The Slut's Guide to Chess

chapter 5

"I saw you talking to Arwyn Truong earlier," Aleena whispered over the books in our hands.

"Stalker," I rolled my eyes. The class was silent as we took the moment to read over a chapter in the books we were studying. I could tell that Aleena was eager to hear about what Arwyn Truong had to say as usually, she was the last to disobey the class rules.

I dragged my eyes away from the window and brought them to Aleena beside me who stared with wide eyes. She brought the hardback book up to cover our faces while we conversed in hushed voices.

"I don't think I'll be allowed within the chess club any time soon," I admitted.

I watched as Aleena's eyebrows fell and her lips jutted out in a slight pout. From the glazed out look in her eyes, I could tell that she was already thinking of one hundred other ideas she could pursue instead.

"That's okay, don't worry-"

"But," I began. "I think I can convince Arwyn to mentor me."

I wasn't doing this just for Aleena anymore, it was for Eliott too now. I needed to get to that chess tournament on the thirty-first to find Everett and uncover all the clues that his sister was leaving me. Maybe she had gotten word from her brother after all and she'd be there too.

"And you'll tell me if you find anything, yeah?" Aleena questioned almost self-consciously.

I knew that writing the best article was her top priority at the moment and I respected it. I wanted more than anything for my best friend to receive the praise that she deserved. She worked hard for it.

"Let's say for a moment that the chess club isn't just a bunch of boys who love chess. Let's say that hypothetically they're running a super top-secret drug business. Let's say that I find this out by some miracle and then tell you. How will you prove that? You need evidence and my word is hardly that," I spoke quietly. My eyes wandered above the pages every so often just to check that the class was still deep in the work.

"Robbie Thompson." Was the single name Aleena replied with and that alone made my lips curl into a frown. "He owes me one and so before I go asking him to get me evidence, I need you to make sure that there's something there to investigate. I can't waste the help he's willing to offer."

Robbie Thompson was annoying as hell. Equipped with a camera and notebook, he was practically a private investigator. It was notoriously difficult to get ahold of the boy as he'd left school two years ago but now and again, he'd return with a bag full of secrets. If he owed Aleena a favour, I didn't want to know what had happened between the pair for that to come about.

"Are you sure about this?" I muttered with my brows scrunched together. The sound of the class buzzed with whispers as more students began to finish reading the chapter.

"Of course I am," Aleena nodded, voice louder now. "This is so important to me, I have to do this. For my mum."

Aleena had a strained relationship with her parents. They came from a humble working background and expected the best from their daughter so that she could get a better life than they had. This meant a lot of pressure on Aleena, pressure that slowly built until she had breakdowns in the middle of classes and stopped sleeping. But, she had no choice but to continue working.

Her mother was dying.

It was the bed-ridden, yellowed skin type of dying. Sometimes, I thought that Aleena was already grieving for her mother, despite being still alive. She pushed herself hard so that her mother could see the accomplishments she achieved while she was still alive, while she could still move her mouth to speak and pull her lips to smile.