50th Anniversary

Nova looks at Faye, who is clutching the old photo.

"That in the photo, is that you?"

Faye smiles. "I had no idea this photo still existed. Kalen hated photos so it was pretty hard to get him to take one with us."

Nova looks at the black and white photo again, stunned. The year 1860 was indeed written in the faded font in the lower right corner. Which meant that the tall girl was Faye when she was still human.

She had a big smile on her face and even though the photo had no color, Nova could see her eyes shining with life and hope.

"So this is Kalen," Nova says, pointing to a young boy with much shorter hair than Kalen's now.

"Even though he was the mayor's son, he always dressed like an ordinary citizen. I don't remember him ever wearing a suit." Faye adds, shaking her head.

Nova pauses for a brief moment and points to the third person. "And who is she?"

However, this question forces Faye to look at the young girl. She bites his lip and takes a deep breath.

Nova notices right away that maybe she shouldn't have asked, she was already preparing to apologize when Faye speaks up.

"Mabel Steele, my younger sister. She was obsessed with all the dresses I was forced to wear every day. Unlike me, she dreamed of living the life of a princess." she chuckles.

"She wasn't just obsessed with dresses and all the things my mother and I did, she was also obsessed with Kalen. The two of them were together almost all the time, to the point where I sometimes thought she was his sister and not mine."

Faye keeps looking at the little girl and feels her throat tighten. Even though she separated from her human self, she still has a deep bond with her sister.

Nova doesn't know if she should change the subject or keep asking so she just stares blankly at Faye who flips the photos over and looks at the back where Nova notices the text.

Kalen Benjamin Emrick with Faith Amelia Steele and her sister Mabel Ida Steele. May 1860. Warborne.

"Faith?" Nova asks.

"The name my father chose for me. After all that happened, I wanted nothing to do with him." Faye explains.

However, at that moment, they both hear the sound of a Nova phone. She quickly takes it out of her pocket and puts it to her ear.

"Nova, where are you? Everything is ready and I hope you weren't going to miss my speech! This is an exceptional situation!" complains Winnie on the other end.

"Winnie, what are you talking about?" Nova asks, looking confused at Faye who still standing next to her.

"Good joke. Now seriously, we will need you here as soon as possible. With Mr. Carney gone, everyone is going crazy. The school that has the best art history program loses its teacher? That's what I call a scandal." Winnie laughs.

It was clear that Winnie was running around and arranging something. Nova hears several people in the background, music, and a few times Winnie, who raised her voice several times at the people around her, and at that moment Nova remembers.

She grabs her forehead and heads down the hall with the phone next to her ear.

"Oh my God Winnie, I'm sorry. I'll be right there."

Nova hangs up and stops at the front door. "It was Winnie, she needs me at school."

Faye is still standing at the top of the stairs, clutching the photo. "I don't think it's a good idea to go anywhere."

"I can't stay locked up here for the rest of my life. I have my life too." Nova says as she puts on her jacket that she left on the hanger by the door last night.

"Fine, but let that witch of yours know to be careful. I doubt any vampire will approach you in the daytime like this, but you never know. We did it."

She watches as Nova closes the creaky door and leaves their property.

Faye slowly makes her way back to the rooms and without knocking opens the door that leads to Kalen's room who is lying on his bed with a book in his hand. All of the upstairs rooms look the same, except Kalen has a lot more books on the floor and a slightly larger desk in his room.

His bed has dark sheets and a bunch of clothes in drawers.

"What do you want?" he says without looking at her.

Faye leans against the open doorframe. "Are you really going to lie here and sulk?"

"Like I said yesterday. I'm not interested in whatever you're trying to do."

Kalen turns the page of his book, still refusing to look at Faye, who walks up to him and sits on the edge of his bed. She places a framed photo next to him and looks at the boy who's trying to focus on his book.

"Kalen, I'm not here to see how a vampire can kill. I don't think I need you for that. I'm here because you've been avoiding me for the past fifty years."

"You know very well why I did it. For fifty years I've been trying to act like someone I'm not, do you think I wanted to be seen like this?" he says with a guilty face.

Faye gets back to her feet and heads for the door, turning around for a brief moment.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time and I don't mind waiting longer. Remember that."

Kalen looks up from his book to watch Faye walk out of his room.

He turns his head and slowly picks up the photo Faye left next to him. He looks at the people in the photo with a sad expression and his breathing quickens.

It was certain that he hadn't seen it in a long time either. Although Kalen had lived here for some time and knew that this photo still existed, he had not been able to look at it for several years.

It reminded him so much of the past that he wished to forget but couldn't.

Nova finally gets to the school garden. Music is playing all around her, people are walking around. She hears the voices of children, parents, and students.

She notices her teachers and stalls with food, brochures, and information about the school. There are boards with posters and big signs everywhere.

At the entrance to the garden is a large sign that says Celebrating Warborne High School's 50th Anniversary!

"Here you are!" calls Winnie, who is just running up to Nova.

Kai is running behind her, and Rosalie, who is holding several colorful balloons in her hand, approaches with a slow step.

"I'm so sorry, with all the stress I completely forgot about today."

"Professor Carney was supposed to take care of our city's historical works, but he decided to move out yesterday. At least that's what the principal said this morning," adds Kai who was holding several posters in his hands.

Nova tightens her ponytail and looks around. "So I'm guessing Mrs. Hart took over his part?" "Yes, but Winnie doesn't really care about that." Kai laughs.

"Hey, I care about the good of this school! I've been preparing all night!"

"The good news is you're here now and we can all focus on my speech."

Winnie jumps in place a few times and ruffles her hair.

"How do I look?" she asks nervously, looking at Nova and Rosalie who are standing next to her just looking at each other nervously.

Nova gives a thumbs-up with a smile on her face. "Wonderful!"

Rosalie just nods and copies Nova. "Very cool!"

Their group notices everyone gathering in the middle of the garden and looking at a small stage with a microphone. Behind the stage stands the same sign as at the front entrance, and in the center stands a woman wearing an all-black dress.

She is tall and confidently looks at the people in front of her. She leans closer to the microphone and speaks.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Bethany Lawrence. Principal of Warborne High School. I would like to welcome you all to our school. We have certainly come a long way since 1961 and I would like to invite our school class president, Winnie Flores, who has a few more words for you!"

The Headmistress claps and the crowd follows her. Winnie grits her teeth and smiles. Nova and Rosalie give her a shove and she makes her way through the crowd right to the stage next to Miss Lawrence.

Everyone claps and watches as Winnie leans closer to the microphone. Several students shout and whistle, and you can see and hear that Winnie is very popular.

"Good morning. I am very pleased to be able to join you all for the 50th anniversary of Warborne High School. First, the students and staff deserve a special mention for many reasons. They make this school special and help us learn and improve. Around you, you can notice several works of our talented students as well as historical works and information about the establishment of our school-"

Everyone listens attentively to Winnie's speech and she looks very happy.

After a few minutes, Nova feels her phone buzzing. She reaches into her pocket, pulls out her cell phone, and picks it up.

She puts a finger to one ear to hear and slowly steps away from Rosalie and Kai who are watching the stage.

Nova stops at the sign at the entrance where not many people were standing.

"Yes?" she asks, turning her eyes back to the stage when she realizes that the call ended.

Nova looks at the screen of the phone but sees nothing. Before she takes a step back to her group something stops her.

"Don't move or the blondie gets it." says a mysterious voice right behind her.