Hi guys! I realize that it's been a really long time since I updated, and I felt in the mood to write this week. So today, I've written around 4,000 of our over 5,000 word chapter. I really wanted to get to that certain scene at the end (you'll see) before I quit writing. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long.

I really hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope I stayed true to Char's character from the chapters before. If you having any constructive/kind criticism concerning her character, please, please, please leave a review! I always like hearing how I'm doing, whether awesome or just okay. Thanks so much!

Thanks for reading this, guys! Remember, 2 reviews=new chapter! :)

Sing Out!

SW

Chapter 5: The Newbie

And she says

I wish that I could be like the cool kids

Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in

Cool Kids by Echosmith

I don't finish dinner. I don't want to even look at Patricia right now.

I go slowly down the stairs, hopeful that she's not in the living room at the moment. I glance into the room before I enter and breathe a sigh of relief. She's not there.

"Hey, Char," greets Mara cheerfully as I pick up my history homework from the armchair I left it on.

"Hey," I smile.

"You really made Patricia angry," Mara tells me. "Be careful where you step. I think she's planning revenge."

I roll my eyes and shut my history textbook with a loud snap. "I really don't care if I made her angry. Nina didn't deserve to be treated like that. Besides, Patricia's so caught up in Joy right now that she won't even have time to care."

Mara nods. "I hope you're right. I hate seeing you two fighting."

"Even though it happens every day?" asks Amber.

Mara sighs. "Yes, even though it happens every day."

I grin at the two and go sit down at the table to do my homework. Mick is already there, eating a late supper. Fabian is collecting the placemats for Trudy as he's on kitchen duty with Alfie tonight.

"Hey, Mick," I say, sitting down across from the athlete, "Hey, Fabian."

"Hey," says Mick. "Heard about your escapade with Patricia. Nice one!"

I laugh as we fist bump. "Thanks, Mick."

"Well, don't congratulate her!" Fabian exasperates at Mick.

"She totally deserved it, Fabian," I defend. "Besides, I won't ever do something like that again. I let my emotions take hold and it wasn't smart. But I have to admit, I really liked the outcome."

"I just don't want to see you in too much trouble, Char," Fabian replies sternly.

"I know, I'm sorry," I apologize.

I seriously hate making Fabian annoyed with me. He doesn't approve of my pranks all the time, nor does he like to participate in them. I've made sure to be careful to try not to prank people as much as used to.

I open my history textbook back up and start taking notes on the Mesopotamian societies of the Fertile Crescent.

After a minute or two, Mick says, "So what do you two think of the new chick, then?"

"I think the new girl…looks nice," Fabian concludes.

I share a glance with Mick, our eyebrows both raised in suspicion.

"Oh, really?" asks Mick coyly.

"N-no, I mean, she seems nice," Fabian stammers, blushing slightly. He moves past Mick and I quickly, trying to reach the kitchen without any more comments from the two of us.

"'Course you did," laughs Mick. "What about you, Char?"

"I think she's really nice, too, but I feel really bad for her," I tell him.

Mick takes a bite of garlic bread and tilts his head to the side questionably. "Why?"

"We haven't exactly been the most welcoming group of people," I explain. "Alfie and Jerome get into a food fight the first night she's here and Patricia makes fun of her every move and sentence, accusing her of helping kidnap her best friend who Nina has never even seen in her life! The only people who have even made a slight effort to be civil are me and Fabian."

Mick raises his eyebrows. "Oh. Well, I'll have to be a bit friendlier, then."

"We all should," I reply quietly.

I continue on with my notes, not noticing much going on around me. Soon enough, I'm done with them and Mick is gone, sitting with Amber and Mara on one of the sofas. Nina is still in the armchair, quietly reading a magazine.

I see Fabian come into the dining room with a pack of cards. He smiles and holds up the pack. "Playing card castle? Maybe we can actually get it higher than three stories this time."

"Sure," I grin.

I move around the table to take Mick's spot next to Fabian.

Soon enough, our card tower is almost five stories high and going strong.

I've noticed Fabian and Nina keep stealing glances at each other. Could Fabian already have a crush on the new girl?

I hear heavy boots stomping down the wooden stairs and Patricia enters, shouting about Victor.

"I can't believe that creep won't give me Joy's home number! At least she should get her stuff back the day after tomorrow."

"That's good. You'll be able to ring her, then," Mara says encouragingly.

Patricia nods grumpily, glancing once down at her phone, then at Nina next to her.

"I know you've got something to do with this, newbie, and I'm gonna find out what it is!"

