Patricia XXIII
Patricia just wanted a chill weekend for once, but apparently that was too much to ask for while living in Anubis house and following a hundred-year-old quest for a mythical mask. Friday and Saturday had been spent primarily dealing with Joy's date with Fabian. Joy was under the impression that it had gone well and that he would be asking her on a second date any second. Patricia was torn between supporting Joy's happiness and giving the girl the wake up call she clearly needed. In the end she decided to remain silent on the issue, Joy would come to her senses eventually, or Fabian will man up and choose to actually talk to both girls. Either way Patricia had decided that she was staying out of it.
This was a good thing since she had so much work to do. Between school and Mara dropping all work that wasn't connected to the TOP SECRET Vera article, Patricia was slammed. Mrs. Andrews had assigned Eddie and her the job of covering the campaign. Eddie had decided to cover Tessa's campaign while Patricia covered Mara and Amber's. They had planned to meet up after lunch to discuss their information and work on putting together some articles. Alex from Isis house was assigned as their photographer and had sent over copies of the pictures they had taken of the candidates. Patricia had to review them and choose which ones she wanted to use before she met up with Eddie, so putting on her headphones to drown out Joy's lovesick commentary she got to work.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
With lunch having been cleared away, Patricia set up her laptop and notebook at the dining room table as she waited for Eddie to arrive.
"Sup Yacker" and the clatter of notebooks and pens hitting the table accompanied Eddie's arrival in the dining room. He quickly set up his stuff and the pair got to work. Patricia was surprised at how focused Eddie was, in class he tended to goof off and not take anything seriously, but with this project he was actually trying. It was weird…
"Say Eddie," Patricia began
"Yes Patricia" he replied without turning away from the article he was proof reading.
"What's making you try so hard on this? I mean journalism doesn't really seem like your thing…"
"Hah! That's where your wrong Yacker. I was on the paper staff at my old school and we were freaking awesome".
"Really?" Patricia totally didn't care or anything, but Eddie rarely shared about his life before Anubis.
"Yeah, I got the sickest photos! And New York is like the best place for variety in news content. Unlike here in Boresville UK, the city had parades and events and protests that students were encouraged to attend".
"Ok, that is actually really cool" Patricia had to admit.
Looking at her Eddie had an excited gleam in his eye as he continued to talk about his old school, "Yeah! I got really into photography there with my friend Darby. He's actually the one who got me my camera! You wanna see?"
Slimeball or not, Patricia couldn't deny the earnest happiness in the American boy's eyes. Nodding she got up and followed him across the hall to his room. She hadn't been in there since Mick had moved out, and she could definitely say that Eddie had a very different decorating style. His walls just screamed New York and Punk. Unfortunately Patricia loved it.
Sitting down on Eddie's bed Patricia caught sight of a framed picture on his bedside table. Picking it up she expected the photo inside to be of his parents, instead it was of Eddie and a group of 4 friends. The Eddie in the picture had a look of such joy that Patricia couldn't help but be jealous that she had never seen it herself. "Are these your old friends?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, That's Darby, Jess, Rachel, and Philip. They were the crew I rolled with in NYC. I think I have more pictures of them on the camera" he said moving to sit beside her on the bed. "This is the camera that Darby gave me, it was the first one I ever had, he was the one who really got me into photography".
Before Patricia knew it, she had spent the whole afternoon with Eddie looking at his pictures and listening to his stories. The Eddie that she spent the past few hours with was so different than the cocky boy who she had known for the past few months. Their time together had just brought all of the little moments she had seen to the forefront, showing her the boy underneath the façade. Looking at her watch she saw that the hours had flown by in a mix of stories, laughter and surprisingly good company. As she left to get ready for dinner Patricia couldn't help but wish that the boy she had spent the afternoon with had shown up earlier.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
The next few days flew by for Patricia. Every spare moment seemed to be dedicated to the election. It was both a uniting and divisive event for the 11th years at Frobisher Academy. Every student had opinions and was pitching in to help their chosen candidate in some way. Since Anubis housed two of the three candidate's the air had become rather stilted in the past days. With Jerome, Alfie, Lili, and Nina backing Amber, that left Joy and Fabian to support Mara. Patricia and Eddie had to remain impartial due to their jobs as journalists, but that didn't stop either side from trying to gain their support.
It all came to a head Wednesday morning when Alfie tripped Joy who ended up throwing her bowl of used cereal milk all over Liliana. This triggered Mara into breaking out into a fit of laughter making Jerome snap at her for being a witch… well he didn't exactly say that, but you get the gist. Fabian seeing the hurt look on Mara's face, and fueled by his own issues with Jerome, jumped in as her knight in shining armor making both Nina and Joy furious. At which point Amber walked into the room having been practicing her speech and happily wished everyone good morning and Mara good luck with her run through that afternoon. Mara, still wounded from Jerome's insult let her fury and embarrassment out on Amber, saying that she didn't need luck to win this competition, and that she would crush Amber and win in a landslide just like last year, because she was the only real and serious option and EVERYONE knew it.
