Picnics and Pyramids
Summary: Mr. Sweet introduces some new changes to the school and we have another Anubis Staple: The Picnic Date.
Evie's Notes: Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week . Thank you so much your support of this story, it truly means the world to me 💜! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺!
"So, the oxygen tank was a bad idea" granted Alfie as the Sibunas made their way to their Thursday morning lessons.
"Yeah, slowly and quietly. That's how we are going to get in there, Alfie" reminded Fabian.
"You guys are a regular tortoise and hare aren't ya" teased Nina.
"Well we do have a couple minutes before lessons to start, do you want to grab a sitting room and have Fabian and Lili hit us with their research?" suggested Patricia.
"Sounds good to me. And I think I know the perfect spot!" agreed Amber, leading the group to the rarely used sitting room by the library. The group waved good morning to Trudy through the open doors before making themselves comfortable on the couches.
"Okay, so we calculated that we need to remove six bricks across and six bricks down in order to get through," explained Lili.
"If we work at a rate of half an hour per brick, it will take us eighteen hours," added Fabian.
"If we remove all those bricks, isn't Victor going to notice?" worried Jerome. "I mean he is down there working in his lab or stoking the furnace all the time".
"We thought about that, and think we have a solution," acknowledged Liliana.
"For each brick we pull out, we will put it back with fake mortar around it that is easy to remove. That way no one will notice large holes in the wall and when we need to get into the room we will be able to easily remove the bricks" revealed Fabian
"What's mortar?" asked Amber
"It's the stuff in between the bricks," explained Nina.
"If we match the color of the mortar closely enough, it is unlikely that Victor will be able to notice in that lighting" considered Alfie.
"So if we have two people working on the bricks at a time and we work for three hours it will only take us 3 nights" calculated Patricia.
"Not our best odds, but it'll have to work. How do we make fake mortar?" wondered Nina.
"We could try making dough," suggested Lili.
"Dough!? I love dough!" celebrated Alfie.
"We can use the kitchen after dinner and mix up a starter batch," decided Fabian. "I'll gather some supplies from the home economics room during my free period so Vera won't notice anything missing".
The ringing of the bell signaled that classes were about to begin, so the seven students gathered their items and rushed to their individual lessons.
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
Fabian, Nina, Alfie and Jerome gathered in the kitchen after dinner. Lili, Patricia and Amber had been called away by Joy to help Mara care for her secret dog, Letdown.
Unfortunately their attempts to mix up a viable mortar exploded in their faces. The quartet attempted multiple batches of dough, but unfortunately each time the results were quite disastrous. The students found themselves coated in a layer of flour along with traces of baking soda, patches of vinegar and spots of bright food dye.
"Gods, Vera is going to kill us" worried Fabian, glancing around at the destroyed kitchen.
"I honestly thought we would be better at this" sighed Nina, watching as the latest batch of failed dough, plopped disappointingly off her spoon and into the bowl.
"This is why I said we should have waited for Patricia" reminded Alfie. "Her cooking projects always turn out".
"Well Patrica is busy helping Mara with Letdown, so it's up to us to try and come up with another solution" argued Nina.
"What about silly string?" suggested Jerome. "Alfie and I have a couple cans in our prank supply, if we line the bricks with a yellow or white string then the difference should be barely recognizable in the low lighting".
"That might actually work," considered Nina. "Bring the cans with you when we go down to the cellar tonight after pindrop. We will see if it works then!"
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
"Settle down, students! Settle down" called Mr. Sweet as he made his way over to the podium set up before the entire student body in the physical education barn. "I am sure you all are wondering why I have gathered you all here today. Well I have some very exciting news! This year Frobisher Academy will be introducing a new inter-house tournament system"
"What about us?" called Josie, frustrated that the day students seemed to be overlooked yet again.
"Don't worry Miss Burke, our wonderful day students will be competing as a team" assured the headmaster, continuing on with his speech. "The staff and I have designed a number of opportunities, both academic and sport for you to show your skills. You will compete within your year level to win points towards your house or team. At the end of the year we will add all the points up and the house with the most points will be declared the winner and will have the names of the winners carved into this trophy".
Pulling the red sheet off the table beside him, the headmaster revealed a golden pyramid.
Rolling her eyes, Nina leaned over to scoff softly to Fabian "That seems a little on the nose for the school"
"Oh yeah, but just think about what this looks like to the other students who have no fucking clue what's going on" laughed her boyfriend.
Glancing around Nina took in all the reluctant shrugs and unaware faces of her classmates. Fabian was right, this was hilarious!
"The first main competition for this year is an all day dodgeball tournament which will be held this coming Monday. So take this weekend to prepare and let the games begin!" finished Mr. Sweet, walking over to the rest of the teachers as the student body half-heartedly applauded him.
Looking over her shoulder, Nina smirked when she spotted her two fellow Americans grinning like loons over the upcoming game. It would be nice to have a little bit of home here in England, and the fact that it was during the week of Thanksgiving made it all the better!
* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *
"Hey Patricia," called Eddie, as soon as the student body was dismissed by the headmaster. "Are you busy right now?"
"Not really," replied the punk girl. "I was just planning on heading back to the house to get some homework done"
"Perfect! Come with me, I have a surprise for you" grinned her boyfriend, snagging her hand and leading Patricia off towards the main school building.
The couple weaved their way along the main path and up the hill to the Koi pond. As the pair reached the top of the hill, Eddie paused to pull out a familiar length of silk fabric. Patricia couldn't help but laugh when she saw it, as it was the same one she had blindfolded him with for their date last year. Allowing the boy to cover her eyes, Patricia was led over the top of the hill and spun around a couple times before Eddie removed the blindfold to reveal a gorgeous picnic laid out for them.
"Eddie! This is beautiful! How did you get this all set up?" asked Patricia, taking a seat on one of the cushions strewn across the picnic blanket.
"Well I had a bit of help. Joy and K.T. recommended the food and helped me gather the supplies. But the spot, that was all me. Do you remember why?"
Glancing around, Patricia had to force herself to swallow as her throat tightened up and the memories rushed back. After the drama of last year had wrapped up, Patricia and Eddie had grown even closer. The pair were nigh inseparable and seemed to be attached at the hip. On that particular day they had gone for a hike around campus and came back for a swim to cool off in the koi pond. The pair stayed out all day goofing off and having fun just being together without the pressure and drama of their housemates and the expectations for the future from school.
When the young couple had tired of swimming they had laid down on the dock to dry off in the late afternoon sun. Eddie had threaded his fingers through hers and getting Patricia's attention murmured. "I have something to say that I've wanted to for a while now. I don't want you to feel any pressure to say it back, but I can no longer keep it in. Yacker, I love you".
To Patricia it felt like fire and ice raced through her veins at the boy's words. Squeezing the blond boy's hand, Patricia found herself mildly surprised to hear her say, "I love you too, Eddison Miller". What surprised her the most though, was the lack of fear or panic she felt at those words. Instead she was surrounded by a deep sense of calm, because it was true, she loved the American boy.
"This is the spot where we first said I love you" smiled Patricia.
"That's right! And even though it sounds kinda cheesy, ever since that moment, I've thought of the Koi pond as 'our' spot".
"That is VERY cheesy, but super sweet as well" teased Patricia.
"Well don't let it get out, it would ruin my street cred" joked the boy, uncovering the food.
"Your secret is safe with me" laughed Patricia, passing her boyfriend a bottle of pop from the cooler and digging into the fantastic feast he had prepared.
Evie's Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie 🌺
