Four of Clubs

6

The ride back to the cafe was so uncomfortable that I almost would've preferred to walk. I tried to look on the bright side, thinking it could've been worse-- Madeline and Daniel could've been fighting and yelling, but instead, they were silent the whole way. The tension of the conversation they were putting off was unbearable, and as soon as we got back to the cafe's parking lot, Roy and I headed to his car to give them some space.

I watched the couple talk under the awning of the restaurant as the rain continued to fall. The storm was starting to calm down, but that didn't change the fact that all of us were already soaked.

"You think he'll change his mind?" Roy asked. I laughed, thinking he was joking, but turned to see him looking at me seriously.

I shook my head. "I think the chance of that happening is pretty much non-existent."

He nodded, both of us returning our gazes to where they stood across the lot. "I guess it doesn't matter. Not like The Seven have anyway of knowing if he participates or not."

"Even if they did, they didn't exactly give us a list of terms and conditions to follow. Who's to say it even matters?" I pulled down the car's sun visor, hoping there was a mirror where I could check the state of myself after being in the storm. Papers immediately fell past my face and into my lap, and I heard Roy choke back a laugh.

"Sorry!" I apologized, trying to gather all the papers: report cards, scantrons, receipts, and a Polaroid photo of him with the now-familiar golden retriever.

"No, it's my fault," he said, taking the stack from my hands and leaning over to stuff it into the nearly overflowing glove box. "I really need to clean in here. A lot of this stuff is leftover from my brother-- this is his old car. I just never got around to emptying it out."

There was a mirror-- it was already reflecting my face back to me since the protective cover was missing, broken off at the seam. I was trying to think of something to say as I wiped away my smudged eyeliner, but Roy spoke first.

"What's the deal with them, anyway?"

"Who? Daniel and Madeline?" 

"Yeah. I mean, Daniel seems to hate The Seven, and Madeline mentioned something about justice back there. What's with their... vendetta?"

"I have no idea when it comes to Daniel," I admitted, "but you really don't remember what happened to Maddie?" The nickname slipped from my lips without really thinking, and I realized I'd already been calling her that in my head. It was probably too soon to start feeling close to these people, and yet I couldn't seem to help it.

"Remember?" he questioned, obvious confusion in his voice.

"Yeah... last year? The Seven made a post about her...?" I attempted to jog his memory. I didn't want to outright say it-- it wouldn't feel right telling someone what happened if they didn't already know.