Mara & Patricia LVI
Summary: Mara talks to Jerome about the letter, Alfie practices magic and the twins have a heart to heart
Evie's Notes: Hey y'all, I'm back! Sorry for the late update but I was busy with my grad school finals and graduation! We have a longer chapter again today so I hope you enjoy! Let me know your favorite part in the comments!
Mara POV:
Mara raced through the halls after her first class looking for Jerome. Turning the corner, she spotted him standing by his locker exchanging his books for his next class. "How did it go with Jasper? Did you confront him about the letter?".
"yep, yep" replied Jerome, focusing on his books. "He has spoken to Trudy and she said that she had someone else write the letter for her".
"Why would she allow someone else to write a personal letter like that for her" worried Mara. This whole situation was just getting weirder and weirder.
"Who knows" snapped Jerome, slamming his locker closed. "Maybe she sprained her wrist whilst baking".
Mara was shocked, Jerome NEVER snapped at her. He loved her! "No, something is definitely going on" urged Mara. "We have to go and speak to Mr. Sweet".
"You can't turn off your inner reporter for even five minutes can you Mara" scoffed the boy.
"What" gasped Mara.
"Just give it up" sighed Jerome his whole demeaner changing. "There truly isn't a story here. Trudy is just with her brother until he recovers, and everything is ok. OK?".
"Right…Okay" drawled Mara not believing a word that the boy had just said. She would clearly have to investigate this by herself.
Jerome scurried off to his next class, leaving Mara standing alone with a free period ahead of her. Should she use the free time to scour the library for clues to Trudy's disappearance? If she found the missing housekeeper maybe Mr. Sweet would let Mara back on the website!
Unfortunately, her investigation would have to be put on hold, since her path to freedom was blocked by a very familiar Osiris house resident.
"Jeffray" greeted Tessa Jones with a slight nod. "Let's grab a cup of tea, it's time that we have a talk".
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Mara stirred a spoonful of honey into her teacup as she made herself comfortable at the Osiris dining room table across from Jones. "What do you want talk about?" she asked the girl.
"I talked to Amber before we left for break, and I just wanted to loop you in about what we came up with for splitting the student rep position".
"Awesome! I had a couple ideas as well, but I'm excited to see what you put together".
"Amber suggested that you be in charge of talking to current parents and the school staff".
"Ok, I can handle that, what about you two?"
"We thought that I could handle coordination between the boarders and day students. Amber would focus on coordinating admissions events and planning student celebrations".
"Oh yeah, Barbie is pretty good at planning parties. I'm sure she will have fun with that".
"It's more than just parties though. She will be in charge of inviting potential students and giving tours of the campus" snapped Tessa.
"I mean this all sounds good to me" shrugged Mara gulping down the rest of her tea. "I'll let Ambs know that I'm on board with the plan and then reach out to the staff".
"Great! Don't be afraid to reach out if you need help with anything"
"Definitely" promised Mara. Seeing that she didn't have enough time to start her investigation, Mara simply headed back to school
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Patricia POV:
Patricia was not having a good day. Between the stress of tonight's dinner and Piper's constant presence Patricia was sure she was going to lose her bloody mind. Even scarier than having her body double with her at all times, was when said girl was missing. Patricia stormed down the hallways in search of her twin. Anything could have happened to her; death, kidnapping, torture or detention, this was Frobisher Academy after all!
Turning the corner into the student lounge Patricia found her missing twin cuddled up with Alfie on the piano bench laughing.
"Is this the idea now?" snapped Patricia angrily. "Move into my school? In my room? Steal my clothes and my friends. Gods Piper! What's next my boyfriend?".
"What?!" gasped Piper.
"Don't act surprised. I'm sure that you'll move onto Eddie as soon as you're done with Alfie".
"No way!"
"We're twins sweetheart" she spat. "I know what you're thinking".
"I could never take anything from you!" shot back Piper.
"No, you're just Piper. Everything is just handed to you" mocked Patricia ruthlessly.
"I haven't taken your things, since I clearly don't have any of them" snapped the girl. "You're the one who always has friends. Not me. I'm just stuck the one stuck with Mum and Dad breathing down my neck".
"What? You can't possibly be jealous of me! I'm jealous of you!"
"You can't possibly be jealous of me! I'm jealous of you!" screamed Piper through tears.
"Really" whispered both twins in shock.
