Rigged

Chapter Two: Discard

"Get out!" was the last thing I heard before I found myself thrown onto the street. Teary eyed, I turned back to the door.

"Ma!" I desperately called. "Please, you don't understand! There must be some mistake, I can't be a spade!"

"Not another word, Caspian," my father growled, holding my grieving mother in his arms. "No son of mine will have that mark on his arm." With that, he turned away. The door was slammed in my face and locked, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Tears began to stream down my face as I stared at the mansion I had called home. I could feel a fresh bruise forming on my jawbone. I didn't have a mirror, but I bet I looked like a mess. I frustratedly wiped my eyes and sighed, turning away from my family. Never in my life had I imagined I'd be disowned. Not like this...

I didn't understand what had gone wrong. I was supposed to be a diamond. Everybody in my family had been a diamond for centuries. The idea of a spade in the family was unheard of. I gasped as I realized that what had just happened to me was the reason why my family never had any known spades. We had a few hearts and one or two clubs, but never spades.

I started to doubt everything I knew. As I turned away from what I thought my home was, thoughts swirled in my mind. Why would they do that to their own family? What did we do to deserve this? I thought to myself, fighting the tears that threatened to return. The answer, though I didn't want to admit it, was obvious. Spades in a family of diamonds were embarrassing.

I trudged down the streets, hands in my pockets as I stared at the ground. I was only sixteen; what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just buy my own place, and my family made sure I had no friends to "lead me astray." There was nowhere for me to go. I had nobody and nothing to help me. That was, until I heard a whisper that I wasn't even sure was real.

"Hey, you!" a voice called, undoubtedly directed towards me. There was nobody else on the street. I turned my head quickly, noticing a figure in the alleyway eagerly gesturing for me to follow them. Hesitantly, I listened.

"You just scream 'newly kicked out spade'," the alley-kid joked, grinning at me. I couldn't really tell what they looked like yet, as it was dark, but they appeared to be rather skinny with hair similar to mine.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, voice hoarse from crying and screaming as my father dragged me out.

"Well, the puffy eyes, the messy hair, that symbol on your shoulder," they replied smoothly, chuckling at my obvious suspicion. "Listen, kid," they added, "I'm not gonna hurt ya. We spades stick up for each other. You ever watch Lilo and Stitch?"

"I mean, not since I was younger," I mumbled, meeting the kid's eyes for the first time. They were an almost freaky blue. Beautiful, as much as I hated to admit.

"Well, ohana," they responded, smirking. "Family. Nobody gets—"

"Left behind or forgotten," I finished, struggling to suppress the nostalgia the phrase had caused to resurface. The kid had one of those mysterious twinkles in their eyes, like my grandmother, as they looked up at me and smiled.

"Right. You ain't gotta worry about us abandoning you," they reassured me. It was well appreciated; I obviously had some newly formed trust issues. I looked them up and down, pausing for a moment.

"So, you're a spade too?" I whispered, rubbing my arm anxiously.

"As of a year ago, yep," they replied, glancing at my nervous display. "You ain't gotta do that, y'know," they added, smiling sympathetically. I dropped my arm immediately, causing them to chuckle. "It's alright, I do it too."

"You do?" I questioned, somehow feeling a little better about myself.

"Yep. We all got our nervous habits," they responded, starting to lead me down the alleyway. Wait, there it is again.

"We?" I asked, following them slowly. They glanced back at me.

"Yup, we," they said, opening a worn down doorway that lead underground. Before I even realized what was happening, I was nearly blinded by the bright lights of gambling machines and way more people than I was used to seeing in one place. However, it was obvious that this wasn't just a typical casino. The kid turned back to me, sapphire eyes twinkling at me through messy blond locks.

"Welcome to the Discards: your new family."