DENOUEMENT
xxxiii. house of rivals
❝ARE YOU GOING TO FALL FOR ME?❞

DUE TO BEING a friend/roommate of Amber Millington, Sydney Anderson had been subjected to the torture that was the fashionista's rambling before she had fell asleep the previous night - it turned out that Alfie Lewis actually managed to succeed in one of his gifts, with him having got her the dollhouse that looked like Anubis House from the attic that he claimed was being chucked away. The fashionista didn't stop talking about it until she had begun yawning herself, though she claimed that 'Amfie' (the designated ship name for Amber and Alfie, of course, though 'Alber' was still being debated - Sydney didn't exactly like the latter, so she stuck with 'Amfie') still needed to be tested before they were made official, and there were a few more steps to the process.

Though, Amber Millington was very pleased with the dollhouse and continued to compliment it all through her rants, and perhaps that was exactly why Sydney Anderson had a dream that night about being invited to a wedding between the pair - she was the maid of honour, of course - except it was inside the dollhouse that was a creepy replica of Anubis House.

Safe to say, it was rather strange.

Although, apparently Sydney Anderson wasn't the only person who had a strange dream that night, and it soon became the topic of conversation once Nina Martin's alarm rang, causing everyone in the room to wake up and stretch whilst the elderly lady they temporarily shared a room with called out, "Morning."

"Morning." Nina replied, sending a faint smile towards her grandma before she subtly shook her head, clearly confused or in thought about something, and she soon revealed what that was as she informed them, "I just had the weirdest dream."

"Same here." Sydney revealed with a nod, not thinking too much of it as she thought that their Sibuna days were over, considering that the most contact the group had with anything 'Sibuna-esque' since last term was the Cup of Ankh not being destroyed and glowing whilst hidden in a secret panel.

"Me too." Amber stated, agreeing with the two girls that she shared a room with before she elaborated and told them what her peculiar dream was about - and, yeah, it was rather peculiar, "I was a personal shopper for Lady Gaga, and she tipped me in salami."

Sydney blinked at her a few times, her gaze clouded over with confusion as she repeated, "Salami?"

To confirm that she did indeed say that word, the fashionista confidently nodded as she spoke, "Yeah, salami. How weird is that?"

"Quite weird." Sydney commented, letting out a faint laugh before she told the group what her dream was about - she didn't know which dream was more odd, really, hers or Amber's, "My dream was about you and Alfie getting married, but it was inside the dollhouse - which, by the way, I totally blame you for that dream."

"Why is it my fault?!"

"Did you forget your incessant rambling about the dollhouse and how much you loved the present that Alfie got you?" Sydney quizzed, an eyebrow quirked up as she did so whilst the two family members of the Martin family had amused looks on their faces as they watched the pair of blondes bicker.

"Okay, good point." Amber agreed, giving up and realising that it was most likely her fault that the prankster had dreamt of a wedding between her and Alfie Lewis, before she decided to change the topic and glanced over to the American who had also had a strange dream, inquiring, "What was yours?"

"I can't remember."

At that statement, Sydney Anderson gave Nina Martin a small suspicious glance and watched her carefully and cautiously for a few seconds, wondering how she had forgotten a dream that she claimed to be weird within a few minutes, but she simply let it slide. Why would Nina Martin hide what her dream was from them, anyways? Honestly, it wouldn't have surprised Sydney Anderson if the American had dreamt about an earthquake due to the very loud sounds they heard last night of constant snoring from the elderly woman that the three girls had to share a room with - it was extremely loud, and apparently, loud enough to reach the ears of the other residents in Anubis House.

"Did anybody hear that terrible noise in the night? It sounded like a woolly mammoth with heart-burn." Trudy Rehmann questioned from the kitchen, causing Fabian Rutter and Nina Martin to quickly turn to the housekeeper and make numerous not-so-subtle motions to tell her to stop talking whilst pointing at the elderly woman, who was sat eating breakfast with them, and (thankfully enough for them so she didn't notice them making those motions) was reading.

At the rather accurate, yet very interesting, description, Sydney Anderson tried to suppress her laughter, though she ended up choking on her orange juice, spluttering slightly as she tried to compose herself and not die from choking on orange juice - believe it or not, that wasn't the way that she intended to die, especially considering that she survived a deadly car crash, and was held hostage by a maniac with deadly flies (twice).

"You know, instead of looking at me choking, you could have helped." Sydney grumbled towards Fabian, who had simply watched the girl very amused whilst she almost choked to death (okay, perhaps that contained slight exaggeration, but she still could have died from it) rather than actually helping her.

"Live on the wild side a little." Fabian teasingly repeated and mocked the words that the girl had sent last term to him when she had decided to ride a bike without a helmet, causing the girl to frustratedly roll her eyes before she began to pack away her things, considering that she was done with breakfast.

As she got up from her seat, Joy Mercer and Patricia Williamson (who were also present at the table) had also finished their breakfasts and stood up, with the former questioning the nerd, "Do you want to head over together?"

"Mhm." Fabian hummed in agreement to start with, but once he noticed the surprised look on Sydney's face and the small concerned glance the prankster had sent over to his girlfriend (who was in the kitchen), he realised that it probably wasn't such a great idea and rejected the offer awkwardly, "I mean, no." However, Fabian Rutter, despite how many questions he got right in class, never seemed to get social situations right - thus, when Joy tilted her head due to confusion, it became even more awkward as he answered with, "Maybe?"

As she walked past his seat, Patricia Williamson leant down by him and stated very much sarcastically, "Decisive as ever."

"I'll just get my bag, Fabes." Joy told him, clearly not realising or understanding that he had denied her offer and didn't want to walk over with him - though, it was too late as she exited the room before anybody was able to correct her, and Sydney released a large sigh and put her head in her hands as Fabian tried to call out after her to no avail, but then it managed to get even worse.

Nina, his girlfriend whom he adored quite a lot, came over to him from the kitchen and gently set her hand on his shoulder, an innocent and loved-up smile on her lips as she spoke, "Hey, so I'll get my bag, and we'll walk across together, okay?"

Not knowing what to say, the poor nerd was left absolutely speechless and was unable to tell his girlfriend that he had already (sort of unwillingly) made plans to walk over with someone else (who just so happened to have a very obvious crush on him), and thus he turned pleadingly to the only student remaining at the table for help - Sydney Anderson.

"Oh, don't look over at me now! You should have thought about this when you just watched me almost die from choking." Sydney shouted, shaking her head vehemently at him as she stood up from her chair, finally making her leave from the dining room - however, before she left, she turned back to face the nerd with a humongous teasing smirk on her lips and stated mockingly, her tongue sticking out at him afterwards, "Live on the wild side a little."

When she had finally left the nerd alone to revel in his mistakes due to his awkwardness, she went up to her bedroom upon realising that her camera wasn't in her bag, so she thought that she'd left it in her room, and god forbid she went anywhere without her camera. However, when she swung open the door to her bedroom, she noticed that her roommate - Nina Martin - looked rather frightened and frantic as she stuffed something in her bag.

"Are you okay?" Sydney quizzed, glancing around the room for her camera and not really paying too much attention to her roommate.

"Y-Yeah - fine." Nina answered, stumbling over her words as she sent a very forced faint smile to the prankster, before noticing that she was gazing around the room something and her face had become increasingly more concerned since she came into the room, "What are you looking for?"

