There stood the house that I had been living in for the last ten years of my life. Anubis house, standing in modern day when it looked like it belonged in the Victorian period. The sky was dark with clouds and the heavy beat of thunder rang in my ears. Only one light was on in the entire house, on the top floor with a silhouette of a tall man looking out the window.

Suddenly, the front door opened, flooding the path before me with light. I followed it to the door to see someone standing at the door. It was a girl around my age with blonde hair but she couldn't make out her face. The girl held out her hand for her, saying something...

"Alice...Alice..."

"Alice!" My eyes shot open, changing the landscape from dark to light around me. I blinked a few times to get a bearing of my surrounds. It's sunny and I'm lying against a tree in the field outside of school. I can feel the blades of grass touch my hands as the shade of the tree cooled me from the sun's rays. Someone was kneeling in front of me, holding a pair of pink and black over ear headphones. They were mine and they were playing loud enough for me to hear 'Hearts on Fire' by John Cafferty playing. I looked at the person properly. Dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. I smile a little, showing that I acknowledged my best friend.

"Dozing off again, I see," Jerome Clark said, giving back my headphones and sitting close beside me so our shoulders touched.

"I was just resting my eyes," I told him, placing my headphones around my neck.

"Yeah, that's why it took me two minutes to try to wake you up," He said with a smirk. I chuckle slightly.

"Don't exaggerate and just be glad that it didn't have the effect it usually does. So, how was the test?" I asked. We were assigned to do a practice exam last period but I was 'forced' to give it a miss as a migraine was pressing it's way in and I was told by the nurse to return Anubis house to rest but I decided that fresh air was better and I did rest...just didn't realized I did.

"Well, Alfie faked a bloody nose so I was left to fend for myself without anyone's help," Jerome said, acting overdramatic.

"I'm sure you did just fine and besides, there are our people that you could cheat off of like the resident smarty, Mara."

"Oh please, if I even just looked at her paper she would have me removed from the class," Jerome snorted, making me laugh a little.

"So apart from failing the test and Alfie's nose, anything special happening?" I questioned, not expecting anything really.

"Nope," He replied, popping the p.

"Thrilling," I said, sighing and began to relax once again. My mind wandered to the dream I had before Jerome woke me up. I've been having that same dream for a week now and I have no clue what it means. Usually, I have a pretty faint idea and I manage to figure out what it means but...my mind has drawn a blank.

"Don't you fall asleep again. I'm not carrying you back to the dorm," Jerome said, getting up from his spot and stretching slightly.

"You treat me with such love, Jerome," I say with a smile.

"And only you my Alice," He grinned holding out his hand to help me up. "Come on, let's head back." I look at his hand, knowing what he was planning to do. With a sweet smile, I took his hand and let him pull me up about half way until I felt his grip disappear. Quickly I clasped onto his arm and dragged him down as we fell to the ground in a pile.

Instead of moaning in pain, we just laughed. We do that a lot, joke around and goofing off. Jerome was my best friend and had been for the past ten years. We knew nearly everything about each other...nearly. There were about one or two things he had no clue about me and I plan to keep it like that.

"Get off!" Jerome cried, laughing as he pushed me off him.

"Don't pretend you don't love it," I say, pushing myself up and brushing myself off. "Come on, I'll race you to the dorm."

"Oh, no. No, no, no," Jerome said multiple times.

"Too late," I said before dashing off. I checked and saw that he was chasing after to me. I didn't look back until I reached the door to the dorm.

Anubis house was probably the nicest of all the dorms and I'm not just saying that cause Trudy always says it but she's part of the reason it's great. It was bigger than the others which meant more students could live in it. Sure, I had to share a room with two other girls but that didn't bother me. It was nice, all of the students in this dorm were close and it was kinda like a family...I think.

After Jerome came trotting behind me, breathing heavily and commenting how he would get me back, we entered the house together. No one was hanging around the hall, probably doing their own stuff right now.

"I'll just dump my stuff in my room and meet you in yours," I told Jerome as I began climbing the stairs.

"See you in a minute," He called.

