Rainy Sunday Afternoons ((Zack))

[Seth Wright]

Sitting by the flickering fire of the Hufflepuff Common Room, Seth chewed his tongue as his hand paused over the game of wizard chess. Opposite him, the lighting of the room cast Chace's handsome face in grey shadow, his blue eyes watching Seth's moves intently. Around them, the Common Room was filled with other students, either doing homework, hanging out with friends, or just doing nothing and wasting time. It was throwing the rain down outside, chucking water in bucketfuls so much so that even if you stood outside for a few seconds you would be soaked from head to toe immediately; hence the crowdedness of the usually half-empty Common Room, and why Seth and Chace had been relegated to play their Sunday ritual chess game on the floor. Not that they had minded in the slightest; it was a warm, comfortable position. The fire was bright as well as soothing in its heat, and Seth could relax in his favourite pose - cross-legged, elbows propped against his knees with his chin in his hands. Seated on the sofas behind them were Lara and Willow with a bunch of fellow Huffle girlfriends, chatting about something feminine or other. Willow kept sneaking secret glances at Seth, hoping to catch her boyfriend's eye, but no such luck; as always, his dark eyes were glued to the black and white board, mesmerised and transfixed. Willow sighed under her breath and turned away, returning to the conversation about the new colour of the winter season: black; sometimes she wondered about what Seth loved more – her, or his chess. Or maybe even Chace. Meanwhile, Seth finally made his move after about five minutes of solid, silent thinking. Yup. When Seth Wright played chess he was properly, utterly, absolutely one hundred percent silent. Some may not believe it; some may consider it a miracle; but it was true. Still, that was only when he was thinking over his move. When it was his opponent’s turn, he never paused for breath, always rambling about something pointless and distracting. Maybe that was another reason for why he always won.

“Checkmate.” Seth announced triumphantly as Chace blinked, defeated. The black bishop moved forward to claim the king and smash it into smithereens. Seth grinned a little sheepishly, but it was obvious he was happy and proud too at his victory. If there was one thing besides Potions Seth could beat Chace at, it was chess. It wasn’t a major feat, and it wasn’t because Seth was competitive with Chace that he enjoyed beating him. It just made Seth feel better about himself; he was not useless. Willow and especially Chace told him often that he had his strong points too, but Seth had trouble believing it. Still, every week Seth would beat his best friend at the board game; every week the white king would get bashed into little pieces or rock. Seth looked down at it with a slightly forlorn expression, but smiled at the victory his black pieces were celebrating. He loved wizard chess; it was so much more interactive than the muggle version. “Another one?” He looked up hopefully at Chace, warm brown eyes meeting sky blue. Both boys knew who would win, but Seth, being the kind gentlemen he was, let Chace win occasionally. It wasn’t fun if the same person won all the time. Seth was also scared Chace would one day ask to stop playing chess with him because he was sick of it. However, on the other hand, Chace didn’t like Seth letting him win; he wanted to try his best without any aid; that was the kind of guy Chace was. Seth admired his best friend for his personality, his strength. It was something he was in awe of, and knew he could never obtain for himself. Seth was the opposite of being noble – he was a coward. He was a polite, nice boy, but he wasn’t brave. Sometimes he wondered why Chace had been sorted into Hufflepuff with him; looking at his tendencies, such as his intelligence and thirst for learning, as well as his bravery and courageousness, he could easily have been a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. But no. Somehow Chace had become a Hufflepuff like Seth.

Chace shook his head apologetically, explaining that he had an important meeting with Professor Flitwick, causing Seth to look a little saddened. However, he tried to smile and dismiss the disappointment in his chest. His mind was already cursing the Head of Ravenclaw and Charms teacher for stealing his time with Chace on his precious Sunday afternoon, but knew there was nothing he could do about it. Seth was selfish like that; he wanted Chace to spend all his time with him. Not Lara, not other girls, not other guys. Not teachers! No, Chace belonged to Seth and vice versa – they were best friends; the same way Seth wanted Willow to belong to him. However, whilst Seth always worried that his girlfriend would leave him one day, he had no such qualms about Chace. He was just worried something, or someone, would take him away one day. Chace wouldn’t go willingly, but… Seth was insecure. He had always been insecure. He couldn’t stand the thought of life without Chace – his rock, his stable ground. And because Chace wasn’t stupid and immune to Seth’s fake smile, he promised he would be back later for another round – where Seth joked he would thrash him again, and in record time – to keep him happy. Seth smiled up at Chace as he got up to go, wishing he didn’t have to leave. Since they had first met, rainy Sunday afternoons belonged to Seth and Chace. It was Seth and Chace time. Even when they had acquired girlfriends, Sundays were saved for male bonding. The two remained as close as ever, if not closer after all they had experienced together. Chace patted Seth indulgently on the head, causing Seth to laugh and push him away with a “Dude, get off!” Chace went to kiss Lara goodbye, and then disappeared out of the Common Room, not to return for a while. The girls began to migrate to their dorms too, claiming they would have a ‘make-up session’. Seth cringed at the thought, causing Willow to whack him across the ears indignantly, but they laughed and Seth kissed her goodbye also.

