Tell (11 page)

“Everyone has a tell,” she said quietly.  “Adam leans back because he’s trying to look casual when he’s bluffing.  Ryan taps his fingers because he’s impatient for people to bet, because he thinks he’s going to win.”

“And how long have you been playing poker?”

She grinned.  “Awhile.”

The two of them just stared at each other for a few moments as they stood on the landing.  Her grin faded.  Shane thought that someone had turned the music completely off, because it seemed like a very heavy silence had settled over them.  For the first time, he noticed Cadie’s eyes were slightly grayish, not just a straight blue.  He also realized he was still holding her arm, and he released her immediately.

She looked away and cleared her throat.  “Paper towels,” she said lamely.

Shane nodded.  “Right.”

The two of them started their ascent to the kitchen again.  Cadie found the stash of paper towels in the cabinet under the sink, and she handed him a roll so he could soak up some of the beer in his jeans.  “Sorry about the beer,” she repeated.  “I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, dabbing at his thighs with the paper towels. “How long were you trying to figure out a way to talk to me?”

“I figured out your tell after the second hand,” she answered.  “Adam’s and Ryan’s took a little longer.  I haven’t gotten the other guys’ yet.  But I don’t think Will has bluffed once, so if he’s betting big, it probably means he has a good hand.”

Shane crumpled up a paper towel and threw it into the garbage can before turning to Cadie.  “What’s your tell?” he asked her.

Even though it was a completely innocent question, it came out sounding very personal.  Shane was not sure whether he intended it to sound that way or not.

Cadie looked at him for a few moments.  “I guess you’ll have to play with me and find out,” she responded.  And even though that was a completely innocent statement, it came out sounding very personal as well.  She turned and headed back toward the staircase, paper towels in hand.  Shane watched her walk away for a few seconds before following her.

Andy had circled the house again, hoping he would find Amanda.  He had not seen her during their initial tour, but he was hoping she might have somehow materialized since then.  He was starting to feel stupid for automatically assuming she would be there.

He stepped out onto the upper level deck.  It had gotten slightly colder since the football game, and although he wore a black wool jacket, it did not offer as much warmth as a band uniform.  Andy saw, far out into the yard on the edge of the woods, that a bonfire had been started.  He could hear voices coming from that direction as well.  Andy made his way down the stairs to the lower porch, then from there, ventured into the backyard.  He would check to see if she was out here, he decided, and if she was not, he would go back to the house and find Melody.  Lucas was right; it was rude to come to this party with her and not spend at least a little time with her.  But she had run off with Susan, and it seemed like a waste to come to one of these parties and not even try to talk to Amanda.  He did not know when an opportunity like this would arise again.

Once at the bonfire, his eyes found her right away.  There were a handful of people sitting in folding chairs around the fire, and she was one of them.  Her knees were drawn to her chest, and she was poking at the fire with a stick.  She was completely enveloped in a giant gray sweatshirt that depicted their school’s mascot in blue.  And, lo and behold, the chair next to her was vacant.

Andy sat down, feeling slightly awkward.  Mercifully, none of the others around the fire gave him any indication that he did not belong there, even though he recognized that they were all football players and cheerleaders.

Amanda saw him and smiled.  Andy smiled back, wondering how he could possibly start a conversation with her.  He decided to start with, “Hi, I’m Andy.”

“Hi,” she responded.  “Vandevander, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Amanda Teller.”

“I know.  It’s kind of a small school.”

She laughed.  “You’re in the band, aren’t you?”

“Yup,” he responded.

“That’s cool.  I’m glad you came to the party.  They’re usually always the same people, so it’s nice to see some new faces.”

“Oh.  Thanks.”  He nodded at her sweatshirt.  “You look nice and warm.”

She smiled.  “Yeah, this thing is enormous, isn’t it?  It’s Shane’s.”

Andy felt a knot form in his stomach.  “Shane Stolarz?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she responded.  “He left it at my house months ago.  I just kept it.”

“Oh.”  Andy paused.  “Are you guys, like, together?”

Amanda laughed.  “God, no.  We’re just good friends.”

“Ah.”

The two of them fell into what Andy hoped was a comfortable silence.  He surreptitiously opened his cell phone to check the time.  He estimated that he had ditched out on Melody about fifteen minutes ago.  He figured he had about five more minutes with Amanda before he had to go back inside and rescue Melody from Susan.  He did not intend to spend too much time with Amanda—just enough to lay sufficient groundwork for their next conversation.

