The Connection (House Of Anubis)

[Chapter Seventy-Two]

Amelia woke up the next morning feel more antsy than ever. They had two days left to save Nina and get the mask, and she was starting to doubt whether or not they would succeed. "Come on Amelia, get up. We need to grab supplies for Nina," Amber told her as she headed out of their room. Amelia grabbed her bag and followed her friend out of their room and down to the dining room.

Amelia immediately walked over to her seat next to Alfie, who was already stuffing his face with food. "How do you feel today," she asked him, slightly laughing as a bit of scone fell from his mouth and onto the table. "Better than ever," he smiled as he continued to munch on his food. "What's Amber doing," he asked as the two of them watched her begin to stuff food into her backpack. "Grabbing supplies to throw down to Nina," Amelia informed him as she grabbed a banana for herself before Amber grabbed them all.

"Morning Patricia," Amelia smiled, noticing their other friend walking toward them. "Morning," she smiled before turning her attention on Amber. "Are you planning a picnic," she asked as she watched Amber grab a handful of oranges and throw them into her book-bag. "Supplies for Nina. We need to get into Sweeties office and throw them down the grill to her. She'll be starving," Amber explained as Patricia grabbed the banana out of Amber's hands.

"Or we could spend that time trying to work out how to save her." Amber scoffed as she stole the banana back, "Nina needs her fruit and veg. Do you want her to get scurvy?" "Besides, she has eaten in almost two days Patricia. We need to get her some food to hold her over while we figure this all out," Amelia told her as she handed Amber a few granola bars.

"Anyways, how's the practice going," Patricia asked Fabian who had just walked in on their conversation. He let out a small sigh as he laid his bag down and sat in his seat. "Alright, well, there are a few subtle differences between this game and the one in the task tunnel," Fabian started as he showed them the game board. "Yeah, this one doesn't have hidden trapped doors all over it," Patricia exclaimed.

Fabian pointed to the red dots on the board, "The danger squares are marked. But the Anubis guards downstairs are more limited; they don't move." "No, they just swivel and point at you until you go, oh," he yelled as he flung himself off of his chair. "Not funny," Amelia scoffed as she grabbed a scone and chucked it down at him, hitting him square in the chest. "So, in theory," Fabian started but was cut off by Alfie's loud rustling as he made his way up off the floor and back onto his chair, "Continue."

"So, in theory the game downstairs should be easier. We should be able to plot a safe space across to the other side." "A lot of should's there Fabian," Patricia interrupted. Fabian ignored her and continued on, "I'm in way over my head. We need a strategist. It's not just about being clever; we need someone sneaky." Amelia noticed the look on Fabian's face, as if he already had someone in mind. "Do you have any ideas Fabian?" "Maybe, but let me just think about it," he told them before grabbing some food for himself.

****

Once breakfast was over, everyone headed out except for Amelia and Jerome who both had seemed to lag behind. Amelia had run up to grab her notebook that she had forgotten, while Jerome waited downstairs for her, not wanting to make her walk to school alone. "Ready to go," he asked her once she met him at the bottom of the steps, "Ready," she smiled.

It was silent for the first half of their walk, neither of them knowing what to talk about, and both of them feeling awkward after their recent revelations about the fact that there may be some unspoken words between them. Amelia was the one who decided to break the silence, wanting to get the nagging thoughts that had been taking over her mind, out of her head.

"So, when are you going to grow a pair and ask Mara out on a date?" If Jerome had been chewing on something, he would have spit it out. "What," he stammered as he tried to regain his thoughts. "Come on, I'm your best friend, I can tell when you like a girl." "Oh really," he wanted to blurt out, but he kept silent, curious to hear what she had to say. "Plus, I sort of saw you lean in to kiss her the other night and just figured that the next step was asking her out on a date."