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"house of anubis?" her eyes read over the three words printed on her acceptance letter that she had brought with her. the young girl had been accepted into a private boarding school that was half way across the world. she had applied for the foreign exchange program on a whim, being urged to by her teachers and parents back home, but she never expected to actually be accepted.
honestly, for bella kim, this definitely wasn't her first choice, moving away from her family and friends was one of the hardest things she had ever done. her grandmother who had raised her all these years couldn't even hide her emotions on the day that she flew out, despite being so supportive of the girl's dreams ― being the only family she had left was obviously going to break her heart, as it did for bella. saying goodbye to her grandmother for four years was like having her heart ripped out of her chest and having it stomped on by multiple people. she wondered why she had even applied in the first place.
however, they both knew bella's dream was to study abroad. she talked about it almost every day growing up, and when the opportunity finally arrived, of course her grandmother was going to give her permission to go, no matter how much bella declined the offer. her teachers knew bella's potential, that was how her grandmother had even found out about the opportunity. everyone knew how much this meant to bella, and no one could watch her pass up the offer, especially when it was all being paid for her ― even bella couldn't bring herself to say no in the end.
she sighed, packing in her feelings as she grabbed the handle of her suitcase. she glanced around at her surroundings, trying to get her bearings together as she suspected she couldn't be too far from the accommodation. one thing that she noticed that was different from her home was how gloomy the weather was. she knew it was bad here, but she didn't think it would be so bad that it would make her even more depressed.
"hey, you're looking a little lost?" bella jumped in surprise, turning around to find a girl stood behind her. they looked around the same age and so she assumed that she must be another student who goes to amun. although, she was quick to notice the american accent from the girl, wondering if she was also part of a foreign exchange program too. "hello?"
bella snapped out of her daze, nodding her head. "yeah, sorry," she stumbled over her words, her gaze dropping to the letter in her hand before handing it over to the girl in hopes that she would be able to help. "my name's bella kim, i move into anubis house today." she explained, hoping what she was saying made sense.
"no way, a new student?" the girl questioned a little too excitedly, confusing bella. "ah sorry," she quickly apologised, noticing her confusion. "my name's nina, i'm a resident of anubis house too. i was actually a new student who only joined last year, so it's nice to finally not just be known as the newbie." she explained, bella only nodding as she wondered if that meant she was taking that title. "not that you're a newbie or anything like that," nina quickly added, realising how that had sounded. "i just mean, i mean―"
"it's okay." bella assured, she couldn't help but laugh a little at the situation. "i'm aware of how students can be." she added, nina visibly relaxing as she nodded her head in agreement.
"yeah," she nodded, reminiscing her first few weeks at anubis house and remembering how bad it was. she opted to keeping that to herself though― she didn't exactly want to scare the new girl away, especially on her first day at the residence. "come on, i'll show you the way." she changed the topic, handing bella her letter back before grabbing her own luggage.
"thanks, that would be great." bella finally smiled, although fake, but nina didn't notice.
"so where did you go before?" she questioned, trying to make some small talk as they both walked side by side towards the house.
"ah, i lived in china." she answered, taking nina by surprise.
"woah! china?" she exclaimed, wondering if she had heard right. "what made you move all the way down here?" she questioned, curiosity getting the better of her. bella mentally sighed at the question, she had been asking herself that too. she didn't really know how to answer nina, but luckily for bella, something else had seemed to catch the girl's attention. "jerome?" she questioned as she came to a sudden halt, bella following suite as she glanced to her right to find a boy seeming to be hiding behind a car?
upon hearing his name, he stood up straight, acting as if he wasn't being suspicious at all. "nina, hello, welcome back." he greeted the girl before his eyes landed on bella. "who's this?" he questioned, momentarily forgetting that he was meant to be hiding from someone.
"bella." the girl answered for herself. "new student." she added upon seeing his confusion. her short answers seemed sufficient enough as he nodded his head before walking away. the two girls watched as he suddenly ran towards the wall and threw his luggage over before his body followed.
nina chuckled as she rolled her eyes, and bella turned back to the girl in confusion. "is... is that normal?" she questioned, pointing towards jerome.
"trust me," the girl began as they continued walking again. "jerome is anything but normal." she finished. "i wouldn't mind him, actually, i would steer clear of him. he has a thing for pranking and blackmailing people." she advised which bella took note of, nodding her head. lucky for her, it was the perfect distraction from their previous conversation and as they approached what she assumed was their house, nina had already forgotten all about it.
