The Two Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Book One: Just the Beginning

Chapter 10: Bittersweet Sixteen

It was a new day and Jim woke up to the smell of pancakes entering his room. He opened his eyes to see his mom, Alexa and I sneaking into his room with a breakfast surprise.

"Wakey, wakey sleepyhead!" I smiled happily, holding up a tray of pancakes with a candle and orange juice. Alexa shot some confetti into the air out of a small cannon unenthusiastically.

"Wake up!" She giggled as she sat down on the bed next to Jim and I rested the tray of breakfast in front of him, "Don't want to sleep through your big day."

"Big day?" Jim questioned as though he'd forgotten about his own birthday.

"Come on silly, the big day!" I grabbed his shoulder, "And you're gonna start it off with Ms. Lake and Raelynn's special birthday pancakes!"
"Courtesy of Raelynn for making sure the house didn't burn down," Alexa added on, making Miss Barbara glare at her playfully.

Jim laughed a bit before looking down at his pancakes, "He looks like he's screaming."

"Oh yeah, your mom did the syrup face." Alexa finished as she exited the room.

"He's excited!" I tried to pull off the same excited face as the pancake, but it just made Jim snort.

"Look Jim, we know you always hate your birthday. But you're turning sixteen! This is a big one! We all should do something tonight!" His mom suggested and while Jim seemed reluctant, I nodded rapidly with a smile.

"I-I appreciate that... But you guys know I don't want to-" He started to say before I cut in, placing my pointer finger on his lips.

"This isn't up for discussion Jimbo," I told him as his mom opened up his window, "No one should be alone on their birthday. Especially you." I nudged his ribs and he pushed my shoulder lightly.

"When you've had your fill, I have another surprise for you downstairs." His mom said, making eye contact with me before she left and winking. I could hardly contain my excitement and had to bite my lip to keep from smiling really wide.

Jim sighed as his mom went back downstairs. He went to take a bite of his breakfast when we both turned to look at the walkie-talkie as it beeped.

"Warhammer to Trollhunters." Came Toby's voice over the com, "Copy?"

"Copy!" I grabbed the walkie-talkie before Jim could. I smiled mischievously, knowing exactly what surprises were in store

"Hey!" He chuckled at me before I handed him the walkie-talkie, "Yup, we copy Tobes."

"Look out your window!" Toby yelled through the speaker and I ushered Jim to the window, still making sure the breakfast wasn't ruined in the process. We looked out the window to see Toby waving from his own window. He held up a cardboard cake that said Jim's name and a large sixteen on it. I had to hold in a laugh when I noticed a huge bite mark at the top.

"I think a bird or something tore away a piece of your drawing Tobes." Jim pointed out and I gave him a side hug while smiling.

"Oh- that was Arrrgh, he thought the cake was real... or he just likes the taste of paper." Toby shrugged before he changed the subject, "Has Claire answered any of your texts."

Now it was my turn to respond, "Nope... she won't respond to any of my texts. Or Jim's for that matter. It's not like her best friend destroyed her house or anything... oh wait- yes I did."

Toby scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Awe come on RaeRae... you know you guys didn't, her fake baby brother did."

Then Jim rolled his eyes, "Right, we'll be sure to tell her that."