Wow, this update was later than I expected it to be. I have been busy the past few days, but here I am, back and on hold of a computer.

Well, here's the next installment.

Nina

We three girls look at each other, a feather in hand, as we try to think on what approach we are going to use in cleaning all the furniture. Jerome and Alfie have just left to walk towards the school. Amber and Patricia come out of their rooms and see us.

Patricia looks at the feathers we are holding. Just then she laughs at us, while Amber asks Mara, "What did you girls do?", in which Mara replies, "We were in the attic." Patricia stops laughing, then asks Joy, "What were you doing in the attic anyway?" Joy seems to think on what she will say, "Uh, we – we were just looking for e-er-stuff. Right, girls?" Joy looks to both of us, and we quickly nod. "Okay", Amber says as she leaves the room, while Patricia narrows her eyes at us. "Hmmmm…", I hear her say, then she just leaves us to ourselves after that.

"So, how are we going to do this?", Joy asks us. She clearly has as much of an idea as I have, so we both look towards Mara, who speaks up. "Don't look at me, I'm not good at this either." We sit down for a while, until Joy thinks of something. "Hey, I think it would be better if we split up and clean different areas of the house, yeah?" "Okay", we both agree to her suggestion. "So how should we split up then?" Mara asks Joy, in which she replies, "That depends, Mara. Where do you want to clean?" Mara looks around and decides, "I think I should just clean the second floor." Joy looks at me and asks, "What do you think, Nina?" "Sure, Mara. No problem. So how do we split the first floor of this house?" Joy thinks for a minute, then replies, "How about one cleans the area of the kitchen and living room, while the other cleans the other parts?" I think for a second, and I had to agree, it was a good plan. "Sure Joy, what areas do you want to clean?" "I think it's better for me to clean the other areas of the place. What do you think?" "Sure, Joy. No problem."

With that we all head out to our respective areas and start cleaning the furniture and vases and all that stuff. It was not that easy to clean with only one feather at hand, but it was easier than I thought it would be. It was a plus that I knew how to clean at home with my Grandma, otherwise it would have taken more time to finish cleaning the furniture.

I was almost done cleaning all the furniture on the table when Patricia entered the living room and 'accidentally' tripped on the duster. It was full of dust. I gasp and look at her, baffled at why she did that.

"Oh, I'm sorry Nina. I did not mean to do it", Patricia told me in an obviously lying voice. I wanted to be angry, but I had the better judgment not to. I take a deep breath, and tell her, "Its fine, Patricia." I saw her roll her eyes at me and leave towards her room, and I wondered why she was being so mean to me. Maybe she does not like me at all, or maybe that's who she really is. Well, at least she was the only one mean towards me. The others were all either indifferent or kind towards me. I expected worse, really, and I have to be grateful that the reception seemed generally warm.

I sigh, and go clean up the dust that Patricia had just unsettled, as I wipe a sweat from my forehead. At least, I think to myself, I was almost done cleaning all of the furniture here.

As I was cleaning the remaining dust, someone enters the living room. I look up and sigh in relief when I saw that it was Joy. "Joy. Are you finished cleaning?" She replies, "I'm almost done, Neens. I just came here for a drink. How about you?" "Well, Joy, I'm almost done here too. How about Mara? Is she okay up there?" "I haven't gone up there yet, so I don't really know. But I think she'll be fine." I think for a while, deciding if I ask Joy about Patricia and why she was being mean towards me, but my mouth has already decided on what to do.

"Joy, why is Patricia being mean to me?" Joy looks to me, then replies, "Nina, don't worry about Patricia. She's like that, especially if it's a newcomer. You will be friends soon, I promise." "Ok, thanks Joy" "You're welcome, Neens." Joy gets the water and then leaves the room towards the area where she's cleaning at. Sometime later, I finish cleaning the whole kitchen and living room furniture. Satisfied, I go find Joy, who is at the corridors.

