At Jerome's dad's house, Jerome and Mara were welcomed in by Poppy.
"Poppy, I didn't know you were going to be here!" Jerome said. "Why aren't you at mum's?"
"Well, dad told me you would be here," Poppy said. "So I knew I had to be here to help with dinner. You know he's not a good cook."
"Well considering I was in prison for a while," John said walking out from the kitchen "I think I have a reasonable excuse" They all laughed.
"I love your dress!" Poppy said to Mara. "But why did you dress up?"
"Well, Ive never been invited to a boyfriend's house before," Mara said. "So I thought this was a special occasion."
"You look lovely!" John said. They all sat down at the dinner table and enjoyed their food. They talked about their summer vacations and Mara's french and journalism internships. They joked around about Jerome's sports internship and his training. After dessert, Poppy took Mara upstairs to show her her room. Jerome helped his dad clean up.
"I just want you to know that I'm extremely proud of the man you've become," John said. "You're no longer the boy playing pranks and asking for attention."
"Yeah" Jerome said quietly.
"Is something bother you?" hi dad asked.
"Actually,yeah. It was something Mr Sweet said when we were talking," Jerome said. "Something about you and him? You two used to be great friends?" John was quiet for a moment.
"Is that all he told you?" he asked.
"Well, no" Jerome said. "He said that you two kind of had a falling out."
"Well, that's what happened," John said. "And that's all you need to know."
"But why?" Jerome asked. "Why won't you tell me?"
"Jerome, you don't need to know everything," his dad said sternly. "All you need to know is I made some bad choices and they left me with a lot of regrets. Can we please drop this?" At that moment the girls came back downstairs.
"Mara, we had best be getting back to the House" Jerome said.
"Already?" Mara and Poppy asked.
"Yes," Jerome said. "I have a...uh...an early training with Mick and Mrs Robinson tomorrow."
"Will you come back soon?" John asked as they walked out the door.
"Maybe" Jerome said.
The next morning the gang sneaked out before Victor woke up. Joy and Eddie brought with them what Nina and Fabian told them to bring. Eddie brought a signed baseball glove and Joy brought Bunsy Buns the Second. Her dad had bought another one after Victor had burned her other stuffed animal. Amber had the fire going and NIna and Fabian were standing around it.
"So what do we have to do?" Eddie asked.
"Throw your things in the fire," Nina instructed.
"What?!" Joy and Eddie exclaimed.
"I had to wait six hours in the rain to get this signed." Eddie said holding up the glove. "It may be worth a lot of money some day. I'm not throwing it in the fire.
"And I just got Bunsy Buns replaced." Joy said.
"Do you guys want to be in Sibuna or not?" Amber asked. Eddie and Joy both sighed and threw the glove and the bunny in the fire. Nina told them what to say.
Joy raised her hand ""I Joy Mercer, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House and promise to stand by my fellow club members NIna Martin Amber Millington and Fabian Rutter and Eddie Miller."
Eddie raised his hand. "I Eddie Miller, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House and promise to stand by my fellow club members Amber Millington and Fabian Rutter and Nina Martin and Joy Mercer"
"Congrats guys!" Nina said. "You're officially members of Sibuna!" They all covered their right eye and said "Sibuna"
"That's it?" Eddie asked. "No drinking strange liquids or wandering through dangerous tunnels?"
"That can be arranged." Amber said.
"No thanks," Joy said. "I've had enough of tunnels. And you guys owe me a new bunsy buns!" They headed back up to the House. "Oh and I talked to Mr Sweet. He said we can present our fundraiser on Monday to the school"
"I forgot all about that!" Nina said.
"Don't worry," Joy said. "I've got it all planned out."
"Thanks Joy, You're a lifesaver" Nina smiled.
"You and Joy seem to be getting along/" Fabian said as they walked together.
"She's actually not that bad now that she's not trying to steal my boyfriend" NIna said. They laughed.
"yeah, I can't tell you how uncomfortable it is to have two girls fighting over you" Fabian said.
Monday morning, the students gathered in the common room. Mr Sweet stood on the stage with Nina, Joy, and Fabian standing behind them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have an announcement from a couple of your classmates," he said. He turned it over to them.
"Well, as you know the library that used to hold the Treasure of Egypt Exhibition is low on funds," NIna said.
"No we didn't know," one of the students said.
"Well you do now," Joy said.
"Ok guys, we talked to a local newspaper who is doing an essay contest. The winner school recieves $10,000" Nina said. "The theme of the essay is 'What have you learned from your school?'"
"And what's in it for us?" someone else asked.
"We win money for the library," Fabian said. "We'll be able to buy artifacts, restore books, extend it."
"What about using the money for new books, better computers, and better food for the cafeteria?" Several of the students agreed.
"Guys, this is our school's heritage we're talking about!" Nina said. "This school and the library are based on the Egyptian heritage. This is our chance to help it grow. And if we can continue to help keep this library running, we can find ways to raise money fore the school, like new books and better food..."
"And new uniforms!" Amber said. The students laughed.
"Yes Amber," Nina said. "But we have to start somewhere and the library really needs it Anybody who wants to enter see me or Joy for an entry form" The room was quiet. "Did I mention the winner gets their picture in the paper?" At that moment, more than half the students came running to the stage asked for a form.
"The essays are due in two days time!" Joy told everyone. Once the room cleared out, Fabian pulled Nina aside.
"You did great up there!" he said.
"You think so?" she asked.
"Yeah," Fabian said. "Great speech!"
"I hoped you remember it," Nina said. "Cause I didn't" They laughed. "Well lets hope its enough to win money for the library."
"Here give me an entry form" Fabian said.
"You're entering?" NIna asked.
"Why not. You should enter too." Nina smiled then she saw something behind Fabian. It was the spirit.
"I'm still watching you," she said. "Don't forget about me" Then she disappeared. Fabian saw the look on Nina's face.
"What is it?" he asked looking around/
"It was her," Nina said. "She said..."
"What's wrong?" Eddie asked running up to them. "I heard you were in troulbe."
"What? Nothing" Nina said. "I'm ok. Who told you I was in trouble?"
"Nobody did really," Eddie said. "I sensed that something was wrong"
"You sensed it?" Fabian asked.
"Yeah," Eddie said. "Just like I did when she needed help last time."
"So you're saying you can tell when I'm in trouble?" Nina asked.
"Yeah," Eddie said. "Weird right? It must be a power of the Osirian"
"Yeah, weird," NIna said. "But kind of cool, right Fabian?"
"Yeah, cool" Fabian said with a hint of jealousy.
Author's Note: Kind of long, but I had a lot to put in. What do you think? Comment, vote, or tweet me @kayla_danee2011
Chapter 17 coming soon!