07 | lime and punishment

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"A canasta!" Louise cackled, laying down her cards. "No jokers, either."

Ophelia groaned. "You're not going out, are you?"

"You'll see."

Ophelia sighed, glancing down at her cards. All duds. Judging by the despairing look on Henry's face, he was in the same boat. She peeked at Andrew. His face was as impassive as usual; she might as well have been trying to read a book in Latin.

She wasn't sure how their Thursday card nights had become a regular occurrence, exactly; Henry had simply wandered into the Astor College kitchen one evening, plopped himself down, and declared that they were going to play Gin Rummy.

The next week, Andrew joined.

And then Louise.

Now, they were fiercely competitive about it. Well, mostly Andrew and Louise; she suspected that Henry largely came for the snacks.

He stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth. "We should raise the stakes tonight. Canasta is boring with no stakes."

"How?" Andrew discarded a black five. "Wager money, you mean?"

Ophelia's stomach dropped. She wasn't broke, exactly — her scholarship at UCL went a long way to covering the bills — but she also didn't have money to burn. Unlike the other three. Hell, Louise had just come back from her holiday home in the French Alps.

She caught Louise's eye. Thankfully, the other girl got the hint.

"No," Louise said. "That's boring."

Henry frowned. "Boring?"

"Let's make it more exciting," Louise said, placing down a few cards. "Let's play with something priceless. Secrets."

Andrew stiffened. "No."

"Fine." Louise shrugged. "You can tell a secret, or take two shots." She rearranged her hand. "Once the game ends, each player gets to ask the losing player a question. And he or she has to answer truthfully."

"I'm in," Henry said.

Andrew looked at Ophelia, who shrugged. Fine by her.

"Alright." Andrew lay down three red sevens. "But I doubt anyone's close to going out, so this could really take some—"

"Done!"

Louise lay down the remainder of her cards. Henry stared at her, glancing between his own hand and Louise's second canasta, laying proudly on the table.

"A double canasta?" He shook his head. "Madness."

Louise winked. "Count your cards."

Reluctantly, Ophelia did so; as she suspected by the sheer amount of cards still in her hand, she lost spectacularly. Andrew claimed second place, with Henry coming in third. The latter popped another handful of chips in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

"What turns you on?"

"Henry!"

"I knew it." He winked. "All you have to do is ask, angel; I'm at your beck and call." Henry must have seen the scowl on her face, because he relented. "Fine, fine. What's your most precious item?"

Ophelia let out a breath; that one was easy.

"My copy of a Tale of Two Cities."

Henry made a noise of disbelief. "A book?"

"My grandmother gave it to me." Ophelia swept the cards towards her, shuffling the deck. "Just before she died. She was the person that taught me to love books, you know? We used to read it together before bed."

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