"But…you're the fun one" protested Piper grabbing Patricia's hand.
"You are the only one who is free" replied Patricia.
"No way! When I was stuck in practice you were allowed to do whatever you wanted".
"Negligence is not freedom" corrected Patricia. "As harsh as their lessons might seem, you are in a significantly better place for when you turn 18. The lessons and networking connections you have made ensure your ability to exist without them".
"Well, you've been surviving without them just fine".
"No. I'm still financially dependent on them, you on the other hand are on a full ride and have serious savings from all of your concerts".
"Well, you have the know-how for living on your own. I wouldn't have the first thought of what to do! I'm just buried in the expectations".
"Is that why you left the academy?" asked Patricia.
"Yeah, all I could think about was what would happen if I failed, the pressure was relentless. I felt like would wither up and die if I stayed there a moment longer".
"Who cares what they think" encouraged Patricia.
"What?".
"Who cares if you fail? Most people don't even try. They are all too scared to make the move. If you really want to be like me, you have to dare to fail!".
"Dare to fail huh?".
"Yeah. You can stay as long as you need, and I promise to help you build a plan if you really want to quit the academy".
"Really? You would do that for me?"
"Of course! We're twins remember! I've always got your back!" promised Patricia hugging her sister tightly.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Preparations for the dinner with Gustav Ziestack began as soon as classes ended for the day. Vera had placed Patricia in charge of meal preparation while she instructed Nina and Lili about the table settings.
Patricia quickly got to work chopping the various produce items Vera had found at the market for their lamb stew. Passing off the biscuit and potato prep to Vera, Patricia turned her focus towards prepping the almond berry cake she had picked for the party's desert.
As the grandfather clock chimed seven pm, Patricia wiped her hands off on her kitchen rag after placing the final berries on top of the cake.
"Girls please check the cutlery. We must make sure that they are perfectly straight" ordered Vera bustling into the room dressed in her stunning evening gown as she chucked a ruler at Nina and Lili. "We want to make sure to give Mr. Ziestack the very best impression tonight".
Patricia had to admit that for an evil backstabber, the housemother looked beautiful. It appeared that Victor agreed, as the man was struck dumb by her beauty when he entered the room.
"I thought we were doing cutlery not structural engineering" muttered Lili spitefully as the housemother swept off to flirt with Victor.
"Imagine what old gusty would say if he saw a misplaced fork" joked Nina knocking one of the salad forks out of place.
"Anarchy" joked Patricia as she placed the plated salads on the table. The adults were to eat in the dining room with Nina and Lili playing waitresses, while the students would eat on the camp table that Patricia had set up in the kitchen.
Fabian entered the room with his guitar and Nina rushed to pull him over to the group. "Are we sure about this?" she asked.
"No… but when has that ever stopped us before?" laughed Fabian.
"There's just so much that could go wrong" worried the American girl. "Do you guys really think that Alfie can pull this off?".
"Of course," assured Patricia. "He's been practicing a lot. Piper says that she has been helping him".
"Roe love, what are you doing?" asked Lili drawing the group's attention to where the tall boy was pawing through one of the cabinets muttering something under his breath.
Jerome quickly shot up straight, his eyes darting around suspiciously as he muttered, "No… nothing. Nothing at all!" as he dashed out of the dining room.
Patricia just shook her head chuckling; every day was a new adventure with Jerome Clarke.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Dinner went off without a hitch. Fabian provided some lighthearted mood music with his guitar, and Patricia's stew was a hit! Eddie and Joy scarfed down their food before heading to one of the school's practice rooms to meet up with the other two members of their band. Mara apparently had plans to meet up with Natasha, one of the Osiris house residents, for a girl's night. Amber begged off after eating, due to a headache, heading to her room to lay down. This left just the Sibuna Club and Piper in the house with the dinner party.
Fabian finished his final guitar piece and the adults politely applauded as Mr. Ziestack proclaimed; "Splendid, simply wonderful. I had no idea you were such a talented bunch! Mr. Sweet, your students are a credit to this school".
Patricia took this as the signal to pass out dessert and joined the other two girls in placing slices of the almond berry cake at each place.
"Oh! We're not having your Chocolate Nightmare cake?" Gustav disappointedly asked.
"Oh, I couldn't get one… of the ingredients" explained Vera. "I'm sorry. But Patricia here was so keen to help me cook for you so I couldn't deny her".
