You've Got Fail(50)

“No. She went out to grab some lunch.”

“Oh.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “I wanted to talk to her.”

“I know. I’ve seen your messages.”

“Awkward,” Elias stage-whispered.

“I remember you, and she’s told me you’re good people, so you can come in and wait for her.”

“You sure?” I stared at the scuffed eye hole. “If it makes you uncomfortable, we’re happy to wait—”

Three locks clicked in rapid succession, and Hannah pulled the door open. She wore a t-shirt with “Smash the Patriarchy” on it and some ripped jeans that hung on her slight frame. Though Scarlet had told me her sister was twenty-three, she had an air of a much younger person. “Come on in.” Her fingers were in rapid motion, twisting a Rubik’s cube while she kept her eyes on Elias and me.

“Thanks.” I walked in and once again noted how crowded their space was.

“Hi.” Elias smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“Thanks.” Hannah matched his smile, then dropped her gaze to the floor. “You can sit on the futon. Or there’s always the wicker if you’re feeling up for a poke.”

“I’m always up for a good poke.” Elias grinned. Then reconsidered. “I mean, giving of course. Only giving.” He coughed into his palm.

I sank down on the futon, and Elias opted to join me instead of making it worse with the wicker. Hannah perched on the chair, her fingers solving the cube, though she never once looked at it.

Elias pointed at the cube that was only a few moves away from complete. “How do you do that?”

“It’s what I do.” She finished it, and her hands stilled on the solid-colored sides.

“But how can you do it without looking?”

“I can feel it.”

“Huh. I wish I could do that.”

“It’s a quirk. I close my eyes, and I see numbers.”

“You see numbers? Sort of like that kid who sees dead people?” Elias leaned forward.

She gave a sheepish smile. “Not quite like that.”

“What’s four hundred and fifty divided by seven?” Elias fired off.

“Hey, don’t quiz the poor gir—”

“How many decimal places would you like?” She smiled, the bow of her lip reminding me of her sister.

Elias gave me a bemused look. “Um, three?”

“Sixty-four point two-eight-five.”

“Wow.” Elias elbowed me. “Is that right? It sounds right. I bet it’s right. That’s amazing.”

She opened her eyes as a blush colored her fair cheeks. “That’s nothing.”

“You’re a math whiz of Rain Man proportions,” Elias said, and I agreed.

“You want to see something cool?” She shot a furtive glance at the door.

“Sure.” Elias leaned forward.

“Like what?” I didn’t want to piss Scarlet off before I had a chance to speak to her about our night together.

“Don’t worry.” She reached beneath the small coffee table and pulled a set of cards from a drawer. Handing them to Elias, she said, “Shuffle.”

He took them and flipped out the jokers, then shuffled. “Okay, now what?”

She licked her lips, clearly in her element. “Flip them over quickly, one on top of the other until the deck only has one card left. Keep that card hidden.”

“Okay?” Elias furrowed his brow and glanced at me.

An itch started at the back of my mind, as if a small ant was crawling up my scalp. Tickling with its legs, and warning with its pincers. “I’m not sure if we should—”

Elias started flipping the cards, one after the other as Hannah watched.

“Faster.” She circled her index finger. “Faster.”

He flipped them in a rush, one card barely visible before the next slammed down on top. When there was only one card left, he stopped.

“Nine of clubs.” She smiled, giving her an angelic appearance.

Elias flipped the final card over. Nine of clubs.

Elias’s eyes rounded. “How?”

“She can count cards.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I couldn’t know for sure, but I was certain her ability had something to do with Pauly. Whatever trouble they were in with him, it was deep.

“I read numbers. Scarlet reads people.” She shrugged, then winked at Elias. “Want to go again?”

“Yeah.” He straightened the cards then shuffled again.

The locks on the front door began flipping over.

“Oh, no.” Hannah snatched the cards and shoved them and the card box into the drawer under the table.

By the time Scarlet had opened the door, we were all sitting in her living room staring at each other, not a word on our lips.

“Oh, god.” Scarlet arched a brow and slammed the door behind her. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing.” Hannah answered far too quickly.

Scarlet placed a bag of what looked like sandwiches and chips on the narrow kitchen counter. “Hannah, come eat.” She kicked her shoes off. “Sparky, what are you doing here, and who’s this?” She wore a v-neck t-shirt with a pair of nicely fitting jeans. Her red hair was swung up into a high ponytail, and her makeup-free face was clean and more than a little perturbed.