“Let’s start again,” Tamara sighed, “If we have time.”
“We have plenty of time. That whole game only took six minutes.”
“Six minutes? It felt like an hour, but that might have been because Greg was acting like I had his life in my hands. I know I suck at this, you don’t have to rub it in,” Tamara said.
“I wasn’t. I was just saying,” Hayden said.
“Whatever, let’s give it another go.”
“I’ll play white this time,” Hayden said pushing the black pieces across the table to Tamara, “If you have questions you can ask, you know.”
“Thanks,” Tamara grinned.
“Greg made me nervous too. I’ve known a lot of people like that. They make great players, but horrible teachers.”
“He’s not a bad guy, but he makes it very hard to concentrate,” Tamara said and watched as Hayden made his first move.
Seven minutes later Tamara knew she had no moves left.
“Checkmate.”
“Seven minutes that time.”
“Don’t focus on your knights so much. They’re good pieces, but it’s okay to lose them.”
“I don’t know about that. If Sir Bedivere sees me sacrifice a knight he might eat me,” Tamara laughed quietly.
“He told you about the statue too then?”
“Yeah, Chess Club is weirder than even I thought it would be.”
“I know a lot of teams, even pro sports teams, have superstitions, but I don't know that I like it. It's like they psych themselves into losing if something goes wrong with it.”
“Okay, guys. I think we’ll cut this meeting short, just don’t mention it to Mrs. Kelly. It’s Friday and I want out of here as much as you guys do,” Greg said.
“Thank You!” Tamara said, jumping to her feet.
Hayden opened his mouth to speak, but Tamara was already out of the room, sprinting down the steps two at a time. Many of the sports teams held practice on Friday afternoon and Tamara didn’t want to be seen with Greg and the others. Hayden was cute, but he was still part of the Geekville. She pulled her cell out of her back pocket intending to call her mom to let her know the meeting ended early.
“A new text?” Tamara said out loud.
“Sorry. Can’t pick you up. Big sale at g-store in next town over.”
“Damn it,” Tamara said and shoved the phone back into her pocket.
Tamara’s mom, Mrs. Page, couldn’t resist a sale or a coupon. This wasn’t the first time Tamara was forced to walk home so her mom could shop. Her dad was working late, because he had a high profile case going to court soon.
Tamara zipped her black hoodie and readjusted her backpack. Tamara normally didn’t mind the two mile walk between the school and her house, but the autumn air was growing cool and the breeze cut through her with every step. She pulled her sleeves down over her hands and walked quicker. The weight that had ridden in her stomach on the way to Chess Club had dissolved, allowing Tamara to move freely.
Startled by the bellow of a car horn, Tamara looked over her shoulder and waved at the unfamiliar black car. Her father’s coworkers got new cars more often than Tamara bought shoes. The car came to a stop beside of her and the window buzzed as it rolled down.
“Need a ride?” Hayden grinned.
“Sure,” Tamara nodded.
She sprinted around the car and slid
into the passenger seat. After fastening her seat belt Tamara shoved her hands deep in her pockets trying to warm them.