House of Anubis: Triad of Memphis

House of Messages/House of Comfort

When Monday morning came, William had still been ignoring Rachel, and whenever she tried to talk to him, he wouldn't even acknowledge her existence.

At breakfast, one by one some of the Anubis students left the house, first being William. Rachel tried to say something to him, but her words hadn't come out by the time he was out the door.

Next it was Niamh, and then Rachel, and then Tyler. Jared, Jonah, Sarah, and Lucille were all who were left in the end, and they all decided to head over to school together. Lucille noticed how shaken up Jared had seemed ever since the Saturday before, and she finally decided to ask him about it when she and all the others were walking across the school grounds together.

"Hey Jared, are you okay?" Lucille asked. "You've seemed a bit...off, lately."

"Do I?" Jared raised his eyebrows innocently as if he wasn't aware.

"Yeah, you kind of have," Jonah chimed-in, agreeing with Lucille.

"I, uh-" Jared didn't finish his sentence. Instead he abandoned the group and headed before them. Jonah sighed and took matters into his own hands, and went to catch up with his brother.

"You don't think it's me, do you?" Lucille asked Sarah worriedly.

"No," Sarah dismissed. "No, of course not. Look, it's just a Jared thing probably."

Lucille nodded.

~~~~~
Niamh found William in chemistry class early and took a seat at the table with him. He didn't say anything, so she decided to start off the conversation.

"Look, there's so much more to be happy about," Niamh told him. "And besides, I'm here to take your mind of things. We can get back into that mystery. Once your dad comes, he can tell us the code and guide us through the tunnels, and maybe we'll find something exciting."

William didn't respond.

"Hey, I may have just made the biggest mistake with my crush," Niamh continued through the silence. "And like you once told me, I know what it's like. Friends don't let friends destroy themselves, right?" She nudged William's arm with her shoulder repeatedly until he gave in.

"Fine, fine," William smiled. "Fine."

After chemistry, the two of them headed out together. Niamh placed her bag in the theater room where their next class would be and asked William to watch it as she ran off to her locker. William whistled as he waited but was caught off guard by a notification vibration and tone emitting from Niamh's bag.

Then it happened again.

And then four more times.

He glanced around and then quickly fished through Niamh's things to attain her phone and see what was going on. He could only get a glimpse of the last message sent seeing as the phone itself was locked, and only the most recent message flashed at the top.

It read: I mean it.

"Someone snooping where they shouldn't be?" Jared asked, suddenly approaching.

"What?" William panicked and shoved the phone back into Niamh's back.

"Was that Niamh's phone?" Jared interrogated. "Were you reading her text messages?"

"Huh, does that really sound like something I would do?" William asked nervously.

"I don't know; you tell me, Lewis."

William succumbed to Jared's suspicious stare and admitted his guilt. "Okay, okay yes, but I only saw the last message!"

"Mhm..." Jared glanced around and dropped his voice low, "And what did it say?"

"I-it just said...'I mean it'. I have no idea what it means by that; I-I swear."

Jared nodded and sat elsewhere in the classroom, allowing William to let out a sigh of relief. Niamh was just showing up with a book in hand, and William flashed a glimpse toward Jared who was smirking in a devious kind of way. Jared averted his attention to Lucille entering the room and greeted her as she sat down next to him.

~~~~~
Tyler caught up with Rachel after school when they were headed to Anubis house. Rachel had been avoiding him all day and that previous weekend, so he finally decided to confront her.

"Hey, why have you been avoiding me?" Tyler asked curiously. "Is our dating thing off?"

Rachel stopped in her tracks and turned to face Tyler who did the same in return. "Well William found out so there's no point anymore."

Tyler could tell that Rachel felt sadness, anger, and regret all at once, all by just seeing her face and listening to the way her words struggled to come out.

"M-maybe I could help?" Tyler suggested.

"Oh and what? Have that argument to never happen? Have that misunderstanding between William and I never happen? Because I'd like to see how well that goes for you."

"I-" Tyler attempted not to be taken back by her biting words, "I was thinking something more along the lines of hot chocolate."

Rachel softened a bit, realizing she had no right to be so aggressive towards Tyler. "Hot chocolate sounds nice."

~~~~~
Sarah and Jonah had met back up at Anubis house. They were in the living room area on the couches, facing eachother.

"Tyler should have those hieroglyphics ready by tonight," Jonah stated. "Then we can head down to the tunnels."

"Mhm." Sarah seemed lost in thought as she stared straight forward into oblivion until Jonah snapped her back into reality.

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah," Sarah nodded. "It's just...I've been thinking-you talked to Jared today, didn't you? Did he mention anything about his strange character having to do with Lucy?"

"I didn't get much out of him," Jonah replied honestly. "But maybe it's time you just kind of leave them both to their own devices? It's their relationship after all."

Sarah furrowed her brows as if not understanding Jonah's method of logic. "Excuse me, but if I don't have a love life, then of course I have to take prime interest in someone else's love life...It's basic science."

Jonah then furrowed his brows in return.

"Oh no...Auntie Amber has really rubbed off on me," Sarah muttered to herself.

"What?"

"I'm just concerned about them, okay?" Sarah concluded, standing to her feet and heading off to find Lucille. Jonah slumped in his seat, having failed again.

~~~~~
And that is the end of the chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. And here are the discussion questions:

Do you think Jared and William will do something about the text they read?

And not really a question here, but Amber's name made an appearance. She doesn't have any children at the school, so she may not be showing up when parents' day comes along, but she'll always be here in spirit.

Something like that.

Anyway, until next time Aristocrats!