I don't own Darkest Powers.

"So… does Simon know?" I asked casually.

"No… I think Andrew will tell them during their trip." Her expression soured. "Then he'll tell Derek, and everyone will know."

"They were going to find out sooner or later. Better sooner. Get it over with."

She pondered that for a moment, then nodded.

We got to the rooms, and saw that the linen was laying the bed of the first and second room. In the third room, the bed was already made. No sign of Derek. I peeked in the bathroom. The towels were there.

I smiled. "Derek did his share, then left."

Tori rolled her eyes. "I got this room." She walked into the first room.

I went to the second room. But as soon as I walked in, I yelped and jumped out.

Thomas sat up from where he had been laying on the bed. "GOT YOU!" he cried, giggling.

Tori ran over. "What! What's wrong!?"

She peeked in the room. "Ah, the linen is an awful color." She rolled her eyes.

I snorted. "What scared me, is someone you can't see."

Tori looked in again. "Someone's in here?"

Thomas started jumping on the bed. "She's silly, I like her!"

I smiled at Tori. "Thomas is five-"

"AND A HALF!"

"I was getting there!" I said laughing. "He's five and a half. And he likes you. Your silly."

Tori rolled her eyes. "So I shouldn't panic when you talk to yourself?"

"No, now go make the bed."

She rolled her eyes and left.

"GO MAKE YOUR BED!" cried Thomas, jumping higher.

"Thomas, you'll hurt yourself." I told him smiling.

"No I won't!" but besides having said that, he jumped off the bed and sat on the bedside table. The lamp went right threw him, but he didn't notice. The Egg White painted walls made his dark brown hair stand out even more. His green shirt was too big for him.

I pulled the mattress away from the wall and grabbed the bottom sheet. I put the other linen on the ground.

"I saw your boyfriend reading a book. How come your not with him?" he was swinging his feet. He would have been kicking me… if his feet weren't going right threw me.

"I didn't do my chores." I said, smiling. The more I fought with him, the longer he'd call Derek my boyfriend. I'd learned that with bullies at school.

He frowned. "My mommy wouldn't give me dessert if I didn't pick up my toys."

I smiled. "Mine too."

"Where is your mommy?" he said.

"She died." I told him.

"Oh…" his face slipped into a tiny mask of sorrow.

"It was a long time ago, I'm alright now." I gave him a smile.

"Good!" he said, face brightening. "When are we going to hunt for frogs? The best time in when it's just getting dark out…"

"Not tonight, I'm going out to eat tonight."

His face fell, but only for a second. "But we will go another night? You need to feel a frog." He giggled. "It feels funny."

I flashed him a smile. "I wouldn't miss it."

"Good!" I had finished putting the bottom sheet on. I pushed the bed back into place. Then I took the sheet that goes between the bottom and comforter and tucked the bottom of it under the bed. I had seen enough movies to know how to make a bed. There had always been maids to change the sheets at home.

"So… where's your dad?"

I looked at him. "My dad's at home. I'm with friends."

"LIKE A SLEEPOVER!" he said, standing again, arms in the air.

"Yes, like a sleepover. Have you ever had one?"

"Yes. No. Umm… I got scared and went home." He looked ashamed.

"Don't worry, at least you tried. The first time I tried a sleepover was when I was 7, and I chickened out when they turned the lights out."

"Huh, you really are afraid of the dark." I turned and saw Tori in the door way. "And slow at making the bed."

I smiled. "I was talking to Thomas too."

"What's her name?" said Thomas shyly.

"That's Tori." Tori smiled, looking around the room for him.

"He's sitting on the bedside table." She shrugged and sat on the floor.

I flopped the comforter on the bed, then turned to face them.

Tori smirked. "About time."

I rolled my eyes.

"She seems nice." Thomas said, sounding sincere.

I Laughed. "She's nice, right Tori?"

She scoffed. "I'm very nice." We all laughed.

"You have nice friends Chloe. Your boyfriend too. You know he carried you, ALL THE WAY UPSTAIRS!"

I smiled. "You make it sound like it was really hard to do."

