~ Chapter Fourteen ~

"Rae! Rae get up! You need to get ready for your party!" Pen said, knocking on my door.

"Go away!"

"What's wrong with you? You seemed alright going to this party a week ago, now you're changing your mind?"

"Well, that's because I wasn't expecting today to come so quickly!" I said.

"But-"

"No! I'm not going and that's final!"

Pen sighed and looked to Le who was coming up the stairs.

"She refusing to get out of bed?" she asked.

"Yeah. I don't see why she won't come out. She seemed fine yesterday, now she all of a sudden changes her mind about going."

Le thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. "I have an idea." She went back down the stairs, grabbed a wrapped package that was sitting on the kitchen table, and walked back upstairs. "Rae, will you open the door? I have something for you."

"…" I slowly got up out of bed and stumbled over to my bedroom door, opening it slowly. "What is it?"

Le showed me the package. "I wanna give you this."

I looked down at the package and then back up at Le. When I reached out oto take the package, she grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me out of my bedroom.

"No! Stop it! Let me go!"

"Sorry Rae, but you're going to that party!"

"No I'm not!" I said. "You can't make me!"

"Yes we can!"

"Rae, we're your friends," Pen said. "Do you really think we'd let something bad happen to you?"

"Well, no but…"

"You need to put more faith in us. If we say we'll be by your side, we'll be by your side. If we say we'll protect you, we'll protect you."

I bit my lip. "Yeah but, who's going to be there to protect you guys?"

"Hey, we're strong enough to take care of ourselves! Don't worry about us!"

"…"

"Now c'mon. We need to get you ready so you can have a good time on your seventeenth birthday," Le said, pushing me into the bathroom and tossing me my dress.

I sighed and started changing into my dress and fixed my hair and makeup.

I was excited about going to a big party to celebrate me turning seventeen. But I was still scared by the fact Kaname and the Night Class were going to be there. How were Pen and Le going to protect me when we were going to be surrounded by nothing but vampires? Yes, Le was a chimera and could easily rip out their throats. But would that be enough? What about Pen? He had nothing!

Well, Pen did say the Headmaster was going to be there. So that made me slightly more comfortable…slightly.

When I was done prettying myself up, I walked out of the bathroom and looked at Pen and Le.

"There she is!" Pen said.

"See? Don't you feel a little bit better about going to this party now that you're all dressed up?" Le asked.

"A little, but not a lot," I said.

"Alright, now that you're ready, let's get this show on the road!" Pen said.

"Wait, I still need to change into my dress," Le said.

"Yeah, and you still need to get ready," I said, crossing my arms.

"What do you mean? I am ready!"

"No you're not! You're still wearing your t-shirt and jeans!"

"I thought you said you had something to wear," Le said.

"I do, this!" Pen said, gesturing to his outfit.

"Nu uh, you're going to go upstairs and change into something nice," I said.

"But…this is the only 'nice' clothes I got."

I sighed. "Fine, call Zero and have him bring one of his tuxes up so you can wear it. We just need to get going if we're going to this stupid party."

"…Fine," Pen said, pulling out his cell and calling Zero.

"While Pen calls Zero, I'll go ahead and change into my dress and get ready," Le said, going into the bathroom to get ready.

I nodded and sat on the couch while the others got ready. Zero came by shortly after Pen had called him and dropped off one of his tuxes.

"Thanks Zero, I'll go change into this," Pen said, going into the downstairs bathroom.

Zero turned to look at me and he smiled. "Hey Rae."

"Hey Zero."

"Happy Birthday."

"Oh…thanks…"

"You excited about your birthday party?"

"Not really," I said, looking down.

"Don't worry, if anything happens, Le, Pen, Yuki and I will be right there to protect you," he said, holding up his Bloody Rose gun.

"Thanks Zero," I smiled. "It's greatly appreciated."

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Le said, coming down the stairs fully dressed.

"Wow Le! You look so pretty!" I said, staring at her outfit.

She smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Thanks babe, but I don't look as good as you do."

I blushed softly.

"Where's Pen at? If he doesn't hurry up, we'll be late!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Sheesh!" Pen said, walking down the stairs.

"About time."

"You look good Pen. That tux fits you," I said, smiling.

"Yeah…thanks…"

"I think you look good too," Zero said.

"Thank you Zero!" Pen said happily.

I rolled my eyes. "Are we ready to go now? I'd like to get this thing over with."

"Oh! Just a sec!" Le grabbed the wrapped package she tried to give to me before and handed it to me. "This was from the Headmaster. He thought it'd go good with your dress."

I gave her a questioning look and took the gift from her. I took the wrapping paper off and opened the small, black box.

"Oh…wow…" I said, eyes sparkling. Inside the box was a silver cross, rose looking necklace with red splotches over it. "It's beautiful."

"Here," Le said, taking the necklace and putting it around my neck for me. When she finished clasping it around my neck, I looked in the mirror. "It looks good on you," she said.

"Yeah, it does."

"Alright guys, time to go," Zero said, opening up the front door.

We nodded and walked out the front door and saw a nice limo waiting for us.

"…Is this the right car?" I asked.

"Yup," Zero said.

"Oh, that's so cool!" Le said. "Isn't it nice Rae? You get to ride in a limo to your party!"

"Yeah," I smiled softly.

Zero opened the door for us, and I gave him a small curtsy before getting inside the vehicle.

"Everyone ready to go?" Zero asked.

"Yeah!" Pen and Le cheered.

I nodded.

"Alright, then we're off," he said, putting the gear into drive and driving off to Cross Academy.

For the whole drive, I couldn't do anything except look out the car window and think of how bad the party was going to be. Le noticed this, and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright. You need to take a chill pill and just think about what a great time you'll have."

"Yeah but, how can I do that when I know everyone there is a vampire? Except for Yuki, the Headmaster, Pen and you?"

"Just…forget about them being vampires for today and have a good time. Today is all about you, and you don't need those bloodsuckers ruining your day."

I smiled and nodded. "You're right Le I'll just forget about them being vampires, and imagine them as actual people."

"That's the spirit. You'll have a much better time that way."

"Look! We're here!" Pen said, pointing out the window at Cross Academy.

As we slowly started approaching the gates of the school, I noticed the whole Night Class was waiting outside for us. This made me nervous.

"Hey, you'll be alright," Le reassured me.

I gulped. "Yeah…I know…"

"Well then, let's go!" Pen said, putting his hand on the car door.

But before he could open it, the car door on my side had already swung open, and Aido stood there with a smile on his face.

"Why, hello there princess. Happy Seventeenth Birthday."

Yay! They're finally at the party! So excited! I loved this chapter! It was awesome! Again, please review! Your reviews are making me really happy and make me want to write more and more! ^_^