A Game of Chess

It was strange, especially because of what had just taken place ... but for some reason the only thing on Hail's mind was the auburn and lilac of a warm summer sunset.1

He let his bare feet slip into the water below him, placing his hands under his thighs as comfortable protection from the splintering wood of the dock.2

Wriggling his toes underwater, and vaguely hoping a catfish didn't mistake the appendages for worms, he stared at the sky, at Nature's pretty canvas, and for some reason all he could think about was how beautiful it was.3

Usually something like that would make him think about Chess-like right now, he could be looking at the red sky and be thinking about Chess' curly russet hair ... or he could look at the furling lilac clouds and be reminded of that stupid purple dinosaur that Chess used to throw out the window to scare his neighbor's cat ...4

Great.  Now he was thinking about it. He said it strange to be thinking of something other than Chess ... not that he wanted to STOP not thinking about Chess.5

The truth is, he didn't want to think about him. Not anymore. Not after this past year; the emotional train wrecks, the wild goose chases, the bitter rejection ... Oh, god. The whole school had witnessed his humiliation, and now he had to move to Bermuda.6

Kicking the water angrily, he wondered if Bermuda was in swimming distance from here.7

"Hail? Hail! Where are you, dammit?"8

His heart sank. His stomach flew. His brain took a steep plummet. 9

How fast would it take for him to reach Bermuda if he started swimming now? Would he make it before-10

"Hail! There you are! Why didn't you ... I was ... shit, man, I've been looking everywhere for you!"11

Hail didn't turn around. He was too afraid. Not of Chess, not in the least bit. More ... afraid of himself, afraid of his uncontrollable emotions. Afraid that when he turned around, all his anger would leave him and he'd make a fool of himself once again.12

He heard Chess's heavy boot-falls on the dock's wooden planks; running, then jogging, then walking ... now the older boy was creeping, as hesitant as a shy girl, and Hail felt him stop completely when he reached the launching platform.13

There was silence, except for Hail's splashing and Chess's panting. So awkward ... Chess had better have a good reason to come down here. At the very least he should push Hail off the dock. If he didn't, Hail would willingly jump.14

He heard Chess cough behind him. "You," Chess started, but the tone had been pitched about two octaves higher than he had intended, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "You just ... fucking ran off, and I didn't even have the chance to ... Hail, I ..."15

Well, Hail thought to himself. At the very least he gets to see that smooth-talking sonovabitch be completely inarticulate.16

"Did you have a reason for coming down here, Chester?"17

Hail could literally hear the older boy flinch. The only person who called him 'Chester' was his mom, and he HATED his mother. The feeling was mutual, as he understood it.18

"C'mon, Hail ... you didn't even give me a chance to react back there. Why are you getting so prissy? Shit, man, you're the one that started this," Chess complained, with a slight whine. Hail, on the other hand, was completely furious.19

"Prissy? I started this? What the hell, Chess?" He turned around, a fire in his eyes that seemed to burn the ginger-haired boy with its ferocity. "Who's fault do you THINK this is? Dammit, Chess, it's like you were my friend one day and the next you just ... completely changed! You started wearing all that shit on your face ... and the clothes ... and the attitude! God, you confused me so much with all your goddamn flirting and swiveling hip ... things..." He gestured wildly to said hips, but then lost steam, realizing he was ranting without having the foggiest idea where it was going. He turned back around. "And ... just ... never-mind."20

Chess was flabbergasted. "Hail ... I ... shit, I didn't know that you ... felt this way about it. I'm sorry, Hail."21

As Hail had predicted, he couldn't remain angry at Chess for long. He never could. Now that he had seen the boy, had heard him apologize, he couldn't feel anything but sadness and resignation.22

Nearly all the inner turmoil and outer humiliation was made worth it when Chess, after not getting a response from his apology, took a step forward. 23

The steel toe of the boy's left black combat boot got caught in a large, rotten knot in the wood and he face-planted on the dock behind Hail. Immediately two pairs of eyes locked gazes; Hail's a surprise mixed with confusion, Chess just embarrassed. And then the laughter began.24

They laughed so hard they began to cry. Chess rolled around, sat up, misjudged the amount of space he had left and flipped off the dock and into the water. Hail wasn't fooled for a minute: Chess wasn't clumsy by nature and obviously was just putting on a show to make Hail laugh harder.25

