Gettin' Lucky by Micol Ostow

Kelly begged, her voice rising to a squeak. “Pretty please with an extra scoop of chocolate chocolate chip ice cream?”
    “And a cherry on top,” I countered.
    She nodded emphatically. “Absolutely. As many cherries as you want.” She clapped her hands together in excitement. Her enthusiasm was wreaking havoc on her carefully cultivated cynicism, I noted.
    “No promises,” I said, waving my hand at her. “Not yet.”
    “But you’ll think about it?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.
    “I’ll think about it,” I vowed. “There’s something I need to check first.”
It’s your week, Libra—if you haven’t noticed, things are starting to go your way. Venus is still in retrograde, which means you’ll want to avoid making any big decisions in love-land, but Saturn’s aura is burning bright: Creative energy is yours to tap! Fun and games are more fun, now. You’re on a roll!
    I called Kelly from home after I’d had a chance to check my horoscope online. The stars wouldn’t steer me wrong, I knew.
    She picked up on the first ring. “What’s the verdict?” she asked breathlessly.
    “I’m in,” I said.
    Kelly’s response was a shriek so loud that I had to hold the phone at arm’s length. Maxine, who was curled up at the foot of my bed, peered at me curiously and made a whimpering sound.
    I crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t regret my decision.

Nine
    The game was called for Friday night. I kept my head down in school that afternoon—I had to save up all of my energy if I was going to go up against Alana and Jesse that evening. Walking from class to class, it felt somehow as though everyone I passed was whispering and casting sidelong glances toward me. I told myself I was imagining things, but I wasn’t sure that was the truth.
    We were playing at Kelly’s; of the core six of us, her place was best suited for a poker party. According to Kelly, Jesse had lobbied for holding the card game at his parents’ place, but thank god, she held firm. I definitely wasn’t ready to return to the scene of the backstabbing. Frankly, I hadn’teven been able to listen to Kelly Clarkson without gagging ever since walking in on Jesse and Alana. Visiting his house could cause full-on GI failure.
    Kelly asked me to come over early; I think she knew I needed the moral support. Either that, or she was afraid I might chicken out. Which, come to think of it, I almost did.
    In the end, though, I decided to put faith in my horoscope—after all, it had never let me down before—and do as Kelly said: that is, to see this as an opportunity to regain some dignity. Never mind that Jesse had heard I was improving. I knew that he mainly wanted in on our game because Marcus and Kelly were known pros; Jesse was insanely competitive. Anyway, with any luck, my newly honed prowess would catch him off guard.
    I made the guac while Kelly quizzed me on the best poker hands. She needn’t have bothered; that was amateur stuff.
    “You’re ready,” she pronounced, setting out an ice bucket and a bunch of bottles of soda.
    “I hope so,” I replied. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so sure.
    The doorbell rang, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Maybe I’m not as ready as I thought,” I said sheepishly.
    Kelly patted me on the shoulder as she strode past me to answer the doorbell. “Relax,” she said, smiling. “It’s just Elliot. He promised to meet us before everyone else got here so that we could be your moral support.”
    “Aww,” I said. My voice was mock-saccharine, but I was actually touched, bigtime.
    “The cavalry’s here!” Kelly sang, leading Elliot into the living room.
    He offered me a sheepish wave. “Hey, Cass. Ready for your debut?”
    “Oh, sure,” I said, trying to sound at least ten times breezier than I felt. “I’m feeling lucky tonight.”
    He frowned. “Cassandra,” he said, “you know—”
    “That luck has nothing to do with it, blah, blah, blah,” I said. I winked to show I was teasing. “I