Mara
By the time we finally got to school I thought my head was about to explode.
"Mara did you remember to pack toothpaste?" My mum asked worriedly as we pulled through the gates.
"Yes, mum," I forced a smile, clenching my teeth as I determinedly stared at the gearshift. Just a few more seconds. Just a few more seconds and then I would be able to get out of this tiny little car and breathe.
"What about your tights and sweaters? You know it gets cold here in the winter and I don't want my treasure to freeze."
"Yes, mum," I bit the inside of my cheek and kept my eyes riveted towards the gearshift, watching my dad's hand creep towards it in agonizing slowness.
"And remember pet, studies first, boys second. I do miss Mick and that new friend of yours, Jeffrey—"
"His name is Jerome, mum, not Jeffrey," I interrupted, unable to help myself.
"Right of course sweet. That new friend of yours, Jerry—"
"Jerome," I muttered.
"Something just seems off about him. I feel like he's one of those boys who goes out and snogs girls he's not dating on weekends," my mother said worriedly.
I forcibly reminded myself to keep calm and sucked in one long breath through my nose, and slowly pushed it out through my lips. My dad the put the car in park and I immediately threw open the door, nearly tripping over my own feet in my haste to get out. Tugging a few stray hairs out of my mouth I hurried around to the back of the car and popped open the trunk while my mum and dad climbed out.
"Oh, I can't believe my little princess is starting her last year at boarding school," my mum sniffled into a handkerchief as I pulled out my suitcase.
"Come on Mindy, let her breathe," my dad winked at me and tucked my hair behind my ears. I felt the stress begin to ease out of me like a balloon and relaxed as he turned back to my mum. "Mara's a big girl, she can handle herself."
He wrapped his arms around me and I smiled, letting myself soak in my father's embrace. "I'll send you an email once I get settled in, alright?" I promised.
My dad smiled as I pulled back and grabbed my luggage handle but mum's chin started trembling, right before she burst into inconsolable tears. "My little dearie is going to be graduating to the A Levels this year! Oh she's all grown up!" At this she promptly began wailing and all five foot two inches of her collapsed into my dad's arms. I awkwardly scratched at my temples and glanced around the parking lot to see other students and parents looking at us strangely.
"Mum." I cleared my throat as she continued sobbing into my father's arms. "Mum." I tried again, but to no avail. "Mum!" my voice ratcheted up a few dozen decibels as I finally snared her attention. "People are staring," I whispered sharply, keeping a smile frozen on my face.
With an extremely loud sniff, my mum wiped her tears with the handkerchief enough to throw herself on top of me. "I expect letters duckling. Lots and lots of letters."
"Of course mum," I gasped, tears coming to my eyes as her arms slowly crushed my chest. "Now please let me go, I can't breathe."
"Right, sorry hen." Dabbing at her eyes, she tearfully petted me on the head before making her way back into the car.
I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders as the door closed and pressed a quick kiss to my dad's cheek. "Love you dad."
He squeezed my shoulder and I turned and walked over towards the dorms area as dad got back in the car and powered on the ignition. I did my best to ignore the blush in my cheeks as a few people continued to stare at me. Ducking my head I kept my eyes firmly focused on the gravel road in front of me, placing one foot in front of the other and doing my best to tune out my surroundings. I didn't raise my line of sight until the tearful good-byes of first years and their parents was muted by a significant amount of distance and old-fashioned wooden benches lined the pathways. I felt a swirling sensation begin to boil up in my chest and a smile tugged up the corners of my mouth. I pressed my lips together in an effort to quell my grin before giving up and laughing aloud in excitement as Anubis House drew nearer. I chewed on my bottom lip as energy began to flood into my system and before I knew it my feet were hitting the pavement quicker and quicker and the house was flying nearer and nearer and a laugh was bubbling up inside of my throat. The ground seemed to fall away beneath my black ballet flats as I sprinted up the driveway faster than I'd ever run in any track meet my parents had forced me into. I finally paused after I bolted up the steps, coming to a halt right outside the door. There was a lively ringing in my ears and a searing stitch in my side that I stubbornly ignored as I lifted a hand to the knob. Letting my smile overtake my face, I threw the door open and burst through the coatroom and into Anubis House.
I laughed merrily, feeling exuberant as the familiar smell of Trudy's polish filled my nose and I was once again surrounded by beautiful antiquities and historical architecture. I pushed in the handle of my suitcase and was pulling off my shoulder bag when I heard rapid footsteps.
