House of Anubis: House of Mistakes

Part X

If Willow really concentrated on Ms. Denby, she could see that her teacher's aura was spiking a frustrated neon yellow more and more as their time rehearsing ticked on. She couldn't imagine why, though; Willow was having a great time! In fact, she was in the middle of a scene right then that was, in her humble opinion, absolutely captivating.

"No! Don't run away to join the circus, Alfie," Willow cried, her voice lilting sorrowfully. She suddenly remembered Mr. Winkler's lesson from two years prior about being sure to state your relationship to the other characters in a scene, and tacked on the well-placed clarifier of "my husband". Willow cradled the air tenderly, really giving it her all. "What will become of me and little Alfina?"

Her audience, who had been facing away from Willow with her head in her hands, turned around to face her quickly. "Cut! Cut!" Ms. Denby ordered through gritted teeth. Willow frowned; she thought that was pretty good. "Anger. Rage, Willow! How hard can it be?"

Oh, right. The scene called for anger. But why would Willow be angry at Alfie? She could never be angry at Alfie. Sweet, gentle, strong Alfie...

A door slammed open behind her, causing both Willow and Ms. Denby to jolt. Willow wasn't even aware there was a door there— wasn't it just an organ? What a strange home, she thought.

"Enough!" bellowed the man who'd opened the door. He leered at both of them, and Denby looked him over with wide eyes.

"Rob—" Ms. Denby cut herself off, floundering for something to say. "Erm... Robsin! What are you doing here?"

Willow couldn't help but wonder why her teacher looked so nervous. Was it because of this man's aura? As Willow stared, the colors came into focus... except to her it looked almost like no color at all. It was a red so muted and dull that it might have been closer to grey. Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she was about to comment on it when Mr. Robsin spoke again.

"I'll do it myself," he said, answering Ms. Denby's question. "Seeing as you are failing abysmally on your own."

Ms. Denby blinked, and Willow could tell she was mildly offended. "Ehm, Robsin, here, is a...friend of mine."

"Ooooh..." It clicked. No wonder she was so flustered! Well, Willow would put her mind at ease. "I've got a friend, too," she whispered reassuringly to her teacher. Taking in the two adult's confused expressions, she tacked on the well-placed clarifier of "His name's Alfie!"

She'd never seen Ms. Denby's eyes bulge quite as large as they did in that moment. "Yeah, no," she was quick to say, and Willow nodded sagely. She could play along to save her teacher's dignity. "Robsin is an actor friend, Willow. He's here to help your performance."

Ms. Denby didn't really seem like the type to date an artist, but Willow knew better than to judge. She was all for loving whomever, after all. Regardless, this was a most exciting development! And Robsin did look quite familiar. "Are you famous?" Willow asked, unable to hold back her excitement. "Do I know you?"

Robsin turned toward her slowly, his face splitting in a sinister grin that made the energy in the room shift a few degrees cooler. "Oh, yes..." he said, and Willow shot Ms. Denby an excited glance. In two abrupt strides, the actor was directly in her face with his teeth bared in a menacing snarl; Willow backed away involuntarily. "I am your worst nightmare."

—

Anubis House's allotted time for their drama module was first thing that morning, and all their housemates, sans Willow, were beginning to convene by the stage. Mara and Joy breezed through the entrance, leaving Patricia and KT to drag themselves in five steps after them.