Melinda’s Story

“So, where is your boyfriend taking us?” Sarah asked as we stood behind Stanton with Walter and Larry.

I rolled my eyes. “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said at the same time Walter replied “He’s not her boyfriend.”

Larry looked at Walter suspiciously. “Is this some sort of upper form prank against third formers?”

“Wow. Way to be paranoid.”

I spun around to see Pat approaching behind us. I couldn’t help but smile. Just seeing him made my heart flutter a little.

We were all bundled in parkas, hats, and gloves to ward against the November chill, but Pat had gone the extra mile with a scarf around his mouth and large sunglasses. If I didn’t know who he was, I probably wouldn’t have recognized him.

He pointed to his roommate beside him. “Has everyone met Frank? Frank, that’s Walter’s friend Larry and Melinda’s roommate, Sarah. This is Pete. Call him Frank. Okay. Let’s go.”

Pat headed along the path towards the main road into town. We followed in silence for a while, but eventually curiosity must have gotten to Walter. He jogged beside his brother.

“So, what exactly I this place?”

Pat shook his head. “Not telling. I want to surprise you. Frank and I used to go here all the time.”

Frank clapped Pat on the back. “Spence is going to be so excited to see you. I stopped in to say hi back in September and he was really bummed you were gone for the term.”

The wind started blowing against us, slowing our progress and making it difficult to walk. I stumbled once or twice and Pat made sure to grab my arm. Even through all our layers, I still felt something strange when he touched me.

It felt like forever before we reached the center of town. I glanced at the coffee shop across the street. A hot chocolate sounded really good right about now. But, Pat didn’t go in that direction. Instead, he turned the corner and continued about half a block before holding open a door.

I followed my friends inside. Walter looked all around with wide eyes. He was in Heaven. And I could understand why.

There was a counter in front of us with some movie-theater snacks in the display case. On my right was a half wall, beyond which I could see a spattering of tables. Round tables and angular ones. Tall tables and short ones. Booths and chairs. There was even a kids size table with brightly colored chairs. The room was lined with floor to ceiling bookcases, with shelves of various heights positioned around the room to separate the tables.

But, that wasn’t what had caught Walter’s attention. On every shelf were piles of board games. I didn’t recognize most of them. Was it my imagination, or were some of those titles not even in English? The stack closest to me looked like world-domination games.

There were only three other people in the place. Two elderly gentlemen were playing chess at a table by the window with the board imprinted in it. They didn’t seem to notice us.

The middle-aged man sitting behind the counter did, though. He stood up, removed the reading glasses that had been sitting on the tip of his nose, and placed an open paperback book on the seat beneath him. Rubbing his eyes much like a sleepy child, he smiled wide.

“Do my eyes deceive me, or has Pat Evan finally returned to Checkmate?”

“Hey, Spencer.” The two of them performed some sort of complicated handshake.

“When did you get back?”

“A little over two weeks ago. And, before you ask, I had a lot of work to catch up on, so I haven’t had time to come visit. But, here I am. And, I brought you new customers.”

Pat gestured to the rest of us. “This is my brother, Walter. His friends, Melinda, Sarah, Larry. This is Spencer. He owns the place.”

Walter had the look of a young child walking into a large toy store for the first time. When he spoke, his voice was full of reverence.

“What is this place?”

Pat smiled. I could tell he was happy his brother was so pleased with the place. “It’s a game café. You can stay and play as many games as you want all afternoon. You just have to be careful not to break anything.”

Spencer nodded. “I’ve collected games from all over the world. You tell me what you want to play, and we’ll find something like it.”

Pat shook his head. “I’ve already got a game in mind for now. Okay. Now, everyone pay up. I don’t have enough cash to cover you all.”

We all handed him our money, which he passed to Spencer before gesturing to a large table in the back corner that could seat all of us. “Go sit over there. I’ll get the game.”

As we followed his instructions, he wandered to a bookcase near the front of the room. He stared at it a minute before frowning and shouting across the room. “Spence! You reorganized!”

“No I didn’t! What’re you looking for?”

“Pictowar!”

“It’s over ther!”

“No, it’s not!”

“I can’t concentrate!” One of the older men glared at Pat.

