason I didn't want to get out of bed that morning. I wasn't sick or anything, I just…didn't feel like it.

But that was not going to happen in Aunt Abbey's eyes.

"Happy birthday sweet heart!~" Aunt Abbey shouted, barging into my room with Nix following after her, wagging his tail at the excitement.

I groaned and looked at her from my pillow. "It's sad that you're more excited about this than I am"

Aunt Abbey chuckled before handing me a small box wrapped in white with a pink bow on the top. "This is from your parents. It arrived in the mail last night"

My eyes widened and I opened it immediately, finding a silver Pandora bracelet with charms from each country I've been to. Tears came to my eyes and I coughed out slightly before hugging my aunt.

"Thank you so much!" I cried and she laughed.

"Don't be crying yet! Wait till you see my present" she winked, unhooking my arms and heading downstairs. I smiled as I put the bracelet on as Nix jumped onto my bed and licked my face.

I laughed and scratched under his chin. "Thank you little man" I smiled and hugged him as Aunt Abbey returned with a small birthday bag.

"Open it!" she squealed in delight as I took the purple bag. I looked inside and saw a pair of car keys and my mouth dropped open.

"You got me a car!" I shouted in disbelief and she frowned, her lower lip slightly pouting. I swear she was more of a five year old than a twenty-five year old.

"You don't like it?" she asked in a small voice and I rolled my eyes before pulling her into a hug.

"Of course I do, I'm just surprised" I admitted and she grinned, grabbing my hand and opening my window. I looked out and saw it was a yellow Camaro with a couple of black stripes.

"No way! It looks like Bumblebee from Transformers!" I squealed as my aunt nodded her head.

"I know that's your favourite movie of all time and I found it" she winked before leaving me to get dressed in some new clothes she also bought me.

I decided to wear a white singlet with a light blue jacket going over that only stopped halfway on my stomach with some light blue shorts to go with.

Too lazy to do anything special with it, I left my hair in its usual wavy self and down, just throwing a white head band in it.

I tied my black converses on before giving Aunt Abbey a quick kiss on her cheek before running out to my new car.

Hopping in, I drove to school with my stomach filled with butterflies. I couldn't believe this! It'd be better if I had—

"How'd you know I forgot breakfast?" I asked Melody in shock as I park the car to see her waiting with a brown paper bag.

She smiled. "I had a feeling you'd forget"

I smiled at her gratefully and munched down on the chocolate chip muffin as we walked into the school building.

"Thank you so much for the muffin" I said to Melody as I swallowed the last bits of muffin and threw the rubbish in the bin. She shrugged her shoulders.

"You're welcome and happy birthday" she hugged me and I hugged her back before she disappeared into the council room. I opened my locker and threw my keys in there before glancing at my bracelet. I loved it and could tell Mom put a lot of effort of arranging them into order.

Suddenly there was a loud squeak over the intercoms, along with three certain people's voices.

"Rosalyn! You can't use the intercom for personal reasons!" Nathaniel scolded and it echoed into the hallway. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened in.

"Nathaniel stop being so stingy! It's Adrianne's birthday!" Rosalyn exclaimed and I heard the grunts of pulling. I guess they were fighting over it.

People glanced at me and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I-It is?" Nathaniel stammered and then yelped along with a squeal from Rosalyn.

"Nathaniel are you okay?" Melody's concerned voice could be heard.

"The intercom's still on!" Nathaniel groaned and everyone laughed in the hall, along with me as I giggled.

"Oh really?" Rosalyn asked in surprise. "Then I just want to make a shout out to a girlfriend of mine. Happy birthday Adrianne!~"

I pissed myself laughing even more as Rosalyn and Nathaniel continued arguing in the intercom before Lysander and Castiel eventually appeared, both laughing.

"One of you go tell them" I said in between giggles. "I can't!"

Castiel smirked as he walked over to the door and opened it, receiving gasps from inside.

"The intercom is still on" Castiel informed them. "Idiots"

Rosalyn pushed past Castiel and ran over to hug me tightly. "Happy birthday!"

