The school day at Seabrook High was winding down, but the air still buzzed with its usual blend of chaos and color. Zombies, werewolves, and humans mingled effortlessly now—well, mostly effortlessly. A misfired werewolf howler exploded near the vending machines earlier, and someone accidentally turned the school's intercom into a dubstep station. Again.

Addison Wells hummed as she walked through the quad with Bree. Cheer practice had ended early thanks to Bucky's latest failed attempt to introduce interpretive dance into their routines. The memory of it still made Addison snort-laugh.

"Do you think he knows no one's actually doing the arm-flutters?" Bree asked.

"Oh, he knows," Addison said. "He's just pretending it's 'abstract cheer art.'"

They turned a corner near the edge of the school grounds, where the path wound toward the woods that bordered the sports field. Addison paused mid-sentence, her instincts suddenly kicking in—there were voices ahead. Familiar ones.

"Wait," she whispered, tugging Bree's sleeve. "That's Wyatt."

Bree leaned in. "And Willa… and Wynter?"

Addison tiptoed toward the cluster of bushes by the old storage bins. "Come on. Spy mode."

They ducked down low. Just ahead, in a small clearing nestled between the trees, the werewolves were gathered. Wyatt stood with a slightly anxious expression, pacing in a slow circle, holding something small and metallic in his hand.

"I just don't want to mess this up," he said. "Eliza's not the kind of girl who likes big gestures, but… I still want to do something special."

Willa crossed her arms. "You've been working on that bracelet thing for weeks. Don't bail now."

Wynter leaned over to inspect it. "Wait, is that real silver? That's like... actually really cool."

Wyatt held it up, and it caught the sunlight—a sleek, silver cuff bracelet with a shimmering blue crystal set in the center. Tiny etchings lined the surface—symbols that mirrored Eliza's own designs.

"I coded it to respond to her energy signature," Wyatt said, voice soft but proud. "It senses her stress levels and activates a calming pulse. Plus, it's solar-powered. Green tech for the greenest brain I know."

Addison gasped, whispering, "That's the most Eliza-thing ever."

Bree whispered back, "I'm emotionally invested already."

Then, Willa's golden wolf eyes flicked toward the bushes. She narrowed them.

"Smell that?" she muttered.

Wyatt blinked. "What, like… another werewolf?"

"No. Cheerleaders."

Addison squeaked and stood, hands raised in surrender. "Okay! Totally busted! But wow, Wyatt—that was beautiful. And also possibly the coolest piece of tech I've ever seen."

Wynter smirked. "Well, since you're already here, you're drafted."

"Drafted into what?"

Willa grinned, her fangs glinting. "Operation: Birthday Surprise."

"We need someone to keep Eliza out of the way while we set this all up," Wyatt explained. "She's suspicious by default. If she even smells a surprise—she'll bolt."

Addison crossed her arms with a confident smirk. "I'm on it. You want a distraction? I am a distraction."

Eliza's lab was a sanctuary of glowing screens, humming processors, and meticulously organized chaos. Tangled wires covered her desk, with an invention in progress at the center: a portable neural energy converter, still blinking red as she tried to recalibrate the voltage.

Eliza Zambi didn't look up when Addison appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Eliza!" Addison chirped. "Cool lab as always. Is that a new battery thingy? Or like… a brainwave reader?"

"Power cell converter," Eliza muttered, adjusting her goggles. "And you sound way too excited to just be saying hi."

"I am saying hi! And also…" Addison grabbed a nearby stool and plopped down next to her, "spending quality time with one of my favorite zombies."

Eliza frowned, not looking up. "You've never voluntarily visited my lab."

"Today's different!"

"Is someone hurt?"

"No!"

"Am I dying?"

"No! Why does everyone keep asking that?!"

Eliza finally looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Because you're acting suspiciously like someone who's hiding something."

Addison gave her most dazzling, innocent grin. "I just want to know more about you. Like… were you a science fair prodigy as a kid? Or did you get into tech to build a robot army? Be honest."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "Are you… trying to interview me?"

"Nope. Just girl talk!"

The silence that followed was painful. Eliza tried to return to her work, but Addison kept popping in with random questions.

"So, like, if you had to pick one—teleportation or mind reading?"

Eliza didn't look up. "Teleportation."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Hex code #00bfff."

"What's your favorite Wyatt moment?"

Eliza blinked. "What?"

"Like—when did you first realize he wasn't just some moody wolfboy with great hair?"

Eliza went very still. "…You are hiding something."

Addison checked her phone under the table.

Text from Willa: All set. Bring her.

She stood suddenly. "Okay! Fun fact time is over. Come with me!"

Eliza narrowed her eyes. "Where?"

Addison grabbed her hand and started pulling. "You'll see!"

"I still need to finish my—"

"Too late! Come on, Eliza. No resisting the cheer captain."

The clearing had been transformed into a twinkling wonderland. Floating lanterns—powered by Eliza's own levitation tech, repurposed by Willa—bobbed gently overhead. There was a blanket of soft moss, trays of snacks and candles, and a small pedestal at the center holding the bracelet.

Addison stopped at the edge and let Eliza take it in.

"What… is this?" Eliza asked, blinking.

Wyatt stepped out from behind a tree, nerves buzzing in his stance. "Happy birthday."

Eliza turned, stunned. "You remembered?"

"Of course," Wyatt said. "And I know you hate parties. But I thought maybe you wouldn't hate this."

He stepped closer, holding up the bracelet. "I wanted to give you something that reminds you how amazing you are. Something you made possible."

Eliza took the bracelet, fingers running over the etched designs. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "This is… tuned to my energy field?"

"And linked to mine," Wyatt said. "So whenever you feel overwhelmed… you'll feel me. With you."

Eliza stared at him, overwhelmed in spite of herself. "This is… the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me."

Wyatt smiled, bashful. "So… you like it?"

"I love it," she said. And she meant it.

Addison and Bree stood in the shadows, watching them with quiet awe.

"Okay," Bree whispered, wiping away a tear, "they're officially my OTP."

Addison beamed. "Best distraction I've ever pulled."

Back in her lab, Eliza sat at her workbench, the bracelet still glowing faintly on her wrist. She kept stealing glances at it, her smile returning again and again.

She opened a fresh notebook. Titled the page: "Project: Return Surprise."

The girl who hated surprises… was planning one of her own.