The other man sighed. “Spence, you reorganized back in May. It’s in the family game section, two bookcases to your left.”

Pat nodded to the man. “Thanks, Rick.”

He pulled a box from the shelf and brought it to the table. As he sat beside me, I raised my eyebrows.

“Pat, how often do you come here that you know the names of the other customers?”

He opened the box. “Huh? Oh, that’s Rick. He’s Spencer’s father. The other guy is Rick’s brother, John. Spencer lets them play for free. They’re here every day. He kind of built this place for them.”

Pat removed a bunch of whiteboard markers from the box and explained the rules. His team would use one whiteboard while Frank’s would use the other. When no one had any questions, Pat divided the teams. Stealing a sheet of paper from Spencer, he split it four ways, writing P on two pieces and F on the other. He crumpled them into balls and tossed them in his ski cap.

I took one and passed the hat to Sarah. We were both on Pat’s team.

The captains went first. Frank flipped a card, swore under his breath and showed it to Pat. He grimaced before flipping the sand timer.

“Go!”

He grabbed a marker and raced to his board. I watched him draw a  circle and a stick figure on top of it. There were x’s for eyes. Was the man dead? Sarah was yelling random words.

“Circle. Man. Dead. Sleeping. Kick.”

I sent her a confused look. “How’d you get kick?”

Sarah pointed to the opposite board. Frank had drawn a boot. There was a stick figure in a boat. Frank was working on a swimming pool with a stick figure in a blindfold. Pat was drawing more stick figures.

The answer was so obvious, I didn’t know why it took so long for me to figure it out. “Marco Polo!”

“Yes.” Pat gave me a high five. “We get a point. Okay. Who’s next?”

Walter and I were. As soon as I saw the card, I was glad we had been drawing so many fruit bowls in art class. Sarah had no problem guessing my banana split. Unfortunately, Sarah’s artistic skills were even worse than mine and I was only able to guess three blind mice from Larry’s picture. But, I would never tell her that.

Despite our early lead, Frank’s team ended up winning twenty-one to fifteen. While Frank cleaned up the game, the rest of us wandered the shelves, trying to figure out what to play next.

I headed to the puzzle game section. They were my favorite type of game. Pat came up beside me as I scanned the shelf.

I started having trouble reading the names on the boxes. He smelled like fresh mountain air again. Was it a cologne? After shave? Or was I just his soap?

He moved closer until his head was inches from mine. When he spoke, it was only slightly louder than a whisper.

“Have you ever played Mancala?”

Never head of it. I shook my head. “No.”

“Come on. I’ll show you.” His arm brushed against mine as he reached for the  shelf. My heart fluttered. I didn’t want to play games. I wanted to kiss him.

He pulled a thin blue tin off the shelf before grabbing my hand. The fluttering turned into a warmth as he led me to a small table for two. Sitting across from me, he pulled a wooden rectangle slightly larger than an egg carton out of the tin and flipped it open along the shorter edge.

There was an oval depression n each end of the board, similar to the end zone on a football field. Between them, smaller ovals were arranged in pairs. Brightly colored glass stones rested in some of the holes.

As he explained the directions, Pat reorganized the stones until there were four in each small hole and the larger ovals were empty. The rules seemed simple enough, but I was still having trouble concentrating.

I sent him a hesitant look. “Can we play a practice round?”

“Of course.” His smile nearly made me forget I was about to compete against him.

The game was short and it wasn’t long before I started developing a strategy. We played several rounds until I finally beat Pat, twenty-nine to nineteen.

“Yay! I won!” I wiggled in my chair, applauding myself. I could gloat a little. When Pat smiled at me, I grew suspicious and narrowed my eyes. “Wait, you let me win, didn’t you?”

“I promise. I didn’t. We can play again if you don’t believe me.”

“Nah. Let’s play something else.”

“Oh. I have a great idea. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

As he headed to the counter, I wondered what he could be grabbing. There were no board games there. Spencer pointed to a bookshelf beside him, where Pat removed some paper and grabbed two colored pencils before returning to the table.

“Dots and boxes!” He passed me a purple pencil as he showed me a page covered with a large grid of dots.

