Chapter 3
Party
SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLACH! Every single one of Kellach's friends was outside of his room in a huge clump surrounding him in a wave of noise. There was Shadow and Jake, each with an arm on each other's shoulder. There were Knuckles and his girlfriend Arya. She was a new addition to the Knight's Title, and she was welcomed with open arms. She wore black yoga pants with a matching tank top. Her long purple hair was magically straightened and perfect for seven in the morning. Next to her stood her "girlfriend" Amy, whose eyes lit up in excitement for surprising her friend. Aang was jumping up and down behind them, trying to get a glimpse of the birthday boy, amid the mass of tall people. Sasuke, as usual, kept his distance in the back. He did wear a small grin for the occasion, a rare feature to appear on his solemn, serious face. In front of all of them, however, was Hermione. She stood in the middle of all the chaos, arms folded, a smile on her face. Her long curly brown hair hung in layers around her. She stared into Kellach's eyes, and for a moment, she was all that he could see for a moment. The sound of a confetti popper broke Kellach out of the trance. He smiled and looked to Neji.
"Hey! You guys remembered!" Kellach had a huge smile on his face. All of his friends had party hats of many different colors on their heads. Multicolored streamers and balloons decorated the whole tower. It was a magical sight to behold. The friends hugged each other.
"You guys are the best!" grinned Kellach, feeling on top of the world.
"We know." Replied Jake. This made them all chuckle. Kellach then realized something.
"Damn, I don't even remember how old I am, let alone what day it is!" Hermione then walked forward and kissed him soft on the lips.
"You're eighteen. You're an adult," she said, smiling. Kellach shook his head in embarrassment.
"Oh shit, how could I forget a milestone like that."
"Well, follow us to the lounge; your gifts are waiting there." Said Neji. The crowd squeezed down the narrow hallway to a spiral stairwell to the lounge.
"WOAH!" The whole lounge was full of presents of many different shapes, sizes, and patterns. The white carpet was barely visible from all of the packages. There was a fire blazing in the hearth of the fireplace, warming the room with its tender glow.
"OH MY GOD!" Kellach cheered. "I HIT THE MOTHERLOAD!" Each present had bright wrapping paper and a handsome little bow. Kellach and friends sat on the 90 degree angled blue couch on the lounge.
"I'll open that one first." Said Kellach as he pointed to a small box topped with a cute, pink bow.
"Yay that's mine!" exclaimed Aang as he air-bended the box right to Kellach. Kellach's fingers twitched, he was so excited! He slowly unwrapped the basketball sized box. It was a black box. Kellach quickly opened up the box. Inside was another black box. And in that box was another black box. And in THAT box was ANOTHER black box. Finally Kellach was left with a very small black box that fit into the palm of his hand. Kellach carefully opened the small box. Inside was a small, blackish gray pebble. It was smooth and round. Kellach breathed a sigh of relief.
"At least it wasn't another box, my god Aang," Kellach thought wearily. Kellach then mustered up a fake smile, one that would fool even his master.
"Awwww thanks Aang." Said Kellach shyly, "what is it?"
"It's a pebble." Aang said.
"Oh." Kellach said quietly. Kellach was about to put the pebble in his pocket when Aang then scooped the pebble out of Kellach's hand.
"Watch this!" said Aang, he was very excited. He rubbed his index finger on the top of the pebble for five seconds. In an instant, two small, coal eyes blipped onto the pebble. It grew 4 small legs and a mouth hole. It hopped out of Aang's hand and landed on Kellach's hand. It crawled up to his hand, exploring him as if he were foreign territory. It sniffed and crawled along his arm, intrigued by its new master.
"Heh ha! It tickles!" The pebble then crawled up to Kellach's shoulder. The pebble then licked Kellach's cheek with a large, lolling tongue.
"Aw, he's adorable! Thanks Aang!" Beamed Kellach. Aang grinned and tapped the pebble three times on its head, and the pebble instantly became nonmoving.
