A Dangerous Secret Revealed

Chapter 10

Lois opened the door and we went in. We all stayed quiet. Everything is so awkward!!
"So...Do you wanna talk about something?" Lois asked. No one replied.....
"Hey! I know, why don't we tell about ourselves?" I suggested. Lame.
"Okay, why not? I'll start," Lois said. Ugh. It's like only me and Lois are conversing. Joan and Steffi stayed quiet. I sat down on the edge of Lois's bed and Joan sat on the other side. Steffi just sat cross-legged on the floor. Lois sat on her bed.
"Uh..so... I'm Lois Cheng, 15 years old....hmm...oh! Steffi's my cousin." Steffi nodded and smiled.
"Me next?" Lois nodded. "Uh okay. I'm Catherine Sweetdude, 10 years old. Joan is...my watcher."
"Ooohh, you've got a watcher? Unfair! My dad didn't give me." Lois complained. "Is that your true self, Joan?" Lois knows a lot more than I do. She must have a lot more experience than me.
"Yep. My fake self is actually just 10 years old." Finally she joined the conversation.
"Oh....Steffi, you turn!"
Steffi hesitated, why is she so shy?? "Uh...I'm Steffi Lee, 13 years old." What. So I'm the youngest. Wow.
"Hey Catherine, how did you get here??" Lois asked me.
I told them everything, about the gems, the diary, and four men thingy. Except I didn't tell them about James. They were all so fascinated, except for Joan, who, maybe, stalks me. Well, she is a watcher.
"Wow. So all that happened in THREE days?!" Steffi asked.
"Yeah. Pretty awesome." I said. "Hey, how about you, Lois? I'm sure you have more experience than me. Oh, and when did you get here?" I asked her.
"Hm. I got here five days ago with Steff." Then she explained how she got here. It turns out Amira got to contact her mom, so they had time to prepare and her mom told her about everything she needed to know.

When I asked Steffi how she got here, she refused and shook her head. Maybe something horrible happened and she didn't want to talk about it?

"Hey, guys, what color are your wands?" Lois questioned. wand.... Oh no!! Mom forgot to give me!! What will I do??
"Joan, Joan!! Mom forgot to hand me the wand awhile ago!!!" I panicked.
"Jeez, relax. She packed it in your luggage. She told me."

I sighed in relief. I haven't even finished unpacking.
"Well, which school did you two go? Steff and I went to Swissdeans University. It's kinda boring cause it's only girls there. Life is incomplete without boys, agree?"
"Yeah, they make the fun." I agreed.
"No way...Boys are annoying, crazy, and noisy. Our school is much better off without them!" Joan argued.
"Nah, whatever."
So far, it was only Steffi who hasn't said much or join our conversation. I wonder if she's even listening...
We went on and on, talking about random stuff like school, birthdays, how annoying siblings could be, being a Fattee,
achievements, until there came a soft knock on the door.
"Ms. Sweetdude and Ms. Harris? I would just like to inform you, breakfast is 6:00 tomorrow and training starts at 7:00. It's already 9:30. Maybe you would like to go to bed?" A voice said through the big door. It's the butler.

"Okay,We'll be back to our room in 5 minutes!" I yelled.
"Alright, do you need me to show you the way?"
I was considering a yes because I suck when it comes to directions, especially in this mansion when Joan replied,"Nope, we can manage!"
"Ok, then I'll be going." We heard his footsteps.
I gave her a look and she shrugged, "What? I can lead you the way, promise, we won't get lost. I'm awesome at directions!" Right. As if.
"Whatever. Come one, let's go. We need sleep and it's late. I still haven't finished unpacking." I said and turned to Lois and steffi, "Bye, goodnight. See you tomorrow."
They bid goodbyes and we left.
When we got out of their bedroom, I said,"So, Joan, since you're so "awesome" at directions, lead the way then."
Joan looked nervous and said,"Uh..okay, no problem! I know where, let's go this way!" She pointed to the right.
"But I thought it was there?"
"No, it's there, I'm sure! Let's go," She said.

We kept making turns, Joan leading the way was not a good idea. Later on, we found ourselves LOST.
"Ugh, Joan, we're lost! This is your fault!" I blamed.
" What?! Blame this house for being so big!"
"Okay,then. This is all your fault, House!" I shouted. Joan didn't reply. She was looking at a portrait that hanged on the wall, not paying attention to me. "Hey, what's so interesting??" I asked, annoyed.
"Look at this..." I walked to her side and looked at it. There were three young girls. They were like 4 years old. Then I realized, they were Amira, Matilda, and Grazilda!
Amira was wearing a suit. Hmm, maybe her superhero suit. It was long sleeves, the whole suit was color dark pink. Matilda was wearing something what looks like a fairy costume, or maybe it wasn't a costume, it's really what Takinyos wear. She doesn't have wings, though. Maybe they all don't. Matilda was holding a multi-colored sparkly wand.
The three of them looked like they were super close, and they were all smiling. Yeah, even Grazilda. She looked so carefree and happy.
Grazilda was wearing baby clothes. Maybe she didn't go to school yet and didn't have that suit thingy.

"So weird, right?" Joan continued,"She's like smiling and looked so happy and now she's a villain."

I was about to reply when we heard a voice say,"Yes, I know."
Startled, we looked behind us. Then we sighed of relief. It was just Amira.
Would she get mad? Yell at us? Kick us out for somehow snooping?

No. Instead, Amira stared at the portrait as if it was the first time she saw it and said,"This was before Grazilda went to school, before kids bullied her, before she got jealous," She paused, then continued,"We were so close before. People didn't know that Grazilda was actually just a kindest person ever. But her attitude changed ever since people made fun of her at school, even the teachers... So, it's actually the students and teachers who made fun of her were to blame for."

Oh. I did not know that.

"Anyway, what are you two doing here? Are you lost?"
We nodded. I really wanted to say,"It was all her fault.", but kept my mouth shut anyway.
"Okay, then follow me."
We followed her.
"Amira? How come Matilda's not here? Where is she?" I couldn't help but asking. I was just so curious.
"Oh, she's at the other school;she's the principal there."
I wanted to ask which school and where, but she might think I'm a nosey person so I stayed silent and said,"Oh."

"Here's your room. Oh, and next time, ask Mr.Butterman for him to show you the way so you won't get lost."
"Okay," we mumbled and she left us, saying goodnight.
Amira closed the door, and we heard her mutter something like,"I thought I told Mr.Butterman to show them the way."

I glared at Joan, and her response was,"Hey! Blame Mr.House!"
"Whatever... I'll just finish unpacking and brush my teeth and go to sleep."
"Okay. Me too. I'm not done."

I rummaged through my luggage and found the wand and the diary. Putting them on my table, I suddenly remebered about the gems I kept finding the other day. They're still in my pocket and I settled it on top of the diary. Now I'm done unpacking.

Remembering about Mom, I stared at the bracelet. It's late now, 10:30. I'm sure she's asleep and doesn't want to be disturbed. I'll just talk to her tomorrow morning.

After Joan was finally done with her stuff, we closed the lights and lied down on the bed.
"Hey Joan, did you notice there's a glass of water on your table?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Who put it there?"
"I dunno. Probably Mr.Buttermans."
"Oh, yeah....goodnight Joan."
"Kk. Goodnight."

In a matter of minutes, Joan was fast asleep. I can tell because of her slight snoring.
As for me, I find it hard to, though the beds are so comfortable and soft.
I miss Mom. I wonder how James is doing....