They all continued to watch the players set up silently, but Charlee made note of the fact that Drew watched only Hector. Although Charlee was shy to a fault and the thought of holding even a conversation with this guy scared the daylights out of her, it secretly excited her that for once when both she and Drew found a guy attractive, she might actually have more in common with him than her much more outgoing best friend. Maybe for once she would have the always unspoken dibs Drew automatically had on any attractive guys.
It wasn’t that Drew would selfishly stake her claim on all guys they met. She wasn’t like that. But it was common knowledge that Charlee was about as socially inept as Walter seemed to be. Drew was a good friend. She often tried to encourage Charlee to be more flirtatious, and Charlee knew that not only would Drew step aside and give her dibs if she asked for it but she’d be utterly excited about it. Aside from Charlee’s mother, Drew was the only other person who knew why it was so hard for Charlee to ever consider something like that. That’s why Drew encouraged but never pushed. So while Charlee did her best to go as unnoticed as possible, Drew with her unreserved personality was just the opposite. It was inevitable that if either of the two would grab the attention of any guy it was always Drew.
As the tournament began, Charlee found it impossible to keep her eyes off him. Something nervously strange, but at the same time exciting, stirred in her the entire time. Even after he’d won twice and was moved to the next table as the players were narrowed down to just eight, the chances of him actually winning the whole thing seemed slim. She’d heard at least a little of each of today’s contestants, yet she’d never once heard of Hector.
Turning her phone away from Drew’s view, she Googled his name. There had to be something about some of the tournaments he might’ve been in or won. Even she got a few hits when she typed it in her own name.
Almost everything that came up was about his boxing. Her heart sped up a little when she clicked on one of the hits and a few images of him in the boxing ring shirtless came up. His half-naked body was everything she’d imagined and more. He even had a tattoo on his very muscular upper chest.
After staring at the photos, she clicked on a few of the other hits. There was one from this past summer of a ribbon cutting for the grand reopening of 5th Street, the gym Walter had mentioned Hector boxed at. Tapping on one of the photos so her phone would zoom in on it, she swallowed hard at the sight of him and a few other handsome guys in suits, smiling big. Her eyes were glued to his image.
“He’s part owner.”
Charlee flinched at the sound of Walter’s voice so near her. She knew he’d been sitting next to her, but he’d been so into observing the competition she didn’t expect him to be watching what she was doing. She instinctively moved the phone out of Walter’s curious eyes. “I uh,” she looked back down at the phone and closed out the browser. “I was just trying to get some stats on his game.” She stared ahead, refusing to look Walter in the eye. “I know a little about all the other contestants, but I’ve never heard anything about him.”
“Did you find anything?”
She frowned, still staring straight ahead but made sure she didn’t look in Hector’s direction. She pretended to be overly interested in the only female still in the competition. “No nothing. Aside from his boxing, there were a few hits about the online tournaments he’s played and won but nothing near this level of competition.” In an attempt to sound almost snobby about her doubts in Hector’s abilities as a chess player because it was less embarrassing than Walter picking up on her real reasons for her interest in Hector, she continued without looking at him. “Is he supposed to be good or something? Because I’m a little surprised he’s still in it.”
Walter shrugged. “If he was invited, I’m sure he’s pretty good.” Charlee finally turned to look at him. He froze for a split second, and in the next he was doing that thing with his head again, moving it up and down. “Probably not as good as me, but you know,” he bit his bottom lip again and even closed his eyes without saying more.
“Are you okay?”
His eyes flew up and his head stopped moving. “Yeah, why?”
“I dunno. It’s just that you were . . .” She waved the thought away with her hand. “So what’s his forte? I’m thinking it’s gotta be speed play, or he wouldn’t be in this still.”
Walter nodded. “I actually don’t know too much about Hector’s game, but I agree. Speed’s gotta be his thing. My money is on Kowalewski taking the whole thing today.” He pointed at a blond guy with glasses playing in the next table over to Hector’s left. “That guy right there. If both he and Hector win this round, they’re up against each other next. If Hector wins, then he’ll likely take the whole thing because I don’t think anyone else here is a stronger player than Kowalewski.”
Charlee stared at Kowalewski, though she’d rather have been staring at Hector. But she’d already been caught Google-stalking him on her phone, so she needed to be even more discreet now or at least continue to reaffirm that her curiosity in him was merely in the best interest of her chess team. They needed the best player here to replace a player she thought was one of if not the strongest on the team.
To her surprise and somewhat annoyance, not only did Drew stick around for the entire tournament but she seemed just as interested in seeing if Hector would win. They all watched in anticipation as Hector took the seat in front of Kowalewski and shook his hand over the chess board. If Walter’s prediction was right, this could be it. It seemed Walter wasn’t the only one thinking what he was thinking, because this time around, things got really quiet. All eyes were on the mysterious dark horse who had ridden in and taken down each of his opponents with ease. It seemed everyone knew this would be the real challenge.
