Part 1:

Prologue:

Before I knew it, he had helped me up. Our bodies grind together close enough to feel the thumping of our hearts moving at the same pace as if they were one. He reached his hand out and swept his thumb under my eyes, wiping my tears. Gazing into his eyes, I found myself imprisoned in his secure touch. His head slowly inching towards mine when a sharp call interfered just before our lips locked.

“Decha?”

One:

There’s no reason I should’ve woken up so early. I had no friends. Nobody to talk to. Nobody to visit. I’m alone; always alone.

Engulfed in silence, my hand reached out for my CD player. Although I had hundreds of CDs, I always reached out for the same one. Season Of You, Mew Suppasit. The lyrics were always something I loved, but today it seemed as if they were going in one ear and out the other.

My mom shouted at me from the kitchen. “เตรียมตัวให้พร้อมสำหรับโรงเรียน”

Get ready for school.

Damn.

I forgot that it was today.

Quickly, I pulled my uniform over my head and rushed downstairs. Mom was waiting for me at the kitchen bar with my breakfast. When I got there, I sprung onto a stool and started shoveling food into my mouth.

“Slow down there, turbo,” she grinned at me.

“I’m hungry,” I said.

She laughed.

“I can tell”.

“Where’s Kris?” I asked.

“Work”

I nodded. Of course, he was at work. He was always at work. Kris is my stepdad. He’s rich. He’s mean. I don’t like Kris.

Two:

Sometimes I wished that I wasn't rich; especially with transportation. My chauffeur always drove me in a bright red Rolls Royce Sweptail. If my presence alone didn’t catch your attention, my ride surely would.

After making my way to my classroom, I took a seat in the back and read my favorite book- “Call Me By Your Name” by Andre Aciman

A group of three boys began walking up to my desk. The guy in the middle coughed.

I refused to look up from my book and continued to read. He coughed again. Still ignoring him, I kept reading. He placed his finger on its spine and pushed the book down onto the tabletop. I smiled at him.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Are you gay?” he questioned.

My smile was immediately wiped off of my face.

“Why would you assume that?”

“That’s a girl’s book”

I pointed at him

“That’s a girl’s face,” I replied.

Everyone stopped and stared at us; like I had done the unimaginable. He stared at me in disgust and proceeded to grab me by the collar and pull me out of my seat. The muscular man threw me to the ground like I was a feather. So light; so fragile, yet so effective.

“What did you say, noo?” he threatened.

“Nothing P’ ”.

I thought I was done for when a voice abruptly interrupted. I looked up to see a small girl standing in front of me. She had the biggest eyes I had ever seen. With her pointed nose and pinched mouth, you could never tell how troublesome she was.

“Noo?” she asked. “What’s with the nickname?”

He looked over at her, rolled his eyes, and walked away. The mysterious lady looked down at me and held out her hand, and I took it. She was strong.

“Forget about him,” she said. “Just your classic highschool jerk.”

“Thanks” I responded unsurely.

“Beam,” she claimed.

“I’m Decha, but Fon is fine.”

“So, Fon,” she took a seat next to me, “we’re friends now.”

I hesitated, but once I opened my mouth to speak; she interrupted me.

“It wasn't a question, we're friends now.”

That evening I was walking to my car after school when I ran into someone. I looked up to find the same guy who had tried to kill me before.

“Do you think I’m playing some game?” he questioned.

“No P’,”

“Then why do you insist on bothering me?”

My eyes scoped the surroundings, looking for an excuse to escape the situation until I heard my driver call out my name.

“Decha, I’m here to take you home now.”

I nodded at him. Looking back at the man and bowing to him, I politely say goodbye. The chauffeur opened the door for me to get in.

“Is that your friend?” he asked.

“I can’t exactly say he is.”

Three:

I lay in bed that night thinking about that guy. What was so important about him? Why was I still thinking about him? I couldn’t really pinpoint a reason. The only thing I could think of was his face. His upturned, amber eyes,so beautiful you could get lost in them. His fierce eyebrows matched his mean attitude. His perfectly plum, sultry lips and sharp jaw and cheeks. I couldn’t stop picturing him in my mind.

The next morning I walk downstairs to see breakfast on the table. Nobody was there today. Just a note:

Had to go into work early. *

I left breakfast on the table and Phayu *

should be here to pick you up soon.*

Love, Mom*

I sat down and ate my breakfast while scrolling through Instagram. I took a sip of my tea only to almost spit it out. In front of me was a picture of that guy I had met before. His name was Chai. Or I guess I kind of assumed that- it was in his username; coolchaiguy12. I found myself immersed in the photo, not being able to look away.

I was brought out of my trance by the ringing of a doorbell.

Phayu.

I grabbed my things and ran for the door.

“Good morning sir,” he said as I opened it.

“You know you don’t have to call me that,” I said.

“Yes, but I prefer it, sir.”

I sighed and stepped out of the house shutting the door behind me. I listened to music and stared out the window the whole car ride. I think I almost fell asleep. When we came to a stop at a red light I asked the driver to let me out where I was. I didn’t want to be the rich kid. Walking to school, even if it’s only halfway, is about as normal as you could get.

History was my least favorite class, I found it so boring. Why do we have to learn about all of this stuff anyway? I don’t know how it will impact my life in any way. They want to teach us not to repeat the past, I get, but how hard is it to be a good person? How hard is it to not attack and kill people?

The bell rang as I took my seat. Students flooded into the classroom. Beam ran over and sat right next to me. I don’t really remember what she was talking about. I think she was just blabbering about some show she had watched the night before. The entire time I was focussing on the kid sitting in the front of the room. Chai. He was even perfect from behind. I snapped at myself , what on earth was I doing?

The teacher came into class and announced a duo project.

“You will be doing a presentation on the Greek Gods I assign you,” he said. “I will be picking your partners today, so don’t get too excited.”

Everyone groaned.

“Oh come on guys, it’s just an assignment. Now, Let’s see…”

I stopped listening after that. I didn’t really care who my partner was. I did hope it would be Beam though.

“So Decha, you are going to be with…” he looked around the room. “How about you go with Chai?”

My jaw dropped so low it almost fell from my skull. I looked around the room and saw people whispering and looking at us both. Chai looked so annoyed. I sank into my seat wishing I'd disappear.

After class I walked up to Chai.

“Do you want to work at my house?” I asked.

“Not really, but I can’t really say no,” he said.

“Great,” I said as I handed him my address. “See you.”

Four:

I sprang up from the couch upon hearing knocking at the door. I walked up and opened it.

“I wasn’t sure if the doorbell worked, so I knocked,” he said.

“Does it look broken?” I asked.

“Listen,” he said, “I was just trying to be nice.”

“And I was just trying to joke around,” I said.

“Whatever,” he said as he pushed through me and made his way upstairs.

“You’re very rude, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

He set his stuff down on the floor near my table and sat down taking out his laptop. I just stood there looking at him.

“You gonna help or are you just going to stand there?” he asked.

“My bad,” I said, “We have Athena, right?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

We sat there for about three hours working on the project. I was exhausted.

“That’s wrong,” he said.

“What is?” I asked, leaning my head in towards the laptop.

“You spelt goddess wrong, it has two d’s”

“Sorry,” I said, fixing it. I turned my head to the right looking at him. Our faces were so close we could feel each other's breath. I moved away quickly.

“Is that better?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said.

I sent him home in a taxi that night. I stared at the car until it disappeared from my sight and then went inside.

“Whos your little friend?” my mom said.

“For the last time, he’s not my friend,” I said.

“You sent him home.”

“It was the polite thing to do.”

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