Joy had just gone off on her date with Fabian, and Kira was currently feeling very sorry for herself, tucked away in her corner of the room and staring at the same page of Geometry homework for the last ten minutes.

It was ridiculous, really, how Fabian tucked his tail between his legs and went along the path of least resistance. Asking Joy out on a date he wasn't keen on going on might appease her in the short term, but in the long term, it would hurt that much worse when the other shoe finally dropped. Kira tried to ignore the little worm in the back of her head that reminded her she might be going a bit too harsh on Fabian. After all, Joy wasn't an easy person to say no to, which, while a largely attractive quality, could also have disastrous consequences if you absolutely needed to tell her no.

It seemed she wasn't alone in her pity party. A loud sigh drew her attention to Nina's bed, where Nina and Amber sat also trying to focus on homework but clearly failing. The movie date really was the elephant in the room.

"We could still make the start of the movie if we hurry," Amber said, breaking the pregnant silence.

"Amber," Nina said, as though she couldn't believe their roommate had actually suggested crashing their date, "the last thing I want to do is sit there while Fabian and Joy hold hands in the dark." And oh, shit, they probably would be holding hands... "I just wish we could— keep practicing for hockey tryouts."

"What?" Amber asked, confused, then looked over her shoulder at Kira. "Oh, right. Yeah... I really was going to tell you guys, honestly, and it really was kind of an accident. You know Fabian."

"Yeah, I do," said Nina bitterly, "and if he really didn't want to go, he wouldn't have."

Kira could hold back a snort at that. "Yeah," she muttered, scribbling a right triangle onto her notebook, "sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nina's voice was sharp, and Kira winced.

"Just that I was there when they made their plans," she explained. "He really didn't look too thrilled. I know you guys are close, but he's a bit of a doormat. He just needs to let her down gently before anyone else gets hurt." She tossed her pencil down, defeated once again by Pythagoras and his stupid theorem, not that she was all that focused anyway. "Forget I said anything," she muttered. "I'm going next door to hang with Mara."

She didn't wait for a response, just got up and left, cursing herself internally for having opened her stupid mouth anyway. She'd probably just pissed off her roommates and then ran away.

Whatever, that was a problem for future Kira; now she could just try and take her mind off everything. Seriously, there were other things she could be doing on a Friday night besides homework and wallowing. Not that Mara was a fan of doing much else besides schoolwork.

She knocked. "Mara, you in there?" No reply, but there was a mad scrambling sound coming from behind the door. "Mara? Patricia?"

The door opened a crack and Mara stuck her face out, eyes wide. "Oh, thank goodness, it's only you," she said, relieved, and practically hauled Kira inside, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Um, yeah?" Kira laughed, plopping down on Mara's bed. "Who else would I be?"

"Vera," Mara muttered, already back on whatever project she'd thrown herself into.

Kira grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it to herself, cocking her head curiously. "Why Vera?"

"Oh, you should have seen her, Kira," Mara replied, looking at her with an expression both frightened and determined. "I've never heard her so angry before."

"I think I missed a few chapters," she said. "Why is Vera angry?"

"I really shouldn't say... basically, I'm doing a bit of private journalism, and one thing led to another, and I maybe was looking around Vera's room while she wasn't there, and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you were snooping in Vera's room?" Kira asked, honestly surprised by Mara's boldness. "Did she catch you?"

Mara nodded, tapping her voice recorder to her temple. "Yes, that's why she got so mad. And, get this, she threatened me."

Kira leaned forward, Joy-angst forgotten. "She threatened you? I mean, you shouldn't have been snooping, but she really threatened you?"

"Yes, which leads me to believe she has something she's hiding. I mean, she's virtually a ghost! No records of her anywhere online! But I think I've got a lead, and—" She cut herself off with a wince. "And I'm not supposed to be saying anything. Darn."

Kira pursed her lips, trying to imagine Vera threatening anyone; she was surprised by how easy it was. "Mara... who commissioned this 'private journalism'?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be private," Mara replied. "That's kind of the point."

"Right," Kira replied slowly, "but if it's getting you into trouble—"

"Hey, don't worry about me, alright?" Mara placated, turning around fully at her desk so she could look Kira in the eye. "I know what I'm doing, and I promise if I need backup, I'll tell you."

For once, she had this gut feeling that she should butt in, shouldn't shrug this one off, but ultimately, Mara was stubborn. If she was committed to journalistic integrity or whatever, Kira's hands were tied, even if she wanted to help. "Okay," she sighed in defeat, "but if Vera ever threatens you again, you need to tell someone."

