But that’s not it.
I could tell those gifts were more diversion than anything else.
“Don’t ruin this surprise,” Tobias says, pointing at me in warning, his mouth curving up into a smile. “We worked hard on it.”
“Surprise, what surprise?” I ask, flouncing up the stairs to my room before he can answer.
Because I know them too well, and I know that whatever they give me, it’s going to be good.“Charlotte, wake up,” Tobias says, gently shaking my shoulder. As I crack my heavy lids, the first thing I see is him smiling at me.
“What time is it?” I ask, glancing toward the window above my bed. It’s dark out, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s winter in Connecticut. Shit, it’s probably like three in the freaking afternoon.
“Almost six,” Tobias tells me, sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. I must’ve gotten so hyped up waiting to see what the guys were planning that I wore myself; I don’t even remember falling asleep. With a yawn, I sit up, stretching my arms above my head. Tobias watches me, his attention sweet and tender, his expression softening the sharp lines of his face. “Are you ready, Chuck the Micropenis?”
“For what?” I ask as he stands up and holds out a hand for me to take. Some of my hair is plastered to the side of my face with drool. If this is my birthday wish coming to fruition, then I’m not properly dressed. Drool-covered faces and romantic birthday endeavors don’t exactly go hand in hand. “Can I brush my hair, do some quick makeup, and change my dress?” I ask, but Tobias just laughs and pulls me into the hallway. I notice the attic door is open, the wooden ladder dropped down to the floor above us, where my old room used to be.
“Don’t worry: we’ve checked and rechecked that attic today. You’ll be safe.” He curves his hand around mine and tugs me up the staircase, then waits with his hands on either side of the ladder as I climb up.
There’s a ton of junk up here, but nothing fun like at the antique shop. Instead of glass clowns and secret bookcase doors, there are a lot of old bed frames, mattresses, and broken chairs. Yawn-fest.
“The roof access is up here,” Tobias says, showing me over to one last set of stairs. As I climb each step, my view of the sky beyond the open door gets better and better, until I’m standing out on the roof, surrounded by stars.
“Wow.” The word comes out in a whisper as Tobias joins me, leading me around the corner and onto the part of the roof that faces the woods behind the school.
The rest of the guys are there, dressed in warm clothes, and waiting on a blanket mound that’s spread across three different mattresses. They must’ve dragged them out of the attic for us to lay on. Stargazing, I think, without even having to ask. I mentioned offhand to the twins that I wanted to do something like this, and here we are.
They listened.
It means more to me than I can say. My throat closes up and tears threaten at the corners of my eyes as Micah comes over with a bundle of sweaters, scarves, and mittens, bundling me up against the cold.
“You used to be such a badass, Chuck,” he teases, pulling a hat down over my head. For now, the sky is clear, but I can see clouds moving in and threatening to cover the school. We’re going to get a buttload of snow, huh?
“I’m still a badass,” I grumble as I look around at the scattered candles, the champagne chilling in a bucket, and a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries on an old nightstand. There are even white lights strung up from the flagpole to the raised portion of the roof, where the exit is. They’ve clearly put a lot of work into this.
“What happens if the Fellowship finds out we’re up here?” I ask, imagining a bunch of robed cultists pouring out the door and onto the roof, surrounding us. They could throw me off the building, be done with me once and for all.
Tobias kicks the door closed and yanks on the handle to show me that it’s locked. He then lifts up a set of keys.
“All of these open the roof door. We took them from pretty much every staff member on campus, including your dad, Eddie, even Nathan. And don’t worry: we told the headmaster we’d be up here with you tonight. He didn’t seem to like it, but he agreed to it.”
“He … did?” I ask, blinking in surprise as I turn back to Spencer, Church, and Ranger.
“He did,” Tobias confirms as the twins each gently take me by the elbow and lead me over to their kick-ass mattress setup. Looks like it takes at least three queen-sized beds to house us all for a sleepover. Not that I think the boys are all going to sleep in one big bed with me. Not yet, my mind snickers, and immediately starts to scheme. Hashtag goals, am I right?
