This Empty Space

by Moonlight_Writer_2020

Summary:

Team and Win were best friends for four years, until Win left for college. They meet again two years later, but both have gone through major changes during their time apart. Team hates Win with a fiery passion; Win doesn't seem to remember Team at all.

"...I've been drinking
I've been doin' things I shouldn't do
Overthinking
I don't know who I am without you
I'm a liar and a cheat
I let my ego swallow me
And that's why I might never see you again
I'm alone in my head
Looking for love in a stranger's bed
But I don't think I'll find it
'Cause only you could fill this empty space..."

(“Empty Space”—James Arthur)

Chapter 1

Team rode his bicycle in big, slow circles in the parking lot in front of the empty school.  The end-of-the-year party had ended ages ago and everyone had gone home.  Team was feeling a bit sad and didn’t want to leave.  Not because of the school—although when the break was over he wouldn’t be coming back to it—but it was because of his crush.  He had a huge crush on a classmate—had had it for years, and he was working on getting up the courage to confess his feelings but he ran out of time.  He had woken up that morning determined to finally say it, but school had been crazy with activities and then the party.  There was simply no time or privacy.  He sighed.  Three long months to wait until school started again.  And instead of a single classroom in Primary school, they would be in the Secondary school.  Team imagined that it was possible they would never see each other again in that huge school with their multiple class schedules.

 

After a time, Team began to notice that the shade from the trees was becoming denser.  He imagined he could hear the echoes of children’s laughter coming from the playground.  He felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck as a whisper of a breeze caused his shirt to flutter gently against his chest.  He turned his bike away from the school and pedaled as fast as he could to escape the ghosts of children past.

 

The school was far behind him before that burst of adrenalin wore off.  When it did, he felt a bit weak and shaky.  He stopped at a tiny store and parked his bike.  He felt in his pockets and found the remains of his allowance.  It wasn’t much, but it was enough for what he wanted.

 

He went into the store and bought a big bag of potato chips and an ice-cold can of grape soda.  His mother insisted that he only eat healthy foods so pretty much all of his allowance went on snacks every week.

 

He left the store feeling immensely better than when he walked in.  He slid the bag’s handles onto his bike’s handlebars and rode his bike to the old wooden bridge.  His mother had expressly forbidden him from ever going on that bridge, so he went every chance he could get.

 

He rode onto the bridge and propped his bike up on its kickstand.  He sat down in front of it.  He would never admit it, but he saw his mother’s point.  The bridge used to be for vehicles but years before he was born it had been closed to all but pedestrian traffic.  Whatever guardrails that used to be on the bridge were long gone and the town never got around to putting up new ones.  Even he felt a bit wary when he saw little kids on it.  One false step and they would end up in the ocean.

 

He kept one leg dangling over the edge, but the rest of his body firmly on the bridge as he opened his potato chip bag and took out a few chips.  He popped them in his mouth and scanned the sky in the west.  It wouldn’t be long until it was sunset time.  He still felt broody, but he had his favorite snack, sitting in his favorite spot, at his favorite time of day.  He opened the grape soda and took a drink as he checked out the people on the bridge.  There were plenty of people there to watch.  Most were residents, but he could tell by the sunburned skin of the others that they were tourists.  The little seaside village wasn’t on the tourist’s maps, but some of them seemed to find it anyway.

 

He saw a large group of tourists crowded together to take a picture.  They were close to the edge of the bridge.  Team ate a few handfuls of chips as he watched to see if any of them in the back row would take one too many steps backwards and fall over the edge.  He could imagine it happening—flailing arms, desperately grabbing at the person in front of them, while they fell backwards.  It would probably cause at least three or four of them to fall in.  But it didn’t happen.  The group got their picture and walked away from the edge.

 

While he took a drink from his grape soda, he watched a young mother, or maybe it was a baby sitter, pushing a little girl in a stroller.  Just as he was about to turn his gaze away, he saw something that made him tense up.  It was an older teenage boy.  He was walking in Team’s direction, but looking out at the water and the sky.

 

Team, fearful that the older boy would notice him, slowly turned his head away.  He looked down into his bag of potato chips, hoping that the boy wouldn’t see him and would just continue walking.  He believed that there was some cosmic force that had branded an invisible ‘kick me’ sign on every young boy.  It acted like a magnet to draw in older boys to attack them with some form of ritualized torture as punishment for being younger and smaller.

 

He sighed and took another drink of the soda.  This day was already bad, and he knew it was about to get worse.  He got a few chips out of the bag and had just put them in his mouth when the boy sat down next to him.  Team held back a groan and looked at the boy who was studying Team intently.

 

“Who are you?” the boy asked.

 

Team moved the chips over into his cheek before answering.  “Team,” he said quietly.

 

“Team?  I’m Win.  By the way, your teeth are purple,” the boy said.

 

Team shrugged and looked back at the water and chewed the chips he had previously hidden in his cheek.  His father always told him that he had inherited his dismissive attitude from his mother.  But at times like these, he wished he had inherited his father’s muscles instead.

 

“Do you live here?” the boy named Win asked him.

 

Team slowly turned back to face him.  “This is a bridge.  I live in a house.”

 

One of Win’s eyebrows lifted for a fraction of a second, and the corner of his mouth gave a small twitch.  “Okay, that’s good.  This house where you live…is it local or are you just visiting here?”

 

Team gave a small shrug, “I live in the village.”

 

“I can’t believe I’ve never met you before then,” Win said with a slight frown.

 

Team turned to look at the other people on the bridge near them.  “Do you see that guy over there, the one with the blue hat?” he asked.

 

Win followed Team’s gesturing hand.  “Yeah, I see him.”

 

“What’s his name?”

 

Win’s frown grew deeper when he turned his gaze back on Team, “I don’t know.  Why?”

 

“Well, he lives in the village; I guess that proves you don’t know everybody here!”

 

“Are you in the Secondary school?”

 

Team bristled, “I will be next term.”

 

“Well that explains why I’ve never met you.  I don’t hang around with Primary school kids.  But…since you will be in Secondary soon, I guess it doesn’t matter.”  Win got up and walked over to Team’s bike and began to examine it.  “Is this your bike?”

 

“No, it followed me here and parked itself behind me,” Team answered sarcastically.

 

“It’s a nice bike,” Win said as he got on it and lifted the kickstand.  “You don’t mind if I take it for a ride, do you?”  He didn’t wait for an answer.  He took off on it and rode it down to the far end of the bridge.

 

Team sighed.  He began to formulate how he could explain to his parents about his bike being stolen.  He couldn’t very well say that he just sat there and allowed someone to ride off on it, but in Team’s mind, it was better that this guy stole his bike instead of beating him up.  Team actually had forgotten his bike lock at home that day, so he would tell them that someone stole it from the bike rack at school.  It would also explain why he hadn’t gone straight home from the party like he had been told to do.  He ate some chips as he thought about it.  It cost him a bike, but he wasn’t going to get beaten up by an older guy and he wasn’t going to get into trouble for getting home late.  All in all, it wasn’t that bad of a deal.

 

Win rode back up and parked the bike back where it had been.  He sat back down next to Team and turned his head to look at the sunset.  It was that brief moment of time when all the colors were stacked in layers in the sky like an atmospheric dessert parfait and the colors were reflected in reverse order on the water below it.

 

“Perfect,” Win said quietly.

 

Team wanted to agree but kept quiet.  He didn’t want to draw attention to himself.  He was still hoping that Win would get bored and go away.  Team reached into the bag and got out some more chips.

 

Win turned to look at him as he was putting the chips into his mouth.  “That stuff is not good for you.  You know that, right?”

 

Team crunched down hard on them trying to make it as loud as he could.  “Mom?  Is that you?” he asked.

 

Win grinned at him, and—although Team would have never admitted it—he thought Win had a really nice smile.  Win snatched the bag up and took out a few chips.  He put the bag back down where Team had had it and ate the chips he had taken.  “Do you like swimming?” he asked.

 

Team had still been sitting with one leg dangling over the edge of the bridge.  He quickly pulled it up and cast a quick glance down at the water before looking back up at Win.  “Why?” he asked.

 

Win grinned.  “Did you think I was going to push you in?”

 

“No!  Of course not,” Team answered angrily.

 

“Yes you did!  Don’t worry—I have an agreement with the mayor.  He only allows me to kill four kids a day.  Lucky for you, you are the fifth kid I met today!”

 

Team scoffed and rolled his eyes.

 

“You were afraid that I was going to steal your bike too, weren’t you?”

 

Team straightened his back and pushed out his chest.  “I’m not afraid of you!” he snapped with a scowl.

 

Win threw back his head and laughed.  Then he reached forward and lightly pinched Team’s cheek, “You’re just a little hissing kitten, aren’t you?”

 

Team drew back in shock.  His dignity had been attacked.

 

“I’m glad you aren’t afraid of me,” Win replied.  “I don’t want you to be.  The reason I asked if you liked swimming is because I belong to a swim club and we are having a swim meet this evening.  It is down there,” he pointed to the area at the end of the bridge.  “My mom was supposed to come to it, but she got called into work at the last minute.  She’s a nurse, so it is always last minute, but anyway…I have her ticket.  Do you want to come and sit in her seat?  I need to get down there now and I could use someone there to cheer me on.”

 

“No.  Bye!”

 

Win laughed and stood up, but on his way up, his leg hit something that made a hollow clang.  He got on his hands and knees and looked over the edge to examine it.  Instinctively, Team grabbed Win’s arm to make sure he didn’t fall.

 

“Hey!  There is a shelf under here,” Win said excitedly.

 

Team cautiously peeked at it.  “That’s not a shelf.  It is a piece of the bridge support that has rusted away and is being held up by the opposite side.”

 

Win nodded, “But…with a bit of imagination, it is a shelf.”  He pushed himself up and brushed off his knees with his hands.  “Okay, let’s go.”

 

“I said ‘no’!” Team protested as he got up and walked to his bike.

 

“Then what are you doing?” Win asked with a grin.

 

Team dropped his potato chip bag and empty soda can into the trash.  “I’m going home,” he answered.

 

“How about giving me a ride then?”

 

“Fine!” he agreed angrily as he mounted his bike and raised the kickstand.

 

“I’m bigger and I know where to go, hop on the back,” Win ordered.

 

Team sputtered in anger, at a loss for words.  He wasn’t about to be a passenger on his own bike!  But then he did as he was told.

 

Win took the seat, but before he started to pedal, he looked back at Team with a grin.  “I bet you have dimples when you smile, don’t you?”  Team scowled in response.  Win laughed, “It’s going to be a crazy ride, so hold on tight!”

 

Win stood on the pedal and they took off faster than Team had anticipated.  He grabbed for Win’s waist.  The sound of Win’s quiet laughter floated on the breeze to Team’s ears.  He took his hand off of Win’s waist, but Win reached back and caught his wrist.  He placed Team’s hand back where it had been.  Team left it there.

 

Win rode with a complete disregard to courtesy.  He whipped around groups of people on the bridge without slowing.  His rebellious nature matched the one that was inside Team.  The difference was that Win did what Team always wanted to, while Team only dreamed of doing it.  Team was always courteous, even when doing so made him grind his back teeth together.  Stupid, slow people who hog up space were just zoomed around by Win.  Team could feel the grin spreading across his face.

 

He quickly hid it when Win came to the swim club building and applied the brakes.  “This is the place,” Win announced.  He pulled a ticket from his pocket.  “Are you sure you won’t change your mind and come cheer me on?”

 

Team didn’t even have to think about it.  He needed to get home.  He was already late and bound to get punished.  He certainly didn’t want to make it worse; especially for this guy.  He would be so glad to see the last of him.  And he hoped to never have the misfortune of running into him again.

 

“Okay,” he said taking the ticket out of Win’s hand, “but I’m not going to cheer for you!”

 

Win nodded, “I hope you change your mind, Kitten!  One little cheer?  Maybe?”  Team scowled at him.  Win examined Team’s bike, “Don’t you have a lock?”

 

“I do, but I forgot it at home today,” Team admitted.

 

Win parked Team’s bike in the rack.  He bent down and unlocked the lock on a bike next to Team’s.  “This is my bike.  I am going to share the lock with you so your bike doesn’t get stolen.”  He wound the chain in between the two bikes and then locked the lock.  “Oh…I should have showed you.  Bend down here and watch me enter the combination.”

 

Team watched Win enter the numbers and unlock the lock.  “Did you pay attention to the numbers?” Win asked.  Team nodded.  He thought Win was insane to trust someone he just met with the combination.  If Team were a different sort of person, he could wait until Win was inside and then come out here and steal his bike.  Team frowned in concentration.  He wondered how Win knew Team was trustworthy since they had just met.

 

Win looked up at Team and smiled at his frown, “This way you know I’m not trying to steal your bike.  Come on, I don’t want to be late!”  Win walked into the building and Team hurried in behind him.

 

Win took Team to the spectator area and sat him in a seat in the front row.  He had to go change for the swim meet so he ordered Team to stay put.  Team bristled at the order but he stayed in the seat and waited.

 

It didn’t take Win long before he reappeared, wearing only his swim trunks and carrying a jacket.  “Here,” he said handing Team his jacket.

 

“What’s this for?  It is sweltering; I don’t need a jacket!”

 

“You are in the splash zone.  Best seats in the place, but also the seats most in danger of getting wet.  Just drape it over yourself when people get on the platforms.” Win instructed.  “Also,” he said as he reached up to unhook his necklace, “I want you to keep this for me.  I forgot to leave it in my locker and I’m not allowed to have it in the pool.”  He leaned over and put it around Team’s neck and hooked the latch.  “Take good care of it for me.  It is my prized possession.  I had to work for almost two years to save enough to buy it.”

 

Team nodded.  He picked up the medallion from his chest and looked at it.  It was a silver circle with waves carved into it.  In the center was a dolphin, leaping out of the water.  “Work?” he asked.  “What kind of job can you get at your age?”

 

“Tutoring.  Most kids learn better if they have someone near their own age tutoring them.  After I helped a couple of them, they told their friends, and their parents told their friends, and soon I had more clients than I could handle.”  Win looked over and saw the swimmers preparing for their event.  “I also run errands and do odd jobs around the village too.  Every little bit helps.  I am determined to get into a good college and leave this dump behind.”  He smiled, “I have to go now; I’m in the first event.”

 

Team just nodded at him.  He was stunned by Win calling the village a dump.  Team loved the village.  It was home.  He didn’t ever want to leave it, although he knew he would have to for a while if he went to college.  But after college, he intended to come right back immediately.

 

The swimmers for the first event stepped up on the platforms that were located along the front of the pool; Win was among them.  Team was directly behind Win’s platform.  He hurriedly covered himself with Win’s jacket, just as a man on the side of the pool blew a whistle.

 

The swimmers leapt from their platforms into the water.  (Win had been right, Team was splashed, but Win’s jacket caught most of it.)  The swimmers raced through the water with Win far in the lead.  A bunch of girls in the stands were cheering for Win; some of them even had signs that they had made with his name on them.  Team frowned in disgust.  Win hadn’t needed him there to cheer for him; he had his own section of supporters.  Team had been determined not to cheer for Win, and after seeing all those girls, his determination grew.  However, almost as if it were beyond his control, as Win made the turn at the far end of the pool, heading back to the starting line, Team leapt to his feet and began to cheer and shout Win’s name.

 

Win grabbed the rim of the pool and looked over at Team.  Team became aware that he was doing some kind of weird bouncing dance, but he couldn’t help it.  Win had done so well and the other swimmers that were competing couldn’t come close to his time.  Finally they all returned to the starting line.

 

There was a board where the swimmers’ names were written.  A girl walked over to it and began to copy information on it from a note that the judges had given her.  It was their times for the race.  Win was officially named the winner.  He and the second and third place winners were given ribbons to the crowds’ applause.  Team clapped so hard that his hands hurt afterward.

 

Win hurried over to Team.  “Keep this for me, okay?” he asked while handing Team his ribbon.  Before Team could answer, Win jogged back over to his team’s bench to take his seat.

 

Team became aware that the girls in Win’s cheering section were looking at him.  Some with active scorn and dislike on their faces; others just seemed shocked.  He looked down at the ribbon and clutched it tightly in his hand.  He was careful not to wrinkle it, but he wanted to make sure he didn’t drop it or lose it.  He had a habit of losing things.  His mother was always scolding him about that.  Once the thought of his mother entered his mind, he looked up at the sky.  It was almost, but not quite, fully dark.  He sighed.  His mother was going to kill him when he got home.  And if his mother didn’t, his father surely would.  He sighed again.  There was nothing he could do about it, and other swimmers were on the platform, so he tucked the ribbon under his shirt and pulled the jacket up to protect himself from the splashes.

 

After a few more races ended and ribbons were given out, Win stood up and began to walk along the side of the pool.  He turned to look at Team and wiggled his eyebrows a few times and then grinned before turning back.  This caused the girls in Win’s cheering section to look back at Team again.  Team had hoped they had forgotten about him during the races that came after Win’s, but now their memories had been refreshed.

 

Win was the first in line, followed by three girls and another boy.  They were lined up at the bottom of the ladder to the high dive.  Team gulped at that.  Heights and deep water combined!  It was the stuff of nightmares to Team.

 

Suddenly Win began to climb.  He reached the top and then walked down the board until he reached the end.  He bounced once on the board and then went sailing and flipping down until he neared the water.  Then he made his body go into an absolute straight line and he plunged into the water.  Team didn’t know what all the moves Win had done after leaving the board, but he knew that Win was perfect at them.

 

When Win’s head came back up out of the water, Team was on his feet, screaming Win’s name at the top of his lungs.  The girls in Win’s cheering section had diverted their attention from Team for the moment, and they were waving their signs and also screaming his name.

 

Win swam to the side and pulled himself up out of the pool.  He looked at Team and grinned, before going back to join the line at the diving board.

 

Team intently watched as the others took their turns going off the diving board.  To his untrained eye, only one, a girl in a pink one-piece bathing suit, seemed to be any real competition.  She had done a similar dive as Win and her moves had been sharp and precise like his had been.

 

It was Win’s second turn.  When he reached the end of the diving board, he turned around.  Team’s heart sped up in fear and wonder at the sight.  Win flipped backward off the board, did a somersault in mid-air, and straightened out into a perfect dive before he hit the water.

 

The cheers were deafening when Win reappeared.  Team’s cheers were screamed right along with the rest of the crowds’.  He was on his feet, applauding and screaming when Win turned his head to look at him.  Win gave him a little nod and a grin and then swam to the side of the pool and lifted himself out of the water.

 

The rest of the divers, including the girl in the pink bathing suit could not compete with that dive.  Just by observing their second dives, Team could tell that they knew Win had won.  They all seemed wooden and defeated.

 

When the winners of the competition were announced, Win came in first place, which was no surprise to anyone.  The girl in the pink bathing suit received the second place ribbon.  Team was a bit proud of himself for recognizing that she was Win’s only competition in the event.  The third place ribbon was given to a girl in a yellow one-piece bathing suit.  In Team’s opinion, she had done okay with her dive, but she was nowhere close to being in Win’s league.  Team thought that she was in way over her head, and that thought made him smile at how appropriate it was for the situation.

 

After receiving their applause, the divers made their way back to their teammates.  Win stopped at the fan section where the girls with the signs were.  He posed for some pictures and a few of the girls had him stand next to them so they could take selfies.  Eventually Win moved away and headed directly to Team.

 

Team was up on his feet immediately when he saw Win approaching.  “That was amazing!  Weren’t you scared?  You went off that board backwards!  I would die!”

 

Win smiled, “Nah.  I have been practicing it for a while.”  He handed Team his ribbon and took the jacket that Team had used as a water barrier.  “Keep that for me, okay?  I’ll be out in a few minutes.”  He turned to leave and then called back, over his shoulder, “Wait for me!”

 

Team nodded and watched Win enter the locker room.  He looked down at the two first-place ribbons he held in his hand and smiled.  He gave a slight shake of his head.  He couldn’t have left if he wanted to.  In the excitement of the swim meet, he had forgotten Win’s bike lock combination.  He sat back down in his seat and watched the people leaving the stands and walking out of the pool area.

 

Some of the girls from Win’s cheering section walked by Team and surreptitiously studied him as they passed.  He knew they were trying to figure out why he had been singled out by Win.  He didn’t blame them for their curiosity; he didn’t understand it either.

 

Team looked up at the stars in the sky overhead and grimaced.  It was late.  Much, much later than when he was supposed to be home.  He sighed.  Nothing he could do about it now.  He couldn’t reverse time.

 

The swim club members began to come out of the locker rooms.  They all seemed to be in a hurry to get to their family’s cars in the parking lot.  But of course they would be.  It was late and people are generally at home at that time of night.

 

He turned his head and found Win watching him as he leaned against the doorway to the locker room.  Win gave him a slow smile that made Team’s heart feel fluttery in his chest.  He had been afraid of Win earlier, when he first approached Team on the bridge, but when Team had realized that Win meant him no harm, he had gotten over it.  Team thought his odd reaction to seeing Win again was probably because Team had been worried about the trouble he was going to be in at home.

 

“It took you long enough!” he snarled.  “Everyone else has left already!”

 

“Not quite true.  There are still people inside the locker room,” Win answered with a grin.  “Do you have my ribbons?”

 

“Yeah, I tried to sell them but no one was interested,” Team said as he carefully handed the ribbons to Win.

 

Win tossed them into his backpack and zipped it closed.  He pulled it up on his shoulders, “Are you ready to go?”

 

Team laughed sarcastically.  “Am I ready?  I’ve been ready since you kidnapped me on the bridge.  I am so late now that my parents have probably called the cops!”  He stood up and felt the necklace on his chest move.  “Oh!  Here,” he reached around and undid the clasp, “I forgot I was wearing it.”  He held it out for Win, but instead of taking it from Team’s hand, he turned around and bent down a bit.

 

“Put it on me,” he instructed.

 

Team grumbled a bit, but he did as he was told.  “Now come on!” he said after he locked the clasp on the necklace around Win’s neck, “Our bikes are chained together and I really have to get home.”  He took off at a run.

 

“But I gave you the combination!  If you really wanted to leave, you could have!” Win pointed out as he ran alongside Team.

 

“I forgot it, okay?” Team snapped as they reached the bikes and Win bent down to unlock the chain.  “And you lied to me!  You said you didn’t have anyone to cheer for you, but there was an entire section of the audience that was there to cheer for you!  They even had signs!”

 

Win chuckled as he pulled the chain free and dropped it into the basket on the front of his bike.  “Well…we’re even then, because you lied when you said you wouldn’t cheer for me.”

 

“I didn’t cheer for you!”

 

“You were jumping up and down!” Win retorted with a laugh.

 

“I was getting bored.  I decided to do jumping jacks, that’s all,” Team said with a toss of his head as he was mounting his bike.

 

“Yeah, I don’t blame you.  I really need to work on my speed.  It was too close; I barely won that race.”

 

Team had started pedaling away but put his brakes on and looked back at Win who was still standing next to his bike.  “Are you kidding me?  You were so far ahead of everyone else that you could have gone home, had dinner, and walked back before the rest of them reached the finish line!”

 

Win looked down and shrugged, “I don’t know about that.  But my diving was really bad today.  I am surprised I didn’t come in last.”

 

“You’re crazy!  You were the best by far in the first dive, and then the second one, as soon as the others saw you jump backwards off the board, they gave up.  I am surprised they didn’t just forfeit!” Team said hotly.

 

Win looked up from his study of the grass and gave Team a huge grin and raised one eyebrow at him, “But you didn’t cheer for me? Not even a little bit?”

 

Team gave a huff and then pedaled off as fast as he could.  He kept up the speed all the way down the road but as he reached the bridge, he slowed his pace a bit.  Even as late as it was, there were still a few people milling around on it.

 

“Hey,” Win said, as he rode up next to Team, “When you said you would be in trouble when you got home, how much trouble?”

 

“They’re going to kill me.  And it is your fault.  Five kids in one day, the mayor isn’t going to be happy with you.”

 

Win nibbled at his lip as they wove their way carefully around the stragglers on the bridge.  “Will they hit you?” he asked.

 

Team laughed, “No, they aren’t hitters.  They are more like the ‘we-need-to-have-a-talk-with-you-young-man’ type.  Which means my dad will lecture me and my mom might cry a bit, convinced I am some juvenile delinquent, certain to end up in prison one day, and then when that is done, they will take all my stuff away.”

 

“Like your bike, you mean?”

 

“My bike and anything else I like or use.  I will be lucky if they let me keep my birthday!”

 

A few blocks after they reached the end of the bridge, Team turned onto a small street at the right.  Win turned that way too.  Team looked over at him and frowned, “I know you don’t live around here.  What are you doing?”

 

“I could lie and say I did live in this direction, or I could tell you the truth that I just want to make sure you make it home safely.  Which would you rather hear?”

 

“I don’t need you to see me home!  I am old enough to make it there on my own!”

 

“I know, but like you said, the mayor will get mad at me if there is a fifth kid killed today.  I am just trying to keep myself out of trouble,” Win grinned at him.

 

They rode together in silence for the rest of the way.  When they got to Team’s street, he stopped.  Win stopped too and looked at him in confusion.

 

“Thank God!  There are no police cars parked outside!  I live in the third house on the right.  If my parents are looking out and see you, I’m going to be in a lot more trouble.  They will think I skipped curfew to hang out with you longer,” (which is what he did, he thought to himself), “It would just make everything worse for me, so don’t come with me.”

 

Win nodded.  He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.  “Here, I got this for you.”

 

Team took the folded square from him, “What is it?”

 

“It’s a permission slip to join the swim club.  Ask your folks if you can.”

 

“You want me…to go in there…while they are super pissed at me…and ask if I can join the swim club?  Are you totally insane?!!!” Team sputtered in shock.

 

Win shrugged, “It will keep you off the streets during school break.  It won’t hurt to ask.”

 

“It won’t hurt you, you mean!”  Team slid the permission slip into his pocket and began to pedal off towards his house.

 

“Hey Kitten!” Win whispered loudly.

 

Team slammed on his brakes and turned around in puzzlement.

 

“I was right,” Win whispered.  “You do have dimples when you smile!”

 

Team was flabbergasted and had no answer for that.  He stuck his tongue out at Win and then turned and rode the rest of the way to his house.  He could hear Win quietly laughing in the distance.

 

Chapter 2

Team was studying the signed permission slip the next morning when he walked out of his yard and closed the gate behind him.  He was shocked that his parents had signed it.  They had been so upset when he had gotten home the night before.  They yelled and lectured him for a half hour or so before they even allowed him to speak.  While they were going on and on, Team made up a story, so when it was his chance to speak, he was ready.

 

He told them that a coach from the swimming club had come to their school and had given a talk about the program that ran the length of the school break.  He said that he had been interested and had gone to the club, forgetting that he had been told to come straight home from school.  He spoke about the swim meet and how wonderful the swimmers and divers were (that part wasn’t a lie) and how he wanted to join the club.  He explained that once he realized how late it was, he couldn’t call home because they had never given him a cell phone and he didn’t know anyone there so he couldn’t ask to borrow someone else’s.

 

“Swimming?” his mother asked as she brought him his plate from the microwave.  (He was thankful that he didn’t have parents who believed in sending a kid to bed without dinner as a punishment.)  “I’ve never known you to be that interested in it.”

 

“In fact,” his dad spoke up, “When we went on vacation during your last school break, I remember distinctly you sitting on the beach the entire time.  I don’t remember you even sticking a toe in the water.”

 

Team shrugged as he chewed a mouthful of pork, “That’s the ocean.  A pool is different.  No waves, no undertow, and no sharks.”

 

“So you think you want to dive off the diving board?” his father asked suspiciously.

 

“Well...no, honestly, I don’t think I would want to do that.  But the races are amazing.  There’s this guy, his name is Win, and he won the first one.  You should have seen him go!  It was like he was flying under the water or something.  He left all the others in his wake.  I want to do that.  And do you remember, Dad?  You told me that I should participate in a sport in Secondary school.  You said it looks good on college applications; it could even lead to a scholarship if I did well in it.”

 

His dad nodded, “Yes, I did say that.  Although I had assumed it would be football.  You have played that since you were little.  This swimming thing though…it’s coming out of the blue.”

 

Team stared down into his plate where he only had a tiny bit of his dinner remaining; he had been starving, aside from the potato chips, he hadn’t eaten much all day.  He was trying to think of a convincing argument, but he knew if he waited too long, his dad would figure out that he wasn’t being honest.  “Okay, you are right that I love football, but there aren’t any activities scheduled during the break.  I think I might like swimming but I’m not really sure if I will.  That’s why I thought it would be a good idea to join the club for the break period to see if I liked it for real before I decided for sure which sport is the best one for me once school starts.”

 

His dad leaned back a bit in his chair and absentmindedly scratched behind his ear.  Team knew this was always something his dad did when he was thinking.  “I would have felt better about this if you had just gone to a regular practice session.  Going to a meet and seeing people win ribbons is not all that it is about.  Every sport has grueling practices and they take real dedication.  This boy, Win, did you say that was his name?  I bet it wasn’t his first time in the pool.  I’m sure he had to work very hard for that ribbon.”

 

“Oh he did!  But he loves it, so I imagine that makes it better,” Team said as he finished his food and walked over to the sink to rinse his plate.  “And you should see him dive!  He went off the board backwards and everyone that had to dive after him wanted to quit.  I could see it in their eyes.  I asked him if he was scared and he said he wasn’t.  He had practiced a lot, so I know what you mean.”

 

“Did he win that event too?” his mother asked while stirring sugar into her cup of tea.

 

Team chuckled, “Of course!  No one even came close to his score!”

 

She leaned forward a bit and looked at him intently.  Alarm bells went off in Team’s mind.  That was her thinking posture, and he knew she was tougher than his dad.  “Who is this boy?  How do you know him?”

 

“Oh, I don’t exactly know him,” Team came back to the table and sat down.  His mother never took her eyes off him.  “The coach introduced him to us after he won.  You know how they always do—they show off their best competitors.  Kind of like the coach wants you to think you could be like the best one too, if you join.  The coach told us we could ask Win questions, so that’s what I asked him.  About the diving thing, I mean.”

 

She took a sip from the cup and leaned back in her chair.  Team felt himself relax a bit.  Whatever she had been thinking, he had said the right thing to ease her mind.  He was a bit perplexed on how she had zeroed in on Win though, instead of swimming.  It was like she knew somehow that he was the reason Team wanted to join the swim club.  Team mentally corrected himself with a frown after that thought.  He didn’t even want to join that club, and he wasn’t the least bit interested in Win.  He actually hoped he never saw Win again.  The whole swimming club thing had only been a dodge to get out of trouble.  He gave a little nod to himself; he almost believed it.

 

“Since you are finished eating, go on up and take your shower and get to bed,” his father ordered.  “Your mother and I will discuss your punishment and this,” he picked up the permission slip from the table.  “We’ll let you know what we decide in the morning.”

 

And now Team held the signed permission slip in his hand.  He had awakened to find a long list of things that he must not do for the next month.  His father had already left for work before he got up but his mom was still in the house.  “We decided that an activity might be good for you.  It will keep you occupied and out of trouble,” she said as she handed it to him.

 

Now he was stuck with it.  The truth was, as his father guessed the night before, Team wasn’t a fan of swimming.  Not at all, to be honest.  And to be even a bit more honest about it…he was actually a bit afraid of water.  He didn’t know how to swim much.  He could probably do a fairly decent dog paddle, if his life depended on it.

 

“Hey Kitten, what are you reading?” Win’s voice cut through his thoughts.

 

Team’s head snapped up to find Win, sitting on his bicycle, a few feet away.  He quickly looked back at his house to make sure his mother wasn’t at the gate, watching.  She wasn’t.  “It’s the permission slip to join the swimming club.  They signed it.  I’m on my way there to drop it off.”

 

“Hop on and I’ll take you there,” Win offered.

 

“No, I can’t.  I am grounded.  I can’t ride my bike, so I am sure that means I can’t be on any bike.”

 

“So…we wait until we turn the corner and no one can see before you get on then?”

 

Team nodded.  He folded up the paper and slipped it into his pocket.  “I got grounded from my bike.  I can’t hang out with my friends, and no TV, movies, music, computer time, or video games for a month!  But they bought me this so I can call home in case of emergencies.”  Team pulled out a cell phone and showed it to Win.

 

Win was laughing as they turned the corner.  He reached out his hand and Team handed Win his new phone as he got on the back of Win’s bike.  “Do they not know,” Win asked, “Or do they think you don’t know that you can do all that, except ride a bike, from your phone?”

 

“I think they don’t know.  I have been asking for a phone for ages but they didn’t see a need for it.”

 

“Welcome to the 21^st Century!” Win said and then Team heard a ‘ding’ sound come from Win’s back pocket.  Win turned around and grinned, “Now we have each other’s phone numbers.  Come on, let’s take a selfie!”  He opened the camera and held out his arm as far as he could.  “Give me your best smile!”

 

Team stood up on the foot pegs, leaned his chin on Win’s shoulder and puffed out his cheeks and crossed his eyes.  Win stuck out his tongue and then took the picture.  He laughed when he saw it.  “I knew you would do something so I did too!”  They turned to look at each other and both were laughing.  That’s when Win took the next picture.  Team startled when he heard the click.  Win looked at the picture and nodded, “That’s better!”  Win’s phone dinged and he handed Team back his phone.  “I sent those to me,” Win said.  “Put your phone away and hang on tight!”

 

“Wait!” Team said as he slid his phone in his pocket.  “Why were you on my street?”

 

Win shrugged.  “I just happened to be there and saw you leaving your house.”

 

“Do you know someone who lives there?” Team asked with a frown.  Win hadn’t mentioned knowing anyone around there the night before.

 

“Yeah,” Win said as he put his feet on the pedals.  “You.  It’s going to be a crazy ride, so hold on tight!”

 

Win took off like a shot.  He zigzagged around cars and pedestrians, never bothering to be courteous.  Team held on tight and laughed the entire trip to the swim club’s office.  Once they arrived, Team hopped off the bike and ran inside to turn in his permission slip.  The woman behind the desk smiled as she accepted it and gave Team a paper that contained information on what he would need to bring and a list of the rules.  He thanked her and as he walked out of the office, he folded the paper and slid it into his back pocket, casually feeling to make sure his phone was still there.  Finding that it was, he let out a sigh of relief and walked out of the building.

 

Win was still sitting in the spot where he had been when he dropped Team off and he was looking at his phone.  He looked up when he heard Team approaching and grinned.  “I was just looking at our pictures.  We’re cute!”

 

Team scoffed, “You maybe, but not me!”

 

Win reached over and pinched Team’s cheek, “Of course you are, Kitten!  At least when you aren’t scowling.”

 

Team scowled and pulled his face away from Win’s fingers.

 

Win's grin grew larger.  “On second thought—your scowl might be cuter than your dimples.”

 

“I have to go.  I was supposed to come directly here and then back home,” Team stated.

 

“How long did they give you?”

 

“An hour and fifteen minutes.  Mom figured up the distance and then gave me a bit of leeway in case I had to wait here for a while.”

 

“So that means we have close to an hour before you have to be home!  Come on, let’s go have lunch,” Win said.

 

“I can’t.  I spent the last of my allowance yesterday and I probably won’t get any more allowance from them until I am about 95 years old,” Team grumbled.

 

Win laughed, “It’s on me.  I got paid today from one of the kids I tutor.  I’m starving and I want to discuss something with you.  Hop on!  Let’s go!  Time’s ticking away!”  Win patted the spot at the rear of the bike.

 

Team got on the bike and barely had enough time to grab onto Win before they were flying down the road and across the bridge.  Win took them down alleys and backstreets before finally coming to a stop in front of a tiny restaurant, The Lonely Dolphin.

 

“Have you ever been here?” Win asked as he locked up his bike.

 

Team shook his head.  “I’ve never even heard of it.”

 

Win popped up from the lock and hurried to the door, “I hadn’t either.  I found it a few days ago after tutoring a kid in this neighborhood.  You are the first person I have brought here—usually it’s my mom but she has been pulling a lot of extra shifts lately.”  He held the door and allowed Team to walk in first.  The aromas of the different kinds of food cooking danced into Team’s nose and his stomach rumbled in response.

 

Win led them to a booth in the corner.  Team slid in on one side; Win slid in on the other.

 

“So, rich guy…how much do you intend to spend?” Team asked from behind his menu.

 

Win laughed, “Order whatever you want!”

 

Team peeked over the top of his menu and grinned, “You’ve never seen me eat!”  He pretended to take his time studying the selections, but he already knew that he would order the daily special.  It was the cheapest thing on the menu.  He felt a bit weird about the situation.  He hadn’t ever had someone pay for him—aside from his parents and once an elderly great-aunt of his had taken his family to dinner and insisted on paying.  Some instinct, or maybe a certain glance from his parents had alerted him at the time to order the least expensive thing.  He used that experience as a guide.

 

A young girl came to take their orders.  After she moved away, Team leaned in a bit and spoke quietly, “You said you wanted to discuss something.  What is it?”

 

“Not yet,” Win answered and turned to look at the counter, “Let’s wait until the food is here.  I don’t want to be interrupted.”

 

Almost immediately, the same young girl that took their orders came back with a tray loaded with food.  They thanked her and sorted the items on the table.  Once Team saw all the food, he forgot all about the impending discussion with Win.

 

“I have a lot of friends…” Win began.

 

“Congratulations,” Team said without looking up from his plate.  He scooped up another spoonful and before placing it in his mouth he asked, “Is that what this is about?  Do you want me to throw a party for you?  Or maybe you want a parade?”

 

Win laughed, “Let me finish!  As I was saying, before you so rudely interrupted me—I have a lot of friends.  I can pretty much guess what they are going to say before they say it.  You’re different.  In just this short time knowing you, I can tell that you are very clever and you are direct.  You cut through the bullshit.  I find that interesting.”

 

“I wish you would tell my parents that.  They call it ‘sarcasm’ or ‘attitude’,” Team said as he picked up his glass to drink from the straw.

 

“Parents don’t always understand kids,” Win said.  “Anyway, what I am proposing is…”

 

“You’re proposing?  You want to marry me?” Team asked with a grin as he placed his glass back down on the table.

 

“Ugh!  No, you idiot…I want us to be best friends!”

 

“Best friends?  We can’t.  I’m younger than you.  People would make all kinds of jokes about us,” Team objected with a frown.

 

“I don’t give a shit about what other people think.  Do you?”

 

Team shrugged, “Maybe a bit, but I don’t want to.”

 

Win nodded while he finished chewing the bite he had taken.  “The way to get over that is to go through it.  And wouldn’t you rather go through it with a best friend by your side?”

 

“What do I get out of the deal?  I’m bringing my clever directness, or whatever you called it—what have you got?”

 

Win thought about it for a few moments, “I’m popular,” he said finally.

 

“So you said.  What does that do for me?”

 

“Think about it—you are coming into a school at the lowest grade, which is considered by everybody to be the lowest of the low.  My friends will be your friends.  That will put you way ahead of others in the first year.”  Win explained.  Team thought about it and gave a tiny nod when he realized that did make sense.  Win continued, “And I am cool.  You saw the banners at the swim meet.  People will think that you are cool too since you are my best friend.  Oh…also…you think I’m cute.”

 

Team’s jaw dropped and he felt heat flooding his cheeks, “I do not!” he protested vehemently.

 

Win took a sip from his straw and grinned at Team, “Yes, you do.  You said so when I said that the picture of us was cute.”

 

Team’s face felt so hot that his cheeks began to hurt from it, “That’s not what I meant!”

 

“Oh, okay.  So you’re saying I’m ugly then?”

 

Team was looking down into his empty plate, squirming with embarrassment and he felt sweat popping out on his back and under his arms, “No, I didn’t say that either!” He peeked up and saw Win fighting a grin and one of his eyebrows was lifted.  Team hurriedly looked back down at his plate, “Oh Hia!  Please stop!”

 

Win stuck his foot up on Team’s seat and tapped his thigh with it.  “I’m just teasing you, Kitten  I’ll stop.”

 

Team nodded and then used his napkin to wipe the sweat off his palms.  “Fine.  We can be best friends, but can you stop with the ‘Kitten’ stuff?”

 

Win noisily drew in air through his teeth, “Oooh.  Sorry, no.”

 

Team shift in his seat, “Can you not call me that in front of other people then?”

 

Win grinned and gave him a nod, “Sure, it will be our secret.  But I do want you to call me ‘Hia’, like you just did.  It sounds nice and friendly.  I like it a lot better than ‘P’.”  He stuck out his hand, with the pinky extended up in the air.  “Pinky swear on it?”

 

Team frowned, “What?”

 

Win laughed, “I want us to pinky swear that we will be best friends forever.  Haven’t you ever pinky swore on something?”  When Team shook his head, Win reached over and grabbed Team’s hand and manually folded down Team’s fingers leaving the pinky finger up.  “Now for the swear.  I swear that you will be my best friend for all eternity and I will forever be by your side.  Do you swear the same?”

 

Team nodded, “I swear.”  Win linked their two pinky fingers together and leaned forward and kissed his own thumb.  Team copied him.  Win gave him a huge smile and then let go of Team’s finger.  “It’s done now,” he announced.  He pulled out his phone and checked the time.  “I think we had better leave so you don’t get more time added to your punishment.”

 

Win paid for their meals and bought a bottle of water.  He tossed it in his bike’s basket along with the lock and chain.  Soon they were flying down side streets and alleys until they arrived back in Team’s neighborhood.  Win stopped the bike on the street before Team’s house.

 

Team got off the bike.  “Thanks for taking me and for lunch.  Bye!” he said as he began to walk away.

 

“Wait!” Win ordered and Team stopped in his tracks.  “You can’t go home like that.”

 

Team frowned in confusion, “Like what?”

 

Win uncapped the water bottle and poured a bit on Team’s head.

 

“Hey!” Team protested.

 

“You have to look sweaty!  You were supposed to walk to the swim club and then back.  I am assuming you would have hurried to avoid more punishment time.  Now stand still!”  Win pulled the back of Team’s collar and poured a small stream of water down his back.  Team yelped and tried to dodge away from the icy water, but Win pushed the shirt against the wet strip and rubbed it down.  “Lift your arm,” he commanded.

 

“What?  Why?” Team sputtered as he locked his arms to his sides.

 

“Pit sweat!  Lift!”

 

Team huffed out his breath and then reluctantly held up one arm.  Win lifted the edge of Team’s sleeve and drizzled some icy water directly onto Team’s arm pit.  Team involuntarily jerked away and flapped his arm.

 

Win bent over laughing.  “A one-winged chicken dance!” he managed to finally get out.

 

Team shook his head, “Well, I can’t have one sweaty pit and one dry one.  Do it!”

 

Win repeated the procedure and Team repeated his reaction.  “Enough!” Team demanded.

 

Win nodded and recapped the water bottle and tossed it into his basket.  “One more thing, Kitten,” he said.  He reached over and grabbed Team’s cheeks in his hands and rubbed them vigorously.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Team said, pushing Win away.

 

“You can’t be hot and sweaty without pink cheeks!”  Win explained.  He examined Team thoroughly.  “It’s good,” he proclaimed.  “You look presentable now.  You had better hurry though; you don’t want to be late, plus if you are a bit out of breath, it will look better.  Oh, and turn off the ringer on your phone.”

 

“Why?” Team asked.

 

Win had turned his bike in the opposite direction and was in the process of mounting it.  He turned to look at Team over his shoulder.  “So when I text you, nobody will hear it and take your phone away.”  He took off before Team could answer.

 

Team watched him leave.  He was amazed at how smart Win was.  He couldn’t imagine why he would choose Team as his best friend.  He shrugged, turned off his ringer, and then ran the rest of the way home.

 

Chapter 3

After dinner the next evening, Team’s father announced that he would drive Team to his first meeting of the swim club.  Team thanked him and excused himself from the table.  He hurried to his room and quickly messaged Win.

 

They had spent the previous night playing online games together until very late.  Before going to bed, they had arranged for Win to pick Team up with his bike, around the block from his house to go to the swim club.  Team had to let him know the change in plans.

 

The cars were lined up for over a block when Team’s dad joined the line of parents dropping their kids off.  “I didn’t realize this club was so popular!” his dad exclaimed.

 

“Yeah, it’s a really cool club!” Team responded, but he honestly had no idea about the club.  The only thing he knew about it was that Win loved it.

 

“You know, when you first told us about it, I thought you were just making up a story to try to get out of trouble for being late,” his dad said.  He reached over and ruffled Team’s hair, “I’m glad I was wrong!  Did you check to make sure you have everything that was on the list they gave you?”

 

“Yeah, and Mom did, too.  About 400 times!  I’m sure I have everything I need.”

 

“Did you remember to bring your cell phone?  It’s easy to forget them, especially since you just got it.”

 

Team pulled it out of his pocket to show his dad that he had it.  He had to suppress a grin at the idea he would forget it.  It had quickly become his prized possession; his link to the outside world.  “See, I have it!” he said, showing the back of it to his dad.  Team could see the message on the screen from Win.  Win said that he was at the front of the clubhouse, waiting for Team to arrive.

 

Finally the line moved enough where Team could see the front of the clubhouse, and Win standing by the doors, watching the cars as they stopped to let kids out.

 

“Dad?  Why don’t I jump out here and you can ditch this line?” Team offered.

 

“No, we can’t do that.  The sign clearly says that students are only to be let out at the entrance to the walkway.  We can’t break the rules,” his father stated.

 

Team sighed in frustration.  He hated all rules for the most part, but the stupid ones he loathed.  He wished that he could have ridden his bike, or better yet, he wished his father hadn’t insisted on bringing him so he could have ridden there on the back of Win’s bike.  Win wouldn’t let a ridiculous sign keep him from doing anything!

 

He watched Win watching the cars.  Win had already had time to change into his bathing suit.  He had thrown a windbreaker over his bare chest.  It wasn’t chilly so Team imagined that was some other silly rule but one that Win was willing to follow.

 

Team’s heart gave a funny little jump in his chest when he saw the disappointment on Win’s face as the car at the entrance to the walkway dumped another kid out.  Team knew the disappointment was because Win saw it wasn’t him.  He had to bite back a grin so his father wouldn’t see.  He counted the cars in front of them.  They were the third one in the line.  Soon he would be free.

 

“Who’s that boy by the doors?  Do you know him?” his father asked, looking at Win.

 

“Uh…yeah.  I am pretty sure that is the guy I told you about.  The one that won those ribbons at the swim meet.  It looks like him,” Team tried to be as vague as possible.

 

“Oh.  I wonder why he is outside instead of inside the building.”

 

Team shrugged.  “Maybe he is waiting for someone…or…uh, something.”

 

“What was his name?” his father asked, turning a bit back to see Win since the line had moved forward and they were now in the second place.

 

“Um…I think it is Win,” Team shrugged again, “Something like that.  Hey!  The line moved!”

 

Finally it was Team’s turn.  He grabbed up his bag and opened the car door.

 

“I will be here to pick you up!” his father said.  “If something comes up, call home.  We’ll be there.”

 

“Okay, Dad!” Team said as he got out.  He closed the door behind him and turned to find Win running towards him.  Win threw his arm around Team’s shoulders and they walked up to the entrance together.

 

“I was beginning to think you would never get here!  I saved you the locker next to mine.  I put a ‘Reserved’ sign on it,” Win said as a greeting.

 

“Are you allowed to do that?” Team asked with a frown.

 

Win shrugged, “I don’t know, but I did it.  They’ll obey the sign.  Everyone around here does.  Except for me!”

 

Team laughed.  “I was having a fit sitting in the car!  Like…why can’t we get out whenever we want?  Why only in that one spot?”  He scowled and rolled his eyes.

 

“Because that is what the ‘sign’ said, Kitten!” Win said in a very proper voice.  The two of them were laughing as they entered the clubhouse.

 

Win led him into the locker room on the right, explaining that the other one was for the girls, and then took him to the lockers.  Team could see the ‘Reserved’ sign on one.  He laughed when he opened it and found it empty.  It was like what Win had said; everyone obeyed signs.

 

“Go ahead and get suited up and meet me at the pool,” Win instructed, pointing towards the entry to the pool area before disappearing.

 

Team took his new bathing suit out of his bag and looked at it.  He was glad that the rules for the swim club were no prints, only solid color swimsuits.  His mom had been forced to buy him a new one.  His old one had cartoon characters on it—not by his choice.  His mother had bought it for him, seemingly thinking that while his size had changed, his taste had not—since he was about 4-years-old!  He cringed every time he had to put it on.  This new suit was a solid dark blue—he would have preferred it to be black like Win’s, but as long as it didn’t have cartoon characters frolicking around on it, he was happy.

 

He looked around to see if he could find a changing room and instead saw boys in various states of undress standing at their lockers, or sitting on the benches.

 

“Uh-uh!  Not me!” Team whispered to himself.  He saw a sign for the bathroom and hurried into an empty stall and changed into his suit.  By the time he left the bathroom stall, he saw that almost everyone had already left the locker room.  He put his clothes in his locker, and then hurried out to the pool area.

 

He saw that the lane markers had been rearranged since the last time he saw them, when he witnessed Win winning first-place ribbons at the swim meet.  At that time, the markers had started at one end of the pool and traveled in a straight line down to the other end.  Now the lanes were considerably shorter and were in the deep part of the pool.  The large, rectangle area of the shallow end was roped off.  In the shallow water were kids who were ‘swimming’ with pool noodles clutched tightly to their chests to keep their heads above water.

 

“It took you long enough,” Win complained from behind Team.  “Come on!  I saved us the first lane.”

 

“Uh…Hia?” Team said hesitantly.  “You see the weirdoes with the pool noodles?”

 

Win laughed, “They’re not weirdoes; they just don’t know how to swim yet.”  He dropped down in the water.  “Come on!”

 

“Hia…I’m one of the weirdoes.”

 

“You can’t swim?  Not even a little bit?” Win asked in amazement.

 

Team shook his head ‘no’.

 

Win extended his hand up to Team.  “Come on in.”

 

Team took Win’s hand and carefully stepped down into the water.  Once his feet met the pool bottom, the water level was a bit below his ribs.  He felt slightly panicky but tried to hide it from Win.

 

Win held Team’s hand as he walked through the water, dragging Team along behind him.  Team assumed that Win was taking him to meet the assistant who was watching over the non-swimmers, but Win passed by her.  He got to the marker that separated the shallow side of the pool from the deep side and lifted it over his head.  He pulled Team through.  Team’s panic suddenly got much worse.

 

“I can’t go in the deep side!  I told you—I don’t know how to swim!” he protested and tried to pull his hand away from Win’s.

 

Win’s grip tightened.  “We’re going to play a game.  You get to be the ‘weirdo’ and I get to be the ‘pool noodle’.  All you have to do is trust me.  You can do that, right?”

 

Team nodded and bit his lip to keep it from trembling.

 

Win smiled and shook his head.  “We’re best friends.  Just yesterday we swore to be best friends forever.  Forever!  If I let you drown, I am going to be stuck hanging out with a ghost for the rest of my life.  Who wants that?”  He laughed, “And besides, I already killed my limit of kids today, so the mayor would probably give me a fine if I killed you.”

 

Team grinned.

 

“That’s better,” Win said with a nod and then led them a few feet away from the rope.  The water was at the top of Win’s shoulders and right at Team’s mouth.  Team had to take little hopping steps on his toes and keep his head tilted back to keep the water out of his nose.

 

Win placed Team’s hands on the side of the pool.  Team gripped it with all his might.  Win laughed, “You don’t have to hold on so tight!  You’re not going anywhere.  But I want you to show me how you kick.”

 

Team used his hands to pull his head up higher.  His mouth and nose were away from the water so he didn’t feel as panicky.  He bent his legs and did his version of a stationary dog paddle.

 

“Okay, that’s enough,” Win said as he took his place next to Team at the edge of the pool.  He took hold of the side and said, “Watch my legs.  This is what you are doing,” and he demonstrated it.  “That’s like if you were on a running track and you were crawling on your knees.  You will eventually get to the end, but it will take a long time and use up a lot of energy.  Now watch this,” Win extended his legs and began to kick them slowly.  “See this would be like you were walking on the track,” He picked up the pace of his kicks a bit, “And this is if you were jogging.”  Then he began kicking his legs vigorously, “This is a run.”

 

Team nodded, “I understand, but…I’m kind of scared to stretch out like that.”  He nibbled on his bottom lip.  He hated admitting to fear.

 

Win smiled and touched Team’s lip where he was biting, “Pool noodles don’t judge.  They are just there to help.”  He slipped his arms under Team and lifted up his midsection.  “Keep hanging onto the side and I will keep the rest of you up, now stretch out your legs and see if you can give me a walking kick.”

 

Team didn’t want to disappoint Win, so he tried his best to follow his instructions.  Win had him switch back and forth through the different kick speeds and eventually he lowered his arms and allowed Team to do them unaided.  Team was a tiny bit terrified when Win took away his arms and was no longer supporting Team’s midsection, but he realized after a few moments that he didn’t need the help.  He was doing it on his own.  Win’s smile showed his approval.

 

“Okay, you can stop now,” Win said after a bit.  “You have a powerful kick!  Once you learn how to swim, you are going to be racing up and down these lanes.  I am going to have to work hard to beat you.”

 

Team could feel his face grow warm, “No!  Even if I learn how to swim, you will always beat me!  You go through the water like a jet goes through the sky!”

 

Win laughed, “We’ll see.  Now, come on, it is time for you to take a ride with your pool noodle.”  He extended one arm, “Grab it just like you grabbed the side of the pool.”  Team did as Win said.  “Now, I want you to kick your legs like you are jogging.”

 

Then with Win keeping one arm steady for Team to hold onto, he began to guide them out into the deep water.  Team felt his fear increase, but he held on tightly to Win’s arm, kept his head way above the water, and kicked his legs like Win had said.  He watched the painted numbers on the side of the pool increase as they showed the depth of the water below them.  Team had never been in water that was over his head before.  Part of him felt mortified, while another part of him felt exhilarated.

 

“You’re doing great!” Win said with a smile.  “Only a little bit more.”

 

Finally Win pulled his arm, the one with Team attached, up to the edge of the pool.  “Grab it,” he said.

 

Team grabbed the ledge and rested his back against the wall of the pool.  They had made it to the end.  Team looked way down at the other end and could see the tips of the pool noodles bouncing above the water as the beginners made their way horizontally across the shallow end.  He turned his head and looked at the depth measurement painted on the wall of the pool.  He gulped when he realized that the water was almost three times over his head.

 

“Do you know how to hold your breath?” Win asked as he rested his arm lightly on the edge of the pool.

 

“Of course I know how to hold my breath!  I’m not a baby, you know!” Team answered with a frown of disgust.

 

Win laughed, “I mean in the water, Kitten.  Can you hold your breath in the water?”

 

“Oh…” Team said quietly.  His face felt warm and he was afraid Win could see him blush.  “I don’t know.  I’ve never tried.”

 

Win tilted his head a bit, raised one eyebrow a tiny fraction, and a small smirk was on his lips.  “Will you try it?”

 

Team thought if Win looked at him that way and asked him to try to fly; Team would jump off a cliff and start flapping his arms.  He quickly frowned at the thought and mentally corrected himself.  No, he wouldn’t do that.  But he could try to hold his breath under water.  He nodded and took a deep breath, his cheeks bulging with the effort, and lowered his face into the water.  He felt a touch of panic as he realized that even if he wanted to breathe, he couldn’t or he would drown.  But he squeezed his fingers on the pool edge to remind himself that he could pull his face out of the water any time he wanted to.

 

He forced himself to stay under as long as he could.  His lungs were burning when he finally pulled his head out of the water.  Win held onto him as he raked back his wet hair and wiped the water from his face.

 

“Wow!  You did great!” Win said, “But…do you keep your eyes closed underwater?”

 

Team nodded, “I don’t want my eyes to float out of my head.”

 

Win shook with laughter.  “That’s like saying your hand will fall off if you hold a pencil!  Your eyes are attached really good in there.  They can’t float out!  Watch!”

 

He placed Team’s hands back on the pool edge and then submerged.  Team could see Win looking up at him through the water.  When Win returned to the surface, he blinked a few times at Team, “See, my eyes are still where they are supposed to be.  Try it.”

 

Team took a deep breath and lowered his head down in the water.  It took him a few seconds to get the courage to open his eyes, but he did it.  He looked up to find Win smiling down at him.  The water made it seem as if Win was much further away than what he truly was.  Team popped back up.  He blinked a few times and his eyes were still in his head.  “Burns a bit,” he complained.

 

Win gave a small nod, “It’s the chlorine; you’ll get used to it.  And at least you know your eyes are germfree now!”

 

They practiced some more and Team learned how to hold his breath without his cheeks bulging (after Win couldn’t resist pinching them), and he learned how to slowly exhale small amounts of air through his nose while being under water.  He dramatically increased the time he could say down before coming back up for air.

 

“Do you trust me?” Win asked with a mischievous grin.

 

Something about the twinkle in Win’s eyes that accompanied that smile made Team stop and think about his answer.  What did he really even know about Win?  He had only met him three times.  He didn’t even know where Win lived.  He also knew that Win was brutal in video games—he won every one they had played together—he even killed Team in one of them.  So, did he trust Win?  They were at the farthest end of the pool, in water that was over Team’s head by three times.  No one else was around.  Team felt his uneasiness growing as it occurred to him that he didn’t trust Win.  Not even a little bit.  He opened his mouth to tell Win that, but the words that came out were: “Yeah, of course I do.”  He blinked in astonishment when he heard himself say that.

 

Win’s smile grew larger.  “I want you to see my world; the reason I love swimming so much.  We are going to go under together!”  He extended his arm, “Hang on tight and take a deep breath.  You need to kick like you are running on our way down, change it to a slow walk when we stop, and then another running kick to come back up.  If it is too much, squeeze my arm and we’ll come up.”

 

Team barely had time to nod and take a deep breath before Win took them under the water.  Team noticed that the two of them were almost synchronized with their kicking.  He wondered if that was unusual or the norm for underwater swimming.  Suddenly Win slowed his kicks and Team copied him.  Win was almost stationary in the water as he barely moved his legs.  Team was captivated by the way Win’s black hair flowed and rolled in the water.  He imagined his was doing the same.  He pulled his eyes away from Win and looked around.  The bottom of the pool was very far away and looked hazy in the distance.  He looked up and saw that the top of the water also looked like it was very far away.  All around them the water gently moved and Team suddenly felt as if he were in space—the way it was described in his favorite fiction books.  Weightless, devoid of oxygen, extremely alien to a human’s eyes, but filled with a beauty all its own.  This was indeed Hia’s world.  This was the reason he could soar through the water as if he had wings and the reason he could jump from extreme heights to land in the middle of this world.  He was a creature of the water, just like the dolphin on his necklace.

 

Win moved his arm to get Team’s attention and then looked up.  Team tried to nod to show he understood, but it felt as if his head moved very slowly.  Win suddenly began to kick vigorously and Team did the same.  In no time they were back at the top.

 

Win was grinning, “What did you think of it?”

 

“It kind of felt like we were in outer space!”

 

Win nodded, “Yeah, you know astronauts train in water for that reason.”

 

“I didn’t know that!” Team said and then stopped, “Look!” he said, pointing to the sky behind Win.

 

Win turned to look and sighed.  “Sunset!  I didn’t realize it was so late!”  He stared at it for a while and then said, “I love the sunset.  It’s just the most beautiful time of the day.”  He pushed himself up from the edge of the pool with his hands until the water was only waist high on him.  He shook his head and lowered himself back down.  “Can’t see the ocean from here.”

 

“Hia?” Team asked quietly.  “Uh…I was wondering…could we do it again?”

 

“Do you want to go back under?  Is that what you’re asking?”

 

Team nodded.  “It was cool, but I was a bit scared so I don’t think I paid enough attention.  I wanted to come back up.  But I won’t this time!”

 

Win grinned, “It is getting late and the coach will be calling us in soon.  Instead of just going down and then right back up, how about we swim for a bit?  Just hold your breath and keep kicking like you’re running.  I’ll do the rest.”

 

They went down under the water and, side-by-side, Win led them through the water.  Team watched the bricks on the wall beside them and realized they were moving very quickly.  After a time, he ran out of air and squeezed Win’s arm.  Win pulled them up immediately and Team grabbed the edge of the pool.  He still had water in his nose so when he inhaled, he got choked.  Win patted his back with a look of concern.  Team nodded to let him know he was okay.  He looked back down the length of the pool and saw that they had came a long way in their time under water.  “Wow!” he croaked and then had another coughing fit.  He cleared his throat, “Look how far we came!”

 

“Coach will be calling us in soon,” Win said, looking at the darkening sky.  “I want to show you something first.”  He took hold of Team and pulled him along behind as he neared the shallower part of the pool.  When he stopped, the water was up to his shoulders.  Team could touch the bottom and keep the water from his nose by doing his toe jumps like he did at the beginning.

 

“Have you ever seen someone getting a red gut from jumping into water?” Win asked.

 

“Sure!  Belly flops.  They hurt.”

