Scott Cawthon - Felix the Shark

Contents

D irk knocked over Jennys knight with his queen. Check. He shifted positions; he was getting stiff from sitting so long.

Jenny sat on the other side of the low oak coffee table, her elbows propped on its surface, her square chin resting on her hands. She lifted a thick eyebrow and shrugged, then moved her own queen. Check.

How long are you two going to do that? Jennys twin, Gordon, asked. He was lounging against a pile of red pillows on the big black sectional sofa behind Dirk. You two are stuck in a loop. Isnt there such a thing as a perpetual check?

Dirk flicked a look at his friend. Were not in perpetual check, he snapped.

Actually, I think we are, Jenny said.

Were not, Dirk said. A perpetual check only happens when no one can deliver a checkmate. Its not something thats called after just a few checks.

Yeah, well youre close enough, Gordon said. Face it, the games a draw.

Dirk shook his head several times.

For as long as hed known Gordon, which was close to a decade now, Dirk had always found the guys endless confrontations annoying. Maybe if Dirk had a wider circle of friends, he would have left Gordon behind long ago. But he didnt have that kind of choice.

Dirk was part of a group of five friends who spent most of their off hours in the twins basement apartment. The twins and Dirks other two friends, Leo and Wyatt, were basically Dirks entire social life and had been since junior high. Theyd stuck together through high school and college, and now that they were supposedly adults, they were still together. Sometimes, Dirk had to admit that his small circle of friends and their evening rut was a little lame, but he couldnt seem to change coming over here. He liked it; it was homey and homey was something hed never found elsewhere.

Dirk glared at Gordon now. The rules of chess dont require a draw just because of a perpetual check. That only happens when theres a threefold repetition or if the fifty-move rule is met.

Okay, but you could agree to draw, Gordon said.

Dirk frowned. We could, but giving up is a sign of weakness.

Gordon snorted. Some would argue caring this much about a game is a sign of weakness.

Chess is the sport of kings! Dirk shouted. He sat up straight and crossed his arms. Its a game of mastery and intellect and creative thinking. In fact, I think children should be taught chess in school.

Some are, Jenny said. I just read about a special ed program where theyre using chess to teach abstract reasoning and creative thinking. In fact, Im putting together a proposal to take to the superintendent to see if hell let me start a similar program. The kids I teach could use the focus.

Good for you, Dirk said. As he often did, he lamented the fact that Jenny was just a friend. Back in high school, hed tried to turn their friendship in to something more, but Jenny had gently told him she loved him like a brother and only like a brother. For the last seven years, hed been telling himself shed change her mind eventually. That was why hed stayed here to go to the same college she went to, why he was writing for the local paper instead of becoming the travel writer he wanted to be.

Jenny caught Dirk staring at her, and she gave him a raised-eyebrow look. He flushed and shifted his gaze to Gordon, returning to his argument.

Well, all kids should learn chess, Dirk said. Theres no debating it. The game is good for everyone.

Everyone? Gordon rolled his eyes. Just because its your opinion that chess is great doesnt mean everyone should have to do it.

But Im right, Dirk said. And Im going to keep playing. He looked at Jenny. Okay, Jenny?

Jenny yawned. Whatever. Do what you have to do.

Dirk chewed on his lower lip and started to reach out toward the chessboard. Before he could put his hand on the king, a red pillow landed on the board, scattering the few pieces that remained on it.

Jenny didnt move when the pillow hit. She just calmly watched the chess pieces fly.

Dirk, however, clenched his fists, and whirled on Gordon, who was still on the sectionalone less pillow behind his head. Dude! Whatd you do that for?

You were in perpetual check. I ended it. Gordon ran a blocky hand through his curly auburn hair. He wore a tight gray T-shirt, which looked too small on his bulging, grease smeared biceps. Gordon was a mechanic, and he seemed to think being smeared with grease was cool. Dirk found the look desperateit shouted, Im cool! Notice me!

We were not in perpetual check, Dirk ground out. He could feel the pulse throbbing at his temple. He hated things left unfinished. He liked things done, preferably triumphantly, but at least resolved. He couldnt stand unanswered questions. Now, this game would never be done unless he could re-create the board. He began gathering up the pieces.

Dont even think about putting those back, Gordon said quietly. Im tired of listening to you two check each other. Games over.

Who made you king of the hill? Dirk demanded.

Gordon shrugged. My house. My rules.

Our house, Jenny said.

You have a different opinion? Gordon asked.

I thought we were going to play Caverns and Crocodiles, Leo said before Jenny could answer her brother. He was sitting at the game table by the big stone fireplace at the end of the huge walk-out basement that Gordon and Jennys parents had turned in to an apartment for the twins. Neither Gordon nor Jenny earned enough to have their own place. Dirk barely did though the converted garage apartment he rented was hardly better than living on the street. That was why he was over here all the time, even though Gordon got on his nerves.

A fire crackled in the fireplace, and the room smelled faintly of wood smoke. Leo was bent over a notebook, a thick pencil gripped tightly in his left hand. Even from across the room, Dirk could hear the scratching sound of Leos pencil moving across the paper. I created a new character, and

The exterior door to the basement flew back and hit the wall with a bang . Wind whistled through the opening and tossed a dozen or so dry leaves on to the red-and-black linoleum that checkered the basement floor.

The food hero cometh, Wyatt sang out, the usual big smile on his face. His brown eyes were bright with energy.

Dirk thought Wyatt might be the happiest guy hed ever met, although he had little reason for it. Wyatt was a computer nerd who worked at an electronics store, explaining technology to idiots. Dirk would never have the patience for that kind of job.

Actually, I think he arriv eth, Leo said without looking up from his notebook. He rubbed his right hand over the black bristles of his buzz cut, then cupped his equally bristly face. He did that a lot when he was thinking. If he was cometh- ing , he wouldnt already be her eth .

Wyatt carried a stack of three pizzas in one hand. Two plastic grocery bags hung heavy from the other. Plastic soda bottles peeked out through one of the bag openings, chip bags through the other.

Dirk finished picking up the chess pieces the pillow had tossed around, but he didnt put them back on the board. With Wyatt here now, they would probably play Caverns and Crocodiles after they ate. No more chess for tonight.

That was okay. Honestly, Dirk had to admit he and Jenny were probably pretty close to a perpetual check. Gordon wasnt wrong when hed said they were stuck in a loop. It would have been cool, though, to see if one of them had found a way out of itlured the other in to a false sense of inevitability only to claim victory at the last moment. It could have been a good story for Dirks next Lets Play Chess column for the paper. But maybe, if Leo really had created a new character for their game, Dirk could talk about that in his next Fantasy Games Enthusiasts column. The last time hed written that column, it had been about Caverns and Crocodiles, the tabletop role-playing game he and his friends had created based on an obscure novel called The Dogged Dogmatist, which Dirk had read and loved. The column had been surprisingly popular. Dirk had received dozens of emails and letters, asking all kinds of questions about the novel and how Dirk had come up with the twists and turns in his game. I just have a knack for intuiting clues, Dirk had told his fans.