“I did, but it doesn’t make much sense.” I pause. “But you do know, don’t you?”
“Even if I do, why should I tell you?” he asks in a completely indifferent tone like I’m wasting his time.
“You’re the one who came to inform me that I shouldn’t be saying those words. You’re supposed to tell me why I shouldn’t be saying them.”
“Not really. All you have to do is refrain from saying anything about mental stability.” He pauses. “Oh, and stop provoking him. The more you push, the harder he pushes back. The more you run, the faster he chases.”
He turns to leave and I clutch the sleeve of his T-shirt stopping him in his tracks. “Wait.”
His bored look greets me as he waits for me to speak.
Swallowing, I let go of his T-shirt. “Tell me something. Anything.”
“What would I gain from that?”
I suppress an inward groan. He’s Levi’s cousin all right. After a second of thinking, I say, “You came for a reason. You know I can help or that I’m already helping. You think I’m of value or you wouldn’t have come to find me.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “One question. I’ll answer one question.”
“Does he… have a mental disorder?”
“Not him, but if he keeps going down this lane, he’ll end up in the same path.”
“Whose path?”
“One question.” He strides to the driver’s door. “Bring me something else of value and I might answer a second question.”
I stare at his car as it gallops in the distance. Is he even a seventeen-year-old kid?
On the flip side, I found my source of information on Levi.
29
Levi
Madness doesn’t ask for permission and neither will I.
* * *
I hit the bag in the gym over and over until my knuckles bruise and ache. I don’t stop.
If I do, I might turn into that other dark version again. I might tear through the streets and go find her. I might do things I’ll regret.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
I continue hitting the bag until I have nothing left in my lungs. Until my body nearly collapses.
With one last shove at the bag, I let my body flop against the mat as harsh breaths tear out of my lungs.
The world spins around me like a fucking fog.
After what seems like half an hour of staring into the distance, I stagger to my feet and take a quick shower in my room. I throw my jersey and team clothes in a bag and stuff a cigarette in my mouth.
I won’t stay at Uncle’s house before a game. The first thing I’ll do as soon as I get my inheritance is to buy a house as far away from him as possible.
Maybe in Scotland.
“Leaving again?” Aiden calls from the corner of the lounge area.
He sits in front of the glass chessboard, playing against himself like a weirdo.
I blow a cloud of smoke. “Tell Uncle I have practice.”
“Or I can just tell him the truth. You don’t want to see him.”
I lift a shoulder. “That works, too.”
I’m about to continue my way when he speaks again. “I had a talk with your girl.”
The cigarette almost falls from my lips as I whirl around. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“I told her what you wouldn’t.”
I’m at his face in a second, pulling him by the collar. “You stay the fuck away from her, do you hear me?”
“I would’ve if you stopped acting like a grouchy dick all the time.” He pushes me away and sits back. He takes the queen’s piece between his thumb and forefinger. “Those who don’t play chess think the king is the strongest piece because the game ends when he dies, but they don’t stop to think that if the queen dies first, the king doesn’t have a chance to survive.”
I narrow my eyes at the meaning behind his words. Both of us have been raised on chess, but he has a different perspective. He wouldn't admit it, but Aiden is just like Jonathan. They don't care who they have to crush to get what they want.
Aiden kills the bishop with the queen, leaving his white king vulnerable. I move the black king to the right.
“Even a king can kill a king.” I stuff the cigarette back in my mouth. “Checkmate.”
On my way out, I retrieve my phone and stare at the text from Daniel saying he went to pick Astrid up.
After the stunt with his brother, I don’t trust him as much.
I pause near my car remembering how her eyes fluttered with fear and disappointment.
Fuck that.
Fuck her trust issues.
I’m done waiting for her to accept this.
If I have to use force, then so be it.
30
Astrid
A pawn isn’t supposed to play the king’s game.
* * *
Monday is my eighteenth birthday.
I’m not celebrating. I stopped celebrating my birthdays after Mum’s death.
Her funeral was on my birthday.
And my day starts like a funeral.
Instead of sneaking off, as usual, I find Dad waiting right outside my room.
I had to have breakfast with the ‘family’ and face Victoria’s snobbish face and Nicole’s glares.
I have a wild guess that she’s the one who slipped the ‘stay away, bitch’ note under my door last night.
Not that I care who she sleeps with.
After the agonising breakfast with Victoria jabbing her fingers in my wound about missing the museum exhibition, I finally head to the door.
I texted Dan to pick me up since Levi has disappeared for the entire weekend.
Well, not exactly disappear. The team went to Kent and returned with a draw. The spirits weren’t so good according to Dan.
Unlike his previous away games, Levi didn’t send his usual taunting, yet seductive texts. He didn’t talk dirty to me then ask if I were blushing.
Not that I wanted him to text me. I’m still mad as hell about the scene he caused on Friday. However, I couldn’t help thinking about what Aiden said. Levi and I need to talk — after he stops being a dick.
Still, I can’t help the void I felt. Since the day Levi barged into my life uninvited, we haven’t spent two days without seeing each other. He’s been slowly creeping into becoming a constant and his absence feels strange.
Okay, I might have tried to stalk him on social media, but he made that hard, considering he doesn’t use them.
Aiden does have an Instagram account. The only thing he posted over the weekend is a black and white picture of a queen’s chesspiece fallen against a blank board. The description: Long Live the Queen.
Dan wasn’t so helpful either. He posted a selfie with Ronan, Xander and three girls stuffed between them.
He found his real tribe with Ronan and Xander. They’re like his spirit animals when it comes to partying and girls.
Once I get to the park, I get out my sketchpad and try to capture a beautiful scene of an elderly couple walking with a toddler, but I can’t get the lines right.
My mind is filled with my routine in the park these past few days. I’ve gotten used to running alongside Levi. It feels funny to be here all alone now.