"Mara!" I turned just in time to catch myself as the ninety-pound cannonball that was my friend and fellow housemate barreled into me.
"Joy!" I smiled, reciprocating the embrace before she pulled back beaming. "How was your summer?"
"Oh it was fantastic!" she exclaimed. "My parents took me for a month-long cruise on the Caribbean that was an absolute blast!"
"Ugh, sounds amazing," I assured her enviously. "I'm sure it was superb."
Joy bobbed her head up and down excitedly, ponytail bouncing along merrily. "And bonus points: I didn't even leave my summer work until last minute this year! I finished it in July! Say you're proud of me!" she playfully begged, eyes twinkling merrily.
Laughing, I tucked my arm in hers and we headed into the living room. "Yes Joy, I'm very proud of you. It takes serious commitment to actually complete your summer homework before the day it's due," I teased.
She stuck out her tongue as walked over to the kitchen where a familiar curly head was bustling in the cupboards. "Hello Trudy!" I called.
Our housemother gave a small start of surprise before turning around, laden down with numerous glasses. "Oh Mara you're back! I thought I heard Joy calling your name, but with my hearing; you never know what you can trust," she winked. Setting down the cups she bustled over and I leaned down into her warm hug, soaking up her lemon-scented sweater that she always wore.
"It's good to see you Trudy," I professed, giving her one last squeeze before pulling back.
"It's good to see you too lovey." Trudy placed a hand on my shoulder and covered her mouth with the other in apparent shock. "You are the same Mara aren't you? I swear you've grown at least an inch or two since I saw you at the end of last term."
I gave a small laugh and rolled my eyes, feeling a bit self-conscious. "Yes Trudy, I am the same Mara," I promised.
She gave me an affectionate pat on the cheek before turning back to grab the cups. "Excellent. Well it's just you and Joy for now, the others haven't arrived yet but I expect Amber should be here soon, her parents said she'd be arriving any minute now." Trudy headed over to the coffee table and Joy and I followed as she continued talking while laying out the cups. "I know Patricia is going to be here in about twenty minutes, she called and said something about nearly forgetting her ill dog, but she was quite panicked so I had a bit of trouble making it out."
"Sick Puppies CD," Joy whispered in my ear, and I nodded to confirm I had heard her.
"Jerome and Alfie are coming together and should be arriving shortly, and according to Fabian's parents he should be here around the same time as Amber."
Trudy headed back over to the kitchen and pulled tinfoil-covered plates out of the fridge, seeming to be finished with her monologue. "What about Nina and Eddie?" I prompted her gently, hoping she hadn't forgotten our American classmates.
"Oh right, how silly of me," Trudy laughed as she brought the plates over to the table and removed the tinfoil, revealing dozens of goodies. "I nearly forgot to mention – their plane was having some technical issues so their flight got a bit delayed. It's nothing to worry about, but I'm afraid they won't be here for a few hours."
"Do you need help unpacking Mara?" Joy asked.
"As long as Trudy doesn't need help," I nodded but Trudy shook her head.
"Don't worry about me sweet girl, I'll be fine. I may be old enough to have one foot in the grave but that doesn't mean I can't still feed the army that is Alfie and Jerome." Trudy laughed at her own self-deprecating joke and I felt myself smile before being tugged away by Joy.
We dragged my things upstairs to the room we shared with Patricia and I dutifully nodded as Joy energetically babbled about how on the cruise with her parents she'd gone snorkeling, went zip-lining, tried out the ropes course, worked on her tan and apparently met more than a few cute boys. "I mean honestly Mara, their accents are to die for," she emphasized as we hung up my jackets in the closet. I 'hmm-ed' with interest and she took that as her cue to keep going, happily filling me in on everything she so much as said, did, or thought about doing and I did my best to listen as we folded the rest of my clothes, but after a while it began to blur together, lulling me into a bit of a stupor.
"Mara are you even listening?"
I jerked at the sound of my name, the cashmere sweater in my hands falling to the ground and gave an apologetic smile in response to Joy's accusing stare. "Sorry Joy, I'm just a bit distracted I guess."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Fair enough, I suppose I have been talking for a while. How was your summer then?"
"It was great, up until my parents old teams had a reunion I had to go to." Joy grimaced in sympathy at my revelation.
"Eek, that must've been pretty uncomfortable. What happened?" Joy demanded playfully, eager as ever for gossip.
