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"amber are you okay?" bella questioned as the two of them headed down the stairs to join the little celebratory party they were holding for the ping pong team for winning the frobisher shield back.
"yeah, just exhausted," amber sighed, holding onto the banister for support. "honestly, i feel like i could go to sleep right now." she mumbled as bella stared at her in concern.
"maybe we should skip the party?" bella suggested, but amber waved her off, continuing down the stairs.
"i'll be fine." she assured, not giving bella any room to argue as she made her way into the dining room where everyone was gathered. the brunette sighed, following after her as she entered through the living room. she felt a buzz in her back pocket, catching her attention as she took out her phone and sat down on the sofa. her eyes widened when she realised who it was from.
"you ignoring me now?" eddie caught her attention before she could acknowledge the text, he had noticed her from where he was standing in the dining room. there was no one else with the girl, so he decided to approach her so that they could talk whilst everyone else was busy with celebrating and eating.
bella looked up from her phone, realising it was eddie talking to her as she hurriedly locked her phone and tucked it away. she opened her mouth to say something when he cut her off.
"no, just no, hear me out for once." he pleaded, carefully taking a seat next to her. "i'm sorry... for not telling you about," he glanced around, making sure no one was listening. "you know, dad." he whispered as bella was surprised that he didn't refer to him as sweetie. "i should've trusted you, but i didn't." he continued, thinking that bella's feelings were hurt because he had lied to her. "and... i really care about what you think, so there it is." he finished, an awkward smile on his lips as he stared at the girl expectantly.
bella breathed out, nodding her head, but she couldn't find the words to say anything. if she said what she really felt, then she'd have to tell him everything, but if she told him everything, then he'd realise that she had lied to him too.
"i get it," he chuckled, nodding his head as bella glanced over at him, wondering if he had figured her out. "you're ignoring me now, real mature." he exclaimed in annoyance before storming off, giving bella no chance in explaining herself.
"okay, i'm certain that you weren't cursed by nina and lost your voice like patricia considering you have no mark, so what was that?" amber almost immediately replaced eddie's space as she stared at her brunette best friend expectantly, waiting for answers as bella could only sigh. "well?"
"i couldn't do it." she admitted. "i'm such a hypocrite, i should tell him but i just..." she trailed off, exhaling deeply as she shut her eyes, hoping everything would just disappear.
"it's okay, bell," amber softened at the girl's worrying, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "tell him when you're ready, but just know that he will be understanding." she added, as bella looked up at her, grateful for her kind words.
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"guys, i don't want anyone to panic, but," nina entered the dining room, catching sibuna's attention as they were sat around the table. she glanced around, making sure there were no listening ears before continuing. "victor's got an amulet."
"but how? we've got all six." amber pointed out as bella nodded her head in agreement.
"maybe not," nina turned to bella. "bella, remember when you lost yours and took the spare one from the dollhouse?" she nodded, remembering being blinded once again thanks to that. "what if it was a fake? what if victor found it, had a copy made―"
"and swapped them, and that's the one bella took down the tunnel." amber finished for her, as realisation washed over everyone's faces ― except fabian and alfie.
"i-i'm guessing this was a long time ago." fabian chimed in, looking around in confusion.
"exactly. which means victor must have seen everything that happened down there." nina exclaimed, the situation seeming to get worser than before. "fabian, remember when you solved that last chemistry task?"
"i did?" fabian confusedly responded.
"yeah," nina nodded. "well, now i'm thinking maybe you didn't. what if victor got to it first and then covered his tracks?" she suggested.
"that's definitely plausible." bella agreed.
"this is bad." amber remarked.
"yeah, its bad." nina sighed. "i knew there was something wrong with the tunnel door."
"well, what are we gonna do? we have to stop him." fabian declared.
"yeah," amber nodded. "or nina's history." the tension in the room was suddenly disrupted when alfie began blowing into his milk and made bubbles, catching everyone's attention as they glanced over at him.
"alfie, what are you doing?" nina deadpanned, staring at the boy. "don't you care about any of this? and stop playing with your milk!" she scolded.
"i'm gonna tell my mum on you," alfie cried, visibly upset by nina's words. "you're mean, and you smell, and... and i just don't like you anymore!" he exclaimed before storming off to the sofa, sulking.
"what?" they all stared in disbelief, realising that the curses were getting a lot worse. "so, patricia can't speak, fabian's losing his memory, alfie's de-aging, and bella has nothing." amber suddenly listed. "why do i get the worst hex? i could be like, thirty by dinner." she pointed out. "ew, old." she whispered, realising how true her words actually were.
"okay, listen up guys," nina brought them back, catching their attention. "everything's going to be fine. we just need to think of a way to get the amulet off of victor, any ideas?" she asked the table, but everyone was too preoccupied by the effects of their curse to give an answer.
"we could always smash it so he can't get in anymore." bella suggested with a shrug. although they wouldn't, it was the only helpful suggestion nina received. she sighed, shaking her head as she realised it was going to be a lot harder than she expected.
"this is impossible." she mumbled as bella chuckled.
"come on, we'll figure something out." she reassured the girl as nina seemed to finally visibly relax, a little relieved that there was at least one person that she didn't accidentally curse. "let's head to school before we're late." she added as the others agreed.
they had split ways once arriving at the school, bella and amber making their way to the lockers to grab their textbooks. "is it just me or is it really cold today?" amber questioned, her arms hugging her body tightly as the two of them walked down the hallway. bella stared at her best friend in concern, knowing that aging was definitely the worst hex to have.
"it's just you, amber." bella answered, but she still removed her blazer and handed it to the girl since the blonde had decided to just wear her jumper today.