I recognized the game. “I’ve played this before.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at it. Never had been. We took turns drawing lines to connect the dots. According to Pat’s rules, if I connected the fourth line to make a square, I could color it in and go again. Unfortunately, I had a tendency to build three sides of a box and leave the fourth for Pat to score a point. He had a tendency to find connections where he could build multiple boxes in one turn. After he beat me sixty-four to thirty-five, I wanted a rematch.

W played three more times. Although I got better each time, he consistently won. Eventually, we both decided it was time to move on.

Pat smiled at me. “What next?”

I picked up my phone. “Isn’t it getting late? I think we should be heading back for dinner. And why is Sarah texting me?”

I looked around, but I didn’t see her in the café. I didn’t see any of our friends. I read the message aloud. “We all decided to grab some hot cocoa at the coffee shop. See you at dinner.”

Pat shook his head. “I never noticed them leave.”

“We should be getting back.”

“Okay.”

After bundling ourselves against the cold, Pat once again did the complicated handshake with Spencer before putting on his gloves. Then, he busily wrapped the scarf around his face as we headed back towards the center of town.

I sent him a curious look. “You know, it’s not that windy. You probably don’t need the scarf.”

“You realize it’s not for the wind, right?”

“Why else would you wear it? I can never wear scarves. I always feel like they’re strangling me, no matter how loose they are.”

Pat looked at me a moment before laughing. Before I could get mad at him, he put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. “You’re adorable. I’m sorry. That was just the randomest comment. I have to wear the scarf in town. I don’t like being recognized.”

I thought about what he was saying. It took nearly half a block for it to click. “Is that why you always wear the hat and sunglasses to church?”

He nodded. “When I was a third former, I tried just going into town a few times. And was bombarded by people wanting my autograph or photos. Sometimes, I don’t mind. But, it happened every time I went into town. By Long Weekend, I wouldn’t even leave campus. Mom suggested the sunglasses and scarf. I told her I was ridiculous and would never work, but it did. S now, I always try to hide myself when I go into town.”

“I didn’t think it bothered you. I mean, you don’t do it at school.”

I shrugged. “Not anymore. Back when I was a third former, I just wanted to be normal and that’s really hard sometimes. I guess it helped that Meghan was already here. People had stopped bothering her. I hung around with her a lot my first year.”

“You miss her being here?”

“I thought it would be great being here with Walter. But, he’s being such a—I can’t say the word I want.”

I giggled. “Blockhead.”

“Yeah, that’s a good one. He’s being such a blockhead about the whole thing, it’s made me miss Meghan more. That’s one of the reasons I invited her to come the other day. Another was just to annoy Walter.”

I giggled. “I talked to him the other night. I think he’s trying.”

Pat shrugged, puling me a little closer. “So, feel like telling me about the guy who made you do extra homework?”

I sighed. “I really don’t see why this is such a big deal. I was seeing this guy a couple of months ago. We weren’t even really together. We just went out a couple of times. In one of our conversations, he mentioned doing homework a day early so he could understand the teacher. I thought it was a good idea and decided to do it in all my classes. Walter wanted to keep studying with me, so he did it too. That’s pretty much the whole story.”

“No it’s not. My brother really seemed to dislike him.”

“Well, Walter didn’t think much of him before we were together. Once he and Larry learned about the bet, they were ready to hurt him for me.”

“What bet?”

I shrugged. “The guy made a bet with some of his friends that he could kiss me. And he didn’t see anything wrong with doing that. So, I broke up with him. He was a horrible kisser, anyway. And why am I telling you all this?”

“It’s the scarf. It makes people want to share their innermost secrets.”

I laughed, pulling the scarf away from his face. “Then, maybe you shouldn’t wear it.”

We cut through a parking lot ot reach the dining hall. Pat smiled at me. “I had fun with you today.” He reached for the door.

“Oh, I’m not going in yet.”

“Why not?”

“I have to get my books. I always get my books first. Then, I can go straight to the library after dinner.”

Pat frowned. “That is so . . . studious.”

I shrugged. “It’s my routine. It feels weird if I don’t go to the dining hall without my bag.”

With a shrug, Pat followed me to the dorms. As we crossed the street, I turned o him. “I had fun with you today, too.”

He didn’t say anything. He laced his fingers with mine, gently guiding me to the backside of the humanities building. There were several benches here. We chose a random one and sat facing each other.

