Mondays were the worst - but at the same time the best. (Yes, I just contradicted myself.)
They were dreadful because they were the reason I had to drag my ass out of bed back to the hellish world of school each week; at the same time, they were also the best because it was the day of the weekly two-hour Chess Club session. It had taken a couple years of hard work, practice and many failures in between, but I liked to think that I had become at least half-decent at spotting checks, pins and discover attacks. The trophies and medals on the top level of my bedroom cabinet proved the point too.
"Checkmate!" I announced, a little too happily as I admired the position in which my two rooks had trapped Keira's king. Keira Newman, one of the Leftovers and a not-so-good chess player groaned. "Called it. You always win, Selene. You're just too good. I wish I had like, half your skills."
"Aww, it's okay, Keira, I'm sure you'll get better with more practice. Plus, the future woman grandmaster is still Priya," I consoled for courtesy's sake. Both Keira and I knew she wasn't going to - Keira didn't care about chess. She had only joined the club to fulfill her extracurricular requirements while being able to slack off and do her homework. As she pulled out her pencil case and slapped her huge binder down on the table, all ready to pull out the week's worth of assignments, Priya waved me over for a game after destroying one of the new kids in a nasty checkmate.
"You didn't go easy on her, did you?" I asked, sitting down opposite her as the dejected first year student shuffled past me.
The Chess Club president snorted, "In my defense, I tried. I even screwed up my entire position so that she would have a chance, okay? I literally was not thinking. But when I see free pieces, I just take them, dude."
I grinned, "You can destroy people all you want at competitions, but you should probably be lenient with the new kids. Breaking the Rifton team's spirit before team competitions doesn't sound like something Mrs Sherton would want." Mrs Sherton was the teacher-in-charge of the club, currently marking a ton of history essays at the back of the room. She, too, enjoyed being the teacher-in-charge for the non-rigorous nature of our club, compared to what some of her colleagues probably had to deal with.
"Pfft..." Priya's voice dropped to a whisper - like she always did when she had some tea to spill -and I leaned in, "Like there was any team spirit to begin with, honestly. Let's be real, I don't think anyone here actually sees a future of them seeking active self-improvement in chess."
"Taryn's decent."
"And planning to quit after this year," Priya rolled her eyes.
"Wait, what? But she's doing well! She wins things!"
"Yeah, but of course, 'chess is boring'." The Indian girl and I exchanged off our knights. "Of course she would jump ship for the dance team. So, yeah, Selene, it's probably just gonna be you and me holding up the fort. You better not quit, dude, or I'll hunt you down for ditching me with a dying club."
"Don't worry, dude, it's not like I could pass any of the other selection tests for the other clubs and sports," I stated. I knew why Priya was worried; the club wasn't exactly prospering like the sports and performing arts groups. Chess was, unfortunately, a very unpopular after-school activity, since it was related to everything nerdy and geeky. Regardless, moving pieces across a checkered board of black and white was one of my few talents. And being there, beating opponents and winning games convinced me that there was still some sliver of hope out there, that I still had trophies to hold and medals to wear.
All in all, playing chess made me feel like I, like the queen on the chessboard, was in control.
Priya pressed the clock. "Hah!"
"Wait, what? What did you do-ahh! No, come on, dude!" I groaned as I realised my mistake - my darned bishop, too late to escape, was now trapped by Priya's pawns. "Rude!"
"Hey, you should've seen that coming."
"Well, all I can say is that my brain is fried after school."
"I'm pretty sure it's almost always fried, though."
"Big oof."
Priya chuckled heartily, "I mean, you can capture a pawn - meaning one less pawn I can potentially promote, right?"
"I would still be down on material, thank you very much," I scoffed, but still doing as she had suggested. "Hey, don't underestimate the power of the pawn," Priya said, capturing the bishop and chucking it to the side of the board.
I was distracted by fatigue - that meant a toilet break and a splash of water on my face was due. "Hey, where're you going? We're only at the middle game!"
"I'm going to the toilet!" I replied as I shut the door behind me, grinning as Priya complained about me ditching her.
Honestly, I wished I could hang out more with Priya - but I knew that was one thing that couldn't really happen. She was older, and every batch mostly associated with the girls in their own batch due to differing lunch periods. Plus, even if I got to hang out with her, she'd have her other friends-I would just be the extra kid on the side. In addition, maybe she didn't even really think of me as a close-enough friend and I didn't want to overstep. Overstepping boundaries was a great sin that caused social annihilation and I didn't want to have even the seniors hate me too.
I just had to continue doing what I was doing. Lie low, pass the exams and graduate, hopefully gaining a chance to join the committee in the Chess Club to add something nice to my portfolio in the future. It was boring and I hated it, but what else could I do? I had no power or influence to do as I liked in the twisted hierarchy of Rifton.
However, as I neared the toilet and heard a familiar voice, I realised that I'd spoken too soon.
"OMG, Alyssa, she is such a fucking fake bitch."
Whoa, what?! Who're you calling a -
I slowly peeked down the hallway to see a single student pacing about in the hallway, a rose gold iPhone pressed over locks of silky, wavy honey blonde hair. The girl paced a few steps, turning in a way that gave me a glimpse of her side profile.
