CHAPTER : OUR DAY

“Well? Reconciled with your dad yet?” Om immediately asks me when I step into the room. How did he get to the classroom before I did anyway? Didn’t he tell me that he was going to teach nong Mick how to play the horn?

“Never mind that, how come you’re back here early?”

“I chased him away. I told him to go and learn how to play the khlui first then we’ll talk.” That bad? -_-” Heh heh. I find Om’s weary expression to be funny. Sure, he’s a complete idiot when he hangs around his friends, but he’s super strict with it comes to the underclassmen. At times, he’s way more focused than I am. I can’t help but let out a chuckle once I learn about the unlucky underclassman before I sit on my chair and look for the textbook I’ll need for the next class.

“I guess they didn’t make up if he has that look on his face.” Om mutters to himself as he turns and looks through his school bag. I quickly turn my head in his direction.

“Why?! What’s wrong with my face?!”

“You look so goddamn depressed, go take a look in a mirror.” He pushes my forehead with his finger. Hey, I’m not a little kid!

“I’m still pretty damn hot no matter how many times I look in a mirror.”

“What a dick. Either you’ve been staring into a trick mirror or you have a really low standards when it comes to good looks.” This bastard. Rude much?

“Seriously. What’s really going on between you and Phun?” Om suddenly asks me something that I’d rather not discuss. If I were taking a drink, I would’ve done a spit-take. Luckily, lunch break is over so all I’m doing is looking at him with wide eyes, in total disbelief.

“What…what do you…mean by…’really going on’?”

Om shakes his head in an irksome way while he points at my face with his index finger. “Look at yourself. Can you act any more suspicious than you are now? You’re probably the easiest person to read in the entire world. Well? What the hell is going on with you and him? I’ve been noticing weird things between you guys for a while now.” So this jerk has been collecting information. I look at Om, who is giving me a death stare. He’s pretty much pushing into a corner, it is something I’ve never had to deal with from him before. I know that I can’t wiggle my way out of this one even if I avert his gazes.

“We’re friends, of course…”

“For real?”

“Yeahhhhh.”

“So if I were to get mad at you, would you go out of you way to make up with me like what you’re doing now?”

“Well…yeah, I would.” Maybe? I’m not sure. A part of me is yelling at me to just kick his ass instead.

Om glances at the way I’m behaving before he continues. “I wouldn’t get mad at you like this though. It’s not something friends do.” Uh…

I avoid Om’s stares once again and repeat what I said earlier.

“We’re friends…”

This causes Om to let out a very loud sigh. He shakes his head and turns his attention back to the textbook.

“It’s your business. So if you don’t want to tell me, that’s your call.”

“Aw, come on!” I don’t need another person being mad at me! Dang it! T___T

I sit with a brooding expression on my face as I begin to contemplate about my relationship with Phun. Well, we really are friends though! We may have done things beyond the scope of friendships but we’re still just friends when you look at it. Sigh. Thinking about this is really wearing me thin.

Before I can finish contemplating, a rough hand is patting my head for a couple of times.

“You can tell me whenever you’re ready, I’ll listen.”

Om tells me. Even though he’s not looking me, I always know what a good friend he always is. ^_______^

***

The judges decided to meet up in the club room after school has ended so we could tally up the points and decide on which bands will get to compete during the Live Contest event. This is a big headache because there are plenty of great bands, but if we allow all 35 bands to perform then everyone from the judges to the people watching will puke to the sound of music. (I nearly passed out yesterday.)

“I still think p’Oak’s band is the one to beat this year, man. They were so effing awesome during the prelims.” Art says as he looks over the total scores for a band called All Star. P’Oak, the previous president of the music club, belongs to this band. I personally think they did a terrific job too.

“Don’t underestimate other bands just yet. Maybe they’re saving their best for the contest.” I tell him while I continue to add up the scores.

However, Per is now the one howling away. “Heh, you like p’Earn’s band, don’t ya?” Oh, this bastard. What are you referring to? What are you trying to say? I turn to stare at him with a confused expression on my face.

“What are you on about?”

“Well, p’Earn sang that song for you, hehehehe.” Goddamn him! Way to cause trouble for me! I notice the seniors who were not there yesterday all turn around and look at me.

“For real?! Earn, the president of the cheer team?!” -_-” Aw, crap.

I quickly give an excuse. “Per is talking nonsense. If you believe him then you should also give birth to yaks too.”