Everyone having disappeared, Seth gave a long sigh and sat back, arms splayed backwards to support his weight. The chess pieces had rearranged themselves again, perfect and orderly. The white pieces along the side Chace had occupied, and the black ones in front of Seth. He smiled fondly down at them; the set belonged to Chace, but it was literally shared between the two after so many years. Seth felt sorry for that poor white king – after so many losses you’d have thought it would’ve caved from all the violent attacks. Wanting another game, but having no one to play with, Seth began to wonder what he could do with his time. He had not been left alone on a Sunday afternoon for a long, long time. Neither he or Chace ever scheduled miscellaneous activities on the day, but Professor Flitwick hadn’t been able to do another time. Still rather annoyed with the Charms professor – he didn’t like Seth as it was, since he was awful at the subject – Seth was about to clear the board up and take it upstairs with him; perhaps he would start on a drawing or something. However, he glimpsed a familiar figure walking into the Common Room – blonde hair, but no, it didn’t belong to Chace, as Seth initially noted in disappointment – and immediately began to call to him when he realised who it was. “Zack! Zaaaaack!” Seth wasn’t getting the fellow Hufflepuff boy’s attention though, and so raised his yell a decibel louder. “ZACKARY!” He shouted, causing several heads to turn towards him. Seth tried not to blush from the attention; okay, so maybe that was more than just a decibel louder… Still, it had successfully attracted Zack Blaire’s attention, and he was coming over. “Sorry about that.” Seth apologised, looking up at Zack in hope. “I was wondering, you wouldn’t be up for a game of wizard chess, would ya?” Zack was a boy in his year, and someone who looked a lot like Chace. He was one of the only people Seth could talk to without feeling awkward, and they shared a dorm. He was nice and didn’t judge Seth for being ‘geeky’. “Pleeease?” Seth wheedled pleadingly.

[zack]

Zack hated Sundays. Sundays meant that he had to do all of the work he had waited to do for the next day, and it also meant that another week of school was just about to begin. Sundays just seemed to fly by so quickly, almost like he never got anything done. They were better than Mondays though. At least Sundays provided a break from class, despite the fact that they brought lots of work that needed to be done. Zack had just finished writing an essay in the library, and he was on his way back to his room for a bit of a break. If he spent too much time at once working on homework, he got very restless and needed to get his mind occupied with something else. Randy usually helped with that. Randy could always keep Zack entertained. Most of the time, he was tagging along with her and pulling her out of trouble. She had a knack for getting herself into sticky situations, but it was always a rush of adrenaline to find some way out of the problems she seemed to find herself in. Zack would always laugh at her afterward and tell her how much grief she caused him, when in reality, he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Whether she could see it or not, Zack just loved spending time with her. In fact, had he been doing homework with her, he could have done homework all day. The only problem with that would be that he really wouldn't have gotten anything done, even if he felt as though he was working on it, he would have likely been talking to Randy and keeping them both distracted from getting anything done.

Entering the common room, he half hoped to find Randy there. She wasn't though, which meant she was likely in her room doing homework, taking a nap, or perhaps out on the grounds for a jog in the snow. He wouldn't put it past her. Though, he was glad that if she had been out jogging, he wasn't there for her to drag into the cold. Zack wasn't a fan of physical activity, but he didn't absolutely hate it. Running in the snow though was not his type of fun, regardless of whether or not Randy would be with him. He'd be waiting patiently in the warm common room for her to finish with a hot cup of apple cider. He kept walking through the common room, wondering if he should take a nap himself or if he should ask one of the other girls to see if Randy was in her room. As he was going though, he heard his name being shouted rather loudly from somewhere across the way. Confused, he turned to see Seth Wright with a guilty grin and a red face. Zack gave him a look of confusion and noticed that many other people were now starring at Seth as well. Slowly, Zack approached him, curious as to why he felt the need to get his attention in such an obviously forward way. Seth quickly apologized, and then asked Zack for a game of chess. It was well known, at least from Zack hearing Seth and Chace talk about their games frequently, that Seth was very good at chess. Zack had yet to play him, but he had quite a doubt that he would be much of a challenge. Zack was terrible at chess. Randy beat him almost every time that they played. He couldn't seem to focus on so many pieces at once, and he often made careless moves that left his pieces cowering in a hopeless manner when Randy's would quite easily dominate them.

