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.“Yeah, I’ve been working out a few times a week.”Hector turned to the girls, wondering if maybe he was talking to them.When he realized hewasn’t, because the girls weren’t even looking at him, he turned back to Walter.“Huh?”When the girls got even closer, Walter very obviously sucked in his big gut and lifted a flabbyarm.In a somewhat strained voice, he spoke again.“Yeah, I bench about thirty pounds on a bad day,about fifty the rest of the time.”“Hey, Walter,” the redhead in a ponytail said, “new car?”Seeing the ridiculous expression go even stupider, Hector finally figured out what Walter wasdoing.It was obvious he was about to lie about the car being his when the alarm on the car went off,startling Walter, whose elbow slipped off the car, and he nearly fell.The blond girl squealed as the sudden blaring alarm startled her as well, and then both girlslaughed and continued walking but not before the redhead glanced in Hector’s direction for just asplit second.That’s when he realized who she was—Charlie—the same girl that was there the dayHector saved Walter’s ass, the one Walter had been so upset about not being able to make a connection with.Never having been or even hung around with any girls but those with dark features, he was caughtby her big deep blue eyes just as he had been that first day he saw her.But just like that day, it was only for a moment because she turned away too quickly.Hector turned to a now-back-to-awkward-and-frowning Walter.“What the hell was that about?”Walter rolled his eyes, kicking a bottle cap on the floor.“Nothing you’d know about.” He kickedthe bottle cap even harder.“Crap on a stick! Just like last time and all the other times, it never fails.I always end up making an ass out of myself instead of impressing her.”Hector couldn’t help laughing as they both started toward the doors of the auditorium where theevent was taking place.“What exactly was supposed to impress her: you sucking your gut in or thefact that you could bench fifty pounds?” He laughed even more now.“Because let me tell you fiftypounds ain’t shit.For a guy your size, you might want to up that to more than two hundred.”Walter turned to him, incredulous.“Over two hundred? Are you crazy!”“Nope,” Hector said, looking around again for Sam then back at Walter.“And it wouldn’t kill youto actually get your ass in a gym if you really want to impress this girl.” He reached over and pattedWalter’s soft middle.“Getting in shape would probably help your little dilemma, you know.Girlsappreciate the effort we put into getting our bodies nice and hard.” Hector lifted his arm and flexedwith a smirk.“And they show their appreciation in real nice ways.”Walter rolled his eyes, flinging his backpack over his shoulder as they reached the auditoriumdoors and walked in ahead of Hector.“Yeah, that’s easy for guys like you to say.”With Sam nowhere in sight, Hector decided he may as well go in also.“Wait up.Are you here forthe tournament too?”Walter stopped, turning to look at Hector wide-eyed.“You’re in the tournament?” He shook hishead, frowning when Hector nodded.“You play chess well enough to be invited to one of thesethings?”Hector shrugged.“I’m here, right?”Walter shrugged, imitating Hector.“Oh, yeah, of course, because it’s not enough that you look likethis.” He lifted a finger up and down in front of Hector.“And that the girls in high school went crazy for the badass boxer from 5th Street, but you’re smart too?” Walter dropped his head back, lookingalmost disgusted.Hector laughed.“You’ve always known I wasn’t stupid.We had a lot of the same AP classestogether, remember?”“Yeah, but to play chess at this level—” Walter stopped suddenly and raised a bushy eyebrow.“You do know this is a speed tournament, right? Thirty minute games and that there’s players here thatflew in from all over the world—places like the Soviet Union and Romania—just to get on thisteam?”Sam had explained some of that vaguely to Hector, but being here now and having it spelled outfor him was starting to make him nervous.Not wanting to let Walter in on his teetering nerves, heplayed it off by shrugging again.“Yeah, I know,” he said as the self-doubt sunk in fast.Charlie and her friend walked by them and Walter’s shoulders went all limp again as the goofballsmile once again made an appearance.He bobbed his head up and down then actually bit his bottomlip and held his teeth there as he continued bobbing his head.Charlie smiled at him while the blondelooked away, and Hector could only assume she was trying not to laugh.“The team is sitting overthere,” Charlie said, pointing toward a group by the back door.She glanced at Hector again, giving him another glimpse of those dramatically blue eyes, but like all the other times, she quickly looked away, and she and her friend kept walking.After a few seconds of staring at the back of her head and that intensely scarlet ponytail, Hectorbrought his attention back to Walter, who was still doing the slumped shoulder thing and bobbing hishead.“Why are you doing that?”Walter looked at him and stopped.“It’s called muted confidence.Read about it.I’m giving her theimpression that I’m cool, confident, and just, you know, chillin’.” He started bobbing his head again.Hector couldn’t help laughing again.“You’re giving her the impression that you’re a moron.Youlook like an idiot.What’s with the biting your lip shit?”“It’s sexy!”“No, it isn’t.” Hector laughed even more but made an effort to not ridicule Walter.The guilt ofhaving done that to him for years was something he was still dealing with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.