Double Life - Book 1 of the Vaiya Series by Vaiya Books Read Free Book Online

floor with
discomfort. Everyone in school knew he didn’t have a great IQ--and
due to that, he wasn’t good at chess either; the two went together
in his mind. “But you know I’m bad at it, Hazel,” he muttered.
Throwing his leather jacket onto the mahogany sofa, he then popped
up the blue collar on his dress shirt to hopefully dispel the
frightful notion that he was a gentleman or Prince Charming. As bad
as the gang look was, it was worlds better than being a chivalrous
knight. “If I challenged you, it’d be a complete disaster.”
    “No,” replied Hazel, shaking her head, a
smile drifting onto her face at seeing his popped-up collar. “I’m
sure you’d do just fine.”
    Seeing no point in arguing with her, for it
would only extend the awkward conversation that had already drawn
far too many glances, he forced a “thank you,” told her he might
play the game, and then coolly walked away from her, following
Jason Miller, Samantha Wilson, and Amanda Whitman into the kitchen
and then down a long staircase, anxiety rushing through his mind;
if this was what it meant to be liked by a girl, then he didn’t
want it--at least not yet. He wasn’t ready to have his every word
used against him in such humiliating ways. He wasn’t ready to feel
like a complete idiot. He just wanted to have a normal
conversation, but so far, it wasn’t happening.
    As he stepped into the basement where a dozen
or more people congregated, Ian, trying to forget the conversation,
examined the basement.
    True to the rumors, it was spectacular, way
bigger than any basement he’d ever been in before, and had a small
bowling alley, two ping pong tables, and many other sports-related
equipment set up throughout the area.
    As he took it all in, deeply impressed by its
gigantic size, a foosball table caught his eye.
    Searching for an opponent, he spotted his
friend Eddy, who was transfixed on watching Kenn Ashton and Spencer
Gordon bowl against each other. Spencer, a calm, lean young man,
who always appeared to be in control of every situation, never
seemed to get competitive or angry, though occasionally he did get
worried and stressed. Besides his anxieties though, he generally
took things at a stride and seldom bragged on himself if he did
well.
    Despite his good qualities, however, Ian
rarely talked to him, as their personalities conflicted with each
other at after turn and they seemed to be complete opposites.
Besides, he always suspected that Spencer was too good to be true
and that inwardly he was a horrible person. Even if this weren’t
the case, he still didn’t foresee himself talking to the man
anytime in the near future.
    Turning back to the game, Ian watched as Kenn
knocked down all the pins, snagging himself a spare. Watching
Spencer’s rather humble demeanor as he praised Kenn for his
brilliant shot, Ian felt disgusted and shook away his thoughts of
Spencer, before nudging Eddy, breaking his friend out of his game
hypnosis. With only a little prompting, he then convinced him to
play foosball with him.
    After only several minutes into the game, it
was clear that Eddy didn’t have a chance, and a few minutes later
Ian quickly beat him 10 to 2. Wanting a rematch though, Eddy
demanded they play another game, and Ian accepted the
challenge.
    Unfortunately for Eddy, this game turned out
even worse than the previous: 1 to 10. Aggravated at the
humiliating loss, Eddy told Ian that he was unstoppable with a
teammate and that he was just having a bad day, but Ian ignored his
excuses.
    After standing there, watching Eddy drift
over to watch a ping pong game between David Hille, a logical,
intelligent math genius who also, annoyingly enough, happened to be
a star basketball player, and Aaron Karodi, a brawny runner back
who seemed to live and dream football, Ian decided that he’d better
leave the foosball table in case someone else wanted it.
    No sooner had he left it than Hazel traipsed
downstairs in her flowing pink dress, woven out