"Because Ned's a maniac, that's why!"
Jon and Sarah heard Jay Duncan explode as they approached the lunch table. He, Karyn, and Kyla were already seated.
"Who's Ned?" Sarah asked.
Jay shot her a cocked eyebrow, but Jon gave him a look as if to say "just placate her." So he did.
"Ned's president of the Chess Club. I'm trying to make the competition team, and he's treating it like a fraternity initiation. Five boards. Each have a one-move checkmate for white. Find one, down a shot, find the next, down a shot, get the next, down a shot. All five in under ten minutes! If my dad knew, he'd kill me. I'm not supposed to be drinking."
Kyla interrupted, "So why don't you tell a teacher?"
"Because that would ruin the club, and I wouldn't be on the team anyway," Jay responded with a half-pout. "It's ridiculous! 'I don't care if this is the first time you're drunk, have these ten openings memorized by tomorrow.' As if I don't have other work I need to do."
"Did you memorize the openings?" asked Jon.
"Well, yeah. I'm the only new recruit that did it, though, and I only barely finished my AP Geography essay."
Sarah was quiet, but impressed. She never realized that something as silly as a board game could be so intense. The more time she spent around these nerds, the more respect she had for them.
Apparently not enough respect, however, to stop a freight train from slamming into her skull.
Sarah cried out in pain. This one was worse than the others. Buy it went away in a moment, and she could hear a chorus of voices around her asking if she was alright. But there was something wrong. Were they saying Sarah, or...
"Sam, are you okay?"
Sarah's head cleared in an instant. She could tell immediately that she was a boy and that Jay was a girl, and this realization sent her into a panic.
"No," he said. "No, no no. This isn't fair. Of all the things, of everything... how... how..."
Sam just started mumbling incoherently, eyes locked open as his friends, Kyla, Jamie, Karyn, and Jon looked on helplessly. Jon said, "I'll take him back to Mrs. Evans, you guys finish lunch."
As Jon lead a dazed Sam away from the cafeteria, he could hear the four girls continuing their conversation, "So yeah, I'm really glad Ned decided to exempt me from the shots. All the guys who're trying out for the competition team look like crap this morning."
And then the heavy double-doors closed behind them.