"My camera - it's not in my bag and I can't see it in my room. Has anyone been in here?" Sydney asked worriedly, her eyes narrowed as they darted around the room - it was safe to say that she had gotten a lot more stressed since entering the room; that camera was her precious child and if she lost it, she would either kill someone or cry... or both.

"I don't think so." Nina hummed, glancing around the room herself and noticing that the camera wasn't anywhere in the room - it was odd, considering that Sydney always knew where her camera was - however, if Nina mentioned how peculiar the situation was then there was potential for an uproar/breakdown, so the American instead assured her, "Don't worry. I'm sure it will turn up eventually."

Not really convinced, Sydney just gave a small nod as she continued to look around the room for a few more very stressful minutes, throwing things around and looking anywhere she possibly could. She hadn't even noticed that her roommate had left the room to go to school until she glanced up and noticed that she was alone in the room, causing her to check the time and release a large sigh upon realising that she had to leave to go to school without her camera - Jerome was probably waiting for her downstairs at that very moment. Due to that, she stood up with yet another heavy sigh (she clearly was not in a good mood and certainly not having a good day, and they hadn't even had their first lesson yet) and left the room, meeting Jerome Clarke at the bottom of the stairs.

"You do not look happy." He commented instantly, his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he had noticed the frown on her lips as soon as she began to descend the stairs - there wasn't much that Sydney Anderson was able to hide from him.

"That's because I'm not." Sydney started, causing him to glance at her worriedly before they began their walk towards the school, in which the female prankster asked the boy if he had seen her camera or anybody go into her room or if he knew where it was - the answer to all of them questions were 'no', and he could tell that the girl was extremely stressed over her missing camera so soon changed the topic to try and distract her, hoping she'd calm down and the camera would turn up eventually.

"So, we haven't really pulled a prank yet this term and I am dying to do one. Any ideas, partner in crime?" Jerome inquired, a mischievous gleam in his eyes that was also reflected in the smirk on his lips, and it only got bigger when he noticed the girl walking beside him become a little bit less stressed at the mention of pranks, it distracting her from the camera that had disappeared.

"It's funny that you think that I don't already have a prank in motion." Sydney responded, a devious look forming on her face before she went into her bag, pulling out the prank set that the childhood best friend had given her last term, "I never thought I'd say this, but I cannot wait for science."

At that, Jerome chuckled as he soon became aware of her poor first victim, and it wasn't exactly a surprise, "Only you would decide to prank the head teacher."

"It's not my fault that his lessons are boring." Sydney claimed with a nonchalant shrug, putting the prank set back in her bag whilst she spoke, "And, anyways, am I really Sydney Anderson if I don't annoy Sweetie at least once a term? It's basically tradition at this point - he should expect it."

Suddenly, hands clapped on the shoulders of the pair of blondes, spinning them around as a camera - a very familiar one - was shoved back into Sydney's hands by the one and only Alfie Lewis.

"As much as I want you two to get together and continue to flirt, I need you to take some photos." Alfie stated, beginning to do some so-called modelling poses whilst the pair of blondes stared at him confusedly - they simply ignored the first part of his statement, mainly because they were very confused at why their friend wanted to model for pictures.

"Is this why my camera has been missing all morning?" Sydney asked, not exactly caring about the pictures the boy wanted or why he wanted them - she only cared about her camera, and when he nodded, her eyes narrowed with irritation and slight anger as she stated bluntly, "You're lucky you're my friend. Never steal my camera again unless you have a death wish."

"Technically, it was borrowing." Alfie corrected, hoping that it'd make her less likely to be annoyed at him, though that didn't make the girl's glare waver and he shuddered under the gaze and quickly decided to change the topic away from him stealing (or borrowing) her precious camera, "So, can you take the pictures or what?"

"Fine." Sydney agreed with a nod, considering she always loved to take photos anyways - it'd be amusing to have her friend model for her, though she turned to the blonde boy beside her and looked if he wanted to help, "Jerome, you in?"

"Okay..." He hesitantly agreed, clearly still confused as the three of them began to walk to class again , whilst the boy continued, saying, "So, we're just going to pretend that this isn't weird at all?"

"Actually, that's a good point - why do you want me to take some photos of you?" Sydney quizzed, checking her camera over as she looked at all of the settings, hoping that the boy hadn't ruined anything or messed with anything that he wasn't sure about - thankfully, it looked like he hadn't, or else then he'd really be dead.

"If I'm going to Amber's boyfriend, I need to get my face on a newsstand without getting thrown off a train or kicked off some talent show." Alfie explained to them, which made quite a lot of sense now - of course one of the many things that was required to be the boyfriend of Amber Millington was that he needed to be able to get his face onto a magazine.

And that was exactly how the three pranksters ended up having a mini photo shoot in the drama studio during their break. They had managed to dress the boy up using the clothes they had in the drama studio for costumes, and he looked fairly decent. Honestly, Sydney would say that she managed to take quite a few good photos, snapping a few more of him doing a few so-called "model" poses (she had told him to relax, but he just wasn't following her instructions, so she was dealing with the best that she was able to get from the boy) before Jerome spoke up from the sidelines.

"Hey, can I have a go?" He asked, causing the female to nod as the pair of them swapped places - he jumped onto the stage and she jumped down after passing her camera to him (perhaps she warned him of the chance of death if he broke her camera, but nobody had to know that) - and then, the photos became more of a novelty than modelling.

Somehow, Jerome Clarke had managed to convince Alfie Lewis that he'd have more chance of getting onto a magazine by wearing different costumes and dressing up as different occupations, such as: a doctor, a tennis player, a celebrity, and a martial arts master - and that was exactly why Jerome, now the photographer, soon ended up falling onto the ground, as Alfie had gotten too much into character on the last outfit and kicked out at him like a master at martial arts, though that only caused the blonde male to call out excitedly, "That was the best pose ever!"

Sydney facepalmed.

Unfortunately, the trio of pranksters were unable to stay in the drama studio and take photos all day, with them soon being forced to attend their science classes, aka: a literal nightmare for Sydney Anderson, who was simply frustrated with the thought of having to deal with both Mr Sweet and biology - yeah... she'd rather not. Although, she did have a trick up her sleeve in order to make the lesson a lot more enjoyable and fun, and perhaps it came from the prank set that she had been gifted last term, and it involved an electronically-controlled snake that she was able to direct where it goes by a small controller.

And, her victim soon entered the room - Mr Sweet, of course - and was followed by Victor Rodenmaar (slightly weird that he was at the school for the second time in the span of two days, but Sydney paid no notice to it) as the former of the pair spoke up, "Before we begin biology, I have an important announcement."

"Is it that class is cancelled?" Sydney asked hopefully, praying that the answer was 'yes' so that she didn't have to endure an entire hour of two of the worst things in her life - Mr Sweet and science... yeah, she really hated her head teacher and science.

However, luck was unfortunately not on the side of Sydney Anderson as Mr Sweet sent her a slightly irritated and exasperated look (they hadn't even started the lesson yet and he was done with her nonsense) and answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "No, Miss Anderson."

Sydney huffed, "Then it's not important."

"That is a matter of opinion, Miss Anderson." Mr Sweet responded, clearly fed up with the prankster as he turned away from her and looked towards the rest of the class quickly so that she couldn't interrupt once more, "Now, back to the announcement: we have been asked to present an official bid to host a prestigious exhibition."

