Hi everyone! So I finally have the first season on DVD and I've carefully based this chapter off the show, just as the rest of the story will. I won't be able to update often, as I've said before, but I'd like at least two reviews before I post the next chapter.

Sorry it's been so long since I updated! I've been SUPER busy!

So, on with the story! It's long: you're welcome. :)

Disclaimer: I own no part of the television program The House of Anubis. All rights are attributed to Nickelodeon.

Chapter 4: The Disappearance of Joy Mercer

Tomorrow will be kinder

It's know, I've seen it before

A brighter day is coming my way

Yes, tomorrow will be kinder

Tomorrow Will Be Kinder by The Secret Sisters

TWO WEEKS LATER…

I trudge downstairs to breakfast, tugging on my sheer black tights and yawning profusely. My jet lag is still playing a part when it comes to my sleep patterns. Thankfully, it's not as bad as it was two weeks ago, but I'm not fully adjusted to England's time.

I run a hand through my blonde and red hair as I enter the dining room. Everyone but Amber is at the table eating.

"Look who's finally up! Sleep better last night, dear?" asks Trudy kindly as she pours me some apple juice.

"I did, thanks," I grin, scooping some scrambled eggs onto my plate.

"Just don't fall asleep in your cereal again," Fabian teases me.

I roll my eyes good naturedly. "Whatever."

"At least she isn't running into people with doors anymore," gripes Patricia from the other end of the table.

"Give it a rest, Patricia," Mara says firmly. "That's gotten really old."

"So has her presence," Patricia shoots back, waving her fork in my direction.

"Hey, just focus on what's ahead of us," Joy says, putting a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "We've got that stupid practice exam in English today."

"Hey, I enjoy those," Mara says, downcast.

"How on earth do you enjoy those?" asks Jerome, disgusted.

"Whenever I try to recite Shakespeare, I end up sounding like I have a horrid cold," Alfie says. "Who would want to learn about some old dead guy?"

"Mick is coming back today!" squeals Amber as she enters the dining room.

"Amber, it's too early for your screaming!" groans Patricia.

Just another average Monday morning at Anubis House.

Fabian and I set off to school together, just as normal, with Alfie and Jerome trailing behind us. There have been several occasions where Jerome will kick the back of my foot and trip me or Alfie will squirt us with small water pistols, soaking the back of our blazers.

"Hey, Char," calls Jerome.

Fabian and I stop, give each other a worried look, and turn around. There's Jerome and Alfie, scurrying up to us with an insane look in their eyes.

"Hey, guys," Fabian greets. "What's going on?"

Jerome loops his arms around Fabian and I and grins at the both of us.

Since I've been here, I've found out nothing about why he looked at me the way he did the first night. All I know is he's arrogant, loves pulling pranks, and is very sarcastic. If there's a good prank to be pulled on Victor, he and Alfie come to me (unless I'm pranking them or they're pranking me). But other than that, he gets on my nerves.

"I'll tell you what's going on, my friends. The greatest prank we'll ever pull on old Sweetie will happen today!" he announces with bravado.

I raise my eyebrows, casting an interested look at Fabian. He shakes his head at me. I know he doesn't like getting involved with the pranks and he doesn't want me to get into any trouble. Instead, I make a puppy dog face, trying to convince him to let me do this one just once.

"Fine," Fabian agrees. "But I will not be involved."

I smile at him. "Thanks, Fabian! You're the best."

He shoves Jerome's arm off his shoulders and walks quickly ahead. "Save you a seat in biology? Don't be late!"

"I won't be! And please do!" I call as he hurries away. I turn to the two boys. "Okay, number one, what is the prank; number two, please tell me it doesn't involve stealing keys or locking people in somewhere where they can't get out."

Jerome smirks at Alfie and Alfie just nods.

"Here's the plan, Char. We're all in biology together, yes?" Jerome says.

"Duh, we're in there altogether every day," I reply sarcastically. "You glued my textbook to the desk last week."

"So what we're going to do is each sneak out a tiny box of those frogs we have to kill and dissect later this week. Then, once the class is over, we release the frogs into his office before he gets back!" Alfie tells me enthusiastically.

I smile and nod. I haven't been a part of such a big prank since sophomore year homecoming when we tricked the seniors into thinking it was canceled.

"That sounds pretty awesome," I say. "Alright, you've convinced me. I'm in."