"So you've mentioned, ten times," mutters Nina, annoyed.

"What did you say?" demands Patricia.

"Nothing," Nina replies confidently.

I share a grin with Fabian. Nina's starting to stand up for herself!

"What are you smirking about, Spider?" calls Patricia.

"Fabian told a funny joke, Patricia," I say. "Is that wrong?"

"If it's about Joy, then yes, of course it's wrong," she retorts. "This is a serious situation. I don't know how they do things in America, but here in England we take our friendships seriously and don't mock each other's housemates."

"Have you met Jerome and Alfie, Patricia?" chuckles Fabian.

Patricia sighs and settles back into her armchair, not able to think of a witty comeback to such an obvious answer. Fabian and I high five, then go back to building our card castle.

Soon enough, Nina comes and sits down across from us.

"Hi there," she greets.

"Hey," says Fabian.

I simply smile in return.

Nina smiles back and glances down at the placemats, picking at a crumb. "I just wanted to thank you both for standing up for me. I've never had anybody dump food on somebody for me. And I've never had somebody actually care enough to bring me water after getting bullied. Thank you both so much. It's nice to know that there are people here who actually care."

"It was no problem," Fabian replies. "At least, what I did wasn't."

He elbows me in the ribs playfully.

I laugh. "Hey! And honestly, I didn't mind. Patricia was basically asking for it. She seems to have a tendency to pour different liquids on all the new students here and hate their guts. Trust me, it does get better."

"Thanks," says Nina. "By the way, nice card tower. Mine always fall apart."

"We can show you how to build one, if you like," Fabian offers. "It's easy."

Nina shakes her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to go get my things ready for my first day at school tomorrow. See you then?"

Fabian and I nod. She grins at us and leaves.

"I hope she isn't pushed around by Patricia too much tonight," says Fabian as she watches the new girl go.

"I'll keep an eye out for her, don't you worry," I reply.

"I had a feeling you would anyway," he says, placing a card on the fifth level of our castle.

"You know me," I joke. "Always the protective one."

That night, Mara and I sit on her bed, finishing up some last minute biology homework while Amber takes off her makeup.

"And what was that answer to the third question in section three?" I ask. "Was it lysosome or golgi apparatus?"

"That was lysosome," replied Mara. "But you're definitely getting better at that, by the way."

"Thanks for all your help. I've always had trouble with the cell structure. I'm fine with everything else. I just have a hard time with it."

I hear the door to our room creak and somebody broad steps in.

"Hi, guys," greets Mick.

Amber whirls quickly around in her seat, makeup smudged, and cries, "Mick, I've only got one eye on!"

"I like the panda look," he smiles.

"Aw, thanks, bubs, and it's sweet of you to come and see me," Amber tells him.

"Actually, it's Mara I've come to see."

Both Mara and I snap up from our work to see Amber's shocked expression glaring into Mara's face with jealously. Her eyes narrow in our direction.

Mara doesn't seem to notice Amber's negativity, but I certainly do. She seems to stutter over her words.

"Mara as in…m-me Mara?"

"Yeah," says Mick cheerfully, "I was kind of struggling on that biology assignment and, I wondered, since you're the biology babe, whether you could…help me out?"

Mara is stunned, glancing between Mick and Amber, not sure what to do. I nudge her side with my elbow, bringing her back to reality.

"Um, yeah, sure, why not? A friend in need…"

Amber widens her eyes at Mara, looking betrayed.

"Tomorrow evening?" questions Mara, trying not to notice Amber's expression.

"It's a date," Mick says promptly. "In a manner of speaking."

I merely raise my eyebrows and Mara chuckles uncomfortably.

Mick throws a grin in my direction, then turns to leave. "See you, Char. Catch you later, babe."

Amber smiles back, face suddenly falling slack and staring blankly at Mara.

"What? You want him to fail biology?" Mara defends herself.

Amber sighs. "Probably not, but why doesn't he ask me to help him with his homework?"

I let out a short laugh, clapping a hand over my mouth. Mara simply tilts her head and raises her eyebrows.

"Okay, fine. No need to mock, Char," she scoffs. "But I don't like him asking another girl, even when it's you, Mara."

"Amber, relax!" I chuckle.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. He only wants me for my brains. And you? You're textbook gorgeous! He's crazy about you."

"Yeah, you're both right, as usual. Besides, what's not to like?" Amber agrees, spinning back around to face the mirror.

My jaw drops slightly at the statement. I should really be used to her puffed up ego by now, but its statements like that that completely catch me off guard.