Mara nodded seriously, but her mind was already three steps ahead, wholly consumed by her lead. "Right, of course. Thanks, you're the best."

Kira smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. This was shaping up to be a shit Friday night in more ways than one.

—

The weekend went by uneventfully, and Monday morning was almost a blessing because at least then there was an excuse to get out of the house and do something. Honestly, she didn't do that much back home in New Jersey— only a few friend hangouts and the occasional house party she went to with Eddie— but nothing ever seemed to happen at Anubis House.

Chemistry with Mr. Sweet was when things began to get interesting. Kira was on the opposite side of the room, trying to work on the review sheet her father had passed out at the start of class with her table-mates, Daniel and Greg, a pair of boys from Mut House, when Patricia began making a pair of skeleton legs tap dance.

Without looking up, Mr. Sweet shut it down quickly. "No thank you, Patricia," he said.

Kira was about to go back to work when Eddie swiveled in his seat to challenge her. She couldn't hear exactly what was said, but it looked as snippy as always; she wondered if Patricia was ever going to take hers and Joy's advice and confess, or if she and Eddie would be stuck in the endless loop of push and pull for the rest of their lives.

All of a sudden, Eddie was getting up and walking nonchalantly toward the front of the room.

"What's he doing?" Greg whispered to her, and she gritted her teeth.

"Nothing good," she replied, and, sure enough, her jaw dropped when Eddie plucked an eyeball off an anatomy model, plopped it into their father's tea cup, and returned to his seat in one swift motion.

"I could totally top that," Patricia said, loud enough for Kira's table to hear, and promptly spilled a bunch of salt crystals onto the floor. "Oops!" she exclaimed, and Mr. Sweet looked up.

"Have more care, girls," he sighed and grabbed a dustpan from under his desk, scuttling over to sweep it up.

With his back turned, Patricia snuck over to his teacup and saucer. She grabbed the cookie and a small clump of algae from the bowl on his desk, and opened up the cookie, placing the mound of vegetation inside.

Everyone grimaced in disgust, besides Eddie, who only scoffed like he was impressed.

Probably is, the psychopath, Kira thought, but even so, made no move to stop what was about to happen.

Once the mess was cleaned up, Mr. Sweet returned to his desk and picked up the cup and saucer. He lifted the cookie to his lips with a quiet, "Yum, yum," then immediately dropped it with a scream of shock, that had the whole class laughing— even Kira, though she tried very hard to hide it. "Patricia!" he accused. "Was that you?"

Patricia sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ooo, guilty," she drawled.

"Well, you're in real trouble," he replied. "You see me after class."

Patricia smirked and gave him an irreverent two-finger salute.

Second verse, same as the first, though, and Eddie elbowed Patricia as Mr. Sweet lifted the cup to his lips, only to make eye contact with a singular eyeball floating in his tea. He dropped it with a long, horrified shout. "Patricia!" he roared.

"Ah, actually," Eddie said quickly, pointing at himself with a smug little grin, "that was me."

Their father worked his jaw for a moment before saying, "Well... don't let me catch you misusing school apparatus again, is that clear?" Eddie raised his eyebrows once in acknowledgment, looking supremely frustrated, while Patricia stared at him open-mouthed. "And as for you, Miss Williamson, I'm getting rather tired of you leading new students astray. Copy down that periodic table one-hundred times before tomorrow." Mr. Sweet sniffed, his pride clearly wounded. "Perhaps it will teach you some respect for the sciences."

If Patricia was mad, then Eddie was fuming. Let off easy again by his father, only to have someone else take the fall for both of them. She caught her brother's eye for a brief moment, and had to look away— things were not looking up for their family bonding.

"Your brother's pretty bold for that," Greg commented as her trio got back to work. Kira hummed distractedly, tapping her pencil against the table. He looked up at Daniel, who nodded subtly. "Say, um, would you maybe want to hang out sometime? Like, after school?"

Kira stopped tapping her pencil and looked at him in surprise. "Oh, um, sure?" she said. She hardly knew Greg, but from what she'd heard around the school, he was nice enough. She looked over at Joy, biting her lip. Maybe this was exactly what she needed. "Sure, just, um... text me?"

Greg grinned and nodded. "Yeah, totally!" he said and ripped off a corner of the worksheet, scribbling his number onto the corner. "Here."

"No talking, Mr. Harrison," Mr. Sweet said, clearly still licking his wounds from the pranks.

