The Book of the Dead

House of Worry

Patricia

After Nina arrived, I was starting to worry. Eddie had texted me earlier saying he was on the plane, but for some reason he hadn't arrived yet.

"Worried about Eddie?" Joy asked, sensing my distress.

"What? No! Weasel can take care of himself, I'm just bored is all," I denied.

"Okay," Joy said, definitely not buying it. "But I want to know how your trip went last month. Did you guys have fun?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, it was good to see him, and america's alright I guess."

When I arrived in America, things went well at first, but then his friends didn't like me, and I could tell they were making him uncomfortable but he didn't do anything about it, and we got in a huge fight. By the end of it, both of us were in tears and I had my bags all packed to go home early. I made it all the way to the airport before he caught up to me and apologized. I haven't seen him since I came home so I'm a little nervous to see what's going to happen.

"Come on, let's go unpack," Joy tugged on my arm, pulling me into the room we shared with Mara. "It'll make you less bored."

"Fine," I sighed, grabbing my trunk from the main hall. I set up my bed with my usual purple bedspread and hung up my Sick Puppies posters and photos of me and joy, and a few recent ones with sibuna. On my nightstand, I placed the framed picture Eddie gave me when I came out to see him. Amber had taken it during one of our dates. We were just about to kiss before Jerome interrupted us. It was a little cheesy, sure, but I liked it.

"Aw, that's such a cute picture!" Joy exclaimed, peering over my shoulder.

A little smile tugged at my cheeks. "Yeah."

"Hey, Patricia, can I ask you something?" Joy asked softly.

"Sure," I replied.

"Do you think Nina and Fabian hate me?"

"What? No!" I replied. "She hugged you when she came in!"

"Well yeah, but after everything that happened last year I feel awful but I would understand if they never want to talk to me again," Joy hung her head.

"You definitely overstepped some boundaries last year," I confessed. "But Fabian and Nina are forgiving people. Just don't try to steal him again."

"Trust me, I'm done with that," she assured. "Although it is a little awkward being the only single person in the house."

"It's not that big of a deal," I replied. "You'll be fine."

"Hey Yacker," I heard behind me suddenly.

"Eddie!" I exclaimed, turning around and throwing my arms around his neck without thinking.

"Missed me?" He smirked.

Pulling away, I swatted at his arm. "You wish, Weasel."

He laughed. "So we're good?"

I swallowed my doubt and nodded. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good," he replied, cupping my cheek and bending down to give me a kiss.

"Can you wait until I leave?" Joy asked, covering her eyes.

"Sorry," I called after her before turning to face Eddie again. "How come you were so late?"

"I dropped by to see my dad first and we got in a bit of a fight," Eddie replied.

"I thought things were good between you two, what happened?"

"I-I'll tell you later," he promised, kissing me on the cheek before heading down to his and Fabian's room.