I woke up to a brilliant ray of yellow sunshine from the window. I was nearly blinded by the sun. God, what time is it? It has to be around 10 or 11, I told myself.

My watch disagreed. 12:55.

Holy shit, I've got to go! I scrambled out of bed and quickly pulled on a blouse and a dull gray skirt. (Really had to solve this clothing problem.) Then, I sprinted out the door.

I arrived, panting, at the tree house. What did my watch say? 1:04. Not bad.

"You're late." Teddy stated, not looking up from the cards he was shuffling.

"Yeah, by 4 minutes," I rolled my eyes. "Where's Vern?"

"Probably looking for his pennies."

"Huh?"

Teddy filled me in on the story. Poor Vern. I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Me and Teddy started playing poker. Just like yesterday, we both won. I won over half of the games, and Teddy won the ones when I couldn't make a straight poker face.

"I won, Teddy." I said, smirking.

Teddy groaned while I pulled the money toward my side of the table. He had put almost all of his change into that game. The trap door opened and Vern walked up. "You're late, Verno." Teddy said. Would they start calling me Lizzo? I wondered.

Vern sat down with us, and Teddy dealt him in the next game. A minute later, I was holding a high hand. An extremely high hand. 4 8s and a 10, which was a wild card. Yup, a natural 4 of a kind. Wild card included, 5 of a kind.

"Liz?"

"Yeah Vern?"

"What's this?" He showed me his cards. I laid mine face-down on the table and took a look. He had 3 10s and a jack and an ace. 4 of a kind at most. Wait… The jack and ace of clubs. They were both clubs. Vern would win the game. "Listen Vern," I whispered. "Go all in."

"What?" He asked loudly. I shhh-ed him.

"Just do it. I fold." I said in my regular voice.

"You… what?" Teddy was incredulous. He looked at Vern suspiciously.

"I go… all in." Vern stuttered.

Teddy looked from me to Vern, then from Vern to me, and back again.

"I fold." Teddy quit the game instantly.

"Looks like you won the pot, Vern. What cards has everybody got?" I said, biting back a smile. Teddy looked extremely disappointed.

Teddy laid down a strait. I laid down my natural-4-of-a-kind-5-of-a-kind- as I proudly called it- grinning slightly.

And Vern laid down his cards.

"What? That doesn't beat Liz's cards…" I pointed out the subtle royal flush to Teddy.

"Holy shit." Was all he had to say. "You won, Vern!"

And Vern just grinned.

"Who says we go out for ice cream?" I suggested. Both Teddy and Vern agreed.

"All right. Let's go."

Soon, we were sitting in the local diner- called the Blue Pointe Diner- and chatting animatedly- after deciding we were still hungry after the ice cream. I ate my fries (Teddy had ordered a burger and Vern a milkshake- none of us were that hungry.) and engaged in conversations about bands and the latest songs.

"So you like the Del Vikings?"

"Yup. Whispering Bells is my favorite song."

"Oh, come on! What about Elvis?"

"Man, he's out. Elvis ain't boss."

Teddy burst into laughter at this.

"What?" I asked irritably. Elvis was overrated. But perhaps this was because Jenny loved him, and I hated all things Jenny loved. Just my stubbornness, I guess.

"Ee-ee-eee-eee!"

Teddy had the strangest laugh. Several people walking into the diner at that moment looked at us strangely. I made faces back at them. It was hilarious.

"A girl who isn't head over heels with Elvis. Never thought I'd see one in my lifetime."

"Yeah, and what are you, 13?" I retorted.

"Well, Chris said I wouldn't live to be 20. Ee-eee-eee!"

Mmmm hmmm.

"So. Do you know Chris?" This mystery was driving me bonkers.

"Yeah. We used to be friends last year. Me and Vern and him and a guy named Gordie. Before… Well anyway, we hardly see each other anymore."

"Before what?"

"It's a long story."

"Well I'm all ears."

"Well, last summer this kid we knew disappeared. 3 days afterward, we heard that someone had found his body…"

Teddy continued his story, occasionally interrupted by Vern, much to his annoyance. He told me of a dead kid named Ray Brower. He told how they decided to go find his body. How Milo Pressman ranked out his dad. How he tried to dodge a train and Chris pulled him off the tracks. The incident with the train on the bridge. And at long last, finding the body. How Ray Brower looked after the train had hit him. When Ace and his friends showed up to take the body. How Ace almost killed Chris. And then Gordie fired the gun…

"But that wasn't the half of it. Gordie, he was the real storyteller. You should ask him to tell it to you sometime."

I glanced out the window. It had taken him until sunset.