 

Win grinned, “So you’ve had one.  The reason it hurts is that water has a surface.  It’s actually flat.  Watch.”  He lay back in the water with his arms out to the side.  And to Team’s amazement, he didn’t sink.  After a few moments, he bent at the middle and his butt went down and his head came up.  “That’s called ‘floating’,” he said.

 

Team gave a small nod of understanding.  He was certain he knew what was coming next and wasn’t thrilled by it.

 

“I want you to learn how to do it,” Win said, confirming Team’s fear.  Team frowned but nodded.

 

Win pulled Team away from the wall and placed his hand in the middle of Team’s back.  “Just lay back and relax.  I’ve got you.”

 

Team tried his best, but his muscles were tensed, expecting any moment to be plunged into the water.

 

“If your butt doesn’t go down, the water surface won’t get broken, and you will be able to float.  Look at your arms,” Win instructed.

 

Team turned his head and looked at first one, then the other.  They were not supported by Win, but they were floating on the water.  “Okay, I believe you.  Can we stop now?”

 

Win laughed, “No!  Not until you do it with your body.  Pretend you are lying on a bed.  Lay back and close your eyes.”

 

Team lay back, closed his eyes, and slowly began to relax.  “I’m taking my hand away,” Win said, his voice sounded a bit muffled and garbled since the water was covering Team’s ears.  “Don’t stiffen up or bend anything.  You can do it!”

 

Team was hit with a bolt of fear when he felt Win’s hand move away, but he did as Win said, and nothing happened.  He continued to float on the water.  He let out the breath that he had been holding and felt his muscles become more relaxed.

 

“Move your legs a bit—like a slow walk,” Win said.

 

Team did as Win said.  He found he enjoyed the slight caress of the water against his legs.  He thought that if he had been tired, he could have easily fallen asleep like that.  But his thoughts were interrupted when something bumped the top of his head.  He startled, bent at the waist and his feet dropped.  He stood on the floor of the pool and the water came to his chest.  He saw what had bumped his head was the lane marker that separated the shallow part of the pool from the deeper part of it.  Confused he looked for Win who was still at the spot next to the wall.  Win was grinning at him.

 

“What happened?” Team asked in surprise.  “How did I get here?”

 

“You swam there.”

 

“No I didn’t!” Team protested.  Then, “Did I really?”

 

Win laughed, “You did.  You couldn’t win a ribbon for it—your form is awful—but you did swim.”  He lifted an eyebrow and challenged, “Swim back to me.”

 

Team nodded slowly.  He turned his back to Win and mumbling the steps to himself, he eased back into the water.  He relaxed and felt the water supporting him and then he began to kick.  He kept his head slightly tilted and his eyes open and he fixed his gaze on one of the fence posts.

 

As he began to kick his legs, he watched the fence post move.  Within moments he had moved past it and was approaching another one.  He realized that either they were moving or he was.  And since they were cemented in, it couldn’t be them.  His heart was racing in excitement.  He was actually swimming!

 

He felt Win’s arms slip around him and he stopped kicking.  He looked up into Win’s smiling face; his own face felt stretched wide with a grin.  “I really did it!”

 

Win nodded, “Yes, you did.  Let’s swim back to the rope together!  We can beat the crowds for the showers.”

 

Team led the way with Win swimming behind and slightly to the side to avoid being kicked by Team.  Once they made it to the rope, they stopped swimming.  Win lifted it and they ducked under it.  Win placed it back down and they hurried through the area where the new students were practicing with their pool noodles.

 

When they stopped by their lockers to get their shower supplies, Team hesitated and stalled so long that Win asked him what his problem was.

 

“I don’t want to do it,” Team answered.

 

“Do what?”

 

“I don’t want to get naked in public.  It’s so gross!  It makes me cringe!”

 

Win laughed at that.  “Nobody is going to look at you!  There is an unwritten law against it.  It just isn’t done.  And you have to wash the chlorine off your skin and out of your hair.  Come on, I’ll teach you the spot-on-the-wall technique.”

 

In the shower room, Win showed Team where to place his soap and shampoo and also the place to lay his towel to keep it dry.  He pointed at a place a few inches above Team’s eye line and told him to keep his eyes on that spot the entire time.  He turned Team around and found a spot on the wall across the room for Team to look at when he rinsed his back.  “When you’re done, you take your towel and run it through your hair and down your body.  You then wrap the towel around your waist and go to your locker.  You slip your underwear on under the towel and then you take the towel off.  Nobody sees anything!”

 

Win turned on his shower and Team did the same.  He found the spot on the wall that Win had showed him and quickly washed his hair and ran the soap over himself.  They finished showering about the same time and Team wrapped the towel around himself and followed Win to the locker area.

 

Team was thankful that no one else had come into the shower room while they were in there.  The coach must have called the time, because boys were filtering in from the pool area and heading to their lockers.  Team turned his back on them and reached into his locker for his underwear.

 

“Whoa!  Wait!” Win said.

 

Team turned to face him and saw that Win was standing in his underwear with his towel in his hand.  Win put the towel on Team’s head and rubbed vigorously.  “You’re supposed to dry off before you wrap up in your towel!”  He wiped Team’s back, chest, and arms with it.  “Here,” he said, handing the towel to Team.  “Dry off your legs and the parts under the towel before you put your clothes on.”

 

Win turned back to his locker and pulled out his clothes.  Team did as he was told and then he pulled on his underwear.  He didn’t take the towel from around his waist until he covered his underwear with his shorts.  He didn’t want anyone to see his Batman briefs.

 

As they were walking out of the building, Win told Team that he had a full day of tutoring the next day, so he wouldn’t be able to stay up late.  “No games!” he said warningly.  “If you get me started, I will be up all night!”

 

“Who needs tutoring during school break?  That’s weird!” Team protested.

 

“No, there are classes at the schools for kids who didn’t pass.  This is their only shot at getting moved up.  Otherwise they have to take the whole year over.”

 

“I didn’t know that.  I’ve been lucky, I guess.  My grades are pretty good.”  Team said as they walked over to the bike rack.  He looked over at the parking lot and groan.  “Ugh.  My dad is here already.  I wish he hadn’t been in such a hurry to get here.”

 

Win looked over at the parking lot and then looked back at Team.  “Don’t bitch.  You have a dad.  A dad that loves you.  Not everybody is as lucky as you.  My old man took off before I was two.  I guess I must have spit up on him or something and he couldn’t handle it.”

 

“No!  That’s not your fault…” Team said in a rush.

 

Win laughed, “I know.  I was kidding.  He ran off because he was a jerk.  ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish’—I heard that on an old movie and it fits.”  Win tossed his bike lock in his front basket and got on his bike.  “You did really well today, Kitten.  You should feel very proud of yourself.  See ya!”

 

Team watched Win ride off and then he hurried over and got into the car.  His dad smiled at him.  “So…how was it?”

 

Team shrugged, “It was okay.”

 

His dad laughed as he backed out of the parking spot.  “I was hoping for a few more details.  Were you the only one who doesn’t know how to swim?”

 

Team bit back a grin.  He did know how to swim—now.  Maybe just a little bit, but it was a lot more than what the others learned in that session.  “No, there are quite a few, actually.  The pool has a section marked off in the shallow end for them.  They use pool noodles.”

 

“‘They?’  You mean ‘we’, right?”

 

“Uh…yeah.  Of course!  I used a pool noodle, too.  Hey Dad…I was wondering…do you think you could buy me some new underwear?”

 

“Me?  Why are you asking me?  Your mother usually…”

 

Team shifted in his seat, “I know, Dad, but Mom…she…I don’t like briefs and I hate cartoons on my underwear!  Makes me look like I am a baby!  Mom likes that stuff though.  I don’t want to tell her.  It would hurt her feelings.”

 

Team’s dad looked at Team quickly before looking back at the road.  He nodded.  “Locker room.  I understand.  And it is considerate of you to think of your mother’s feelings.  So…what kind of underwear is it that you want?”

 

“I’m not sure what they are called.  They look like boxers, but they aren’t all floppy and big legged.  They fit your leg.  And I want them in black,” he added, remembering what Win had been wearing.  “Or you know…blue, grey…men colors.  And solid, no prints.  Especially not cartoons!”

 

“Boxer briefs,” his dad supplied the answer.  “Look, Team…I am more than happy to buy you underwear, and I certainly understand why you want them…but I can’t keep any secrets from your mom.  Besides…she does the laundry; she would see them.  But I will talk to her and explain it, without hurting her feelings.  You’ll have them before your next club meeting, okay?”

 

Team nodded and relaxed in his seat with a sigh.

 

Later that night, Team was lying in his bed, looking at diagrams of swimming strokes on his phone, when he received a text from Win.

 

“I’m at your backdoor.  Can you sneak down?”

 

Team blinked in confusion and then he texted back that he could.  He crept out of his room, tiptoed past his parents’ bedroom, and then made his way carefully down the stairs—walking next to the banister to avoid the squeaky boards in the middle.  He didn’t bother to turn on any lights as he hurried through the dining room and into the kitchen.  He quietly unlocked the backdoor and pulled it open.  Win was standing there with a small bag in his hand.

 

“Hi!” he whispered.  “Did you tell your folks that you learned how to swim today?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, they think I stayed with the weirdoes in the shallow part.  Why?”

 

“Because it’s a huge deal.  You need to celebrate,” Win handed Team the bag, “Be careful and don’t get caught.  If you do, don’t tell them it was from me!”  He turned to leave.

 

“Wait!  How are you out here so late?”

 

“My mom had to pull another late shift.  She won’t be home until morning.”

 

“How did you get here?”

 

Win grinned and shook his head, “I rode my bike, dumbass!”

 

“Would it be weird of me to ask you to send me a message when you get home, so I know you are safe?”

 

“Yeah, it would!  Goodnight Weirdo!” Win said as he turned to leave.

 

“’Night, Pool Noodle!”

 

Team shut the door and quietly slid the lock into place.  Then he scurried through the dark house so he could see how Win had gotten in the locked gate.  He pulled one of the living room curtains to the side and peered out into the dark.  He saw Win grab a low hanging tree limb and walked hand-over-hand on it until he reached the fence.  He grabbed the top of it and then flipped his body over it and down the other side.

 

Team stifled a laugh and let the curtain drop back down in place.  He quietly made his way back to his room.  Once he was back in, with the door shut behind him, he cautiously peeked into the bag that Win had given him.  Inside were a can of grape soda and a bag of potato chips.  He grinned, grabbed his phone from the bed where he had left it, and hurried to the closet to eat his snack.

 

He was about midway through with his chips when Win messaged Team to let him know he was home safely.

 

“I have time for one game—but ONLY one!” Win added.

 

Team grinned and sent Win an invitation to join him in their favorite game.  They played three games before Win had to sign off and go to bed.

 

Team gathered up the empty can and the potato chip bag and placed them back into the bag that Win had brought them in.  He noiselessly opened his closet door and peeked out.  Neither of his parents was in his room waiting for him.  He exhaled the breath he had been holding and hurried over to his bed.  He shoved the bag under it, plugging his phone into the charger, and slid into his bed, pulling the covers over himself.  Within moments he was asleep.

 

That night he had his first dream about the dolphin.  He dreamed he was in the ocean, swimming next to a boat.  Nearby was a white dolphin.  The dolphin was still, staring up into the sky which was filled with all the colors of the sunset.  In the dream, Team knew that the dolphin wanted him to come with him, and he also knew that the people on the boat wanted him to come aboard.  He didn’t know what to do, so he stayed in the spot, watching the dolphin, while the people called to him.

 

He didn’t forget the dream when he woke up the next morning.  It stayed fixed in his mind.  He felt like it had to mean something but he couldn’t make sense of it.

 

He was to be visited regularly by different versions of the dolphin dream for many years to come.

Chapter 4

Team’s father drove him to the next few weeks of swim club meetings, but one evening he called to say that he had to work late and for Team to walk to the swim club.  His father would be able to pick him up after.

 

Team sent a text to Win to let him know that he had to walk.  Win sent back a message that said:  “Yeah, you have to walk…to the corner.  Give me about 10 minutes and I will be there to pick you up.”  Team grinned as he read the message.  It was the answer that he had hoped to get.

 

He didn’t have to wait long on the corner.  Win was almost flying on his bike as he approached.  He skidded to a stop and Team climbed on the back, laughing as he did.

 

“You didn’t have to hurry that fast!  It wasn’t an emergency!”

 

“Yeah, it is,” Win said, “We don’t have much time before swim club.”

 

“Almost an hour!” Team corrected.

 

Win nodded, “I know, so we have to hurry.  Hold on tight!”

 

They went flying down the street so fast, Team was amazed that the tires even touched the ground.  It wasn’t long before they reached their destination, and it came as no surprise to Team.  It was the bridge.  The sky overhead was just beginning to change colors, indicating that sunset was soon to begin.

 

Win parked his bike and they both sat down on the bridge.  Team realized that they sat in the exact same places as they had the first time they met.

 

Win studied the sky for a moment and then turned to look at Team with a grin.  “You need to check the shelf.”

 

“The what?”

 

“The shelf!  Under the edge of the bridge.  Remember, we found it last time we were here?”

 

Team frowned, “You found it.  Why should I check it?  If you want to look at it, you check it!”

 

Win laughed, “Just do it!”

 

With a sigh, Team stretched out on his belly and reached his hand under the bridge, feeling around for Win’s ‘shelf’.  Just a broken, rusted piece of metal wedged on a bridge support and he calls it a shelf! Team thought with disgust.  He looked down and saw the ocean swirling under him and quickly shut his eyes and stretched his hand out farther.  He made contact with the ‘shelf’ and shivered.  He didn’t want to stick his hand in there.  He thought about the mice, spiders, and lizards that could be hiding in there.  Or maybe even something worse—but his mind could not conceive of anything more monstrous.  The tip of his finger made contact with something and he quickly jerked his hand away and sat up on his knees, examining his fingers.

 

Win was practically rolling with laughter.  “What was in there?” he managed to ask.

 

Team shrugged, rubbing his fingers with the other hand.  “I don’t know.  It was cold.  And it was…crinkly.”

 

“Pull it out!”

 

“Hell no!  Uh-uh!  Nope.  No way.  If you want it, you get it!” Team stated and crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“Come on, Kitten!  Do it for me.  Please?”

 

Team looked around quickly to make sure no one had heard Win call him that, and with a huff, he threw himself back on his stomach, slid up a few inches, and then thrust his hand down into the invisible ‘shelf’.  He felt something round and firm, so he grabbed it and yanked it up and sat it on the bridge.  He scuttled back away from it.

 

“Open it!” Win coaxed.

 

“Hia!  I got the stupid thing off the shelf like you asked!  Can’t you open it?” Team protested, but as he looked at it, he realized it was just a plastic bag.  The ends had been tied in a knot, and that was what Team had grabbed.  He reached for it but was terrified there would be something like a severed head in it.  He wondered if a severed head could get that cold though.

 

He carefully untied the knot and looked inside.  He shook his head and then laughed.  He reached in and pulled out a can of grape soda, a can of cola, and two small bags of potato chips.  “You put those there!” he accused while still laughing.

 

Win snatched up the cola and pulled the tab to open it.  He took a long drink before answering, “Yep, on my way to get you.”

 

“You could have just put them in your basket!”

 

Win opened his bag of chips and put one in his mouth.  He chewed for a second and said, “Yeah, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.”

 

“Fun?  Fun for you, maybe.  It freaked me out!”

 

“No need to be afraid of it.  It’s ours.  We are the only ones who know it exists.”  Win stuck out his little finger, “Promise that you will never tell!  We will keep it a secret forever!”

 

Team hooked his little finger around Win’s and promised.  Then he opened his chips and ate a few.  “I thought you said this stuff was bad for you.”

 

“It is,” Win agreed.  He popped another chip into his mouth and chewed it up.  “But I never said it didn’t taste good!”

 

After they were finished with their snack, Win gathered up the trash and put it back in the bag from the store.  He took it to the trashcan nearby and dropped it in.  “Have you told your folks that you know how to swim now?”

 

Team laughed, “Are you crazy?!!  They think I am still with the noodle kids, learning how to kick my feet and hold my breath.  If I told them I was swimming laps and learning how to dive off the edge, I think they might get suspicious that I’m not sticking with the beginners in the shallow end.”

 

Win nodded in understanding, “Still though…they will find out soon.”

 

“How?  I’m not going to tell them anything.  Maybe near the end of summer break, I’ll mention it to them.”

 

“They’ll know in two weeks,” Win prophesied.

 

Team laughed, “That’s pretty specific.  How do you figure they will know in two weeks?”

 

“That’s when you have your first competition.  I signed you up for a beginner’s race.  It’s in two weeks.  Surely you will want your parents there to watch you, right?”

 

“Wait…what?  You did what?  Why?” Team stammered as he rose to his feet.

 

“I was signing up for the Advanced category in swimming and also in diving.  I noticed that there were only two spots open for swimmers in the Beginning category, so I wrote your name down before the list could be filled.  You’re welcome, by the way,” Win said with a grin.

 

“You expect me to thank you?” Team asked in exasperation.

 

“I already said ‘you’re welcome’,” Win grinned.  “Don’t freak out!  You will be swimming against some pool noodle kids.  And I will help you practice.  Next week your grounding is over so we will have lots of time to work on it.”

 

“I feel sick!  I am going to take my name off that list.”

 

“Ooh, sorry!  You can’t.  I signed you up last week and the date to withdraw has already passed.  Oops!  I guess I should have mentioned it sooner.”  Win laughed.

 

“Why did you do it?  I’m not ready…”

 

“Yes, you are—or at least you will be after we start training you properly.  Listen to me, because I am being serious—you have a lot of talent.  You are a natural born swimmer.  One day, and it may not even be that far away, you could beat me…”

 

“No I won’t!”  Team’s legs felt weak and he sat down with an audible plop.

 

Win sat down next to him and faced him.  He squeezed Team’s shoulders with his hands to emphasize his words, “One day you probably will, and in the meantime, you have to work and I mean work really hard.  You have to show everyone what you have and what you can do.  Not just in swimming, but in your schoolwork too.  You and me…we weren’t born into rich families.  Our only hope to make it out of this village is to win scholarships to one of the good colleges.  The sooner you start proving yourself, the easier it will be to get one.  I’ve always wanted that for me and now I want it for you too.  We can do it.  I know we can.  And after college, we will have real careers in the city, not just jobs here in the village where you barely earn enough to pay the rent and buy food.”

 

Team’s heart was racing.  He felt uncomfortable, like when an adult lectured him.  This was Win and he was supposed to be fun, and funny.  Not all serious this way.  Team wanted to squirm away from him.  He felt like telling Win that he loved the village and never intended to move away.  But he didn’t do either thing.  Instead he nodded.  “Okay Hia, I’ll do it.”

 

Win visibly relaxed, he slung his arm around Team and turned to look at the sunset.  He sighed, “I can never get enough of this view.  Oh, by the way, be careful!  I haven’t met my quota of dead kids today, and you are sitting very near the edge.”

 

Team giggled.  “Try it, asshole!  I will take you down with me!”

 

They began to joke around and tease each other and soon that odd vibe that Team had felt was gone.  Win was back to his regular self instead of some weird miniature adult.

 

When they got back on Win’s bike, after his customary warning of “hold on tight!”, Win sped down the bridge on their way to the swim club.  Right before they reached it, Team stood up on the foot pegs.

 

“What are you doing, you idiot?” Win screamed.

 

Team held out his arms, “I’m king of the world!”

 

“Sit your ass down and hang on!”

 

Team laughed and held onto Win’s shoulders, but he didn’t sit down.  He was still laughing when they reached the bike rack at the swim club.  Team jumped off and Win threw his arm around Team’s shoulders.  “If you ever do that again, I will slam on the brakes and send your ass flying off the bike!” he scolded.  His eyes were sparkling though, so Team didn’t take him seriously.

 

“You would never!” Team challenged.

 

Win lifted an eyebrow at him, “Try me.”

 

“Okay, Dad.  I’ll be good,” Team answered with a grin.

 

Win held up his little finger, “Swear it!”

 

Team sighed and then twisted his little finger around Win’s.  “I swear.”

 

Win leaned forward and whispered in Team’s ear, “And for the record, I’d much rather be called ‘Daddy’ than ‘Dad’.”  Then he laughed.

 

Team didn’t understand what he meant, but by the laugh, he knew it had to be something dirty.  He felt his face grow hot and he felt flustered.  “I’ll file that away as information I will never need to know.  Along with Algebra.”

 

Win laughed harder and reached up and ruffled Team’s hair.  He moved away to lock up his bicycle.  Team knew that somehow he had given Win the correct answer, even though he still didn’t understand what Win had meant.

 

A few of the other guys from the club came out to join them.  As they all walked into the building together, Win slung his arm on Team’s shoulders.  Team liked that.  It was like Win was telling them, without words, that although they were his friends, Team was his best friend.

 

Win was true to his word; as soon as Team’s grounding ended, he began training Team in earnest.  Win managed to reserve a lane in the pool every day, and the two of them would swim laps together.  Win always ahead of Team, calling instructions and encouragement to him.  Every night Team would collapse into bed immediately after dinner, exhausted and with every muscle in his body aching.  He was visited with the dolphin dream every night that week.  In the dream, he could hear the people on the boat next to him urging him to get out of the water, but he kept his eyes on the white head of the dolphin that was a few feet away from him.  He could tell by the angle of the dolphin’s head that he was looking at something on the other side of the boat, but Team couldn’t see what it was.  He wanted to swim with the dolphin, and he really wanted to know what it was looking at, but Team stayed frozen in place.  He knew the water was too deep.  He was afraid he would drown.  But at the same time, he didn’t want to get on the boat and leave the dolphin.  He couldn’t move towards either the boat or the dolphin.

 

The dreams left Team exhausted each morning.  He would scold himself for being so indecisive in the dream.  In his waking life he was never indecisive about anything, and that is what made him so furious with his dream self.  Next time just pick something!  Either get on the boat or swim after the dolphin!  Geez! He ordered his dream self, who didn’t seem to listen as he found himself in the same quandary again and again in the nights that followed.

 

Win used the early afternoons to practice for his competitions with late afternoons devoted to helping Team.  Team liked to arrive a bit early and watch Win practice his diving.  It still amazed him to watch Win go off the board backwards.  Well, honestly he was amazed that anyone could go off the high dive at all, but Win going off backwards made him awestruck.  Win liked to tease Team and tell him that he had to learn how, but Team firmly nixed that idea!  There was no way he would ever do it.

 

Team woke up the morning of the competition with his heart racing.  His stomach was churning around and his legs were shaking.  At first he thought, and maybe even hoped, that he was sick.  He soon realized that he was just nervous.  Extremely nervous.

 

The night before, Win had told him to eat protein for breakfast.  Team’s dad fried eggs for him and sat them at Team’s place at the table.  Team looked down at them and it looked like they were looking back up at him.  He shuddered at the sight and the smell.  He opted for some dry, rice cakes.  They didn’t have any protein but they did have carbohydrates.  Team had heard of athletes carbo-loading.  He planned to tell Win that if he asked.

 

He was too nervous to do anything, so he sat on a chair by the window.  Whenever he would think about the swim meet, his stomach would lurch around and he would break out into a sweat.  He was terrified he would throw up or get diarrhea.  He wondered if anyone ever had either in the pool before.  He imagined himself trying to compete while having projectile vomiting and copious amounts of diarrhea flowing in his wake.  Ordinarily a thought like that would make him laugh; he was all about bathroom humor, but on this day it just made him more afraid.

 

Win was tutoring students so Team couldn’t talk to him.  But Win would occasionally send him a cheery text when he had a break.  It was the weekend so Team’s parents were both home.  At lunchtime they called him to the table.  Team smelled the food and felt like retching.  He grabbed some crackers and a bottle of water and went outside.  He nibbled on the crackers and sipped the water slowly.  Occasionally he would toss bits of crackers onto the grass and watch birds come flying down from the trees to get the crumbs.

 

His mother came outside and sat down in a chair behind him.  He was sitting on the edge of the patio with his feet in the grass.  Some of the birds would hop near him, searching for more cracker crumbs.  He would lightly toss the crumbs in their direction.

 

“We should get a birdfeeder,” he said for no other reason than to break the silence.

 

His mother got up from her chair and came and sat down next to him.  She put her arms around him and rested her cheek against his shoulder.  “I think that sounds like a good idea!  Look at how many of them came just for cracker crumbs.  I bet with a feeder, we would have a lot more.  I love the sounds of their songs!”  She stood up and ruffled his hair.  “Get your shoes on and I’ll round up Dad.”

 

Team’s heart raced.  It was too early to go to the swim meet.  “Where are we going?”

 

She smiled at him, “To go buy a birdfeeder, of course.  And we’ll need to buy birdseed.  I’m sure any store that sells birdfeeders will also sell birdseed.  To be honest though, I’ve never really noticed.”  She disappeared into the house and Team could hear her calling his father’s name.  He grabbed his shoes and pulled them on.  When he mentioned about buying a birdfeeder, he hadn’t meant that very instant.  He checked the time on his phone and saw it was still hours before the swim meet.  They had plenty of time.

 

Luckily they found everything they needed at the first store they went to.  Team hated shopping, but this kind of shopping wasn’t so bad.  When he had mention buying a birdfeeder to his mother, he had imagined a small, lidded box with a few perches.  His parents had taken his small idea and ran with it.  By the time they made their way to the checkout, they had purchased an entire feeding station that would hold an assortment of foods to appeal to many varieties of birds, along with the bird foods and containers suitable for them all.

 

As soon as they arrived back at their house, they had a brief debate on where was the perfect spot to install the feeding station.  Team’s mother won the debate and they began to put it together in a spot in the backyard that could easily be seen from both the kitchen and dining room windows.

 

“I’m going to close the blinds when I cook chicken,” his father quipped.  “I don’t want them to worry that they will be next!”

 

“It would probably be a good idea to keep them closed while we are eating it too!” his mother answered.

 

As they were filling the containers with the different kinds of bird food, Team filled a tank with water from the hose.  Once it was filled, he returned the hose, and he plugged in the cord to an outside outlet.  Within moments the tiny fountain began sending up a little, gentle jet of water.

 

The family retreated to the patio to watch the feeder.  Several birds had been flying overhead, obviously watching them as they worked.  Now it was a waiting game to see if any would be brave enough to approach it for a closer look.

 

“You know…this feeder isn’t going to be cheap to keep stocked with food…” Team’s father began.

 

“It’s okay,” his mother interrupted.  “We will just cut a few expenses.  Like the mortgage, food, clothes…nothing of importance.”

 

“And don’t even think about blaming me or the birds for any of this!  I was feeding them cracker crumbs and they were happy with those!  This was all you two.”  Team warned with a laugh.

 

A tiny, but brave, little bird landed on the feeding station and took a look at the menu offerings.  He made his selection and soon began his meal.  A few other birds quickly joined him.  Soon there were at least a dozen of them eating their dinner there together.

 

“Do you have your stuff gathered?” His mother asked quietly.

 

Team frowned in confusion, but then he remembered.  His heart began slamming against his ribs and his stomach started churning all over again.  He had been distracted by the bird feeding station and had forgotten all about the competition.  He turned around and looked at his parents who were studying him.  They had done it on purpose; he knew it in his soul.  He had been freaking out and they helped him to put it aside for a while.  He nodded.  “Yeah, my bag is by the front door.”

 

“Well, I suppose it is about time we head over there,” his dad said as he stood up.  “I’ll go start the car, you two can come out when you’re ready.”

 

“You know…this isn’t that important.  If you and Dad just want to drop me off, that’s okay,” Team said.  They had reached the front door and he picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

 

His mother finished putting on her shoes before she answered.  “You’re talking nonsense.  Of course it’s important!  It’s your very first swim meet.  We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

 

“I wouldn’t mind missing it,” he grumbled.

 

“You’re just nervous.  That’s perfectly natural.  But it will be okay; you’ll see!”

 

Team’s text notification on his phone dinged and he reached in his pocket to pull out his phone.  He read the message and tapped in an answer.  He slid his phone back in his pocket.  “My friend…Hia Win…he says the place is filling up already.  His mom has saved you and Dad seats next to her.  He will be waiting for us in the parking lot to take you to meet his mother.”

 

“Your friend?  And you call him ‘Hia’?  How much older is he than you?”

 

Team grinned, “He is the boy I told you about…the one that won the first-place ribbons when I went to the swim meet to watch…”

 

“When you got grounded for not coming home on time?”

 

Team gave a weak laugh, “I’ve done my time!”

 

She gave a slight nod, “Yes, you have.  And you have been behaving well since then.  But ‘Hia’?”

 

Team shrugged, “He’s just two years older…that’s not a big deal.”

 

“I guess it’s not.  Not now, anyway.  Someday it will be.”

 

They were walking out to the car and Team stopped to look at her.  “What do you mean?  Why would it be?”

 

She seemed lost in thought for a moment before she answered.  “It doesn’t matter, really.  You probably won’t even be friends by that time.  I was just thinking that when he goes off to college, you’ll only be in the 11^th grade.  He’ll be a man, while you are still a boy.”

 

Team resumed walking to the car.  “No, we’ll still be friends then.  We’re going to be friends forever and nothing will change that.”

 

She settled into the front seat and then turned around to face him in the back seat.  “I wasn’t aware that the two of you were so close.  Why haven’t you mentioned him before now?”

 

Team shrugged, “He just never came up in conversation.”  He looked out the window and watched the scenery pass by.  After a few moments, his mother turned back around in her seat.  He breathed a sigh.  He never spoke about Win because he didn’t want them to say he was the only reason that Team joined the swim team.  He sighed again, this time in exasperation.  At that moment, he wished with all his heart that he hadn’t joined it.

 

When they arrived in the parking lot of the swim club, Win was waiting for them.  He walked over to the car as soon as it stopped.  Team felt relief wash over him at the sight of Win’s face.  There was no reason for it—he still had to compete….and it was actually Win’s fault that he had to…but whenever he looked at Win, he always felt like everything was going to be okay.

 

Team introduced Win to his parents and then they all went to the stands where Win introduced them all to his mother.  Team was surprised when he saw her.  She was pretty, but he had expected her to be…well…prettier.  Win didn’t resemble her at all.  Team kept searching her face for some commonality but he couldn’t find any.  He concluded that Win must look very much like his father.  He thought how odd and sad it was that Win didn’t know his dad.

 

Win turned to him and grinned, “I think it is about time to go get ready, don’t you?  You’re first up!”

 

“I am?” Team squawked.

 

Win laughed, “Yeah.  Beginners are first.  Can you imagine trying to follow the Advanced swimmers?  You would be frozen with fear!”

 

“I already am!”

 

“No need to be.  You have had the very best swimming teacher in all of Thailand giving you lessons!”  Win had a twinkle in his eye as he hinted at their secret.

 

“A glorified pool noodle, you mean,” Team said under his breath.

 

Win burst into laughter before throwing his arm around Team’s shoulders.  Their parents wished them good luck in their events and then Win had to almost drag Team to the locker room.

 

Team opened his locker and put his bag inside.  He unzipped his shorts and pulled them off.  He had his swim trunks on under them.

 

“I am disappointed!  I thought you were going to give me a show!” Win protested.

 

“Not without music,” Team joked and tossed his shorts into his locker on top of his backpack.  He rubbed his stomach gently.  “Has anyone ever thrown up or had diarrhea in the pool?”

 

Win collapsed on the bench and laughed.  “No!  We all feel like it at first, but no one ever has.  If you have a choice, go for the shits.  I think the pressure of it could help propel you through the water.”

 

“Ha ha.  Very funny,” Team said in a deadpan voice.  “I’m serious! I feel sick.”

 

“You are about to lose your competition virginity.  Of course you feel sick.  But in about…” he turned to look at the clock on the wall, “twelve minutes or so from now, you will be an old pro!  Give me your swim cap and goggles and I’ll teach you how to put them on.”

 

Team dug them out of his backpack and then closed his locker.  The two of them moved to face the mirror on the wall and Win tugged the swim cap on Team’s head.  “I think I should confess something before you walk out there.  You know how I said there were only two spots open when I wrote down your name to swim in this meet?”

 

“Yeah, why?” Team asked, wincing a bit as the cap tugged and pulled on his hair.

 

“That wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the entire truth either.  See…the coach only offered two spots for Beginners.  None of the noodle kids are ready yet so you will be the only one from our club in the Beginner race.”

 

“What???  Why would you do that to me?!!  I don’t want to be the only one representing our club!  Oh, my stomach is cramping!”  Team grabbed his belly.

 

“Calm down!  It’s going to be fine.  You are just going to race against three kids from the other club.  It’s no big deal.”  Win had finished with the cap and was fixing the goggles.  He slid them down so that they were resting properly on Team’s face.  “The noodle kids aren’t ready, but you are!  I wouldn’t put you in a position to make a fool out of you.”

 

Team pointed to his reflection in the mirror.  “It looks like you don’t mind making me look like one!”

 

Win laughed, “But we all look like that!  Okay, lift them up on your forehead so you can see to walk out.”

 

Team put the goggles up like Win instructed, then he grabbed Win’s arm in a panic.  He leaned in close to whisper, “Hia…I know I’m going to lose, and I’m okay with that.  But…what if I’m in last place?  I will die!”

 

“I don’t think that will happen, but if you see that everyone is ahead of you, you keep on swimming as fast as you can.  If you go down, then you do it with dignity.  Like a warrior.”

 

Team took a deep breath, let it out, and nodded.  “Like a warrior,” he repeated.

 

“Also, we will be able to keep a record of your time.  And we will work on it to get it up before the next race.”

 

“Next race?  Uh-uh.  I don’t want to go through this again!”  Team said while violently shaking his head.

 

Win laughed, “Well, let’s just focus on this one for now.  It’s time to go out there.”

 

They walked past the three other contenders for the race on their way to Team’s platform.  Team took note of each of them.  In lane four was a kid that looked about the same age and size as Team, and in lane two there was a super thin boy who looked a bit older than Team.  But the guy in the third lane made Team give him a second and even a third look.  He whispered to Win, “Is there an age range on this race?”

 

“Yeah, between eleven and fourteen, why?”

 

“Because the dude in lane three is twenty-seven, at least!  No way is he your age!”

 

Win laughed, “I thought he was one of the swimmer’s dads when I first saw him.  But there are strict rules and I am sure he is fourteen or under.  Don’t worry about him.  Just because he is muscular doesn’t mean he is a good swimmer.”

 

Team craned his head around Win to look at the guy again.  “When this is all over, I am going to ask him for his autograph.”

 

“Are you so certain he will win then?”

 

“No…I mean, for sure he will beat me.  I don’t know if he can beat the other two though.  I want his autograph because he is the hottest guy here!”

 

“Hey!  I have a cheering section in the front row who all think I am the hottest guy here!”  Win argued, pretending to be angry.

 

“Yeah, but that was before they saw him!”  Team countered.

 

Win pushed his knuckle against Team’s forehead and Team pretended it hurt.  Win smiled and gave a little tilt with his chin, “You need to step up there now.”

 

Team grabbed hold of Win’s wrist.  “I can’t do it!”

 

“Yes, you can.  Win or lose…it doesn’t matter.  You are a warrior.  And you have luck on your side:  You have lane one, where you first learned to swim.  You’re going to do great!”

 

Team nodded reluctantly and stepped up on his platform.  He lowered the goggles into place.  Win hurried over to join the rest of the club members sitting on the benches next to the pool.

 

The crowd grew silent as everyone waited to hear the whistle that would signal the start of the match.  Team could hear his heart beating and the whooshing of his blood racing through his ears.  He could hear himself breathing.  It seemed like a million years passed before the whistle finally blew.

 

Team startled and felt a rush of adrenaline as he pushed off the platform.  He swam as fast as he could through the area where the pool noodle kids used to practice.  He was then in the area where he had first learned to float and kick his legs.  Win had called it ‘swimming’ at the time.  Team knew better now.  This…what he was doing right now…this was swimming.

 

He passed the depth marks painted on the walls and remembered how frightened he had been the first time Win took him this far out.  Almost immediately he was at the other end of the pool and when he made his turn, he caught a glimpse of the calm depth of the water below him.  Hia’s world—as he always thought of it.

 

He felt a disturbance in the water in the next lane and felt another surge of adrenaline shoot through his veins.  He didn’t want to be in last place.  He remembered how Win had equated a fast kick to running.  Team was kicking as fast as if he were running away from a ghost.  He remembered how Win always scolded him about his arms.  “Don’t flap and flail around with them!  Use them to cut through the water!”  And so that is what Team did.

 

Suddenly he realized he had made it back to the pool noodle kids’ area.  He reached out his hand and within a millisecond, he made contact with the wall.  He had forgotten to stop kicking so his chest hit the wall, too.  It was okay because it didn’t hurt.  But his knee slammed into the wall, and that hurt a lot.

 

He kept his hand on the wall and with his free hand, he pulled up his goggles.  The boys in lanes three and four were back and the boy in lane two arrived immediately after he pulled up his goggles.

 

Team let out a huge sigh of relief.  He hadn’t come in fourth place.  He was okay with third.

 

He became aware of the sounds of the crowd, and was surprised to hear his own name being chanted.  He looked over at their team’s bench and saw all the guys jumping around.  Win held up one finger and mouthed “First place”.

 

Chapter 5

When they were given the signal, Team and the other three boys from the race pulled themselves out of the pool.  Win came running over with a towel.  He wrapped Team in it and gave him a quick hug.

 

“You were amazing!” Win whispered in his ear so as to not be overheard.  The other boys from their swim club had hurried over to join them.  They gave Team pats on the back and knuckle bumps as congratulations.  They were mainly friends with Win, but at that moment, Team felt as if he had finally been accepted by them.

 

They moved back to their team’s benches.  On the way, Team looked over at his beaming parents in the stands and he gave them a wave.  They waved back at him vigorously and Team was pleased to see that Win’s mom waved to him too.

 

“Are you sure though?  I don’t understand how I came in first.  I felt the wake of the swimmer in lane two hit me in the face right after the turn,” Team quietly whispered to Win.

 

“No, you felt the wave of the swimmer in lane two!  He hadn’t even made it to the turn until long after you did.  Hey!  You’d better hurry and catch the muscle guy from lane three if you want his autograph!” Win urged.

 

Team sat down on the bench and gave a slight shake of his head, “Nah, he’s not so great.”

 

“Why, because you beat him?”

 

Team laughed, “Yeah, it kind of took the shine off him.  I thought he would win for sure.”

 

“I told you, just because he has muscles it doesn’t mean he can swim fast!  He didn’t do too badly though.  He came in second.  He was pretty close to your time.”

 

“Not close enough to earn my respect,” Team joked.  “He would have to beat me for me to ask for his autograph.”

 

“What about him being ‘the hottest guy here’?”

 

Team used his towel to wipe away the water on his forehead that had dripped from his hair.  He gave a slight chuckle, “I don’t know…he really isn’t that hot though, is he?  And if he looks this old now, what’s he going to look like when he is in his twenties?  I’ll pass.”

 

Win laughed and shook his head.  He turned to look towards the scoreboard.  “Look, they are preparing to post the top three swimmers in that race!”  Since it was a small club, they had to write the names and times down manually.

 

Team sat silently and watched as two young girls approached the board.  One was there to read off the information to the other girl to allow her to write it correctly on the board.  He held his breath as she began to write.  At the end of the name, he exhaled and felt all his muscles relaxing.  She had written his name as the first-place winner.  He finally allowed himself to believe that he had actually won.  He didn’t understand how he had won it, but it was now official.

 

Win turned to him with a grin, “See!  I told you so!”

 

When the last name was written on the board, the judge in charge of the race, called their names to come and receive their ribbons.

 

“I don’t want to do that!” Team had jumped up from the bench and leaned forward to whisper into Win’s ear.

 

Win turned to him with a frown.  “Of course you do, dumbass!  This is the paycheck you get for your hard work!  Get your ass over there, accept it, and be gracious!  Give the ribbon to your mom on your way back here!”  He gave Team’s back a shove to get him moving.

 

Team hurried over there and stood in front of the judge’s table in the spot that he had been directed to by one of the judges.  The muscular boy who had swam in lane three stood next to him.  And the guy from lane four, the one who was nearly the same size as Team, was on the other side of the muscular boy.  The thin guy from lane two was not in the line-up.  Only the top three would receive ribbons.  Team felt bad for the kid, but he was happy for himself that it wasn’t him.

 

His name was announced and he was presented a ribbon.  He bowed to the judge and then looked down to read “First place”.  He still couldn’t understand how, but he smiled at the words.  Team was glad that he had been to a competition before and had seen Win receive ribbons.  He knew that he had to stay in the line until they had all received their ribbons.  Otherwise he might have embarrassed himself and left at that moment.

 

When the ribbons were distributed and they were dismissed, Team hurried over to the bleachers to give his mother the ribbon.  He had to pass by Win’s cheering section to reach it, and they gave a loud cheer for him as he passed.  They even waved their banners with Win’s name on them for him.  Not all of them were so enthusiastic though.  He noticed a few scattered through the section who sat motionless as the others cheered.  Some even tossed him very obvious sneers.  Team guessed that they were jealous of his and Win’s friendship.  He bit back a grin and hurried past them to get to his parents.

 

He jogged up the steps and handed the ribbon to his mother.  She hugged him, in spite of him still being wet from the pool, and his dad patted him on the arm and they told him how proud they were.  Win’s mother congratulated him and said that she had gotten the picture of them hugging and offered to send it to his parents.  Team looked over at Win who was still at the team’s bench, and Win motioned for him to hurry and get back.  The Intermediate swimmers for the next race were starting to gather near the platforms.  Team nodded at Win and excused himself from his parents.  He hurried back over to Win.

 

“We have two swimmers in this round,” Win said in a rush.  “Tee and Job, and we need to cheer them on.”

 

Team looked over at the four who were lined up.  Tee and Job were in lanes two and three.  Lanes one and four were swimmers from the other club.  “Who do you think will win?”

 

“I don’t know the guys from the other club, but Tee is the faster swimmer between him and Job.  Tee’s problem though is he doesn’t seem to do well in competitions.  I think he freezes up.  Job is better under stress.  I think I would pick…” Win was saying as they got interrupted by a voice from behind them.

 

“Just the two I was looking for!” boomed the voice.

 

Win and Team both spun around and found the coach standing behind them.  “Interesting analysis, by the way, Win.  And one I certainly agree with.  But I am here to talk about the two of you.  Team—today will be the last time you compete…” he paused and Team felt his heart race.  He didn’t actually want to compete, but being forbidden to was crushing.  The coach smiled and continued, “…as a beginner.  Your time today was outstanding.  We are going to have to put you in with the Intermediates next time or I will be accused of racing with a ringer!”  He turned his attention onto Win, “And as for you…you took a total non-swimmer and transformed him into a First-place winner in just a bit over a month.  The beginner students that the staff has been training have yet to complete a full lap.  I would love it if you came to work for me!”

 

Win grinned, “That would be great—but I do have people I am tutoring and I can’t quit on them.”

 

“No worries!  We can work around your schedule.  I need someone like you who can really teach non-swimmers—like you did for Team.  After the meet, I would like to have a conversation with your mother about this…to see if she objects to the job.”

 

Win and Team quickly exchanged glances.  “My mother?” Win asked.  “Maybe you could leave out the part about how I was the one who taught Team.”

 

“Why?  I think she would be thrilled at how well the two of you worked together.  Team’s family would probably enjoy hearing it, too!”

 

“Uhh…” Team voiced.

 

“Well…you see….um…” Win began.  “We didn’t exactly have their permission.  I mean…they knew he was taking swimming lessons, just…not from me. They think it was all you.”

 

“Win!  You told me that it was all okayed!” The coach was obviously upset by the news.

 

“It was okayed…by me and Team.  Our parents…not so much.”

 

“If something would have happened…” the coach stopped, at a loss for words, and made some odd motions with his hands.

 

“But nothing did!” Win interjected, “Except that Team learned to swim.  And he learned well enough to win First place!  That’s all that matters.”

 

“So you are saying ‘All’s well that ends well’.  Who do you think you are…Shakespeare?”  The coach snapped.

 

“Uh…” Team said again.  “I mean…it’s true though.  He taught me and I won.  He could teach others, too.”

 

“If I don’t report this to your parents, it’s as if I am somehow condoning this…and I am not!”

 

“Couldn’t we just keep it between the three of us?” Team asked.  “We know you don’t condone it.  And we won’t be doing it again.”

 

The coach stroked his chin as he thought.  “That’s true but only because you already know how to swim.  Who’s to say that Win won’t do it again with someone else?”

 

“I am!” Win said firmly.  “Team is my best friend.  I wouldn’t break rules like that for just a regular friend.  And you can only have one person who is your best friend!”

 

The coach shook his head.  “I don’t know what to do about this.  I need to think on it.  Win, you need to get ready—your events are coming up.  Team, I don’t know…I guess congratulations on winning first place.  If I decide to allow you to stay on the team, you will be a great asset.”  He turned around and walked away muttering to himself.

 

“He’s not going to tell,” Win assured Team.

 

“You don’t know that,” Team argued.

 

“No…but I…” Win shrugged, “I just had to say something reassuring…for myself, I guess.”  He looked over at the team benches and then looked at the platforms.  “My group is already headed over.  I need to go.  Are you going to cheer for me this time?  You didn’t the last time you were here for an event.”  He lifted an eyebrow and smirked.

 

“No!  You don’t need me.  Your mom is here and you have a whole cheering section in the front rows.  No reason for me to cheer for you.”

 

“Ah Kitten, just one little cheer?  I did for you!”

 

Team shrugged, “I didn’t ask you to.”

 

Win laughed and then hurried away to join the others who were warming up.  Team walked over to one of the team’s benches and sat down.  He watched Win for a few minutes and then his gaze wandered over to the coach.  He was sitting on a chair next to the scorekeeper and was staring intently at some papers on a clipboard that he held in his hands.  Team felt his chest unclench a bit and he took a deep breath.  Obviously the coach had put the matter of Win’s teaching Team without permission out of his mind and was focused on other things.  No sooner that Team had the thought then the coach raised his eyes and looked directly at Team.  The coach brought a hand to his chin and began to rub it, while a deep crease appeared between his eyebrows.  He gave a slight shake to his head and looked back down at the clipboard.  Team’s anxiety rushed back to refill the spot it had just left.  Team knew the coach hadn’t forgotten and whatever those papers he was studying contained, it hadn’t taken his mind off of Win and Team.

 

Win climbed up on platform number 3.  Before he pulled down the goggles, he tossed one last glance at Team.  He lifted an eyebrow and smirked.  Team knew this was Win’s way of asking Team if he were absolutely sure he wouldn’t cheer for him.  Team scowled and gave a slight shake of his head, delivering the answer, “no!”

 

Win’s smirk changed to a full grin and he gave a small nod.  He was letting Team know that he knew Team would always cheer for him.  He pulled the goggles in place and awaited the sound of the whistle.

 

Once the whistle blew, Win flew off the platform and continued his flight underwater.  Team quickly looked at his parents to see their reaction.  He had told them the first night after meeting Win how he flew under water, just like a jet across the sky.  Now they could see him for themselves.  They were on their feet, cheering for him, along with Win’s mother.  Win’s cheering section were waving their flags and banners and screaming his name.  The guys on the team’s benches were up on their feet, cheering for him.  And Team was…well…he might have been cheering a little bit, too.  Clapping so violently that his palms turned scarlet, screaming with all of his might, and doing that weird dance he had somehow made up for Win the first meet he had gone to.  He knew it was weird, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from doing it.

 

Of course Win came in first place, and he did again when his group went up to dive.  The team was ecstatic when the meet was over and they were back in their locker room.  Every event had one of the club members finishing in one of the top two spots.

 

Win and Team shared in their excitement, but maybe a little bit less than the other boys.  They were still worried about the coach telling their parents about their private, unauthorized, swim lessons.  They didn’t speak of it, but every time their eyes met, it was obvious what the other one was thinking.

 

Once Team was finished showering and dressing, he went to the locker room door and peeked out.  His heart sank when he saw the coach on the bleachers, deep in conversation with his parents and with Win’s mom.

 

“What’s up?” Win asked as he walked up behind Team.

 

Team sighed.  “He’s over there with them.”

 

Win peeked around Team to look.  “It doesn’t mean anything.  They could be talking about the races…or hell…even the weather!”

 

Team turned his head to look back at Win.  He scowled.  “You know they aren’t talking about the weather!”  He turned back to look at the coach again.  “I’ll have to quit the club.  They won’t ever let me see you again, that’s for sure.”

 

“What?!  Why?!!!” Win asked in a panicked voice.

 

Team didn’t even turn around.  He sighed and continued looking at his parents.  He spoke in a defeated monotone—quite the opposite to Win’s panic.  “They think I am a bit undisciplined.  Once they hear this, they will say that you are a bad influence on me.  They will make me stay away from you.”

 

Win slid an arm around Team’s waist and another one across his chest and then pulled Team up tight against his body.  He spoke quietly in Team’s ear, “They can’t.  We belong to us, not to them.  We won’t let them or anyone come between us.  Not ever.”

 

“But they’re our parents,” Team said in a voice barely above a whisper.

 

“It doesn’t matter.  We’ll listen to all the other things they say—‘look both ways before crossing a street’, ‘don’t accept rides from strangers’, ‘always do your best’—all that is good shit—but this isn’t.  No one has a right to tell us that we can’t be together.”  Win tightened his hold on Team.

 

“Geez, you two!  Get a room!”  Their teammate, Job, said with a laugh as he walked up to them.

 

Win loosened his hold on Team as he spun around, “Fuck off, Job!”

 

Team had also turned to face Job.  The grin on Job’s face dropped at the sight of the two boys’ faces.  He held up his hands in a gesture to indicate surrender.  “Sorry!  I was kidding.  What’s wrong?  Seriously, did someone get hurt or die or something?  You both look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

 

“It’s nothing,” Win said.

 

“It’s personal,” Team said at the same time.

 

Job searched their faces for a moment.  “Look…something is really wrong, I can tell.  But I won’t bother asking about it since Team said it is personal.  But if you guys need any help with anything, I’m willing.”

 

Win released his death-grip on Team.  He removed the arm he had across Team’s chest and took the arm that he had been crushing Team’s stomach with and threw it around Team’s shoulders.  He leaned up against the wall, taking Team with him.  Team relaxed at the familiarity of the hold and leaned the back of his head against Win’s shoulder.  “Actually,” Win said, “There might be something you could do.  Would you be willing to…”

 

“Yes!” Job interrupted.

 

Win smiled slightly, “I haven’t told you what it is.”

 

“It doesn’t matter.  The two of you are my friends.  If you need help, I’m there.”

 

“Well, uh…” Win turned to Team and Team could read the question in his eyes.  Team nodded and Win nodded back to him.  Win turned back to Job.  “Today the coach found out that I lied to him…”

 

“We,” Team corrected.

 

Win gave a small nod.  “That we lied to him about having permission for me to teach Team to swim.  He was pretty upset about it and now, he is on the bleachers with our folks, talking to them.  If he tells them what we did, Team’s parents will make him stop being my friend…”

 

“No way!” Job said in a shocked voice.

 

“Yeah,” Team said with a nod.  “They can be pretty strict sometimes.  They would say that Hia Win is a bad influence and forbid me to be around him again.”

 

“That’s where you come in.  We will need someone to help us keep in touch with each other, especially if they take Team’s phone away,” Win suggested.

 

“Yeah, I’ll do it!  No sweat!” Job answered enthusiastically.

 

Job already had Win’s information; he added Team’s address and phone number into his contacts.  Then Job walked to the doorway and looked out.  “Are those your parents he is talking to?”

 

Team peeked quickly and then nodded.

 

“I don’t think you have a problem,” Job said as he watched the coach talking with Team’s parents and Win’s mom.  “Nobody seems mad.  And besides…the coach isn’t stupid.  He knows that kids don't always go by the rules.  It is the adult’s job to make sure that they do.  If he tells…he would probably lose his job.  He might even get sued.”  He looked back at Win and Team, “I’m going to go on out.  We shouldn’t be seen together—they might become suspicious of me and I wouldn’t be able to help you guys.  Let me know what happens, okay?”

 

Win assured him that they would and Job left.  Win squeezed Team’s shoulder and then removed his arm.  He held up his hand with his pinky raised.  “Swear to me that we will always be together, no matter what anyone ever tries to do or say, we will always be ‘us’.  Always together; never apart.”

 

Team linked his pinky finger with Win’s.  “I swear!  Always together; never apart.”

 

Win smiled and leaned forward and kissed their linked fingers and then Team copied the action.  “There,” Win said as he removed his finger, “It’s done.”  He reached over and ruffled Team’s hair.

 

Team scowled and smoothed his hair back into place.

 

“Come on, Kitten!  Give me a smile!  We need to be smiling when we walk out the door.  After all, we both won our events.  It would be weird to have worried looks on our faces.”

 

Team gave Win a huge, fake smile that showed every tooth.  “How’s this?” he asked through his teeth without moving his lips.

 

“Well…it’s better than the scowl, I guess.  I need to ask you something though.  Has your dentist ever spoken to you about using dental floss?  ‘Cause you really need it!”

 

Team playfully smacked at Win’s arm and giggled.  Win smiled and nodded.  “That’s better.  Let’s go.”

 

As soon as they walked out of the locker room door, the coach spotted them and waved them over.

 

“Big smiles,” Win whispered before flashing his grin at Team.  “Show everybody those gross gums of yours!”

 

Team laughed and then said through his big smile, “Don’t forget me when I’m gone.”

 

Win lifted an eyebrow at him, “Wherever you go, I’ll be there.  You will never be gone from me.  We swore to it.  Now come on and let’s get this over with.”

 

Oddly, as Team trotted up the bleacher steps behind Win, he felt himself relaxing.  He realized he didn’t care about what his parents might take away from him—things didn’t really matter—only Win mattered.  And Win would never leave him, no matter what.  For the first time in his life, he wasn’t worried about being punished.  And also for the first time in his life, he realized he was his very own person, not just an extension of his parents.  The idea was a bit scary, but it was exhilarating, too.

 

As soon as they neared the coach, he threw an arm around each of them and pulled them up next to him.  Team felt the coach’s fingers digging into his arm.  He wondered if the coach was holding Win the same way.

 

“Boys!” the coach said in a loud voice.  “I was just talking to your parents about what we discussed earlier.”  The fingers on Team’s arm dug in deeper.  The coach turned his head slightly and looked at Team.  “I was telling them what an asset you will be to the Intermediate team for our club.”  He turned his head to face Win, “And since you have done such a wonderful job helping the staff train Team, I can’t wait for you to become a member of our staff and help others to learn…I am sure they won’t all learn as quickly as Team did, but with your help, hopefully they will learn a bit more than just dog paddling with a pool noodle.”  The coach’s grip eased a bit as he turned to face the boys’ parents.  “I have spent many years teaching the children of the village how to swim and compete.  With all of my experience, there is one thing I am sure of, and that is how to spot a good kid verses a bad kid.  You both have sons that easily fall into the ‘good kid’ slots.  Oh sure…I know they’re not perfect…after all ‘boys will be boys’ as the saying goes…but Win and Team, well…they are the kinds of boys who might mess up on occasion, but they are quick to recognize their mistakes and not repeat them.  Right guys?”

 

“Yes sir!” Win answered.  Team just nodded.

 

“Right!” the coach said enthusiastically.  “I need to be on my way now.  I have dinner plans.”  He released the boys and then reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a tiny card.  “Here, Win.  This has the number to my cell phone.  After you and your mother have had a chance to discuss the job, call me and we will arrange times that won’t interfere with your tutoring.”  Win took the card and gave the coach a small nod.  The coach nodded back and then turned to smile at their parents.  “Have a pleasant evening,” he said and then he trotted down the bleacher steps.

 

“Well, this has been a day for surprises!” Team’s dad said.  “Team, I certainly was surprised with your performance today!  You were so nervous that I thought maybe the coach was pushing you too hard.  But seeing you in the water, and now hearing that you have moved up to Intermediate already…I can only assume you need to work on your self-confidence!  The rest of us can see how much you have progressed and obviously, you don’t see it.”  He turned to Win’s mother and spoke to her, “On our last vacation, he stayed on the beach the entire time.  I don’t think he even put a toe in the water!”

 

Team shifted around in embarrassment, “I told you—that was the ocean.  I hate being in the ocean, but a pool is different.  You can see what’s in the water…and there isn’t anything in there that will eat you!”

 

Everyone laughed at that—and Team felt even more embarrassed.  They took it as if he was joking, but he was dead serious.

 

“And Win!”  Team’s father continued, “What an honor for you!  I’m sure you were happy to be given a job here!”

 

Win nodded, “Yes sir, I was.”

 

Win’s mother smiled at him and then turned to address Team’s parents, “Win has been working since he was very young.  He has always run errands and did odd jobs for some of the elderly people in the village.  He also makes deliveries for some of the shops.  In addition to that, he has a list of students that he tutors.  I am a bit concerned that he won’t have time to do all of these now with this job, too.”

 

“No, I won’t,” Win agreed.  “I am going to take the job here and continue with my tutoring, but I am giving all the rest of my jobs to Team.”

 

“What?!” Team asked in shock.

 

Win lifted an eyebrow and smirked, “Oh, it’s alright!  You don’t have to thank me!”

 

“That’s very nice of you, Win!” Team’s mother said.  “I would have thought that twelve was a bit young to be working, but if you were already working at his age, then I guess it must be okay!”

 

“Yes, ma’am, I was.  Actually I’ve been working since I was younger than Team.  My goal is to save up enough money to be able to buy a good car to drive to college.”

 

Team’s dad gave Win a huge smile.  “You’re already thinking about college at your age?  That’s impressive!  Team, you need to follow in Win’s footsteps!”

 

Team nodded, “Yes, I agree.  Hia Win is a perfect role model.  Everybody says so.  I’m sure he will be a good influence on me.  In swimmer’s terms—I will swim in his wake and I am sure that he will never lead me into water that is over my head.”

 

Win’s mother beamed at Win with pride at Team’s words.  Win smiled back at her and then turned his smile towards Team.  He lifted the eyebrow that was hidden by all except for Team, “Well, like the coach said, you fall into the ‘good kid’ slot.  You don’t really need my influence to lead you into anything.”

 

Team had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning.  It was just a few moments earlier that they had been worried about the coach telling on them and their parents splitting them apart, and now they were verbally battling each other with thinly-veiled insults covered with sweet words and smiles.  Team thought it was hilarious.

He was just about to respond to Win’s last barb when suddenly his stomach let out a huge roar.  Everyone laughed when they heard it.

 

“I guess those few crackers this morning weren’t enough to fill you up,” his mother said.  “I think we need to get you some food!”

 

Win glared at Team.  “Crackers?” he hissed, “I told you to eat protein before the race!”

 

“I know!  And I was going to!  Dad fried eggs for me, but…ugh…I just couldn’t eat them!  I would have puked for sure!  And besides, I’ve heard of carbo loading.  Have you?  It’s supposed to help.”

 

Win shook his head.  “Not for swimming!  That’s for people who run, and it isn’t just for the morning before they start!”  He sighed, “Just make sure you eat a lot of protein tonight then.  You have to replenish the protein in your muscles.”

 

Team’s dad stood up, “I have an idea.  Win, would you and your mother like to join us for dinner?  We can make it a celebration for how well you boys performed today and you can make sure that Team eats the correct food!”

 

Win looked at his mother, “Could we?” he asked, sounding slightly breathless in his excitement.

 

She smiled at him before turning towards Team’s parents, “That sounds lovely.  Thank you very much; we would love to join you!”

 

Win slid over closer to Team.  He casually brushed Team’s hand back with his arm and then found it with his own hand.  He twined his little finger around Team’s.  Team tossed a look over his shoulder to make sure no one was behind them that could see.  When he reassured himself that the coast was clear, he hooked his little finger around Win’s and thought:  “Always together; never apart.”

Chapter 6

They rode to the restaurant separately.  The adults had chosen a nearby, family-style place that was geared more towards the younger family members.  As soon as Team’s dad parked the car, Team hopped out.  Win’s mother pulled into the spot next to their car.  They all walked in together, with Win and Team trailing behind their parents.

 

“I messaged Job on the drive over and told him what happened with the coach.  He text back saying how glad he was for us.  Promised to help us if we ever need him to,” Win muttered under his breath, standing very close to Team.

 

Team gave a slight nod to let Win know that he had heard, and then the group settled down at a table.  Team pretended to study the menu.  He put his finger on a place and leaned closer to Win, as if discussing a possible selection.  “Hia, the coach is in here.  Did you see him?”

 

“Yeah, just be cool,” Win muttered.

 

“But what if he changes his mind and decides to tell?”

 

“He won’t.  It’s like Job said, he would be in a lot more trouble than we would be.  After all, we’re just kids.  We don’t know better,” Win said and then wiggled his eyebrows at Team.

 

Team had to bite down hard on the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.  Once he managed to quell his desire to laugh, he mumbled, “And ‘boys will be boys’.”  He shook his head slightly.  “Such a sexist thing to say.  He needs to be dragged into the 21^st century with the rest of us.”

