Page 12

“All right. Relax.” I found it irritating that his tone of voice suggested I was being unreasonable, but then he stared at the board, trying to decide his first move.

I pulled a sandwich and chips out of my bag, unwrapping them, expecting to have the opportunity to have a few bites before my turn—but Zack didn’t ruminate too long.

Really, he didn’t have to. We’d played so long together that he probably knew what moves to expect from me—even though I wasn’t going first this time.

And I hadn’t played as much over the summer as I had the year before.

Even though I’d stayed with my grandparents again, I’d gotten a job at the swimming pool.

I was there on the first day and they had someone at the front desk/ snack bar quit without notice.

I couldn’t even remember exactly how it happened, but I got the job and worked that day.

It was only four hours five days a week, and I got to swim for an hour before we opened to the public if I wanted.

So my chess skills hadn’t been honed at all during the break.

In fact, I was probably a little rusty.

But so was Zack. He hadn’t been playing chess, either. He’d been focusing on his new love. “So, guys,” he said, moving a knight, “I’m gonna start a metal band.”

Braden all but dropped his sandwich. “Dude, that would be so awesome. But it won’t work around here.”

“Why not?”

“Cy Gilliam tried to start a rock band last year, remember? And he couldn’t get enough kids to join. Or to stick with it, I guess.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a total dick.”

“Ooh, burn.”

After moving a pawn on the side opposite where Zack had moved his knight, I felt ready to pay closer attention to the conversation. “Are you writing any music?”

“Hell, yeah, I’ve composed a couple of tunes.

That’s what I did this summer. It’s cool learning to cover songs, but then I felt inspired.

Like I’d come up with a really cool riff and think, ‘Damn. This needs some lyrics and shit.’ I guess if you do it long enough, you can’t help but be inspired to create your own. ”

“That’s awesome. Do you have a full song yet?”

“Yeah, actually. I have a bunch of half songs, too. I worked my ass off for mom again this summer and bought a program for mixing music, so after I record the guitar and voice to perfection, I mix in some drums and bass. But I want to play live, man. That’s where it’s at.”

“Live? Like where the hell can you do it in Dalton?”

“Dream, Braden. If I get a band together and we get good, I’ll figure it out. One problem at a time.”

“Okay, dude. Just asking.”

I wiped my fingers off on my napkin so I wouldn’t get potato chip grease on the bishop I was getting ready to move. “I want to hear your songs.”

“Me, too.”

“In good time, guys. I’d rather play them for you live.

Seriously, you don’t even know. That time I played in the quad before Vonner ripped out the juice from my amp, it was like a fucking high.

” I raised my eyebrows, because Zack dropped the F bomb in school —but we didn’t have a chaperone today, so he didn’t really have to worry about getting his butt chewed.

And how would Zack know about getting high? Apparently, I’d been missing a lot being gone over the summer.

I tried to remember back to the plays I’d done in middle school, and I didn’t recall anything particularly exciting about performing live.

I’d been too concerned with remembering my lines and not laughing or anything.

And, after all those years with Ava, I’d lost any self-confidence I had, so auditioning for a high school play was not an option.

If it wasn’t for my friendship with Zack, I’d probably have been a loner.

No, I’d more likely still be under Ava’s thumb playing her adoring lapdog.

“I don’t mind composing music by myself and slapping it all together on my computer, but there are a few problems with that when it comes to playing for other people, ‘cause I can’t play all the instruments live.

That’s never gonna happen. And there’s no room for creativity.

Sure, I can lay down some simple drum and bass tracks, but it’s not the same as a drummer coming in and putting his creative spin on it, something I might not think of, ‘cause that’s not my thing. I need a band.”

Braden said, “I don’t want to be a stick in the mud, but where—”

“Then don’t. I’m starting a band, no matter what.” With Braden’s negativity effectively silenced, Zack looked at him and then me. “Either of you want to be a part of it?”

I moved another piece on the board. “You know I don’t know how to read music—or how to play anything, for that matter. I think I’d be able to stumble through Chopsticks on the piano if someone gave me a refresher.”

Braden said, “Same. You know I love music, dude, but I guess I’ll have to be your roadie.”

It was like Zack hadn’t even heard us. “And my band is gonna kick so much ass, I won’t even have to finish school.”

I asked, “Your mom would let you do that?”

