"That was more fun than I expected. Don't you play chess a lot, though? And you almost lost! I guess I'm naturally gifted, huh?" Rhonda and I were walking through the halls now. I offered to walk her out to her car, and hoped she wouldn't see mine. I'd have to get something more low-profile to drive in to school. As much as I didn't want kids knowing I was Thaddeus, I also didn't want them suspecting my affluence.

"Psh, right. I bet you play pretty often. Why weren't you upfront about it?"

"Why, Brad, are you accusing me of lying?" I rolled my eyes. As much as I hated to admit it, she was cute when she played dumb. Still, I wasn't prepared to drop this. The fact she played so well against me suggested she definitely had experience. There was a chance, however minuscule, I'd unearth some hidden depths.

And, perhaps, something to exploit.

She seemed unwilling to discuss it further at this moment, however, so I opted for something easier.

"What do you listen to?"

"Huh?" It caught her by surprise in a way I didn't expect. She looked at me like I bit the head off of a bat. And, well, I did do something like that when I was younger... But that was just ONE time!

"Y'know. Bands. What do you listen to?" I made a little trumpet playing gesture with my fingers, which she appeared to ignore.

"You're awfully evasive. I barely even know you yet. We haven't talked about where you're from, or anything really personal, and you just ask about music?"

"Sure." We'd stopped in the hallway now. I leaned against the wall of lockers behind me. "I mean, music is important to me. So, it's only natural I'd want to talk about it, right? Isn't that how you get to know someone? Depending on what you ask, it kind of says something about yourself, too."

"Huh," she considered this a moment, fingers phantom stroking her chin. "You know, that's kind of insightful. The last thing you said: "A question reveals something about yourself"."

"Well, I can't take all the credit. You're the one who worded it more eloquently."

"What can I say? I have a way with words." Somehow, I doubted that. But I didn't raise my voice to the contrary. It was imperative to stay on her good side. That being said, I also didn't intend to be her bootlicker.

"I like a lot of Alternative Rock, by the way." She piped up in my silence.

"You don't-"

"Seem the type. Right." She hugged her books a little more closely. It was a guarded action. One which may have escaped the attention of most people. I had to slacken things a bit or she might become too guarded to feed me anything useful.

"It's not that it's crazily outlandish. Just wouldn't peg you for it, I guess." The addendum eased her defensive stance. It made me wonder, why had she seemed like she was ready to run as soon as I questioned her tastes? It was just music. And, yet, there had to be more to it. Maybe it wasn't music, specifically. Maybe it was her character she hated to have scrutinized. Or categorized. Regardless of the cause, I'd have to investigate it more thoroughly. I'd be sure to commit this to notes.

"It's easy to make assumptions. There's always more beneath the surface, though. You've got to know that, right? Just because you're a sharp dresser and a nice face, there has to be more depth than that. At least, I hope so." She smiled good-naturedly. It went a long way to ease the tension, and I could feel my shoulders relax. I wasn't even aware I had them braced. What was I so nervous about?

"Oh, I'm more than a pretty face. You can count on that, shweethawt." I laid on my worst, thick Sean Connery impression.

It seemed to stir something in her. Almost all at once, her eyes glazed over a bit, as if entering a trance. Her eyes were coal black, dead pits. I couldn't read what was behind them. It was only the rest of her features which provided me any clues. It was an expression you'd make when you forgot to turn the oven off. Several years ago.

"Oh, man. Talk about a blast to the past." She traced the corner of her lip. I was getting nervous now.

"Uh, what's up? You wanna fill me in on the cause of your thousand yard stare?"

She blinked, and the the exuberant, smoldering light was instantly back in her gaze. "Oh, wow. I'm sorry. It's just, I don't know. Your cadence. The way you said that. It reminded me of this boy I used to know."

My chest erupted into feverish flames. I wasn't concerned she was close to finding me out, I wasn't scared. And somehow, my body still reacted as if she had accused me of being Curly outright. My mouth, dry as cotton, couldn't resist my next utterance.

"Who?" Each letter was like venom. I could taste copper in the back of my throat, but I was dying to hear her say it. I couldn't place why. It would do nothing for me. If anything, I should be avoiding the topic entirely. Lest I risk her associating me with him.

Her soft, glossy lips cruelly hung on the word, teasing me as she worked it around in her mouth like gum. I knew she'd spit it out. She never could stand my particular flavor.

"His name was... His real name, I guess. It was Thaddeus."

"Thaddeus." I echoed. I didn't expect her to recall my nickname, let alone my real name. I was indescribably warm.

Content.

"We all called him Curly. I don't remember why. Curly. I haven't said that aloud in eight years."

"Curly." I echoed again. I hadn't said it in about equally as long.

We stared at each other a long moment. A moment that last hours. A moment in Robbie's driveway or a moment spent huddled over in my room. Cursing myself for what I'd seen on my laptop. A moment after I cut my hair and smashed my glasses. A moment between leaving Hillwood and returning now to face Rhonda. It was all just one long, interminable moment. A moment that was gone before you know it, somehow.

In that moment, I could have sworn to you that she knew. She knew I was Curly and the jig was up. The silence was unbearably loud. The stare was too intense and deep. There was such a charge in the air I could practically feel the electricity crackling between our bodies.

"Ready to go?" Was all she asked. And, as soon as the boundless energy flooded the halls, it was gone. As quickly as my life before this moment. Like the flash of light before a car accident. Or the flash of light before death coming to rest upon you. The darkness behind it so big you can't make out its shape. I was just Brad again, and the trance was broken.

"Sure."