"Finally back," grinned Eddie, tugging his colossal suitcase from the taxi. He handed the driver some money, before gazing at the House. "Sixth Form at boarding school. Cool."
"Eddie!" came a yell, and a smile flickered over the boy's mouth as he recognised the voice. Then, he was crushed in an embrace by his girlfriend, Patricia.
"Hey, Yacker," he chortled, returning the throttling hug. "Good summer?"
"Oh yeah," said Patricia sarcastically. "Spending six weeks in an Italian Opera House so Piper could finish her studies was just perfect. You?"
"I hung out with KT in America, but she's the only person I saw. The rest of the time I was kind of lonely, I guess, so no," laughed Eddie. "Hey, is that Jerome and Joy?"
Two figures were tearing towards the duo, and before they knew it, they were both being rugby tackled by the couple. "Joy!" squealed Patricia. "I've missed you!"
"Jerry, you're choking me," rasped Eddie, as the boy loosened his grip, laughing.
"Good summer, guys? Me and Joy had an awesome time. Picture this: an entire summer spent in the field near my house, chilling out. Best time ever," smirked Jerome, pulling Joy into an embrace. She giggled.
"It was alright," she winked, before fluffing her boyfriend's hair. "What are you guys doing for A Levels?"
"PE, Biology (because it's good for a sportsman, not because of Dad), English Literature and English Language," answered Eddie. "I only like PE out of those options."
"I'm taking both Englishes, Music, History and Maths," nodded Patricia. "I only like Music really. And to be honest, I can't even play that well. Me and Piper have done cello together since we were little, but I suck at it."
"Me and Jerome are both doing Business Studies, and he's doing Maths and Further Maths. How smart is my boyfriend?" cooed Joy, patting his nose. "I took Drama too. I didn't want to take any others...I missed a whole year of school, I'm hardly academic now."
"GUYS, YOU'RE DOING SIXTH FORM TOO?" came a loud, booming voice. Turning around, Alfie was leaping at the group, his hand still wrapped around Willow's.
"Yes, Alfie," guffawed Jerome. "What pranks we shall pull."
"I hope we're all in the same House," whispered Willow. "I'm in Anubis again."
It wasn't long before the entire gang appeared, and everybody was in Anubis House.
"It'll be just like old times!" beamed Mara, looking up into Fabian's eyes. He blushed.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Except there's a new caretaker."
"Hello, my lovelies!" greeted Trudy, cuddling each student. "You will love the new caretaker. His name is Harold, and he is just – well, dreamy!"
"You thought Victor was dreamy though," Willow said suspiciously, and Alfie laughed in agreement.
"Well, Harold really is! Now come into the kitchen and I'll tell you which rooms you're all in!"
The students all bustled into the kitchen, KT feeling a little lost as she was surrounded by couples.
"Alright. Well, it looks like you're all in your old rooms!" grinned Trudy. Everybody cheered. She continued: "Wait, are my eyes seeing things or does this piece of paper say..."
"Amber Millington!" came a chirpy voice, and a familiar stunning blonde appeared. "Yes, I'm back! Fawn over me if you must!" She seemed to be attacked by everyone, even those who didn't know her well. "Hey boo," she smiled at Alfie. "I heard you're dating Willow. I'm totally cool with it."
"Thanks, Ambs," grinned Alfie, his heart melting at the sight of her face.
"What are you doing back here, Millington?" said Jerome fondly.
"Well, I'm a fashion genius, so I graduated a year earlier than everybody else and decided to come back here to finish my academic schooling and build my CV. I'm very good at these kinds of decisions. I'm doing Art, Textiles and Drama!"
"I'm so glad to have you back, love," grinned Trudy. "But there is one person on this list who hasn't arrived yet. That's rather sad, I think it must've been a mistake. Amber, you'll be rooming in the attic where Vera used to stay."
"Alone?" moaned Amber. "Alright. Fabes, please help me carry my suitcase!"
"He's got his own to carry, Amber," chuckled Mara. "Hey, you need to know about all the new relationships! Well, Joy and Jerome are dating-"
"No way. That's strange. At least she isn't trying to steal Nina's boo anymore. Oh, Nina and I met up so much in America!" exclaimed Amber, going off on a tangent. Fabian flushed a deep beetroot at the mention of his first love.
"Actually, Amber, Mara and I are dating now," uttered Fabian.
"Oh. Weird," was all Amber said, before everybody dispersed to put their things away.
