A/N Thank you so much to my 2 new followers! I got so excited about that and it encouraged me to keep going. I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's a bit longer than the last few and was really fun to write!

"Wake up!" It was time for their morning chores but Evra came into Truska and Ella's tent early to wake her.

"Mmmrrffff." Ella mumbled as she rolled over in her cot and pulled the covers over her head.

"Ella, wake up!" Evra pulled the pillow out from under her head and started beating her with it. "Wake up, I have to tell you something!" She groaned in frustration and eventually threw the covers off and stole the pillow from him.

"Evra! You annoying prick! What do you possibly need to tell me so urgently!?" She was now sitting up in the bed with her wild hair sticking out in every direction. Evra broke out into a huge grin. "Well?" She asked again.

"Happy birthday!" He shouted enthusiastically as he threw his arms into the air.

"What? It's not..." Ella let out a huge groan. "It's Friday. My birthday. Uggghhhhh!" She let out as she fell back onto the bed.

"I just wanted to let you know to not worry about your chores today, I got them covered, and go back to sleep and catch up on your rest. You're going to need it for your party tonight!"

"Party? That's not necessary I-" but Evra cut her off.

"Of course it is! We always throw a party when it's a member's birthday and you're no exception!"

"You people are going to kill me." Ella grumbled.

"Well good thing you're practically immortal. Go back to sleep. And Ella?"

She looked up at him. "Happy birthday!"

She sighed reluctantly. "Thank you, Evra."

...

"Here you go, love, drink this!" Leah gave Ella a shot glass full of some strong smelling, clear liquid. She soon realized it was alcohol.

"Oh, uh, no thank you. I'm only 18 and I've never really had a drink before." She said kind of nervously.

"Oh come on, it's your birthday! You need to loosen up. You're about as stiff as your mentor over there." Ella chuckled as she glanced at Mr. Crepsley who was now glaring at them. He was already in a foul mood because he had no idea it was even her birthday when he woke up. If it weren't for Hibernius, he still wouldn't have probably known until a few minutes ago. He had just woken up and didn't even have the chance to give her birthday wishes to her yet. "Try it. You only turn 18 once!"

Everyone was now watching and Hans started chanting, "Ella, Ella, Ella!" and soon the rest of the cirque joined in. She knew this would probably continue on until she gave in. With one final look towards her mentor, she brought the glass up to her lips and threw it back. The liquid burned her throat, causing her to violently start coughing. Leah laughed as the rest of the cirque cheered her on.

"See that wasn't so bad was it?" Leah asked.

"That was absolutely repulsive." She said, still coughing. Mr. Crepsley shook his head, trying his hardest not to smile.

"You want another?" Leah asked, feigning innocence. Ella slowly turned her head towards her and raised an eyebrow. "Ok, ok I got it... You do want another! I'll be right back."

"No, Leah! Ughh." She growled in defeat as Leah skipped away. "She's going to get me drunk."

"I think that's her plan!" Evra laughed. "But I heard that vampires have a higher tolerance for alcohol."

"Yeah, but look at how small she is. Plus the fact that she's never had a drink before won't help." Hans said coming towards them now. He put a hand on her shoulder. "So you'll probably get drunk before the end of the night."

Ella laughed nervously when Leah came back with another shot. "Drink up!"

"This is the last one, ok?" She said as she took the shot and downed it quickly. This time she gagged. "Ugh that's so disgusting!" She looked back to Leah who now had a mischievous look on her face. "I'm serious Leah, if I have another, I would barf!"

"Ok, ok... I get it. No more shots."

"Thank you." Ella said.

"Hey I think you need to open your birthday present!" Evra exclaimed, changing the subject.

"Yeah!" Hans said excitedly as the other cirque members gathered around her.

Evra handed Ella a small box that was neatly wrapped. She opened it up to find an iPod in it. "Oh my gosh how perfect!" She picked it up and turned it on to find there were a lot of albums already downloaded on it. "I've been dying to listen to something again... Ever since that night, I felt a part of me missing... Music was my everything." She said, trying not to sound sad.

"We heard you humming all the time and thought you would like something to hum along to. We all chipped in to get it for you and Evra picked out the music." Hans told her with a big smile on his face.

