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IT was the day he had been dreading.
Twenty-two seemed like a monumental year – then again, wasn't every year of your twenties monumental? Twenty-two meant that you had been drinking legally for over a year. It meant that you were in the big leagues now, an actual adult. There was no way he could call himself a kid anymore. In just a year's time, he'd be twenty-three, and no one likes you when you're that age – at least, that's what Blink-182 said.
He was woken up that morning by a huge mass falling onto his chest. Not exactly the way he wanted to wake up, but Hadley found the snort that erupted from his chest too funny. She sat on top of his torso, curling her legs beneath her as she drummed her fingers onto his chest. Her mouth formed into a big grin, one that Percy never wanted to go away. His heart sped up.
"Happy birthday!" She squealed, running her fingers through his honey locks. His hair was sprayed across the pillow in a collision of gold and sunlight. "Twenty-two looks good on you."
"How did you know it was my birthday?" Percy arched a brow. "I don't remember telling you the exact date."
Hadley's stare shifted, as if she had been caught in the act. She smiled again and tapped her temples with the pads of her fingers. "It's all you've been thinking about, Perce." She scoffed like it was obvious. Her cheeks flushed pink. "You're very loud in there."
Percy bit the inside of his cheek. He hoped that she didn't hear some of the other carnal thoughts he had of her at the most random moments. "Is this you admitting that you can read my mind?"
She shrugged. "Only when I want to."
"That's comforting."
She giggled, straightening her back so she didn't look like a predator confronting its prey. Hadley pushed a few tufts of blonde hair from his eyes. "So, what do you want to do to celebrate this splendid day?"
Percy felt like pressing a pillow over his face. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"
Hadley tapped her chin. "I don't know. Give me both."
"Okay, well – I want this to be my last birthday. I don't even want to be twenty-two, honestly." He exhaled heavily. "As for the lie, I could say that this day is going to be the best one of my life, but even I'm not that great of a liar."
"Percy, I'm not inflicting you on your birthday."
"Does that mean you'll turn me in the future?"
Hadley frowned. "No," she replied, "and wipe those puppy dog eyes off your face. You can't convince me to do anything."
Percy scoffed loudly, lifting his chin to look away from her, but he couldn't do it for long. His eyes always wanted to go back to her, as if they were attracted to her through a magnetic force. Hadley laughed at his annoyance and brushed her thumb across his red cheeks. She could feel the warm blood underneath his skin, pumping through his veins. "Percy, your birthday is definitely something to celebrate. Are you really that upset that you can't live forever? It's not all that it's cracked up to be."
