Hey guys! I'm not dead! I was scared off for a little bit, but I'm back. I trudged through a bought of sickness, six exams, and three 21st birthday parties to get this chapter to you. Hope it lives up to expectations and all that junk. I've already started working on chapter six as well...after all, what else am I going to do at work on TAKS days? x . x

As always, thanks to my beta, SamayouTamashi and my bouncing block, Dave.

My alarm rang too early this morning. It's almost like it reset itself so that I only got four hours of sleep. It wasn't till I got out of bed that I realized, due to the late night shenanigans, I really had gotten only four hours of sleep. That thought made me freeze as I stuck my arm through my sleeve. I groaned and pushed my head through the turtleneck. Quickly completing my morning ritual, I emerged from my private domicile and sniffed the air timidly. Frowning grumpily, I realized my dad was still sleeping and consequently not making breakfast. Resigning myself to cereal, I walked down stairs and helped myself.

I left the house, locking the front door, and took a left at the sidewalk. I slowly made my way to school, as I did every school day. You'd think after reaching a conclusion of this magnitude that something interesting would come along and derail your life. Alas, I walked in silence.

As I entered the school, I approached Miss Bedfordshire's desk.

She looked up, "Ahh, Cassie. How was your doctor's appointment?" I handed her my note and responded, "Perfectly normal. I'm not dying, so no worries there." I received my pass as she glanced at me. I saw that look in her eyes - the one that meant she wanted to ask a question but was unsure how to phrase it. Bypassing her completely, I turned on my heel and hurried out of the office with a muttered, "Thanks!"

The hallway was completely jam-packed. There were still about ten minutes until the bell would ring, so it was a swarm of raging hormones as boys hit on girls, girls flirted with boys, and the nerds avoided all human contact what-so-ever. I rolled my eyes and started elbowing my way through the herd to my locker.

I guess I should take the time to ask a general poll, if you will. Do you ever face a scenario where the little devil and the little angel show up on your shoulders and argue with each other about what you should do in this particular instance?

Nothing was more tempting than the couple in front of me, holding hands and blocking my way.

Red rover, red rover, let Cassie come over?

Not wishing to draw any more attention to myself after Cub's abrupt departure yesterday, the angel won out and I walked around them with a polite, "Excuse me."

I grabbed my books from my locker and headed to geometry. Nothing interesting happened throughout the day, but I was dreading my inevitable return to chemistry after lunch. Gulping down the last of my Coke, I gathered by bags and headed to my least favorite class. I handed Mr. Grizzle my pass and quickly took my seat, hoping that he wouldn't make a big deal out of my "guardian" from the day before.

As Mr. Grizzle started walking around, lecturing about something or another, Sam, my lab partner, turned to me and whispered in my ear,

"You're so lucky you got to leave yesterday. I would give anything to get out of this class."

Oblivious to the inattentiveness of his class, Grizzle continued pacing between the desks. I responded, "Yeah. I schedule my own doctor's appointments now since my dad is out of town so often. If they just so happen to conveniently fall during chemistry…" I left the sentence hanging and sat back up.

Sam grinned at me and waved me back over. "So, you got an A-ok from the doctor? Or do you have another appointment next week?" He winked at me.

I grinned back, "Nope. Healthy as a horse, unfortunately."

"Oh good. I was worried you were going to pull an Alex Rider and I'd be out of a lab partner for a few weeks. I wouldn't be able to handle a Bubble for an extended period of time…"

[Bubble: A superficial ditz who contains not one ounce of common sense. See also: Airhead]

I looked at him sharply. "You know, Rider went to this school seven years ago. We never knew him. Why do we all make fun of him? I just don't see the humor in it." I sat back up and looked straight ahead, tuning Sam out and pretending to devote my full attention to…whatever it was Grizzle was teaching.

"What are you talking about! Everyone makes fun of Alex Rider. He was weird and disappeared," Sam hissed at me.

Before I could respond however, we were brutally interrupted by a loud voice. "Something to share with the class, Mr. Rubenstein?"

We whipped our heads around to find Mr. Grizzle right behind us. Eyes widening, Sam shook his head. "No sir. I was merely attempting to catch Cassie up from what she missed yesterday." He looked at me with pleading eyes. I simply stared at him and looked back up at the teacher.