Hurt by Mara's cruel words, Amber turned and fled the room followed by Nina and Alfie. Liliana was busy trying to dry off her shirt, Jerome was switching between helping her and shooting glares at Mara. Joy took advantage of Nina being out of the room and switched seats to be next to Fabian. Knowing that anything she would say to either Amber or Mara would be rejected due to the girls' wounded pride, Patricia elected to head to school early.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
The rest of Wednesday was hectic. Patricia's day was filled with watching speech practices for Tessa and Mara, Amber's had been before breakfast, classes, and testing the chemicals Nina and Fabian had collected while trying to connect them to the team's latest riddles. When she finally got back to the house it was nearly time for dinner. Rushing upstairs Patricia dropped her bag by her door and flopped down on her bed, letting her shoes slide off. She was so tired that she just wanted to lie on her bed and sleep forever.
Unfortunately a quick nap wasn't in the cards for her. Mara blew into the room like a hurricane as she hurried to her desk and the stacks of Vera research. Patricia wondered if she stayed very still if the other girl wouldn't see her. No such luck though, Mara spotted her and, as she had taken to doing every time she was alone with Joy and Patricia, began to ramble on about her Vera conspiracy theory.
Patricia knew that she didn't have any solid ground to stand on when she told Mara to knock it off. She knew how Mara must be feeling, it was so similar to Patricia's own experience last year. Between the murder cult of her teachers and being stalked, lied to and kidnapped by Rufus Zeno, Patricia could understand a lack of faith in the adults trusted with your care. But Mara didn't know any of that, and she really had no physical proof to back her claims. Patricia at least had heard the teachers on many occasions speaking of kidnapping Joy and then she had been kidnapped by a man she had trusted, mara was basing her argument off of papers and one conversation.
When trying to take down a member of the staff you needed rock solid evidence. Patricia would have thought Mara would remember this since she had done a similar thing when scheming to get Coach Robinson fired the year before. Patricia didn't know all the details since the staff tried to keep it hush-hush and Mick wasn't one to talk, at least to Patricia. Amber and Mick though had been good friends from their first day at Frobisher Academy, even if they had both hurt each other, their friendship was still super important to both the blondes. So of course when his girlfriend tried to get him expelled through skeevy photoshopped photos there was only one person he would talk to. Amber had then filled Patricia in on some of the details. Patricia was just surprised that the girl hadn't been expelled, between the cheating and the false accusations about a staff member's conduct, it truly was a miracle that the girl was still enrolled. Deciding that she would rather help with chores than listen to Mara yammer on about Vera, Patricia headed down to dinner.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Thursday's lunch break found Eddie and Patricia at their lockers. Switching out her books she subtly eyed the American boy. As Eddie went to open his locker he stopped and pulled his hand back calling out to her "Wait, let me guess… boobytrapped?". Patricia just smirked in response; this was the perfect set up for her newest prank.
"I know you too well already Yacker," sassed the boy as he did a complicated maneuver to open his locker. The confused look on his face highlighted how he had expected her to fill his locker with shaving cream again or rig a glass of water to fall on him like he had done to her last week. "Huh… well that was unexpected"
Game Face Williamson, it was finally show time! It would be fun to change their little game from one of just physical to mental pranks as well. "Sorry to disappoint. The thing is… I don't play games with the Techer's pet" she teased.
"What do you mean?" he laughed, clearly nervous.
"You owned up to that eyeball prank in class, and Sweetie totally let you off! While he is obviously sexist, he clearly favors you above the other boys. Pretty easy being a bad boy when the teacher's your new BFF".
"Sweetie and I are not friends" a worked-up Eddie denied.
Laughing, Patricia reached out to pinch his cheeks, "You really believe that, don't you? How adorable!".
Turning red, the American boy pushed her hand away stating, "you'll see how adorable I can be Yacker when I prove you wrong!". Patting his cheek patronizingly, Patricia shouldered her bag and went off to meet Joy for lunch.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Lunch with Joy was always hit or miss these days. Even though she had been back for almost three months now, the girl was still struggling to cope with the changes which had occurred while she was… away. Regardless, today seemed to be a good day, their conversation mainly centered around their respective articles for the school paper. It made Patricia sad that this is what their relationship had become. They had once been so close, on the brink of something more, and now they could hardly have a meaningful conversation without one of their feelings being hurt and the other storming off.
The lunch took a turn though as Joy bumped her shoulder playfully against Patricia's "Hey what's up with you today?".
"What do you mean?" denied Patricia pretending to watch the football game across the lawn.
"Come on Peppermint, I can tell something is up" whined Joy.
"It's nothing J" insisted Patricia
"We haven't really talked in a while. Catch me up girlie".
Knowing that Joy wouldn't let it go Patricia gave in; "Eddie practically begged me to punk him earlier today".
