White: Queen’s Rook a1>c1

At the airport, a notification flashed on the tv screen that the flight to Santolina’s status, which was moments ago in pre-boarding, has been delayed. An announcement clarified that the delay was due to a tropical storm developing in the Caribbean that news of further cancellations on flights bound for the Americas was to follow. A group of five college-aged white girls in red and white cheerleading uniforms were standing around reacting to the news.

“Ugh, where the hell is Caitlyn anyway?” asked a tan-skinned crossed-armed scowling cheerleader with black hair styled into a tight bun.

“Paige, I know you miss her, but you can’t have forgotten that she was on a later flight with her other friends,” responded a girl with dyed red hair and hazel eyes.

“Stop projecting your feelings onto me, Haley” demanded Paige. “You chose until we learned that we were going to be flying without Cait to dye your hair to look like a cheap knockoff of her and you’re telling me that’s a coincidence?”

A brown-haired cheerleader with short, wavy hair that looked straight off of a girl from an old pin-up illustration sighed and said as though to no one in particular, “The girl took one psych class and she’s already throwing around the terms like it’s her whole personality.”

“Can it, torpedo tits,” snapped Paige, “Ellen, out of everyone you’re the least qualified to talk about one-note personalities. The whole vintage look thing is all you have going on.”

“I like Ellen’s gimmick better than your bitchy, closeted lesbian thing,” said Haley. “And for your information, our team would look off if we traveled without a redhead, so I figured I’d step up so that you don’t have to miss Cait too much. I know how much you adore her.” Haley glared at Paige, obviously intending to counter with the most hurtful thing she can think of.

“Can you do something to stop this, Mel?” a concerned-looking petite cheerleader with long, straight dark brown hair and a bridge of freckles faintly dotted across her nose.

A blonde cheerleader with a calm, pretty smile and a black hairband gently cupped the sides of the arms of Paige and Haley, “Now, now girls, this is no time to be fighting,” she said, with a gentle tone as though she were talking to rambunctious children. “Can’t you see you’re scaring Sarah?”

Both Paige and Haley looked at the petite girl and then cast their gazes downward. They simultaneously apologized. “That’s better.” Said the blonde cheer captain, Melody Ackerley, in a reassuring tone. “You know what we need? Some good teambuilding. Let’s all go to the pub and have a drink and a chat. We might as well make something positive out of this delay.”

As Melody is talking, Paige’s eyes are drawn upward when she hears the clacking of the heels of a gorgeous flight attendant wearing a scarf the colors of the Santolinan flag on the airport’s tiled floor. “I have an idea,” Paige announced and gestured in the flight attendant’s direction, “She looks like she’s going somewhere in a hurry. She probably knows good local hangouts for these kinds of situations – flights to the Caribbean have weather problems like this all the time in Summer. We should follow her and see if we could find a neat hangout.”

“Right… that’s why you want to follow her” Ellen said with evident skepticism.

“Well, I say we do it. It could be an adventure and we’ll have each other regardless of if we end up anywhere good. Who’s with me?” asked Melody. Paige, Ellen, and Sarah voiced their support. Haley stayed out of it. And so the cheerleaders resolved to follow the stewardess to wherever she was bound in light of the delay.

(Link to board: https://lichess.org/editor/rnb1kbnr/pp1p2pp/2p5/P3Np2/1q1P1B2/2N1P3/1P3PPP/2RQKB1R_bKkq-_0_1?color=white))