Crushing On The Geek (Crushing On You) (2 page)

      “Six minutes? It felt like an hour, but that might have been because Greg was acting like I had his life in my hands. I know I suck at this, you don’t have to rub it in,” Tamara said.

      “I wasn’t. I was just saying,” Hayden said.

      “Whatever, let’s give it another go.”

      “I’ll play white this time,” Hayden said pushing the black pieces across the table to Tamara, “If you have questions you can ask, you know.”

      “Thanks,” Tamara grinned.

      “Greg made me nervous too. I’ve known a lot of people like that. They make great players, but horrible teachers.”

      “He’s not a bad guy, but he makes it very hard to concentrate,” Tamara said and watched as Hayden made his first move.

      Seven minutes later Tamara knew she had no moves left.

      “Checkmate.”

      “Seven minutes that time.”

      “Don’t focus on your knights so much. They’re good pieces, but it’s okay to lose them.”

      “I don’t know about that. If Sir Bedivere sees me sacrifice a knight he might eat me,” Tamara laughed quietly.

      “He told you about the statue too then?”

      “Yeah, Chess Club is weirder than even I thought it would be.”

      “I know a lot of teams, even pro sports teams, have superstitions, but I don't know that I like it. It's like they psych themselves into losing if something goes wrong with it.”

      “Okay, guys. I think we’ll cut this meeting short, just don’t mention it to Mrs. Kelly. It’s Friday and I want out of here as much as you guys do,” Greg said.

      “Thank You!” Tamara said, jumping to her feet.

      Hayden opened his mouth to speak, but Tamara was already out of the room, sprinting down the steps two at a time. Many of the sports teams held practice on Friday afternoon and Tamara didn’t want to be seen with Greg and the others. Hayden was cute, but he was still part of the Geekville. She pulled her cell out of her back pocket intending to call her mom to let her know the meeting ended early.

      “A new text?” Tamara said out loud.

      “Sorry. Can’t pick you up. Big sale at g-store in next town over.”

      “Damn it,” Tamara said and shoved the phone back into her pocket.

      Tamara’s mom, Mrs. Page, couldn’t resist a sale or a coupon. This wasn’t the first time Tamara was forced to walk home so her mom could shop. Her dad was working late, because he had a high profile case going to court soon.

      Tamara zipped her black hoodie and readjusted her backpack. Tamara normally didn’t mind the two mile walk between the school and her house, but the autumn air was growing cool and the breeze cut through her with every step. She pulled her sleeves down over her hands and walked quicker. The weight that had ridden in her stomach on the way to Chess Club had dissolved, allowing Tamara to move freely.

      Startled by the bellow of a car horn, Tamara looked over her shoulder and waved at the unfamiliar black car. Her father’s coworkers got new cars more often than Tamara bought shoes. The car came to a stop beside of her and the window buzzed as it rolled down.

      “Need a ride?” Hayden grinned.

      “Sure,” Tamara nodded.

      She sprinted around the car and slid into the passenger seat. After fastening her seat belt Tamara shoved her hands deep in her pockets trying to warm them.

      “It’s so cold already,” Tamara said, “It’s only October fourth By Halloween we’re going to be wearing winter coats.”

      “Nah, it’s just a cold front moving through,” Hayden chuckled, “It’s not as cold as it could be. Some places get snow this time of the year and that’s every year, just not a freak occurrence.”

      “Did you move from somewhere like that?” Tamara asked, imagining for a moment being snowed in with him. Her eyes settled on his lips and she swallowed hard. Hayden was the cutest nerd Tamara had ever met.

      “Yeah, we moved here from North Dakota because my dad finally finished law school. The best job offer he got was here, so here we are.”

      “I think our dads may work together,” Tamara said, “Roberts and Sons?”

      “Yeah, that would be the one,” Hayden laughed.

      “Do you like it here?”

      “It’s okay” Hayden shrugged, “I mean it’s not bad.”

      “You don’t like it,” Tamara laughed, “It’s okay. So you were part of your Chess Club at your old school too?”

      “Yeah,” Hayden nodded.

      “What got you into Chess?”

      “My dad plays. I took to it easily enough and it just stuck,” Hayden said.

