Prologue
The rain dowsed everything in long, messy streaks of gray. Liza sat in the large cherry wood chair, staring out at the gloom of the street and running her finger over the old parlor room chess board. The old familiar raised curls and ferns would usually comfort her, make her feel like her father was with her again. It wasn’t just a box for storing kings and pawns, but a chest of memories and happiness. But, not today. Today it was a piece of old, dead tree.
Liza had always loved the grand old game. Plotting everything out to the final move, knowing what your next move was, or even better, having to find a new move when you needed to. It was no wonder she was revered as a prodigy by the time she was in 3rd grade. The picture of her holding the small golden trophy in her puffy lilac dress still sat on the mantelpiece. That was the day she found her calling. In thinking of it now, it seemed that little girl, with her perfect plaited pale pigtails and shining mary janes, knew she wanted to live her whole life like a chess game. Plotting and moving, plotting and moving until she reached the end of the board of life.
Then, Liza met Aidan. Or Aidan met Liza. She really couldn’t remember, but did it matter in the end. Girl and boy had met, and the rest is always history. How they met was what mattered. The first time her gray eyes had connected with his deep green. The first time Aidan spoke to her, or yelled, because that’s how it went. The fateful meeting was more Lucille Ball than Olivia Newton John. Aidan and her became fast frenemies. He was the opponent at the other end of the board who always made Liza lose her next move or misplace a pawn. Someone she could play with forever.
Pale lips curling up for second, Liza looked toward the wall at on other side of the room. Beyond the pictures, wallpaper and brick, he was there. Probably throwing paint or splattering clay. Most likely both, while sketching his new girlfriend. Turning her somber eyes, Liza’s lips slid slowly down as she looked at the piano. Bouquets and mourning wreaths littered it’s dark surface. A million notes, ribbons, and quite a few chess sets for her lay on the glass coffee table near the fireplace, all mourning the loss of her well loved Auntie Clara.
Aunt Clara had been the one to topple the king in her and Aidan’s never ending chess game. Clara had told her time and time again to not waste her time that pathetic starving artist. He was just dead weight, like any other man, she had said. Clara wanted her to focus on her future as world chess champion. No matter how many times Liza tried to tell her Aidan was part of her future, Clara would just ignore her. She had the whole neighborhood watching her, to insure Liza wouldn’t be near Aidan. Now that she was gone, Liza and Aidan could be together. Then, one of the wreaths stared at her like an omen. “Gone, but not forgotten,” was written in beautiful scrawl across a silk ribbon.
They would all see her. They would just see her walking to the house next door and going against her deceased Aunt’s wishes. What would they think? Everyone thought her aunt was a great judge of character and wise beyond her years. There must have been a reason she didn’t want her only niece around that young man. It didn't matter if Liza loved and trusted him. It was only what Clara thought was best.
Should she care though? They were just people. People who didn’t know her really, or tried to get know her. Most of them had been to her chess games and cheered for her. I could throw it all away, Liza thought. That’s what people did when they were in love. They threw everything away. All they would need were each other. And you only need two people to play chess. Liza could still have it all. Doing what she loved with who she loved. Getting away from everyone in town and the memories of her aunt.
Then, Liza rethought that move. Everyone in this town had given her the respect she had. They had set up her board, and they could just as easily knock it down.