"and this is our stop." nina spoke, almost immediately smiling at the sight of the old building that looked like it was big enough to fit four families. despite having such an ancient look, it didn't actually look so bad and the front lawn was kept so well which only made it more attractive. bella didn't dwell on the exterior of the building much longer as nina suddenly entered the house, unable to stay outside any longer as she wanted to hurry and see her friends. bella quickly followed after the girl, her eyes widening at the interior of the entrance. the house really took old to another level, with antiques scattered along the hallway and even the layout reminded bella of the old, victorian houses she had once studied. however, upon her gazing around, she met the eyes of a scary looking man staring right back at her, a distasteful frown set on his lips which made bella visibly gulp in fear as she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him, wondering who he was.
it wasn't long until the man turned away, returning into his office. bella released a breath she didn't realise she had been holding, looking beside her to see that nina had disappeared into what looked like the sitting room which was to the left of the entrance. hesitantly she approached the door, wondering if she should even bother entering or just try to find her room by herself.
however, it didn't take long for her presence to be noticed, as amber millington was quick to notice the unknown girl. "who's that?" she questioned, her tone coming off slightly rude which bella was a little taken aback by. although there was no malice in amber's tone, but more just curiosity. everyone's attention turned to the new girl, bella awkwardly walking into the room.
"oh, this is bella! i met her on my way here." nina explained as the students all nodded, now caught up. nina waved the girl over to stand next to her, although this only just made bella more nervous as she stood under everyone's gaze. "she came all the way from china! she'll be staying here with us in anubis." she added, giving away information that bella would have preferred to keep to herself, but she guessed it would have come out either way.
"did you say china?!" amber questioned, wondering if she had heard right, as did the other students. "no way, that's so cool." she added, seeming genuinely amazed.
"yep, china." bella confirmed.
"you don't sound chinese."
"amber!"
"what? i'm just being honest." bella couldn't help but find the girl funny. she could tell that amber meant no harm by her words, but it was clear that she just said the first thing that came to her head.
"it's okay." bella assured. "i actually have relatives who are from america, hence why i don't really have an accent when i speak english." she explained.
"so why did you move here then?" amber questioned.
"i'm here on a foreign exchange program, it looks good on my college application." she explained, giving the textbook answer and avoiding the truth.
"ah," the blonde nodded. "i'm amber by the way, kind of a big deal, you'll get used to it." she introduced herself with a smile, before turning to the others. "that's patricia," she pointed to the red head. "joy," the girl with the tan skin and ponytail. "mick," the blonde haired boy. "mara," the tan girl that mick had his arm around. "and fabian." everyone's eyes landed on the last boy who was introduced, bella had already forgotten everyone's name instantly, and before she could ask, she noticed a change in atmosphere as this fabian guy seemed to be openly staring longingly at nina. "right, and i think that's our cue to make a discrete exit." amber added, pointing to the exit. "come on bella, i'll show you to your room."
the room was quick to clear out, amber guiding the girl out as she talked about god knows what. bella had stopped listening a while ago as she was distracted by the house and its contents ― she didn't know why, but it gave her a creepy feeling. although the creepiest feeling came from the man that was staring at her when she first entered the place. he caught her attention again as they walked past his office to enter the girl's corridor.
"hey, who's that?" bella questioned, pointing at the man before they walked through the doors. the two turned in time to see him talking to... a stuffed bird? bella was starting to wonder if this was a safe place for her to be living in for the next four years.
"oh that's victor," amber answered, also a little disgusted by the sight of him talking to corbierre, although she should really be used to it by now. "slightly creepy but he's actually the housekeeper of this place." she explained.
"housekeeper?" bella repeated, wondering if she had heard right. she looked over at amber, only to realise that the girl was being serious. "england really does have interesting people in power." she quietly mumbled to herself.
"i know, it's best you don't get on his bad side," amber advised. "but, he doesn't really have a good side either." she honestly added on, reminiscing the memories she had made with him last year. shaking it off, the two continued walking towards her room. "he'll probably go through all the house rules and where everything is later on, but for now, i'll show you what you're in for." amber grinned, grabbing the girl's hand as she excitedly entered their bedroom ― bella already had a feeling that this was going to be one hell of a school year.
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author's note ;
erm, so this is a little different to
my usual kpop stories lol
i've been rewatching a lot of
my favourite childhood shows
and just thought it would be so much
fun to write a story, so enjoy!