Chapter 18: Poker

{ 8:25 pm }

I was playing games on my phone with Sera while John continued doing his homework and his father was sleeping on the couch.

"Hey Guys, for question 14 did you get 103.7 degrees? " We looked up from our phones and turned to John.

" What? Where'd you get degrees from? " Sera said

" Uhh...103.7 centimeters? "

"Here lemme take a look," Sera said as she stood up from her seat and walked over to John. Then suddenly John's father popped up from behind the couch and said.

"WTF your still doing homework? "

"SHUT UP DAD! It's difficult!"

" If it's so difficult, how come they finished hours ago? " William said as he pointed at Sera and me. We just smirked in victory while John's self-esteem dropped down like a landslide. Then William spoke again.

"Look I didn't fly all the way here, just to watch my son do homework the whole time! Come on, let's play cards. Where is your poker set?" He said as he started looking for the set of cards.

" But I'm not finished yet!"

"Just do it in the morning or something"

Sera and I just watched as the father and son started quarreling. Sera chuckled then turned to John and said.

"Hey, your dad's pretty awesome." I shook my head in agreement, then we started getting ready to play some poker.

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We were now sitting at the dining table, I was sitting beside Sera, they asked me if I wanted to play poker with them but I politely declined and said I would just watch them. I didn't wanna tell them I didn't know how to play poker, and with that being said the game began. Everyone became silent, quietly thinking of their next move then after a few minutes, Sera pushed her poker chips in front of her and said.

"Raise 80 " then both William and John did the same. I didn't understand some of the things about poker but my Dad explained some details to me. He said the purpose of the game is to make the highest-ranking 5-card combination with the two cards in hand and five community cards. Players take turns betting chips based on how high their hand is, and at the end of each round, the player with the highest hand wins all chips in the pot. When one player has all the chips they're declared the winner. I was snapped out of my thoughts by John saying " Raise 240".

I only know a few things about poker but I didn't expect John to raise that much, he's so confident too. My eyes widened at John's actions, I turned my attention towards Sera, and just like me, her eyes widened too. Sera just stared at John with a suspicious look on her face while John just did the peace sign at her which made me chuckle silently. William then spoke up and said "I'll call" which made me even more confused. Him too?! What could they possibly have? Is it worth betting this much? I thought to myself as I furrowed my eyebrows thinking of the possible cards they could have, and judging by Sera's serious face I'm sure she's confused too.

"I'll fold," Sera said as she tossed her cards on the table then crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'll check"

"Yup, check," John and William said as they both tossed their cards on the table and flipped them open. John had a 7-pair while William had a 9-pair.

"What? You just made a blind bet!"

"That's my style, I knew you were bluffing."

John and William said, then suddenly Sera slammed her hand on the table.

"No. You two both bluffed me out! I had a pair of Jacks! I would have won if I hadn't folded! I had the highest hand!"

We all turned our heads towards Sera, but John and William just smirked at her.

"Ah! Cheer up Sera! It happens to the best of us! You'll learn quickly, that's one of the great things about poker! Even if you aren't dealt a good hand, you still have a chance to win! As long as others believe you have a high hand, those unsure would back out. Confidence is key I'ma right John?"

I looked down on the table deep in my thoughts about what William just said. It doesn't look as easy as it looks, huh? I thought as they prepared for another round. I stood up from my seat and they turned their heads towards me.

"I'll just get some fresh air, you guys continue," I said as they all nodded their heads.

" Alright, but don't stay outside for too long, or you'll get a cold," said John as nodded my head, then left leaving the three to play poker. I closed the door behind me gently and sat down on the doorsteps. The cold wind brushing against my skin as I started drowning in my own thoughts, by they were interrupted by a familiar little voice in my head.

"You okay Crystal, you seem so deep in thought?" Celeste asked as I quickly replied.

" Oh, I'm okay Celeste, I was just thinking about what mister William said earlier about playing poker "

" Are you sure that's all your thinking about?"

"...No, it's not all," I said with a hint of sadness in my voice, and Celeste definitely knew.

"You know you could tell me anything right?". I looked up at the beautiful sky filled with millions of stars, then sighed.

" It's just that a lot of things happened these days. I and John don't hang out as much as we do before, and ever since Sera left he has changed somehow." I said to her with a sad voice

" Well if you need someone to talk to am always here," she said with a happy tone. I just smiled at her remark.

" Thanks, Celeste"

"No problem"

After a few more minutes of looking at the sky, it started getting really cold so I decided to head back inside. I opened the door to see them packing up the poker set and getting ready for bed. Since it was getting pretty late I decided to go back to my condo. I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder and walked over to John.

"Hey John, it's pretty late already, so I'm gonna head back now-"

" No, you should stay the night, it's not safe for a young lady like you to walk the streets late at night! "

" He's right, you should stay for the night"

" Oh, okay I guess it wouldn't hurt staying for the night," I said as I got ready for bed.

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I was laying on the bed beside Sera while John and William slept in the living room. Sera was already asleep so it was just me and my thoughts.

"Come to think of it, the reason why John is so confident or at least acts confident all the time is that his poker applies to real-life," I thought as I recalled the events earlier when they played poker. Maybe I should ask John to teach me to play some poker next time, was the last thing I thought before I drifted off to sleep, brushing off all of my worries away.

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Hello, Readers~ hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry, it took me a while to update this, because drumroll please *drumroll* IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! While I'm was finishing off the last few words for this chapter, we were busy celebrating! But yeah that's all, don't forget to vote for this chapter! Adios~