The Slut's Guide to Chess

chapter 6

Arwyn had listened to me talk about everything from what I had for dinner today to what colour dress I wanted for prom. He didn't interrupt or add his comments but his body slowly loosened from its pent up nerves until he looked to be sprawled comfortably across the marble steps. He even nodded his heavy head every so often to show he was listening and that tugged a smile to my lips.

Regardless of whether he moved his head in recognition, I knew he was listening. I could tell from the way his body was so gently in tune with the words I spouted and as his brown eyes followed me, the sound of his breaths hitched or sighed in harmony with the nonsense I spoke. He was a listener.

"Okay, let's say for a moment that there actually was a zombie apocalypse right now and everyone in the hall turned into zombies, what would you do? Like, where would you even go?"

I took a moment for myself to think but before I could've filled the silence, Arwyn did.

"Thank you," he mumbled so quietly that I could've imagined it.

I slowly dragged my eyes to study him. He pulled his arm away from his face and dragged a hand over his smooth skin. The faintest of freckles sprinkled across his cheeks and they glowed under the pale moonlight. Arwyn reached over and dropped his wire-framed glasses to sit on the bridge of his nose before training his eyes to the sky above.

"I didn't do much," I replied. "In fact, maybe I should have done more than just sit here and talk about a bloody zombie apocalypse."

I watched his adam's apple as it bobbed up and down meticulously and his whole face seemed more mature now with the eyeglasses and solemn expression that pulled down at his lips.

Arwyn shook his head with a gentle smile. "Once I panicked in front of my mother and she was freaked the hell out by it. I was so embarrassed. She just sat in front of me on the floor and waited in complete silence for me to stop doing whatever I was doing."

I lowered my back onto the steps and turned my head to watch Arwyn's side profile as he talked quietly in a voice softer than I could even manage. He was pretty in a gentle sort of way, something I wasn't used to. It was the type of beauty that you had to seak out, but once noticed it was never forgotten. All sharp edges and dark eyes but a delicate impression to his curled lashes as they brushed against his smooth cheek, and pink lips that pursed perfectly

"I like when you talk, it distracts me." Arwyn turned his head so that we were face-to-face and I offered a beaming smile. 

"You're probably the only one who thinks that," I joked. "Everyone else tells me to shut up which you totally can do if you want, I won't take it personally. I sort of have a problem with interrupting people and talking over people and blabbering for way too long. Actually, Eliott told me once that I probably have ADHD but I've never been checked out for it so don't think that I'm self-diagnosing, because I'm not. I read that self-diagnosing is really bad, I'm not sure why though because I didn't get that far into the article.

Actually, I'm not very good at reading. I mean, obviously, I can read but for example in English, we have to read Of Mice and Men, yeah? And I can't stop thinking about how much I hate mice. I think it's because of that one time my sister took me to this really lovely field but we saw a mouse and it jumped all over our bags and it actually was quite weird-"

I stopped to take a deep breath and turned to Arwyn who was looking at me now. He offered an amused smile.

"See, you have to stop me or I'll go on forever," I laughed, throwing my hands into the air.

"That's alright, I'm a good listener. Will you tell me why you want to join the chess club now? It's been driving me crazy all day," he asked as the hoarseness of his voice wore off slightly.