Hector

Walter flinched then rolled his eyes but finally agreed with a nod. They walked over to the girls. Unlike when he and Walter had first arrived, Charlee wasn’t acting as friendly anymore. She was probably tired of being there. Hector could relate. He was like that too. During play, he’d get so lost in the game hours could fly and he wouldn’t even know it. Watching a tournament was different. While he enjoyed it, he could only watch for so long before he was done.

Neither one of the girls said anything when they arrived. Charlee even seemed preoccupied, glancing in another direction. Walter’s dumb ass, who was supposed to be bringing him over to meet another member of the team, said nothing either. Instead he stood there looking all nervous and fidgeting with his hands. Finally, the other girl with Charlee spoke. “Congrats!” She smiled, holding out her hand.

Hector shook her hand and smiled. “Thanks.”

“We know who you are,” she said, prodding Charlee with her arm. “I’m Drew and this is Charlee. Looks like you two are going to be on the team together now.”

Charlee nodded, her smile was forced, and she didn’t offer her hand like Drew had. Those sparkling blues eyes of hers darted away in another direction the moment they met his. “That’s an unusual name,” Hector said in an attempt to get her to look at him again. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl named Charlee before.”

She turned to him a bit wide-eyed but then smiled, making his own smile go even bigger. “It’s Charlotte actually, but everyone calls me Charlee.”

Hector nodded, taking in her deep blue eyes. “Ah, I see. Charlee. I like that. It’s cute—suits you.”

Their eyes locked for the tiniest of moments before she glanced away again, pulling a strand of that fiery red hair behind her ear.

Her friend cleared her throat, and Hector turned to see her grinning. “So, is this the first chess team you’ve been on, Hector?”

It was only when he saw Drew grin even bigger that he realized he wore the biggest goof-ass smile still. Had Charlee smiling at him actually done that to him? He felt almost as stupid as Walter bobbing his head looked and immediately toned the smile down to a smirk.

Walter nudged Hector before he could respond to Drew. “Since you made this team, then most likely they’ll be inviting you to play on the school team as well.” Walter’s head started the damn bobbing thing again. These girls must think them the two biggest idiots. Hector slid his hand in his pocket, making sure to elbow Walter in the process. Walter picked up on it right away and stopped the head movement then continued. “You can’t start school mid semester, but their inviting you to come and sit in with the chess team as soon as you want is a sure sign they want you on it. You gonna be there on Monday?”

Trying to regain some of his cool back, Hector glanced around, not showing much interest. “I’ll have to check my schedule, but I think I’ll be able to swing it.”

Walter started to fill him in on the time and place they meet, but Drew interrupted him. “So are you doing anything to celebrate this win, Hector? This is a pretty big deal.” She turned to Charlee with a smile. “Isn’t it, Charlee?”

Immediately his eyes were on Charlee again. Yeah, real smooth. What the hell was his problem? She nodded but glanced away again, not looking the least bit impressed. Hector wondered if maybe she too was a chess snob. He stared at her probably a little too long, because when he turned back to Drew, she was looking at him a bit quizzically with that same grin she wore earlier. Damn it.

“I hadn’t made any plans,” he said, overcompensating with a flirtatious smile. “But I’m sure I’ll find one way or another to celebrate.”

He had plenty of open invitations he could head to straight from here. Weekend or not, his evenings were never dull. “Well, I think you should do something.” Drew smirked, giving Hector the tiniest bit of hope. Maybe he’d confused her grinning earlier for having caught him gaping at Charlee with his goofy smile, and she’d actually been flirting with him. He really hoped so, because he felt pretty stupid now.

He sized Drew up very obviously to test his theory. She was a little on the skinny side, and he’d never been into blondes, but then he’d never been into redheads either, and here one smile from Charlee had turned him into a bumbling idiot. Blond or not, Drew was doable. Typically, he’d be all over what was beginning to sound like an invitation, but for some reason, he wasn’t feeling it. Still, he decided to play along just to make up for having been so transparent about getting caught up with Charlee—the girl Walter was pining after. “You have any suggestions?”

Bingo! Her face lit up as he expected it would, and he felt the relief seep in. His theory was right. This was exactly what the sheepish grins had been about. She was flirting with him—not on to him. Just as she began to speak, two girls he’d never seen before walked up to them. “Hector Ayala?” The taller of the two turned to Drew and Charlee. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just had to ask.” She turned back to Hector without giving Drew or Charlee a moment to respond. “Are you really the same Hector from 5th Street?”

Hector smiled, nodding but didn’t get a chance to answer before Walter answered for him, “The one and only!”

Hector turned to Walter, who was starting the stupid head thing again, and shot him a look. Walter stopped immediately and to Hector’s relief lost the unconvincing smug expression as well.