Before Andy had time to think of another topic, his phone beeped, signaling a received text.  He opened it to find a message from Melody that said simply,
Where are you?

Andy stood, cutting his time with Amanda short.  “I’d better get back inside,” he said.  “Good talking to you.”

“You too, Andy,” she said as he walked off.  He felt a chill run down his spine at the sound of his name from her lips.

He made his way back uphill toward the house, opting against texting while walking through the grass in the dark.  When he climbed the stairs to the upper level of the deck, he saw Melody come through the sliding glass door, her eyes scanning the deck.

“Melody,” he called.

Her eyes found him and she walked over to meet him at the top of the stairs.  “Where did you go?” she asked, sounding slightly hurt.

“Sorry,” he said.  “I was just wandering around.  I figured you’d be with Susan longer.”

“Oh.”  She folded her arms and looked out into the yard.  “They have a bonfire going?”

“Yeah.  I didn’t know anybody out there,” he said quickly.

“Still, we should go.  It’s too loud inside and it’s cold out here.”

“Well, duh.”  Melody was wearing a long-sleeved brown sweater, but no coat.  “Here.”  Andy shrugged the jacket from his shoulders and held it out to her.  “I know you’re not supposed to wear black and brown together, but I don’t think anyone will judge you.”

She took it, looking surprised, and slowly slid her arms through the sleeves.  She smiled at him.  “Thanks.”

Ten

Cadie and Stacy watched a complete turnaround in the poker game downstairs.  Shane miraculously managed to start playing much better, and the pile of chips in front of him slowly started to grow as the game continued.

Cadie learned that Stacy liked to touch people when she was drunk.  She stood next to Cadie, with her arm around her waist and her head on her shoulder, as they watched the game.  Cadie had asked her if she wanted to sit down, but she had declined.

By a quarter after eleven, Tyson, Adam, and Ryan had all run out of chips, leaving the game between Shane, Will, and Zack.  Tyson and Adam had gotten bored with watching the remainder of the game and had left some time ago; Cadie could see them through the sliding glass door, smoking and drinking on the deck.  Ryan had tried to buy his way back into the game to continue playing, but all he had in his wallet was two dollars and random change.  When he had started counting dimes out on the table, Will had declared that the game was closed to any further buy-ins.  However, to appease Ryan, they had allowed him the responsibility of being the dealer.

Cadie noticed that since their discussion on the staircase, Shane had managed to suppress his tell on most occasions.  He glanced at his cards once at the beginning, then set them facedown on the table to play the remainder of the hand, regardless of how good or bad they were.  He had also improved on reading the other players and judging whether or not to stay in the hand or fold.

This particular hand, she saw him watch Will carefully as he bet three blue chips and Zack called.  He pretended to think it over for a few moments, but he eventually folded, as Cadie knew he would.  They both knew that Will was not bluffing.  And in fact, Will won that hand and took the pot.  Shane turned his head slightly, scratching his ear, but he winked at Cadie when he caught her eye.  Cadie smiled back.

She did not think he would win—Will and Zack were the hardest players to read.  Still, he had made a substantial comeback from that embarrassing beginning.

“Stace,” she said, “I really think you should sit down.”  Cadie’s back was starting to hurt, and she realized she was pretty much holding Stacy upright as she napped on her shoulder.

“No, I’m good,” Stacy answered drowsily, and Cadie sighed irritably.

During the next hand, Cadie noticed something odd.  Ryan had dealt, and he was tapping his fingers nervously on the table.  While Shane and Will made their bets, he made eye contact with Zack, who, she noticed, blinked twice at him in response.  Cadie furrowed her brow, but did not say anything.  Since they were playing Holdem, all the cards in play were already on the table, and Ryan, as the dealer, was no longer involved in the game.  Still, she found herself staring at Ryan the remainder of the hand.  His fingertips continued to tap on the table.

Zack won the pot.

Cadie stood up a little straighter as she watched Ryan collect the cards and shuffle several times.  He set the deck down in front of Zack, who cut it.  And, Cadie realized, he had been cutting it for the past few hands and no one had noticed.  Ryan started dealing the hand—from the bottom of the deck.

