Knight to E7, Elizabeth places her father’s knight onto the board with a thud, forking her Queen and King.
“Who was that on the phone, Lizzie?” – a tired voice wafts up from the kitchen; aromas of vanilla, chocolate and toffee hang in the air.
“Just a prank call!”, she exclaims guiltily; then – “Are the cookies done yet?”
Pushing the chess set under the bed, she turns to the mirror and tucks a stray tendril of chestnut hair back behind her ear before running downstairs.

“You’ve been acting very suspicious lately… Are you sure it’s nothing?”
“What? It was just a prank call!”
Eleanor’s motherly instincts keenly probe Lizzie’s eyes, the edges of her lips, and the crease of her brow. Eleanor hesitates – “Elizabeth, do you have a boyfriend?”
“Mom…”
“Okay… It’s just, when I was your age I made some mistakes and well… Anyway, how was school today?”

Later, staring out her window, she wipes her tears away.
Mistakes. Smiling bitterly, Like, getting pregnant to an alcoholic loser… No… Stop.