Squirming in her seat as the game commenced, Charlee’s eyes were fixed on their play. She didn’t even care that she was now showing complete and blatant interest in Hector, because everyone else was too.
Thirty minutes later when Kowalewski reached over to shake Hector’s hand, admitting defeat, Charlee nearly jumped out of her seat. She managed to remain seated, though her hand did fly to her mouth. Drew turned to her with a curious twinkle in her eye. Charlee withdrew the huge grin she knew was plastered on her face now and quickly pretended to be wiping something off her lips. She sat back in her chair, glancing away from Drew’s inquiring stare.
Her best friend was too damn perceptive for her own good. Charlee wouldn’t give her anything further to scrutinize. Doing so proved harder than expected. After Hector took down Kowalewski, Charlee could barely sit still. Visions of him sitting in the school’s small chess lab flooded her mind. She knew that if he did make the team, she’d likely not only get to know him but she’d for sure get to play him eventually—sit for hours across from him close enough to touch him if she ever dared.
They announced the last two players standing: Hector Ayala and Morgan Bisbee. Walter seemed to think Hector had this, and for some reason, that appeared to bother him. “I would’ve rather had Kowalewski on the team,” he whispered as the time on the last match began. “Obviously speed play is not his thing, but he’s a force to be reckoned with in regular tournaments. He would’ve been a tremendous asset to the team.”
Charlee shifted her weight from one leg to the other, chewing her pinky nail. Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding since Hector had started his match with Kowalewski. They’d gotten up with everyone else and went and stood closer to the last table where Hector and Morgan sat battling it out.
From where she stood now, as much as she wanted to pay close attention to the moves being made on the chess board, she could barely keep her eyes from wandering to his face. He was one of those players that checked out once he started playing. As many people that surrounded the table, it was obvious he was deep in his own world. The intensity in his eyes, as he watched his opponents move and then made his quickly, was unrelenting.
Charlee swallowed hard, her eyes traveling from the crease between his eyes, as he studied the pieces on the board, to his heavily lashed eyes. This close she could see a small scar that ran across his left brow, splitting the brow just so. It was the perfect imperfection to an otherwise flawless face. She also noticed how tight his jaw would clench just before he made a move. As big as his hands were, his fingers moved about the board gracefully from one side to the other without dropping any of the pieces.
As the game came down to the last few minutes and they began to move at a much faster speed, the crowd’s whispers became louder with excitement. Speed chess had never been Charlee’s thing. She could barely keep up with their moves, so it was difficult to anticipate what Hector’s next move might be. Yet as they moved at what seemed like a ridiculous speed now, her heart began to pound against her chest. Any minute now, they’d have a winner. Then she saw it. Hector could bring his knight to f6 and his queen could swing over to the H file. He was going to win. He was going to win!
In the next couple of moves, it was over. The crowd clapped, seemingly as impressed as Charlee was. Hector stood surrounded by the officials and team trainers. Cameras, including phone cameras, went off left and right. Many congratulated Hector, while others from the team walked up to shake his hand and introduce themselves.
Charlee wished she had it in her to at least take advantage of the flurry and take a few pictures of her own: photos she could keep on her phone and stare at forever, maybe even while she . . . At the moment, she stood frozen in place barely able to believe that he—the guy she’d been secretly obsessing about all week—was now on her chess team and very likely would soon be attending ESU.
For someone who wasn’t too keen on Hector being the newest member of the team, Walter changed his tune real fast. Hector went from being the unknown last minute contender to the newest member of the team—a team that would soon be going to the Junior National Olympiad. Everyone wanted to know him now. As soon as things finally began to die down and Hector was done with all the unrehearsed interviews for the school paper and meeting with all the trainers, Walter grabbed him.
He stood a few feet away from Charlee and Drew, congratulating Hector, and then he glanced up in Charlee’s direction. Suddenly terrified at the thought of Walter possibly bringing Hector over to introduce him to her, Charlee grabbed Drew’s arm. It was one thing to fantasize about this guy and worship him from afar; it was quite another to actually speak with him. She wasn’t ready for that. She hadn’t given it much thought, but she’d come up with something soon enough—work up the nerve to even talk to him slowly in the coming weeks a little at a time, not all in one night.
“Let’s go,” she said. “You’ve been a good sport all this time. Let’s go check out those boots you wanted to buy. We can grab some Taco Bell on the way. My treat.”
Drew stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
Charlee turned to face her smirking friend. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know when you were planning on telling me, and I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but you got a thing for this guy—a major thing.”
Charlee glanced back at Walter and Hector who were already walking toward them then turned back to Drew wide-eyed. “What?” She tried pulling Drew along with her again, feeling instantly mortified. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she whispered loudly. “I don’t know him. I’ve never even spoken to him.”
“Well, now’s your chance.” This time Drew held Charlee’s arm and turned her around just in time to see that breathtaking smile once again as Walter and Hector approached them.