Deck of Cards

Deux

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖉𝖊𝖚𝖝

"And this... Is the cafeteria. Lunch food is okay-"

"Surprisingly." Daryl says, interrupting Jamie's sentence. Jamie gives a glare at Daryl. He shrugs. Alice laughs quietly. Daryl notices this, winking at her when Jamie wasn't looking. Her cheeks tint with crimson. 

"All of us basically have the same lunch period. Usually we sit in the back by the windows." Jamie tells Alice, pointing to a secluded rectangle table that's by a large glass window. Alice nods in response. 

"If you can't find us, we're either trying to bail Russ or Daryl out of detention or preventing them from getting detention." Jamie explains. He gives another cold glare to Daryl when he says his name. 

Alice turns to Daryl. "You and Russ get in trouble a lot?"

He shrugs. "Eh. I mean, we only got like two years- including this one. Why not spend your last two years prankin' and messin' with people, y'know. Me and Russ just wanna have fun."

Jamie rolls his eyes. "Fewer detentions can help a lot 'y'know'."

His mocking makes Daryl copy his sentence but in a higher pitch voice. Alice can't help but laugh. As soon as her laugh came out, she immediately covered her mouth. She goes completely red. Alice looks down in embarrassment. Laughing out loud like that was something she was ashamed about. 

Daryl stops mocking Jamie and looks at Alice. He walks up to her, lifting her chin up, and removes her hand from her mouth. She takes a step back but Daryl takes a step forward.

"That laugh was adorable. Why are you so ashamed of it?" Daryl asks softly. 

Alice shakes her head. "N-no it isn't. It's annoying and weird... I don't like it." 

Daryl gives her a small smile. "No. You're wrong. Your laugh is like something of an Angel's. It's cute dude- I mean um. You know what I mean." 

Alice quietly laughs at him. He scratches the back of his head and smiles. 

Jamie, watching the whole thing, rolls his eyes. "Dar-"

"Jamie Lockhart. The Ace. What a delightful sight." a low voice says out loud. Alice and Daryl look where it's coming from. Jamie keeps his head down, his face grimaced. 

Daryl steps in front of Alice. Looking straight ahead, he knows who that voice is. Jamie walks over, standing my Daryl. They both look like they're guarding Alice. 

A group of guys walk up to them. One of them who is standing in the middle walks up face to face with Jamie. His blonde hair swifts from side to side.

"Hello Jamie. Been waiting for this day to come. This whole summer, you've been avoiding me. Almost like you owe me something-"

"Cut the shit out, Chase. Leave us alone and we'll leave you alone. I'll give you what you want later when I get it. And the last thing we need here is a fight, especially on the first day." Jamie interrupts. Chase puts his hands in front of him, swaying them. 

"No, no, no. Just wanted a happy, friendly greeting. To start off the year that is. And to get what you owe me." he says, faltering his tone at the end. He puts his fingers in his hair, biting his lip. "By the way, who's the chick behind you?"

Alice took a step back. She did not want to catch attention even more, and she already knew that these group of guys gave off bad vibes. Daryl didn't keep his eyes off of Chase. Chase smirked. 

"Don't you know Jenkins? That aura does not reach my level of masculinity. In fact, it's just enough to scare as little as a freshman." he says. He walks around Daryl, meeting Alice, who is still shorter than Chase. He walks up to her, causing her to walk back. Each step forward led to a step backward. Alice's back finally reaches a wall of lockers. She tries to move to the left, but Chase's body blocks it.