Yet again, Avery snorts. I want to hide my burning face, but I also kind of want to kick her.
Aaron is more gracious. “Yeah, lots of people do that. They ask a question and draw a card for an answer. Here—” He scoops all the cards off the table and stacks them into a deck in his big hand. “Ask them something.”
“Ask the cards?” I glance up at Leo, who’s returned with my beer.
“Go ahead.” He tips his head at the cards. “Ask them.”
I can’t think of a single question to ask. My mind’s a complete blank. What kinds of things do people ask fortune-tellers?Will I find my true love?No way I’m going to ask that.Will I die young?Not something I want to know. Finally I blurt, “Will I be rich someday?”
Avery scowls and rolls her eyes. And yeah, I definitely want to kick her.
Aaron pulls a card from the deck and turns it over. He and Leo both wince.
“What?” I ask them. “What does it mean?” It’s an ominous-looking card for sure—a guy face-down on the beach with a bunch of swords stuck in his back.
Aaron says, “That’s a pretty definitiveno.”
I shrug, unbothered. I don’t expect to be rich. If I cared about making lots of money, I wouldn’t be an English major. “Let me try again.”
Avery turns to me, her eyes full of disdain. “How about asking somethingoriginalthis time?”
I shoot Leo a look. Shouldn’t he referee? He was so sure I’d have fun with his friends. Is he a poor judge of character, or is there something wrong with me? It feels like I’m on trial, and I’m failing miserably.
“What should I ask?” I direct my question to him, and only him.
A dare flickers in his eyes. “Ask whatever you honestly want to know.”
I take his encouragement for what it is—an opportunity to prove I have some spunk. After all, what do I have to lose? Avery sits acrossfrom me, arms crossed and lips twisted into a frown. She seems to hate me as much as the KPT girls revered me. Neither is willing to get to know who I really am.
“Something original, hmm?” I mirror her posture and return her stare. When she retaliates with a raised brow, I imagine a tumbleweed blowing across a dirt path between us while a Western theme plays in the background.
“Oookaaay,” I say. “How about…if I start a fistfight with Avery, will I win?”
Leo does a spit-take and Aaron hoots and falls back on the couch cushions, laughing. “Damn!” He elbows Avery. “She just burned your ass.”
Avery pouts, but her mouth is tugging up at the corners. Like an exasperated mom, she lets out a breath and shakes her head.
Gotcha.
Leo’s shoulders shake as he alternates between laughing and coughing. Aaron fist bumps me.
Once Leo gets his throat cleared, he scoops up the Tarot deck and presents it to me. “Pick one.”
“Shouldn’t I ask a different question?”
“Hell no.” Aaron grins, gaze cutting to Avery. “I wanna see what the cards say.”
I hesitate, momentarily mesmerized by the way Leo’s dark brown eyes are dancing. When I start to slide the top card off the deck, he snatches it back. “Not so fast.” He fans the deck face-down and holds it out in front of me. “Close your eyes.”
“What?”
“Close your eyes.”
I do as he says and reach until my fingers jab the edges of the cards. “Now what?”
“Concentrate.”
I feel ridiculous. Concentrate on what? The fact that everyone is watching me? That Avery probably hates me now more than she did ten minutes ago?
