CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
It had began to turn increasingly clear to Ivy that, since the first night she and xerxes had spent together, she rarely slept in her own bed and instead she would wake up in his.
But unlike those times, today she had woken up in her bed. Stretching and letting out a loud yawn, Ivy sat up with a brilliant smile on her face.
Everything about her might have been changed, but one thing was certain was her birthday remained the same.
Getting out of bed, she quickly made her way to the common room to wash up and get ready for the days lessons.
"right! Today's all about you Ivy…" she gave herself a pep talk in the mirror as she combed her hair carefully. Instead of letting her black hair roll down her back like other days, today she decided to back it up in a cute ponytail.
Grabbing her bag, she left the room and locked it and on her way down the stairs and through the lobby, it was all good cheers coming from her friends.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY IVY!!" they all wished her with happy smiles on their faces. She smiled back and thanked them. She even got a few cards and presents from them to which she was grateful for. It warmed her heart to receive so much love from them. But unfortunately she hadn't seen two people yet. Her best friend, Charlie and not to mention, her boyfriend, xerxes.
Deciding to catch up with them once she got to class, ivy walked alone, humming a happy tune. But she had failed to notice the shadow that had been tailing her.
Suddenly out of the blue two pairs of strong arms cover her eyes, startling her. Instinctively she grabbed the arm of her assailant and flipped them over her shoulder as if they were nothing but paper.
"ouch…" the person groaned and once ivy realized who it was she gasped.
"chuckles!!" walking to where he laid now, she squat to his head level to see if he was alright. She hadn't meant to do that, he had just caught her off guard.
"a…are you okay?" she asked, worry lines appearing on her forehead. The fall was hard as he slowly opened his eyes, he blinked a few times.
"I'm fine…" he said as his eyes darted to look under her skirt were he could see the underwear she had on. There was a sly smile on his face "…the view isn't half bad from here…"
"what?"
Due to how worried she had been, ivy failed to pick up what he meant. Not until she realized his eyes weren't on her face anymore. Then it dawned on her what he had meant, instantly her cheeks heated up as she stood up abruptly, pulling on her skirt.
"what the hell!?" she yelled at him as he helped himself up, patting the dust off his uniform, he smiled.
"what? You're the one who gave me a show…" the way he said those words casually made her glare at him.
This was beyond embarrassing and on the day she decided not to put on her tights.
"I'm sorry for peeking…" xerxes apologized as he hugged her. Ivy exhaled as the blush settled down.
"and I'm sorry for throwing you over like that…"
"I don't mind…oh…and happy birthday…" letting go of her he reached into his bag and pulled out a white gift bag with a red bow on it and presented it to her.
"another one??...but you already got me a gift…" she looked a bit puzzled, but xerxes didn't stop smiling.
"I just want you to have the most memorable day of your life, besides, spending on you will be worth every penny…"
"really?"
"yes…think of it as me…investing into my future…well aren't you going to open it…" he urged her and she smiled as she pulled it open.
In the bag sat a long case with a black velvet exterior. Curious on what it might be, she picked it up and opened it.
"what is it?"
"open it…"
"hmm…okay" he looked at her keenly.
Ivy held the black box in her hands and opened it. In it sat a silver locket with half a heart in it. Her brows scrunched up as she looked up at him.
"a broken heart?…"
"hm? Is it?" xerxes leaned forward a bit to look at the pendant, fidgeting ignorance.
"is this a prank or something?"
A smile cracked up on his lips as he dipped his hand into his shirt, pulling out the other half of the pendant.
"is this better?"
Ivy giggled once she saw it.
"whenever you feel lost, always remember this promise I've made to you…no matter where you are, I'll come find you…"
"hah…geeze xerxes, you're so sappy…" she blinked away the tears in her eyes, it's like that's what he's been doing lately, leaving her speechless one action after the other.
"I know…let's go…" xerxes held unto her hand as he pulled her with him and she followed.
…
At the end of the day, the whole class had decided to throw a small party at the dorm building to mark her Ivy's special day. It truly was a day to remember and unlike her other birthdays where she spent them on the low, this one was different in a good way, but it also felt like a bad omen. As if it was her last chance to have fun with her friends.
Some of them noticed her sad face and mistook it for her not having fun.
"sorry ivy, we didn't have enough funds, if we did we could have planned better than this…" Noah frowned as he held his plate.
"huh? Hah, no it's not that. Besides, the party is great, honestly this should be the first time I've celebrated my birthday…" she flashed him an innocent smile and he couldn't believe what she just said. How could a person not have celebrated their own birthday?
"well, I'm glad we planned this one then, after all this is going to be the last time we get to celebrate as classmates…" Noah grinned cheerfully making ivy giggle. But he was right, this would be the last time she spends time with them.
"here…"
Before she could dive deep into her thoughts a red cup appeared in front of her face and she looked up.
Xerxes had left not too long ago to go get them something to drink and now he was back.
"what are you two talking about?" xerxes narrowed he gaze down at Noah who's smile slipped a bit after seeing how he put his arm round ivy and pulled her closer asif marking his territory.
"I was just thanking him for the wonderful party…" it was ivy who answered and Noah gave a curt nod as his smiled tightened. Deciding he might soon be turned into the third wheel, he excused himself.
"I hope you enjoy the party, Ivy…" he moved to go join the others.
"what was that for?" ivy turned to look up at xerxes with a frown as he continued to take a sip from the cup, still not moving his arm away from her.