Four of Clubs

30

When I arrived at school on Monday, the outside of the main entrance was crowded with custodians. A few were on ladders while others kneeled on the pavement, some of them laughing as they worked to remove the hundreds of pictures of a fallen Principal Herrings from the bricks of Rutherford. The photo was plastered all over the face of the building, and while I felt bad for the principal, who was pictured with his mouth gaping and eyes wide mid-fall, I couldn't help but be grateful that it wasn't a picture of me.

The downside of this prank was that it had been done by The Five Capers, and they'd completed it quickly-- we were back to our original gap of only a few points. If we slipped up and did the next assignment late, they'd surpass us for sure.

The week passed without anything new, but I'd grown used to the occasional silence from The Seven. By this point, most of our competitors had been eliminated. There were only five teams left on the scoreboard, and most of them didn't have points anywhere near ours. Overall, things had begun to die down now that most of the student body was watching the competition instead of partaking in it. 

It was weird to think of how far the competition had come, especially as I held Roy's hand, the two of us strolling together through the park. It was our first date since homecoming-- my parents wouldn't let me go out on Monday like we planned, since it was a school night. So we waited until Saturday, and I spent the week with fuzzy insides, too distracted with daydreams of Roy to pay attention in any of my classes.

Saturday finally came and there we were, walking by the lake after getting lunch, our hands intertwined and a permanent smile on my face. It was crazy to think that if it weren't for The Seven, I would've probably been at home by myself like any other weekend. I hated to admit it, but I knew the two of us never would have interacted without the competition.

I knew how cruel The Seven could be, and how they fueled so much drama and paranoia at Rutherford. Still, I couldn't help feeling like I owed them. They'd given me real excitement for the first time in my life. The competition had been more fun than I'd ever experienced, and I felt different because of it-- I was braver, wilder.

Colorful leaves crunched under my feet and fell from the branches above my head, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. I was a little nervous about whatever was to come-- it felt like we were in the home stretch now, and I knew the challenges would most likely only get harder-- but it was hard to worry in such a perfect moment. I was with Roy, his warm hand in mine, thumb rubbing lazily back and forth against my index finger.

"So, do you think your dad totally hates me?" Roy asked, drawing me from my thoughts.

I laughed, caught off guard by the question. "He definitely doesn't."

"He didn't seem to happy to see me again," he said, tone playful. "I mean, can you blame him? I brought you home late on Saturday, and then I tried to take you out on a school night--"

"Five minutes after ten is not late," I teased. "And we're lucky we weren't later after driving all of Matt's friends home."

"I think he's confused how I convinced his amazing, beautiful daughter to go out with me."