"Yes, the Touring Treasures of Egypt." Victor added, seeming very enthused about the specific topic - honestly, it was a little bit more interesting than Sydney Anderson had expected it to be, but still nothing spectacular to her, though Victor clearly thought opposite to her as he stated, "It is absolutely imperative that we win."

"So, I need volunteers to help us prepare the bid." Mr Sweet continued, glancing around the class for people to raise their hands whilst the female prankster of Anubis House let out a small scoff and rolled her eyes - yeah, it certainly wasn't her idea of a good time; however, it appeared to be the idea of a good time for Mara Jaffray and Fabian Rutter as they raised their hands, "Mara, Fabian, excellent. Ideally, I'd like three from each class."

As Joy Mercer raised her hand upon hearing Fabian's name being called out, Sydney Anderson instantly realised the game plan of the girl and yeah... that was not happening on the prankster's watch, and thus she quickly leaned over the table to nudge the girlfriend of Fabian Rutter, who had yet to put her hand up, and urged her to put her hand up. Although, it appeared that Nina Martin was a little bit too late as the head teacher stated:

"So, one more... Joy - perfect - and there's my three." Mr Sweet declared, causing Sydney Anderson to let out a small groan as she placed her head in her hands frustratedly - Anubis House had spent all of last term trying to get Fabina together, and now Joy Mercer was trying to break them apart.

"We make a good team, don't we, Fabes?" Joy commented as she glanced over to the nerd whom she had a crush on, not noticing how Amber Millington and Sydney Anderson had turned to look at one another with very frustrated expressions on their faces, which only got worse when the girl continued with, "It must be all that stuff we have in common."

"Suddenly, I'm not sure if I want my prank victim to be Joy or Sweetie." Sydney grumbled after having leaned closer to Jerome Clarke, so that nobody else was able to hear their hushed voices and know what the prankster was planning, "Maybe both..."

"First meeting: five o'clock this afternoon," Victor announced to the volunteers before he began making his way out of the classroom - considering everyone had their attention on him, nobody had noticed that a fake snake had fell onto the ground beside Sydney, or that she had got a small controller in her hand, "Frobisher Library. Thank you."

And, as soon as the housekeeper had left, the prank began - safe to say, both Mr Sweet and Joy Mercer (among other students) screamed quite a bit before they realised that the snake that had been set loose was fake, and they knew exactly who was the cause of such chaos.

Sydney Anderson.

And that was what led her to being inside of the head teacher's office once class had finished. Nina Martin had also followed them to the office, claiming she needed to speak to Mr Sweet (presumably about the exhibition and wanting to volunteer) but had been instructed to stay outside as the head teacher led the student into his office, where she took a seat as though it was her home... which, it honestly could have been due to how many times she was in it.

Sydney Anderson was extremely aware of her frequent visits to the head teacher's office, and she knew how many times she had been sent there due to her pranks - though, she had slacked quite a bit last term due to her trying to stop the head teacher (plus others) from gaining immortality and killing some students due to the scales of life tipping - you know, the normal - and thus, with a smirk on her lips, Sydney said, "Missed me?"

"Do you find this funny, Miss Anderson?"

"That's a trick question." Sydney declared, still keeping the smirk on her lips as she had already seen her escape out of the detention looming over her by rambling and trapping the man with questions, "If I tell the truth, which is yes, then I'd be in even more trouble. However, it's also wrong to lie. As a head teacher, it'd be wrong for you to encourage your students to lie. So, what's the correct answer?"

Ignoring her questions, the head teacher asked his own questions, seeming rather exasperated (he always did when he had to deal with Sydney Anderson) as he quizzed, "Why did you set off a snake in the classroom?"

"A plastic snake." Sydney corrected, not wanting it to seem like she had been absolutely insane and set off a living snake in the classroom that could have actually harmed people, "And, it accidentally slipped out of my bag and I was accidentally using the control, which accidentally led to it going towards you - may I add, accidentally - in order to very much accidentally scare you."

"It didn't seem like an accident."

"Well, I suppose that was an accident, too."

"Detention, lunch today." Mr Sweet declared, causing the girl to huff and roll her eyes frustratedly (in fairness, the punishment was deserved, but that didn't mean that she liked it) whilst the head teacher continued, telling her smartly, "And, you can't accidentally miss it either or else it will be an extra detention - you're dismissed."

With that, Sydney Anderson stood up from her chair and opened the office door, revealing Nina Martin anxiously stood behind it as she waited to talk to the head teacher, who waved her in - however, the prankster put a hand on Nina's shoulder first, halting her from going into the office as Sydney whispered in her ear, "I think he's frustrated enough after dealing with me - it should be easy enough to make him cave."

Fortunately enough, Sydney Anderson was right. A few minutes later, the female had received a text whilst she had been telling the other two pranksters of Anubis House about her punishment, and the text had been from Nina Martin, telling her that Mr Sweet gave in and surrendered after a few minutes of constant pleading and begging, thus letting her join the team of volunteers to help the exhibition. At least when Sydney Anderson was sat in her detention a while later, she had known that she had helped her friend into the exhibition team and also had a lot of fun in the lesson that caused her to receive the detention - in a way, it was a win.

Speaking of fun, when lessons had finished and everyone had returned back to Anubis House, it seemed as though Jerome Clarke had found some fun in the form of a game, which he was playing at an obnoxiously loud volume in the living room, where other people were present in the room and trying to get on with their lives. One of those people was Mara Jaffray, who had shot the male prankster an exasperated and annoyed look numerous times, considering that she was attempting to read a book and couldn't focus with the ruckus. Honestly, it didn't affect Sydney Anderson so much, perhaps because she was used to both him and Alfie Lewis being constantly loud - also, she was getting great content from it, as the boy was pulling hilarious faces as he played on his game, which was clearly very intense - of course, Sydney Anderson had seized the opportunity and pulled out her camera, taking photos of the boy's funny faces. Surprisingly, he wasn't that bothered by it, probably due to him being so engrossed by his game.

"I cannot wait to show these to Poppy." Sydney muttered, snapping yet another photo of the boy's very intense faces that he was making at the game and giggling at it, whilst her model sent her a very brief glare that didn't even last a second until his eyes turned back to his game, where he continued to furiously smash the buttons.

"Yay, that's all my pics sent out." Alfie exclaimed after having typed a few things into his laptop, causing the female prankster to direct her attention away from the camera and towards her best friend as he continued, seeming enthusiastic and hopeful as he said, "Now I just need to sit back and wait for the glossy offers to roll in."

"Robert Pattinson must be quaking in his boots." Jerome snickered, though towards his face became more intense towards the end of his sentence as he began smashing the buttons on the game more furiously, murmuring a 'come on' whilst Sydney laughed at him and snapped another photo of him gritting his teeth from how intense his game was.

However, Mara Jaffray clearly did not find it funny like Sydney Anderson did, as the nerd soon had enough of the obnoxiously loud game and shot out of her seat, snatching the gaming device out of the boy's hands and crying out frustratedly, "Enough already!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Jerome protested desperately, his arms reaching out for the game until the nerd had walked away and it had become out of his reach, causing him to put his head in his hands, clearly distraught, "Mara, no!"

