Friday morning came and went in a haze for Jerome. He was exhausted having tossed and turned all night worried about their latest problem. He wasn't able to pay attention in his classes because he was so distracted thinking about the missing shield. He spent his lessons turning plan after plan over in his mind trying to think up a scam that would work. Which was truly a shame since he had apparently missed quite the show in Chemistry when Patricia and Eddie faced off to see who could cause more chaos.
Looking across the lounge he saw Mara working intensely on something. Walking over to her he dropped his bag startling her. "Oh Jerome! I didn't see you there" she greeted happily.
"What are you working on Jeffrey? Your election speech?"
"Election speech? Oh that! No, that is the least of my worries"
"Mara you have to take this seriously. Have you done any campaigning?" he asked concerned.
"Not yet. I've been too wrapped up in my profile on Vera. Besides statistics show that the general population is more likely to vote for the incumbent anyway. My focus needs to be on the website right now".
"Mara. If you want to keep your position as school representative and the power to make this school better, you need to campaign. All of Osiris house is bound to vote for Tessa, and Amber has been busy connecting with the Isis house residents".
"I know, I'll write my speech later, maybe you could help? You did such a good job last year".
"I would love to, but I already agreed to help Amber this year. Maybe you can ask Patricia? You two are friends, right?"
"I would, but Mrs. Andrews assigned her and Eddie to cover the election, so they have to remain impartial".
"Well what about Joy? You two are roommates. I know you didn't really hang out much before this year, this could be a fun way for you two to bond".
"You're right, I'll ask her during the lunch break". The pair then turned their conversation to lighter topics as they waited for their study hall to be over.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Lunch time found Jerome and Alfie once again in the Frobisher Library. The pair had to do some fast thinking and sweet talking to get Trudy and Jasper to allow them access to the books. Technically everything that was originally in the library was supposed to be treated of as part of the exhibit, but Jerome had used his status as an employee to get them in while Trudy and Jasper went on their break.
The pair rushed up the stairs and began to search through the upper level shelves for their desired book. It took about 10 or so minutes before Alfie called out getting Jerome's attention from where he was knee deep in yearbooks "Dude! Here it is. The school sporting record!"
Flipping through the book quickly and trying not to cough at the dust cloud that formed Jerome found the section on the Frobisher shield. "Listen to this Alfie. 'The jubilant champions holding the winner's shield, which was donated to the school by Sarah Frobisher-Smythe in honor of her father Robert who was a keen Ping pong enthusiast'".
"Well anything connected to the Frobisher-Smythes is straight trouble" mused Alfie. "I bet that jewel your dad stole was something they stole from King Tut's tomb like the Cup of Ankh and the Mask of Anubis".
"Yeah, so it appears that the shield is the prize for each competition, well along with bragging rights"
"I guess charming and scamming are out then". Clapping a hand on Jerome's shoulder Alfie said the dreaded words no con artist wants to hear. "You might have to win it back fair and square bro".
"Fair and square" he tried to say, the words felt foreign on his tongue. "That's a thing, right?"
"Yeah it's a thing" laughed Alfie.
"That's funny" he slammed the book closed "I never really got that concept".
"I know mate. Don't worry though we got your back. You are a decent enough ping pong player that we will have the shield back in no time".
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
When classes let out for the day Jerome and Alfie met up at their lockers to wait for Mr. Sweet. "Alright remember the plan?" asked Jerome.
"Yes Roe. We are trying to convince Mr. Sweet to let you compete despite the school's horrible track record for the past thirty years when it comes to sports"
"Precisely. And here he comes now! Quickly, after him!"
The two boys tore down the hallway yelling the headmaster's name, dodging students, as they tried to get his attention.
"Ah, Lewis and Clarke. Excellent." Mr. Sweet greeted without stopping or turning towards them. "And what can I do for you today" he asked as they had reached his office door.
"It's about the Frobisher Shield" explained Jerome, "I want to win it back".
Adopting a serious face Mr. Sweet began to scold them both. "The Frobisher Shield isn't a joke" he warned. "If we could actually win it back, why then the school could be truly great once more. And greatness is no laughing matter". Clearly having decided that the conversation was over he turned to unlock his office.
Turning to Alfie, Jerome motioned for him to try and get Mr. Sweet to see sense on this issue. "Wait!" Alfie called. "Check out his serious face, Mr. Sweet. See! It's totally serious". Adopting his best serious face Jerome tried to play along with his best friend's plan.
Mr. Sweet paused and looked at them considering his options, apparently what he found was enough as he said, "If you both really mean this then I'll make the arrangements". Score! They were going to get the shield back! "But know that once you begin on this the hopes of the entire school will be riding on this match".
