AMANDA

Amanda yawned and closed her book. She slid it away from her across the silk bedsheets and propped her elbow up in the soft folds of the mattress. "I knew it would end that way," she mumbled to herself. "I've read it a dozen times before."

She had just finished reading one of the books she had brought along. It was a delight to flip through the familiar pages again and to be reminded of the old characters and plot she had grown to love. But the experience wasn't the same as picking a new book off a shelf and unraveling its mysteries for the first time. She needed a change.

She recalled with a smile that last night J. Q. King had said there was a library, and had pointed it out to the students. Amanda was allowed to go anywhere in the mansion when classes weren't in session, as long as it wasn't the top floor. She decided to go to the library and read something that she hadn't seen before.

Jumping from her bed, she put the book down along with the rest of her luggage and flew out the door in her pajamas.

The walk down the hall was mostly silent, though she could hear some students talking in their rooms. She listened to the laughs that burst out every now and again and wondered what it would be like if she had a friend. But those were hard to come by. All I have for company is my books, Amanda thought. At least for now.

She nearly missed the turn in the hall that would lead her to the library. As she walked through, she wondered what kind of books would be there. She knew that  would of course be reference materials for school studies, but she didn't an idea what else there might be. She hoped there would be mystery novels.

How big will it be? She pictured hundreds of books lining the walls of the room, waiting patiently to be read.

Her guess was far from correct, as she found when she pushed through the doorway. There were not hundreds, but thousands of books, stretching from floor to ceiling. The bookshelves filled the center of the room and lined the walls. There were stairs in every corner that led to upper floors, which Amanda could imagine only held more books. Cushioned chairs sat at the end of every shelf, and others were in the middle of the room. Next to them sat small tables with cheery oil lamps and enough room for a few books. It was all much bigger than Amanda had imagined.

After taking in the sight and feeling the excitement that came with it, Amanda immediately crossed over to the nearest shelf. At the very top, above the rows of books, there was a brass label with the words "History Texts." That wasn't exactly where she wanted to start. She read the next few labels—Mathematics, Sciences, Language, The Arts, Classical Works, and References. She wasn't too interested in any of those either, but she was glad she knew where they were.

The next shelf looked a little more promising. "Classical Fairy Tales," it read. Amanda made a mental note that if she couldn't find anything better, she would start there.

Amanda traveled through the room, finding genres for adventure, horror, romance, fantasy, and comedy. But no matter how long she searched, she could not find what she was looking for. There were no mysteries to be found. After she had searched the entire room as well as three of the staircases, her eyes wandered hopefully to the last set of stairs. There must be something up there, she thought.

Apprehensively, she made her ascent. The stairs had obviously not been used for years and creaked under her weight. Unlike the rest of the library, they had not been cleaned. Dust caked the railing and steps. Amanda held her breath as well as she could, but ended up sneezing anyway. When she reached the top, she found herself in front of a door. She tried the knob. It wouldn't move.

"Locked?" Amanda said aloud. "Why would it be locked?"

How could she find out what was inside if it was locked?

Then Amanda's heart skipped. Maybe she wouldn't find out. Maybe she wasn't supposed to.

She stared at the door. It was just like any other door, but behind it was some sort of secret, something no one could know about.

"I don't need to read any mysteries," Amanda whispered to herself. "I've got one right here."

MADISON

There was a knock on Madison's door. Her eyes flew open, letting a dull stream of sunlight into her vision.

She sat up, stretching her arms. The morning sunshine filled her room with dancing colors from the stained glass. She smiled as the memories of the previous day flooded back into her mind.

Then another knock came upon the door. "Who is it?" she growled. Didn't anybody have the sense to leave people alone at such early hours?

The door swung open a crack, and then a head timidly poked its way through. It was Lara. Her hair was already neatly brushed out pinned with a bow, this time a light yellow one. "Hi, Madison," she said softly. "Good morning."

