The Next Month
The rest of my first week at my new school goes by painlessly. I'm quick to catch up with class habits and the lessons. Using my tablet is a boatload of fun. It's a neat experience, taking it between the rooms. I might not be able to take it home for what little homework we do get, but that would only distract me from Daniela's background noise.
"[Bleep]!"
"[Bleep] idiot! You know I'm right!"
Speaking of bleeping idiots, me. I practice my Chess game nightly against the ruthless AI, but as hard as I try, I can't beat Kieran, or Max. Turns out that Max is a Chess-playing boy wonder. I hate him with every passing recess. It isn't him, though. I'm the one who chooses to keep hanging out with him because...well, Kieran does, and Max won't take no for an answer like we're friends or something...
Us? Friends? Acquaintances?
...Or something (as Stephen says).
"Heh. Did it again..."
Max is in one ear, out the other. Kieran?
"Dude, face it," he says, "you're not as good as us."
Kieran's attitude begins to flash its ugly eyes as January trudges on. I pretend I don't hear him, but I'm not deaf to the losses that mount. There are games where I want to throw the board out into the railyard. Scrappier defeats really sting because when I think I'm a move away, they find a workaround. But, it's just a game, right?
It isn't all stale candy.
Take my afternoon classes with Mrs. G in the classroom next door. In social studies, we've been singing our praises for dear Big Banking. In English, we've been picking at our novel every day. Movies and TV can never do books justice. So, how can graphic novels get it so right? I think the business should take note.
For some strange reason, Gregory likes to read with his head down and the book in his lap. His neck must be sore. I have to listen to him sniffling like an opossum, nose probably dripping all over the pages. He looks like he's sleeping more than reading.
Sleep-reading opossum?
Adorbs!
"So, tonight, finish the book. Then, we'll focus on our project."
The project? Write about a change in our life. My first idea is obvious, but I choose the time when Krodi's canceled my ice cream.
Here lies mint chocolate snickerdoodle.
I'm not admitting that my parents were right, but this room, our table, they give off old school vibes. There's a friendly Fight Night feud with Max's brother, Gregory. Kieran and Max get into arguments with him. I like Gregory. He thinks I'm a quiet cool kid and he can defend himself against the snark in a gentlemanly way...
Gentlemanly? My new favorite word.
...Gregory slaps down the sticks and stones like a spellbinding hero. How many mountaintops did he scale to achieve such admirable skills? Kieran is slick, changing tunes when he knows he's been bested. I get in on the fun, starting a gimmick as Gregory's number-one fan.
"Gregory! You're the best!"
Max despises it. I've never seen brows ruffle so intensely. It's...
It's kind of funny cute.
One day at lunch, Kieran and Max get into an arm-wrestling contest because of that Josh kid. Josh loses to Max. Kieran crushes Max, which surprises me because you'd think all those Fight Nights with his brother would help. I don't like touching people, but they coax me into a round with Max, whose arm folds like paper.
YOU ARE READING
Castling: A Novel (NaNoWriMo21)
Novela JuvenilIt's a slice-of-life centered around "Chase the Ace," who finds himself changing schools against his will mid-year to help make the most of that brain of his. It'll be good for him, they say. He won't be so bored. He'll get to be with an old friend...
