Star

The first thing that I saw when I entered the room was a large banner hanging across the wall. It looked hand painted and was so pretty. It was a light blue and it was covered in stars of many different colors and shades. The words written on it said HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAR in big bold letters.

The next thing that I saw was a large group of people, larger than usual, as they threw fists full of colorful paper (I had learned this morning it was called confetti) at me. Artem, Kent, Toby, Morgan, Ella, Bailey, Reed, Criztie, Sydney, Dakota, Cohen, Leslie, Julian, Dalton, Flint, Benton, and of course Chay at my side. Everyone I had met since coming here was in this room and wishing me a happy birthday.

I felt the emotions well up then, I didn't know what this was really, but it was more than just a normal dinner. Slowly I looked around the room at all the people gathered, at all their faces.

The kids were standing in the front, they were smaller and easier to see over. Everyone was standing in pairs around them, all except for Bailey because Chay was at my side and of course Artem.

Artem was looking at me intently. His eyes that were fixed on me were wide and surprised. He looked happy, very happy, but he also looked surprised. It seemed like Chay had been right about him.

At that moment Chay had taken my hand and started pulling me further into the room, all the way over to stand in front of Artem.

"Well, Artemis, I present to you, the guest of honor. May I present to you Miss Astraia 'Star' Westbrook."

For a moment Artem just stared at me, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. It looked like he wanted to smile but couldn't remember how to. After a little while though, he closed his mouth, and was indeed smiling.

When he tried to start talking it happened exactly as Chay had said it would.

"Star, you're so, I mean this is, uh, um, y-you look s-so...so...s-so b-beautiful." Chay had called it down to a T. He had been stunned silent, then he stuttered and stammered. She knew her brother so well.

Seeing Artem act so flustered made me smile. I looked to the side for a second and saw Chay grinning at me. When we made eye contact the two of us giggled for a few seconds.

Seeing Artem in such distress, his Beta came over to help him.

"Get it together man." Kent's voice held laughter as he clapped a hand onto Artem's shoulder. "Roll your fucking tongue back into your head and lets sit down for dinner. I'm sure the lovely lady is hungry." He grinned and winked at me to show that he was being playful.

"Uh, y-yeah, you're right. W-we should s-s-sit down now." Despite the situation, Artem was still grinning. "Star, may I walk you to your seat?" He held his hand out toward me.

"Dude, it's ten feet." Kent laughed but Artem just ignored him and smiled at me, hand still extended.

Once again I felt my hand moving toward him of its own accord. I didn't consciously move it toward him, but for some reason I was taking his hand. I didn't hate it, but I wished I knew why I was doing it without making myself do it.

Still, I blushed when I took his hand, which felt large and very hot against mine. He wrapped his fingers around my hand and curled his arm around mine, pulling me just that much closer. It felt awkward, intimate, and really nice all at the same time. He continued to look at me, his head turned to the side and down toward me, as he guided me to the place where I always sat for dinner.

I was the first to be seated for the meal. Once I was sitting all the others moved to their seats as well. The food was already on the table and waiting for us. In front of me was an elegant looking table setting with more silverware than we usually had, fancy looking napkins, and more dishes than usual.

The food had already been served and was waiting in front of each of us. I had a plate full of a salad that consisted of greens, thin shavings of white cheese, hard little pieces of bread, and a white dressing that seemed to have been mixed throughout the whole thing.

There was a bowl with some sort of soup. It had a thin brown broth and I could smell onions. There was a chunk of bread and some melted cheese on top of it. The plate of the main dish was there as well, there was some kind of beef with a gravy looking sauce, and mixed in with the meat I could see onions, carrots, mushrooms, and bacon. Also on the plate was mashed potatoes and dinner rolls.

It all looked so delicious, and it smelled even better. Before I could start eating though Artem cleared his throat and started to speak.

"This dinner is in honor of Star, who is the star of this evening. She is a beautiful, brave, kind, and compassionate person and I am thankful to have her in my life." Artem raised his glass which looked to have been filled from the bottle of wine that was sitting nearby. I looked at my own glass and saw, with relief, that it was filled with lemonade instead of wine.

"I have known for a long time that Star is a strong and courageous person, and I am thankful to the Goddess and to you all for helping her. My cousin can now be free thanks to all of you here." Bailey was the next to speak.

"Our Shooting Star has finally broken free." Reed added.

"Let me be the first here at the table to say this, Star, we all love you and are thankful you are here with us. Happy birthday." Chay's words were next. With all of them saying these things I could feel my heart swelling so much.

"Happy birthday." Everyone else at the table lifted their glass as well and echoed those words.

"Thank you, all of you. You've all been so good to me."

"We're only giving you what you deserve." Artem smiled at me as he gripped my hand for a quick second.

From there we started eating. The food was so good that I had to ask Artem what it all was. He had made a Ceasar salad, French onion soup, and beef bourguignon. I had never heard of any of them but they all tasted divine.

After we were done eating I was prevented from going upstairs. Apparently there was more to the night than what had already happened.

*****The next chapter will consist of a slight recap by Artem before continuing, but there is a lot of new information before it moves on*****