At his dramatics and devastation, Sydney couldn't help but to snap a few more photos using her camera, not really noticing that Mick Campbell had entered the room and was talking to his girlfriend as she chuckled, a devious smirk on her lips as she spoke to a still devastated Jerome, "Oh, Poppy is definitely going to love these. You know, one day I'm going to have to make a scrapbook of embarrassing photos of you, Gerbil."

"You wouldn't." He responded, though that caused the girl to raise her eyebrows at him, wondering if he was genuinely serious with that statement because she most certainly would have created a scrapbook of embarrassing photos of him, and he soon rethought his answer, "Okay, you definitely would. But," He quickly snatched the camera out of the hands of the girl, standing up and holding it in the air (carefully, of course - he knew that if her camera broke, then she would have killed him) and thus out of her reach, as he continued, "you can't do that if you don't have your camera to get the photos from."

"Jerome!" Sydney yelled out, standing up herself and trying to reach up for her precious baby by stretching her arms up as high as they could go and standing on her tip-toes, though it still didn't work, causing both her and her childhood best friend to burst out into laughter, though Jerome still held the camera high up in the air, which eventually resorted to standing atop of the sofa to try and reach for it whilst Alfie Lewis watched the pair with amused eyes - perhaps he was also mentally screaming for them to finally realise their love for one another, but that was normal at that point.

Although, as the girl stood atop the sofa, she had clearly forgotten how unsafe it was to do that due to how unsteady they were - though, she soon remembered that as she felt herself falling to the side and off the sofa, and she prepared herself to hit the coffee table and probably be knocked unconscious. Despite that, she noticed her camera being dropped onto the sofa (a safe landing, so it wouldn't break) and instead of feeling the pain of a wooden table hitting her skull, she felt an arm quickly wrapping around her left side.

Jerome Clarke had caught her.

One arm had wrapped around left side fully, his hand going around to her back and securing her, thus stopping her from falling, and his other hand rested on her right side - specifically on her waist - as he carefully brought her down onto the ground and to safety, bringing her into his chest as they hugged, pulling apart and looking at one another with small smiles on their lips, despite the terrifying and very dangerous incident that had happened moments prior.

Jerome would always catch her.

"I guess you jumping from the tree and into my arms last term really came into handy, huh?" Jerome commented with a smug smirk on his lips, reminding the girl of when she had made the pair of them climb the tallest tree last term for a trust exercise, "How many times are you going to fall for me, Anderson?"

"Oh, shush!" Sydney responded, shaking her head at him despite how much her smile had grown at his words - she now wore a humongous grin, and so did he, "I wouldn't have fell if you didn't steal my camera in the first place. Speaking of which," She leaned over his arm and grabbed her camera, which he had dropped on the sofa (thankfully, it was fine due to the soft landing) in order to be able to catch the girl, "you lose!"

Although, at the mention of losing something, that seemed to flick a switch in Jerome Clarke's mind as he remembered his game, his head snapping towards Mara Jaffray (apparently, Mick Campbell had left) and quickly sneaking towards her before snatching his game back out of her hands, mocking her previous words, "Enough already."

As Jerome sat back down again on the sofa, resuming his game at the same obnoxiously loud volume, Mara Jaffray sent him yet another irritated look before she exclaimed something about the bid and quickly left the room, leaving the three pranksters alone in the living room that was filled with the noise of a boisterous game.

The next morning, the obnoxiously loud game was not in sight as the residents of Anubis House gathered around the dining table, eating their breakfast before they went off to school - however, one person wasn't heading off to school, and that was Mick Campbell, who spoke to his girlfriend as she entered the room "I'm off to see my folks now, so I'll see you later."

That statement caused a few people to become slightly confused, eyebrows furrowing as they watched the scene, rather perplexed, considering they were only a few days into the term and nobody typically went to see their family so soon, though Mara simply told the boy, "Good luck."

Pressing a small kiss to her cheek, the jock soon took his leave which allowed for the group to ask questions, with Patricia Williamson being the first to speak up as she inquired, "Why is Mick going to see his family so soon after the holidays?"

"Forgot his blankie?" Jerome commented, laughing.

"Maybe a teddy bear?" Sydney chimed in, giggling alongside the male prankster as she slipped into her seat, having just entered from the kitchen, and Jerome quickly turned to her and did her tie for her - she really was never going to learn how to do it.

Although, none of the residents had prepared for the announcement that was incoming as Mara Jaffray sat down at the table and answered the question the purple-nette of Anubis House had asked, informing them, "His family is relocating to Australia."

The sound of cutlery clattering against the table was heard as all of their eyes widened, none of them having expected that revelation, and Sydney Anderson was the first person to speak up, muttering, "Okay, that is so not a teddy bear."

"Is Mick not going with them?" Patricia quizzed - technically, it wasn't really necessary for Mick to go with them, considering he was at a boarding school; he'd be able to live at Anubis House and then go to Australia during the holidays to see his family.

"No way. He wants to stay here." Mara told them, shaking her head, "He's telling them today."

"Jocks and crocs - I'd be over there like a shot." Joy claimed, causing all of them to laugh at her statement and a few of them nodded in agreement - however, the girl soon appeared to be in a dream-like state, her head tilting and her eyes, now filled with adoration, locked on Fabian Rutter as he picked up his blazer and left the room, "Then again..."

Upon hearing the murmur, Sydney Anderson rolled her eyes and wondered why Joy Mercer didn't give up on her crush, considering that he was already taken. Honestly, the entire situation made her rather irritated, especially since the boy who Joy Mercer was crushing on just so happened to be the boyfriend of one of Sydney's closest female friends, Nina Martin. However, she was soon distracted from her anger as her name was called out.

"Hey, Jerome, Sydney," Alfie spoke, glancing up from the phone that he had been looking at all through breakfast for a split second before he turned his attention back to it once the pair of blondes had looked over at him, allowing for him to elaborate and inform them of his news, "I got some responses to the pics I sent out yesterday."

"Right." Jerome nodded, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and beginning to eat it.

"Is it good news?" Sydney asked hopefully - the boy was trying extremely hard to complete all of the requirements to be Amber Millington's boyfriend, and the female prankster just wished that he'd succeed.

"Oh, it's a no..." Alfie mumbled, beginning to read the responses from his phone and seeming rather deflated as he did so - rejection did that to a person, especially so much of it, as apparently not just one magazine had rejected him, but so many more did as he continued, "No... another no..." He suddenly perked up, a wide grin forming on his lips as he read out gleefully, "Oh, yes! 'We got your email and...'" He trailed off, deflating and the grin soon fading away from his lips as he mumbled, "No."

At all the rejection his best friend was getting, Jerome laughed before giving him some actually helpful advice, instructing him, "Alfie, maybe you need to go a little bit niche. Amber never said what type of magazine. Set the bar nice and low."

"He has a point." Sydney agreed with the blonde boy beside her, remembering the words that their favourite fashionista had said a few days prior when she was trying to reject the claim that she had said she'd be the girlfriend of Alfie Lewis and using them with a smirk on her lips, "Amber can't exactly go against that - it's what her daddy calls a loophole."

"I'll just grab my stuff and then we'll walk over together, okay?" Jerome mumbled to the female prankster, who gave a small nod in agreement before the pair of them left the dining room then parted, going to their own separate rooms.

However, Jerome Clarke wasn't aware of the person who was already in his room, yet not his roommate.