Jerome and Alfie high-five, then each smack me on the arm. I ruffle Jerome's hair and poke Alfie in the stomach, making him squeak.

"Char, not the hair! That's my lady-killer!"

"Hey! You know I'm ticklish!"

We enter the school together, heading to our lockers. I see Fabian waiting at mine and smile.

"Hey," I greet as I walk up to open my locker.

"So what is this prank you're going to participate in?" Fabian wonders, concerned. "It's not illegal, right?"

I laugh as I slide books into my locker. "Of course it's not illegal!"

Fabian holds up his hands in defense. "You never know with them, Char. Those two have so many secrets. But you're an open book. That's why I hang out with you."

If only you knew, Fabian, I think. You definitely wouldn't call me an open book. I've got so many secrets.

I just chuckle and shut my locker. "Let's get this class over with."

He chuckles and we trudge towards the biology classroom.

As soon as we enter, Fabian is immediately ambushed by Joy.

"Hi, Fabes!" she cries. "Come sit by me!"

Then without an answer, she grasps his arms and drags him over to our usual desk. She seems like she's trying to compete with me to hang out with Fabian. I honestly don't see why the three of us can't hang out. She's been doing that sort of thing since I've arrived.

But I just shake my head, smile, and walk over to Jerome and Alfie's desk instead.

"Sorry!" mouths Fabian.

I wave it off and mouth back, "It's fine!"

As I sit down, Alfie says, "Yes! The Dream Team should sit together today, anyways. We've got our prank to pull! He'll never suspect it!"

"He will if you don't shut your mouth," Jerome says, nudging Alfie in the ribs with his elbow.

"Sorry," Alfie whispers. "He'll never suspect it!"

"Nice cover," I laugh.

Then Mr. Sweet walks in, his arms full of textbooks and other reading material he uses in the lessons. I glance over at Fabian, stuck between Mara and Joy. His eyes harden and his eyebrows rise, as if warning me of the consequences of this prank.

I nod once and widen my eyes back, as if telling him I accepted that I might get in trouble. For now, the teachers trust me, as I get good grades and are polite. But I know they won't like me too much if they catch me in this prank.

Jerome pokes my shoulder and points to the tank full of frogs, then the boxes next to the tank. "Once he turns around, I'll sneak over first and grab a few frogs. You're next, then Alfie."

"Just remember, we have to wait a while between trips. We don't want him to suspect anything," I whisper, opening my notes and textbook.

"You're actually going to do schoolwork, too?" Alfie asks in disbelief.

"Hey, I've got to maintain my scholarships," I tell them, jotting down the homework assignment that's due in a couple of days.

"Scholarships? As in plural? I thought you only had one scholarship, singular," Jerome says, doubtful.

Shoot, I think. I forgot that they don't know about my music scholarship! I'll have to cover…

"Sorry, I meant scholarship," I say. "I just fumbled my words. I was thinking of frogs and added the s at the end."

"Okay," he replies, still a little unconvinced.

I sit through fifteen minutes of the lesson, taking notes and answering questions about the proper procedure for frog dissection. I have no interest in cutting up the frog, but I think the overall experience will be interesting and educational. That is, unless we succeed.

"Hurry up, Alfie!"

"Come on! We don't have much time!"

Jerome and I hiss at Alfie as we exit the classroom after biology. The two of us have our box of croaking frogs. Alfie just has to catch up to us.

"I'm sorry!" he whispers frantically, makes weird faces. "Amber flipped her gorgeous hair in my face and some of it got in my mouth!"

I giggle and Jerome just rolls his eyes as the three of us set out down the hallway.

I reach the door and jiggle door handle.

"It's locked!" I exasperate.

"Move out of the way," Jerome says, pushing me out of the way. "Sometimes girls are just not strong enough to open a door."

I raise an eyebrow at him in protest, but keep my mouth shut. See, it's these kinds of comments that bother me.

He tries is several times, then throws his free hand up in the air in annoyance.

"Great, now what are we going to do?" Jerome says through gritted teeth.

"We could go put the frogs back," I suggest.

"Sweetie alert! Sweetie alert!" Alfie cries. "What do we do?"

Then a mischievous idea pops into my mind. "Alfie, walk down the hallway right by Mr. Sweet, pretend to trip, and let the frogs loose in the hallway! Then in the chaos, grab his keys, throw them to me or Jerome, and we'll set the frogs loose in his office!"