"You can also use him for your spells." Added Aang. Kellach put the pebble in his pocket.
"OK," said Kellach, "how about that one." He said as he pointed to a medium sized, white colored present.
"Alwright!" Cheered Knuckles as he handed him his gift. This went on for about an hour. From knuckles, Kellach got a soft, fire-proof cloak. From Shadow and Jake, he got a Nintendo Wii U with the video games Super Smash Bros Brawl, and Super Killer Bunny lll. From Sasuke, he got a very advanced spell book with a magic pen that wrote whatever the person said. From Amy, he got a massage chair and a subscription to Spellcaster monthly. From Arya, he got an IPod Touch with some of his favorite songs installed. Then, there was one gift left.
"I'll get it." Said Hermione. It was a plain blue box with a sparkly white bow. She quickly returned and sat at Kellach's side, handing him the misleadingly heavy present and placing it on his lap.
"It's from me." Said Hermione quickly. Kellach ripped open the wrapping paper. What he saw brought tears to his eyes. It was a scrapbook. It was lime green with white trim around the edges. In the center of the book, was a picture of the whole gang at a New Years Eve party. The top of the picture had a banner that read "HAPPY 2008!" over the group. Amy and Arya posed as Charlie's angels. Shadow, Knuckles, and Jake were in a pyramid formation. Sasuke and Aang were laughing with everyone else, a root beer bottle in their hands. And Hermione and he were in the center of it all, Hermione was shown kissing his cheek. Kellach looked surprised, and blushing. Kellach wiped a tear from his eye. He was blushing right at that moment, he hadn't changed a bit. The whole group crowded around Kellach to look at the book. He flipped through the pages. In those few moments, the gang reminisced about the great times they had had with each other. There was the time when they all went to Disney, and Jake puked on Sasuke while riding Splash Mountain. There was Shadow's seventeenth birthday, when Knuckles and Aang loaded the cake with firecrackers and the cake exploded spewing frosting all over Shadow when he blew out the candles. And there was the time when Arya, Hermione, and Amy went to the Mall of America and were wearing Halloween costumes from an emporium; Hermione was a princess, Amy was a pumpkin, and Arya was a witch. Everyone laughed together as they flipped through the pictures. By the end of the book, Kellach was grinning and tears were streaming down his face.
"Thank you so much Hermione," Kellach smiled and wiped his eyes free of tears, "Thank you everyone!" said Kellach happily. They all had a group hug. Kellach then got up to gather the gifts together; the scrapbook fell from his lap to the ground.
"Whoops!" Kellach picked up the book, and a small piece of paper slipped out of the bindings. It was written on notebook paper. The writing was legible. A girl probably had written it in a hurry. Kellach read it quietly to himself.
MEET ME ON THE ROOF AT MIDNIGHT. PLEASE DON'T BE LATE. I'LL BE WAITING.
HERMIONE 3
Kellach's heart skipped a beat.
"Hermione? Midnight? Roof? ON? THE?" Thought Kellach.Thousands of images of him with Hermione flooded into his head. Thoughts of love, of passion, of debauchery. His body trembled with unrealized lust. He was in ecstasy. Time had seemed to stop right then and there. His insides were doing back flips. His blood was pumping.
"Oh my god! Tonight! Roof! Of! MIDNIGHT!" Everyone but Hermione turned around to face him. They had confused looks on their faces. The room was silent; you could hear a pin drop. Kellach saw Hermione tense up. But then the others ignored it and headed off to the kitchen for a birthday breakfast feast. Kellach hadn't realized how loud he had been. He gave an embarrassed giggle. He took the slightly crumpled paper and slipped it into his pocket. This would have to wait till later.
"Hey Kellach? Want to play the U with us?" Knuckles, Shadow, and Jake were attempting to hook up the Wii U to the big fifty-inch screen TV.
"Sure," said Kellach dreamily as he walked over to them. He never kept his eyes off of Hermione as she walked down the hallway with the others to the kitchen. He couldn't help picturing what she would look like naked.