Survival Of The Fittest

((Simon Fletcher continued from Ambigious Plans))

Well, thought Simon, that is certainly quite impressive.

It wasn't like he had never seen a large house before, but Alex's really took the cake. He looked down at his clothes and wondered if the plain white button down shirt and black pants were appropriate for the poker night. Since neither Alex nor Trevor had mentioned anything about a dress code, he figured that they would be fine.

Simon opened the knocked on the door, and a man opened it for him. He gave the guy a quick ‘thank you' before walking inside, slightly shakier then he would have liked to admit. Come on, there was nothing to be nervous about. Simon knew how to play cards; he had learned poker from his father's friends, though he was pretty bad at it. Still, he was pretty sure he knew everyone that was going to the function, albeit faintly for some of them.

It seemed like he wasn't too late, as there were four people in the room already. He knew their faces and names from a mixed bag of classes, clubs, and functions he had participated in. There was a large table in the room, which looked like it could hold twice as many people, and a few bottles of alcohol here and there.

"Hey Alex, Trevor." Simon nodded to them before turning towards the girls. "Charlotte, Kayla." He cracked his fingers. Good, a small group was better than a big one for him.

We are going to rob these boys blind tonight. Ain't that right?

Kayla nodded, leaning away slightly. "Er, yeah. Yeah! We're going to... uh... win... money!"

It even tasted lame coming out of her mouth. She made a mental note to talk to more people so she could learn the proper dialect and slang for the area. She personally had no clue what to say to that sort of thing. Not to mention the invasion of personal space that was being undertaken.

Again she heard her name said. She looked at the new arrival, opening her mouth to reply, but closing it when she realized the boy's name escaped her. Realizing that opening your mouth and not saying anything seemed weird, she said, "Oh, hi." She could think of nothing else to say.

'You might not intend to lose it, Tre. But someone might take it.' he turned as another person entered the room 'the wooden box is where its going, it'll be in sight at all times.'

He made eye contact with the newcomer, it was Simon. Of all the people he respected, Simon came pretty close to the top. He decided to take a seat to indicate and encourage people not to avoid his uncle's things.

'Si! How was Iron Man? The only superhero film I've seen recently was The Dark Knight a few weeks back, what a film! Shame about Ledger...'

Kayla greeted him, and Simon looked around the room again. He wasn't sure how many people were going to show up, but since it seemed like no more than ten would materialize, he figured a group of this size was good enough for poker even if no one else was coming.

"Si! How was Iron Man? The only superhero film I've seen recently was The Dark Knight a few weeks back, what a film! Shame about Ledger..." Alex said, taking a seat on one of the nice looking chairs.

Simon followed Alex's led and sat down, nodding in agreement with the other boy. "Yeah, Dark Knight and Iron Man are pretty much the only superhero movies I've seen in awhile. They were both awesome though, so maybe I should start seeing more." He was becoming more comfortable quickly. It helped that Alexander Seymour was the one running the poker night; he had an easy confidence and reckless charisma that Simon couldn't help but admire.

"Ah, right." Simon placed his five dollars on the table. "Can't forget that."

Trevor laughed as the banter began to flow and felt as if the night was steadily beginning to start up. Not wanting to be left out he sat down as well, collapsing heavily into his chair and letting out a contented sigh as he did so. He felt as if he had been on his feet all day. Sitting up and leaning forward over the table he tossed his $5 towards the wooden box and watched as it landed not quite as near as he'd hoped. Guess my throwing is still rubbish, ah well its close enough.

Trevor took a swig from the beer and enjoyed the cold liquid as it swirled around his mouth. Gently setting the bottle on the table he leaned back in his chair and turned to Alex.

‘So are you going to reveal what kind of illicit game we'll be engaging in tonight?'

Suddenly struck by a thought he turned to the girls who had yet to sit and asked, ‘Any poker preferences ladies?'

Trevor hoped that it wasn't going to some complicated obscure version of poker that was Alex's speciality, and his confidence dropped a notch. Whatever the game I'll do what I can to win it. Trevor reminded himself that he was here to have fun and reigned in the competitive feelings he was having. The night was still young and the time for serious gaming was a long way off yet.