Though, he soon did become aware of the person in his bedroom once he stepped into the room, the door already being slightly ajar, and that's when he set his sights upon the person in his bedroom - Poppy Clarke, and she appeared to be rocking through her brother's belongings and seemingly looking at something in her hands. Yeah, that didn't sit well with Jerome, and he most certainly wasn't going to let her get away with it so easily as he threw the apple that he had been eating in the bin, the sound causing the girl to flinch as she realised she had been caught, thus freezing in her spot.

"Get your sticky mitts off my stuff, now." Jerome demanded harshly, his voice stern - it was safe to say that he was extremely annoyed that his little sister had gone through his belongings, and he soon remembered that he had one of her belongings and thus quickly added frustratedly, "And, no, you can't have your phone back."

"How long have you had this?" Poppy inquired, clearly upset as she whizzed around to face her older brother, a letter firmly clutched in her hand - a letter that Jerome Clarke easily recognised, and it caused his face to fall whilst the little girl continued, "It's from Dad, isn't it?" He doesn't answer, "It's okay for you - you can remember him, I can't!"

"And all my memories are bad." Jerome added, defending himself and his actions of hiding the letter from her - he had always been glad that Poppy Clarke couldn't remember their father, considering that he had left when they were children and neglected them.

"Change the record, Gerbil, nobody's all bad." Poppy told him.

However, whilst Poppy Clarke was a hopeful person, her elder sibling most certainly was not, and thus he made the noise of an incorrect buzzer, before declaring, "Wrong!"

Not wanting her to keep a hold of the letter that he hadn't wanted her to see in the first place, Jerome hastily snatched the paper out of the hands of Poppy Clarke just as he finished declaring that her statement had been wrong, and the girl yelled out in protest, "Hey, I haven't read it yet!"

"Trust me, you are not going to feel any better once you have." Jerome assured her, grabbing her arm to stop her from trying to grab the piece of paper - though, the girl didn't seem that assured as she shrugged the boy off, her expression still being one of sadness and anger, causing the male prankster to somewhat give in, "Fine, take your phone," He grabbed her phone from where he had kept it and passed it to her, before instructing her, "and quit whilst you are ahead - out!"

With that being said, Poppy Clarke followed his instructions, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with him or be able to convince him to show her the letter, and snatched the phone from him before she stormed out of the room. A frustrated Jerome Clarke watched the girl leave with irritated eyes and released an exasperated huff once she was out of the room, putting the letter back in his drawer and grabbing his phone out of his pocket, quickly unlocking it (not before a fond smile fell on his lips at the sight of his lockscreen - a picture of him and Sydney Anderson cuddling, courtesy of Alfie Lewis, of course, who had snapped it and sent it to them whilst the pair were asleep), and messaging the girl who was on his lockscreen, practically begging her to hurry and come downstairs. At that moment, he needed comfort, and he knew that an easy way to get that comfort that he desired was from just being in the presence of the blonde-haired prankster, like she was some sort of comfort blanket to shield him from everything negative in the world and help him through it.

And, within seconds, Sydney Anderson had quickly rushed into the bedroom, her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows knit together as she locked her eyes on the devastated boy, soon sitting beside him on his bed and wrapping an arm around his shoulder as she quizzed concerningly, "Hey, what's happened?"

"My sister." Jerome answered vaguely, the words laced with irritation and bitterness as he spoke them, before he pulled out the letter that his sister had so desperately wanted to get a hold of, "She found this when snooping through my things - it's a letter... from my dad."

"Your dad?" Sydney repeated, her eyes having widened at the revelation - considering she had met Jerome Clarke when they were five years old, she remembered how heartbroken and devastated he was when his father left him, and she knew how little good memories the boy had with his father, so she wondered what the man wanted with Jerome now.

"That it is." Jerome nodded for confirmation, releasing yet another sigh as he rubbed his forehead from frustration, "I think she's upset because she has no memories of him, but that's for the best."

Although, Sydney felt bad for the younger Clarke, and took a glance at the letter in the hands of the boy before her gaze fell upon the boy himself, and she inquired with a faint sympathetic smile on her face, "Isn't that her decision to make?"

And that question was left with him, as neither of the blonde pranksters really had an answer to it. Afterall, they were teenagers - as much as they'd like to think that they knew absolutely everything in the world, they didn't. Despite that, one thing that the pair of blonde pranksters always managed to get right was cheering the other up, and thus Jerome Clarke had managed to put the incident with his sister at the back of his mind and soon had a grin on his lips, courtesy of Sydney Anderson, of course.

Though, Sydney Anderson realised a few hours into the day that her day was seeming to consist of having to cheer people up - apparently, she couldn't get a break from people being irritated by others, as she later found herself with her roommates, Amber Millington and Nina Martin, in the school toilets. Though, there was soon the addition of Joy Mercer - the girl who Nina Martin was appearing to be in some sort of rivalry with, considering the pair liked the same boy.

Honestly, Sydney Anderson was just surprised that Fabian Rutter - the awkward geek - had one girl chasing after him, nevermind two girls.

"Ah, so Nina, you're down to write the film script - that's kind of your thing, right?" Joy Mercer spoke up, her voice sounding quite patronising as the American girl came out of sort of one of the cubicles, her head leant against the stall as the girl continued, informing the group cheerfully, "Fabes and I are director and camera operator. The camera should be arriving this evening."

"Sounds like you two will be spending a lot of time together." Amber pointed out, her eyes narrowed - clearly, the fashionista was quite suspicious about the pair having jobs for the exhibition where they had to work together, and thus spend an increased amount of time with one another.

Instantly, Sydney nodded in agreement - during the break between the terms, she had taken classes on photography, and that meant she also knew a little bit more about some industries where they worked with cameras, causing her knowledge to deep through in her words as she supported her fellow blonde, "You can say that again. Camera operators work with the director to set up shots according to the director's vision, so they're constantly working together."

"Whilst the writer is stuck alone in her room." Nina added, clearly not fond of the idea that her boyfriend and the girl who had a crush on her boyfriend were going to work together so much.

However, Joy Mercer simply let out a nervous chuckle, not even denying the accusation with words (she did shake her head, but it was a very awkward and nervous shake of a head), before she quickly left the toilets, leaving the three roommates alone.

And, as soon as the girl had exited the room, Nina took over the place where Joy had stood, near the sink, and began washing her hands as she stated, "Yeah, well think again, sister."

"Go, Nina." Amber supported.

"It's so obvious she likes him!" Nina cried out, evidently frustrated that she felt as though she was in a competition for her own boyfriend and that Joy kept pulling stunts to spend more time with him.

"You don't say." The fashionista of the group said sarcastically, considering that everyone was able to see how much Joy Mercer liked the nerd from Anubis House - admiration and love clouded in her eyes at the mere thought of him, and she turned into a love-struck girl simply at the sight of him.

"Is it just me who is surprised that Fabian Rutter, of all people, has two people chasing after him?" Sydney mentioned with a slight chuckle, though that caused the girlfriend of the nerd, who didn't like for people to make jokes or insult him, to shoot a small warning glare her way, so the female prankster put her hands up in mock defence, "I'm just saying!"

"You say that like you don't have somebody who is hopelessly in love with you." Amber pointed out, placing her hand on her hip sassily as she turned to face the blonde, looking as though she had made a great point about the situation - however, Sydney Anderson didn't understand it.

Due to that, Sydney's eyebrows furrowed as she stated confusedly, "That's because I don't."