I picked the sweater up from the ground and slid it on a hanger. "It went about as well as can be expected. About sixty-three percent of the people there asked what sport I was playing, no less than seventeen people asked how many medals I'd won already and every time I answered that I actually wasn't that into sports, they just gave me this really weird look and said 'oh' before walking away."
"Sounds horrible," Joy shuddered, folding a pair of jeans.
"Four of them asked me if I was adopted."
Joy gasped. "Oh Mara, you're joking."
"Don't I wish," I rolled my eyes. "Suffice to say, it was awkward at best and completely unbearable at worst. I was definitely relieved when it was over."
The sound of a door opening drew our attention as we simultaneously bolted from the room and out to the top of the stairs to see two of our friends returning to the house.
"Amber!" I called, at the same time as Joy shrieked, "Fabes!"
We rapidly ran down the staircase as fast as our feet could carry us and practically tackled the two of them, the loud conversation that followed filling the foyer with warmth, the noise drawing Trudy out.
"Trudy!" Amber squealed, nearly knocking over our housemother in her excitement.
"Oh-ho-ho!" Trudy stepped back from the force of Amber's hug, steadying herself at the last moment as the rest of us laughed good-naturedly. "Careful dearie, I'm afraid my legs aren't what they used to be," Trudy playfully warned her as she squeezed Amber happily. Pulling back, Trudy smiled before her expression transformed into one of shock. "I do declare I'm going to have to give you and Fabian the same warning I gave those two," she pointed to me and Joy. "You all need to stop growing! You're getting too tall," Trudy sniffled as she pulled Amber back in for another hug before making her way to Fabian. "You especially! Your first year here you barely made it to my shoulder, now you've got at least a head on me!" she scolded, tearfully forcing him into a hug.
"Sorry, Trudy, we'll try our best," he laughed. "Is Nina here yet? She texted me her plane took off a few hours ago."
Trudy shook her head. "Sorry sweetie, her and Eddie's flight got delayed, she won't be here for a few hours." Fabian's face fell and I caught a brief look of hurt flash over Joy's face at his nonverbal response before she could conceal it, and concern rose up in me. I didn't know all the details, but last year there had been something of a Joy – Nina – Fabian love triangle that hadn't ended well for my petite friend. Joy had done her best to assure us that she was fine, but the way her expression transformed from happy to exuberant when Fabian pulled her into a hug said otherwise.
"Come on people, none of this dreary doom and boom stuff," Amber commanded.
Doom and boom? Joy mouthed at me, raising her eyebrows. I shrugged as Amber continued, "This is supposed to be a happy day, remember Fabian? Nina will be here soon and then you two can romantically reunite and hopefully I won't have to play match-maker between you two until next term, if at all." Before any of us could do more than blink at Amber her expression transformed from stern to delighted. "Now come on you three, I have fifteen more suitcases in the drive and they're not going to just magically wheel themselves in here." Spinning on her white sandal-ed toes, Amber held open the door and shooed us all outside.
Surrendering to the blonde beauty's desires, we spent the next ten minutes lugging the remaining fifteen pieces of luggage inside the house, and all sixteen suitcases upstairs to Amber and Nina's room. I was helping Amber sort them into shoes-cases and clothes-cases when Joy and Fabian called for us from downstairs that Alfie and Jerome were here. Amber squealed at such a high octave I was surprised I could still hear her as she practically flew out of the room, me on her heels. I halted at the entrance to the upper hallway though and nervously smoothed down the front of my outfit. Knowing I would be seeing Jerome for the first time in two and a half months today, I had taken extreme care with my outfit this morning, even laying it out the night before. I had chosen my navy blue dress that had white and red polka dots scattered across it with a red ribbon lacing up the front and chosen a navy blue blazer to go with – it was one of my favorite outfits. Reaching up a hand I pulled my dark curls out of my ponytail. I hadn't had time to straighten my hair this morning and was crossing my fingers that it didn't look too terrible. Doing my best to appear calm but unable to keep the smile off of my face, I walked out of the girls' section to the top of the stairs to see Amber running to her boyfriend's outstretched arms.
"Alfie!" she cried excitedly, jumping up to him.
