Checkmate

Chapter 9

Laura’s POV

My eyes turned foggy while looking at how the girl leaps into Jade until he notice me and jumped up.

“Oh, what is it, Laura? You actually thought he liked you.” Jordan leans into my shoulder, whispering in my ear hateful things about Jade while he walks up to us.

“Let me tell you, well, things you already know, but ignored it and be a soldier, just like all the other girls. He doesn’t care. He will watch you bleed out on the battlefield and not blink.” Jordan whispered close to my ear, making me breathe harder with the words landing on my ear. Words I already knew were true but chose to ignore the warning signs.

“Laura, what are you doing here?” Jade asked the minute he reached for my arm to pull me away from Jordan.

“I, I mean... I don’t know. It was a mistake.” I tried to turn away and walk out, but Jade pulled me back.

“What’s wrong?” he pulled me closer, but I jerked away. The girl that was clinging to him seconds ago watch how Jade held my hand, and the anger on her face doesn’t match the feeling I have inside me, locked away and trying not to show him that I care. I just rebelled against my mother to look for him.

“Nothing.” I looked down at the floor, trying my best not to make eye contact. I need to breathe, but most importantly, I need to get out of here.

“Have a drink with us,” Jordan said with a smirk on his face behind Jade. Jade’s eye colour changed from soft to anger in minutes.

“No, we’re leaving,” Jade announced, but I have no intention of leaving with him. I can’t believe I fell for his bolt move by “having feelings for me.” seriously Laura. That’s what they do.

“You know what?” I changed my view from Jade and shift my eyes towards Jordan.

“A drink would be nice.” I smiled and walked up to Jordan. I can feel the tension rising with every step I take closer to Jordan, but I ignored it. Two can play this game. The difference between Jade and myself, I know how to read the game if my focus is on the board and not on the player in front of me.

I smiled at Jordan to ease the tension and snap out of his trance and lead the way to the crowded table. I guess he’s surprised that I accepted his invitation to have a drink with them. Either way, I’m not letting Jade have the better edition of me.

“Well, come on,” I said to Jordan, who is still staring at me with his dark eyes and surprised face. He nodded and walked past me to the table. Before I could sit down, Jade pulled me by my arm and asked if he can talk to me, but I declined and sit down next to Jordan. His teeth clenched while giving Jordan an evil look.

What a hell am I doing? I asked silently but ignore the voice saying “get up and run.” Jordan ordered a beer and a coke for me. Even though I said let’s have a drink, I still couldn’t get myself to order alcohol. Jade slide into the booth in front of me with his mouth open and a half-smile playing on his face. At this very moment, I’m not sure what to think out of it. Either way, it left me breathless and hypnotized.

“Can I have a beer as well?” Jade asked the waiter, who nodded while Jade stares at me.

The girl who, well let me say it like this, who was hanging on his lips, is staring at the both of us, while our eyes are locked on each other. Jade consumed me with long, slow stares, making me forget the girl sitting next to him and making me feel completely naked.

“So Laura, are you going to the party at the lake tomorrow?” Jordan asked, making me snap out of my thoughts.

“No, she’s not going,” Jade answered for me, and I can feel my face turning red, not just because he answered for me, but because he thinks he can make decisions for me, even though I feel like I can punch him in the face, I turned temporarily mute, and after a few seconds I started laughing, like really laughing.

Everyone stared at me as I turned into a completely crazy person. My skin flared with heat as I try to gather my thoughts to defend myself. Jordan turned his face, waiting for me to throw Jade off. It’s like he knows that none of the girls can put him in place. It’s like a never-ending game for them.

“That would be nice. What time are you picking me up?” I answered in defence and looked sideways towards Jordan. my throat closed down on me as the words leave my mouth, and I’m silently begging for air. Jade made eye contact but quickly looked away again.

I know he’s pissed off. You can’t tell someone you have “feelings” for them and not even an hour later you with another girl. Jade rudely clears his throat when Jordan removed a string of hair from my face.

“Hey, I’m Laura, I don’t recall Jade introducing you.” I stick my hand out to greet the girl next to Jade. She smiled a nervous smile and replied, “Madison.”

I returned the smile and realised that she feels just as awkward as I. I’m sick of these games, so to not look like a complete fool, I turned the tables and played the game back.

Jordan stand up from the booth and walked towards the bar to order more drinks. This time I decided to have one myself.

“What are you doing?” Jade leans forward and whispered.

“Nothing, I’m having a drink,” I answered in a neutral voice, but deep inside, my entire body trembles.