"No indeed… and this looks simply lovely" agreed the man reluctantly. "Everything has been simply first-class: the dinner, the company, the entertainment".
"Oh, but there's more!" announced Fabian dramatically.
"There is!?" asked the Headmaster
"Yes… I'm afraid there is" grumbled Victor.
"Behold, the amazing…" began Fabian.
"The Amazing Alfredo!" finished Alfie as he dramatically entered the room to great laughter and applause. Fabian played a jazzy tune on his guitar as Alfie danced around the room hyping the "crowd" up.
Patricia watched as Alfie wowed the adults with a series of card tricks, pulled a coin from behind Gustav's ear and sawed Liliana in half with the help of his glamorous assistant, Jerome. The Sibuna Club all held their breaths as Alfie began to set up his final trick, stealing Victor's amulet.
"Sir" began Alfie gesturing to the caretaker.
"No, no" protested Victor waving the boy off with his napkin.
"Play along Victor" urged Gustav.
"Sir, may I borrow your pocket watch".
"Ah, well unfortunately I have left my fob watch in my other coat".
"No problem, I'll just use this neat little necklace here" offered Alfie, pulling the amulet out of Victor's suit jacket. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to pull way fast enough, allowing the caretaker to harshly grab his arm, the contested amulet dangling between them.
The other members of the diner party all laughed awkwardly and encouraged the caretaker to play along.
"Don't worry! I'll take good care of it" assured Alfie. Dramatically analyzing the amulet, he declared, "Why, I do believe there's a small scratch on your necklace. Allow me to fix it for you. I'll just wrap it up nice and tightly for you, yeah? Make it super secure… perfecto". Placing the wrapped-up amulet on the table by Victor, Alfie added "I'll leave this with you". When the man went to grab it, he teasingly slid it closer to himself "I'll leave this here by me".
"Intriguing" commented Jasper leaning forward in his seat.
"Right, this is my magic handkerchief, woven from the finest silk of turkey" explained Alfie shaking out the beautiful blue handkerchief Patricia recognized as the one Amber had gotten him for his last birthday.
"I'm going to make a small bag. Alas, the bag of illusion. The sack of mysticism. I'll take your necklace and it shall enter the bag". Patricia watched anxiously as Alfie placed the handkerchief on the table.
"Now I like to use a magic shoe". Oh, this wasn't going to be good!
"Don't worry" assured Alfie. "I'm just going to give it a little tap".
Patricia watched in horror as Alfie furiously smashed his shoe atop the handkerchief. Her horror was mirrored on the faces of everyone else in the room as Alfie just laughed happily.
"Well okay! That was fun! Now prepare to be amazed. You all are going to love this. Voila" flipping back the folds of the handkerchief to reveal a horrifying sight.
Gasps of horror filled the room, "I know what you're thinking" rambled Alfie. "Um, the amazing Alfredo has gone a bit wrong, but…"
"It's up his sleeve, surely" chuckled Gustav.
"Yes, Mr. Amazing Alfredo. Perhaps you would like to remove your jacket" threatened Victor.
"No… no I… A magician never reveals his secrets" stuttered the frightened boy.
"Give me your coat" demanded the man.
"I promise you there's nothing up my sleeve" begged Alfie as he shook out his sleeves.
To the shock of everyone in the room a second handkerchief fell to the ground. Patricia leaned forward with the others to get a better view, but Alfie accidentally stepped on the neckerchief causing it to crack ominously.
Victor snatched up the cloth and flung it down on the table revealing the broken remains of their missing amulet.
"Like I said" gulped Alfie. "I'm afraid that it might have gone a bit… wrong".
Patricia wanted to scream. How could Alfie have been so careless? He knew how important it was for them to have the amulet.
The room was frozen in a tense silence until was broken by Gustav's insane cackling. The others were all quick to join in, but they were confused as to what had amused the eccentric collector.
"Oh Victor" chuckled the man, wiping away tears of mirth. "You ruined the poor lad's trick".
Knowing an out when he saw one, Alfie agreed. "You ruined this poor lad's trick" only to be banished from the room with the others by the enraged man.
Patricia hurried out of the room after her friends. While she was definitely upset about the amulet at least she wouldn't be stuck cleaning up the kitchen.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
The Sibuna Club all barreled into Nina and Amber's room as the American girl loudly berated Alfie.
