Chapter 29
29
There’s something about the relaxing crackle of the firepit. Yep, even with the boys around, I find that if I just focus on the flames, and the sounds, then I can almost block them out. Almost…
After another long day we’re all gathered around the firepit again. This time, we’re hoping for minimal bloodshed – ideally no blood at all, if we can pull it off. The thing is, with these boys, you just never know.
Tonight, suspiciously, we’re all getting on quite well.
The drinks are flowing, no one is making any sly comments, and the battle of the roses (as far as where is better, Yorkshire or Lancashire) isn’t even getting a mention now (of course, we all know Yorkshire is the best).
‘Let’s play a game,’ Harry suggests.
‘No, come on, we’re all playing nice tonight,’ I point out. ‘Games tend to end in chaos for us.’
‘What did you have in mind?’ Owen asks him.
Harry pulls a deck of cards from his pocket.
‘Lucky Red Black,’ he says with a smile.
‘I’ve not heard of that one,’ I say.
‘That’s because it’s a game we invented when we all lived together at uni,’ Travis tells me. ‘It is a real game though, with real rules – we’ve spent hours playing it.’
‘So you’ll be better at it than us,’ I point out. ‘That hardly seems fair.’
‘You might think, but this game is pure luck,’ Travis tells me. ‘There’s no skill involved – it’s actually quite fun.’
‘Tell you what,’ Harry says as he shuffles the deck. ‘We’ll say it’s our pick, for the next round of the competition. What do you reckon? Why don’t we let fate decide this one?’
Me and the rest of the girls all look at one another. I give Nita a shrug, to say it’s up to her.
‘Okay, let’s do it,’ she says. ‘But we’ll know if you’re cheating, or if this is some kind of scam, so don’t bother.’
‘It’s a real game, I promise you,’ Travis says. ‘Shall I explain the rules?’
‘Go on then,’ I reply, still unsure whether or not this is a good idea, but putting the competition in fate’s hands, even if it’s just for one round, does sound like a lot less work than the other rounds have been.
‘So, here’s how you play,’ Travis begins – I need to do my best to listen, because normally when someone tries to explain a new card game to me, my brain goes into standby mode.
‘There are fifty-two cards in a deck. We’ll play in teams, to keep things moving. So one team goes first, and they draw four cards, but before you draw each one, you have to guess if it’s red or black. You get two points for each one you get right. Then the other team does the same. That’s round one.’
‘Simple enough so far,’ Nita says. ‘Go on.’
‘Right, round two,’ Travis continues. ‘This time you draw three cards, guessing the suit before each one. For every one you get right, you get four points. Then the other team does the same.’
I’m still following.
‘Round three,’ he goes on. ‘You draw two cards. This time, you have to guess what number or face it is. This time you get thirteen points if you get one right. Then the other team goes.’
‘This is actually a great game,’ Nita says. ‘I thought it was going to be silly.’
‘Well, hold your horses,’ Travis says with a laugh. ‘Because the final round is the one that can change it all, and it’s… interesting.’
‘Go on,’ I say, intrigued.
‘So, for the final round, you only draw one card,’ he continues. ‘And you have to guess exactly what card it is. For that, you get fifty-two points. However, this game has a twist, because if you guess the three of diamonds, and you draw that card from the deck, you get fifty-two million points.’
‘What?’ Nita blurts.
‘It’s a game-changer,’ Harry says.
‘Has it ever happened?’ I ask.
‘Once,’ he says, his eyes lighting up excitedly. ‘And believe me when I say, we’ve played this game thousands of times.’
‘So, what do you reckon?’ Travis asks us. ‘Fancy a game?’
‘I’m in,’ I say.
‘Me too,’ Nita replies.
‘Yeah, it sounds fun,’ Lou adds.
‘It sounds daft,’ Willow corrects her. ‘But I’ll play, sure.’
‘And you’re happy for it to be our round for the competition?’ Owen checks.
‘Yeah,’ Lou tells him. ‘It beats playing another sport.’
‘It sounded like an actual, adult, sensible, marketable game until you mentioned the fifty-two million points thing,’ Nita points out, shaking her head. ‘That’s just nonsense.’