“Stop f*****g around Laura,” he whispered a little louder this time.

“I’m not f*****g around. I’m keeping my eyes on the player. Like you told me too” Jade leans backwards, stunt by my answer, and to be honest I feel stung by my own response. I don’t know why, but I feel a little satisfied by playing the game in my favour. Jordan returned with our drinks and I had a few, actually, while everyone was chit-chatting and Jade’s eyes were still on me. Watching my every move for almost an hour now.

I leaned into Jordan a few times just to get a reaction from Jade, but like always, he finds a different strategy. He kissed Madison a few times and with every kiss; he made sure my eyes were focused on them, and how can it not be. He’s sitting right in front of me.

“I need help and fast.” A tall guy asked, walking up with a chessboard. His hair is messy, and it looks like he just jumped out of a washing machine.

“What’s the problem?” Jordan asks.

“I’m playing champions on Monday and I have no idea how to win.” the tall guy answered. He sounds worried and out of breath. It almost looks like he’s going to faint.

“Craig, why don’t you ask Laura? She’s a master in chess,” Jade answered while taking a sip of his beer. I gave him an evil smile, making sure he knows I cannot be intimidated.

“Sure, someone once told me to keep my eye on the player and not on the board. Clues are everywhere.” I quote Jade’s answer from the other night. His eyes turned from playful to anger in seconds.

“Checkmate,” I said, leaning forward, looking straight into his eyes.

“I haven’t made a move yet. As I recall, you have to make sure the other player has no moves left before you can call checkmate,” he answered back with a smirk on his face. I swing my legs to the side while my face heats up. Everyone is staring at us while we keep mocking each other.

Jade’s breathing turned louder while he focus on my heated face. I feel like I need to say something back, but once again he placed me in a corner and the only way I can get out of it is to focus on the board this time, and not the arrogant yet mocking face in front of me.

“Give me the board,” I said to the tall guy whose name apparently is Craig. He quickly placed the board in front of me and backed away. At this moment, I can only focus on beating Jade. Jordan squeezed himself next to me, and the girl next to Jade looked frightened.

“You want to play now?” Jade’s voice sounds surprised. It was obvious that he didn’t expect me to challenge him in a bar, which, by the way, is full of bikers and drunk people.

“Yeah, why not? You scared?” I said while grabbing Jordan’s glass of beer and down it in seconds. Jade glared at me with worried eyes.

“Ok, make your move,” he said bravely.

The entire bar circled us in seconds. We kept on playing for almost an hour until I eventually saw a gab. Jade realised it when he looked up with defeated eyes.

“Checkmate, and you’re out of moves. I guess keeping your eye on the player doesn’t always work?” I called him out. Jordan started chuckling next to me and it only made Jade angrier than what he already was.

“One more game.” the crowd shouted. None of them is really interested in the game. They’re more interested in the tension that’s running high between Jade and me. I grab Jordan’s beer again and before I could drink from it, Jade snapped it out of my hand.

“You’ve had enough,” he said in a low tone of voice. beer spilt when he grabbed the glass.

“Are you serious now?” I jumped up from the booth, beer staining my white t-shirt already. He didn’t respond. Instead, he grabbed me by my arm to pull me outside. I feel a little intoxicated by the amount of beer I consumed, and honestly, I don’t know how to handle being drunk. This is the first time I have ever drunk alcohol and for a little while, it made me feel brave. Well, braver than being sober. I actually had fun until Jade turned into a full-blown jackass.

“Let go of me,” I said to Jade. The words creak out of my mouth, and I’m swinging from one side to the other. I only realised how drunk I am when we stepped outside into the cold air. The snow falls in circles and the wind is freezing.

“Why did you snap the beer out of my hand, and why are you so angry?” I asked when Jade removed his jacket and placed it over my shoulders.

“Because you had enough, and you were seconds away from falling flat on your face.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I said, not sure if it’s true. The last few minutes are a complete blank, and the way Jade looks at me, are different from his usual stares.

“Okay, maybe I had too much to drink, but it’s your fault.”

“My fault?” he quickly responds with questions surging in his eyes.

“Yes, you told me you had feelings for me, and then I find you here with a girl.” I waved my hands in front of me, and in seconds I could kick myself for bursting out why I came here in the first place.

“I do have feelings for you. I made that clear, but I also made it clear that I don’t date. I f**k around with girls and move on to the next one.” he admits, or states. I’m too drunk to even listen to this conversation.