“Yeah, I’ve been working out a few times a week.”Hector turned to the girls, wondering if maybe he was talking to them.When he realized hewasn’t, because the girls weren’t even looking at him, he turned back to Walter.“Huh?”When the girls got even closer, Walter very obviously sucked in his big gut and lifted a flabbyarm.In a somewhat strained voice, he spoke again.“Yeah, I bench about thirty pounds on a bad day,about fifty the rest of the time.”“Hey, Walter,” the redhead in a ponytail said, “new car?”Seeing the ridiculous expression go even stupider, Hector finally figured out what Walter wasdoing.It was obvious he was about to lie about the car being his when the alarm on the car went off,startling Walter, whose elbow slipped off the car, and he nearly fell.The blond girl squealed as the sudden blaring alarm startled her as well, and then both girlslaughed and continued walking but not before the redhead glanced in Hector’s direction for just asplit second.That’s when he realized who she was—Charlie—the same girl that was there the dayHector saved Walter’s ass, the one Walter had been so upset about not being able to make a connection with.Never having been or even hung around with any girls but those with dark features, he was caughtby her big deep blue eyes just as he had been that first day he saw her.But just like that day, it was only for a moment because she turned away too quickly.Hector turned to a now-back-to-awkward-and-frowning Walter.“What the hell was that about?”Walter rolled his eyes, kicking a bottle cap on the floor.“Nothing you’d know about.” He kickedthe bottle cap even harder.“Crap on a stick! Just like last time and all the other times, it never fails.I always end up making an ass out of myself instead of impressing her.”Hector couldn’t help laughing as they both started toward the doors of the auditorium where theevent was taking place.“What exactly was supposed to impress her: you sucking your gut in or thefact that you could bench fifty pounds?” He laughed even more now.“Because let me tell you fiftypounds ain’t shit.For a guy your size, you might want to up that to more than two hundred.”Walter turned to him, incredulous.“Over two hundred? Are you crazy!”“Nope,” Hector said, looking around again for Sam then back at Walter.“And it wouldn’t kill youto actually get your ass in a gym if you really want to impress this girl.” He reached over and pattedWalter’s soft middle.“Getting in shape would probably help your little dilemma, you know.Girlsappreciate the effort we put into getting our bodies nice and hard.” Hector lifted his arm and flexedwith a smirk.“And they show their appreciation in real nice ways.”Walter rolled his eyes, flinging his backpack over his shoulder as they reached the auditoriumdoors and walked in ahead of Hector.“Yeah, that’s easy for guys like you to say.”With Sam nowhere in sight, Hector decided he may as well go in also.“Wait up.Are you here forthe tournament too?”Walter stopped, turning to look at Hector wide-eyed.“You’re in the tournament?” He shook hishead, frowning when Hector nodded.“You play chess well enough to be invited to one of thesethings?”Hector shrugged.“I’m here, right?”Walter shrugged, imitating Hector.“Oh, yeah, of course, because it’s not enough that you look likethis.” He lifted a finger up and down in front of Hector.“And that the girls in high school went crazy for the badass boxer from 5th Street, but you’re smart too?” Walter dropped his head back, lookingalmost disgusted.Hector laughed.“You’ve always known I wasn’t stupid.We had a lot of the same AP classestogether, remember?”“Yeah, but to play chess at this level—” Walter stopped suddenly and raised a bushy eyebrow.“You do know this is a speed tournament, right? Thirty minute games and that there’s players here thatflew in from all over the world—places like the Soviet Union and Romania—just to get on thisteam?”Sam had explained some of that vaguely to Hector, but being here now and having it spelled outfor him was starting to make him nervous.Not wanting to let Walter in on his teetering nerves, heplayed it off by shrugging again.“Yeah, I know,” he said as the self-doubt sunk in fast.Charlie and her friend walked by them and Walter’s shoulders went all limp again as the goofballsmile once again made an appearance.He bobbed his head up and down then actually bit his bottomlip and held his teeth there as he continued bobbing his head.Charlie smiled at him while the blondelooked away, and Hector could only assume she was trying not to laugh.“The team is sitting overthere,” Charlie said, pointing toward a group by the back door.She glanced at Hector again, giving him another glimpse of those dramatically blue eyes, but like all the other times, she quickly looked away, and she and her friend kept walking.After a few seconds of staring at the back of her head and that intensely scarlet ponytail, Hectorbrought his attention back to Walter, who was still doing the slumped shoulder thing and bobbing hishead.“Why are you doing that?”Walter looked at him and stopped.“It’s called muted confidence.Read about it.I’m giving her theimpression that I’m cool, confident, and just, you know, chillin’.” He started bobbing his head again.Hector couldn’t help laughing again.“You’re giving her the impression that you’re a moron.Youlook like an idiot.What’s with the biting your lip shit?”“It’s sexy!”“No, it isn’t.” Hector laughed even more but made an effort to not ridicule Walter.The guilt ofhaving done that to him for years was something he was still dealing with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]