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"The calls are going through to Joy's voicemail but now I'm just getting an unobtainable signal. What does that even mean?" Patricia asked as she, Jerome and Alfie walked into lessons together, with Leah and Amber following behind

"It just means, Patricia, that she's gotten fed up with you bombarding her with calls and texts so she's changed her phone contract" Jerome spoke, sitting himself down at his desk, soon followed by Alfie

"Not funny Jerome-" Patricia spoke

"-all the worlds a stage! The men and women, merely players," a voice from the back of the classroom spoke, causing everyone to turn around, "Hi, my name is Jason Winkler and I am your new history teacher. I will also be teaching you drama"

"You're Mr Fleming's replacement?" Mara asked

"Yeah that's right" He responded, moving to the front of the room

"Wow! I'm so glad he had a heart attack" Amber spoke loudly, causing the whole room to erupt into laughter, "Sorry that didn't come out right"

They all gathered in the drama lounge for the lesson with Mr Winkler. Leah sat herself next to Amber and Nina, across from Jerome and Alfie. Alfie had stood himself in front of the class and started buzzing or more like squealing, running around the classroom before bumping into Amber's chair

"Thanks Alfie," She spoke, hitting him with her magazine, "Some of us are here to learn"

"And what exactly are you supposed to be, Alfie?" Mr Winkler asked

"A mosquito in a spin dryer, isn't it obvious?" Alfie spoke

"I don't think I've ever heard a mosquito sound like that, Alf. But bonus points for trying" Leah spoke, gaining a laugh from Nina and Fabian

"Now, for something a little more serious," Mr Winkler spoke, holding up a book, "Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Timeless, Tragic" Leah let out a groan. She hated love stories, especially this one. Mr Winkler handed out the books to everyone when Amber turned to Leah, "Tedious?" Leah muttered as Mr Winkler handed Leah a copy of the book

"I knew I was right, there's an article in here that says if your boyfriend isn't giving you up attention. You have to flirt with someone else to make them jealous"

"Swap please Amber" Mr Winkler spoke, interrupting the conversation Leah and Amber were having. Amber, still on Cloud 9 over this dude looked up at him

"Do I have to, sir?" Amber asked in a sweet voice. He responded nodding his head and saying yeah quietly. He asked for volunteers to read and Amber was straight up on stage, wanting to play Juliet. Leah looked across to her two best friends who were whispering to each other before Alfie shot his hand up, requesting to voice Romeo.

"Oh Romeo Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I will no longer be a Capulet" Amber recited from her lines

"Shall I hear more or shall I speak at this?" Alfie recited louder than his normal tone of voice before giving Jerome a thumbs up. He chuckled and told him in hand signals to calm down his reading

"But tis thy name that is my enemy.. Thou art... Thou art..." Amber spoke, her eyes darting from Mick to her book, "Truly the yummiest boy I have ever seen Romeo!"

"What?!" Alfie exclaimed

"That's not in the script Amber!" Mr Winkler protested. Amber tossed her book to one side, grabbing Alfie's shoulders and planting a kiss on his lips, causing the whole room to escalate into shock.

"Okay! That─ That was excellent... Okay, I want you all to read the play by next lesson" Mr Winkler spoke. The bell soon rang, dismissing the students.

IT WAS NOW MIDNIGHT and Leah, Mara, Amber and Fabian all stood next to the attic door, holding torches under our chins as Nina, Patricia, Jerome and Alfie exited the bedroom which Nina shared with Leah and Patricia.

"Where's Mick?" Amber asked Fabian, breaking the eerie silence they were all stood in

"Didn't want to come, tired I suppose" Fabian responded only for Patricia to practically jump down his throat, shushing him

"Oh spirits of Anubis House, guide... the new girl on her initiation quest and keep her from harm in the haunted attic" Patricia spoke

"Oh come on, this is ridiculous!" Fabian spoke. Patricia shushed him one last time, "Unlock the door" Nina moved towards the door, pulling out the key she had stolen a day prior to this event and unlocked the door

"I just have to go up there and bring something back? You guys didn't booby trap the place, did you?"