"Oh, please!" Amber whined out exasperatedly, throwing her arms up in the air at the obliviousness of her friend - that was when the female prankster realised what the fashionista had meant, whilst said fashionista turned to their other roommate and desperately asked for help, "Nina, tell her!"

"Can we go back to the topic about the love triangle involving Nina, Fabian, and Joy?" Sydney inquired before any conversation about her relationship with her childhood best friend was able to continue, deciding to answer her own question as she quickly changed the topic and cried out, "I think that's a great idea! Let's do it! Joy likes Fabian!"

"It's so obvious! She doesn't even try to hide that she likes him!" Nina, fortunately enough, went along with the subject change - the mention of the crush that Joy Mercer had on her boyfriend was a topic that the American was rather frustrated by, so she had instantly forgotten what they had previously talked about.

And, of course, Amber Millington soon went along with it, though she quizzed the American, asking, "Question is: do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nina hesitantly responded, seeming afraid of what the answer from their favourite fashionista was going to be.

"Okay, last term you and Fabian were like best friends, and this term you're like..." Amber spoke, though she trailed off, allowing for the American to finish the sentence herself to prove a point.

"...Best friends."

"Thought so."

"Apart from the kiss at prom, have you two even kissed?" Sydney inquired - she knew that the couple hadn't seen each other during the break due to Nina living in America, though she wondered if the couple had kissed since returning to Anubis House, especially since the pranksters had interrupted when the pair were going to kiss on the first day back.

Awkwardly, Nina answered, "No."

"You two need some serious Fabina time." Amber declared, and the female prankster of the group nodded in agreement whilst the fashionista thought for a few moments, before her face suddenly brightened and she told them before leaving the toilets, "Leave it with me."

"Wait, I just realised that both Alfie and Fabian have had their first kisses before me now - Alfie and Fabian, of all people!" Sydney cried out once Amber had left the room, throwing her arms up into the air exasperatedly as she wondered how one of the goofiest and one of the most nerdy people she knew had managed to have their first kisses before her, "Are you kidding me?!"

"You haven't had your first kiss yet?" Nina asked teasingly, a smirk on her lip as she nudged the prankster, who rolled her eyes in response.

"God has favourites and, clearly, I am not one of them." Sydney declared with a frustrated huff, before she remembered that their favourite fashionista was most likely planning a Fabina date and seemed quite excited about it - which, sometimes, was not good, so the prankster stated, "I'll see you later, Neens. I should probably go after Amber, because, honestly, it really wouldn't surprise me if that girl rented out an entire Barbie mansion for your date."

Nina laughed, knowing that was something the fashionista would definitely do if she was able to, "Please try and stop that from happening."

"I'll try, but no promises. What Amber wants, Amber typically gets." Sydney giggled, the two girls sharing a wide grin with one another before the prankster left the toilets, quickly finding their favourite fashionista strutting away down the corridor, and thus she rushed up to her to catch up, "Hey, Amber!" Sydney called out, causing the fashionista to come to a halt whilst the prankster caught up, and then they continued to walk again as the latter inquired, "What are you thinking for the Fabina date?"

"I'll think of something. I am the mastermind of this group, afterall," Amber declared with her typical, dramatic hair-flip, confidence radiating from her as she did so - though, she wasn't done, because she soon continued to compliment herself and her capabilities, adding, "and even better when it comes to dating."

"Of course you are, but don't go overboard, yeah?" Sydney instructed her, knowing that the couple that she was planning the date for wouldn't like something humongous - they literally thought that a date in the creepy attic was good, so the prankster suggested some ideas, "Perhaps something simple - they could make a fort in their room and watch a film, or have a picnic, or-."

However, Amber Millington cut the girl off, "Why do I feel like you and Jerome have done all these things?"

Instantly, Sydney rolled her eyes and went to defend herself and her relationship with the boy, calling out without really thinking much, "We have n-."

Oh.

"Great talk, Amber, bye!" The prankster quickly exclaimed without any sort of explanation, sending a very rushed wave to the girl before hastily walking away so that she wasn't able to ask any sort of questions, leaving the fashionista alone in the corridor and very much confused.

"Wait, what?! Sydney!"

After abruptly leaving the fashionista alone in the corridor with absolutely no warnings or explanations, Sydney Anderson had avoided Amber Millington as much as possible to avoid bombardment of questions, and she had soon found herself with Jerome Clarke and Alfie Lewis, of course, laughing with the pair of them as they made their way down the corridor.

That was until a yell interrupted their giggles, and the younger Clarke sibling stormed up to them - more specifically, Jerome Clarke - and angrily shouted at him, "I can't believe you deleted all my photos!"

"Jerome!" Sydney cried out, shocked - as a photographer, she knew how precious photographs were and how much they meant to people, thus she thought that it was harsh of him to delete photos that meant a lot to his little sister without her permission.

"I had to take action." Jerome defended his actions, though both girls still thought that it was harsh.

Due to that, Poppy Clarke continued to protest against her older brother, telling him with fury laced in her tone, "You're evil! Those photos were mine!"

"Why do you want photos of me on your phone anyways, Poppy?" The male prankster inquired, his eyebrows furrowed as he did so - obviously, he was confused at why the girl was so angry over him deleting photos of himself from her phone, though he soon found out the answer as to why she was so passionate about the photos.

"I... like them."

At the sweet answer, both Alfie Lewis and Sydney Anderson let out a small 'aww' and had grins on their faces as they watched the Clarke siblings bond a little - they really needed a little bonding, especially since they didn't seem to do so well when it came to being nice to the other, as Jerome Clarke soon said in response, as a way to hide his true feelings, "Loser."

"They remind me of when they were taken, like my recital." Poppy mentioned, a small grin coming to her lips at the reminder, which only grew bigger as she continued, "Mum dodged it, but you came... along with Sydney, of course."

At the mention of her name, Sydney let out a very faint giggle and brought the younger girl into a small side-hug, telling her, "I'll always be there, Pops."

Realising that, perhaps, his sister wasn't so bad and should have the photos back, Jerome released a sigh, "The photos are stored on my laptop, you can have them back - well, most of them."

"Don't worry. I've probably got a lot of them on my phone, anyways - I'll send them to you." Sydney whispered to the girl cheekily, though it still managed to be heard by the older Clarke, who sent her a glare.

At that, Poppy sent a faint smile to the blonde-haired girl, before she turned to her brother and inquired hopefully, "And, what about Dad's letter?"

Although, Jerome Clarke shook his head, causing a dejected look to appear on the younger girl's face as he instructed her, "Don't push it, Poopy."

Not wanting to debate or talk about the letter for any longer, the older Clarke sibling walked away without giving her a chance, with Alfie Lewis soon following behind, whilst Sydney Anderson quickly turned to the small girl and sent her a sympathetic smile, telling her, "I'll try, okay?"

And try she did.

Once Sydney Anderson had walked away from the younger girl (the prankster had heard Mara Jaffray approach the small girl as soon as she had left, so assumed that she was in good hands), she had soon rejoined her prankster friends in the drama studio, with Alfie Lewis having his laptop out as he checked through his emails for any responses from the magazines, and Sydney Anderson and Jerome Clarke having a discussion about his little sister and the letter as she tried to persuade him to give it to her.

"Jerome, you're being mean to her." Sydney declared, crossing her arms to make her seem more stern and serious - she was pretty sure that he saw right through her, like he was always able to.