 

Win gave a slight nod, “But not until after this is over.”

 

“Mmm,” Team agreed with a nod.

 

As soon as the food was delivered to their table, Team wanted to devour it.  He had no memory of ever being this hungry in his life!  But…  He sighed in dismay and looked around at the other tables.  There were small children at a few of them.  He looked back down at his plate.  He had assumed in a family restaurant that the shrimp would be served already shelled.  No such luck though.  He began to attack the shell with his fork.  He knew the steps necessary to remove the shrimp but it never seemed to work for him.  Wordlessly, Win reached over and pulled Team’s plate closer to him and began to remove the shrimp from their shells.  Team looked around quickly to see if anyone was noticing, because even to him, this was weird.  Win was treating him as if they were a couple.  Luckily no one seemed to notice and within a few moments, Win pushed Team’s plate back to him.  All of the shrimp had been shelled and were lying in a nice, big pile on Team’s plate.  Win had turned his attention to his own plate and was eating.

 

“Thanks Hia,” Team whispered.

 

Win gave a little nod with his head but continued eating.  “I couldn’t let you starve, could I?” he mumbled.

 

Team shrugged and dug into his plate.  Luckily his father had ordered extra food for the table because that plateful wasn’t enough to fill him up.  He was dipping up more rice when the coach walked by their table on his way out of the restaurant.

 

“Win, don’t forget to call me so we can arrange a schedule for you,” he said.  He tapped Team on the arm, “And as for you, you did a great job today.  I’m glad that you will be on the Intermediate team.  I think you will certainly be an asset.”  He wished everyone a pleasant evening and then walked out of the restaurant.

 

Team blew out a breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding.  “See,” Win muttered, “His opportunity has passed.  He won’t ever say anything.”

 

Team nodded and went back to dipping rice onto his plate.  A few moments later, Win’s mother’s phone rang.

 

“I’m sorry, it’s the hospital.  I have to take it,” she said and excused herself from the table.

 

Win sighed and shook his head.  “I bet they are calling her into work.”

 

“This late?” Team’s mother asked with a surprised voice.

 

Win nodded, “Yeah, they do this a lot.  There is a nursing shortage here in the village.  If someone calls in, they go down the list.  My mother always takes the extra shift.”

 

“That’s too bad,” Team’s father said.  “Where do you go when she is working all night?”

 

Win shrugged, “I stay home.  I used to have a babysitter, but I’m fourteen now.  That would be weird.”

 

Team was astounded.  Win spent nights all alone and Team’s parents barely allowed him to be out in their own yard after sundown.  Of course, Win was two years older.

 

Win’s mother returned to the table and gave Win an apologetic smile.  “The hospital is short-handed tonight.  They asked me to come in.”  She turned to Team’s parents, “I’m so sorry that we have to cut this short.  I was having a lovely time!  I enjoy meeting the parents of Win’s friends.”

 

Team’s mother smiled understandingly at her, “It’s fine.  The hospital needs you; we understand!”

 

“I was wondering…” Team’s father mused, “Win said that he is too old for a babysitter now so what if he comes over and spends the night at our house?”

 

Win’s mother visibly relaxed.  “Oh!  Thank you for that!  It’s true—he is too old for a babysitter, but I do worry about him being home, alone, overnight.  Win?  Would you like to spend the night at Team’s house?”

 

“Wow!  Yes, I would love that!” Win said with a huge grin.  He turned to look at Team, “We’ll have so much fun, I just know it!”

 

Team smiled back at him and nodded, but a part of him wasn’t thrilled.  He was afraid that once Win saw what he kept in his room, he wouldn’t want to be friends with Team anymore.  But, he reminded himself, although his other friends made fun of him for it, they didn’t dump him as their friend.  Maybe Win wouldn’t either.  And if Win made fun of him, Team thought with an internal shrug, he wouldn’t be the first one.  Team could handle it.

 

Win stood up, “Okay, good!  I’ll go home with Mom and get my sleeping bag and stuff and she can drop me off at your house on her way to the hospital.”

 

“That’s a good plan, except…maybe you need to get the address before we leave,” his mom said with a laugh.

 

“I can use the driving directions app to help,” Team said, opening his phone.  “Where do you live?” he asked Win with his finger posed to enter the address in the “From” box.

 

“I live on the bridge,” Win answered and when Team raised his gaze from the phone to look at Win, both of them were fighting smiles as they remembered their first ever conversation.

 

“Bridge?” Win’s mother squawked.  “Why are you telling people you live on the bridge?!!” She quickly looked towards Team’s parents.  “We live in a perfectly nice house—it’s been our family home for generations.  It was passed to me by my great-aunt in her will.”  She spun back to Win, “Crazy boy!  Telling people we live on a bridge as if we were trolls!”

 

Win grinned at her, “Technically, trolls live under…”

 

“Win!” his mother snapped, “You tell Team the address to our house this instant!”

 

As Win relayed the information to Team and Team entered into the app, Win’s mother apologized to Team’s parents.  “Honestly, I don’t know what could possess him to say such a thing!  He is ordinarily a very well-behaved boy!”

 

Team’s father laughed, “Our boy is full of mischief and sass sometimes too.  I assure you, we are unshockable when it comes to things like boy’s jokes and their attitudes.”

 

While studying the driving directions between the two locations, Win mumbled, “Seems easy to find.  I could probably find your house in the dark.  In fact…I have.”  Team looked at their parents to make sure they were still involved in their own conversation before he elbowed Win in the ribs and hissed, “Shut up before you get us in trouble!”  Win just laughed.

 

Team and his parents left the restaurant a few moments after Win and his mother did.  On the drive home, Team’s parents discussed how nice the day had been.  They really liked Win and his mother.

 

“I didn’t want to ask,” Team’s father looked at Team in the rearview mirror as he spoke, “But where is Win’s father?”

 

Team shrugged, “He ran out on them when Hia Win was a baby.  I’m not sure if I am supposed to say anything about that though, so don’t mention it, okay?”

 

“No!  Of course we won’t!” his mother assured him.  She shook her head slightly.  “Poor woman.  She has a lot on her plate.”  Team’s father agreed with her.

 

Once they arrived home, his parents went inside but Team stood next to the gate to watch for Win’s mother’s car so he could help them find the house.  Of course it was unnecessary since Win knew very well where Team lived, but they couldn’t let the adults know that.

 

Finally, what seemed like a hundred hours later, they arrived at Team’s gate.  As Win was getting out of the car, Team’s mother stepped outside the house and waved to let Win’s mother know it was really their house.  She called out to Win’s mom to assure her that they would take good care of Win.

 

They entered the house and Team instructed Win to leave his backpack and sleeping bag by the door, promising that they would take it upstairs later.  He grabbed Win’s wrist and pulled him through the house and out to the backyard to see their new bird feeder.  His dad was refilling the food compartments.

 

“…and it was because the birds liked my cracker crumbs…” Team could hear himself talking and knew he was talking too fast and too much.  He couldn’t stop himself though.  Once Win had arrived at his house, he suddenly became flustered about how Win was going to react once he saw what Team had in his room.  He wanted to postpone it for as long as he could.  A few times Win threw him a questioning look as Team continued on with his narrative about how they had came to purchase the feeding station and how they had watched the birds enjoying it.  Team stopped in mid-sentence and offered to go turn on the water for his dad.  He sprinted over to the faucet and turned it on.  He looked at Win and saw that he had tilted his head a bit and had raised one eyebrow as he watched Team.  Team quickly looked away.

 

“Win?” Team’s mother called from the opened patio door, “Do you like the football team Manchester United?”

 

Win smiled, “Of course!  They’re the best in the league!”

 

She smiled and nodded, “Good!  We love them too!”  She looked at her husband, “The match is about ready to begin.  Hurry up with the feeder so you won’t miss the start.”

 

After the feeder had been stocked for the night, they all went into the living room to watch the game on TV.  Team’s mother had freshly-cut pieces of fruits and vegetables and rice cakes on a platter for snacks.  She also had bottles of water for each of them.  With Team’s other friends, he would have cringed in embarrassment at his mother’s choices for snacks, but he knew he didn’t have that worry with Win.  Win was all about eating healthy and avoiding snack foods—basically.  Sometimes Win did like to splurge a bit with some junk foods, but it wasn’t often.  Team would have been happy to live on it.

 

When the game reached halftime, Win suddenly stood up, startling everyone.  “I think we should take my stuff out of the hall and put it in your room,” he announced.

 

“Team!” his mother scolded in a shocked voice, “You haven’t shown Win to your room yet?”

 

“I…uh, I wanted to show him the feeder and then the game…I just forgot,” Team fumbled to come up with an excuse.

 

“Win is right; you have plenty of time now to do it, so go!” his dad ordered.

 

Team stifled the sigh that wanted to escape and nodded.  He got up from his seat and walked out of the room, with Win at his heels.  When they passed the entry hall, Win grabbed up his stuff.  Team didn’t even offer to help him carry anything.  He just remained quiet and kept walking.

 

Usually he ran up and down the stairs, but this trip he went slowly.  As if he was on his way to the guillotine.  He finally reached the door to his bedroom and his hand paused slightly before turning the knob.  Win quietly chuckled.  “Your ears are red, Kitten, and so are your cheeks.  I wonder what it is that you don’t want me to see.”

 

Team sighed and opened the door.  He reached in and flipped on the light switch and then stepped aside.  Win rushed in and stopped suddenly as he saw the bookcases that lined the opposite wall, just as Team knew he would.

 

Win tossed his stuff onto Team’s bed and walked over to the bookcases for a better look.  Team could feel his shoulders tense up and his stomach began to flip around uncomfortably and Win took his time looking at everything.  ‘Team’s dolls and comic books’ as his friends called them.  Team wanted Win to hurry up and make fun of him for them and for this moment to be over.

 

But Win just moved a step or two to look at the next bookcase in the line, bending down to examine the lower shelves, before raising back up and taking another step to the next bookcase in the row.  Finally he reached out and pulled a book off the shelf.  It was a dictionary that translated English to Thai.  Team had used it a lot before he got his phone but since then had used the online translator.

 

Win ran his finger along the spine of the battered book before replacing it back on the shelf.  He stepped back and looked at the collection in it’s entirety with his hands on his hips.  “Let me guess—you know that when you remove collectible action figures from their packaging that it decreases the value, but you don’t care because you would never sell them in a million years, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Team said in a hushed voice.  Win had called them ‘action figures’ not ‘dolls’.  Team was confused by it.  He didn’t understand why Win had missed that opportunity.  His other friends couldn’t wait to tease him about them the first time they saw.

 

“DC or Marvel?” Win asked.

 

“Um…I…What?”

 

“DC or Marvel?  Which is your favorite?” Win asked.

 

“Uh…it used to be DC, but then Marvel started releasing the movies…so now I don’t know,” Team answered, hesitantly.

 

Win nodded.  “Have you seen all of the movies?”

 

“My dad takes me.  My friends aren’t interested in seeing them.”

 

Win shook his head.  “Weird friends.  How did you get all these things?  They are from The States, right?”

 

Team licked his dry lips, “My,” he stopped to clear his throat, “One of my dad’s older sisters is a flight attendant.  She buys them when she has a layover there and brings them back for me.”

 

“Cool,” Win said quietly.  He ran a finger across a series of books, reading the titles.  “And you read them in English?  That’s why the dictionary is there?”

 

“Yeah,” Team answered.

 

Win turned around and looked at Team and Team felt all the tightness in his stomach returning.  He tried to brace himself for the ridicule that was sure to come from Win.

 

“You know, I could tell that you were really smart, but I never imagined that you were reading novels in English at your age.  I’m impressed.  Honestly.”

 

Team frowned.  He didn’t know what to make of this reaction to his collection.  Win called them ‘novels’ not ‘comic books’.  “Thanks?” he said it in the form of a question.

 

Win’s eyes darted towards two doors.  “Hmm…those look interesting,” he said with a grin and hurried over to open the first one that he came to.  It was Team’s walk-in closet.  Win walked in, looked around, and then came back out.  Team had been taught since birth to keep everything tidy so there wasn’t really much to see in there.  Win went to the other door and opened it.  “Oh wow!” he exclaimed.  “You have your own bathroom!”  He walked back to Team, “You’re so lucky!  I have to share one with my mom.”  He grinned, “Okay, I give up.  What were you so embarrassed about for me to see?”

 

Team’s jaw dropped for a second.  He gestured towards the bookcases.  “My ‘dolls and comics’ collections.”

 

Win frowned.  “Action figures and graphic novels collections, you mean.  And why on earth would you be embarrassed about those?  They are really cool!  I’m envious!”

 

“My friends make fun of me for it.”

 

“Correction:  your weird friends might, but your best friend loves this stuff!”  He looked around a bit more and spotted Team’s guitar leaning against his dresser.  Win moved toward it.  “Do you play?”

 

“Yes.  Well…I mean, I take lessons.  I’m not an expert or anything.”

 

Win sat down on the floor next to it.  “Play something for me!”

 

Team wiped his palms on his shorts and sat down next to Win.  He picked up the guitar and made sure it was tuned properly.  There was a simple song that he had mastered a year or so before, but it was his favorite.  He took a deep breath and tried to relax his muscles and then he began to play.  After a few notes, Win said, “I know this one!” and he began to sing along.

 

Team smiled when he heard Win’s singing voice.  It was very pleasant and he had a good range.  On the chorus, Team joined in.  Their voices blended very well together.  By the end of the song, they were both grinning at each other.

 

“You’re really great!” Win said and reached over to pat Team’s leg.  He stopped suddenly.  “Holy shit!  Why is your leg so hot?”  He felt Team’s forehead.  “You don’t have a fever.  Stretch out your legs!”

 

“Hia!  It’s fine!” Team objected.

 

“Do it!” Win commanded.

 

With a sigh, Team stretched out his legs for Win’s inspection.

 

“What the hell?!!  This knee is about three times the size of your other knee!  What did you do?”

 

Team gave a small, embarrassed laugh with a shrug.  “I forgot to stop kicking when I reached the wall during the race.  It hurt for a minute, but it’s fine now.”

 

Win jumped to his feet and hurried to the door.

 

“Where are you going?” Team asked loudly.

 

“RICE!” Win called over his shoulder and Team could hear Win trotting down the steps.  Team shook his head.  He was full; he didn’t want to eat rice.  And besides, he had eaten rice for dinner and had a rice cake while watching the first part of the football game.  He didn’t know how eating more rice would help.  He hurried down the steps after Win.  He found Win in the living room with his parents.

 

“Let me see your knee!” his mother demanded with a concerned face.

 

Team grunted.  “It’s nothing!  I’m fine.”  But he saw her face and knew it was useless to argue.  He walked over to her and let her examine his knee.

 

She sucked air in through her teeth.  “You were right to tell us, Win!  This looks awful!”

 

Team’s father took a peek and then looked quickly away, reminding Team that his dad had a weak stomach.  He frowned and looked down at it himself.  Sure, he could see that it was pretty swollen and starting to look like it was turning a bit dark from the bruising, but it really wasn’t painful.  No pain, no problem; that was his motto.

 

“We need to practice RICE,” Win said.

 

“I’m not hungry,” Team objected.

 

Win huffed and shook his head, “Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation—RICE.  It is fundamental first aid for wounds.”  He turned his attention back to Team’s mother who was feeling the temperature of the skin around Team’s knee with the back of her hand.  “It is hot, just like you said,” she agreed with Win.

 

Win nodded.  “I think he needs some kind of anti-inflammatory pain medicine too, if you have it.”

 

She looked up and smiled at Win.  “We do, and I agree with you.  You certainly know a lot about wound care!”

 

Win shrugged, “I’ve taken a first-aid class.  It was a part of a swimming safety learning package that they taught last year at the swim club.”

 

“Do you think they will teach it again this year?  Team really needs to learn this stuff.  He never takes injuries seriously,” his mother said.

 

“I’m sure they will,” Win said.  “I’ll suggest it to the coach.”

 

Team sighed.  “This is silly.  I don’t hurt now!  I did for a second when I slammed it against the wall, but now it’s fine.”

 

Win shook his head, “I can’t believe it doesn’t hurt—but even if it doesn’t, you still need to treat it.  You could have a cracked bone or have some soft tissue damage.  What if you don’t tend to it and five years from now you develop problems because you didn’t?  You don’t want to end up in a wheelchair or something, do you?”

 

Team looked from Win’s face which was staring at him intently, to his mother’s face, which had the same intense look, to his father who was looking intently at the floor—probably fighting the urge to vomit, Team guessed by the sight of him.  Team sighed audibly, “Alright! Fine!  RICE me!”

 

They all went up to Team’s room.  His mother gave him the anti-inflammatory medicine and Win wrapped his knee.  Then Win put a pillow under it.  His dad handed Win the ice pack and he placed it on Team’s knee.

 

“I still think this is silly,” Team objected.  “I don’t want to lie in bed all evening!  I want to watch the rest of the game!”

 

“Rest is the first word in RICE,” Win reminded him.  He looked at Team’s TV.  “Does this work?”

 

“Yeah!  I wouldn’t have a junk TV in my room,” Team snapped.  (His mother scolded him while Win stood behind her and grinned at him.)

 

“We can finish the game up here then,” Win said.  “Although with a score of 3-0, nothing much is going to happen in the second half.  Man-U has this!”

 

Team used the remote to turn on the TV.  The second half was just beginning.  His parents went downstairs to watch the rest of the game, telling Win they trusted him to keep Team in line.

 

Team rolled his eyes, “That’s so gross.  Like you’re my babysitter!”

 

Win climbed up on the bed next to Team and rested his head in the space between Team’s shoulder and head.  “Nah, babysitters get paid.  I’m doing this for free.  Kind of like being a friend, huh?”

 

Team gave a small huff.  “Shut up and watch the game!”

 

After twenty minutes, Win took the ice bag off of Team’s knee.  He felt around the wrapping to make sure it wasn’t too tight.  “How does it feel now?”

 

“Cold,” Team snapped.  “It’s fine!  And it was fine before you did all this stuff!”

 

Win shook his head and then lay back down.

 

After the game was over, they watched a sitcom.  Team got agitated by being forced to lie still.  Win sat up suddenly and rested his back against the headboard.  Team’s parents came in to tell them good night and to admonish Team to listen to Win about taking care of his knee.

 

When they left the room, Team asked Win why he sat up when he heard them coming.  Win shrugged, “I don’t know.  Maybe they wouldn’t like the cuddling.”  He reached over and grabbed the ice pack from the bedside table and put it back on Team’s knee.

 

“I hate this!”  He reached down and grabbed the ice pack and removed it.

 

Win grabbed it from Team’s hand and put it back on his knee.  “Twenty minutes!”

 

“But…” Team started to object.

 

“Do you want me to call your mother in here?”  Win threatened.

 

Team made an angry click with his tongue.  “Fine!  Don’t go telling my ‘mommy’ on me.  I’ll be good.  You know, you were much more fun before you came here to spend the night.”

 

“Oh really?  Okay,” Win said, acting as if he was annoyed.  He looked over at Team’s desk, “Does that laptop work?”

 

“Why?  Are you going to make me do some homework now?” Team grumbled.  Win just stared at him, waiting for an answer.  “Fine!  Yes, it works!”

 

“WiFi?”

 

“Of course it has WiFi!  We’re not cave people!” Team snapped.

 

Win nodded and got up and went to the desk.  He picked up the laptop and handed it to Team.  He took his sleeping bag into the open middle of the room and unrolled it on Team’s floor.

 

“Wait…are you going to bed already?  Why did you bring me the laptop?” Team sputtered.

 

Win grabbed the pillow that had been rolled up in the sleeping bag, and his backpack, and brought them to the bed.  “You think I’m boring now, right?”  He dug through his backpack and found a tiny scrap of paper.  “Do you know what this is?”

 

“No, but I can guess.  You are a paper eater and that’s a snack, right?”

 

Win shook his head.  “Wrong.  Do you like horror movies?”

 

Team shrugged, “Of course; who doesn’t?”

 

Win twirled the paper around in his fingers.  “How about an illegally uploaded horror movie?  A super scary ghost movie.  One that is against the law to watch, and doubly so since we are under 17?  I have the webpage address written on this paper.  Should we watch it?”

 

Team perked up, “Yes, please!”

 

Win grinned.  He reached into his backpack and pulled out a large bag of potato chips, and two cans of soda.  “So, am I still boring?”

 

Team grinned and grabbed the can of grape soda, “It isn’t very cold,” he complained.

 

Win laughed, “Nothing pleases you!  I made my mom stop at the store on the way here and I picked a snack I thought you would like.  But if you don’t want it…”

 

“I want it!  I want it!” Team said, pulling the can up to his chest, protectively.

 

“Then tell me I’m not boring!” Win demanded.

 

Team giggled, “You’re not too boring, I guess.”

 

“Say it properly!  Say ‘Hia is the nicest, most interesting person on the planet’, and then I might share the address and the potato chips with you.”

 

Team made a lunge for the bag of potato chips, but Win was too quick for him and easily got them out of arm’s reach.  “Nope!  Not until you say it!”

 

Team took a deep, exaggerated breath and mumbled, “Hia is the nicest, most interesting person on the planet.”  He had started the sentence very quietly but had grown even quieter during it.  By the last few words, there was barely any sound at all.

 

Win shook his head.  “You have to do it better than that.”

 

Team shook his head and then grinned.  This time he said it loud enough to be heard and without too much sarcasm.  Win smiled and handed Team the bag of potato chips and took the laptop from Team.

 

“I’ll hold it.  I don’t want you to bump your knee on it.”

 

“Honestly Hia, I swear, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

 

Win shrugged, “Maybe you have a high tolerance to pain, I don’t know, but I know that swelling is not a good sign.”  He loaded the page with the movie and then looked out of the corner of his eye at Team.  He grinned.  “Are you sure you want to watch this?  I heard it was super scary!”

 

“Hia!  Play it!” Team demanded.

 

“It doesn’t bother you that we are breaking two laws?  It is a bootleg and we are under 17,” Win reminded him.

 

Team grinned, “That makes it better!  Play it!”

 

Win grinned back at him and pushed the ‘play’ button.  Team reached over and shut off the light on his bedside table.

 

“Why did you do that?” Win asked, with a hint of fear in his voice.  Team had to hold back a giggle at the sound of it.

 

“To make it scarier,” Team said with a grin.

 

They snuggle down to watch the movie.  Some parts were so scary that Team would even forget about eating any potato chips.  One scene scared Win so badly that he jumped and the laptop went sliding off his lap.  He had to grab it quickly to keep it from falling.  Team tried to stifle his laughter at this.  The little huffs that made their way out of his tightly clamped lips sounded like a big dog barking in the distance.  Win elbowed him and told him to knock it off, it was creeping him out.  This made Team laugh harder.

 

The movie ended without real closure.  “I bet they are going to make a sequel,” Team prophesied.

 

“Probably not until next year or the year after,” Win agreed.  “I wish there already was one!  I want to know what they do to finally get rid of it.”

 

Team shrugged, “They can’t.  When a ghost wants to hang around you, there’s not much you can do to stop them.  It’s not like you can call the police or go to court to get a ‘no contact’ order.”

 

“I prefer monsters that have a definite way to kill them.  If you could be any monster or creepy thing, what would you be?” Win asked.

 

“I’d much rather be a hunter or a slayer!”

 

“Yeah, but those are mortal.  I would want to be a vampire,” Win said.

 

“Eww!” Team groaned.  “You would have to drink blood!  That’s nasty.”

 

“Vampires are cool.  They are elegant, charming, and sexy.”

 

“Barf!  ‘Sexy’, that makes it even nastier!”  Team said in a disgusted tone.

 

“Okay then, you pick one now,” Win challenged.

 

“I don’t know.  I guess if I can’t be a hunter or a slayer, I would be a werewolf.”

 

“Tell me why so I can make fun of you like you did me,” Win pretended to be angry.

 

Team smiled at him.  “They are strong and free.  They run the woods at night, under the full moon, and if anyone tries to stop them, they eat them!”

 

Win nodded, “But they don’t remember anything the next day.  It is all instinct.  Vampires know what they are doing and they do it on purpose.”

 

Team thought it over and gave a small nod, “You have a good point.  But vampires are so wasteful…don’t you think?  They just drink the blood, but leave all the meat to go to ruin.  Werewolves eat it all.  Nothing left but bones.”

 

“I can see why you would say that, you eat more than I do,” Win grinned.  “I bet you like Batman better than you do Superman, too.”

 

Team frowned, “Yeah, I do, but how is that related to being a werewolf?”

 

“It’s not, just showing your poor judgment.  Superman has powers; Batman has gadgets—which means that Superman is better.”

 

They argued the merits of each Superhero versus other Superheroes for a while, each becoming more convinced that he was right and the other one was wrong.  Team could tell that Win was teasing him most of the time, trying to make him angry, but Team wasn’t angry.  He enjoyed having someone that he could talk to about his favorite superhero characters.

 

Win looked at his phone to check the time.  “It’s getting late.  We should probably go to bed…unless…”

 

“Unless what?  I hate when you do that!  Just say it!” Team said with a scowl.

 

Win laughed and pinched one of Team’s cheeks, “There’s that hissing kitten face!”

 

Team huffed in anger.

 

Win looked back at his phone.  “I heard about a new game the other day.  Zombie slaying.  I downloaded the app, but I haven’t opened it yet.  Are you interested?”

 

Team snorted, “Yeah!  Of course I’m interested.  Did you not hear me say that I wanted to be a hunter or a slayer?  What’s it called?”

 

Win told him and Team downloaded it onto his phone.

 

When they opened the app it had a profile page to set up.  There were options to play in private groups or on the general board.

 

“Hey Hia?  Would you mind if we played in a private group?  I don’t like to play out in the general area until I know what the game is.”

 

Win grinned, “Okay, but only if I get to make your profile.”

 

“No!  You’ll do something to make me look stupid!”

 

“We’re the only ones who will see it!  You can change it if you ever decide to go out onto the general area.”

 

Team thought it over, “Okay, but I get to make yours then.”

 

Win agreed and they traded phones.  He was done with Team’s profile before Team was done with his.  “Hurry up!  It’s getting late and if we don’t play soon, I won’t be able to.  I have to tutor some people tomorrow morning.”

 

Team nodded, “Just give me another second,” He paused for a minute while he looked it over.  “Okay, I’m done.  Let’s press the enter button at the same time, okay?” Win agreed, so Team counted down, “3, 2, 1, enter!”

 

Team looked down at the screen and saw their two profiles together.  Team’s was “Hissing Kitten” and his profile picture was a tiny, black and white kitten, hissing at the camera.  Win’s was “Pool Noodle” and his profile picture was a little kid using a pool noodle to swim in a kiddie pool.  The group’s name was “Us”.  Team hadn’t named the group, so he knew that Win had thought to do it.  Team liked it.  He grinned over at Win, “Let’s play for a bit, okay?”

 

Win nodded and traded phones back with Team.  Their first game was over in less than a half hour, after they had both been eaten by zombies.

 

Win laughed as he shut off his phone, “Well, at least the next time we will know to stay away from that grassy spot.  It was like a hive of them.  They came out from every direction!”

 

Team rolled to his side and plugged his phone into the charger on the nightstand.  He startled when he felt Win’s hand on his knee.

 

“It doesn’t feel as hot now.  And I think some of the swelling has gone down, too.  Keep your leg up on the pillow while you sleep.”  He took his pillow with him and put it down on his sleeping bag.  He plugged his charger into the outlet on the wall and hooked his phone up to it before he lay down on his sleeping bag.  “Good night!”

 

Team closed his eyes, “Night!” he said.  He realized how tired he was.  The day had been a crazy one.  He was thinking about the swim meet when the bed suddenly moved.  His eyes flew open in shock.  He saw Win climbing into bed with him.

 

“What are you doing?” Team sputtered.

 

Win put his pillow at knee level between them and then wedged his head on Team’s pillow, between Team’s shoulder and head, where he had been earlier.  “I’m not sleeping on the floor.  I am closer to the door down there!  If any ghosts come in, they will get me first.  Up here, you are closer to the door, so they will get you.”

 

“We don’t have ghosts here,” Team assured him.  “I have lived here my whole life and never saw any.”

 

Win nodded, “We have a ghost in our house.”

 

Team was stunned, “Do you really?”

 

“No, but I used to think so when I was little.  Do you want to share secret-secrets?”

 

“What?  What’s that?” Team asked.

 

“I tell you something that no one else in the world knows, and then you tell me something that no one else knows.  Not just a regular secret, but a secret-secret.  A best friend thing.”

 

“Your ‘secret-secret’ thing sounds ‘dumb-dumb’.  Just tell me.  I swear I won’t tell anyone, ever!” Team promised.

 

“When you come to my house, I will show you these things.  You can just go on my word until then.”  He rose up on his elbow so he could look Team in the eye.  “Our house is a big, two-story house.  But Mom and I only use the bottom floor.  There is a door that leads to the stairway that goes upstairs.  She keeps it locked.  All the time!  I’ve never seen it up there.  Also, there is a room on the bottom floor that she keeps locked.  She said that upstairs is falling apart—it’s dangerous.  Said similar things about that other room, too.  When I was little, I didn’t think anything about it.  But one time, I overheard her talking to the bank on the phone about repairing a busted window,” he stopped and gave an embarrassed grin, “I threw a ball through it by accident.  Anyway, that’s when I found out that her great-aunt who had left the house to Mom in her will had also left an account that was meant for repairs and upkeep.  I kept thinking about that.  If there was money for repairs, why hadn’t Mom used it to fix up the upstairs?  Or at least that room on the bottom floor?  I was still pretty young, but I started wondering if maybe my dad lived upstairs and for some reason, they didn’t want me to know he was still around.  Which is weird, I know.  I probably started watching horror movies after that time because I became convinced that my father hadn’t left, he had died.  And my mother had trapped his ghost upstairs.”

 

Team shivered, “Hia!  That’s awful!  You’re scaring me!”

 

Win nodded, “It scared me too.  Every time I heard a noise in the house, I was convinced it was my dad’s ghost trying to get out.  And then it occurred to me that if he were a ghost, my mom had to have been the one to kill him, right?  That’s the way it is in the movies anyway.”

 

Team didn’t say anything.  He darted his eyes away from Win’s.  He didn’t want to agree because that would be like accusing Win’s mom of being a murderer.  But she was a nice lady.  And she was a nurse.  Nurses helped people; they didn’t murder them.

 

“There is an old auntie that lives across the street, Aunt Bor.  She used to be my babysitter from when I was a baby up until the time I started staying by myself.  Everyday she would fall into a deep sleep right after lunch.  She always slept for about an hour and a half.  I was almost 11 by this time, and I had given up the idea that my dad’s ghost was in the house.  It didn’t make sense when I thought about it.  A locked door doesn’t keep ghosts trapped, you know?  But even knowing that, I still wanted to know what was up there.  It’s creepy—having places you can’t go to in your own house.  Can you imagine that?”

 

Team shook his head, “The only place I’m not supposed to go in is my parents’ room, but I don’t want to anyway.  It’s where they do their sex stuff.”  He shuddered.

 

Win laughed, “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but people don’t just do ‘sex stuff’ in their bedrooms.  Showers, couches, floors, tables, cars…pretty much anywhere.”

 

Team was revolted.  “Eww!!!  Don’t tell me that!  That’s sooooo gross!”

 

Win laughed, “One day you won’t think so.  But anyway, back to my story.  I came up with a plan, and one day when Auntie Bor fell asleep, I snuck out of her house and went home.  I dragged a ladder out of the garage and I propped it up against the wall in the back.  I had been checking out the windows upstairs for years, and all of them had curtains, except for one window.  It was the window right above our patio roof.  I climbed the ladder to the roof and looked in.”

 

“Oh!  Weren’t you scared?  You could have fallen!  Or you could have gotten caught!”

 

Win nodded, “I was, but I had to do it.  When I got to the window, it was dirty so I used my shirt to wipe a clean spot.  When I looked in, it was a bathroom.  A really nice one, too.  Nicer than the one downstairs.  The door was open and I could see into a huge room.  My guess is that it is the main bedroom of the house.  I did the best that I could to see the floors, walls, and ceiling.  Team, there wasn’t anything that I could see that looked damaged at all!  It all looked really good.  But then I noticed something odd.  When my great-great-aunt left Mom the house, it was filled with furniture.  Stuff that had been in the family for generations.  Our downstairs is full of it—but upstairs, at least what I could see, there wasn’t anything.  No furniture and no rugs of any kind.  Everything was bare.  I climbed down and put the ladder away.  Then I got a bench from our patio and put it under the window of the locked room on the ground floor.  I stepped up on it and looked in.  The window wasn’t as dirty as the one upstairs.  I figured it was because it was sheltered a bit by a tree that is near there.  Anyway, I peeked in and that room was bare too.  Except it had built in bookshelves all along one wall.  I think it was a home office.  I put the bench back and hurried back to Auntie Bor’s house.  She was still asleep in her chair.  I sprawled out on the couch and picked up a book.  I wanted to pretend I was reading if she woke up, but I wasn’t reading.  I was thinking.  I was trying to figure out what was going on.  Why had she locked up those areas of our house?  I came up with an idea that felt right to me.  I think that when she inherited the house and they moved here to the village, I think they, meaning my parents, wanted a place that was decorated to their tastes.  I imagine them taking all the old stuff out of there and replacing it with new stuff.  And then, after he walked out, she got rid of the new stuff and locked up the space, so she wouldn’t have to look at it again.  And in that way, it is kind of true that we have a ghost in our house.”

 

Team nodded.  “Yeah, it is.”  He thought about the story for a minute, “So Auntie Bor didn’t catch you?  She wasn’t faking like she was asleep?”

 

“No, she didn’t catch me.  But I did forget that I had used my shirt to clean the window.  She scolded me good for getting my shirt so dirty.  I told her I had been digging for worms.”

 

Team gave a small laugh, “And she believed you?”

 

“Yeah, she did.  I had remembered a story she told me once about her little brother coming home filthy after digging for worms.”

 

“Smart!” Team said.

 

Win wiggled his eyebrows and then grinned, “I do have my moments.”

 

“Have you ever done it again?  Looked in the windows, I mean.”

 

“No, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to.  A bathroom and a big empty room.  And downstairs, a home office.  Not that exciting.”  Win studied him closely for a moment.  “Okay, it’s your turn now.”

 

“My turn for what?”

 

“Your turn to share a secret-secret.  Something no one else knows.”

 

“Hia!  I’m twelve-years-old!  I don’t have anything secret!”

 

“Yes, you do.  Everyone does.”

 

Team licked his lips.  Then he shrugged.  “It’s nothing.  Not exciting like yours.”

 

“It doesn’t matter.  I want to hear it.”

 

“Okay, but it’s dumb.”  He sighed, “There is this place in my yard that can’t be seen by any window.  I’ve been to the neighbor’s house and looked and they can’t see it either.  It’s like it is invisible or something.  Sometimes, late at night, I sneak out there and sit for a while.”

 

“What do you do out there?”

 

“Nothing.  Just…you know, listen to the night creatures, look at the stars…I told you, it’s not exciting.”

 

“It’s invisible so when you are there, you feel invisible too, right?”

 

Team felt his muscles relax, “Yeah, how did you know that?”

 

“A better question is:  Why do you want to be invisible?”

 

“I don’t know…I just…uh…I get so tired of being watched and corrected all the time.  When I am in my spot, I don’t have to stress about anything.  It’s my place, so in my place I get to make the rules.  And the first rule in my place is:  There are no rules.”

 

“So you’re saying that you hate having to conform.  You need a place where you can be free to be yourself.  You are an individualist, a free spirit, who is being force into conformity.  An independent thinker who sees the world differently than what the rest of the world does.  That’s pretty deep, Team.”

 

Team thought for a moment, “Wow.  I just thought I wanted to look at the stars.”

 

“But you could do that from anywhere in your yard.”

 

Team nodded.  “Yeah, but it has to be my invisible spot.  I guess I am like what you said.”

 

Win lay his head back down on Team’s pillow, “Will you show me your spot sometime?  I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

 

Team sat up, “Sure!  I’ll show you now!”

 

“No, not tonight.  You need to rest your knee.  I put my pillow between us to make sure I didn’t bump into you while we’re asleep.  Also, if your leg slips off your pillow, it will land on mine and still be elevated.  So, lay back down now and let’s go to sleep.  I have to be up early for a tutoring session.  But thanks for being willing to show me your spot.  I’m going to hold you to it.”

 

Team lie back down and Win snuggled in closer.  It had been a busy day and Team was tired.  He thought about everything that had happened.  As he felt his eyes growing heavier.

 

“I’m really proud of you for winning that race today.  You killed it,” Win mumbled.

 

Team smiled.  He realized that Win was also going through the day in his mind, too.  “I had a great teacher.  And you did amazing today.”

 

Win put his arm over Team’s chest and sighed.  His breathing began to get slower and deeper.  Team was listening to him breathe and could feel his own breathing begin to mimic Win’s.  A thought occurred to him and he whispered (just in case Win was all the way asleep), “How did you know Batman was my favorite?”

 

It took Win a moment to answer, and when he did, his voice sounded quiet and like he was faraway.  “In your locker.  Saw him on your underwear.  The first time you were at the club.”

 

Team’s eyes flew open and he felt his face grow hot.  All the trouble he had gone through to keep his underwear hidden from Win while getting dressed under a towel had been for nothing.

 

Dammit!!!!  Internally he screamed in frustration and humiliation.

Chapter 7

When Team woke up the next morning, Win was already awake and dressed.  He was sitting on the floor in front of Team’s bookcases with one of the graphic novels in his hand.  On the floor next to him was the English to Thai dictionary.  Win looked over at him and shook his head with a smile.  “You can actually read these?” he asked.

 

Team rubbed his eyes and then nodded.

 

“You must be pretty advanced then!  Good!  I would hate to have a stupid best friend.” Win said with a laugh.  “I’m glad you woke up.  I have to leave soon for my tutoring session.  I wanted to check your knee before I left.”

 

“It’s fine,” Team mumbled, still not fully awake.

 

“Let me see!” Win demanded.  He walked over to the bed and unwrapped the bandage he had placed there the night before.  “Hmm…well, you’re right.  Most of the swelling is gone.  Nasty bruise though.  Next time, say something if you get hurt!”

 

Team hummed an affirmative answer.

 

Win grinned at him.  “You’re not a morning person.”  He walked over to his sleeping bag, which he had rolled up, and picked it up.  With his other hand he picked up his backpack.  “I think we should go to dinner tonight to celebrate your win yesterday.  We’ll go to our place, okay?”

 

Team nodded and Win smiled and shook his head.  “Okay, I’ll text you later after you’ve had a chance to wake up all the way.  Bye!”

 

“Take my bike,” Team mumbled.

 

“You sure?”

 

Team nodded.  “I can’t ride it today anyway,” he said, pointing to his knee.  “It’s in the garage.  Door’s not locked.”

 

“What about your parents?  I don’t want them to think I’m stealing it.”

 

Team nodded and pushed the covers off him and sat up.  “Let me go take a piss and then I will go downstairs with you.  I’ll tell them I am lending it to you.”

 

“Okay, but don’t fall asleep in there!” Win scolded.

 

When Team walked to the bathroom, he noticed that his knee was stiff and felt weak.  It was purple and black and still a bit swollen.  He realized it looked much worse than it had felt, and he thought maybe Win and his parents had been right to insist he baby it a bit.

 

After he finished in the bathroom, the two of them went downstairs to join Team’s parents in the kitchen.

 

“I’m letting Hia Win use my bike today.  He has to go tutor people and his bike is at home,” Team announced.

 

His parents were working together at the stove, fixing breakfast.  “Surely you have time to eat a little something before you leave!” Team’s mother exclaimed.

 

Win turned to Team, “Can I leave my stuff here and pick it up later?”

 

“Sure!”

 

Win nodded, “Yes, since I don’t have to go home first, I have time to eat.  Thank you!”

 

Team’s dad laughed, “No need to thank us.  We would be awful people if we let you leave here without some food in your stomach.”

 

Most of their meals were eaten in the dining room, but breakfast was always in the kitchen.  It was sunny and bright there, and it felt like the best place to start the day.

 

Since the table was small, Win set directly across from Team.  With the four of them sitting together, there were no empty places at the table.  Team liked that.  It felt as if they were a family.

 

Win left shortly after breakfast and the entire day dragged by until he came back to pick up Team for dinner.

 

As soon as he arrived, Team hustled him up the stairs to his room.  “Will you wrap my knee for me?”

 

Win examined it closely, “The swelling is almost gone.  You don’t need it wrapped now.”

 

“I know, but it’s so hot and I want to wear shorts.  I don’t want everybody seeing my bruised knee,” Team explained.

 

Win nodded, “I understand,” he said.  He wrapped it carefully, taking care to make it looser than he had the night before.

 

When it was wrapped, they went outside to take a look at the birdfeeder.  After standing around there for a bit, Team whispered, “It’s over here.”

 

Team led the way to the side of the house and then about halfway down the length.  He sat down, resting his back against the wall.  Win sat down next to him and examined the wall of the house thoroughly.

 

“Wow!  This is pretty cool!  And you’re right.  The angles of the windows in the house make this a blind spot!  And you’re sure the neighbors can’t see over here?”  He asked Team.

 

“I’m sure.  I went over there once when they weren’t home and walked around in their yard.  If you look closely through the slats in our fence, you can see they have a lot of plants and stuff that they are growing along the fence on their side.”

 

They sat in silence for a while.  Finally Win said, “I really like this spot.  Thanks for sharing your secret-secret with me.  I am going to check around my house and see if I have a spot like this.  I can see why it would help to de-stress you.”

 

For an answer, Team’s stomach gave a growl.  Win laughed when he heard it, “Alright!  Let’s go feed you!”

 

“So,” Team’s dad said to them as they were about to walk out of the house.  “You’re going to dinner.  Is it just going to be the two of you?”

 

“I think we will probably meet up with some of the guys from the swim club,” Win answered.  “And before we go to dinner, I am going to take Team around and introduce him to the people that I do lawn work for.  That way he will already know them before he starts working for them.”

 

“Oh!  Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.  Well, you guys have fun.  Do you need any money, Team?” his dad asked.

 

Win was standing behind Team and he nudged him with an elbow to his back.  Team turned to look at him and read the answer in his face.  Team looked back at his dad, “No thanks, I have enough.”

 

As soon as they were outside, Team was full of questions.  “Why did you lie to my dad about the other guys?  And why did you jab me with your elbow?”

 

Win mounted Team’s bike and raised the kickstand.  “I don’t know.  I picked up some weird vibes when he asked if we were going to be alone.  It occurred to me that maybe it would be better if they didn’t think we are as close as we are.”  He shrugged.  “Maybe I am still reacting from that scene with the coach yesterday and how I felt when I thought your parents would keep us apart.”

 

Team slid onto the back of the bike.  “I felt it, too.  Even his face looked odd when he asked.  I have a feeling though that my mom was the one who wanted to know and he was stuck in the middle.  So what about the elbow?”

 

Win turned around and grinned at him.  “Because I’m paying for dinner!  I want to be the one to treat you to show you how proud I am of you.  Okay, so we are going to leave here very carefully, making sure to follow all the rules of safety.  Once we turn the corner though—that’s when the ride gets crazy.  Be prepared to hold on tight!”  He grinned at Team and wiggled his eyebrows.

 

Team was giggling as they rode away.

 

Win took him around to meet the clients he had for lawn care.  Since Win recommended him, none of them minded having Team work for them.  Team used his phone to make notes about each job, so that everything would flow seamlessly through the transition from Win to Team.  The last stop was a small neighborhood grocery store which was ran by an elderly widow.  She and her husband had run it together for many years, but he had died a few years previously.  She could do the day-to-day work for the store and she delegated Saturdays for the heavier things—for which she had depended upon Win to do.

 

When Team heard that he was to be there the entire day on Saturdays, he nibbled on his lip.

 

“What is it?” Win asked.

 

Team noticed that both the nice grocer and Win were both looking at him expectantly.  “I…uh, well…I take guitar lessons on Saturdays.  I guess I could give those up though.”

 

“Nonsense!” the old woman said with a sweet smile.  “Music is very important to one’s soul!  You should never give it up!  We will just schedule the work around your lesson.  How long is it?”

 

“An hour,” Team answered.

 

She laughed, “Well, that’s nothing at all!  Very easy for us to work around that!  And...you can bring your guitar with you to work.  Maybe even play something for me sometimes.”

 

Later, once their order had arrived at the table of The Lonely Dolphin, Team turned off his phone and laid it on the table beside him with a sigh.  “I don’t know why you dumped all these jobs on me!  I won’t even have time to go to the bathroom this summer!  And once school starts, I won’t be able to do any sports.  All I will get to do is work.”

 

Win smiled and shook his head.  “Don’t be so grumpy, Kitten!  Once you learn how to manage your time, you will see that you can do everything with time to spare.  And believe me—you won’t bitch when you get paid.  I did all of these jobs, plus swimming, plus tutoring, and was still the top student in my grade.  Each job will only take a few hours a week.  On days when you don’t have anything for sports or school, you can do a few of them then.”

 

“Okay, so what about you?  Once the season is over, your coaching job is over.  Won’t you want these jobs back then?”

 

Win shook his head ‘no’ while sipping through his straw.  “I am hoping to get hired as a tutor’s helper in the Upper Secondary.  You can’t get hired to be a full tutor until 10^th grade, and lots of times the tutor’s helpers do more work than the actual tutor.  That sucks since they get paid a lot more than the helpers do, but it is a way to get your foot into the door and helps get you hired the next year as a full tutor.  If I don’t get one of those positions, I will just pick up more students to tutor.  Some people can’t afford to pay what the tutoring center charges per hour.”

 

“I still say it sucks,” Team grumbled as he bent down over his plate and began to eat.

 

“You’re just pissed because once you start getting paid, I’m going to make you bring me here for dinner and let you pay!” Win joked.

 

Team shrugged, “I could do that out of my allowance.”

 

“But you depend on your parents for that—and what they give, they can take away.  Your own money that you earn is yours.  And you can depend on it.  Even if you forget to clean your room or break curfew or something.”

 

Team reluctantly nodded when he understood the logic in that.

 

Win moved the food around on his plate, “I will admit, sometimes I get discouraged too.  It’s hard to have to work for everything I want when there are so many kids in our school whose parents buy them everything.  But…I figure they don’t know the satisfaction of being self-reliant though.  I am determined that when I leave here for college, I will be driving away in my own car, not riding the bus.  And in order to do that, I have to work.”

 

Team frowned.  “We sound like old men.  Can’t we talk about something fun now?  This is supposed to be a celebration.”

 

Win laughed and changed the subject to the game they had discovered the night before.  They agreed that they liked it the best and especially liked that they had a private room so that they didn’t have to go to the general board.

 

When they arrived back at Team’s house after dinner, Team’s parents were waiting to take Win home.

 

“It’s getting dark out and we don’t want you on the streets alone,” Team’s father told Win.

 

Win nodded, “And it helps that I won’t have to figure out a way to return Team’s bike to him later.”  He grabbed his sleeping bag and backpack that he had left at their house.  “I’m ready whenever you are,” he said and then turned to Team, “You’re coming too, right?  I want to show you my house.”

 

Team nodded and jumped into the backseat.

 

Win directed Team’s father along the ride to his house.  Once they got there, Win’s mother came out to talk to Team’s folks.  “Come on,” Win whispered with a jerk of his head towards the direction of his house.

 

“I’ll be right back,” Team said as he quickly got out of the car.  He hurried inside the house after Win.

 

Team was amazed at how large Win’s house was.  And old.  He could feel the history in the house.  Win walked quickly through the massive living room and through the huge kitchen and then down a short corridor.  Team was on his heels.

 

Win stopped at a door and whispered, “Watch,” and he tried to twist the doorknob but it wouldn’t turn.  “Try it yourself.”  Team did and nodded in agreement that it was locked.  “That’s the door to that office room,” Win said quietly.  “Come on, I’ll show you the other door.”

 

Back through the living room they scurried, and then down a wide hallway.  Win pointed to a door, “That’s the door to the stairs.”  Team reached over and tried to turn the handle.  It didn’t move.  It was obviously locked.  He looked at Win and nodded.

 

“Come on, I’ll show you my room,” Win said and then walked a bit down the hall and opened a door on the opposite side from the door that had led to the stairs.

 

Win’s bedroom was a lot bigger than Team’s.  His bed and dressers were massive.  Team could tell that they were very old—he guessed that they were family heirlooms.  Aside from the furniture though, there wasn’t much else in the room.

 

“I know what you are thinking…my room has no personality,” Win said.

 

“No!  Of course not!  I was thinking that your furniture was probably family heirlooms, that’s all!”

 

Win nodded, “It is, but you’re lying.  It’s okay, I agree.  The thing is, nothing ever grabs my interest long enough or deep enough to collect or decorate with,” he shrugged, “As soon as I went into your room, I realized how different mine is from yours.  You are all over your room.  Everything in it screams ‘Team’.”

 

“That’s just ‘cause I am a slob and you are tidy.  And that wasn’t true that nothing captures your attention.  Swimming does.  You love it!”

 

Win gave a slight shrug with a nod, “Yeah, that’s true.  I just don’t love it enough to decorate with it, ya know?”  He tossed his sleeping bag and backpack on the bed.  “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house before we go back out.”

 

The bathroom was across the hall from Win’s room and his mother’s room was beside Win’s.  It didn’t take long to examine them and then they went back outside to join their parents.

 

 

The summer passed quickly.  Team soon learned how to juggle his new responsibilities and still have time for fun.  His pockets appreciated all the extra money too.  Originally, when Win first told him about all his new jobs, the one he had dreaded the most was spending the entire day on Saturday with the widowed grocery store owner.  But, he found as time went by, Saturdays there with his new Auntie Manee were some of his best times.  The two of them often worked side-by-side, and she would tell him stories of her life and stories about the village, long before he was born.  Sometimes she insisted he play the guitar for her.  She taught him old folk songs and he would try to accompany her while she sang them.  He enjoyed helping her stock the shelves and keeping the store clean.  He often found himself popping in just to say ‘hi’ to her during the week when he finished with his other jobs.  If she needed help with something, he pitched in to help—no charge.

 

But Sundays were the best days.  On Sundays both he and Win had the day free.  They would spend every second together.  Mostly alone, but sometimes with the other guys from the swim team.

 

It was on one of those Sundays that Team noticed Win being more quiet than usual.  He didn’t seem upset, but he wasn’t all there.  Team could tell that the other guys noticed it too by the looks they threw to each other when Win was slow to answer.

 

They were at the beach.  All of them, except for Team, had been swimming for a while.  Team had stayed up on the blanket, playing video games while they swam.  He still had a deep aversion to the ocean.

 

They had grown tired and had joined Team on the blanket.  The snacks that Tee had brought for them were long gone.  Job said, “Hey!  I’m kind of hungry.  Why don’t we all go back to my place?  My folks are visiting friends and won’t be home for hours.”

 

“We can’t!” Win said suddenly, which caused everyone to startle at his loud objection.  “I mean…Team’s folks are expecting us for dinner soon.  We probably need to be going so we can get cleaned up before we go.”

 

This was a lie.  Team’s parents had gone shopping for new patio furniture and had told Team they would just grab something to eat while they were out.  Team had his own money so he was planning on picking up something to take home with him later.  He nodded, “Yeah, my folks would have a fit if we showed up for dinner looking like this.”  He got up off the blanket and Win quickly joined him.

 

“Okay, how about the rest of you guys?” Job asked.  The other guys all agreed to go hang out at Job’s house.

 

They all walked to their bikes together.  And although Team had a perfectly good bike of his own, he always preferred to ride on the back of Win’s.  Today was no exception.  He and Win got on Win’s bike and called goodbye to their friends as they rode off.

 

Team kept quiet on the ride.  He was waiting for Win to explain his weird mood and why he had lied to their friends.

 

Win rode them to his house and pulled up in the driveway.  He parked next to the garage door and they got off the bike.  Win looked at Team for a moment and then gave a slight nod.  “I have something to show you.  It’s secret-secret.”

 

Team nodded and followed Win into the garage.  When Win shut the door behind them, Team felt a stir of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.  He couldn’t imagine what Win was going to show him, and what it had to do with being inside Win’s spooky garage, and it was making him feel anxious.

 

“Are you going to show me where you store the bodies of the four kids you kill everyday?” Team quipped.

 

Win seemed to think about it for a second and answered very seriously, “Not exactly that, but I want to show you something I unburied from the past.”  He stuck out his pinky finger, “Swear to me that you will never tell.  That this is just between us.  A forever secret-secret.”

 

Team’s hand felt clammy so he wiped it on his shorts before extending his pinky finger, “I swear,” he said.  His voice sounded too quiet and too serious.  It didn’t help his anxiety to hear it in his own voice.  Win was too serious and that, along with being in the dark garage, Team was really feeling creeped out.

 

Win nodded.  He pointed to the first overhead storage area.  “You see how that side of the storage area is packed with stuff?”  Team nodded to show that he agreed.  Win continued, “Last week, Mom wanted me to bring out some old crap from the kitchen that she had replaced with newer stuff.  She doesn’t like to throw things away, ‘just in case’, ya know?  Anyway, she specifically said to put it in the first overhead area.  I pulled the ladder up to it and then I wondered why always the first area, like why not spread it out between the two areas?  It’s something I’ve noticed at your house too.  Always in the first one.”

 

Team frowned as he thought about it and then shrugged, “I’ve never noticed.”

 

“I think maybe people do that because they are saving the second one for something.  Or like some kind of mental contest to see how much crap they can squeeze in there before moving to the next one.  I don’t know, but that day, after I put her junk up, I moved the ladder over and climbed up to the second overhead area.  I found some things up there.  I want you to see.”

 

Team felt a chill hit his body with the way Win said the word ‘things’.  What things?  It could be anything.  He licked his dry lips and then nodded.

 

Win picked up the ladder and leaned it against the second overhead area and climbed up it.  Team climbed up behind him, but slower.  His legs felt a bit shaky—whether it was from his fear of heights, or from the fear of Win’s odd behavior—he didn’t know.

 

Once he was off the ladder and on the floor of the storage area, Team felt a bit better.  There was a window in the wall, up near the ceiling, so the area was lighter than the ground floor had been.

 

Win unlatched the window and pushed it open.  Fresh air rushed in and quickly diminished the old, stale, dusty air that had been in there before.  Team breathed in huge lungfuls of it.

 

“Take a seat,” Win said, as he pointed to a tiny stool that was near the window.  Team examined it and saw that it was clean.  He guessed that Win had either brought the stool up there or had cleaned it off at some earlier time.  Team sat down on it and leaned his back against the wall.

 

Win stood in the middle of the area with his shoulders hunched as he stared at the floor.  With one hand, he twisted the fingers of his other hand.  Team could tell that he was agitated and it made Team’s anxieties get worse.  Finally Win looked up from the floor and straightened his shoulders.

 

“Alright…” Win said quietly.  He moved to the other side of the storage area.  There was a lumpy cloth of some kind that was covering up something that was leaning against the wall.  Win pulled the cloth away and picked up what it had been concealing.  He returned to the center of the area, facing Team.  “I found these,” Win said.  He turned the objects in his arms, and Team could see they were paintings.

 

Win walked over to the wall nearest Team and propped them up so they could be seen better.  There were a lot of them.  He didn’t count them, but thought maybe close to thirty of them, in all different sizes.  Team got up from the stool and walked over to them and squatted down to get a closer look.  He didn’t really understand why Win was being so dramatic over some paintings.

 

“They are pretty,” Team said, knowing that it sounded a bit weak.  He didn’t really know much about art.

 

Win squatted down next to him to study the paintings better himself.  He nodded, “Yeah, they are.  My dad painted them.”

 

Team froze for a moment and then slowly turned his head to look at Win.  “Your dad painted these?”

 

“Yeah, see the signature?  I know that is my dad’s first name.  Never knew his last name.  When they got divorced, Mom changed our last names back to her maiden name.”

 

“Could it be someone else with that same first name though?”

 

Win shook his head.  “I don’t think so.  Every instinct in me is screaming that these were painted by him.  I don’t know for sure why they were up in this storage area—but I also found paints and brushes here too.  I think this might have been a place where he liked to come and paint.”

 

Team studied Win’s face as Win studied the paintings.  Team felt as if his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth.  Even if he could have spoken, he didn’t know what he would have said.  He couldn’t imagine what this was like for Win—to accidentally find a piece of his dad that had been left behind.  Team turned back to look at the paintings better, now that he knew who the artist was.

 

“He worked with different mediums,” Win said.  “These,” he indicated the ones in the first spots of the row, “are watercolors.”  He moved down a bit and pointed to some other paintings, “These are oil paintings.  If you get really close to them, you can still smell it.  I think one or two of them might even be mixed paintings using acrylic paints and oil paints.  I’m not sure.  I’ve done a lot of research on the web and that’s what it appears to be to me.”

 

Team nodded, feeling stupid.  He wished he knew more about art so he could contribute more to the discussion.  But he didn’t.  All he knew was what his eyes told him.  “They are all good, but I think I like the watercolor ones better.  They seem like they are happier paintings.  Those others seem more…shadowy…but I don’t know anything about art really.”

 

Win turned to him and raised one eyebrow, “Maybe not, but you’re right.  It’s the same thing I thought when I looked at them.  Obviously these are paintings inspired by the village, in one of them, you can see the edge of the parking lot to Rick’s Place,” he pointed to one of the watercolor paintings of a beach at low tide.  Team nodded to show that he agreed; it was Rick’s Place.  Win continued, “I think we are seeing his growing dislike of the village with the paintings becoming heavier, and with more shadows.”  He studied the paintings in silence for a bit before he spoke again.  “There were rags and brushes with oil in them.  Sitting up here for at least twelve years.  I’m surprised there was never a fire.  I gathered them together, along with most of the old paints and took them to the public trash can by the bridge.  I didn’t want my mom to see them in our trash.”

 

“You said ‘most of the old paints’.  Not all?”

 

Win smiled, “See, this is why I picked you to be my best friend.  You’re smart.  No, not all.  The watercolors were powdered.  You mix them with a bit of water to use.  Some of those containers hadn’t been opened.  Some had but it doesn’t seem like they lost any quality over the years, which surprised me.”  He got up and walked back over to the wall and moved another piece of cloth to expose what looked like a big folder.  He brought it back with him and he sat down next to Team.  Win opened the folder and took out a stack of watercolor paper.  He handed Team the stack.

 

Team slowly and carefully looked through the stack of paintings on his lap.  Occasionally he would look back at the paintings leaning against the wall.  The paintings in the stack on his lap looked happier and more colorful.  They felt like true pieces of the village.  Almost as if they were actually photographs and not paintings, except they had a dreamy feeling to them.  He reached the end of the stack and started back through them.  “I like these much better.  I wonder why he didn’t sign them.”

 

“Because he didn’t paint them.  I did.” Win answered.

 

“You did?  I didn’t know you were an artist!” Team was stunned.

 

Win shrugged, “I didn’t say that, I said I painted them.  I kept the watercolor powders and bought some brushes and the watercolor paper.  I wanted…I don’t know how to say it…I wanted to try to connect with him by using his paints, by sitting up here where he did—does that sound stupid?”

 

Team shook his head, “Not stupid at all.  I think that sounds perfectly normal.  Did you always know you could paint?”

 

“No.  I spend my time with my studies and with work.  I don’t do creative stuff, but once I started…it was like,” he paused and looked deeply into Team’s eyes, “It was like it was meant to be.  Like this…this is my thing.  Except, it’s his thing, too.”

 

Team nodded, “You inherited his talent.  Except, actually…your paintings look better to me.  His are more blobby and stuff.  Yours are sharp.  I know I’m not saying it right.”

 

Win nodded, “It is a difference in style.  His are more Impressionistic and mine are more realistic.  That’s why with his, you noticed the shadows.  There aren’t many in mine because there weren’t any present when I was painting them.”  He sighed and shook his head, “I want this, Team.   This feeling I get when I am painting, I mean.  It’s…I can’t even tell you what it’s like.  I feel more me than I have ever felt before.  I just hate it that it came from him.”

 

Team searched around in his mind, trying to find something to say that would help.  He hated that he couldn’t find something that sounded insightful or intelligent.  All he could come up with was, “I have my dad’s ears,” as the words came out of his mouth, he felt like an idiot.  He said in a more quiet tone, “But we don’t listen to the same kind of music.”

 

Win stared at him with a puzzled frown.  Team felt like squirming under Win’s close scrutiny.  He felt heat come up to his cheeks, “That sounded better in my head.  What I meant was…”

 

“You meant that we are born with traits that we inherit from our parents and ancestors.  But what makes us who we are is what we do with the traits we inherited.  That’s genius!”  Win said with a huge smile.

 

Team shrugged, “You always make me sound so much smarter than I am.”

 

“Because you just don’t realize the depth of things you say yet, and I do.  So okay, now you know my secret-secret, it’s time for yours.”

