I stare across the square. Still no movement at Granddad’s. Just Sampson sitting on the step. I look across at Jake’s. His bedroom curtains are still closed, like he hasn’t got a care in the world and is going to sleep all day.

I move a pawn to g3.

Dynamo2011 moves a pawn to h5.

I sigh. I wish I was out in the tree, before chess, before falling out with Jake. Everything was so much simpler when all we had to do was load our rifles and cannons. Sometimes the enemy would overrun us, but at the end of each day me and Jake always won.

Everything is going wrong. I’ve lost my granddad, and my best friend, and I know this is nowhere as near important, but I also just lost to Dynamo2011 in fourteen moves!

Desperation

‘Felix . . . Felix!’ Rebecca leans across the school dining table. ‘You’ve got to speak to him sometime. It’s been three days.’

‘I know this.’ I pause. ‘I mean, I know. But I can’t if he doesn’t want to speak to me.’

‘But he does,’ Rebecca says urgently.

‘How do you know?’

‘Because he told me. He said he was sorry.’

‘He told you he was sorry? When did you speak to him?’

Rebecca gives me a confused look. ‘Yesterday in maths, and today in English.’

I frown. ‘Rebecca, who are you talking about?’

‘Jake, of course.’

‘Oh . . . I was talking about my granddad.’

‘No, sorry. Would be a bit weird though if I had been speaking to him in maths and English.’

I smile as I picture Granddad sitting in a classroom being taught by Mr Andrews or Mr Dapre.

‘Well, at least I cheered you up,’ says Rebecca.

‘Yeah.’ I put my hand up to my mouth. It’s been like forever since I laughed and it feels like my face just cracked.

Rebecca packs her pencil case into her bag and stands up.

‘So are you going to speak to him?’

‘No,’ I say. ‘He’s an idiot.’

‘But he’s your best friend.’

‘Was.’

‘And he’s sorry for what he did.’

‘So what?’

‘So are you going to speak to him?’

‘No.’

‘But you look so miserable.’

I shrug.

‘I know,’ says Rebecca. ‘How about I come over and we practise chess, now our mums are talking again.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because Jake might see us.’

‘So you do care about him, then!’ Rebecca smiles.

‘No, but I don’t want to make things worse than they are. I’ll just play online again, but I’m even rubbish at that. Last night Dynamo2011 beat me in fourteen moves.’

Rebecca puts her hand over her mouth.

‘What’s so funny?’ I ask.

‘Think about it, Felix – my username is Rubic2008. What’s yours?’

‘Astroboy2008?’

‘Exactly . . . 2008, the year we were born. So Dynamo2011 is how old . . . ?’