Spring Writes Stuff

36. Did she stop crying?

i wrote this because i can blehh 

Eggs loves playing chess. He's not too good at it like some others, but when he was about 11, he loves it when people underestimate his goofy looks for his passion and skill in the game.

A few years later, seeing one of his children, Antoinette, caring for this game as much as he does when he was her age made him love the sport more.

Today is Antoinette's first professional tournament in their school, and Eggs is more than happy to come with her.

He'll admit, she's infinitely better than him for chess, but seeing his daughter mercilessly destroy her opponents one by one makes his heart swell with pride for her.

A few games have taken place, and, right now is Antoinette's last match against another aggressive competitor in their school named Gabriel Gensan.

These two players haven't lost to anyone, but this game will prove who's the best. The time ticking down and the eyes of the audience that gathered around the top two players have greatly impacted their pieces.

Both have convoluted boards, but Antoinette's position leans more towards the negative end. The time disadvantage she has against Gabriel didn't help lessen the intensity of the game at all.

"Oh no..." Eggs recognized that his daughter is running behind the game. She only has a few moves left to play until she eventually gets checkmated.

Antoinette suggests for a draw, but Gabriel knew that he has the winning position and respectfully declined. After that rejection, she knows that no matter how hard she tries to win the game, she'll eventually lose.

Their grueling rook against queen endgame is still a close match, but Gabriel discovers a brilliant move with his queen that forks her rook and king with a check.

Antoinette moves her king away before she offers her hand with a small frown, finally giving the win to her opponent through resigning. The crowd applauds the two players as they swiftly shook their hands.

"Good game," Gabriel commends with a slight nod. She didn't bother to look up to her opponent as they swiftly sign each other's scoresheets.

Antoinette slams the pen beside the chess board on the table and quickly walks out, feeling the need to get away from the crowd as hot tears start brewing from her eyes.

"Nettie!" Eggs calls out to his daughter, before rushing his through the crowd to chase her down.

Antoinette's feet move quicker than his, as she turns a sharp left to the girl's washroom. Eggs stops in his tracks as he watches her enter washroom door, knowing that she wants to be left alone for a while.

He leans beside the door, checks his watch for a quick second, and patiently waits for his daughter to come out. 15 minutes later, the door knob twists open.

Eggs lurches off the wall as he sees Antoinette's gloomy state, with her eyes being puffy and her nose being bright red. He could easily tell that she's been crying the whole time that she's inside.

He kneels down to her height and gives his daughter one look, and the tween immediately rushes towards him with a tight hug.

"Sorry I lost the big game today, dad," Antoinette says as she buries her face against his shirt.

Eggs shakes his head. "You didn't lose today, angel," he says as he pulls away. "You played your best, and you've proven that you're a strong player! To me, that's a huge win!"

"I still dropped my final game," Antoinette says with a frown. "If only I hadn't blundered my other rook..." she sniffs as she rubs her nose with her arm. Eggs rose up to his feet again, before placing his hand on her shoulder, giving his daughter a smile.

"We should go get some ice cream outside," he says. His smile turns into a grin as Antoinette's face brightens up at the mention of ice cream, eagerly nodding her head.

The two walk out of the school, being lucky enough to buy ice cream from the truck parked just outside the school's main entrance.

After the ice cream truck drives away, Eggs and Antoinette ate their ice creams as they wander back inside the school to the library, where the chess tournament takes place.

"You know," Eggs comments, getting Antoinette's attention. "I played for a school tournament once."

"You did?" She asks as her head perks up.

"Oh yes I did," He answers with a smug smirk on his face, making her giggle. "I didn't do well. I won only three games out of twenty."

Eggs gives his daughter a look to check if she was paying attention. To his relief, she's walking closely to him, listening intently.

"One of those games is with your Aunt Aggie, whose also in the tournament and is also a very good chess player," he says with a slight smile as they take a right.

"You played against Auntie Aggie?" Antoinette asks him as her eyes become wide in excitement. 

"I did!" Eggs tells her. "When she was your age, she kicked everyone's butt at chess! She always plays for the win," he continues as the two of them enter the library's doors.

"How did it go???" She asks again. 

"When we had our match, we were too excited to play each other. I can clearly remember all the mistakes we made," Eggs says with a chuckle, making Antoinette laugh loudly.

"That game," his smile turns into a small frown, "is the only chess game she lost to this day."

Antoinette's jaw dropped. "You beat Auntie Aggie??"

"I wish I didn't beat her," Eggs looks away from his daughter. "I couldn't even remember how I trapped her rook that day. That loss was responsible for her only getting second place. She was devastated."

"Oh no," Antoinette says with a frown. 

Eggs pauses, as they both take a seat amongst the sea of chairs across the room set in front of the library's mini stage.

"I thought that she was mad at me, so I apologized," Eggs says with a sigh. "She didn't stop crying, even after she said it was okay."

"All contestants please remain seated for an important announcement."

The library doors suddenly burst open, revealing a woman in a simple black dress surrounded by flashing lights coming from the paparazzi following her around.

"We have a very special guest today, assisting us award our winners for this year's chess tournament."

"Did Auntie Aggie ever stop crying after that day?" Antoinette asks, ignoring the loud noise coming from the crowd.

Eggs shakes his head. "No," he tells Antoinette, looking over the doors with a grin appearing on his lips. "She stopped losing."

"Please welcome the 5 time Chess World Champion, Super Grandmaster Agatha Prenderghast!"