 

Team laughed, “I don’t have any!  Honestly, I don’t.  You know everything about me.  My parents know everything about me.  I am an open book.  Plus, the whole 'I’m only 12' thing.  What secrets could I possibly have?”

 

Win just stared at him with one eyebrow lifted.  After a time, he shook his head.  “Nope.  There’s something.  I can smell it.  Tell me what it is.”

 

Team shifted around a bit.  He didn’t know how Win could read him so well.  He didn’t like it.  He sighed in frustration, “If you laugh at me, I swear…”

 

“I won’t!  I promise!” Win crossed his heart with his finger.  “Spill it!”

 

Team licked his lips, “I…uh…sometimes with my allowance I buy my mom flowers.”

 

“Okay, that’s nice of you.  How is that a secret?”

 

Team pulled his shoulders up, trying to hide between them.  He answered in a low voice, “They aren’t really for her.  They’re for me,” and then in a voice that could barely be heard, he whispered, “I like flowers.”

 

“Okay, so you like flowers.  Why are you acting so weird about it?”

 

Team huffed and shook his head, “I’m a guy!  I’m not supposed to like flowers!  That’s a girl thing.”

 

“No, liking flowers is a human thing.  They are beautiful and they smell wonderful.  Who wouldn’t like that?  But your thinking it is wrong for a male to like them suggests you have toxic masculinity.  And you caught that from society.”  Win said, and then he added, “And society is wrong.  It’s okay to like whatever you like and not to attach toxic rules to it.  So tell me, what is your favorite flower?”

 

Team peeked at Win to see if he was setting him up to come in for the kill.  He didn’t see anything like that on Win’s face though, so he mumbled, “Jasmine.”

 

Win leaned back and smiled, “Excellent choice.  They are the best-smelling flowers in the world!”

 

Team scratched his neck, “So, you don’t think that makes me weird?  You really don’t?”

 

Win rolled his eyes and shook his head, “No, I really, really don’t think it is weird that you like jasmine.  I do think it is weird that you let the world tell you how to think and feel though.  You really need to figure out who you are and then go tell the world to kiss your ass if they don’t like it.  But…as you said, you’re only 12.  Maybe when you are older, you will be able to do that.”

 

The following Saturday, just as Team was leaving the tiny grocery store after work, he received a text from Win.  It simply said, “Shelf”

 

Team stared at the text for a moment with his brow knitted into a tight furrow.  Finally he sent a text back, “What?”

 

A few moments later his phone alerted him that a new text from Win had arrived.  “I swear, you are both the smartest and also the dumbest person I ever met!  Go to the bridge and check the shelf!”

 

Team turned his bike in the opposite direction that he had been riding and headed to the bridge.  Once there, he quickly sat down in his regular spot.  He carefully looked around to make sure no one on the bridge was watching him, and then he flopped down on his belly.  He searched around with his hand until he found the shelf.  Once he did he hastily shoved his hand in it and grabbed onto the knot of a bag that was in there.  He drew it out and sat up.

 

He untied the bag and found a packet of seeds inside.  He turned the picture over and saw that the seeds were for a vining, night-blooming jasmine.  There was a note in the bag from Win:

 

Hurry home!  I am in your special spot digging holes to plant the seeds.  I got permission from your mom—I told her you won the seeds.  4^th place in a ‘count the beans in the jar’ contest.

 

Well—come on!  Put the note down and get home!

 

Team laughed at the last line.  If Win hadn’t made him backtrack to come to the bridge, he would have already been home.

 

He hopped on his bike and began to pedal.  As he did, he thought about what Win was doing for him and he felt his face grow warm and he could feel his grin stretch wide across his face.  He picked up speed; he couldn’t wait to get home!

Chapter 8

Summer vacation passed quickly.  There had been numerous swim competitions scheduled during the break, and while Team hadn’t participated in all of them (there were a lot of swimmers on the team in the Intermediate level), he always finished in the top three in his events.  To him, he felt amazing that he had never come in last place.  To Win, however, it meant that Team needed to focus more and get in more practice times.  Win was totally opposite to Team in this regard.  Win came in second place during one event and almost worked himself to death before the next meet, where he again captured all the first place ribbons in his events.

 

Win still spent the nights his mother worked at Team’s house, and Win’s mother would return the favor by having Team spend nights over at their house some nights when she was home.  As they became more familiar with each other’s families, Team’s parents soon became called Uncle Keow and Aunt Nat, and Win’s mother was Aunt Poom.

 

Whenever one of the boys showed up for an overnighter at the other boy’s house, he would bring over his sleeping bag and roll it out on the bedroom floor.  This was just for show because the boys always cuddled up together to sleep.

 

Afternoons, when their schedules were free and Aunt Poom was at work, the boys would hang out in the storage area in the garage.  Win worked diligently on his paintings and oftentimes Team would bring over his guitar and practice.  Team’s guitar teacher was surprised at how quickly Team was improving with his playing.  Win scoured the Internet, learning all about the art of watercolors.  When circumstances kept them from the garage, Win was often sketching out ideas for new paintings.

 

Many times they took off, usually with Team on the back of Win’s bike, and headed to remote places in the village.  They would take pictures of anything that caught their eyes and later, Win would use the pictures to create his paintings.  Long before the summer had ended, Win had gone through more than a few pads of watercolor paper.  He had to replenish the paints and brushes that his father had left behind.  Win was fine with throwing away the empty containers of paint, but he kept the brushes.  He wrapped them up in an old cloth and stored them next to his father’s paintings.  Team felt as if he understood that a bit, more than what Win probably suspected he did.  He felt that Win had to keep them because his father had held them in his own hands.  He had used them to create his own paintings.  All Win had of his dad were these small scraps, so it made them all that much more valuable.

 

Eventually, the swim club closed for the season, and the boys began to prepare to go back to school.

 

“I am scared spitless,” Team confessed to Win the night before the first day of school.

 

Win laughed, “No reason to be.  It’s just school.  And you already know a bunch of the kids that will be there from your Primary school.  Also, you have me and my friends—it will be fine, you’ll see.”

 

Team nodded and then he frowned.  “Hia—the school—it’s so big and I know we have to go from class-to-class…I’m…I’m afraid I will get lost.”  He felt like a baby admitting it, but he hoped that Win wouldn’t make fun of him for it.  He wouldn’t blame him if he did though.

 

Win smiled, “You won’t.  Let’s get there early tomorrow and I will show you around, okay?”

 

That night when Win went home, he sent Team an invitation to join him in their Pool Noodle/Hissing Kitten game room to play for a bit before bed.  Team knew that Win did it to help him with his anxiety, and he accepted gratefully.  Win even let him win.

 

That night, the dolphin dream came back, as it often did when Team was stressed.  It was the same scenario, Team being between the boat and the dolphin, never making a decision to board the boat or swim away.  This time however, he could hear the sounds of voices come from inside the boat.  It sounded like the low roar that one always hears in the corridors of a school, between classes.  Snippets and bits of people’s conversations as you pass by them.  Team woke up nervous and exhausted after the dream.

 

They met a few blocks away from the school and rode their bikes side-by-side the rest of the way.  A few people were already milling around in the halls; probably on the same mission as they were.

 

It didn’t take Team long to figure everything out with Win’s help.  Together they found all of Team’s classes on his schedule and Win showed him where the cafeteria was located.  “We have lunch at the same time, and it gets pretty crazy in here, but don’t worry about it.  You have a reserved seat next to me at the swim team table.”

 

They went back to the entrance area of the school.  Club enrollment booths had been set up.  They signed up for the swim club and then Win had to hurry off to get to his first class.  Team walked over to the football club booth and checked the meeting times for it.  He calculated that if he worked quicker on his side jobs, he could actually squeeze in time for the club, too.  Still mulling it over in his mind, he moved towards the sign-up sheet and collided with a guy who had just signed up.

 

“Oh!  Hey!  I’m sorry!  I wasn’t paying attention,” Team said, rubbing his elbow that had connected with the table when they crashed into each other.

 

“No, it’s okay!  I think it was my fault.  I didn’t see you there.  Are you going to sign up for football club?”

 

Team nodded, “I think so.  I have another club and after school jobs, but I think I can squeeze it in.  I’m Team, by the way.”

 

The guy nodded, “I’m Jai.  I’m a first year.  First day, actually.”

 

Team smiled, “Yeah?  Me too!”  He signed the enrollment sheet and then said, “Let’s compare schedules and see if we have any classes together.”

 

They saw they shared their third period, Science.  “Cool!” Jai said.  “I’m glad I will know at least one person in a class.  I have been searching for my friends from Primary school, but I haven’t found any yet.  Well…I saw a girl from my old school, but she was never a friend, so it doesn’t count.”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I haven’t seen anybody from my school yet either.  Do you know how to find your first class?”

 

“No, I don’t know where anything is!” Jai said in a panicky tone.

 

“I do.  My best friend is in 9^th grade and he showed me everything,” Team looked up at the clock on the wall.  “What’s your first class?  I saw it on your schedule but I don’t remember.”

 

“History, room 104,” Jai read.

 

“Okay!  That will be easy to find.  I will be in room 101 for Algebra, so we will basically be neighbors.  Come on, it’s this way!” Team said and they hurried off together.

 

Team gave Jai a quick tour, sometimes just reduced to pointing in the general direction, but Jai was appreciative of it.  Team dropped him off at his classroom and then went to his own.  He no sooner settled into a seat (the teacher had written on the blackboard to take any seat they chose) when an old friend from his Primary school walked in.

 

The boy, Kwan, gave Team a huge smile and hurried over to him.  He sat down in the seat next to him.  “Wow!  I am so glad to see you!  I haven’t seen anybody from our old school!”

 

Team smiled at him, “I know!  The hallway is crazy, isn’t it?  I’m sure we will soon find all our old friends though.  It’s just a bit overwhelming at the moment.”

 

Kwan answered him and then talked about a trip he had just returned from a few days before.  Team listened with interest, but in the back of his mind he was remembering the last time he had seen Kwan.  It had been the last day of school.  Team bit back a smile at the memory of how he had thought he would never see Kwan again, and here it was, the first day of school and they had met without any problem.  Team studied his profile as he talked.  Kwan looked the same, maybe a touch older, but that could just be because of his haircut.  Team felt a deep feeling of friendship for Kwan, but he realized that was all he felt.  Somehow the huge crush he had had on Kwan had disappeared.  Team didn’t know how it had—he had honestly thought he would love Kwan forever—but it had evaporated.  He was glad that he had been too scared to tell Kwan how he felt on that last day of school.

 

They talked a bit more as other students arrived in the room.  Some of them had been friends of theirs from Primary school.  They ended up taking up the entire row.  Team was glad to be back with his friends.  He looked around the room at the other kids who were not in their row.  He realized that soon these kids wouldn’t be strangers to him either.  He felt a wave of peace flow over him and he almost wanted to laugh at how anxious he had been.

 

During his third period class, he sat next to Jai in the back row.  A few times Team noticed Jai glaring at the back of a girl’s head in the front row.  Finally he leaned over and whispered, “What’s up with you and that girl?”

 

“What girl?” Jai asked, not taking his eyes off the girl in the front row.

 

“The girl in the front row that you can’t keep your eyes off.”

 

Jai turned to Team with a scowl.  “Her?” he scoffed.  “She’s just a girl I know from Primary school.  Her name is Mali.  A real ‘know-it-all’.”

 

“Oh.  Does she?  Know it all, I mean?” Team asked.

 

Jai sighed.  “Yeah, she does and it is very irritating.”

 

“Then we should try to get into a study group with her.”

 

“Why on earth would we do that?!!!” Jai’s voice was so high pitched that he almost squealed.

 

Team had to bite back a grin.  “Well, I, for one, would rather get into groups with people who are smart.  And if she is as smart as you say she is…”

 

“…she is!  But the idea of studying with her…ugh…it’s just too much!  I can’t imagine having to try to make conversation with her!”

 

“Then I will!” Team said.  “After class I will ask her if the three of us can form a study group.  Science is my weakest subject.”

 

When the bell rang, Team leapt from his seat and hurried over to the girl.  “Mali!  Hi, my name is Team.  This is Jai, although you might already know him from your Primary school.  We were wondering if maybe the three of us could form a study group for Science.”

 

Mali looked at Jai and then at Team.  “A study group?  I don’t know…I mean…I usually work alone.”

 

Team smiled at her.  “Please, I could really use the help.  I’m not too stupid ordinarily, but Science is my weakest subject.  I didn’t used to mind very much, but now that I am older, I realize that the difference between getting into a good college one day, versus getting into a not-so-good college.  I’m not sure if you are weak in any subject, but I do pretty well in the rest.  I could help you out if you are.”

 

She smiled and crinkled her nose a bit with it.  Team thought it was charming.  He cast a glance at Jai and noticed that the tops of his ears had turned red.  Team internally congratulated himself on picking up on Jai’s real feelings for Mali.  “Team, that is very nice of you.  I do pretty well in school, so I might not ever need help.  However, it is nice to know that I can turn to you if I do.”  She extended her hand for a handshake, “I’m in.  Let’s form a study group together!”

 

After she shook hands with Team, she offered her hand to Jai.  He shook it while looking down at the floor.  His cheeks were flaming red.  Team noticed that Mali’s cheeks were a bright pink.

 

They exchanged contact information and then Mali hurried away from them to go to her next class.

 

“I wish you hadn’t done that!” Jai objected.  “I didn’t want to be in a study group with her!”

 

Team grinned at him, “Would you rather it had just been she and I in a group by ourselves?”

 

Jai frowned and shook his head, “No, I would hate to sit back and watch the two of you…getting better grades than me, I mean.”

 

The day passed in a whirl.  His class right before lunch was his foreign language class.  Of course he had opted for ‘Introduction to English’.  He found the class to be his easiest one.  After the bell rang, he joined Win and the guys from the swim team at their table.  There were only a couple of the guys that Team hadn’t met yet.  They had both been gone over the summer and hadn’t joined the summer swim club.  And even though Team was two years younger than they were, they all welcomed him to their table.

 

After the first two weeks of school passed, Team’s English teacher sent a note home to his parents, requesting to test Team.  The teacher explained that he was too advanced for ‘Introduction to English’ and they needed to determine how advanced he was.  His parents gave permission and Team sat for the testing a few days later, after school.

 

The testing took about an hour and a half.  When Team finally left the testing room, Win was waiting for him.

 

“How did you do?”

 

Team shrugged nonchalantly, but then he realized he couldn’t contain his happiness and he grinned.  “They are moving me up to the 9^th grade class!”

 

“No way!  You mean you will be in class with me?!!”

 

“Oh, I don’t know.  They just said with the 9^th graders.  It’s third-year studies.”

 

“That’s my class!” Win said enthusiastically.  “Wow!  I knew you were smart…but wow!  You’ll have to help me if I run into problems with it.”

 

Team bumped his shoulder into Win’s as they walked.  “Stop it!  You are a genius in everything.  You won’t need any help!”

 

They left the building and headed to the bike rack.  “I want to take you out to celebrate,” Win said.

 

Team shook his head, “I can’t right now.  I have to work this evening.  I’m late as it is.”

 

“Okay, so we will celebrate on Sunday then,” Win said as he rode off.

 

Team tended to two of his customer’s lawns before he headed home that evening.  He felt gross and sweaty so he got permission from his folks to take a shower before he ate dinner.  He had just finished and arrived at the table when he received a text from Win, asking if he were home yet.  Team quickly texted him back and said he was but he was at the table and couldn’t use his phone.

 

He received an answer but he didn’t dare look at his phone at the table again.  He and his parents ate dinner and then Team rinsed the dishes and put them into the dishwasher.  After he started the dishwasher, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to read what Win had sent to him.

 

“Go to your invisible spot when you are finished eating.”

 

Team walked outside and checked the levels of food in the feeding station.  He noticed that one of the trays was getting low, so he went back into the house to grab some seeds to fill it.  After that he ambled around the yard a bit, peeking occasionally back at the house to locate his parents.  It took them a while, but finally Team could see that they weren’t in the kitchen or dining room.  He assumed they had gone into the living room to watch TV.  Seeing that the coast was clear, Team made his way to his invisible spot.

 

Win was sitting with his back leaning against the wall of the house.  His hands were covered with dirt.

 

“What are you doing here?  Why didn’t you come in?  You could have had dinner with us!” Team said in surprise.

 

Win turned his head in Team’s direction and gave him a smile.  “I didn’t come for dinner.”  He pointed to an area near the fence.  “I wanted to bring you something to celebrate your being advanced up two grades in English.”

 

Team looked to see what Win had pointed at and saw it was a large jasmine bush.  “Oh!  It’s so pretty!  But you didn’t have to do that!”

 

“I know I didn’t, Kitten, but I felt like you deserved it.  They are day bloomers.  I want your spot to have fragrance every time you come here.  I checked the vines that we grew from the seeds and they have grown like crazy!  I adjusted some of them better so they will soon be crawling all over the fence.  So, what did your folks say about your promotion?”

 

Team sat down next to Win.  “I didn’t tell them.  I was busy after school and it slipped my mind.”

 

Win turned to him with a start, “Team!  This is a huge accomplishment!  You need to start tooting your own horn or no one will realize just how great you are!”

 

Team shrugged with a grin, “I’m not used to doing that.  I don’t think I even know how.”  He looked back at the bush, “What did Mom say when you asked her if you could plant it?  Did you tell her why?”

 

Win smirked, “I didn’t ask her this time.  I figured since she was okay with the seeds, she couldn’t object to a bush.”

 

Team laughed, “You are like a vampire!  Once a person invites them in, they can come in any time they want!”

 

Win laughed at that.  “They don’t even use this part of the yard; you told me that.  If they are never here, they won’t even know about it.”

 

Team’s mother opened up the patio door and called out, “Team?  It’s getting late; time to come in now!”

 

Team leaned his head back against the wall of the house and groaned, “I hate being 12!”

 

Win laughed quietly and bumped his shoulder into Team’s, “You won’t be 12 forever.”

 

 

Of course Win was right.  Time raced forward for Team and with it came some unlovely changes.  Puberty, or as Win referred to it, ‘Pubes grow on me’—to Team’s everlasting scorn.  Team’s parents and Win all seemed to have a great deal of fun at Team’s expense when his voice started changing when he was 13.  Whenever he opened his mouth, he was never sure what voice was going to come out.  At 14 Team started a phase where he couldn’t get enough to eat.  He ate constantly and for a while, it showed.  It gathered around his belly and made all of his shorts and pants too tight.  And then, almost overnight, the belly disappeared and he grew several inches taller.  At that point, the waistbands were too big and the length of his pants was too short.

 

Now he was almost 15 and he still wasn’t finished with puberty and he hated it.  The only good thing that had come out of it was he had finally inherited his father’s muscles.  His chest was broad and his arm muscles were tight and defined.  He often stood in front of his mirror at home, flexing at his reflection.

 

He was on his summer break, and would be starting his last year at the lower Secondary school in a few weeks.  He had worked all afternoon and he was hot and tired.  He wanted to go home, take a cool shower, and then sit in front of the air conditioning.  But for the last hour or so his mother had been texting him repeatedly to remind him to stop by the store on his way home.  They were out of rice cakes and there was a football game on that night.  She wanted the rice cakes so they could have a snack.  Team shook his head at that.  Not much of a snack; they tasted like crunchy cardboard.  Finally he texted her back and told her he would get them.  It stopped her texting him every few minutes, but now he was stuck.

 

He rode away from the last yard on his to-do list and headed towards the store.  His backpack flapped around uncomfortably on his back.  It was empty now, but that morning, as with every day that he worked, he had it filled to the top with snacks and sodas to last him through the day.  He had switched from grape soda to colas a year or so before when he realized that grape soda tasted like melted candy, but he still liked the same brand of potato chips.  As he rode he made a mental shopping list of snacks he wanted to buy for the next day.

 

He felt a bead of sweat roll from his scalp onto his neck.  It itched so he raised his hand to scratch it and encountered a pimple on the back of his neck.  He scowled.  He hated stupid pimples.  It was bad enough when he got them on his face but now they seemed to be spreading everywhere.

 

He parked his bike in the rack and went into the store.  It felt slightly cooler inside, but it still felt humid.  He grabbed a hand basket and picked up the rice cakes first thing.  After he had them, he strolled around a bit, picking snacks for himself—snacks that didn’t taste like crunchy cardboard.

 

It didn’t take him long to fill the hand basket.  He scowled when he realize the way his appetite was, these snacks wouldn’t last long, even though there was a lot.

 

He felt a throbbing beginning in the back of his head.  The heat and his bad temper had been giving him a lot of headaches recently.  He knew what caused them; he just didn’t know how to prevent them.  He couldn’t move to a cooler climate, and he was always pissed off, even when he knew he didn’t really have a reason to be.

 

As he walked to the check-out, he realized his feet hurt.  His shoes were too small.  Again.  He shook his head.  They were still fairly new and had been purchased slightly large to give him growing room.  He looked down at his feet with disgust.  If they kept growing, he was going to have to start buying flappy, clown shoes to fit.  Just the other night, his father had made a joke about cutting the rubber off of used tires and tying them to Team’s feet instead of buying shoes every few months.

 

He paid for his items and was handed a large sack.  Only one thing was for his mom, all the rest were for him.  He pondered for a second about whether he should stop eating so much junk food and eat healthy foods instead.  He snarled at the idea and then walked out of the store.  The outside heat hit him like a sledgehammer as he exited.

 

He walked over to the bike rack and dropped the sack into the basket on the front of his bike and then backed his bike out of the rack.  He was getting ready to mount the bike when he heard Win’s voice.

 

“Why the sour face, Kitten?”

 

Team spun around to find Win leaning against the front of his car.  He looked relaxed with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles.  He smirked at Team.

 

Team quickly looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear Win calling him Kitten.  When he saw there wasn’t, he pushed his bike over to Win’s car.

 

“I wish you would stop all that Kitten crap.  You know I hate it!”

 

“What’s wrong with your feet?  You’re walking funny,” Win said, ignoring Team’s complaint.

 

Team sighed angrily, “These stupid shoes are too small and they hurt my feet.”

 

“Are the shoes too small or are your feet too big?” Win quipped.

 

“Fine!  It’s my feet, okay?  They won’t stop growing!  At this rate, I won’t have to worry about going to college after Secondary school…I can just join the circus.  They can sell tickets to people who want to view the world’s biggest feet!”

 

Win looked down at Team’s feet.  “They’re not so big.  Look!”  He put his foot next to Team’s, “Mine are bigger.  I have long thumbs, too.  I’ve got all the markings.”

 

“Markings?  Markings of what?”

 

Win lifted an eyebrow and smirked, “A big dick.  People see big feet and long thumbs and automatically assume…”

 

“Wait…is that true?”

 

Win threw back his head and laughed, “Are you asking me if I have a big dick?”

 

Team felt a wave of embarrassment and humiliation wash over him.  “NO!  God!  Of course I wasn’t asking that!  I meant…ugh…I meant do people really think things like that!”

 

Win nodded, “Yep, and to answer the question that you didn’t ask, I do have.”

 

Team looked at Win’s thumb and then looked down at his own.

 

Win snatched up Team’s hand and measured their thumbs, “Mine’s bigger here, too!”

 

Team jerked his hand away with a snarl.  “I think that’s just something you made up!”

 

Win shook his head, “I didn’t, honestly.”

 

“What are you doing here?”  Team wanted to change the subject to anything else.

 

“I’m waiting on Tee to get off work,” he said, tossing his head in the direction of the café next to the store.  “We’re meeting up with Job and the coach to plan the senior party next month.  We want to do a good job because it’s our turn next year.”

 

“I think it is stupid to have a party after your junior year.  It should be after your senior year!”

 

“Well, I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.” Win said and then added with a grin, “Sometimes!  But seriously, I can see the point of it.  You can only be in the swim club if you are in school.  The summer after you graduate, you can’t be in the swim club, so there would be no reason to have a party for non-members.  The summer before your final school year is your last year to be in the swim club.”

 

Team shrugged and looked at Win’s car, “Tee’s going to get sweat all over my seat and it will smell like his pits for a month.”

 

“Tell me something, do you hate everybody now?  You are always so cross anymore.”

 

Team thought about it for a second, “Sometimes I do.  I don’t know why, but yeah.”

 

“Even me?  Your best friend?” Win said with a slight frown.

 

Team thought, Oh no!  Of course not!  You never get on my nerves!, but when he opened his mouth he said, “Yeah, even you sometimes.  You can’t possibly understand how awful this crap is because it never happened to you.  And you make fun of me all the time for things I can’t help!  I feel awful and I hate that you make fun of me for it!”  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wanted to bite his tongue off.  Win had looked down at the ground while listening to him.  Team felt terrible and wanted to retract everything he had just said.

 

Win slid his phone out of his pocket and began to look through his pictures.  “You’re wrong,” he said quietly.  “I do know what this is like.  It happened to me too, you just don’t remember.”  He found the picture he was looking for and handed Team his phone.  Team looked down at the picture and saw it was the very first one they had taken together—the day that Team first got his cell phone.  Win pointed to the screen, “Look at my face.”

 

Team stretched the picture and looked at Win.  He saw that Win had pimples—Team counted them and saw that Win had four of them.  One on his forehead, two on his nose, and one big one on his cheek.  He felt flabbergasted.  He had seen this picture countless times and had never noticed that Win had pimples!

 

“You never noticed them, I can tell by your face.  And do you know why you didn’t?  It’s because we are friends.  Whenever we see each other, we aren’t looking for flaws or imperfections—we’re just glad to see each other,” Win said, taking his phone back from Team and returning it to his pocket.  Then he reached over and gripped Team’s shoulder with his hand.  “I do know how awful this is.  That’s why I teased you.  I was trying to make you see the funny side of it instead of dwelling on how awful it is.  Puberty doesn’t last forever and we all have to go through it.  I’m sorry that I made you feel bad.  It was never my intention.”

 

Team looked into Win’s eyes and knew he was sincere.  Team’s eyes prickled and he felt like he was going to burst into tears, right in the middle of the sidewalk, outside the grocery store.  He couldn’t do that!  So he just gave a small nod and looked away.

 

“There is no way to speed puberty up or to take it away, but I do know a way to treat it to make it more bearable.”  Win looked toward the store, “People don’t tell you about it; seems you are supposed to figure it out on your own, but I’ll help you.  Stay here and wait for me.  If Tee comes, tell him I’ll be right back.”  Win darted into the store without waiting for an answer.

 

He must have ran through the store because he was back out very quickly, clutching a bag tightly in his hands.  He trotted over and grabbed Team’s backpack and unzipped it.

 

“What are you doing?  What is that?” Team asked, trying to pull away from Win.

 

Win laughed, “You will find out when you get home!”  He grabbed at the backpack as Team frantically dodged his attempts.

 

“No!  Not until you tell me what that is!” Team said angrily.

 

Win leaned against Team’s shoulder, laughing so hard he scarcely made any noise.  He tried again to shove the sack into the backpack.  “Okay!  Okay!  I’ll tell you!  It’s lotion and tissues.”

 

Team stopped moving and frowned in puzzlement.  “Lotion and tissues?  How can they hel…” he paused as it dawned on him what Win was suggesting.  “Oh my God!  Get that shit out of my backpack!”  He lunged quickly to his right and Win lost his balance.  As he scrambled to catch himself, one of his fingernails raked across Team’s neck.

 

The sudden shock of the pain from that caused Team’s eyes to open widely.  His heart began to race and he felt a surge of some force he didn’t understand flowing through his veins.  It felt as if there were millions of bolts of lightening coursing through his body all at the same time, ending at the tips of his fingers and toes, which were left tingling.  He noticed the colors all around him became vivid and seemed almost alive.  He was so overwhelmed; he could scarcely catch his breath.

 

“Oh no!  I’m sorry, Team!” Win gasped.  He reached over with his thumb and rubbed the scratch.  “I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

 

Those odd feelings that Team had experienced with the scratch had begun to disappear, but when Win rubbed his thumb across the scratch, there was a tiny flash of pain.  It caused them all to awaken again.  He looked into Win’s eyes and mumbled, “It’s okay.  Don’t worry about it.”

 

The frown slowly eased from Win’s forehead and he rubbed the scratch again, this time a little bit rougher.  “I wouldn’t hurt you for the world,” he said, his eyes never leaving Team’s.

 

Team felt helpless and confused about the storm that was racing through his body.  He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from Win’s—almost as if he were being hypnotized by him.  He whispered, “It’s fine.  Just an accident.”

 

Win gave a small nod.  He didn’t say anything again, but he kept rubbing the scratch and staring deeply into Team’s eyes.

 

At some point one of them must have moved closer to the other because Team became aware that he could smell Win.  A very familiar smell, but somehow…it was new and different.  He smelled like the fresh breeze that blew in the window of the garage and watercolors and soft rain falling to the sound of guitar music.  He noticed that Win’s pupils had grown large and his nostrils flared a bit when he inhaled.  Team wondered if Win could smell him, too.  And all along, Win kept rubbing at the scratch on Team’s neck, dragging his thumb deeply and slowly on the scratch to make it sting.

 

Team heard running feet approaching them and it caused him to blink.  Win dropped his hand from Team’s neck, as Tee got nearer and said, breathlessly, “Sorry I’m late, Win!  That stupid manager had a million things for me to do before I could leave.  Hey Team!  Are you coming with us?”

 

Team turned his head in Tee’s direction and was hit with the smell of steamed vegetables, fish sauce, and old fried foods.  He could barely control his lip when it wanted to curl up at the smell, “No, I have to get home.”  Team could see that the world had returned to normal and the colors and sounds were drab and far away.  Even his own voice sounded as if it came from a distance.

 

Win took a few steps back and then scratched his head.  He pinched the bridge of his nose and then shook his head slightly.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys and tossed them at Tee.  “Go start the car; I’ll be there in a minute.”

 

“Yeah, hurry up though.  We are already late!” Tee said.  “See ya, Team!” He called over his shoulder as he hurried to Win’s car.

 

Win looked down at the sidewalk, “He really does stink.  I’ll buy some spray for the seat so it won’t stink the next time you go somewhere with me.  Which reminds me of what I was going to ask you when I saw you coming out of the store earlier.  There’s a fine arts festival in Rayong this weekend.  Just local amateurs, but I would really like to see their work.  Do you want to go with me?”

 

Team nodded, and then realized Win couldn’t see him since he was still looking at the sidewalk.  “Sure,” he said.

 

“Okay.  Cool.  We’ll just tell our folks we are going to the movies or something.”  He paused for a moment and then looked up at Team, “I really am sorry about the scratch.  Make sure you put something on it so it doesn’t get infected.  If it does, they will probably have to amputate your head or something.”  He grinned.

 

Team exhaled quietly and smiled back at him.  This felt normal and he welcomed it.  That other stuff had been confusing and disorienting.  “I will.  And seriously, don’t worry about it.  It’s just a small scratch.  No big deal.”

 

Win took off in the car with Tee and Team rode his bike home.  The entire way he kept going over things in his mind and asking himself “What was that?  What just happened?”, but he had no answers.

 

When he got home, he put the rice cakes on the counter in the kitchen and then went up to his room.  He dropped the bag of snacks on his bed and then shrugged off his backpack.  The sack that Win had tried so desperately to put in his backpack was hanging out of the top.  It was a wonder it hadn’t fallen out on his way home.  He pulled the sack out and dropped his backpack on his bed next to his snacks.

 

He opened the bag and saw that Win had been telling the truth.  Inside were a box of tissues and a bottle of lotion.  He shook his head in disgust and dropped the bag on top of his dresser.  He thought he would put them in with the house supplies his mom kept in the pantry.  He wandered into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror for a moment.  Again he wondered what had happened.  In his reflection he looked down at the scratch on his neck.  He reached up and touched it.  He thought about how Win’s face had looked as he had stroked the scratch.  Team ran his own thumb across it and felt a tiny flash of pain.

 

He turned from the mirror and ran back into his room.  He grabbed the sack from his dresser and then ran back into the bathroom with it.  He slammed the door and locked it behind him.

 

 

Chapter 9

Team had a very difficult time for months following that neck scratching event.  He began to dream about Win.  Dreams that made him feel ashamed and embarrassed when he woke up.  Dreams about being with Win.  Kissing Win.  And in some of the dreams…the ones that were the most upsetting to Team…in those dreams, Win was naked.

 

Team scolded himself incessantly about it, although he understood that a person cannot help what they dream, it still felt so wrong to him.  Win was his best friend.  Team admired him, respected him, and held him in his highest esteem.  In fact, Team cared about Win as much as he did his parents—and if he were absolutely honest, he probably cared about Win a bit more.

 

When he and Win were together, Team could push the dreams and the uncomfortable thoughts about him away.  For the most part, anyway.  Sometimes Win would smirk at him or toss his head a certain way or lick his lips, and those thoughts would rush right back to Team.  It was especially bad if Team saw Win scratch something with his nails.  Team would force himself to not see these things and to not think about them, but they always came back to him in his dreams.

 

Team decided that the best way to snap out of it was to find someone to crush on.  He reasoned that it would take the odd thoughts he had about Win and transfer them onto someone else.  Someone that Team would be okay with seeing in that light.

 

The problem with that was…nobody could compare to Win in his estimation.  He tried to like a boy that was on the football team with him.  He tried for weeks.  The guy was cute and nice and seemed to be interested in Team, but Team couldn’t make himself feel anything for the boy.

 

When he had free time and Win was busy, Team often hung around with Kwan.  Kwan even came with him sometimes when he had his study group with Jai and Mali.  Since Team had had a strong crush on Kwan before he met Win, he thought maybe the feelings he once had could come back.  They didn’t.  All he felt for Kwan was friendship.

 

After a time, he realized he was probably just overthinking everything.  He decided he was just a person who had reoccurring dreams—like the dolphin dream he had been having for years.  It didn’t mean anything.  So he stopped fighting it and stopped looking for another boy to fixate on, and just let himself relax.  And that is when it happened.

 

It was a Sunday afternoon.  He and Win were in the garage.  Win was painting and Team was sitting on the little stool, leaning his back against the wall, playing his guitar—a typical Sunday for them when Win’s mom had to work.

 

Team was playing the song “Best Part” and Win was singing to it as he painted.  Team always kept quiet and let Win sing the song solo, up until the last part of the song, and then they would harmonize together.

 

Team reached the section where he came in and he sang with Win, “If you love me won’t you say something…” and their voices blended so well that Win looked up from his painting and grinned at Team.

 

The light from the open window flowed in and bathed Win in a golden glow.  Team thought about how beautiful Win looked and then it hit him.  His body broke out in chills, even though the day was stifling hot.

 

Oh my God!  I’m in LOVE with him! The thought screamed in his head, and almost caused him to fall off the stool.  It did cause him to miss a note in the song.

 

Suddenly everything made sense.  The dreams, the thoughts, the feelings, and the confusion.  He was in love with Win.  But even as he realized what his feelings truly were, he knew that they weren’t new feelings.  He searched his mind to try to determine when they started.  He became aware of them when Win scratched his neck, but that wasn’t when they started.

 

Later that night, Team couldn’t sleep.  His mind kept running back through time to try to determine when he stopped feeling just friendship with Win.  He sat up and reached for his phone.  He opened his photos and began to search through them.  Each photo that he came to of them, he would search his mind for how he felt at that time.  And with each picture, he came up with the same answer—he loved Win then.  All the way back to their first picture together, the day Team got his first cell phone.

 

His mouth was dry with shock.  Always?  He had always loved Win?  Why didn’t he know?  His mind whispered the answer:  “You always knew.  You just didn’t want to know.”

 

He got up from his bed and went to look out the window.  He pulled back the curtain and peered at the tree that stood next to the wall on the periphery of his family’s property.  He remembered when Win used to grab the low-hanging limb and pull himself over the wall and join Team in his secret spot, late at night.  He often brought over some cheap liquor and the two of them would pass it back and forth and get roaring drunk.  Win would have to ride his bike home drunk and Team would have to sneak back in the house drunk, and both of them praying that neither of them would get caught.  They never did.

 

On Win’s 16^th birthday, his mother’s gift to him was a big surprise.  She matched the amount that Win had been saving for a car so that he was able to purchase it two years sooner than he had planned.  Once he got his car, the overnighters at each other’s houses stopped, along with the late night visits.

 

There were rumors that Win was dating his way through all the girls in his cheering section.  Team believed the rumors, especially when he would see one or another of the girls with red, swollen eyes set in a sad face, showing the world that she had been dated and dumped by Win.  But it didn’t stop them.  If anything, it made the other girls more determined to catch Win’s eye.  Team always supposed it was like the Cinderella effect.  Each one was certain that her foot would be the one to fit the glass slipper and win Win’s heart.

 

Team reached down and rubbed his stomach which had suddenly gotten very tense and fluttery.  He gave a slight shake of his head.  He had always felt like this whenever he thought about Win on his dates, he understood it now.  He was jealous.  He groaned at the idea.

 

He and Win never discussed the girls, and Team was more than happy about that.  He knew that it was because they didn’t really mean anything to Win.  But he knew that one day it was possible that one of them would be the right one.  He dropped the curtain and returned to his bed.

 

Yeah, he thought, maybe a part of me did always know I was in love with him.  But he’s straight.  I have no chance to ever be with him.

 

His eyes prickled hotly behind his closed lids.  “This sucks”, he whispered to himself.  He wished he had never figured out his feelings, because now that he knew, he had to face how hopeless the situation was.  It was so much better when he thought it was just hero-worship he felt.

 

Since he had just thought of Win’s birthday, he remembered the gift that he had given to Win.  At the party, he had given him a tee-shirt with the name of a local band.  Nobody at the party, except for he and Win, knew it was a joke gift.  Win hated the band.  He managed to act excited about his gift and Team excused himself to go to the bathroom.  Once he was out of sight from the party-goers, he sent Win a text that said, “Shelf”.

 

He waited a few minutes before returning to the party.  Win looked up at him with sparkling eyes.  He knew where his real gift was.

 

Later that evening, after the last person had gone home, Win had gone to the shelf.  Team had just gotten out of the shower and was preparing to go to bed when he got the text.

 

“My uncles finally left and I just now got to the shelf.  It is the best present in the whole world!”

 

Team had a hard time believing that, since Win’s mother had just bought him half a car, but he sent a smiley-face emoji back in answer to Win’s text.

 

For months Win had been reading everything online about painting with acrylic paints.  He was desperate to try it, but canvases were much more expensive than watercolor paper.  And the paints needed were expensive too.  But the most costly thing would be the brushes.  Win worked a few extra hours each week and put that money aside to buy what he needed.

 

Team had gone through a bit of a financial set-back during this time.  Auntie Manee had fallen while trying to retrieve something from a top shelf.  She wasn’t badly hurt, but it was enough that her daughter and grandson came back to the village and moved in with her.  They helped run the store so there was no longer a need for Team.  He had made a nice bit of money working for Auntie Manee, so it hurt him financially, but he knew her well enough to see that she was very happy to have her family living with her and helping her.  He was happy for her and often popped in for visits.

 

A short time after that, he lost two of his customers that he did lawn care for.  One was a widower who had died.  The other was an older woman who had had to be placed in a nursing home when she had become too senile to take care of herself any longer.

 

Team had been determined to buy Win the best set of professional paintbrushes for acrylic painting.  But they were super expensive.  He had a bit saved but with the loss of three of his jobs, it seemed hopeless.  He scurried around town, picking up odd jobs here and there, but as Win’s birthday had drawn closer, he was still low on funds.

 

One day, after his English class, he stayed behind to speak with his teacher.  He was in 9^th grade but was in the class for 11^th graders.  And he was the top student.  Many of them were already tutoring students, but he wouldn’t be able to work as a tutor until he was in 10^th grade.  He thought maybe the teacher would know about a few students he could tutor that weren’t wealthy enough to go to the tutoring center.

 

She was able to make him up a list very quickly.  “I know of these three 10^th graders, right off the top of my head.  But they may not want to work with you since they are all older than you.  But you can try.  Also, maybe check with the teacher in the lower Secondary school.  He would probably know of a few.  But…hold off on that.  Let me have a word with the tutoring center on your behalf.  Maybe they will have some spots open for a tutor’s helper.  It’s a shame that they are so strict about age there.  You are, by far, the best student in English, and you could end up working under a tutor whose only claim to the job is their age.”  She sighed, “I guess it can’t be helped.”

 

When Team approached the 10^th graders on the list the teacher had given him, none of them were willing to be tutored by him, as the teacher had predicted.  The lower Secondary English teacher suggested a few students and they were happy to hire him.  It took a week and a half for the tutoring center to respond to his request to be a tutor’s helper.  Only one of the tutors was open to working with him so Team could only work a couple of hours on Saturdays.  After a very short time, Team realized that the reason the tutor had agreed to allow Team to be his helper was because he was lazy.  He and Team were in the same English class and Team’s scores were always much higher.  Team realized that could have played a role in it too.  The boy couldn’t beat him in class, but due only to his age, he was Team’s superior at work.

 

Team had worried that he might have to borrow money from his parents to help with Win’s gift, and he hated that idea.  He hadn’t asked them for money since he had begun working.  Luckily, at almost the last moment, he got the money he needed and he purchased the brushes, and that was what Win had found waiting for him on the shelf on the night of his birthday.

 

Team lay in his bed, in the dark, but he smiled at that memory.  Once Win had the new brushes he gave up the watercolors and focused only on painting with acrylics.  And every time Win painted, he would rave about the brushes.  Team knew Win was overdoing it on the gratitude, but as Win pointed out, no one else knew that he was a painter, and with the price of canvases and paints, it would have taken him a long time to save up the money for the brushes too.

 

As that memory faded, more came back into his mind.  Times they had shared together—like the vacation where Win joined Team’s family when they all shared a cabin on the lake for a week, and them all together like that made them feel like a real family; secrets they had shared; their jokes that only they understood—so many moments that had forged an incredibly deep bond between them.  Team’s true feelings had been hidden from himself since the start; he knew he had to keep them hidden from Win always.  If Win knew how Team really felt, it would be the end of their friendship.  Team knew that he would be willing to fight to the death to protect what they had, so he would never put it into jeopardy.  He vowed to himself that he would never reveal how he felt.

 

 

Time went by and Team always kept his vow.  At some point, Win suddenly had his nights free again and he and Team went back to spending the nights playing video games together.  Sometimes Win would even hop the fence with a bottle for them to share.  Team understood this to mean that Win had given up chasing the girls from his cheering section.  He wondered why, but never asked.

 

The school year passed and fast on its heels, so did the summer break.  It was the last week before school would resume, and Team was looking forward to it.  He was finally going to be in the Upper Secondary school with Win.  Team’s first year there, and Win’s last year before college.

 

For the senior party of the summer Swim Club, the coach had decided to do something special for them.  He planned a weekend trip to Rayong for the senior boys.  The rest of the boys from Upper Secondary could attend but with the understanding that certain activities were only for the seniors.  At first Team had a bit of trouble convincing the coach to allow him to join the trip.  He wouldn’t technically be in Upper Secondary school until school resumed.  His argument to the coach was that the senior boys wouldn’t technically be seniors until school resumed either.  Finally, after much needling and a few talks with Win, the coach relented and gave permission for Team to come on the trip with the older boys.

 

By the time the weekend was over, Team was fed up.  It had been the worst weekend of his entire life!  The coach had gotten one of the fathers to come along on the trip to monitor the younger boys, while he stayed with the seniors.

 

The five younger boys were all in one large room that was filled with six sleeping cots, with one tiny TV in the corner of the room, and a bathroom with a single toilet and shower.  As soon as they entered the room, the father demanded that each of them turn over his cell phone.  He said that they were there to spend time together, not to be playing on their phones. 

 

The son of the man pulled them aside and clued them in about his father.  He said his dad always fell asleep early and slept like the dead.  Nothing would wake him once he went to sleep.

 

The boys pitched in some money, and once the guy was asleep that night, they sent the oldest looking boy out on a booze run.  Surprisingly, they had chosen the right boy for the job because he returned very quickly, loaded down with bottles.  Team thought that most guys would have taken their time, and hung out at a bar for a bit, before coming back.

 

The boys all gathered together on two neighboring cots, as far away from the loudly snoring father as they could get, and passed the bottles around.  In a short time, the alcohol seemed to loosen the boys’ tongues a bit.

 

“Why does your dad smell like an old, wet dog?” a boy named Gaen asked.  “I mean, you don’t and you live in the same house.”

 

Jintana, who was the son, nodded.  “It’s because we have an old dog.  He hates everybody except for the old man.  My mom has her own bedroom, she says it’s because dad snores and she can’t sleep.  The dog shares the room with him.”

 

Team was surprised at how calmly Jintana answered such a rude question.  If anyone ever said anything bad about his dad, even if it were true, Team would have punched him.

 

Jintana continued, “The old man is fat and squishy.  He is always sweaty, but his skin is cold.  It’s weird.  He reminds me of a slug.”  He took a big drink from the bottle.  “I know it sounds like I hate him, but I don’t, not really.  Hate implies a strong emotion.  I am basically emotionless when it comes to him.  He just repulses me.  I look at him and I think…there’s no way I came from those droopy, wrinkled balls.  My old lady had to have cheated on him and had me.  I refuse to think otherwise.”  He took another drink and then passed the bottle to another boy, “But he is stupid, so that helps.  If I had even a moderately intelligent father, I couldn’t get by with half the shit I do.”

 

Team stuck around the group for a bit longer before going to bed.  He was chilled by the things Jintana had said about his father.  He had heard people talking bad about their parents scores of times, it was a harmless way to vent, but Jintana’s words and lack of emotion gave Team a creepy feeling.  He watched the other boys in the group and saw that they seemed to be drawn to Jintana more after the things he had said.  Like they thought he suddenly became cooler in their eyes.  Team didn’t understand it.  He didn’t want to understand it.

 

They were awakened very early the next morning by Jintana’s father announcing that they had to be up and ready to go in ten minutes.  He had a big day planned for them.  When Team sat up, blinking in misery at the early morning light streaming in the windows, he felt his stomach rolling uncomfortably and his head was throbbing with the aftereffects of how much he had drank the night before.  He looked around at the other guys and saw that they looked as miserable as he felt.

 

With only ten minutes to be ready, there was no time for showers, so they just pulled on their clothes silently and followed Jintana’s father out of the room.  He was excitedly talking about their plans for the day.  He had arranged for a special breakfast, followed by a trip to the zoo.  Team frowned at that.  He hadn’t been to a zoo since he was a kid.  He turned around to see how this news was being accepted by the rest of the boys, and saw their expressions mirrored what he felt.  Jintana’s father obviously thought they were still children.  Team was the youngest of them, and he was only a few months away from his sixteenth birthday, too old to be excited about a trip to the zoo.  He looked at Jintana briefly to try to determine what he was thinking.  Jintana’s face was blank and he was walking like a robot.  Team guessed it was because of his hangover.

 

Jintana’s father had reserved a private room off of the main dining room in the hotel.  It was nice but super small.  The table was designed to hold four people, so they had to squish in another person on each side.  The wait staff brought in several covered platters and placed them in the center of the table.  When they removed the lids, the smell of the food filled the air.  It smelled nauseating to Team and a quick glance around the table confirmed it did to the other guys too.

 

The father kept encouraging the boys to not be shy and to dig in.  For himself, he was confining himself to a small bowl of yogurt and fruit.  He admitted that he was getting into the time of his life where he needed to start watching what he ate.  He instructed that it was a lot easier to keep weight off than to try to get rid of it once it had taken hold.  Team cast a quick glance at the man’s waistline and thought he had waited a bit too late to start worrying about preventing a big waistline.

 

He dipped a small portion of scrambled eggs onto his plate.  The last thing he wanted was food, but he was aware that the man was watching them closely.  Team took small bites of the eggs and tried to swallow them down quickly to avoid keeping them in his mouth for very long.  He finally finished and placed his napkin on the table.

 

“Oh!  Come on, Team!  I know you can eat more than that!” Jintana’s father argued.

 

“Sorry Uncle!  I don’t usually eat breakfast,” he lied.  “That was the most I could eat.”

 

The man nodded and then began encouraging the other boys to eat more.  Eventually the meal was over and he hustled them outside for a ‘surprise’, which ended up being a minibus.  They were to ride to the zoo in it.  They boarded the bus and found themselves crushed together, two-by-two, in tiny seats—very obviously designed for children’s zoo trips.  Not constructed for the longer legs and broader shoulders of the young men.

 

Team’s seatmate was Nuu, who kept nodding off during the ride.  His head kept landing on Team’s shoulder.  Team would push him away and Nuu would then lean his head against the window.  As soon as the bus bumped or veered, Nuu’s head would return to Team’s shoulder.

 

He wished he had his phone.  He wanted to check his messages to see if Win had sent him anything.  He also would have loved to play a game or something.  Being without his phone was torture for him.  The night before, the boys had searched the room a few times but nobody could locate them.  Jintana’s father had hidden them well.  Team suspected that the man had them under his pillow or at least somewhere on the bed with him.  Keeping guard, even while he slept.

 

Team was bored.  He felt awful.  And he was pissed.  If he would have known that he wouldn’t see Win on this trip, he never would have come on it.  He thought about how much he and Win had begged the coach to let him come along and he ground his teeth in anger.  Nuu’s head swung over and landed on his shoulder again.  Team shoved him back to the window and looked around at the others.  Gaen and Pui shared a seat and they were both asleep.  In the seat in front of them, Jintana and his father were sitting.  Jintana sat upright, seeming to stare straight ahead.  Probably looking through the windshield at the road ahead, Team guessed.  Jintana’s father was awake, too.  He and the bus driver were chatting together.  Team couldn’t hear them very well, just the sound of their voices, so he didn’t know what the conversation was about.

 

The zoo was only about twenty miles away from the hotel, so it didn’t take long to arrive.  The boys all shuffled slowly out of the van.  There was a halfhearted debate on where to go first.  Jintana’s father had suggested things like face painting or the bird show, obviously still under the impression they were children.  But the group decided to visit the large primate house instead.

 

Once inside the primate house, the smell of the gorilla piss was overwhelming.  Team tried to casually hold his hand over his lower face to block the smell.  It made him feel a bit like throwing up.

 

Gaen approached the glass wall that separated the visitors from the gorillas.  A big silverback gorilla approached the glass from the other side.  They had a bit of a staring contest for a few moments.  Team moved around so that he was in a good position to view it.  The silverback rose up to his full height and snarled his lip at Gaen.

 

“Damn!” Gaen whispered.  “I’m glad this glass is between us or that old bastard would have my guts for garters!”  And then he roared with laughter.  Suddenly, as a surprise to everyone, Gaen violently projectile vomited onto the glass wall.

 

Team happened to be looking at the gorilla at the time the vomit hit the glass.  The silverback dropped down to a squat and stared in confusion at the glass.  He scuttled off in the opposite direction, darting confused looks back over his shoulder.  Team cupped his hands around his lower face to try to hold in his laughter.  It didn’t work.  He could barely stand up against the force of his giggles.  Once the gorilla had retreated into a hiding spot on the other side of the enclosure, Team peeked at the guys to see if they had seen what he had.

 

They hadn’t.  Apparently once Gaen vomited, Nuu and Pui joined in.  The three of them were standing in puddles of vomit, while Jintana’s father was tending to them.  He was frantic with worry.

 

Team looked at Jintana who was standing a few feet away, watching the scene.  He met Team’s eyes and for a second, Team thought he was looking into the eyes of a corpse.  Jintana’s eyes were dark and dead.  There was no emotion in them at all.  Jintana blinked and then looked away.

 

“Team?  What’s going on with the boys?  Are you sick too?” Jintana’s father asked urgently.

 

Team took his cupped hands away from his nose and mouth to answer.  When he did, the smells of the gorilla piss and the boys’ vomit hit him hard.  His stomach rolled and he knew that he was going to be the next one to puke.  “I think it was the eggs!” he mumbled quickly and then sprinted across the room to the trash can.

 

Jintana strolled past Team while he was throwing up in the trash can and entered a doorway a few feet away.  Team saw it was the men’s room and cringed.  If he had realized he was so close to the restroom, he wouldn’t have barfed in the trashcan.  Team leaned his back against the wall and tried to breathe in some air that didn’t smell like vomit or primate pee.  He didn’t have much luck.  A few moments later, he was throwing up in the trashcan again.

 

This time when he looked up, he saw Jintana leading his father and the boys to the men’s room.  As he neared Team, he stopped and handed Team a bottle of water.  “Do you think it’s passed for you now?”

 

Team unscrewed the cap from the bottle and took a drink.  He nodded, “I could use some more sleep though.  This headache is a killer.”

 

Jintana nodded.  “Same with me.  Probably the same with the other guys too.  They are in there getting cleaned up now.  I wanted to thank you for your fast thinking.  Since you blamed the eggs, my father thinks we all have food poisoning.  He’s going to take us back to the hotel as soon as they get cleaned up.”

 

Team nodded and took another drink.  He looked back over at the gorilla section and saw that the custodial crew where there, cleaning up the mess.

 

“Now you see what I meant,” Jintana said.  “He is just such a loser.  Imagine thinking that taking guys our age to the zoo was some magical, exciting thing.”

 

Team shrugged, “Yeah, but…I mean…well, his intentions were good.  He thought we would have fun.”

 

Jintana exhaled slowly, “I believe the saying is, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’.”  He turned to look at Team, “We are practically adults, and he is treating us like we are in Primary school.  It is galling.  And it is indicative of who he is—weak and lame.”

 

They got back on the bus and the bus driver handed them each a small stack of bags.  There were instructions on the bags for how to used them incase of vomiting or diarrhea.  They even had tiny drawings on them to illustrate how it was to be done.  For some reason, the picture of the person holding the bag on their butt and shitting in it cracked him up.  He tried to keep his face expressionless as he gulped down the laughter that wanted to explode from his throat.

 

They took back their original seats and Nuu resumed his nap from earlier that had been interrupted.  Team spent the journey back to the hotel, internally laughing at the cartoon figure on the bag, and shoving Nuu’s head off his shoulder.

 

Pui threw up in one of the little bags shortly before they reached the hotel, but Team imagined that for the rest of them, that part was over.  The father had the bus driver stop at a drug store close to the hotel and he ran in to get medicines he thought they would need and he disposed of Pui’s used bag in the trash can outside the store. When they arrived back at their hotel, they returned their unused bags to the bus driver. Team secretly kept one to show to Win later.

 

As soon as they got back to their room, the father told them all to put back on their sleeping clothes because they were going to go back to bed.  No one argued.  All of them needed the extra sleep to get rid of their hangover headaches.  After they were all settled into their beds, he came around and gave them each two Tylenol.

 

Team fell asleep immediately.  When he woke up, he looked at the bed next to him and saw Jintana sitting up and eating something from a tray.  “It’s lunch,” he said, indicating his tray.  “Do you feel up to eating now?”

 

Team’s stomach gave a huge growl in response.  He rubbed his eyes and nodded.

 

“Dad!” Jintana called, “Team’s awake now.  He thinks he could eat something.”

 

Jintana’s dad hurried over to Team’s bed, “Is that true?” he asked and he placed his hand on Team’s forehead, “Good!  You don’t seem to have a fever either!  I think we might have beaten this mess before it got set in!  Give me a minute to heat yours up and I will bring it right to you, okay?”

 

“Thank you, Uncle,” Team replied and he sat up to wait.  He looked at the beds across from his and saw the three other boys playing a game with cards.  Seeing them playing a game made him miss his phone again.

 

“Here you go!” the uncle approached him carrying a tray.  “Don’t eat too quickly, and don’t force yourself.  If you feel even the slightest bit sick, stop, okay?”

 

Team nodded and thanked the man.  He looked down at the tray.  There was a small bowl of broth, a small stack of crackers, some dry toast, and a bottle of water.

 

“After you’ve finished eating, I’ll come back to get the tray and to give you some more Tylenol.  It seems to be working well for the other boys,” The man walked back to his place near the TV and resumed watching the show that Team had interrupted.

 

“Is he kidding about this?  This isn’t food!” Team whispered to Jintana.

 

Jintana gave him a slight smile, “You can blame yourself for it.  The food poisoning story was yours.”

 

Team shrugged, “I had to say something.  I couldn’t very well tell him we all drank too much last night.”

 

Jintana nodded, “But now we are stuck with eating light foods.  He did say that if everyone kept down this, tonight we would get the same thing, but maybe have a side of rice with it.”  He grinned, “We’ll just wait until he goes to sleep and order in some real food then.”

 

Team sighed.  He smashed up the crackers and put them into the broth.  He stirred it a bit and the broth thickened into something that slightly resembled soup.  He began to shovel it into his mouth.  It tasted like watery crackers, but he was starving, so he ate it.

 

“Slow down!” Jintana hissed.  “He’s stupid, but he isn’t that stupid!  You have been sick, remember?  Eat slowly.”

 

“I’m starving!” Team whispered back.

 

“I know.  We all are, but you have to continue with the act.  Now slow down!”

 

Team took little nibbles on his dry toast, sipped slowly from his water bottle, and only filled his spoon half full with each bite.  By the time he was finished with the food on his tray, his appetite was fully awake and ready for some real food.  Jintana had joined the card game with the others across the room by the time Team returned his tray and received his Tylenol.  He didn’t need the Tylenol as his headache had gone, but he took it anyway.

 

He sat with the guys and watched them play for a while.  They offered to deal him in but he wasn’t interested.  He wandered over to the TV area and sat down on the floor and watched for a while.  Jintana’s father had the TV on a channel that played old sitcoms 24/7.  Team thought it was probably because he thought it was the most appropriate thing for kids to watch.

 

As Team watched them, he kept thinking that most of these plots wouldn’t work in today’s society.  A lot of them were about missing calls or not being able to get in touch with someone.  All you would have to do now is call their cell phone.  And the thought of his cell phone not being available to him was depressing.  He got up from the floor and went back to bed.

 

He laid there and stared at the ceiling.  He wondered what Win was doing on his trip.  Team had honestly thought that they would be together at least part of the weekend.  He wished he had stayed home.

 

He could see the TV from his bed.  He couldn’t hear it very well though.  It didn’t matter.  He just laid there and daydreamed about Win.  If he were there with Team, even this horrible weekend would be great.  They would make it that way.

 

Eventually, what seemed like a million years later, the cart with their dinners on it arrived.  As Jintana had told him, it was the same meal that they had had for lunch, but with the bonus of a tiny bowl of rice.  Jintana’s father, who had not gotten food poisoning, had a roast pork dinner.  The smell of it was driving Team insane with hunger, as he slowly spooned up his broth and nibbled his toast.  Even the plain, flavorless rice was a blessing to his poor, starving stomach.

 

After the meal was over, the father grinned at the boys.  “I have a surprise for you!”  He opened up the hotel room’s mini fridge and pulled out a covered tray.  Team silently wished, please be pizza!  But when the man removed the cover with a flourish, Team saw that the tray contained five little cups of orange gelatin.

 

The boys all looked at each other and then quickly looked away.  Team knew that they were thinking the same thing that he was.  They wanted food.  Real food.  Solid food.  But he noticed that they all smiled and thanked the man as he gave them their cup of gelatin.  All of them except for Jintana, who just stared down at his hands in his lap.

 

After dinner, they drew numbers to determine the order of their showers.  Team drew the last spot.  He pretended to be angry about it in front of the other guys, but really, he was fine with it.  He actually didn’t mind the order they took their showers in, but he did mind the rule that Jintana’s father imposed on it.  They were only allowed to be in the bathroom for ten minutes.  Team was one who enjoyed taking long showers.

 

The boys all went back to the bed where they had been playing cards.  In low voices they began to plot about waiting until Jintana’s father fell asleep and then smuggling in a pizza to share.  Some of them still had money left after the booze run but some didn’t.  The ones who did would pick up the cost and the broke boys could repay later.  After they had their plans made, Team felt relieved, and he was sure the others did too.  It was awful to be so hungry!  Then he had an idea.  He told the others that he was going to lie down to wait on his turn for the showers.  The other guys resumed their card game and one by one they were called for their turn at the shower.

 

Team never went anywhere unprepared, and he was grateful for that trait as he lay down on his bed.  He pulled the covers up to his chin and then rolled over on his stomach.  He reached under the bed and located his suitcase.  He quietly slid it out and opened it.  He rummaged around until he found the bag of potato chips and the candy bar he had hidden in it.  He knew he would be able to survive waiting for the pizza much better if he had a snack.  He wrapped them in the clothes he was going to change into, and pulled the bundle up under the covers with him.  He reached back down to the floor and closed the suitcase.  He quietly slid it back under the bed.

 

When it was his turn for the bathroom, he turned the shower on as soon as he entered the room, and then he ate his chips.  He washed them down with water from the sink that he had captured in his cupped hands.  Then he broke the candy bar in half.  He shoved part of it in his mouth and entered the shower.  He washed his hair and then his body as quickly as he could.  When he was done, he wrapped up in a towel and ate the other half of his candy bar.  He dried himself and dressed before brushing his teeth.  Before he left the bathroom, he put the candy wrapper inside the potato chip bag.  He folded the potato chip bag down as small as he could and then wrapped it in toilet paper before putting it in the trash can.  He grabbed a few handfuls of toilet paper and got them damp from water from the sink.  He put the wet toilet paper blobs down on top of the wrapped potato chip bag.  That way if someone were to dig through the trash can, they would get a nasty feeling from the wet blobs.  It might deter them from digging further, but, even if they did, he knew they wouldn’t be able to link the evidence to him.