After frantically shoving her stuffed animals under the covers, Madison groaned. "What's good about the morning?"

Lara didn't respond.

Madison jumped to her feet and walked over to Lara. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Lara took a step back and smiled hesitantly. "I thought you might want a wake-up call. It's already eleven."

Madison looked at the clock on her bedroom wall. She was right. It hadn't felt so late when she was sleeping, but now that she saw it she was  a little annoyed. I just wasted hours of gym time.

Lara walked forward into her room. "This one is nice," she said quietly. "All of the rooms look the same, but this one has some pretty carpets."

Madison looked at the carpet and shrugged. Yeah, it was nice. But why were they talking about it?

"My floor is only wood," Lara continued. "It's a little splintery in some places, so I need to wear slippers or shoes."

Madison couldn't take the talking for much longer. She wanted to get dressed and try out the gym. When Lara showed no sign of leaving, she became frustrated. "Why are you really here?" she asked impatiently.

Lara's eyes grew large, and she turned from the oil lamp she was inspecting. "I did come to wake you up...."

"And?"

Lara sighed. "I don't know anyone here," she admitted. "When I woke up and heard people laughing and talking in their rooms, I felt a little lonely. That's why I came. You're so amazing. I really want to be your friend."

Madison cocked an eyebrow. "What makes you think you can? How do you know I don't already have friends?"

"You really are great, Madison. But have you noticed that nobody talks to you unless you speak first?"

Madison's eyes widened. She was shocked. It wasn't true. But...it was. She knew with a sinking feeling that it was.

But that only made her angry. "How do you know, huh? How do you know anything about me?" she raised her voice. "How do you of all people know anything about friendship?"

Lara stood silent. Her glassy eyes now had little pinpricks of wet tears at the corners. But she didn't leave. She didn't bury her face in her hands and burst out into sobs. Instead, she stepped forward and looked up at Madison determinedly.

Madison looked down at her, confused. "What are you doing? I just yelled at you! Why aren't you leaving?"

"You're right, Madison. I don't know much about friendship," Lara said gently. "But I do know that friends don't leave friends behind when they need them."

Madison wanted to make her leave. But she couldn't. Her pride had been cut through by the quiet girl's words, and her mind had been sent spinning. But she couldn't bring herself to move. Instead she let the words sink in.

"Do you want to go to the gym?" Lara asked after several minutes had passed. "I know how to play badminton."

Madison nodded absently, then followed Lara out the door.

RICK and ROY

Roy blinked sleepily and sat up. It took a second for him to take in his surroundings and remember that he was at the mansion, not in his own bed at home. He looked across the room at Rick, who was still snoozing and snoring loudly. Then he glanced at the clock on the wall. When he saw the time, he jumped to his feet. "One-thirty!" he exclaimed.

He sat back down on his bed and groaned.

Rick looked over. "What's wrong?" he mumbled sleepily.

Roy pointed at the clock. "We've slept in, Buddy. Way in."

Rick studied it for a second and then shrugged. "Oh well. We've still got the rest of the afternoon to sign up for classes and look around. Besides, after how late we stayed up last night, we deserved a full night's sleep."

"But we were sleeping for more than ten hours!"

"That's fine by me."

Roy shook his head and trudged over to his suitcase. "You know what my mom would do if she found out I stayed up and slept in so late?"

"What?" Rick mumbled, disinterested.

Roy pulled his clothes out of the case jerkily. "She would ground me from my computer, my phone, my friends, pai--" He stopped abruptly.

"Your what?" Rick asked, paying more attention.

"My...paleontology club."

He was going to say painting. But he couldn't have.

"Paleontology club?" Rick asked incredulously. The easy-going smile returned to his face. "You don't go to a paleontology club!"

Roy laughed to cover up his uneasiness. "Yeah. I just pretend I do as an excuse when I want to sleep in without her knowing it. I just say I'm going to my paleontology club, then sleep in the garage." When he had said the words he let out his breath. It was a big lie, but it could work.