"I don't do chess," he said with a shake of his head. "Me and chess... we don't get along." Zack really didn't hate playing chess, but he was simply just down right terrible at it. There was not other way of putting it. Seth seemed desperate though, and Zack felt somewhat rude to say no. "I mean, really, if you play me, the game will be over in less than five minutes. That's how bad I am. I don't even think Randy is great at chess, and yet she has no problem beating me." Zack figured that if Seth still wanted him to play, he was at least giving him fair warning. "Isn't Chace around to play. He'd be a lot more competition for you than I would, trust me!" Zack stood, looking down at Seth and the chess board with all its pieces lined up in nice rows and ready for another game. Half of him just wanted to go find Randy, but he knew that Seth really seemed to want a partner for chess. "Fine, fine," he said, tossing his bag of school books and work to the ground as he spun a chair around backwards and sat with his arms resting on the back of the chair. "You have to teach me some tricks though, otherwise, your going to have no fun at all. I am not being modest either. Unless you show me a thing or two, this game will be the most boring game of chess you've ever played." Zack looked at Seth with a smile that showed he was both joking and yet serious at the same time. "I'll start," he said, taking a piece for no particular reason and moving it forward on the board. Then, he watched Seth to see what he might do or if he might critique his move.

[Seth Wright]

“Sure you do.” Seth insisted, rocking back and forth on his backside, knees tucked to his chest and arms surrounding them. He looked up at Zack pleadingly; he was sure he would cave. Seth found it easy to get away with things with people he was familiar with. “I’ve seen you playing with Randy before.” He added innocently with a sly smile. “I promise I’ll go easy on you. Just keep me company for five minutes, yeah?” Seth eyes grew a little doleful when Zack mentioned his best friend, and mustered a bright smile. “Professor Flitwick wanted to see him, so he had to leave.” He informed the fellow Hufflepuff. “You can’t be any worse than Chace; he’s not an amazing chess player either.” Seth replied as seriously as possible, running a hand through his curly locks. He needed a haircut; his hair grew so quickly, and when it piled on his head in a mass of ebony curls, it would get unruly and difficult to maintain. In the mornings he looked like such a bed head. “Woo, yeah man.” Seth bounced on the spot in delight when Zack finally relented and sat down opposite him in a chair. He liked getting what he wanted, but he was used to never getting it, really. Not when you grew up in a poor, struggling household with three separate mouths to feed.

“Sure thing.” Seth nodded enthusiastically with a happy grin. It didn’t take much to keep him satisfied. “I don’t mind anyway. As long as there’s someone to keep me company...” Seth trailed off and stared at the fireplace, imagining Chace and then Willow. Imagining the lonely past. He jerked out of it when Zack spoke again and turned with a terser smile on his lips. “Um, I’m sure I can teach you all the tricks. It’s not hard, honest. Just as long as you know the rules and the individual abilities of each of the pieces.” He laughed at Zack’s modesty. “I’ve had worse. You can’t be that bad, man. Show me what you’ve got.” Seth joked, rubbing his hands together eagerly. He watched as Zack made the starting move, and nodded slowly. “Yeah... that’ll do. I would always move the pawn in front of the King, though. Yeah, I know, sounds stupid and it makes you feel like you’re making your King vulnerable, but trust me on this one. I mean, think about it – moving that piece forward means you can let loose your Queen and one of your Bishops. Bishops are real lethal, they’re probably one of my favourite pieces to use. They can flatten half your side.” Seth rambled, continuing to point at the individual black and white statues.