Or at least that's what he thought Chess wanted ... but when he crawled over to the side to find his soggy friend, two arms charged up from below the surface, took hold of his coat lapels, and dragged him under too.26

"Gah ...!!"27

They wrestled under water for a bit; Hail had to admit the release of pent-up boy energy was exhilarating and just what the doctor ordered. As he resurfaced, gasping for breath, he felt increasingly better.28

Both boys spent a while regaining their lung capacity and enjoying the cool water, though they had to maintain their buoyancy because of their clothes. Hail imagined it was worse for Chess, who had leather on.29

Spitting out the last bit of seawater, Chess asked, "Are you still mad at me?"30

Hail sighed. "I'm not angry at you. I just ... feel kinda stupid, I guess. I mean the WHOLE SCHOOL saw me ..." Hail couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, flushing a violent red.31

Chess wasn't going to let him out of this easy. "... Saw you kiss me." The finished thought sounded weird in the air, flat and very matter-of-fact. Hail flinched. 32

"...Yeah. That. Hey, back there ... I don't know what came over me. Sorry if I freaked you out. Let's pretend it never happened," he said as calmly as possible, but there was an underlying current of pleading in his tone. He wanted this damn awkwardness to leave him be; he wanted things to go back to the way they were before all this nonsense: just two boys, best friends, out to have a good time.33

Chess was quiet as he treaded water ... thinking. Then he looked up and replied rather seriously, "What if I don't WANT to forget?"34

Hail stopped moving; only resuming his weak paddling when his head slipped under the surface. He sputtered out water and words. "W-what?"35

The auburn haired boy treaded water elegantly and looked up into the sky, looking contemplative and serious and not-at-all like Chess. Whoever this boy-man was, he wasn't the jester friend Hail had come to rely on, or had come to ...36

"Hail Johnston, I'm no good at words. I've failed English no less than three times; I can't even string a fucking sentence together without using a goddamn swear word. Half the time I don't even know what the hell I'm talking about ... but ..." Chess looked down from the sky and locked a clear, emerald gaze on his brunette friend, taking said boy by surprise. "But sometimes--always, when I'm with you, it doesn't matter."37

Hail's head spun, and he didn't know if it was because of Chess's words or because he had inhaled too much seawater. "C-Chess ..."38

Chess reached out, took Hail's limp wrist, and pulled him closer. "Hail," he started, but it was in that goddamn high octave again. Annoyed, nervous, he cleared his throat. "Hail, I'm going to give you my response finally, you crazy bastard."39

He kissed him.40

It wasn't overly romantic, nor disgustingly passionate: Chess didn't use his tongue or wiggle his lips around like an idiot; just caressed Hail's mouth with his own while he dug his hand into the younger boy's tousled blond hair. Hail didn't need all of the dramatics, however, because in that moment, in that intimate connection between himself and the boy he had fallen for, nothing could have been more perfect.41

Chess ended the kiss after a while, not wanting to scare the other boy away again by going too fast. Besides, if the way Hail had melted in his arms had anything to say of it, he knew that they would have plenty of time for passion in the future.42

"Hail Johnston ... god knows I'm not the brightest crayon in the box ... but I don't have to be a fucking rocket scientist to know that I wanna be with you."43

Chess's confession took Hail's breath away. "Chess ... I ... I don't know what to say ..."44

The auburn haired boy looked sheepish for a moment. "You could say 'yes' ..."45

Hail smiled like the sunrise and threw himself into Chess's arms, wrapping both pale arms around the older boy's neck. "Yes! A thousand times, yes!!"46

They couldn't hug for very long, lest they both wanted to drown, so Chess gently removed Hail from him and led him to shore, never letting go of his hand. Since they were still near the docks, it didn't take long for them to reach a place shallow enough to stand up in. Walking further inland so they could sit down and not breath in saltwater, they relaxed into lounging positions side-by-side and let the gentle tide roll over their bodies and watched the sun set.47

Chess couldn't keep from grinning as glanced at their still-adjoined hands, and at the boy sitting next to him: the best friend who he had wanted for ages was now his forever. Hail, who had helped him through his parent's divorce, through the period of his life when he had discovered his sexual preferences, through the aftermath of the disownment ... Hail, who was once his anything, was now his everything. And no matter what happened, life would be okay.48

"Hey Chess?"49

"Hm?"50

"Let's go to Burmuda."