THE CRYSTAL HOUSE

¶Suspicions¶

"Exactly what I've been saying. Lola was mean to everyone, and maybe this just happened to teach her a small lesson." Chiara added, which earned her a look from Mareike.

"Hey, don't look like that. We're just saying the truth. Maybe she'll stop being mean or maybe she won't. But either way, no sugarcoating girl!" Priya said, fisting her hands into the air.

Mareike laughed. "Well, I guess so. But still, this is odd. Does this mean I have superpowers? I can control water?"

Priya went silent at that, and so did the other girls. She didn't know what all this meant, but something wasn't right. She was still wondering how Femi charmed his way through tasks and chores, and now Mareike could transfer her emotions through water. She pointed to a glass of water on the table in front of them.

"You can try it with this."

The girl looked skeptical, but she went quiet and glared at the water. Nothing happened. The water stayed just as it was and after about a minute, she slumped her shoulders and looked at them, voicing her thoughts.

"Nothing happened."

Chiara immediately responded lightly. "Probably just a one-time thing. Like I said, she just needed to be taught a lesson and maybe you were the person for the job."

Priya saw the doubt in Mareike's eyes, but she didn't comment on it. Time would tell if all these happenings had any more meanings.

"By the way, how do you know so many American words? Have you been here before?" Mareike suddenly spoke up, looking at her.

Priya grinned mischievously. "Oh, that. I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

Not all secrets were meant to be revealed within a few days. Revealing all sides of her would come naturally,  little by little.

Ace

Ace sat in the middle of the conspiracy gang, listening and absorbing every piece of information and gossip he heard. Somehow, the topic had moved from Lola's accident to the AHOH task, or lack of it.

"I'm beginning to feel the game is rigged." Marcello said.

Ace looked at him, and felt like punching him. Just a few minutes ago, he was trying to coyly convince the housemates that Mareike was responsible for the accident. Now, he was complaining about his games.

"How?" Ingrid asked and pushed her glasses up, moving forward to prepare herself for the explanation.  She loved asking questions that made people talk, and within two days, Ace knew she stored everything in her head and filed them away for future use. He couldn't trust her with secrets, if he even had one.

The guy started to explain. "Look, I get why the main games change but why the AHOH task? Okay, who's watched Big Brother here?" When no one raised their hands, he shook his head and continued.

"No one? Okay. Well, in that show, the games for the Head of House don't change regularly. It's usually the same game over and over, and it may be boring but at least there's consistency. But here, it's all changing. First, Ace and Eryk were made to choose between themselves and suddenly, Femi swipes in and takes the role. No comments were made. Then there's a cooking game and Chiara wins, I mean, what the hell is that? Now, the AHOH was just picked at random and Florian wins it. Just like that."

Ace ran his hands through his hair and glared at the guy. Now he was attacking his closest pal in the house, just who was this guy? His friends needed to see this guy for what he really was, a manipulator trying to win his way to the finals.

Ingrid spoke up. "Marcello, though you may be correct, that's really mean of you. Why didn't you say all these when Florian was here? And have you tried to talk to Mareike since this afternoon?" She stood up and grabbed Ace's hand, tugging on it.

"Let's go. I want no part of this conspiracy group. There are better ways to make friends and gossip than doing this."

Ace allowed himself to be pulled up, and they left the lounge room and went upstairs. When he glanced back, only Marcello and Eryk were left in the lounge, sitting at opposite sides. Clearly, everyone felt the same as Ingrid and himself.

"That was nice of you, Ingrid. It took guts to openly say something like that." Ace addressed her on their way up the stairs.

She let go of his hand and rubbed hers together. "It's annoying to keep meeting people who behave like that. I just hope Mareike and Florian see him for who he really is."

"Yeah, me too."

"But still, I have to ask you. What do you think about all this? Lola, and Mareike?"

Ace shrugged. "I don't think Mareike is responsible for the accident. This house is a bit strange, odd things keep happening so maybe Lola's case was just unfortunate and ill-timed."

The girl beside him walked on, touching her glasses. "Maybe, but we'll see."

*****

DO YOU THINK MAREIKE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCIDENT? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.