 

The rest of the evening the boys played cards and watched TV, with stealthy eyes on the clock, counting down the hours until Jintana’s father would go to bed and they could get their pizza.  Every time Team looked at the clock, he felt his stomach rumble in protest that it was taking so long.  He wondered how bad it was for the other guys who hadn’t snuck in a snack with them to the bathroom.

 

At exactly ten o’clock, Jintana’s father announced it was bed time, to the boys’ unpleasant surprise.  He stated that they had to be up early for the bus and reminded them that they were all sick.  He insisted that they needed the rest.

 

Grumbling under their breaths, they did as they were told.  Team was glad that his bed faced the TV.  At least he could still watch it while they waited for the man to fall asleep.  Only a few of the others were as fortunate.

 

No sooner had he cheered himself with that thought when Jintana’s father turned the sound of the TV down low.  So low that Team could no longer hear it.  The man pulled his chair up closer to the TV.  Team had a sinking feeling when he saw that.  It was something that his own parents might do if they intended on staying up all night with him while he was sick.

 

Eventually he fell asleep.  His growling stomach woke him up a few times during the night.  Each time he could see that Jintana’s father was still sitting near the TV, awake and alert in case one of the boys needed him during the night.  Team thought it was very frustrating, but it was also very nice of the man.  He thought they were all actually sick and was doing everything he could do to make them better.

 

The father awakened the boys in the morning with the announcement that he had ordered breakfast.  They needed to be up and dressed before it arrived.  No time for showers.

 

There was some mild grumbling, but they did as they were told.  And it wasn’t long before room service arrived with their breakfast on a rolling cart.  Team was hoping for a big plateful of…something.  Anything really.  He couldn’t remember ever being this hungry before.

 

They each got a small bowl of yogurt with a tiny amount of granola sprinkled on the top.  The father explained that the probiotics in the yogurt would help their stomachs to heal.  Also, he wanted to make sure they didn’t overeat since the bus ride home would take at least an hour, but could be a couple of hours, depending on the traffic.

 

If there was one food on earth that Team could not stand, it was yogurt.  Nevertheless, he ate every bit of it.  It didn’t put a dent into his hunger.  If anything, it made him feel even hungrier than before he started.

 

After ‘breakfast’, they were instructed to gather up all of their belongings and head outside to wait for the bus to take them home.  As they reached the double doors leading to the driveway outside, their phones were returned to them.  Team quickly turned his on, only to find that the battery was at two percent charge.  He had to stifle the groan that wanted to escape his lips.

 

He saw Win sitting on a bench outside, with his suitcase on the ground next to his feet.  When Team and his group were finally dismissed and the doors to the outside were allowed to be opened, Win leapt to his feet and hurried over to Team.

 

“Are you mad at me?” Win asked, “I know that we didn’t see each other this weekend, but it wasn’t my fault!  I wanted to see you, but Coach wouldn’t let us!”

 

Team frowned slightly, “I’m not mad at you…”

 

“Then why didn’t you answer my texts?  You didn’t even read them!”

 

They had made their way back to the bench where Win had been sitting.  Team put his suitcase next to Win’s and then sat down on the bench.  The sun bounced off the blacktop of the driveway and hit him in the eyes.  He squinted against it and felt a headache coming on.  No doubt from lack of food.  The father had given them Tylenol every six hours the day before.  He hadn’t given them any this morning.  Team could have used some.  “The uncle took our phones as soon as we met him on Friday.  He just now returned them.  Look,” he showed the dim screen to Win, “The battery is almost dead.”

 

“Oh!  Good!  I’m glad you aren’t mad at me,” Win said.  He opened his suitcase and rummaged around in it.  He pulled out a portable phone charger, “Here, you can use this.”

 

“Thanks,” Team said as he plugged his phone into it.  Then he leaned back on the bench with a sigh.  “So, did you have a good time this weekend?”

 

“No!  It was terrible!” Win said.

 

“Wait,” Team said, holding up a hand, “No matter how bad yours was, I bet mine was worse.  You can’t top it.  We all got drunk Friday night and on Saturday, everybody was throwing up.  Some fool decided to tell the uncle that we had food poisoning, so we were restricted to our room and barely allowed to eat the rest of the weekend.”

 

Win sat down on the bench beside him and laughed, “Let me guess…could that fool possibly live in your house, wear your clothes, and answer to the name ‘Team’?”

 

Team shrugged and then grinned, “Well I had to tell him something!  At first it seemed like a genius explanation.  He hadn’t eaten the eggs, but we had, so I blamed it on the eggs.  I didn’t know he was going to starve us the rest of the weekend.  We were going to chip in and buy a pizza once he went to sleep last night —but he sat up all night, preparing to tend to us if we needed it.  Now I am starving to death and my head hurts.”

 

“Aww!  You poor baby!” Win said.  He only said it half mockingly.  The other half actually felt bad for Team, Team could tell it by his tone.  “Come on,” Win said, opening his arms, “Rest here against me for a bit.  It might help your headache.”

 

Team turned on the seat and then leaned back against Win.  He had one foot on the ground and the other leg was extended the full length of the bench.  Win wrapped his arms around Team and Team closed his eyes and sighed.  He thought how this moment made up for every bad thing that had happened over the weekend.

 

“Hey guys!  You look cute!  Let me take your picture!” Team recognized the voice as Tee’s but he didn’t open his eyes.  “Come on, Team!  I know you’re awake so open your eyes!” Tee coaxed.

 

Team opened his eyes partway and tossed up a peace sign.

 

“That’s a great picture!” Tee said enthusiastically.

 

“Send it to me, please,” Win requested.

 

“Will do!  I suppose you heard about the bus, right?” Tee asked.

 

“No, what about the bus?  Did something happen?” Win asked.

 

“Not really.  It is stuck in traffic.  Probably will get here in about ten minutes or so.  I thought I would take some pictures of the place before we take off.  I never thought to earlier and my mom will want to see them when I get home.  See ya!”

 

“Uhm,” Win said.  Team felt movement so he guessed that Win had nodded his head.

 

Team opened his eyes a bit to see if Tee had really left.  He wasn’t around and Team was on the verge of closing his eyes again when his glance fell upon Jintana.  He was standing on the other side of the courtyard, talking very animatedly to a group of guys he had gathered around him.  Team frowned at that.  “Hia?” he said quietly.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“There is something not right about Jintana,” Team said in a hushed voice.

 

Win matched it when he asked, “What do you mean?  Did he do something?”

 

Team thought about it for a moment.  “Well, no…not exactly.  It was more like a feeling I got from him.  Like…he was talking really bad about his dad—not the normal kind of bad stuff—but like he’s really disgusted by him.  And then one time I looked at him when he didn’t know anyone could see…this will sound weird…but—his eyes looked empty.  Or maybe dead is a better word.  I don’t know.  All I know is, when I saw that, it gave me the creeps.”

 

“Eww, really?  I don’t like that.  It sounds like he could be a psychopath!” Win declared.  “Stay away from him.  Keep off his radar.”

 

Team nodded, “I intend to.  But I really think the only one who he focuses on is his dad.  But…like…what can I do about it?  Teenagers often talk crap about their folks.  And noticing an odd expression in someone’s eyes…the cops won’t investigate something like that.”

 

“No, they won’t,” Win agreed.  “There’s really nothing you can do.”

 

Team nodded and then closed his eyes.  He thought how he wouldn’t be surprised if Jintana went after his dad one day.  Then his thoughts went back to his stomach.  “I am going to starve to death before I get home.”

 

Win chuckled, “No, you’re not!  My car is in the Swim Club’s parking lot.  As soon as we get off the bus, we will jump into the car and go to the Lonely Dolphin and you can order as much food as you want!  We need to celebrate this weekend being over.”  He reached over and pinched Team’s cheek, which was something he did constantly.  Team always pretended he hated it, but he secretly loved it.  Win stopped in mid pinch and slowly let go.  “Team?” he asked as he ran his palm over Team’s cheek.  “Whiskers?”

 

“Yeah, six guys, one bathroom.  I didn’t have time to shave.”

 

“For how many days?”

 

Team laughed, “Well..two, obviously!  Yesterday and today.”

 

“This?” Win said, running his fingernails against Team’s whiskers, making a scraping sound, “This is only two days growth?!!”

 

“Yeah, I shaved Friday before I left the house.  Why?"

 

“Why?  Well, because I am shocked.  I don’t have to shave every day.  And two days growth on me doesn’t feel like this!  Mine is barely noticeable after only two days!”

 

Team reached up and patted Win gently on the hand.  “Don’t worry about it little fella!  One day you will grow up and become a man….just like me!”  He ended his speech with a giggle.  His stomach gave a mighty roar in response.

 

“Let me up,” Win ordered.

 

Team sat up quickly and scanned Win’s face for signs of anger.  He had only been kidding but was afraid he had upset Win.

 

Win stood up and then patted his back pocket where he kept his wallet.  “I’ll be right back.  If the bus comes, don’t let it leave without me.”  Without waiting for an answer, he took off running across the drive and then onto the sidewalk outside the hotel property.  Within seconds, he was out of sight.

 

Team stared in stunned disbelief for a while and watched the driveway to see if Win was returning.  He only looked away a few times to check if the bus was arriving.  Neither of them appeared.

 

After a bit he realized that his phone was next to him.  He turned it on and saw that it was over halfway charged.  He looked around and didn’t see Win’s phone anywhere, so he assumed Win must have it with him.  He was in the process of calling Win, when he suddenly came running back up the drive.  He had a bag in one hand and a take-out cup in the other.  As he ran, he turned to look around the driveway.  Team knew that he was looking to see if the bus had arrived yet.

 

“Here,” he said breathlessly as he pushed the bag into Team’s hands, “Eat this before the bus gets here.”

 

Team took the cup from his hands and pulled the lid off, “Drink some of this before you pass out!”

 

Win grabbed it and took a few drinks before passing it back to Team.  Team had already pulled the food from the bag and examined it.  A double cheeseburger and a large order of fries.  He unwrapped the cheeseburger and used its wrapper as a placemat.  He ripped the cheeseburger in half and then poured out the fries on the wrapper.  He handed Win half of the cheeseburger.  “Help me!  I can’t eat all of this in just a few minutes.”

 

“Don’t forget, I’ve seen you eat!” Win quipped.  But he sat down on the other side of the wrapper placemat and accepted the half of sandwich.  He pulled the tomato and onion off the bun and handed them to Team, who wolfed them down.

 

They shared the fries and passed the drink between them.  The bus was kind enough not to show up in the middle of their feast.

 

After they finished with everything, Win gathered up their garbage and took it to the public trash can.  When he returned, Team was unplugging his phone from the charger.

 

“It’s fully charged now.  I can’t wait to read your texts!” Team said with a grin.  “You haven’t told me anything about your trip.”

 

“You haven’t told me much either.” Win countered.

 

“Okay, I will tell you the best part of the weekend, aside from now, which is actually the very best part.  The second best part was the gorilla’s reaction.”

 

“Gorilla?  Where did you see a gorilla?  And reaction to what?”

 

Team laughed, “I guess I forgot about that part.  Okay, so yesterday morning, the uncle woke us up early.  We had been up really late, drinking, so nobody wanted to get up.  Uncle had reserved a private room in the dining hall for breakfast, and it was tiny.  We were all crowded in there together.  He ate a little cup of yogurt and fruit, and insisted we eat this huge breakfast he had ordered.  Then he dragged us off to the zoo.  Can you imagine that?  He thought we would like it.  Anyway, we voted to go to the primate house.  Gaen was closest to the glass wall, and for some reason, this big silverback gorilla didn’t seem to like him…”

 

“The gorilla has good taste…” Win mumbled.

 

Team grinned, “Anyway, the gorilla started coming at Gaen, and it seemed like he was in defense mode.  I was watching the gorilla, not Gaen so I didn’t see it happen, but he suddenly projectile vomited on the glass.  The gorilla didn’t seem to know what had happened or what to do.  He got close to the ground and started away.  He kept looking back over his shoulder.  I guess to make sure Gaen wasn’t following him.”  By the time Team finished, both he and Win were almost rolling with laughter.  “Anyway, once Gaen puked, all the rest of us did too.  That’s why I told the uncle it was the eggs.  We had to leave immediately and go back to the hotel.”  He pulled out the bag he had kept from the bus.  “We all got a stack of these, but we had to give back what we didn’t use.  I kept one because I wanted you to see how to handle diarrhea on public transportation.”

 

Win examined the drawing on the bag, “Oh my God!  So you are supposed to pull down your pants and hold this bag open on your ass crack?!”  The two of them laughed until they collapsed against each other.

 

“Okay,” Team said when he could catch a breath, “Your best thing this weekend?”

 

“Besides this?”

 

“Of course,” Team said, “I clarified that before I told you about the silverback.  Your turn now!”

 

“We were supposed to go Zip lining,” Win said.

 

“Hey!  No fair!  Zip lining versus the zoo?  Are you kidding me?” Team protested.

 

“I said supposed to go.  When we got there, an inspector was in the office.  He closed it down due to the place not following safety rules.  So the Coach took us fishing instead.  He chartered a boat for a few hours and the captain took us to this spot that was renowned for having the best catches in the lake,” Win paused and looked around quickly and then resumed his story in a quieter voice.  “We had only been out on the lake for a short time when Tee got seasick.  I don’t even know how it happened because the lake was calm, but I guess not calm enough for Tee.  He ended up laying down on one of the benches the entire time.  The captain had to take us from place to place because the fish weren’t biting.  Near the end of the time, I finally caught a fish.  I was the only one who had, so I was feeling pretty good about myself.  But the captain took a look at it and threw it back into the water.  He said it was too small.”

 

“Was it?” Team asked.

 

“Well, not if you were comparing it to a guppy.  My fish was much bigger than that.  But if you were comparing it to a minnow, I think it would be a tie.  Anyway, we got back to the dock and when we were getting Tee up from the bench, one of the guys realized that Tee had leaned his fishing pole against the side of the boat instead of putting it away.  They had to reel in his line, and when they did, they realized he had caught a fish that was 12 ½ pounds!  So he was the hero.  Coach gave it to the hotel chef and it was served to us for dinner.  I hate to admit it, but it was the best tasting fish I ever ate!”

 

“Wow, if that was the best part of your weekend, I would hate to hear the worst part!” Team said with a grin.

 

“You don’t have to hear it.  You can read it.  That’s when I was sending you all the texts.”

 

Team opened his text messages and began to read.  “Eww!  Coach took you to a stripper bar?  That’s gross!”

 

“I know!  I was there!  Keep reading.”

 

“‘There is a dancer here that looks like a girl in my History class.  Coach keeps giving her money.  I am disgusted!  He’s married and this dancer looks way too young to be here.’  Wow, he isn’t a good role model, is he?”

 

“Nope!  When we left there, he took me aside and said he took us there because it is something dads do for their sons and he knows I don’t have a dad.  I thought about it and I think he is insane.  Your dad is the best dad I know of, and I can’t picture him taking you to a place like that.  Can you?”

 

“No way!  He respects my mom too much to go to a place like that.  And if he dared to take me there, my mom would cut off his feet and feed them to him for breakfast!”

 

“Yeah, maybe the coach’s dad took him and now he thinks that all dads do.  I don’t know.  All I know is it is disgusting to sit next to a grown, married man and know that he is getting turned on by young women, who might not actually be old enough to work in a place like that.  You can skip the rest of the messages.  It’s just me asking you why you haven’t read my texts and asking if you are mad.”

 

Team scrolled through them and saw that Win was telling the truth.  He was a bit surprised at how many messages there were though.  He found that he quite liked it.

 

The bus finally arrived then.  They grabbed their suitcases and joined the others in the line to board the bus.  Team looked back over his shoulder at Win.  “Thanks so much for the food.  My stomach has finally calmed down a bit.  But…that doesn’t get you out of buying me lunch once we get back to the village.  This was just a snack.”

 

“Hey, no way!  If that wasn’t enough food for you, then you have to buy when we go!”

 

Team nodded, “Okay, I’ll buy.”

 

Win poked him in the back.  “Shut up!  I invited you; I’m paying!”

 

Team grinned and got on the bus.

 

He fell asleep shortly after they were on the road.  When he woke up, he kept still and studied Win who was staring at something on his phone.  He was frowning, whether in concentration or because he didn’t agree with something.

 

Team’s curiosity got the better of him so he had to ask, “What are you reading?”

 

Win startled and turned off his phone before answering.  “The mating habits of ring-tailed lemurs in Madagascar.”

 

Team scoffed, “If it’s none of my business, just say so.”

 

Win nodded, “It’s none of your business.  No, I’m kidding.  I wasn’t really reading anything special.  I was sitting here thinking how I wished I had a seatmate who didn’t fart in his sleep.”

 

“I did not!” Team objected with a laugh.

 

“Well, something sure smells like onions around here.”

 

“Your breath, maybe!”

 

“I didn’t eat them, remember?  I gave them to you.  So it is either your breath or your ass that smells horrible.  Isn’t it a shame that I can’t tell the difference?”

 

Team didn’t have an answer so he just giggled.

 

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot, probably because of all the onion fumes, but Tee sent that picture he took of us.  It’s a pretty good one,” Win opened his phone and went to his saved pictures folder, “Here.”

 

Team looked at it and smiled.  It really was a good picture.  He handed Win back his phone, “Send it to me, okay?”

 

Win nodded and Team heard the ding of his phone when it arrived.

 

“You can go back to sleep if you want.  We’re only about halfway home.  I can deal with your sleep stench a bit longer, if I have too.”

 

“How about we play our video game, Pool Noodle?  I haven’t gotten to play any all weekend,” Team complained.

 

Win sighed dramatically, “I don’t know.  That article on the mating habits of ring-tailed lemurs in Madagascar is pretty interesting reading.  But…I guess I can pull myself away from it for a bit.”

 

They played their favorite game the rest of the way home.

 

 

Chapter 10

The school year started out better than Team had even imagined it would.  And he had imagined it a lot over the years.  The last time he and Win were in the same school together was two years before, and it had been Team’s favorite year of school.  He had been coming to the Upper Secondary school for two years for English classes and was always in Win’s class, but that wasn’t the same thing as being in the same school together, all day, every day.  Now they got to hang out in the halls together before school and in between classes.  They got to eat lunch together everyday too.  Well, actually, Team sat with the graduating swimmers—but Win was a part of that group and they allowed Team to join them.  They didn’t let any of the other underclassmen join them at their table, so Team did feel special.

 

Win picked up Team every morning for school.  He also drove him home after school on days when one or the other didn’t have any activities—but usually one of them did.  Win was always stressing the importance of having a well-rounded school experience—if for no other reason than it looked good on college applications.  So they often joined volunteer groups and clubs.

 

Swimming season lasted until the week of exams and football season started immediately after the exam break.  Team and Jai had both made the football team and had been spending a lot of time practicing together on their own.  The coach had scheduled them a pre-season home game on the Friday after exams.  He wanted to watch the team in action before he decided who to place as starters and who would be the backup players.  In Team’s last year of Lower Secondary school, he had finally made it as a starter, but now, in Upper Secondary school, he was going to have to prove himself again.

 

As he walked into the lunchroom that Wednesday, he was thinking about the football team.  Luckily, his exams had all been scheduled for early in the week; he had just finished his last one right before lunch.  He was glad he would have a few days to practice before the game.  He had to really do well to be considered.  He was up against a lot of great, and older, competitors for the spot.  The coach had scheduled a football boot camp for the three weeks of their exam break, but Team had declined.  He wasn’t about to spend Win’s last Secondary school break apart from him, up in the mountains of Chiang Mai, practicing football.  He frowned at the thought of how the coach had thinly disguised the threat that only the ones who went to the camp would be selected from as to be the starters for the team.

 

He sat his lunch tray down on the table and looked around.  All the guys were there, except for Win.  “Job, where’s Win?” he asked the boy across from him.

 

Job looked up from his phone.  “We had to have some forms dropped off for the senior swim on Saturday.  He took them down.  It shouldn’t take him long.”

 

Team gave a slight nod and began to eat his lunch.

 

“It’s a shame your parents are so strict,” Job said.  “I hate that you miss all the fun.”

 

Team paused in mid chew.  His heart fluttered nervously in his chest.  He had an odd feeling that he was about to hear something that he might not want to hear.  But maybe he needed to hear it.  He pushed the food in his mouth to one side and said, “Yeah, it is.  But at least I get to hear about it later.”  He felt sweat prickling on his back.  He knew he was a bad liar but he hoped that Job wouldn’t pick up on it.

 

“Yeah, but hearing about what goes on at Rick’s is not the same as being there.  You’re sixteen now, right?  Seems like they would let you come out with me and Win one night.  You might catch yourself a girlfriend too.”

 

Team swallowed the food in his mouth.  It felt as if it were going to choke him.  He tried to give a sincere smile to Job, “No thanks.  I prefer to be single.  I will just watch the two of you getting tied down.”

 

Job laughed, “I’m with you!  It won’t happen to me.  It’s too late for Win though.  Daow has totally got him on the hook and is reeling him in.  Have you met her?”

 

Team took a drink to try to force down the big ball of food that felt stuck in his throat.  He shook his head, “No, not yet.”

 

Job nodded, “You will.  He seems serious about this one.  A couple of years ago, he used to hang out with us at Rick’s—he was always taking some random or another home—but then he suddenly stopped going there.  He wanted to focus more on his grades—you know how he is.  Always going on about wanting to win a scholarship to a good college.  Well, anyway, he joined us again about a month ago.  That’s when he told me that your parents were so strict.  I remembered when we were kids and that one time you were sure they would make you stop hanging out with Win because he taught you to swim.  Do you remember that?”

 

Team nodded and busied himself by taking another drink from his juice.  He didn’t want to hear more, but he knew more was coming.

 

Job continued, “It didn’t take Daow long to notice him there.  She had seen him around school before and thought he was ‘the cutest guy in school’—her words, not mine.  They hung out but he didn’t take her home.  He told me later it was because she is special and he doesn’t want to rush the relationship.  Kind of mushy, if you ask me.  I bet he told you the same thing though.  Anyway, they have been inseparable since.  I am surprised you haven’t met her yet.  It has to be because of exams.”  Job took a drink and then looked at the door.  He leaned forward, “Look—I’ve been around the block a few times and I want to give you some advice, take it or leave it.  But you and Win are best friends and I would hate to see that end.  So my advice to you is, be very nice to her when you meet her.  Girls have a way of getting rid of their boyfriend’s friends if they aren’t.  I’ve seen it happen dozens of times.”  He leaned back quickly.  “He’s coming.  Don’t tell him I told you anything, okay?”

 

Team nodded and said, “Don’t worry about it.  I won’t say anything.”

 

Seconds later Win sat down in the seat next to him and draped his arm across Team’s shoulders.  “Hey!  Did you miss me?”

 

Team looked over at him and purposefully blinked a few times.  “Oh!  Weren’t you here?”  He was proud of himself for being able to act as if his world hadn’t just ended.

 

Win shook his head with a grin, “Glad to know I am so important to you!”  He squeezed his arm, pulling Team’s head closer to him, and then dropped his arm and released Team.  Win reached over and picked up Team’s glass and took a drink.  Then he took Team’s spoon and shoveled up a bit of his noodles.  “Tee, I dropped those papers off,” he said and then ate the noodles.  “Umm,” he hummed.  “It’s good today!  Too bad I don’t have time to eat.  I have a committee meeting in a few minutes.”

 

“It’s okay,” Team said.  “Finish mine.  I was done anyway.”

 

Win frowned, “Is something wrong?  Why aren’t you eating?”

 

Team forced a smile, “Nothing’s wrong!  I just took my last exam and I am still feeling tense.”

 

Win pulled Team’s plate over in front of him and hurriedly ate from it.  “You’re lucky!  My last one isn’t until Friday afternoon!”

 

Team shrugged, “More time to study for it though.”

 

Win nodded and continued to eat.

 

Team was amazed that everything seemed so normal—it was just like any other day.  Except it wasn’t.  He felt as if his entire life was all a great big lie.  Or a joke.  And the joke was on him.  He and Win were supposed to be best friends, but yet Win had this secret he was keeping from him.  And it was huge!  A girlfriend.  One that his regular friends knew about, but he hadn’t.  Even putting aside the fact that Team was in love with Win and felt like dying at the news, Win didn’t know that.  Why hadn’t he told Team about her?  And why hadn’t he told Team that he and his other friends were going to Rick’s Place regularly?  Why didn’t Win want Team to go?  Because that’s what it boiled down to—Win didn’t want him to go with them.  It would have been okay; his parents wouldn’t have known.  As long as he was home by curfew, they never even asked where he went anymore.  They were accepting the fact that he was growing up.

 

As he was thinking these thoughts, he looked around the room.  He glanced at the table where Win’s personal cheering squad always sat.  All of the girls at the table seemed downcast—they all looked depressed.  They weren’t even talking, and Team had never known that group to be quiet.  He wondered if they knew about Win’s girlfriend.  As soon as he had the thought, one of the girls looked over at Win and then looked away quickly.  Team realized then that they did know and they weren’t dealing with the news any better than he was.

 

Jai and Mali were sitting at Jai’s usual table.  They had textbooks opened in front of them.  Team guessed that they both still had some exams to get through.  The three of them, and even sometimes Kwan, all still studied together, even though they were in different classes now.  They had forged a bond that first year in Lower Secondary school that had remained strong.  Team could tell that Jai was in love with Mali (Team had known that since the first time he saw them together—in 7^th grade Science class), and he could also tell that Mali was in love with Jai.  But for whatever reason, they couldn’t tell it.  Neither had ever confessed their feelings to the other.

 

A few guys from the football team walked over and sat down at Jai’s table.  Jai closed his textbook and turned to talk to them.  Mali continued studying.  Every day for the past two weeks, during the last part of their lunch break/first part of the second group’s lunch break, the footballers had met at Jai’s table, Team included.  They were there to psych themselves up for the season that was soon to begin.  It was pretty exciting and more than once they had been directed to lower their voices by the school staff.

 

“Are you going over there?” Win asked.

 

Team looked at Win and Win motioned his head in the direction of Jai’s table.  Team nodded, “I thought I would in a few minutes.”

 

Win gathered up all the now empty lunch containers.  “Good, because I have to leave and I would hate to think of you sitting here with these guys.  They are not great company.”

 

“Hey!” Job protested, looking up from the game he was playing on his phone.  “I will talk to him.”

 

Team forced a smile that he hoped looked normal, “That’s okay.  Play your game.  I’m going over there to talk football with the team.”

 

Team walked over to Jai’s table and greeted everyone as he took the seat next to Mali.  He watched Win dispose of the lunch containers and then walk out of the lunch room.  He looked up at the clock and saw that it was five minutes past the half hour.  He turned to speak to the other players about their practice session planned for the evening, but something about the time kept bothering him and he looked at the clock again in puzzlement as to what it might be.  He glanced over to the swimming team table and studied the guys who were still sitting there and then back to the clock.

 

Again he looked at the swimmer’s table.  A tiny flicker of a thought came forward.  Win’s closest friends at the table were all seniors.  Every day for the past few weeks, Win had been leaving early to go to committee meetings, but he didn’t recall any of the other guys leaving then too.  And even today, they were all still in their seats.  Not at a committee meeting.  And the time…the time was wrong.  That’s what was bothering Team.  Committee meetings of any kind always started on the half hour.  Not five minutes past.  And Win hadn’t seemed stressed or in a hurry because he was late for a meeting.

 

Suddenly he knew.  It hit him like a brick to the face.  This Daow person must have second lunch and she gives up the first part of her break and Win gives up the last part of his so they could be together!

 

Team jumped to his feet, startling everyone around him with his suddenness.  He saw their reactions and he mumbled, “Excuse me.  I just realized I was supposed to be somewhere and I’m late.”  Then he hurried to the exit.

 

A small part of himself was screaming in his mind, ‘NO!  I don’t want to see this’, but the main part pushed that objection aside and went charging through the exit door.  And…there they were.

 

They were mirroring each other as they stood, leaning their shoulders against the wall across from the lunchroom door, staring into each other’s eyes, smiling as they flirted with each other.  And it really was almost like looking in a mirror.  Both of them were tall, thin, and had slender, delicate bones.

 

Team moved in their direction.  Win glanced over and saw him approaching.  He smiled at Team, but the smile wasn’t Win’s regular smile.  It was more constrained than usual.  “Here he is!” Win said, still with that odd smile on his face.  He reached his arm out to pull Team into his side, the way he always did, but at the last second before they connected, Win lowered his arm.

 

“This is my best friend, Team,” Win said.  “And this is…”

 

“Daow,” Team interrupted.  He forced a big smile on his face, “If I have heard P’Win say your name once, I have heard him say it a million times!  I am so glad to finally meet you!”  He was amazed at how good of an actor he was being.  He never knew he had it in him.  But Job’s warning was still very much in his mind.  If she decided she didn’t like Team, Win would cut him out.  He had to make very sure she liked him.

 

She blushed and playfully smacked Win’s arm.  “Do you really talk about me to your friends?”

 

“All the time!” Team assured her.  “It’s Daow this and Daow that, constantly!”

 

She gave Team a huge smile.  So big that he could have counted her teeth if he was so inclined.  He was not so inclined.  He did make himself return her smile though.

 

“So, what are you doing out here?  I thought you were hanging with the football team,” Win asked.

 

“Oh, yeah, I was.  Needed to excuse myself to go to the restroom.  I’m on my way there now,” Team turned to leave, “Make sure you don’t eat the school’s lunch.”

 

Win roared with laughter but Daow frowned.  “Why not?  Is something wrong with it?”

 

Win answered before Team had a chance to, “No!  It’s just a little inside joke we have.”

 

Team saw her eyebrows gather in the center of her forehead and knew instantly that she didn’t like the idea of them having inside jokes.  That could be a strike used against him so he quickly spoke up.  “One time I ate something on a bet and it made me sick.  I blamed the school lunch.  There was nothing wrong with the lunch then and there isn’t now.”

 

“Oh,” she said, but the ridged crease between her eyebrows eased and she smiled.  “It was very nice to finally meet you, Team.  He speaks about you a lot.  Nice to put a face to the name.”

 

Team smiled and gave a nod, “Same here.  I’m sure we will be seeing more of each other after exams are over.”  He excused himself and headed down the hall towards the bathroom.  He had been lying when he said he had to go, but now he had urgent need of the faculties.

 

He was relieved to see that no one was in the restroom as he hurried to the stall.  He tossed his backpack off to the side, dropped to his knees, and threw up.  His stomach finally began to settle after his third bout.  He flushed the toilet, grabbed his backpack, and headed to the sink.

 

He was still shaking as he cupped water in his hands to rinse his mouth.  He caught sight of himself in the mirror and noticed how pale he looked and how dark his eyes were.  He had never felt so much pain before and it surprised him to know that it showed.

 

After he rinsed his mouth several times, he moved to turn off the cold water faucet.  He had a sudden flash of memory from the zoo trip.  The stunned reaction of the huge silverback gorilla when Gaen had projectile vomited onto the glass.  He imagined the scenario of Daow being the gorilla and him being Gaen.  He could see the puke hitting her startlingly white shirt and the expression of horror and disgust on her face.  He let out a tiny giggle.  And that giggle set off a torrent of emotions.  First he was laughing so hard that it made his knees weak with the effort.  Then a sob escaped him and he was crying.  But he was still laughing.  A rational part of him realized he was in hysterics, and it wasn’t a good thing.  He had to make it stop, but he didn’t know how.  He quickly searched his memory and remembered old movies where people slapped someone to snap them out of it.  But it was the shock and surprise, more than the pain that did it.  He couldn’t surprise himself with a slap to the face.  Even during these thoughts, his laughing/crying spell hadn’t eased.

 

The water was still running out of the faucet, so he stuck his head under it.  The icy cold water hitting his scalp and neck caused all that stuff to stop immediately.  He raised his head up and then cupped water into his hands and threw it into his face a few times.  Once he felt closer to normal, he turned off the faucet and grabbed some paper towels.  He got his face dry but he couldn’t do much about his hair.  And, when he looked into the mirror again, he realized that the top third of his shirt was soaked.  He couldn’t go back to the cafeteria like that.  And he certainly didn’t want Win and…that person…to see him that way.

 

He grabbed his backpack and left the bathroom.  He turned the opposite way from where he had come from and hurried down the short hall until he came to the doors leading outside.  Students were not permitted to go outside during school hours.  He shrugged that off and hit the bar to open the door.  Once outside, he found a tiny, hidden spot along the wall.  He sat down and leaned his back against it.  He knew he would be hidden by the tall bushes surrounding him.

 

He had to use his sleeve to wipe away tiny droplets of water that dripped from his hair.  But even after the sun had dried up all the excess, he continued to use his sleeve to wipe the droplets that kept falling from his eyes.

 

In the four years that he had known him, Win had never had a girlfriend before.  He never even talked about wanting one.  Team had not been as prepared as he should have been.  A part of him had known this day would come sometime, but Team hadn’t listened to its warning.

 

Team leaned his head back and looked up at the sky.  Since ‘Daow’ meant star, he was glad it wasn’t nighttime.  Apparently she was a star to Win.  Team snarled and shook his head and turned his attention to the ground.  He knew he wouldn’t be looking up at the night sky again any time soon.  He didn’t want to see the stars and think about…that person.

 

He sat, lost in thought for a while.  Overthinking everything.  If he hadn’t been so caught up with football starting, he would have noticed all these ‘committee meetings’ that Win was going to everyday during the last half of the lunch break.  He felt like he would have figured things out on his own.  He was grateful for Job telling him today though.  If he had walked out of the lunchroom unprepared and had witnessed Win and….that person…standing together that way…he might have reacted differently.  He might have even behaved like a jealous idiot and then Win would know his true feelings.  He shuddered at the thought.  Win would have broken off their friendship and never spoken to Team again.  And as horrible as he was feeling at this moment, it would have been so much worse knowing that he had lost Win entirely.

 

He startled when he heard the text alert coming from his phone.  He grabbed his backpack and pulled it out to see that the text was from Win.

 

Why didn’t you tell me you knew?

 

Team’s jaw dropped.  “What the hell, Hia!”  He whispered in anger.  The real question was why hadn’t Win told Team!

 

He was frowning when he wrote back, “I assumed if you wanted me to know, you would tell me.  But you didn’t.”

 

There was a long, silent break between Team’s text and Win’s next one:

 

“How long have you known?  Who told you?”

 

Team was getting more and more pissed off by the second.  He didn’t like that Win was questioning him.  As if he had done something wrong.  He bit his lip in anger because he had to admit that Win hadn’t actually done anything wrong either.  It was normal to pair up in Secondary school.  Most people did at some point or another.  He tried to calm himself as he wrote his answer:

 

“I’ve known for a while.  It is a small school.  You’re popular.  People talk.”

 

Team stared at his phone, waiting for a reply.  It didn’t come.  But then he heard the bell signaling the start of class and he jumped to his feet and grabbed up his backpack.  He put his phone inside it and pulled the straps up onto his shoulder.

 

He was late.  He had already taken the exam for the class so the class period was just going to be for studying, but he knew that the teacher would make him write an essay on ‘The Importance of Being On Time’, or some such bullshit.  He felt his shirt and realized it was still damp.  He would be in trouble for that, too.

 

He wasn’t in the mood to deal with petty school crap.  He started walking in the opposite direction, away from the school.  He didn’t stop until he reached the bus stop, a few blocks away.

 

He boarded the next bus that was headed in the right direction and got off a few blocks away from his house.  As he walked home, he thought that he should probably get his driver’s license.  Most of the guys his age had theirs, but he had never really seen the need for it before.  He was content to be the passenger in Win’s car.  But now…he sighed at the thought…but now things had changed.

 

His house was empty when he arrived.  His parents were both at work, as he knew they would be.  He entered his bedroom but didn’t stop.  Instead he hurried to the bathroom, shedding his clothes as he went.

 

He stepped into the shower.  He didn’t know the reason for it, but almost every sad drama he had ever watched had a character crying in the shower.  As soon as he allowed himself to cry, he understood the reason for it.

 

He screamed and punched the tiled wall a few times, and then he seemed to lose all sense of himself.  He finally came back to himself when the water turned from hot to icy cold, beating down on his back.  He was sitting on the floor of the shower with his face buried in the corner, with no idea of how he had ended up in that position.  He was still crying when he turned the water off and grabbed his towel.

 

“That’s enough now,” he scolded his reflection in the mirror.  “You’re not going to let this show.  If he sees, he will know how you feel and you will lose him forever.”  He grabbed some tissues and wiped his eyes and blew his nose.

 

He was freezing from the cold water.  He couldn’t stop shaking as he went into his room and pulled his warmest sweat shirt and pants from the drawer.  He pulled them on, leaving his wet towel on the floor and then walked over to his bed.  He pulled the covers down and crawled into it.  He pulled the covers up over his head and hugged himself to try to stop shaking.

 

His chest felt like someone had attacked him with an ax and hacked a chunk out of him.  He had often heard the phrases “heartbroken” and “heartache” but he never realized that people actually experienced physical pain.

 

Earlier at Jai’s lunch table, he had agreed to meet up with the guys in the park after school to get in some practice.  The last thing on earth Team wanted to do was play football.  He decided to text Jai and tell him that something had come up and he wouldn’t be joining them.  With a heavy sigh, he pushed the covers off and got out of bed.  He managed to walk to his backpack and retrieve his phone.  The journey was only a few steps but felt as if it were miles.  And he felt old.  Very, very old.  And weak.  He was still shaking.  He realized the shaking wasn’t from the cold water since he had on his sweats and had been under the covers for a while.

 

He sat down on his bed and realized he had done it slowly, like how he had seen old men in the park sitting down on the benches.  As bad as he felt now, he knew it was going to get worse.  Daow was going to become more important to Win the longer they were together.  Whatever time Team got to spend with Win was going to be centered around her and her schedule.  He thought about when he met her in the hallway and told her that Win spoke about her all the time.  It was a lie then, but he knew it wouldn’t be a lie anymore.  He sighed harshly and rubbed his free hand through his hair roughly.  “Enough!” he scolded himself.  He needed to stop thinking about it.

 

He turned on his phone and blinked a few times in shock at the time.  There wasn’t much time before the last bell.  He couldn’t believe that much time had passed since he left.

 

He nibbled on his lower lip.  Once the bell rang, Win would be looking for him.  He was supposed to ride home with Win.  He quickly tapped in a text telling Win he was going to ride with Jai because they were going to the park to practice.

 

He hit ‘send’ and then growled in rage.  He had to go to the park now.  If he skipped it—it wouldn’t be hard to connect the dots.  Win would be able to figure out that Team was upset.  Team couldn’t allow that.

 

He sent a text to Jai and asked him to pick Team up on his way to the park.  He looked around his room.  His school uniform had left a trail from his bedroom door to the bathroom door since he had just shed the items and tossed them on his way to the shower.  There was a wet towel on the floor and his bed was unmade.  He groaned.  He wanted to lie back down in his bed and pull the covers up, but he knew he couldn’t do that.

 

He got up and made his bed—with all the speed of a ninety-year-old using a walker.  Then he picked up the clothes and towel from the floor and put them in the hamper.  He changed out of his sweats into shorts and a tee shirt, and then went downstairs to wait for Jai to arrive.

 

He received a text from Jai telling Team he was on his way.  Team texted him an “Okay”.  Then he looked to see if Win had responded and he just hadn’t heard it.  Win hadn’t.  Team could see that Win had read it though.  He gave an angry shake of his head.  Win had left him on read.  He couldn’t believe it.  But then it occurred to him that Win was probably busy with that person.  Team mumbled some choice curse words under his breath and then went outside to wait for Jai.

 

Later, at the park, Team focused all his thoughts and energy on the ball.  He kept Jai in his peripheral vision, always watching for the slightly raised hand to signal to pass the ball to him.  The two of them had been playing football side-by-side for years and knew each other very well.  Jai was planning on going on the football trip and the coach had strongly suggested that the starting players would be picked only from those who went.  He clinched his jaws together at the thought that Jai was a shoo-in for a starting position, but Team would be stuck on the bench through most of the games.  He would only be able to be on the field as a substitute for the starters.  The cut-off date to submit the permission forms for the trip had past a week earlier.  If Team had known that Win had a girlfriend, he would have signed up for the trip.  He had only refused so he could spend the vacation with Win.  He knew now that wasn’t going to happen.  Win would be spending his time with her.

 

After playing for a bit, the boys took a water break.  Team leaned his butt against a picnic table and raised a bottle of water to his lips.  He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked to see a car that looked identical to Win’s leaving the park.  And then his mind played a nasty trick on him.  While playing football he had been able to push the thoughts of Win and that person from his mind for the most part, but seeing the car triggered his mind to poke him with this thought, “As Win’s best friend, it will be your duty to be the best man at his wedding!”  Suddenly he flashed on little kids running to him and calling him “Uncle Team”.  He choked on the water he was drinking.  It was a bad choke.  Several of the guys hurried to him to help.  Team felt as if he were drowning.  Jai beat him furiously on his back.  Eventually, what seemed like a thousand years later, his breathing cleared.  “I’m okay,” he croaked, “Thanks!”

 

It took a few more hits on his back before Jai’s hand got the message.  Team dodged away and grinned, “Ouch!  Stop!”

 

“Sorry,” Jai mumbled, looking embarrassed.  “You scared me half to death!”

 

“I scared myself too,” Team admitted.  Somehow he had managed to keep hold of his water bottle through the entire choking incident.  He raised it back up to his mouth.  “I’m going to take this a bit more slowly this time,” he said with a small smile.

 

They went back to the field and played until after the sun had set.  Team got a ride home with Jai.  Without the distraction of football, all his bad thoughts and feelings came back in a rush.  By the time they reached Team’s house, he felt as if he were carrying the weight of the world on his back.  His chest had started hurting again too.

 

He saw his parents’ cars in the driveway as he walked up to the house.  He squared his shoulders and pulled his face into a smile, in case they were looking out the window.  They would expect him to be in a good mood—he had just played football in the park, their first pre-season game was in two days, and the start of vacation was at the end of the week.  He had to pretend to be happy when he entered the house or they would know immediately that something was wrong.

 

Team entered the kitchen and saw his dad preparing dinner alone.  Usually his parents worked on meals together.  “Where’s Mom?” he asked.

 

His dad turned away from chopping vegetables and smiled at Team.  “She has a headache.  She’s lying down on the couch in the living room.  I gave her some pain relievers and an ice pack.”  He gestured to the cutting board in front of him.  “I’m afraid I am the only cook tonight so you will just have to grit your teeth and make due.”

 

Team managed to grin at him, “You’re a great cook, Dad!  Do you want me to help you?”

 

“You?  No.  You’re worse than I am at it!  By any chance is Win coming over?  He is a whiz in the kitchen.  He puts both you and me to shame!  The only one he can’t out-cook is your mother.”

 

“Nope, he still has all those committee meetings,” Team repeated the lies that Win had told him—obviously all those committee meetings he had been having lately were dates with…that person.

 

Team’s dad frowned at that.  “Still?  It seems like he has an awful lot of those meetings.”

 

Team tried to appear nonchalant as he grabbed up a piece of carrot and shoved it into his mouth.  As he chewed it he replied, “I guess some of the committees are ending and he has to be there for that, but then new ones are organizing for next semester and he has to be there for those.  He joined all of them because he hopes it will boost his chances of getting a scholarship to that college in Bangkok that he wants to go to the most.  He wants to look like a well-rounded student instead of just an athlete.  I keep telling him that he needs to relax a bit.  He has a super high GPA score and he is the best swimmer on the team.  I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t get a scholarship.”

 

Team’s dad nodded and then turned back to the vegetables he had been chopping.  “Yeah, I agree with you.  But we both know he won’t listen,” he chuckled, “I have never seen anyone work so hard to get into college as he has.  Since he was…what did his mom say?  Starting around 12-years-old?”

 

Team snatched another piece of carrot and his dad pretended to smack him, but missed by a wide margin.  “I think that’s what she said.  Personally I think he was probably born with a plan to get into college and she just recognized it then.”

 

His dad laughed and nodded.  Then he exclaimed, “Hey!  I just thought of a way you can help me!”

 

“Okay, what do you want me to do?”

 

“Go take a shower!  You smell like a decomposing buffalo!” his dad said with a laugh.

 

Team faked a laugh that was good enough to fool his dad and then he left the kitchen and headed towards the stairs.  As he passed the living room, his mother called out to him.  He hurried to her.

 

She pulled the ice pack off of her forehead and sat up on the couch.  She placed the ice pack on the back of her neck and whispered, “Shut the door.”

 

He did as he was told and then moved quickly over to her.  “What is it?” Since she had whispered to him, he whispered back to her.

 

She scanned him quickly with her eyes, finally stopping when her eyes met his.  She reached over and took hold of his arm firmly.  Her fingertips were icy cold from handling the ice pack.  “Are you okay?”

 

Team frowned in confusion.  “Yeah, I’m alright.  Dad wouldn’t let me help him with dinner.  He is sending me to the shower.  He said I smelled like a long-dead buffalo.”  He forced a big grin onto his face.

 

She shook her head, “Are you certain?  Because ever since lunchtime today, I’ve had this horrible feeling that something is wrong.  That you are in pain.  I’ve been so worried—I think that is what caused my headache.  Your dad says it’s because I didn’t drink enough today,” with her other hand she pointed to two bottles of water on the table.  One was almost empty; the other hadn’t been opened yet.

 

Team suppressed the shiver that was caused by her words.  It was creepy that his mother could sometimes sense his pain; it had been this way his entire life.  He had never gotten used to it.  She specifically said it was at lunchtime—she had felt it at the same time as he had.  He felt lucky that she hadn’t come home from work because of her headache or she would have found him in mid-meltdown.

 

“Nope, I’m fine!” he lied.  “Nothing wrong at all.  I think Dad is probably right that you didn’t drink enough today.”

 

He could tell by her eyes that she didn’t fully believe him.  “Are you going out anywhere later?”

 

He shook his head, “I’m exhausted!  We practiced all afternoon.  I just want to grab some dinner and then go to bed early.”

 

She gave a big sigh of relief and then reached for the opened bottle of water.  “Good, then nothing will happen.”  It was rarer, but sometimes she felt things before they happened instead of after.  She had a very strong bond with him.  Team’s dad liked to tease her about it.  He would say that if they had been blessed with more children, she would have been sick and worried all the time, so they were lucky they had only had Team.

 

Team forced a tiny laugh, “Nope, I am fine and I’m going to stay fine.  You’ll see!”

 

She took a drink from the bottle and then sat it back down on the table.  “There is one thing your dad was right about—you reek.  Go hit the shower!”

 

Again, Team forced a laugh, which caused her eyes to narrow a bit.  He hurried out of the room and up the stairs.

 

When he turned on the shower, he placed his hand under the running water.  He was faintly surprised that it was hot.  He had run all of the hot water out earlier and he had never done that before.  He was glad to see that a few hours were long enough for it to come back.

 

Once inside the shower, he washed himself quickly and then bolted out of it.  He tried to not think about himself in there earlier—punching the walls, screaming, and crying.  If he allowed himself to think about it, he was afraid he would do it again.

 

He hurried down to set the table, but his dad had beaten him to it.  He was in the process of bringing the last bowl of food to the table when Team entered the dining room.  His dad smiled, “You smell a lot better now!”

 

Team’s mom came into the room and took her place at the table.  When they asked about her headache, she claimed it was a bit better, but Team didn’t believe her.  He didn’t have that kind of psychic sixth-sense about her like she did him, but he could tell by her paleness and slightly trembling hands that she didn’t feel well.

 

Nearing the end of dinner, she suddenly bolted upright.  The very picture of someone on high alert.  Team looked at her with apprehension.  He was afraid that maybe she had figured out what was wrong with him.

 

“What did you do to your hand?” she asked abruptly.

 

Team looked down at his hands and then saw that the knuckles on his right hand were swollen and discolored.  There was even a cut that ran across them.  He realized he must have gotten injured when he punched the wall in the shower.  “Oh this?  It’s nothing.  I fell and one of the guys stepped on my hand when we were playing football.  It doesn’t even hurt.”

 

“Let me see it,” his father ordered.  Team showed him his hand and his father remarked, “Well, it looks like you were playing football with elephants that were wearing metal cleats on their shoes.”

 

His mother got up from the table.  “Come on!  We have to treat that cut!”

 

Team reluctantly got up and followed her into the kitchen where she cleaned the wound and put ointment on it.  She bandaged his hand afterwards.  Team could see her coloring coming back into her cheeks and she seemed more like herself.

 

“Is your headache better now?” he asked.

 

She frowned and thought about it, “Yes!  I guess all I needed was some food.  Funny…I didn’t even feel hungry.”

 

Team followed her back to the dining room and sat down and finished his meal.  He knew that it wasn’t the food that made his mother feel better.  It was the fact that she had identified a problem with Team and was able to fix it.

 

After the meal was over, Team’s mother insisted on cleaning up.  She sent her husband into the living room to watch TV and she ordered Team up to his room to study for his exams.  He didn’t bother to tell her that he had finished his exams already because he wanted to escape to his room anyway.

 

On his way to the stairs, his father took hold of his arm and gently guided him into the living room.  He quietly shut the door behind them.

 

“Okay, tell me the truth—were you in a fight?” He demanded.

 

“A fight?  Me?  No!  Why?” Team stammered in surprise.

 

“Because you have ‘punch knuckles’.  You don’t get that from someone stepping on your hand.  You hit something.  And you hit it hard!”

 

“Honestly!  I swear, I didn’t hit anybody!”

 

His dad nodded, “You look like you are telling the truth.  And I am glad because by the looks of your knuckles, if you hit someone in the mouth that hard, I would be getting a huge dental bill.”  He rubbed his chin, “Well, if it wasn’t somebody than it was something.  Do you care to share with me?”

 

Team took a deep breath and then secretly crossed his fingers behind his back.  “I didn’t hit anything.  I fell down while playing football and someone stepped on my hand.  I don’t even remember who it was.”

 

His dad nodded, “I am going to pretend that I believe you so you don’t feel on the hook here.  But I know ‘punch knuckles’ when I see them.  Something is wrong but you don’t want to talk about it right now.  I can accept that, but I want you to know that if you decide you want an ear, I will drop whatever I am doing to listen.  Okay?”

 

“Okay, sure…but everything is fine with me!  I promise!”

 

His dad shook his head, “One of these days I will learn to pay attention to your mom.  She usually senses when something is wrong.  Okay then, I won’t keep you.  I imagine you have a lot of studying to do.”

 

Team hurried out of the room and then up the stairs.  Once inside his bedroom, he closed the door behind him and leaned against it.  He thought about how odd it was that his parents always seemed to know everything about him.  He briefly wondered if other parents were like his.

 

He looked over at his phone on the nightstand next to his bed.  He had left it there to charge while he was at dinner.  His parents didn’t allow phones at the table.  He walked over and picked it up to see if he had missed any messages.  There were two.  Both from guys on the football team.

 

He clicked on Win’s name and saw that his last message was still left on ‘read’.  But no reply.

 

He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor.  Win always messaged him.  It’s like they had a constant ongoing conversation that was only interrupted by sleep, school, or work.  But not today.  Not since he learned about Win and her.  And just the thought of that made him upset and confused all over again.  Why hadn’t Win told him?

 

He got into his sleep shorts and baggy t-shirt and got into bed.  He put open textbooks around him to make it look like he was studying, in case his parents came in, and he lay back on his pillow and stared at the ceiling.  He remembered all about the events at lunch and then imagined what had been going on in the weeks previous.  And he wondered what they were doing at that moment.

 

Later when his parents were on their way to bed, they popped in to tell him it was time to stop studying.  They assured him that he would do well on his exams and told him that sleep was important too.  They waited until he cleared the books off his bed and shut off his bedside lamp before they left the room.

 

Team reached for his phone and checked Win’s name for the millionth time to assure himself that he hadn’t missed a message.  He hadn’t.  His was still the last message on there.  Still left on ‘read’.

 

He sighed and replaced the phone on the nightstand and then lay down.  He pulled the extra pillow over and placed it on his shoulder—the way Win used to lay his head on him when they had sleepovers.

 

“Why, Hia?” he whispered to the pillow.  “Why can’t you love me?”

 

He buried his face in the pillow, approximately the spot that would have been Win’s neck area, and he cried.

 

Then he heard the notification sound of a message arriving.  He reached over and fumbled for his phone and sat up in the bed, with his back against the headboard.  The message was from Win.  It simply said:  Goodnight

 

Team wiped the tears off his face and his mouth tightened into a thin line, showing his rage.  I should keep him left on ‘read’ and see how he likes it! Team thought.  Two can play this game!

 

No sooner had he had the thought then he had a revelation:  This wasn’t a game.  It was real life.  Win was on a different path now and things would never be the same.

 

He choked back sobs as he messaged back, Goodnight

 

He put his phone back on the nightstand and grabbed his pillow.  He held it over his mouth as he cried.

Chapter 11

 

Team groaned and kept his eyes closed as he grabbed for his cell phone to shut off the alarm.  For a moment he thought about faking sick and spending the day in bed.  But then he remembered there was football practice after school.  His mom would tell him if he was too sick for school, he was too sick for practice.  He groaned again as he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.  He didn’t even have any real classes for the rest of the week.  Just study periods.  And studying what?  He had already taken all his exams. 

 

And mostly, he didn’t want to see Win and her together again.  EVER.  But…if he didn’t go to school, Win might figure out that Team couldn’t handle it.  Team couldn’t let Win even suspect that.  He sighed and pushed the covers off and got out of bed.  He showered and dressed for the day before going down to breakfast.

 

He picked at his food.  His stomach felt gross and his heart kept racing in dread whenever he thought about Win and her together.  He wanted to crawl back in bed and stay there for a couple of years.

 

“Is Win picking you up this morning?” his mother asked as she came to the table carrying the first-aid kit.

 

“Yeah,” Team mumbled and took another bite of his breakfast.  He forced himself to chew it, although it tasted like cardboard and seemed to get bigger with each chew instead of smaller.  Whenever he swallowed, it felt like he would choke on it.

 

“You certainly are moving slow this morning,” she scolded.  “Let me see your hand.  I want to wrap it.”

 

Team shook his head, “I don’t need it wrapped.  It’s okay.”

 

His father lowered the newspaper he had been reading and glanced at Team’s hand on the table.  He raised his eyes to meet Team’s, “I think you do want it wrapped.  It still looks like how it looked last night.”

 

Team looked down at his hand.  ‘Punch knuckles’, his dad had called them.  And…Team had to admit, they did look that way.  Mainly because that was what they were.  He sighed and held out his hand to his mother to wrap.

 

“The season hasn’t even begun yet, and here you are, already injured,” his mother fussed as she cleaned the wounds across his knuckles and applied an ointment.  “I hate to imagine how bad your injuries will be by the end of the season!”  She wrapped his hand securely with gauze.

 

Team forced himself to smile at her, “Nah, I’ll be okay.  We just have to get our timing perfected and then we will move like a machine across the field.  You’ll see!”

 

His phone dinged and he looked to see that he had a message from Win letting him know he had arrived to pick him up for school.  He grabbed his plate and hurriedly scraped it and rinsed it before putting it in the dishwasher.  He grabbed his backpack and kissed his mom’s cheek and headed out the door.  A few steps outside his front door, he faltered for a millisecond when he saw that Daow was in the car.  In the passenger seat.  HIS seat!  He felt rage building in his chest but he stretched his face into a big smile and hurried to the door for the backseat.

 

“Good morning, Team!” she said.  “I hope you don’t mind me being here.  My car wouldn’t start this morning so Win said he would give me a ride!”

 

“Of course I don’t mind!” Team said with a fake laugh that he prayed sounded real.  “I’m just sorry to hear about your car.  What do you think is the problem with it?”  Team stayed as close as possible to the door and kept his backpack on his lap.  It helped to hide his bandaged hand, and also…he wondered if there could be something on the backseat.  Gross stuff.  Maybe they had been together for a while and had been in the backseat before picking him up.  The idea of it made him want to throw up.

 

She looked around her seat to talk to him.  She rambled on and on about her morning, from the time she got up until she realized her car wouldn’t start.  Team kept his face stretched into the fake smile.  He wondered if anyone could tell it was fake.  It actually hurt his cheeks to pull these muscles back so forcefully.  He realized he hadn’t been listening to her so he tuned her back in.  She was talking about her father saying he would call a mechanic.  Team couldn’t bear to hear her voice.  It sounded like a cross between Minnie Mouse and a cartoon chipmunk.  He nodded to her to show that he was listening, which of course, he wasn’t.  He noticed that Win was holding her hand in his and their joined hands were resting on the console between them.  Team could feel his fist forming as he fought the impulse to punch the seat she was sitting in (which was supposed to be his seat) and scream at her to ‘shut the fuck up’!  He felt the gauze from his bandage pull hard against his knuckles.  He loosened his hand and forced himself to take a deep breath to calm down.

 

She had neared the end of her story and Win picked up their joined hands and kissed the back of hers.  He told her, “As long as you have me and your dad, you will never have to worry about a thing.”  She giggled and Team had to bite down hard on his tongue to keep from screaming in rage.  Daow stretched herself across the console and laid her head on Win’s shoulder.  Team thought that the seatbelt must be cutting into her shoulder while she was in that position.  He looked up, near the roof of the car, at the seatbelt holder where the seatbelt was just emerging.  He wondered if he grabbed it and yanked it as hard as he could, would it slice her in half.  He wouldn’t mind giving it a shot just to find out.

 

Instead he turned his head and looked out the window.  He was relieved to see that they were approaching the school.  Soon he would be able to get away from Win and…her.  A few moments later, when Win drove them into the parking lot, Team could see some of the guys from the football team had gathered around Jai’s car.  He felt some of the stress leaving his shoulders.  He would have the perfect excuse to get out of there and he wouldn’t raise any suspicions from Win.  It would be extremely normal for him to join the football guys.  They had a practice happening that day and their pre-season game was coming up the next day.

 

Win had just pulled into an empty space and put the car into park, when Team reached for the door handle.

 

Win laughed, “Wow!  Why are you in such a hurry?”

 

Team shrugged, “The guys are over there.  I wanted to talk to them before school starts.”

 

Win’s eyes looked a bit suspicious as they met Team’s.  Then he gave a slight nod, “Yeah, I imagine all of you are pretty excited about tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah, everybody is.  And don’t forget, I won’t need a ride home tonight.  Practice is after school.”

 

“Do you need me to come back for you after practice?” Win asked.  Team saw Daow give Win’s hand a little shake.  Obviously she wanted to be alone with Win after school and was not happy with him offering to pick Team up.  Team remembered Job warning him that if she didn’t like him, she would force Win to pick between them.  And Team would be the one dumped.

 

“No, it’s cool!  I’ll catch a ride from Jai.  No reason to trouble yourself about coming back for me!”

 

“It’s no trouble.  I always do it.  It’s common for us,” Win said with a frown.

 

“Yeah, well…I just meant…Jai has a car and he will already be there.  My house is on his way home.  It’s just convenient to catch a ride with him,” Team hurriedly stumbled through his explanation.

 

“Why don’t you drive yourself?  Won’t your parents allow you to use their car?” Daow asked, obviously a subtle put down on her part, reminding him that he didn’t come from money.  Neither did Win, but it didn’t stop her from dating him.  He wished she would go back to her own kind.

 

“I actually don’t have a license,” he answered.

 

“Why not?” she asked.

 

Because I never needed to get it.  Win has always driven me where I needed to be, you stupid bit…., no, even in his imagination he couldn’t call her a derogatory name.  His mother would wash his mouth out with soap if she knew he had even thought to call any girl that.  He shoved down the sigh he wanted to emit and instead stretched his smile bigger.  “No real reason.  Just lazy, I guess.  I really do need to focus on getting it.  Well, if you will excuse me now,” he said as he pushed open his door and got out of the car.

 

“Wait!” Win called and hopped out of the car on his side and hurried over to him.  “What’s wrong with your hand?  What happened?”

 

Team looked down at it and realized when he moved his backpack to get out of the car, the backpack no longer hid the white gauze his mother had used to wrap his hand in that morning.

 

Daow got out of the car and joined them.  She had a deep frown on her face as she looked from Team’s hand to Win’s concerned face and then back.

 

Team forced a chuckle.  “It’s no big deal—but you know my mom.  She fusses over me too much.”

 

“No, she doesn’t.  If your hand is wrapped up like this, there must be a reason.  What happened?”  Win reached over and took Team’s hand and was examining the wrapping.  Daow’s frown had deepened.

 

“He just said it was no big deal.  Why are you so worried about it?  Team’s a big boy,” Daow snapped.

 

“Thank you!” Team told her.  “Nobody ever listens to me when I tell them I am okay.  Maybe he will listen to you.”