“But I do believe him! What happened, Per? I would’ve been there if I had known!” I am so touched by your considerations, p’Pong. You wanted to be there so you could’ve experienced it for yourself. It is truly touching. T___T

“Well, it’s like this. P’Earn sang this English song and then p’Noh fell asleep. After that, p’Earn woke p’Noh up and told him to pay very close attention. Then p’Earn started singing “Too Close” and had these dreamy looks in his eyes. Like, you could tell they were filled with love. Ugh! Ooooh! Ahhh!” This bastard needs to be reined in, he’s completely delusional. I need to shut him up now before things get any worse.

“What a bunch of nonsense, Per. I asked you to come here to help with adding up the scores, not to make up stories. You take this pile and get started on them! And don’t use a calculator so you’ll keep your mind busy on the task instead of going off on a tangent.” Even though I assigned him a workload, he still has the time to send signals to p’Pong using his face. -_-”This damn kid.

We didn’t take very long to finish adding up the scores for all the bands. We went from 35 bands down to 15, to which I’d like to offer my sincere condolences to the other 20 bands. Hopefully, they’ll be able to participate next year.

I give the list of bands to Ngaw (the club’s slave) so he can type them up while we chat and laugh among ourselves (this is a very important process). After the list is printed, we post it on the club room’s door so that everyone can easily check the results for themselves.

I look at the band called Mafia on the list (Yes, that’s the name they chose. It’s nice that they’re self-aware) while I think about the guitarist with the sour expression on his face. I can’t help but feel like…

No…I’m not going there to make nice with him.

I’m only going there to let him know that his band made it through…that’s all. Yeah.

***

I told the guys at the club room that I’m off to use the restroom and that I would be back soon even though I’m planning to go way farther than that. I hastily put on my shoes and run out of the F Building, heading to the new main office building. However…that jerk laying down the bleachers looks awfully familiar.

I tread my way over to see young master Phun laying there, unafraid that his uniform might get dirty. This is the stuff that uncultured kids do, you know (me included). I stop in front of him and see that his eyes are closed. Just as I am about to wake him up, he suddenly opens his eyes.

“Yo!” Yet, I am the one scared out of my mind. Goddamn it!

Phun seems to be just as startled as I am to see me standing here. He slowly gets up and dusts himself off. I notice that he can’t get all the dirt so I move in to help him but he leans away from me. Ugh, you’re still mad?!

“What is it, Noh?” He asks coldly. I can’t help but shoot him an annoyed glance before I rudely sit next to him since he has not invited me to.

“Why are you sleeping out here? Don’t you prefer the air-conditioned room in the student council office?” I ask him, using the normal and casual tone of voice, as if nothing has happened between us. Phun is expressionless.

“Mmm.” Jeez, he isn’t even arguing with me. This is bad.

I glance at Phun, who is still not looking at me. I start to wonder what’s so great about those 7th graders that are playing soccer while waiting for their moms to come pick them up because Phun is focusing on them. From the side of his face, I can see that he still has a blank expression and I have no idea how to react to this. All I can do is stare at my own shoes instead of Phun’s impassive face, (Although, my shoes and his expressions are kind of similar now that I look at them.)

“So when are you heading home?” I ask him, just in case that I might hit a jackpot and he agrees to leave together.

“Don’t know.”

“Wanna head home together?”

“……………..” He’s being quiet. What does this mean? T__T

I’m not giving up and continue to march onward. “Did you get a chance to try that candy?”

“……………..” I can only hear the sound of the wind blowing and the kids playing soccer. T______T

Ugh, I honestly don’t know what to do anymore! I’m getting real annoyed now so I look up and stare at his face, just in time to see a smile quickly fading away. Wait. What? Maybe he’s not mad at me anymore?

I take it as a good sign so I scooch closer to him and touch the back of his hand with my pinky. (Don’t ask me where I learned this from, I don’t have a clue either.) “Hey…I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me. I really didn’t mean what I said. I was just sleepy. Come on, come on, come on.” While I keep nudging his hand with my pinky, I can see the owner of said hand is trying to stifle his laughter by turning his head away. Heh heh, you’re such a pretentious jerk!

I decide to jump from where I was sitting and stand on the lower level of the bleachers. Even though I try to get into his line of sight, Phun continues to dodge me by turning away. Goddamn it, you must think you’re so adorable or something. Did you learn this from your little sister?

“Let’s make up, Mr. Handsome. I’ll treat you to some desserts. Please? Come on, come on, come on?~” I try to win him over with the mention of food (since this usually works with me) but Phun is still playing hard to get. He lets out a sigh and puts a frowny face. I’m starting to get irritated. This special promotion is over!

