It's A Twin Thing | j. clarke [1]

seven

-:- House of Intruders / House of Proof -:-

The morning after the "intruder incident," Patricia wasn't at breakfast. I got there later than usual, as I'd slept through my alarm. Nina had neglected to wake me, but Amber eventually did. I ate quickly before heading off to classes alone. I was grateful to have a group of people surrounding me consistently, but there were times when I needed space. There's always something to talk about at Anubis House, and this morning I just needed some fresh air before I could face that.

We were also getting our french test results back today, and that added more stress to my morning. When I arrived in the classroom, several students were already there, but I was friendly with any of them. I took a seat by myself in the middle row, hoping that Nina would eventually take the seat next to me. Sadly, before Nina could sit down, someone else had already sat down instead.

"So, Elizabeth," Jerome started. "Do you think Patricia was telling the truth? You looked a little skeptical last night."

I turned to my left to face Jerome. His dirty blonde hair was styled nicely and it added a few inches to his actual height. He seemed taller than me even when he was sitting down.

"Lizzie," I reminded. "And I think Patricia was telling the truth."

"Really?" He ignored my correction.

"I just don't think that her version of the truth is what actually happened," I explained.

"Ah," he chuckled. "There it is."

"What about you?" I asked. "Do you believe her?"

"Nah," he said simply. "Patricia's just paranoid, nothing more than that."

"Right," I replied. "How long have you known Patricia?"

"We've gone to school together since primary school," he answered.

"How often has she done something like this?"

He thought for a moment. "She pines for attention often, but she's never gone this far."

"Interesting," I nodded.

I felt Jerome's gaze on me as our conversation lulled to a stop. I started to pull my supplies out of my bag, just to do something. The longer I sat and did nothing, the more anxious I became about my test. Normally I wouldn't be this nervous about a test, but Nina's scholarship depended on mine, and it wouldn't be fair to her if I lost it for the both of us.

I only relaxed when Mrs. Andrews finally walked in.

"Morning everybody," she said. "I have your French tests to return back to you."

She returned them quickly, and in a matter of moments I was relieved to see an 83% written in red near the top of the page. I let out a happy sigh as I looked over the corrections.