‘It’s just fun,’ Travis tells her, before swigging his beer. ‘It’s nonsense until someone draws the three of diamonds. Then it’s amazing.’
‘And it’s happened once?’ I check.
‘Yeah, in our third year at uni,’ Travis replies. ‘You should’ve heard the screams coming from our student house.’
‘Okay, let’s do it,’ I say.
The boys draw first, so that we can learn by watching them play. Travis leads his team with confidence.
‘All right, red,’ he says, flipping the first card to reveal the six of hearts. ‘That’s two points.’
‘Black,’ Harry calls next, but he’s wrong – it’s the eight of diamonds. No points there.
‘Red,’ Owen guesses, and he’s correct again. By the end of round one, the boys rack up a (what I’d imagine is a) respectable six points.
The girls go next. Nita guesses red, starting us strong with a red queen. I call black and get a black two. Lou’s guess of red is wrong, but Willow ends our turn with another correct guess. By the end of round one, the score is tied at six points each.
Okay, so now we have to guess the suit.
The boys go first again. Travis confidently calls ‘hearts’ and flips the card – he’s right. Four points. Harry follows up with ‘spades’, but it’s a diamond. Nolan guesses ‘clubs’ and scores. They end round two with eight more points, bringing their total to fourteen.
‘We’ve got this,’ Nita says, trying to pump us up.
‘Diamonds,’ I kick things off, and luck is on my side. Four points. Lou follows up with ‘clubs’ and misses, but Nita scores with her guess of ‘spades’. The girls end the round with eight points as well, keeping the score tight at fourteen to fourteen.
It takes round three to break the draw, with the boys finishing up on twenty-seven points, and us trailing behind with twenty-six.
‘This is close,’ Travis points out. ‘So it all comes down to the final card – and you have to guess the exact card so, seeing as though we’re winning, and we all love to see it, I’ll guess the Lucky Red Black card – the three of diamonds.’
‘Ace of spades,’ Owen confirms as he flips the card over. ‘Tough luck, mate.’
‘Nita, you pick,’ I suggest.
‘Well, obviously I’m going to pick the stupid card,’ she says. ‘We’re losing anyway, and if it’s tradition.’
‘That’s the spirit,’ Travis says. ‘Let’s see.’
I flip the card over on Nita’s behalf. The three of diamonds stares back at us like a miracle. For a second, we all sit in stunned silence. For us girls, I think it’s mostly because we’re waiting for confirmation, but for the boys it’s a big moment. As they erupt into cheers and chaos, it’s infectious, so we join in. We’re screaming, hugging – we’re just as excited as the boys are, for some reason.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Harry says, shaking his head. ‘That has only ever happened once before.’
‘And even then, we thought you cheated,’ Owen reminds him.
‘I didn’t cheat!’ Harry protests, though he’s grinning. ‘This is insane. I don’t even mind losing – this is a moment for the history books. Seeing the lucky card drawn is like… spotting a unicorn on the M62.’
‘You lot are so weird,’ Lou says, but she’s smiling.
‘This might be the best moment of my life,’ Nolan says solemnly, though the twitch at the corner of his mouth betrays him.
‘I’m just jazzed that we won,’ I say. ‘We’re neck and neck again.’
‘Yeah, well, we’ll see about that,’ Travis replies through a smile.
‘You know, I came up with it,’ Owen tells me, muscling his way in front of Travis.
‘No, you didn’t, we all did,’ Nolan reminds him.
‘Well, I said it should be the three of diamonds,’ Owen says.
‘Erm, no you didn’t,’ Travis says with a snort.
‘Ignore them, they’re just jealous,’ Owen insists. ‘Fancy a couple of rounds of Black Jack? Just for fun.’
‘Okay, sure,’ I reply, amused. ‘But it can’t be as exciting as that.’
Honestly, when we’re all getting on, it’s great. I could do a week of this – even two.
In a weird way, it would feel strange here without the boys now – but don’t tell anyone I said that, because no one here in this villa could torture that information out of me.
Still, just between us, I am actually starting to enjoy myself. Who knew that was going to happen?