~Scott Mansion~

They arrived at a big red gate a while later as they stopped for a security check-up. The gate started to open like the guards already knew who was coming.

“Good Evening Allen!” Drake greeted the head of security as it approached.

“Good Evening Sir Drake! Welcome back! We expected your arrival, as Clement mentioned,” the head of security, together with the rest, lined up to greet them.

“Thank you! Allen!” as the group proceeded inside the gate.

The whole group was mesmerized by what they had seen. The mansion overlooks the sea - trees, lights, and a garden was noticeable as they came closer to the vicinity.

A group of helpers lined up can be seen in front of the mansion, waiting for their arrival.

“Good Evening Master Drake! Ladies! Gentlemen! Welcome to the Scotts! Welcome back, Sir!” the Head Butler Clement greeted as the other helpers bowed for greeting.

“Good evening Clement!” Drake greeted back with a smile and a gentle embrace.

“Good evening, my dear boy! Welcome back, my dear Drake.” An old lady greeted and hugged him.

“Good evening Nana! I missed you so much.” Drake politely greeted and hugged back.

“Oh! By the way, guys, this is Clement! The Head Master of this house. If you need some assistance, you can call for Clem.” Drake gladly introduced his most trustworthy companion.

“At your service Sirs! Madams!” Clem bowed.

“And this one here… is my Nana Doris. My ever-loving Nana.” Drake introduced Doris, the Lady Head Master of the house.

“Glad to meet my dear boy’s friends.” Doris greeted.

“And these are Rose, Vicky, Grace, and Trevor. They’re my playmates.” Drake introduced with a smug as the four helpers gently laughed and bowed.

“Hi,” “Hello,” “Good Evening,” “Thank you!” Drake's friends replied in the chorus as they greeted.

“Well, I hate to interrupt, sir, but I know all of you have famished from your long travel so let me inform you that dinner is waiting,” Clem announced.

“That’s why I like you, Clem. You always interrupt with a piece of good information.” Drake cackled as Clem smiled.

“Let’s get inside, guys!” Drake invited the group.

“Oh, by the way, Drake, where can we park our cars?” Mike asked.

“Oh yeah! I forgot. Just leave it to Grace. Just give her the keys, and someone will handle it.” Drake replied as he also gave him the bike's keys.

“Glad to be in on service, sir!” Grace called the drivers to help park the vehicles.

“Okay….” Mike and Dan responded in amazement as they had never had that kind of service before.

And so they went inside the mansion.

Inside, every one of the group noticed the glamorous view. From the fabulous red carpets, the expensive wooden furniture, the glistening dangling chandeliers, the masterpiece of art paintings, to the antique vases and every glamorous thing they saw put them into awe.

“Let’s head to the dining room.” Drake imposed.

“Okay,” the group replied in chorus while watching in random views.

Servers are in line to greet, waiting for the group inside the dining room.

“Now, that’s what I call a buffet,” Dave told the group in amazement. He saw a long rectangular table full of food in different varieties. Starting from chicken, pork, beef, etc., to vegetables cooked or in the salad. Bread, hamburgers, and fries are also available, and desserts from cakes, ice cream, and other sweets.

“If you have any requests, feel free to inform me or any of my chefs to serve you.” Rose notified the group.

“Rose is our head chef, so don’t be shy if you have any,” Drake added.

“At your service.” All the chefs and servers replied in chorus.

“Please have a seat.” Grace pleaded.

As everyone took their seats (One seat apart from each other, except for Drake, who sits beside Lez), they started to dig in and have some conversation while eating.

“Only Master Drake brings laughter to this house. Especially in this dining room.” Rose had a conversation with the butlers as they all agreed and smiled, watching the lively group.

“This is dope! Wow! Deeelisshhh. Thank you, Rose, and everyone who prepared this Oh so delicious food. BURRPPP!!” as everyone laughed. “Excuse me. But let’s not waste it so everyone should join us. Come on! This food is a feast so everyone should celebrate. Come on, don’t be shy.” Mike invited.

Everyone glued their eyes to Drake.

“Well, you heard the black dude. Father’s not here, and it will be our secret, as always.” Drake smiled while having a soup.

All the heads took their seat together with the chefs except for the servers who continued to serve them. Doris took the left rear next to Drake while Clem was on the right side of Lez.

“Just like before. You know, Master Drake hates to eat alone at this table. Before, as a kid, he always invited everyone to join him with Lady Elizabeth for a meal. Even up until now.” Clem acclaimed.

“He has a kind heart, sharing and loving, just like his mother,” Doris added.

“Yep! But we can’t do that in front of father.” Drake added as Doris cackled.

