Chapter 1
Anne Marie was walking to her friend’s house to hangout for the afternoon. Her two best friends, Steve and James, were the idiots she was going to see. They had been inseparable since kindergarten when James and Steve stuck up for her on the playground when another guy was picking on her.
She rounded the corner to the entrance of Steve’s apartment getting ready to knock when the door was suddenly pulled right from under her balled fist. There stood James about to laugh at her for jumping when the door opened so abruptly. She lightly smacked his arm as she entered the room.
“Why hello to you to Ace,” Bucky looked at her from the door. Anne Marie cringed at their favorite nickname for her.
“I play poker with you one time and it never goes away.” Anne Marie rolls her eyes at Bucky still standing there with that stupid grin on his face.
“Well if you hadn't cheated to get pocket aces then you might not have this nickname.” Steve hopped into the conversation as he walked in from the other room.
“Excuse you, I did not cheat and even if I did you have no proof to back up your claim.” She said defensively, placing her left hand on her hip.
They all bursted into laughter after her last statement. Truthfully Anne Marie had cheated using her amazing sleight of hand ability. But neither of the boys caught that, they just didn’t want to admit that they had lost to her.
“So what are we going to do today,” Anne Marie asked as she plopped down on the couch, relaxing after her walk there.
“We were thinking of just sticking around the apartment.” Steve said sheepishly looking around at the mess of a room.
“Alright, why don’t you to goons go pick out a board game and I’ll make the snacks.” She said walking towards the kitchen. Steve and Bucky may not have expressed any romantic feelings towards Anne Marie but they wouldn’t disagree with the idiots that tried to hit on her because of her beauty.
“Popcorn please, Ace.” Bucky called from the main room as he pulled monopoly out from the stack of board games.
Earlier this cold December day Bucky had gotten a letter from the military saying that he was drafted for the war effort. He was scared he didn’t want to leave Steve and Anne Marie being that neither of them could get drafted.
The boys were setting up the monopoly board when Anne Marie walked in with a big bowl of popcorn to share.
Bucky cleared his throat, “I enlisted in the army today,” leaving out the part about him being drafted because he knew how much Steve wanted to go and serve his country.
“Wow Buck, that's good, I guess,” Anne Marie was saddened by the thought of it knowing she might lose one of her best friends, but Steve couldn’t have been more jealous, he wanted to help with the war effort so much.
“I was thinking as our last night of fun before I depart, we go to the Stark Expo” Bucky was talking to both of them trying to lighten the mood after what Anne Marie just said, clearly hearing the sadness in her voice.
“That sounds amazing,” Both Steve and Anne Marie said in unison. The Stark Expo was something that Anne Marie and Bucky loved being the big science nerds that they are.
They finished out the popcorn and the game of monopoly, Anne Marie winning like always with her superior gaming skills. Bucky and Steve walked her to the door saying goodnight as she left the apartment for the evening. Another fantastic afternoon spent hanging with dumb and dumber Anne Marie thought as she went on auto pilot walking back to her house.
Anne Marie said goodnight to her parents and went straight to her room after that. She sat in her bed thinking about how much her life was about to change. But Bucky leaving was just the beginning.