I made it to the top of the stairs and walked down the hall where I shared a room with two other girls; Patricia Williams and Joy Mercer. They were both nice girls and were best friends with each other. I would say I'm better friends with Patricia than Joy but that's not saying I don't like Joy.

Before I could get into my room, Patricia came out and dumped a pile of bed covers in the hall. She looked up to face me, looking extremely ticked.

"Whatever Jerome or Alfie has done, it's not my fault so don't kick me out!" I cried, thinking she was throwing my stuff out because of something the guys did. If it is, I'm gonna kill them both!

"No, not you. Her!" Patricia yelled, pointing to a girl that emerged from our room. She was around my age, wearing denim shorts, red top and striped hoodie. She had blonde hair and grey eyes. I don't recognize her and what was she doing in our bedroom.

"Um...hi?" I said, unsure what to say.

"Hi, I'm Nina, from America and I'm your new roommate," The girl, Nina, said with an outstretched hand. I took it, not wanting to seem rude but...

"New roommate?" I questioned.

"No! She's not our new roommate," Patricia told me before glaring over to Nina. "I don't care who you are but you aren't our roommate, Joy is! Now where is she?"

"What do you mean, 'where is Joy?'?" I asked, confused by this whole thing.

"Joy's gone! And she has something to do with it! Why else would she move into our room? Now, tell me, where's Joy?" Patricia asked...well demanded again to Nina. Joy was gone? She would have told at least Patricia if she was going to leave school or something but blaming the new girl wasn't the thing to do. It's probably a coincidence.

"What is going on here?" Boomed the voice of Victor, the big bad of the house if one could say. He wasn't outright bad, more old fashioned...but still scary.

"That's what I would like to know," Patricia commented as Victor came towards us. "Where's Joy?"

"Joy has left," He said as if it was obvious.

"What do you mean, she's left?" I asked.

"Her parents came to the school this afternoon and removed her," Victor explained.

"But, that's impossible! Why would they do that?" Patricia pressed.

"I have absolutely no idea," Victor replied, not sounding bothered by the whole thing.

"She wouldn't leave without saying goodbye or her phone or bunsle bun!" Patricia said, showing the contents of her hand which contained Joy's phone and stuffed bunny. Patricia was right, Joy would never leave her phone or her favourite stuffed animal.

"Give them to me, I'll forward them to her," Victor said but Patricia was hesitant. "Give," He soon demanded. Patricia gave in and handed them over.

"Now, clear up this mess," Victor said before starting to walk away.

"No way! I'm calling Joy to find out what's going on," She told him, marching past us.

"Patricia! Get back here!" Victor called after her but she ignored him. He looked down at me, making me shiver slightly.

"Clear up your roommates mess, Miss Flynn. Dinner will be served in ten minutes." After this, Victor left me and Nina standing in the hall. I sighed loudly as soon as he was out of reach, kneeling down and gathering the stuff on the floor.

"Oh no! You don't have to," Nina said to me, trying to take the covers from me but I nudged her away.

"It's fine. It'll show you that we're not all like Patricia," I said, walking in the room and placing the covers back on Joy's...Nina's bed.

"Thanks," Nina smiled which I returned.

"No problem. So when did you get here?" I asked, trying to make conversation as I gathered a change of clothes.

"Around two in the afternoon. It's a pretty awesome place," She said, sounding a little better from her encounter from Patricia.

"Yeah, you haven't been to school yet and Victor has yet to scare the hell out of you," I say, making Nina laugh a little.

"Yeah, he's kind of creepy."

"That ain't the half of it."

"Hey, I didn't catch your name," Nina told me. I looked over to her and smiled.

"It's Alice."

"Alice," She repeated, making me freeze. Did I hear that right? It sounded similar.

"Uh...I know this sounds weird but could you say my name again?" Nina gave me an odd look before complying.

"Alice?" She said more in a questioning tone but it confirmed my suspicions.

It was the voice from my dream, the one calling out to me.

She was the girl.

After getting changed, I lead Nina to the lounge as she was still a bit uneasy about what had happened. As we entered, everyone looked in silence at the new girl. I looked at her before moving away from her, towards Alfie and Jerome.

