by Lux Carmine
Chess Club Dropout
The Lone Wolves
Lux Carmine
Copyright © 2018 by Lux Carmine
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
1
“You have to try out for the school play,” Melissa Andrews said as she sat down beside me at the empty lunch table I’d just parked myself on.
I paused, about to bring my sandwich to my lips and stared at my leggy, curvy, blonde cousin with whom I was living. It took me a minute to realize that she’d just said play. And I was pretty sure there was no way she could have meant the school play. I was neither an actress nor a model nor a singer. I had no dreams of fame, I just wanted to get through high school so I could move away from everything that reminded me of what had happened in the last four months.
“Um, what?”
“The school play! They’re doing Grease this year! You were born to play that role,” Melissa said, setting her fresh from the vending machine Diet Coke in front of her.
“Should I be insulted right now?”
I’d been living with my aunt and cousin since the beginning of summer. We’d lost my mother and grandmother. It was then I learned how my father truly felt about me. When he declined to take me into his home, I realized just how unloved I was.
“Why would you be insulted?,” Melissa continued, “I just called you Sandy.”
Melissa and I were super close because we both used to spend summer vacations at our grandmother’s house. Grandma loved every romantic movie she could get her hands on, but the one movie she loved the most was Grease. We would watch it at least three times every summer we visited.
“She’s proper and prudish, Melissa.”
“Until she’s not. She’s secretly a badass on the inside. Just like you.” She gently kicked my shin under the table as she smiled.
It was totally a joke. I was not a bad ass in any sense of the word. I did whatever anyone with the least bit of authority told me to do. Melissa and I would walk to the 7-Eleven about a mile from my grandmother’s house. She would dare me to pocket a packet of gum every time we went. I never ever dared to do it. And once when she’d done it I took the gum from her and ran it back into the store and apologized to the clueless lady working behind the counter. Bad ass I was not.
“She totally changes for the boy at the end, so lame.” I gave her a little nudge with my toe in return.
“And he totally changes for her. It’s the sweetest movie of all time!”
“All right...” I ducked my head under the table, looking at her pastel pink backpack wedged between her legs on the floor. “Where is it?”
“What are you doing?” Her toes curled inwards and her hand went instinctively towards her bag.
I came back up and raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Searching for the pot you must have been smoking before you came to lunch.”
“Come on, Ruby. You’re new to school and this would be the perfect opportunity to get out there and meet some people.”
“Yeah... I don’t think so.”
I had no plans of making new friends or getting close to anyone. I had plans of keeping my head down and lying low. I needed to fit in enough to not get picked on and blend in enough so that no guy would notice me. Love was not something that would happen to me. It hadn’t happened yet in high school and it definitely wasn’t in the cards now. What was the point of a relationship your senior year of high school?
“What have you got to lose?” Melissa continued.
“My dignity, for starters.”
“Just think about it.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll think about it.” I pretended to contemplate my cousin’s request for a few moments while I chewed up some of my sandwich. “All right, I thought about it. The answer is definitely no.”
Melissa sighed with exasperation and shook her head. “You’re going to miss out.”
“On what?”
“On them.” Melissa thrust her chin in the general direction of behind me and I turned around.
My eyes were glued to a group of five guys that looked like they belonged on the cover of a J-14 magazine. All five of them had dark locks, and nonchalant demeanors as they stood by the cafeteria’s lunch line. They looked beyond cool, way too cool to want to hang out with someone like me. They looked like the kind of guys who would have an entourage of girls following after them.
But oddly there were none. Guys in drama club equalled gay, right?
I turned back around and shrugged my shoulders. “It might be fun to pretend to be with one of them but it’s obvious that would never happen.”
“Well, yeah, they flirt a lot but they don’t really date anyone.”
I continued to devour my sandwich, “Because they haven’t come out yet?”
“Come out?” Melissa wrinkled her nose and then unwrinkled it, her hand coming to her mouth to hide her smile. “You think they’re gay?”
I glanced over my shoulder again and caught one of them staring directly at me. My stomach did a somersault, and I forced myself to turn around again unhurriedly, pretending as if the stare had meant nothing and I couldn't care less.
“Yeah. They’re really hot, they dress well, their hair is nice, and they don’t date girls. How have the rest of you not added this up yet?” I said, rolling my eyes. No way were they straight. Maybe acting it but guys that hot always had girls on their arms. Why? Because they knew they looked good and they could have girls. They might even be hot enough to pass girls around amongst them for fun.
“They’re not gay, Ruby.” Her eyes glanced behind me to the guys and smiled when, I assumed, one of them met her wandering eyes. “They’re just picky.”
“Riiiggghhhttt.”
