Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Preparations

 

The next two weeks passed by without any problems.  Alex ran me to school as usual and classes were the same.  I even made plans with Christine and some of the other girls to go to a movie after finals.  Jeff stayed away from me and ignored Alex and the others completely except that he glared at them when he didn’t realize I was watching.  I was still worried about his safety, but I now realized I could do nothing to help him.

 

Exam week was terrible; I hated exams.  I was stressed to the max, and I had to write four this time, one each day.  I spent each morning wring the exam of the day, and the afternoon was spent cramming with Alex and Lizzy for the next one.  It was hard studying with people who had photographic memories, which was a wonderful trait of being half vampire.  It was so annoying.  They were both great tutors, but they were slave drivers in my opinion.  There was never a moment’s peace until exams were finally over on Thursday.

“Thank goodness that’s over.  I only need one more semester of school and then I can graduate,” I said cheerily.

“How do you figure that?” Christine and Lizzy asked.

“I took a few classes during the summers when I was in New York so I could graduate early,” I smiled.

“No fair,” they whined in unison as I laughed.

            Alex, Will and Joel joined us when they saw we were walking towards the cafeteria to grab something to eat and just talk.  I realized that summer was here and we wouldn’t see as much of each other.  I wanted to see my friends as much as possible.  I really enjoyed spending time with these people.  I was stirred from my thinking by Christine.

“I can hardly wait until Saturday.  I saw the news and it’s going to be the perfect day!” she squeaked with excitement.  She was talking about the annual pool party; the twin’s birthday.

I smiled widely; I already had a gift for Alex that I’ve had since before Christmas.  Lizzy was a different story.  I was trying to think what I could do for her but I was coming up blank.  I figured I would try the direct approach and ask her.

“So Lizzy, what can I do for your birthday?  I want to do something.”

She shook her head at me. “I don’t want anything, Anna.  We can do something later, I promise.”

“But it’s not the same,” I protested.

“You heard me, we’ll do something later in August,” she said firmly. “Then we can have a big party, or go on a trip.” She smiled at me and I knew she was being sincere.  They all just wanted to keep me safe.  I then realized what I could get her, but I would need James’ help since I know none of them would let me go anywhere. 

Friday was a blur of preparations for the pool party; we all spent most of the day by the pool cleaning and setting up tables and lounge chairs.  The cool thing about working with vampires was that everyone moved so fast, set up was complete in about four hours; the finishing touches would be done in the morning.  We also set up a couple of volley ball nets in the back yard so our guests could enjoy a few games tomorrow afternoon.  I found out that there was a rivalry between a couple of students and every year they would work it out by playing volley ball.

 

There would be a DJ for the music and food would be catered by a local company in town.  The entire school and even students from the other schools in the area came to this party.  Good thing the pool was Olympic sized.  Some of the students from neighbouring schools were lifeguards and they would sign up for two hour shifts so that they could attend.  I was starting to get really excited.  Lizzy and I were in the back yard while Alex, Will and Stephan were in the front yard setting up lights along the pathway to the backyard.

“Lizzy, we need to figure out which suit I’m going to wear tomorrow,” I whispered I had learned that their hearing was impeccable and I didn’t want to let anything slip.

She winked at me and grinned, “We better go inside and pick out the right thing, I’ll get Cassy too.  She won’t want to miss this.” Lizzy whisked away. 

I walked slowly into the house and into the room I shared with Alex.  Cassy and Lizzy were already there going through my bikinis. 

“Well, what do you think Cassy? Did you guys pick one yet?” I asked.  She looked at me appraisingly, trying to decide which one would be best. 

“Go with the green one.  It’ll make your eyes pop and so will Alex’s,” she grinned, winking at me.

“I agree,” Lizzy said assuredly. “Now we need to get the accessories sorted out and everything hidden before the boys come looking for us and start asking questions.”

Lizzy promptly went to my dresser and examined my collection of shorts and t-shirts.  She picked a low rise mid thigh khaki coloured short with a black form fitting t-shirt.  Cassy was looking though my wraps and picked the black one with a tasselled fringe.  They put everything in a neat pile in the top drawer of my dresser.

“Now make sure you get dressed when he’s not in the room and whatever you do make sure he doesn’t see this until it’s too late,” Cassy said pointing to the dark green string bikini in the drawer.

“I just hope it doesn’t fall off.  I’ve never worn one that skimpy before,” I confessed looking down at my feet.

“It’ll be fine.  Just don’t dive into the pool and you should be good.”Lizzy smiled.

“Don’t forget to keep a leash on Will, George and Stephan,” I laughed.

They nodded giggling.  It was going to be a fun day and I couldn’t wait. 

 

James arrived around five o’clock to see me.  We walked to the garden so that we could talk privately.

“I got what you asked for.  This is a great idea for a gift, Anna, I’m sure she’ll love it,” James smiled as he handed me the framed portrait drawing of Lizzy, Alex, Will and I.  I had given James a picture of the four of us from the Christmas party and he taken it to a friend to sketch a few months back.  I had originally planned on keeping the portrait but then decided it would make an awesome birthday gift for Lizzy.  However, I needed to get it framed which was where James came in.  This was a gift that she wouldn’t expect.  I liked that idea.

“What did you get Alex?” he inquired.

“I got him an eclectic note book with matching pen.  He’s always writing stuff on pieces of paper and losing them,” I replied.

