Autumn

15: When she's back

Once the week was over, Theodore found Autumn outside with an old fold-out game board. She was setting up the pieces as he approached.

"Checkers?"

"Don't laugh," she said. "Want to play a game?"

He dropped onto the grass and assumed the position with the red pieces. "Was your week really that uneventful that you had to resort to board games?"

"Quite the opposite, really. Since I was on house arrest, my parents took the opportunity to give me about a million and one chores." Autumn moved a piece forward. "Your turn."

"Sounds rough."

"It was. Then my mother delighted me with an excursion to see my grandmother on the weekend as a 'reward'. She lives in one of those nursing homes and we play games a lot. She's really good at checkers, like really good. She absolutely dominates me every time."

"Hence our current game?" Theodore jumped over a couple of Autumn's pieces. "Hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty good at checkers."

Autumn swore, then sighed. "It'll be good practice. I expect to be unbeatable by my next visit. I haven't won a single game and I plan to change that."

"Maybe tonight will be your lucky night," he answered, without looking up. He could feel her stare burning a hole in his skull. He resisted the urge to scratch his head.

"Don't even think about letting me win."

Theodore glanced up after moving one of his pieces and feigned innocence.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Autumn said, shaking her head as she managed to jump over one of his checkers. "I wouldn't hold back if we were playing something you weren't good at. Come on, challenge me."

And so he did. It encouraged her to work harder, to improve.

"I'm getting better," she proclaimed, watching sadly as Theodore took away another one of her pieces.

He yawned, dropping the checker onto the impressive stack next to his knee. "You are. But I'm absolutely wiped."

"Me too." Autumn lifted her arms into the air and stretched. "Hey, thank you for helping me out. My grandma's not going to see what hit her."

Theodore looked down and chuckled under his breath as he helped her pack the game up.

"I owe you one."

I owe you one.

"Is it too early to cash in my favour?"

Autumn placed the board back into its tattered box and popped the lid on top. The image on the front was faded and worn, creases tracing over the remainder of what was visible.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Would you mind meeting my friend?" Theodore said it in such a rush that he wasn't sure she heard him properly.

"Your friend?"

"Yes, friend as in singular. It's quite unfortunate, but a majority of the student body hasn't discovered the absolute joy of my presence yet." The tips of his ears turned pink.

"Oh, Theodore." Her smile put the stars to shame. "I meant do you really want me to meet your friend?"

"Absolutely. He doesn't believe that my next door neighbour is a really beautiful girl, plus we made a deal that if you were real—which you obviously are—and you two met, then he'd quit smoking. And, I mean, other than wanting to show you off, his health is also on the line. Honestly, he's like a chimney. He can go through a pack of cigarettes in absolutely no time." Theodore sucked in a sharp breath, his heart hammering. He could barely hear anything. The beating of his pulse was deafening. "I'm, um, rambling aren't I?"

Autumn, however, was over the moon and was only half-listening. Theodore instantly felt more at ease and his heart hit its crescendo.

Not because he was embarrassed anymore.

But because of an ecstatic dark-haired beauty.