“Hey,” said Cadie loudly.

Ryan stopped dealing.  Shane, Will, and Zack, all turned to look at her.  Stacy’s head immediately snapped up off her shoulder.  “Huh?” she said blearily.

Cadie nodded at Ryan.  “You’re dealing from the bottom.”

Shane and Will both turned to look at Ryan; Zack’s eyes stayed on Cadie.  Ryan looked down at the cards in his hand.  “What?” he asked her.

“You’re dealing from the bottom of the deck,” she repeated.

“Oh,” he said.  “I didn’t realize it made a difference.”

“It makes a difference.  Especially because the one who keeps cutting the deck is the one who keeps winning.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” said Zack loudly.

Cadie swallowed nervously.  She was fairly certain that Zack and Ryan were manipulating the cards somehow, but she realized that accusing them of cheating at poker was serious—and
she
was the one intruding on
their
party.  She took a deep breath and said slowly, “You’ve been cutting the deck for a while.  And last hand, I saw you two exchange that look and you won.  And this time, he started dealing from the bottom of the deck.  Do the math.”

One look at Ryan confirmed her suspicions.  He was staring down at the deck guiltily.  Zack, however, still looked infuriated.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” he demanded.  “You think you can just come to
our
party and accuse me of cheating?”

“Hey,” Stacy said, immediately awakening from her reverie.  “You can’t talk to her that way!  This is
my
house!”

“I don’t give a shit.  Who the hell does she think she is?”  Zack stood up.

“Hey, calm down,” said Will, holding his hand out and gesturing for Zack to sit back down.

Cadie took a nervous step back.  She glanced at Shane.

He stared at her intently for a few moments, then turned to look at Ryan.  “Ryan?” he said.

Ryan was still staring down at the deck mutely.

“Ryan?” Shane repeated.

Ryan sighed and leaned back in his chair, tossing the cards on the table.  “Zack told me he’d split the twenty bucks with me if I stacked the cards.”

“
Asshole
!” Zack erupted.

“Well, shit, you guys wouldn’t let me buy my way back in!” Ryan argued defensively.  “I didn’t want to lose my money!”

“You were trying to buy your way back in with dimes and gum wrappers,” Zack said heatedly.  “Of course we wouldn’t let you buy your way back in!”

Will gathered up Zack’s cards and took the deck from Ryan.  “And now neither one of you is playing.  You’re both out.”

“Oh, come on,” Zack snapped.  “It was only a couple hands.”

“That includes future games also,” Shane amended.  “You’re not playing poker with us anymore.”

“
Why
?” Zack demanded.

“Because you’re a giant bag of douche, that’s why,” Will shot back.  “What the hell do you think?”

Zack looked about ready to throw a punch.  Cadie and Stacy had slowly meandered to the edge of the room, ready to run the second a fight broke out.

Fortunately, all that happened was Zack saying disgustedly, “Whatever,” and storming out of the house through the sliding glass door.

Ryan stood up slowly, grabbing his sweatshirt.  “Sorry, guys,” he said meekly as he turned to follow Zack out the door.  Neither Shane nor Will responded.

A silence fell over the room.  Cadie and Stacy stood at the foot of the stairs, holding each other’s hands, staring at the boys.  Will and Shane were both slouched in their chairs, looking dejectedly over the remnants of their poker game.

Stacy finally broke the silence by saying, “What a cock knocker.”

Melody and Andy had managed to find two chairs on the upper level of the deck.  They sat and talked for a long time.  She was slightly giddy, and not just because he had offered his coat. She could not remember the last time they had talked this much.  She thought it might be because he had had a few beers.  He was not typically a big talker, but for whatever reason, he was tonight.

Andy’s father
, Jake, had left his mother when Andy was eight years old. Andy had been completely blindsided.  He had seen his father a few weeks later, when Jake had stopped by the school.  His father told him that he still loved him, that the separation had been in no way Andy’s fault, and that he would still be involved in Andy’s life.  Unfortunately, Jake had been absent from Andy’s life from that day forward.

For the first time, Andy revealed to Melody that evening that on his sixteenth birthday, his father had sent him a card with a sizable check.

“Did he write a note or anything?” Melody asked.

“Nope,” Andy responded.  “He didn’t put a return address, either.”

“Well, what did you do with the money?”