“If you got the lead for Sandy you’d get to kiss one of them... A lot. Doesn’t that appeal to you even a little?”
I thought about it. Puckering up to any one of them might be fun, except for the hundreds of people watching it happen. I wasn’t exactly a voyeur. I shook my head. “No.”
“Who is the gay one now?”
I took a dramatic bite of the cookies Aunt Sara had packed in my lunch and turned my nose up at Melissa, ignoring her comment. Just because I didn’t want to kiss a man in public did not mean that I was gay. Neither did not wanting to date because it was senior year and pointless to fall in love.
Still, if trying out for the drama club involved kissing one of them then... No. Still not worth it.
It was the last period of my first day of school. Biology. One more class I’d have to suffer through before the day was done. I was ready to go home, slip into my PJs and binge watch Netflix like four hours ago. The classroom itself was pretty standard, t
here were three rows of lab tables four tables deep. Two stools sat at each station. I took an empty seat at a lab table in the middle of the room and glanced at my phone while I waited for the late bell to ring. No texts. I wasn’t even sure who I was expecting to text me. I never got texts. It felt like a waste for my Aunt Sara to even pay for me to have a phone, I rarely used it.
“Hello class, my name is Mr. Richards and I’ll be teaching Biology this semester. Please look at your schedules and make sure you’re in the right class.”
I put my finger on my schedule and checked the teacher name. Yep, I was in the right class. Mr. Richards went on handing out the syllabus and explaining his rules and expectations of the class and what we would learn this semester. He was about to assign textbooks when the class door opened and one of the Lone Wolves walked into the classroom.
“Mr. Reynolds, nice of you to make an appearance.” Mr. Richards glanced around the room, his eyes bouncing from table to table for an empty space. “Looks like there is only one empty seat left.” Mr. Richards lifted his arm and pointed his finger right at me.
I glanced at the empty seat beside me. It was just begging for someone to sit on it. I checked behind me, hoping there was another empty seat back there, but they were all full. I turned my eyes back to the front of the room. My heart was beating so loudly I was sure everyone in the room could hear it. This was not happening. There was no way the hot drama guy would sit next to me. I silently cursed as I licked my lower lip and turned my legs the opposite way as hot drama guy came over and took the empty seat next to me. I glanced up and held my breath as I looked him over. It was the guy who’d met my gaze in the cafeteria. I quickly looked away, ignoring him as he nodded at me.
The last thing I needed was for hot drama guy to think I was into him. It was clear from the looks of other girls around me that there was no shortage of chicks who dug him. And a dude. I raised my eyebrows in surprise as the dude batted his lashes shyly at drama guy before turning back to his notes.
Hot drama guy didn’t seem to notice any of the looks. Maybe he was used to it. I’d heard in gossip magazines that after a while the celebs got used to the attention they got. Maybe hot drama guy was the same way.
As class continued, I couldn’t help feeling antsy. Every second that ticked by drama guy came closer to me. Or maybe it just felt that way. My cheeks flushed, and I pulled away when his shirt sleeve grazed my bare elbow.
He didn’t do it on purpose, dummy! Why did I have to be so jumpy? He probably was sitting there thinking I had fleas or lice or something. I begged my teenage body to calm itself down. This was just a guy. There were lots of other guys and most of them were jerks. Just look at my dad and my last boyfriend who couldn’t even be bothered to comfort me after finding out what had happened the night of the Junior Prom.
I didn’t need a guy. Especially not this one.
A little while later a little scrap of paper landed on my new textbook. I jumped and carefully unfolded it, trying my best to remain discreet.
What’s your name?
I glanced at him and he was staring straight ahead, appearing to listen to Mr. Richards’s instructions for tonight’s homework.
Sandy Olsson.
I folded up the little scrap of paper and passed the note back to him. Slowly, with long slender fingers, he unfolded the note and scanned it with his eyes. He smirked and then scribbled something back and tossed it onto my notebook.
Have you met your Danny Zuko yet?
The dismissal bell saved me from another unwanted charming smile from hot drama guy. I turned my attention to my notebook and quickly jotted down the homework assignment and stuffed the note into my book bag.
“By the way, I hope you liked your seat today, because it’ll be yours for the rest of the semester,” Mr. Richards added as students quickly packed up their things.
The classroom was a loud mass of exiting teenage bodies and I was among them, trying quickly to get to my locker so I could get out of there and put space between myself and my hot new lab partner. I could feel hot drama guy closing in behind me. The whole time he was sitting there beside me I could smell him. I was no expert on boy smells but I knew it smelled good, whatever it was.
“Ruby,” Mr. Richards smiled at me and waved me towards his desk.