"Okay, I've finished up this section's questions. What about you?" Mara asks me.

"Just have to finish writing this sentence and I'll be done," I tell her. "I've been trying to write as carefully as I can since Sweetie is so particular about everything being done in ink."

"I find that just a bit annoying, especially when we have to do a sketch of a graph or such," Mara nods.

I finish my handwriting with a flourish and dotted the end with the correct punctuation. "There we go! All done. Thanks again, Mara."

"It's no problem! You had the basics, it's just the minor details that seemed to get you."

I nod, gathering my textbook and notebook and setting it on my own bed across from hers.

"Ooh, Char-Char, did you see the new Seventeen Magazine?!" squeals Amber, brandishing the glossy magazine in my face.

I shake my head. "Sorry, I didn't. I'm not big on reading magazines."

"But don't you want to know what your favorite celebrities are up to?"

"I really only keep track of singers, and a lot of the singers I follow aren't big name artists."

"Like who?" Amber inquires, her nose scrunching.

"Well, like Young the Giant or the Shins, or First Aid Kit, or – " I tell her.

"Who?" Amber cuts in.

"Exactly," I smile.

"Oh…Well, I have to keep up with One Direction, of course, and Selena Gomez…and Victoria Beckham! Have you heard of Victoria Beckham?"

"I think the whole house has now, Amber," laughs Mara.

Victor's voice suddenly echoes from the floor below. "You have five minutes precisely, and then I want to hear a pin drop!"

"Oh, I'm not tired yet!" Amber whines.

"You still have time to read your magazine, Amber," Mara tells her kindly.

Amber sighs in relief. "Thank goodness!"

I flop back onto my bed, grabbing my laptop and my song notebook. I wrote a song just this afternoon in drama and never got the chance to type it before dinner.

It was just a minute or two later that our door slammed open, Patricia sprinting into the room and yelling. "Mara! Come quick!"

"What is it?" Mara wonders, exasperated.

"Joy!" Patricia screeches.

Amber and I exchange a look of confusion, then run out after the two other girls. We follow them to the bathroom door where Nina stands, scrubbing the mirror with a towel.

"What are you doing?!" demands Patricia.

"Good lord…" I mutter.

"Cleaning the mirror," Nina says, an obvious tone to her voice.

"Didn't you see what was on it?"

"Uh…steam?" Nina guesses.

"She's wiped it off!" Patricia protests.

"What did it say?" Mara asks quickly.

"'Help me – Joy!' And she's wiped it off so now, it looks like I'm going crazy!" Patricia relays.

"Maybe you are," I tell her. "Or maybe, just maybe, it's one of the house pranksters – you know, Jerome or Alfie? I'm sure it's not actually Joy."

"Shut it, Spider! How do you know?!" stresses Patricia.

"Take it easy, Patricia," Mara calms, putting a hand on her friend's arm.

"This is what she wanted! She's involved, I'm telling you!"

"I didn't see anything when I wiped the steam off the mirror. I only saw myself, I swear," Nina pleas.

"WHY are you girls not in your rooms?" Victor's voice booms, startling all five of us. "You know the rules."

We're all silent until Patricia gestures to Nina. "I don't want to share with her."

"Y-you know what? I'll move. Half my stuff in a pile on the floor anyway. Or I can just sleep on the couch," says Nina.

"Nobody is moving anywhere! Now get to your rooms immediately!" commands Victor.

Mara and Amber head off to our room. I give Nina a sympathetic smile and follow my roommates back to bed.

Morning comes way too quickly for my liking. I trudge down the stairs, shrugging on my school blazer over my sweater.

I round the corner of the stair way only to crash into a taller figure.

"Hey, Char." It's Jerome. I manage a smile.

"Hi, Jerome. Your hair is exceptionally poofy today," I observe.

"It is, isn't it? I like it poofy, thank you very much," he replies jokingly.

We both pause, sniffing the air questionably.

"Is that…bacon that I smell?" Jerome wonders.

"I think so," I say, excited. "My mom used to make us bacon every Saturday morning back home."

"My mum never made me anything. Do you have a fairy as a mother?" Jerome tells me as we walk into the kitchen.

"Nope, just an angel," I kid.

"Good morning, sleepy heads!" Trudy greets. "Could you help me set the table before the rest of your housemates tumble down the stairs for breakfast?"

"No problem, Trudy," I say with a grin.

Jerome groans jokingly and slumps. "Oh, Trudy, do I have to? I'm so hungry! I could eat all of this food before anyone else gets to it!"