"Then how are we going to get his keys back to him?" Jerome asks.

"We'll throw them back to Alfie who can just drop them on the floor to make it look like the keys slid out of old Sweetie's pocket and onto the floor," I tell them quickly.

"Excellent!" smiles Alfie. "Here I go."

Then he turns and takes a few strides down the hallway. He pretends to trip right as Mr. Sweet passes him, flying to the hard floor. His box of frogs magically opens and the frogs go all over the hallway.

Students scream and run as the mass of frogs begin to hop around into lockers, onto shoes, and into bags.

Mr. Sweet panics and starts yelling at students to stay calm. Alfie is running around, his hands open as if he's trying to capture the frogs.

"ALFIE LEWIS!" screams Mr. Sweet. "What on EARTH are you DOING?!"

Jerome and I can barely contain ourselves as the headmaster flops onto floor, conveniently stumbled on by Alfie.

"Sorry, Mr. Sweet!" he says. I watch as he picks up the keys off the floor. Mr. Sweet must have lost them when Alfie fell on him.

Alfie throws me the keys and I hurriedly unlock Mr. Sweet's door.

Jerome looks around expectantly and shoves me inside the office, closing the door behind us.

I immediately open up my box of frogs and toss the little creatures onto the floor and Sweetie's desk.

"Put a few in his coat pocket, Jerome," I say. "I'll get some in his drawers."

"His tea, too," laughs Jerome.

It doesn't take us long to distribute the frogs in his office. We stuff the cardboard boxes into our bags and scurry out of the office.

As we reenter the hall, we see Alfie and Mr. Sweet collecting the frogs and sticking them back into the box.

I start giggling and Jerome has to nudge me with his elbow to shut me up.

This is definitely one of the best pranks I've ever pulled!

I toss Alfie the keys when Sweetie isn't looking.

"Oh, Mr. Sweet, you dropped your keys," Alfie says, holding up the key ring.

"Thank you, Alfie," he says. "Now I suggest you get to class. I'll finish up here."

"Thank you, sir," Alfie squeaks, holding in his laughter with difficulty.

Alfie joins Jerome and I and we enter our French classroom. We squeak and sputter as our laughter begins to be released.

Alfie and I high-five before I take my seat next to Fabian.

"Did you do it?" Fabian asks, his eyes wide.

I laugh in response. "I can't wait to see his face when he discovers all those frogs in his office!"

Fabian chuckles. "That frog thing in the hallway was a distraction, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, and it was a pretty good one at that," Alfie says, coming up to our desk with Jerome.

"And it was her idea," Jerome says, pointing to me.

"The distraction bit only," I reply. "Not the prank itself. Whose idea was that in the first place?"

Alfie raises his hand. "It was mine!"

Fabian puts his head on his hands and leans his elbows on the desk. "I can't believe you actually did it. You're all going to be in loads of trouble once Sweetie finds out."

"He's not going to find out," Jerome says, smirking and crossing his arms. "Trust me, we've left no evidence behind that it was us. Besides, we have Char on our side."

I scrunch my eyebrows, confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're the teacher's pet," Jerome states. "They can't do anything to you. You're here on a big fat English scholarship, correct?"

I try my best not to look guilty. Yeah, a big fat English scholarship and a bigger, fatter music scholarship.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, anyone with that kind of scholarship is going to be treated better than the rest of us. It's a scientifically proven fact," Alfie responds.

I roll my eyes and put my head on my desk. Why on earth do I hang out with them?

"Good afternoon, class!" greets Mrs. Andrews as she enters the classroom.

I immediately straighten myself out in my chair, giving Mrs. Andrews my full attention. She sets down her jacket on the back of her chair and starts pacing around the room.

"So this afternoon we are going to have, as promised, a practice exam!"

"But, daddy, you have to extend my credit limit!" Amber pleads into her phone.

I roll my eyes. That's the fifth time this morning! I don't know how on earth I'm able to room with her.

I hear Mrs. Andrews sigh. "Phone off, Amber."

"But I've seen a pair of really important shoes!" Amber says, ignoring our English teacher.

Then Mick walks in, sweaty and dressed in sweats and his uniform jacket. He gives me and Fabian a wave as he enters.