"What was hard to do?" At school, someone would have made a stupid sex joke out of that.

I had forgotten her for a spilt second. "Make the bed."

"No, I was talking abo-" I gave him a look.

"It probably was. Well, for you." That probably would have stung a week ago. Now that me and Tori were closer, it sounded like light teasing between friends.

I smiled. "The hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

"That's what sh-" I shot her a look. She laughed.

"What was she going to say!" said Thomas indignantly.

"Nothing, something silly."

Thomas giggled. "Because she's silly."

I laughed. "She is silly."

Tori stuck out her tongue. Thomas howled with laughed, dropping of the table onto his knees, and started rolling around. When he was done, he just lay there.

"The ceiling is ugly." He said.

I looked up and laughed. "The ceiling is ugly." It was a flat, cracking gray.

Tori looked up too. "We have the good rooms."

"Yeah, and you can get a room to yourself if you really wanted to. There's enough."

She shook her head. "And leave you alone for the ghosts to get? What kind of cruel person would do that?" she scoffed.

Thomas looked at the ground. "Not you Thomas, you're always welcome. I've just meet some… mean ghosts that I don't like.

He looked up. "I can?"

I smiled. "Yes"

His face lit up again.

"Just don't tell other people about us. We aren't supposed to be here." Tori said gently.

"Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm real good at keeping secrets!" He said proudly, sneaking me a look.

Right, we had a… "secret".

"He promises."

Down stairs, we heard the front door open. Then, the sounds of Andrew and Simon coming threw the door.

"Thomas, we have to go." Thomas' face fell. Then brightened. "I'll come find you tomorrow. To find our frog?" I nodded. "SEE YOU THEN!" he said before disappearing.

"Bye." Tori said, standing up.

"What do you think they bought?" I asked.

She shrugged. "They took a long time. Better to worth it."

I shrugged and exited the room. She followed me down the hallway and stairs in silence.

Simon flashed me a smile. "Hey." He greeted us.

Tori seemed uneasy. Simon hadn't even looked at her.

He handed me and Tori our bags, still unable to look her in the eye.

"You're going to have to talk about it sometime." I told them gently, then followed Andrew into the kitchen.

He set down the bags on a table I hadn't noticed before, tucked into the corner. He opened all the cupboards and stared.

He smiled at me. "Do you want to help? They can go anywhere, seeming that there is no specific place for anything."

I laughed. "Except the cereal." I gestured to the small cupboard where one only box of cereal sat. I heard murmuring in the other room. Hopefully Tori and Simon were working it out. We had ways to go still, and it didn't have to be an awkward road to normality.

I got up and helped Andrew shove food into the cupboards, trying to keep certain items together.

"Have you looked at what we got you yet?" Andrew said.

I looked at the bag I had set on the table. "Not yet." I walked over and sat down in one of the three chairs.

I reached in the bag I felt soft, spongy fabric. The elasticky kind that grips every curve of your body. I internally groaned. I had no curves. I pulled it out and found it wasn't that bad. It was a dark blue, almost black, with spaghetti straps. It wasn't frilly or weird, but was really simple in a great way. In the bag was a pair of ballet flats in my size.

"Did you pick it?" I said gently.

"What? Oh no, Simon did. Do you like it?"

"I… love it. Thank you so much." I said sincerely. I really did like it.

He smiled. "So… where are we going that we have to dress up so much?" I asked.

"Umm… just a little place I town. I can get the name for you if you really need it. I can't remember right now."

I shook my head. "It's not important right now."

Tori came in holding a dress identical to mine, but in dark green. She saw me in the corner and motioned for me to follow her. I nodded and stuck up my index finger, indicating I'll be a second. She mouthed "room" and left.

"Andrew, is it alright if I go try it on?" I said.

"Yes, I'm just going to make lunch. There isn't anything left to put away."

I nodded and got up. "We finished the rooms."

"Perfect, you guys can just hang out till were ready to go. We're leaving at 6."

I glanced at the clock. It was 1:30. I nodded. "We'll keep out of trouble." Then I left to meet Tori.