riddle me this. ― ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴀɴᴜʙɪꜱ

ten.

"hm? no, it tastes," bella cringed as she chewed the dumpling. "so good." she lied, faking a smile but it was obvious that she was not enjoying the food at all. 

"let me try―"

"no!" bella grabbed the dumpling he was about to reach for, shoving it into her mouth before he could stop her. "mmmm." she lied, giving him a thumbs up whilst struggling to chew her food. however, she couldn't bring herself to swallow the second dumpling, feeling like she was about to throw up if she did. jerome was quick to notice, hurrying to grab a napkin and handing it to her. 

"bell, you didn't have to do that." jerome mumbled as the girl hurriedly spat out the contents of the dumpling into the napkin. 

"sorry." she mumbled as he handed her a bottle of water, which she happily accepted and downed half the bottle in seconds. "i'm grateful for the thought though," she added, trying to cheer the boy up. "it really means a lot."

"it won't mean a lot when you're starving until dinner." jerome fired back, clearly disappointed in himself as he deflated in defeat. bella smiled, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as she caught his attention. 

"come on, there's a vending machine calling our name." she joked, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze. jerome sighed, breaking out into a small smile as he nodded his head, the two standing up from the bench before walking back into the school.

༻✦༺

"we're not actually doing the dates anymore, amber." fabian awkwardly declared as bella walked into the kitchen. she realised her bad timing as there was a silence that followed his statement ― all the anubis students couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"they split up!" jerome announced in disbelief, although he was laughing at the situation.

"what? no way!" amber couldn't believe what she had heard. "this is all my fault, isn't it? me and double date gate." she was quick to blame herself for their break up, as jerome nodded his head, mouthing yes towards the girl in a teasing manner.

"no, no amber, it's not you, it's us." nina explained, giving a terrible excuse as bella watched the scene unfold before her, stood at the kitchen counter as she poured herself a glass of orange juice, wondering what she had just walked into. amber was taken aback, seeming speechless by the situation as her eyes landed on innocent alfie who was also visibly upset by it all too.

"it's all your fault, alfie!" amber suddenly declared, glaring at the boy before standing up and storming out of the room.