 

Win shook his head, “No, you don’t know him.  He downplays injuries.  We have to overrule him on treating them.  If his mom took the time to wrap it like this, she had to have convinced him it was really bad, because he wouldn’t realize it himself.  He has an incredibly high pain-tolerance level.”

 

“Okay, I’ll tell you so you will understand that this is nothing.  The guys and I were practicing in the park yesterday…”

 

“I know.  I drove through there and saw you,” Win said without looking up, as he examined Team’s fingers.

 

Team remembered seeing a car like Win’s driving out of the park.  He was glad he had gone, even though he hadn’t felt like it.  At least he looked like his life was normal, even though he felt as if he were crawling through hell.  “Oh,” Team said with a nod, “Well at one point during practice, I ended up falling—not sure if I tripped or if someone swept my feet out—anyway when I threw out my hands to catch myself from hitting the ground, I guess I waited too late to do it and I ended up punching the ground.”  (He mentally congratulated himself on coming up with the ‘punching the ground’ lie.  He wished he would have thought of it when his dad asked him.  But at least he had a cover story for his ‘punch knuckles’.)  “And then,” he continued, “one of those buffalos stepped on my hand when it was on the ground.  It didn’t hurt but Mom didn’t like the looks of it so she treated it and wrapped it.”

 

Daow shook her head.  “I agree with Team.  It’s no big deal.  People who play sports often get injured.  They…what is the expression?  They ‘walk it off”?”

 

Team nodded with that stupid smile on his face.  “That’s right!  And I am trying to do exactly that!  Now you see how P’Win overacts to tiny injuries.  Imagine how over the top he will be if you ever have one!  He will probably call an ambulance if you get a splinter!”  He and Daow laughed together.  His was fake, but hers sounded real.

 

Win pushed down on his fingers and Team felt the pain in his knuckles increase a bit.  He pulled his hand away.  “I have to get over there or they will have the strategy for the entire game sketched out without me.”  He hurried away.  Daow called goodbye to him and he bit down hard on his tongue before turning back to smile and wave at her.

 

His morning classes passed slowly.  He had brought a new graphic novel that his aunt sent to him earlier in the month and his English-to-Thai dictionary with him to school that day.  He had to keep stopping and going back to re-read entire sections of the story because his mind kept wandering back over the last two days.  His moods kept swinging from super sad (actually the saddest he had been in his entire life) to extreme rage.  He had never hated anyone like he hated Daow.  But a part of him knew it wasn’t really her he was angry with.  She was just a placeholder.  Anyone could be in that spot and Team would hate them.  His real rage was at Win.  And even though he knew he was being unfair, Win had every right in the world to date whomever he wanted to date, Team couldn’t help it.  He felt betrayed.  As if he was being cheated on.  He knew it was ridiculous—he and Win were just friends.  Win was not cheating on him.  But…it felt like it.  And to make it worse, Win seemed to be flaunting the whole thing in Team’s face.  Except for the weeks when he kept it secret and Team felt like that was sneaking around behind his back, which Team knew was also ridiculous because how and when Win saw Daow had nothing to do with Win’s and Team’s friendship.  Team knew he was overthinking everything, but he couldn’t stop doing it.  He wondered if anyone’s head had ever exploded from thinking too much or if maybe he would be the first person to die that way.

 

Win wasn’t at the lunch table when Team arrived.  Luckily Job was there or else Team would have felt very uncomfortable sitting at that table since the rest of the guys were really Win’s friends, not his.  Job paid more attention to the game he was playing on his phone than he did to Team, but he did say a word or two to him while they ate.

 

As Team was finishing his lunch, he saw the football guys heading over to Jai’s table.  He used his napkin to wipe his hands and stood to leave.

 

“Hey!  Where are you off to?” Win called from behind him.

 

Team turned to answer and saw that Daow was walking next to Win.  They were carrying their lunch trays to the table.  Team felt rage surge in his chest at the idea of Win bringing her to their table.  He shoved it down and gave them a big smile.  “I’m finished eating.  I’m going over to join the guys at Jai’s table.”

 

“Are you still discussing strategies?” Daow asked as she placed her tray on the table and sat down.  “I thought you did that this morning.”

 

Team felt his facial muscles stretching his fake smile bigger, “We did.  But we will discuss them again.  And again and again.  It’s a way for us to keep our heads in the game—so to speak.”  He reached down to the table and picked up his tray.

 

Win sat his own tray down with a clatter and reached over and grabbed Team’s wrist.  “Let me see this!” he demanded.

 

Team had taken the gauze from his hand earlier to wash his hands before lunch.  His ‘punch knuckles’ were no longer covered.  He tried to pull his arm away but Win kept a firm grip on it as he examined Team’s hand.

 

Win shook his head, “This looks bad!  Worse than I thought it would.  Are you sure it isn’t broken?”

 

Team scoffed, “No!  It’s not broken!  Look,” he commanded, while he demonstrated that he could move his fingers normally.  “It doesn’t even hurt.  I would imagine that broken bones would hurt.  A lot!”

 

Daow stood up so she could get a better view of it.  “Oh!  P’Win is right!  It does look bad!” she said as she traced her finger lightly against Team’s swollen knuckles.  Inside he recoiled in revulsion at her touch.  He couldn’t have been more repulsed if someone had rubbed a handful of snot on him.  He wanted to scream at her to get away from him.  Externally though, he managed to control everything but a slight twitch in his hand.  Win must have felt it because he looked at Daow’s tracing finger and then up into Team’s eyes.  Team had never seen the expression on Win’s face before so he had no idea what the look meant.

 

“You still need to be icing it to keep down the swelling, even if it doesn’t hurt,” Win advised releasing his hold on Team’s arm.  “Anti-inflammatory meds too.”

 

“Sure!  I’ll get right on that!” Team quipped with a grin as he turned to leave the table.

 

He spent the rest of his lunch period sitting with the guys and Mali, planning runs and goal shots that would probably never happen in real life.  He firmly kept his gaze away from the table where Win was sitting.  He didn’t want to see any more of Win with her.

 

Since he had skipped his afternoon classes the day before, he was punished with writing essays—as he had assumed he would be.  For the first class, he made a ‘sloppy copy’ and then rewrote it more neatly to turn in.  He kept his ‘sloppy copy’ and used it to copy from for the rest of his classes.  He got them done quicker that way, but it left him a lot more time to obsess over Win with her.  He kept trying to force his mind to think about anything else, but he would find himself thinking about them together just a few moments later.

 

As soon as the last bell of the day rang, Team was out the door on his way to the football field.  The day before, football had helped take his mind off things for a while, so he couldn’t wait to get started.

 

As he was changing into his practice uniform, the other guys began to trickle in.  After he was dressed, he went out on the field and began running sprints while he waited for practice to begin.

 

Coach worked them hard during practice.  After it was finally over, he called them together for a meeting.  The boys all dropped to the ground to rest while the coach talked about the game the following day.  Since most of the boys had signed up for the Coach’s boot camp, he also discussed it and what to expect.  On Saturday they were to board the bus in the school’s parking lot.  From there they would travel to Bangkok airport.  They would be flying to Chiang Mai.  During the week days they would be staying up in the mountains, but on the weekends they would return to the lowland camp.  Their phones would be useless on the mountain, there was little to no cell service up there, but they could use their phones when they were in the lowlands.  He covered a bit about what they would be doing in camp, and once again affirmed that the starters on the team would be selected from those who attended the boot camp.

 

Team felt a muscle clench and unclench in his jaw.  If he had known the Win would be hooking up with her, he would have signed up for camp.  It sounded like a fun adventure—one of the key points to him was the thought of flying in an airplane.  He had never flown before, and now he had lost his chance.  He really wanted to be a game starter, but since the trip had an enrollment cut-off date that had passed a few weeks before, he knew there was no way he could go now.  He would just have to deal with the idea of spending the next three weeks home.  Alone.  While Win would be enjoying his last Secondary School break with her.  Plus, Team would be guaranteed to warm the bench all season, only going into games as a substitute.

 

During practice, Team had focused only on the ball and his teammates.  It had been a break from his constant overthinking and he had felt better, more like himself, but now that practice was over and the coach was talking about the trip, all his thoughts came flooding back.  He felt tired, sweaty, and depressed.  He just wanted to grab a shower and go home.

 

One of the guys asked a question about their upcoming game and the coach allowed the conversation to switch back from the trip to the game.  Team was thankful for it.  Some of the guys complained to the coach about being forced to sit in class all day when their exams were already over.  They groused about wasting time, just sitting there, when they could be practicing for the game.  The coach asked for a show of hands of those who had already finished with their exams.  With his arm raised, Team looked around at the guys and saw that everyone’s hand was raised.  The coach noticed it too.  He gave a nod and told them to stay put.  He went to the bench where he had been sitting during practice and retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket.  He walked a bit away from the boys so they couldn’t hear him and then turned his back to them as he spoke.  After a few moments, he walked back to the bench, still talking on his phone, and retrieved a paper from his bag.  The boys could hear him reading their names to the person on the other end of the phone.  They exchanged quizzical looks and shrugs with the others.

 

The coach finally ended the call and then turned to face the team with a huge smile.  “I was on the phone with the principal.  I told her that I need you all to help prepare for the game tomorrow and pointed out that you have finished your exams.  She had your names checked out and agreed that you are all finished.  And…” he paused for dramatic effect, “You have the day off tomorrow!”

 

The boys all cheered.  Team knew that the others were excited to have an extra day of vacation.  As for him, he was just thrilled that he didn’t have to spend time with the ‘happy couple’ on the way to school and at lunch the next day.  Even a one day break from that mess was enough to be overjoyed about.

 

“Now…the work I need you to do tomorrow to prepare for the game is to get a lot of sleep.  Go to bed early tonight and sleep in tomorrow.  Make sure you eat enough protein to make it through the game, and I want you fully hydrated.  Some light stretching and exercising in the afternoon to get your muscles warmed up would help a lot, too.  Go ahead and hit the showers now, and I will write up a note to your parents so they will know that you aren’t playing truant tomorrow!”

 

On the way home from practice, Team felt all the bad thoughts and emotions coming back.  He had been starving during practice, but once he was home and dinner was on the table, he found that he had lost his appetite.  He forced himself to eat though, knowing that he needed the protein for the game the next day, and also to avoid the questioning looks he knew his parents would give him.

 

After dinner Team sent a text to Win to let him know that he wouldn’t need a ride to school the next day.  Team checked it numerous times over the next few hours and each time he saw that it had not been read.  It made him grit his teeth in anger because ordinarily Win would read messages from him as soon as he got them.  Team knew that Win must be too ‘busy’ with his new girlfriend to bother with him.

 

Finally, as he was getting ready for bed, he got an answer from Win.  It simply said, “Okay.  Goodnight.”

 

Team sneered at it and then sat his phone back down on his nightstand.  He slid into bed and turned off his light.  He was determined not to even bother answering.

 

A few minutes later he grabbed his phone and typed ‘Goodnight.’  He hated himself for it, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from running after Win like a lost puppy.  He had been doing it since they first met.  It was going to take him some time to learn how to stop.

 

He slept in the next morning.  As soon as he awakened, he could tell by the silence of the house that his parents had already left for work.  He reached for his phone to check the time and saw that he had a message from Win.  In the past, that wouldn’t have been a surprise, but the last few days had changed all that, so he was shocked.  He sat up quickly in surprise and opened the message.

 

“You asshole!  Are you still in bed?  Loser!!!”  Team read the message with a grin.  He saw that the message had arrived almost two hours earlier.  He texted back:  “Sorry it took me so long to answer.  I just woke up.  I guess that makes YOU the loser!”

 

Team gave a happy sigh.  He jumped out of bed, excited to start the day.  After reading that message from Win, he knew it was going to be a great one.

 

He ate breakfast while watching old sitcoms on TV.  The same thing he did when he was sick and missed school.  He went outside and sat in his secret spot.  The day-blooming jasmine plants were perfuming the air, while the night-bloomers had curled their flowers in tightly to protect them from the sunshine.  He hadn’t been in that spot for a while and was surprised at how many plants there actually were there.  Vines and bushes were planted all around.  Some dwarf jasmine plants he hadn't noticed before were planted as a miniature border separating his special place to sit, with his back leaning against the house, from the larger plants.  He hadn’t realized there were so many plants before.  He wondered if Win had added to them without Team knowing, or if the existing plants had grown so much that they filled in spots that had previously been bare.

 

Later on he spent time hanging around the bird feeding station in the backyard.  He thought about how his parents had bought it the day of his first swim meet to try to distract him from his anxieties.  He still got super anxious before swim meets, but not before a football game.  When playing football, every member was important and worked together.  Swimming, although technically still a part of the team, was basically solo.  You won or lost your event on your own.  After all these years, Team still hated swimming.  He pretended he loved it, but to himself he could admit that he was only involved with swimming to be close to Win.

 

But football was a different story.  He loved every aspect of the game.  He was excited and couldn’t wait until it was time for the game.  Every time he looked at the clock, he expected to see that hours had passed, only to realize it had only been minutes.  This made the day pass very slowly.

 

Finally it was time to head over to the field for the pre-game warm up.  Well…technically it was still too early, but he couldn’t wait any longer to get there.  He rode his bike to the school, and even though he cautioned himself to ride there slowly, he found himself standing on the pedals with each rotation, flying down the streets on his way there.

 

When he arrived at the field, he was dismayed to find that no one else had arrived yet.  He had worn his practice uniform and carried his game uniform and a regular outfit in a backpack.  He sat it down on the last row of the bleachers and then walked out into the middle of the field.

 

He stood there for a while, envisioning the plays that the team had been discussing all week.  Of course he knew that their plays were just mental gymnastics.  The coach was the one who decided the plays—but it was still fun for him to run these plays in his mind.

 

During one of their talks, some of the guys had mentioned the thing they loved the best about the games were the roar of the crowd and hearing their names being chanted.  That stuff was nice, but it wasn’t Team’s best thing.  To him it was running down the field, surrounded by boys from both teams, making his way towards the other team’s goal.  It didn’t even matter to him whether it was he or Jai who had the ball or made the goal, it was the journey there together that made it Team’s best thing.

 

“Hey!  Have you been here long?” Jai called.  He was placing his backpack next to Team’s on the bleachers.

 

“No, not too long,” Team answered.

 

Jai walked over to him.  “I went by your house to see if you needed a ride but you were already gone.”

 

“I rode my bike.  I wanted to stretch my muscles a bit.  But thanks for thinking about me!”

 

Jai nodded and then asked, “Are you nervous?”

 

“No.  Well, maybe a bit.  Mostly excited though.  Seems like it has been forever since our last game.  Why?  Are you nervous?”

 

Jai shrugged.  “A little bit, I guess.  I mean…this is Upper Secondary.  Some of these guys are really good.  There’s a chance…”

 

“Nope!” Team interrupted.  “You will make the starting lineup.  You were the best on the team in Lower Secondary, plus you are going to boot camp.  There’s no way the coach will make you be a bench warmer.  That’s my job.”

 

“I wish you were going, too.” Jai said with a shake of his head.  “For you, of course, because it will be awful for you not to play, but selfishly for me also.  I hate the idea of going away with these guys for three weeks.  I hoped you and I could bunk together.  I don’t really know anyone else that well.”

 

“Nah, you’ll be okay.  By the time boot camp is over, you will be close with all of them.  And when you get back to the village, you won’t even remember my name!” Team said, laughingly.

 

“Yeah I will!  You’re that weird guy in my study group,” Jai retorted with a laugh of his own.

 

“Speaking of which, have you heard from Mali?  Will she be here tonight?”

 

Team watched as Jai’s cheeks turned red.  Jai looked over at the empty bleachers, as if he was searching for her.  “I don’t know,” Jai answered.  “I mean…I haven’t talked to her today so I don’t know if she will or not.  I think she might.  She’s always came to watch us before, so she probably will.  I don’t know though.”

 

Win had to bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.  The two of them were just so…he hated the word, but it fit them…they were cute.  Super cute together.  They were obviously in love with the other and so oblivious that their feelings were returned.

 

“Now why am I not surprised to see the two of you here waiting for the door to open?” The coach asked from behind them.  “First ones here.  Impressive.”

 

The coach unlocked the door to the locker room and Team and Jai went inside to wait for the rest of the guys to arrive.  Jai changed into his practice uniform and sat down next to Team on the bench in front of the lockers to wait.  After a bit, they got restless and went back outside and jogged around the perimeter of the field a few times.

 

Eventually the rest of the team arrived and joined them on the field.  The coach led them through some exercises and then ordered them to hit the showers and get suited up in their game uniforms.

 

After they were showered and dressed, the coach passed out protein bars and bottles of water.  The guys sat on the benches as the coach ran down the list of their plays.  He announced the starting lineup for the game, and both Team and Jai were on the list.  Team let out a deep sigh and felt his muscles relax.  He had hoped he would be a starter in this game because he knew that after the boot camp trip, he wouldn’t be again.

 

He had been hearing the sounds of the crowd as they arrived.  At first it had been a faint sound, but as more people gathered, the noise had increased by a lot.  He felt his heart speeding up with excitement.  He knew it wouldn’t be long before the coach announced it was time to hit the field.  And he was right…by the hands of the clock, it wasn’t long…but to Team it had felt like it took a million years.  He noticed that quite a few of the guys were squirming around in anticipation too.

 

Finally…finally, almost at the point where Team was on the verge of screaming, finally the coach told them to hit the field.  They left the locker room all together, like a flock of birds.  As soon as they entered the field, the crowd began to cheer.  Although this wasn’t Team’s best thing about playing football, he didn’t hate hearing the crowd roar for them.

 

The boys spread apart, some hurrying over to their benches, others stopping to wave at the crowd.  As Team neared the bench, he saw an arm waving from the bottom row of the spectator’s seating, and heard his name being called.  He looked over and saw that it was Win.  Win usually sat with Team’s parents, so he looked for them and saw they weren’t there.  But she was.  She was clinging to Win’s arm and grinning at Team.

 

“Uh…Hi!  I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Team said to Win as a greeting.

 

Win laughed, “That’s crazy!  I have always come to your games!”

 

Team shrugged and looked at Daow and forced that big, fake smile to appear on his face, “I know, but its Friday night.  Friday nights are date nights.”

 

“That’s what I told him!” she squealed, “But he said this was our date.  I said, ‘no way, mister!’ so we went out to dinner first.”

 

“Oh,” Team answered, his head mindlessly nodding.  He didn’t know why he was nodding but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.  Nodding and smiling, like one of those bobble head dolls.  He forced himself to stop with the head movements and turned back to Win, “Have you seen my folks?  Are they here?”

 

“Yes!” Daow answered instead of Win, “P’Win took me over to them to introduce me to them.  Which was funny, because I haven’t even met his mother yet.” She drove her elbow into Win’s ribs, and then continued, “They are lovely and I was pleased to meet them.  But your poor mom has a horrible headache.  I told her she should skip the game and go home, but she said she wouldn’t miss watching you play.  Such a sweet lady!  And your dad was so nice, too.  He said…”

 

“Yeah,” Win interrupted her, “They are down that way,” he pointed in the direction of the players’ benches, “And about the third row up.”

 

Team had resumed that bobble nod when she had been rambling on about his parents.  He found himself using it to answer Win.  “Thanks!  I have to go now.”

 

“Team!” Daow called him as he started to walk away.  He stopped abruptly and walked back to her.  When he was close enough, she leaned down to look him directly in the eye, and said, “I looked at all of the guys, and you are the cutest on the team!”  She gave him one of her patented you-can-count-all-of-my-teeth grins.

 

He gave her one of his big, fake smiles, and said, “Thanks!” and then walked away.  He was raging in his mind—What a stupid thing to say!  It’s not a beauty contest—it’s a football game!  Something is really wrong with her.  I can’t imagine what Win sees in her!  And that voice!  Oh my God!  It’s enough to make your ears bleed!  And why did Win bring her to his game.  It was HIS game!  This was unforgivable.  He would much rather Win had missed the game than to drag that horrible person along.

 

He approached the players’ bench and looked up and scanned the crowd.  He spotted his parents easily.  His mom was rubbing her temples and his dad looked like he had been punched in the gut.  His dad’s eyes quickly darted to look at Win and then looked back at Team.  Team realized that they must have been taken off guard by meeting her.  Team gave them one of his big, fake smiles and waved to show them that he was perfectly fine and then sat down with the team.

 

He felt his eyebrows gather together as he thought.  He wondered if his mom’s headache was because she thought he was in pain—although why she would think that was beyond him.  And his dad, that quick darting of his eyes, along with the pinched face—it looked like he was worried or upset or something, which was crazy.  They didn’t know how he felt about Win, so they shouldn’t have those reactions.  He finally decided that his mom had a headache because she was notorious for not drinking enough water during the day.  His dad’s pinched look was probably because he was worried about her.

 

The coaches met on the center of the field with their clipboards.  They passed a microphone between them as they read off the names of their starting players.  As a player’s name was announced, he would jog out onto the field and stand behind his coach.

 

Soon the coaches left the field and the referees entered, and the game began.  Team was able to push away all his bad thoughts about Win and that person, and focus all of his attention on the ball.  Within the first thirty minutes of the game, he and Jai, working together, had managed to score three goals.  Admittedly, the other teams’ defense was weak, but it still felt great to Team.

 

He was celebrating the third goal, one that he had kicked into the goalpost, when he heard the whistles blowing.  He stopped and looked over to see that his coach was requesting a substitution.  He gulped and blinked his eyes a few times when he saw his number on the card being held up.  He glanced over at Jai and saw the shock and surprise he felt mirrored on Jai’s face.

 

He jogged off the field as a player named Tay came in to take his spot.  Team knew better than to question the coach, so he walked past him on his way to the bench.

 

“Aren’t you going to ask why?” the coach called to his retreating back.

 

Team turned around and walked back.  “No.  You’re the coach.  You make the calls.”

 

The coach gave a small nod, “That’s a good answer.  And much more respectful than most of the players would have given me.  I’m going to tell you why I did it though.  Tay is going to boot camp, and since he is a decent player, he will be my pick for starter.  He needs to learn that silent communication skill that you and Jai have.  Hopefully he can learn it by the time boot camp is over.  You and Jai got us up three points.  I think that will hold—this other team has some weak spots they need to work on.  We’ve already won the game, so this is a good chance to see Tay and Jai working together.”

 

Team shrugged, “Okay, sounds like a good plan.”  He turned and walked towards the bench.  He looked up and saw his dad frowning.  He looked confused.  Team met his glance and shrugged.  He walked to the players’ bench, grabbed a bottle of water, and sat down.  He decided he might as well get used to watching the games this way, since this was all he was going to get to do for the rest of the season.

 

Near the end of the game, about an hour later, Team was rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.  Tay wasn’t a horrible player, but he wasn’t a very good one.  The coach had told Team that he wanted Tay to learn how to communicate with Jai on the field, but in Team’s opinion, he needed to learn how to handle the ball better before that.  He was sloppy and clumsy.  Team was mortified that Jai was going to be saddled with Tay for the season.  Jai was an excellent player, but he couldn’t run the offense by himself.  The others on the offensive side were even worse than Tay.  Team hadn’t noticed how bad they were when he was in the thick of them.  Only when he was watching from the sidelines did it become apparent.

 

He got up from the bench and walked to the water station to grab a bottle of water.  He was hoping it would help dull the headache that had started in the back of his neck and had spread up his head and settled in his temples.

 

“Psst!  Hey Team!”

 

Team turned to see Win and her bent over the railing that separated the spectators from the players.  Team looked back to see if the coach or any of the players had noticed.  No one was looking in their direction, so Team walked over to the railing, and looked up at Win.  (He carefully avoided making eye contact with her)  “Yeah?  What’s up?”

 

“We’re going to leave now.  This game has been over since you left the field.  What was up with that?” Win asked.

 

Team shrugged, “Coach said that he wanted to try out other players.”

 

“You were the only one substituted, so that answer sounds fishy to me.  And to put in Tay in your place?  Tay?  He is awful.  I don’t know how he even got on the team!”

 

Team licked his lips nervously.  He didn’t want to tell Win that Tay was going to be his permanent replacement since Tay was going to boot camp and Team wasn’t.  He was spared having to answer because Daow decided to add in her unsolicited opinion.

 

“He has pimples on the back of his neck!  Actual acne.  Why would the coach put him out there?  Surely he knows that girls come to the games to see cute guys running around in shorts—not flabby boys with pimples on the back of their necks!”

 

Team gaped at her speechlessly for a moment before he gathered his wits.  “I don’t think that is necessarily true.  My mom is a huge football fan and I have never once heard her comment on a player’s looks.  She is more interested in how they perform on the field.”

 

Daow grinned at him, “Or so she says.  I doubt if your father would appreciate hearing the truth from her and she knows it.”

 

Team felt insulted all the way down to the marrow of his bones on his mother’s behalf.  He was biting his tongue to keep from informing Daow that not everyone was as shallow as she was.

 

“Like I said, we are leaving now.  Sorry you had to ride the bench for most of the game.  I think that is criminal.  Also, I wanted to ask, you’re coming to the senior swim tomorrow, aren’t you?” Win asked.

 

“Yeah, I’ll be there.  I wouldn’t miss watching this last swim for you and the rest of the seniors!”

 

“I wish it wasn’t tomorrow,” Daow said with a pout.  She turned to look at Team, “He is going to take me home now.  I have never come home from a date this early!  It’s insulting!”

 

“Oh, come on now, Sugar Cookie!” Win cajoled her in a voice that was just a step above baby talk.  “I have to rest a lot before the meet.  I explained this to you earlier.  But I’ll tell you what—since you were such a good girl to come here with me tonight, and also since we have to make this an early night—tomorrow night is all for you.  We will do whatever you want to do.  Okay?”

 

She pressed herself against him and tilted her head to look into his eyes.  Her Minnie Mouse voice somehow became sultry as she asked, “Anything I want to do?  You promise?”

 

Win gave a low chuckle, “I promise!  Let’s get you home now.”  He wrapped his arm around her back and turned her slightly so that she was no longer pressed against him.  He guided her down the walkway towards the exit.

 

Team stood there, gritting his teeth in rage as he watched them leave.  Win hadn’t even bothered to tell him goodbye.

 

He stomped back over to the players’ bench and plopped down.  He angrily unscrewed the cap from his water bottle and flipped the cap towards the trashcan.  It missed and he didn’t care.  He took a big drink from the bottle as his mind went over what he had just witnessed.  His teeth gnashed as his mind replayed Win calling that person, ‘Sugar Cookie’ in baby talk!  And then when she was pressing herself all up on Win, and in that weird, husky, Minnie Mouse voice, asking him ‘Anything?’, as if Team wasn’t standing right there hearing her begging Win for sex.  It was disgusting.  Team was revolted.  The two of them made him sick to his stomach.

 

He took another drink from the bottle and looked out on the field as he heard the crowd getting loud with excitement.  Tay had the ball and was taking it down near the goalie.  Jai was closer to the net and was being loosely guarded.  Tay had a lot of the other teams’ defensive players swarming near him.  Instead of shooting the ball over to Jai and letting him try for the goal, Tay hogged the ball and tried to score by himself.  The other team easily got the ball before it even came close to the goal and they zipped it up the middle of the field.

 

Team groaned in frustration and, as if it had a mind of its own, his hand clamped down hard on the water bottle.  The water shot out of the top of the bottle and soaked his hand.  He switched the bottle to his other hand, and then shook his wet hand a few times to get rid of the water.

 

A big guy who was a defensive player was sitting on the bench below Team.  He turned around quickly, rubbing his cheek.  “Dude!  What the fuck?”

 

“Oh!  My bad!” Team hastily answered.

 

The kid gave a curt nod and then turned back to watching the game.  He picked up the edge of his sleeve and wiped away the rest of the water from his face.

 

The guy was huge.  He could have beaten the crap out of Team, but he had graciously accepted Team’s apology.  Team was relieved, but only momentarily.

 

He looked back out on the field just in time to see Tay fall flat on his face.  Team reached up and began massaging the back of his neck again.  “It’s not fair!” Team thought.  “My whole life sucks!  And it’s not even my fault.  It’s not like I go around stomping baby kittens.  I shouldn’t be punished by Karma or the fates, or whoever it is that hands out punishments!!  I go by the rules.  I’m a nice guy!  So why is everything going to shit?  Just because I didn’t sign up for boot camp, Tay has my spot on the team.  Win gave that person my spot in his life.  He doesn’t even have 5 minutes in the day to text me!  And I gave up boot camp to be with him!  It’s not fair that I will have three weeks at home, staring at the walls and then the entire football season I will be riding the bench!”

 

The referees all blew their whistles signaling the end of the game.  The end score was 3-0, as it had been since Team was benched.  The guys on the benches followed the players into the locker room.  On his way there, Team looked up in the stands for his parents.  They weren’t there.  Team wasn’t surprised.  His mother had looked pretty ill earlier, and once he was benched, they probably left.

 

The team was rowdy and playful in the locker room, celebrating the win.  Team gathered his stuff from his locker and hit the shower.  Most of the guys hadn’t even made it to the showers yet by the time Team was dressed and on his way out of the door.

 

As he stepped out into the night air, he heard someone come up and walk beside him down the path to the parking lot.  He darted his eyes to the side to see who it was.  He wasn’t surprised to see it was Jai.  They walked together in silence until they reached the parking lot.

 

“Do you need a ride home?” Jai asked.

 

Team shook his head, “No, remember? I have my bike.”

 

Jai gave a slight lift to his chin and then looked out into the parking lot for a moment.  “He sucks,” he mumbled.

 

“Yep.”

 

Jai turned back and looked at Team.  “I think I am supposed to room with him during boot camp.  I hate sharing a room with strangers.  Coach wants us to build some kind of working relationship so he wants us to bond or something.  Me…with that guy.  Can you imagine?”

 

Team shrugged, “I think if you could teach him how to run on grass without falling down, that would be a major improvement.”

 

Jai shook his head, “That’s asking too much of me.  Maybe I can possibly teach him how to stick out his arms to catch himself when he falls.  Did you see him?  He totally face planted.  Like???  I thought that was a natural instinct.”

 

“I’m sure that he will get better at boot camp.  That’s what it’s for, right?” Team tried to sound positive.

 

Jai scoffed and shook his head.  Then he shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Maybe he will.  He certainly couldn’t get much worse.  And for the record…I don’t think it is right.  You’re the best player and you should be a starter whether you go to camp or not.  It’s not fair.”

 

“No,” Team walked over to his bike and unlocked the chain, “You’re the best player and you will be a starter.  You deserve it.  I just wish you had better back-up players.  And anyway, all that ‘fair’ stuff…that’s just crap they teach you in Primary school so the bigger kids won’t mow over the smaller ones.  Real life…nobody really cares about what is fair.”

 

Jai looked back at the parking lot.  “Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I think you’re right about that.  But I still think it sucks.”

 

Team adjusted his backpack straps on his shoulders and then mounted his bike.  “Yeah, it sucks.  But there’s nothing I can do about it now.  It’s my own fault.  I hope you have a great time though!  Send me a postcard or something.”

 

Jai nodded and walked to his car.  Team rode out of the parking lot and onto the side street.  He rode through the residential areas mainly to stay out of the traffic.  Even in a tiny village like theirs, traffic was a bit of a mess on the weekends.

 

He took the shortcut across the bridge, which was still filled with people strolling across it.  Team hid his clenched teeth through a fake smile as he cautiously and politely made his way around them.  He had to stop often when there was no area between people, but finally he made it across.  He was just starting to pick up speed when the back of his bike suddenly lurched and Team had to throw his leg out to keep from wrecking.  He examined the back tire and saw that it had blown.  There was a puncture with a small tear on it.  He must have run over something sharp.  Probably an old nail on the bridge.  Sometimes they worked themselves loose and were a hazard.

 

There was nothing he could do about it there, so he pushed the bike the rest of the way home.  It gave him lots of time to remember how Win’s voice had sounded when he called that person ‘Sugar Cookie’ and how she had smashed up against Win and basically dry humped him right on the stands, in front of half the village.

 

He also thought about how discouraged Jai had looked.  Team felt like he had let him down.  And actually, let the whole team down.  He felt a flame of anger in his chest at the coach for making such stupid rules.  But most of all, he was angry at himself.

 

When he finally arrived at his house, he was dismayed to see that the car wasn’t in the drive.  His mom hadn’t felt well, but it was just a headache.  But then he thought that maybe this was something more serious…like a stroke.  He hurriedly grabbed his phone and checked for messages.  There wasn’t any so his heart rate slowed a bit.  If it was some emergency, his dad would have texted him.  Maybe they just went for a drive or something like that.

 

He pushed his bike into the garage and parked it.  He dropped his backpack on the work bench and got the toolbox and the patch kit and then set to work on his bike.  He tried to focus on what he was doing, but his mind kept bouncing around from one bad thing to another.  He was using a wrench to remove the bolt that attached the wheel to his bike, when a thought distracted him and the wrench slipped.  His knuckles scraped across the chain before hitting the ground.  He looked at his hand and saw that his ‘punch knuckles’ now had a bleeding gash on them.

 

And that was it for him.  The straw that broke the camel’s back.  He had been crouched down while working on the tire, but now he stood upright.  He was filled with white hot rage at the unfairness of everything, because up until this week, his entire life, he had believed that life was ultimately fair.  The philosophy that Team had told Jai about nothing in life really being fair was something that he had just learned.  And it was not sitting well with him.

 

The bloody knuckle wasn’t what was really bothering him.  It had barely even hurt and the pain was already ebbing.  It was Win.  Even camp wasn’t that big of a deal to him.  His pain was all Win.

 

He looked at the far wall across the garage and then surprised himself by yelling one long, endless word:  “Goddamnsonofabitchingmotherfuckingpieceofshitfromhell”  He threw the wrench as hard as he could at the far wall.  It hit midway up the wall and then bounced off and landed on the floor.  Along with a chunk of the cinderblock wall.

 

He heard a rustling sound behind him and he spun to see what it was.  It was his dad.  He had stopped on his way into the garage and was staring at the wall.  He had a grocery bag in one hand.  Team surmised the rustling sound had been the bag.

 

Team threw his shoulders back to brace for whatever his dad would have to say.  He expected hours of lectures about foul language and learning how to control his temper.  His dad would probably also speak to him about respecting property and demanding to be reimbursed for the damages.  Team just hoped that his dad would be quick about it because Team was about to explode in rage and he didn’t quite know how to reel it in.

 

His dad sat the bag down next to Team’s backpack on the workbench and then he walked over and knelt down next to the toolbox.  He rummaged around in it and then pulled out the biggest, heaviest wrench of all.  He stood up and handed the wrench to Team.  “Use this one.”

 

Team took the wrench and looked at it with a puzzled frown.

 

“Go on!  Throw it!  I don’t think that small one was enough.  And besides, you’re mad at both of them.  Throw this one for the other one you are mad at.”

 

Team didn’t understand what his dad was implying.  And he didn’t know if this was some kind of test to see if he would actually throw it.  It didn’t matter though, because his rage was out of his control.

 

He spun back around and threw the heavy wrench as hard as he could at the back wall.  He didn’t curse this time, he just yelled.  The wrench hit the wall higher than the smaller wrench had.  It made a satisfying clang as it made contact with the wall and then ricocheted and landed on the floor about three feet away from it.  The cinderblock showed a long crack where it had been hit.

 

Team stood with his muscles trembling, since he had expelled some of his rage.  He stared in disbelief at the damage to the far wall that he had done.

 

“Better now?” his dad asked.

 

Team nodded slowly.  He knew that he was in for a marathon lecture now, and he just wanted it over so he could escape to his bedroom.

 

“Well, I think we should tend to that cut,” his dad said as he retrieved the first-aid kit he kept on a shelf.  “Come on over and sit on the bench and I’ll tend to it for you.”

 

“You?  You’re going to mess with a cut?  Where there is blood?” Team asked aghast as he moved his backpack to the floor and sat down on the bench in its place.  He knew his father had a weak stomach when it came to such things.

 

“It’s your right hand, so I don’t think you can do it well by yourself.  Your mother is in bed with a bad headache.  So that just leaves me.” He moved the sack he had brought into the garage and sat on the bench facing Team.

 

Team watched his father’s face as he cleaned and tended to Team’s wound.  His dad’s face was white and a thin sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead as he worked.  Team noticed that he swallowed hard a few times, and Team imagined it was a big ol’ barf bubble in his throat.  But to give the guy all the credit, he managed to get the job done without throwing up.

 

His dad closed the first-aid kit with shaking hands and let out a big sigh.  “All done now!” he said with a shaky voice full of fake cheer.  He reached for the sack he had brought into the garage with him.  “You’re 16 now.  I think you are old enough to have your first drink.”  He pulled out cups, lemon-lime soda, and a bottle of whiskey.

 

Team’s jaw dropped.  He knew if his mother even suspected his dad of giving him alcohol, she would shit a brick.  Nevertheless, his dad poured a small amount of whiskey in two of the cups and then mixed in the soda.  He handed Team one of the cups.  “Did I ever tell you about how your mom and I met?”

 

Team took a big drink from his cup.  The drink was mainly soda; there wasn’t much whiskey to it.  He nodded, “Yeah, back in Primary school.  It was the first day of class and Mom was in the seat in front of you.  She had long hair and she flipped it back over her shoulder and some of it landed on your desk.  You pulled her hair, and she turned around and scowled at you.  You fell in love at first sight.  She wasn’t a huge fan of yours at first, but eventually she fell for you.  You stayed together all through school and later, college.  You got married shortly after your college graduation.”  He took another drink from his cup.  Even though it was weak, he could feel it starting to ease his stress a bit.  Or maybe it was just sitting in the garage, talking with his dad.  Either way, he was just glad his dad wasn’t ranting at him about throwing the wrenches and cursing.

 

His dad took a drink from his own cup, and then held it and stared down into its depths.  After a moment he said, “That’s partially true.  It’s the nice version.  Tonight, I want to tell you the real story—the not-so-nice version.”

 

Team swallowed hard and his heart sped up.  ‘Not-so-nice version’?  What the heck could that mean?  And did he want to know?  He didn’t think he did.  “Uh…that’s okay.  I like the nice version of it.”

 

“All of the first part is true,” his dad said, as if Team had not just voiced his objection to hearing it.  “But at the start of 11^th grade, I started feeling like I didn’t want to be tied down anymore.  She and I had been together for years by this point, and honestly, I wanted to date other girls.”

 

“Oh Lord!” Team muttered.

 

“Instead of breaking up with her, I became rude and distant.  You know her, so you won’t be shocked to hear that she dumped me immediately.  I was thrilled.  I chased every young female with a pulse.  I caught quite a few of them, too.”

 

“Eww!  I get it!  You were a douchebag!  But why are you telling me this?  I don’t want to know that about you.  Plus, obviously Mom took you back, so she isn’t looking all that great to me either,” Team was extremely upset and his voice shook when he spoke.

 

“I would see your mom out on dates with other guys from time to time.  I’m not going to lie, I didn’t like it, but I realized it wasn’t fair of me to expect her not to date, so I didn’t dwell on it much.  Until…” he stopped and refilled his glass with whiskey and soda.  Team shoved his glass over and he refilled it too.

 

His dad took a drink and then stared into his glass as if watching his story unfolding.  “Until Muang.  He was a serious student from a wealthy family.  He wanted to be a doctor so he studied all the time.  He never looked up from his books, until one day he did look up and when he did, he saw her.”  He stopped and drank some out of his glass in big swallows.  “The first time I saw them together was at a dance.  We had been broken up for about six months at the time.  As soon as I saw them together…I knew it, down deep inside, I knew it.”

 

“Knew what?” Team asked, interested in spite of himself.

 

His dad cleared his throat and then took another drink.  “I knew they would end up in a serious relationship; it wouldn’t be just dating.”  He sighed deeply and then took a breath, “I kept trying to convince myself that I didn’t care because I was having so much fun being single and free.  And, I might have even believed it for a bit.  But one day, it was right at the end of the school year, I was supposed to meet a girl up in the school library.  She was doing a research paper and wanted me to help her gather the books and articles she needed.  I got there early, and since I was seldom in the library, I strolled around looking at stuff, you know, to kill time.  I came out of a row I had been in and found myself in this small study area.  Your mom and Muang were at a table in the corner.  He was at one end of the table and your mom was at the other, and they were across from each other.  I thought it was hilarious.  Nerdy dating.  They weren’t even looking at each other or talking.  Just studying.  And there was this stack of books on the table between them.  I was laughing to myself about it.  Like they had this ‘wall’ between them.  I thought about how jealous I had been and thought there was nothing to actually be jealous of.  They could have been two strangers who just happened to be sharing a table.  Nothing romantic about it at all.  So, to amuse myself, and also—I’ll admit it—I was hoping your mom would look up and see me, I decided to get closer to them.  I inched my way closer and closer, pretending to be studying some books on a shelf near them.  Once I got almost directly behind her, I saw the truth.  The books in the center of the table weren’t placed there as a wall between them, but rather as a barrier to the outside world.  They were using the books to hide that they were holding hands.  I was floored.  And I mean that literally.  My knees buckled so I was almost on the ground already.  Instead of fighting it, I gave in and sat down.  Once I was down there, I looked under their table and saw that they had entangled their ankles together.  I knew then that it was over.  I had lost her for good.”

 

“Because they were holding hands?  And the ankle thing?  I don’t get why that was such a big deal.  Weren’t you doing worse things?” Team asked.

 

His dad nodded, “Yeah, I was…but your mom is different.  Even back then, as a teenager, she had her own set of rules, morals, and standards.  I knew her very well.  And I knew that those gestures were simple but very intimate.  She wouldn’t be doing it unless they were already lovers—which for your mom would mean that she had deep feelings for him.”

 

“Oh shit,” Team whispered.

 

“Exactly,” his dad nodded.  “And the worst part of it was, I liked Muang!  He was a really great guy.  If he had wanted to be with one of my sisters, I would have given my approval without hesitation.  But…he was with my Nat.  And I loved her with everything I had.  However, we were apart, it was my fault, and she had moved on and was happy.  I didn’t know what to do.”  He was looking down, lost in his memories.  He slowly shook his head, “I stopped dating other girls, it was the only thing I could think of to do.  Your mom and Muang stayed together all through the rest of the year, through the summer, and all through our senior year.  All I could do was watch them.  And even I had to acknowledge they were perfect together.  Then I heard a rumor.  It was near the end of the school year and everyone was getting letters from the colleges that they had applied to.  I heard that your mom had gotten quite a few—which is not surprising, she is a genius.  I had been accepted into Rayong, as had a lot of my friends.  I hadn’t tried to get into the more elite colleges because, well…my grades weren’t that great.  I was pretty thrilled about being accepted in anywhere.  You know how this village is, everybody knows everybody.  There was this girl who was friends with Muang’s younger sister.  She told me that the sister told her that Muang and your mom were going to go to a college together in Bangkok.  The sister had found an engagement ring in Muang’s room.  He told her that he was going to ask Nat to marry him after the senior dance.  He wanted to marry her before they went to college and had already put in for a married student dorm.”

 

Team could feel his heart racing and he felt sick inside.  “You did something to stop that, didn’t you?”

 

His dad looked up and him and gave a slight nod.  “I had to.  I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I had to do something.  So early on the day of the dance, when I knew her parents wouldn’t be home, I went to her house.”  He gazed off in the distance, and Team knew he wasn’t just telling this story.  He was reliving it.  “When she answered the door, she was dressed in an old bathrobe and her hair was wrapped up in a towel.  I must have caught her just as she was getting out of the shower.  The look she gave me was one of pure hatred.  And again, I will confirm that I deserved it.”  He took a drink from his cup and then blinked a few times, obviously fighting back tears.  “She put her hands on her hips, I know you’ve seen her do that when she is really angry, and she asked me something like how dare I come to her house.  I just stood there—desperate to fix things, but knowing that I didn’t have a chance in hell, nor did I have the right.  Suddenly I blurted out, ‘I love you.  I’ve always loved you!  Please don’t marry Muang!  And don’t go to college in Bangkok, come be with me in Rayong!’”

 

“And she agreed and you lived happily ever after, right?” Team said in relief.

 

“Not exactly.  She told me to do something to myself that I am fairly positive is impossible.  If it’s not impossible, I am sure it is painful,” he gave a small laugh at the thought.  “And then she ordered me to leave her alone or she was calling the police.”

 

Team nodded, “That sounds like her!”

 

“I left town that night, didn’t even stick around for graduation.  I got a job on a fishing boat and stayed gone all summer.  I didn’t keep in touch with anybody from the village.  I really just wanted to disappear and forget about everything.  Working on that boat was horrible.  At first I didn’t care much because I was numb, but as the summer wore on, I realized that I didn’t want that kind of life.  I finished the season, cashed my check and bought a car.  I drove back here to the village, determined to go to Rayong College and give it everything I had.  I wanted to do my best to create some kind of life for myself, even though I knew I couldn’t have Nat.  I spent some time with my family and then it was time to head off to school.  I still had a good bit of money left over from the summer, so school wasn’t going to be a financial burden on my folks—and I was proud of myself for it, I will admit.  Anyway, the day before I was planning on leaving for school, I ran into a guy I knew—we weren’t close, but, like I said, you know how it is here—everybody knows everybody.  He had rented a small trailer and had hooked it up to the back of his car.  He told me that he had sold spots in his car to take some kids up to Rayong with him.  He was charging them much less than any other service, basically only enough to cover the gas and the rental of the trailer, but he thought it would be fun for the village kids to go there together.  He knew of a few more kids who needed a ride, so he talked me into renting a trailer too.  By the next morning, he had arranged for me to have four passengers.  He and I parked in the Secondary School’s parking lot, and we met them there.  Some of the kids just brought a few suitcases, but others had crazy things—one kid brought a fish tank with him.  Thank goodness he decided to wait until he was settled before buying fish or it would have been a horrible disaster!  I got my trailer loaded and my passengers were already in the car, when I thought I would check to see if the other guy needed to use any of my trailer space because I still had a bit left.  As I was walking to his car, I saw her.  Your mom.  She was standing there, holding a suitcase, waiting for the guy to load it into his trailer.  I was shocked—all summer I had prepared myself to never see her again, so I was actually pretty much bowled over, to tell you the truth.  She was wearing a pale blue dress and she was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.”  He sighed and took a drink from his glass.  “I looked at her hands and saw that she wasn’t wearing an engagement ring.  She was there, headed to Rayong College, and she was not engaged to Muang!  If I live to be a million years old, I will never be able to put into words how I felt seeing her there.”

 

Team shook his head, “No, but you don’t have to.  I can imagine how it was.  So that’s when you got back together?”

 

His dad laughed, “No!  Have you met your mother?  Do you think she would ever make things easy?  But in her defense, she had no reason to trust me.  No, what happened was, those of us from the village who went to Rayong together that day decided to stick together.  We met at the same table for lunch every day and hung out together a lot of evenings.  Of course we all made new friends over time, but we were the core and we stayed together.  Every day for the first two years, I sat next to your mother at lunch.  And every day, she refused to speak to me or to even acknowledge I was there.  She dated a few guys here and there, I never dated anyone.  I was determined to prove to her that I was a better person than I had been before.  Early in our third year, she was doing a fundraiser for her facility and she had been drafted to pick up supplies in town.  She didn’t have a car and there was no way that she could carry all that stuff on the bus.  Maybe she could have taken a taxi or something, but before she thought of doing that, I rushed in and volunteered to take her.  She really didn’t have many options, so she agreed to let me take her.  And it was a long, slow, hard-fought battle after that to convince her that I wasn’t…to use your words ‘a douchebag’ anymore, and to let me back into her life.  Eventually she did and as you know, we were married right after we graduated.  And now we are in the process of living ‘happily ever after’.”

 

Team reached over and poured more whiskey into his half-filled glass.  He didn’t add anymore soda to it.  “You know, I think I prefer this version instead of the ‘nice’ version.  I like knowing that it wasn’t a perfect story and you weren’t perfect people.”

 

“Nobody is,” his dad said as he took Team’s glass from his hand and poured more soda into it.  “If I hadn’t have gotten the courage up to tell your mother how I felt, she would have married Muang.  This isn’t just my imagination, she told me she would have.  It was after we were married.  She told me she had heard the rumor about the ring and the proposal, and she was going to say ‘yes’.  When I came to the door and declared my feelings for her, she hated me for it.  But then she realized that although she cared for Muang very much, she didn’t love him like she had loved me.  She decided she didn’t want to settle for just caring deeply for someone; she was determined to only marry someone who she could love as much as she had loved me.  And she did.” He said with a grin.  “And that was the point of me telling you this story tonight.  You have to tell him, Team.”

 

Team had been taking a drink and he choked.  He coughed and then wiped at his eyes, “Tell who what?  I don’t know what you are talking about!”

 

“I was confused at first.  The day I took you to the first meeting of the swim club and he ran to the car to walk you up to the building.  He had his arm around your shoulders.  It seemed like the two of you were awfully close for just meeting once before.  And to tell you the truth, I didn’t trust him at all!  In my day, if an older boy came near a younger one, it was to bully him or beat him up.”

 

Team internally agreed with his dad.  In fact, that was what he had expected that first day on the bridge.  “He isn’t like that.”

 

“I know.  But I didn’t know it then.  If you remember, you were grounded at the time for curfew violation.  I had to drive you back and forth for the meetings.  One day I told you I had to work late and for you to walk to the club.  Truthfully, I had taken off early and parked a few blocks away.  I walked to the club and hid.  I wanted to see how he would treat you if he thought no one was around to stop him.  It wasn’t long before he come flying up on that bicycle of his, with you on the back, standing up on the foot pegs.  I heard you scream that you were ‘the king of the world’.  I was furious and started over to you.  I was going to grab you by the ear and drag you home.  But then I heard him scolding you.  And I could see that you were listening to him.  I managed to calm down and examine things with a clearer head.  I could see that he was a decent kid.  He knew right from wrong, and he wasn’t going to stand by and let you do stupid, dangerous shit.  And I could also see that…”  He paused and studied Team’s face.

 

“Well?  What?” Team snapped.  His back had broken out into a sweat and for some reason he felt like a trapped animal.

 

His dad reached over and took Team’s bandaged hand into his.  He acted as if he were checking the wrappings but Team wasn’t fooled.  His dad wanted to hold his hand.  Team swallowed hard.  He knew what his dad was about to say.

 

His dad took a deep breath, and then said, while still studying the wrappings on his knuckles, “I could see that you were in love with him,” he said quietly.

 

“That’s…that’s just crazy!  He’s my best friend!  I don’t…” Team paused and his dad looked up into his eyes.  “I don’t….” Team couldn’t say that he didn’t love Win.  That was a lie that was too big for him.  He felt his shoulders drop and he lost all his air.  He looked down at the wood grain on the bench and studied it.  When he spoke again, it was a mere ghost of his normal voice. “I can’t tell him.  If he knew, I would lose him forever.  At least this way, he’s in my life.”

 

“But I can tell that this relationship he is in is killing you.  Maybe if he knew…”

 

“If he knew that his best friend was gay and in love with him…was that what you were going to say?  You seem to think it would make him look at me differently, and it would.  But not the way you think.  He would hate me.  I can’t…I can’t lose him, Dad.  I can’t.  Even if it means seeing him with her.  At least a small part of him still belongs to me.”  Team began to cry then.  He tried to hide the tears from his dad, but it was impossible.  His dad let go of Team’s hand and moved the stuff off the bench.  He slid closer to Team and pulled him into his arms.

 

Team buried his face in his dad’s shoulder as his dad rocked him and rubbed the back of his head.  Team knew this should feel odd, he was almost a man and his dad was soothing him just how he had when he was a little boy.  But it didn’t.  He felt safe and loved.  It took a long time before the tears slowed enough for him to speak.

 

“Do you know that you’re not supposed to out someone?” he asked.

 

“I do.  And I wouldn’t have, except I felt like you were drowning and I needed you to see that I’m here.  I understand and I will help you however you need me to.  And you should know that your mother and I don’t keep secrets from each other; she knows too.  We both want you to know that you are our son, and you are perfect, just the way you are.  We wouldn’t change a thing about you, even if we could.”

 

This brought on a fresh burst of tears; he felt understood and very loved.  It was a short, but cleansing cry.  He felt so much better once the bout had passed.  He raised his face from his dad’s shoulder and swiped at his cheeks.

 

“Here,” his dad produced a handkerchief from his pocket, “Use this instead of your grimy hands.”

 

Team smiled a bit at that and he used the handkerchief to wipe away the traces of his tears.  “I heard what you were saying about telling him, and I am really glad it worked for you and Mom, but our situations are different.  You had nothing to lose when you said it.  I have everything to lose if I did.  That’s why I won’t.  Not ever.”

 

His dad nodded, “I see your point.  I just wish I had a magic wand or something so I could fix it for you.  In my experience it saved my life.  I shudder to think what my life would have been like if I hadn’t spoken up when I did.”

 

“Yeah, it saved your life, but I don’t think I got much from it.”  Team quipped, trying to hide his smile.

 

“Why?  What do you mean by that?”

 

“Well, for starters,” Team said, “Mom would have married a rich doctor, so right now I would probably be in a mansion somewhere, with servants and probably a fancy new car.  Instead, I’m sitting next to a guy with a wet shirt, in a garage with holes in the wall,” he gestured towards the back wall that he had damaged when he threw the wrenches, “and drinking weak-ass 7&7.”

 

“Hey now!” his dad scolded with a grin.  “Don’t forget, I tended to your gross, bloody cut, all by myself!  I’m kind of proud of me for that!”

 

“Yeah…uh…he’s a doctor,” Team reminded.

 

His dad reached over and ruffled his hair and laughed.  He cupped Team’s chin and raised his face so he could see him.  “Are you feeling any better now?”

 

Team nodded, “I’ve always known you were a great dad, but you’re a pretty cool guy, too.”

 

“Good!  I’m glad to know you’re feeling a bit better because there is something else I wanted to talk to you about.  Your coach called me this afternoon.  He told me that you and Jai were the first ones to arrive—you were there even before he arrived.  This rule about players having to go to boot camp or they can’t be starters—it’s not his rule.  It’s the school’s rule, and he doesn’t agree with it, but he has to abide by it.  He told me he tried numerous times to get you to sign up for camp, but you refused.  When the signup sheet was given to him to turn in—he wrote your name down on it before he did.”  His dad pulled a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket (that was luckily on the other side and hadn’t gotten wet from Team’s tears).  “He gave this to me tonight before the start of the game.  It’s a permission slip for the trip.”  He opened it and showed Team that he had signed it.  “How about it?  Do you want to go to Chiang Mai and get away from all of this?”

 

Team licked his suddenly dry lips.  “But you always say that we can’t run away from our problems.”

 

“That’s true,” his dad agreed.  “Whether you go or not, Win is still going to be with this girl.  But if you go, at least you don’t have to have it in your face for three weeks.  It will give you time to…I don’t know…not learn to accept it…but maybe get used to the idea a bit.  What do you say?”

 

“What about…you know,” he gestured towards the damaged wall.  “Shouldn’t I be punished or something for that?”

 

“Team!” his dad said sternly, “Look around!  This is a garage.  It’s supposed to be rough and tumbled, not pristine like a dining room.  I can mix up some mortar and fix those spots in no time.  But…your ‘punch knuckles’?  Is there someplace else I need to patch up?”

 

Team bit his lip and answered in a low voice, “My shower might have a couple of broken tiles in it.”

 

His dad nodded, “Well, that’s going to take a bit more than me slapping some mortar on it.  I’m going to have to call the tile store and have someone come out and replace them.”  He pulled out another folded paper from his pocket.  “Here is the list of everything that you need to pack for your trip.  Your mom read through it a half dozen times already.  She is sure you have everything you need, but after you pack, take your suitcase downstairs with the list so she can check it in the morning when she gets up.”

 

“So you’re really not going to punish me?” Team asked skeptically.

 

“Of course I am!  I am so appalled by your behavior tonight, young man, that I am banishing you to the Chiang Mai mountains for three weeks of hard labor.  Maybe by the end of that time, you will have learned your lesson.  Now go on!  Get packing!”

 

Team laughed and hopped up, and then suddenly sat back down again.  “I can’t go.”

 

“Why not?”

 

Team sighed and shrugged, “It’s three weeks.  I have clients who depend on me.  I don’t have time now to find someone else to take over their lawn care.  I have to stay home.”

 

“Oh no you don’t!  I’ll take care of the lawns.  You are going on this trip!”

 

“Come on, Dad!  You can’t do that!  You’re much to ol…uh…busy to be doing yard work,” Team argued.

 

“I’m not quite as ‘O’busy’ as you think I am!  I will do it.  You’ve been working steadily for four years without a break.  You need this time.  Now get upstairs and pack your bags before I go up there and do it for you!”

 

“You’re sure?  You really mean it?” Team asked, bounding to his feet.  “I can’t wait to tell Jai!”

 

“Yeah, you are saving him and the entire team, from that Tay guy.  Where did they get him?  He couldn’t even run the field!”

 

Team laughed, “I told Jai to teach him how to run on grass during boot camp.  Now I guess he won’t have to!”  He opened the list of items for the trip and read it as he walked towards the door.

 

“By the way, Team—when my dad gave me my first drink, I had the courtesy to pretend that it was.  I certainly didn’t call it ‘7&7’ like I had ordered it in a bar.”

 

Team stopped and slowly turned to look at his father.  “Is that really what it's called?  I didn’t know that!  I heard it on a TV show once.  Wow, that was a lucky guess.  But gee, it really burns and it tastes nasty.  Is it supposed to taste like that?  I’m kind of worried that it went bad or something because people on TV shows seem to like it.  It tasted like medicine or something to me.”

 

His dad laughed, “Go on!  Get!”

 

Team laughed and hurried out of the garage.  He held his hand over his mouth and climbed the stairs quietly so he wouldn’t wake up his mom.  He had a strong feeling that she would be feeling much better in the morning.

 

When he got to his room, he flopped down on his bed and sent a text to Jai to let him know that Team would be going on the trip.  Then he hurried to his closet and grabbed his medium-sized suitcase and his vacation backpack and placed them on his bed.  He began packing them using the list for a guide.

 

His life still sucked.  Win was still with her, but at least he would have three whole weeks where he didn’t have to watch her grinding on Win and hearing him call her disgusting pet names.  And now he would have a shot at being a starter and not riding the bench all year.

 

Jai messaged him back as soon as he saw Team’s message.  He was overcome with joy that he wasn’t going to be stuck with Tay for the three weeks of camp, and for football season.  They spent the rest of the evening texting back and forth, making plans for the trip, while Team packed his bags.

Chapter 12

Team had left his packed suitcase downstairs as his father had instructed, and he was not surprised to find all of his clothes removed from it the next morning.  His mother had replaced his old clothes with new ones.

 

“Well…I couldn’t have you going away for three weeks with a bunch of old clothes, now could I?” She asked with her hands on her hips as if daring him to disagree.

 

He laughed and gave a small shake of his head.  “The old clothes would have been fine!  You didn’t have go out early this morning and buy all these things.”

 

“My foot if I didn’t!  If people saw those old clothes they would think we weren’t fit parents!”

 

He bent to gather up all his old clothes to return them to his bedroom.  “I’m going to camp, not to a resort,” he retorted with a laugh, and then asked “Is your headache better now?”

 

She sighed, “Yes!  Thank goodness!  The sun is shining and the birds are singing, and I don’t feel like closing the drapes and screaming at the birds to shut up!”

 

He took the clothes up to his bedroom and sorted through them.  He grabbed a few pairs of his favorite underwear and socks and placed them in his travel backpack.  He liked getting new clothes, but he wanted to take a few of his old, comfortable things.  He shoved a few tee shirts and his old jacket into his backpack as well.  He reasoned that it might be a while before they got their suitcases, and by the time they arrived in Chiang Mai, it would be evening.  He heard it got chilly there in the evenings.  He was looking forward to that!  It was always pretty hot in the village, even in the evenings.

 

He tossed in his razor, toothbrush, and toothpaste, and then examined his backpack.  It was a big one so the items hadn’t taken up that much space.  He was glad because he wanted to use the rest of the space for snacks.  He remembered his last trip, for Win’s senior swim trip, and how they hadn’t eaten much during the weekend, due to their ‘food poisoning’.  If he hadn’t had a few snacks in his backpack, he would have starved to death, he felt certain of it.  So for a three-week trip, he wanted to make sure he had plenty to eat tucked away in his backpack.

 

His mother drove him over to Jai’s house and he left his suitcase there.  He and Jai had discussed it the night before.  Jai was driving his car to the school and parking it there for the duration of the trip.  He didn’t mind tossing Team’s suitcase in the backseat along with his.  He was so thrilled that Team was going on the trip and keeping him from being stuck with Tay for three weeks that he would have agreed to anything.

 

“Why didn’t you leave your backpack, too?” his mom asked when he returned to the car.

 

“I want to stop at the store and get some snacks for the trip,” he answered.

 

His mom laughed and shook her head.  “That’s just like you!”  She became serious after a few seconds, “Team?” she paused.  She nibbled on her lower lip for a moment and then asked, “Are you sure you want to go to the senior swim?  You know she is going to be there.”

