Of Shields & Trees [BxB]

09 | Crazy Eights

A/N: The title would've been even better if it was chapter 8 but... oh, well... I should've thought about this sooner 😁

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I haven't even drifted into dreamland yet when I heard a familiar voice. "Rado? Rado, wake up!" What followed were snickers and something soft grazing my cheek. It wasn't someone's palm. No. It smelt like... Snowdrops?

I drowsily opened my eyes to be met with Georgi's green pools of sunshine. And... literally half of the boys were clustered behind him, staring at me with expectant eyes.

"What the...?" I took the small bouquet of snowdrops Georgi gave me, my eyelids still half closed. "What time is it?"

"Party time!" Georgi and Luke half-whispered, half-shouted in unison.

"What?" I reluctantly discarded my covers and rose up, still clutching the bouquet in my left hand.

I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and focused on the smiling faces around me.

"It's a tradition when we see someone off. No getting out of it," Luke said with a creepy smile. Or at least it looked creepy on him because he rarely ever did smile.

"Get dressed!" Georgi ordered.

And I complied. Still trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Where are we going?" I asked, pulling my jeans on.

"The cafeteria," Stoyan answered.

I was going to ask how we would get past the night guard but decided against it and simply followed Georgi when he opened the door of our bedroom.

My worries were in vain. Mr. Ignatov was peacefully snoring on his shabby vintage armchair at the end of the hallway, his head resting on the wall behind him, supported by a blue neck pillow. Getting paid a minimum wage just to sleep in an uncomfortable position. That's the life!

We tiptoed around him and Maxim picked the lock of the cafeteria doors. We were like a bunch of ninjas on a mission. Not a sound was uttered before we entered the canteen.

A couple of the boys got to preparing something in the kitchen while the rest of us occupied a few tables.

Luke took out a deck of playing cards. "So what are we playing?"

"Strip poker?" Stoyan wiggled his brows.

"In January?" Maxim scoffed. He was seated between his boyfriend and Luke but somehow, it seemed to me, that he was leaning more towards Luke than Stoyan. I might be imagining it though. Yeah, I was still sleep deprived.

"Blackjack," someone offered.

"What are we betting though? Crumbles?" It was Stoyan's turn to scoff.

"Crazy Eights," Georgi stated and no one dared go against him.

"Crazy Eights it is." Luke shuffled the deck and started dealing.

"Uhm, what are the rules?" I asked, looking at the boys around me. There were seven of us in total, all clustered around the same table: Georgi, Stoyan, Maxim, Luke, two boys, whose names I still haven't learned, and most likely never will, and my awesome self.

"The goal is to shed all cards," Georgi started explaining. "Then whoever manages to shed all of his cards first gets points based on the cards the rest of us still have left in our hands. Eights bring 50 points, court cards — 10, and all other cards are worth their face value. Which reminds me... we'll need something to track the score." Georgi pointedly looked at a boy in a purple or pink sweatshirt and he hurried out of the cafeteria with an eager "On it!".