Imagines Book 1

Speed Chess {Benny Watts}

{The Queen's Gambit imagine}

~

Y/n walked out of the kitchen holding two cutting boards in her hands that held snacks that she and Cleo had been preparing. She walked towards the small table in the living room and set them down.

"Here you go," she said, backing away from the messy table, looking up only to find Hilton, Arthur, and Benny staring at her. Her eyes trailed along the two men with the creepy looks on their faces before she reached Benny. "What?" she questioned him with a semi harsh tone.

He kept his eyes on her only for a couple of seconds, looking her up and down quickly before sighing and turning his head to the table to back up at her. "Let's do a simultaneous. You... play all of us." His suggestion only caused her to roll her eyes, but not enough for anyone to notice.

"Uh, not me. I don't even know the rules. I'll spectate." Y/n heard Cleo say from her right. She bit the inside of her cheek but kept her poker face on. "Do we have enough boards, enough pieces?"

"Yeah, in the closet." Benny motioned his head towards the closet. "We can set them up right here on the floor."

"Okay," she answered, gazing towards the ground. Hilton and Arther became excited, smiles growing on their faces. "Time control?" one of them asked.

Y/n looked from the ground, back up at Benny, and suggested very fast, "Let's play speed chess."

Benny turned his head, not breaking his gaze on the girl standing before him. "Well, that'll give us an edge. We can think on your time."

"Mm, I wanna try it," she replied quickly.

"You're not so good at that, remember?" He reminded her.

"I'll bet you ten I can beat you." She blurted out, feeling very confident about herself and her ability to play. Benny held an unsure look on his face, thinking of something to say to try and talk her out of it.

"What if you throw the other games, spend all your time against me?"

"What if I kick you in the crotch?" She fired back, making the other guys chuckle. "I'll bet ten on them too."

"Okay, it's your money." He told her, his eyes still not leaving her.

"It will be." She said, nodding her head. Y/n stood by the table and watched as the three men walked over to the closet and pulled out a chessboard and a clock for each of them. They then walked back over and sat down on the floor, pulling the board out of the boxes and setting them up.

Once all of the boards were set up, Y/n went down the line, moving a pawn quickly and then hitting the clocks. As she played, she would spend no more than a few seconds per board. She was quick, way better than she was during her first time playing speed chess.

She picked up their pieces one by one, her strategy being quite effective. After a handful of minutes, one of the guy's hand knocked down their king, knowing that they had lost to her. He studied the board in front of him in defeat. Y/n had moved onto the next board, but with her quick moves, his king was soon knocked over. He stared at his board in defeat.

Last was none other than Benny Watts. They played for a couple of seconds before he looked up at her, knowing what he had to do next. He stood up, not even setting down his king, and went to the kitchen counter for his wallet. Y/n's eyes followed his actions as he pulled three ten-dollar bills from it, handing them to her.

She stared at the money in her hands, knowing what she was doing. "Let's do it again." All of the guys exchanged glances before resetting their boards.

The next game didn't last too long, because before they knew it, Y/n was knocking down the first guy's king effortlessly. She moved onto the next board, searching, then making her next move. He knocked down his own king, leaving just her and Benny.

They played for a couple of seconds, making their moves. Benny was good at speed chess, but it turns out that she was better. As he made his last move, she looked at him directly as she moved her queen. His gaze went from the board to the girl in front of him as she knocked down his king.

Cleo smiled at Y/n as Benny reached for his wallet, pulling three more tens from it and handing them to her. She looked him dead in the eyes and said, "Again."

They all played for one last round, Y/n, of course, kicking all of their asses, claiming her 30 bucks from Benny. 

"Again," she said, only for Benny to tell her, "No." She looked toward Hilton and Arther for help, only to get nothing from them.

Benny leaned back, running his hand through his hair. "Well, kid... I think you got it." After a second of silence, Cleo began applauding, leading to the rest of the guys doing the same. Sure they weren't too thrilled about their defeat, but they were still proud of her.

~

The rest of the night was spent talking about chess and making fun of past games the others had had. At around one in the morning, the gang began to leave. Cleo walked up to Y/n who was standing by the steps at the door and kissed both of her cheeks.

"It was such a pleasure." She said in her accent. "Do look me up if you come to Paris."

"Will you be there in two weeks?" Y/n asked her new foreign friend.

"Oh, who knows? " She shrugged, walking up the steps and towards the door. She hugged Benny goodbye and walked out the door. He then locked it and turned back to Y/n.

"What?" She asked, all proud of herself. He sighed, walking back down the steps, "Nobody has done that to me in 15 years."

"Not even Borgov?" She smirked.

"Not even Borgov." He shook his head. The girl bit the inside of her cheek, gazing around the room. "And I'm sober as a judge, as Alma would say." Her eyes then met his as they shared a long stare between the two of them. After a couple of seconds, Benny decided to break the silence,

"I, myself, am not," he said, running his hand through his hair and walking into his room. "Good night."

Y/n began walking by his room saying, "Night." When he stopped her.

"Wait. Hey," he said, gently grabbing her arm, making her face him. She stared into his eyes again, the first time tonight that she didn't know what to say or do. "Yes?"

Benny's eyes searched her face, trying to think of how to say what he wanted to say. When he did come up with something, however, it came out more as a question, "Do you still like my hair?"

She looked him up and down, biting the inside of her cheek again, knowing damn well what was going to happen next.