I was still giggling as I hugged her back and saw Nathaniel arguing with Castiel in the doorway.

"Don't fight you two" I called and they looked over. "Come on, be nice for once"

Nathaniel nodded while Castiel rolled his eyes but they both agreed. I smiled and pulled away from Rosalyn as she eyed my bracelet.

"Who gave you this one?" she asked, holding it up in her fingers.

"My parents mailed it over from Rio" I answered and she smiled before hugging me once more as the bell went.

"What do I have?" I wondered to myself, going to my locker to check but I felt a light tap on my head. I looked up and saw Castiel with a book in his head, hanging it over me.

"History with me Little Bunny" he answered and I grinned before running down the hall to the classroom.

I was chilling on the grass in the garden, preparing the next chapter when my phone buzzed on the ground. Frowning, I picked it up and saw it was a message from Iris.

Come to the roof top

I packed my stuff up and walked up to the roof top, suspicious of what was going to happen. I had an idea, but didn't know for sure.

As I climbed the door, my heart began beating rapidly for an odd reason. I opened the door, only to have five people scream at me.

"Surprise!" Melody, Iris, Rosalyn, Violet and Nathaniel cheered as Lysander and Castiel threw streamers at me.

I was touched. "Guys, I didn't want much" I pouted as Rosalyn led me over to the picnic blanket that was neatly spread out with food everywhere.

"I know, that's why a simple picnic is enough for a simpleton like you" she teased and I rolled my eyes as I sat next to Lysander and Violet.

Then I spied chocolate chips cookies, the big ones and snatched three before munching on them.

"Pig" Castiel commented and I stuck my tongue at him. He frowned and reached over, making me freeze to the spot. His thumb ran over my lower cheek, close to the corner of my lip and then he pulled back. "Yep, you're a pig. Getting crumbs everywhere"

I blushed and then cleared my throat as Melody handed me some water. I drank it, hoping it would cool my blushing face.

Rosalyn clapped her hands together. "Present time~" she sang happily and pulled out a huge white back from behind her back. "This is from Leigh and I"

I opened it to see some new clothes, a couple of nice summer dresses too and I smiled warmly at her.

"Thanks" I replied as Melody handed me hers. Opening it, I saw it was a DVD of my favourite musical of all time.

"You got my Hairspray!" I squealed, hugging it to my chest and grinning at her widely. "Thank you so much!"

"Here is mine" Violet said quietly, handing me a bag and I looked to see a picture of me in the school garden writing in my notebook. The picture was so beautiful and well-drawn; it even had a white frame around it.

"It looks amazing Violet" I gushed and she smiled, blushing a little in embarrassment.

Iris winked. "Alright, the present that's gonna win is here" she declared, handing me a small, silver box.

Opening it, I gasped when I saw a small love heart shaped locket with an inscription.

"Nos vies seront a jamais enlaces" I whispered and Iris frowned.

"Yeah, what does that even mean?" she asked and I giggled, wiping away a stray tear and smiling at her.

"It's French for 'Our lives will forever be entwined'" I answered and she laughed in embarrassment for not knowing but buying it anyway.

Rosalyn looked impressed. "How'd you know that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I know eight different languages from growing up. I can speak Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin and Russian"

Castiel shook his head. "Like I said, you know too much for your own good"

I poked my tongue out at him once again before Nathaniel handed me a card with an awkward smile.

"I forgot it was your birthday so sorry that it's not much" he apologised and I smiled, taking the card.

"It's the thought that counts" I replied and opened the card, reading it.

Dear Adrianne,

Happy 17th Birthday!

It's been a blessing to meet someone as kind and beautiful as you.

I hope all of your dreams come true and you find a guy worthy of you.

From, Nathaniel.

I smiled and gave me a quick hug before sitting back and noticing Melody's blush. I gave her an apologetic look but she shrugged her shoulders as Lysander cleared his throat.

"I do recall the first time we met, you thought I was a ghost" he smiled and I laughed at the memory. "As a way to keep away the nightmares"

I grabbed the small bag and opened it to see a dark purple dream catcher with two small ones hanging off of it.