“That’s a good idea.  Here I got this as well.” He handed me a small box.

“What is it?” I questioned curiously.

“It’s a hat pin with his family crest.  I found it a while back but I haven’t had time to give it to him or you.  I did some research on his mother’s background and found she was from Ireland, originally.  I thought this should come from you since I know how much you care about him,” he smiled knowingly at me and put an arm around my shoulders.

“Thank you James, you didn’t have to do this. I know he’ll love it,” I said beaming up at him.  We sat in the garden and talked about the past few months.  I was glad he was here; James and Max were definitely father figures to me and I trusted them both implicitly.  I was lucky to have them in my life. 

“Anna, I need to get going.  I have a few contacts who’ve found out some information that I need to pass on to George about that prophesy, or legend, whatever you want to call it.  I found out that the original document is currently at the Smithsonian Institute for verification of authenticity and translation.  We may be able to see the original document.  I still have to make a few calls, but this could make things much easier for us,” James said quietly.  “However, if your father realizes that we know this, we’ll never get near it.”

“Why is it there though? I don’t understand.  It seems like a lot of trouble for one legend.” I looked at him questioningly.

“The document is quite extensive and it’s more like a history of the family line.  It apparently traces back to early Roman times.  It was written in Latin and Egyptian which is interesting considering the family is Spanish.  The Reyes family name can be easily traced back to the early 1700's but before that I’m not sure what they went by.  The name could have changed depending on the time period.  It means ‘king’ and was a name given to those who were considered regal or powerful.” I was getting a history lesson from James on my father’s family name.

“Well let’s get back to the house and let George know.  Maybe we could all take a trip to the States together,” I remarked knowing that it was wishful thinking.

“Anna!” Cassy called. 

“We’re in the garden,” I answered without yelling. Kowing that she could hear me. 

“Could you help me with a few things for the party tomorrow?” she asked as she entered the garden.

“Sure,” I picked up the bag with Lizzy’s and Alex’s presents and started to walk towards her. I turned quickly.

“Thank you for all your help James.” I threw my arms around his neck and gave him a quick hug and kissed his cheek.

“No problem kid,” he replied, hugging me back.

I jogged to Cassy’s side as she started walking towards the pool while James made his way to the house to speak with George.

“So what are we doing?”

“We need to make sure that the lights work and I’m also keeping you away from the twins.  If they figure out you have gifts for them they’ll bug you until you spill your guts, and with their talents it’s impossible not to cave.  Even after years of trying to surprise them they usually figure it out,” she said shaking her head.

“So in other words we need to hide these were they won’t look for them, just in case right?” I asked.

`“You got it,” she replied smiling.

“Where did you have in mind?”

“In plain sight; the twins know that this area is now off limits.  Will and George are keeping a close eye on them so we’re safe to add a few finishing touches.  This will really surprise them, it’s a first you know.  So please don’t let on that you got them something.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll just whine to Lizzy about not letting me go shopping for her present.  That’ll work I’m sure.”  We laughed. 

The lights looked magnificent in the twilight.  Blue and white twinkle lights lined the path to the pool and all the decorations matched.  I saw a few bags of streamers that still needed to be hung.  We would be busy in the morning.  It was weird I had hardly seen Alex all day, just in passing.  I wasn’t used to not seeing him at home I mussed. 

“Anna, are you in there?” Lizzy called.

“Yes.”

“Alex, Will and I are going hunting, we’ll be back later tonight, Alex told me to let you know that he’ll come down in a few minutes to say good night.”

“Thanks.  Are you trying to see the extra stuff we’re doing, Lizzy?”

“Would I do such a thing?” she asked innocently.

“Yes!” Cassy and I replied in unison.  We all laughed.  I walked to where Lizzy was standing to the left of the path to the pool.  I shook my head at her.

“What? You can’t blame a birthday girl for trying,” she grinned, rocking on her heels trying to play innocent.

“I’m still ticked at you for not telling me what you want for your birthday or letting me go shopping to try and find something.  You two are being very difficult about this you know” I pouted.

“Well it’s too late now,” Alex said out of nowhere.

I jumped. “Where did you come from?” I whirled around meeting his eyes and promptly bumped against his chest and almost fell over.  He caught me in his arms, chuckling softly.

“You did that on purpose,” I glared up at him.  His smile widened and I could do nothing but smile in return.  I slid my arms around his neck and stretched up on my tip toes to kiss his cheek. He moved quickly enough so that our lips met instead.  I inhaled sharply, and sighed melting into his embrace.

“Would you two give it a rest?  We have things to do and you won’t be gone that long Alex,” Will complained.

Alex tightened his embrace for a few seconds then gently set me down.

“I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” he promised.

“Have fun.” I smiled up at him.

“I’ve hardly seen you all day, that’s hardly fair you know.” he complained.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to see me lots tomorrow.” I smiled at him.  Lizzy and Cassy stifled their laughter quickly by coughing and Alex looked at them questioningly with a raised eyebrow.

“Get going, that way you’ll be home sooner,” I reach up and kissed him quickly.

“Try to get some sleep.”  He smiled softly as he tenderly brushed my cheek with the back of his hand.

“I will,” I said as he and the others left for their hunting excursion.  I walked back to the house with Cassy and we made a light dinner, and settled down in front of the TV for the rest of the evening.