Eleven year old Mara Jeffray stood outside Anubis house, still teary eyed from her parents departure. Suitcase in one hand, hand book in the other, she walked through the oak doors. She was greeted by a kind looking woman wearing an apron with flour all over it.

"Hello deary! I'm Trudy, the house mother." she held out a flour stained hand for Mara to shake but retracted it, laughing the whole time.

"Why don't you come on and meet the others. They're not all here yet but your roommate is." she ushered her into the kitchen and living room area. Mara felt butterflies in her stomach. It was a mixture of nerves and excitement. She was about to meet the people she was going to live with. She only hoped that they were nice... at the very least. Once in the room, she saw four people. Three girls and one boy. The girls were talking on the couch but looked up when they saw Mara and Trudy. The blonde one squealed and ran over to them. She hugged her tightly.

"Hey, roomie!" she said, letting her go. Mara just smiled timidly and waved slightly. She was too scared to talk. "I'm Amber! That's Patricia and that's Joy." she said pointing at the other two girls. She didn't introduce the boy though. She just glanced over at him.

When Mara didn't respond, Amber studied her intently. "Are you, like, mute?" she asked slowly and loudly. Mara decided to play this out a little longer and shook her head.

"Then why aren't you speaking?" Mara just shrugged her shoulders. Amber laughed nervously and Mara just smiled at her again.

"Okay, so why don't you girls go and unpack. I'll have dinner ready when you get down." Amber, Patricia and Joy happily took their suitcases upstairs but Mara hung back. The yet-to-be-named boy was sitting on the windowsill, his back to her. She walked slowly over to him and sat on the other side of the ledge. "I'm Mara, what's your name?" No response. "Are you mute?" she asked. He didn't speak but turned his body to face her. Now she could see his profile. He had dirty blonde hair (a lot of it) and piercing blue eyes. He avoided eye contact but spoke up.

"Jerome." was all he said. She could see in his eyes that he wasn't happy to be here.

"So... why so sad?" she said airily.

"I'm not sad." he protested.

Your tear stained face begs to differ.

But Mara just nodded and fiddled with her hair awkwardly. She was surprised when Jerome spoke again.

"Your roommate talks a lot." he said with half a smile, finally looking into her eyes. His eyes unnerved Mara. They were somewhat hypnotizing.

"I can tell." she smiled back.

"I was here when she came and she hasn't stopped talking since." Mara laughed at this and then reached into her side bag. She pulled out a box of jellied eels, opening it and giving some to Jerome. Jerome finally gave her a full smile, muttering a small thanks. Just then, three boys walked in. One of them looked more scared than the other two put together. She later found out that his name was Fabian when Trudy came and greeted them warmly. The other two were named Alfie and Mick. The other girls came down and the eight students chatted and got to know each other. Mara quickly befriended Amber, her roommate, and later on Patricia and Joy. Jerome wasn't as sad as before. Although he was joking around with Alfie, you could tell that he was hurting. Just by looking at his eyes. Well, Mara could anyway.

Once in bed, Mara got out her notebook. She was leaning on the headboard looking at everything in her room. There was a blue beanbag in one corner with a number of plush pillows around it. A wardrobe, chest of draws and a purple and blue rug. Amber was asleep on the bed next to her. She had fallen asleep straight away on account of the long train ride she had to take to get here. Mara should really be sleepy too but she wouldn't be able to sleep until she had written in her notebook. She didn't call it a diary ,even though she used it as one, because if she did, people would want to read it wouldn't they? Pen in hand, she wrote down everything that she was thinking. About the house, about the school, her housemates. Everything.

I'm in my room but not at home. No, I have been sent to boarding school and am in Anubis house. I will be living here for a few years. Well, until I graduate. I've met my housemates and they all seem very nice. Here is a list.

.Amber- my roommate. She's very talkative and bubbly.

.Patricia-Not as loud as Amber but still really nice.

.Joy-Sharing a room with Patricia. Calm and funny.

.Fabian-Seems quite shy and I can tell that he is smart.

.Mick-Sharing with Fabian. Likes sport. Sweet.

.Alfie-A jokester. Very funny, up-beat and obsessed with extra terrestrials. I convinced there is life on other planets.

.Jerome-...

I honestly don't know what to say about him. He is one of those very complicated people that show a range of different emotions on his face at a time. When I first came in, he was evidently upset and it was obvious he had been crying and I don't think that it was because he missed his parents. Afterwards however, he was all laughs and happy chatting. I like knowing with what i'm dealing with so Jerome wasn't exactly my favorite person in the house.

Well, goodbye for now!

Just as Mara was putting her book away and was about to go to sleep, there was a soft knock at the door. The person, without waiting for permission to enter, opened the door and walked halfway to her bed. She could now see that the mystery person was Jerome. The boy she had just now been writing about. Sub-consciously, she tucked the little red book further down in between her pillows. Jerome stood there awkwardly for a few seconds but eventually spoke.

"Umm, I just wanted to say thanks... for before." he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and Mara could tell that he was not used to saying thanks. Whether it was because he was mean or because he didn't have anything to be thankful for, she didn't know. In his other hand, he held a snickers chocolate bar. When he saw Mara looking at it, he walked a bit further and placed it on the edge of her bed.

"Thanks." she dragged out the word and he turned to go, bumping into the wardrobe on his way. He smiled sheepishly at her and left. Mara crawled forward, grabbed the chocolate bar and got her book out again. No way was she going to be able to sleep before writing what had just happened!

End.

So this isn't exactly Jara since they're like... eleven years old. But I can't write something without incorporating a little bit of Jara into it. I'm not going to continue this story because I am writing something for my other fandom, Big Time Rush, because I feel like I have abandoned it. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, please review.

~Insanity ;)