Pat tucked a hair back under my hat. “Do you think, maybe you and I could hang out again? Just the two of us?”

Part of me wanted to say yes immediately. But, it was so complicated. I gave an exasperated sigh. “Pat, it’s still weird.”

He touched my cheek with the back of his hand. “I know. I mean, you do extra homework. How weird is that?”

I pushed his chest gently. “Don’t get me wrong. I like spending time with you.”

Pat smiled and pulled me close. I rested my forehead against his. It fit perfectly there. I wondered if  he would try to kiss me. I wouldn’t say no. Maybe I should kiss him? But, maybe he would think that meant I was ready to be his girlfriend. Was I?

Before I could make a decision, he sat back sharply. “Do you know the story of Daphne and Apollo?”

I frowned as I thought back. It sounded familiar, but I had read a lot of myths this term. “I remember reading the name, but I don’t remember the story.”

Pat put his arm around me, drawing me close. I rested my head on his chest, his head resting on mine. He wrapped his arms around me and I never wanted him to let go.

“Apollo was madly in love with Daphne, but she didn’t feel the same way. She was constantly running away from him, but he continued to chase her.”

“Am I your Daphne? Wait, you’re not in love with me are you?”

I tried to sit up, but Pat held me close as he gave a small laugh. “No, I’m not saying that. I don’t know what I am. Smitten, I guess.”

“Does the story have a happy ending?”

“Um . . . Let’s just say I hope things turn out better for us.” He caressed my cheek one more time, whispering in my ear. “I should let you go.” He didn’t move.

“Pat, I just need more time to figure this out. Whatever this is.”

“I’m not trying to rush you. I’m just reminding you that it’s still here.” He kissed my forehead gently before getting to his feet. I watched him head towards the dining hall, remaining on the bench until my heart was beating normally again.

Melinda’s Journal

Tuesday, November 7

Once upon a time, the warrior Apollo teased Eros, the god of Love, that he needed to use a bow and arrow to make people fall in love. In retaliation, Eros shot Apollo with a golden arrow. Instantly, the warrior fell in love with Daphne the river nymph. As a further punishment, Eros shot Daphne with a lead arrow, instilling her with a deep hatred for Apollo.

Apollo would not leave Daphne alone. He would pursue her and she would reject him. Eventually, Eros had pity on the god and helped Apollo to catch up to Daphne. When she realized he might actually catch her this time, Daphne asked her father, the river god, for help.

Daphne’s request was granted. Her father turned her into a tree.

Am I destined for the same fate?

Pat’s Story

The next afternoon, I snuck up behind Walter at lunch. Melinda saw me and I saw her smile as she took a sip of her water. There were several seats between her and my brother, so I opted for one slightly closer to her. I looked at my brother as I put down my tray.

“So. How was your date last night?”

Sarah and Larry had been talking quietly when I sat down. At the word date, her head snapped up.

“Date? Who had a date?” She looked all around then pointed at her roommate. “You had orchestra. I know. I was there.”

Melinda giggled and I smiled. Walter turned red as he explained who the little cutie was. Then he glared at me. “We did not have a date, which you very well know.”

Melinda helped Walter explain about his study date. I didn’t pay too much attention until he turned to Melinda and said, “I did mention how you and I do the assignments in advance –”

I looked at Melinda. “What? You do extra homework?”

Melinda closed her eyes and sighed as she explained her process of doing her homework an extra night early. It actually sounded like a very smart idea, but I would never admit that.

She tried to turn the subject back to Walter’s study date, but Larry seemed to be having issues with the extra homework, too. He turned to Sarah.

“Did you know about this extra homework thing?”

“Why is this a big deal?” Melinda started to blush.

“Yeah. She told me about it a long time ago. She got the idea from…”

I looked around the table, but Walter and the girls were all looking at their plates. Larry and I exchanged puzzled looks. He was the one to voice our question.

“Who? She got the idea from who?”

“Whom,” I corrected automatically.

“An arrogant narcissist who shall remain nameless,” Walter answered. At Larry’s clueless look, Sarah explained Walter was referring to Melinda’s first boyfriend. When Larry insulted the guy, I got the impression there was a very interesting story here. I hoped someday Melinda would be comfortable enough to tell it to me herself.