"Have I mentioned that you're so adorable when you insult me?" Jerome asked, a rather teasing smirk on his lips whilst the girl felt her cheeks becoming a little bit warmer - it was only slight, though it was still an odd feeling.

"Not the time!" Sydney cried out, playfully and lightly hitting his arm as she did so, before she continued to try to convince him, "You know, people take photos of the things they tend to cherish most - the things that they're scared of losing or don't want to forget. Poppy cares about you - she cares about her family, so why can't you let her see the letter from her family?"

"How much rejection can one guy take?" Alfie quizzed, his voice causing the blonde-haired boy not to be able to respond to what his childhood friend had said, "Even the niché geeks are saying no!"

"You are nothing but a big bully, Jerome Clarke!" Mara Jaffray shouted upon entering the room, causing the boy in question to look exasperatedly between the female nerd and prankster, both of whom had been mean to him within the past few minutes.

"Is it just 'Insult Jerome Day' today?" Jerome asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in the drama studio before he informed the group, "I only tolerate it from Sydney - don't you start too, Mara."

"Poppy just wants to read the letter. He's her father too, Jerome." Sydney reminded him, knowing that the little girl had as much right to the letter as her brother did, and that it was her choice to make whether she wanted to read it or not.

Having heard the situation from Poppy Clarke, Mara Jaffray nodded in agreement with the prankster, chiming in, "And, she is your sister."

"She's a robot sent from the future to ruin my life."

Upon hearing the response from Jerome Clarke, Sydney Anderson released a rather large sigh as the two girls who were trying to convince the boy were rather exasperated. However, one thing that Jerome Clarke should have learnt after around ten years of dealing with Sydney Anderson and being her best friend was that she was rather stubborn, very persuasive, and he could not resist her. It also appeared that everyone else in Anubis House was aware of those facts, as Mara Jaffray soon sent the female a pleading look, begging her to convince him.

Thus, being the stubborn person that she was, Sydney Anderson continued, leaning against the armchair of the chair that she was sat on as she put on a soft and sweet voice, begging, "Please, for me?"

For a long and rather tense moment, he stared at his childhood best friend, the pair of them having locked eyes, though many different thoughts seemed to swirl through his mind until he finally caved, releasing a huff as he muttered to the blonde-haired female, "Afraid I can deny you nothing."

Knowing what that meant and realising that they had managed to convince him, Sydney grinned widely and cheerfully, spinning around and high-fiving the nerd behind her who had also tried to convince the boy, though he was still not happy that he had been convinced - he had not wanted for Poppy Clarke to know their father, due to the many bad memories he had with him.

"Okay, she can see it, but do not be taken in by her - that goes for the both of you. I train this girl myself." Jerome declared, causing the female prankster to roll her eyes playfully at him whilst the nerd grinned, simply thankful that he had agreed to show Poppy the letter as the pair had gotten closer over their discussion about it, and thus she walked off to presumably tell her the good news.

Meanwhile, Jerome pinched the bridge of his noise from frustration, and it was easy to tell that he was still not fond of the idea of giving the letter to his younger sibling and was worried about it, so Sydney sat in his lap, putting her arms around him and hugging him (neither of them seemed to notice Alfie Lewis, who was mouthing 'date already' at them repeatedly and seemed like he was about to scream) as she mumbled, "Thank you."

Jerome grumbled, "You're lucky that I like you."

Knowing that the boy was most likely going to need cheering up later, Sydney Anderson had gone out to the shops once her lessons were finished and bought some sweets and snacks for the pair to have (and probably throw at one another), so she came back to Anubis House a little later than the rest of the students, opening the door into the entrance hall just in time to see Mara Jaffray and Poppy Clarke begin a conversation.

"You got it then?" Mara inquired, motioning to a piece of paper that the younger girl had in her hands.

"Oh, is that the letter?" Sydney quizzed, joining in with the conversation as she sent a small smile to the two girls, chuckling as she told them, "Jerome wasn't too happy that we'd managed to convince him to give it to you - these sweets are to cheer him up." However, then the female prankster noticed how downcast the younger Clarke sibling seemed, causing her to grow concerned and ask, "Hey, what's up?"

"He says he's sorry for being a hopeless dad." Poppy informed them, motioning to the letter, whilst the two girls stayed silent as they weren't particularly sure what to say to that - fortunately, the younger girl continued to speak, lifting up the letter (which had a section torn off at the top) and telling the pair, "There's no address on here, it's been torn off - Jerome, probably. But, look at this." Poppy instructed them, passing the envelope to Sydney and pointing towards some words on it that were evidently not English.

"Yeah, you're asking the wrong person if you want brains." Sydney stated bluntly, knowing that the only language she knew was English (and she wasn't even too good at it), thus passing the envelope to Mara Jaffray instead, considering she was a nerd and got amazing grades in every single subject.

"Fiat justitia ruat caelum." Mara read out perfectly from the envelope, as expected with her perfect grades, before she informed them, "It's Latin."

"Google Translate is a life-saver, let me get it up." Sydney told them - Google Translate was a familiar app to her and the only way that she was passing French, hence why she instantly pulled out her phone from her pocket as though it was second nature.

"Let justice be done though the heavens fall." Mara translated for them before the female prankster even had the chance to unlock her phone, causing her to look up from the device in her hands with wide eyes.

"Oh, how could I forget? We have the human form of Google Translate right here." Sydney muttered after a few seconds of stunned silence, putting her phone back in her pocket, considering there was no use for it any longer.

"Okay, now I'm seriously impressed." Poppy declared with a wide grin on her lips, and Sydney nodded in agreement as the pair of them were rather shocked at how intelligent Mara Jaffray truly was - perhaps if the prankster actually studied, she'd also be able to translate languages within seconds.

Did that mean she was going to study? No.

"So, maybe this means your dad's in law." Mara suggested, taking the hint from the word 'justice', before she motioned upstairs and told the girls (more specifically, Poppy), "We can go and look him up online, if you'd like?"

Poppy nodded, "I like."

Just as the three girls were about to go upstairs and do some research (aka, Mara Jaffray was going to do the research because there was absolutely no way that Sydney Anderson was going to do work), Alfie Lewis rushed out of his bedroom, having a spring in his step as he held a piece of paper in his hands, excitedly crying out, "Cover boy, coming through!"

Sydney blinked.

"I... I don't even have any more excuses for his odd behaviour," Sydney stated bluntly after a second of rather awkward and confused silence, shaking her head at her weird friend before she turned to the two girls beside her and told them, "but I should probably go and make sure he doesn't do anything... weirder." In response, they nodded in agreement, and the prankster turned more specifically to Poppy and sent her a smile, "Tell me if you find anything, okay?"

"Will do." Poppy replied, a grin on her lips before she followed Mara up the stairs so they were able to do their research and see if they could find anything on the father of the Clarke siblings.

Meanwhile, Sydney Anderson went in the direction that Alfie Lewis had gone to, wanting to know what his odd behaviour had resulted from and thus entering the kitchen (where Amber Millington, Joy Mercer, Patricia Williamson, and Alfie Lewis all were) just in time to hear the male say:

"Get ready for another tick, Amber, cause Alfie got himself a glossé." Alfie announced joyfully, holding up his magazine cover proudly - in order to see it, the female prankster brushed past him and stood beside Amber, peering over the fashionista's shoulder to look and see that he was holding up a magazine cover for 'Feet World', which had Alfie's foot as the cover photo and subheadings saying 'Athlete's Foot' - it was safe to say that they all let out a groan of disgust.

