A couple of hours later, the weird red smoke was the last thing on Bella’s mind. She was too full to think of anything but her stomach. Bella, Ivy, and Clara had feasted on delicious roast chicken, mac ’n’ cheese, and all of Bella’s favorite foods.
After dinner, the chefs brought out an eight-tiered cake—one layer for every year since Bella’s birth. The gorgeous cake had been covered in light-purple buttercream frosting, and each layer was decorated with images of Bella’s favorite things. Unicorns, flowers, and bumblebees floated in the air around the cake and looked real until you swiped a hand through them—and it became clear they were images projected in the air. Bella had almost stopped her dad from cutting the cake, because she loved looking at it so much!
After cake, the girls had watched a movie, but Bella hadn’t been able to concentrate. She was too busy thinking about the waiting unicorns.
“I think it’s time for presents!” Queen Katherine said.
“Yaaay!” Bella cheered. Now it was just Bella, her parents, and Ivy and Clara.
The first-floor living room overflowed with presents from Bella’s family. The people of Crystal had come to the castle gates after the parade, leaving hundreds of flowers, small gifts, and cards for Bella. Bella had burst into giggles when one of the royal security guards had told her that someone had left a hen with a note explaining how fresh eggs would make Bella a healthy princess.
“This box is taller than me!” Bella exclaimed. She stood next to a box wrapped in dark-blue paper with glittery white stars. The bow on the box was the size of her head.
“That’s from Grandma Margie,” said Queen Katherine.
“Grandma M sends the best presents,” Bella said. She smiled, thinking of her dad’s mom. “I can’t wait to open it.”
Her eyes were trained on the presents that Clara and Ivy held. Her besties, still in their parade gowns, grinned.
“Can I open your presents first?” Bella asked her friends. Then she glanced at her mom. “In my room?”
Ivy and Clara looked to Queen Katherine for a yes or no.
“That’s entirely up to Ivy and Clara,” Queen Katherine said. “Perhaps they want to make you wait, Bella, until the end of the evening.” There was a teasing tone in the queen’s voice.
“Hmmm . . . maybe we should make you wait,” Ivy said.
“Yeah, we could make you wait until you open all of your gifts,” Clara said. “I’m sure you have no interest in opening our presents right now. . . .”
“Oh, please? You can’t say no to the birthday girl,” Bella said. “I’ll be sad forever.”
Queen Katherine, Ivy, and Clara laughed.
“Well, if you’re going to be sad forever, then maybe we should let you open our gifts,” Ivy said with a look at Clara.
Clara nodded. “If you’d only be sad for a day, okay, but not forever!”
“Yay! Let’s go!” Bella cheered, dancing in the direction of her room. Ivy and Clara were right behind her.
The girls ran to Bella’s room, kicked off their shoes, and hopped onto Bella’s enormous bed.
“You can go first,” Clara said to Ivy.
Smiling, Ivy handed a small box to Bella. It had been wrapped with paper that kept changing from pink to purple, and there was a card attached to a curly purple bow.
Bella opened the card and read it aloud. “ ‘Princess Bella, happy birthday! I’m so lucky to have you as my best friend! I hope this is the best day ever! Love, Ivy.” Bella smiled at her friend. “Thank you so much. I’m lucky to have you!”
Bella ripped open the wrapping paper and found a silver photo frame dotted with colored gems. Inside was a photo of Ivy, Clara, and Bella with their arms slung across each other’s shoulders as they grinned at the camera. The gems in the frame changed from red to blue to green in no particular order.
“Oh!” Bella said happily. “I love this picture! I remember when your mom took it, Ivy, when we had a sleepover at your house a few months ago. The frame is so perfect! Thank you!”
She hugged Ivy and got up to place the framed photo on her dresser.
“My turn!” Clara handed Bella a long, rectangular box. The white box was closed with a turquoise ribbon, and like Ivy’s, there was a card taped to the top.
Bella took the pink envelope, opened the card covered with adorable unicorns, and smiled.
“ ‘Hail Princess Bella! Don’t get used to me calling you ‘princess,’ okay? Only on your BIRTHDAY! You’re an amazing best friend, and I’m so happy this day is finally here! Xoxo, Clara.’ ”
“So you’re really not going to call me ‘princess’ after this huge birthday?” Bella teased.
“No!” Ivy and Clara said at the same time. All of the girls burst into giggles.
Bella slid off the ribbon and lifted the box lid. She removed a sunshine-yellow cloth binder with a clear pocket in the front. She opened it and found pages of clear pockets, thick papers with color and different designs like swirls or rainbows, and some with words in glittery letters, like SMILE!, BFFs, and SLEEPOVER. The stickers flashed on and off so the words disappeared for a second before reappearing in a different color. The borders around the empty frames blinked and shone brightly.
“Oohhhhh! A friendship scrapbook!” Bella said. “This is perfect for all of us! We can fill the pages with pictures and pass it around.”
Bella hugged Clara, who had a huge smile on her face. “I’m so happy you like it, Bells!” Clara said. “I thought it would be fun for us to keep memories in here.”
Ivy climbed off the bed and searched through the CRYSTAL GIRL canvas bag that she carried everywhere. “Aha!” she said, holding up her camera. “There’s no better night to start filling the scrapbook! Say cheese!”
Bella and Clara said the magic word and grinned into the camera. Ivy left the camera floating in the air and scrambled to join them. The camera clicked and flashed.
“Print it!” Bella said.
Ivy plucked the camera out of the air and pressed a button. The photo appeared on Bella’s bed.
Bella picked up the picture and slid it into the scrapbook. The photo, on repeat, captured the girls a few seconds before and after the photo was taken. Again Bella, Ivy, and Clara readied themselves for the camera, posed, and then giggled.
SLAM!
Though her mom was too far away for Bella to hear what she was saying, she heard Queen Katherine yelling downstairs. The voices of at least four or five royal security guards echoed up to Bella’s room.
“What was that?” Clara and Ivy asked, looking scared.
“Stay here, okay? I’ll be right back,” Bella said nervously. She was off the bed and out the door before her friends could answer her. An uneasy feeling swirled in her stomach. Bella ran down a spiral staircase, through a long corridor, and skidded to a halt in the foyer.
“My Princess Bella, happy birthday, darling.”