Moving Objects

Chapter 3

I trudged back to my dorm and fished my key out of my pocket before throwing my shoulder against the door to open it, only to find a small box on the bed. A box that I hadn't left there. I dropped my bags inside the door and plopped down on my bed and pulled the box into my lap, pulling the card that was attached off and opening it.

Happy 18th Birthday, my love

I smiled in the darkness before setting it down beside me and pulled the lid of the box off. The inside was a hodgepodge of things: Hand wraps in red, a few bags of candy, a package of hair ties, a few tubes of my favourite lip gloss, and a small felt pouch. I picked up the pouch and weighed it in my hands for a moment before pulling the purse strings and upending the pouch in my hand.

A small cross fell out of the bag into my palm, and I recognized it immediately. It was his cross. I was slightly stunned and touched at the same time. This wasn't the cross that he wore around his neck all the time, but I could tell that it held sentimental value. While it wasn't tarnished, there were small nicks in the gold and scratches, but it was well worn and loved. I looped it over my head and tucked it into my shirt, resting my hand over it before looking through the box a bit more.

I wonder when he had time to do this?

I shifted through the box and found a folded long sleeve in the bottom and I ran my fingers over the stiff cotton. I pulled it out and brought it to my nose, smiling widely with a small giggle at the smell of Dimitri on it. I quickly stripped down to my underwear and pulled it on before crawling into bed, tucking my nose into the collar. Even if he couldn't be here right now, he was in my heart.

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I carefully tucked my necklace under my sweater as I entered the cafeteria, and sat down at the table next to Eddie. He gave me a smile and slid the plate he had in front of him to me, and I was delighted to find a chocolate glazed doughnut. I munched on it while we waited for our Moroi friends to return from the feeders.

"Did you have a good birthday?" Eddie asked as he drummed his fingers against the table. I nodded as I shoved the last of the doughnut into my mouth.

"Good, good," he said, biting his lip and looking down at the table, clearly troubled.

"What's up?" I asked.

He looked back at me and took a glance at how many people were near us, which wasn't a lot considering we were there early. "Can I ask you something and you answer me with complete honesty?"

I nodded while I continued to chew. "I heard what you said to Dimitri in the backseat yesterday. What was that about?"

The surprise I felt was clear as I did a perfect movie spit take, spraying doughnut all over the table while choking on it at the same time. Eddie slid his glass of juice to me and I sipped to clear my throat, panic flooding through my body. What did he overhear?!

"What- what are you talking about?" I stammered through my coughing, tears rolling down my cheeks. Eddie patted my back when I was finally able to catch my breath.

"You were talking about something you bought that was green? It sounded... not casual," Eddie explained, his voice so low that it was barely a whisper.

I looked up at him and my face must have shown the panic I was feeling because Eddie looked shocked too. I opened my mouth to give some kind of excuse but I was saved by a princess instead.

"Oh good! You're here! We have presents!" Lissa said enthusiastically as she dropped a few bags on the table. I chuckled at Lissa's excitement. She was more excited about me having gifts than I was. I looked at Eddie and he gave me a look that said, we will continue this later.