1 Chapter 1: The Scout

Ivy was tired. She was walking to her favorite coffee shop- and dreaming of her usual chai tea latte. Yes, the amount of caffeine in the drink was low. However, it brought her great joy, and she would be damned if she didn't have it this morning.

When she finally reached the cafe, her red hair had become a rat's nest from the September wind. Ivy was an attractive woman with green eyes, fair skin, and a build of 5'3. Once she retrieved her drink- she held its heat close to her to keep warm.

She settled into a table with her mug of pure joy and dug into her pocket for one of her most prized possessions, a deck of cards. This particular deck she had just bought for 99 cents. She never used her favorite deck because it was so old she was afraid it might fall apart. That particular deck was blue and made of paper and had been gifted to Ivy by her grandmother.

Her grandmother was a wizard with cards- her old withered hands would fly quickly across the table when playing speed games. She always knew the cards in your hand without even looking. She could tell by your facial expression and her hand, but now she was gone. She passed away when Ivy was 12. Now at 24, Ivy still missed her. She should be over grandma's death, but their relationship was unlike others. Ivy couldn't let go of her. Since she received those cards from her grandmother's dying hands, she had always carried a deck with her.

That didn't matter right now. Ivy began timing herself again in her favorite game, solitaire- specifically Klondike or Patience. She put in her earbuds and began.

Her hands flew across the table, she flipped the cards over, and began muttering, "Black 5 to red six, flip, move the stack to the new black seven, now move the red jack to the black queen and flip..."

People around the cafe watched her, confused, not expecting to see this random lady playing solitaire at mock speed. In the background, you could see a barista smirking, affection in his eyes as he watched her.

When he finished making the espresso he was working on, she had won and was now in the middle of another game. He lightly chuckled to himself and began another chai tea latte. He set the beverage next to Ivy. She paused the timer to see who had interrupted her and smiled.

"Hey Nemo, thanks for the chai," Ivy exclaimed cheerfully.

"My pleasure, milady," Nemo replied while mock bowing- Ivy cackled sarcastically.

"How's the apartment search going?" Ivy asked, changing the subject.

"Ah, haha, well..." Nemo started.

"That bad?" Ivy sympathized, scrunching up her nose with a smile.

"Yeah, it's hard to look for a new place to live while trying to ensure my ex isn't lighting my remaining clothes on fire. I can't tell if that girl wants me to leave or stay." Nemo smiled awkwardly.

"I've never liked Bella- she always seemed somewhat unhinged." Ivy shrugged.

Nemo laughed, "Yeah, somewhat is an understatement, but thank you. Anyways I gotta get back to work now."

"Bye-bye," Ivy waved with a fake pout.

"Har har," Nemo rolled his eyes while walking away.

Ivy smiled to herself and shuffled her cards. As she was doing so- out of the corner of her eye, a blond blur was racing toward her. Once it reached Ivy, it started jumping up and down, grabbing her hand into a handshake which the blur shook rapidly.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, that was so fricking cool, like I'm like dying right now anyways my name is Maira, and think you would be a great fit for my speed solitaire team." The blob named introduced itself as Maira and kept squealing.

Ivy squinted and saw a girl about 5'1 with blindingly blue eyes and a blonde, a-line bob. She was dressed in a pastel shirt with random characters and jeans. A sharp contrast to Ivy's beige turtleneck sweater and white slacks. Ivy looked down and was impressed to see that the girl was in black platform boots.

"Wait, how short are you?" Ivy accidentally said out loud.

The girl paused, then frowned, "Im 4'11, for your information, but that's not important right now. What we should be talking about is your amazing solitaire speed." Her volume increased with each word.

Ivy smiled awkwardly with wide eyes, still confused about where this kid had come from. She had so many questions like, where were this kid's parents? How old was this child? How many cups of caffeine did she have? And many more. Looking at the kid's now pissed expression, Ivy realized she may have said most of that out loud.

"Ah, uhh, so what's speed solitaire," Ivy asked with a grin that begged forgiveness.

"Ok, first, I'm 34, and my parents are at their own house. Second I've had a chamomile tea, and third, speed solitaire is a game and basically what you were just doing." Maira deadpanned.

"Sorry, I got a bad habit of saying my thoughts out loud, but can you explain to me step by step what speed solitaire is?" Ivy asked.

Maira smiled, "It's cool, so speed solitaire is a two-player game, each has their deck, and they play separate games, but at the same time, whoever finishes their game of solitaire first wins."

She smiled, Maira's passion for the game was as clear as day, and she seemed sweet. So Ivy, with a desperate need for friends, decided to humor her. "Where is this speed solitaire held?" She asked.

"Hell yeah, I finally got someone!" Maira beamed, "So you know Riverside Avenue? Yeah, it's in the old movie theater, we're trying to renovate, but it's just so expensive."

Okay, so Riverside Avenue was in the shittiest part of the city. And in an abandoned theater? Ivy wasn't impressed: nor was she sold on the idea of waltzing into what seemed like a perfect way to get kidnapped. All she wanted was to play solitaire in peace at her friend's cafe, not get convinced into some shady scheme.

"Uhh, I'll have to think about it." She lied with a fake smile.

"I know what your thinking, but please actually consider it. We're meeting at 6 today, and I think you'll enjoy it. Plus, everyone would love to see someone new. It's been getting real old there." Maira pouted.

"Fine," Ivy said, a doubtful expression on her face, but this time she spoke the truth.

- - - - -

"Boy, I'm going to regret this," Ivy mused.

She stood in front of a baby blue theater with a surprisingly clean outside, except for the graffiti covering the theater's signs. The lights looked like they were on inside, and she was about to walk in when Maira came running out.

"Ahhhhhhhh! You're here, you're here. Omg, you came!" She squealed, "I'm so excited to introduce you to everyone."

Her arm was grabbed and dragged in before she could think of running away. When Ivy passed through the door, she was surprised to see people in the lobby. Not just that, there were tables with black cloths over them, and they were covered with cards. Ivy was stunned- Maira had been telling the truth.

Around 10 people turned to face the two women. Maira was babbling along the lines of 'I told you so,' but Ivy stood there with wide eyes and an awkward smile. She looked around the room and saw many different faces, most were smiling back, but one guy in the back that made eye contact just rolled with eyes and turned with his head down to the table.

"Anyways!" Maira's boisterous voice brought everyone's attention to her, "This is…, wait, oh goodness, I didn't get your name."

Maira was bright red, and Ivy chuckled to herself. "I'm Ivy, it's nice to meet you all."