Sarah On Life

Lisa - On the Chess Team Members

Lisa - On the Chess Team Members

So, Sarah had guts, I'd give her that. Anyone who could talk to Mark like that, and still be standing by the end of it, sure had something special about them. The only thing was... now... what was it? Oh, yeah. What she just did was certifiably insane. There aren't too many rules in here, written or no, but I'll give you a quick run-down of the ones we do have, for prosperity's sake. 

1. Don't piss off Mark. 

2. Try to avoid being killed by Mark. 

3. Don't give Mark a reason to kill you. 

4. Play chess. 

5. Know the rules. 

6. Have fun! 

Sarah had just broken rules one through five in record time, and she 'had fun(!)' doing so. It was nice knowing her, I suppose.

It seems pretty obvious now, but thinking back, I don't really know when Mark became our leader. Around his 16th birthday, perhaps... Sarah actually reminded me a lot of how he was when he first joined the team, only a few weeks before then. It was strange, but he didn't know how to play either; though he soon mastered the game. He became more talented, more cynical and more calculating then everyone else combined. It was almost beautiful, the way he commanded his troops. On his sixteenth birthday, celebrated only last month, he came to a meeting and the change was impressive to say the least. Gone was the last of his lack of self confidence, replaced by pure drive and determination. He now moved with a fighter's grace, elegant and deadly. There were other things too, even more obvious. Though his voice had already gone through its 'breaking' stage, it seemed to become even deeper. His jaw became strong, his body became hard and Mark began to look like a man for the first time. Of course, as there always is, there was a catch. Every day that Mark would come to club looking stronger, his eyes would have lost a little warmth. As his body would harden it seemed that so too would his heart; a shame for all those who now threw themselves at him: men and women alike. The only thing that never changed throughout the transformation was his cold love of victory, of war and of chess. 

As for the reactions of the other members, they were many and varied. Much of the reason our old members had quit was due to Mark's new, and almost frightening, intensity; hence tour need for new players. Currently, our team was holding on with the bare minimum. There was four of us in total:

Tom was the comedian and the 'realist' of the team; a strange combination. It was darkly comical, the way he would joke and carry on; always holding back the hurt. His blonde hair, brown eyes and lusciou- good body made him a constant source of crushed girl's hearts. It wasn't his fault though; he just wasn't the type to commit. Relationships had always been just too hardcore for Tom; too serious. That sucked. For the other girls, I mean. Mark had been Tom's best friend before life, and the transformation, had set in. When he had changed, Tom seemed to deal with it easily; shrugging it off. Honestly, he avoided the subject. I would have expected no less. Underneath his joking exterior he was... raw. His policy in life was no regrets, but I could tell there was... something. We'd known each other since we were five, playing cops and robbers with some truly amazing costumes. Tom was the reckless one on the team, devising new strategies constantly. You never saw him coming. 

Mitch wasn't here today. He knew Sarah was coming and he didn't like strangers. The quiet one of the team, Mitch was, strangely enough, also the romantic. Poor guy had his heart broken constantly, with his gawky body and mousy attitude... girls didn't exactly flock to him. Though, as little as he said, you could always say one thing for Mitch: Dude had game. Quietly, with a minimum of words, he would utilise the strengths and weakness of every piece, and he treasured them all. It was hard not to laugh, to be honest, the way he got upset when a piece was eventually taken from him. He thought hard about every move and slowly, and safely, annihilated you.