Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter fifty. house of tiles

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            The next morning at breakfast, the two are surprisingly calm around each other. I don't even think you'd know they were plotting pranks against each other if you weren't already aware of their war. It's like the calm before the storm, right? It's always like this between them before they begin one. Of course, their first prank war between each other I'd witnessed was only a week into my stay at Anubis House, and I knew nothing about how to handle it. The second one, I was more prepared, but then Jerome decided I was on Alfie's side and stole my favorite pen and stuck it in Victor's office. That sure was fun getting it back.

            I look between them warily. Jerome's putting scrambled eggs on his plate, his eyes narrowed at Alfie. Alfie is, I'm pretty sure, teaching Willow how to make cereal. You put the cereal in, then the milk, but apparently he has a secret about the cereal he tells her. "And here's the secret: mix in the jam," he says, and she looks amazed, "and voila. Cereally delicious."

            I share a glance with Fabian. Everyone else at the table is as weirded out and confused as I am. Willow takes a spoonful of her jam-filled cereal, and then she squeals. "The breakfast of champions." Alfie grins. "Oh! But what about peanut butter?" Oh. My. God. Tell me Alfie didn't just find someone who's actually as weird about breakfast as he is.

            "You are a breakfast angel," Alfie states, with heart-eyes.

            Fabian leans toward me. "Do you know what's happening right now?" he whispers.

            I shrug. "Alfie just found his soulmate?"

            "Love in the air?" Jerome inquires, a slightly mischievous tone to his words.

            Giving him a strange look, I realize what he's thinking. He's thinking about using Willow in his next prank. "Don't," I warn him sharply. "Don't do it."

            "Don't do what?" he says innocently. "You don't know what I'm thinking."

            "Oh, yes, I do. I told you to keep the rest of Anubis House out of it."

            Fabian asks, "Out of what?"

            I raise my eyebrows at the two boys, answering, "Alfie and Jerome have started a prank war."

            My words are immediately met with groans from everyone who's bore witness to one before. Willow and KT are the odd ones out, having both only joined Anubis House this year, so they don't understand how truly destructive Jerome and Alfie can be in the midst of a prank war. "Not again," Joy mumbles loudly, resting her head in her hands. "Last time you ruined the couch! It took Trudy hours to get that food coloring stain out of it."

            "Just keep it between yourselves this time," Fabian suggests to them. "And keep it confined to your bedroom. None of us want to get silly string on our uniforms again."