“And that’s the reason why he barely eats at this table and mostly joins us in the kitchen.” Doris laughed.

The group was astonished at what they heard for this one great, wealthy man who had everything everyone ever dreamed of could be this kind-hearted. It’s like seeing the other side of the coin.

(Because he has these friends who are kind of bullies in school, and let’s not forget being a womanizer.)

As everyone nearing the end of their meal,

“Ah… Drake, I think it’s getting late; I would love to stay for a while, but we have a very long travel to take, and we still have class tomorrow.” Lez clarified.

“Yeah! Hate to pass this opportunity to have a tour on this luxurious house, but we have responsibilities, and my parents might be worried by now.” Becca added.

And the others agreed too.

“Yeah, dude! I want to hang some time here but, you know, we got studies tomorrow and practice in the afternoon. Don’t want to disappoint coach, right?” Dave expanded.

“Yes. About that, I got it covered too—Clem!” as he ordered something from Clem.

Everyone from the group wondered what Drake was talking about. Slowly, a widescreen emerges from the wall.

“Now! That is dope” Mike's amazement levels up to one level higher.

“Mom? Dad?” Lez articulated as she saw her parents, and they all stood up, saw their parent’s faces on the screen.

“Dude! That’s our parents on the screen.” Jay said.

“Yap! That’s all your parents on the screen.” Drake clicked something from the remote control, and another set of videos appeared. “This is all your parents and our teachers together with our coach on the screen.” Drake showed.

“But why? How?” Dan asked.

“Why? First, for your parents to know that you are safe, in good hands, and well sustained. Second, to have their approval to let you have your weekend here. Third for approval of our excuse from our hard-working teachers until til weekend. And lastly, for our coach to approve our pass from practices, also until the weekend.” Drake explained.

The group dropped their jaw in awe.

“How? I contacted Clem, as we are on our travel, for a face verification when we arrive and to immediately contact your parents for preparation after dinner. And as soon as we passed security, we did facial recognition. Also, as we entered the gate, following from cameras from any angle from the entrance up to this dining room to get verification and access data to know details from the name, age, address, contact numbers, parents and more.” Drake further explained.

The more the group dropped their jaw in awe.

“Also, they already approved your stay. So say hi!” Drake's friends waved to the screen and said ‘hi' as awe got replaced with excitement in their faces.

“Now feel free to talk to your parents or our teachers privately,” Drake added as the attendants gave each one of them a pad for their private moment.

“Hey, Drake! How did you convince them all for our free pass?” Dan asked.

“Well… just a little charity donation to our teachers and for our school. Especially to Mrs. Hemsley, she loves those kinds of donations and also to our coach. I did ask Grace to ask for their requests, and it should be good tomorrow.” Drake explained.

“And our parents?” Dave added.

“Same! And as you can see, they saw that you’re taken care of.” Drake replied.

“Slick move! Bro.” Mike was impressed as Jay nodded in agreement.

The group went outside the dining room onto their separate directions from the hall/hallway, main entrance, or outside the mansion as they talked to their parents as Drake stayed behind.

“Master Drake. For the entire years of my life in this house, I’ve never ever seen you bring your friends in this house. Is there something you want to tell us about?” Clem asked as he approached him with Doris.

“Isn’t she lovely, my dear boy? As lovely as your mother.” Doris added.

“They are my best buddies, Clem. They are always there for me in my ups and downs. It’s time to open my doors to let them know me more.” Drake put his left hand on Clem’s left back shoulder.

“And yes, Nana, she is lovely indeed. She’s somehow different from the others, and I wanted to know her more, and I wanted to know what that something is.” Drake smiled while putting his right hand to Nana’s right shoulder and tapped both as he followed his friends.

Everyone gathered at the main entrance after they finished talking with their parents.

“Good Evening, everyone! I Drake Horus Scott will be your tour guide for this evening. If anyone has a question, clarifications or requests, please feel free to inform us before we start. Anyone who wants to back out or changed their mind for this tour kindly raise a hand.” Drake was pretending to be a tour guide.

“No one? Then shall we start?” Drake added as Mike slowly raised a hand.

“Yes, Mr. Douglas? Any problem?” asked Drake.

“Ah! Drake. You kind of forgot to inform us before we had this trip. You know, the only things I brought in my bag were my sweaty jersey and some school things, and I don’t even have extra underwear.” Mike implied.

“Well! You can use what you wear now for three days.” Drake replied.

“What?!?” “Are you out of your mind?!?” “What the hell, man….” “Are you serious, dude?!?” “Oh! Come on!” “This is ridiculous!” the group answered in chorus.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Of course, I’m just joking. Relax. I told you I got it covered, right? I had it all planned out from the beginning.” Drake explained.

