Serpent's Deceit (Entry 016)

 

“Happy birthday, Tulip!!”

My eyes are blinded by bright lights and my ears deafened by the loud pop-pop-pop of confetti cannons. Shreds of shiny paper explode through the air, followed by a loud hiss as cans of party foam spray unleash white streams that curl overhead like white ribbons. It takes a moment to register in my brain what is actually happening. Meanwhile, someone places a party hat on my head before hugging me. The hug finally brings out my response. “Oh, my God! You guys! What the hell—”

The person hugging me speaks up, “Oh, I can finally speak with my T!” It is Noah, of course. Well, I should have understood by the tight grip he has on me. But the surprise has messed up my brain.

He keeps squeezing, restricting my airflow. Is he planning on killing me now? I hit his chest to let go of me while making incoherent noises as my words are also restricted.

“Let go of her, would you?” Erin’s stern voice reaches my ear, and suddenly the obstacle is no more. I take short breaths quickly to fill my lungs. She grabs my shoulders. “You okay?”

I nod, glancing around the room. All of my friends are here, Noah standing on my right, scratching the back of his head, and Erin on my left, her hands still on my shoulder, Jessie and Tyler a few feet ahead, each holding a foam can in their hands, and lastly, Hunter and Sophia with confetti cans. I let out a short laugh as the pieces fit together in my mind. “So, that’s why y'all were ignoring me all day. And here, I thought that I did something wrong."

Before anyone can get a reply out, Noah jumps up. “Yes! They made me do that, I swear! You have no idea how hard it was for me.”

His dramatic babbling brings out a chuckle from me, but that also makes Erin whack his head. He starts whining. Tyler steps forward. “We are sorry for that. We did it for dramatic effect. Don’t get mad at us.”

“She won’t,” comes the reply from somewhere behind me. The voice makes me turn around and let out a scream, “Ray!”

I run to her and almost jump up on her lap with the force I hug her. Squeezing her tightly in my arms, I exclaim, “You had me worried sick! I thought you were… something happened to you. And Rick was so worried as well…”

With a soft laugh, she responds, “That too was for the dramatics.” Then she lowers her voice and whispers the next words in my ear, “Isn’t it great that you had alone time with him after a long time?”

I pull back instantly in shock. She stares back at me with a smile as if she has not just said that. Why would she even say it? She knows everything. She knows the confession, the rejection, the reason and the cutoff. Her words are out of nowhere. What does she mean by that now?

I am so taken aback that it requires a few moments to respond. When I finally open my mouth to ask what she has meant, she grabs my shoulders and makes me turn on my heels. I am about to protest when my eyes go to the kitchen door. Someone has come out of the kitchen with a small birthday cake in his hand. 

“Dax,” I cry out, running towards him. Someone might interpret this as being overdramatic. I do not care. I am meeting my boyfriend after almost twelve hours, and I fucking miss him so much.

Once I reach him, he puts out a hand to stop me, his eyes on the cake. Once he sees that there is no possible threat to the cake, he looks up, his eyes reflecting the light above our heads. He flashes me his teeth. “Your highness, as much as I would love to take you in my arms, you need to cut the cake first. Otherwise they will kill me, or, maybe both of us.”

The chanting of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song that has started when he has emerged from the kitchen turns into laughter. Someone hollers from behind us, “Yes! Cake first!”

Both of us let out a synchronised chuckle as we make our way to the living room. That room is decorated as well. White and golden balloons are all over the floor; some of them are hanging from the ceiling and attached to the wall. A table is placed at the centre of the room with other food items, mostly desserts. Gifts are piled up in one corner of the room. 

Dax places it in the middle of the table. I turn around the table and stand on the other side. Dax follows me and takes his place on my left with a hand on my waist. Lighting the candle with his lighter, he whispers to me, “Make a wish.”

I look him in the eye and give him a peck before lowering my head and blowing the candle. The wish I make is to spend the rest of my life with my boyfriend and my friends just like this. It is such a simple wish, but it means everything to me. Blessings are not valued till they are gone.