Kayla took a deep breath, stepping forward. In the interest of social savvy and the gathering thereof, she pulled out a chair for... what was her name... oh, yes, Charlotte. She smiled nervously at the girl, and the boys, and basically anywhere she looked. She felt like her face was frozen. She sat down quickly, before her knees buckled, breathing deeply to help calm her nerves. 'This was a bad idea. I'm going to make a fool of myself, and I'll never be invited to anything again, and nobody will like me, and this was a bad idea!' she thought, panicking internally. She forced herself to slow down the thought process and relax.

'I'll be fine. Bad idea or not, I'll be fine. Just relax. These guys don't know you well enough, if asked later you could say you ate some shellfish that had started to go pear-shaped. Such an odd phrase, that. Why does everything bad go pear-shaped? I guess it rolls off the tongue better than teardrop-shaped, and it's basically the same shape. But other than that semi-plausible reason, it's really a conundrum.'

(Isabel Guerra debut)

Isabel was very aware of her heels clicking against the floor as she approached the door. She hadn't intended to go out tonight. Isabel had heard about the poker night from a boy who sat next to her in one of her classes. She couldn't remember who at the moment. She wouldn't have come but she had let it slip in a conversation and her mother insisted she get out of the house and do something social. She supposed this was better than being at home with her mother.

Oh lord. What am I doing here? I feel stupid. Stupid dress. Stupid shoes. Well, what's the worst that could happen?

Isabel shifted uncomfortably in her yellow dress. She looked down self consciously at her black heels. They were both borrowed from her mother. The dress was too short since her mother was several inches shorter than her. Isabel looked up at the house she was in front of.

Wow. Rich people. Well if I have to go out, I might as well hussle poker and make some extra cash.

She swallowed hard, put on a friendly smile and knocked on the door.

'Illicit Trevor! You shame me, with your accusation!' He smiled 'We're playing Texas Hold'em as that's what I have the cards and the mat for.'

The damn door knocker went again. He looked at the digital clock, it was 20:03. Why did John have to clock off at exactly 20:00 every night!

Alex excused himself and rushed to the door, opening the peep hole. It was Isabel, and she was wearing quite a yellow number, a short one at that. She looked better than her usual shirt (that was too big) and jeans. High heels as well, Wow! Alex thought as he pulled open the door.

'Isabel, please come in!' he beckoned her past as he quickly dipped into the kitchen and wrote Use the back gate on it affixing it to the front of the door. He quickly returned to the poker room and stood behind his seat leaning comfortably against it. He grabbed his Strongbow and opened it.

Isabel wore a half smile and discretely pulled the bottom of the dress down. "Hi. Sorry I didn't....RSPV or anything. "Presently her smile grew more natural and she looked more at ease."You look nice. But then again you always do." Isabel followed behind him, looking all around the house as they passed through to the poker room. "Nice house," she mumbled. When they reached the room she gave a quick wave. "Evening," she said.

((Hello, friendly neighbourhood admin here. I understand it can sometimes be difficult to find something to say, but can you guys please ensure you keep up the detail levels in your posts. Some have been a bit on the skimpy side for this board's tastes))

((Understood Che!))

Alex hadn't expected a double compliment from Isabel, of all people. They had be friends since his move to St Paul, but he thought he knew her well enough for her not to feel obliged to compliment him.

'I must admit, you look very sophisticated tonight. You should tell my uncle you like his house.' He glanced up the staircase expecting his uncle to interrupt, as was his style, but he was oddly absent. 'I'm as much a guest here as you are.'

The house was a grand place to live with seven bedrooms, countless lounges and function rooms, three kitchens and about three acres of land spread around the house. It was modernist and very open plan, it being built specifically to a contemporary brief. He preferred his father's house which was more traditional, cosy and with almost double the amount of land.

The thought of his father caused a pit in his stomach and he banished the thought into irrelevance. He hoped his uncle would take him hunting soon.

He again took his seat and picked up one of the three decks of brand new card pulling the cellophane off and attempting and snazzy shuffle.

The card collapsed into a disorderly pile beneath his hands as he tried to hide his embarrassment. He'd been practising as well, which made it more annoying. At least they didn't go flying... he reassured himself.

