Narcissus

Chapter Nine

A/N - Woah! Another update? Who are you, and what have you done with Amy!?

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"Yo! Rach! You almost ready!?" I called out, entering the dark flat.

"Yeah, gimme a sec!" she responded. Ten minutes passed before she was actually ready. I was sat in a leather black miniskirt and a dark green long sleeved crop top on her sofa, tapping the thin heels of my boots against the floor absentmindedly whilst flipping through my snapchat stories. She finally appeared in a red, strappy bodycon dress. Finn followed behind, dressed in a tight, half lace, yellow jumpsuit. Her lipstick was slightly smudged, and I realised what had taken them so long.

"You ready to go?" I asked fondly, watching my two best friends being all stupid and romantic as they smiled sheepishly at the other. They had told me the other day that they were dating, but wanted to keep it quiet. I was grateful for that. It meant Kendra still thought I was dating Finn, and therefore kept the crazy blonde off my back.

"Yup." they responded. We got a taxi and James met us outside, along with his ex, Kanta. They had recently broken up after three years together, but remained on good terms.

"Aight?" I asked, hugging James. He wore black jeans with a white button up, and Kanta wore black jeans with a blue shirt and black leather jacket. We skipped the queue as we knew the owners, and for once Rachel didn't bat an eyelash at the good looking bouncers as she guided Finn inside with a hand on the girl's waist.

The music was blaring as we entered, and we split up, ducking into different rooms. I headed to the back of the club, which had more of a pub type atmosphere.

"Hey, girl. It's been a while." Monica approached me with a grin, hugging me with one arm and slapping my butt with the other. She had deep brown eyes, big curly hair and a dazzling smile, dressed in black leather trousers with a baggy grey vest top, a different variation of the same outfit she wore every night I saw her.

"Hey, Mon," I grinned, "Wanna play?"

"Sure. I missed having real competition." she winked at me and I followed her to a back room. It was bare, the only furniture a bunch of chairs around a red poker table. A single lightbulb dangled from the ceiling. Several men sat around the table, all dressed in sharp suits, one with a cigar in his mouth. Monica took a seat at the head of the table, with another man I didn't recognise as the dealer. A cash machine let out a hazy glow in the corner.

"I want in." I said, walking forwards. Monica nodded at one of the men, and he shot me a sharp glare as he took his winnings, which wasn't much, and left the room. Taking his seat, I eyed my opponents. Some of them looked eager to wipe me out quickly. Some looked annoyed that a young girl had joined a 'serious' game of Poker, and the one man I recognised there was wary of me, having played me before. I had gambled with Monica since I was young, with mini plastic chips that held no meaning. I had known her for a long time, as her Mum was like a Mum to me, always welcoming and letting me stay round her house if there was any trouble at my own, which there often was. However, her Mum was not without faults, and she introduced me to gambling at a young age. I didn't realise what it could do to people until one night, when Monica knocked on my door to see my Dad, covered in blood, shaking with fear after her Mum had just been shot by someone she owed money to.

No, I never understood the implications until then.

I folded on my first hand, not having any good cards, but I wasn't fussed. The money I lost, I was confident I would win back. A few smirks went around as I folded on the second round, too. They were growing confident. The third round I bluffed, pretending I had better cards than I did, then lost on purpose, letting an sizeable amount of my money go. The smirks increased.