39 Clues - What Up, Fam?

Excuse me?

"It's charades! We can act and the team who guesses the most wins!" Phoenix shouted excitedly. 

Natalie disagreed, "To be honest, that doesn't sound very exciting. Sorry Phoenix." 

"Well, then what do you have in mind?" Dan challenged Natalie, as if she didn't have any ideas already. 

"We can play this game I call Couplay. You pronounce it coop-lay. You pair up with someone - anyone you know well enough. You have to pick someone who you don't nearly associate with a lot. So, siblings cannot pair up. Sorry, Starlings." Natalie declared triumphantly. 

"Hm.. okay." 

"Sounds good."

"Don't we have an even number?" Amy asked. 

Natalie counted the people off her fingers in her head. Amy, Sinead, Dan, Ian, Reagan, Madison, Hamilton, Ned, Ted, Jonah, Phoenix, and I. Gah. 

"You're right. So there's no one to judge." she concluded, her lower lip jutting outward in a scowl. 

"Hey! I know," Dan said, scurrying out of the room. When he came back, he was with Nellie. "Nellie can choose the themes!" 

Everyone scurried to find a partner who they knew well. All of them wanted to win and choose their own bunk mate and room. 

Amy was struggling to choose between Sinead and Hamilton. Although complete opposites, both were perfect matches for her. Sinead was the beaker to her chemical solution, but Hamilton was the arrow that guided her on the track. 

Both were gathered around Amy, expecting her to choose one or the other. 

"Uh.. why don't you guys be each other's partner? Don't worry, I'll find one soon."

And she left them at that. Before leaving though, she had heard them teasing each other a bit. That'll keep em' happy, Amy thought. 

Meanwhile, Ian was having trouble finding a partner. He couldn't pick Natalie because of that stupid rule she made up. Amy was occupied by that Hamilton Holt. That dimwit thinks everything revolves around him. You can't get everything you want in life, he thought. 

Someone passed by. He perked up. Was he supposed to be finding a partner? Lately he'd been feeling.. weird feelings. A clingy state, in need of a companion. It seemed that Natalie was always distant, even when they were right next to each other. 

"Amy." 

"Hm?" She raised her eyebrows and stopped in place. She'd been on her way to ask Jonah, but now that Ian had her attention, she'd decided to see what he needed. 

"Would you care to be partners?" The words rolled off his tongue like a tire down a steep hill. 

"A-alright. If that's fine with me. I mean, you. Wait," she bit her tongue and instantly reddened, "Sorry, gotta check on Dan," and she dashed away faster than a police cruiser on the freeway spotting a fast-paced car. 

No one could see it, but there was a curve tugging at  Ian Kabra's lips. 

...

Dan was standing behind Madison Holt, unsure whether to ask her or to wait it out. 

That was before Amy came bashing in, causing Dan to tackle Madison towards the ground. 

"CUT IT OUT, AMY!" Dan yelled, "MADS, YOU ALRIGHT?"

Madison was up before him. "SIR, YES SIR!"

Amy got up, tripped on a loose floorboard, got up again, muttered a timid apology, and then scrambled off.