Checkmate - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

The Asian girl moved away from Althea when she reached for her, but Althea noticed that Hana bit her bottom lip softly to hold in a smile. This new chasing game of capture was a surprise to her as Althea didn't know why she was so drawn to this odd young maiden.
All Althea was certain of was when she saw her face up that close for the first time, her breath left her.
Althea couldn't help but draw towards her and push her against the wall. When she elicited a reaction from the shorter girl, she became conscious of her predatory advances and she had to move away to let the girl breathe.
She honestly had not expected Hana to take upon her request to play chess with her. She also was sincerely unaware of the reasons why she has been making decisions on a whim when it comes to the reckless girl for Althea lived her life with stern calculations and thorough thinking.
Hana sticking her tongue out as she concentrates was a plain view for Althea. While the brunette was thinking about her attack strategy, Althea used her observation skills that she garnered upon growing up.
Althea found herself staring at the girl too much. Her face is somewhat longer and wider with eyes angled upwards. She has a cute button nose, and the way she dressed was plain and simple with subtle colors, even the girl's chosen hairstyle was simple yet brings about childish qualities.
Furthermore, Althea had a hard time reading Hana's body language and facial expressions as she was foreign, but in the end, Althea successfully concluded that Hana's the reckless kind of girl—the one who's insensitive to others but would feel terrible once the person speaks their mind about the matter.
Hana's wearing a daring smile. Nonetheless, clearly, she has no chance of winning against her at all odds; yet, she was attempting her best to defeat her, although ineptly. For Althea could easily read what plans Hana could conjure up on the way she scrunches up her nose and the sly sparkle in her eyes when she makes a move.
Althea and Joshua explained the basics slowly and surely for Hana to learn the rules of chess comprehensively over a new batch of hot tea and surprisingly, biscuits and chocolates that Joshua brought with him. Hana kept comparing chess to Japanese shogi and sometimes forgot that the rook moves differently in both games.
It took Hana almost two hours to get the gist of the rules of chess. Not counting the minutes where Hana was momentarily distracted at seeing squirrels and butterflies play around and how she would twirl some chess pieces on her fingers. Hana's wavering attention sometimes annoyed Joshua's impatience but Althea was perfectly unperturbed.
Hana could have ADHD, Althea thought, not just hyperactivity.
Althea smirked, knowing she has the upper hand when the real match started. "You have the first turn, Hana." She said.
There was a look on her face that Althea couldn't seem to understand. It wasn't just suspicion but also something else like admiration. "Why?"
Althea blinked. "Because lighter colors take first turns. It's the rule."
"Any reason why?" she asked, glancing at the red pieces.
"It's called the first-move advantage."
"Oh, I see. Totally suspicious," Hana muttered, she placed her forefinger and thumb under her chin. "I bet you know how to counterattack."
"Of course, little lamb." She merely smirked when the Japanese girl glared her way. "It's not fair if the first mover always wins."
"Take it into consideration." Joshua reminded her. "Having the advantage of the first-move means you set the pace where the war is going. You have the offense, and do your best."
"Umm, okay." She grabbed a pawn from the farthest left and had it moved two tiles forward.
Althea relished knowing Hana's strategy. She couldn't mask her grin when Hana was an open book. Hana's the type of player who focuses on devouring the enemies' soldiers first rather than focus on cornering the weakest chess piece while attempting to stay safe.
Beginners often forget that winning chess matters, not on how many chess pieces one has captured from the enemy but the sole goal of capturing the opponent's king.
"You thought you had figured me out," Hana said. Her voice uncertain at first but now it has gained courage. "But I swear to you, Althea Lancaster! I will never lose to you!"
The flames of unbridled passion and determination that burned in the Asian girl's eyes triggered a beloved memory Althea had during her youthful days when she would play across the fields of green grasses with her dogs, and her mother accompanying her as she rode ponies. Sadly the spark she had once was gone.
Faded.
Yet here she was getting pepped talk by an enthusiastic foreign girl.
"Actions speak louder than words." Althea mused; she moved the pawn in front of her queen forward, ready to unleash the female royal on the next round. "Show me your will."