Rick chuckled loudly and slapped Roy on the back. "Good one, buddy!" He flopped back onto the bed and closed his eyes, muttering "paleontology club."

While Rick caught a few more winks of sleep, Roy changed and brushed his teeth in the bathroom. After he had finished he went back into the main room, where  Rick was standing, stretching and running his fingers through his disheveled hair. "You want to go sign up for classes now?" Rick asked mid-yawn.

Roy eyed him skeptically. "In your PJ's?"

Rick grinned. "Why not? I'm too lazy to change."

Roy smiled and turned to the door. "Okay, Rick, if you really want to."

"Sure," Rick replied, following his friend out of the room.

As they walked down the long hallway to the main lobby, Rick and Roy exchanged jokes.

"Hey, Rick," Roy said. "What's Madison's favorite kind of music?"

"What?"

"Heavy medal."

Rick elbowed his friend in the ribs. "That's the worst joke I have ever heard." His eyes grew wide. "Oh, I have one. How does Star like to have her milk?"

"How?"

"Spoiled."

Both of them laughed. Then a light tap on both of their shoulders jerked them out of their merriment.

Rick and Roy swerved around and found themselves face-to-face with a boy who was almost as tall as Rick. He had dark brown hair and a grin that stretched wide across his face.

"Hey there, gentlemen," he said. "Those were some great jokes you were telling."

Roy and Rick looked at each other with confused expressions. "Were you following us that entire time?" Roy asked.

The boy nodded. "You bet I was. You should have seen it. Neither of you had a clue I was there. I wanted to laugh the whole time."

"Why were you following us?" Rick demanded.

The boy laughed. "I heard one of your jokes. I knew you didn't know me, so I thought the easiest way to hear the rest of them was to listen, unnoticed."

"That's weird," Roy stated.

"Thanks," the boy said.

"Who are you?"

"The name is Dwain Daniels, comedic master extraordinaire, though that last part is not my name."

"Obviously," Rick muttered.

"So, Dwain," Roy continued. "If you're so funny, tell us a joke."

"Sure thing," he replied, his smile growing wider. "What's J. Q. King's favorite bird?"

"What?" Rick and Roy asked simultaneously.

"A cardinal."

They both groaned.

"That's the worst I've ever heard!" Roy exclaimed.

"It wasn't any worse than yours," Dwain said.

Rick and Roy laughed. It was true. Without having to speak, they both decided that it was okay if Dwain tagged along.

The threesome walked the rest of the way to the lobby together. When they arrived, they found no one there except one of the maids. She was standing by the wall near the fireplace. Eight sheets of paper hung near her. The boys couldn't read what they said from that distance. But they could guess.

Rick approached the maid. "Are those the sign-up sheets?" he asked, pointing at them.

The maid nodded her head and smiled.

"So, we just pick the classes we want and sign our names on the papers?" Roy added, walking over and looking up at the sheets as well.

Again, the maid nodded. She held out three pens.

Dwain shook his head. "I don't need one. I already signed up earlier today."

Rick and Roy each took a pen in their hand and carefully examined the wall.

"So," Roy said casually. "How are we going to do this?"

Rick uncapped his pen. "What do you mean?"

Roy eyed the paper for the arts that hung on the wall. "Are we going to try to get all of our classes together?"

Rick glanced at the sign-up for world languages. "I don't know."

"I was thinking," Roy said, "maybe we could do two of the same classes, and then sign up for a separate one."

"Yes!" Rick said. But with one look at Roy he caught himself. "I mean, sure. That would be fine."

Both of them agreed that P.E. and science would be the subjects they shared.

Roy looked at Rick and frowned. He couldn't sign up for his third class with him looking. It would give away his secret.

Rick looked at Roy. If only he could get him to turn away.

"Maybe we shouldn't show each other our third choice," Roy suggested.

"If you want, I guess." Rick almost sighed with relief.

The two of them turned their backs and signed the papers.