"Hey baby!" he replied joyfully as he picked her up into his arms and spun her in a circle, her pink skirt and white jacket whirling right along with their wearer. I saw them happily kiss each other in the corner of my periphery before I caught sight of a mop of laughing blonde hair at the bottom of the stairs and my vision tunneled. I went down the stairs as quickly as I could without running, a beaming smile stretching itself across my face as Jerome went from making fun of Fabian to realizing I was coming downstairs and turning to look at me.
I reached the bottom and Jerome smirked as the others exchanged pointed looks and shuffled into the living room. "You know Jaffray," he stated casually once we were alone, "I must say you look much better in person. Computer screens really don't do you justice."
I bit my bottom lip to keep from giggling, knowing that if I started I wouldn't be able to stop. "I could say the same about you," I answered, doing my best to keep up with him. I knew before the words left my mouth though that it wouldn't be enough, that just like he always had and probably always would Jerome was managing to throw me off balance, make me feel like I was drowning.
His eyes twinkled with mirth as he took a step closer so that he towered over me. "Are you saying you think I'm good-looking Jaffray?" he teased.
"I'm saying you share the same quality that I and the rest of the human race posses' in that you appear more appealing in person than you do through the pixels of a computer screen," I answered.
Jerome laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not quite sure that that quality applies to everyone Mara. Photoshop exists for a reason you know."
His dark green eyes bored into me and a heady feeling began to enter into me, forcibly kicking out all thoughts related to Photoshop, computers and keeping up with him as he gently brushed a stray hair off of my forehead.
"Mara?" he gently let one hand trail down to my waist, pulling me into him and my throat turned dry as a warm tingling sensation began to take over my body.
"Hmm?" I managed, trying not to sound like a complete idiot.
"I'm going to kiss you now." He moved his other hand to my neck and it was all I could do not to spontaneously erupt into little molecules of happy.
"OK," I choked out, and stood on my tiptoes to reach him as his head ducked down to mine and our lips met.
I fairly exploded as we kissed for the first time after an entire summer apart, and leaned into him for support as I lost all feeling in my legs. My hands moved to his shoulders without me telling them to; after all, how could I when the entirety of my mind was occupied with how Jerome's lips tasted like maple syrup? A pounding filled my temples as he drew me in even closer and I blearily thought that this must be what it was like to feel drunk and if that was the case then maybe I should consider revising my 'no-alcohol-under-any-circumstances-ever' policy when a rather smug voice cut through my mental fog.
"So sorry, am I interrupting something?"
I gasped into the kiss and hastily broke away, my hands flying to my side as I spun around to face a rather gleeful looking, gothic as ever Patricia Williamson.
"Patricia!" I cried happily, desperately trying to fight the blush that rose to my cheeks as we wrapped each other in an embrace. "It's so good to see you!"
"It's great to see you too Mara. Having fun are we?" she cast a pointed look in Jerome's direction and heat rushed into my cheeks as they turned a brighter scarlet than the 'A' emblazoned onto Hester Prynne.
"No," I immediately rushed to defend myself, before mentally kicking my shin. "I mean yes, but, um," I floundered blindly, wishing it were scientifically possible to turn invisible when circumstances demanded it. "Eddie and Nina are going to be here in a few hours," I decided to say instead, changing the topic. "Their flight got delayed but everyone else is here."
Patricia nodded, filing the information before giving me a playful shrug on the shoulder. "Thanks for the tip. Well come on then, let's go say hello shall we?"
"We already said hello Trixie, unlike you we arrived on time," Jerome wrapped an arm around my waist and I automatically leaned into him, unable to help it.
"Cool your jets Clark, I don't hear a pin dropping do you?" Patricia retorted. "Speaking of which, where is old Vicky? Normally he's yelling at us to keep it down by now."
I shrugged. "Not sure. Joy and I were here first and she said she hasn't seen him."
Patricia grinned. "Maybe the thought of having to spend another year chaperoning us was too much for him and he retired early," she suggested.
Laughing at her own joke, she lead the way into the living room and was warmly welcomed by the other Anubis residents, Trudy practically bursting into tears when she saw Patricia had grown two inches over the summer.
The next two and a half hours passed in a blur, a happy, contented blur of positive energy while the Anubis House residents had ourselves a mini-reunion. Alfie and Amber spent nearly the whole time cuddled up on one of the armchairs together, giggling and kissing and taking turns feeding each other sweets. Patricia and Joy spent nearly the entire time on opposite ends of the table involved in a heated debate about whether foreign films were better dubbed over or with sub-titles. Fabian was absent for the first twenty or so minutes while he unpacked his things, and once he returned he alternated between reading a book I couldn't see the title of and commenting on Patricia and Joy's film debate.
