The older Phoenix House members retired to their sleeping quarters, followed by the very young, leaving only those around Ash's age. As soon as the numbers dwindled, Ollie spread a deck of hand-made cards on the long dining table and smirked. "Who wants to play Suits and Secrets?"

"Me," Apple said, taking a seat opposite Ollie.

"Me too," a young blonde-haired girl said, sitting next to Apple and grinning. The two seemed to know each other well.

Ollie looked around. "How about you, Jacob?

Jacob pushed himself up from the couch and joined them. Though his pace was reluctant. "Fine."

"Yolanda? Donny? Gus?"

He was met with nods of ascent. Only Gus seemed hesitant. "Better not. I'm your teacher now."

"Oh, come on. You're not gonna turn into a toff nose on us, are you?"

Gus sighed. "One round."

"Sprout?" Ollie said.

"I'll watch."

Ollie tutted. "Alright. Just this time. But only cos you're new."

He dealt the cards. Each player passed their two best cards to their right. Then, left of the dealer, and beginning with the lowest number, they got rid of their cards, one-by-one, each card higher than the next until nobody could, or wanted to beat the top card.

"All out?" Ollie said.

They nodded.

The girl sitting next to Apple, who Ash assumed was Yolanda, won on a Queen of spades. "Ooo. A dare," she said, wiggling her eyebrows. She turned to Apple. "I dare you to kiss Ollie."

Apple screwed up her face. Ollie sat post straight, as though hoping to disappear into the furniture. Ash watched, mortified, as Apple leaned in, face scrunched and kissed him abruptly on the lips. This was followed by loud gagging noises from both. Ollie made a show of wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

The game continued, but Ash found her jaw was stuck wide-open. What kind of game forces people to kiss each other?She thought. Nobody had ever played anything like it at the orphanage, and if they had, they would've been sent to Solitary for it. The idea disgusted and intrigued her at the same time and she was still thinking about it long into the second round.

"Hah!" Apple said, holding up her trump card—an ace of spades. "I choose Ollie," she said, turning to the hooked-nosed boy with an evil grin on her face.

Ollie shrunk down in his seat, looking peevish at ever having suggested the game in the first place.

"Three truths, one lie," Apple said, leaning forward.

Ollie snorted. "Easy. One: I set my house on fire by accident, which is how they knew I was 'different'. Two: I accidentally stapled my fingers together once. And three: my real name is Richard. Which one's the lie?"

"That's easy. No way is your name Richard." Apple said.

Ollie shook his head. "Wrong! I get to give you my two weakest cards next round."

Apple burst into such uncontrollable laughter that she almost fell off her chair. "Wait. Your name's Richard?"

Ollie nodded.

Apple turned to Jacob, eyes glittering. "It makes so much sense now. He was a Dick all along."

Jacob snorted.

Apple frowned. "So, which one was the lie? The house burning or the staple through your fingers?"

Ollie smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Apple rolled her eyes. "Fine. My turn to deal."

The game continued with Yolanda revealing her secret crush on Gus, and Donny, an ex-Slayer member, admitting that he sometimes missed the adrenaline rush of gang life—hunting down rich elites and making them cough up their money in exchange for their lives. The table didn't ask any further questions, and Donny didn't provide any further explanations.

Ash, who was still getting the hang of the rules, figured the game was determined by the winning suit. Hearts got you a truth, spades, a dare, clubs, a memory and diamonds, a wish. And when Ollie won the next round on a king of clubs, she was able to predict his question would be to do with someone's past.

Ollie's head snapped to Jacob. "Jakey," he began. His lip twitched as though he was trying to find the right way to phrase his question. "Why are you so serious these days? Did something happen to you few years ago that you don't want to talk about?"

Jacob didn't laugh, just shrugged and rearranged the remaining cards in his hand.

"You don't have to say what it is," Ollie continued. "I just want to know if something happened."

"Leave him alone, Ollie," Apple said.

Ollie scowled. "Don't pretend like you haven't been thinking the same thing."

Apple thrust out her chin. "Do you really think this is the best time to have this conversation?"

"There's never a best time."

Jacob pushed his chair away from the table, making a loud, wooden scraping noise against the dirt floor of the cave.

Apple looked at him. "Jakey, we're sorry. Forget the game. Forget we said anything."

Jacob shook his head. "It's not that. It's just... the soup's not sitting right," he muttered, placing his cards on the table and turning towards one of the mahogany doors leading to his dormitory.

Apple shot Ollie a questioning look, which Ollie returned with extra confusion. The rest of the table exchanged awkward side glances, yet contributed nothing. As Jacob walked away, Ash couldn't help but wonder why he was the only now who seemed to mirror her feeling about a game in which you were forced to reveal your deepest, darkest secrets and desires. She couldn't think of anything worse. She'd probably fake food-poisoning to get out of answering too.

Ollie shuffled Jacob's discarded cards, distributing them evenly between the remaining players. They played on, though the vibe had subdued. Eventually, a combination of the late hour, the smoke and their full-bellies got the better of them. The group began to disperse, excusing themselves and disappearing into the various rooms sprouting off the main common room. Soon, there was only Apple, Ollie and Ash left. Ollie nodded towards Ash, whose eyelids kept fluttering closed. "Do you want to show Ash to her dormitory?" he said.

Apple stood and nodded. "Follow me," she said to Ash.

They walked across the room to the door next to the tunnel exit. Inside, four rooms branched off on all sides. They took the farthest to the right and entered a torchlit cavern with a bed, a side table and dresser all made from driftwood. The space was small, dark, but cosy. Her belongings had been placed on the bedside table—The quill, ink, notebook, box of matches, knife and Oroton's hand mirror made from water.

"Night," Apple said, but Ash didn't answer. Her head was already on the pillow and she was halfway to falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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*~*

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