A Game of Chase

by Marcus Emerson

  ‘That’s because meese isn’t a word!’ Zoe said.

  I leaned back. ‘False,’ I said bluntly. ‘The plural for goose is geese, so it only makes sense that the plural for moose is meese.’

  I could see Zoe’s jaw drop, but I kept going. ‘It just makes so much sense to say meese,’ I insisted. ‘We say ‘there goes a flock of geese’, so we could also say ‘there goes a flock of meese’!’

  Zoe swallowed hard. ‘Oh my god, for the first time in my life, I can actually feel myself getting dumber from our conversations!’

  I shrugged. ‘I guess it could be a herd of meese.’

  ‘Meese isn’t a word!’ Zoe shouted angrily.

  Mrs Robinson stopped her announcements as the class turned toward us again.

  ‘Is everything alright back there?’ Mrs Robinson asked, concerned.

  Blushing, Zoe spun in her chair to face the front of the room. ‘Yes, sorry.’

  The homeroom teacher paused for a moment, staring at Zoe and me. Shrinking in her chair, Zoe mumbled another apology before Mrs Robinson spoke again. Once the teacher was back into her announcements groove, I leaned forward in my desk.

  Pulling the small chess piece from my bag, I tapped it on my cousin’s shoulder. ‘Look what I found in my locker this morning.’

  Zoe didn’t turn around. ‘I don’t care.’

  ‘C’mon,’ I whispered as I held it in front of her face. ‘Look! This little horse thing was sitting on my pile of papers.’

  Zoe didn’t turn her head enough for me to see her face, but I knew she was looking at the chess piece.

  ‘So what? It’s a knight,’ she said.

  ‘But someone got into my locker and put it there,’ I said. ‘What do you think it could mean?’

  ‘I think it means your locker has come to life and wants to play you in a game of chess,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Maybe the school’s out to get ya.’

  I chuckled quietly. ‘Funny ’cause I had the same thought. I’d probably still lose if that happened. What if it’s like, a sign or something? Maybe this is somebody’s way of telling me I’m their knight in shining armour?’

  Zoe snorted. A few of the kids around us turned to look as she contained her laughter. ‘A knight in shining armour – good one.’

  ‘Whatever,’ I sighed, leaning back in my seat. ‘It’s possible. Maybe it’s from a girl too shy to speak to me herself, so she—’

  Zoe interrupted me. ‘Breaks into your locker to leave little game pieces in there? Doubt it.’

  I didn’t answer.

  Zoe turned in her chair and smiled softly. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean for that to sound harsh. It’s probably just some sort of prank or something. Do you know anyone else who got one?’

  ‘Got a chess piece?’ I asked. ‘I dunno. I didn’t have time to ask around.’

  ‘That’s fine,’ Zoe said. ‘I’ll ask my friends if they’ve seen anything, but I’d try to keep from saying it was from a secret admirer if I were you. At least for the day.’

  ‘The name on the note was ‘Jovial Noise’,’ I added.

  ‘There was a note with it?’ Zoe asked. ‘And it was signed by Jovial Noise? Doesn’t ‘jovial’ mean happy? A happy noise?’

  ‘Weird, right?’ I said.

  ‘Gavin will probably know more about it,’ Zoe said with a twinkle in her eye. ‘I’ll find him after class is over and ask!’

  My eyebrows rose, and I was just about to say something sarcastic, but luckily the bell went off, signalling the end of homeroom. Instead, I smiled. ‘Saved by the bell.’

  Zoe grabbed her book bag and practically ran out the door. I dropped the knight back into my bag and zipped it up as my classmates filtered out of the room. Brayden had a seat near the front of the class, so he was normally one of the last ones out. As I stood from my desk, I found myself right beside him.

  ‘Hey, man,’ I said.

  ‘Sup?’ Brayden replied.

  I leaned my head over and shrugged a shoulder. ‘Not much. Seen any good monster movies lately?’

  He shook his head as he stared at the floor. ‘Nothing worth mentioning.’

  I let out a short sigh. ‘Cool,’ I said as he walked out the door in front of me. He kept his pace and headed down the hall without glancing back. It was obvious he didn’t feel like talking yet so I didn’t see any reason to make things more awkward. As he walked away, I murmured under my breath. ‘Cool.’

