Birthday Celebration

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Oh, who's that? I'm coming, wait!"

Rex woke up to the sound of someone banging hard on his door. He rubbed his head, he could vaguely remember a dream but he couldn't focus on it.

The encounters of the previous day left him feeling too exhausted so he was unable to wake up on time. He felt a little annoyed at being so rudely yanked from the sweet world of sleep but he still rushed to the door.

Still on his brown night pair of shorts, and a black underwear that highlighted the prominent muscles of his chest, he rushed to the nearby water sink and watched his face with some water before going towards the door.

Once he opened it, he was about to talk to express his resentment at his sweet sleep being disrupted but he paused on seeing who it was.

"Hey, Cassandra, how's your day?"

"You're just waking up?"

"Yeah, umm, actually…"

"Move aside".

The beautiful curly black-haired young lady squeezed herself through inside the house. Once she was inside, she paused and briefly swept a glance at the rough and disorganized sitting room.

Everything in the sitting room was out of place, from the 4 wooden chairs, to the brown curtains that laid on the floor, to the old radio that was not switched on at this moment which was a rare encounter.

Of all these disorganized things, what attracted Cassandra's attention was the boxing bag that hung on the wall having no depressions which were signs of it not being used and the basic alloy sword that laid casually on the wooden table.

All these meant that Rex didn't practice his swordsmanship following his daily routine today, he was indeed just waking up.

Cassandra felt sad and disappointed but she tried hard not to show it as she turned to look at him squarely in the face.

For some strange reason, as she looked, she felt that Rex looked especially more handsome and attractive today. It was like, he became more mature overnight which was weird but she tried to ignore the strange feeling.

On feeling her familiar gaze, Rex flinched.

"Wait, don't give me that look, I can explain".

"Yeah, you do, I can't wait to hear the full explanation". Cassandra placed her hands on her prominent hip curves. "Why did you leave us yesterday?"

"…umm"

"Forget it, happy birthday".

"…"

"Thank you?"

"Ugh!" Cassandra waved her hand, annoyed as she stormed off into the kitchen, leaving behind a confused Rex.

"Arrange the sitting room!" Her voice thundered from the kitchen.

Cassandra was among Rex's few friends, his only friend alongside Ben. Actually, all 3 of them were childhood friends who through luck got scholarship due to different dizzying performances in major government public tournaments.

Unlike Rex with his relatively tanned skin, Cassandra was a pure white beauty while Ben had chubby dark skin.

Though she sounded pissed for some reason at the moment, she was actually gentle. To Rex, she was stable, attentive, and a firm lover of peace, the perfect girl any sane boy needed.

As Cassandra stormed off into the kitchen, Rex could only watch, stunned.

Her long and mesmerizing black hair, dreamy blue eyes, otherworldly facial features, and perfect curves would have made her a dream girl to many boys if not for the fact that she was not among the privileged ones.

Her current dress code of a casual pair of tight black jean trousers and a loose black shirt reflected the reality that she was in the same class as Rex.

The fact that she was able to enter the Obedin Mystic Academy revealed her talent. She already awoke mystic energy and wielded the earth mystic ability.

Her personality was as stable as her mystic ability. She loved music, swords which was mostly influenced by Rex, and she also loved her hair, a lot.

As for Ben, he also already awoke his mystic energy and wielded the wind mystic ability. His personality was as carefree as his mystic ability also, he was outspoken and was a hyperactive and knuckle-headed freebie.

He loved girls, beautiful things, and anything round and nice.

Clink!

Rex was jolted awake from his daze on hearing the sound of plates being handled in the kitchen. This was when he came back to reality, he smacked his head and quickly rushed into the kitchen.

"Can I help?"

"No, go wait in the sitting room, do anything to kill time and I'll prepare the best food soon. Your birthday was yesterday, we couldn't celebrate it so we'll compensate for it today".

Cassandra pushed her curly long black hair behind her as she started cutting the vegetables. Rex was a vegetarian; this was also influenced by the many principles that his dad ingrained in him at a young age.

In the end, Rex couldn't just leave while she did everything so he stood with her in the kitchen, watching while they both engaged in small conversations.

Cassandra already knew why Rex left school, taking a different route from theirs the previous day but she never mentioned it.

The fact that Rex didn't train already told her enough, she didn't want to make things harder for him, she wanted to help in the best way that she could.

As Cassandra prepared the fruit and vegetable salad for 3, Rex watched from the side. Watching her cutting motion, her dimples as she smiled, the sweat coming from her face as she worked soon made Rex to lose perception of time.

It always felt nice looking at beautiful things and he was no exception. At times, he wished the world could just remain so beautiful.

It continued this way until the loud and hyperactive one came.

"Hehe, I see you're really enjoying your birthday!" Ben's voice boomed from the outside even before he opened the door to enter the house.

When Rex turned around, his eyes clashed with his friend's. Seeing the mischievous grin on Ben's face, his repeated winks, and the hand motions that he made on entering made Rex feel like cutting this fellow in half.

Rex ignored him; he was already used to it though his cheeks still burned red a bit. On entering the house, Ben came all the way to the kitchen with a package.

"Rex, happy birthday!"

"I wish you all the best things in life, including the perfect girlfriend who's currently cutting your vegetables".

Bonk!

"Ouch, what did I do?"

Once Ben was here, the atmosphere became lively. Both boys did what they were good at, getting at each other's nerves until Cassandra was done.

Once the fruit salad was prepared, together, they all dug into it and ate till satisfaction. Surprisingly, the package that Ben came with was a cake, a cake!

Rex was shocked. "Where did you guys get the money?"

"Doesn't matter, all that matters is…"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

…

After the birthday feast, Rex spent quality time with his 2 friends as they let go of all their worries, engaging in interesting conversations, discussing the best moments of their lives and their hobbies.

Today, school was not compulsory since all that they would be doing was battle preparations for the graduation battle.

They were supposed to be in school, preparing like the other students but Ben and Cassandra never mentioned it, not wanting to place their friend in a difficult spot but what Rex said next confused them.

"Let's go to school?"

"What?"

"Why?"

"There's something that I want to show the 2 of you".

"What of Collins, and Turan?"

"They're not important".

Despite their doubts, Cassandra and Ben did not object. They got ready in just a few minutes before they left for school.