“So once the Queen and the Bishops are free, they can move around the board...” Seth ordered his pawn to move one square forward, and began to pointing out the path he expected to take later. “Then in your next move you can either move your Queen or your Bishop. Another good starting move is to move one of the Knights, because they can go over the pawns, you know? Real handy, that. Another one of my favourite pieces. But, to be honest, I really like the Rooks too. I like how they can travel only in straight lines.” Seth waited for Zack to make his move, continue to whittle away at chess tactics, which he had invented himself rather than purposefully looked up and learned about. It was just a natural affinity of Seth’s, and something he enjoyed being good at, however minor it was. As Zack’s hand moved towards a chess piece to direct it across the board, Seth jerked his hand out in alarm. “Oh, no no no. You don’t want to do that. Trust me. Best to save that piece for later.” Seth gripped Zack’s hand a little too tightly, dangling above the board, though he was too absorbed in staring at the chess board to realise. “Try... Oh, sorry man.” Seth immediately let go of Zack’s hand, flustered, but quickly pointed out what he was trying to say. “Try that one.” He stated again more confidently, putting his hands in his lap and trying not to fidget out of impatience.

The turn going back to Seth, he looked over the chess board and pieces carefully, lapsing into temporary and peaceful silence. Seth was too busy to notice Zack’s reaction to his sudden calm aura, his chin propped against his palm as he frowned in the light of the fire. In his mind he was calculating every single possible method, and which held the best outcome. It took about a minute, but after a long, stretched stillness in which Seth kept a concentrated visage, he finally made his move in a commanding tone. The piece trotted across the board and demolished one of Zack’s pawns. “Sorry about that.” Seth sent the Hufflepuff an apologetic smile. “Your turn.” He offered, wondering what Zack would do now and if he would heed his advice. “How’s Randy then?” Seth decided to ask, launching into conversation as Zack debated his move. “Where is she, anyway?” He added curiously. Randy and Zack were nearly always together; they always had been.

[zack]

Though kind, Seth's words of encouragement really didn't make Zack feel any better about sitting down to a game of chess than he had before. All the encouragement in the world couldn't stand against his natural inability to be good at this game. Perhaps though, with Seth's enthusiasm, he just might be able to learn a thing or two, Zack thought. Seth was quite the energetic sort of person. Zack had known him since their first day at the school since they were roommates. They didn't talk a lot at first, mainly because Zack was always with Randy, never around many of the other guys his age. But, eventually, through the six years they had been in the same room, Zack had got to know Seth fairly well. It was also known that Seth and Chace were their own sort of group. They were both kind to others, but their friendship was a bit like Zack had with Randy. It was odd, really though. Zack and Chace almost seemed closer to one another than they were with their respective girlfriends. But, it was expected, perhaps. At their age, a best friend came quite often in someone of the same sex. Plus, half of the time, romantic relationships never lasted, but your true friendships did. Despite Seth and Chace being so close though, Zack knew them both fairly well, and the three got along well enough.

It was almost instantly that Seth's true colours began to express themselves through his playing style and the way he kept going on and on, mentioning each piece. Zack was half listening, as his mind wandered back to Randy. He did try to pay attention to Seth though, especially when he gave him the tip about moving the pawn directly in front of the king. It kind of made sense to Zack, but once Seth mentioned paws, and kings, along with the bishop and queen, Zack's comprehension became a bit fuzzy. There were too many ifs and buts and just a whole load of possibilities. It all just seemed so complicated. "Right..." he said with a nod and very little assurance in his voice. He understood the idea to move that pawn first, but the whole reasoning behind it wasn't worth trying to understand, he figured.

While Seth was confidently commanding his pieces from place to place, Zack had taken the more common approach of using his hands to simply move them. It was hard enough to have a plan, let along remember what each piece was and then figure out the coordinates on the grid. Zack could have figured out the commands if he needed to, but simply moving it by hand made it something less he had to try to think about and concentrate on. He was also worried that he might say the wrong thing and end up making a terrible move, however he could easily make a terrible move no matter what method he used to slide the pieces from one square to another. Just as he was reaching for one of the horse-like looking pieces, Seth's hand flashed across Zack's line of site and stopped him in mid motion. Zack paused, looking at Seth quizzically at Seth quickly pointed out that Zack should refrain from moving the piece he was about to pick up. "It's fine," Zack said with a chuckle. Zack was pretty laid back, and he actually found it quite amusing that Seth was so engrossed in the game and the strategy that came along with it.

