Drama Kings

Chapter 3

Before class, we would usually meet in the Highsky square, a few blocks away from school. Elisa and Effy were already there, sitting on a bench near the old, leaves filled fountain.

'Lighter?'

Effy pulled a bright pink Zippo from her jean pocket and, flicking it open expertly, she lighted the end of the cigarette I was holding between my lips.

'How's Paddy?' Effy asked.

'Who's Paddy?'

'The poodle'

'Paddy the Poodle' I repeated. 'News travel fast, I see'

Elisa's eyes left my face to look behind my shoulder, and she gave Effy a slap on the knee. Effy immediately threw her own half smoked cigarette on the ground, putting it off with her foot.
I wasn't fast enough and Hugh snatched mine off my hand, and threw it in the fountain, where the fire died with an ultimate hiss.

'How's Paddy?' He muttered while munching on his bagel.

'Fine, my mom loves him' I answered with a pout.

Hugh was a peaceful soul, and you had to be particularly determined to piss him off. However, he couldn't stand smokers since his grandpa died from lung cancer when he was six, and the first and only time I ever saw him truly angry was the night a drunken Effy had succeeded to pressure me into smoking my first cigarette, which lead to me developing a taste for it overtime. Since then, Hugh had officially forbidden us from ever smoking again, which translated in him stealing packs, lighters and lighted cigarettes every time he had the occasion.

'Good day to you, my friends!' Harry shouted as he joined us. 'I have a question of the greatest importance'

'I will not join your stupid club, Harry'

He gave me a haughty look.

'You'll learn that the world does not revolve around you, my dear'

I rolled my eyes.
He then clapped his hands enthusiastically in a way that could only remind one of these over exited and way too healthy fitness coaches at the gym.

'Which activities are you going to choose?' He asked.

The question was obviously aimed at me. Effy was the head cheerleader, Hugh had been in the band for years, playing saxophone, and Elisa was the only reason Evergreen High School had ever won the inter school mathematics competition, theory which was proven true when we lamentably came last at the former year's championship, while Elisa was away in France.

'I'm thinking of joining the poetry club'

The voice was so weak it was at the limit of the audible.
Everybody turned to look at Hugh, before letting out a concerto of loud and ostentatious grunts.

'You are so mean, guys. Every one of you!' He whined with hurt in his eyes.

It was widely accepted that Hugh's poetry was terrible. A large panel of new idioms had appeared around the school to express exactly how bad it was, and it had become one of the most lasting running joke in the school's history, since he first read one of his poems at the eighth grade's talent show.

'What about you, Alex?' Harry asked in a sirupy voice.

I have the almost flawless certitude that at this moment, he thought of himself as extremely subtle.

'I'll probably go back to the Chess club'

***

The first rule of the Chess club is that you should never talk about the Chess club. Few students actually knew the truth, which is that it doesn't technically exist. You could look at it as a revolutionary organisation that fought for its members' right to be a bunch of lazy sloths. As much as the school's authorities knew, this club worked just as any other - everyday after school, the members met to practice for one hour and a half, and participated in the local competition in June. However, thanks to M. Bishops, nothing of such ever happened in room 301 since the creation of the club ten years before. M.Bishops, better known as M.B, was a P.E teacher and had been assigned to the Chess club because he was unfortunate enough to have scored second place at the state's chess championship in his youth. His role was to lead, teach and take care of the members every afternoon. However, M.B hated chess even more than his wife, and because of this reason, added to the fact that M.B was just as if not even more lazy as any student, the Chess club was born. When you had the chance to belong to the Chess club, you had M.B's permission to leave the school at the end of the class, at the very strict condition to take all the blame if you were to be caught. You could also stay in room 305 to read, use your phone or sleep until the one hour and a half daily attendance quota was filled. The key to the club's survival was its very secretive policy. It counted fifteen members, and every time one of them left, they were allowed to chose one and only one trustworthy successor within the other students, thus conserving the golden number - not too many to become suspicious, but enough to assure its existence. I personally found out about the big secret during The Great Leak of 2005, when a freshman who was actually very fond of chess was so disappointed to discover the truth, he went to rant about it to anyone who would listen. Luckily enough, he was rather quickly shut up by a bit of bribery and a good amount of intimidation from the oldest members. However, some harm was already done, and the next year, a record-breaking number of 54 students applied for a membership. It was then that M.B had to step in, before too much attention was drawn to his beloved illegal organisation, and thirty-eight newly chess enthusiasts had to quickly withdraw their candidature in order to avoid failing P.E. I, for one, wasn't ready to let an occasion like that one slip through my fingers, and I went to confront M.B with the threat of exposing him to the principal. He must had been impressed by my guts that day, because not only did I became the sixteenth member of the Chess club, but I also passed P.E with an A.