Fifty-Two Cards

Chapter 1- The Four Of Spades

She smiled at me, and all I could think was, "Oh shit."

Jenn walked in looking like she was ready to kill. She was wearing black boots with her perfect pair of distressed blue skinny jeans, and an Iron Man t-shirt with a soft yet chunky black hoodie. She walked in with an air of confidence about herself, and Ace stared.

Ace freaking stared.

He couldn't look away from her beauty. As she walked to her spot, he saw the way her eyes lit up when she saw her friends waving to her, and she plopped her backpack down and gave them both a big hug before sitting down.

Ace loved her eyes, and her smile. She was almost perfect. You could never see her upset, or depressed. She loved her life and the people she lived it with. She had her friends, and her family, and she was so satisfied. She never asked for more, and she dreamed big.

Ace dreamed, too. Pretty big, for his standards. Wanting Jenn was the most daring he'd ever been with his emotions, ever. He knew she was almost unattainable.

Until that day, when she'd smiled at him. Invited him over to her table, and even introduced him to her friends. She'd been so accepting of him, without ever judging his dyed-maroon hair or his eyeliner. She'd completely understood him in those five minutes they spent, talking about anything and everything, until her friends walked in, and she smiled and waved at them, beckoning them over to his table.

It was the most fun he'd had in days. Taking off his headphones, and listening to the girls go on about their days. He thought they all had incredible lives, with Nyah aiming for a Literature scholarship to NYU, and Ares being discovered by a record label. What he found most fascinating, however, was how Jenn blended the roles she had to play in the lives of the people around her, with the roles she played for herself. As a budding actress, she'd played many roles in her career, and had a full scholarship to musical theatre. She loved her roles, and threw herself into all of them. She was talented, and had already scored supporting roles in big movies. Jenn was ambitious, but her moral compass didn't let her sabotage any circumstances to achieve her dreams. She relied on her talent and training, and she did just fine.

Nyah waved to Ace. He used to think she was too snobby to be friends with Jenn, but as he got to know her more, he realized that she was fun to be around and actually a good person. He walked over to their table and pulled a chair. He sat down, and overheard them talking about the theory.

"Hey, what're you two gossip girls talking about?"

Nyah rolled her mismatched eyes and gave him her classic superior look. "Why, is the fallen Prince Ace finally going to reach down to the level of us mortals and actually going to talk to us?"

Ace looked at her, still smiling. "Salty day, huh?"

Nyah was surprised. "Wow, no reaction to the prince joke? You're maturing!"

Jenn looked on at this interaction with an inward sense of satisfaction. She knew involving Ace into their circle would be tough, but Nyah had almost immediately accepted him. They'd always had a love-hate relationship, and Nyah never let up on the poor kid. Jenn loved how Nyah always spurred Ace on to try harder and make it big in his life.

Ace was an incredible artist, and he'd always take his sketches to Nyah for approval. He always took her words into consideration, and worked on the corrections and improvements Nyah told him. That didn't mean Nyah didn't appreciate him, though- she was a terrible artist herself, and knew it took a lot of effort, and always made it a point to tell Ace what a great job he was doing with his sketches.