Shadow Killer

Chapter 10 = Birthday Pampering

I was woken up by Hanna screaming on my ear.

"Happy 13th birthday!" She jumped on top of me and squeezed me in a hug.

"Alright, alright, give the birthday girl some space, Hanna." I heard Miranda say. Hanna slowly let go of me as if I was some prized possession that she couldn't bear to leave for a second.

Before I could even see Claire's face, Miranda jumped in front of me and hugged me.

"Now it's your turn to give the birthday girl some space, Miranda." I heard Claire say and then she came and hugged me once Miranda had finished.

"Now it's actually time to give the birthday girl some space." I said.

"Oops, sorry!" Claire said in a chirpy voice that was followed by laughter and let go of me.

"It's twelve-oh-one. Can I sleep now?"

"You want to sleep on your birthday?" All of them asked together and then laughed. They laughed so hard that they didn't notice me going to my bed and falling asleep.

When I woke up, I immediately knew that something was weird. Then two things struck me. One, it was my birthday and two, my friends were sleeping on the floor. I guess they must have heard me wake up because they woke up.

"Okay, now I need to get ready for school so can all of you please leave?"

"No. We have planned everything for you. You're the eldest amongst us now, not that you weren't before but we have got to make this your best birthday and the best day of your life."

"So? How does that affect what I'm wearing?"

"It affects what you're wearing because we have decided what you will wear to school."

"Okay but don't you think you're going a little too far?" I asked as she went to my closet and started to take out a dress.

"Not at this. This is the tip of the iceberg. We're just getting started."

When she took out the dress, I saw how beautiful it really was and immediately fell in love with it. I usually didn't even wear dresses but I was sure that I wouldn't have a problem wearing this one. It had black and white stripes that had a swirling pink pattern with a ribbon attached to it on its top left, near the shoulder. It was a little less than half-sleeve and had a pink ribbon belt around it with another bow on its right side.

As she brought it closer and I touched it I realized how soft it actually was. It was the softest thing in the world. There was a person at my school who had the softest skin ever. I thought that nothing could ever get softer than that but I was wrong. This was softer. Words can't explain how beautiful or soft it was.

"Where did you get this?" I asked.

"Let's just say that this is the second of thirteen gifts."