Crushing on the Geek(39)
The pair were the first to leave their things for the faeries. Hayden left another package of lemon drop rocket ships and Tamara left a tube of the peach mango lip gloss, after all, even faerie girls need variety in their lives. Tamara grinned at Cindy's narrow eyed 'bitch' look as they left.
“My phone's vibrating,” Hayden said, at the bottom of the stairs, flipping his phone open, “Hey, Dad.”
“No, Gilligan was there when I left,” he spoke again after a moment of silence, “Yes, Dad, I'm sure.” “Fine, I'll be home after I drop Tamara off.”
“Is every thing okay?” Tamara asked, after he ended the call.
“Yeah, Dad thinks Gilligan is missing again,” he sighed.
“Do you want me to help look for him?”
“No,” Hayden shook his head, “He's most likely hiding under my Dad's writing desk.”
“Okay,” Tamara nodded, “Do you want to meet up after you find him?”
“If it's still early enough, yeah,” Hayden nodded, wrapping his arms around Tamara and stepping closer to her.
“Get a room,” Greg laughed, leading the rest of the club down the stairs.
“Let's go,” Hayden sighed.
“See you tomorrow,” Tamara called to the others.
Chapter Fourteen
“Did you find Gilligan?” Tamara asked, as she slid into the passenger's seat of Hayden's car.
“Yeah, I was right, he was hiding under Dad's desk. Sorry, I didn't call or text last night, Dad was looking through old photos,” Hayden said.
“It's all right,” she smiled, “Is everything okay?”
“Oh, he's always this way around Halloween. Mom died of breast cancer when I was young and someone told him something about the dead being closer than ever around that time. He's never been able to shake it.”
“It's sorta sweet,” Tamara looked at him in the rear-view mirror.
“Maybe,” he shrugged, “Still normal?”
“Yep. No sign of them,” she shook her head, grinning, “I've even put my mirror back up.”
“Now all we have to do is win the tournament,” Hayden laughed.
“There's still hope,” Tamara said.
“Maybe.”
“There is, and if I think so, there must be, because you know how bad of a player I am,” Tamara laughed.
“I'm just happy we're hosting the tournament this time and I didn't have to wake up early enough to drive for an hour, just to get there.”
“Me too.”
“Won't you miss your nap?”
“Nah, I went to bed early last night,” she laughed, leaning her head on Hayden's shoulder as they pulled into Central Glade's parking lot, “Maybe they'll give us some extra help.”
“I wouldn't count on it,” Hayden laughed.
“Well, a girl can dream, right?” Tamara laughed as she got out of the car.
The front lobby was packed with students from other schools waiting for the registration to begin. Greg and the others stood near the back and waved them over.
“We're from the host school so we don't have to register. We were just waiting on you guys before we went up.”
“Where are they having it?” Hayden asked.
“Room five eighty five,” Greg said, “We had it in the gym last year, but they're holding a teachers' conference in there right now, so we all get to sardine ourselves into room five eighty five.”
“Let's get this party started!” Tamara said, running toward the stairs, pulling Hayden along with her.
“Show off!” Cindy muttered, but Tamara ignored her.
Tamara studied the board before her when she sat down across from her first opponent, a bespectacled kid who insisted on wiping his nose of his sleeve before making a move. The pieces were the same as always, but Tamara was trying to look as if she knew what she was doing. After his seventh move the kid broke into a violent sneezing fit. He managed to cover his nose, saving Tamara from a snot shower, but his sudden movements knocked the board and its pieces to the floor.
“You win by default, Tamara,” the judge said, not looking at her but writing on a bright green clipboard, “This way.”
Tamara followed the judge and sat down at the table she stopped at. Her new opponent was a tall lanky blonde girl.
“Good luck,” she smiled at Tamara.
“You too,” Tamara said.
“Don't worry about me. I don't need luck.”
The girl was right. Only seven minutes into the game she called checkmate. Tamara paced the hallway outside of room five eighty five, waiting for the others. She was too anxious to remain with the crowd, watching scores move up and down, and listening to the constant babble of geeks and judges alike.