Taking Seth's advise, Zack moved the piece that was closest to the edge of the board. Then, Seth was next, and, in his turn, he quite boldly crushed one of Zack's pawns. If only Zack could claim that it was all part of some grander plan, but that would be completely untrue. "Don't worry, I don't expect to win," he reminded Seth with another laugh. He then took another turn and his attention was piqued whenever Seth mentioned Randy. "Good... I guess. I'm not quite sure where she is." Zack had to suppress the natural tendency to sound disappointed in not knowing where she was. "And Willow?" Zack asked in return. It seemed natural to ask about her after Seth asked about Randy, even though Seth and Willow were dating and Zack and Randy were not. If only Randy could see how much Zack was infatuated with her though. Had he not been afraid of risking their friendship, he'd have asked her to be his girlfriend in a heartbeat. Sometimes though, he felt she had no clue how much he cared for her. She knew he valued her friendship, but did she know he would do almost anything for her? It was quite a frustrating feeling to have to carry around, but Zack had managed so far.

"How did you and Willow begin dating?" he asked, his mind totally off of the subject of chess and now running onto other things that Zack deemed more relevant. He had to pause for a few second before taking his next turn because he had forgotten which colour he had even been playing. After making his move, he realized right away that it was a silly one. Even he could see that Seth had a straight shot to take out one of his castle pieces (he had already forgotten that they were named rooks).

[Seth Wright]

Seth gave Zack a funny look when he said he didn’t know where Randy was. “Eh?” He tilted his head to one side, an eyebrow raising in disbelief. He was going to ask why Zack didn’t know, because if Seth knew the boy well enough – which he did, they had been sharing the same room for almost six years now – Zack always knew where Randy was, and vice versa. It was like the two of them were glued together by invisible forces. Really, Seth thought inwardly as he observed Zack, the pair were pretty much an item, the way they acted around one another. They were quite the couple, to be honest – a handsome, good-looking, cute couple. However, the truth was that Zack and Randy weren’t together; they were merely ‘best friends’. Seth had for a long time wanted to ask Zack why he didn’t just make the move. If he, Seth Wright, could have Willow Walker for a girlfriend, then quite frankly, Zack should be able to gain one almost instantly. And if the girl he wanted was Randy Kerr, then it was even easier, because it was so obvious the two were meant for each other since Day One.

Seth was just about to ask his long-awaited question, when Zack returned his query about Willow. Seth shrugged, not particularly bothered where his girlfriend was. “In her dorm with her girlfriends. They’re having a make-up session or something.” He rolled his eyes jovially, taking his girlfriend’s favourite activities in good jest. Willow was such a girl at heart. Seth looked down at the chess board when he realised Zack had finished his move, and ordered his Bishop to move two steps diagonally upwards. He was cornering Zack’s pawn in his mind. Looking up again, Seth gave an easy smile. Zack was an odd boy; he could be really subdued, and yet very easygoing too. He was Randy’s best friend after all; you had to have a sense of humour to be her best friend, right? Randy was one of the bubblier, friendlier girls Seth knew in his house. They had spoken on occasion. Naturally, Seth knew Zack better though. In a way, Seth had always compared Zack to Chace. Both boys were blonde haired, blue eyed, and bore similar personalities. Chace too could be extremely stand-offish (sometimes completely silent, even), and yet he had a very warm, kind heart. Seth’s best friend also had to have a sense of humour, of course. It amused him how opposites attract, rather than similar people drawing together. He and Chace had barely anything in common. They were like two different species at two different ends of the spectrum. And yet, their friendship was so strong, they treated each other like brothers.

Seth waited for Zack to make his move, when he asked an unexpected question about his relationship with Willow. So distracted by the query was Seth he neglected to watch Zack’s poorly made chess move, and it was only after Zack had finished moving his piece with his hands (the poor boy evidently didn’t understand the joys of wizard chess) that Seth began to point it out. “Uh – Oh, never mind.” Seth sent Zack a lopsided smile, and lapsed into temporary silence again, then commanding his black piece to move across and claim one of Zack’s Rooks. “Sorry.” Seth apologised again, giving the floor to Zack and finally answering his question. “You know, Zack, I’m not really sure.” Seth replied honestly, looking upwards at the ceiling. “I’d liked her for ages before we got together in our fifth year though. She was like the Queen Bee with Lara; Miss Popularity. She was also the girl in front of me in the register, and I was just… besotted. I was like, Wow.” Seth’s smile widened. “I just thought she was amazing, and I didn’t even know her. She hadn’t spoken to me once. She didn’t even know my name. But then Chace began dating Lara, and lo and behold, I spent every waking moment with Willow. I probably annoyed her a lot first… in fact, she said I was the most brainless freak on the planet. But my charms finally won her over, and um…” Seth racked his memory with a slight frown. “I… think it was me who asked her out. Or maybe not. Since I’m too much of a coward to do that. Maybe I got Chace to do it. or Lara. I can’t remember.” Seth shrugged with a wistful smile. “I’m sure Lara doesn’t approve of me. She’s too good for me, and she thinks Willow is too. But me dating Willow has advantages for Lara too, since she’s with Chace. I suppose I ended up with Willow after five long years of crushing on her because of Chace and Lara… so I have them to thank.” Musing to himself for a moment, Seth snapped out of it and grinned wryly. “It isn’t the most romantic story, you know? But I love her. A lot.” He said genuinely.

