𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄 (𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐬.)¹

FIFTY. house of lights

"How did you know I was safely back in my room?"

"Because you told us," Amber said.

"I did?"

"Yes. Last night," River uttered, screwing up her brows in perplexity.

"Over the walkie-talkie... A-Dog," Patricia added.

"The walkie-talkie," Alfie repeated. "No..." It looked like a light bulb hit his head, because his confused frown turned into an incredulous one. "Wait a minute."

"Alfie, you okay?" River inquired. Alfie didn't answer but instead hurried out of the dining room. The five teens all shared confused looks and the female prankster of the group, getting increasingly suspicious of Alfie's behavior, stood up from her seat and followed him out. "Alfie!"

The boy in question didn't stop. He stormed into his room, with River trailing behind him, and immediately spoke to his roommate, who was fixing up his tie. "Did you pretend to be me last night and speak to Nina and the others on the walkie-talkie?"

River's brown eyes bulged hearing the news. She knew that voice wasn't Alfie's. She should've trusted her gut. "Wait, what?"

Jerome turned around to face his friends and fellow pranksters. "No."

"Well, somebody did and it definitely wasn't me, because I didn't radio them the whole time I was down there," Alfie went on to say.

River nudged Alfie's stomach, giving him a pointed look. Jerome was already suspicious of Sibuna and they didn't need to lead him on anymore.

"It was the walkie-talkie that woke me up, because you dropped it," the blonde remarked. "I didn't pick up or speak to anyone."

The female prankster raised an eyebrow. "So you had nothing to do with Alfie's walkie-talkie?"

"Are you sure?" Alfie questioned.

"I'm pretty sure I would remember something like that." Jerome bent down to pick something up and stood back up with Alfie's walkie-talkie in his hand. "And look, it's here, where you left it. I can not believe you're both accusing me. Your best friend."

Jerome shoved the walkie-talkie in Alfie's chest and pushed past him. River saw guilt wash over Alfie; she couldn't help but think that Jerome was acting shadier than usual. If Alfie dropped the walkie-talkie as Jerome said, and Jerome didn't use it, then who was Sibuna speaking to last night? It surely wasn't Alfie, because he wasn't even in possession of the walkie-talkie.

"Hey, let's..." Alfie turned to face Jerome, who had his back faces to the two. River copied the jokester's movements, but kept a suspicious eye on the blonde. "Let's just forget it, yeah? I'm sorry. And River is too."

Alfie nudged the brunette girl who let out a sigh. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Jerome. We should've known you wouldn't stoop this low."

"You really hurt me, guys," Jerome confessed. River tried not to scoff at his words. Him? Getting hurt? And admitting it? Okay, now she knew he was playing a game.

"Jerome, we didn't mean to," Alfie went on to say before outstretching his hand that held his danish. "Here. You can have my danish." Jerome turned around and accepted the danish before sitting down on his bed. Alfie gave him a hopeful smile. "You can even have River's."