The conversation turned to ideas for that afternoon, and I suggested going to Checkmate. When no one knew what I was talking about, I insisted we all go. 

---

“Are you sure you want to take your girlfriend to Checkmate?” Frank asked as we walked towards Walter’s dorm after school.

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Whatever. Aren’t you afraid she’s gonna think you’re a geek?”

I shook my head. “I think she’s gonna love it.”

As we headed to the back of the dorm, I heard Larry’s voice. “Is this some sort of upper former prank against third formers?” Man, I loved that guy!

“Wow, way to be paranoid.” I pointed to Frank. “Has everyone met Frank? Frank, that’s Walter’s friend Larry and Melinda’s roommate Sarah. This is Pete. Call him Frank. Okay. Let’s go.”

We walked along quietly for a while, everyone following me, until Walter finally tried to get more details about where we were going. I refused to tell him. I really wanted to see his face when we got there.

I led them to the board game café and held the door so I could see each one’s reactions they walked inside. I followed them in, removing my hat and scarf as the door shut behind me. I headed to the counter, noticing the old guys playing chess by the window. Sometimes I thought those two might live at that table.

Spencer stood from his stool to greet us. “Do my eyes deceive me?  Or has Pat Evans finally returned to Checkmate?”

We did our secret handshake and he asked when I had returned. I explained it had been a busy two weeks and introduced him to Walter and his friends.

Walter looked like he was in heaven. “What is this place?”

I explained that he could spend all afternoon here playing whatever games he liked. Then, after everyone paid, I sent them to the white boards in the back of the room while I went to get a game. But, I couldn’t find it on the shelf

“Spence! You reorganized!”

“No, I didn’t! What’re you looking for?”

“Pictowar!”

“It’s over there!”

“No, it’s not!”

“I can’t concentrate!” Spencer’s uncle shouted at me.

Spencer’s father sighed. “Spence, you reorganized back in May. It’s in the family game section, two bookcases to your left.”

“Thanks, Rick.” I found the game and sat beside Melinda.

I removed the markers from the box and explained the rules. I declared Frank and I team captains and everyone else drew lots to divide the teams. I ended up with both girls, which was fine by me.

Frank and I went first. He flipped the first card and swore. When he showed it to me, I made a sour face. How was I supposed to draw that?

I flipped the timer, shouted “go!” and started drawing.

Sarah started yelling behind me. “Circle. Man. Dead. Sleeping. Kick.”

I gave her a puzzled look, but caught Frank’s drawing of a boot on the opposite board. I continued my drawing.

“Marco Polo!” Melinda shouted.

“Yes!” I gave her a high five, although I wanted to hug her. “We get a point. Okay. Who’s next?”

We played until the other team won, twenty-one to fifteen. Then, everyone started wandering around looking at the different games. When Melinda headed towards the puzzle section, I followed her. I stood close enough to smell her shampoo.

“Have you ever played Mancala?”

When she said no, I removed the blue tin from the shelf and took her hand, leading her to a table for two. I told myself I chose this table because it was easier to play the game. But it also gave us the added bonus of some privacy. I set up the board and explained the directions. She seemed to understand the basics but wanted a practice round. We played for real and Melinda beat me, twenty-nine to nineteen.

She bounced excitedly in her seat. “Yay! I won!” She was so adorable, I couldn’t help but smiling. I loved how something so simple made her excited.

I guess I was smiling too much. She stopped celebrating to narrow her eyes at me. “Wait, you let me win, didn’t you?”

“I promise. I didn’t. We can play again if you don’t believe me.”

“Nah. Let’s play something else.”

“Oh. I have a great idea. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

I went to the counter, where the paper games were stored and grabbed a sheet of dots and two colored pencils. Melinda recognized the game and sent me an infectious smile.

She wasn’t very good at this game, unless she was purposefully setting up boxes for me to get the point. It took a while, but I beat her sixty-four to thirty-five. We played a few more times and she got better, but I still beat her each time.

“What next?” I asked after the fourth round.

Melinda glanced at her phone. “I think we should be heading back for dinner. Why is Sarah texting me? We all decided to grab some hot cocoa at the coffee shop. See you at dinner.”

I looked around. “I never noticed them leave.”