"Alfie," Sydney whined, wondering why she was friends with the boy as she felt a lot more nauseous than she did a few seconds ago, "that's a foot."

"My foot." Alfie stated, pointing at the cover and then towards his own feet to seemingly prove a point - though, Sydney really did not want to see Alfie's feet in person after seeing a photo of them.

"I-I give up!" The female prankster stated, exasperatedly throwing her hands up in the air.

As though the entire situation with the magazine cover of the boy's feet couldn't get any worse, Alfie continued to tell the girls more about it, informing them in a proud manner, "Worst case of athlete's foot they've ever seen, apparently."

Whilst Alfie Lewis may have been proud of it, Sydney Anderson was not going to let him be for much longer as she shook her head, releasing a sigh before telling him, "That is not something you should be proud of."

Not particularly caring, Alfie shrugged in response to the girl before he turned to Amber - the only person he wanted approval from, more specifically in a book called 'The Amber Millington Guide To Dating', hence why he told her, "You never specified face - I got on a magazine and that's the name of the game, right?"

Not wanting to tick it off the checklist, Amber Millington turned towards the three girls in the room, a disgusted look on her face, to see if they agreed with the boy or not - technically, he was right, so they all nodded, forcing the fashionista to agreed, "Okay... on a technicality - a filthy, crusty, fungal technicality."

"Yay, I won!" Alfie exclaimed excitedly, practically bouncing in his spot as he gleefully instructed her, "Cross it off the list, go on!"

"Don't get cocky. It's not like you're actually going to get wheels." Amber retorted, opening up 'The Amber Millington Guide To Dating' and ticking off the magazine cover from the checklist - Alfie Lewis was one step closer to completing all things required to be the boyfriend of their resident rich girl, and all he needed was some wheels.

"Oh, they're already in motion, baby!"

"It's a toy car, isn't it?" Patricia replied, knowing what the boy was like and also knowing that there was absolutely no way that he had managed to get a car, especially in such a short amount of time.

"This is Alfie - of course it is!" Sydney agreed with the purple-haired girl, the pair of them chuckling slightly as they turned to the boy expectantly, wanting to know whether it was or wasn't a toy car.

Nervously and rather awkwardly, Alfie let out a rather fake laugh as he denied the (very true) accusations, "No, it's not!"

Before anybody else was able to question him about how he was able to get wheels and ruin his plans, he left the room, but first took some food from Joy's plate, though that was something that Sydney noticed, turning to the girls amusedly as she pointed out, "He's stress-eating - it's definitely a toy car."

"He took my food." Joy complained looking at her plate sadly, as it was now empty after her food had been stolen from her by Alfie Lewis, who really did not regret taking it from her.

Though, Amber Millington wasn't too focused on the girl's food, and instead more focused on her new potential dating life that she really didn't want as she told the girls, "When I said that he had to get wheels, I was thinking along the lines of a convertible."

"But, you didn't specify that." Patricia argued, siding with Alfie - honestly, the thought of him actually completing all the ridiculous tasks set out for him by the fashionista and thus her having to date him was quite hilarious, hence why everyone in Anubis House supported him.

Though, Amber protested, "Subtext."

At that, Sydney released a small chuckle and placed a hand on the fashionista's shoulder, reminding her, "I've always said that you should be more literal."

About to argue, the fashionista went to roll her eyes at her friend until a sudden yell was heard over from the living room, where both Nina Martin and Fabian Rutter had been sitting together until the former snapped at him, "I'm not a dog, Fabian!"

Clearly not having intended to upset her, Fabian called out after her whilst she stormed out of the room, ignoring him, and all of the girls concerningly rushed into the living room and looked at the nerd in confusion, wondering what happened between the pair who had seemed so loved up. However, he provided no answers for them as he screwed up some paper that he had in his hand and threw it to the sofa, before he left the room himself, leaving the four girls in the living room to be perplexed and concerned about the relationship.

However, one person - Joy Mercer - was seemingly more than delighted to hear about the relationship falling about, her tone rather cheerful as she muttered, "Uh-oh, sounds a bit final."

Simultaneously and rather instantly, both Amber Millington and Sydney Anderson shot her a glare, not exactly happy that she was relishing in the fact their roommate and friend was clearly upset over something, and she soon noticed their looks.

"Sorry."

Knowing that Joy was only apologising because she was caught out, Sydney released a small huff and left the room frustratedly, sending a small text to Nina to ask if she was okay and then remembering the sweets that she had bought and who she was meant to share them with. So, she went to the bedroom that she had intended to go to immediately upon returning to Anubis House - that had certainly not gone to plan - and did a small knock on the bedroom door that belonged to Jerome Clarke and Alfie Lewis, with the latter pulling open the door and then blinking at the girl on the other side of it.

"Sorry, I was expecting Poppy." Jerome mumbled, clearly not in the best of moods as he motioned for the girl to come further into the room, which she did, and the boy shut the door behind them as the two of them moved to sit on his bed.

"I know, and that's exactly why I bought these." Sydney declared, opening a pack of sweets and grabbing one of them, throwing it at him - after many years of experience when it came to throwing things at Jerome Clarke, she was fairly advanced in her aim, hence why the sweet slapped him right in the face.

"Oh, you're on!" Jerome responded, a grin falling on his lips despite him being down moments prior, and he quickly snatched another pack of sweets from the girl and tore it open, taking as many sweets as he was possibly able to in his hand and tossing them at her.

It was safe to say that war had broken out between Sydney Anderson and Jerome Clarke as the rambunctious pair of blondes quickly stood up from the bed that they had been sat on, taking a pack of sweets each and tossing them at one another whilst bouncing around the room, trying to find the best place to throw sweets at the other from and thus jumping atop both of the beds and running around the room like the chaotic pranksters that they were, laughter tumbling out of them as they did so.

Honestly, it was a surprise that Victor Rodenmaar hadn't come down from his office to lecture the pair on how much noise they were making, but they didn't care as they continued to giggle and throw sweets at one another, jumping off the beds and racing around the rooms until finally Jerome wrapped his arm around Sydney's waist, pulling her into him and stopping her from running so that he was able to throw the sweets at her face for revenge.

Perhaps, at their sudden close proximity since Sydney Anderson had been unexpectedly taken into Jerome Clarke's chest, the two of them blushed.

However, they'd never admit to that.

▲▼▲

[17.06.2020]

NOTE: sydrome are getting closer and closer and i love them with all my heart.

thank you so much for 7k reads!! i already put a whole rant on my conversation board so i won't take up too much space here, but i genuinely cannot thank you all enough for the love and support you have given me and this book. denouement is a book that i've worked on for years, and i've put a lot of time and effort into everything about it. it's the hardest i've ever worked on a book and the most time i've ever spent on a book, but i adore it so much and i'm glad that you guys do too.

honestly, before posting the first few chapters of denouement, i was absolutely petrified it wasn't good enough and that people would hate it - i even considered not posting it at all. my social media presence is something that i'm very anxious over, and denouement is the first book that i posted since my hiatus and i really did not expect so much love on it. however, you exceeded all expectations and i'm so thankful i decided to hit publish on it so i can see you loving each chapter and your hilarious comments that are mainly yelling at the obliviousness of sydrome.

thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.
i love you all.