Thanks for all the reviews and alerts/favorites! I'm planning on changing my updating schedule from every few days to every week. Sorry about that, this story is going to be longer than its predecessor and I have a lot of work to get through now.

Chapter 2 The First Blow

Fabian's P.O.V.

August 23, 10:45 A.M.

We got into the auditorium with the rest of the junior student body coming in at the same time. The line was really crowded and everybody packed together, people practically breathing in each other's faces. I hoped that my breath didn't smell bad, and I'm pretty sure that was running through the minds of several other guys in the crowd as well.

The new auditorium was massive, able to support the entire upper school student body. It was a nice upgrade compared to the theater that we had been using last year while this one was under construction. The drama room is nice and all, but I still would of liked to perform our play on a big stage.

We finally managed to get inside and I saw Nina's eyes search for other members of Anubis House. Amber was doing the same thing and she must have found someone because she gave out a delightful squeal, grabbed Mick's hand, and dragged him down further into the auditorium. Nina and I saw who she was moving towards and smiled together. Patricia, Mara, and Jerome were sitting next to each other, waving at Amber.

"Come on!" Nina said smiling. She led the way down towards where everybody was sitting. As we got closer I couldn't help but notice Jerome's arm was over Mara's seat, and she didn't seem to care that much. I smiled, not much had changed about the group. Although I was a little surprised when Patricia hugged Nina. Maybe last year when she blackmailed me, she was really doing it for Nina's sake.

"God Nina! Don't ever do anything like that again!" Patricia said, referring to her leaving early last year, "Though I do have to admit, it was nice to see Joy defeated when Fabian came back in gloating that you two had professed your love for each other!"

"I wasn't gloating!" I stammered. I hated it when people tried to make stories sound grander than they actually were, I was so nervous when I got back to the house that I felt like I was going to vomit all over the floor.

"Sure you weren't." Patricia said, giving me a baby like face. Nina hugged me, giggling a little bit. She turned to Patricia,

"Have you seen Joy yet?" she asked innocently enough, but the question was filled with a mix set of emotions, most of them negative. Patricia's facial features also changed from happy to the scowl that Patricia wears when she get annoyed with someone.

"Yeah," She replied looking side to side, "I saw her when I got here earlier. She arrived with a couple of her mates in some limo. I don't think it was her dad's though, they haven't been getting along well since… you know." Yes, Sibuna knew exactly what she was talking about. "She was staying with friends for most of the summer I think. Hopefully she wasn't staying with the one who controls admissions and placement. She might just try to push her way back into our house and later our group by putting on the doe eyes and kind grandmother act."

Nina shivered. "I hope not! I don't think I could deal with that much drama." My heart deflated.

"I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad if Joy came back for whatever reason. We could take her I'm sure." Nina spun around along with Patricia, both of them giving me a discomforting look.

"Please tell me we're talking about different Joys, Fabian?" Patricia said.

"Yeah, where did that come from, Fabian?" Nina questioned. I just shrugged and luckily for me the lights began to flash, signaling that the assembly was just about to start. Nina dropped the subject, but Patricia was still staring at me. We all sat down when suddenly Alfie came running into our row sitting next to Mick, panting really hard.

"Sorry I'm late, somebody moved my luggage and it was almost brought back to the airport!" Alfie said, coughing a little. Several people around us told him to be quiet and on my right I heard Jerome stiffly a snort. Mara slapped him playfully on the arm and resumed her perfect composure. On my left I saw Alfie hold up a hand waving at Amber who was next to Mick. "Hey Ams!" Alfie said.

Amber looked up for just a second, muttered something that might have been a "hello". Mick stared venomously at Alfie, who seemed to shrink away. I sighed, 'Tough year ahead for those two again.' I thought, remembering what Amber did to those two last year. They nearly killed each other in fits of jealously and rage.

Mr. Sweet came up on the stage, cleared his throat, and adjusted the microphone in front of him. "Hello everyone, and welcome to junior year of high school!" There was a lot of clapping and several people yelled a little. Eventually everyone settled down after Mr. Sweet banged on the microphone before continuing. "This year will be a very important year for all you. You will be making choices that will decide your life style, your academic progress, and ultimately you future." I looked at Nina who was paying close attention to Mr. Sweet.