“We should be getting back.”

We put on out coats and hats and said goodbye to Spence. As we walked out the door, I put on my gloves and began wrapping my scarf around my face.

Melinda smiled at me. “You know, it’s not that windy. You probably don’t need the scarf.”

“You realize it’s not for the wind, right?”

“Why else would you wear it? I can never wear scarves. I always feel like they’re strangling me, no matter how loose they are.”

I had to laugh, putting my arm around her and pulling her close to me. She didn’t resist. “You’re adorable. I’m sorry. That was just the randomest comment. I have to wear the scarf in town. I don’t like being recognized.”

We walked a half a block before she spoke again. I think it took her that long to connect the dots. “Is that why you always wear the hat and sunglasses to church?”

I nodded and told her how hard it was going into town when I first started at Hartfield. I explained how Mom had suggested the sunglasses and scarf and how it had just become my habit whenever I go into town.

We talked for a while about me being a celebrity. It wasn’t the normal conversation where people asked me what it was like. She was so easy to talk to. With Melinda, I felt I could share with her some of the downfalls I had experienced. We talked about how I missed Meghan being at school with me and how disappointed I was with the way Walter was avoiding me.

After another block, I pulled her closer, and asked if she would tell me about the ex-boyfriend everyone was discussing at lunch. To my surprise, she explained how her ex had suggested doing his work a day early and she had adopted the idea and done it in every class since September. Then, she told me about how this guy made a bet with his friends about kissing her.

“He was a horrible kisser, anyway,” she told me as we reached the dining hall. “And, why am I telling you all this?”

“It’s the scarf. It makes people want to share their innermost secrets.”

“Then, maybe you shouldn’t wear it.” Melinda giggled as she pulled it away from my mouth. I didn’t mind. We were back on campus.

I wanted to kiss her. Instead, I smiled. “I had fun with you today.” I turned towards the dining hall.

“Oh, I’m not going in yet.”

“Why not?”

“I have to get my books. I always get my books first. Then, I can go straight to the library after dinner.”

“That is so…” I fought for the right word. “studious.”

Melinda shrugged. “I’ve got my routines. It feels weird if I don’t go to the dining hall without my bag.”

I wasn’t about to let her go back on her own. Not when I could spend a few more minutes with her. As we crossed the street towards the dorms, Melinda laced her fingers with mine.

“I had fun with you today, too.”

I pulled her hand and brought her to the bench behind the humanities building. We sat down. I hadn’t even kissed her and my heart was racing.

“Do you think, maybe you and I could hang out again? Just the two of us?”

Melinda sighed in exasperation. “Pat, it’s still weird.”

I touched her cheek with the back of my hand. “I know. I mean, you do extra homework. How weird is that?”

She put her hands on my chest to playfully push me away. I wondered if she could feel that my heart was ready to leap out of it.

She spoke softly. “Don’t get me wrong. I like spending time with you.”

I smiled and pulled her closer to me. She didn’t object. In fact, she rested her forehead against mine. I wanted to kiss her so badly. I thought I was going to burst at the seams. Instead, I sat up.

“Do you know the story of Daphne and Apollo?”

Melinda thought for a moment. “I remember reading the name, but I don’t remember the story.”

I pulled her close again. She rested her head on my chest and I rested mine on her head. I savored the smell of her shampoo as I wrapped my arms around her and summarized the myth she had read in her English class.

“Am I your Daphne?” She asked when I was done. She suddenly tried to sit up. “Wait, you’re not in love with me, are you?”

I laughed lightly, pulling her back towards me. “No, I’m not saying that. I don’t know what I am. Smitten, I guess.”

“Does the story have a happy ending?”

Daphne had been turned into a tree to escape Apollo’s advances. But, Melinda didn’t need to know that.

“Um…Let’s just say I hope things turn out better for us.” I caressed her cheek one more time. “I should let you go.” I didn’t move. I didn’t want to let her go.

“Pat, I just need more time to figure this out. Whatever this is.”

“I’m not trying to rush you. I’m just reminding you that it’s still here.” I kissed her gently on the forehead. I wanted to kiss her mouth, but I wasn’t sure if she would want me to. I left her there as I walked to the dining hall, wondering how such a simple little kiss could make my heart flutter.