"Hi! I'm Nina and I'm American!" She told everyone. I managed to catch Patricia shaking her head at Nina. Alfie jumped up and looked over to her as I past him but remained standing behind him.

"Welcome, Space girl or bloop bleep blap in your language," He said, laughing as he did so. I sighed and flicked the back of his ear. He yelped and turned around.

"What was that for?"

"I told you, next time you mentioned aliens, you were gonna get flicked," I reminded him with a sweet smile.

"Supper's ready!" Trudy called as she placed some plates of food on the table. Everyone got up and went over to the table.

"What happened to you? You didn't come down," Jerome said, taking his seat across from Alfie and beside me.

"I was helping out Nina with her stuff and trying to help her settle in cause as you see, our other esteemed roommate isn't so willing," I explained motioning over to Patricia who just kept glaring over at Nina.

"Aw, that's so sweet...who are you and what have you done with the real Alice?" Alfie questioned with a smile. He began to open his mouth again but I bet him to the punch.

"Don't even say I'm an alien otherwise, Victor will be finding a few more body parts up in the attic," I threatened, seeing it worked as Alfie's mouth shut and he went to his food.

"Only you can shut him up like that," Jerome commented with a smile. I shrug.

"Yeah but it usually involves violence," I reply, pushing my food around my plate. I looked over to Alfie and saw that he was stuffing his face...in the very literal sense.

"Alfie, that's so gross!" Mara cried from beside me, shielding her eyes from the sight as I raised an eyebrow and Jerome laughed.

"But it's so delicious this way Mara," He managed to spit out somehow. Why am I friends with this boy?

"Alfie, don't play with your food," Jerome commented before flinging his fork filled with food at Alfie. Alfie soon retaliated, hitting both me and Jerome.

This meant war.

Jerome reached over and started to throw salad at Alfie as I threw my spaghetti at him. He retaliated again and practically hit everyone at the table with his poor aim.

"Really guys, every meal?" Fabian said to us. I shrugged.

"We're messy eaters," I said, earning laughs from Jerome and Alfie. Patricia seemed to have decided to take it a step further and 'accidently' poured water all over Nina, forcing her to stand up.

"Classy Patricia," Fabian commented as he stood up and went to the kitchen.

"What? It was an accident. Anyway, Nina, when are you going to tell us about Joy's disappearance?" I sighed heavily. Not this again.

"I guess as soon as I hear something," She said. Patricia stood up, no looking happy at all. Fabian soon returned with a towel and handed it to Nina.

"Oh please, first Joy disappears and then you come and take her place? Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" She said. I was getting annoyed quickly so I stood up and began to speak.

"That's all it is Patricia; coincidence. You don't actually believe that she had something to do with Joy leaving, do you?" I ask.

"Don't tell me your taking her side, Alice?" Patricia asked me. I shake my head.

"I'm not taking any side, I'm just saying..."

"Nina, phone call for you...what's going on?" Victor interrupted, looking around the room.

"Nothing, just Nina spilling water everywhere," Patricia said as if she was as innocent as a child and sitting back down. Nina cleaned herself up a little before leaving the room to get the phone. I stood standing for a moment, thinking.

It's a shame for Nina, no one was really giving her a chance and with Patricia shouting down her throat, I hardly think she was having a good time here. She was here, alone with what seems to be everyone against her. I knew what that felt like and I would never wish that on anyone.

I look over to Fabian, who tilted his head towards the hall. I nod back, knowing what he meant.

"I be back in a minute," I said, picking a piece of spaghetti and placing it in Jerome's hair.

"Oi!" He cried, fingers running through is to get rid of it as I turned around.

"Where are you going?" He asked but I didn't answer, I left the room with Fabian as we went into the hall to see Nina crying.

"Are you alright?" Fabian asked, gaining her attention. She quickly got up from the seat beside the phone and wiped her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. It's just...allergies. You guys have cats, right?" Fabian and I looked at each other before looking back at her.

"Yeah...nonexistent ones," I said.

"Oh...well, it must be something in this shirt..." She muttered before leaving us and going up the stairs.