“Bought the Nikon,” he answered.  “Put the rest in a savings account.”

Melody’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.  “You told me your mom bought me that camera,” she said slowly.

“Yeah, well…”  Andy trailed off and shrugged.  “She would have if she could have, you know.  She just doesn’t… we don’t have a lot of money.”

He was staring out at the bonfire in the backyard.  Melody’s eyes flicked out there, but returned almost immediately to Andy’s face.  “Do you think it upset her that he sent you money?” she asked quietly.  “I mean, I know he never sent her child support or anything.”

Andy shrugged again.  “Don’t know,” he said lamely.  “She just said she was really glad I could get that camera.”  He sipped his beer.  “Okay, your turn,” he announced.

Melody was taken aback.  “My turn for what?” she asked.

“Oh, come on.  I spent a good amount of time confiding in you.  Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”

She laughed nervously.  “Andy, I seriously doubt there’s anything about me that you
don’t
know,” she responded, stalling.

“I guarantee that’s not true.”  He sat back in his chair and folded his arms, staring at her.

Melody shifted anxiously underneath his jacket.  It was her turn to stare into the backyard, refusing to meet his eyes.  “Okay,” she said finally, shifting her gaze downward to look into her cup, which had been empty for a long time.   “Okay,” she repeated.  Melody sat upright.  “Okay.”

“Okay,
go
,” Andy prodded.

“Okay!” she said defensively.  She thought for a second about how to best approach this topic.  Then, realizing there was no way to broach it subtly, she decided to just plow ahead.  “Well, the reason I asked you to hang out tonight—”

In a moment of perfect timing, Melody’s phone rang.  She held up one finger to Andy and started fumbling through her purse for her phone.  In the midst of this, she realized that it was
not
Susan’s alarm going off to remind her to tell Andy that she had feelings for him; rather, it was Cadie calling her.

“Your ringtone is ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’?” Andy asked incredulously.

“It’s Cadie,” she said to Andy.  She answered her phone.  “Hello?”

“Where are you?” Cadie’s voice responded.

“We’re on the upstairs deck.  Why?  What’s up?”

“It’s definitely time to go.”

Melody’s jaw dropped.  “What?  Why?  It’s only like 11:30.”

“I know, but there was an incident downstairs, and I’m feeling kind of awkward and like I should be leaving.”  Cadie sounded out of breath.  Melody realized she had probably been walking around the party searching for them.  “Besides, Stacy is three sheets to the wind.”

“Maybe you should stay and help her, then,” Melody argued.

“Mel, she’s asleep in her bed.  I put a garbage can in front of her face and set a glass of water on her night stand, but that’s about all I’m good for.  I’m not sure I’ve crossed that line into the friend that holds your hair back.  That’s why people are on cheerleading squads—so there are others obligated to do that for you.” 

“Well… Andy and I are kind of having a good time,” Melody replied.

There was a moment of muffled conversation on the other end of the line.  It sounded like Cadie said, “Yeah, she’s in there,” to someone else.  She returned with, “Sorry, I was steering Lauren in Stacy’s direction.  What are you and Andy doing?”

“We’re just talking on the deck.”

“You guys can do that at home.  But we’re definitely leaving this party.  I’ll meet you at the front door in five minutes.”

“But—”  The line went dead.  Melody sighed and returned her phone back to her pocket.  “Cadie wants to leave,” she said to Andy.

He stared at her.  “Your ringtone is ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’,” he repeated.

“Only for Cadie.  When we got these phones, she said it was the most annoying ringtone on there, so I set it as hers.”

Andy stood up, then held out a hand to help Melody to her feet.  He did not ask any further questions about what she had been about to say to him.  It seemed that he had forgotten about it.  She, however, felt a complete anticlimactic sensation, as if there was supposed to have been a giant bass drum hit in a song but the bass drummer had dropped his mallet and left only silence.

The two of them wound their way through the sliding glass doors and the crowded sitting room to the foyer.  Less than a minute later, Cadie appeared at the landing of the staircase.  “Let’s blow this popsicle stand,” she said, shouldering her purse.

“Don’t you want to say good-bye to Susan or anything?” Andy asked Melody as they walked out the front door.

“No,” Melody answered immediately.  She could only imagine Susan’s reaction when she found out that Melody had not completed her mission for the evening.

Her phone’s alarm went off as they were walking to the car.