Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter three. house of spirits

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            I walk into the kitchen to get something to drink after school, but stop short at the door when I see the state the place is in. It's a mess in here, flour and dough and all of that. My eyebrows raise at the sight in front of me, prompting me to question, "Should I find an extinguisher?"

            Alfie suddenly jumps up from behind the island, staring at me with a mouth full of what looks like a cupcake. He's making cupcakes? Without Trudy's supervision? "There's no fire."

            "Yet," I remark flatly, walking. "Can I have a cupcake?"

            He slaps my hand away as I try to reach for one. "No, you can't. They're for Amber."

            "Oh, is this something in her guide to dating?" I ask. "I hope Trudy's helping you. The last thing we need is a repeat of the tea incident."

            "She is," he confirms, eyeing me suspiciously. "Don't you have something better to do than distract me from cupcake baking, like text your boyfriend or keep secrets from me about Jerome?"

            I laugh lightly, shaking my head. "Evan says he's having a movie night with his roommate. As for everyone else, I've got no idea where Nina and Fabian are, Amber's upstairs texting lipstick swatches, I'm pretty sure Patricia and Joy are talking about Fabina," I list, "no idea what Mick and Mara are doing nor do I want to hang out with them, and Jerome, well, I might be his second least favorite person right now."

            "Yeah, right. What's the secret? He wouldn't tell me!"

            "It's not even my secret, it's his."

            "So why did he tell you?"

            "He didn't. I found out and now I'm his second least favorite person."

            Alfie narrows his eyes at me, and I give him an innocent smile. I can't wait until Alfie inevitably finds out about Jerome's secret sister. From what I heard in the hall, Poppy seems pretty willing to blackmail Jerome with that list of demands. The Clarke siblings seem to be more alike than they're willing to admit.

            "Can I please have a cupcake?" I try again. Alfie has to physically grab my wrist in order to stop me from taking one of the cupcakes on the counter, instead stuffing another in his mouth. "Alfie, come on, she's not going to eat all of these—"

            "Alfie, there's not going to be any left at this rate," Trudy says as she comes in, before spotting me and Alfie fighting over the still warm tray of cupcakes. "Oh, you two stop right now, you'll choke to death!"

            "Did those literally just come out of the oven?" I question, gesturing to the tray Alfie just stole from. Alfie's fanning his mouth and whimpering, confirming that he just tried to stop me from taking a cupcake by eating one that's literally burning the inside of his mouth right now. "Alfie!"