Author's Note: Wow. Thanks for the reviews, guys. I practically live for them now! (just kidding, but seriously...) Anyway, so here's one set about a week after they meet Burns and his group - yup, that's right. Wanda's birthday. R&R and I'll keep going!!!!!
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer *sob*. I'm just playing in her universe for a bit.
Theme #2 - Very First Birthday
Was it morning? I wasn't sure.
My eyelids refused to open, like the sealed steel doors of a vault. I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach, burrowing deeper into the blanket. My joints ached. I was exhausted - if I wasn't, I would have been up, dressed, and ready to work. But I would have to get out of bed soon. I had to work, or I would seem lazy. Although Ian constantly assured me that I belonged here and I didn't need to work so much, I insisted on doing as much as was 'humanily' possible, earn my place here. Though it was proving to be difficult with such a delicate, feeble host body and Ian always there to rip my job out of my hands -
My blanket was gone all of a sudden, flying off my body. I sat up, eyes still closed, and blindly clutched at the air, trying to find it. When my searching hands came up empty, I settled back into my pillow. But the pillow was gone, too. A mischievous little laugh sounded above me.
My eyes flew open. Melanie. Of course.
She was straddling me, trapping me, my blanket and pillow tucked under each of her arms. I felt my eyes narrow.
"Mel, please give me my blanket back," I said firmly, grabbing for the thin, warn quilt. To my dismay, she moved it out of my reach. With a smirk playing on her lips, she shook her head, her long, silky cap of mahogany hair swishing side to side. I could tell then, by the spark in her hazel eyes, that it was morning. Farely late in the morning. Melanie wasn't a morning person, nor the type of girl to get up in the middle of the night. If this were early morning or night, she wouldn't be so alert and happy. She would be a nightmare.
"Mel! What's this about? Give it back, please!"
My voice went high, turning into a whine. I reached for the blanket again. Melanie held it away from my searching hand. I let my arms drop down to my sides in defeat, my mouth turning into a pout without my permission.
"I'm getting you ready, Wanda. Now up!" she exclaimed. My eyebrows pulled together. Ready for what?
In an instant, she sprang to her feet and grabbed my arm, pulling me up to stand.
I staggered back a feet steps, put off balance. But Mel didn't give me time to recover. She tugged on my arm and marched out the game room's opening, dragging me behind her. Did she realize I didn't have my shoes on? The cave floor wasn't exactly pleasant to stand barefoot on.
Even if I knew these caves like the back of my own hand now, it didn't help me when it came to keeping up with her. Her long, strong legs made longer strides and bigger steps then mine were capable of. I stumbled multiple times, and Mel still continued to pull me behind her.
I ran my hand along the uneven rock walls to steady myself, not to tell where we were going. From the time I had spent here in both Melanie's and Pet's body, I had memorized each fork and turn, each tunnel, each hole and cave. It was like a map, a layout of the tunnels displayed for me behind my eyes.
It wasn't long before we reached our destination - Mel and Jared's room. But why would she bring me here? It was still rainy season, and we were still sleeping in the game room - so what was the point?
I hadn't been in here for so long. In fact, the last time I had been, I was sharing a body with Melanie. The room was pretty empty - only 3 or 4 books leaning precariously against each other on the bookcase pushed against the rock wall and a dirty, musty smelling little rug warn thin laid out in a random area on the floor.
But then my eyes swept over it a second time, and something caught my eye, set in the darkest corner of the room. There, an old oak chair sat, something cream colored folded neatly and laid on the seat of it.
"What -"
Mel cut me off with a wave of dismissal and released my arm. My gaze followed her as she crossed the room and lifted the folded thing from the chair, seemed to look it over for a moment, then spun on her heel and came back to me.
"Here," she said simply, offering me the item. A wide smile slowly stretched across her face, seemingly similar to the grin of the Cheshire Cat. My mind recognized the resemblance, but I had no idea what the 'Cheshire Cat' was. Pet certainly had.