"Dad, I have to go, I'm in school," Amber says hurriedly, hanging up on her father and shoving her phone into her bag. "Mick, you're back!"

Mick gracefully throws his soccer ball (or football, as they call it here) into the trash can and grins at Fabian and I.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologizes to Mrs. Andrews.

"You couldn't have changed first? Just try not to perspire all over the paper," replies Mrs. Andrews, her face scrunched up in disgust.

I turn back to the front as Amber loudly comments of her boyfriend, "Could he be any hotter?"

I glance at Fabian, not surprised at my roommate's comments.

"Now hopefully, we won't have any more interruptions," Mrs. Andrews announces. "Please get out your pencils and put everything else away."

Once the practice exams are passed out, she says, "Right, you have exactly one hour to complete the paper. The time is six minutes past two—"

"Mrs. A?" I hear Alfie chime in from the back.

"Yes, Alfie?" groans Mrs. Andrews.

"Nosebleed," Alfie replies quickly. "It's a gusher!"

I turn quickly to see Alfie stuffing a red-splattered tissue up his nose. I see Jerome pocket a small bottle. Is that my bottle of fake blood?

"Infirmary! Quickly! Run along!" blurts Mrs. Andrews.

As Alfie passes my desk, he holds up the tissue and makes a goofy face. I knew he stole my fake blood! Now he's using it to get out of class! Everyone laughs, Mrs. Andrews rolling her eyes as she straightens her papers, oblivious to the joke Alfie is currently playing.

He crashes straight in the headmaster, Mr. Sweet, who grabs his arms and pushes him quickly out the door. "Watch where you're going boy! More haste, less speed."

Alfie nods, thumb up in understanding, and hurries out the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, Mrs. Andrews," says Mr. Sweet, "Joy, there's someone to see you in my office."

Fabian and I watch as the teachers give each other a certain glance as Joy exits the classroom.

"That was odd," Fabian whispers.

I nod. "Yeah, it was. I wonder what the meant by it."

"Miss Havers, Mr. Rutter, this is a practice exam, not a group project. Please refrain from discussions until after class," Mrs. Andrews says pointedly. "I expect better from the both of you."

"Sorry, Mrs. Andrews," Fabian apologizes.

And without another thought of Joy or the teachers, the two of us continue with our practice exams.

Later that evening, everyone is in the living room, waiting for Trudy to serve dinner. Fabian and I have claimed our usual two armchairs by the door. Fabian reads a science magazine while I do some history homework.

"Fabian, what were the dates for the fall of the Roman Republic? It slipped my mind," I ask, flipping through my notes.

"It's around 49-27 BC," he replied, distracted.

"Thanks."

Suddenly, Patricia stomps into the living room, fuming.

"Ooh, the Patricia monster!" jokes Jerome. "Any luck with your missing Joy case?"

"No," she gripes. "Her phone was even left here. She'd never leave her phone. I can't believe no one's got her home phone number!"

"That's because this is her home. Just call her phone," suggests Amber airily.

I raise my eyebrows at her comment.

"Amber, keep up! I told you she left her phone behind."

"So text her."

"Stupidity leak," Patricia mocks, tapping the blonde on the head.

"So they've already got someone else in her bed?" asks Fabian.

Patricia nods. "Yeah, it's that girl we saw in the taxi. She's American and she's, like, totally obsessed with it. She said it like a hundred times. Kind of like you, Spider."

"I might be American, but I'm not 'obsessed' with my own nationality," I defend, closing my textbook with a snap. "She probably just feels a bit awkward. You know, I did. It's hard to move half way across the world away from your family."

"But Joy's just gone? That really is weird," Mara chimes in.

"Maybe," says Alfie, sitting up on the sofa and pretending to be serious, "Joy's been abducted by aliens and this new girl's one of them."

Jerome laughs as the rest of us roll our eyes.

"Yeah, maybe the new girl's an alien in a flesh suit," he jokes, cocking an eyebrow in mock solemnity.

"We were planning a rom-com box set marathon tonight. You know Joy's rom-com obsession. How could she have gone just like that?" complains Patricia.

Jerome sighs and replies, "Patricia, you've disappeared more than enough times."

"Yeah, but she would have called me, though!" she protests.

The room erupts into a rumble of clashing conversations. I try to get Patricia's attention.