“You’ve never told me about how you and Randy met and became best friends.” Seth began prodding curiously as he waited for Zack to finish moving his chess piece, twiddling his fingers together in usual impatience. “So, how did you and Randy meet? Were you best friends before Hogwarts or something? - Cause you guys were dead close from Day One. Lucky you were assorted into Hufflepuff together, just like Willow and Chace did for me.” Seth grinned, folding his arms over his chest and bouncing on his knees. “It’s useful to share common rooms and stuff, right? They say there’s no difference and equality between the houses, but there is… there’s always a gap.” Seth shrugged, and began to ponder his move.

[zack]

"Sounds like fun," Zack said sarcastically with a laugh whenever Seth mentioned that the girls were giving each other makeovers or something of the sort. Randy was definitely unlike the other girls her age in that aspect. She didn't care about what she looked like so much. Randy was a free spirit, simply wanting to live life and have fun. That's what Zack loved about her. He didn't have to worry either about what he looked like or anything of the sort. Randy accepted people because of who they were, not what they wore. Of course, Zack couldn't assume that Willow and the other girls she hung out with were shallow. It was just the fact that Randy never had makeup sessions and such which made Zack relieved to have her as a friend. He wasn't so sure he could handle someone like Willow. In all honesty, he was surprised that Willow and Seth were a couple. They just seemed so wrong for each other, but who was Zack to judge?

Seth had meant to say something, but the dismissed whatever he was going to say. Then, he commanded one of his pieces to take yet another one of Zack's. The game was going just as Zack had imagined it might. He let out a friendly laugh as he was expecting to be doing this badly. Then, as he made his next move, Seth answered his question about how he and Willow had started as a couple. It was quite interesting, really. Zack had expected something more... sophisticated, perhaps? Regardless, Seth had said that he loved her, and at least he had been willing to tell the girl that he loved the way he felt. Zack hadn't quite been able to do that yet. "A brainless freak?" he questioned with a laugh. "Wow, that's quite harsh." He could just imagine Willow saying something like that though. Zack figured Seth didn't think much of it though. He didn't seem the type to care much what others thought.

"Oh, Randy and I?" Zack just assumed people had known they were friends before Hogwarts. Though, he figured that it only made sense not a lot of people who know how they met. "She grew up just down the road from me. We met one day, and our friendship clicked. Just like that," he said, snapping his finger to demonstrate how quickly he and Randy had bonded. "But yeah, we were quite nervous about getting split up during sorting. I'll admit, I did some heavy bargaining with the Sorting Hat to put her in the same house as me. I don't know if it helped though." Zack smiled, wondering about the whole house thing. He thought he'd make a good Gryffindor too, as would Randy, but Hufflepuff suited him fine. He couldn't really see him fitting into either Ravenclaw or Slytherin. "I don't think I'd prefer any other house at this point. Rooming with you and Chace suits me. Sometimes, I hear other students complaining about their roommates. I don't think we have much to complain about, eh?" He watched Seth make his next move. If only he could figure out why Seth moved certain pieces instead of others, then perhaps he would learn. It didn't make sense for Zack though, and so he just made another quick move without giving it much thought.

"Hey, did you hear about that new publication team that they are trying to put together? I saw a poster that advertised a list of positions available. I considered signing up, but I didn't know anybody else who would join. Randy doesn't have enough concentration to do something like that," he joked. Zack's parents had both worked as writers in the publication field, and it was something that Zack had a bit of a natural affinity for, even if it wasn't something he enjoyed as much as his parents. "I thought I might try to get one of the reporting positions. You and Chace should check it out."