Silver Eyes

Predictions

When we pulled into Cassidie's driveway, it was still light out but there was a pink glow staying low in the sky at the treetops. Cassidie lived 25 minutes from the city and she had a huge house complete with a brick front and tall white pillars. I walked up the cobblestone walkway, carefully and slowly. My floppy pancake of a pillow and puffy orange Lion King sleeping bag billowed out of my one and a half armed grip, causing me to feel like I was going to drop things and obscuring my right peripheral as I approached the wide stone steps and the pillars welcomed me to the broad mahogany door. I could see the bright light that the door held in through the stained glass windows and I strained to pick out any moving shapes of people inside. Hesitantly, I rung the bronze pineapple doorbell with my only free finger and waited, feeling like an idiot with my pillow and sleeping bag pressed to my chest and my backpack perched on my back chock full of clothes that I probably wouldn't even need to wear. I always over-packed and I was always embarrassed of it because it seemed like I had never been to a sleepover in my life.

My heart raced for a few beats and then she opened the door. The yellow light from the house flooded out onto the steps and Cassidie was joined in the doorframe by Scarlet, who pranced down the stairs behind her to welcome me. I could see down the hallway into the beige-walled, appliance-filled kitchen and I waved to my mom before she drove off.

"HEY!" They shouted as I bumbled in and Cassidie closed the door behind me.

"So how's your arm?" Scarlet asked urgently as if she had been waiting to ask all day.

"It's fine." I told her. "I heard you skipped because of your mom. How is she?"

"A bitch to take care of," Scarlet joked, "but she's doing well enough."

When Marnie arrived, the four of us were led up to Cassidie's bedroom. Her room was a little bit smaller than mine and she had an ornate, black rod iron queen bed and a yellow bedspread. The walls were painted a soft, buttery yellow and there was a white carpet scarcely visible under scattered magazines, hygiene products, and clothing. The window above her bed let in some dim natural light that was swallowed up when Cassidie flooded the room with strong, bright artificial light, which came from a sparkling crystal chandelier, hanging in the middle of the room.

Scarlet broke the short silence, "Hey, did you know that if you grow up in a yellow room, you're more likely to be a psycho." Everyone laughed as we explored her room looking at all her odds and ends. She sat on her bed patiently and eventually I settled on the floor with Marnie. Cassidie and Scarlet slid down from the bed to join us wordlessly.

"I brought something we could do." Marnie broke the silence, looking mainly at me. We watched as she unzipped her silver backpack. "I wasn't sure if you'd have any." She spoke to Cassidie. She pulled out a black box with a detailed picture of a young man holding a staff and a white rose with a big orange hat on the front of it. On the side of the little box were big white letters that read AQUARIAN TAROT and the box looked old. The corners were heavily weathered with white spots showing through on the black.

"Tarot <Tair-oh> Cards?" Cassidie said in surprise as Marnie opened the box, revealing some large cards with a complex white and blue design on the back. They had bright colors and white-faced old-fashioned looking people on them.

"What are they?" Scarlet asked quietly, in awe of the mysterious foreign-looking cards.

"They're for fortune-telling." Marnie told us.

"Okay, so how does it work?" I probed, leaning in to the circle.

"Yeah, do we ask a question or...?" Scarlet guessed.