“Will she have a choice once I’m an adult?”

I couldn’t argue that point, but he wasn’t eighteen yet.

Zack moved a piece, but as I looked over the board, it was obvious to me that his mind wasn’t in the game.

One of my bishops had a straight line to his queen, and Zack had just unprotected her by moving a knight.

“Wouldn’t that kick ass?” It was evident he’d already thought a lot about this and his enthusiasm was contagious.

Even all the other kids in the room were only half paying attention to their games. “What do you think, guys?”

“You should do what you want,” Braden said, and I nodded.

“Yeah. Lots of great bands started in high school. Ever hear of Silverchair?” I shook my head and Braden shrugged.

“Look ‘em up. And you know Matt Heafy— Trivium . He was a kid back when he first started. Most guys were in a bunch of bands, starting in high school, before becoming famous. You see that over and over and over—so I’m starting now. Why wait? ”

Unceremoniously, I captured his queen, pursing my lips together so I wouldn’t burst into laughter. “Your turn,” I said sweetly.

“What? How the f—hell did that happen?” I grinned, shrugging my shoulders before picking up another potato chip.

“I guess I need to concentrate.” He began scouring the pieces while Braden wiggled his eyebrows up and down at me with a huge grin, because he knew as well as I did that Zack wasn’t into the game at all.

He had bigger things on his mind at the moment.

“I’ve already recruited my first band member. ”

“No way.”

“Yeah. You know Parker Eggleston?”

I shook my head, because that name wasn’t familiar, but Braden nodded.

“We were in band together last year, and he played drums for jazz band. Dude’s killer on drums and he’s got a feel for the blues.”

“The blues ?” Braden must have been thinking the same thing I was. Blues were kind of cool, but why? But Zack didn’t answer that particular question.

“Yeah, he’s amazing.” Zack finally just slid his rook across the board until it was up against one of my lone pawns. “And you , my friend,” he said, looking at Braden. “I think you should play bass.”

“What? Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have a clue how to play. What happened to being your roadie?”

“Man, you and me have been friends for a long time. I can’t let you just sit back and play roadie. You know the band members get the prime—” He paused as if remembering I was there before his voice went flat. “Girls.”

Fate smiled on me, and I moved a knight into position. “Check.”

Zack blinked, looking down. I wore a sweet, kind expression, daring him to complain—but he didn’t.

Instead, he allowed the chess game to distract him from talking for a few minutes, and started to move his king—but one of my bishops kept him from the first move he wanted to make.

I had him reacting, a position I’d never managed to get him in before, and I would have been excited, except I knew I was only doing so well because his head wasn’t in it.

He finally moved a piece before returning his attention to Braden. “So what do you say?”

“Dude, I don’t know how to play bass. And you’d be so bossy, it’d ruin our friendship.”

Zack laughed but I was contemplating my next move.

If I’d figured it correctly, he only had one move to make at this point that wouldn’t put him in check—and he couldn’t move any other pieces in to save his king, either.

So I just had to figure out what to move where, something that wouldn’t get knocked off the board by one of his pieces, and I could maybe win the game.

“Are you kidding? I could teach you. It’s a piece of cake once you know what you’re doing. And I wouldn’t be a bossy asshole.”

I focused on my queen.

“But what makes you think I’d want to do it?”

Zack’s eyes grew large, like Braden had said he wanted to move to Mongolia or something outrageous.

And then I swooped in for the kill.

“Checkmate.”

Zack glanced at the board, then back to Braden. “Why the hell wouldn’t you want to?” His eyes shifted back to me. “Nicely done.” He held up his hand for a high five, and no sooner had I slapped his hand than he returned his attention to Braden. “You’d kick ass, man.”

“I don’t know.”

I couldn’t even celebrate my victory—but I got caught up in his enthusiasm about a band and let it go.

“I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll teach you what I know and you can practice for a month. If you don’t get it or you hate it, I’ll never ask again. But if you find out you love it…”

“Okay.” It was a good thing Braden agreed, because it looked like one of the other chess kids was going to step up and take his place. “But I don’t have a bass guitar.”

“Got ya covered.”

Part of me was excited.

But there was another part of me, a dark corner in my soul near where that jealous monster lived, and I felt worried about my friendship. Would Zack’s band take away from me the best friend I’d ever known?