  Being the skilled ninja I am, I was able to make it to art only seconds before the bell rang. Zoe was already at her desk getting her painting supplies ready. Brayden was at his spot too, smearing his brush across a sheet of paper.

  I walked past Brayden to my desk behind him and took the seat next to Zoe.

  ‘So what’d Gavin have to say?’ I asked her, setting my bag on the floor.

  Zoe looked up from her painting. She sighed, leaning her chin against her hand. ‘He said he was thinking about trying out for the football team…’

  Barf. It was gross enough seeing my cousin crushing on some dude, but hearing her talk about it was even worse.

  ‘About the chess piece!’ I said sternly.

  ‘Oh,’ Zoe said with a silly grin. ‘I forgot to ask.’

  Brayden turned in his seat to face us. ‘Chess piece?’

  I was surprised that he was talking to me. I stumbled over my words as I pulled the black knight from my book bag. ‘I uh, yeah, this thing um, was in my locker this morning.’

  Brayden stared at the game piece. Finally, he said, ‘I got something like that in my locker too.’

  ‘Really?’ I asked. ‘Was it the other knight piece?’

  He pushed his hand into his pocket and fished out the chess piece he was talking about. It was different than the one I had.

  ‘I didn’t get the knight,’ Brayden said. ‘I got this little pawn piece.’

  I was familiar enough with chess to know that the pawns were the little guys in front of the king and queen. They were all the same tiny pieces with the ball on top. ‘What’s it mean?’ I asked.

  Zoe turned in her chair, interested in the conversation. She looked at Brayden’s chess piece. ‘Pawns are considered expendable. Y’know, the pieces in the game that are easily given up. I play a lot of chess with my dad, so I know a little bit about it.’

  ‘Great,’ Brayden sighed. ‘I got a lame-o piece while Chase gets the cool horsey. Story of my life, isn’t it?’

  ‘It’s a knight,’ I said.

  ‘Whatever,’ Brayden replied as he tossed his chess piece onto my desk. ‘Keep it. Whatever it is, I don’t care about it.’

  I didn’t want to let the conversation go just yet.

  ‘Was this all you got? Was there anything else with it? Maybe … a note or something?’

  Brayden shook his head. ‘No, I didn’t get a note, but there was a little stick next to it.’

  ‘A stick?’ I asked, confused. ‘What kind of stick?’

  Brayden pulled his bag onto his desk and unzipped it. He pulled out the stick and set it next to the chess piece. ‘This was next to the pawn, but I don’t know what it is.’

  Looking at it, I couldn’t tell what it was either. ‘Maybe it’s one half of a set of chopsticks,’ I joked.

  Zoe snatched it from the desk and held it between her thumb and first two fingers, tapping it rapidly on her desk. ‘It’s a conductor’s baton!’

  I stared at her, trying to understand what her words meant. Clearly Zoe knew exactly what it was, but I still didn’t have a clue even after she said it. My confusion must’ve been obvious.

  Rolling her eyes, Zoe said, ‘It’s the little stick that the person leading an orchestra has.’

  ‘Someone leads an orchestra?’ Brayden asked. ‘Where do they take them?’

  Zoe shut her eyes and leaned her head back. ‘It’s the guy who stands in front of the orchestra and keeps everyone playing in tune with each other.’

  ‘Oh!’ I said, suddenly understanding. ‘I know that guy! He lik
e, waves his arms around and dances while everyone plays their violins and cellos and stuff.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Zoe said, imitating a conductor by creating swooping loops with the baton. ‘They use this thing to do it.’

  ‘But why would that have been in my locker?’ Brayden asked.

  Zoe shrugged her shoulders. ‘I dunno. A pawn piece and a baton? It’s a bizarre combination.’

  I thought for a moment and then remembered the sticky note that was under my knight piece.

  ‘But I also—’ I started saying, but stopped myself.

  The note said ‘the game was afoot’, but I felt it best to keep it to myself, at least until I knew who sent the message.

  ‘Also what?’ Brayden asked.

  I shook my head, spinning my chair so I faced my desk. ‘I also think, uh … that this whole thing is someone’s idea of a lame prank.’

