CHAPTER 20: THE CHOSEN WAY
We left Bang Saen since 5 in the morning. (Would you believe me if I tell you that I've never had to perk up before the roosters are even up in my entire life?) We had plenty of time to grab some breakfast together. Luckily for us, there weren't any heavy traffic so we arrived in Bangkok without having to worry.
Phun's two-doors black Honda Civic stops near the sidewalk in front of the school at exactly 8 am. We arrive just in time to see Ms. Wantana and Mr. Bancha scolding some junior high students for not tucking in their shirts inside their shorts properly.
Speaking of which, I should be doing that since I don't want to get scolded so early in the morning. Heh heh.
"You sure it'll be okay for you to show up late?" I ask Phun who is sitting the driver seat while still wearing his everyday clothes as I tuck in my shirt. We drove straight from Bang Saen to the school and didn't stop at either of our homes. Phun gives me a small smile when he hears my question, "It'll be okay, you better hurry."
"Okay, be careful getting home. There are tons of patrol cops hanging around in the morning. You don't even have your driver's license yet, you idiot."
"I look older than my age, it'll be fine." Heh, a self-deprecating humor.
"Oh, so you do realize that." I tell him with a chuckle before I lean over to grab my black backpack in the backseat. I turn around just as Phun's face slowly moves closer to my face.
His thin light orange lips make a heated contact with mine. Our lips are locked together so intensely, it feels as if he is refusing to let me go. I reach my hand over and stroke Phun's strands of hair that seem to be longer than what a typical high schooler should have. Meanwhile, Phun is clutching my face so that I wouldn't be able to break free.
We stay like this for so long that I barely have any air left inside my lungs. Our tongues continue to intertwine and tease one another. I had to do something before we'd be unable to stop ourselves.
"Phun..." I whisper his name even though our lips are still pressed together. I wait until he pauses to look at my face before I move away.
I give him a smile. I wanted to give him a meaningful smile that came from my heart.
"I better get going."
I don't know what the sounds that come after that are trying to tell me. Because I only know that once I closed that black car door, the story between Noh and Phun has ended too.
"Yo, Noh!" I don't need to turn around to know who is yelling my name. I stop so that Ohm and Rodkeng, who are running over while gasping for air, can catch up. Interesting, whenever I show up early, these guys show up early. Whenever I show up late, they show up late too. Talk about having a strong friendship instinct.
"What's up, assholes? How'd you get away from the teachers?"
"By running for our lives like you just saw." Ohm tells me as he pulls out his shirt from his shorts and allows the flaps to hang lower than an 80 year-old grandmother's boobs. I follow his example and pull mine out too. Having to wear your shirt flaps inside these shorts can be super uncomfortable, you know!
"So what the heck happened? How come Phun dropped you off? Where is he parking the car anyway?" W...wh...what?! I was busy with untucking my shirt but I had to snap my head back up and look at Rodkeng with widen eyes. How did he know that I got here with Phun?!
"I bet they spent the night together again. It's not like this bastard ever brings a backpack to school like this." Goddamn Ohm hits the nail on the head. I nearly trip and bang my head. Seriously, no one will blame you if you choose to keep your thoughts to yourself! Damn you!
"Eh?! For real?! You and Phun are that close now? I had no idea!" Enough with the questions! Let me ask mine first!
"How'd you know that I came to school with Phun?"
"I saw his car. The black two-door Civic with the license plate 8899 and the entry permission stickers for the Parliament House of Thailand and another one for Chulalongkorn University."
Jeez, listen to him describe it in details. Even the real car owner would find this troubling. He knows his stuff, I might as well surrender to Rodkeng.
"Fine, I give up. Yeah, I got to the school with Phun." Happy now? Heh heh. I tell him while being slightly annoyed since I got caught. Wait...I got caught...?
Wait, what the fuck did they see?!
I glance over to stare at Rodkeng and Ohm who has gotten quiet. Ohm is busy untangling his iPod earbuds since he was running earlier. Rodkeng is just looking at his phone and seems pretty normal. Neither of them is causing any suspicions. But, just to be sure...
"Did you see Phun in the car?" I'm trying to beat around the bush as much as I possibly can with that question. However, Ohm is still trying untangle his earphones and Rodkeng still has his eyes on his phone. They both shake their head in return.
"How could I? His car is tinted so dark as if the windows are painted black. I only realized it was his car because I recognized his license plate numbers and the fancy entry permission stickers on the window." Oh, what a relief. That was a close call.
"Why? Were you two fucking in the car?" Leave it to Ohm to come up with these stuff. He'd sell out his friends before anything else. I stomp on his foot after he finishes yapping.
"Ow!"
"Next time, I'm shoving a clown shoe up your stupid ass." My threat to Ohm makes Rodkeng bursts out in laughter.
Technically, he was already laughing when he heard Ohm asked whether Phun and I were fucking in the car. (Who would do that?! That car sits too close to the ground! Uh! That's not what I meant!)
"So how did you start hanging out with Phun anyway? Two years ago, I had to practically force you into going to his birthday party with me 'cause you said you didn't wanna go." Rodkeng continues to interrogate me as we make our way inside the building. There is a small pause since I have no idea how to explain this to him.
"We got pretty close because of the club's budget problems. He's been helping me out."
"Since you've been letting him stick it in your ass!" Ugh! That fucking Ohm! So you really want a boot up your ass, is that it? I turn left and right to see if there were any junior high kids around, (who would be the unlucky participants since they'd be wearing pairs of clown shoes and comic belts as punishment by the school's chancellor) but I couldn't see any so I lifted my own shoe to threaten him instead.
