Alex laughed. It was good to be around his friends again. At the monastery, there was no one his age. Just older guys and kids. He missed having someone a similar age to him around. Only Fred looked the same as she did the day he met her. Vampires, go figure. But there were ways to figure out she wasn't quite so "young" as she was then. That usually took eye contact or just little things that Fred said.
Now inside her room, he waited for her to take the box before going to take a seat. "It's not a ring or anything. Just a luck charm I got from China. Good fortune and shit, you know? Figured you'd like it." It was a coin of sorts in appearance, though not worth anything when it came to actual money. Or maybe it was worth something and he just didn't care to figure it out. Either way, he continued, "Not anything girly, so I figured you'd like it."
None of his friends were all that girly. Actually, of his closest friends, the only one who acted effeminate was Davian and that was when he was acting like a dumbass. Haylie was actually a dude in reality, and Fred? Fred was Fred.