BEL AND THE FOUR OF HEARTS

Nine

When Mark approached the front of the class, Ms. Melissa held out the Tarot deck for him to pick a card. My heart raced as I watched him slowly reach out and take one from the deck. I found myself staring at him, wondering what card he had picked.

He turned the card over to face the class and his eyes darted over to me. I quickly looked away and pretended to focus on my book, but I could still feel his gaze on me.

What? Was he hoping I'd be so cliche to mouth a silent ‘you can do it’?

Mark was silent for a few seconds, his eyes focused on the card in his hand. The whole class was watching him intently, waiting for him to say the spell that would reveal the card's meaning.

Finally, Mark looked up at me again, looking helpless, and honestly I felt a quick pang of pity.

He seemed so nervous up there in front of the whole class. But then he smiled coyly,

"Zalagorith, zorathalix, felagorinthea, let the winds of Azorathia carry my voice, and the flames of the dragons ignite the path to my wishes. By the force of the mountains and the depths of the oceans, let my will be fulfilled.”

None of us had ever heard before. Okay, at least not me. It was a complex combination of words and gestures that seemed to weave together into something powerful. As he finished the spell, the room was filled with a strange energy, and I could feel a tingle in the air.

If he had done recited that with a wand in his hand, expect real dragons.

Ms Melissa was clearly impressed. She was beaming at Mark, her eyes shining with pride.

"Beyond impressive, Mark!" she exclaimed.

"I've only seen a few students pull off that spell before. You must have been practicing a lot."

He shrugged proudly.

I couldn't help but scowl at Mark.

Why was he pretending like he was so vulnerable up there earlier? I should have known, he was smarter than he looked obviously.

Mark returned to his seat beside me, and a smile was plastered on his face. He was beaming with pride after his successful tarot reading.

I scoffed again, not knowing whether to be proud of my tutoring or believe he lied to me about not knowing anything just to shove it back in my face.

He leaned over and whispered,

"Pretty impressive, right?"

I rolled my eyes and pretended to be busy with my notebook, avoiding eye contact with him.

I saw from the corner of my eyes how he was still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Enjoying the attention you're receiving?” I found myself saying.

He turned to me,

“It's all thanks to you, master.” His breath tickled my ear and I shifted in my seat a little.

Master? Oh well. I swelled.

Ms Melissa arranged the cards again and looked at her notebook, adjusting her glasses.

"Okay, the next student up is Pauline," she announced.

All eyes went to Pauline's seat, which was right next to Keisha's.

Her seat was empty. Pauline was obviously skipping class again as usual; probably still hanging out somewhere in the school, I thought.

I wondered why Keisha wasn't absent with her bff. I had to suppress a laugh at how she looked like her formerly timid self when Pauline wasn't around.

Weren't they supposed to be inseparable now?

Or maybe Keisha wasn't as bad as she wanted everyone to think she was now.

Amusing.

Ms Melissa sighed and rested one of her hands on her waist,

"Absent again?"

Keisha spoke up, "She's not in school today."

Ms Melissa made a note in her book and then shuffled the tarot cards back together.

"Well, we'll just have to continue without her," she said with a smile.

"Sam, you're up next."

****

As he towered over me, I couldn't help but feel a mix of intimidation and intrigue. His blue eyes were like magnets, pulling me in and making me feel both nervous and excited at the same time. His casual demeanor, with his hands in his pockets, only added to his playboy charm.

I could tell he knew the effect he had on people, especially women, and he was playing it up for all it was worth. I tried to keep my composure.

It was hard to believe that I had actually slapped this guy's butt just yesterday. He was looking at me with those piercing blue eyes, and I sure felt a tad bit intimidated. Despite his casual demeanor, there was something about him that just screamed "player."

He greeted me with a simple "hi," and I replied with a nervous "hi" of my own.

We stood there in awkward silence for what felt like an eternity, and I couldn't help but feel self-conscious. My mind kept drifting back to the moment when I had slapped his butt. It was like I could still feel the firmness of his buttock-muscles tingling at the top of my fingers.

As we stood there, I could sense a subtle tension between us. I wondered if he was feeling it too, or if it was just my imagination. It was like there was a magnet pulling us together, and I didn't know whether to fight it or give in to it.

All I knew was that this was just the beginning of what was sure to be a complicated game.

He looked at me and asked, "So, do you wanna hang out sometime?"

Was I really going to play Keisha's game and try to make her jealous? Sure, I was

But I spoke to myself, reminding myself not to look cheap or desperate in front of him, nonetheless.

"Hangout? I thought you and Keisha were like…you know, a thing," I said, trying to keep the tone of my voice casual and nonchalant.

Jason let out a laugh and shook his head.

"Nah, we're really nothing serious," he replied, his eyes meeting mine.

"Just flings and chill, you get me?"

Wow! Nothing serious?

I nodded, feeling like this was exactly the kind of guy Keisha deserved. An asshole. I wished she was here to hear him call their relationship nothing serious. I bet it would be eating her up inside. If we were still friends I might have made this fool pay dearly one way or the other for what he had just said, but not anymore.

In that moment, I just felt a sense of amusement wash over me as I realized that playing Jason and using him to hurt Keisha was not a bad plan. After how she betrayed me and made me bear the brunt of something I didn't do, I felt justified in seeking some form of retribution.

I realized then that my goal for school had shifted. Instead of trying to clear my name or find the anonymous people who believed in my innocence, I was focused elsewhere. And while revenge was not something I typically pursued, seeing her jealous and upset was now my main goal. For now, watching Keisha squirm was all I could focus on. And him, with his playboy demeanor, was the perfect pawn in my game.

With his eyes locked on mine and his playful grin, how could I even bring myself to say no?

I nodded, trying not to let my smirk show.

"Yeah, I get it."

He smiled, I smiled too.

"Sure, we can hang out then.”

“Great!”

“What's your name though?”

I mean, fantastic. We connected without even knowing each other's names. What other better match is there?

“Jason. I'm Jason. And you're—” He looked at me with those blue eyes that were so intense, it was like he could see into my soul.

“Belinda,” I said, extending my hand for a handshake. The plan was in motion, and I was ready to see it through.

Courtesy, Belinda the Great.