Inside Straight

They cheered, all of them together, and hugged, a chaotic mass of people—with a foxtail stuck out and waving. DB waded into the middle and picked up Kate with one set of arms and Ana with the other. They squealed with surprise and laughter as he lifted them into the air.

Grinning fiercely, Kate leaned over and spoke across the top of DB’s head to Ana, “I’ll see you in the finals!”

~ ~ ~

Hearts House had a party that night, because they didn’t have to stand around the table and pick cards. Didn’t have to kick anyone out. Music played—Wild Fox put a Joker Plague CD in the stereo, which immediately endeared him to Drummer Boy and made up for all his pranks. The drummer entertained them by adding live accompaniment, tapping the membranes on his torso and pounding out improvised rhythms.

Drinking sodas, Ana and Kate watched from the kitchen bar.

“Winning feels pretty good, doesn’t it?” Kate said.

“Yeah,” Ana answered. In fact, the whole world had opened up.

“It only gets better from here, I bet,” Kate said. Her smile fell, though, as Drummer Boy made his way over to them. The song had ended, and after grabbing a beer from the fridge, he veered to the bar, throwing a glare at Ana like he wanted her to leave.

He wasn’t going to scare her off that easy.

Expectantly, the two waited for him.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Kate said back. Ana waved. Again, he gave her that glare. She kept smiling like she hadn’t noticed.

He ducked his gaze, which almost made him look sheepish, and said to Kate, “I was wondering if you maybe wanted to take a walk or something. Or just go out back and talk. To celebrate. I’ll sneak you a beer.” He showed off the beer bottle in one of his left hands.

She smiled thinly. “Still trying to get me into bed?”

His expression showed a moment of hesitation, like he was trying to decide which way to play this. Then he decided, offering a broad grin. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“Yes, I can.” Her smile cut like glass.

DB walked away, draining half the beer.

Kate blew out a breath she must have been holding. The front door opened; Kate looked over her shoulder at it. Wild Fox and Hardhat were stepping outside.

“I was sort of hoping John would stop by,” she explained to Ana, then took a long drink of soda to hide her expression.

The next time the front door opened, Ana was in the fridge getting more sodas, but she heard Kate hiss, “Oh my God!”

Ana looked. “What is it?”

A man in his late thirties had just come in, a white guy with sun-streaked blond hair and stunning blue eyes. He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and looked around like he was lost.

“Is that Brad Pitt?” Kate said. “That looks like Brad Pitt.”

It certainly did. Despite her whispering, the actor heard her. When he saw Kate, his blue eyes lit up and he came over.

More Hollywood magic. Ana was glad she had a front-row seat for this.

“You’re Curveball,” Brad said. “I recognize you from American Hero.”

“Yeah,” Kate said, nodding and gaping.

“I heard there was a party, so I thought I’d stop by. Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Sure. Cool.” Kate was still nodding. “Um…can I get you a Coke or something?”

“Sure. That’d be great.”

Kate took one of the cans from Ana’s hand and handed it to him. His famous grin widened.

Ana studied the actor—the well-known actor who just happened to show up on their doorstep. She wondered…and decided she had to try it. If she was wrong, she could apologize and go back to being the socially awkward member of the team with no harm done.

She put her hand on his shoulder and shoved. Brad Pitt disappeared in a shimmer of light, leaving Wild Fox holding the soda. He cringed, trying to maintain his charming smile. But he couldn’t pull it off like Brad could.

Kate took a moment to register the transformation. Then, she shouted, “Oh, you son of a bitch!”

“Hey, I was just having fun! Don’t throw anything, don’t throw—” He ran, and she chased him, cocking an empty can like she really was going to throw it. Last Ana saw, they went over the sofa and out the back door.

Ana sighed. Now that was going to play well on TV. She didn’t know if the contest was going to get better, but it was certainly going to get more interesting.

~ ~ ~

Of all the contestants, Earth Witch still seems the most nervous in front of the camera. Like an underground creature that’s suddenly been pulled into the light, which somehow seems an appropriate metaphor for her. But now, at the moment of her great victory, she’s smiling. She’s sitting a little taller, and her face is flushed.

She shyly ducks her gaze. “Yeah, of course it feels great to win the challenge. But I don’t think I could have done what I did without the rest of the team backing me up, you know? It sounds corny, but I feel like they really believed in me. I couldn’t disappoint them, especially Kate. What else can I do?” She shrugs, purses her lips in thought, then shakes her head. “I don’t know. I’ll have to work on that. Right now, I think I’m going to see what I can do about winning this thing.”