"Of course not! Go!" Patricia spoke, ushering Nina inside. She opened the door, revealing the creepy staircase that gave Leah haunting chills down her spine. Nina took a deep breath before walking through the doorway, she took one look back before Patricia raced forward and locked the door behind Nina

"What are you doing?" Amber shouted

"What does it look like?" Patricia responded, removing the key from the door

"Trix, let her out!" Leah demanded

"Not until she tells us what she knows of Joy's disappearance" Patricia spoke

"I don't know anything!" Nina's voice shouted through the door

"Then you'll have to stay in there until morning"

"Alright Patricia, you've had your fun now just let Nina out"

"Yeah Patricia, this is getting silly" Mara entered the conversation, causing Patricia to scowl at her

"Who's side are you on? Last chance newbie, what can you tell me about Joy's disappearance?" Patricia asked as Nina rattled the door, trying to make it open

"Nothing! I know nothing!" Everyone started to plead with Patricia until Victor appeared. They all stopped their conversations

"What is going on here? Why are you all out of bed?" He asked, shining his torch in their faces. He moved to switch the light on before moving through the small group, stopping at the attic door which the sound of Nina trying to open it had completely silenced.

"Were you two trying to break this door down?" He asked, looking straight at Leah and Amber. They both shook their heads as Patricia butted in with a complete rubbish lie

"No, we uh... We thought we heard mice!"

"Get to bed now! Before I put you all on detention!" They all dispersed form the attic door to their designated bedrooms as Victor went to investigate the attic. Leah sat on the edge of her bed, trying not to think about if Victor had caught Nina up in the attic.
She decided to stand up and head over to the door, to check if Victor had gone when Amber and Fabian joined her, with the same idea as her. They heard the attic door open as Amber pulled them into the darkness. They watched as Victor left the attic and the corridor

"He hasn't got her" Amber whispered

"So where is she then? There isn't anywhere to hid up there" Leah asked. They looked between each other

"Let's get that key" They all stormed into Leah's room that she shares with Patricia and Nina

"Patricia, give me the key" Fabian spoke, waking Patricia from her slumber. She sat up in bed, "I haven't got it"

"Liar" Amber snapped back. Fabian started to grow annoyed at Patricia and her antics she's been performing the past few days since Nina arrived and Joy disappeared

"I swear to you, I don't have it anymore"

"Well where is it then?" Fabian asked

"I... I threw it out of the window" Patricia spoke, trying to act innocent. Leah let out a frustrated groan, "I can't believe I'm hearing this" Amber and Fabian exchanged looks

"You did what?!" Fabian exclaimed. He and Leah moved over to the windows, "Which window? This one?" He pointed at the window that sat next to Leah's bed

"I think so. I think it went in the bushes" Patricia spoke as Leah and Fabian peered out, down into the darkness of England at night

"Seriously? We aren't going to get that until morning now! Well done Patricia" Leah spoke

"What a mess" Fabian spoke, leaving the window and moving back towards Patricia's bed

"I think we should go tell Victor everything"

"I agree"

"No!" Patricia protested, stopping them in their tracks,

"What else should we do?! We can't leave Nina upstairs all night" Leah exclaimed. Fabian, Amber and Leah headed out of the bedroom door, checking the main door to see if Victor was nearby before darting across to the attic door.

