It's A Twin Thing | j. clarke [1]

six

-:- House of Cheats / House of Rumors -:-

Turns out Victor grounding us wasn't the worst thing that could've happened. I used it as an excuse to stay in our room and do homework. On the other hand, Nina was annoyed by the grounding, as we weren't making much progress trying to crack the ancient Rubik's cube. She was still hesitant about going to Fabian's uncle, despite the fact that both Fabian and I tried to convince her. Fabian spent a lot of time in our room over the weekend to decode some of the hieroglyphics, and he and Nina seemed both equally invested. I, being less invested, spent a lot of time with our new roommate Amber. Amber and Patricia swapped rooms after the party, so Nina and I now shared with her. When I asked her about it, Amber said that she and Mara had a fight and that she no longer wanted to share with her. Amber didn't tell me what the fight was about, as I never asked, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the fight was about Mick.

By the time Monday came around, I was actually excited to leave Anubis House for classes. The maroon coloring and oak wood detailing of Anubis House lost its charm quickly, so I was eternally grateful to see the inside of our french classroom. I sat in my normal spot, mentally reviewing the topics for the french test we were about to take. Being grounded at Anubis House had forced me to start study out of boredom. I was surprised to find that neither Nina or Fabian was here when the bell rang. It wasn't like them to miss class. We were about to start the test when they both stumbled in awkwardly. Nina sat down next to me, and I gave her a confused look.

"I'll explain later," she whispered to me.

I nodded to her and turned back to the test. French wasn't my best subject and I had developed a headache by the time the test was finally over. Afterward, I found Nina in the hallway and pulled her aside at our lockers.

"So, what was that?" I asked her.

"Fabian and I went to speak to his uncle," Nina started. "To ask about the clues that we found."

"Clues?"

"From the attic," she explained.

"Are we in Scooby-Doo now?" I asked, poking fun at her.

Nina rolled her eyes at me in response.

"So, what did Fabian's uncle say?" I moved on.

"He said that the cylinders were recordings that we can listen to on a phonograph," Nina answered.

"Like the one in the attic?" I asked.

"We're going up there tonight to listen to them," Nina said. "I want to do this as soon as possible."

"Okay," I nodded. "I'll come with you guys unless you want some more alone time with Fabian?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

Nina gave me a pointed look but was betrayed by the blush creeping up on her cheeks.