A few minutes later, Jason and "pops" (as he had insisted Athea called him as well) had gathered a group of residents around the lunch table for some games. Athea with her brand-new partner, Jason with one of pop's friends, and a few more pairs sat at the table and began laying their cards. After a few rounds, Athea and pops had quite the lead on the table and, after a bit of conferring, they decided to target Jason and his teammate.
The boy quickly noticed their attacks and looked at Athea incredulously, to which she answered with a cheeky smile and a wholehearted laugh. He was so taken aback by her sudden display of sheer joy, that he spent roughly the rest of the game simply watching her – taking in every expression, every laugh, every brow twitch, every pout, every whispered note to her partner, everything. In those moments, he would get so lost in her radiance that he'd need to remind himself to snap back to reality, in which times he grew increasingly confused by his actions.
In the end, Athea showed her cards to pops and after a smile and a nod from him, she folded them down on the table, winning the game for her team. All the players complained and threw their cards, while Jason watched as his granddad laughed and celebrated to his heart's content, high-fiving Athea and giving her a tight hug. Jason put his cards down, once again lost in his trance, and this time she caught him looking at her. He reacted quickly and clapped slowly to congratulate her, mouthing "Respect." She laughed and feigned a bow. He smiled so at her endearing reaction, he had to look away – biting his lip to contain his embarrassment.
As people began getting up amidst complaints, pops threw his hands in the air in protest, asking for one more game, but the table seemed adamant. Athea, who was gathering and shuffling the cards, took the lead.
"Now, now!" She managed to catch their attention and stop them in their tracks. "To finish it off nicely, how about a friendly game of bullshit?" She smirked cheekily and after a few murmurs, the elders sat back down. Athea nudged her partner, sitting next to her. "No one says no to bullshit." Pops laughed out loud. Jason was still smiling with himself, dumbfounded, eyes on the girl at all times.
She handed all the cards to all the members of the table and started:
"Now, my family plays bullshit a little bit differently." She explained. "We call it balle and every time someone is caught bullshitting, we say "balle!" and they take a strike." She exemplified by picking up one of the corn kernels they were using as currency and putting in front of her. "And each strike signifies an extra card the bullshitter needs to take from the person who called balle. So, you take all the cards on the table, plus the amount of strikes you have, from the person who called you out." She looked around to see if everyone was following. "However, if you call balle and it turns out the person was telling the truth, the strike goes to the accuser." She added 4 more corn kernels to her pile. "If you reach five strikes, you're out." The people at the table whispered excitedly to each other. "How does that sound?" She cleaned her kernels, looking around.
"What was it again, dear? Balle?" Pops turned to ask her. Athea giggled at his pronunciation but nodded in agreement. "Well, let's get to balle-ing, then!" Everyone cheered on and the game started.
After a few rounds, Athea and pops were at 2 strikes and Jason was on 4 – pops wasn't wrong: for all his qualities, Jason was terrible at card games. At her turn, she calmly put down a card, claiming it to be a Queen.
"Balle." She heard a voice calmly calling from her left. Looking over, leaning in his chair, Jason was smiling at her, entertained.
"Are you sure, blue eyes?" She teased him, leaning over. "At 4 strikes?" She nodded to the corn kernels in front of him. He got up and leaned over as well, facing her eyes closer than they'd ever been since the time they danced at Homecoming.
"Oh, I'm sure, Italy." He smirked at her and she held back a smile, not an ounce of cruelty on his tone when calling her by that name – rather, it seemed almost... endearing. From between the two, pops watched the pair intriguingly, a knowing smile on his lips.
She got back, frowning and pouting, holding back her smile in her puffed up cheeks, as she took the cards on the table, and everyone laughed joyfully as Jason handed her an extra 3 cards from his hand.
A few more rounds passed by and more than half the table had now already struck out. When Jason's turn came, he picked two cards and laid them out.
"Two fours." He called out.
"Ha!" Athea exclaimed loudly, throwing her head back. Jason lifted his eyes, immediately smiling at the sound of her voice.
"What?" He laughed.
"'What?'" She mockingly copied him. "Balle!" She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, waving her hand to the cards on the table. Jason laughed incredulously, looking back at her.
"What do you mean, "balle"?" He defended himself. "Those are two of the fourest fours I've ever seen."
"Oh, are they?" Athea smirked at him, reaching to check the cards on the pile at the center of the table.
"Wait!" Jason shouted, extending his arm before she flipped the cards, and the table laughed. "You wouldn't do this to me, would ya, Athea? A-aren't we friends?" He fumbled over his words, trying to reach for her hand on the pile.
"Oh, but there is no friendship in cards, Jason." She smirked at him provokingly, flipping the cards and revealing a 10 and a 6. Jason hid his face behind his hands, leaning back on his chair as the table clapped and laughed. Athea handed him a corn with a teasing pout and he admitted defeat. She smiled widely at him and he laughed along, unable to keep a straight face around her.
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Vi Presento a Athea (Introducing Athea)
Teen FictionLife can change in the blink of an eye - often not for better. Athea had already had her fair share of misfortune before she moved to America with her father... a dead sister, divorced parents and a whole lot of baggage on her shoulders, her only g...