"Sorry, sir," Greg called over his shoulder before turning back to Kira and Daniel. "Right, so about our chemistry..."

—

"Three hours. Three hours of Egyptian history!" Joy was ranting after school about the previous night's date, and she wasn't getting a very attentive audience. Kira was fiddling with her phone, waiting for a text back, while Mara practically had her nose against her computer screen. "Hello, Mara? Kira? Where's my post-date therapy?"

Kira clicked off her cell sheepishly, and Mara shrugged. "Sorry, Joy... first rule of journalism: question everything, assume nothing." Joy rolled her eyes as Mara turned her computer screen to face them, displaying a photo of three men attached to an article.

"'Cook serves up prestigious award'," Kira read aloud.

"And this is relevant how?" Joy asked, not following.

Mara had a gleam in her eye as she explained, "This article was from the year Vera claims to have worked at Beacon Grove Boy's School... as head cook."

Kira frowned, that funny feeling from Friday night back again. "You're sure?"

Mara nodded and Joy whistled. "Well, either she was a short guy in a white shirt or she's not in that photo," she said.

"Which means she's lying," Mara concluded.

"Or she made a mistake," Joy said, shooting Kira a look as if to say can you believe this? "Aren't you taking this a bit too seriously for a fluff piece?"

"Question everything, assume nothing," Mara repeated, and Kira could only bite her lip.

Suddenly, her phone dinged and she rushed to check it. Joy looked at her like she'd sprouted wings.

"What's got you so jumpy?" she asked, and there it was, the moment Kira said it out loud:

"I have a date, actually. Tomorrow. We're going on a walk."

This got both Joy's and Mara's attention. "What? Oh my god, who with?" Joy exclaimed while Mara raised an eyebrow, gesturing questioningly toward Joy with her head.

Kira resolutely ignored her. "Greg Harrison," she replied. "He asked me today during chem."

"Before or after our favorite couple pulled that stunt?" Joy asked, throwing back her head and laughing.

"After."

"I hear he smokes," Mara said.

"What, like pot?" Kira asked, and Mara shook her head.

"No," she answered, then lowered her voice as though someone might hear, "cigarettes."

Joy snorted, picking at her nails. "You act like it's criminal," she said.

"No, but it's still gross. He and Daniel always hang out by that really old building on campus that no one goes to anymore to smoke." Mara made a face. "It seriously looks like a death trap, covered in a bunch of old weeds and probably crawling with wild animals."

"How do you even know this?" Kira asked, and Mara shrugged.

"Daniel's on the football team, so Mick's told me all about him," she said. "They're nice guys and all, but that's definitely a turn-off."

"Yeah..."

"Well, I think it's sort of sophisticated," Joy said, rolling onto her back and clutching her pillow. "I'd never do it, but there's something so hot about the aesthetic of it all. Imagine Fabian with a cigarette, all dressed up in his academic clothes."

"I think the sky will fall before Fabian touches a cig," Kira laughed, but her heart wasn't in it. "Does Greg really smoke?"

Not even Eddie smoked cigarettes, not like their mom.

"Oh, I didn't mean to kill your fun," Mara apologized. "Seriously, he's a nice guy; don't let that stop you from having fun on your date."

Kira sighed and typed out a reply to Greg. "Yeah, you're probably right..."

For a while, they all sat in silence, and Mara went back down her Vera-rabbit hole, occasionally muttering to herself about this thing being out of place or that thing not ringing up.

"So, the addresses for her reference don't match," Mara said out loud about an hour later. "I think this is the real one; I'm going to go tomorrow and see what they can remember about Vera."

"I'd go with you, but..."

"But you've got your walking date," Mara finished, and Kira smiled awkwardly. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine on my own. It's time to uncover the truth about her... nothing adds up!"

"People aren't sums, Mara, they don't have to add up. I mean, what have you got against her anyway?" Joy whined. "She's nice, she smiles, she bakes cakes—"

"She's not as nice as you think, Joy."

Joy rolled her eyes, flopping back onto her bed with her pillow covering her ear. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

—

"You know, I'm glad you said yes," said Greg as they walked along one of the winding paths through the woods on campus. "I've kinda fancied you since we got paired up in Chemistry."

Kira's cheeks colored, and she smiled at him. "Didn't know I was on your mind," she teased. "So where are you taking me?"

"Deep into the woods to murder you," Greg said, completely serious; Kira stopped short. "I'm joking," he tacked on quickly. "Sorry, probably not in good taste."