"thanks." amber smiled, happily slipping it on. the two grabbed their things from their locker before heading back towards the student lounge since their usual english lesson would be held there today, and they would be introduced to their new teacher who's replacing mrs andrews.
"so," amber began as the two of them sat on the stage as they waited for class to begin. "anymore progress with eddie?" she questioned, bella hurrying to throw her hand over her mouth as she made sure no one was listening.
"not so loud." she scolded, turning back to amber who was looking at her in amusement. with a sigh, she removed her hands before avoiding the blonde's expectant stare. "i haven't spoken to him." bella admitted, knowing that amber wouldn't be happy with that.
"bella," she whined, answering bella's thoughts. "he's practically throwing himself at you, a desperate man doesn't stay desperate for long, you know." she added, giving her a pointed look. bella sighed, avoiding her gaze which caused her to catch eddie looking over at her. her eyes widened in surprise, turning back to amber who was still ranting about how she should just talk to eddie.
"attention, everybody please!" luckily for bella, mr sweet entered the room with a lady following him. "i'd like to introduce you to miss valentine," the lady smiled at the sound of her name, waving at her new students. "she'll be taking over from mrs andrews." mr sweet finished.
"wow, it's like megan fox taking over from marge simpson." jerome commented out loud. "i said that out loud, didn't i?" he remarked in embarrassment, noticing everyone's gaze on him.
"so," mr sweet reverted the conversation back. "i'll leave you all in her capable hands." he smiled as he handed it over to their new teacher.
"thank you mr sweet," she returned the smile before facing the students. "hi, i feel like i know most of you already," she commented, placing her bag down as she looked around the room. "thanks to mick."
"mick?" joy questioned, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"ah, my last job in australia," she answered. "taught mick there, and he told me so much about this place. when they advertised for a job, i had to apply." she explained, seeming to excite the anubis residents as they were reminded of the fond memories they shared with their blonde jock friend. "how about we start with a little icebreaker?" she suggested.
the students all agreed, happy that they didn't have to do any school work. miss valentine instructed everyone to form a circle and they had to throw a ball around, introducing the next person the person they're throwing it towards, had to throw to.
"amber." nina began, throwing the ball towards jerome.
"alfie." he threw it to amber, shouting out a different name.
"yay!" alfie cheered.
"patricia." amber threw it towards alfie without a second thought, before realising the red head couldn't actually talk. "sorry!"
"fabian!" alfie threw the ball towards patricia, almost knocking her out with how hard he threw it.
"oh! chill out alfie." miss valentine remarked, distracted by the bouncy boy and giving patricia a chance to throw the ball without saying anything. "who? you need to say their name, that's the game." she explained as patricia was pointing towards joy.
"erm," fabian stuttered, following patricia's gaze as he seemed to be panicking. "pam." he threw the ball towards joy, not realising what he had done.
"what?" bella couldn't help but feel bad for the girl, falling victim to fabian's memory loss as she clearly looked hurt by him forgetting. "i'm joy." the smile from fabian's face dropped, too late to fix his mistake as joy aggressively threw the ball back and stormed out of the room.
patricia followed after her as jerome burst out laughing, causing bella to roll her eyes. "real mature." she sniped, glaring at the boy. although joy had done a lot of wrong with fabian and his feelings, she knew that her intentions weren't ever to be harmful. plus, she knew what jealousy felt like.
"awkward!" amber chimed, trying to cut the tension in the room as miss valentine seemed to also snap out of it. she clapped her hands together, grabbing everyone's attention as the smile returned to her face.
"right, shall we get back to work?"
luckily the rest of the lesson flew by, and there wasn't any other incident throughout the day. "alfie, can you please stop that?" bella spoke through clenched teeth, trying to withhold her anger and remain patient with the boy, knowing that it was just the curse that made him this way.
however, he blatantly ignored her as he continued to drive his toy car over her head, imitating the sound of a race car as he messed with her hair. bella sighed, unable to focus on her homework thanks to him.
"alfie!" bella took in a deep breath, calming herself down as alfie recoiled his hands into his body, afraid that he was going to be scolded. "why don't you make us some tea?" she suggested, hoping that that would be a good enough distraction to keep him occupied for a while. he glanced over at the table where the cups and kettle were, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he pranced over to it excitedly.
bella sighed, relieved at the moment of peace as she returned to her work. "is it just me, or is alfie even more alfie than usual?" the girl glanced up at the familiar voice, her eyes widening in surprise when she realised it was eddie who had approached her.
he gave the girl a bashful smile, seemingly afraid to say the wrong thing and have her running away again.
"is this seat taken?" he motioned to the space next to her, bella glancing over at it before looking back up at him. she shook her head, giving him the signal to sit down if he wanted to. "look," he began as he sat down next to her. "bella, please can we just―"
"bella! bella!" alfie came running back, catching their attention as bella glanced over at the big kid who interrupted her. however, the boy had accidentally stumbled over someone's bag that was left on the floor and the hot liquid in the cup he was holding went flying and splattered all over bella's legs, the girl screaming in pain as she shot up out of her seat.
she hurriedly wiped it away, but her skin was already turning red from the scalding heat. "alfie!" eddie scolded, standing up as he did his best to help the girl out, making sure he didn't touch anywhere inappropriate since it was the exposed skin just below her skirt that took most of the damage. "come on, you need to go to the nurse's office." bella nodded, not arguing with the boy as he grabbed their bags and guided her towards the medical room.
bella was biting her lip tightly, trying to stop the tears from escaping her eyes as she kept her eyes fixed on the floor, unable to face the eyes that casted her way as they watched her limp down the hallway, unable to walk properly due to the stinging pain.
"it'll be okay." eddie reassured, a comforting hand on the small of her back. however, bella could only feel guilt from his words, as his kindness only made her feel worse.
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