A Puzzled Heart (Complete)

Secret tunnel (Chapter 5)

Friday June 7th

The rest of the week was slow. I had a lot to catch up on in school. I ended up with a lot of homework. I tried to do most of it so I wouldn’t have to worry about it on my date. I did about half of it when Tom came in. “You done yet?”

“No. I’m only half done, And I started two hours ago.” I groaned and put my paper in the done pile. I started on another assignment and Tom sat at the foot of my bed.

“I was hoping you’d play poker with me. I finished my puzzle.” he said while he counted my to do pile. “Do you want me to help you?”

I looked up from my paper. “Yeah, that would be great.” He grabbed some assignments and I got him a pen out of my desk drawer. We worked until mom called us down for dinner. By ten I only had three more assignments. I’ll do those later.

After dinner Tom and I played poker at the table. “Where’s he taking you tomorrow?” he asked.

I didn’t tell him I had a date. I just shook my head. “I don’t know. He said it was a surprise.”

“He probably said that because he didn’t know where to take you yet.” he laughed as he placed a bet on eight chips.

“I don’t care where he takes me. Just about anywhere will be fine.” I glared at my cards. “I fold.”

Tom took the pot smiling. “I’m glad your going on dates. You don’t get out enough. But your getting out more now that you have a boyfriend.” He dealt another hand. I frowned at the cards in my hand. I hadn’t had a decent hand all night. Tom on the other hand was getting good cards. He had a full house, two flush, and a straight. All I got was a pair. I folded and he dealt another hand.

Finally I got a good hand. A straight. I bet a lot and I didn’t fold. But guess what. He had a full house. He won. “Another victory!” he cheered.

“I quit.” My one good hand and it wasn’t good enough. I actually thought I was going to win that one. “How come you always win?”

Tom gave a one shoulder shrug. “Just lucky I guess. Come on. One more hand.” he said shuffling.

“No.”

“Aw. Come on. Don’t be a sore loser.”

I thought about it for a second. “No.” I said and got up to make a cup of tea. “Do you want some?” I asked him.

“Yeah.” He dealt out a solitaire hand. That was the only card game he absolutely sucked at. I gave him his tea and made mine. Then I sat down and watched him lose. It made me happy to watch him lose at something. “Are you sure you won’t play some more?”

“I’m done playing cards with you Tom. At least for tonight.” I sipped my tea and watched him deal out another hand. He got pretty far on that game. But he lost anyway and it made me laugh. He glared at me. “Why do you play this since you suck so bad? You’ve never won.”

“There’s nothing else to do.” He groaned.

“Why don’t you call Rebecca?” I asked. Rebecca was his girlfriend. I didn’t like her though. She’s tall and thin with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. But she has the most annoying voice I’ve ever heard. It’s high pitched and her laugh sounds like a chipmunk. And she such a bitch. I have no idea what he sees in her.

“She’s out with her friends tonight.”

“So call Tyler.” I liked Tyler. He was short and a little chubby. He had light brown hair and brown eyes. He was nice and had a good sense of humor.