"It's beautiful Lys" I whispered and smiled warmly at him. "Thank you, I've been meaning to get one of these"

Everyone then turned to Castiel but he shrugged his shoulders. "What? I didn't get her anything alright?"

They turned their attention to me and I tried my best to mask the hurt that I felt with a fake smile.

"It's fine, let's dig in" I said, grabbing another cookie and taking a massive bite. But for some reason, it didn't taste so sweet anymore.

It seems the manager also knew it was my birthday since when I arrived, a chocolate cupcake with a single pink candle was lit and waiting for me.

The rest of the night passed uneventful, except Aunt Abbey's dinner followed by cake.

"I'm gonna head to bed" I yawned as she did the dishes. Aunt Abbey looked over her shoulder with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay sweetie?" she asked worried and I nodded.

"Just exhausted" I lied and went to my room without another; I didn't want her to interrogate me. Nix followed me and sat on my bed, staring up at the dream catcher I hung up over my bed.

I sat at my desk, replying to a message from my editor and then having a quick shower. All I could think about while in the shower was Castiel's attitude when he admitted on not having a present. I didn't care if he didn't have one but the fact that he looked like he didn't want to be there struck me.

Grimacing, I placed a hand over my heart in hopes the tight feeling in my chest would go. I squeezed my eyes shut; wanting the tears to go away when Nix's barking snapped me out of it.

I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body before going to see what was wrong. Nix was by my window, his paws on the glass as he barked.

"Nix, what's wrong?" I asked, walking over and opening my window as a pebbled was thrown. It missed my shoulder and I looked down to only glare.

"Castiel? What the hell are you doing here?" I snapped as he chucked the rest of the pebbles onto the ground.

"You may be able to fool everyone else, but I can tell when you're upset" he called and began climbing the tree. I just groaned and shook my head at in disbelief.

"I can't deal with you" I murmured as he walked over on the same branch. Castiel shrugged his shoulders.

"No one can, I'm surprised Lys can hang around me for so long" he agreed and then looked at me better. "You might wanna get changed into some warmer and comfortable"

I glared. "I am not riding on that death trap you call a motorcycle"

He seemed surprised by the fact I guessed what he was up to. "It's not a death trap"

I noticed the branch sway a little bit and motioned for him to come in before he fell to his death. He complied, climbing into the window and sitting on my bed, scratching Nix behind the ear.

"I'll be right back" I muttered, grabbing some jeans and a shirt along with a jacket and getting dressed in the bathroom. I tied my hair back into a low ponytail and went back to my room as Castiel looked at my notice board.

"Why are you looking at that?" I asked, shutting my bedroom door and locking it.

"I forgot to the first time I was in your room" he said and then smirked at me. "I didn't think I'd be here a second time"

I glared and walked over to my window. "Are you coming or what?" I snapped at him and jumped onto the tree before jumping down onto the ground. Castiel followed and walked over to his motorcycle, throwing a black helmet at me.

"You're gonna have to hold onto me" he warned as I got on and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Oh goody" I muttered sarcastically as he started the thing. I winced at the loud noise and tightened my grip. Castiel chuckled and I lightly punched his shoulder as he took off.

I buried my face into his back, squeezing my eyes in fear as my stomach made knots.

"Relax, just feel the bike" Castiel murmured and I tried my best but it didn't work, I hated this. "If I knew you'd hold me this tightly, I would've gotten you on this soon Little Bunny"

I remained silent until he pulled up at a hill. As soon as it stopped moving, I practically jumped off and ran away from it.

"Who knew you'd be scared of something like a motorcycle" Castiel shook his head as he joined me and I crossed my arms over my chest.

"What was so important that you practically kidnapped me?" I asked and he smirked at me.

"You cam willingly"

"Castiel, I'm already pissed off. Just answer the question!"

Castiel sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't get you a present because I forgot but I didn't know what to give you. Nothing I thought of felt right"

I looked at him surprised and saw his blushing face. I smiled and looked up at the full moon.

"It's like I said earlier" I replied and looked back at him. "It's the thought that counts"