"Ok, well he obviously wants you to keep pranking him. He is loving the attention. And let's be real Trix, pranks and bossing people around are how you show you care about them".
"So not true! And anyways it's pretty messed up that he wants me to keep pranking him".
"Well then you two can be perfectly messed up together".
"Joy!" Patricia said bumping the other girl.
Laughing, the shorter girl continued, "So if you both know the ground rules… then what's the problem? What's stopping you from going for it?".
You. As hard as Patricia had tried, she still hadn't been able to completely shake her crush on the beautiful girl sitting beside her. But really that was only part of the issue, "It's just that he gets to me ya know… He told me that he knows I like him. Now that he knows, that makes me…"
"Human?" supplied Joy.
"Weak" Patricia corrected.
"Try chasing a boy who is still crazy about the girl HE broke up with" comforted Joy.
Yeah, thinking about Joy's failed love life did cheer Patricia up a little. "But are you going to give up?".
"No, not yet" decreed Joy "What about you?".
Unfortunately Patricia didn't have an answer for the girl. On the one hand she really liked Eddie, but she was scared to open herself up for more hurt. With her family being M.I.A most of the time and Joy's disappearance last year, Patricia had been burned badly and she was still trying to heal. The thing though was that Eddie had also been burned and was healing too. Maybe they could heal together… she would have to think about it more later. Finishing her lunch Patricia headed back inside for her final two classes of the day.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Rushing out of Chemistry the second the bell rang, Patricia booked it back to Anubis. Entering the house she could hear the sounds of Amber and Alfie in the kitchen with Trudy and Liliana and Jerome in the dining room. Patricia rapped the agreed upon secret knock on the dining room door and waited to be let in. "You all are louder than a stampede of Elephants" she complained as Lili opened the door.
"Oh hush Patricia" laughed the petite blond, "did you bring the centerpiece?" Holding up the large box she had stashed at the school, Patricia allowed her work to speak for itself. Lili laughed happily as she opened the box to find the cornucopia inside. "Trix this is beautiful. Roe you have to come see this!".
Taking the cornucopia out, Patricia placed it on the beautifully set table between the candles shaped like Pilgrims and the baby pumpkins. "Yeah, it took a while and several trips to Hobbycraft. But I think it turned out great!".
"Alfie NO!" Trudy yelled in the kitchen. Sharing worried looks with the others, Patricia headed into the kitchen. Inside she found that Alfie had failed to properly secure the top on the blender which had resulted in the entire countertop being covered in cranberries, sugar and orange peel. Amber was making a valiant effort to try and cover her laughter as Alfie was chewed out by Turdy.
"Anything I can do to help Trudy?" Patricia asked, "Lil and J have the dinning room covered".
"Aww bless you, I think we have most of this covered, but if you want to help Amber with the pies you are more than welcome. I'll have Alfie clean up this mess and get back to the turkey".
As she began to combine spices for Nina's Mom's Pumpkin Pie, recipe courtesy of Granny Martin, Patricia hoped that Fabian would be able to keep their two Americans distracted until it was time for the surprise Thanksgiving.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Luckily everything went smoothly after the blender mishap. As supper time rolled around Patricia, Amber, Alfie and Trudy put the final touches on the meal while Lili and Jerome poured cider for everyone. Mara and Joy had shown up a few minutes ago and were standing guard in the atrium ready to alert the others as soon as Fabian and the Americans showed up.
Three bird calls had Patricia and the others getting into their hiding places. "Why do we have to wear blindfolds Fabian?" came Eddie's put-upon complaint.
"Almost there, watch your step" replied Fabian as he directed the blindfolded pair into the dining room. "Alright now you can take them off in 3, 2, 1"
"SURPRISE!" yelled Patricia with the others as they all burst out of their hiding places.
"Oh my gods you guys" cried Nina, "you did this all for us?"
"Of course Neens! While it might not be a holiday we celebrate. We know that it is important to you" explained Alfie "Now let's eat!". With that everyone took their seats and enjoyed the feast.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Later that night after the table had been cleared and the food had been stored away Patricia stood in the atrium with Eddie. "Thank you Patricia. Really. I asked around and learned that you and Amber were the ones to make this happen".
"It's nothing really" she tried to brush off.
"No, it is something. Ever since I got here, I've felt kind of on edge. It's hard to be in a new place with a different culture. But you going out of your way to make Nina and I feel welcomed and accepted means more than you could ever know".
Patricia could feel the blush on her face and hoped that Eddie wouldn't see it. "You're welcome Eddie. It is always hard to be away from family on holidays, so we wanted to do something special for you two".
Eddie clearly had more to say but was cut off by Victor beginning his customary pin drop speech. Pulling her into a quick, but heartfelt hug, Eddie thanked her again and then slipped into his room.
Walking dazedly back to her own room, Patricia couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe this whole having feelings thing wouldn't be too bad.
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story so far in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Xo Evie