With the ongoing chanting of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song, I cut the cake and feed the first piece to Dax. He then takes it and feeds me back. In some cultures, the first piece of birthday cake is given to the person you love and appreciate the most. I always love to follow that tradition. 

During such an emotional moment, I do not realise someone sneaking up behind me. Noah calls me from so close that it makes me instinctively turn around. And plop!

He has smeared a handful of cake on my face.

With a collective gasp and Noah’s hehehe, I run a hand over my eyes to remove the cream from them to see that idiot’s face and lick the icing off my lips. He is standing a few feet away near the door, a safe distance, one might say. There is no safe distance for him in this house. 

“Seize him,” I yell out a command, instantly turning around and grabbing the tray of the cake. The beautiful cake is smashed on one side; clearly he has taken it from there.

I already hear the hustle and bustle before I turn around. Hunter and Tyler have listened to me and grabbed him by both sides, restricting him from moving. Noah, however, is still thrusting and squirming in their hands, occasionally cursing dramatic words which should have been insults.”Holy Duck mother! Leave me! What is this behaviour! Sophia, help me! Pleaseeeee!”

I take two steps to stand before him and let out an evil laugh. Dramatic and cringe, I know, but it is okay. Then I go with, “Your time is over, Noah Jones.” And I slap the board on his face.

The sound is so satisfying with the cheers from our friends. They are recording, I notice. The board slides off his face. He has more cake on his face than me. I grin in the triumph of victory.

But then I notice that he has the cake board in his hands, meaning Hunter and Tyler have released him. 

I look up at him. He sees the realisation kicking in. 

“Oh, shit,” mumbling, I waste no time sprinting out of the door with an animalistic growl following after me.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

With cake remains on my face, I cannot see ahead that clearly. And as an effort to escape from Noah’s grasp, I am running wild around the house. So, I do not exactly see that someone is, in fact, ahead of me and run straight into them.

“Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

I stop mid-sentence when I tilt my head and see who I am looking at. 

The ‘Prince’ of Nidhraxis is standing before me, dressed in a white formal shirt and white pants. I hate to admit it, but he appears just as angelic as always. If only his works were as serene as his looks.…

I look down at my wrist, his grip tight on it. A sudden question arises in my mind. What is he doing here?

He notices me noticing the grip and pulls me closer by tagging. It is a sudden move, but I get a grip instantly, stopping myself from falling on his chest again. I begin to twist my hand to get it out, but he has such a vice-like grip as if he is about to kidnap me and he is afraid I might run away.

Is this why he is here? To kidnap me? After going MIA for a week?

He leans forward just at that time, forcing me to lean back. His tone has a rather unusual soft and lilting tone like those of sirens when he speaks, “Happy Birthday, Tulip. Hope you enjoy your special day… while you still can.”

I feel a shudder run over my body, and that is not because of his almost threatening birthday wish. I realise that this is the first time he has called my name. That alone should not be the reason for this sort of reaction. What else is there?

I become hyperaware of his fingertips against my pulse. If my pulse quickens, will he feel it?

“Though it seems like you are already enjoying quite a lot,” he comments, his eyes running over my face, and I suddenly remember the cake on my face. I feel the heat riding up my neck. He has seen me like this. How embarrassing!

I tug on our joined hands abruptly in an attempt to get rid of him at once. He does the same thing, pulling me closer and leaning in. I start to lean away and take a step back when his other hand comes up on the back of my head, restricting my movement. I am frozen in place as I see him getting dangerously close to my face, my pulse actually quickening. What is he doing?

Then I feel a warm slickness running over my right cheek, cleaning the cake frosting from there. He moves to the other side of my face and does the same. When he is done, he stands back straight. Leaving me all of a sudden, he tucks his hands in his pockets, his tongue running over his lips before darting inside, a small smear of white icing still clinging at the corner of his lips.

“Mhm, that was delicious. Thanks for the taste. See ya.” With a wave of his hand, he turns on his feet and leaves while I stand frozen, staring at his retreating back and trying to decipher what the actual fuck has just happened.