"You going to go check on her?" Fabian asked me. I nodded.

"Who else other than you and me really care?" I asked, taking me leave of him, going up the stairs and soon found myself at my room. I couldn't help but feel...sort of complied to make sure she was okay. It felt like it was meant to be second nature or something of the sort. I can't explain it but the thought of her being upset sort of upset me too.

Upon entering it, I saw Nina lying in her bed, crying even more.

"Come on, Yankee, chin up," I said, making Nina push herself up from her bed to look at me. I walked over and sat down beside her as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"I'm fine, really," She said, her voice cracking. I roll my eyes.

"Sure you are, so are the cats," I say, getting a slight snort from her.

"Everyone hates me," She said. I patted her on the back, trying to reassure her.

"That's not true. I know I don't hate you nor does Fabian. You've only relied up Patricia, which isn't too hard, so come on. Everything will be alright, just give it time."

Nina wiped her eyes, trying to rid herself of all the tears that she had shed.

"So, you don't think I had anything to do with Joy's disappearance?" She asked me. I shook my head.

"No. Yes, it's a strange coincidence but that's really all it is," I told her, giving a smile which she returned.

"Nice to know I have one roommate that won't try to kill me during the night." I laugh a little, glad to have lightened up her mood.

"No, I'll only do that when you wake me up during the night and trust me, it's never pretty..."

We talked for a little bit before deciding to change from our messy clothes and such. It would take time but Nina would eventually fit in.

At least, that's what I hope...

"Where the heck did Alfie get to?" I asked, sitting on the bed while reading through Jerome's latest book; 'Catcher in the rye' which I actually suggested to him.

"He said he had some 'business' to take care off before bed," Jerome said, playing around on his laptop while sitting across from me. I could hear in his voice that he was annoyed at me. I could just tell.

"What have I done, this time?" I finally asked. Jerome didn't look away from the screen.

"Well, you've ditched me twice today for some American girl you hardly even know," He said, straight to the point. I groan loudly. He was annoyed at me for that?

"I'm only trying to be nice to her because the others are making so much effort," I say sarcastically. He shrugged.

"Not my problem." I rest my head in my hand. It was hard to talk to Jerome when he was like this. Even after years of being friends with him, it was still hard work.

"Look, I'm sorry that I ditched you but I was only trying to be nice to the new girl." I placed the book down and crawled up so I could sit beside Jerome. I placed my head on his shoulder and looked up at him, giving him my best eyes.

"I'm really sorry," I say nearly in a whisper. He looked away from me, trying to resist but there was no point. He could never resist this. I snuggle into him a little more.

"Realllllyyyyy sorrrryyyy," I draw out. He'll break soon.

Three...two...one...

"Argh! Alright, you're forgiven!" He exclaimed. I cheered before hugging him.

"You couldn't live without me anyway," I told him. He just snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, but you owe me for ditching me."

"Alright...I'll take you to see that new film on Saturday," I offer.

"You'll pay?" He asked, eyeing me. I sighed but nodded.

"Yeah."

"Deal," He nodded before shoving me off his bed, making me land with a thunk.

"Hey!" I cried out but he merely laughed. Before I could retaliate, the voice of our 'lord and master' was heard throughout the house.

"It's ten o'clock! You have five minutes and I want to be able to hear a pin drop!" Victor called.

"And that's my queue to leave," I said, getting up from my spot on the floor. I went over and gave Jerome a hug which he returned.

"See you in the morning, Blondie," I say to him as I leave his room.

"Night, Alice," He called after me. As I made my way through the main hall, I could hear Victor telling people to move quickly as Mick, Alfie and I said good night to each other.

On the way to my room, my thoughts wandered to if I was going to have another dream tonight. Maybe a different one since the one from the past week seems to have come true.

I wonder what I'll predict this time...

Hey! SO, this is my HOA fic and I hope you will enjoy it and such. I hope you enjoye dreading thsi chap and continue to read on. Reviews are much wished for and wanted please. Thank you again for reading an di hope you continue to.

Until next time!

I own nothing but Alice!