“Well, it’s true except for the girls, which was sudden and not planned,” Drake murmured with low volume for the girls not to hear.

“What?!?” “Are you serious?!?” “We’re not gonna wear what we wear for three days.” The girls answered in chorus except for Lez, who just smiled at him, for she captured Drake’s smirk as she knew he was just teasing them. The boys just laughed.

Drake saw Lez’s reaction and smiled back at her.

“Hey! Girls, I’m just kidding. Indeed, I haven’t planned this with you, but I still have an idea. Please trust me. After the tour, you’ll see.” Drake implied.

The girls calmed down as they entrusted Drake about it.

“So, are we all ready for the tour?” Drake asked. All are excited.

“Then let’s start!” as they all started to move. “Oh, wait!” Drake abruptly said.

“Good evening! I’m Drake Horus Scott, your handsome tour guide for the night.” Drake repeated as everyone laughed.

“So you’re really on that tour guide character tonight, huh?” Lez showed her lovely smile.

Drake laughed and continued.

“First of all, welcome to Scott Mansion, where everyone dreamed of staying, from night till the day, even when their parents are far away, nor they don’t even have an extra underwear to play with.” Drake gagged with a facial expression.

“Stop it!” Becca said as everyone laughed at the tone of Drake’s voice. (Like a tour guide or a flight steward announcing on a plane).

“Okay! Okay!” Drake began with his natural voice.

“So welcome to the Main Hall or the Main Entrance where you can see two stairs left and right going up to the upper floor. Also, there’s an elevator you can use if you are tired of using the stairs going up a floor or down the basement. Now please to your right,” Drake further explained.

“This is the Right Hallway, which leads to this room, the Office” Mike was about to open the door. “Whohhhww!!! Stop! Don’t try to open it, neither touch it. There’s a bomb in there, you might explode, or a monster might attack and eat you, so don’t get near it and on to the next room.” They continued walking the hallway.

“On your right is a Toilet Room, Powder Room, Comfort Room or whatever you call it, a Poop Room.

If you are going to pee or poop, or you're about to fart, please get inside.” Drake gagged.

“Please stop it!” Lez pleads while laughing.

“I can’t stop it! I love this job.” as everyone also laughed.

“Don’t mind me!” Mike went inside the room as quickly as he could as it burst the group into laughter.

“Come on! I’m not joking. We’ve got a long way to go. Don’t worry, the males' and the females’ room is separate. And your tour guide needs to pee too.” Drake added as everyone went inside.

“PPhhhhroroooootttt!!!” the boys heard before they got inside the male’s room.

“Oh! Mike, flush it down, man….” “Jesus Christ!” “Oh! my God, my nose hurts!” the boys said in chorus.

“Phhheewww!!!” Drake sprayed perfume inside the room.

After the quick break, they freshened up, pee and POOP as we know who it is; they continued the tour.

“Woooh! That’s a relief!” Mike exclaimed.

“Relief my ass! My nose still hurts.” Jay complained as the girls were just laughing.

“Okay! Now that we’ve freshened up and somewhat else. We can proceed to the next room, which is on your left, the Living Room.” Drake opened the door as the group in amazement. Mike quickly ran and laid down the couch.

“Wow! This is life.” Mike murmured.

Everyone spreads out from every corner of the room. From the fireplace right under the flat-screen TV to the soft and comfortable couches and the piano Lez started to play.

“Let’s go to our next stop.” Drake imposed as everyone followed him.

“And here is the Game Room.” they all entered the room.

“Wooohhh… pool table, darts, arcade games, consoles, PCs. Dude, I love this room.” Jay expressed.

And everyone spread as Becca and Sandra went to the soccer table, Jay and Mike to the pool table, Dan and Dave to the consoles, Erica and Jen at the PCs while Lez at the center with the PACMAN arcade.

“So you like PACMAN?” Drake asked Lez while looking at her face.

“I love PACMAN. It brings my childhood memories.” She said while looking at the arcade. As she turned her head, they caught each other’s eyes as their faces came closer.

In that brief moment, the two just stood up at the center, staring at each other, smiling, that it felt like the time moved slowly that a second would feel like a minute.

“Oh! Dope, there’s a huge swimming pool over there.” Mike shouted as the two, in an intimate moment, flustered as they went back to reality.

The group ran outside the room and went into the pool, leaving the two behind. Lez smiling, moved forward and followed her friends, leaving Drake alone in the room as he followed her by sight.

“Why?” Drake was confused.

“Why can’t I bring myself to her?” he asked himself.