"You want will; I'll show you what Hanako Yoshida is made of!" She made another move by placing one of her pawns that surrounded her king forward.
Althea sighed, the shorter girl could not have thought out much far with that hasty move. Joshua noticed it too and his silent grin grew wider. If they would be playing poker, Althea could have easily defeated Joshua with the way he's unguarded with his facial expression.
Four minutes into the game, Althea's afterthought of wandering into deep reverie made her curious to know the brunette's story.
"Hana," she began. "Why do you passionately want to keep those pictures?"
"You wouldn't allow me if I tell you!" she burst with a desperate tone.
"Try me," Althea said, her hands forming into a steeple.
Hana blushed at her devilish display of power. She took a deep breath before mustering. "To make it simple, I'm failing photography."
"Oh?" an amused smile emerged from her lips.
Hana had to look away and grab the DSLR from her lap which was safely strapped around her neck. "One of my professors told me that she'd give me one last chance if, by the end of the day, I can provide good photos. It's my last chance if I ever want to could showcase my works at the Samhain Festival!" She looked up at Althea, her cheeks slightly coloring from opening up to strangers so she connected her forefingers, bashful all of a sudden, "And also to pass the class with flying colors."
"So the result of today's work could either make you or break you," Althea said, more or less. "It also explains the furtive camera and chess piece fuddling."
"And I had never been inspired so much before!" She yelled. Her gaze met Althea's again. "I believe these photos are the best I could offer!"
Hana's voice sounded astonishingly determined and undeniably desperate. Althea's heart turned soft immediately; maybe she could offer to help her keep some photos. She had tried to recompose herself when an idiot interrupted.
"So it's true that you are a student of Neos Athens like us," Joshua said, munching on a biscuit.
"You're a Neos Athens student too?" the brunette asked, her attention easily diverted.
"We thought you knew." Joshua laughed earnestly, placing his left leg over his right. "That's why you're taking photos of us. Do you even know who we are?"
"Nope," she shook her head. "Not until today."
"Then why were you taking photos of us?" Joshua's brows furrowed.
of Althea just wanted to annoy the man as he did to her with his sudden interruption. "She was getting to the part of her narrative when you decided to be superfluous."
Althea's at her limit with the pent-up anger she's been holding up for her childhood friend. He must have sensed the mood Althea was in and did not dare to defy.
The least he could do was to get her attention to apologize so Joshua cleared his throat again, his mouth slackened. "Oops sorry, you may proceed."
"As I said, today's my last chance!" Hana slammed the table, some chess pieces nearly tumbled down in the process. "Professor Andrea told me I should find a muse. She brought me here and I happen to find the two of you! I knew someone out there's trying to give me a miracle!"
Hana's eyes were crystal clear and seemed to be stirring with an inner light, boring into hers. The brunette had found them to be simply enthralling, completely baffled and awestruck by the appearances that had led her to want to capture them with her camera.
Althea blinked. Joshua was grinning broadly as lucid thoughts began to swim in his straight male head and she knew it was a bad sign.
"I value your concerns," Althea said. "But I offer no sympathy for you. If you are in great need of a muse, secretly taking pictures of people's out of the question."
"I know and I'm sorry," she murmured sheepishly. "But the decision isn't over yet until I win!"
The Asian girl in front of her ignited a fuse in her. Deeply invested in entertaining her, Althea gave her a sultry smile. If Hana was giving this her all, Althea should not hold back. When Hana made her previous move, she had not known that she created her own doom.
Althea brought out her queen, placing it a few squares away from Hana's king. "Check," she warned her.
Althea could sense Hana's mind reeling. Her attention shifted from Althea's black queen to her red king. Hana tried to protect her most critical chess piece so much that she trapped him with no other viable escape, unless she, of course, sacrifice either her rook.
Hana was now biting the nail on her thumb. She might be an idiot, but she knew that even if she would sacrifice the tower-like structure, Althea's next move would be her victory.
After long consideration, Hana finally nodded and did the inevitable.
With a sigh, Althea moved her Queen forward and took over where the rook stood. "Checkmate," she said, placing the red rook at the far side of the board.