She laughed awkwardly and jogged a bit to fall in step with him again. "Right, it's no big deal. Funny." It wasn't really funny, but overall it didn't bother her. Dark humor was rarely anyone's strong suit. "So where are you actually leading me?"

Greg shrugged. "Eh, just figured you might not have explored all the cool places on campus. There're so many old, abandoned buildings just scattered all over the place. Me and my mates hang around them sometimes."

Kira thought about what Mara had told her the night before. "Yeah, my friend mentioned you guys knew some cool places around," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. "You know Mara, right?"

"Mara Jaffray? Yeah, she's Mick's girl. Real nice," he said and leaned down, "but a bit of a goody-goody, y'know?"

Kira groaned inwardly and was about to reply when he grabbed her arm. "Up ahead," he said, gesturing toward a clearing. "A little urban exploring never killed anyone, right?"

"Yes, it has," she replied before her brain caught up to her mouth. "And it's not exactly urban, is it?"

Greg blinked at her, and Kira was afraid he might get mad, but then he started laughing. "You're funny," he chortled. "Love a dry sense of humor. C'mon."

They entered into a clearing that had probably at one point been more of a lawn, and Kira's eyes widened at the impressive structure. It was the one Mara described, the building covered in vines and weeds, with crumbling columns and an open-air walkway around the front of the building. What was likely once a grand house on the Anubis Estate was now in complete disrepair, reclaimed by the passage of time. If she looked up and around, she could just see the weather vanes of a few buildings a ways away on the estate peeking over the tree line.

"Wow," she said, and Greg nodded, almost proud.

"I know right?" he said. "Come on, there's some weird stuff in here."

The stone was relatively sturdy under her feet, and she marveled at the way the stained glass windows still cast colorful shadows on the walls even after so many years. "It's all Egyptian," she commented, squinting up at the windows.

"Yeah, I think this school is going for a theme," Greg laughed from behind her, and when Kira turned around, she struggled to hide her frown.

It wasn't that she hated smokers. Her mom smoked, and so had her aunt. Then again, Auntie Eileen also died from lung complications. For all the experimental drugs and whatnot Eddie and sometimes even she tried, cigarettes were the one thing they'd promised each other they'd stay away from. She knew attitudes towards smoking were different across the pond, but still...

Greg took a drag and flicked ash onto the ground, not caring much that he was sitting on a wall covered with dried bird shit. "So," he said, blowing smoke out through his nose in a way that would apparently make Joy swoon, "tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?" Kira picked at her fingernail bed, making awkward eye contact with the bust of a pharaoh that sat beside Greg, though it wasn't much eye contact, given its eyes were closed. She didn't pretend to understand other people's artistic choices.

"Dunno," he said with a shrug. "Hobbies, fun facts, the usual, y'know?"

"Well, I'm American, I'm a twin, I speak French and Russian...that's about all I got." Besides the fact my father is the headmaster of the school we both go to.

"You're a polyglot?" he asked. "Cool, can you say something?"

She cleared her throat. "Это свидание довольно скучное," she said.

Greg cocked his head and took another puff from his cigarette. "What's that mean?"

"It means I'm having a great time," she replied with a sweet smile. That wasn't at all what it meant, but he didn't have to know that.

Greg beamed back at her, smoke curling around his head.

—

"And after I came back from Dewsbery Manor and found out Vera's reference has been dead twenty years, Fabian asked me to run a Zimmermann test on a chemical he had. It was ferula oil, by the way," Mara said, breathlessly recounting the events of her day.

"What did he want with ferula oil?" Kira asked as they walked to chemistry class together.

"Beats me," she replied. "I was just excited to run a Zimmermann test."

Jerome was passing out flyers to everyone about ping-pong tryouts, handing them out to just about everyone he could get to take one. Greg waved at Kira from their seat, and she casually tried to pretend she hadn't noticed.

Mara did, though. "Did it not go well?" she asked pityingly.

"No, it was just awkward. And I just..." Kira trailed off, looking over at Joy. "I don't know. You were right, though. He smokes."

Mara sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "There are other fish in the sea," she reminded her. She was about to say something more when she noticed Alfie preparing to mix chemicals. "Alfie, you shouldn't mix chemicals if you don't know what they are," Mara warned.

"Sorry, Mara," he said. "Very sensible... and very boring." Jerome laughed along with Alfie. "And besides, I do know what they are: stinky green and lumpy orange."

"Alfie, what did I say?" Mara shouted, catching Fabian's attention.

"Alfie, what are you doing?" he yelped.

