Head of the Class

Alex’s teeth chattered as he shivered in the booth at Stanley’s, waiting for Chess. The rest of the men ordered their beers, but Alex ordered a cup of coffee in hopes of warming up.

Where was she?

He’d had time to shower and dress and pack up his equipment and bring it out to his car. What was taking her so long?

Finally, Chess and Annie strolled through the doors together, giggling. Alex spun around and tried to look busy with conversation, but Bruce hadn’t missed a beat.

“Oh there you are, finally,” Bruce said loudly to Chess.

Chess gave Bruce a strange look. “Yeah? So? What do you care?”

“Oh no, not me,” Bruce continued with a wry smile. “I think Alex’s neck is sore from watching the door.”

Alex kicked Bruce under the table. “What are you talking about? I was checking the score on the TV.”

“There’s another one right above Will’s head,” Bruce pointed out. “You wouldn’t even have to move your eyes.”

Alex mouthed the words shut up, but Bruce kept right on smiling. Fortunately, both women were busy finding space to sit at the booth. Annie squeezed in beside Bruce, which Alex thought might mean that Chess would try to squeeze in with him and Will, but seeing that there were already 4 people at the booth, she stepped away to get a chair to pull up to the head of the table.

Alex was disappointed, but once Chess pulled the chair up and sat down, he realized that their knees were touching.

The waitress came up to their table. “What’ll you have?” she asked Chess.

“You want a green tea, Chessie?” Will asked.

“You buyin’?” she asked him coyly.

“Yep, it’s on me.”

Alex spoke up. “I could get it.”

“No worries,” Will said. “I owe her from last time.”

Alex fell silent. Last time?

“Green tea, please,” Chess said politely to the waitress.

“No beer?” asked Bruce.

Chess shook her head. “Naw.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t drink.”

Bruce’s mouth fell open. “Why not?”

Chess’s eyes grew dark and brooding. “I just don’t, alright?” she said threateningly. “Now, drop it.”

“Bruce,” Will warned.

Bruce raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright.”

An uneasy silence came over the table.

Fortunately, this was the very time that the waitress brought Chess her tea along with Alex’s coffee. “I had to brew a fresh pot,” she apologized. “Sorry that took so long.”

Alex wrapped his hands around the steaming mug, and noticed that Chess was doing the same.

“You cold?” he asked her.

“God, yes,” she replied. “Those showers in the dressing room are freezing.”

He looked up and noticed her long blonde hair was hanging in long damp strings, but was beginning to dry in fluffy blonde wisps.

“Love the soap they have in there, right?” Alex joked.

“Oh, no kidding! That’s why I brought my own. Coconut.” Chess lifted a handful of her hair to her nose and inhaled. “Here, smell.”

Alex tentatively picked up a strand of her silky hair and brought it to his nose. Every muscle in his body went weak as he inhaled the scent of coconut and jojoba.

Chess noticed Alex’s hands wrapped around his coffee mug. She slid her round teapot over to Alex. “I think this might be warmer. Put your hands on this.”

Alex wrapped his hands are the hot little pot, and Chess circled her warm hands over his. “There, now. How’s that?”

“Much better,” Alex said weakly, not trusting his voice. He looked up at her.

“Oh wow,” she said softly. “Your eyes are green too.”

He smiled shyly. “Uh, yeah, I guess.”

She smiled. “I’ve never met anyone else with green eyes like mine. Cool.”

Bruce watch all of this with an amused smile.

As the evening went on, Alex never took his eyes from Chess’s face. Her eyes, those green, green eyes, sparkled whenever she looked up. Her smile was big and wide, and her laugh was a deep hearty roar. At one point, Bruce got Chess laughing so hard that tears ran down her cheeks. Alex wanted to wipe them away gently, but he was afraid to get that close to her.

By 10:00, Chess let out a yawn. “Well, I’m going to head home now.”

Alex’s heart fell. “Already?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a bit of a headache from that fall and I think I’ll just go to bed early tonight.”

Alex had forgotten her fall earlier. He suddenly felt guilty.

“I’ll get going too,” said Will, shrugging into his coat. “I’ll walk you out to your car, Chess.”

Couldn’t I do that? Alex wanted to say. But he didn’t.

They all said their goodbyes, and Alex was certain that Chess’s eyes stayed on his face the longest.

Out it the freezing cold parking lot, Alex watched as her little car drove away. His heart ached.

Bruce, packing up his hockey gear from two cars down, called out. “Watchin’ your girlfriend drive away?”

Alex looked at him, getting irritated from all the teasing. “What?” he snapped.

Bruce’s face softened. “Aw, she is totally into you, buddy.”

Alex watched as Chess’s car pulled onto the freeway and then disappeared. “I wish,” he sighed.

“She is, trust me.” Bruce slammed his trunk shut and rounded the car to the driver’s side. “Better do something about it, dude.” Then Bruce pulled his car out of the space, waved to Alex, and drove off into the cold November night.

On his way home, Alex thought a lot about Chess. Last week, he had shamelessly looked up her billing information in Janice’s office and found that her full name was Francesca Sutherland and that she lived in the southern end of town, many miles down the highway away from him. He thought about driving by her house, but it was already late, it was a long way away, and he wasn’t sure yet if he was ready to be that creepy to someone he knew nothing about. Was she married? Did she have kids? Or was she, like him, cast adrift, floating free in post-school shell-shock, working at some minimum wage job to make ends meet, waiting for her career to start?

Alex pulled into the driveway of his apartment and turned off his car.

Even if she wasn’t any of these things, Chess would never go for him. He had nothing to offer her.

Still. There was a chance, right? Anything could happen.