Inwardly I groaned. I’d already made eye contact, so I broke off from the mob and stood in front of his desk. I glanced briefly to the doorway and caught Mr. Reynold’s retreating back, his lips close to a blonde girls’ ear as they stepped through the doorway and into the hall.
Stupid me to fantasize about him. It would never happen.
“Ruby, I went to school with your mom. And your Aunt. This school actually,” Mr. Richards chuckled, awkwardly.
“Uh-huh,” I said, hoping he’d hurry up and get to the point. I was going to keep Melissa and her boyfriend waiting and if the morning was any indication, the boy wasn’t very patient and probably would have no issue leaving me behind.
“Anyway, your Aunt told me a little about you and she mentioned that in your old school you were the President of the chess club. We have a chess club too, I’m the sponsor.”
Oh boy, I could see where this was going. I was trying to leave that whole image behind. I wanted to start over as something other than “chess nerd.”
“Mr. Richards, I really don’t think-”
“You don’t have to sign up for the whole year or commit to anything yet, but I know the guys would love to have you come by and check it out. And if you wanted to join, we would love to have you.”
“That’s so kind of you, but...”
He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “They could really use some practice, truth be told, by a worthy opponent. And I promised your Aunt I’d convince you to give it a try. What do you say? First meeting of the year is tomorrow after school in my classroom.”
If my Aunt really wanted me to try this chess thing, then I supposed I’d have to go to at least one meeting. She was taking me in and feeding me and all. I owed her at least that much. I nodded and offered him a small smile. “Alright, Mr. Richards. I’ll check it out tomorrow.”
He looked relieved and then worried when I told him I needed to hurry and catch my ride home.
2
“Hey girl. How’s day two so far?” Melissa asked as she sat down across from me. Once again the only thing she was planning on ingesting was a can of Diet Coke.
I shrugged my shoulders. I had gotten little sleep the night before. I’d woken up from a dream in which I was playing strip chess with the Lone Wolves. I was kicking their asses, and then suddenly I’d decided to let them kick my ass, which never happened, never in the history of my chess games. And just as I was about to remove my shirt I woke up, panting and drenching in sweat.
I couldn’t go back to sleep after that so I got a leg up on my school reading. As a result, the day had been pretty boring since I already understood the topics the teachers were trying to cover.
“It’s school. So super exciting,” I said, sarcastically. Melissa laughed, and I grinned a little.
“Oh, my gosh! I heard you have lots of competition for the Sandy role.”
Oh no, not this again. I picked up my hand and waved away her comment. “I’m not trying out. I’m going to join the chess club.”
That shut her up. Her lips snapped shut, and she stared blankly at me from across the table.
“What?” She was staring at me like one of my eyeballs was falling from the socket.
“Chess club?”
I nodded and popped a chip in my mouth.
“... Chess club.”
I wiped my hand on my jeans and shrugged. “Yeah, man. What’s wrong with chess club?”
She took a sip of her Diet Coke and was uncharacteristically quiet. Obviously something was wrong, but she would not divulge the information. “I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun,” she said. “So do you think that I should go all the way with Joey?”
“All the way
?” I chuckled.
Melissa stole a chip from my baggie and chucked it at my face. I ducked and caught it in my mouth, still laughing as I crunched it between my teeth. “Be nice, Ruby.”
She was right; I needed to be nice. She was confiding in me and I valued her friendship. At this point it was the only one I still had. My mom used to be my go-to for boys and stuff. And Aunt Sara didn’t really talk about that stuff. I wiped the smile off my lips and readjusted my position on my seat. “All right, sorry. Do you love him?”
She nodded.
“No, I mean, do you love him, love him?”
She thought about it for a moment and then grabbed onto her golden hair, twirling it slightly as she leaned forward, speaking in a hushed tone. “How do I know if I love him, love him?”
This was a good question and one I wasn’t really qualified to answer. I’d never been in love, never even kissed a boy. I’d been hoping it would happen at Junior Prom but because of the accident… I pushed that train of thought away, I didn’t want to think about my mom and my grandma right now and how much I utterly missed them both. “Uh... Remember in 10 Things I Hate About You when Kat and Patrick are sitting on Kat’s front porch and they’re getting to know each other. They go deeper. And then he says something stupid and they break up?”
Melissa smiled and nodded. “Heath Ledger was so hot.”
“Yeah, well, do you and Joey have that? Or are you guys like Joey and Bianca? Like what do you love most about him?”
Melissa’s eyes rolled to the ceiling, and she thought. Her Diet Coke was slowly making a circle on the lunch table. “Well... I think what I love most about him is the way he makes me feel, you know,” she said, bringing her eyes back to mine, “when he’s being sweet.”
