This is why she needs supervision

Elias wasn’t the kind of person that you would see taking a leisurely stroll around town. He much preferred the safety and comfort of his own room. That is, until it was his turn to buy groceries. The household rotation of chores required him to get out of the house and into the town at least once a month. The eventual trip to the store, however terrifying it may seem, was always quite uneventful. On the morning of his next trip, he reluctantly got out of bed and prepared himself for a boring day.

And then he came across the vegetables on the chessboard. It wasn’t something you saw everyday, multiple grown men dressed up as delicious and nutritious fruits and veggies. Even though they were wearing such childish and whimsical outfits, there was a certain hostile atmosphere surrounding them. The sight forced Elias to stop in his tracks. After staring at the scene for a few moments, he couldn’t decide whether to be amused or confused. As if to add even more confusion to the mix, Addy motherfucking Rosales promptly popped out from behind one of the tomatoes. Elias recognized her from school. She was kind of popular, partly due to her bubbly personality, and partly due to her infamous last name.

She asked him something about chess. “Sure!” He blurted before he could understand what it was that he was agreeing to do. Apparently, he was going to be playing Veggie Chess now. He surprised himself with the sudden answer, but he didn’t really want to make Addy Rosales think he was weird or something. “I’ll play as...the fruit, I guess,” he said, noticing a carrot glaring in his direction.
@MARIE

“My—H-Headpiece?” Elias stuttered. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but he definitely wasn’t expecting a professionally broadcast production of Chess: Fruits and Veggies Edition. It was around now when Elias realized just how utterly absurd this whole situation was. Somehow, Addy Rosales, a classmate of his, managed to set up a real life, to scale chess table which used humans as the pieces. To top it all off, it was in the middle of the damn park. And Elias himself was a participant.

At this point, he was in too deep to back out. After staring down at the headpiece in his hands, he tightened his jaw and popped the microphone on. Steadily he made his way to the podium. The cameras were looking at him and so were the chess pieces; he could feel their eyes on his tingling back. His mind was screaming at him to turn around and run away, but he kept moving forward. The nervousness he felt on the inside manifested itself as intense coolness on the outside. To calm himself, he focused on his destination, the wooden park chair. It was just an average chair. The most interesting thing about it was its shiny, slightly rusted metal arms. It didn’t look all that comfortable, either. Then again, his view of it was obscured by the tall podium in front of it. He wondered if the podium would hide himself when he sat down.

His strides were so slow. How long had he been walking? The few seconds felt elongated. Finally, he made it to his seat, when he realized that the walk wasn’t even the worst part. There was still the chess. He had the first move. He wasn’t even that good at chess. For all the nerdy things he enjoyed, chess was never one that he could get into. He had a basic understanding of the rules and what the pieces did, but with them all being replaced by common fruits, it made things more difficult. Thankfully, he wasn’t aiming to win this, just to survive.

His gaze met the camera’s. “Apple, move forward,” he commanded. His voice cracked.

At the other side of the board, his opponent forced a carrot to move forward. Drats, Elias thought, She’s so confident! His eyes flashed from Addy back to the chess board. He leaned forward, striking a pose like The Thinker. This wasn’t just a simple strategy game; this was an intricate dance, a tango, that kept the players on their toes. Each move they made needed to be meticulously planned. Elias made his move, and he waited. As the game continued, he started the understand what might work and what might fail. His strategy got more competitive.

Then Addy tossed him a curveball. “Tell me about yourself,” she said. “A wonderful opportunity for us to become friends,” he heard. Now the real puzzle began. His answer would be broadcasted to...well, Elias didn’t know exactly where this was being broadcast, but it would be broadcasted somewhere. It was paramount that he say the correct answer. There was no room for a wrong move.

“Well, I don’t have many friends.” Oh god, I sound like a loser.

“I spend my time studying or playing World of Warcraft.” Now I sound like an even bigger loser... A bead of sweat rolled down his face. This wasn’t going well, not in his mind.

“...And I can move things with my mind!” That one’s not too bad, I guess?