Alfie grinned maniacally, looking every bit the mad scientist. "Experimenting!" he cackled and upended lumpy orange chemical into stinky green. Immediately stinky green became a million times stinkier, and the room began to gag.

"Alfie, stop that at once!" Mr. Sweet ordered through his gagging fit, and all of a sudden Victor came breezing in.

"What is going on here?" he bellowed.

Mr. Sweet waved a hand. "I've got it under control, Victor!" he assured him from behind a make-shift mask of handkerchiefs.

"I beg to differ, Mr. Sweet," Victor replied. "It appears to me what you have here is a class full of dunces who should not be interfering in things they do not understand!" And with that, he left, coughing on his way out.

"That was awesome sauce!" Alfie cheered. "If I was a mad scientist, I could do this for a living! Right, Mara?"

Mara shook her head in disgust.

—

"Hey," Eddie greeted, sauntering up beside her at the end of the day.

Kira put the last of her books in her locker and shut the door warily. "Hey," she replied. "What's up?"

"Heard you went on a date today," he said casually, "with Greg Harrison."

"Yeah, we went on a walk and looked at some old buildings on campus. So?"

Eddie blinked at her incredulously. "'So?' Do you even know this guy?"

"What, are you jealous I got more game than you?" Kira teased.

"Um, I've got game, thank you very much," Eddie fired back, crossing his arms.

She looked at him, unimpressed. "Is that why you begged Patricia to prank you earlier?"

Eddie blanched. "She told you about that?"

Kira laughed in his face and started walking down the hall; they had a school website meeting in less than ten minutes. "Dude, come on, I know you too well. Besides, it was hardly even a date. Seriously, I appreciate the big brother protection deal, but don't forget I'm older than you."

"By like a minute," he grumbled, jogging to catch up to her. "What if he murdered you in the woods and left you for dead?"

"Why would Greg Harrison murder me?" she asked, not bothering to mention his weird joke to Eddie.

Eddie shrugged. "Why should I know? People murder pretty teenage girls all the time."

"Aww, you think I'm pretty?" she cooed sarcastically. "You're sweet."

"We share the same DNA, Nug. If you're ugly, then what does that make me?"

She rolled her eyes, elbowing him sharply. "Whatever. Hey, you trying out to be Jerome's pong partner?" she asked, pointing to a comical sign of Jerome pointing a paddle at the camera.

"What? No, what do I look like, a dork?" Eddie snorted, wrinkling his nose.

"Yes, but that's beside the point."

"Hilarious," Eddie deadpanned. "Look at me, I'm laughing my ass off."

"Hey, if the shoe fits..." she laughed, pushing the door open. Patricia, Mara, and Amber were already there, doing this or that. Mara looked troubled, gnawing at her lip as she started at her computer, and Kira wondered how she might be able to help her out of whatever funk she found herself in.

Meanwhile, Eddie zeroed in on Patricia and immediately began antagonizing her.

Kira rolled her eyes and leaned against the table by Amber. "What's new?" she asked.

"Getting back to my ping-pong roots, I suppose," Amber answered with a put-upon sigh. "It's not easy being a star."

"Ping-pong roots?" Kira repeated, and Amber only nodded.

"Jerome practically groveled at my feet to be his ping-pong partner," she explained, still typing away on her cellphone. "It was so pitiful, I had to accept."

Kira nodded, suppressing a smile. "Never took you for a table tennis champion," she said, and Amber nodded.

"No one ever does."

After about an hour of working, Eddie was still pulling Patricia's pigtails, trying valiantly to get the desired reaction out of her.

"Accept it!" Eddie exclaimed. "You're a goody-two-shoes with sprinkles on top. When you're not in school, you spend your free time blogging about it." Patricia looked at him, unimpressed, as he laughed. "It's sick."

"Are you here to contribute, or are you killing time until your teacher buddies clock out?" Patricia fired back, and Eddie set his jaw, knowing when he was beaten.

Amber rolled her eyes and dragged Patricia from the room. "Come on, let's go before you two run out of mean things to say to one another."

Kira checked her watch and sighed. "Shit, yeah, I've got to go too. You sure, you're alright, Mara?"

Mara looked up distractedly. "Um, yeah," she said. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," Kira said, waving at her best friend and brother. "Behave, Eddie."

"When do I not?" Eddie called after her.

Kira rolled her eyes, waved again, and left the room. As she headed home, though, she got a sinking feeling in her gut, like something bad just happened somewhere in the world.

She shook her head to clear it, chuckling a little to herself. Whatever it was, she was sure it was fine. How much damage could Eddie and Mara cause anyway?