  I waited for Brayden to say something else, but he didn’t. I heard him get up from his desk to get more art supplies from the cupboard across the room. While he was gone, I snuck a peek at his painting. It was a man in the middle of transforming into a werewolf – of course it would be – this is Brayden we’re talking about.

  The rest of class went smoothly and was actually pretty quiet. It was a workday so everyone kept their heads buried in their own projects. Days like this were cool because the art teacher let us wear headphones if we wanted to listen to our own music.

  Brayden didn’t say anything else about his chess piece. Maybe the whole thing was nothing anyway, right?

  Yeah, right. If only it were that easy.

  I decided to let this whole chess piece thing roll off my shoulders, and to be honest, it felt good. There was a small part of me that wanted to investigate, but there was a bigger part of me that didn’t want to care.

  After scarfing down my lunch, I headed into the school lobby where Mr Cooper, the gym teacher, was talking to Principal Davis. They both said hello and waved me on my way. For the last month, they’ve watched me leave the lunchroom and go toward the west end of the school. I’d walk right by them, and they’d let me go because I was the founder of a club that met during lunch.

  That’s right, I created a club at Buchanan School. We’ll have our own picture in the yearbook and everything. It’s so unlike me to have created a club, and a few of you have probably already thought that. I’m sure the rest of you are wondering what kind of club I started.

  I approached the door to the empty English room and glanced over my shoulder. The sign was already hanging on the doorknob. It was handwritten and said, ‘Silence please. Martian Language Arts in session.’

  That’s right. The club I started was Martian Language Arts. Be honest – if you saw a meeting for that, you’d totally skip over it because it sounded like the nerdiest thing on the planet.

  But that’s exactly the point. It’s called that so kids wouldn’t check it out. Why? Because it was the new ninja training grounds.

  I pushed open the door and stepped into the classroom. The other members of my ninja clan were already busy training away with each other, but when they saw me, they stopped.

  Ever since Buchanan’s president had the old ninja hideout destroyed, we had to find a new place to train. One of my ninjas suggested we use an empty classroom during lunch, but it was my brilliant idea to make it a club that nobody wanted to join.

  ‘Sir!’ shouted one of the ninjas.

  I held up my hands. ‘Easy now,’ I said. ‘I know I’m a little late to training, so I won’t be joining today, but I wanted to ask you all a question.’

  The rest of the ninjas stopped and looked at me. A few of them heard the concern in my voice and pulled off their black masks. I wasn’t ready to tell them everything just yet, but I wanted them to keep an eye out for me.

  ‘There’s trouble brewing in the halls of Buchanan,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure what it is – it might be nothing, but I’d like for you to report to me if you see anything fishy.’

  ‘Anything like what?’ one of my best ninjas, Naomi, asked.

  I took a breath. ‘I don’t wanna give details yet. Just report anything that seems … off.’

  They all agreed to help, which made me happy. The black ninja clan had grown smaller over the last month or so, but the kids that remained were devoted and strong. I would choose them over a group of jocks any day.

  I stayed and chatted with the clan until the end of lunch. I didn’t tell them about the chess pieces that Brayden and I received – or the note.

  After I dropped my book bag on the floor, I took my seat next to Faith.

  She turned her chair toward me. ‘Whassup?’

  I wanted to tell her about the chess piece, but didn’t. ‘Nothing,’ I sighed. ‘You?’

  She shook her head and pointed at Mrs Olsen at the front of the room. ‘Don’t get too comfortable,’ she said. ‘We’re switching lab partners today.’

  My heart dropped. ‘What? Are you serious?’ I groaned sinking in my seat. The only other person I really knew in science was Zoe, and I didn’t want to be her lab partner. ‘Why would she do that?’

  Faith smiled. ‘It’s not the end of the world,’ she said. ‘It’s good for you to get to know other people, right?’

  Folding my arms, I pouted like a little baby. ‘I don’t want to get to know anyone else.’

  Zoe walked up behind me. ‘The seating list is at the front of the class, but when I checked my name, I found yours too.’

  ‘Great,’ I said, lifting my book bag once again. ‘Who am I stuck with now?’

  ‘Olivia Jones,’ Zoe smirked. She pointed clear across the room at the empty seat next to a girl, who I figured was Olivia. ‘She’s a sweet girl, Chase. Don’t go breakin’ hearts now.’