      “Cool.”

      “What about you? You’ve never played before and you suddenly want to start?”

      “I need an extracurricular activity to keep my scholarship.”

      “Why chess, though?”

      “That’s complicated. I wanted to do drama or maybe softball, but my mom insisted I do chess because the team needed one more player,” Tamara admitted.

      “That was nice of you,” Hayden said.

      “Yeah, I guess,” Tamara laughed.

      “It’s not that bad is it?”

      “Well, I’ll be surprised if any of my friends talk to me tomorrow,” Tamara said.

      “Oh, you hang out with
that
crowd,” Hayden tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he spoke.

      “What do you mean
that
crowd?”

      “Nothing, there’s one at every school, I guess. A group of kids at every school that spends too much time worrying about what everyone else is doing.”

      “It’s not like that!” Tamara snapped.

      “Okay,” Hayden said, shaking his head.

      “It’s really not. It’s just….”

      “You don’t want to be grouped together with us, right?”

      “I didn’t say that,” Tamara said, “You need to turn here. This is my street.”

      “You don’t have to,” Hayden said, “I should have known though, really.”

      “Should have known what?”

      “That you were one of them,” Hayden shook his head.

      “One of them?” Tamara asked feeling bemused.

      “Snob squad, cheerleaders, jocks, the list goes on,” Hayden said.

      “Big words coming from a nerd,” Tamara said as the car pulled into the driveway.

      “Geek, get it right,” Hayden said.

      “Who’s concerned about what other people think now?”

      “If you're going to make an attempt to insult me, you should at least do it properly.”

      “Thanks for the ride home. I’ll see you on Monday,” Tamara said opening the car door.

      “Not a problem. See you on Monday unless I come up with the gas money to get back to North Dakota first.”

      “Good luck!”

      “Later!”

      Tamara fumbled in her purse looking for her keys and trying to look confident. Why wasn’t he leaving yet?

      “Did you drop these?” Hayden was holding her keys out the window.

      “Thanks.”

      Tamara watched as he drove away. Her cheeks hurt from smiling and a group of butterflies were hosting a gymnastics competition in her stomach. Tamara kicked her shoes off and carried them inside. Her parents and younger siblings, Tina and Tally, wouldn’t be home for a few hours. Her sisters would be at dance practice until seven or whenever one of their parents got around to picking them up.

      She dropped hers stuff by the door and grabbed a dark red apple from the kitchen. Her stomach was growling, but she didn’t feel like cooking yet. The clock said it was only six o’clock. Was that too early to call Amber? Yeah, it was. Six was definitely not eight-ish. She would still be out with Josh. Tamara wished it was already time to call her. She needed to hear Amber say that she wasn't crazy. Hayden was hot,
really hot
, but he was also part of geekville. The only thing lamer than being forced into the Chess Club would be to actually to crush on one of them.

      “Tamara are you home?” a voice called from outside, “If you’re home open the door! I need your help bringing everything in!”

      “Dad?” Tamara called back.

      “No, I’m a reverse robber!” Mr. Page called back, “Instead of breaking in and stealing things, I break in and leave things. I have tacos out here, but I’m not sharing unless you help me bring the rest of the groceries in.”

      “Hold on, let me put my shoes back on,” she said and opened the door, “I just got home a few minutes ago.”

      “I know,” Mr. Page said, handing her a bag of groceries and turning back towards his car.

      “How did you know I just got home?” Tamara asked when she returned after putting the bag in the kitchen.

      “Well, the strange tire tracks on the drive were still fresh,” he chuckled.

      “How do you even tell the difference?’

      “I pay attention. It can make or break a case you know. I’m going to get out of this suit, you put this stuff away.”

      “Okay,” Tamara said, “Doesn’t Mom usually go grocery shopping?”

      “Yeah, but I thought this week we might eat food that wasn’t on sale,” he laughed.

      Tamara tried to pay attention to her dad when he told her about the case over tacos, but her thoughts kept returning to Hayden. His laugh still echoed in her ears. He was strange. Who would be proud to be a geek or a nerd? Was he serious? Amber was never going to let her live it down, but she would tell her about him none-the-less. She’s the only friend Tamara could tell and still call a friend tomorrow.