"Patricia, come on! You can't just assume she's been kidnapped!" I say, trying to convince her that her delusional notions can't be true.

The talking stops completely as everyone stops and stares at the spot above my head. I frown, looking around, then turn to look behind me.

Oh. It's the new girl.

She grins at us, trying to be as friendly as possible.

"Hi!" she greets cheerfully, "I'm Nina! I'm from America!"

"Hi," says Fabian.

I feel kind of bad for Nina, so I say, "Hey."

She says hi back to the both of us, relieved that someone finally talked to her.

"Welcome, space girl," Alfie bursts, standing, "or should I say bloop bleep blat as they say in your language."

Everyone chuckles in disbelief.

"Alfie, really?" I scold.

He shrugs and grins, then high fives Jerome gleefully.

"Supper's ready!" calls Trudy from the dining room.

All but me scurry over to the table, ready to get away from Patricia's stupid antics and the new American.

I put a hand on Nina's shoulder as she begins to walk away.

She turns, startled. "Um, hi?"

"Hey, I'm Char. It's really great to have another American here. Sorry if everyone's so…put out. Patricia's been a real pain for the last few hours, or, should I say, the past two weeks," tell her warmly.

I feel really bad for her. I had a much warmer greeting from the rest of the house. She hasn't exactly had the greatest impression of us all.

Nina grins again. "It's so nice to meet you! Yeah, I'm really glad I'm not the only American here."

"Come on, girls, time to eat!" Trudy says, waving her spaghetti ladle at us.

Nina and I smile at each other. But I turn to find Patricia in my seat at the end of the table.

"Thanks for the chair, Char. Didn't think you'd be needing it today," she says, smiling sweetly.

I give her a confused look, but ignore it and sit in Mick's spot next to Fabian.

Nina plops down in a chair across from Fabian, right next to Patricia.

Amber walks around the table, holding the pepper grinder and putting a hand on her hip. "That's my seat."

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want to-" says Nina, embarrassed. She stands and offers the spot to Amber.

"Where's Mick?" Amber wonders.

"Um, I don't even know who you are, so…" Nina states.

Amber thrusts the pepper grinder and struts out of the dining room.

Fabian and I exchange a look. Typical Amber.

Nina sits again, obviously puzzled by Amber's behavior.

"You heard what Amber said. That's her spot," Patricia tells her.

"Yeah, but Amber's not here right now," Nina says.

"That's your way, isn't it?" accuses Patricia. "Somebody's gone for five seconds and you're already moved in."

I'm about to tell the brat off when Fabian nudges me and says, "Patricia is head of the welcoming committee. Take no notice just sit wherever you'd like."

"Yeah, just ignore Patty Cake here," I chime in. "She's the irrational one in Anubis House."

"I am not irrational," Patricia defends, narrowing her eyes at me. "I'm actually observant, Spider."

"Spider?" wonders Nina.

"Just a nickname she's decided to give me," I reply. "On my first day, she assumed I was named after the spider in Charlotte's Web."

"That's strange," Nina chuckles.

"Just like you," Patricia shoots back.

I sigh and glare at Patricia. I really don't understand why she has to be so rude to Nina. Nina has done nothing wrong since she's been here.

Dinner continues without any further discussion. The only sound that's audible is forks clanking as they hit plates.

"Stop it Alfie, that's disgusting!" Mara exclaims. "And you're probably going to choke on it!"

Jerome laughs as Alfie speaks with his mouth full. "But it's delicious this way!"

I look over to see Alfie shoveling food into his mouth. Again, typical Alfie. I think he does something like this pretty much every meal.

"Alfie, don't play with your food," Jerome scolds. Then, instead of putting a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth, he flings it across the table, splattering Alfie with noodles and sauce.

I can't help but giggle. That was a pretty good joke.

Alfie grabs two handfuls of his food and throws it right onto Jerome's face. He and Mara screech as Jerome tosses salad at his best friend. Alfie grabs more spaghetti and tries to hurl it at Jerome, but ends up throwing it all over me, Fabian, Patricia, and Nina.

I gasp as I pull noodles out of my long hair.

"In your face!" yells Alfie as he accidentally hits Amber in the eye with sauce.

Jerome heaves more salad at Alfie, but all the lettuce and vegetables end up smacking me and Fabian in the face.

