bChapter /bb531 /b

    [Please. Lillian’s y makes it obvious she knows very little about ying cards. She’s just lucky to be paired with Ms. Grant, who’s been feeding her cards. That’s why she won a couple of rounds.]

    [Exactly. If you don’t know how to y, go learn first. Don’t embarrass your idol.]

    [Quit arguing. Look, the round’s over. Ms. Grant’s asking if Ms. Benson and Vanessa don’t know how to y.]

    On the show set, after Jessica won the first game, she’d pretty much sized up everyone’s skills.

    Before the second game started, she spoke up. “I don’t think Sabrina and Vanessa know this game too well. Let me run through the rules for you.”

    Sabrina let out a clear sigh of relief. “That’d be amazing, thanks, Jessi. I’ve really never yed much. Honestly, the first game had me totally confused.”

    Sabrina was always stubborn. If no one had asked, she would’ve kept a straight face and pushed through. But now that Jessica had given her an opening, she wasn’t about to be silly and refuse.

    Vanessa let out a breath too, then smiled, and thanked Jessica. “Thanks, Jessi. Like Sabrina, I’ve never yed this before. Did I mess things up for you just now?”

    Jessicaughed when she heard that. “Not at all. Lillian and I were on the same teamst game, remember?”

    Sabrina and Vanessa exchanged a look, both feeling a little speechless.

    They thought, ‘So that was why we were totally outyed. We were up against someone who knows what they are doing.‘

    “Come on, don’t be mad,” Lillian said, her voice sweet as honey. “Last game was just luck, really. And I took advantage of you not knowing the game. Honestly, I’m pretty bad at this. Once you two get the hang of it, go easy on me, please? Pretty please?”

    In just a few words, Lillian had the mood light again.

    Thements were full of praise for Lillian’s emotional intelligence, though plenty were alsoplimenting Jessica.

    When the second game started, Jessica patiently exined the rules and some tips to Sabrina and

    Vanessa,

    13:18 Wed, b3 /bSept

    “Oh, I get it now,” Sabrina said after thinking it over, sure she’d got the hang of it.

    Vanessa nodded with a smile too.

    “Great. Let’s draw cards to pick teams,” Jessica said once she saw they understood.

    They quickly reshuffled, and this time, Jessica’s opponents were Sabrina and Lillian.

    D

    ? 75%

    +15

    Jessica deliberately slowed down her y, feeding Vanessa a few good cards inow /iand then, and even let Sabrina get away with a few wrong moves.

    Brian soon noticed Jessica was going easy, but he didn’t say anything. He just brought iover /ia fruit tter, sat beside her, and snuck her bites now and then.

    “You can y this one,” Spencer said, sitting behind Vanessa. He’d also figured out Jessica was controlling the game, so he sounded a little distracted when he gave Vanessa pointers.

    “Okay,” Vanessa said, ying the card as he suggested.

    Jessica, who’d just finished a piece of cantaloupe, looked over, and her eyebrow twitched.

    “I won this hand!” Sabrina called out, her voice a little louder, with a hint of joy in it.

    Vanessa’s smile faltered a little, and she apologized to Jessica. “Sorry, Jessi.“.

    “It’s okay. Watch, I’ll win it back for you in a minute,” Jessica said, not really caring. She tossed down a

    new card as she spoke.

    Brian was pretty eager, standing behind her and rubbing her shoulders.

    Spencer whispered an apology to Vanessa and went to get a fruit tter too. He picked up a piece and handed it to her, but it just happened to be a pear–the kind Vanessa didn’t like.

    “You eat it,” Vanessa said, ncing at it before turning back to focus on the game. When Spencer heard that, he ate it himself.

    Jessica found Brian in the way, so she told him to stop rubbing. Brian pulled back, looking a bit sorry,

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