Althea looked back at Hana and saw the tears had flooded her eyes. And now, Althea's mind was haunted by the guilt and shame that were eating away at her heart. Needless to say, the photos meant a lot to her, "Hana?"
They sat in silence for a while after that. As the beautiful scenery of fall flashed before her eyes, Andrea's mind wandered to the happy days of her teenage years when she had discovered friendship in a handful of people, just as misfit as she was, people with whom she had the fun of all times.
Nostalgia's a twinge in the heart and far more powerful than any memory alone. Running along the memory lane proved not to be a spaceship, but a time machine. For it goes backward and forward. It takes them to a place where one aches to go to again. One of the strange things about living is that there is only the now, but all people seem to be wrapped up in the past and wander in the present, yet always wonder about the future.
Resting now on the dry grasses, Tosca turned the pages of an art magazine. Andrea sat next to her, shoulders hunched together, curiously gazing at the pages, analyzing every face with such interest and passion as though she had been fond of paintings since forever.
Their quiet contemplation of different masterpieces of the art of painting and sketches was interrupted when Tosca murmured. "As you have observed, I had strayed away from traditional painting."
Andrea had not expected that. "What do you mean?"
Tosca retrieved a digital drawing tablet she got from her bag pack and her laptop. "I realized that the obsession with the tradition wouldn't let me evolve as an artist. So I tried to do another medium. Digital art taught me wonders. Mistakes are acceptable, unlike in traditional, one mistake is the death of your piece." She chuckled at those late nights she was working on a comic. "It's fun unless your computer freezes."
"Wow," Andrea breathed upon viewing all of Tosca's digital arts too, complete with a watermark. "I didn't know you had it in you to draw cartoons."
Tosca's face turned crimson. "It's stress-relieving from all the realistic sketches."
There was a ringtone from Andrea's phone that ruined the mood. Due to her anxiety, she yanked herself a few inches away from Tosca while fishing for her phone in her pocket. She slid it open just to answer her phone call. "Umm... Professor Kavanagh yes?"
Tosca offered a smile that meant she could take her time with the call since it's work-related.
"Oh!" She said, her head beginning to ache at impossible deadlines. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. Yes, she's with me but not right at the moment. I assure you, she's doing the best she can."
Tosca's attention swiftly turned to the phone call when she heard that.
"Yes, I'll tell her." A few words later, she turned to Tosca again as she turned the call off, returning the phone inside her pocket.
Tosca bit her lips from whatever she wanted to address next. Her deep turquoise eyes drifted briefly to hers. Then the Italian artist looked away with a sigh. At that moment, Andrea felt her heart leaped at the notion of Tosca being worried about her.
"So," she began. "You're babysitting now?"
"Well, hmm... I guess," Andrea said, although hesitant. She didn't want Tosca to learn about Hana this way. "I j-just feel responsible for her."
Tosca's eyes turned dark. "Look how the mighty Andromeda has fallen."
Andrea inhaled deeply, her heart stung at the sharp pain that struck like a needle in her chest. Despite all the attempts of mending ties, Tosca still harbored animosity towards her. "Tosca, I know you're still bitter about Professor Oakley."
Now she wished she had never mentioned it. Tosca looked like she's about to crack. The Italian woman's voice of tension still raged through her heavy breathing. "She's dead Andromeda, she's no longer here. I've searched for her since we fell out."
Andrea dropped her hand to her side then and bowed in defeat. "Oh," she sighed once more.
Tosca noticed that she was being out of line and carefully watched how she would articulate her next words. "I do hope you won't turn out to be like her, now you've followed her path."
"You're still angry she chose me."
"Who wouldn't be, Andromeda?"
Andrea winced at the sting of her words. Her thoughts raced over to Hana's well-being. She inhaled a lungful of air and said. "Then I'll take my leave—"
"—but it doesn't mean I didn't miss you." Tosca interrupted, she reached out for Andrea's wrist and held it tightly. "I've decided, Andromeda. Until my animosity is permanently gone, until I've repented all my faults, and when I am worthy of loving you unconditionally, I'll return to you."
"I'll be waiting then, Tosca," she said and let out a big sigh. If she had waited dutifully for a decade, she could wait for another. Andrea could feel the trembling in her body and Tosca's. "I'll be waiting."