The WRA Draft

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Card Game

(Denver's POV)

That night at the hotel was calm. I sat in the lobby with Olivia, Kasey, Toby, Taylor, Tommy, Eliza, and Gabe playing cards and listening to the music that played softly on the television.

We were playing golf and, as usual, Gabe took forever making his next move. I glanced at Olivia, who sat next to me. She was on her phone.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" I asked her.

Without looking up, she responded, "My email. I'm expecting."

"What, like the baby?" Gabe added with a grin while inspecting his cards. The whole group couldn't hold in their laughter long enough to let the joke die down. We got a couple of mean glares from the front desk workers and I saw the barista at the Starbucks booth shaking his head as he wiped down the bar. However, none of us really cared.

"Just take your turn, Gabe," Tommy was able to get out through snickers.

Olivia scrolled a little further and stopped. Suddenly, a small grin formed on her lips. She bit but her lip and muttered, "You little brat."

I raised an eyebrow. What was this email? "What?"

"I found the email," she responded.

It was my turn. I glanced at her screen at I reached over to grab a card from the deck. The subject box read, "THIS EMAIL IS MORE FUN THAN MOST OF MY FLIGHTS." I stared at it flabbergasted.

"Yo, Denver," Kasey nudged my knee. "It's your turn, dork."

"Mmm, right." I turned my attention back to the game. I replaced my ten with a three. It was Olivia's turn. She set her phone down and played. She turned her final card over. She had an ace.

"That's your fourth ace!" Gabe cried.

"You have all four!" Tommy laughed. "Did you cheat or something?"

"A good player never reveals their secrets." Olivia grinned. "I win."

Eliza gathered the cards. "What are we playing now?"

"Crazy 8's!" Kasey cheered. The group agreed and Eliza dealt the cards.

I looked over to Olivia again. As she read her phone, she grinned.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "What are you reading?"

"I got an email from a someone," she responded. "Someone who wants to help. They're a very enthusiastic person." She mumbled quietly, "Far more enthusiastic than I thought."

I smiled. "It has to do with the Challenge, right?" Kasey asked. He held up the camera. "Anything you'd like to share?"

"Believe me," she laughed. "You'll hear about it soon."

"Heard it here first, folks!" Kasey smiled. "Big news coming soon!"

"I never said that," Olivia protested. She whispered to me. "But it is pretty big."

"Are you doing a live?" Eliza asked.

"Yeah, I just gained, like, fifty more followers because of so many of the their classmates following me. Plus, Maria put in her bio that her class was drawn for the Challenge and, you know, when you share a last name with someone like that, it tends to increase your social reputation," Kasey explained excitedly.

I watched Olivia roll her eyes with a grin. After a moment, she set her phone down.

"Hey, Olivia, Toby, Taylor," Kasey continued lifting up his phone. "Some people have a few questions."

I looked at the three. Toby and Taylor exchanged looks and grinned. Olivia, however, was not ready. She froze in her spot and sat straight like a stick, her eyes wide and full of fear. I touched her shoulder gently.

"You'll be fine," I whispered.

She gulped and nodded slightly. "Sure. Let's hear them."

Kasey grinned. Behind the camera, he wiggles his eyebrows at me. I looked down at my cards.

"Diane Shelby askes, What's the hardest part about being the director?"

Olivia bit her lip. She reached for a card as she answered. "I don't know, honestly. My classmates are a lot easier to work with than I thought. Hmm, probably all of the eyes that are put on me. Everyone's expecting me to have the answer and I don't know where to find it."

"Dang it!" Tommy nudged my knee. "You took the card I needed!"

"Sucks for you." I laughed.

"PSherman askes," Kasey continued. "What's your play about? I can't find any info on it other than where auditions are."

"Hate to disappoint you, Sherman," Toby smirked with a glance at the camera. "but the class all agreed to keep quiet for a while."

"Asdfghjkl374 asks, Who are the other two kids and what do they do for the musical?"

"I'm Taylor and this Toby," Taylor introduced. "We're the composers of the play. We wrote all of the music and lyrics."

"And they did an amazing job," Mr. Wires added joining us at our table. "All three of these kids are doing a fantastic job. We're proud to have them part of our percussion ensemble."

I watched Olivia as she looked down at her cards and smiled. A hint of red formed on her cheeks. I smiled and added, "Very true. Can't wait to see the show." Olivia's head sunk into her lap.

"Next question," she urged as she took a card.

"This person's user is literally just a period, but they ask, Can you tell us what your percussion show is about?"

"I think Wires should answer that." Olivia nodded to our director so had since then taken a seat next to Tommy.

"Mr. Wires?" Kasey turned the camera to the man.

"Well," Mr. Wires placed his elbows on his knees. "The show is called Not Alone. Its name is pretty self-explanatory. At one point, Olivia and Tommy here have to dance with each other. They represent not being alone, until the rest of the ensemble come and separate them, creating a sense of loneliness. Finally, Olivia eventually reunites with Tommy. You get the point. The show is supposed to show how much it can hurt to not have your loved ones around and how they can create a happy ending for you."

"They love it," Kasey smiled. "There are all kinds of comments about how cool it sounds."

Eliza looked at Kasey's show. She grinned. "One asks if we can film the show."

All eyes went to Mr. Wires. "Like a live show?"

Kasey looked at his screen. "They say yes."

Mr. Wires thought about it. "I could probably get it figured out, yeah."

The students cheered.

"That gets me even more excited about it,"  Olivia said to me.

"Same here." I smiled. We made eye-contact. I noticed that her features have matured. However, the bags under her eyes have faded since the last time I saw her. I'm happy to see that. It means she's sleeping again.

(Olivia's POV)

Denver hasn't changed. He's the same old fifteen-year-old dork that I've known since I was ten. His crooked smile and deep brown eyes only made my stomach flutter even more. He has a freckle on his forehead. It's right above his right eyebrow. My grandmother calls them beauty marks, put there by angels who kissed you.

Looks like I'm going to kick an angel's ass.

(Denver's POV)

I caught her staring at my freckle. "Your turn." She grinned gazing at it.

"What?" I asked confused.

"The game."

"Oh." I felt my cheeks heat up. "Right."

I won the next two games.