Keaton’s loud yell seemed to vibrate through the walls, “Jeremy! Get back to your spot the game is starting!!!”  Victor began to shuffle the deck quite skillfully, and mumbling came from the kitchen, most presumably from Jeremy.

“ NO! Nobody wants your cookies that you just baked!” Keaton yelled back, “ Get over here so we can start!” Lyrae and Amara shifted in the seats, well… really just pillows on the floor, as they waited for the greatly anticipated competition to commence. After so long of putting this together, the friend’s plans had come out of the group chat.“ NoOoOoOoO!!! I don’t care that chocolate chip cookies are everybody’s favorite kind.”

Lyrae’s soft voice rang out, “ It’s fine Keaton, just wait a few minutes. JEREMY CAN I GET A COOKIE PLEASE???” Just as the words left her lips, Jeremey entered through the archway holding a platter of cookies. He handed her the cookie with the most chocolate chips, bringing a smile to her face.

“ Ok, yay, cookies are here. Now can we _please_ start the game?!” Keaton begged. Without anyone speaking up to argue, he motioned for Victor to pass out the cards.

“Hold on,” He grumbled, “ Let me get this right…” He stared at the flipping cards with a striking intensity that one could only assume meant he was giving the task great concentration. Despite his supposed shady background, his friends trusted him, but that didn’t mean that their minds weren’t wandering over to where they shouldn’t at the moment. The only thing keeping them silent was the mutually agreed fact that he had no interest in the prize for the game, it was too out of his style.

Lyrae tapped onto Amara’s shoulder, not so quietly asking her, “ Wait, what’s the prize again?”

“Don’t you remember?” Amara chuckled at the younger girl’s forgetfulness, “ Remember the life size pink unicorn plush we all bought together a week ago?” Everybodys eyes turned towards the coveted prize sitting upon the dining table. Victor’s eyes flashed with desire, though he made sure to hide it from everyone else. Nobody noticed though, since they too were entranced by even the slight possibility at winning such a grand thing. Each had their own reasons for wanting it, though they would never tell. Every person kept a clear poker face on, fading their excitement and anticipation into calmness. The games had already begun.

Victor dealed out 5 cards to each player, making sure to keep them face down. As each player picked up the said cards, their minds raced, trying to remember the strategies they had all spent the weeks leading up to this learning. Some sourced their information from wiki how, others from AI, and one specific person got their plan from the dark web, but wherever they got it, they all felt both prepared and underprepared at the same time. This was the game of the century for them. Win or lose, it would decide how the rest of their lives played out.

“Victor, you start,” The trepidation that they all reflected was obvious in Keaton’s voice. Glancing at his cards, he wondered which one her should go with, before deciding on his choice.

“Amara, do you have a sea turtle?” He made sure to keep his tone steady.

“No,” She smirked, “ Go fish!” Victor had been so sure she had one, seeing as he rigged the deck. This highley anticipated game of Go Fish was going to turn out harder than he expected.  He pulled his card from the middle pile, groaning in disappointment.

The circle turned their gazes to his right onto Keaton. After his analysis of his own cards, he finally asked, “ Jeremy, do you have a dolphin?”

Jeremy quickly, and confidently, responded, “ No, but I do have cookies, do you want one?” He pushed the plate towards his counterpart.

Clearly enraged by the offer, Keaton fired back, “ I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, nobody wants your cookies!!!” He shoved the platter back towards the middle, causing them to spill all over the rug.

“Thanks a lot Keaton, now we can’t eat the cookies” Lyrae pouted. 

Amara quickly brushed one off, murmuring something about the five second rule, before shooting a glare over to him, “It’s fine. Let’s just move onto your turn, and it _won’t_ happen again.

“Ok… Amara. Do you have a jellyfish?” The girl’s grin quickly returned as she nibbled on her now _second_ cookie.

“Yeah…” Amara’s gaze turned sour as she handed over the card.

Lyrae gave her a confused look, “ This isn’t a jellyfish, it’s an octopus!” Keaton burst out laughing, almost choking on the cookie that he was secretly eating.

“This is why you’re failing science class, A!” He was barely able to manage the words through gasping for air in between his cackles. 

“Shut up  Keaton, at least I can be happy with my life, knowing that I don’t have your _amazing_ personality. This is why everybody hates you.” The words pained hm to hear, and pained her to say, but it was too late to go back now. The game had evolved to a battlefield.

The Go-Fish cards sat on the floor, now long forgotten. Victor, Lyrae, and Jeremy kept sneaking glances at the fluffy prize on it’s podium, but something to them the game wouldn’t be finished today. Words flew between Amara and Keaton as their standoff turned to a full-blown duel. Battle to the death.

Amidst all of the chaos, Lyrae finished her cookie, and Jeremy offered her another. She knew she definitely wasn’t supposed to be having this many, but whatever, they were good cookies.

Finally, Keaton pulled out the ending blow, “ Get out of my house.”

Amara stormed out, not stopping as she pulled her coat off the rack and walked out the door. The mood in the room was tense, as they all observed the aftermath. 

And to think, this all came from a simple game of Go-Fish. The only good thing that came of it, was that Jeremy kindly gave them all cookies to take home.

(I’m not really sure what happened. I came here expecting it to be a normal day, with a normal writing, but I was really craving a cookie so… this is what the outcome was.)