((I'll try my best!))

Isabel couldn't help a small frown from flickering across her face. Compliments made her uneasy and she had never liked them. Still, they were hard to avoid since compliments are considered by many as a polite thing to say. She busied herself looking up the same stair case he seemed to fixate on to hide the evidence of her discomfort.

"I'll tell him later," she said flatly.

She didn't want to risk going off to find him now and take the chance of getting lost and the massive house.

So much room. Seems sort of....wasteful.

Isabel walked around to the other side of the table and sat next to Travis. She stood up partially to fix the skirt underneath her before settling in for good. She raised an eyebrow at the beer he was drinking. "Do you have anything besides beer?" she asked with her tongue out and her eyes closed. Any other alcohol would suffice but if not Isabel would also gladly take water or soda. But knowing Alex she didn't think water or soda was going to be acceptable tonight.

It's been a long time since I've just hung out with people in a casual way like this. It's kind of nice.

At least thus far it was going well. Perhaps coming by wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Though she knew it to be impolite, she rested one of her elbows against the table and supported her face in her hand while she watched Alex try to manipulate the multiple decks of cards. When the pile collapsed into itself she looked away at a large stuffed and mounted dear on the wall to spare his pride.

That's what you get for being a showoff.

Out of the corner of her eye she inspected the other guests in attendance. Isabel recognized them as people in her class but couldn't remember names at the moment. It was a problem she frequently had. Isabel had once heard that if you said someone's name three times during your first meeting with them you would remember a person's name but so far the technique had failed her. It wasn't at all a reflection of the people themselves, she just couldn't remember.

"Lucky, Alex. You've stacked the deck in your favor it looks like. There's more girls here than boys."

She let her eyes drift over to the other two girls. Isabel tried to look casual as if she was surveying the room and the girls were just furniture. Like two vases sitting at the table.

They're pretty.

((You got it, Chief))

"Texas Hold'em? That's good; I was afraid you guys were going to come up with some game that I've never even heard of." Simon phrased that comment as a joke, complimented by a small grin. However, it had been a concern for him. He didn't play cards much, and was afraid he'd end up looking stupid in front of everyone else. Truth be told, Simon didn't go over to friends houses the way high school aged characters in books or TV shows seemed to, and he wondered if he was doing something wrong. Either way, he was grateful that he'd been invited to the poker game and looked forward to spending an evening with students his age.

A new girl had entered the room, one that Simon didn't recognize at first. She was more formerly dressed then him, with heels and a yellow dress. He knew her face from somewhere, but couldn't quite place it until Alex called her "Isabel".

Isabel? He knew her from his English class, though it wasn't like they were good friends or had even had a legitimate conversation. It was easy to see why he couldn't place her at first; Isabel usually seemed to wear plain clothing a lot.

Alex tried to do some card shuffle, which ended with a disorganized pile on the table. Simon smiled, but resisted the urge to laugh. He himself couldn't shuffle cards at all, and besides, he wasn't sure if Alex would understand that he was just being good natured. Sure, they were friends, but Simon found that sometimes being around people he was close to made him even more nervous than people he didn't know.

Simon leaned back in his chair. It was ridiculously comfortable. His family was not struggling by any means, but his parents were both incredible frugal people. His father had worked three jobs (a waiter, cashier, and clerk) to put himself through medical school and his mother had made her way through solely on student loans and scholarships. They made sure that there was a large nest egg in the bank for Simon and Jessica's future lives.

It's amazing, really. That someone I know is living like this. For some reason, Simon couldn't find it in himself to be feel that jealous. He wanted to have a lot of money, sure, but at this point in his life monetary concerns didn't seem to worry him. I'll probably be in for a big wakeup call once I get out of college.

There were still plenty of beers left, but Simon didn't take one. He had drunk a glass of champagne on New Years' Eve once, and it had left a bad taste in his mouth. Besides, he was most likely driving home and if there ever was a time he was going to start underage drinking, it wouldn't be now. The idea of breaking not one, but two laws was foreign to him. He was fine with his friends drinking (they were all responsible and he certainly wasn't going to ruin anyone's fun), but Simon was always a nervous person to the point of paranoia. He was sure that if he broke even the smallest ruler, it would have huge consequences on his future.

