Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter sixty-five. house of duplicity

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            "I can't believe it," Amber tells me for the second time since we got home from school. "Eddie is Mr. Sweet's son."

            "I know, right," I agree, fastening the straps on my sandals. "It's, like, not even possible."

            "Sweetie is Eddie's dad."

            "I know! It's so weird."

            "This is even weirder than Lily Henry looking just like you."

            I look at her doubtfully. "Uh, that's where we have to stop agreeing," I inform her strangely. "Me looking exactly like my great-grandmother is definitely weirder than Sweetie having a surprise son who is Eddie. I was actually thinking about Lily when Patricia accidentally broadcast that. What would they be calling me if they found out I'm related to one of the people who actually founded the school?"

            Amber hums and thinks on it before deciding, "They wouldn't call you anything. I mean, Lily has been dead for over half a century, so it's not like she's still around being the school's headmaster or a teacher. And I think everyone's a little scared of you."

            "Why are they scared of me?"

            "Because you can be scary. Even I think that."

            I nod slowly before sighing, bringing my legs onto my bed and crossing them. "Okay, so first I'm the annoying girl, then I'm the girl who got cheated on, and somewhere in the middle of all that, I'm also the scary girl, which I thought belonged to Patricia. Can't we stick to just one reputation for me?"

            "Don't forget one third of the Three Musketeers with Jerome and Alfie."

            "I had forgotten about that one. Thanks, Amber."

            "You're welcome!"

            Letting out a light chuckle, I shake my head. "You know, I swear our lives are some kind of soap opera. I mean, mystery relatives—Poppy, Piper, Edison Sweet—cursey spirits—"

            Amber gasps and exclaims, "Boy drama! So much boy drama."

            "Yeah, tell me about it. Still jealous over Piper and Alfie? She's gone back to that fancy music school, no reason for jealousy anymore."

            She tilts her head. "I was never jealous," she insists. I roll my eyes, not believing that for a second. "Besides, I was more talking about you and Jerome. Don't think I didn't see you flirting with him today. You were batting your eyelashes at him!"

            "I was not batting my eyelashes," I disagree. "I was trying to get him to spill whatever he and Jasper were talking about. Obviously didn't work, but Fabian said it's some kind of prank with something from the exhibition," I recall what Fabian had told us after he spoke with Jasper, "that Jerome's helping him track down, right? But I'm sure of it, he's hiding something else from me. Now my plan is to get him to tell me that."