Fire And Ice

Chapter 54 - Epiphany

Natalia's P. O. V

I interjected, begging Jenna and Lucy with my eyes to go along with my lie, "I met them at a library I've been going to and we just seemed to get along pretty well. I went there today cause I thought you guys were busy and saw them, so I brought them over."

I held my breath, waiting for someone to continue the conversation.

"Yeah..." Lucy started, "she told us about her birthday and we offered to come over."

Jenna nodded, "Ari's always got her nose buried in a book, so it's nice to see her in a different environment like this."

"That's so nice." Hailey smiled, likely pleased with the idea of making more friends.

I suppressed a sigh and turned to her, "Hailey, I think we should get started on the food. Do you want me to help?"

She shook her head, "You just have fun and talk to everyone, we'll handle the party."

I thanked her and she wandered off, motioning to Kaesha and Timothy to help her with the food.

I turned to Jenna and Lucy, hoping the panic wasn't showing on my face, "Thanks, you guys, for going along with it. Besides my sister and the two people she's with right now, all the other people here think I'm turning nineteen, so please... I don't know. Don't lie, I guess, but they can't find out the truth cause they go to my college."

Jenna laughed, "It's cool, really. You've got stuff you don't want causing issues with the human institution you're attending. We can understand that."

Lucy nodded.

I thanked them some more and took them around the room, introducing them to everyone. Like Hailey, most of the people present were in awe of Jenna. Lucy was definitely beautiful too, but Jenna seemed to stun everyone with her looks. I guess I was witnessing the allure of an Uncovered Syren in action. I bet if they could see her hair colour, they'd be even more fascinated, not that her airy, gravity defying hair wasn't entirely showstopping without the hot pink look.

Looking around, I watched as all the aspects of my life blended together in my living room. I tried my best to ignore the panic lurking around the edge of my mind. This party was exactly what I didn't know I'd desired the entire day, but something deep in my chest felt like it was a disaster waiting to happen. The humans could hear or see something they shouldn't, the Werewolves could find out I was a Syren, the Syrens could find out I wasn't just in the city at my pack's behest, and I still had to remember to make sure that Trevor and Greg didn't suspect me of being a Vampire.

I spent a lot of the party running around and corroborating stories. Trevor, Greg and my study group friends just knew of me as their friend and fellow student, so I kept them out of everything Supernatural related. Everyone besides Timothy, Jenna and Lucy could relate on the topic of Killdrain, so I steered the conversation towards that. When the question of how I knew Timothy at all came up, Kaesha jumped in to say he was a relative of hers. And as far as anyone who wasn't a Werewolf or Syren was concerned, I was turning nineteen today.

By the time the present giving part of the celebration rolled around, I was somewhat satisfied that none of my secrets would spill over to where they weren't supposed to be.

I opened the first present to find a pair of light blue running shoes.

"Hailey said that you usually go on runs in the morning." Trevor explained.

"Yeah," Greg added, "and I remembered your shoe size from when we went shopping the first time you got here."

I smiled up at the both of them, "Thank you so much, guys. I've almost worn my shoes out from when I first got them."