Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter two. house of dolls

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            "What do you mean you can't remember our arrangement?" Alfie questions Amber as the pair comes in for breakfast.

            "I don't make arrangements more than forty-eight hours in advance," Amber replies, "unless it's spontaneous."

            "But you promised you'd be my girlfriend last term," Alfie argues. Oh, so that's what this is about! He's trying to get her to keep her word. "I have witnesses!"

            "Heard it with my own ears," Jerome says.

            Fabian raises his spoon and agrees, "Me, too."

            "Same here," I add.

            Amber looks at the two girls at the end of the table. "Patricia, Joy, help me out here."

            Joy reaches forward and grabs a banana. "Actually, Amber, you did say that."

            "Yes, okay," the blonde concedes, "but I thought he was dying! That's what Daddy calls a loophole." Nina bites back laughter. "Patricia, what about you?"

            "Yeah, come on, Judge Trixie," Alfie adds.

            "Okay, no, Amber didn't quite say that," Patricia remarks.

            "Thank you," says Amber, clearly not catching onto the fact that Patricia wasn't finished.

            "What she actually said was, 'yes, yes, yes, anything!'"

            I laugh loudly, shaking my head as Alfie exclaims triumphantly, "Thank you, your honor!" I raise my hand up for Alfie to high-five, pretending that I did nothing when Amber glares at me.

            "Thanks a bunch," she says sarcastically to Patricia and me. "So much for the sisterhood."

            Victor comes into the room just a second after Mick and Mara, ordering, "I want a word with all of you. Sit down, please, sit. So...first night back and already you are up to no good. Well," he walks around the table tosses a handful of toothbrushes in front of us, and I already know what our horrible punishment is at the sight of them (he's given it to us enough times, though I think Alfie holds the record), "I shall not stand for this nonsense this term. Do you hear me? Well?"

            "Yes, Victor," we say, all of us reaching forward to grab a toothbrush. I cringe at mine, wondering why he just had to give us this punishment whilst we're eating breakfast. I've lost my appetite to finish my cereal.

            "Wait," Mick says, "does this mean all of us cleaning one toilet?"

            "No, Mr. Campbell, no," Victor states. "It means all of you cleaning every single toilet in the entire school."