On the day of her twenty first birthday, Veronica was awakened by an infernal noise that was her phone ringing. Groaning and mumbling some choice profanities, she reached for her phone.
The caller ID showed the name of her bestfriend, Charles Brooklyn. Oh, he was a dead man for waking her like this. She took the call and pressed the phone to her ear.
"Good Morning Veronica!" Charles said in a happy tone. "I want to be the first to greet you on your birthday today."
"I wouldn't say it’s a very good birthday morning, Charles" said Veronica already getting herself out of bed.
"Oh? Someone's grumpy on her birthday." said Charles. Veronica rolled her eyes. She could almost imagine the amused smirk on his face.
"Well, you did wake me up from a very good sleep." Veronica said already going through her wardrobe. She discarded some articles of clothing. She wanted something special and pretty on her birthday. "Can't I sleep in on my birthday?"
"Nope" he said, popping "p" at the end of the word. "Not unless you want to be late for Calculus."
"Hmm, you're right." Veronica said as she contemplated the choice of clothes she laid out on her bed. "Anyway, I need to get ready. Meet you at our spot in the café before the first bell? I need some coffee."
"Yeah, sure. Let's have some breakfast with that coffee of yours too. Too much coffee is bad for you Veronica."
"Whatever Charles. See ya." she said before hanging up. Now, to answer to her crisis. To be exact, her fashion crisis.
Finally, she decided on her outfit. She smiled to herself. Man, was she going to surprise Charles.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Charles waited patiently for his bestfriend to come. For as long as he knew her, Veronica has never been a morning person. It was a fact that often led to jokes about vampires and other creatures of the night, jokes that never fail to annoy Veronica.
The café they hanged out in almost everyday was a cozy and nice place. They had a booth near the back where they always ate because it was near the counter, had privacy and they could see the entrance to the place. Another reason they liked the place was because it played songs from their favorite bands.
Another plus about the place for Charles was the "Freedom Book". It was a special "thing" of the café where they have a book you can write, draw or put anything in. In fact, almost all the books had something from either of them from how often they visited the café.
Charles heard the bell over the entrance chime. He glanced up from his doodling on the book to see Veronica entering.
Her brown hair was braided and fell over her right shoulder. She wore a purple crop tap over a white tank top together with shorts and violet converse sneakers. She had a messenger bag slung on one shoulder and books tucked under one arm. She grinned when their eyes met and came over their booth.
She slid on the seat across him and raised an eyebrow when she saw the two plates of pancakes on the table. "Really? Two stacks of pancakes? Are you that hungry?"
Charles frowned. "The other one's for you. I'm not a glutton, V"
"Don't call me that!" Veronica said, pulling a plate of pancakes toward her and spearing a pancake with her fork. "No coffee?"
"I told you already, you drink too much coffee." said Charles.
"You can't take coffee from me. That's my morning fuel." Veronica cried out. Charles rolled his eyes before reaching under the table and bringing out a cup of latte. "Thanks Charles!"
"Well, I can't deny anything from the birthday girl now, can I?" he said with a grin like the cheshire cat's.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Veronica and Charles ate their breakfast silently. They chatted now and then but otherwise, they ate or Charles drew on the book.
Veronica was just finishing the last of her pancakes when she heard the chime of the bells that meant the arrival of a new person.
The person who entered was a stranger who looked about the same age as her and Charles. She's never seen this person before and she couldn't find words to describe him. Cute and handsome didn't just cut it. More like hot and badass. God, what the hell is she thinking about some stranger.
The guy had windblown golden blonde hair that was line fine-spun gold. His eyes were a beautiful deep violet shade. He wore a black leather riding jacket over a gray shirt, ripped jeans, fingerless riding gloves and combat boots to complete whatever dangerous image he was going for.
It seemed like the guy finally realized someone was looking at him for he turned to her direction and smiled flashing a pair of fangs. Fangs? She blinked and he was just a guy amused at her. She must be imagining things then.
The guy approached and walked passed their table but it seemed he couldn't help but point out that she had been staring at him. "Take a picture. It lasts longer." he said with a confident smirk before finally walked over to an empty table.
"Close your mouth Veronica. It's hanging open." Charles said glancing up from his drawing.
"Did you hear that?!"
"Hear what?"
"The thing the guy said when he passed us just now." Veronica frowned. "Was I really staring at him?!"
"I didn't notice." Charles said. He glanced over his shoulder to look at the stranger but Veronica noticed that the blonde stranger wasn't there anymore. Charles looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. "Seems like your guy left?"
"That's weird. He just came here." Veronica said. "Besides, wouldn't we have noticed if he left?"
"There's a back entrance. He might know someone from the staff." Charles waved away her questions before smiling slyly. Veronica's various warning bells all rang at once. "Why are you so interested? Was he that good-looking, Veronica?"
"NO…. Maybe. Yes, very" Veronica said. She tried not to lie to Charles specially since he was her bestfriend but he was really making it hard to do that when he was like this.
"Better than me?" Charles teased.
Veronica examined her bestfriend. Charles had copper-colored hair which needed some haircut presently. He had deep ocean blue eyes that always seem to have that laughing look. He had a good build, muscular but not too much. He was of average height but that did not stop him from playing basketball now and then. A lot of girls liked Charles. He was handsome in that nice guy sort of way.