"Really, guys, every meal?" gasps Fabian.

I pick lettuce out of my hair and wipe sauce off my blue sweater.

"Thanks for the salad, Jerome," I say as I pile the lettuce I found in my hair next to my plate.

"OOPS!"

I glance up to see Patricia pouring water onto Nina's lap. Nina squeals and jumps up away from the table.

My mouth drops. Does she do this to everyone new?

"Classy, Patricia," Fabian says, frustrated.

"What? It was an accident!" Patricia says innocently.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I think my sweater's shrinking to my body as we speak," Nina manages to choke out.

Fabian grabs a handful of napkins and shoves them into my hands, then takes more for himself. We quickly go over and start helping her dry herself off.

"So, Nina, when are you going to start telling us what you know about Joy's disappearance?" I hear Patricia interrogate.

"I guess when I actually know something," Nina answers quietly.

"Oh, come on! One minute, I'm sitting next to Joy in class and the next, she's disappeared and you've taken her place," blames Patricia.

I give Nina a napkin to wipe sauce off her face.

"Would you give it a rest?" I tell Patricia. But she ignores me.

"Kind of a coincidence, don't you think?"

"I guess it is," Nina retorts.

By now, I'm fuming. How dare Patricia attack Nina after she's just arrived! She obviously has nothing to do with Joy leaving the school. Nina is just trying to have a good experience her first day and Patricia is completely ruining it for her.

"Maybe she snatched her and locked her in the cellar! Ohwhooo!" Alfie jokes, making ghost noises and wiggling his fingers.

"Shut up, Alfie," demands Patricia. She turns back to Nina. "Well?"

"Like I said, I don't know anything about Joy or her disappearance!"

"I'll get it out of you…eventually!"

That is it! I'm slapping that stupid piece of crap right now!

I am this close to shouting obscenities at Patricia when Victor walks in.

"Nina, phone call for you! What's going on?" Victor wonders suspiciously.

"Nothing," Patricia says, a fake, sugary sweet tone to her voice. "Just Nina spilled water everywhere."

Nina sighs, wipes more spaghetti off herself, then follows Victor out into the hall.

"Success is mine!" Patricia says triumphantly.

I take a deep breath. This is my chance to say what's on my mind and I don't care if I get in trouble or not!

I'm almost shaking with rage now.

"Char," Fabian whispers. "Char, don't—"

"What is wrong with you?!" I explode at Patricia. "Nina very clearly knows nothing about Joy! Why can't you just accept that? Oh, wait, I know why—it's because you're nothing but a selfish, spoiled, and immature three year old! Do you not have anything better to do than bully new students? First me, then her? What, do you have something against Americans? Are we just inferior to you or something, because I really don't understand that. Look, Joy is gone and you have to accept that. People leave and sometimes you're not going to be ready for that. But you can't go around accusing people of things like kidnapping and knowing things about your lost friends when they clearly know nothing about it!"

Patricia glares intently at me. "If you feel that way, why don't you leave?"

"It's not me that needs to leave, it's you! You're the one causing trouble around here, Patty Cake. The common denominator in both of these situations is you!" I retort.

Patricia clamps her jaw shut and flares her nostrils.

"Ooh, burn," I hear Jerome stage whisper.

"Maybe you'd understand if one of your friends suddenly went missing!" Patricia spits.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't go all psycho crazy on the new girl and interrogate her because she's my new roommate!" I yell.

"You're the psycho one! You're all the psycho ones! You don't think something is going on! There has to be! You've been brainwashed by the teachers!" Patricia says, slamming a hand on the table.

I laugh bitterly, a horrible idea forming in my mind. "Brainwashed, hm?"

I pick up the water pitcher and my plate of spaghetti. "I'll give you brainwashed!"

And with that, I dump the rest of the water over head, and then smash my plate of spaghetti and salad over that.

Fabian's mouth drops in disbelief and Jerome and Alfie crack up with laughter.

"I-I'm just going to bring Nina some water," Fabian stutters.

"I'll come with you," I interrupt.

Fabian cautiously picks up Nina's water cup and the two of us head towards the door.

"Smooth move, Char," he mutters.

"I am not saying sorry," I reply firmly. "She deserved that."

Fabian says nothing, just heads out the door to the front hall where Nina is on the phone.

That poor Nina. She's had a worse first day than I did.

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