"Strip poker?" I repeated. "I'll pass."

"Come on, Ethan." Hans said.

"Are you a chicken?" Frans asked.

"No." I replied. "I just don't want to play strip poker."

"What about real poker then?" Edmund asked.

"No, that would be no fun." Hans said.

"Yeah. You'd go broke in the first round." Frans shuffled a deck of cards. "I'm dealer. Who's in?"

"Not me." I said.

"I am." Taki cleared off the table in the common room.

"Same here." Edmund took a seat.

"I guess I'll play too." Neil sat down too.

I was pushed into a chair between Hans and Frans with no way of escape.

Thank goodness I dressed in layers was all I could think after we began to play. I had on a sweatshirt, my school uniform, a tshirt, and two pairs of socks (my feet were freezing this morning.) When my classmates were half naked and starting to get worried, I was still decently clothed.

"I win again." Neil said, collecting the pile of shirts in the middle, along with my tie.

"Are you staking the deck, Frans?" Taki asked, who was down to just his pants.

"If I was, don't you think I'd be doing it to help Hans?" He retorted. "Neil's just so damn lucky."

Neil shrugged. "I guess so."

"You know." I said, taking the pause in action to attempt to get away. "I think I'll go do my homework."

"I think you're a chicken. You just don't want to take off any more clothes. "

"OK, maybe I am." I said. "I have some bad scars on my back, so I really--"

"Scars?" Hans and Frans said together. "Let's see them."

"If Ethan doesn't want to," Taki began, "I don't think we should make him."

"You just don't want other people to see him naked."

"Keeping the sight all for yourself."

Both Taki and I were very red. Hans and Frans grinned dangerously.

"I don't know what you mean." Taki said, blushing even more.

"That's it." I stood up. "I'm out of here."

And I ran out of the room, hoping that Neil would win and give me back my clothes. But, like today in the poker game, luck was not on my side.