“Fine, whatever! You do what you want, I’m out. I only came to let you know that your band made it through. Congrats.” Hmph! He’s lucky that I even bothered to do all of this. I don’t even do this stuff normally. Ugh, I’m just gonna head back to the club room. I hiss at him before I turn around so I can head back to the F Building, but then Phun reaches out and grabs my arm to stop me.

“Ah, come on. You could’ve kept trying a bit longer. You were being so cute.” This asshole has the nerves to say that to me? Well, it’s my turn now. I’m not gonna talk to him and I won’t face him either.

Phun continues to tug at my arm a couple of times and asks me to turn around. Don’t think that I’ll give in that easily, heh heh.

“Hey, I’m not angry anymore. I’m not mad at you anymore. Don’t be like this, Noh. I thought we were okay now? Come on! Turn around? Come on, come on.” He keeps shaking my arm with no sign of stopping. This is hilarious. Heh heh heh. But right now, it’s my turn to get back at him.

“How about I treat you to some ice cream? The shop near our school?” Interesting proposal, but not very appealing just yet.

“Oishi Buffet.” I give him a counter proposal. He smacks me in the head, naturally.

“Yeah, because those two are definitely in the same price range.” Wait, isn’t he supposed to be making things up to me right now? At any rate, I’m getting tired of standing like this anyway so I give in and sit back down next to him without making a fuss.

Phun turns around and breaks into a smile. “Move closer, like how you were before. I liked that.” Real funny.

I give him an obvilous look. ” How exactly? I don’t remember.”

“I’ll get you next time.” He mutters some complaints and I start laughing. Then we sit quietly and watch the 7th graders play soccer together.

I decide to be the one asking him questions this time around. “Hey. You’re not bothered by the stuff from last night, are you?” I ask because I feel like there were a lot of misunderstandings. Phun simply gives me a smile. “Which stuff exactly?”

Right, there were plenty. -_-”

“All of them…”

At this point, Phun lets out faint chuckle. “If you’re asking about when you were yelling at me in the cab, I’m not angry about that. Hahaha. I’m sorry, I was really pestering you. I should’ve realized that you were tired and wanted to sleep.” Oh, what the hell? Then why did he have to act like he was upset this entire time? I kick his leg gently as his punishment but he dodges it.

“You didn’t mean those things you said, right?” He asks while raising his brows at me. I raise mine in return.

“Yeah. The thing with Aim didn’t bother me, honestly. It’s within your right.” Because I know full well that I am not like that with Phun. I’m just glad that we can have the type of a relationship we got going now. However, he is being real quiet.

Phun lets out a long sigh before he starts talking. “I was really angry…about Earn though.” Eh? He’s bringing someone else up out of the blue? I’m taken aback by this. “Did his band make it through too?” What does that have to do with anything?!

“Yeah. Why are you angry about that? Don’t tell me that it’s over something really stupid. There’s nothing going on between me and him, you know.” I quickly clear up any misunderstandings (I had to deal with this stuff back in the club room already) but Phun still has a serious look on his face.

“No…I’m angry at myself.”

Huh? What is he on about?

I furrow my brows and look at his thoughtful face. Then Phun turns around and our eyes meet. “I’m…pissed at the fact that I couldn’t sing a song for you. I shouldn’t have been playing that guitar. I’m also angry because…I couldn’t stay and keep you company last night. I’m…sorry.” His eyes look so sincere and genuine that there’s no way I can look away.

“Hey, don’t worry about that!” I pat his shoulder twice. “That didn’t bug me at all. You even bothered to come and picked me up, remember?” His intense stares still linger.

“It wasn’t something I bothered to do. It was something I wanted to do.” Oh…now I don’t know where to go from here.

Phun lets out another long sigh before he continues. “Noh…if Earn came and told you that he likes you…then what would you say?” What is he trying to get at by asking me this? My answer is a palm landing squarely on his head, for asking such a thing.

“I’m not gay…so don’t look down on me by assuming that I would just go and be with any guy who happens to show interests in me…”

“I’m sorry.” Phun mumbles like someone who is feeling guilty. He is looking so glum and is now too afraid to look me in the eyes so he fails to notice that I am smiling.

I stand up, with my back against him, and I blurt out what I want to say.

“There’s the only one guy that I like…and that’s you. So get that through your thick skull.” I run off the moment I finish and flee to the F Building (which isn’t too far from where the bleachers are, so we can still see each other). I look back to see Phun standing there looking stunned, then he grins widely and shouts something to me.

“I like you too!”

Goddamn it, why are you shouting?! It’s so embarrassing!

I stick my middle finger at him and then I escape to the club room.