“Never even once I’ve been like this before. If Lez was another girl, I could have kissed her easily. So why can’t I move in front of her?” Drake could never understand the feeling he felt at that moment, and it left him a big mystery in his thoughts.

Soon as he recovered, he followed his friends into the pool.

“And this is the outdoor pool. It has its minibar with drinks or snacks you can request, which is located at the backside of the house, overlooking a cliff over a beach.” At the same time, swaying his hand, pointing to the cliff.

Everyone wondered what Drake was pointing at.

And as they moved forward to the cliff.

“Dude! That’s sick! There’s a beach down there? That’s cool, Bro!” Mike Exclaimed.

“There’s are lights down there,” Jen said.

“And a house too,” Erica added.

“And some huts three,” Jay smirked.

“Oh, there’s a minibar there too.” Becca implied.

“There are stairs by this side, and I wanna go down there,” Dave said.

“I will go too,” Becca agreed. “Yeah,” the others agreed.

“Nah! Ah! Uh!” Drake stopped them.

“We have a long way to go, and the beach is for the next day. So come and follow the tour guide.” As Drake moved to went back inside, entering the other door.

“We are now at the left side hallway where the room at your right is the Study Room and Library.” Drake introduced.

“Wow. Computers everywhere.” Jay observed.

“The next room is the same as to the opposite hallway, the Poop Room. So let’s not waste time and proceed. As you can recognize, we’ve been here in this room earlier.” Drake assumed.

“Yes! It’s the Dining Room,” Lez replied.

“And the door behind that would be the Kitchen and the Pantry. So let’s go up the stairs.” Drake led.

“At the center of this floor…” opens the door while saying “The Movie Room.” Drake introduced.

“Wow! You have your Movie Theater inside your house.” Jay said.

“Coooool! I could watch movies here all day long.” Mike held.

“We’d love some scary movie with you boys.” Becca implied.

“We have some selection,” Drake informed.

“Noooo. Don’t want any scary things.” Erica pleaded.

“Not tonight because we still have things to do and places to catch on. So....” Drake clapped his hands, “There’s a balcony and terrace in both front and behind this floor overlooking the entrance and the outdoor pool. So now let’s go to the bedrooms.” Drake led.

“Let’s start at the farthermost rooms on the left side. The room in the center is a forbidden room, do not go in there, and don’t even try. There's a monster inside.” Talking about the Master Bedroom.

“And the room in your right is the Witch’s Room (talking about his sister Alex’s room); go at your own risk. And on the left is also a forbidden room. Now let’s go to the next.” He explained.

The group wonders about those rooms.

“Are those rooms haunted?” Jay asked Mike.

“Geez. I don’t know. Stop asking me. Haven’t you heard? There’s a witch in that room, and it will curse you if you go there. And in the other room maybe a ghost. It will haunt you. And at the center, a monster. Wow, this room is a streak. I don’t wanna be near these rooms anymore.” Mike imposed.

“The next two adjacent rooms would be a 2-bedroom room, and the next one would be a 4-bedroom room in which Rose, Grace, and Vicky occupy the left side. So you girls would not be in just one room, or you could, but the other will have no bedroom.” Drake queried.

“No worries. I and Lez will take the 2-bedroom, and Sandra, Jen, and Erica will occupy the 4-bedroom. Right Girls?” as the other girls agreed.

“Noted.” And Drake opened the 2-bedroom.

The group was amazed as they slowly entered the room.

“Bro! This is not a room. This room is a house inside a room! There’s a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and some appliances,” Mike exclaimed.

“And each bedroom has its own bathroom too,” Becca added.

“It’s a nice, comfortable room,” Lez added.

“You liked it?” Drake asked.

“Yeah! I love it!” as they smiled.

“Glad to hear that. By the way, get yourselves ready, we’ll be swimming at the pool. You can leave your belongings inside and wait for us downstairs, and we’re just going to change get-up. And as you three (Sandra, Erica, and Jen), here’s the key to the room. Please wait for us downstairs," Drake said as the boys moved ahead to the farther rightmost rooms.

“Okay, boys, please be heeded. The 2nd Master Bedroom in front of you is unoccupied. It’s okay to come near this room, but please do not come near the room on the right. A madman occupies that room (talking about John’s Room, Drake’s eldest brother). The room on the left will be my room. I‘ll get changed now, and you all should get changed too. All you need is inside your rooms, get prepared, and I’ll see you downstairs in a bit.” Drake said.

The boys opened their respective rooms with names.

“Holy Macaroni! Brand new shoes! New shirt! New Pants!” Mike exclaimed.

“Thank you, DADDY Drake!” the boys shouted in chorus with a girlish voice.

END OF CHAPTER 2