Trudy smacks him with an oven mitt and scolds, "Quit your moaning and help or else you won't get one crumb of my croissants!"

Jerome immediately straightens his spine, a thoughtful look on his face. "On second thought, I feel quite helpful this morning. Char, would you assist me with placing bowls on the table?"

Trudy laughs and starts pulling fruit from the refrigerator.

"Sure," I chuckle, grabbing a stack of bowls from the cupboard.

As Jerome and I set the table, the rest of the Anubis house residents file in, some more awake than others.

Patricia walks in and grabs a plate of croissants from me in the kitchen.

"Hey!" I say.

"Go sit! You've done enough, Charlotte," Patricia mocks. "Don't want you dropping these delectable pastries all over the floor or on somebody's favorite shirt."

I give her an annoyed look and hold my arms up in defeat as Trudy says, "Yes, Char, you've done enough this morning. Go eat your breakfast."

"I'm going, I'm going," I sigh.

I walk out of the kitchen and to Mick's spot. He's never present during meals, so I usually fill his spot next to Fabian.

"Hey, Fabian."

"Hey, Char. Have you seen Nina this morning?"

"I thought I saw her leaving this morning after I got out of the shower. I think she's avoiding us all," I explain.

Fabian's face falls. "Poor Nina."

"I know," I concur.

I can hear Patricia bombarding Trudy with evidence of Joy's disappearance.

"And now, I can't even get a hold of her! Victor won't give me her home phone number."

"Oh, Patricia, don't worry so much! I'm sure Joy is perfectly all right. Now can you go serve those croissants? Don't want them to get too cold, now, do we?"

As Patricia enters the dining room, Mara speaks up.

"She's probably just adjusting to being away from you. She didn't exactly get to say goodbye."

Patricia merely shakes her head, dismissing the idea completely. "Joy definitely would have called by now. I'm telling you, something has happened to her!"

Jerome, thankfully, speaks up. "Patricia, give it a break! You're driving me crazy."

"It's not just him," I chime in.

"Jerome, some of us are worried about Joy, even if you're not. Char, I thought you were worried about her, too," Mara reprimands.

"Of course I am," I say sincerely. "But that doesn't mean I need to continuously spout conspiracy theories about her disappearance."

"Did you get any response to email you sent her last night?" Amber inquires.

"No," Patricia complains.

"It's difficult to know what else we can do," Fabian reasons. I nod, agreeing.

"Question the newbie, that's what!" presses Patricia.

"She has nothing to do with this, Patricia," I say.

"Yeah, she just has…really bad timing," Fabian agrees.

Patricia gives us a look of disbelief. "What about last night? That business with the mirror?"

Jerome laughs through a bite of croissant. All heads snap in his direction.

"What? You don't believe I saw anything, do you?" Patricia asks.

"Yes, we do," Amber confirms, "It's just…Mick saw Alfie hanging around our corridor last night."

"Not even Alfie would have the nerve to sneak into the bathroom and do something like that!"

I chuckle. Does she really think he wouldn't do that? It's Alfie for goodness sake!

Jerome gives her a look of skepticism. "Are we talking about the same Alfie?"

"So who do you think did write it then, Joy?" Fabian questions.

"I don't know," Patricia answers. "Maybe Nina wrote it to drive me crazy!"

I raise my eyebrows. "After all the things you said to her? I doubt it."

"Where is she, anyway?" Patricia wonders.

"She's gone to school early," Fabian tells her.

Patricia laughs. "Aw, so she's a geek as well as everything else, is she?"

Jerome chuckles and I narrow my eyes at him. He narrows his eyes right back, doing the 'I'm watching you' thing with his hands.

"It's probably more about getting away from us," Fabian realizes.

"We've hardly been welcoming, guys," I say. "I mean, I've tried to be, at least."

"I'm glad that you have, Char, but I feel a bit mean, to be honest," Mara says. There are shameful looks on everyone's face but Patricia's.

"And why should you? She's the one that's taken the place of Joy. She's in on whatever evil scheme Sweetie cooked up, that's what!" Patricia says forcefully.

I roll my eyes. It's too early in the morning for this…

The next morning, I run into Nina in the hall.

"Hi, there," I say kindly. "How was your first day yesterday? Didn't get to talk to you much except to say hello at dinner."

Nina shrugs, not making eye contact. "I-it was great! I – "

I raise my eyebrows at the obvious fib.

"It was okay," she admits. "I missed my first class, but the rest of the day was fine. It's just hard to adjust. I know you understand that."

