Eat lunch.

"So, Parker," Mrs. Anderson says, "how has school been going for you?" You engage in small talk about your school and how you feel about particular classes. Ethan and Belinda both chime in to discuss differences between your school experience and what you can expect at Rosestead. It is very obvious that Ethan and Belinda both love their school which surprises you, as Belinda at least certainly doesn't seem the studious type. Mr. Anderson is silent almost the entire lunch and you're amazed at just how much food the man can put away. Mrs. Anderson is the exact opposite, picking away at her food and you note that your mother is following her example. Your mother doesn't normally eat a lot, but this is very unusual for her.

When you're finished eating, Mrs. Anderson says, "And now I'll give you the guided tour of our home, Parker. I showed your mother around while you were in your room." You definitely suspect that this isn't true. The conversation at lunch was almost entirely about you; nobody seemed very interested in your mother at all. You are now firmly of the opinion that your mother has been in this house many times before. You cannot believe how incredibly strange the Anderson family is.

Mrs. Anderson shows you around their incredible house and grounds. They have a tennis court, a swimming pool, an amazing gym, a couple of enormous televisions, and computers all over the house. You could definitely get used to this and your pangs over leaving your home are starting to subside.

In one of the earlier rooms, she shows you a button placed near a chair in each room. "All the rooms have buttons like this. They summon a maid when pressed," she says. "There's one in your room as well, of course."

The final stop of the tour is a truly impressive library, covered floor to ceiling with bookshelves. The biology and chemistry sections alone appear nearly comprehensive, but there are sections for just about everything. There is a massive fireplace with stuffed easy chairs, which are of a rather antique style, but look extremely comfortable for all that. Above the fireplace is a portrait of a stern looking man with a thin face, a sharp nose, and white hair cut into an almost military crewcut. He looks down at you from the portrait and you can't shake the feeling that he doesn't like what he sees. It seems like he's figuratively looking down at you as well as literally.

"Who's that?" you interrupt as you inspect the little plaque on the bottom of the frame. The plaque says Dr. Frederick Lange Anderson, 1920-1996.

Mrs. Anderson, who had been lovingly describing all the details about the bookshelves, says, "Oh, that's Dr. Anderson, Mr. Anderson's father. He came to Rosestead in 1950 and practically built this town. He's the founder of Anderson Chemical and was a truly brilliant scientist. He received his PhD in chemistry from MIT at the age of 18 and was the world's foremost expert on biochemistry and chemical nanoscience. That portrait was painted in 1995, shortly before his ****." She wrinkles her nose a bit. "He had some rather regressive ideas about gender roles, even for his time, but he was a very great man. This town really wouldn't even exist without him."

"He doesn't look a whole lot like Mr. Anderson," you say, while considering, he actually does look a bit like a humorless version of Ethan. Mrs. Anderson just shrugs and then finishes the rest of the tour.

The next few days are very relaxing as you don't start school until Monday. You notice a couple of curious things about the mansion. There's an entire wing which is locked off and which nobody seems to use. And all the domestic staff are attractive young women from the maids to the kitchen staff to the gardeners and groundskeepers. They all live onsite as well and you strongly suspect that they act as a private harem for Mr. Anderson.

You settle into your new room, putting your favorite horror movie posters on the wall: The King in Yellow, The Forgotten Path, The House at the End of the Lane, and the camp classics Succubus Sistas from Harlem and Whore's Grudge.

As it turns out, you and Ethan get along very well. He's a horror movie buff as well so you end up talking about horror films together quite a bit. Ethan also tells you some of what you can expect on Monday and even has a map of Rosestead High so you can learn the layout. Belinda is also friendly, though you don't see her very much. You ask Ethan where she is every day and he shrugs. "She goes out a lot."