Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter forty-seven. house of sorry

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Immediately after the awful verdict is announced, those of us from Anubis House that are currently present (that'd be everyone except for Alfie, Amber, Nina, and Fabian) start shouting protests, while Sweet, still angry about the cowboy video it appears, shouts at us to be quiet. Joy, Trudy, and Mrs. Andrews rush to a sobbing Mara, telling her not to worry.

Sweet can't do this to her! I know technically he can, but he can't! She deserves so much better than being expelled from a school she's devoted her life to—she only wrote what she did about Vera because she thought it was the truth, and I'm still not convinced that it's not!

"Mara," Jerome's left my side and gone to Mara, "are you okay?"

"Where were you?" Mara asks, still sobbing. She throws her tearful gaze over to me, who's still standing in front of my chair. "I looked for you, both of you. Ashley, you promised you'd be here. You said you were with me."

"Mara, I'm so sorry," I apologize quickly, rushing over and trying to make it better any way I can, but I don't think I can. "We're," I add with a glance to him, "so sorry. It's Alfie, he's—"

Speak of the devil. Alfie, with apparently no idea of what just happened, rolls in the ping-pong table while everyone else piles out. "Gangway. Gangway, gangway!" he calls. "Major sporting event to set up."

"Oh, I'm gonna kill him," I mumble, turning around. "Alfie, don't!"

Mara shakes her head, leaving the room despite Jerome's protests. So Jerome turns to Alfie and exclaims, "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

"Prepping you for the biggest match of your life," Alfie responds. "Now drop and give me fifty."

Trying to keep my temper under control, with heavy breathing and shaky words, I say, glaring at him, "It was Jerome and Ashley in the lounge with the ping-pong paddle."

"And this time, no crying—"

"Alfie!"

But Alfie raises the whistle to his mouth and blows into it. Jerome shouts, "Alfie, you're fired!" before exiting the room. I can't believe he even told him he could be coach in the first place. He should have known that wouldn't go well, and now Alfie's just making everything worse!

Alfie looks around the room confused before looking back to me. "What did I do?"

"Mara just got expelled, Alfie," I state sharply. Now he's shocked, and looks guilty and regretful of what he just did, marching in without a care in the world except the ping-pong tournament, which I don't even think will be happening now after what just happened! "He's upset, we all are. Read the room next time!"