Chapter 11: Knights Triumphant

Emily 👩🏻

The Geek Pride tech fair was a neon-lit whirlwind in the university’s main hall—booths bursting with retro arcade hacks, AI art bots, and VR rigs, the air crackling with keyboard clacks, LAN tournament cheers, and raw nerd energy. Our Knight’s Gambit booth stood proud near the center, draped in a black tablecloth adorned with Sarah’s last-minute neon chessboard decal.

Jake tweaked the open laptops on the stall to ensure the game ran smoothly. Sarah handed out QR code flyers. She used her cheerleader charm to draw in the crowd like a magnet. I adjusted my glasses. My stomach fluttered with electric anticipation. Months of late-night coding, pizza runs, and tangled intimacies had built our knight-pawn puzzle game. It was sleek and sharp. The demo looped on the screen. The knight’s moves were crisp, and pawns were glowing when shielded. Each ding of success sounded like a tiny triumph.

‘God, what if it crashes? Or they think it’s lame?’

I was still that nerd who overthought every semicolon, but this was us, raw and real. I tugged at my fitted Blade Runner tee. Sarah had picked this one to replace my hoodies. I was already feeling bold, maybe even hot. Jake was smiling like we had already won, and Sarah was owning the room. They believed in us. It was time to stop debugging my confidence.

‘Why do I brace for disaster?’

“Em, you’re pacing,” Jake said. His grin was steady in his Star Wars tee. He had traded his football days for our trio.

“Am I?” I froze, blushing. “I’m just worried—what if they hate it?”

Sarah leaned against the table, her Matrix tee and cropped jacket blending cheerleader poise with geek flair.

“Hate it?” she said. “Em, geeks live for puzzles. They’ll worship this.” Her fingers brushed mine, linking briefly. A quiet defiance of the stares we had faced since going public.

The looks had softened. Curiosity was now met with nods, even smiles. She makes holding hands feel like a superpower. A month ago, I would have ducked the spotlight. Now, we were rewriting the code.

Priya, the coding club president, kicked off the fair with a speech about “unapologetic geekdom.” Jake mimed her words, smirking, and I elbowed him while stifling a giggle. Dork.

‘How had I missed loving him for years? And Sarah—our glitchy trio ran perfectly.’

When the demos started, the crowd swarmed to mob our booth. A freshman with neon-green hair dove in, his eyes blazing as he cracked a puzzle.

“This is sick!” he said. “The knight’s moves are buttery.” He scanned our repo’s QR code, vowing to tinker with it later.

Students from my algorithms class piled in, joined by random attendees buzzing with hype. Dr. Chen, my professor, lingered as I explained the knight’s path logic.

“Your teamwork is innovative,” she said while eyeing us. “This could be material for the regional tech showcase.”

I stammered, “Maybe,” but Sarah swooped in with all her charm.

“We’re on it, Dr. Chen,” she said. “The knight’s got to guard his pawns, right?” She winked.

Jake choked back a laugh.

‘Dr. Chen’s impressed? Me, the library hermit, getting props? Sarah’s wink will kill me. Are we nailing this?’

The coding club blew me away. Lisa, who had tipped off Jake about the rumors, dragged half the club over.

“This crushes last year’s projects,” she said, blitzing a tough puzzle.

Raj, a quiet coder, pitched mobile UI tweaks. We swapped the Discord handles to collaborate later.

By the end of the demo, our group chat hummed with feedback, and hackathon invites rolled in. I kept waiting for the “you don’t belong,” but they welcomed us—like we were their code.

Priya returned with award ribbons. “Knight’s Gambit wins Best Gameplay Design—crowd vote!” she announced. She pinned a blue ribbon to our booth, sparking claps and whistles. Jake’s high-five lingered, his hand warm. Sarah pulled us into a hug, her laugh a bright spark.

“Geeks love us,” she whispered, her breath tickling my ear.

My chest swelled. This wasn’t just a game—it was us. Three misfits forging our messy bond into something unstoppable. The geeks didn’t care about Instagram drama or Vance’s lies. They saw our heart and embraced it.

‘I’m not dreaming. This ribbon’s real, this buzz is real. We built this—together. Jake’s hand, Sarah’s laugh—this was home.’

Jake 👦🏼

The fair was a rush, like a game-winning play. Emily glowed as she explained the code, Sarah worked the crowd like a pro, and I soaked it all up. I had braced for glares from Vance’s rumors, but the geeks didn’t care—they high-fived me. They raved about the game and roped me into hackathon plans. Quitting football had left a hole, but this was my place.

While packing the booth, my phone pinged. Matt had texted, “Check Insta. Vance is done.” I opened the app—Emily’s plan was a knockout. Using Vance’s sloppy DMs, she had posted stories from his account: texts bragging about bribing his way out of community service, PayPal records of fundraiser skims, and a blurry locker room hookup photo, styled like Vance’s cocky voice: “Guess I messed up. 🤷‍”

Emily👩🏻

‘It worked. I had hacked his account, and it was blowing up like a perfect algorithm. Vance thought he could shame Sarah and break Jake. We flipped the board. Checkmate, creep.’

The comments were brutal. Teammates roasted him, cheerleaders spilled tea, and students piled on with memes. Bella’s squad amplified it. “Vance stalked Sarah for months. He’s done.” #VanceIsOver trended, but so did #KnightTrio. They’re cheering us. I expected a crash, but we were winning.

Sarah peeked at my phone, her eyes wide. “Em, you obliterated him,” she said.

I pushed my glasses up, smirking. “I just leveled the game,” I said. “He played dirty. We played smart.” I’m not just the bug-fixer. I took down a bully with code. Sarah’s proud grin and Jake’s laugh made me feel like a badass.

Jake slung an arm around me, laughing. “You’re a menace, Em,” he said.