"Ella! Ella, wake up!" A voice so rudely awakened me from my sleep. I clenched my jaw and pretended not to hear.
"Come on, we have to meet Ben in ten minutes!" The owner of the voice shook my shoulders, soliciting a groan from me as I opened my eyes.
"I hate you sometimes Anita." I glared up at my best friend as I sat up. She just smiled and replied, "Love you too."
She then skipped over to the bathroom, where she would be for the next several minutes. I got up and walked over to the closet to pick out an outfit. Not the easiest thing when it's Christmas on a hidden tropical island. I settled on a pair of my typical ripped jeans, a red t shirt, and a pair of black combat boots.
After getting dressed, I walked over to my bed and pulled two boxes out from under my bed. One silver with a black ribbon, containing the snow globe for Ben, the other gold with a white ribbon for Anita, currently empty. I would hold back from filling the box with her present until the last second. Also under my bed were the various necessities to go with the gift.
I placed them on top of my bed, and brushed out my hair as Anita left the bathroom. After a bit of makeup, we were ready to go. I grabbed the boxes off my bed, and Anita grabbed two others from the chest at the foot of her bed for Ben and I.
"I can't wait to see your face when you open your present!" She squealed like a little girl. I rolled my eyes and led the two of us out the door.
The three of us had decided to meet on the bench near the blooming trees where Ben and I had sat the day the rest of the class had been out shopping. When we approached the bench, Ben was already there waiting.
"You're late" he said with a smile, standing to greet us. I rolled my eyes. We were maybe a minute late, if that. He hugged Anita and I in turn, lingering on mine. "Merry Christmas" he said, grinning, while I blushed furiously. He gestured to the bench and the three of us took a seat. Next to the bench, two poorly wrapped boxes say propped up.
"Me first!" Anita exclaimed, shoving presents at the two of us. I laughed at her excitement, and Ben joined in. "Ben first!" She commanded. Anita loved Christmas, but not for receiving presents; she loved to give them. She had explained earlier that it was her favorite holiday for that exact reason.
Ben smiled his amazing smile at Anita and removed the wrapping carefully, as to not rip the paper. "Just rip it!" Anita commanded, impatient. We laughed and Ben obliged her.
Removing the paper completely, Ben revealed a large wooden box with a glass lid. Inside sat an ornate bow, made of dark wood with gold designs etched into it. Also inside the box was a black leather quiver full of arrows with sleek black shafts. He looked up at her and said, "It's great! What made you think of it?"
Anita smiled at him. "I remember you saying that you had perfect accuracy. I figured you might want to be able to put that to use once we graduate and start, you know, saving the world". It was a great gift.
"Thanks a ton Nita." Ben called her by her nickname, getting up to hug her. She hugged him back briefly, then handed me a small box wrapped in red paper.
"This is one of two. I figured I'd give you the other one later. When you can fully appreciate it." She smiled deviously. I looked at her, a little nervous as two what could be coming, then tore the paper off the box. Inside was a small jewelry box, which opened to reveal a small silver ring. Engraved on the ring were the words, "Best Friends Forever". I slipped it onto my right index finger and smiled at her. Only then did I realize that she wore an identical ring in gold on the same finger of her right hand.
"Friendship rings. That way, we always have some part of each other there, so we're never truly alone." She smiled. I grinned back at her and gave her a crushing hug. A second later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Ella... I can't breathe..." I laughed and released her.
"Sorry bout that. Thanks Anita," I grinned at her. She smiled back.
"I'm glad you like it." She glanced at the two of us, each admiring our gifts. "So who's going next?"
Ben and I looked at each other. "I want to go last," I voiced. I wanted them both to be surprised at there gifts, and I felt like going last would have the best effect. Plus I wanted to see what Ben had gotten us.
"Okay, so me then. Anita first, for her fabulous gifting skills." We laughed as he passed her a sloppily wrapped box. "Sorry for the wrapping. I don't do this often" he said, blushing. Anita waved him off.
She quickly removed the paper to reveal a box set of many different paint brushes. Her hand flew to her mouth. "I remembered you saying that you needed a certain brush that the school didn't have. I didn't know which one it was, so I kind of got you all of them." He scratched the back of his neck, blushing. "Sorry if they're-"
Anita cut him off. "Don't apologize, these are great! It has all the brushes I could ever need! I'll never have to use the school's old ratty ones again! This is perfect. Thanks Ben." She looked up and smiled at him. He smiled back and nodded
"Now for Ella. You were a bit harder, but... I hope you like it. " he said, handing me a thick box. I smiled at him and began to remove the paper. "Anita helped me a bit... Okay a lot..." She laughed, and I furrowed my brow in confusion. How could she have helped with gifts? Maybe she gave him the idea as she did for me?
My question was answered when I revealed a cardboard box full of art. All were various scenes drawn or painted on different sized canvases. I lifted them out one by one. The first was the treehouse painting I had borrowed for his gift. The second was a charcoal drawing of a girl on the floor under a window. It took me a moment to realize that the girl was meant to be me. The third was a sketch of a typical suburban house, with an overgrown lawn and an empty driveway. The fourth and final price was an oil painting of two people, a boy and a girl, laying on a rooftop staring at the stars. Once again, I realized, the people in the price were Ben and I. Anita must've taught him how to create the types of art, while he created the scenes.
I looked up at them, grinning. "You guys..." I trailed off
"Don't thank me! He did all the drawing, painting, everything! I just taught him how not to hold a brush backwards!" Anita laughed. I turned my eyes to Ben.