I looked down at it and carefully took it in my hands. It - whatever it was- was wrapped in some sort of plastic. Probably to keep it from getting water damage. From what I could see, it was some type of clothing. I carefully tore a large hole in the plastic wrap and slipped the garment out.
The fabric was soft and cream colored, and I reveled at the lovely texture of it. I held it out by the top and let it unfold, revealing a dress. A pretty dress, with a soft skirt and a knit lace jacket of some sort attached to the top. I had never really cared about my clothes before, but I really liked it. There was something about the smell of it, the feel of it, that was familiar to me. My body, at least.
My mouth fell agape. "Mel, how did... when did you get this?!"
Had she gone out and risked being caught to get me this?! I didn't deserve it. How could she?
Mel sighed and gazed at it with me, reaching out to touch the hem of the skirt. "Pretty, isn't it? Even though it's not really my style..." she paused then, as if just hearing my question. "Pet was wearing it when we... found her. I thought you might like it, so I kept it for you to wear on your -"
Her mouth snapped shut abruptly, cutting off her sentence. I turned to look at her. "To wear on my... What, Mel?"
"Nothing!" she mumbled, pretending to study the dress.
"Mel?" I pressed, craning my neck to put my face in the way of her vision. "Nothing!" she snapped. "Go get changed!"
And with that, she spun on her heel and disappeared through behind the jade-colored screen in the doorway. I stared after her for a minute, dumbfounded. Then I shook my head to clear my thoughts and stripped, letting my blue tank-top and jean shorts flit to the ground. I slipped the dress on over my head and adjusted it so it was comfortable, then scooped up my dirty clothes in my arms and exited the empty room.
Mel was waiting outside the doorway, her arms folded and her toe tapping a sharp rhythm against the cave floor. A rock clattered when my bare foot hit it.
She whirled around, and the frown on her face turned into a smile as she looked me over. "Great! Here."
She reached up and tousled my hair slightly with her hand, then tore my clothes out of my arms and replaced them with some sandals. I put them on without a word.
The second I got my last sandal on, she grabbed my arm and started dragging me somewhere else. I didn't notice where she put my clothes.
I ran my hand along the wall once again, jogging to keep up with Mel. My mind swam. Where was she taking me? Where was everyone else? Why was she helping me get dressed?! I recognized the route we were taking quickly. We were headed for the kitchen - my stomach rumbled in reply. I realized I hadn't had breakfast yet. Or was it lunch time already? Or dinner?!
I could see the bright sunlight from the kitchen all the way at the end of the hall.
There was a low buzz of many voices coming from the familiar, large cavern ahead. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" someone hissed. The murmurs died down, and it was dead silence. My stomach flopped.
Mel pulled me through the cave entrance. I stopped in my tracks. Instead of shouting together, many, many "Surprise!!!!"s came from around the room. I staggered back a step, my eyes bulging.
Everyone was there. Burns and his human rebels. Even Shanon and Maggie were there - whom of which were sitting in the farthest corner away from me, arms folded, not even looking at me. I tried to ignore them.
My face flooded with warmth from my blush. Oh, how I hated this body's reactions. All eyes were on me. I didn't like all this attention.
I stared at everyone like a deer in the headlights, I'm sure, taking in all their beaming faces. I quickly glanced at each of the other human rebels' faces and skimmed over Burns'.
Ian emerged from the crowd and strode up to me with a wonderful grin on his lips, his brilliant blue eyes aglow. My mouth instantly spread into a smile.
"Happy birthday, Wanda," he murmured, grasping my hand. I felt the inner molten lava boil beneath his touch.
Realization struck me. Oh. Of course. My birthday.
"Wha- what is all this?" I breathed, my eyes sweeping over the room in wonder.