"Joy, do you need any help?" "Not really. I'm already finished cleaning all but this one here", she replies, pointing to the small table she was currently cleaning. "Okay then Joy, I'll go see Mara upstairs. Maybe she needs my help." "Sure, Neens."

I walk upstairs and find Mara cleaning one of the corner vases. I walk towards her and ask, "Mara? Need any help?" "Sure, Nina. I appreciate any help." "Where have you not finished cleaning yet?" "Oh, the table over there is not yet done, and then the other vase over there." She points towards the other corner. "I'll get started with this table then.", I exclaim as I walk toward the table she pointed at and started cleaning it. We talk for a while as we clean all the remaining furniture, before Joy comes upstairs and joins us in cleaning the last ones left uncleaned.

It takes us a little while, but we finish cleaning all the furniture in the house and so we head towards our rooms to change, and head towards the shower, one after the other. I was the last one to go shower, and as I come out of the shower room, with only my towel on, someone collides with me. We fall to the floor on the same time.

"I'm sorry Nina, I'm sorry. I-I did not see you there. I'm really sorry", Alfie tries to apologize, seeing that my face looked somewhat angry. Just then I see Jerome enter and run towards us. He sees us and laughs. "Whoa Alfie, slow down. What are you doing?" Jerome tells him, chuckling. That's when I realize the position we were in. Alfie was in front of me, and it kinda looked like we were doing 'it'. Alfie must have realized the same thing, as he stood up faster than lightning. I was a little embarrassed too, while Jerome, seeing how uncomfortable we looked, headed towards their room.

"Please, Nina. I'm sorry. This is already the second time I have done something to you these past few days, and I'm…" Alfie looks at me, as I was smiling a bit. I don't know why I was smiling, but I was smiling, and it was a real smile. "Nina, why are you smiling?"

Whoa, why was I smiling? What's happening here? There were a lot of questions in my mind, but it seemed that my mouth had a mind of its own. "Oh, Alfie. You just seem to be running to me every time. Maybe it's no accident." I saw Alfie's face turned to look more embarrassed than before, as he looks down and starts to leave. "I'm sorry Nina, I promise not to do it again. I'll be more careful around you next time. Will you forgive me?" I stand up and look towards him. "Hey Alfie, don't make promises you can't keep. And yes, I forgive you Alfie." Alfie sighs in relief. "Are we cool?" "Of course we are, Alfie." "You're very nice, Nina… I like you."

Wait, did Alfie just say that? I must have misheard what he just said, because it sure sounded like he said 'I like you'. A small part of me was overjoyed with what I just heard, but I had to be rational. "I like you too Alfie, but just as a friend…", I tell him, 'for the meantime', my mind continues, but I dare not say that out loud.

I do like him. He's funny and a nice guy, I was sure, but this was too early for me to like him like that. Heck, I just met him. It's – It's just – not right. My mind comes up with a million reasons as to why I should not like Alfie. I just stood there, thinking.

"Are you alright Nina? Did I hurt you?" Alfie asks me, concerned that I was not moving. "Oh, Alfie. There's no problem. Uh, I'll just go now, okay?", I stammer a bit at the last sentence. "Okay, Nina."

I head up towards our room, still thinking about what I should do, while holding my towel tightly around me. When I reach our room, I get changed and just lie down on my bed.

"Are you all right?", Mara asks me, looking up from the book she was reading. "Y-yeah, Mara. I'm just imagining things, thinking. That's all." Amber was not in the room, thankfully. Mara continues reading the book, and I did not realize it as I fall asleep, thinking about Alfie.

I hope some of you are still reading this fanfic, and all of its chapters. Please review, if you still care enough to review.

To anyone I may have hurt/offended out there, I'm sorry.

Check out my other stories. One is titled, Silence after war, and it's another House of Anubis fanfic, then I have a new one. It's based on the TV show Community. If you're into that, then that's cool… Check it out. It's titled, Isle of the Beginning.

Last Note: I am now accepting suggestions for a new story. That is, if you want to. PM me if you want to send me an idea.