Forever in Grayscale

Forever in Grayscale: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: Carmen’s POV

Having to go to school is like being forced to eat crap. It sucks.

“Hey watch it!” some guy screams when HE crashes into ME. I straighten up and clutch my textbook so hard the corners are digging into me. Suddenly arms wrap around my neck and I feel like I’m carrying an extra 200 pounds.

“There’s my most beautiful queen in all of Grayscale!”

“Hey Chess,” I answered tonelessly.

“You mean ‘my king’,” he corrected me.

“I will tickle you if you don’t remove yourself this instant.” Threats always work for Chess. Yes, this was my best friend. If I seemed annoyed by him at the current time… well, he was acting kind of like a girl as of lately. Always fretting about his hair, suddenly constantly complaining he was fat, and for some reason, he would now HIDE behind corners before going around them. To scout out the place for someone.

I think someone has stolen the heart of my Knight. (Knight=Chess)

And he has never, EVER, as long as I have known him, acknowledged the fact he might be a little overweight. That’s what I loved about him in the first place!

“Carmen, are you okay? What’s the matter?” he asked, concerned. Oh, so now he caught on to my irritated mood.

“I’m fine. Just school sucks as usual.”

“Oh. I thought maybe I was annoying you. I’m sorry I make you tell me if the coast is clear every time we leave Algebra. You can never be too careful!” he warned.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal if I knew what the coast was clear OF,” I hinted. Chess may be clueless at times, but he isn’t stupid.

“Oh that,” he said tonelessly. “I-I’ve been meaning to tell you. I have a crush on somebody.”

YES! I knew it!

A huge grin spread across my face. “Who is it?”

“Um, well. I’ll show you at lunch?” he said. I nodded. This girl better be cool though. He once had a crush on this girl on the dance squad. It didn’t end well. In fact, we both got splattered with nacho cheese.

At lunch I slumped down in my seat, at our usual table in the corner of the cafeteria. Nate came and joined me, and then to my surprise, Oliver. I hadn’t spoken with him since the day I met Jace. We all sat there, talking, until we realized Chess was missing.

“Where is that nugget?” Nate asked. I don’t know why, but he called Chess a nugget. My eyes drifted over to the salad bar where I spotted Chess, making goo-goo eyes at a girl while unaware of the hazardous amount of ranch he was squeezing out. Too bad I could only see the back of her head.

“Chess!” Nate and I screamed in unison. It seemed loud enough to snap him out of his trance and before long he sank down in the chair next to me.

“Did you see her?” he whispered to me. I shook my head. “Then look over there.”

So I cast a sideways, stealthy glance to the next table over and…

Oh.

Nooooooooooooooo. This sucks. Not her!

Grayson. Grayson from my pack. Chess had a crush on Grayson. Stupid Grayson, with her long curly hair and all around cuteness. This would not end well for anyone. Not Chess, not me.

This was stupid. I was stupid, for picking up my phone, for searching in my contacts to find Xavier, to text him, to hit the send button, and low and behold, he responded. Now there was no way of getting out of this.