"I do. But the first day is always the worst. Or at least, it seems so at this school. But I made a couple friends pretty quickly. Trust me, today will be better."

Nina smiles. "Thanks. It's nice to hear that. Doesn't seem like you made friends with Patricia, either."

I shake my head and laugh. "She did the same to me on my first night. Poured water all over me. It didn't end well…for either of us."

"She made fun of my family sending me here and I kind of lost it. I think Alfie is just a bit scared of me now."

"Wow. That's crazy."

I nod. "It is. But, aside from that. Do you want to walk to school with Fabian and I?"

Nina seems surprised, but shakes it off. "Sure! That'd be awesome!"

"Great! Are you heading down to breakfast?"

"I am."

"Let's go together," I suggest.

"So where are you from?" Nina asks as we start down to the dining room.

"I'm from Dallas in Texas. What about you?"

"Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas. Gran likes to meet up with her group of friends for dinner at this one restaurant once a week, so I'm pretty used to the area."

"That's really cool!" I say. "I've never been to Las Vegas. Heard a lot about it, though."

"It kind of has a negative connotation, but I actually quite enjoy it in the fall. There aren't nearly as many tourists during fall and winter, so it gets quiet. Or, at least, as quiet as Vegas can get."

We continue talking about the states until we get to the dining room. I hear Patricia's voice and then Alfie shushes them as the two of us enter.

"Sleep well, Nina?" mocks Patricia, then proceeds to make bird noises, Alfie and Jerome joining in; Alfie particularly energetic.

I glare at them all and plop down into my seat next to Fabian, scooting my chair away from Alfie.

"Ignore them," encourages Fabian.

Nina nods. "I am."

I turn to Nina. "What were they talking about?"

"I had a nightmare last night. I woke Patricia up and she put these black feathers on me from her costume boa," Nina explains.

"What was this dream, anyway?" Fabian asks.

The three of us lean in as to avoid letting the others hear.

"It was awful," Nina tells us. "I know they're making jokes, but it felt so real. It felt…evil."

The three of us exchange concerned looks. Those kinds of dreams are never good.

"Anyone seen Mara?" demands Amber, startling me, Fabian, and Nina. "She's got my hair straightener."

"Yeah, she's with Mick in our room," Fabian says.

"WHAT?"

I wince. Eek.

"Uh oh, green eyed monster alert!" jokes Jerome.

I hold back a smile. He's right.

"I'm not jealous," Amber denies, sitting down at her spot as if there's nothing wrong. "Why would I be jealous? What's there to be jealous of?"

"She's helping him with homework, that's all," says Fabian.

"Yeah, I know all about that and it's cool. I would help him, but I'm just so busy," she says, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Jerome mimes the same action and the rest of us can't help but giggle.

"I see you haven't sneaked out at the crack of dawn today," Amber addresses Nina.

"Wow, everyone really does keep tabs on everyone else around here, don't they?" Nina replies awkwardly.

"Fabian and Char said you'd gone to school early, but then you didn't turn up at first class."

Trudy, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, then says, "Nina was helping an old lady cross the road – literally! We had a surprise visitor from the old person's home."

"I'm not very good with old people," says Amber thoughtfully. "They're all so…old, aren't they?"

I choke on my bite of toast, trying not to laugh too much so the toast doesn't get stuck in my windpipe.

Fabian almost spits out his orange juice at the statement. Everyone else is in a state of shock and amusement.

"Still," Amber continues. "You must be used to it. I hear your Gran brought you up."

"She did, yeah" confirms Nina.

I go to take a bite of scrambled egg when Amber throws another curveball.

"What happened to your mum and dad?"

My fork stops half way to my mouth, my eyes slowly turning up to look at Amber in shock. I can't even move, I'm so horrified. Oh, Amber…what on earth are you thinking?

Jerome scoffs. "Amber, Queen of Tact."

Amber rolls her eyes at the blonde and turns back to Nina, who, astonishingly, is actually going to respond. "They died in a car accident."

Amber's jaw goes slack. "Oh. That's awful."

"It was a long time ago," says Nina.

"Char, didn't something happen to your parents? Did they die, too?" Amber probes.

Everyone else scoffs in shock again.

"Really?" says Jerome.

I'm at a loss for words. "Um…no, they didn't die."

"That time you got angry, you said you had to be like a mum to your brothers and sister. What happened?" Amber presses.

I suddenly am taken back to Seattle, when I was little. Back to when things were not so hopeful. I didn't have many friends, if any friends at all. Dad was angry. He was scary. I wanted to get away from him.