"Nina" Fabian whispered, constantly checking back for Victor, "Nina?" He said in a more clearer voice. A click appeared from the door as it swung open, with Nina falling out. Leah, Fabian and Amber jumped, watching Nina straighten herself up from falling

"Hi. What's the matter? You guys look like you've seen a ghost" Nina spoke

"H-how did you?" Amber started to question. Nina held up a hairpin in her right hand, causing the four to chuckle loudly. Fabian shushed them and Nina turned to close to door

"Are you okay?" Fabian asked. Nina turned her head and nodded in response as she locked the door with her pin

"What was it like up there?" Amber asked

"Any ghosts?" Leah interrupted Amber

"No, just a few spiders, mice and a rat" Nina spoke as they all moved towards the bedroom door, "You're so brave!" Amber spoke. A cough from Victor echoed through the door from his office, causing them all to make discreet exits to their beds for the rest of night that was left.

THE NEXT MORNING, Leah sat at the table, grabbing breakfast and trying to tie her tie at the same time. Jerome let out a gasp, "I'm so hungry", he grabbed his breakfast as Nina walked through the door and they all erupted in a small applause

"We were certain Victor was going to catch you" Jerome spoke, grabbing some pastry and settling in his seat next to his best friend

"Yeah, Victor or the flesh eating zombies" Alfie spoke, waving his hands in Nina's face

Nina let out a chuckle, "No zombies. Mostly rat bones"

"Cool" Alfie spoke, taking his seat. Patrica sat across from Nina and constantly scowled at her

"Was it really scary up there?" Mara asked

"I thought it would be worse. It was actually pretty cool. I might move up there" Nina spoke

"Don't you think she was brave" Amber asked, looking around at everyone

"Even you have to admit Patricia. Nina passed her initiation test with flying colours" Fabian spoke as they all looked between the goth pixie and Nina.

"No! She didn't bring anything back, did she?" Patricia retorted

"Well actually" Nina spoke, picking up her bag, shuffling through it and pulling out an old dusty book. Everyone chuckled and Jerome clapped. Patricia stood up and stomped out of the room, followed by Mara. Leah rolled her eyes at Patricia, continuing to eat her breakfast.

LEAH HEADED INTO SCHOOL ALONE that morning. She saw Fabian and Nina up ahead and two voices from behind. She turned to see Alfie running with a shoe less Jerome chasing behind him. She couldn't help but chuckle, watching her two best friends...

"Hey Nina, hey-" Leah spoke as she stopped next to Nina, "-do I want to know what he's doing?" Leah asked, pointing at Fabian on his hands and knees in the bushes

"Got it" He climbed back to his feet, revealing the attic key to Leah and Nina. Nina reached forward, pulling a leaf from his hair, "Unless you wanted that there" They laughed before moving off again, "I think this needs to find it's way back into Victor's office before he notices it's gone"

Nina grabbed the key out of Fabian's hand, "No because I need this for when I go back up into the attic" She spoke, slotting the key into her bag

"You're going to go back?!" Leah asked, stopping Nina and Fabian in their movement

"Yeah.. it didn't seem crazy until I said it out loud" Nina spoke, looking at them both

"Why would you risk getting caught again?" Fabian asked as they began their journey once again

"Even though I was terrified when I was up there. It was the first time that I wasn't thinking of my gran or trying to get Patricia to like me and I just- I really need to know"

"Need to know what?" Fabian asked

"I think I saw someone up there"

"You saw someone?" Fabian grabbed Nina's arm, stopping her. Leah moved around

"Who was it?" Leah asked

Nina let out a sigh, "Okay I know it sounds crazy but... what if there is something weird about Joy's disappearance? What if Joy's still here?" Nina spoke. Leah and Fabian exchanged looks before turning back to Nina, "Yeah you're right. Crazy" She started to walk off, leaving Fabian and Leah to gather everything they had just heard from Nina. They followed Nina closely behind all the way to school until Leah split off from them, in search of her two idiotic best friends

"There you two are" Leah spoke, walking up to them in the corridor

"Here we are. So I've been thinking-" Jerome looked over to Leah, catching her roll her eyes, "-just hear me out Lee. You should do something for Amber. Something romantic. She made the first move with that kiss, now you need to follow it up with a few ideas of your own" Jerome spoke as Alfie nodded along

"You're right!-" Alfie exclaimed, pausing for a moment, "-like what?"