 

Team sighed.  Just as his dad had told him the night before, the two of them had no secrets from each other, so she was aware of his feelings.  He nodded, “Yeah, I do.  It doesn’t matter who else is there, I’m going to be there for him.  It’s his last swim of Secondary school.  It’s important to him, so it is important to me.  And it is due to end right about the time for the bus to arrive to take us to Bangkok airport, so I won’t have to worry about being late and missing the bus.  I’ll be just a few yards away.”

 

She nodded and then drove the rest of the way to the store in silence.  He ran into the store and grabbed a hand basket.  He zipped down aisles, gathering up the snack supplies he needed, and then he hurried back to the car.  Time was passing quickly and he didn’t want to be late.

 

Back in the car he grabbed up his backpack.  He removed the jacket from the bottom and then shoved all the snacks in it and covered them with the jacket.

 

“Why are you taking that old thing?” his mother asked.  “I bought you a brand new one!”

 

“I know, I just thought I should have one in my backpack in case I get chilly.  I want to keep the new one nice, so I packed this old one for the plane.”

 

The frown lines eased from her brow, “That makes sense, but you could have packed the new one in your backpack instead of your suitcase.”

 

He shrugged, “I didn’t think about it.  But…” he reached into the grocery sack and retrieved the last item, “I did think about this!”  He handed her a package of rice cakes.  “There’s a game tonight, and I know you guys like to snack on these.  We are out of them, so I picked some up so you wouldn’t have to go to the store.”

 

She reached over and caressed his cheek, “You are growing up so fast.  Part of me hates to see it because it means that soon you will be all grown up and out on your own; but the other part of me is just so proud of how great of a man you are becoming.”  She took her hand back and swiped her eyes.  “Ugh, three whole weeks without you.”  She shook her head and sighed, “I guess it will be good practice for when you go off to college in two years.”  She put the car into reverse and backed out of the parking space of the grocery store.

 

The rest of the drive to the school was filled with ‘make sure you do this’ and ‘never do that’ instructions for camp.  Team reminded her again that he would be out of touch during the weekdays because there was no cell service up in the mountains, but he promised to call home on the weekends.

 

She choked up a bit when they hugged goodbye, but finally she let him go.  He slung his backpack over his shoulder and entered the spectator’s section of the swimming area.  He sat down on the team’s bench and put the backpack on the ground behind him.  He saw her in the prime seat which was also in the splash zone.  She gave him a huge smile and waved enthusiastically.  He forced a smile and gave her a wave and then looked away, pretending to study the surrounding crowd.

 

He bit back a grin when he realized that she had dressed up for the event as if it were a party.  She was wearing a pale pink, sleeveless dress, with lots of crisp, white lace around the neck and arm holes.  Win hadn’t given her a jacket to shield herself from the splashes the swimmers would make.  Team knew after the first person hit the water in front of her, that dress would look like a wet rag hanging off of her.

 

He amused himself by imagining it happening.  In his imagination, it was Win who was the one whose jump caused the splash.  He was quietly giggling at the thought, when his mind played the scene all the way to the end.  She would be angry.  Furiously angry, actually.  She would cause a scene and berate Win in front of everyone.  Team’s eyebrows drew together at that thought.

 

He shook his head to pull himself out of his imagination.  He fetched a deep sigh of resignation and turned around to unzip his backpack.  He retrieved his old jacket and got up and walked over to her.

 

“Hey!  You are sitting in the splash zone.  P’Win must have forgotten to give you something to cover yourself.  Here,” he said as he handed her his jacket, “when you see people getting ready to jump, hold this up in front of you to protect that pretty dress.”

 

She took the jacket with a big smile, “Oh Team!  Thank you!  That was very sweet of you to think about my dress!”

 

“Uh…sure.  No problem,” he hated himself for being nice to her, but he felt like he really didn’t have a choice.  He started to back away from her when he felt a hand clamp down hard on his upper arm.  He startled and turned to face the blazing eyes of Win.

 

“Excuse us, Daow.  I need to talk to Team for a moment,” Win said, never taking his eyes away from Team’s.  He turned sharply and yanked Team along with him as he stalked to the locker room.

 

Once inside the locker room, Win shoved Team against the wall and threw down the jacket he had been carrying in his other hand.  Team realized that Win must have been on his way out to give it to her to use.

 

“What the HELL was that?” Win shouted, with his hand still clamped on Team’s upper arm.  “Are you trying to get with Daow?”

 

Job suddenly appeared behind Win.  “Stop it you guys!” he said and tried to pull Win’s hand from Team’s arm.  “You’re best friends!”

 

“Mind your own business, Job!” Win hissed.  “This is between Team and me!”

 

“No!  I won’t stand by and watch the two of you fighting!”

 

“Then leave!” Win ordered.  He shook Team’s arm.  “Answer me!  Do you want her?”

 

Team was so shocked all he could do for a moment was shake his head ‘no’.

 

“Oh really?  Because it sure looked that way to me,” Win said.

 

Tee hurried over and grabbed Job’s sleeve and pulled him away from them.  “You might want to lower your voice,” Tee warned Win.  “Everybody is watching you.”

 

“I don’t give a fuck!” Win barked and Tee quickly scurried away, dragging Job behind him.  Win had never looked away from Team.  “What…the…hell…were…you…doing?” he enunciated each word very clearly.

 

“I…I…I was just…she was going to get mad at you.  I was trying to help!”  Team stammered.  “I thought you f…forgot to give her something to cover up with.”

 

“And you were going to score points by being her knight-in-shining-armor?”

 

“N-no, I just didn’t want your day ruined,” Team said, “She would be mad at you and yell.”

 

“So…you were protecting me from getting yelled at by coming on to my girlfriend?” Win asked through gritted teeth.

 

“Yes—I mean, No!!!  No, I was not coming onto her!  I would never do that!”

 

Win gave an evil grin that made Team’s blood run cold.  It literally felt that way.  It started it his stomach, ran up to his chest, and then all throughout his body felt frozen.  “I think you would.” Win argued, “I think you did!”

 

Team shook his head, “I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt you or to backstab you!  Not ever!”

 

Win tilted his head to the side, “And I don’t believe you.  I think you want her and you would cut my throat to get to her.  I felt your hand twitch the other day when she touched you!  I knew it then!”

 

“No!  It twitched because…” in his mind Team was screaming because I hate her! but he said, “Because it hurt a bit.”

 

“Bullshit!  That tiny touch didn’t hurt you!  You have a super high pain tolerance level.  You didn’t feel pain; you felt desire!”

 

“No, I did not!  I don’t like her like that!  Not at all!  And I keep telling you, I wouldn’t do anything to dishonor you!”

 

“Friends do that all the time!  That’s who you have to watch out for.  ‘Friends’ are the ones who hurt you!”

 

“No!  I wouldn’t ever!  Not in any way!”  Team unsuccessfully tried to slow his rapid breathing while his heart was leaping out of his chest.  “I wouldn’t hurt any of my friends, but especially not you!”

 

“Why not me, Team?” Win asked with his head still tilted to the side and bolts of anger shooting from his eyes.  “Why ‘especially’ not me?”

 

“Because I love you!” Team said breathlessly, in a rush, only to realize what he had said once it was out of his mouth.  He had said it.  Actually said it.  Out loud.  And Win had heard it!

 

“You…you what?  You love me?” Win asked as his hand dropped from Team’s arm and he took a step back.  His eyes had lost all signs of anger and were now wide open in shock.

 

“Think, Team!” his mind shouted at him, “Think of something to say!  Anything!”  He licked his suddenly dry lips, “Uh…of course I do, Hia!  You’re…well, I’ve always thought of you as a big brother.  I would never hurt my own brother!  It would be the same as spitting in my mom’s face, or kicking my dad in the nuts.  I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.  Not ever!”

 

Win gave a slight nod and then rubbed his hand across his face.  He circled it around and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down at the floor.  “Brothers?  Yeah, I guess that’s what we are.”  He looked up suddenly, “I’m sorry, Team!  I don’t know what got into me.  Of course you wouldn’t hurt me.  I know that!  I just…I overreacted, I guess.”

 

“No, it’s okay, Hia!  Love makes people do crazy shit,” Team said quickly.

 

Win looked away from him and nodded, “Yeah, I guess it does.”

 

Team became aware of the other guys walking past them and heading out to the pool area.  Job stopped on his way out.  “Are you guys okay now?” he asked.

 

Win shrugged, “I don’t know.  Are we okay, Team?”

 

Team nodded, “Always.”

 

Job gave a slight nod, “Good!  Glad to hear it.  It’s time for us to go out now, Win.  Are you ready?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute,” Win said.

 

Job nodded and walked out.

 

“I’d like to apologize again,” Win started.

 

“No!  There’s no need.  This was all my fault.  I wanted you to have a good day, but I am the one who ruined it.  Let’s just accept each other’s apologies and move on, okay?” Team asked.

 

Win threw his arm around Team’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze.  “I totally forgive you, Kitten, now that I understand why you gave her your jacket.  I should have known better than to accuse you of anything.”

 

Team reached up and played with Win’s fingers, “We’ve never fought before.”

 

“That’s not true!  We fought over the last skewer of pork at dinner just a few nights ago!” Win contradicted Team with a laugh.

 

“Nope!” Team said with a grin, “We didn’t fight over it, we wrestled for it.  And I won!”

 

“The hell you did!  I won that fight!”

 

“Okay, so who ended up with the skewer then?”

 

“You did!  But only because I was nice and gave it to you!” Win said, squeezing Team tighter against him.

 

“Sure…because you are known for your generosity!  Get out of here!” Team said laughingly as he pushed Win away.  “Seriously, go!  You don’t want to miss out on the race!”

 

Win bent down and picked up his jacket from the floor, “Can you keep this for me?  I don’t have time to put it back in my locker.”

 

“Yeah,” Team said, taking the jacket.  His eye fell on Win’s necklace, so he pointed, “You better take that off.”

 

Win nodded and reached up to unclasp it, “Here, turn around,” he ordered, “I want you to wear it.  You’d probably lose it if you held onto it.”

 

Team stood still while Win clasped the necklace on him.  “You know, I would argue with you, except you’re right.  I lose everything!”

 

They were laughing as they walked out of the locker room.  Team went to sit on the team bench in the spot he had been before.  He tossed a look over his shoulder to make sure his backpack was still there.  He was relieved to see that it was.  He glanced through the chain-link fence at the parking lot of the school.  No one from the football team had arrived yet, which made sense because the buses wouldn’t arrive for over an hour—probably closer to two hours.  He turned back around and saw Win had taken his place to begin the race.  Team bit back a grin when he saw that Win was directly in front of her, which meant his little fantasy about Win being the one to soak her would have been true.

 

For the next hour and a half, there were various races and competitions.  Team was cheering Win on with all of his might, but he had a crease between his eyebrows.  Although Win won everything he was entered in, and of course he did—he was the best swimmer and diver on the team—his performance seemed a bit ‘off’ to Team.  Usually Win glided through the water like a bird soaring across the sky and his dives were always sharp and precise, but…not this time.  Win seemed stiff, almost as if he were uncomfortable in the water, which was his element.  Team felt sure it was because of their fight.  He mentally kicked himself for it.  He should have known that Win wouldn’t leave her unprotected in the splash zone.  He sighed, and the worst part of it was, she had her hands all over his jacket.  He would have to wash all traces of her from it before he could ever wear it again.

 

He heard a recognizable rumbling and he turned to look back at the parking lot.  Two buses were pulling into their reserved spots.  He saw that lots of the football players had already arrived and were unloading their suitcases from cars which dotted the parking lot.

 

He turned back and saw that the coach was presenting the awards to the senior swimmers.  Team squirmed a bit on the bench.  He really needed to be leaving, but the coach hadn’t called Win’s name.  Team wanted to see Win receive his awards.  He felt jittery and on edge, not sure if he should stay or leave.

 

He finally decided that he needed to go or else he might miss the bus and he was just beginning to stand, when the coach called Win’s name.  Team settled back down and took a peek at the buses.  The football team members were lining up to have their luggage stored.  He noticed that one of the buses was apparently for the girls’ team and the other one was for the boys’ team.  He hadn’t realized it was a co-ed trip, although he acknowledged that it was probably discussed and he tuned it out because he didn’t think he would be going to camp.

 

He shifted his focus back to the coach to hear all of the great things he was saying about Win.  The coach announced his awards, and along with several of the smaller awards, Win had also won the top two—Best Swimmer and Best Diver.  The applause was deafening and Team clapped so hard that his hands hurt and turned scarlet.

 

Win made a beeline to Team, with Daow running behind him like a scampering shadow, to show Team his awards.

 

“Hia!  This is so great!  There’s no doubt that you will win the swimming scholarship!  You made it!” Team said enthusiastically.

 

“Yeah, I think you’re right!  At least, I hope you are!  I have to call my mom!” Win stated, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

 

Team extended Win’s jacket to Daow, “Want to trade me?”

 

She grinned and handed him back his jacket, “It was so thoughtful of you to think about protecting my dress, Team!  Unlike some others I could mention,” she shot daggers from her eyes at Win.

 

“No!  P’Win didn’t forget!  He was coming out to bring you his jacket when he saw I had already loaned you mine.  It’s not his fault!” Team quickly defended.

 

She looked from Team to Win and then back at Team.  She smiled, “If you say so, Team, then I will believe you.”

 

“I say so because it is true.  He didn’t forget you,” Team stated and then turned and picked up his backpack and pulled it up on his shoulder.  “I’m going to have to be leaving now.  I couldn’t go until I saw you get your awards though!  Congratulations again!  You should be so proud of yourself!  I know that I am proud of you!  And not a bit surprised that you won them.”

 

Win looked at Team’s backpack, “Where are you going?”  He looked at the buses in the parking lot behind Team and then looked back at him, “Are you going to football camp?  You said you weren’t going to go!”

 

“I wasn’t.  I changed my mind last night.  I hadn’t wanted to go because I wanted to spend your last semester break with you, but,” Team looked at Daow, “I think you will be just fine without me.  I suspect you will be kept pretty busy.”

 

Daow giggled at that and Team forced a big smile on his face while he fought the urge to throw up.

 

“And then,” Team continued, turning his attention back to Win, “at the game last night, the coach substituted Tay for me.  It was to let me know that Tay would have a place as starter since he is going to camp, and I would have a permanent spot on the bench since I wasn’t going.  I decided I had to go.  I want to do everything I can do to try to get a starting position.”

 

“And to save us from Tay,” Win said with a nod.  “I’m sure the entire school would thank you for that if they knew.”  He looked at the buses and then back at Team, “How long is this trip?”

 

“Three weeks,” Team answered.  He turned to look back and saw there was still a line of boys waiting to board the bus, but the line was getting shorter.

 

“The entire vacation?” Win’s voice almost squeaked as he raised it in surprise.

 

“Yeah, well…no, not the entire vacation.  We get home on the Friday before school starts so we can have the weekend to get rested up.  Look, I really have to go now or else the bus will leave without me.  We are going to the airport in Bangkok and then taking a plane to Chiang Mai!  I’ve never flown before and I am half scared to death!  Oh, and I won’t be able to call you while I’m gone.  Cell service is really spotty in the mountains; pretty much non-existent.”  He heard himself lying about the cell service and was shocked at himself.  He would be in the lowlands on the weekends and cell service was fine there.  But the truth was, he needed a break.  He didn’t want to try to talk to Win and hear her in the background.  He had had enough of her to last a lifetime.

 

Win nodded, “Make sure you do your best, Team.  Don’t half-ass it just because you get tired.  You have to dig down deep and not give up on yourself.  You have a tendency to do that.”

 

“You’re right; I always do that.  But I won’t this time!” Team said as he started to move slowly in the direction of the gate.  “I really have to go now.  Have a nice vacation!”

 

“Team!” Win said urgently, causing Team to stop in his tracks and turn to look at him.  Win gave a small gesture with his head, indicating the locker room, “Is it all good?”

 

Team smiled, “Yes, all good.  Always.”  He turned back towards the gate and started off with a quick jog.  He felt something smack his chest and he reached up and felt the medallion of Win’s necklace.  “Shit!” he mumbled to himself.  Then he turned back around and ran full speed towards Win.  Win’s face lit up when he saw Team coming back.

 

Team stopped and dropped his backpack on the ground and reached to unclasp the necklace.  “I forgot to give this back!  You would have killed me!”  He gathered it up and tried to hand it to Win.  Instead of taking it, Win turned his back to Team.  “Put it on me,” he ordered.

 

Team squelched the groan he wanted to give, and then did as he was told.  After the clasp was locked on Win’s neck, Team gave him a quick double pat on the back, grabbed up his backpack and ran to the gate.

 

As soon as he exited the gate, he shifted his legs into high gear and sprinted to the bus.  He could see that there were just two boys by the coach as he ran up.  The coach looked up from his clipboard where he had been marking off names and he grinned at Team.  “Jai said that one of the suitcases he checked in was yours.  I didn’t think you would make it.  Do you have your permission slip?”

 

Team was out of breath so he just nodded and pulled it out of his shirt pocket.  He handed it to the coach.

 

The coach checked the signature and then marked Team’s name on the list.  “You’re the last one.  Go on now, get on the bus!  And don’t be late again!” he barked.  But as Team climbed the steps up onto the bus, the coach patted him on the back.  “I’m glad you changed your mind,” he said quietly.

 

Jai had taken the very last seat at the back of the bus.  He waved and motioned for Team to join him.  As Team walked towards the back of the bus, he could see Win through the back window.  He was standing next to the fence with his fingers twined through a couple of the diamond shapes.  He was looking at the bus.

 

Team sat down in the seat and the bus driver shifted the bus into gear and the bus began to move.  Team had to fight every instinct that urged him to turn around and wave goodbye to Win.  He kept his eyes on the seat in front of him.

 

He did not look back.

 

 

 

Team and Jai were neck-and-neck as they raced down the mountain.  No one was even close to their speed.  And to be honest, Team probably would have been one of the stragglers if it hadn’t been for Jai.  Whenever he got tired, he remembered being ordered by Win to dig deeper in himself, which, along with Jai’s ability to never seem to get tired, spurred Team on.

 

He remembered when they first climbed the mountain, only a week earlier, how everyone felt ready to puke or pass out at the midway point.  Everyone that is, except for Jai.  He just kept plunging on ahead and Team trailed along behind him.  But within a short time, they had all become accustomed to the altitude.  The coach worked them hard but there was still time to enjoy the little mountain village next to their camp.

 

The people there lived with none of the modern conveniences and they thrived.  At first Team was a bit put off having to bathe and wash his clothes in the river, but he soon adapted.

 

The girls’ camp was also somewhere on the mountain, but the boys had no idea where it was.  And in spite of not knowing and having no way to communicate, one of the girls had managed to make her way to the boys’ camp a few days into their stay.  She and her boyfriend were caught swimming in the river together.  Team hadn’t been there so he hadn’t witnessed it, but one of the stories was that they were found naked.  A milder story was that they were both wearing their swimming suits.  Either way, it didn’t matter.  They were marched back down the mountain and their parents were called.  They were sent home in disgrace.

 

Team didn’t know how long their punishments were for, or if they had been permanently suspended from their teams.  Selfishly and secretly, Team kind of hoped they were.  Or at least he hoped the boy was.  He was a third year, offensive player, who had been on the starting team for two years.  If he was suspended…it would leave a vacancy in the starting lineup.  He felt ashamed of himself for even having the thought, but he did recognize that Jai was a better player than he was.  Jai was certain to be a starter.  Team wasn’t so sure about himself though, so if there was a spot open, he thought maybe he had a chance to get it.

 

Team and Jai reached their weekend camp long before the others.  They had spent their first two nights in their shared cabin, so it kind of felt like coming home.  Jai immediately hit the shower.  Team plugged their phones into their chargers.  He turned on the TV and plopped down on the bed to wait his turn in the shower.

 

He turned the channel to the sports station and got caught up on the scores of the games he had missed.  He turned it to a news channel but quickly got bored.  He ended up leaving the TV on a game show.

 

When his phone was about a third of the way charged, he turned it on and scanned his messages.  There was nothing from Win.  He felt disappointed, even though he had told Win the lie about not having access to his phone during camp, he still hoped that Win would at least try to send him a message.

 

He turned his phone back off to let it finish charging, and with a sigh, he leaned back on the bed and watched the game show on TV until it was his turn in the shower.

 

Later, after he finished his shower, he came back into the room and saw Jai sitting on the foot of the bed, pretending to watch TV.  He was fidgety and Team could feel the waves of energy coming from him.

 

“I’m going to the cook house to get dinner.  Are you coming?”

 

Jai turned his glance away from the TV and shook his head, “I think I’ll call…my folks first.  I can join you later.  Thanks for charging my phone.”

 

Team shrugged, “It’s cool.  I figured you forgot to do it so I plugged it in when I did mine.”  He walked to the door and stopped to grab his shoes.  “I’ll save you a seat.”

 

Jai had already picked up his phone and was looking at it.  “Okay, thanks.  I’ll be there in a few.”

 

Team waited until he had gone outside and shut the door before he grinned.  He knew that Jai was going to call Mali, not his parents.  Team had picked up on Jai’s agitation probably because he was trying to think of a reason to call her.

 

He started down the path to the cook house but his attention was caught by the river that ran alongside the path.  It was the same river that they bathed in and washed their clothes in when they were up in the mountains.  He changed course and walked into a little area that held a few tables.  He imagined it was there for when the resort had a higher class of clientele staying there so they could dine by the river.  The football team had been instructed to take their meals only in the cook house.  Nobody minded though, because here in the lowlands, the girls’ team was staying in the same place as the boys’ team, so people were able to share meals with their special someone.  Or meet someone who might become special.

 

He walked over and stared at the river as it ran by.  He thought about it for a while and then pulled out his phone.  He had told Win there was no cell service, but he could send him a message and explain that he had found a spot where he could get a signal.  He bit his lower lip as he thought about it.  He could actually call him and speak to him, but then decided against it.  It was Friday evening.  Date time.  She would be there with Win.  Team didn’t want to hear that high-pitched Minnie Mouse/cartoon chipmunk voice of hers in the background.  And…horrible thought…she might insist upon talking to Team!  He suppressed the shudder that ran down his spine.  He sighed and put his phone back into his pocket.

 

“Good for you!  You know, they can’t miss you if you don’t go away,” came a female voice close to him.

 

He turned to find a girl sitting at one of the tables, a bit in the shadows.  He hadn’t noticed her there earlier.  He turned to look around him to see who she had spoken to.  When he couldn’t locate anyone else, he realized her remark had been for him.

 

“But why would they miss you if you were there?” he asked.

 

“Exactly!” the girl said.

 

Team frowned at the odd answer.  He studied the girl to see if he recognized her.  He had never seen her before, but there was something about her that looked familiar.  Like she wasn’t her but someone else.  He felt confused as he tried to place who she was mimicking—she wore an orange, turtleneck sweater (the night was a bit chilly so it fit the weather) and glasses with black, square lenses.  Her hair was an odd cut.  Thick, full bangs across her forehead and the rest of her hair was shorter than chin-length and was a blunt cut with the edges slightly curled under.  It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t grasp it.

 

“Believe me, three solid weeks of being with her, he will be thrilled to talk to you, so you shouldn’t give him a break beforehand.  Let him be only with her for a while.  She is vain and vapid.  Do you remember when that village to the far west of us was almost destroyed by the tsunami?  I’m sure you do because you worked the booth collecting money to buy bottles of water to send the victims.  I worked the booth that raised money for items they might need—toothbrushes, sanitary products, diapers, and things like that.  We made up packages to be delivered to them.  Well, I had joined that group because she was in it.  I had a crush on her at the time—I mean, for all her faults, you have to admit, she is pretty and I like girls.”  She stopped and blinked at him for a moment.  “I’ve never said that out loud before!”

 

“Congratulations,” Team said with a smile.

 

“Yeah, I guess I knew it would be okay to tell you.  Anyway, during a meeting to discuss the horrible plight of the victims, she said that she could relate to what they were going through because she had been through something similar.  I’ll tell you that when I heard her say that, I wanted to gather her in my arms and protect her at all costs!  Then she told us the story.  It had happened to her the semester before.   She had been assigned to give a speech in front of a class she was taking.  The morning of the speech, she had overslept because she had forgotten to set her alarm.  She hurried to plug in her curling iron and although the light came on, it didn’t get hot so she couldn’t curl her hair.  She was frantic because she couldn’t stand in front of the class with straight hair.  And that was how she thought she was like people who had lost everything and were dying from the aftereffects of the tsunami.”

 

“Because of a…” Team managed to force out.

 

“Yes.  A curling iron that wouldn’t heat up.  Oh, but don’t feel too awful for her.  The class that she had to give the speech in was her second class of the day, so her father went out and bought her a new curling iron.  Her mother called the principal, and arranged for her to be excused from her first period class, and she stayed home to curl her hair and put on makeup during that class period.  Her parents drove her to school and she made it in time for her second period class.  She got an “A” on the speech, in case you were wondering.”

 

“I wasn’t,” Team answered.

 

“I don’t blame you.  Anyway, that’s the kind of thing P’Win will be listening to the entire three weeks you are away.  He will appreciate you more when you come back because he will be able to have sensible conversations IF you give him time to get sick of it and not swoop in and save him.  That’s why I said ‘Good for you!’  I wasn’t actually going to approach you yet; I’ve still been studying you.  But I think I have seen enough.  See, I have a problem.  I’m invisible.  No, I can see by your face you are going to argue with me.  I know I’m not really ‘invisible’ in the corporal sense; I have a physical form.  But I mean ‘invisible’ in the social sense.  For instance, I was sitting on the bench before you arrived, but you didn’t notice me.  I blend into the background.  No one notices me, and honestly, I really prefer that.  I can study people better if they don’t know I’m around.  I know all the gossip in the school because people don’t bother to lower their voices around me.  But my problem is my mother.  She is a wealthy, gorgeous, outgoing person who is in constant demand at all the social functions.  And she ended up with me as her daughter—a science nerd who prefers solitude.  She keeps pushing me to make friends.  She even got the coach to take me on the girls’ football team, even though I don’t play football.  She says it will look good on my college applications, and I realized she has a point, so I agreed to be on the team.  But her real goal is to force situations where she thinks I will develop friendships.  As if I would want to be friends with those girls!  Not a brain cell in the entire group!”

 

“But if you don’t play football…” Team started.

 

“I’m the scorekeeper.  The person who walks over and puts the numbers up on the board.  Still invisible because who looks at the person hanging the numbers?  If you look at the scoreboard, you are interested in the score!  But back to how you fit into this.  I have never had a friend.  I like hanging around your study group and listening in on your conversations—which I suppose is creepy to hear that.  I didn’t realize it until I said it out loud,” she shrugged, “You’ll soon see that I have no social filter either.  I don’t tell nice lies to make people feel good.  I tell the truth.  Always.  And I have often wondered if I have no social filter because I have no friends, or, do I have no friends because I have no social filter.”

 

“Maybe there is no correlation.  Maybe they are two separate facts about you.  You have no social filter AND you have no friends,” Team suggested.

 

She got up from the table and walked over to him.  Team could see that she was very short.  He also noticed the rest of her outfit—a red skirt, white knee socks, and Mary Jane shoes.  He knew this outfit—this girl was definitely dressed as some character he had seen before, but he still couldn’t place who it was.

 

“You know, you could be right!  I never thought of it that way!  Anyway, about the social filter thing—I would like to give you an example, using your friends.  Let’s say, for instance, you were to ask Mali if those pants you have on made your butt look big.  She would immediately tell you ‘no’ and say that you look really good in them—and I am not saying she is a liar, she is just very kind and always sees the best in others, which is admirable.  If you asked Jai, he would agree with Mali because he is in love with her, plus Jai isn’t into things like that.  He wouldn’t care how you look; he is your friend, so whatever you wear, you are okay with him.  But…if you asked me, I would tell you that it wasn’t the pants that made your butt look big; it’s your big butt that makes your butt look big.  But so what?  You have a big butt and lots of people like big butts.  If you put on looser pants, it won’t diminish the size of your butt; it just adds lots of excess fabric over it.  In my opinion, you should wear those pants and embrace your big butt!”

 

Team ran his hands down his backside and turned his head around to try to see it.  “I have a big butt?”

 

“Yeah.  I guess you didn’t know because of all the people around you who tell social lies.  You have a big butt; I am really short.  Just physical facts about us.  It doesn’t effect who we are as people.  But now you see what I mean.  I can’t lie, even if the truth might hurt your feelings.  I read a quote one time, not sure if it was from a book or a song, but it was ‘I’d rather hurt you with the truth than please you with a lie’.  That’s me in a nutshell.  And most people can’t tolerate that.  I think you can.  Like I said, I’ve been hanging around your group, and I like you.  All of the group, but mostly you.  Don’t freak out!  I’m not coming on to you—I like girls, remember?  But since I’ve never had a friend before, I choose you to be my first one.”

 

“Uh…well, thanks.  I’m honored, I guess?”

 

She laughed, “I want to be in your study group.  Not floating around like Kwan or the football guys.  I want to be a core member of the group.” She interlaced her fingers together and held them up to show Team.  “Like this.  With the core being you, me, Mali, and Jai.  My first thought had been to go to Mali and ask.  I know she wouldn’t say ‘no’ to me joining your group.  Jai would do whatever Mali wanted because, like I said, he is in love with her.  But you…you’re different.  Sure, you are polite, and would allow me to join the group, especially when you learn that I am a genius, but that’s not the same thing as being friends.  And that’s what I want.  I want you, and the others, to be my friends.  Real friends, the way you are with each other.”  She stepped back a bit and gestured to her outfit, “I think you could use a Velma, right?  You already have Fred and Daphne in Jai and Mali.”

 

“Velma!  From Scooby Doo!  That’s who you look like!  I was wracking my brain trying to figure it out!”  He said with an astonished laugh.  “You really do look like her!”

 

“Of course I do.  It’s on purpose.  She’s my superhero.  So, how about it?  Do you have room in your life for a new friend?  One that may not always say the right things, but has no malice in her heart at all?”

 

He looked at her face and saw the loneliness there.  He wasn’t a monster so it touched his heart.  “Look—it’s not all up to me.  I can’t answer without consulting the others.  And uh…I’m not asking you to change your personality, but maybe your approach.  As you know, Mali is a kind, gentle girl.  Having truths shoved in her face all the time is not going to make her comfortable.  And Jai…he can have a bit of a temper.  I understand, and actually I respect, your inability to lie.  I think that’s pretty cool, but do you think maybe you could only do that if people directly ask you?  Maybe not volunteer every thought you have?”

 

She thought about it for a moment and then nodded, “Yeah, I could do that.  Except…well, I have a question.  Jai is in love with Mali; Mali is in love with Jai.  You know it because I’ve seen it in your face, but they don’t seem to know it.  Why haven’t you told them?”

 

Team shook his head, “That shouldn’t be done.  This is their origin story.  A great deal of bonding will come from their origin story.  Okay…let me try to explain it better.  Imagine several years from now, Jai is…hmmm…let’s say he is sitting in the garage with their son, trying to help the boy with a relationship problem.  Maybe he will tell his son the story of how he and his mother got together, to teach the boy a life lesson or something.  If someone took away their origin story, what the heck is he going to talk to the kid about?  The weather?”

 

“Oh!  Origin story!  I get it!  Yeah, I understand why you shouldn’t mess with someone’s origin story!  Also, the other stuff…about the kid in the garage, that’s ripple effect.  I hadn’t taken that into consideration at all!  No, I really do see your point.  Wow!  You already taught me something!  I figured I would have to be the one that taught you things.  My grades are much better than yours on average.  Especially in Science.  Although, you do beat me in English.”  She reached over and grabbed his arm, “Come on!  I accept your conditions!  Jai’s probably on the phone with Mali right now so let’s go ask Fred and Daphne if they will okay Velma joining the group.”

 

Team was stunned.  He had guessed that Jai wanted to talk to Mali, but he was surprised to know that she knew that.

 

He was amazed at how fast she could walk, given how petite she was.  But he already had guessed that she was a determined, no-nonsense kind of person.  He struggled to keep up with her.  “Hey!” he said as a thought occurred to him, “If Jai is Fred, Mali is Daphne, and you are Velma, does that mean I am Shaggy?”

 

She laughed, “Of course not silly!  You’re Scooby!”

 

“Wait!  I’m the dog?”

 

She just giggled as a response and kept dragging him onward.

 

“Well, if I’m the dog, who’s Shaggy?” he asked.

 

“No, you explained why I shouldn’t ruin origin stories.  And the whole ripple effect thing.  It makes sense, so I’m not saying anything!” she replied as they reached the door of the cabin that Team and Jai shared.  Team was faintly surprised that she knew which one was theirs.  “Go on!  Open the door!” she ordered.

 

Team opened the door and they walked in.  Jai was lying on the bed, holding his phone, while on a video chat.  Team doubted very much if Jai was talking to his parents.

 

Jai launched himself into a seated position at the edge of his bed.  He still held the phone, in his hand, but it was easy to see Mali’s face, although it was sideways due to Jai’s hand resting on the bed.

 

“What are you doing back?” Jai asked.  “I thought you were going to dinner!”

 

“I was on my way but I ran into…” Team paused.  He looked at his petite companion and realized that he knew she was a lesbian, a Velma fan, a scorekeeper for the girls’ football team, a person with an overbearing mother, and had no friends or social filter…but he didn’t know her name.

 

“Namfon!” Mali supplied.  “I didn’t know you played football!”

 

Namfon bent down and tilted her head to the side as she looked at Jai’s phone screen.  “I don’t.  I’m just the scorekeeper; I don’t really like football much.  I didn’t know you knew me!”

 

Mali laughed, “Of course I know you!  You are the only person at school who has a higher grade in Science than I do!”

 

“Well…here’s the thing,” Team said, “Namfon wants to join our study group.  I said we had to discuss it with you two.”

 

Jai adjusted the phone so that everyone could see Mali’s face and she could see them.  “Another girl?  And one that loves Science as much as I do?  And not a football fan?” Mali said with an excited laugh, “I vote ‘YES!’  Jai, how do you vote?”

 

Jai looked from his screen to Namfon and then back to his screen, “Sure!  It’s fine by me.  The more the merrier!”

 

Namfon shot a side-eye glance at Team, and he knew she was thinking, ‘I told you he would agree with anything Mali said’, because he had been thinking it too.  He gave her a slight nod to confirm.

 

“So Team, it’s up to you.  How do you vote?” Mali asked.

 

He looked at Namfon and studied her face for a moment.  He knew if he agreed, their group was going to drastically change.  A person who always tells the truth can be a dangerous thing.  He grinned, “I vote ‘Yes;’!”

 

“Yay!  It’s unanimous!  You are officially one of us now!” Mali said.

 

“Dinner?” Jai mumbled at Team.

 

“Oh!  Oh yeah!” Team said quietly.  And much louder he said, “Mali!  I am starving to death so I am going to go grab dinner.  Bye!”

 

“Bye Team,” she called to him.

 

Team grabbed Namfon’s sleeve and gave it a tug.  She nodded and addressed her comments to Mali on Jai’s phone, “Thanks for voting for me to join your group.  Bye!”

 

“Namfon!  Wait!  Get my phone number from one of the guys and call me later, okay?” Mali asked.

 

Namfon gave her a huge smile, “Sure!  I’ll do that!”

 

They walked out of the room and shut the door behind them.  Namfon was still smiling.  “She wants me to call her!”

 

Team laughed, “How about that?  You started today with no friends, and now you have three!  Have you eaten?  I wasn’t lying back there; I really am starving to death.”

 

“I haven’t.  I was waiting for the crowd to die down a bit when I saw you by the river.  I always eat alone and sometimes people get pissed at me for it.  I guess I waste space since there are seats around me but no one in them.”

 

“Tonight there will be,” Team answered.

 

“You know, I have never understood the social aspect of eating,” she said as they walked along.  “People even have dinner parties!” she exclaimed with a bit of disgust in her voice.

 

“Uh…yeah?” Team answered dubiously.  “Eating with other people can be fun.  I don’t understand your disgust though.”

 

“I just don’t understand why it is considered a fun activity to sit with others while you are introducing food into your digestive tract, but then hide away by yourself when it leaves your digestive tract.  Why aren’t there parties for that?” she said in a huff.

 

“I think, maybe,” Team said, while trying not to laugh, “introducing food into the digestive tract smells much better than when it leaves the digestive tract.  The smell is probably a contributing factor.”

 

She slowly nodded as she thought about it, “I suppose you’re correct.”

 

They were nearing the cook house and Team could smell the food cooking.  His stomach rumbled but mentally he was a bit put off based on the conversation they had just had about smells.  He decided to change the subject.  “So…tell me ‘Velma’, why I gotta be the dog?”

 

She giggled at him.  “Because you are, Scooby; you just are!”

 

“We have to have a Shaggy though, don’t we?” he asked.

 

“Yes, we do.  And Shaggy will join us when you are ready,” she answered as she pulled the door open and stepped in.

 

“Me?  Me specifically?  Why?”

 

She picked up a tray from the stack and passed it to him and then picked up one for herself.  She seemed to be thinking about her answer before she gave it.  “Scooby is a member of the group, but he only belongs to Shaggy.  When the time is right, you will be the one to tell us who he is.”

 

He walked along behind her, selecting items to put on his tray.  When they were finished with the line, they sat down across from each other, at an empty table.  “Fine,” he mumbled.  “I guess I can be Scooby.  I still don’t get why I gotta be the dog though!”

 

Namfon giggled and began to eat her dinner.

 

When Team woke up the next morning, Jai was already up and dressed.  He was lying on his freshly made bed, looking at his phone.

 

“Did you sleep?” Team asked as he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes.  “You look the same as you did when I went to bed!”

 

Jai kept his eye on his phone, but gave a small laugh, “I slept.  Not much though.  I was chatting with the girls a lot last night.  Check your phone.  You have been invited to a group chat called, ‘The Mystery Machine’.  You know, like the van from Scooby Doo.  The girls set it up last night.  Instead of our real names, we are characters from the show.”  He darted his eyes to the side to look at Team, “You won’t like what they call you!”  And he laughed.

 

Team sighed and nodded, “I can guess.  I’m ‘Scooby’, right?”

 

Jai was laughing so he just nodded.

 

“Yeah,” Team said, pushing the covers off and standing up, “I figured.  Namfon was calling me that last night.  I don’t really mind, but I still don’t see why I gotta be the dog though.”

 

Jai clutched at his stomach and bent over to try to catch his breath.  It didn’t help.  He continued to laugh.  He was practically rolling with it.  “At least he is the star of the show!” he finally managed to croak out.

 

After Team’s shower, the guys left their cabin for breakfast.  Namfon was waiting outside their door.

 

“It’s about time the two of you showed up!” she scolded, “Come on!  I am starving!  I want to get there before all the food is gone.”

 

“Why did you wait for us?  I thought you preferred eating alone.  The whole ‘starting of the digestion’ thing,” Team asked.

 

She laughed, “I still think that; I haven’t changed my mind…but, I am willing to admit that there is a certain amount of fun to eating with others…in the social sense, I mean.”

 

“What other sense could it be?” Jai asked.

 

“Well…maybe in a scientific sense.  One could use that time to judge other’s nutritional habits and guess about their elimination, as opposed to having conversations,” she said.

 

They had been walking down the path towards the cook house and Jai stopped in his tracks.  He turned and stared at her in shock, “You mean you like to ponder a person’s bowel movements based on what they eat?”

 

“Of course!  For instance Team here eats everything, so I would imagine he has fairly regular bowel movements.  This affects his overall demeanor.  Since he is regular, he is upbeat and chipper.  I haven’t eaten with you before, but my guess is that you could use more fiber in your diet.  You seem a bit…bottled up…in some areas.  And I know that you get regular exercise so you probably just need the fiber, like I said, and maybe more fluids.  Once things get moving around….”

 

“Good Lord!” Jai exclaimed.  “Who thinks about things like this?”

 

She shrugged, “Probably anyone who is interested in science.”

 

“Do you think…I mean…” Jai started but then shook his head and closed his mouth.

 

“Mali?” Namfon suggested.  “If that is who you mean, sure, she probably does.  She is planning on becoming a doctor so she will train herself to look for all kinds of signs and symptoms.  Obviously she will practice her skills on her friends.”

 

“Oh my God!” Jai huffed and rushed down the path ahead of them.

 

“Something I said?” she asked Team.

 

“Yeah, but he’s going to have to get used to it, Velma!” Team laughed.  “By the way, your outfit doesn’t exactly look Velma-ish.”

 

She was wearing a blue tee shirt and jean shorts with sandals.  She grinned, “I bought that outfit for effect.  A lark, if you will.  Last night was the first time I wore it.  It will probably be the last time too.  The sweater was itchy.  But to be fair, Velma is generally thought of as a cartoon.  Cartoons often keep the same outfit on characters.  A person just can’t wear the same outfit every day of their life.  Not unless they don’t believe in hygiene.  I happen to be a huge fan of hygiene, so there you have it.  I will just have to be Velma in disguise from now on.”

 

“Okay, Velma-in-disguise, let’s hurry and catch up with Jai.  I’m sure he has calmed down by now.”

 

 

As time passed, Jai soon learned to enjoy being around Namfon.  For one thing, she had an oddball sense of humor that made him roll with laughter every few moments, and for another thing, she video chatted with Mali constantly.  It was almost the same as having Mali walking beside them.

 

When the weekend was over, the teams split up again and headed towards different camps in the mountains.  Team and Jai were kept busy with their practices and on their time off, they developed friendships in the village.  They volunteered to help a few of the farming families with harvesting tea leaves.

 

They would be so exhausted that they fell into bed immediately after the evening meal.  During the times right before drifting off to sleep, Jai would often ponder aloud about what the girls were doing.  And although he said ‘girls’, Team knew he really meant only Mali.

 

The days passed by quickly though, and soon the three new friends were reunited in the lowland camp for the weekend.  They quickly charged their phones and took turns hosting Mali in a video chat.

 

It was on the last Sunday, shortly before the buses arrived to take them to the mountain camp for their last week of camp, they were in a shop they liked to visit.

 

Namfon sighed, “I hate that we have to leave here and go back up the mountain.  Why can’t we just stay here?”

 

“Because there isn’t enough space to practice football in the lowland camp,” Team answered her, but his attention was fixed on something in the shop.

 

Mali had wished them all a great week and had hung up a few moments before, but earlier, as they walked around and let Mali see the inside of the shops, she had gushed over a tiny pink pig figurine display.  As soon as the call ended, Jai had dashed away.  Team had a strong suspicion he had gone back to that shop to buy a tiny pink pig.

 

“Football sucks.  I hate it!” Namfon mumbled.

 

Team nodded and then walked over to what had grabbed his attention.  Actually, he had spotted it the previous weekend and had thought about it all during the week.  He picked it up and looked at it.  Then he put it back, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from it.  He picked it up again and examined it closer before putting it back.

 

“Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,” Namfon said from behind him.

 

He startled and guiltily looked at her.  “What?  I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

 

She tilted her head and looked at him from the tiny space where her bangs ended and her glasses began.  “You keep looking at that keychain.  I noticed you did it last weekend too.  It doesn’t cost much, but you are hesitant to buy it.  The buses will be here soon so it’s pretty much now or never.”

 

“Oh…well, I wasn’t really thinking about buying it,” he lied, shrugging nonchalantly.  “I just think the picture is nice, that’s all.”

 

Namfon reached over and took the keychain off its hook.  She examined it closely.  “Yes, it is a nice picture,” she agreed.  “Sunset between two mountains.  We’re starting our third week here and I’ve never even noticed the sunset.  Have you?”

 

Team took the keychain from her hand and studied it.  “Yes, I have.  It looks just like this—but only for a few moments.”

 

“You should buy it,” she urged him again.  “I think he will love it.”

 

Team tore his glance away from the keychain and looked at her with surprise.  “He? Who are you talking about?”

 

“Well, P’Win, of course!  You don’t drive so you have no need for a keychain.”

 

“Well…I have keys to my house.  You don’t have to drive to have a keychain!” he argued.

 

She grinned, “Nope, you don’t.  So buy the dang keychain, Scooby!”

 

Outside came the familiar rumble of bus engines coming up the road.

 

“You’d better hurry, or you’ll miss your chance!” she warned.

 

He clutched the keychain tightly in his hand and with a huff he hurried over to the cashier station to pay for it.

 

The cashier placed it in a tiny bag and he took it and shoved it in his backpack.  He looked at Namfon who was grinning.

 

She said, “You don’t have to be angry about it.  Or embarrassed.  It’s nice to buy a gift for your best friend.  That way he will know that you thought about him while you were away.”

 

Team rolled his eyes, “I have not.  I just saw this and I knew he would like it.  That’s all!  And he keeps his keys on a ring.  He could use this.  It’s practical!”  He turned and stormed out of the shop and kept up a brisk walk on his way to where the buses had parked.

 

“Practical gifts are the best.  No sentiment attached to them at all,” she agreed as she jogged to keep up with him.

 

He realized that she couldn’t take as large of steps as he could so he slowed his pace so she wouldn’t have to keep running.  “That’s right!” he said emphatically.

 

“Unlike Jai, who I suspect is buying that pink pig that Mali liked.  That’s not a practical gift.  Sentiment is attached.”

 

“Yes, but remember…never tell them,” he cautioned.

 

“I know—origin story and the ripple effect.  You explained it very well and I won’t forget.  I won’t ever tell any couple anything that could mess with it.  If I were to though, I would tell P’Win to drop Daow immediately.  He is a much better person that she is.  But I have faith in his intelligence.  He will see through her.  He might have already.”

 

“I don’t know about that.  He seems pretty taken by her,” Team corrected her.  He picked at a spot of dry skin near his thumbnail.  He felt a tiny twinge of pain and saw a drop of blood appear.

 

“Yeah, he seems to be.  But by now I am sure he realizes that she is insipid, vapid, and chronically self-absorbed.  She is in love with her own reflection.  She has nothing left to spare for anyone else.”  She said as she handed him a bandage from her backpack.  “Wrap that up; you don’t want to get an infection.”

 

Team did as he was told and then they walked on towards the buses.  Jai was already there, leaning against the bus, waiting for them.

 

“I hate this!” Namfon said suddenly.  “I don’t want to go back up there!”

 

“It’s okay,” Team said soothingly.  “It will only be for five days.  Is there a body of water near your camp?”

 

“Yeah, the same river that runs through yours, although I don’t think we’re supposed to know that.  We also have this stagnant pond near us.  Why?”

 

“You could investigate it.  Study the life forms, or something science-like, right?” he asked.

 

She sighed and her shoulders eased a bit, “Yeah, I could do that.  That could be interesting!  Thank you for the suggestion!”

 

He gave her a smile and a nod, “I hope it helps pass the time for you.”

 

They had made it up to Jai by this time.  “I’m going to miss you guys so much, you can’t even imagine!” she stated.

 

“I can!” Jai said.  “Team almost didn’t come on this trip and I was dreading it so much, so I would be feeling the same way you are.”

 

“I’m glad for both of us that he did come!” she said and then smiled, “Okay Fred, I am turning Scooby over to you now.  Make sure he gets a good brushing, he is looking a bit rough!”

 

“Hey now!  Let’s not get personal!” Team objected.

 

She giggled and then started walking towards the girls’ bus.  She looked back and waved before boarding.  They waved back at her and then made their way onto their own bus.

 

“I didn’t like her at first; did you know?” Jai asked.

 

Team thought about it for a second and then nodded, “Yeah, I think I guessed you didn’t.  I am assuming that changed?”

 

“Yes!  She’s quirky, smart, and funny…and you and Mali are very fond of her.  There’s no way I couldn’t be.  And it taught me a good lesson about first impressions.  I’ve always heard that first impressions are important, but now I think they could be deceiving.  It’s a lesson I won’t forget.”

 

Team nodded and looked out the window at the passing scenery.  Their first trip up the mountain, the coach made them walk it.  Team assumed that was to get used to the altitude by degrees.  Now they were all like mountain goats so there was no need to adjust to it again.  He looked over at Jai to ask what he thought about it but saw that Jai was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed.  Team didn’t think he had had enough time to fall asleep, but still didn’t want to bother him while he was resting.  He noticed that Jai was clutching his backpack to his chest.  He bit back a grin when he thought that there was probably a tiny pink pig inside it.  He looked back out the window and thought about the keychain that was in his own backpack, and the person he intended to give it to.

 

 

Thursday evening, they had the option of taking the bus down the mountain, or walking.  Team opted to walk it.  He wanted to take his time and enjoy his last little bit of time in the mountains.

 

As he walked along, he thought about Win and her.  His dad had been right when he told Team that a break from having that situation shoved in his face constantly would be helpful.  It had been so helpful that he found himself dreading going back home.

 

His entire life he had loved the village almost as much as he loved his parents.  But his eyes had been opened to the mountains of Chiang Mai and the lowland village where they spent their weekends.  He never thought he could imagine living somewhere other than the village of his birth—but he could now.

 

As he was thinking these thoughts, someone walked up beside him and kept pace with him.  He turned his head to look but really hadn’t needed to.  The only person who could match his movements was Jai.

 

“’Fon is going to kill us; you know that, right?” Jai asked.

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I know.  I’m sure she will be standing at the doorway of our cabin with her hands on her hips, ready to give us shit for it,” he shrugged, “I just wanted one last walk.  Something to remember.  This trip has been pretty amazing.”

 

Jai nodded, “Yeah, it has been.  I am so glad you came!  If I had been stuck with Tay this whole time, I would have ripped my hair out!  You, and yeah…Namfon too, you two made it really special.  I was thinking earlier about asking my folks if we could come here for vacation this summer, but…yeah…no, it wouldn’t be the same.  Without the two of you, and just my parents for company—and my mom worried about everything I do—it would suck.”

 

Team nodded, “I will come back here sometime, but I agree, not with my parents.  They would freak out about trying to survive without modern conveniences.  Speaking of which, I wish we were allowed to bring our phones up here.  I know we couldn’t use them to call anyone, but we could have taken pictures with them.”

 

Jai nodded as he looked around, “It’s really beautiful here.  It’s all so perfect that it looks more like a painting than reality.  Don’t you think?”

 

Team agreed and looked at a flowering bush nearby.  It was in the sun but the river flowing behind it was in the shade.  He could imagine Win painting a scene like this.  He suddenly felt very homesick and lonesome for Win—but the real Win.  Not her boyfriend, Win.  That guy was gross, with his baby talk and pet names.  Team felt his stomach clench up again.  It hadn’t done that since he arrived on the mountain.  He felt a burst of agitation that was disguised as energy.  He looked over at Jai, “What do you say?  One last race down the mountain?”

 

Jai grinned, “You’re on!”

 

“First one to touch the door of our cabin is the winner!” Team declared.  When Jai nodded his agreement, they started off.

 

They ran in perfect stride with each other down the path.  Team knew that Jai was actually faster than he was, but he had slowed his pace to match Team’s.  While racing down the mountain wasn’t exactly what Team had planned—he had wanted to savor his last moments there and walk slowly—but when his agitation had built up, it was the wiser choice.  If he had walked slowly, he would have started overthinking things again.

 

When they entered the lowland area, they were still keeping pace with each other.  But as soon as the cabins came into view, Jai sped up and left Team in his wake.

 

Team rounded a blind turn around the neighboring cabin and almost collided with Jai’s back.  Jai had come to a complete halt and was looking at their cabin.  Team had to swerve around him before being able to stop.  When he did, he looked at the cabin to see why Jai had stopped.

 

Namfon was standing in front of the door to their cabin with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, just like Team had predicted she would be.  Involuntarily, he gave a little giggle at the sight of her.

 

“Oh!  You think this is funny, do you?  Do you know how long I have been waiting for you?  I had assumed you would ride the bus back.  I guess I was wrong!” She scolded.

 

“Uh…well…we, uh…” Jai stammered.

 

Team looked at Jai and grinned.  Then he turned back to Namfon.  “It’s all my fault, ‘Fon.  I wanted to say goodbye to the mountain in my own way.  Not whizzing by it and looking out a bus window.  I persuaded Jai to walk back with me.”

 

Jai looked at him out of the corner of his eye.  Both of them knew Team was lying.  “That’s right,” Jai finally said.  “Everyone else was on the bus and I didn’t want to leave Team alone on the mountain.”

 

“Well…” Namfon said slowly. “I guess I can forgive that.  But hurry and get cleaned up!  I’m starving!”

 

“Why did you wait for us for dinner?” Team asked.  “Remember...the 'digestive thing'?”

 

“I know,” she nodded. “But I think I am changing my mind about that. I like eating with the two of you.  And Mali is on video chat with me, and she is going to eat dinner the same time we do.”

 

Jai walked towards Namfon, who backed away from him quickly.  “No! Stay away from me! I don’t want your nasty boy sweat anywhere near me.  It’s bad enough that I can smell the two of you!”

 

Jai had frozen in place as soon as she spoke.  He shook his head, “I wasn’t going to get sweat on you, Namfon!  I promise!  I was just going to say ‘hi’ to Mali…if that’s okay?”

 

She huffed and then nodded.  She gestured to where her phone was propped on her backpack.  Team peeked quickly and saw Mali’s face on the screen.  Jai sat down in front of the phone and began to talk to Mali quietly.

 

Namfon looked at Team and motioned her head in the direction of Jai.  Team grinned and nodded.  Then he said, a bit loudly so his voice would carry over to Jai, “I’ll get the first shower then.  Okay?”

 

Jai made a shooing motion with his hand, indicating he was fine with Team showering first.  Team moved toward the cabin door and then turned back to Namfon.  “It just occurred to me…we all have video chat on our phones.  How about if from now on we video chat during bowel movements?  That way we can share in the entire digestive process.”

 

“Get out of here!  Go take your shower,” Namfon scolded with a laugh.

 

Team chuckled and unlocked the cabin door.  Just as he was preparing to step inside, he stopped.  “Hey Jai!” he called.  And Jai looked over at him.

 

Team held the doorknob in one hand and side-stepped over the threshold into the cabin.  “You’re the fastest runner, but I won the race!” he declared.

 

 

The buses arrived shortly after breakfast the next morning.  The three of them had eaten together but had gone their separate ways afterward to gather up their belongings.

 

Jai and Team walked together as they carried their suitcases to the bus area.

 

“I volunteered to help load the suitcases onto the bus,” Jai said as they neared the area.

 

Team laughed, “Don’t tell me you are trying to gain points with the coach to be made a starter!  There’s no way he won’t pick you!  Me, on the other hand…I think I should have been the one volunteering.”

 

A lot of the students were already standing around, still holding onto their suitcases, waiting for instructions.

 

Team stopped when he reached the crowd but Jai continued on.  He walked up and spoke to the coach, but then he turned around and headed back to Team.  His face was white but his eyes were sparkling.

 

Team frowned, “What’s up?  Why didn’t he let you start loading the bus?”

 

“They’re going to do it now!” Jai exclaimed.

 

“Do what?”

 

“Announce the starters!”

 

Team’s heart flipped over in his chest and began beating rapidly.  They waited for the coaches to begin the announcements, but the coaches seemed to be waiting for stragglers to arrive.

 

Namfon was standing with the girls in front of their bus.  She looked at Team and shrugged, obviously at a loss to what the hold up was.

 

Team scurried over to her and whispered what Jai had told him.

 

“I’m excited!  Oh, not for me.  My position is secure—I’m the only one up for it, but for you two!  We know that Jai is a certainty, but I think maybe you are too.  I haven’t seen all of the players, but from what I have seen, you are the best.  Next to Jai, of course.”

 

Team laughed, “Such high praise!  You could have stopped before saying that Jai was better than me!”

 

Namfon gave a slight shrug, “But it’s the truth, Scooby.”

 

“And we all know how much you love the truth, Velma!” Team said with a laugh and then hurried back over to stand with Jai.

 

The boys’ coach held up his hand and the crowd grew silent.  He stated that they would be announcing the starting lineup for the football season.  He and the girls’ coach flipped a coin to see who would announce first.  The girls’ coach won the toss.

 

She read each player’s name from her list, pausing to give the others a chance to applaud for them.  The last position on her list was for the scorekeeper.  She said Namfon’s name and Jai and Team applauded vigorously for her.  She grinned at them with a pink glow to her face and then looked down at the ground as others around the buses clapped politely.

 

Team noticed the disappointed looks on the faces of the girls who had not been named.  One of the girls was even crying.  Team swallowed down the lump in his throat and hoped he wouldn’t cry if he didn’t hear his name.  He thought he probably wouldn’t actually cry about it, but he would feel like it, of this he had no doubt.

 

The boys’ coach stepped up to speak.  He announced that he would start with the starters for the offensive line first.  He glanced down at his notes and read the first name he had there.  It was Jai.  Team felt a rush of happiness for Jai and gave him a slap on the back before clapping for him.  He looked over at Namfon and saw that she was practically dancing as she clapped along with the crowd.

 

The next name on the list was Team’s.  He heard it and saw Jai’s and Namfon’s happiness, but it didn’t feel real.  He leaned over to Jai and asked, “Did he say my name?”

 

Jai laughed and nodded.  Team felt every muscle in his body relax and he allowed himself to savor the moment.

 

He was a bit in his own head during the reading of the rest of the names, but afterward he realized one name was missing from that list.  Jai had sprinted off to help with loading the bus as soon as the coach finished reading the names.  The students were milling about, engaged in their own conversations.  Some were already boarding the buses.  Team walked over to the coach.

 

“Um…you didn’t call Tay’s name for a starting position, did you?” he asked.

 

The coach made a big show of checking the names on his list, “Nope,” he said after he pretended to search, “I don’t see his name listed.”

 

“But…you said…well…he was up for a starting position.”

 

“Did I?  Hmm.  When did I say that?” the coach asked.  Team could detect a bit of mischief in the coach’s eyes.

 

“You replaced me with him during the game and said that you did it so that Tay and Jai could learn to work together since I wasn’t coming to boot camp.”

 

The coach gave a slight shrug with a smirk, “But you did come, so that covered the spot.”

 

“But…shouldn’t he be like in the third spot or something?  Since he and I were vying for the same position and I got it…I mean…he didn’t even make the top five.”

 

“Oh.  Well, no…I have an explanation for that.  I lied.” The coach laughed and looked around quickly to make sure no one could hear what he was about to say.  When he saw no one was within earshot, he leaned nearer to Team and said, “I replaced you during the game with the worst player on the team to trick you into coming to boot camp.  I confess, it was all a plan.  And it worked!  Now, go on!  Get on the bus!  First game is in two weeks and you will be on the starting line!”

 

Team nodded and then wandered off in the opposite direction.  He headed towards Namfon.

 

She threw both her arms around one of his and gave it a big squeeze.  “I’m so happy for you and Fred, Scooby!  I know how much this means to you!”

 

“Thanks, Velma,” Team replied, still a bit confused by his conversation with the coach.  “And I am happy for you that you made scorekeeper.”

 

She laughed, “Like I said, I was the only one up for it.  Plus, I think my mom probably paid the coach for my position.”  She unlatched her arms and looked at the girls boarding the bus next to her.  “Have you ever thought about how many chairs there are on the planet?”

 

Team frowned, “No, I can’t say that I have.  Why?”

 

“There are chairs everywhere; lots more chairs than there are people to sit in them, a lot of the time.  And if it is in a public space, anybody can sit anywhere and it’s okay.  That’s what I have done all of my life, sat in the filler chairs.  But…sometimes, there are special chairs.  Reserved seats.  Chairs with people’s names on them that are meant only for that person.  It’s not just a filler chair; it’s a special chair.  That’s what these last few weeks have meant to me.  Like there is a chair that is reserved only for me.  Nobody else can sit there.” She turned quickly to face Team, “I don’t want to go home!  I don’t want this to end!”

 

“‘This’ meaning the four of us?” Team asked.

 

She nodded.

 

“’Fon!  The only thing that will end is being here in the mountains.  Oh, and the fact that Mali won’t just be on a phone screen, but actually with us.  It’s the four of us from now on.  I promise!  Our friendship doesn’t end when we board the buses!  In fact, when we were on the plane coming here, there weren’t assigned seats.  If that is the same on the way home, you, me, and Jai will sit in a row together.  Okay?”

 

Her shoulders relaxed and she gave him a big smile, “Okay Scooby!  You know, you really are the nicest dog in the whole world!”

 

“Oh gee, thanks for that, Velma!” he mumbled, pretending to be offended.

 

She giggled and then walked away and boarded her bus.

 

Later, when they boarded the plane, they learned that they could sit anywhere.  Team kept his word and the three of them took up a row together.  Namfon talked the whole flight, which ordinarily would have bothered him to have someone so chatty next to him, but she was interesting and funny.  They laughed all the way to the Bangkok airport.  Once there, they had to separate into gender-assigned buses again.  The four of them got onto their special chat page and spent the trip home texting the group.

 

When they finally arrived back at their Secondary School parking lot, Namfon hurried off her bus and joined them at theirs.  They spoke a bit and then Jai went to collect his and Team’s suitcases.

