Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 29: Jackal Anonymous

The next day at school was as uneventful as any other. She'd had to report to her gaggle of eager middle schoolers or whatever the British term for them was that the mystery of Anubis House's status as a haunted building would, unfortunately, remain unsolved, but other than their many vocal complaints, the rest of the day went by at the same slow but steady pace as they always did.

In drama, Ms. Valentine had had them reading Ibsen which was a nice change of pace from the litany of Shakespeare they'd been so keen on up till that point, and their teacher had already assigned them the play for the next unit, much to her delight.

"You really are an honest-to-god Russophile, aren't you?" Mara laughed. "Only you would get so excited about reading Chekov."

"Hey, if you weren't aware, he's a genius," Kira replied. "Like one of the greats."

"Didn't know you were into theatre," Joy interjected conversationally. "I thought your thing was novels thick enough to brain a man."

Kira flushed, well aware she had two such novels buried at the bottom of her backpack. "I mean, I like a good play. I'm not an actor though... I think I'd faint dead away if I got up on a stage and had to start, I dunno, singing of something."

"I would too," Eddie piped up cheekily from where he sat on the couch in the lounge. "You know, since you suck at singing."

"Yeah, yeah, you're so funny," she said with a roll of her eyes that got Mara giggling.

Ms. Valentine, who'd been bustling around the room, passed by them and patted Mara on the shoulder. "Give us a hand with these books, guys? Thanks," she prompted, gesturing at the pile of identical A Doll's House copies strewn across the room where their drama class had left them in their haste to leave. They all belonged to the school, and their teacher pointed at a cardboard box by the door for them to put the books in.

Kira sighed and set to work gathering up the plays, only Mara and Joy bothering to help. Eddie stayed sprawled out on the couch, unbothered, while the weird kids clique plus Jerome all huddled by the stage, whispering fervently about something. They probably hadn't even noticed Ms. Valentine's request.

Kira caught Joy staring at them miserably, and her heart went out to her. If even Kira was a bit put out by their exclusive behavior, then she couldn't imagine how Joy felt watching her best friends shut her out.

They all made a quick exit, leaving only the twins, Mara, Joy, and their teacher still left in the room. Figures they had more important things to do. Kira rolled her eyes again, and dropped the last book into the box.

Eddie was laughing about something on his tablet, and Joy tore her eyes off the retreating figures' backs and looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. "What's up? Daddy put skateboarding on the curriculum?" she teased.

He looked up at her with a snort. "No. Have any of you seen this new blog on the website? Jackal Anonymous, it's called."

Mara immediately perked up from where she'd been hunched over her backpack and spun around with an excited glint in her eye. "It's good, isn't it?" she exclaimed. Eddie nodded vigorously, and Mara coughed, suddenly awkward. "I mean, pssh, it's okay."

Kira shrugged since she hadn't read it yet, and Joy wrinkled her nose in agreement. Eddie, however, looked at her incredulously. "'Okay'? This thing is gold! It's like a mash up of all the best times I've been here. I mean, take a look at this! 'Bake-off Face-off', 'Donkey Diner', 'Sweetie's Moves'!" As he rattled off the articles, Kira noticed Mara fighting a grin, and immediately had a suspicion; if she was right, then honestly, good for her. "I mean, who is this Jackal guy?" Eddie continued.