Jerome and I mostly kept to ourselves as we sat curled up on a couch together, his arm on my shoulders, my legs pressed against his. At one point, mimicking Alfie and Amber he teasingly pretended to try and feed me a square of fudge, only to smush it against my nose at the last second. I had gasped in shock and mock fury, and promptly turned an entire plate of miniature pastries upside-down on top of his head, causing a food fight to ensue. This of course prompted a gentle chastising from Trudy and so we all helped her clean up afterwards, but surprisingly no word came from the still silent Victor. When we asked Trudy about him she would only say that he was, 'taking care of business'.
When four o'clock rolled around I noticed Fabian glance at his phone for at least the tenth time in five minutes and smiled at him sympathetically.
"Fabian, you do know checking your phone repeatedly won't make her text you any sooner right?" I asked and he looked up at me with a start. "Nina's fine. I'm sure her phone just died or something, but Trudy said her flight landed an hour ago, so she should be here soon."
Fabian gave me a quick smile but I could tell he was still worried, so I resigned myself to him stressing and turned my focus back to my boyfriend, knowing when Nina and Eddie arrived he would finally calm down.
At that moment impassioned voices floated up through the window, growing louder by the second.
"That's cheating!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"How is that cheating?"
"Are you kidding me? How is that not cheating?"
By that time the strange-sounding voices had drawn everyone's attention, and then it clicked why the voices sounded so odd – the owner's had American accents.
"It's Nina and Eddie!" Amber exclaimed joyfully, sitting upright.
"What are they arguing about?" I wondered aloud.
The outside door flew open and the argument ceased as Nina and Eddie ran through the coatroom and into the foyer, both looking around wildly, and they barreled toward the living room the second they saw us.
"Fabian stand up stand up stand up!" Nina cried as the two bolted into the living room. He quickly stood up, looking extremely confused right up until he didn't look anything because Nina had tackled him back onto the couch and kissed him soundly. Meanwhile Eddie had run straight for Patricia and pulled her towards him for a kiss the second he got within arm's reach of her.
Pulling away from the kiss, Nina stood up – leaving a rather dazed looking Fabian on the couch – and placed her hands on her hips as Eddie let go of Patricia and turned to her.
"I won," she declared triumphantly but Eddie shook his head.
"Nuh uh. I totally won," he argued.
Nina rolled her eyes. "In your dreams Miller, you just can't accept that you got a head start and you still couldn't beat me."
"First off, I don't need a head start to beat you. Secondly: I beat you," Eddie insisted.
Nina threw up her hands in exasperation and turned to me determinedly. "Mara what do you think happened? Did I kiss Fabian first or did Eddie kiss Patricia first?"
I stared at her in confusion for a second as my mind tried to process the question, and when I finally managed to do that I answered Nina in the most, elegant, poised, refined way possible. "What?"
"We had a bet on who could make it to the house first," Nina explained. "And then Eddie said a regular race was boring–"
"–And then Nina smacked me on the head–" Eddie cut in.
"–And so then he suggested that what if it was whoever got to the house and kissed their boyfriend or girlfriend first–"
"–And then she said that was stupid–"
"–And then he said I was just afraid I would lose–"
"–Which got her to agree."
"So we had the taxi drop us off at the foot of the driveway and then raced up here," Nina finished. "And I think that even if Eddie had finished first – which he didn't – I should win anyway since he tripped me running up here."
"I did not trip you," Eddie insisted indignantly. "I strategically stuck my foot out hoping it would inconvenience you and somewhat slow you down."
"Right. In other words you tripped me." Nina rolled her eyes good-naturedly and turned back to me. "So what do you think Mara? Who won?"
I quickly replayed the scene in my head, trying to slow it down. "Well I wasn't exactly timing you but if I had to guess I'd say Nina."
"Ha ha!" she raised her hands in triumph before falling back next to Fabian on the couch in satisfaction. "I told you so!"
"Well of course she took your side," Eddie pretended to pout. "Girls always side with other girls, it's practically a law of science."
Nina shook her head with mock disdain. "Eddie, there are many, many, many laws of science, and I can assure you: that is not one of them. Now don't make me talk anymore I need to catch my breath."
Eddie scowled unhappily. "I don't see why you get to complain, since you apparently won."