"No pressure then" Jerome snarked to Alfie once the headmaster had disappeared into his office sending Alfie into a laughing fit which he quickly reigned in when the teacher reappeared with two ping pong paddles.
"And uh, you will be needing one of these Alfie" Mr. sweet said handing the other paddle to Alfie. "The Frobisher shield is a competition for ping pong doubles".
Looking down at the paddle in his hand Jerome felt his excitement grow, "Jerome and Alfie. Ping pong partners in crime.". Pulling the other boy in for a hug Jerome revealed "Who else am I going to trust with something like this?". They were finally back on track to return the gem, it was nothing but blue skies from here on out, thought Jerome. Ignoring the crack of thunder and downpour the boys grabbed their bags and rain gear to trudge across campus to the café where the Team Amber campaign office was currently being held. The boys didn't believe in omens anyway...
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
"Alright everyone let's come to order" called Liliana from her spot at the head of the table.
"We already did Lili" called Alfie holding up his tea. Jerome laughed as she shot Alfie her best bitch face and turned back to her clipboard.
"Now that we are all here it is time for a run down on our progress. Since you so graciously volunteered you can go first".
"Sure thing Lily flower. So I put up the flyers we designed today in my assigned spaces. I also polled the relevant members of the robotics, magic and acapella clubs. Jude and Jacob are obviously voting for Tessa, Lindy, James and Philip are voting for you Amber, but Nicole and Jensen are still undecided"
"Thank you, Alfie. I don't think we will be able to sway Jude and Jacob's votes but stay on Jensen and Amber can talk to Nicole herself". The two in question nodded and jotted down their new orders. "How about you Amber?".
"I finished the second draft of my speech but now I have edits from when we polled earlier, so I'll make those changes this weekend. I spoke to Willow, Amelia, Natasha, Jason and Harry at the Future Business Leaders club during lunch. Willow is a guaranteed yes for me; Amelia is still bitter about being beaten so she will either vote for Tessa or myself. Natasha and Jason are pro Team Tessa due to house loyalty, while Harry is leaning towards Mara's side. I'm thinking that this will largely come down to the debates for the Isis house votes".
"Ok, let me see the updated version of your speech when you have it and we can practice for the debate together. Jerome you're up".
"I put up the flyers everywhere Alfie didn't, and I spoke to Mara, she is recruiting Joy as her campaign manager but hasn't put too much thought into campaigning as a whole. I'm pretty sure that you have this in the bag Amber"
"Well that is what you told me last time and then I lost" huffed Amber.
"Well last time I was working off of faulty information Millington, this time I got it myself. If the election was held today, I would say your odds of winning would be rather high. But we still have another week to go in this race and anything could happen. So just keep your head on straight and a great big smile and we will help you get through this!" Jerome replied reaching out to give her hand a squeeze before turning his attention back to Liliana.
"Roe is right Ambs. Everything is going to be fine as long as we stick together. I met with Hadrian today, as he is acting as Tessa's campaign manager and he agrees that this will likely turn into a race just between you and Tessa. He agrees that we want to keep this an honest clean race without any dirty tricks".
"Sounds good to me!" agreed Amber.
"Whoa! Look at the time people!" warned Alfie getting up from the table. "We need to get back to the house before dinner if we want to have enough time and catch all the drama surrounding Fabian and Joy's first date!".
Amber lightly bumped the boy's shoulder, "That's my best friend's relationship you're talking about".
"Yeah, yeah love birds" Liliana laughed coming around to slip her hand into Jerome's. "Let's get going, I for one am looking forward to starting a weekend of relaxation".
As they made their way out, Jerome thought he heard Alfie whisper "They're ones to talk. They are worse than us!" but he wasn't sure. Brushing it off he headed off onto the lawn and back to Anubis ready to relax and unwind after a crazy week.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Checking his hair one more time in the mirror Jerome grabbed his suit jacket and headed into the atrium to wait for Liliana. Poppy had texted during dinner that she wanted to go into town for ice cream with them. Alfie had begged off saying that he had to call his parents but told them to tell Poppy hello for him.
Pulling out his phone Jerome went to respond to Poppy's twenty texts asking where they were when he heard Lili's greeting "Ready to go Roe?".
Shooting Poppy a quick text that they were on their way Jerome quickly stored his phone away. Looking up he was blown away by his best friend, Liliana looked stunning as always, but looking closer Jerome was surprised by what he saw, "Is that my shirt?".
"Yup!" she chirped happily reaching the second to last step, "And you're not getting it back".
"With you on that step, you're finally my height" he laughed.
Lili fixed him with her signature kitten glare, "Are you calling me short Mr. Clarke?".
"Oh I wouldn't dream of it Miss Wells" offering her his arm the pair headed off into the dying sunlight for a night of ice cream, fun and laughter.