Young and Foolish

Chapter 23: Check Mate

Theodore's POV: 

Were we friends now? Is that how things worked here? Jason told me his name and ordered me to tell him better stories, and the latter implied he was interested in hearing more of my stories, just as long as they weren't anything like the first, but really I had absolutely no idea what "better" meant. And did he mean to tell him stories only when he was hurt, like I usually did with other people, or did he think it was some sort of bedtime thing that I had to do every day?  

And that was the least of my problems. He was just so unpredictable. I had to walk on eggshells whenever he was near. I whispered and made myself seem as small and unthreatening as possible, for fear that he'd do something as wild and crazy as stealing my phone and physically tossing me out the front door like I was a sack of potatoes. 

Speaking of, he still had my phone. Sarah was the only person that really contacted me, and she never really had anything important to say, so I didn't mind much. It was almost nice to be free from my family. Or at least as free as a heavily guarded boarding school allowed me to be. But it was still necessary to have some way of contacting anyone. If Jason decided to do anything worse to me than merely throw me out, I'd need a phone to call for help. Here's hoping that I never need to call the ambulance though.

But would he need to do that? He had shown up yesterday all bloodied and bruised. Was he involved in some sort of trouble? And, more importantly, would that trouble affect me, as his roommate? If he brought anyone into our room that was sketchy and dangerous, I'd probably not be able to do much to save myself. Or if whoever was hurting him started hanging around our door while waiting on him, they'd easily be able to beat me to a pulp and steal my keys to get in. 

Either scenario sounded awful, but I'd be helpless no matter what happened. 

Yesterday, I had gotten through a pretty large chunk of my work, so I didn't really need to work that hard today. The school day went by pretty fast with all the worrying I had done. Goddess, I'd be grey and wrinkled by the time I got out of here with all the worrying I've been doing lately. If I got out of here, that is. 

I patted myself on the back for joining photography club, because thanks to Mr. Hudson letting us take a walk through the school gardens to grab photos, I finally got the chance to relax. My wolf appreciated being surrounded by nature. And it was actually pretty calming to take photos of pretty flowers and interesting bugs. 

From where I was standing, a bit farther off from the rest of the group I could see a boy leaning against the outer fence. I aimed my camera at him and zoomed in. He had a tired expression, but the sun was hitting his shoulder-length, blonde hair at the perfect angle and it looked nearly golden. With his hands tucked in his pockets and one foot propped up on the fence, it looked like he was posing for a picture. 

My finger clicked the shutter button before I even thought about it. But when I looked at the photo I had taken, I smiled. It turned out amazing. It was, without a doubt, one of the best photos I had ever taken. 

Oh goddess. What if he was creeped out? Lots of people hated having their photo taken without consent, and if he was anything like my roommate, I just might lose my life over the press of a button. But it was such a pretty photo, and I really couldn't bare to delete it. 

As long as I never did it again, it'd be fine, right? I glanced back to where he was, only to notice him looking in my direction. Crap. I ducked, out of instinct. He couldn't have been looking at me, right? 

Right in front of my face was a large spider, and I immediately pulled my head back. But its web had fine water droplets that caught the sun nicely, so I raised my camera to take a photo. I'm only going to take pictures of bugs now; bugs wouldn't kill me for taking their photo. 

The rest of photography club had gone by pretty well, and I had nearly forgotten about the golden boy by the time I made my way to chess club. Nearly. 

There he sat. Up close, he was taller and buffer than I originally thought. Was he here to kill me? He picked up a bishop and knocked down a pawn from across the board. My heart jumped as it fell. 

He noticed me staring at him by the door. He raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged to himself. 

"Sit there," he ordered, pointing to the empty seat across from him. He returned all the pieces to their original places. He was playing white, so he moved first. He focused down at the board, so I did that same. I was much too terrified to look at him. 

"You aiming to fight me or kiss me?" he asked after a few turns. 

"What?" I asked, pulse quickening as I glanced up. 

"I noticed you been watching me all day. What's got you so obsessed with me?" he looked up at me, resting his chin on his hand. 

"Nothing. I didn't even notice you before today, I swear. And I don't want to fight you, or kiss you. Really," I assured him, nearly whimpering. He was almost as scary as Jason. 

He stared me down intensely, and I was beginning to sweat under his harsh gaze. Finally, he quirked a half grin. More of a smirk, really. 

"No need to piss yourself, I'm not going to feast on your carcass," his sharp teeth glinted in the light at that moment, and had he not just said those words, I would've begun to cry. Instead, I nodded, nervously. 

"I wouldn't mind, you know, if you wanted to," he offered casually before focusing in on the game again. Was he talking about fighting or kissing? I really didn't want to know. I wasn't going to attempt either. 

I didn't reply. I captured his queen with my bishop. 

He let out an amused huff. He took my king off the board and pocketed it. He stood up, and I could only stare in utter confusion. 

"Play me again sometime," he called as he walked out.