"Lucky, Alex. You've stacked the deck in your favor it looks like. There's more girls here than boys." Isabel stated. Simon looked around. There was Kayla, Char, and Isabel on the girls' side and him, Trev, and Alex on the guys. Maybe she just didn't notice me. That seemed to happen to Simon a lot.

"Are we playing girls vs. guys, then, or everyone for themselves?" Simon was a bit fuzzy on if the rules of poker allowed for teams. He would prefer everyone for themselves, though. That way if he messed up, nobody would care.

((I'll break out my purple dictionary.))

Kayla chewed on her lip, staring at the table top with a seeming boundless supply of interest. The interest, of course, was vested in not meeting people's eyes. Still, she paid careful attention to the ongoing conversations, lest they turn toward a dangerous subject, like why that one weird girl who doesn't talk much was here. Everything was going wrong, which is to say that everything had failed to come cascading down upon her head like a... cascading thing that cascades. She had come, by this point, to expect anything social to come complete with eventual doom for her. It was why she avoided it. It didn't help that she had gone to a party in fifth grade (granted, that party had been with entirely different people, but that was beside the point.), during which it was revealed that she was invited in order to be ridiculed. Fucking preteen prima donnas. Anybody who said children were innocent garnered her immediate scorn and subtle ridicule.

Ah, but she was getting off topic. Two recently said words stuck with her: 'Texas Hold'em.' She had heard the term before, and had even learned how to play from an expert. One of her foster brothers had been a dealer in Vegas for a few years during college. Still, she had never won a game, with a tendency to bet too timidly and generally act like she had bad hands. Again she bit her lip. She felt an inexorable need to impress these people, one which she couldn't fully explain. Most likely psychological or biological, although it was interesting how often those two sciences crossed paths. She glanced at the pot. 5*6 was 30, so they were currently sitting on 30 dollars. Enough for her to get a few new notebooks and a decent set of pencils. #2s were nice, but the graphite was too hard, so it was difficult to erase. She was looking at a set of #4s, which had a softer lead that left a gentler mark. Good for erasing too.

She was getting off topic again. Stupid mind and the wandering. Another girl had walked in, a few minutes prior. Her brain was reshuffling priorities. Isabel? Kayla failed to recognize her. Then, she barely recognized half the people here. Oh, who was she kidding? She hardly knew anybody here, with the possible exception of herself. Still, no reason to be neurotic, right? Heh heh.... This was a bad sign. She was thinking her nervous laughs. Obviously a sign of encroaching madness.

{Will do a bit better than this once I'm back in my rhythm, but gotcha.}

Charlotte offered friendly nods to the two newcomers as they entered, before setting herself down at the table. "Simon, Isabel, how are ya?" She downed the last of the contents of her beverage, not having taken long at all. She practically inhaled the thing in about three big gulps. It'd take a bit more to get the girl drunk, but with the crowd quickly expanding, there was already thirty bucks at stake, and she was gonna have to stay sober if she wanted a piece. Not that getting that piece would be tough, by the looks of things. Kayla was obviously too nervous to be on her A-game, assuming she played at all. Alex was looking a bit clumsy tonight, if his mad shuffling skills were any indication. The rest were wild cards, as best she could tell, but she liked her odds. Poker was all psychology; get the table to think what you want them to think, then reap the rewards. She might have been overestimating her abilities thanks to the liquid confidence boost, but she could hold her own, at the very least.

"Sure you don't need a hand there, Al?" she teased, leaning back in her seat. Just because he was the host didn't mean he was immune to a little good-natured ribbing, and really, formality was generally the last of Charlotte's concerns. "Try not t' hurt yourself now."

Taking an aside glance at the girl next to her, she almost started to worry about the poor thing. She'd been acting jittery the whole time they'd been there. "Hey, Kay." She softened her voice a bit, hoping to be a bit more reassuring. "You okay? We're not gonna bite, y'know. At least, not if you aren't into that sort of thing." She pointed the empty bottle at Kayla, still leaning back so as not to smother the girl quite so much as earlier. "Seriously, though, just tell me if there's anything I can do for ya, alright?" She'd break her out of her shell if it was the last thing she did.