Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter one. house of arrivals

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            As happy as I am to be back at school, about to return to Anubis House for my final year before graduation, I can't help but feel like something's missing this year—someone. Still, I'm so happy to be back and I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone again. My good mood today, despite who I'm missing, is probably influenced by two different things—the fact that I now live an hour away in Manchester rather than several continents in Sydney (no more jet lag, no more having to reset the time on my phone, no more panicking I got on the wrong flight), and the fact that I get to see my boyfriend every day now.

            Holiday was really, really fun this year. The fact that I'm actually living in England full-time instead of just for school meant I not only got to see my friends on a regular basis, but I also got to spend a lot of time with Jerome. I even met his mum—nice enough woman, but maybe a little too nosy as to what he and I have been doing in our relationship. Yeah, things got...real awkward once or twice.

            But also, things weren't not as fun when I was forced to spend time with Eddie and his dad, because surprise—turns out that Sweetie is actually my mum's half-brother, which unfortunately means I'm a Sweet by blood. And yes, it's as tortuous as it sounds. Sweet insisted on getting to know me better as a niece and not a student. It was horrible. The only positive of the situation is that Eddie and I are a lot closer now, too, and honestly, we probably act more like siblings than cousins. Insane.

            And honestly, given everything that happened last year and the year before, I'm about 80% certain that there's some new Anubis House mystery on its way. I'm starting to think this is a pattern. Man, I really hate the Frobisher-Smythes. Except for Sarah, of course.

            Anyway, right now I'm in the courtyard, and I'm meant to be meeting Jerome here, but seems I'm early because I've been standing here for ten minutes and he hasn't shown up yet. How exactly that's possible is a mystery, but considering it's Jerome, well...mystery solved then. I'm about two seconds away from shooting him a text when suddenly there's a hand over my eyes and a familiar voice in my ear says, "Guess who?"

            Deciding to mess with him, I gasp dramatically and reply, "Patricia?"

            Jerome drops his hand from in front of my eyes, grabbing my waist to turn me around to face him. I'm pretty sure he got cuter than the last time I saw him earlier this month. "I'm hurt."

            "Oh, we both know you're not," I state, shaking my head as I scrunch up my nose and smile.

            "That we do, and when you do that thing with your nose, it's absolutely adorable."

            "I think adorable's definitely an upgrade from cute. Think I should do it more often."

            "Think so, yeah."