And boy, was it somewhat shocking to discover the identity of the student spilling the tea. Despite already being aware of her tendencies to do so, one would think that Natalie Kingsley, the queen of the second year cohort, would be more discreet in her ways.
Apparently, she wasn't very careful when she was riled up.
"Ex-actly! Allie," Natalie exclaimed, "Like, I wish we could go back to being in Southlake; I wouldn't need to deal with all these idiotic girls who think they're so amazing. Like, seriously? They ain't shit."
Holy shiitake mushrooms. Natalie, the Natalie Kingsley, was swearing, and that too in the context of shading the same girls she called her friends? The tea was way too hot and tasty; I couldn't simply let this opportunity go to waste. Despite being a frog in a well and a social outcast, I did have one thing in common with my peers - a love for good gossip. In primary school, an average piece of gossip, real or fake, was enough to start drama, but this was secondary school. The tea had to present itself as facts before it was considered good tea.
Meaning, I had to collect evidence.
With trembling hands, I fished my phone out of my pocket and swiped it to camera mode as quietly as could be while Natalie continued to listen to the girl whom everyone knew was Alyssa Green (the best friend from another school) through her shiny rose gold iPhone. Before I knew it, I had my camera poking out minimally behind the lockers and the filming began. One recognisable blonde in an empty school hallway.
Damn, I really hoped the audio quality was good to capture her currently loud and triggered voice. 00:01, 00:02...
"Oh my gosh, no, listen! That Gillian is actually such a desperate, attention-seeking bitch. Goodness, I don't even know why I thought she'd make a good side chick; she gets on my nerves twenty-four-seven. Even worse, half of the girls in this batch think she's cool... oh yeah, that sucks Allie. Ew... I feel you... aish, that's a small issue. I swear, that redhead Annalisa is more airheaded than anything else. All she literally cares about is her stupid clothes and all I do is smile because I'm trying my best not to be rude when she whines about her Insta feed being off... "
My eyes widened - not in shock, but in considerable amusement as I soaked up the drama, watching as the seconds passed as indicated on my phone. She was speaking of her 'best friends', the most loyal of lap dogs amongst the Populars like they were trash.
Just like the way she'd ranted about me to Tina Lee as if she was being put in a spot!
"Avery and Addison? Please. Always trying to hang alongside us - as if those twins can't even tell how pathetic they look." I adjusted the video to zoom in on her head.
I had long predicted the truth behind Natalie's true colours, but I never thought she would be the kind to hate on her entire clique. Hell, what if they all knew but continued to hang by her for the sake of social standing? That would be even more pathetic on their end if they were going to spend time pleasing the evil queen and taking basic white wall photos with her. God, sometimes I really questioned the state of society. I would never claim to be the most logical, but some of the things that humans did were simply... wow.
Natalie's lips turned up into a smirk - damn, that was a quick change - as she said, "All right, see you on Saturday! Bye, babe!" As she hung up and shoved her phone into the pocket, I fumbled with mine, finally managing to click the end button. 01:26.
Ohmygod. Ohmygod.
Natalie smiled as she scrolled on her phone for a second, before clicking the side button and tossing it into her pocket and - oh dear.
She began walking down the hallway, towards me.
She was coming right at me, I -
I was about to take off in the opposite direction before I realised that my earphones were in my pocket - maybe it could all still be salvaged! Yes, I had to try to get out of this sticky situation in a clever manner for once! Running whomst? Running was for cowards, and Natalie was the sole guilty party in all of this. I had nothing to fear.
Disregarding the fact that the wires were tangled as heck, I shoved the earpieces into my ears, plugged it into my phone and frantically entered the Spotify app with shaking hands. I then dumped the phone back into my pocket, still considerably shook as I took a large, firm step outwards - coming face to face with Natalie herself.
Game faces, Selene.
Natalie's emerald green eyes widened in a brief moment of shock as she staggered back a step, before noticing my earphone wires and spoke what sounded like a small, polite 'hi' through the music in my ear. A nervous laugh escaped my mouth as I tore the earphones from my ear, giving Natalie my best innocent-and-cute-little-geek impression, "Hi Natalie! You're staying back in school today?"
Natalie's returned smile didn't quite reach her eyes as she responded, "Yeah. I'm just waiting for my friend's class to end so we can go to the mall together. You?"
Aw, going to the mall with the airhead, huh? How sweet and generous of you. "Yeah, Chess Club. I have to get back. See you tomorrow, Natalie," I said, offering a final smile as I stuck the earpiece back into my ear, trying to conceal the bubbling excitement that was threatening to take shape on my face as I attempted to casually stroll down the hallway... as Natalie headed off in the direction that I had just come from.
Once I was certain she was out of earshot and I had reached the toilet, I pulled out my phone and turned the volume up to the max. Every single biting remark and angsty swear replayed from the device - loud and clear.
Holy freaking crap!
After actually going to the toilet, I returned to the classroom, where Priya was flipping through her scoresheets. "Dude, that was a long visit to the toilet! What were you up to in there, playing Candy Crush?"
I wrinkled my nose as I slid into my seat, "I don't play Candy Crush on my phone."
The Indian girl waved a hand in a dismissive motion, "Eh, whatever, let's continue."
I studied the board, my fingers closing around the piece that was worth a point in terms of material, attempting to calm the raging excitement that boiled in my veins.
Priya was right, after all.
Do not underestimate the power of the pawn.