"Yes it's perfect!" She exclaimed. "And you have some of my favorites on here... Debussy, Brahms, Broadway shows... Oh you got Puccini's entire opera of Turandot? It's my favorite! I've never actually seen it live but I've watched a million recordings of it and had all the CD's. This is so great!" She looked at Evra. "Thank you." She whispered gratefully to him. Then she turned to address everyone. "Thank you all so, so much!" She moved to hug each member individually and thank them again. Mr. Crepsley stood off to the side, feeling guilty for not having given her a gift as well.

Leah appeared next to Ella with a drink. "Here you go!" She said joyfully as she thrusted the cup into her hand.

"What is it? Not more alcohol is it?"

Leah laughed and said, "Just drink it, I guarantee you will not taste any alcohol in it." Ella took a sip, and after the two shots she had, she really didn't taste the alcohol in this drink.

"Ok who's ready for some spin the bottle!" Leah shouted. Hans and a few other of the male cirque members agreed and cheered at the idea. Evra and Ella looked a little uneasy.

"That's the kissing game, right?" Ella asked. "I don't think I should pl-"

"Oh come on it doesn't have to be a make-out kiss, it can just be a little chicken peck. Not really a big deal."

"It is for me.." She whispered.

"Oh, I'm sure you've kissed a ton of guys before, it's really not-"

"I haven't." She interrupted and took another sip of her cocktail.

"... You haven't? You mean you just haven't kissed a ton of guys?" Leah asked slightly flabbergasted.

"No, I have never kissed anyone at all." This caught everyone's attention now. Including Mr. Crepsley.

"Why on earth not? You're gorgeous!"

Ella's cheeks turned red with embarrassment. "Oh, uh, thank you" She frantically searched her mind for a response. "I just want it to be special... With someone I love. I don't know, it's just always been something that meant a lot to me. I want my first kiss to be with someone special."

"Ok, ok I get it..." Leah paused for a second. "But don't you ever have the urge to have se-"

"OKK! I think you've embarrassed the poor girl enough! No spin the bottle." Hans thankfully interceded. Mr. Crepsley's ears were about as red as his hair now. He was relieved to hear she would not be partaking in such juvenile games such as spin the bottle. But that relief was short-lived when Leah spoke again.

"Well how about truth or dare? That doesn't have to have any sexual contact in it... Though that would make it more fun..."

"Ok, I guess that will be fun." Ella looked timidly at Evra who looked almost as uncomfortable as she did with all this talk.

"Ok everyone get in a circle!" Almost everyone did except for an obvious few. "Now the birthday girl gets to go first!"

"Oh great." Ella muttered. She glanced over to her mentor to see him glaring at her, aggravated. This made her giggle for some reason as she looked back at Leah.

"Ella, truth or dare." She asked, grinning.

"Truth." As soon as she said it Leah and a few others groaned.

"Ugh you're no fun! Fine, fine... Uh now I have to think of something.. Anyone have any ideas?" Leah asked and they took a few seconds to think. "Wait no, I got a good one!" She exclaimed. Ella started to grow nervous. "Ok, Ella. Do you currently have a crush on anyone?"

Some people scooted up to the edge of their seats to hear her answer better. She knew she was going to disappoint them when she told them 'no'. "Of course not-" but she stopped and remembered the times she felt butterflies in her stomach... and the way she would blush when she was physically close to him... She couldn't possibly have a crush on... her teacher? No, no, that's completely inappropriate! But her thoughts were interrupted.

"Look!" Leah shouted excitedly! "She does have a crush on someone!" Mr. Crepsley sat back in his chair and folded his arms. There were quiet murmurs amongst the group that stopped when Leah asked, "Well, who is it?"

"No, no, no! That wasn't a part of the question! I won't answer!" The crowd aww-ed at her response.

"Fine... We'll have to get you later... Alexander! Truth or dare?" As their game continued Ella continued to sip on the drink that was given to her. She didn't realize Leah was sneaking off and refilling her cup every now and then. Soon, she started to get really giggly!

The game was innocent enough filled with silly dares that everyone had fun doing. Ella knew she couldn't pick 'truth' again, because she knew they would make her reveal her crush. She thought a lot about this, but she knew it was a silly little school-girl crush. I mean, wasn't it normal for a girl to have feelings towards her teacher? That's all this was. Had to be. It doesn't mean anything...