But I didn't want to tell them anything. I didn't even want to mention my father. I was appalled that Amber was so clueless that she didn't even mind that she was breaking so many social norms. I felt bad for her at the same time, since she didn't really know what was going on or how terrible my situation had really been.

I must have been really lost in thought, because Jerome finally responds.

"I don't think she wants to talk about it, Amber. Some things are best left unmentioned. Char will tell anyone she wants when she wants. I don't think now is a good time."

"What kind of cryptic message was that?" Patricia chuckles. "Since when did you become the parental guru?"

"Since now," says Jerome smugly.

I shoot him a thankful smile, which he returns.

Somehow, he can understands what I've gone through. I have no idea how, but he does. I really want to talk to him about that later. He's such a mystery.

"Were you raised by your grandparents, too, then, Char?" Amber says, not wanting to let the subject drop.

"No, but they lived with us in Texas, and I loved having them around. My granddaddy is the king of pranks. That's where I learned all the tricks of the trade," I smiled, glad to answer this question. "I can honestly say he's one of my best friends."

"That sounds like me and my gran," Nina tells me. "We're really close."

"So how come she's packed you off to a big, bad boarding school miles away from home, then? Sounds to me like she wanted to get rid," Patricia ridicules.

I clench my fists and grit my teeth, recognizing that foul play. "You're really using that reason again?!"

"Of course I am! It seems that Nina is wanted home even less than you are, Spider!"

"Patricia!" yells Fabian. "Don't be such a witch! I know you're upset about Joy, but there is no reason to be taking all of this out on Nina!"

"Yeah? Well, everyone seems to have forgotten all about Joy except me!" cries Patricia, storming out of the dining room.

"Good lord," I exasperate.

"You can say that again," Fabian sighs.

The end of biology didn't seem to come quickly enough. I am completely relieved to hear the end of period bell ring.

"That seemed to take a million years," I say.

Fabian nodded. "I'm usually okay in this class, but today, I just couldn't focus."

"I thought it was kind of interesting," shrugged Nina.

"Your biology assignments, please, and no excuses this time!" announces Mr. Sweet, attempting to be heard over the bell.

I pull out my assignment and stick it in Mr. Sweet's hand with a smile.

"Thank you, Charlotte. I assume it was simple work for you."

"Mara's been helping me memorize the parts of the cell, so yeah, it was a lot easier this time," I tell him.

"Good, good. See you tomorrow," he says kindly.

I nod.

"Teacher's pet," coughs Fabian.

I laugh. "Hey, now, Mr. Straight A's!"

Nina laughs along with us.

"Hey, Nina!"

"Oh, golly gee, here comes everybody's favorite monster…" I mumble.

Fabian nudges my side, obviously suppressing a grin. "Quit that!"

"I just wanted to say, you know, sorry about breakfast," Patricia tells Nina, a sugary sweet quality to her voice that I don't trust one bit.

Nina seems to be convinced of it. "It's fine. A little teasing helps the tea and toast go down."

Patricia does a fake chuckle as the three of us begin to head out of the classroom. She stops us by saying, "Ooh, and, uh, I think it's about time we welcomed you into the school properly. The traditional way."

Fabian and I exchange puzzled expressions.

"What are you going on about?" questions Fabian.

"Alfie," Patricia says cheerily, "why don't you tell Nina about the initiation ceremony?"

"The what?" exclaims Fabian.

"I never had an – "

I'm cut off by Jerome suddenly wrapping his arms around me, one hand clamped straight over my lips.

I try to move, but he just grins down at me. "Sorry about this."

I attempt to say, 'no you're not,' but it comes out as, "Oh ure oht!"

"Yeah, every new person in this school has to undergo, like…an initiation ceremony."

I struggle to free myself from Jerome's grip by stomping on his foot, which, thankfully, hurts him. He immediately lets go.

"For goodness sakes, there isn't an initiation ceremony," I say. "You never mentioned one to me when I first arrived."

"Yeah, since when is this something we do?" Fabian nods.

"Since forever, Fabian," Patricia says firmly. "Of course you did, Char."

"Oh yeah? When did I –,"

"Hush," Alfie silences me, placing a finger on my lips.

I bat it away, wiping my mouth. Both Jerome and Alfie's hands on my face? Gross!

"What are you trying –," starts Fabian.

"It's okay. Sounds like fun," Nina says quickly but confidently. "What do I have to do?"

Is she really going to do this?