'Nina was my future.' I thought. Mr. Sweet continued to talk for several minutes about school policy and stuff. Most of us had this memorized backwards, but since Nina wasn't here for the assembly last year she was paying close attention. The anxiety came creeping up on me again, dreading when Mrs. Andrews announces house placement.

Mr. Sweet wrapped up his speech with encouraging words for our futures, and left the podium to sit with the other teachers on stage. There was general clapping when he finished and some more when Mrs. Andrews got up to the podium. She adjusted the microphone herself and began to speak. "Good morning Juniors. I hope that you all had a wonderful summer and are excited for another year here. Now, I would regularly give out words of advice during this time, but I have a feeling you are all anxious to learn of you house placement this year." She looked down at a clipboard that she brought up the podium with her and pulled out her glasses, "Most of you will be happy to hear that there weren't many changes in house placement, but occasionally there are a few changes here and there. No matter where you are, I'm sure that you all will be happy." Mrs. Andrews was staring out in the mass of students in general, but I got a weird feeling in my gut that she was staring right at me and Nina. I shrank a little bit in my seat just as a natural reaction, though it was enough for Nina to notice.

"Are you ok Fabian?" She asked with a quizzical look on her face. I smiled back reassuringly as possible and adjusted myself upright in the seat. Mrs. Andrews rested the clipboard on the podium, cleared her throat, and leaning into the microphone.

"Our first house, alphabetically done of courses, is-" Mrs. Andrews said reading out the house name and then the names of the students that would be residing there for the year. So far, students who had their names called looked mainly happy, though there were couples who looked unhappy and put on sad faces in front of their friends. After about three other houses, Mrs. Andrews got to Amen-Ra House and I knew that Anubis was next. I turned to Nina, and grabbed her hand. She looked a little shocked by how hard I grabbed her hand and flinched a little.

"Ow, Fabian! What's the matter?" Nina asked, pulling her hand out of my grasp. A student behind us shushed us, but I ignored her.

"Nina, there's something I need to tell you. And I know that you may ha-" I never got to finish my sentence as Mrs. Andrews called out "Anubis House" and Patricia shushed me this time. Nina looked between me and the stage and decided what Mrs. Andrews had to say was more important.

I sat back, resigning myself to what was to come. Every fiber in my body wanted to simply get up and leave the auditorium so I wouldn't have to deal with a shocked and sadden Nina, but I forced myself to stay as Mrs. Andrews began reading of names.

"Mick Campbell." Mrs. Andrews read. My heart began to beat faster than it ever had in my entire life.

"Jerome Clark." It seemed like the entire auditorium was pulsating with me.

"Mara Jaffrey." I think I was sweating, I wasn't sure.

"Alfie Lewis." My eyes were fixated on the stage, unable to leave them. Next was the M's, and 'Martin' was ahead of both 'Mercer' and 'Millington'.

'Here it is.' I thought, forcing my eyes shut.

"Joy Mercer." I heard Patricia shout 'what' next to me. I guess she jumped out of her seat also because I heard the retractable seat go up and then back down as someone came crashing down into it.

"Amber Millington." Mrs. Andrews continued.

"Wait," Alfie whispered, "Isn't 'Martin' before 'Mercer' and 'Millington'?" I heard Nina give a sharp intake of breath and I blindly found her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Even though I wasn't looking at her I knew it didn't work.

"Fabian Rutter." Mrs. Andrews called out.

"That was the last of the M's." Nina mumbled next to me. I brought her into an embrace, holding her tight like a father telling their child it will be alright.

"And Patricia Williamson." Mrs. Andrews said. "Next is the Beowulf House."

The group was stunned; most of them had their mouths open with Amber and Patricia looking like they were ready to scream. I could just picture Joy's smug look, thanking god for this "miracle". I held Nina tighter, whispering in her ear that it would be alright.

I knew it wouldn't be.

Thanks to all those who reviewed again, and please continue to review.

Next Chapter: ODIN HOUSE