      “Oh, it’s almost eight! I need to call Amber. Is Mom going to pick up the brats?”

      “She’s supposed to on her way home. If you need me I’ll be in my office working,” Mr. Page sighed.

      “Thanks for the tacos!” Tamara said and dashed up the stairs two at a time.

      Tamara flopped onto her bed and pressed number one on her speed dial.

      Ring. Ring. Ring.

      “Hey, give me a minute,” Amber answered, “Trying to get my shoes off. I just walked through the door, like literally.”

      “Waiting.”

      “Thanks,” Amber said a few moments later, “Sorry about that. We went to the park after the movie.”

      “To make out?”

      “That and to read,” Amber said, “So how was Geekville?”

      “It was odd.”

      “Tell me!” Amber said, her voice raising in pitch, “Who is he?”

      “What? How do you always do that?”

      “I'm your BFF. I know these things. So who is he? It's not Greg is it? Because that would be lame. He's like really smart and stuff, but he's even more of a geek than I am.”

      “You're not a geek, Amber. You're a bookworm. There's a difference. My BFF is not allowed to be a geek and I'll clock anyone who says otherwise.”

      “Thanks, but are you going to tell who it is or not?”

      “Hayden Bradley.”

      “Is he new, because I don't know that name and I think I literally know the name of every kid at Central Glade.”

      “He just moved here from North Dakota.”

      “Is he cute?”

      “He's hot, Amber. I mean really hot.”

      “Then why is he in Chess Club?”

      “I’m not sure. Maybe his dad is making him or something,” Tamara lied.

      She couldn't help but to remember the way Hayden gently held the chess set and caressed its pieces. There was no way he was there for any reason other than the love of the game.

      “Did you ask him?”

      “Yeah, he said he played at his old school too.”

      “And I thought Central Glade as the only school lame enough to have a Chess Team.”

      “Apparently not.”

      “When do I get to meet him?”

      “I don't know. I don't think I'll be hanging out with him again outside of practice.”

      “You've already hung out with him? What else are you hiding from me? Are you secretly related to Rihanna too?”

      “No, if I was related to Rihanna I wouldn't be going to Central Glade. I'd be on the road touring with her. I could be one of her backup dancers.”

      “You wish.”

      “Actually, I do. Now are you going to shut up and let me tell you what happened?”

      “Fine.”

      “Was he serious? Was he teasing you or did he really call you a snob?”

      “I’m not sure.”

      “I don't think you should hang out with him again.”

      “Like I said, I don't know that I will,” Tamara said, but they both knew it was a lie.

      “This is worse than Doug. At least he only stood you up for his friends. He didn't call you a snob.”

      “Amber, I think what Doug did was worse. Really, I do.”

      “It's your heart and reputation.”

      “You're one to talk. You the Missus of Mister and Missus BookWorm.”

      “Shut up!” Amber said. Tamara had to hold the phone away from her ear to get some respite from Amber's high pitched bubbling laughter.

      “I gotta go. I have some things to do before I go to bed.”

      “Cool, I need to call Josh anyway.”

      “Night.”

Chapter Two

      “That's him!” Tamara said, bumping into Amber's shoulder causing her to mess up the combination to her locker.

      “Him who?” Amber asked looking around, “It's Monday, Tam, I'm not awake enough for this.”

      “Hayden,” Tamara whispered.

      “Where?” Amber asked, her eyes opening wide and turning her head in every direction except the correct one.

      “Talking to Greg.”

      “Oh! Are you sure he's part of the chess club? He's hot!”

      “I told you so!”

      “So you did.”

      “Remember you're taken!” Tamara poked Amber in the side without taking her eyes off of Hayden.

      “You're crushing.”

      “No, I'm not!”

      “Yes you are!”

      “No, I'm not!”

      “Tam, shush for a minute,” Amber said turning her so that they stood face to face. “I'm the expert in this. You do remember how long I crushed on Joshua Nelson?”

      “How could I forget?” Tamara pulled out of Amber's grasp. “You do remember that you're dating Joshua Kirk and not Joshua Nelson. You're so not the expert in relationships.”