The Slut's Guide to Chess

chapter 3

"Zora McQueen, how come whenever there's trouble, you're always in the middle of it?"

I tore my eyes away from Arwyn and instead welcomed the sight of Alexander Devon with a sigh of relief. He sauntered towards us and took in Arwyn's glare with an amused smile. He must have seen me being literally thrown out and that thought alone brought heat to my cheeks.

"Xander," Arwyn breathed and the two looked at one another carefully. As far as I'd seen, the pair had only talked about a handful of times, but that was a handful of times more than other people Arwyn Truong talked to.

"It wasn't Zora's fault," Arwyn spoke and his voice was gentle, a deep baritone that was ruggedly comforting.

Xander kept himself still as his eyes roamed from Arwyn to the building and the chess players who filtered out. They all kept their eyes to the floor, avoiding catching the attention of either Arwyn or Xander for they both represented power within Blackwell Boarding School for two very different reasons.

Arwyn controlled things from behind the scenes, he quietly tugged at strings and whispered orders into those he held power over. He was brooding and quiet, sharp eyes that warned strangers and the brains to back it up. That's what I had heard, anyway. I didn't know much about Arwyn Truong and in reality, neither did anyone else.

Then, Alexander Devon was the face of the operation. He was the man who resurrected Blackwell Boarding school's reputation. He crafted his path and cemented the way.

Educating Elite - an inside to the prestigious life of Blackwell Boarding School. Every Saturday at 7.

Xander was the producer of the reality TV show that had taken over our school lives. They used footage from the security cameras, followed us around the campus and took interviews regularly.

It threw pressure on us to look good, to do good and to sound good. We had to be interesting whether for positive or negative reasons. We barely got days off from the act and slowly our on-screen personalities morphed into our everyday faces.

Everything was dramatised from classes to after school clubs. Every Saturday when an episode was released, a new argument, person or conflict was introduced along with it.

After running for almost three years, the show had caught steam. In fact, it was the reason why so many parents decided to pay tuition for our old school.

Before Educating Elite, Blackwell was on its last legs. Alexander Devon had saved the school and he made sure everyone knew.

The wind caught speed around us and whipped my hair around my face. Arwyn broke eye contact first as his intense gaze fell to me. I wasn't sure what he was trying to say. I didn't want to know either.

Xander stood behind me like a bodyguard and his dominating demeanour stole the words from our throats.

Arwyn ducked his head down in defeat and the black of his hair fell over his eyes, just over his glasses.

"Come on, Zora," Xander murmured while pulling the sleeve of my blazer. I didn't realise he was guiding me toward his office until I stood stiffly in his doorway and he'd thrown his stuff on the desk.

My head buzzed with a sickening frustration towards myself. I couldn't believe I'd snapped at Griffin, it wasn't right. It wasn't me.

I was lucky that there were no cameras in the chess building.

Xander tapped on my forehead with a smile. "What's wrong?"

Instinctively, I shook my head with a smile.