House of Cards

Jagger

So apparently, 'Full House', the gang, broke up.

Thank God. 

That doesn't mean I'm off of Ajax's shitlist, though. If that's the case, I wonder where Francine is-

"Good afternoon everyone, I hope you're enjoying your meal. I am Joan, Ace of Hearts. What the aces do in the House of Cards is train you in different ways. No, not all of the aces are from your court. You have to trade out during the day. When you are not participating in a game, you are with one of us Aces." This woman rudely interrupted my thinking. She was in the very front of the room where everyone could see her.

"There are four aces, just like there are four monarchs and four suits and etc." She continued, "Harvey, specializing in hand to hand combat, Ellis, specializing in special ability attacks, Apollo, specializing in weaponry, and me, Joan, specializing in fatal attacks." the woman wore a sickly sweet grin.

"Your training begins tomorrow. Hearts go to Harvey first, Clubs go to Apollo first, Spades go to Ellis first, and Diamonds come to me first thing in the morning. Enjoy your meals!"

Turning back to my hefty bowl of potato stew, I wasn't very interested in eating for once. I didn't know you still had to go to classes! That just ruins the fun. At least Joan's class sounds interesting. Learning how to kill someone.

Brooke turned towards me, "Are you not hungry?" She asked, duck meat juices dribbling down her chin. "Not really, I've got too much to think about." I admitted, stirring the soup with the wooden spoon it came with.

Since I wasn't eating, I decided to look about the room. It was large and dark stained wood covered the walls. The floor was a blinding white stone, and above the room was the largest iron chandelier I'd ever seen.

At the front of the room were four large windows, coming from the thirty foot ceilings down to about a foot off of the floor. They held mosaics of playing cards, all four suits.

In front of each window was a throne. There, Delphine, Oliver, Bertuska, and Hendrix sat. They looked like they were discussing something. Looking at Oliver, his leg was wrapped around his uniform. For Hendrix, he wore a sling.

Bertuska, of course, was completely healthy. Not a scratch. Okay, maybe a scratch. You don't exactly go unharmed even if you win the game.

I wanted to get closer. Grabbing my tray and bringing it to the disposal rack, I tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Did you see who's year it was?" Hendrix muttered gravely.

"Yes, I did. I also know Delphine is going to be in deep shit if she screws this up." Oliver croaked.

"Guys, I'm right here. I know she's in my court but that doesn't mean anything other than I've got to make sure she doesn't die." Delphine whispered.

Bertuska groaned, "I'm sure it'll be fine, it's just a kid."

"The daughter of the dealer? I think not."

Who could they be talking about? Someone in my suit? Who's the dealer?

My mind flooded with questions as I returned back to my table. Brooke was popping her ring fingers on either hand. "What's bothering you, Bee?" I asked, taking my seat next to her once again.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She shrugged. I didn't quite know how to respond to that.

"I'm not leaving you alone until you give me a real answer." I pouted.

"I'm fine, stop asking." She shoved the question away.

"Don't try lying to me. I've known you for ten years, Brooke Olivia." I huffed. Oh yeah, I pulled the 'Brooke Olivia' card.

"I don't know what's wrong, Jagger. And don't use my middle name, jackass." She snapped. Oops, made her mad.

"You need to calm down." I mumbled. Looking back at the boy she was staring down earlier, he kept sneaking glances. Who does he think he is?

Getting up, I marched to his table. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I barked.

The boy turned around in his seat to face me. "Being friendly? You got a problem with that or something?" He chided.

This guy was going to get on my nerves.

"Try again. She's a heart, you're a club. No chance." I grumbled.

"Are you supposed to be intimidating?" The guy asked, running a hand through his hair.

"You mean i'm not?" I threatened.

"Are you serious? I have worst nightmares about failing class." The girl beside him slapped his shoulder. Furious, I got ready to punch the shit out of him, but I looked over to the jacks watching, and put my hand back down.

"Can't wait time play against you." I hissed, storming back to my table.

"Gee, thanks for causing a scene." Brooke mused.

"Shut up."

After roughly an hour, everyone returned back to their quarters. I went to walk into mine, but something grabbed my shoulder. "We need to talk, Mr.Wells." Delphine.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier-" I started.

"It's not that. Personally I could care less. The important thing is I knew you were eavesdropping on my conversation. How much did you hear?"  She looked at me intensely, but underneath was worry.

"Oh...I didn't hear anything. It was too loud for me to." I lied. Delphine's tense shoulders relaxed, "Good. Please, don't try that again." she warned, before leaving.

I laid on my bed, staring at the bunk above me. What was that today?! Me talking to some punk because he was watching Brooke? That's so petty.

Sighing, I let myself go to sleep. There were still three hours before curfew, but I was exhausted. Tomorrow our training starts. First class, hand to hand combat. Hell yeah! I could already fight, but learning the most effective way is going to help a lot more than the street fighting I picked up while running with full house. I'm a rank one right now, but give it a month. I'll already be King of Hearts.

Delphine better prepare to get replaced.