"You did all this?" He nodded, blushing. He walked over and pointed to the various paintings.
"That one's our tree house. This one's you that night I first crawled through the window. The charcoal one is the house the treehouse belonged to, the one we started living in after we decided the other could be trusted. And that last one is us on the roof the night we... The night before we split up." He explained. I smiled at him again and begun loading them back into the box.
"They're beautiful Ben. I wish I remembered so I could have something to base it on." He smiled once again.
After everything had been loaded back into the box, I exhaled sharply. "My turn. Anita first, because I can tell if she doesn't know what I got her she'll probably explode." I laughed. Anita had been bouncing up and down in anticipation the whole time I had been re packing the art. "Give me one second. "
I picked up the larger, gold box. Making sure I had in fact poked holes in it earlier, I began to create her present within the box. It had to be adorable and look just the way I pictured, but it needed to be able to transform and function as it should.
I stood focusing for a few minutes, Ben and Anita watching me, confused. Finally, I looked up beaming. It had taken a lot of focus, but Anita's present was ready. I handed her the box, now a lot heavier. "Sorry for the wait. I'm ready now."
Anita gave me one last confused look, then opened the box. Inside sat a purring, black and white calico with gleaming purple eyes- the same color as Anita's. She gasped in surprise. "Is this even allowed at The Haven?" I grinned
"Yup! Cleared it with Wren a few days ago. But wait, you haven't seen the best part. Put her down on the ground." Anita did as she was told and placed the fuzz ball on the grass. I raised an eyebrow at them, as if asking if they were prepared. Then, I quickly commanded, "Defend!"
The adorable kitten grew quickly, getting larger and longer. In seconds, the small kitten had become a snow leopard, scanning the area for possible threats. Anita looked at the leopard in shock.
"She can protect you if you're ever in trouble and your powers aren't enough. Too many people have gotten hurt because of me. I don't want to add you to the list." I explained. Turning back to the leopard, I looked into its still purple eyes and said, "All clear."
The snow leopard slowly began to shrink down to its typical cuteness, walking back to Anita to rub it's face against her legs, demanding attention.
Anita obliged it, asking, "so those are the commands to get her to transform?" I nodded. "And can anyone say them for her to transform?" I shook my head.
"The only ones that can do it are you, me, and Ben. I figure that the three of us won't be a threat to each other, and should the other two be incapable of giving the command, the third should be capable. But anyone else- no." I explained.
"What's her name?" Anita asked, stroking the kitten's soft fur.
"I left that part up to you. You probably want to name your own cat," I replied, smiling at how she seemed completely enthralled with the kitten.
"Hmm..." She continued staring at the kitten, until her focus landed on the purple eyes that matched hers. "Violet. Her name should be Violet." She smiled at me and resumed cooing at Violet.
"Not to be a party killer, but would you guys mind if I went back to the dorm? You know, show Violet around her new home?" Anita asked, round eyes shining.
"Go ahead. Her food, bowls, bed, and litter box are under my bed. Oh, and some toys. " I replied. She let out a squeal and started making her way back to the dorm buildings.
"My turn!" Ben said jokingly. I pulled out the small, silver and black box and handed to to him. "It's not a pet, is it?" I laughed and shook my head. He grinned and started to unwrap the box.
Pausing just before he lifted the lid off the box, he asked, " More weapons?" I laughed.
"Just open it, you doofus!" He smiled and shook his head. Removing the lid of the box, he lifted out the snow globe I had made him earlier. He looked at it then back up at me.
"Is this what you needed the painting for?" I nodded. "This is so cool!" He shook it, causing small bits of snow to swirl around the tree house.
"It's a cross of the treehouse and the winter dance. I wanted it to be meaningful, so I took a bit of the past and a bit of the present. " I smiled. Hopefully I didn't seem too cheesy.
"That's brilliant. I love it Ella. Thanks." He reached over and gave me a hug. My heart sped up rapidly, and I tried desperately to calm it. Was I getting sick? This didn't typically happen to me- why now? It wasn't like I... You know... Liked him, right?
"I can't take all the credit. Anita had the Idea. She's kind of the gift master, huh?" We laughed, but Ben suddenly cut off. "What? What's wrong?" He said nothing, just pointed to a huge dark cloud. Even from the island, we could see the rain pouring down so thick that we couldn't see past it at all. And it was moving. Fast. Towards us.
"Should we tell someone?" He asked.
"I'll get someone. I could be wrong, but it looks like it could be a tropical storm... Maybe even a hurricane."
🌜🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌒🌛
Hey guys! Thanks for sticking around for another chapter. I really appreciate all the comments and votes. You Guys rock!
Quick update: Midnight Guard, the one that some of you will be characters in is now up. Thanks for all of you that commented to become members. I wish I could include more of you, but I now unfortunately have all the characters I need. Before, there were going to be twenty five. Now I sadly have to cut it down to thirteen. Twenty five is just too many characters to develop.
This weekend I got to go back to the place where the concept of Elements was first conceived. It's really helped to inspire me- I even have a new character on the way... Maybe two.
This chapters random fact is:
Ella is roughly five feet and six inches tall. Anita is just taller than her at five seven, and Ben is taller than both of them at five nine.
I'm running out of interesting facts! If you have something you want to know more about, please let me know!
Thanks again for reading! Please vote, comment, and share. You guys are awesome!
Emily.