"Right, even though somebody cheated," Nina cut her eyes at him pointedly, eyebrows raised.
"Well then Somebody should be ashamed of himself," Eddie deadpanned, keeping his face completely straight.
"Don't you guys need to go get your suitcases?" Alfie piped up.
Nina nodded. "They're at the bottom of the driveway and one of the conditions was that loser gets the luggage. So Eddie has to get them."
Eddie extended a hand to Patricia and bowed. "Wouldst thy strongest Yacker care to help me fetch my and the lady's luggage?" he quirked, letting his lips rise into a grin.
Patricia knocked his hand away and playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Don't be stupid," she replied, sauntering over to the doorway, Eddie following suit.
Rising from the couch I walked over and wrapped Nina in a hug that she happily reciprocated as much as possible while sitting. "It's good to see you Nina!" I professed as I drew away.
Nina smiled at me, running her fingers through her hair. "Thanks Mara, I missed you too. I missed everyone," she admitted, looking around at us.
Amber tossed her long blonde hair and stood up, plopping herself down on the couch next to her best friend. "But you missed me the most I'm sure Neens."
Nina laughed as her blonde roommate pulled her into a hug. "Of course I did Amber," she assured her as I sat back down with Jerome.
"Good answer," Amber winked, before returning to Alfie.
Once Eddie and Patricia returned with the luggage we finished giving him and Nina a proper welcome. We resumed the positions we'd been in before Nina and Eddie arrived with the exception of Fabian, who instead of reading or listening to Joy and Patricia, focused on Nina. Joy easily won the debate because after Eddie arrived he kept 'accidentally' distracting Patricia by insisting on stealing kisses every so often, which stole her focus every time.
"I'm sure your mum means well Mara," Jerome assured me. I had admitted to him how my mum tended to leave me feeling stifled, like on the car ride over for instance.
"I know she does, and part of me feels bad for not liking the way she always looks after me as much as she does." I explained.
Jerome watched me carefully, waiting for me to finish. "But…" he prompted me when nothing was forthcoming.
I sighed. "But, the louder, much more convincing part of me just needs room to breathe. When I'm with her I feel like I'm under a microscope or something." I confessed as he absently fiddled with a piece of my hair, sending goose bumps up and down my legs. "I mean don't get me wrong, she's my mum and I love her; I love both of my parents. It's just easier to love them when they're on the other side of the country."
Jerome laughed at that before cupping my cheek to press another kiss to my lips that I happily sank into.
"What about your parents?" I asked once he'd drawn away and the stars left my vision.
His face stiffened up for the briefest of seconds before he relaxed. "Nothing really, they're fine. Next topic please."
I frowned when I noticed he refused to look at me. "Is something wrong?" I asked.
Jerome shook his head. "Course not. Just not a subject I'm all that keen on talking about is all."
I gently placed a hand on his. "Hey," I said, waiting for him to look at me, not continuing until he did. "Jerome if something's wrong, you know you can tell me right?"
Jerome's eyes turned sad and he closed them briefly, pressing the heel of his hand into his head. I waited for him to calm down, absently tracing the skin of his other hand with my thumb until he was ready.
"Well you see Jaffray," he eventually began. "My dad's whole, spending a good number of years in prison, securing an early release by getting help from his kids and then trying to get visitation rights to said kids didn't really go over all that well with my mum." I watched Jerome as he stiffly cracked his knuckles, seeming to grow angry as he continued, "My parents argued about it for a few weeks, and then mum put her foot down and officially vetoed his permission for visitation rights, and…"
He seemingly grappled with himself, struggling to find the right words as he ran a hand through his hair again. "Jerome, what happened?" I asked gently.
Jerome dragged his hand down his face and sighed. "They've engaged in a custody battle," he whispered quietly, like the very words pained him.
My mouth fell open in shock, already forming the 'what' as my brain struggled to wrap itself around this heartbreaking new development. But before I could get a word out, a rather grouchy sounding voice cut through our separate conversations.
"What is with all the racket?" demanded a rather sour-looking Victor as he slouched into the room, looking murderous.
We all looked at each other nervously, silently begging someone else to answer him.
"Well?" he demanded, strolling around the coffee table. "Speak up!"
"Don't you think it's a little early to start the noise police routine Victor?" Alfie looked at our housemaster curiously.
Victor turned away from glaring at Patricia and menacingly stalked towards Alfie. "What was that Lewis?" he growled.