He eyed me. "Miss McMan, I would love the opportunity to speak with you after class. I will personally catch you up on what was missed."

I withheld a groan as he turned around and continued speaking to the class.

The show over, each student put their heads back down and went back to sleep.

"Thanks a lot," I hissed from the corner of my mouth.

He just looked at me and shook his head.

Once again I was staring at my watch, watching the second hand inch away. However, this time, I didn't want to reach the end of class. I was perfectly content to sit here and pretend to pay attention to the teacher. I've come to find that when you're face to face with the person you're ignoring…it's much harder to ignore them. I sighed as the bell rang and the surrounding students jumped from their seats. I sat patiently while the wild mob swarmed the door. Once they were gone, I gathered my things and walked up to Mr. Grizzle's desk.

"You wanted to speak with me, sir?"

He stared at me for a second and started, "Cassie…" He pursed his lips.

I stood there and tried not to fidget as I allowed him time to gather his thoughts.

"Were you standing up for Alex Rider in class today?"

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"When you and Mr. Rubenstein were in talking in the middle of my lecture, I heard him mention Alex Rider. You didn't seem too pleased with Sam. I am trying to understand why."

I licked my lips. "Sir, I am sorry for talking during the middle of class, but I really was just trying to figure out what I missed yesterday."

His eyes hardened. "Cassie."

I looked down. "I just don't understand why everyone rags on this guy. He's been gone for seven years. He couldn't have been that memorable!"

I picked up my head and looked him square in the eye. "I don't think it's right that every teacher and student in this school picks on someone that, for all we know, could be dead."

As he stared at me, I remembered the exact moment when my father had taught me the keys to running a convincing bluff.

He rolled a chip between his fingers as he looked up at me. He raised an eyebrow, awaiting my move.

I looked down at my cards one last time. I didn't really know what to do in this situation. Did I hit or stick? With 15 points, I didn't know what the protocol was. I tossed in a $5 chip and said, "I guess I'll stick."

Rolling the chip one last time, he looked into my eyes. It felt like he was studying me and I had to look away. He tossed the chip in and said, "Let's see 'em then."

I flipped the cards over.

"Fifteen. Not bad." He turned his cards over. "Cassie, I need to teach you a very important life lesson." He collected the chips in the pot and lined them up in front of him. "I'm going to show you how to lie – and there-by win – at poker."

I tilted my head and looked at him. As a thirteen year-old, I had always been encouraged not to lie…ever. "Why would I want to know that, dad?"

He considered the question for a minute. "Well, Cass…sometimes, lying is expected. When you play poker, it is expected that you hide your thoughts and emotions or else the other player has a one-up over you. There are times outside of poker when lying is okay too. I work for the government, yes?"

I nodded.

"Well, if anyone ever came up to you and started asking questions about my job…and God forbid, I wasn't here…I would want you to lie and get away from them. Does that make sense?"

I nodded again.

"So, young Padawan. Let us start your lying training."

I nodded my head once and sat up.

"The first important thing is to look your opponent straight in the eye. When you lie, your eyes have a tendency to wander. If you look someone straight in the eye, it means your conscience is clear. Got it?"

"When lying, look the person in the eye. Got it. What else?"

"Stick to your story. Keep it simple and don't change your tune mid-discussion. That's a sure give-away that you are making it up on the spot. If they want details, keep it vague and claim you can't remember. If you can remember all the obscure details, it's because you paid special attention or knew you were going to be asked about it. Make sense?"

"Yeah. Look person in the eye, keep it simple, and don't change the story. Anything else?"

"Those are the big ones. With regards to lying at cards? Keep your face straight. Don't move it at all."

"Alright. Want to go another round?"

He picked up the cards. "Bring it on."

I continued to stare blankly at Mr. Grizzle. When it was clear he was waiting for me to speak again and he had nothing else to say, I quickly spouted off, "If that is all, Mr. Grizzle, I have to go to my next class. I'd hate to miss any more lectures. I'm far enough behind in maths as it is."

With that, I nodded, turned on my heel, and walked out of the class.

Reviews appreciated. Constructive criticism welcomed. Flames will be used to hard boil my eggs for Passover.

With love,

~Moldy