The cards on the table were an ace of spades, queen of hearts, four of clubs.
Falcon's hand was a two of diamonds and king of spades.
Jared's hand was the queen of clubs and the four of spades.
Violet's hand was the two of hearts and the queen of spades.
Jared wins. And the storm rolled in, thunder crashing and lightning sparking as the raindrops fell, a steady rhythm to the natural music of the howling winds.
The room fell silent save for the music playing, the sound of the music much fuller than the earlier draft.
"I-I think we should..." Miguel started, sensing the drop in mood. "I think we should call it a day, guys? It's shorter than our usual day but... uh... hey! Look at that weather, it might be a tad difficult to get home to."
Falcon lowered her hand and arched her eyebrow. It looked like pleasant surprise, but the muted emotions in her eyes spoke volumes. Namely, 'what the fuck did you just do?'
But Jared did not do anything. He was only revealing their cards. He was utterly confused at the sheer surprise that flickered across her face, then rage, then depression and hopelessness.
"Yeah, let's go back... I guess the rains are going to come and make things harder to get home," Violet muttered, rubbing her arm.
Rachel and Rex seemed uncomfortable at the prospect of going back. Violet looked concerned. Falcon had that easy smile on her face while Jared just stared at her with an expression that bordered between concern and outright surprise. Outside the rains poured louder, faster. It was a torrential downpour that seemed impossible to stop.
"Rachel," Falcon said in as evenly of a voice as she could, "is it okay if we cut this day short?"
"Sure, but I don't want to head home just- actually nevermind, I'll get home early and hopefully my parents won't yell at me," Rachel gave a weak smile.
"I wish you all a safe journey back," Falcon smiled, taking out a cardistry pack and beginning to do card springs. A telltale sign of nerves.
Jared did not say anything back, opting to stand and brush off imaginary dirt from his pants, catching a glimpse of Violet's distaste of the idea and Rex's acceptance of just going back.
He had a feeling things would get really, really hairy soon.
There was the flap flap flap of Falcon's card springs. And silence. Pure silence. Miguel had cut the music as everyone finally stood and left.
Leaving Falcon standing there.
-
Rachel leaned against the cool window of the bus as the rain pattered lightly on the pane. Violet sat next to her calmly. Both Jared and Rex were sitting behind them, talking about Fortnite and memeing.
"You scared of going back?" Violet whispered.
"Maybe?" Rachel sighed, shifting. The boys both began to laugh at something, which warmed her heart. She smiled then, before frowning.
"What's wrong?" Violet asked.
"Nothing, really." The storm was growing louder, pouring buckets on poor pedestrians and commuters. The view was getting obscured by water droplets sliding down the glass window.
Rex laughed. Jared was annoyed. Violet was drilling her with that concerned stare.
"Want to tell me why you messaged me to support you both? You know you could ask someone else right?" Violet asked, voice trailing off.
YOU ARE READING
Memory Lane
Teen Fiction"The truth hurts, memories definitely hurt but we all still try to hold onto them. Maybe one day it'll be okay. It's not okay now, but we will get through this. We will get through all of this, like we've done before." Meet the strange cast of a wac...
