Cluiche Deidre (The Melancholy Game)

Prologue

"Sarah! You're going to be late for school!" My mom shouts from the kitchen. Today is the first day of my freshman year. I just moved to New York from Colorado and I haven't made any friends yet.

I don't move, instead I roll over and stare out my window. Immediately outside of the window is another apartment building and another window looking into mine. Without realizing it, I find myself watching the boy in the other window.

He's getting ready for school, I can tell because he's putting books in his backpack. He turns toward me, still focused on his bag, and I can see his face. He's cute. My age with long-ish curly black hair and dark rimmed glasses. He has a strong jawline and a pretty smile that shows all his almost perfect teeth. His nose is cute too, not too big or too small. He's wearing a black hoodie and black sweats.

He walks over to his window, to close it I'm guessing, and sees me looking. He flashes me a big smile and waves. I blush, hiding a little under my blanket, and I wave back. Content that he made a random teenage girl blush, he closed the blinds.

I sigh and get up, changing fast and sliding on my shoes. I grab my backpack and go to the kitchen. My mom hands me a plate of food, two pieces of toast, some scrambled eggs, and two pieces of bacon. I shovel the eggs and toast in my mouth then gulp down some orange juice before eating the bacon.

"You're hungry this morning..." My mom says. I shake my head.

"I just wanna get to school." I say, going to the bathroom and brushing my teeth. I check my hair real fast then grab my backpack and kiss my mom's cheek.

"See you soon mom!" I grab my phone and keys then rush downstairs to hail a cab. None of them stop for me.

"First time?" I look behind me and I smile. It's the boy. I nod. He gestures for me to follow him so I do.

"The subway is faster although I'd recommend not riding it alone. I can take it with you to school each morning if you'd like." He says. I laugh.

"I don't even know you."

"My name is Arsen, I'm from Panama City, Florida. I moved here when I was about ten or eleven and I know this part of the city like the back of my hand. I'm 17, a junior in highschool, and I live next door." We walk down the steps to the subway and he shrugs. "Nothing too exciting. What about you?"

"My name is Sarah, I'm from Denver, Colorado. I moved here about a week ago. I don't know anything about this city. I'm 15, a sophomore in highschool, and I also live next door." I say, mocking him. He laughs.

"Fair enough. Do you know me enough now to take the subway with me?" He asks. I smile.

"Sure, it sounds fun." He smiles to himself and grabs my wrist, pulling me gently through the crowd and using his subway card for the both of us. We get on the train and stand in the center of thousands of people.

"Never sit unless it's almost abandoned, and be careful what you touch. It's all gross down here. Keep to yourself and trust no one." He advises. I nod. We reach our stop and walk the rest of the way, about two blocks. At the entrance of the school we part ways and I make my way towards class.

After school I find Arsen waiting for me under a tree eating an apple. I walk up to him and he grabs his things.

"Ready to go?" I nod and we start walking towards the subway when a kid from my English class runs up to Arsen and I.

"Hey, do you guys want to come over to my house for a um... game?" He asks. I think his name was Rylee. I cock my head.

"A game...? What kind of game?"

"A card game. One we've heard of as kids. Cluiche Deidre." I stopped and looked at him.

"The Melancholy Game...?"

"I found something the other day. A deck of cards and a set of instructions. If we play it right we could get powers. If we don't, then it's four kids fooling around with cards. What's the worst that could happen?" He asked us.

We get to Rylee's house and I look around. It's small, but cozy with pictures of him and his brother and his parents lining the walls. He leads us to the basement and I notice another boy our age, probably his brother, already laying out the cards. We sit in a circle around the cards, Arsen across from me and Rylee across from Jack, his brother. Rylee deals the cards, ten each, and we each lay our hand in front of us, for all to see. The cards shimmer a little in the corner of my eye and I get a bad feeling. Jack reads from the instructions.

"Read each of your cards carefully and slide the one closest to your happiest memory to the middle." We all do as he says. Mine was a heart. My happiest memory was when I adopted my dog.

"Close your eyes and think of the object or person you love most and slide a card representing them to the middle." I do. The card has a person on it. I love my mom.

"Exhale and open your eyes." We do and the lights go out in the basement, the cards providing light. I look up at Arsen and meet his eyes. My cards and his get brighter and we don't look away.

"Spread apart your remaining cards and whisper what each of them say." I look down and my eyes widen in shock. I whisper what they say.

"You are my source." He says the same thing and we look up at each other at the same time.

"Whisper your source's name." We smile at each other and I whisper his name.

"Arsen." I look at the other three and I can feel a different energy. I can hear their thoughts. Then it all fades to black.