  I pulled my strap over my shoulder and whispered under my breath, ‘Whatever.’

  Weaving between science desks, I finally reached my destination next to a girl I’ve never spoken to in my life. She wasn’t weird or anything, but she was one of the quieter students at Buchanan. Who was I to judge her though? I was the same way.

  Her hair was black and kind of messy, but a good kind of messy, y’know what I mean? The kind of messy that says ‘I ride in cars with my window down, so what?’

  ‘Hey, Olivia,’ I said, cool as a cucumber. ‘Looks like we’re lab partners now.’

  Olivia glanced up at me from her chair. She smiled. ‘Call me Olive. I hate the name Olivia.’

  ‘Why?’ I asked, taking the seat next to her. ‘It’s kind of cool.’

  ‘It’s an old lady’s name,’ she snipped. ‘And I’m not an old lady.’

  Boy, two seconds next to her and already things were awkward. I looked back at Faith who was now sitting next to Zoe. Were they lab partners? How was that fair?

  ‘Just stay outta my business, and I think we’ll get along just fine,’ Olive said, her smile fading.

  Wonderful. Science was gonna be a drag from now on.

  After everyone had taken their places, Mrs Olsen said loudly, ‘In case you all forgot, the science fair is after lunch on Friday, so that means we’ll be working on our projects in class the entire week.’

  I shut my eyes and rolled my head back, sighing loudly. ‘I forgot about that.’

  ‘How could you forget?’ Olive asked. ‘We worked on our projects all last week.’

  ‘I don’t mean I forgot about the whole thing,’ I said, upset. ‘I just forgot today.’

  Mrs Olsen pointed around the room. Lining the counters were the science projects of each sixth grader at Buchanan, even the ones in other sciences classes, which meant there were nearly sixty projects in the room. ‘Your projects are as you left them. When you’re ready, you can go ahead and tend to your projects. I’ll be at my desk if you need anything.’

  Olive chuckled. ‘I saw the volcano you were working on. You know like, twelve other kids are doing a volcano project too, right?’

  I nodded. ‘Yeah, but it doesn’t bother me.’

  ‘
It should,’ she said. ‘With twelve other volcanoes, I bet it’s hard to stand out.’

  The truth was that I wanted to do my project on the history of ninjas and scientifically show how they operated. I’d demonstrate things like creating their weapons, ninja stars and other stuff, but my parents said no to it. It’s probably better that they did though. I’m not sure Mrs Olsen would’ve taken it seriously.

  ‘You’re right,’ I said, hoping Olive would just drop the subject, but she didn’t.

  ‘Don’t you want to win this thing?’ she asked. ‘Don’t you at least want to be one of the top three?’

  I considered it for a second. ‘Not really,’ I finally said. ‘I just want to get a passing grade.’

  Olive paused, obviously shocked. ‘So my lab partner is someone who cares just enough to pass a class … typical boy.’

  That was the second time someone said I was ‘being a boy’ in that way. Did they expect me to take it as an insult? Because it was more of a compliment.

  I leaned over on the counter with as much swagger as I could muster. ‘Y’know me,’ I sighed as I reached for Olive’s project to get a better look at it. ‘Cool as ice without a care in the world.’

  Olive slapped my hand. ‘Ah ah ahhhhh,’ she scolded. ‘Look but don’t touch.’

  I was surprised because her project looked like it had been run over by a train. ‘What’s that supposed to be?’

  Olive paused. I think I saw tears forming in her eyes, but she looked away too quickly for me to be sure. ‘It’s about the science behind bridges, but … I dropped it over the weekend.’

  Oh man, this girl was sad. I don’t know how to handle sad girls. After staring wide-eyed at the back of Olive’s head, I finally found the right words. ‘Bummer, dude.’

  Her shoulders twitched as she peeked back at me. ‘Thanks,’ she said in a low voice.

  I slid over and studied the smashed pieces of her project, which now I knew were supposed to be a bridge. ‘I think it’s fine. You’ll be alright this Friday. Really, I mean look at all the other stuff in here?’ I said, pointing my thumb at my own project. ‘Half of them are volcanoes, right?’