Naturally, he runs up the stairs in a hurry like it is his feeding time and someone is ringing a bell summoning him.
"Fucking Ohm..." I curse after him while Rodkeng laughs in the background.
By now, it is our lunch break. I took Mr. Sakda's Social Studies exam (in a daze) so now it's time for everyone to release their pent up energy in the classroom.
Our desks were moved around to make a huge round empty space in the middle of the room for our temporary battleground. We needed plenty of space so that everyone of us could move around easily.
Oh, we're not having a fight. ^^" This may be an all-boy school but we're all a bunch of chickens. This is what we're playing...
"You're done for, stupid Keng!" Pong yells loudly as he jokes around with Keng who has been walking around the desk for about five or six times now. (I'm getting dizzy for him) He's not saying a word and keeps circling around for the 6th or 7th time. He wants to find a block that he can remove so the tower won't fall down.
Yup, we're playing Jenga. There are about ten or so of us playing. Luckily, I got to be the first one to remove a block when we were drawing on who gets to go first. But now I don't feel so lucky, because after Keng and Khom, it'll be my turn again.
So how the heck am I supposed to make sure the tower won't collapse?! Can't it fall down now? Please?! ToT
"Dickhead, I've been waiting for so long that an African elephant is about to give birth. I'd still make it back here in time even if I go and help deliver the baby." Rodkeng is making such a fuss since Keng is taking his sweet time. Sure, he runs his mouth off when it's other people's turn. But when it's his turn? He takes so long that by the time he chooses, our lunch break is almost over.
"Go ahead, sure. Ride a bicycle, I'll probably take long ass while."
"Asshat, are you gonna choose one already or do I need to flick this damn tower down?"
"Fine, fine, fine! I'm doing it!" "He says as he quickly pulls out a block from the tower with no hesitations. (Because it seemed like Rodkeng was serious about flicking the tower.) Everyone in the room holds their breath in anticipation. The tower is leaning back and forth very dangerously. It seems that it'll fall down at any moment.
"Foo! Foo! Foo!" That smartass Ohm is blowing at the tower so that it'd collapse during Keng's turn by using a tactic we're all familiar with. However, Keng is on to him since he's using a size 43 leather shoe to shove at Ohm's crotch. "Motherfucker!"
However, the louder the guys are being, the more vibrations we're causing to the floor. The Jenga tower is leaning back and forth even more dangerously now. "Yo! Yo! Yo!" What the hell are you yelling for? You're the reason the floor is shaking right now, stupid Keng.
I anxiously watch as the tower of blocks lean to the left, then to the right. Keng's mouth is wide opened. He's being generous to about four flies which now has a place to stay inside this throat. He slowly closes his mouth now that it seems the tower is stabilizing.
"YAAAAAY!" Honestly, were you this excited the first time you made rice for your mother?
I squint my eyes at that stupid Keng who is now running around the room five times like Superman as if he's an Olympic athlete. (Next time try paying your respects in all four directions too, bastard.) Then he turns around and cocks one his brows at Khom, who is next in line.
"So...fucking...dead." I mouth those words at Khom so he smacks me hard in the head. Damn it, I shouldn't have asked for that.
While Khom is being possessed by the Jenga spirit and walks around the table for the third time, (you might as well start the cremation ceremony at this point) I hear a voice from another classmate of mine who just got back from having lunch.
"Noh! Someone's here to see you!" Who the heck is it?
"Go already I can't focus seeing your dumb face here." What the fuck, Khom? How is this my fault? I kick him in the ass before I run over to the door. I thought that it might be one of the underclassmen from the marching band having some problems during practice. I figured I'd be able to help.
However, this is no marching band member. This is worse than having to deal with an entire marching band. The student council secretary is standing here waiting for me.
I stare at the person I said goodbye to earlier this morning with a weird expression on my face before I try breaking into a smile that is as natural as I could possibly make.
"What the hell do you want? If you're here for money then sorry, this class is too poor. We don't have anything to give." I decide to poke fun at the problems the student council is facing lately. The school needs a lot of fixing up and improvements so the faculties have been trying to bleed the poor students dry. And it worked, because Phun hits me with his knuckles as a reward. Ow, I just got hit by Khom too.
"I'll definitely be here for the money eventually, but that's not today." Jeez, that's not something I wanted to hear. "How did your test go?" That's not what I wanted to hear either. -_-"
"I did alright. When did you get back to school?" I'm trying very hard to carry a normal conversation with him. (Technically, this is not even normal. It isn't like we've ever had a conversation in front of my classroom like this before.) I can see Phun making an irritated face when I mention his trip.
"I just got here. I almost got caught too. Fortunately, there were a lot of cars so I just sped right through the blockades." This troll sounds so proud of himself. I can't help but give him a worrisome look. I did tell him not to drive.
I open my mouth to yell at him some more, but I happen to lock my eyes with his. Suddenly, I notice that he is looking at me with such crestfallen eyes.
We stand in silence for a while since I don't know what to say. I feel like reaching out my hand to touch Phun, but I can't even do that.
"Shit, Noh! You're screwed! Khom made it!" Oh, fuck! I can hear Keng's voice from hell blasting from inside the classroom. It startles me and I quickly turn to the source of that voice.
"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming! Goddamn, how are you guys so good at this? Um, Phun? Is there anything else?" I yell a reply at Keng before I turn my attention back to Phun. All I get as an answer is him shaking his head as if he is caught off guard.
"If there's nothing else, then I'm gonna get back to the game...bye." I don't wait to hear a reply and rush back to the temporary battlefield right away.
I suppose this is how things will be from now on...
