INTO THE FLAMES

Chapter 5

When Aria and I stepped into the kitchen after our hour on the porch, mom, dad, Matt, and Detective Branch were gathered around the kitchen table. My old Clue board was between them, cards in each of their hands.

"Oh, hello girls!" Mom said when she saw us. She was obviously shocked that we were together. I still kinda was, too. We'd be in the same house all summer; seeing each other was inevitable. But I just didn't think that it would happen so soon.

When Aria took a seat in between mom and dad, my eyes flashed to the empty seat next to Matt. Matt, who had showered. Matt, who was now wearing another tank top. Matt, who...

Shut up, Avery!

"You can sit, if you want," Matt said to me, echoing what I said to Aria what feels like hours ago. "I'm desperate. I suck at Clue."

Cautiously, I sat in the chair. Everyone was staring at me. Maybe it was because they didn't expect me to sit here with them all buddy-buddy after so much time had passed.

Well, here I am, Queen Avery of Clue back at it again.

"We used to call her Queen Avery of Clue," dad said to Matt now as I surveyed his cards. Two suspects, one room, one weapon. "She beat us all in every game before anyone had any idea what was going on."

Matt smiled at dad as he and mom chuckled over the memory. Detective Branch handed the dice to her nephew, which had me wondering: where were his mom and dad?

When he rolled a six, he headed for the library. I shook my head. He turned to me, obviously thinking that I was crazy and confused. When he landed in the hall, the next closest room, I spoke for him.

"I think that it was Miss Scarlet in the Hall with the revolver."

He looked at me again, and the inner Queen Avery in me sighed. He had no strategy. But I did. We already have the Hall and the revolver, and I'm sure people know that. But if you ask for more than one thing that you don't have, then you don't get shown the card that you want. Asking one thing that you know for sure you don't have and including things that you do ensures that you get what you want.

When no one produced the card for Miss Scarlet, I took Matt's pencil and circled her name. We have our killer.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"And the Queen brings down her wrath once more!" Dad yelled, handing me a mug of hot chocolate.

I think I blushed because it is very embarrassing to be famous for winning every game of Clue that you've ever played. Like, ever. And this obviously adds to the crazy factor in Matt's eyes.

I'm not even sure why I care that he probably thinks I'm crazy. I don't even know him, and even though we're spending the summer together, cooped up in this house like a bunch of chickens, I do not plan to get to know him.

Let him think what he wants. I mean, I am a little out there. I take pictures of wheat and think they're amazing. At least, I think that right when I take them

"How did you do that?" Matt asks me now, a gleam in his wide eyes. He was staring at me like I really was a queen, or as if I was some kind of goddess sent from heaven to help him beat his aunt and a bunch of stalker victims at a game of Clue.

"Queen Avery never reveals her secrets," I said to him, and took a sip of my hot chocolate. Aria yawned, and mom walked her up to bed while dad closed the doors behind him in the study and Detective Branch went to make a phone call.

"Okay, being honest," Matt said to me now. He surveyed the room, as if he was making sure no one was around to hear us.

"That, Avery Raven, is the most diabolical, crude, and convex game strategy ever!"

He moved closer, so close that the cologne he had on his neck wafted its way up my nose. I shut my eyes, taking in the scent.

"But it is pure genius."

He put his mug into the sink, then turned to me. "Goodnight, Avery."

As I watched him walk up the stairs, I found myself wondering what brand of cologne Jax wore.