"Oh the maestro has a few tricks up his sleeves"

"Who's the maestro?" Alfie asked as they walked slowly down the corridor

"Jerome" Leah spoke, pointing at Jerome

"Yeah.. I'm the maestro" Jerome spoke, looking at Alfie

"Oh right okay! You're going have to warn me when you change your nicknames because last week you were Captain Spaghetti" Alfie spoke. They all walked off to lessons.

THEY ALL HEADED HOME THAT AFTERNOON and changed out of their uniform. Leah pulled on a red lace vest, a black leather dress, some knee high boots and she was about to head downstairs when Amber barged into her and Nina's room, dragging them both by their wrists to her room, showing a note left in sweet letters on her bed

"You see! My plan totally worked after all!" Amber exclaimed, "Mick wants to meet me in the laundry room tonight! I obviously made him jealous" Amber moved over to her wardrobe and began to pull clothes out. Leah had a very good idea of who left the note

"Hey Ams, I have to go do something downstairs. Good luck tonight!" Leah made her discreet exit, rushing down the stairs and barging into Jerome and Alfie's room

"The laundry room? Seriously?" Leah spoke, closing the door behind her as Alfie lay on his bed and Jerome sat on his own.

"Yeah, it's the best place... Loving the outfit" Alfie spoke. Leah exchanged looks at Jerome

"I'm sorry, has Alfie had a head transplant? You never complement my outfits" Leah asked, sitting herself on Jerome's bed, leaning against his legs

"I'm in a good mood. Tonight's going to go smoothly" Alfie spoke, moving to his wardrobe and pulling out his suit jacket. Leah turned to Jerome, "Since lover boy's going on his date, do you want to have a movie night? I know you've been dying to get me to watch that new zombie movie"

"Yeah sure! Sounds like a plan" Jerome spoke

"Do I still-" Leah pointed over to Jerome's clothes drawers

He nodded, with a small smile creeping across his face, "-yes you still have a spare change of clothes if you end up crashing in here" He responded

Leah had quickly snuck upstairs to change and rushed back down before Victor could even get his 10pm speech out. She flopped down on Jerome's bed as she watched him help Alfie with his bow tie

"Jerome... Are you sure this is a good idea?" Alfie asked as he admired his outfit in his mirror

"Of course I am. Look at you, you are a single, successful guy in a very shiny suit" Jerome spoke, "What girl could resist?"

"Well me for one because you two are like my brothers" Leah placed her opinion in. They both chuckled at her response

"Yeah, you're right! I'm a catch!" Alfie exclaimed excitedly

"You're a catch!" Jerome agreed with him, buffing Alfie up

"See you, mate. Bye Leah" Alfie spoke, leaving the room. Jerome sat down on his bed next to Leah, "Poor sweet stupid fool" He laughed. Leah nudged him slightly.

"You're an idiot" Leah chuckled

"I'm offended, Lee" Jerome sarcastically spoke as Leah chuckled at him

They grabbed the laptop and switched the movie on. Within the first hour, Jerome found Leah lying with her head on his chest, fast asleep. He let out a chuckle, "Leah? Sleepy head?" She didn't answer him. He grabbed his blanket and wrapped her in it as Alfie bundled into the room

"Shhh!" Jerome exclaimed, pointing at the sleeping Leah on his chest

"Oh sorry..." Alfie apologised

"How did the date go?" Jerome whispered

"I don't want to talk about it" Alfie changed into his pyjamas and climbed into his bed, "She looks very peaceful" Alfie spoke, looking over to Leah

"Yeah, she does" Jerome spoke, admiring the sleeping girl on him as he ran his hand through her hair

"You're gonna have to admit at some point you like her" Alfie mentioned.

"Goodnight Alfie" Jerome switched off his lamp. He was clearly avoiding accepting the truth but he cared for Leah more than anything.

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