1Poker Face.

Chapter one: A Joker in The Deck

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.

"Sere, ya in?" Mina asked impatiently and Lita shuffled the cads.

"No, I have to take this call. Next round." Serena answered after she looked at her cell phones caller id.

"Hold on a minute." Raye said quickly, " Wasn't one of our rules, No phone calls?"

"For the exception of parents." Amy inserted, resuming her role as the 'know it all' of their group.

"Exactly, its my mom. she probably forgot it was out poker night, I'll be back soon.. Hi mom." Serena explained quickly as she opened her phone and got up from the table.

"Well, lets get this show on the road." Mina chirped eagerly.

"Ok, ok. Here we go." Lita sighed quietly as she began to deal out their normal game of Texas Hold 'Em.

"'Kay, what do ya need mom?" Serena asked as she closed the door to her bedroom.

"Well dear, your cousin, Andrew, is coming down this weekend and we, your father and I, were hoping you would come home Saturday so we could all get together for dinner." Irene said casually.

"Mom, I don't know, I have to work in the morning. And I think Lita and Amy really wanted to be able to clean up the apartment this weekend." Serena began to list off excuses.

"Well, its only going to be, what, 3 hours out of your life. And you'll get to see Andrew. You haven't seen him in years." Irene pointed out.

"Well, I don't know..." Serena said with a pause.

"Oh come on dear. How often does Andrew come down? I thought the two of you were close." Irene said in her motherly tone that meant she really, really wanted you to do something. (AN: We all know that tone.)

"OK mom, I'll be there." Serena sighed as she gave up.

"Good, have fun with your poker game." Irene said, her smile that she got her daughter to come home evident.

"Wait, you knew it was our poker night and you still called? You know we don't allow phone calls." Serena said irritated.

"Well, yes, I knew. I thought it would be best to call you know because its your poker night. You're more likely to say yes because you want to get back to your game more then you want to argue with me. I'll see you Saturday, 5 o'clock. Bye hon.!" Irene said cheerfully as she hung up.

"Unbelievable!" Serena mumbled as she closed her phone and threw it on to her bed, something she should have done before they started their game.

Shaking her head, Serena walked back in to the main room where they always set up the poker table. She remembered their first poker night. Although it was 5 years ago, the girls still played every Wednesday, sat in their original spots, and kept their dealer rotation. The saying 'old habits die hard' is extremely true for this group of girls. How many groups of friends meet every week to do the same exact thing they have done since their junior year in high school? A slim few. Serena looked at her friends sitting around the table. To the right of her now empty spot was Mina. She was the prepy and eager one of the group, always on top of what new movies came out and always finding the best deal on the movies or cd's they bought. Her blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes made her look like a movie star and always made her popular with the 'in' crowd, but she never abandoned their group. And became the one whom Serena always called first when she needed help. Then there was Amy, she was the 'know it all' or the 'geek' of their group, always keeping them in line during school and made sure the bills and rent were taken care of. Her short blue, neutrally light brown, hair and her aqua blue eyes made her look smart and sensitive. She was always the one who could do better then their group, she could have gone off to some privet high school and college to pursue her life long dream of becoming a great doctor, but like Mina, could never leave her friends. She always gave the excuses that "it doesn't matter where you get your undergrad degree from as long as you get it" and "I can get a perfectly good education here. Anyways, I am going to John Hopkins once I'm done with the programs here." to justify her staying with them. (FYI: Just assume Amy is sooooo smart that she's been 'pre-accepted' to med school. A long shot I know, but go with it.) To Amy's right was Lita, She was the enforcer or the tough-guy, or girl in this case, of the group. If anyone dared to hurt her girls, they'd have to answer to her. Her dark brown hair always seems to be up in a pony tail and her jade green eyes whispered their menace if she were pissed off at you. Not only was she the protector of the group, she was also the chef and supplier of them. she cooked anything you wanted and always made sure there was food in the fridge. And the last girl sitting at the table, Raye, was the controller of the group. She made sure that everything was in order. Her long raven black hair was normally worn down and her mysteriously violate eyes were as expressive as a book. You could always tell if she was mad or upset. Out of all of them, Raye had a reason for staying in this area, her grandfather lived and maintained a small religious retreat in the mountains that looked over their small costal city. Raye goes to help her grandfather out every weekend. And last, but not least, there was her, Serena. She was the cleaner of their group. If she found out about any of their problems, she would always clean it up and she kept the apartment spotless. Her Long blonde hair was set in a unique pig tale setting and her light blue eyes held sparks of life and shadows of things people would never connect her to.

"Serena, come on, its your turn to deal." Lita yelled as Serena snapped out of her mini-trance.

"Spacing?" Mina asked with amusement.

"That and thinking about ways to get my mother back for what she just pulled." Serena said as she sat back down. "Ok, lets get this wheel a' rolling." She then added with a smile as she shuffled and began to deal out the cards to her life long friends.

AN: Ok, just got inspired to write this one night while watching poker on tv, so I did. Let me know if ya love or hate it!

Starrynight2010