"I can't believe that you ruined the only chance we had at getting through that hidden door" screamed their enraged leader.
"What's the matter Nina" smirked Alfie as he reached into his pocket. "Don't you believe in magic?".
Patricia stared along with the others as the boy pulled out the fully intact amulet.
"Why did you do that?" marveled Lili.
"Well, I couldn't just do a standard disappearing trick, they would always assume we had the original amulet" explained Alfie. "I had to make him believe it was destroyed"
"And you didn't think to share" scolded Patricia, "You nearly gave us heart attacks!".
"I needed your reactions to make them buy it".
"But how…" stuttered Fabian.
"Well, I knew I needed two smashed amulets to fool everyone. So, I took V squared's amulet and placed it in a pouch up my sleeve. Then I made a decoy amulet out of clay stolen from the art room. When I was performing the trick, I dropped the decoy from my sleeve and picked up the real amulet. I dropped the fake in the pouch and put the real one in my back pocket. I smashed the clay copy and showed the broken and unrecognizable pieces to Victor. But I had to make sure that V and V saw two broken amulets, so I deliberately dropped the fake one on the floor and stamped on it so he couldn't get a closer look and recognize it. Through it all the real one was safe the whole time in my pocket!".
"Good work, Alfie!" congratulated Nina pulling the prankster into a spinning hug. "Since it's already late and Vera will be in the kitchen for a while, let's plan on checking out the secret tunnel tomorrow".
The Sibunas all quickly said their goodnights before retiring to their rooms.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Patricia woke up and was surprised to find that Piper wasn't still passed out beside her. Piper was known to hate mornings, so it was strange for her to be up so early. Patricia just assumed that her twin had gone in search of breakfast. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep now, Patricia grabbed her robe and headed downstairs in search of her wayward twin and a strong cup of coffee.
Stepping out on the landing Patricia was greeted with the upsetting sight of Piper opening the front door with her purse and suitcase. "What are you doing?".
"I'm going back to the academy"
"You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?" Patricia had thought that they had healed their relationship to some degree during the girl's stay.
"I left you a note" admitted the girl sheepishly. "I'm not good at goodbyes".
"But I said that I wanted you to stay"
"I know you do, and I would love to. But I realized something, if I stop now then I have closed a door on a whole world of possibilities. If I finish, I can do anything".
"And if you fail?" prodded Patricia.
"Who cares, right?" laughed Piper.
"Damn right!" agreed Patricia. "Keep in touch, ok? I love you".
"I will" promised her twin giving her a tight hug. Pulling off her twin charm necklace she passed it Patricia saying, "I want you to have something to remember me by".
"Like I could ever forget you" teased Patricia fastening the charm around her neck.
The sound of a cab's horn signaled that it was time for Piper to leave. Piper pulled Patricia into one last hug mumbling "Love you forever Trich. I'll see you this summer!" before heading out to meet her cab.
Patricia's stomach rumbled reminding her why she had woken up so early anyways. Vera wouldn't be serving breakfast for another hour, so she decided to just grab a cup of coffee and a muffin while she waited for the others to get up.
She had just poured herself her first cup of coffee when Patricia's favorite person entered the kitchen. Patricia could feel how her face lit up when she looked at Eddie's sleep rumpled state.
"Oh, hi Piper! I didn't think that anyone else would be up yet".
"oh no, I'm not…" protested Patricia brushing her hair back over her shoulder. While doing so, her hand knocked against the music note twin charm necklace that Piper had given her. She then remembered how most of the students had been using their twin charms to tell them apart.
Eddie talked over her protests though stating "I've been thinking about it all night, ok? Hear me out. I just think that it's wrong that Patricia doesn't know"
"Know What?" asked Patricia playing along. They had probably just ruined one of her sweaters or something.
"Come on Pipes! That we kissed…" snapped Eddie.
Sneaky Pretty Boy Boyfriend say what?! "We kissed?" gasped Patricia. "Right… I'll talk to Patricia about that".
Grabbing her cup Patricia raced out of the room, her heart breaking. Why did these things always happen to her?!
Evie's Notes 2: I'm going to miss Piper. She will definitely be making a reappearance in the next work which will outline the summer and in my version of season 3 (which will basically not include any of the traditional season 3 elements).
Next Week: Patricia deals with betrayal, while Jerome and Jasper scramble to find and object to offer the collector.
Question of the week: Thoughts on Vera?
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! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie💕