A big banner made out of the extra construction paper from our big roll we had gotten on our last raid was stuck to the smooth part of the back wall with ductape, the words "Happy '18th' Birthday, Wanda!" written across it with blue paint. A long chain of twinkling lights laid out on the floor outlined the shape of the kitchen, pressed against the walls. A big bag of balloons was on one of the tables, several popped balloons on the floor, one balloon still blown up. I could tell they had planned to blow up the balloons, but, from the look of the remnants of the popped ones, the surroundings had proven difficult.
As I watched, the one remaining balloon slowly drifted to the ground, and, with a deafening pop, touched the sharp point of a rock and deflated into a destroyed little piece of rubber.
Trudy and Lily were closest to me out of the big crowd, besides Ian, standing by one of the stone tables. Sitting on the surface of the table was what looked like a cake, from the glimpse I saw. As soon as my eyes traveled to that spot, beaming Trudy and Lily jumped in front of it and blocked my view of the supposed cake.
"We've been getting ready for weeks," Ian said, snapping me out of my survey and bringing my attention back to him. "But we weren't able to actually start until you were fast asleep."
Then he gave me an impish grin, and his voice turned apologetic. "Doc slipped you some Sleep while you were sleeping so you wouldn't wake up for a while. Sorry."
He looked into my eyes then, his shimmering, cool, very warm, perfect blue eyes locking with mine.
I flushed and turned away to look at my surroundings again. "You... I... This is amazing!" I stuttered, struggling to form whole sentences. I looked back into Ian's eyes without my permission and returned the grin he flashed me.
"Yeah, yeah! We know we're awesome! Now let's get to the cake! Trudy and Lily worked their butts off on this cake and I'm not gonna let it be wasted!" Melanie exclaimed, effectively ending the conversation. She received a chuckle from everyone - even Shanon and Maggie - in the kitchen.
Ian gently lead me over to the stone table, the one Trudy and Lily had blocked my vision from, and I saw the cake. My mouth fell open for the second time tonight. It was large and square shaped, with what looked like cream cheese frosting spread over it, a little coconut sprinkled on it, several sliced strawberries placed in random areas, and strawberry syrup drizzled over it. There was one long, thin black stick poking out of the center of it.
"Knew it was a cake..." I muttered under my breath, causing everyone close enough to give a quiet laugh.
It was amazing. It looked like it would taste amazing, too. Just when I was about to ask what that was in the middle of it, Trudy opened her mouth to speak. "Half of it is angel-food and half of it is carrot-cake. The frosting is the kind on cheesecake," she explained, winking at me. My mouth watered. Pet had loved cheesecake, and, the one time I got to try some, I had fallen in love as well.
Lily's tan hand reached out, a cigarette lighter in her grasp. With a flick of the lighter, a small flame appeared on the top of the stick. The stick sparked to life and started twinkling, light dancing everywhere like a miniature firework. Something in my mind clicked with one of Pet's memories. This was a sparkler.
I stared at it dumbly, not sure what to do. Then Jamie spoke up.
"Make a wish, Wanda!"
I smiled at the excitement in his voice and closed my eyes. I already knew my wish. Without any thought over it, I simply repeated the wish I had wished a thousand times in my head.
My eyes flew open just in time to see the sparkler slowly fade, twinkle one last sparkle, then wink out. Huh. From all Pet's memories, they had blown out candles. But the sparkler went out by itself. Maybe next time they would use candles?
The second it was out, Jamie crowed, "Perfect! Now let's eat!!!"
The large group, my ever-growing family, laughed in unison.
Half an hour later, Mel and Ian lead me to the game room, the rest of the crowd following closely behind. Once again, I was confused. Why the game room? Our mattresses were everywhere in there.
Our procession entered the dark room, several excited "Shh!"s and murmurs buzzing behind me.
Ian's large hands covered my eyes, warming up my face once again. I could just make out the glow of many, many lamps from the spaces between his fingers. "Ready, Ian?!" Melanie asked, a smile in her voice.
