If this is first chapter you've read please go back and read the others. All those poker fans, this is for you. I wonder what the chances of getting that hand are... Enjoy!

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Chapter 11: Fortunes

Breakfast was bad as ever so I had coffee and Eric fell asleep again. Work out was more successful that day; Lizzy got me on the weights for more than ten seconds. Lunch was a bit different though… The day before was mediocre subs with chips, but today, there was full blown Chinese food, chicken fried rice, cashew pork, steamed vegetables, egg rolls, and lo main galore. I took the chicken fried rice, pork, and lo main. Jerry, who was usually back in the kitchen, was front and center with a big basket of fortune cookies. He was about five seven; he looked to be of Chinese decent and wore one of those chief uniforms.

"Care to see what the universe has in store for you?" he said offering a cookie with a smirk, and a familiar smirk at that. I took it and went to our table where Lizzy and Eric were already sitting down with their fortunes.

"We all open ours on three. Ready? One,… Two,…Three!" Lizzy said as we all tore open our fortunes.

Mine said this: The impossible choice must soon be chosen.

What the hell does that mean? I thought to myself.

"You first Eric." Lizzy stated.

"May it all be revealed as it happens… What the frack is that supposed to mean?" Eric vented as he tossed he cookie onto his tray.

"I guess I'll go next… Close doesn't cut it?" Lizzy pondered.

"The impossible choice must soon be chosen…" I read still staring at the slip of paper. There was a short period of silence before anyone said a word; we were all trying to figure out what our individual fortunes meant.

"Screw this. It's just a fricken fortune cookie." Eric said.

"You're right." Lizzy said a little solemnly.

"Anyway… Who's up for poker to night?" Lizzy asked.

"I've actually never played before." I admitted.

"I'll explain then" Eric said.

He looked at his watch and added," After my watch." There was a repeat of him shoving food down his throat and lack of appetite.

"Remind me to thank you for undoing my dibs on him" Lizzy said as she pushed he plate away. There was yet another movie for us to watch about whales which Eric got to miss. Afterward he educated me in the art of gambling, bluffing, card counting, calculating complex probabilities in my head in a blink of an eye, all the dead giveaways of the average poker player and anything, and everything else of the like. Dinner was decent that night, but that's what none of us were thinking about.

Seven came about and it was on. The other players were that waitress, Jerry, and six other teens like me, rookies. The boys had most likely never played poker before; they all wore low collared shirts, revealing their jugular that becomes visibly stressed when under pressure, no sunglasses, to hide their pupils which expand and contract depending on whether they're stressed or content, no iPods to block out taunts from other players, the fact that they had happy feet whenever they had a good hand, that they played every hand, didn't know the rules,… do I really have to continue? I on the other hand was completely prepared with a high collared shirt, hoodie, sun glasses, ipod, and all the knowledge that I had crammed into my head earlier that day.

It is safe to say that Jerry, the waitress and I picked them off one by one, well… mostly me and the waitress. She and I were the big stacks and Jerry, well... he got the short straw, to match his temper.

It was just us left, me and her. Our stacks were exactly the same, down to the last chip. I took a peek at my cards and held back a small smile and called her big blind. She checked. The flop was Queen of hearts, ten of hearts, and a deuce of spades. I put in about a quarter of my stack, after all, this was no risk, no gain, and she matched it. I saw her pupils expand the tiniest bit, she had a good hand, but it wasn't going to be good enough. The turn made my day, Jack of hearts. I put half my original stack in. She countered by going all in. I followed suit. She was the dealer so I showed first, to reveal a Queen High straight flush.

"You don't even need to bother; I've got whatever you have beat." I said in, what I now realized, arrogance.

"You did take a risk to day being a rookie and all, and Lady Luck does smile on the risk takers. But, you are also a fool for your arrogance. And Lady Luck laughs at the fools." She lectured. She turned over her cards. She had a royal flush. I watched the game end in shock.

"Don't blame yourself. I know a man who fell for the same thing, and he was top dog when it came it poker. Man,… I always wondered where she got that speech." Jerry explained as he placed his hand on my shoulder. There was a small flash of light and I felt a shock go through my shoulder. He pulled his hand shook his hand: he must have been shocked as well.

"Damn static electricity" He cursed.

"Sorry…"He apologized looking across the room. I followed his gaze and saw the waitress giving his an icy glare.

"Guess the wife doesn't want me to spill her secrets." He said as flinched, as if someone had just yelled in his ear.

"Alright, I'm coming. Geeze." He mumbled to himself as he made his way across the room to her. Now that I look back: I realize that there wasn't a square inch of carpet in there.

Thanks for reading!