The Game of Hearts

Chapter Seven- Annabel

On Tuesday, three days before Halloween, I walk into school. I lock my car as I enter the school gates.

"Hey Annabel!" I hear a voice yell. Thudding feet behind me. I spin around as Lexi slows to a walk beside me. Her bus rumbles past.

"I found another clue under desk twelve," Alexis says, her eyes alight with joy as she looks at me. For a second I am confused, not sure what she is talking about, until I realise she means the 'mystery' guy, also known as, Matthew.

"What did it say?" I ask. She pulls crinkled pieces of paper out of her backpack. She starts to smooth it out and she hands them to me. They are photos. The first one is two photos on one piece of paper. The photos are of a tree, they are the carvings. I flick to the second piece of paper. It's of her maths class room, B001. It is the underside of desk twelve, with words carved into it. I squint to read it. You're as smart as you could possibly be. I gasp and try to read the rest of it. J block locker 27.

"So J block?" I say.

"Locker twenty-seven is mine," Lexi says. "Let's go." She drags me up towards the J block lockers. When we arrive, Alexis rips open her locker and we peer inside. Lexi spots a piece of paper and snatches it up. She scans it and her eyes widen comically.

"What does it say?" I ask, curious.

She hands me the note and I scan it. You are incredibly funny. I flip the note over to read the next clue. Bars of the court at C Block.

"What's or where's that?" I question.

"The rails on the edge of C Block. Near the handball courts. Where we played in grade eight?" She presses. I gasp as it sinks in, "Of course!" That was where Matthew and Lexi first properly talked. This was a major clue and I hope she picked up on it.

We head back to the library, Lexi skipping happily beside me.

"I'm going to head to C block at morning tea and try not to terrorize grade eights," Lexi says.

"Okay," I say, "you go on in, I have to get something out of my bag." Lexi nods and goes flouncing inside the library. I unzip my bag and pull out a letter from Ethan. I slip it into Snow's bag, while looking around to make sure the coast is clear.

I enter the library and easily slip in the conversation about Lexi's clues. Soon the conversation turns to the 'mysterious' letters for Snow.

"Let's check now!" Lexi cries; she jumps off the desk and runs out of the library, ignoring the librarian's frantic calls. Lola, Snow and Felicity follows. I grin to myself and follow my friends. Ethan's plan is definitely working. When I walk outside Snow is waving around a letter. Felicity snatches it off of Snow and rips it open.

"I wish I could see you, but I never can," Felicity reads aloud.

"WIMP!" Lexi screams. Lola reads the letter over Felicity's shoulder.

"His grammar is horrible..." Lola mutters.

"I wonder who he is," Daisy says slowly.

"WHAT IF HE'S A SHE!!?" Lola yells, grinning.

"Ew!" Lexi and Snow shrieks. I burst out laughing.

"Yeah right," Felicity yelps, "only a guy would be that wimpy."

***

When lunch comes around I wait for Felicity and Lola outside council room. I could go inside, but that would require registering myself for about two minutes, so there is no point. I stand, bored, scrolling through the internet world on my phone. I can see lots of people are excited for Friday night, lots of posts about costumes and who's going with who. It's Tuesday, so it's not that long before the party. Tonight, Snow and I are going to the catering place to organize the food for it and tomorrow I'm meeting up with Daisy to go shopping for makeup. I can see several messages from guys, asking to go with me. I bite my lip and try to think of a way out of it. I can't lie and tell them I am already taken, because I'm not.