𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋 (𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐬.)²

TWENTY-THREE. house of hoods

THIRD PERSON'S POV.

After finding out that the metal band could play classical music and hearing Fabian's long speech, River Lawrence was found at one of the tables with Alfie, Eddie, and Noah. While she was filling up her saucer, Alfie and Noah shared amused grins when they witnessed Eddie staring at Patricia.

River was oblivious to this, only paying attention to the sandwiches on her plate. When she turned back to the boys, Jerome approached them and followed Eddie's eyesight. River frowned before catching the American's gaze on Patricia and she rolled her eyes.

"Does someone have a little bit of a crush?" Jerome inquired the American beside River. "You have been hanging rather a lot lately."

River stuffed her mouth with a sandwich, not wanting to say anything she would regret.

Eddie patted Jerome's arm. "Her hanging around with me, Jerry. Her hanging around with me."

"Patricia doesn't seem like the type to hang around newbies," Noah added and he wasn't wrong.

Alfie shook his head, adding his thoughts. "Uh-uh. No way. She hates you, man. I'm willing to bet there is no way you can get Malicia Patricia to dance with you."

River furrowed her eyebrows. "Malicia Patricia?"

"Only name I could think of."

"What are we in kindergarten, now?" Eddie questioned.

Jerome, Alfie, and Noah bumped their fists together with satisfied grins, thinking they had gotten a, somewhat, upper hand over Eddie. River shook her head at them.

"That's a shame," Jerome muttered under his breath.

"Okay, okay!" Finally, Eddie had caved in much to the boys' delight, despite River who just rose an eyebrow at him. "You're asking for it. What are the terms?"

"This is a bad idea," River voiced, knowing that tonight of all nights wouldn't be wise to mess with Patricia, especially after the whole band mix up.

"So you don't wanna see Eddie lose?" Jerome raised an eyebrow, knowing that eventually River, too, would cave in.

And he was right. The female prankster pursed her lips before letting out a groan. "I do. I really do."

"Hey, I haven't lost anything," Eddie countered. "What are the terms?"

"If you win," Alfie began, "Jerome will sing She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain onstage in the style of a rap artist."

River and Noah chuckled while Jerome's face fell. "What?"

"But if you lose, you have to give Jerome the rest of your money for a month."

Now seeing the positive side for him, Jerome's frown raised into a grin. "Yeah. That works."

"Huh. Deal," Eddie agreed with the terms. "What am I gonna spend it on around here, anyway?"

With his mask on his face, Eddie made his way to Patricia. The prank-loving trio with their new (possible) recruit stood by the table with smug grins, watching the conversation go down.

"He's so going to lose," River confidently voiced, with the boys nodding in agreement. She knew Patricia well enough to know that dancing was something she despised. "It's Patricia. She hates dancing. There's no way..." River's face fell when Eddie pulled a beaming Patricia on the dance floor. "She's willingly dancing. No way." River noticed that the boys looked surprised too. But she looked more angry than surprised. Patricia and Eddie were dancing together — Patricia was having fun with Eddie while dancing — two things River thought she hated. Maybe Patricia enjoyed Eddie's company more than River anticipated. As Eddie twirled Patricia under his arm, he threw a smug grin to his four housemates. River removed her mask from her sour face. "I've said this before and I'll say it again, I hate this guy."

"He's got skill," Noah uttered, slightly shocked that Eddie got Patricia to dance.

Jerome covered his mouth while Alfie spoke, "I hope you know the words to She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain."

Unlike River, who angrily shoved another sandwich in her mouth, her younger cousin Patrick Singh sat under a table in the room with Poppy Clarke beside him. From what Poppy told him before they snuck into the ball younger years weren't supposed to be at, she wrote a letter to her dad with Mara's help and now they were here to retrieve it. That was why they were hiding under the table Mara sat at.

Poppy held Mara's pure with an envelope from Hunts Wood Prison and the two preteens called for Mara's attention. "Psst! Psst!"

After mere seconds, Mara lifted the table cloth and the two preteens gave her sheepish smiles. Anubis House's resident nerd frowned in confusion as her eyes spotted her purse she'd been looking for. "Why have you got it?"

"Hi, Mar." Patrick gave her a wave. "Nice dress, by the way."

Poppy flicked the back of his head before turning to Mara. "I'm sorry. I meant to see the letter, but it hadn't arrived yet. And Vera said Victor gave it to you and—"

Mara cut her off. "Have you opened it?"

"Not yet. I was scared and—"

Before Poppy could go on, the tablecloth from the other side of the table lifted and Jerome's angry face appeared. "Poppy?! And Patrick?! Could this night get any worse? Get out from there, now. Both of you." The two preteens crawled out from under the table and stood up, with Mara standing up too. "Alright, enough! What is going on between you two? And why has Patrick been dragged in now?" Jerome snatched the purse out of Poppy's hands. "And why has she got your purse, Mara? Is there something in there?"

Patrick furrowed his eyebrows in bafflement when he didn't see the letter. He glanced to Poppy, who gave him a wink and nodded behind her where she held the letter. He nodded his head, watching Jerome rummage through Mara's purse.

A distraction came in the form of another teenage boy. Patrick recognized him from one of River's photos she showed him, but he forgot his name.

"Have you seen Nina?" The brunette boy asked Jerome.

"No, I have not seen Nina," Jerome sharply answered, while his sister put the letter on a tray seated on the table behind them. The unfamiliar boy walked away and Jerome dropped Mara's empty purse, finding nothing suspicious. "Well?"

. . .

please don't be a ghost reader :(
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