Alfie shrugged innocently, seemingly unaware of the danger he was in. "Well you see Victor, it's only the first day back. Normally you wait until we've unpacked before you really crack down on the 'no noise above a rather loud whisper' rule," he explained, visibly fighting to keep the cheerful smile off his lips and failing miserably.
Victor's mustache ruffled slightly as he harshly exhaled through his nose. "You children need to understand that when I am telling you to be quiet it is an order, not a request. Now cease this ridiculous chatter at once!" He snapped, a fleck of spit landing on Amber's jacket sleeve making her shudder in disgust.
Victor looked around at all of us and I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat, vainly attempting to calm my breathing. You haven't done anything wrong, I kept reminding myself. You haven't done anything wrong.
"Would someone care to explain what you all were yelling about anyway?" Victor demanded impatiently. "Hmm?"
All of a sudden, Nina gasped and I looked at her to see sheer terror written across her face before she leapt from the couch and practically tackled her suitcase to the ground. It landed with a thump and my brain suddenly went on rewind. It landed? I didn't have much time to think on it however as I watched Nina shift her position so that she was sitting on top of her suitcase and attempt to smile winningly at Victor as he scowled at her.
"Miss Martin, what are you doing?" Victor scowled, leering over her. "Stand up this instant!"
Nina laughed nervously, doing her best to appear calm and even though I had less than zero ideas why she had suddenly dive-bombed her luggage I felt sorry for her. "Well Victor," Nina began, and even I could tell that she was desperately stalling, "I suddenly remembered, that… I hadn't… fulfilled, the American tradition of christening my luggage yet."
I nearly winced at the clumsiness of her excuse. I'd been there with Mr. Sweet before, and had made Patricia swear never to speak of 'the hedgehog incident' again.
Victor was not amused. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.
Panic flashed across Nina's face again and she briefly stood, only to once again throw herself back down on the luggage. "It's an American tradition," she explained, "To sit on your suitcase if you fly across the ocean. And I suddenly remembered that I hadn't yet and if you don't do it within the first couple hours of landing you're cursed with two years' worth of bad luck." She blew a hair out of her face and turned to Eddie. "And after you sit on it for thirty seconds you need a friend to sit on it with you. Eddie!" she gestured for him desperately. "Come here!"
Eddie briefly stared at her and I watched in mild amazement as the two had an entirely silent conversation in the span of a few seconds before understanding flashed across Eddie's face and he walked over and plopped himself down next to Nina. "Like she said Vicky, it's an American tradition," he grinned jovially. "Can't fault us for fulfilling our heritage can you?"
Victor scrutinized them carefully while the rest of us waited with bated breath for the explosion we were sure was coming. When he finally scowled and stalked out muttering about 'wretched children' the entire room seemed to exhale with relief once he was gone.
Nina leapt to her feet and nervously ran a hand through her hair. "Be right back, I'm going to put my suitcase in my room."
"I'll help you," Eddie offered, and the two practically flew from the room, Nina's luggage in tow.
The rest of us stared at each other curiously, until Joy asked the question we were all thinking. "What was that about?"
I shrugged. "No idea."
Amber rose to her feet and brushed imaginary dust off of her outfit. "Nor do I. But I intend to find out." Placing a quick peck on Alfie's cheek she did a one-eighty degree turn and was about to march out of the room after the Americans when our housemother entered.
"Dinner time lovelies," Trudy called as she brushed off her hands. The smile transformed into confusion as she took us in. "What happened? You all look more confused than Alfie did when I told him hamburgers weren't made of actual ham."
I felt Jerome shrug. "We're struggling to understand our American housemates travel traditions is all Trudy. No reason to worry."
We gathered around the table and a few minutes later, a slightly panicked looking Nina and considerably calmer Eddie joined us. I felt Jerome nudge my foot under the table and ducked my head as I blushed before looking back up to see him wink at me. I deeply inhaled the scents of Trudy's homemade signature 'Welcome Back Sweeties' dinner and looked around the table at all of my classmates – no, at all of my friends. Nina was laughing at something Fabian had told her, Eddie was ducking a punch Patricia threw at him, Alfie and Amber were in their own little world and Joy was alternating between egging on Patricia and warning Eddie of upcoming attacks. I heard laughter in my ears and I felt so happy I could cry as I looked at Jerome, looked around at the beautiful house that I loved so much and smiled.
This sensation right here, this feeling of absolute and utter content and elation. This was home.