"Ready," Ian replied solemnly. I squirmed under his hands, impatient.
"1..."
I sucked in a breath.
"2..."
Several people behind me murmured in anticipation.
"3!"
The large palms that were once blocking my eyes disappeared and light filled my vision. I blinked. The game room was empty except for another chain of twinkling lights following the rim of the wall. There were so many lamps, all large glowing balls lighting up the room. But that wasn't what they were showing me.
My mouth agape, I walked up to the cave wall in front of me, trying to get a better look.
A large section of the wall was painted, painted in every shade of every color imaginable, creating swirls and designs and patterns, even some characters and landscapes. Each design was a different color, each one with someone's signatures or initials scrawled in black paint, claiming their part of the artwork. Above it all, was a section painted a beautiful blue, and yet the blue was barely visible. Shards of glass and crystal in all shapes and colors was attached to the blue section, sparkling and glistening in the light. From the doorway it looked like a giant spider web. A mural and a glass mosaic in one. For me.
Everyone had been a part of it. Everyone had a different color. I recognized the colors I had picked out and could remember several names. Ian's was called Sapphire Sky, a beautiful blue that shimmered and glowed, warm and cool at the same time, just like his eyes. Jared's was an olive green which, ironically enough, was called Olive Green. Mel's was a red with an almost pink glow and a tint of orange that reminded me of the sunset, named Pomegranate. Jamie's, a teal so dark it was almost black, called Dark Jade. Sunny's was Berry Bubblegum, a color that was soft like her blush and glowed like her smile. Kyle's was Burnt Umber, a red brown that was very warm and chilly at the same time.
So many pieces of glass. So many colors.
I was at loss for words. My mouth was open, but nothing could come out. Finally, I composed myself enough to form a sentence "This is my... my birthday present?" My heart warmed at the thought of it. For me.
"Yeah," Ian's voice answered from behind me.
I still gaped at the work of art. Everything made sense now. The paint samples Mel had bought with me. Collecting all the scrap glass we could find. The lamps always off in the game room so I had been right there and hadn't seen it.
"Do you like it?" Ian whispered in my ear, his breath blowing my hair and tickling my ear. I turned to him as he took my hands in his. "It's beautiful," I murmured, loud enough so everyone could hear, and swept my eyes over every smiling face before returning to his. "Thank you."
I leaned in and kissed him, a sweet little kiss. Even after a short moment my blush was coloring my cheeks. That was enough for now. Not with everyone watching.
The rest of the night, I sat at a table trying - and failing - to play my first card game, while I mostly ate cheetos, drank punch, and watched the soccer game. Everyone in the game was having fun, running around in their nicest clothes they had and often doing a dance step that synced with the music playing. Sunny, Mel, Jeb, and Ian all stayed at the table with me, attempting to teach me how to play, while I lost game after game of Poker - at stake was an extra slice of cake - and constantly went bankrupt in Monopoly. Mel constantly flashed her digital camera she had bought - in secret- on our last raid, until I asked for it. For the rest of the night I was snapping pictures of everyone around me.
It lasted till at least 2 in the morning - by then, everyone was yawning and several people had fallen asleep, the players who had been in the soccer game slumping into their seats. I had rested my head on Ian's shoulder while I snapped a picture ever ten minutes, my eyelids beginning to droop.
So we dragged our mattresses back in, Ian helping me place our's right next to my birthday present.
I drifted to sleep surrounded by my family, everything glowing like it did with No Pain, wrapped up in Ian's arms. Yes, we were on a thin mattress on a cave floor in a crowded room. It sure wasn't a five-star hotel. No. It was better. It was home.
Author's Note: So... was it good? It was pretty hard in the middle, but it got better at the end, agree? Well.. I hope that didn't suck. PLZ, feel free to tell me if it did. (I'll put a link up in my profile to Wanda's dress. It was actually warn by the person I think should play her in a photo shoot). Ciao! Review, plz.