As the night drew on and the game began to get dull, they turned the radio up and listened to the music. "Oh I haven't heard this song in years... Come on everyone, let's dance!" Ella stood up and grabbed Evra and Leah's hands. She felt a bit wobbly at first from the alcohol, but soon steadied herself and started jumping up and down with her hair swinging wildly around her. Leah giggled and she and Evra joined her. More cirque members joined in on the fun and danced with them.

Mr. Crepsley still stayed firmly planted in his seat and watched the absurdities around him. "Children." He scoffed, but then he was surprised to see Hibernius was in on the lunacy as well. Normally, he wouldn't have stayed this long if it were any other Cirque party, but Ella was involved and was quite intoxicated at this point. He needed to stay and make sure she remained safe.

Another song started and Ella noticed the Little Person with a limp, who they called Lefty, standing off to the side watching everyone. Mr. Crepsley watched as she approached the creature. "Would you like to dance, too?" She asked with a smile and offered her hand to him. The Little Person hesitated but took her hand as she led him to the crowd. Some Cirque members stopped dancing to watch. Ella grabbed Lefty's other hand, too, and started jumping and moving to the beat of the music. The Little Person did the same, eliciting cheers from the other members. Mr. Crepsley smirked at the strange scene. He couldn't help but to think of her heart of gold. She always felt the need to love everyone and include others. This one young person held so much kindness, and though it didn't necessarily blend in with the vampire culture, he couldn't help but to be proud of his assistant.

As the song was coming to an end, Ella spotted Mr. Crepsley and went over to him. Still dancing, she asked, "Come on, Mr. Crepsley, dance with us!"

He folded his arms over his chest and sneered. "I think not." He felt she was acting completely ridiculous to even ask.

"Aww you really need to loosen up! It's fun! See?!" He looked up in time to see her spin around with her hands in the air. Only, she lost her footing and would have stumbled right into Rhamus, but Mr. Crepsley stood up and pulled her into him. They both blushed as they locked eyes. Once again she is in my arms, he thought.

The next song played and as luck would have it, it was a slow song. Ella, in her drunken state, boldly brought her arms up around his neck. She looked innocently into his eyes and whispered, "dance with me." She didn't ask this time.

How could I possibly say no to that? This girl was going to kill him. He didn't take his eyes off of hers as he brought his hands up to her waist and started swaying. He wondered who it was that she had a crush on. It's probably Evra, he thought. Especially since she has such a soft spot for those that are different. He refused to recognize the disappointment he felt at this realization. He tried to think of something to say to her, but his words failed. He just continued to look into her starlit eyes.

As they were swaying, Ella's vision started swirling even more than before. But she couldn't strain her eyes away from Mr. Crepsley's. He's so handsome for an older man, she thought. Ella knew it was inappropriate to have these thoughts, but she couldn't stop herself. It was just the alcohol affecting her, right? Each sway she got more and more dizzy.

It wasn't even halfway through the song before her eyes closed and she passed out, falling into Mr. Crepsley. Without a second thought, he scooped her up bridal-style. He walked over to Evra and Leah with Ella in his arms. "I think she is done for tonight. I will take her to her tent." He told them slightly annoyed. He turned away from them, carrying his assistant away from the vexatious Cirque members.

Truska was still at the party so when they arrived at the tent, they were alone. He walked over to Ella's cot and laid her down and pulled the covers up around her. He sat down on the side of the bed next to her sleeping form and looked at the innocent young child-no...woman, before him. She looked so at peace with her hair splayed around her soft face. He felt guilty that he did not know it was her birthday, but felt even more guilty that he had not given her a present.

With one last look at the sleeping girl, he slowly bent down and gently pressed his lips on her forehead and whispered a quiet, "happy birthday," and rose to leave the tent. He flitted to the nearest city and decided he would try to find the perfect gift for her. Better late than never is what they always say, isn't it? He walked down the streets looking into the windows of the stores for hours trying to find something worthy for his assistant.

Mr. Crepsley was about to give up when he saw it: A billboard that contained the perfect gift for his Ella. The luck of the vampires was truly with him! Mr. Tiny could not have planned it better himself! He made a note to come back in the morning when they open so he can present it to her tomorrow. He smiled to himself knowing that he could not have found anything better.