 

“What about you?  Don’t you have to get yours?” Team asked her.

 

“No, Mother is here.  She sent the driver to retrieve it for me,” she answered.

 

Team laughed, “I forgot you were rich!  Please forgive me, Princess,” he said with a little bow.

 

She giggled, “I’m not rich.  My mother is.  Speaking of her…she is going to want details of my trip.  I am going to tell her about you and Jai, and I am going to give her the impression that Mali was actually with us in person, not just on the phone.  It occurred to me on the way home that she might not appreciate me hanging out alone with two boys.”

 

Team gasped dramatically, “You mean you are going to….wait, I don’t even know if I can say it!  I’ll try though.  Are you going to actually tell a lie?”

 

She giggled again, “No!  I won’t tell a lie!  I will just throw in things like ‘Mali said this’ or ‘Mali liked that’, which will all be true facts.  Now if she asks me directly, ‘Was Mali there in the flesh?’ I will be honest.  But…I don’t think the chances of her asking that are very high.”

 

“No, I think that is a safe guess.  Who would ask something like that?” Team agreed.

 

“Well, I might if I heard something that sounded ‘off’ to me, but my IQ is higher than my mother’s, so I think I am safe.”  She looked towards the cars in the parking lot and sighed.  “I have to go now.  The driver just loaded my suitcase in the car and I can see my mother looking around for me.  Team!  I hate leaving!  I feel like you will forget all about me as soon as I walk away!”

 

Team put his hands on her shoulders and bent down to look her directly in the eyes.  “Stop that!  I told you, we are together now.  It doesn’t matter if we are in the mountains or down here on the coast, we are together and we are going to stay together.  Okay?”

 

She sighed and then nodded, “Okay.”  She turned to leave and passed Jai who was coming back with his and Team’s suitcases.  He sat Team’s down on the ground next to him.  Team pulled his phone from his back pocket and texted, “You walked away, but I still remember you.”

 

He watched her pull her phone out of her jacket pocket and then read the message.  She turned around with a big smile and waved.  Both Team and Jai waved back at her.  She turned back around and hurried over to the car where her mother was waiting.

 

“So,” Jai said, still looking towards the parking lot.  “Are you going to need me to give you a ride home?”

 

“Yeah, my folks are at work,” Team said.  He reached down for his suitcase, but yanked back his hand when he felt someone else’s hand already on the handle.  He spun to look at the owner of the hand and saw that it was Win.

 

“That’s not necessary,” Win said.  “I’m here.  I’ll take him home.”

 

Team quickly searched the area around Win to see if she was there.  He saw that she wasn’t so he gave a small nod and thanked Jai for the offer, but said he would go home with Win.

 

On the walk over towards Win’s car, Team carefully scanned the area thoroughly for any signs of her.  Win unlocked the car and opened the trunk to stow Team’s suitcase.  It was only after Team had settled in his seat that he allowed himself to relax.  He had no idea where she was, but at least he knew that she wasn’t there.

 

Win got into the car and slid his sunglasses on before starting the car.  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

 

“Starving!  We had breakfast early this morning and nothing since!  Well, I mean, I had a few snacks, but nothing to fill me up!”

 

Win smiled, “Yeah, I’m hungry too.  Your bus was late, but I decided to wait to eat with you.”  He put the car into gear and drove out of the parking lot.

 

“Where are we going to eat?” Team asked.

 

Win turned to look at him but Team couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses.  “Really?  Do you really need to ask?  We’re going to our place.  We need to celebrate you being home.”  Win looked back at the road.  “It was the longest three weeks of my life,” he mumbled.

 

Team gave a slight nod and then turned to look out of his window.  He had to bite back the grin that wanted to spread across his face.

 

He was glad to be home.

Chapter 13

When they entered The Lonely Dolphin, they automatically took seats in their regular booth.  Team tossed his backpack onto the bench seat before sliding in.

 

“You could have left that in the car,” Win said.  “I would have locked the doors.”

 

Team shrugged, “It’s okay.  I am used to hauling it around.”  He glanced at the pocket on the front of the backpack.  In that pocket was a tiny bag from a certain shop in Chiang Mai, which contained a certain souvenir from that shop.  He quickly turned his eyes away and reached for a menu that was on the table.  He startled when Win grabbed his wrist.

 

“There’s no need,” Win said.  He motioned for the serving girl.  Once she arrived, Win began his order—which was actually a list of all of Team’s favorite foods.

 

When he finished, the girl hurried off to fill the order.  Team had been shocked silent during the process but was now able to speak.  “Wow, Hia!  Why so much?  And why all my favorites?”

 

Win grinned, “If I left it up to you, you would order the cheapest thing on the menu.  Today is special.  We are celebrating and I want you to have the best lunch ever!”

 

Team smiled and shook his head, “But you ordered enough for lunches for an entire week!”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous—I’ve seen you eat!  This is just a tiny snack to you!”  Win laughed.

 

But even Win looked surprised when the server brought an overfilled tray to their table and begin to unload it.  When she finished, she went back to the counter to get another tray to bring to them.  This one wasn’t quite as full and it had their drinks on it.

 

Team put a straw in his glass and took a sip.  He looked at Win and laughed.  “I told you this was too much.”

 

Win shrugged as he began to dip food from the bowls onto his plate.  “Well,” he paused and thought for a moment, “They do take-out orders here, so they have containers.  I will just ask them to give us a doggy bag of our leftovers.  You can take them home and eat them for a snack later tonight.”

 

At the mention of ‘doggy bags’, Team’s mind automatically flashed on his new nickname from his friends, ‘Scooby’.  “Oh, so I’m a dog now, huh?” he quipped.

 

“Nah!  You are a kitten, Kitten!  How many times do I have to remind you?”  Win teased as he took a bite.  “Tell me about Chiang Mai!  I want to hear all about your trip.”

 

Team began to talk.  He told Win about how it was to fly in an airplane, “I kept thinking about those Rugby players that crashed in the Andes Mountains.  They ended up eating each other…do you remember hearing about that?”

 

Win grimaced and laid down his chopsticks.  “Yes, I remember.  I read all about it.  Did you think about that other crash that killed the football team that was on board?”

 

Team was taking a drink from his straw, so he nodded.  After he sat his glass down, he said, “Since the Andes Mountains are in South America, they call football ‘soccer’ though.”

 

“Yeah, that’s weird.  Why do they call it that?” Win said.  Since the topic had changed from cannibalism, he picked his chopsticks back up and started eating again.

 

“To keep the game from getting confused with American football, is my guess.” Team said with a shrug.  “Anyway, we didn’t crash.  I didn’t even think about those things on the flight back home.”

 

Team went on to describe the mountains of Chiang Mai and the river that flowed through them.  He told about bathing and washing his clothes in the river, and described the vastness of the field where they practiced football.  He told Win about their first trek up the mountain, when they were unaccustomed to the altitude, verses running down the mountain at the end of his stay.  He talked about the village and the villagers and told Win about helping the farmers with their tea harvest.

 

“The day that we were leaving the mountain for good, Jai pointed out a flowering bush that was growing alongside the river.  He said it looked like a painting and my mind automatically went to you.  I imagined you there, painting it.  I know you would have loved to see it.  I wish we had been allowed to bring our phones with us on the mountain—there’s no signal there, but we could have taken pictures.”

 

Win gave Team his full attention.  “What did it look like?”

 

“Well,” Team paused to gather his thoughts, “The flowers on the bush were white in the bright sunlight, but the ones that weren’t directly in the sun looked faintly blue.  Not blue-blue, but kind of blue.  Do you know what I mean?”

 

Win nodded, “Go on.  What did the river look like?”

 

“It was fast, but not turbulent.  Just rushing a bit to get down the mountain.  It looked deep—darker in areas in the middle.  And it was kind of green-gray colored.  Some silvery colors near the edge, where the sun hit it.”

 

Again Win nodded, “I can imagine it.  I would love to see it for real though.”

 

“I wish you could!  You would love it; I know you would!  And the view from up that high…it was like seeing forever, stretched out in front of you.”

 

“We should go,” Win said.  Then he shook his head, “No!  We definitely WILL go.  On your 18^th birthday.”

 

Team laughed.  “My 18^th?  That’s so far away!  Why not on my 17^th?”

 

Win finished chewing before he answered.  “If you are a minor, you have to take your parents.  You know I love them, but…I wouldn’t be able to paint if they were there—and that is the point of going.”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, Jai said something similar about wanting to go back but he knew his parents would ruin it for him.”

 

“I’m glad you had a friend there.  It wouldn’t have been as much fun for you if you didn’t.”

 

Team grinned, “Yeah, Jai was freaking out when I said I wasn’t going to go on the trip.  He was going to be stuck with Tay.  He was so glad when I changed my mind.”

 

Win picked up his glass and played with the straw.  He used it as a stirrer and made the drink swirl in his glass.  “That’s great!  So, did you make any new friends on the trip?”

 

“No,” Team answered as he picked up a skewer of roasted pork.  He was just about to put it in his mouth, when he realized he had met Namfon on the trip—which was funny because it already felt as if he had known her forever.  “Oh wait!  Yes, I did!  We spent all our free time together in the village so it slipped my mind that I just met her!  She is a super genius; even smarter than Mali and that came from Mali herself!  They are both really into Science, but different branches of it.  Mali is all about biology, but Namfon is into…other stuff.  I don’t know…I think it is physics.  She hates football—not sure about other sports but I am guessing those too.”

 

“If she hates it, why was she there on the trip?”

 

Team didn’t want to give out the information that she had given him, Jai, and Mali, about having no friends.  He gave an abbreviated answer that was still a truthful answer but didn’t divulge too much of her story. “Her mom thought it would be a good thing to have on college applications.  Namfon tends to keep her nose in a book most of the time and she is so smart, it’s a bit scary, if I am being honest.  Anyway, she decided to try out for scorekeeper.  Not actually a player, but still part of the team.  And since no one was running against her, she got the position.  She was so happy…”

 

“Wait, so they announced the starting lineup already?”

 

Team bit back the grin that wanted to appear and tried to act noncommittal.  “Yeah, this morning.  Before we got on the buses to go to the airport.  Jai made it—of course.  He is the best on the team.”

 

Win leaned forward and stared at Team, expectantly.  Team forced his face to remain expressionless as he stared back at Win.  Finally Win made a sound in his throat, showing his impatience.  “And?” he snapped.

 

“And what?” Team asked, faking confusion.

 

“If you don’t tell me I am going to reach across this table and choke the life out of you!” Win threatened menacingly.

 

By the look on Win’s face, Team almost believed the threat.  He couldn’t hold it back any longer and he laughed, “Yeah!  I made it!”

 

Win gave him a huge smile and leaned back in his seat.  “I wish I would have known!  I would have taken you to a nicer place for lunch to really celebrate!”

 

Team looked around the room and then back to their table, overflowing with food.  He shook his head, “No, there isn’t a nicer place than this.  It’s our place.  It would be weird to celebrate anywhere else.”

 

Win gave a small nod and scooped up another bite.  Just before he put it into his mouth, he paused.  “What about Tay?”

 

Team shook his head, “Nope!  I cornered the coach after the announcement to ask him why Tay wasn’t in the starting lineup since he was supposed to take my place on the team if I didn’t go.  Coach admitted he lied about replacing Tay with me just to get me to come on the trip.”

 

“That’s shitty,” Win said, “But, it’s a coach thing to do, I guess.”

 

Team nodded as he took a sip from his straw.  His gazed happened to land on his backpack beside him.  He looked away quickly.  He felt his face getting warm.  Win was busy eating so he didn’t notice.  Team looked back at his backpack and nibbled on his lip.  He waged an internal argument with himself.  Finally, he dared himself to do it.  He took a deep breath and reached into the pocket and grabbed the tiny sack inside.  He exhaled as quietly as he could as he pulled it out.  “I…uh…” he started, but couldn’t find the words to say.  Win had raised his gaze from his plate and was looking at Team with a puzzled frown.

 

Team cleared his throat.  “…uh…here,” he said, laying the tiny bag next to Win.  “I..uh..I saw it and remembered…well, you don’t have one…so I thought…” he shrugged.  “I bought it; it’s practical.”

 

Win picked up the tiny bag.  “You bought something for me?”

 

Team shrugged and then gave a small nod.  He could feel the heat on his cheeks and could feel sweat popping out on his back and under his arms.  “It’s not much.  But I thought you could use it.  Not that you have to, of course.  I mean, you can throw it away if you want!”

 

Win met his eyes and smiled, “I would never throw it away, no matter what it is.”  He reached into the bag and pulled out the keychain.  He examined it thoroughly, his smile growing larger and larger.  “Sunset in the mountains!  It’s gorgeous!  Does it really look like this?”

 

“I’m not going to tell you!  You will see it for yourself in about a year and a half.  Unless you didn’t mean that about us going there for my birthday.”

 

Win looked up from examining the keychain, “Of course I meant it!  You and I will go on a vacation to Chiang Mai, I promise!”  He looked back down at the keychain he held in his hand.  With the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, still on the ring they had always been on.  He removed the keys from the ring and placed them on his new keychain.  When he finished, he put the old ring on top of the pile of used napkins and straw papers to be discarded.  He held up the keychain with the keys attached.  “There!  I love this!  Thank you for thinking of me and buying me the perfect gift!”

 

Team felt the heat rising in his cheeks again, so he nodded and looked down at his plate, which was now empty.  He was stuffed and had barely managed to clean his plate.

 

“Why didn’t you wait to give it to me?  Like…using our shelf?  That’s how we usually give gifts.”

 

Team tried to keep still, but he found himself shifting around a bit anyway.  “Well…we’re here now together, so I figured later you wouldn’t be free.  And we always said that we didn’t want anyone else to know about the shelf…and if you were busy…I don’t know…” he finished with a shrug.

 

“Busy?  No, I have no plans.  I kind of figured you and I would hang out together.  Oh!  Wait!  Were you meaning that you thought I would be with Daow later?”

 

The sound of her name made Team grind his teeth together, but he forced a smile, “Of course!  It’s the weekend…last one of vacation.  I was actually surprised you found time to come and pick me up at the bus.”

 

Win shook his head, “No, that ended weeks ago.”

 

Team startled a bit and tried to hide his glee at the news.  “It did?  I’m sorry; I didn’t know.”

 

“No, I guess you couldn’t know, especially since you and I have had no contact since you left.  I think it was really fortunate that you managed to be able to contact your parents as often as you did.  That's why I knew when to expect your bus to arrive—your parents told me.  And obviously I didn’t tell them about my breakup so they couldn’t pass the news onto you.”

 

Team shifted a bit in his seat again, “Um…yeah.  You know how it is on these school things…they make sure you have a way to check in with your parents.  I think they are afraid of getting sued if you don’t.  But…how are you?  Are you okay about the breakup?”

 

Win shrugged and then rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I’m okay with it.  She dumped me for a guy with money.  I’m just glad I learned what kind of person she was early in the relationship.”

 

“That really sucks!  When did it happen?”

 

“Oh,” Win looked up at the ceiling as he calculated, “About a week after you left.  She sent me a text and told me.  I haven’t seen her since.”

 

“So…what did you do the rest of your vacation?” Team braced for the answer.  He expected that Win had probably been dating a lot of girls since.

 

“Most of my friends stuck around the village, so I hung around with them.  I picked up some extra tutoring jobs.  And…” Win stopped and grinned.  “I’m not sure if I am supposed to tell you…although he didn’t tell me not to.”

 

“Who?  Tell me what?”

 

Win’s grin grew larger and he leaned forward to say it quietly.  “I helped your dad with your lawn jobs.”

 

“My jobs?”  Team shook his head.  “I knew it would be too much for him!”

 

“No!  He didn’t ask me to help him!  I saw him working so I joined in.  He told me that you didn’t think he could handle it.  Said you thought he was too old and too busy.  You called it something like ‘o’busy’, is that what it was?”

 

Team nodded slightly.  “I didn’t mean to insult him, but…he is.”

 

Win laughed, “Your dad’s not old.  I’m sure he seems like it because he’s your dad, but he’s not even forty yet.  You act like he is in his nineties!”

 

Team ran his hand through his hair from his face to the back of his neck.  He stopped his hand there and massaged his neck.  “I feel so guilty and selfish.  I went off on this vacation and left my work for him.  And then you…you probably needed me during your breakup, and I wasn’t there to help.”

 

“Stop it!  It wasn’t a vacation!  You might have enjoyed it, and that is good, but it was hard work.  I know it and your dad knows it.  You had to go or be stuck on the bench all season.  Nobody is mad at you for going!”  Win paused and drank the last bit of his drink.  He sat the glass back down on the table and said quietly, “And I enjoyed being with your dad.  He’s a good guy, ya know?  You’re lucky you have him.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Team nodded.  “And we both have pretty great moms.”

 

Win agreed.  He examined all the leftover food on the table.  He smirked and shook his head, “I did go overboard a bit.”

 

“A bit?!!  You bought enough to feed everyone we know!”

 

Win stood up, “I’m going to go request some take-out containers.”

 

Team watched Win walk up to the counter.  Then Team reached over and snatched up the old key ring that Win had left on the table.  He quickly dropped it in the pocket of his backpack where he had kept the keychain.  He felt like a thief…as if he had stolen something, and he had never stolen anything before.  It made him feel disgusted with himself.  But, Win had laid it in the trash pile on the table, so it seemed obvious that he intended to throw it away—Team reasoned with himself.  And if Win noticed it was gone, Team could always say that he took it to keep for him.  Team didn’t understand why he wanted it; he just did.

 

Later that night, when he was alone in his room, he unpacked his suitcase and his backpack.  He held the key ring in his hand and felt a rush wash over him.  Win hadn’t mentioned missing it, so it was obvious he had meant it to be thrown away.  Team no longer felt like a thief, so the guilt was gone.  All that was left was the euphoria of having something that had belonged to Win.  This key ring had been in Win’s pocket everyday since he had gotten his car.  A tiny part of Team felt stupid for being so elated to have a silly circle of metal, but the majority of him felt like dancing for joy.

 

He put his backpack and suitcase back into his closet and then pulled his school backpack from the shelf.  He took it over to his bed and opened the main compartment.  In the back wall of the inside of the backpack was a tiny zippered compartment.  He attached the key ring into the hole of the zipper pull.  He smiled with satisfaction.  Now he could have a part of Win with him always, and no one would ever know.

 

As school reopened after vacation, and a few weeks passed, Team was relieved to find that his and Win’s friendship had returned to the way it had been before Daow.  Everything was exactly the same.  They had school, their jobs, Win’s various committee meetings, Team’s study group (with the addition of Namfon firmly cemented), and Team’s football practices .  They had had their first game of the season, and won it with the score of 2-0.  Win had come to the game and had sat with Team’s parents, just like he had always done when Team had been in the Lower Secondary school.  The Sundays when Win’s mom had to work, they still hung out in Win’s garage.  Win still painted while Team played the guitar and they still sang their favorite songs.  They still went as often as they could to watch the sunset from the bridge.  Sometimes Win would drive them into Rayong and they would watch movies weeks before they came to the village.  Yes, everything was exactly the same, Team thought.  Except…it wasn’t.

 

For one thing, the passenger seat in Win’s car had always been his seat.  After being banished to the backseat in order for Daow to take that seat, now it was just a seat Team sat in.  He thought about when Namfon had said that she wanted a chair that was meant only for her.  He understood it so much more now that he felt he had no claim to the passenger seat in Win’s car any longer.  He knew that Win could go back to Daow or even get a new girlfriend, and he would again be sent to the back seat.

 

And whenever Win announced he had some kind of committee meeting, Team never believed him.  He assumed Win was just claiming he had to go to a meeting but was actually meeting some girl somewhere.  He had done it before, so Team knew it was always going to be a possibility of it happening again.  Team often became incensed when he even heard the words ‘committee meeting’.  Once when Win said he had one on a Saturday afternoon, Team didn’t believe it.  He got on his bike and headed towards the school to check if Win’s car was in the parking lot and if so, how many other cars were there.  Team stopped midway there and turned around and went home.  He decided he didn’t even want to know.  Ignorance was better, in his opinion.  At least he didn’t have to be polite and make pleasant small talk to any girlfriends that Win might have.

 

But the biggest change of all was that Win no longer touched Team.  Team hadn’t realized it for a while, but one day they were hanging out with their friends from the swim team and Team realized that not only did Win not have his arm thrown around Team’s shoulders as he always had in the past, he also wasn’t even standing next to him.  Win was standing about ten feet away from him, talking to Job.  Team thought about it and realized that the last time he could remember Win touching him in any way was in the locker room after their argument.  The day Team had left for football camp.

 

He sighed quietly and then checked the time on his phone.  “I have to go to football practice now.  Bye!”

 

The group said goodbye to him and Team noticed that Win resumed his conversation with Job.  In the past, Win would have walked him over to the football field.  Team sighed again and walked away.

 

By the time practice was over, Team was in much better spirits.  Being on the football field, focusing on the ball and the other players, always took his mind off his troubles.

 

Coach had blown the whistle and told them to hit the showers.  He and Jai walked across the field together discussing some of the plays they had been working on.  Just as they were about to enter the locker room, Team felt a hand on his arm.  He turned to find that the hand belonged to her.  The sight of her face still filled him with revulsion, even though she and Win had been broken up for months.

 

“Team!” she squealed, reminding him how much he hated her shrill, high-pitched, Minnie Mouse voice.  “I just wanted to congratulate you on making the starting lineup on the team!  I know how much it meant to you!  And, my goodness!  The entire school is talking about how great you did in the game this past weekend!  You must be the best one on the team!”

 

“Uh…well, actually…” Team was about to tell Daow that the best one on the team was Jai, but she cut him off.

 

“Ever since P’Win dumped me like a piece of old garbage…TWICE…I have been thinking about you.  You really impressed me with your kindness while I was dating him.  So much so, that I often wished I had met you instead of him!  For instance, when you gave me your jacket to protect my dress.  HE hadn’t even thought about it!”

 

“But that’s not true!  He had thought of it.  Remember, he came out with his jacket in his hand to give to you?  I just happened to get there before he did,” Team protested.

 

She shook her head.  “No, that’s not what happened.  When you came over to me, I saw a guy who is on the swim team, watching you.  He is the guy with the teeth.  Do you know who I mean?”

 

Team frowned in confusion.  He was pretty sure that all the guys on the swim team had teeth.  He shook his head ‘no’.

 

“Big, rough-looking teeth.  Looks like he must have bitten down on concrete or something.”  She pulled her lips far back, imitating someone with an extreme overbite.

 

Team nodded, “Okay, I think you mean Gob.”

 

She laughed, “His name means ‘frog’?  Suitable, I guess, based on the shape of his face.  Anyway, he was watching you and when you came over to me, I saw him running into the locker room.  He was behind P’Win when he came over to us with his jacket in his hand.  I am convinced he hadn’t even spared a thought about me or my dress…but you did.”

 

Something she said earlier came back to him.  He had been so irritated by her that he hadn’t listened closely.  “Wait…did you say that he dumped you?”

 

She nodded, “Yeah, he sure did.  Not once, mind you…but twice!  Very cold about it.  I never imagined him to be a cold person.  I guess I should have though.  He never even kissed me.  He rejected me every time I tried to get close to him.  I mean, we did date for a month!  We should have been making out regularly…but not him.  He said he wanted to wait for the ‘perfect moment’.  Which never arrived!”

 

“No! That’s not true!  I saw him kiss your hand when I was in the backseat of the car that morning we all rode to school together.”

 

She scoffed.  “My hand?” she shook her head, “I’m not an infant, or a grandmother!  Hand kissing is nothing!”

 

While she was ranting, Team tuned her out and thought about what Win had said about their breakup.  He had told Team that she had dumped him for a guy with money.  But she had just said that Win was the one who broke up with her.  “So…the breakup?” he prodded.

 

“Well, I will tell you first off, I have never been treated so badly by anyone!  In fact, no one has ever dumped me before!” she placed her hands on her hips and leaned a bit forward to tell her story.  “You remember the day of his swimming thing?  And you left afterwards?”

 

Team nodded to encourage her to continue.  And she did.  In fact, once she started talking, she barely paused long enough to catch a breath before going on.

 

“There was a banquet after for the swimmer’s and their families.  Since his mom had to work, he took me as his guest.  That’s why I was wearing that dress to the swim thing.  Obviously I knew it was a bit too fancy for poolside, but I wanted to look appropriate for the banquet.  Which, since all of the guests were from this village, I was still overdressed compared to the other people who didn’t even bother to attempt to dress for the occasion.  Even the food was low class.  But I was starving so I ate it anyway.  P’Win just picked at it.  When I noticed, I laughed and told him I didn’t blame him; the school cafeteria served better food!  But he told me it wasn’t the food.  He said he really wasn’t feeling very well.  He wanted to leave, which was so rude because even though it wasn’t very high quality food, he had invited me to the banquet and I wasn’t finished eating.  And no sooner that I did finish, he rushed us out of there and took me home.  Home!  I was incensed!  I had the day planned for us to be alone together, my parents were out of town and it was our housekeeper’s afternoon off.  She always goes to visit her sister on her afternoon’s off and she always comes back late.  Sometimes she doesn’t get home until after her curfew!  P’Win had been promising me that we would finally…you know…do something…when the moment was right.  With everyone gone for the day, it was the right moment for me.  But no!  He dumped me off at the end of my driveway like I was a bag of laundry!  And drove away while I was still standing there!  I just…oh!  I was so furious!  I called a friend and she scolded me…can you believe it?  She said if P’Win was sick, I should be more understanding.  I hung up on her.  But…I thought about it and realized maybe I could be nicer.  So I called my housekeeper and ordered her to come home and make soup for him.  I could have gone somewhere and picked some up, but I think soup tastes better when it is homemade, don’t you?”

 

Team couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  He had to forcibly close his mouth from where his jaw had dropped.  Everything she said reeked of entitlement, but calling the housekeeper and making her come back, when she was only allotted an afternoon off once a week was shockingly rude and unfeeling.  And Daow didn’t seem to realize how awful this made her sound.  He realized she was waiting for him to answer and he remembered the question was something about homemade soup, so he gave her a nod and hoped it was the right answer.

 

Apparently it was because she started talking again.  “The housekeeper stopped at a market on her way back and bought fresh vegetables, herbs, and chicken for the soup.  Once she was back and busy with the soup, I hurried and got freshened up so I would look nice when I took the soup to him.  But the soup wasn’t ready when I got finished.  The housekeeper said it had to cook for hours!  It was so frustrating!  I had to sit and wait for a pot of soup to simmer!  But eventually it was ready.  I had her to pack it up for me while I changed clothes…I had been in afternoon wear, but it was after dark.  I couldn’t wear an afternoon outfit out after dark!  When I was ready and the soup was packed in containers inside this cute little basket, I drove over to his house.  A woman, I am assuming it was his mother—although she never introduced herself—answered the door.  I showed her the basket and told her that I was there to see P’Win.  She told me he wasn’t home.  At first I thought maybe she meant he had taken a turn for the worse and was at the hospital.  But no, she assured me that he wasn’t sick…he was out with friends!  Can you believe that?!!!  She offered to give him the basket when he got back home, but I told her that I would rather give it to him myself.  I put it back into my car and I drove over to Rick’s Place, and of course, his car was in the parking lot.  I was so angry; I’m surprised I didn’t have a stroke or heart attack or something.  I marched in there and saw him sitting at a table, drinking with his friends!  I demanded an explanation.  And do you know what he said?  He said, ‘Okay, I made a mistake being with you.  I want out.’  Just like that!  He wanted out!  I gave him quite an earful!  He just sat there with that smirk on his face.  I was livid!  And all of his friends were listening in and laughing behind their hands!  I couldn’t take another second of the disrespect so I stormed out of there.  When I got to my car, I grabbed the containers of soup from the basket.  I dumped the soup all over his car and then I left.  The next Saturday, one of my friends called me.  She was at Rick’s Place and P’Win was sitting alone at the bar.  She said that he looked so sad and so lonely.  Obviously, I thought he was missing me and was sorry for how he had treated me.  I drove over there as fast as I could.  I ran up to him and told him not to feel bad.  I told him that I would forgive him and we could start over again.  And this time, he didn’t even smirk.  He just looked at me like I was a bug and told me he wasn’t missing me and he didn’t want my forgiveness.  He had the nerve to tell me that he thought about suing me for dumping the soup on his car!  Can you imagine?  Anyway, I left there and went home.  I blocked him on everything and I never want to speak to him again!  And then, the other day, I started hearing your name everywhere and…I started thinking about how nice you are.  You are a true gentleman.  It should have been you, not him.  He’s not worth another second of my time, but you are.  How about taking me to dinner tonight and we can discuss it?”

 

Team gasped, “Oh no!  I would never…” he stopped himself from blurting out the truth and letting her know that he would never date someone like her!  He hated her.  “…uh, I could never do that.  It would be dishonorable of me to disrespect my best friend that way.”

 

She sighed audibly.  But then she gave a slight nod with a tight smile.  “Yes, the thing I like the best about you is the very thing that will keep us apart.  Your wonderful sense of honor.”  She leaned in quickly, attempting to kiss his cheek.

 

He dodged away from her.  “I’m sorry…I’ve been practicing.  Sweat, ya know.”

 

She smiled gently, “I wanted it to be you so badly.”

 

That sounded like a quote from a movie to Team.  Not something someone would really say.  But it was her exit line and after she said it, she turned around and walked away.

 

Team hurried into the shower and shuddered as he scrubbed his face under hot water.  If his reflexes had been even a millisecond slower, she would have kissed his cheek.  He felt revolted at the idea.

 

He never mentioned that talk to anyone.  Least of all to Win.  But Daow’s story and Win’s story of their breakup didn’t come close to matching.  Team believed Daow’s version.  He couldn’t understand why Win hadn’t told him the truth, but it didn’t matter to Team.  The only thing that mattered to him was that she was gone.

 

Namfon always kept the study group informed of all the gossip on campus.  Never hurtful or malicious things…mainly just who was dating who at any given time.  A few weeks after Daow had approached him after practice, Namfon informed the group that Daow and the captain of the school’s tennis team were going steady.

 

Team was no Sherlock Holmes (and not even like the real Scooby Doo), but he could connect the dots well enough to solve this mystery.  Daow had dated Win, who was the best swimmer on the swim team.  She had tried to get with Team, who she thought was the best player on the football team.  (He wasn’t; Jai was, but she didn’t know that.)  And now she was in a committed relationship with the captain (and best player) on the tennis team.  He nodded to himself…she was into athletes, but only the ones who were the best in their sport.

 

“I bet they will be going to the end-of-the-year dance together,” Namfon stated.

 

Team gave her a look out of the corner of his eye.  There was something about her delivery, the way she had announced it, that made him suspicious.  He knew her very well by this time and the way she had spoken made him feel like she was up to something.

 

She didn’t look across the table to meet Team’s gaze, but Team saw Mali, who was sitting next to Namfon, slightly lean closer and give her a tiny tap with her elbow.

 

Team alerted at that touch and quickly looked to his side to see if Jai had seen it.  Jai was sitting with his back extremely straight, staring at the two girls across from him.  With his fingers, he nervously rolled the top corner of the page in his textbook.  Team knew that he had seen the touch too.

 

Namfon tossed a quick look at Team and squared her shoulders.  She turned her attention back to Mali.

 

“’Fon?” Team called, trying to stop whatever it was she was about to say.

 

She ignored him.  “Mali would you mind letting me know if you see them there?”

 

“Why do you need Mali to look?  Surely you can look for them yourself,” Jai protested.

 

“No,” Namfon shook her head.  “I’m not going to the dance.  I bought two tickets to a lecture of a guest speaker on physics for the Science Dept.  Scooby is taking me.”

 

“I am?” Team asked in surprise.

 

“Of course you are.  You don’t like school dances any more than I do.  I asked you last week if you were going; you said you weren’t and you told me that P’Win had some kind of fund raiser meeting scheduled for that night.  You didn’t sound terribly happy to have a free night, so I ordered tickets for us.  I really want to go to this lecture and I knew you wouldn’t want me to have to go alone.”  She pulled the tickets from her pocket and showed them to him.

 

He shrugged and then gave a slight nod, “I don’t know anything about physics really.”

 

“Neither does the speaker.  That’s why I want to go to the lecture!”

 

“So…you’re going to ‘hate’ watch him?” Team asked in surprise.

 

“Of course!”

 

Jai cleared his throat, “Okay Velma, spill it.  How will Mali know if they are at the dance?”  He addressed his question to Namfon, but he was looking at Mali.  Mali was looking down at her textbook that was opened in front of her.  Team could see her face was a bright pink color.

 

“Because Mali is going to the dance.  She has a date,” Namfon answered.

 

Team froze in his seat and although they were outside, it suddenly felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked away.  He turned his full attention onto Jai to see how he was taking the news.

 

“Who do you have a date with?” Jai asked, this time looking directly at Mali, who was still pretending to read from her textbook.

 

“Takkataen, a second-year student in Science,” Namfon supplied.

 

“No, I don’t…not really.  He sent me a text and asked me,” Mali mumbled, still not looking up from her book.  “I haven’t answered him yet.”

 

“But of course you will say ‘yes’!” Namfon insisted.  “He is smart, sweet, and handsome.  Quite the catch!”

 

“How do you know he is handsome?” Jai snapped at her.  “You don’t like boys that way!”

 

“I’ve got eyes though,” Namfon argued.  “I may not be attracted to boys, but if a guy is handsome…I can see why someone else could be.”

 

Jai turned his attention to Mali.  “Mali, I would very much like it if you would go to the dance with me instead of that guy.”

 

Mali startled and quickly looked at Jai.  “You would?”

 

Jai nodded, “I would.  Would you?”

 

Mali nodded, “I would like that.”

 

Team had to put his hand over his lower face to hide the grin that he couldn’t hold back.  Both Jai’s and Mali’s cheeks were fiery red.  And they didn’t seem to know what to do with their eyes as they would look at each other and then look away, only to look back at each other a moment later.

 

Jai turned in his seat and dug through his backpack.  He pulled out a small, white box that was tied with a crumpled, red ribbon and placed it on the table in front of Mali.  “Here…I keep forgetting to give this to you.”

 

“What is it?” Mali asked, staring at the box but not touching it.

 

“It’s…uh...”  Jai waved his hand slightly, “You’ll see.”

 

Mali pulled the box closer to her and, with hands that were visibly shaking, she untied the ribbon and opened the lid of the box.  A huge smile spread across her face as she reached into the box and pulled out a tiny, pink pig.  “Oh!  It’s the pig I liked from that little shop in Chiang Mai, isn’t it?  He’s lovely!”

 

“Yeah…I bought him there.  But, uh…like I said, I just kept forgetting to give it to you.”

 

Team wanted to laugh at that but pushed it down.  There was no way that someone could forget something every day for months.

 

Team stood up and grabbed his backpack from the back of his chair.  “We have to go now.  See ya later.  Come on, Fon.”

 

Namfon stood up with a questioning frown.  Team took hold of her arm and hurried them away from the table.

 

When they were a distance away, Namfon said, “I know!  I know!  I shouldn’t have said anything…origin story and ripple effect, I get it!  But she was thinking about accepting Takkataen’s invitation and I read recently that a great many people end up married to their second choice.  I couldn’t sit back and watch her marry Takkataen and leave poor Jai brokenhearted for the rest of his life!”

 

Team ducked behind the wall of one of the buildings and peeked around the corner of it, looking at Jai and Mali still sitting at the table.  “Where did you read that in?  A science journal?”

 

“Well…no.  Actually, I read it on an online discussion board.  But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong!”  She defended.

 

“I’m not mad at you,” Team said, still peeking around the corner.

 

“You’re not?” she asked in surprise.

 

Team quickly turned to face her.  “Use your detective skills, Velma.  Do I look mad?”

 

She studied his face and then shook her head, “No, you don’t.”

 

“I still think it is wrong to mess with someone’s origin story, but since Mali was considering going out with…what was his name?”

 

“Takkataen,” Namfon supplied.

 

“Takkataen?  Weird.  Who names their kid after a grasshopper?” Team asked.

 

“His parents,” Namfon answered.

 

Team laughed, “Yeah, okay, you have me there.  Anyway, this was a crisis situation and you handled it well.  You just presented the facts to Jai and allowed him to make a decision on whether to tell her how he felt or not.  You didn’t blurt out that they were in love with each other and everyone could see it.  You allowed them to figure things out for themselves.  This IS their origin story!”  He turned back to peek at them again.

 

“Why do you keep watching them?  They’re just talking,” Namfon asked, sticking her head under Team’s raised arm and peeking around the corner at them too.

 

Team saw Jai shift around in his seat and then reach for his backpack.  “Wait for it…” Team said quietly.

 

“Wait for what?”

 

“Just watch.  You’ll see,” Team whispered.

 

They watched as Jai got up from his seat and walked around the table.  He sat down next to Mali in the seat that Namfon had just vacated.

 

“Well,” Team turned and said with a grin, “I guess you and I will be sitting together at the table from now on.”

 

She shrugged, “Suits me.  That’s where all the snacks end up anyway.  Now I will be able to get to them easier!”

 

“Hey!” Team protested, “I resent that!  I don’t deny it, but I resent being called on it!”

 

They both laughed and then Team asked, “Speaking of snacks, what kind will they have at this lecture thing?”

 

She shook her head and then grinned, “Sorry, no ‘Scooby Snacks’ there.  Just an uninformed idiot, pontificating for a few hours.”

 

“Hours?  Hours!  How many hours?” Team sputtered.

 

Namfon giggled.  “Only two; maybe two and a half.”

 

Team sighed, “I wish I hadn’t told you I was going to be free that night.”

 

Namfon continued to giggle at his misery.  “But you did tell me.  And I bought tickets.  And you are a good dog so I know you will go.”

 

 

Of course she was right.  On the night of the last school dance, Team found himself sitting next to Namfon on a hard, folding, metal chair, in a stuffy, crowded room.  For the first five minutes or so of the lecture, Team had tried to pay attention.  It was a useless effort on his part.  The man’s voice droned on and on in monotone, and Team’s mind wandered away.

 

In his mind, it was a Sunday afternoon and he was in Win’s garage.  He was playing the guitar and Win was at his easel, painting and singing along with Team’s guitar.  The stool was uncomfortable, but Team didn’t mind.  He was too busy being enraptured by the way the sunlight came in through the window and caressed Win’s cheek.  He was jealous of the sun’s rays for that.

 

A sudden vibration in his shirt pocket broke him out of his daydream.  He pulled out his phone and saw he had a message from Jai on their group chat.  Team checked the time and saw that it wasn’t late enough for the dance to be over.  He was concerned that something might have happened and Jai needed them. 

 

As discreetly as possible, Team laid the phone down on his leg and opened the message.  He leaned over slightly to read it.

 

Fred:  Daphne and I are officially a couple now.  We wanted you two to be the first to know!

 

Team could have dance for joy at the news.  They were amazing people who had been in love for years.  He was so glad they figured it out before it was too late.

 

He had collected a bunch of Scooby Doo memes shortly after the group formed, so he quickly scrolled through them and found one of Scooby, smiling, winking, and giving a thumbs-up.  He sent it and wrote:

 

Scooby:  Congratulations!!!!  I’m so happy for you both!  You deserve each other!  (I meant that in a good way!  LOL!)

 

He knew that Namfon would want to know so he used his phone to tap her on the arm.  She ignored it.  He tapped her arm again, and she made a shooing motion with her hand, never taking her laser focus from the lecturer.

 

Ordinarily he would have stopped trying to get her attention, but this was important and he knew she would be super pissed if he didn’t tell her right away, so he took his phone and softly tapped a rhythm on her arm.  “Bumpity, bumpity, bump, bump.”  She didn’t respond.  He tried it again, “Bumpity, bumpity, bump, bump.”  Still no response.  So he took the edge of the phone and poked her arm with it, “Bump, bump, bump!”  She turned her head and gave him a glare that was so frighteningly fierce that it could have stripped the paint off of the walls.

 

He flinched and then tried to smile as he handed her his phone.  She scowled as she snatched it from his hand, but as she read the messages, her body relaxed.  She leaned back in her seat and looked over at him.  Her face glowed as she gave him a huge smile.

 

She quickly typed a message and sent it.  Then she gave Team back his phone.  She gave his hand a little squeeze and smiled.  She mouthed, “It’s about time!”

 

He nodded and then read the message she had posted in the discussion.

 

Scooby:  It’s Velma on Scooby’s account.  You guys!  I am soooo happy for you!  Daphne, call me when you get home—I want ALL the details!  Wishing you happiness and joy forever!

 

Once the lecture was over and the speaker walked over to a table that had a stack of his books for sale on it, Team and Namfon left the building.

 

“What a pompous ass!” Namfon exclaimed.  “The only good thing is that only a few members of the audience went over to buy a book!”

 

“Maybe the others already have a copy,” Team teased.  He stopped immediately when he saw that fierce look come back on her face, “I’m kidding!  But seriously, could you explain it to me why his having different theories than you do makes you so angry?  They’re both just theories and no one knows what the real truth is, right?  Explain it to me like I am five-years-old.”

 

She took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled in an attempt to calm herself, Team guessed.  She nodded, “You are correct; we don’t know the exact answers at this point.  In Physics, theories are based on the work of others who have gone before us…and also scientists who are still with us.  Today we stand on the shoulders of those people.  We owe it to them to stand with dignity, for us and for them…even if it means a theory that we believe in gets disproved.  But this guy…” she shook her head, “he takes a bit here and a bit there, and passes it off as if it is his original work.  In effect, instead of standing on the ancestors shoulders in dignity, he is up there doing the chicken butt dance and occasionally lifting his tail feathers to take a shit on them.”

 

“Oh.  Okay, I get it now.  Isn’t there something someone could do to stop him?”

 

She shook her head, “No, like you said, they’re all just theories until they get either get proved or disproved.”

 

They had been walking down the sidewalk in front of the hall.  As the approached the entrance to the parking lot, Namfon stopped suddenly.  “Oh crap!  I thought she would send the driver for me.  But it’s her.  I don’t suppose you will want a ride home now, will you?”

 

“Uh…” Team said and then chuckled, “Not really, no.  You know I like your mom; she’s very nice, but…”

 

“I know…she thinks you’re my boyfriend,” Namfon supplied the answer.  “I’ve told her numerous times that you aren’t, but she thinks I am being shy.”

 

“It’s crazy that she doesn’t believe you when she knows you can’t lie.”

 

She shrugged, “What can I say?  She’s my mother and I love her, but she can be pretty oblivious to facts once her emotions kick in.  She likes you.  She likes us together.  So, I guess in her mind that means we are together.  Nothing I can do about it.”  She began walking again, heading towards her mother’s car.  “But speaking of couples, that was pretty great news about Fred and Daphne tonight!”

 

Team nodded and smiled, “It really was!  They are moving much faster than I had expected, but I am glad about it.  They have dragged their feet for years.  I met them the first day of our first year of Secondary school and I saw they liked each other as soon as I met them.  They went to the same Primary school so I’m guessing their feelings started even earlier than I know.”

 

“When Daphne calls tonight, I will get all the details.  If she gives me permission, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.  That’s up to Daphne though.  Maybe Fred will tell you everything.”

 

Team gave a small grin and a shake of his head, “No, he won’t.  Fred is very private about him and Daphne.  Always has been.”

 

“Daphne?” Namfon’s mother called to them from the driver’s seat.  “Daphne?  That’s a very pretty name.  Is it foreign?”

 

“Yes, it is,” Namfon said as she got into the passenger seat, “But she’s not.”

 

“Who is she?  I haven’t heard of her before,” her mother asked.

 

Namfon shrugged as she pulled the seat belt across her chest and snapped it closed.  “She’s a friend of mine and Team’s.”

 

Namfon’s mother turned to look at Team with a beaming smile, “Team, you really do bring out the best in my daughter.  Look at her!  Blossoming into a social butterfly with all these friends!”

 

Behind her mother’s back, Namfon held up three fingers, indicating how many friends she had, and then shrugged.

 

“Can we give you a ride home, Team?” her mother offered, “It’s right on the way and no problem at all!”

 

“Oh, no thank you!  That’s very kind though,” Team answered quickly.  “We sat on hard, metal chairs for over two hours.  The walk will help me get the blood flowing again.”

 

“Okay, if you’re sure.  You should drop by the house more often.  It’s been a while since you’ve come to visit us,” she said as she put the car into gear.  “Pick a day that you are free for dinner and let Namfon know, okay?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Team said with a fake smile.  “Namfon and I will discuss it.”

 

They drove off with a wave and Team waved back.  As soon as they were out of sight, Team relaxed and exhaled deeply.  Namfon’s mother always made his stomach muscles clinch up—like he was expecting a punch to the gut at any second.

 

He began to walk out of the parking lot, headed for the sidewalk he had left moments before, when he heard a shrill whistle.

 

He turned his head to see who had done it and saw Win leaning against his car, which was parked in the shadows near the corner of the parking lot.

 

“Do you need a ride?” Win called to him.

 

Team grinned, “Sure!” he called back.  He jogged over to Win’s car.  “Why are you here?”

 

“You said you were coming here tonight so I came looking for you,” Win said as he moved away from the front of his car and walked over to the driver side door. "I thought you might need a ride home."

 

Even in the shadows, Team could tell by the look on Win’s face that something was troubling him.  “What’s up?” he asked as he settled into the passenger seat.

 

“Nothing.  Everything’s fine,” Win stated.

 

“Bullshit!  Something’s wrong.  I can see it all over your face!”

 

Win had been in the process of leaning forward to start the car, but he stopped and leaned back in his seat.  He closed his eyes and then massaged his temples for a moment.  He gave a slight shrug and then sighed.  “Well, yeah…the school counselor was at the meeting tonight.”  He reached out and with one finger he tapped on his steering wheel.  “During a refreshment break, she came over to talk to me…”  He paused but the tapping of his finger increased.  “About Naam.  Do you remember him?”

 

Team nodded, of course he remembered Naam.  He and Win were academic rivals and had been since before Team had met Win.  Actually, Naam was more than just a rival—if they were characters in a comic book, Naam would be Win’s nemesis.  His archenemy.

 

“At the end of last year, my GPA was higher than his—not by much, just a few hundredths of a point, but I knew if I really worked my hardest this year, I would keep that lead, maybe even expand it.”  He stopped and turned to look at Team.  “He’s been taking extra classes.  His GPA is higher than mine and there is no time for me to fix this.”

 

“That dirty son-of-a-bitch!” Team roared.  “Is the school going to let him get away with cheating like that?!”

 

Win shook his head, “It’s not cheating.  It is very clever and I wish I would have thought of it. I could have taken extra classes…I guess I was just too lazy or something.”

 

“When?  When could you have found time for extra classes?  After school you tutor others.  You work for all those committees and charities.  You barely have time to eat or sleep!”  Team was still angry, “And why is he fighting so hard to get a scholarship anyway?  He lives in a huge house!”

 

“I live in a huge house,” Win reminded him.

 

“Yeah…but it was inherited!  Your family doesn’t have tons of money!”

 

“We don’t know what his family’s finances are.  He could be poor too.  And besides, scholarships aren’t designed to be handed out just to poor kids.  It’s based on the work you do.  And he did more work and did better at it than I did.”

 

“This is just awful!” Team stated, shaking his head.

 

“I know,” Win said as he started the car.  “It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.  And my main thought was to come to you.  I don’t want to discuss it with my mom until I’ve had a chance to mentally digest it a bit.”

 

Win turned on the radio and they didn’t talk on the ride to Team’s house.  Each was lost in his own thoughts.  Team knew that Win was still stuck in a loop that his mind had created, coming to the realization that he wouldn’t be the top student of the graduating class and that he wouldn’t receive the scholarship that automatically came with that honor.  Those would both go to Naam.  Team gritted his teeth and tried not to imagine himself beating the whole, entire crap out of Naam!

 

When they pulled up outside Team’s house, Win turned off the radio.  “Do you have plans later?”

 

Team nodded, “Yep.  I will be sitting on a blanket, in my secret spot, hanging with my bestie.”

 

Win gave a slight smile and nodded.  “Good.  About an hour then?”

 

“Yeah,” he looked up at the house and saw that his parents had left a light on for him downstairs and their bedroom light was on upstairs.  “Looks like they are waiting on me to come in so they can go to bed.”

 

“Okay, I’ll be back in about an hour,” Win said before driving away.

 

Team entered the house and his mother called out from upstairs, “Team, is that you?”

 

“No, lady!  I’m a cat burglar!  I’ve come to steal your cats!” he called back.

 

“We don’t have any cats,” his mother answered.

 

“Then I’ll take your good silverware!”

 

“We don’t have that either!”

 

“Then I’ll just take a sandwich!”

 

He could hear her giggling.  “You might have some luck finding that!  Goodnight, Love!”

 

“Goodnight, Mom!”

 

He grinned as he hurried to the kitchen to make a sandwich.  He ate it on the way from the kitchen to his bedroom.  He dug through his dresser drawers and located a soft pair of shorts and a tee shirt and took them with him to the bathroom.  He grabbed a quick shower and after he was dressed, he went back to his bedroom to wait until he was sure his parents were asleep.

 

Once he felt as if enough time had passed, he quietly went to his closet and got the blanket that was always with them during these late night visits.  He crept down the stairs in the dark, instinctively avoiding all the squeaky boards on them, and then hurried through the house and out the back door.  He made his way to the side of the house and spread the blanket down on the ground, in his secret spot.

 

He lay down on his back with his arms crossed under his head and counted the stars.  The night-blooming jasmine had awakened and was filling the air with its perfume.  He heard the familiar ‘thump’ sound that announced Win had just scaled the fence, made his way through the tree branches, and dropped to the ground when he reached the lowest branch.

 

Win emerged from the darkness and sat down on the blanket next to him.  “Here,” he said, placing down a plastic bag next to Team.  “I brought a few things.”

 

Team pulled out a big bag of chips, two plastic cups, and two bottles of cola.  “Why do we need the plastic cups?” he asked.

 

“For this,” Win said, setting down a bottle of whiskey next to the chips.

 

“Now it’s a party!” Team said happily as he opened the whiskey and poured equal measures into each cup.  Win had opened a bottle of cola and he added some to each cup before recapping the bottle.

 

Team took the chips and his drink with him as he leaned back against the house.  As Team ate a few handfuls of chips and drank about half of his drink, he kept his eye on Win.  Win was still sitting on the edge of the blanket instead of coming up to the top of it and leaning against the house next to Team as he normally did.  He had only taken a couple of sips from his drink; he seemed to have forgotten the cup was even in his hand.  He didn’t look up at the stars, or look in front of him to admire the jasmine.  Instead, he looked down at the old, grey blanket.  He picked a few pieces of fuzz from it from time to time, but that was his only movement.

 

Team reached over to the edge of the blanket and sat his cup down on the grass.  He put the potato chips off to the side of him and then scooted down the blanket until he was next to Win.  “This isn’t just about Naam and the scholarship, is it?”

 

Win exhaled audibly and then shook his head.  “It’s a big part of it,” he admitted, “but not all.  I was so stupid, so full of ego, that I…I really fucked up, Team.  And there is nothing I can do to fix it.”

 

“What are you talking about?  You aren’t stupid, and I have never known you to be full of your own ego!”

 

Win seemed to shrink as his back curled and his shoulders hunched over.  “I thought sure I would get the scholarship…I was positive that I had it!...and so….” He paused for a moment, and then gave a heavy sigh and continued, “I only applied to one college.  I know you are supposed to apply to a lot of them to increase your chances…but the college in Bangkok is the only one I want to go to…on average, their swim team is the best in the country, and their reputation for their business school is impeccable.  No other school came close.”  He shook his head, “Looking back, it was so stupid and arrogant of me!  I figured they would accept me because I was number one in my class.  And it is an expensive school, so I thought I would be able to afford it with the scholarship.  They probably will refuse my application now.  And I guess I am lucky if they do because I could never pay for it…but that means I won’t ever go to college!”

 

Team wasn’t sure what to do or say.  He scratched his head, and then tentatively reached over and touched Win’s arm.  He wasn’t usually the one who touched—that had always been Win—and he half expected Win to pull away.  Instead, Win seemed to lean into Team.  “You will go to college!” Team said firmly.  “You have worked non-stop since you were a kid, all with the goal of going to college.”

 

“But…what about…” Win began.

 

“No!  I will tell you exactly what will happen.  The college will accept you and you will pay for it with the scholarship you will win for being the best swimmer on the swim team!  And if for some crazy reason things actually go the way you think they will…well, you can go to the community college for a year—I know you have enough money saved up to pay for that!  All it would take is enough to pay tuition and buy your books.  You could still live at home.  See?  Cheap!  And you will take classes that will transfer to other colleges.  During that year, you can apply to lots of schools, all over Thailand.  One of them will take you—and with you on their swim team—they will end up having the best swim team!  If it is an expensive college, then you will apply for financial aid and for student loans and you work your way through school.  It will be horrible and hard, but you can do it!  Two things I know to always be true:  1) You won’t give up on yourself, and 2) I will never give up on believing in you!”

 

Win’s back straightened and he turned away from Team for a moment.  He nodded and then picked up the hem of his shirt and wiped his face.  “Thank you,” he mumbled.  “You’re right.  Even if I have to find another path, it doesn’t mean the journey is over.”  He picked up his cup and took a drink.  “Okay, so are you going to keep those potato chips for yourself, or are you going to share them?”

 

Team laughed and reached for the bag, “I guess since you bought them I can let you have a few!”

 

They sat together with their backs resting on the house and ate chips and drank their drinks.  They talked about everything and nothing, just like they always did when they were together.

 

At one point, after the alcohol had kicked in, they got the giggles.  Win pushed himself away from the house and leaned forward to catch his breath.  When he did, he said, “There is something I have wanted to talk to you about for a long time, but…it felt weird to bring up.  But since you saw me crying over losing a scholarship, I guess I can’t be any more embarrassed.”

 

Team sat up next to him, “No, don’t be embarrassed.  It’s okay!  I know how much it means to you.  So…what is this weird thing you want to talk to me about?”

 

Win took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he began.  “When I was with Daow, you did something odd.  I’m not sure if you even noticed it, or maybe it was on purpose?  I don’t know.  It confused me.”

 

“What?” Team asked, trying to ignore the huge knot in his stomach that had formed when Win said that person’s name.  Team had hoped to never hear it again.

 

“You referred to me as P’Win to her.  Every time you said my name.  What was up with that?”

 

Team blinked.  Had he done that?  He scanned his memory and came up blank.  “Uh…to show respect to you,” he invented a reason, hoping it sounded reasonable.  “P’Win just sounds more respectful than Hia.”

 

“To who?” Win asked.  “Not to me.  I don’t care if other people call me P’Win, but I hate it when you do!  I kept thinking you were mad at me.”

 

“Mad at you?  Of course not!” Team said.  But…he thought: Mad?  Nah!  I only broke a tile in my shower, threw two tools through the garage wall, and took off for three weeks to get away from you!  Not mad, furious!!!!  “What did you think I was mad about?”

 

Win shrugged, “I don’t know.  Maybe because I had a girlfriend?”

 

Team huffed and shook his head.  “That’s ridiculous!  Lots of people pair up in Upper Secondary!  It’s like a rite of passage.”

 

“Promise me something,” Win said, turning to face Team and holding up his pinkie finger.

 

Team linked his finger with Win’s, “Okay, what am I promising?”

 

“Promise me that you will never call me P’Win again.”

 

Team laughed, it was the easiest promise he could make.

 

“No!  Don’t laugh.  I’m serious.  It hurts me when you call me that.”

 

Team got serious very quickly.  “I’m sorry.  Of course I promise!  I won’t ever call you that again!”  He hadn't even realized when he called Win that so he was going to have to be much more aware of what he said in the future.

 

They unlocked their pinkies and Team stretched out on the blanket.  He looked up at the stars and felt himself growing sleepy.  Win lay down beside him.  Team sat up and grabbed his phone.

 

“Are you texting somebody?”

 

Team felt like laughing at that.  There was no other person on the planet that he wanted to talk to at that moment.  Just Win.  He shook his head, “I am setting an alarm.  The last time we were out here we fell asleep and almost got caught.”

 

Win chuckled, “I remember.  We had to hide the blanket and act like I had just dropped by, at the crack of dawn.  It was nice though.  Your mom made us breakfast.”

 

“Mm-hmm” Team answered as he lay back down.

 

“I didn’t know you liked physics,” Win commented.

 

“Me?  I hate it!  The most boring Science there is!  That’s why I take biology, even though it is sickening.  I would rather be queasy than bored,” Team answered.  He kept his eyes closed.  He felt like he was on the verge of sleep.

 

“But you went to that lecture tonight.  Why did you go if you hate it?”

 

“Namfon.  She loves it; she hated the speaker though.  She bought two tickets to it and…I guess she manipulated me into going,” he chuckled and then shook his head, “She assumed I wouldn’t want her to have to go alone.  She was right.”

 

Some time passed with them in silence, and then Team felt Win curl up next to him.  Win’s head always fit perfectly in that spot where Team’s neck and shoulder met.  Team’s sleepy mind thought, 'we fit together like puzzle pieces.’

 

Win laid his arm across Team’s chest and pulled him closer.  “Thank you for tonight.  I think I’m going to be okay now.”

 

“Ngh,” Team made a noise in his throat.  He woke himself up enough to whisper, “You will be…amazing.”

Chapter 14

Within the following week, graduating students in the village began receiving their letters from the colleges they had applied to.  Day after day, Win would hurry home to check the mail, only to text Team that he hadn’t received anything yet.

 

Early Saturday morning, Team’s phone rang and woke him up.  He groaned and wrapped his pillow around his head and over his ears to block the sound.  He knew it had to be a computerized telemarketer call, because no one he knew would call him.  They would text.  Calling was for old people.

 

When that thought occurred to him, he pulled the pillow away from one ear and listened.  He could hear faint sounds from downstairs and could smell food cooking.  His parents were okay, so it was safe to ignore the ringing phone.

 

Either his voicemail kicked on or the person hung up, because the ringing finally stopped.  Team sighed and snuggled back down and closed his eyes.  The ringing started again.  Team groaned and pulled the pillow back up to his ears to block the sound.  The ringing stopped again, but before Team could relax, his phone started ringing again.

 

Team reached over and yanked his phone off the charger and barked, “WHAT?” into it.

 

“I got the big envelope!” Win said excitedly.

 

“Hia?  Why are you calling me so early?” Team mumbled.

 

“I got the big envelope!” Win repeated.

 

“Mmm, okay,” Team answered.

 

“Team!!!  Wake up!  I got the BIG envelope!”

 

“I’m awake,” Team said sleepily.  “I heard you.  ‘Big envelope’.  I don’t know what it means.”

 

Win laughed, “It is full of information about the college in Bangkok that I applied to, and the letter enclosed begins with the word, ‘Congratulations!’”

 

Team bolted upright in his bed.  He was wide awake now.  “Oh my God!” he cried.  “Oh…my…God!!!  HIA!  You got in!  Well, of course you did!  They would be idiots not to!”  He stopped to catch his breath.  “OH MY GOD!!!” he said again.

 

“That’s the reaction I was waiting for!” Win said with a laugh.  “Get dressed!  Let’s go out for breakfast to celebrate!”

 

Team jumped out of bed and hurried over to his dresser.  “Okay,” he said, pawing through a drawer.  “Where are we going?  I need to know what to wear.”

 

“Our place, of course!” Win answered.

 

“Are they open this early?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Do they serve breakfast?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

Team laughed, “Well all right then!”

 

“They have to be open.  This is too important.  We can’t celebrate anywhere else!”

 

“Okay, give me a few minutes to shower and change, and I’ll be ready,” Team said as he selected a pair of shorts and a tee shirt from the drawer and pushed it closed.

 

“Do me a favor, okay?  Don’t tell your folks.  I haven’t had a chance to tell my mom yet.  She is working in the ER today and I wouldn’t feel right calling her away from an actual emergency for this.  The only ones who know right now are you, me, and whichever of the postal workers delivered it.”

 

Team’s heart did a funny dance.  He loved when Win shared secrets with him.  It made him feel special.  “Okay, I won’t.  I’ll just tell them we are going to hang out together today.”

 

The Lonely Dolphin was open, but they didn’t serve breakfast.  Win and Team weren’t picky; they made do with the menu selections that were offered.

 

Win brought along ‘the BIG envelope’ and they had papers and booklets spread out on the table.  Team watched as Win reached up to rub his forehead.  Team bit back a grin.  For as long as Team had known him, Win had had a thick fringe of bangs that he always kept just a touch too long.  Whenever he was stressed, he would stroke his bangs.  About a month earlier, Win had changed his style.  He now had short, jagged bangs, and he put some kind of product on his hair that made them stay in place, no matter what he did.  The product also made his already shiny black hair look shinier and blacker.  He looked more like an adult, and…even more handsome…which Team had never thought would be possible.

 

Win traced a line of text with his finger as he read.  Team’s eyes were automatically drawn to Win’s fingernails, which he also kept a touch too long.  Team’s neck tingled at the memory of being scratched by them.  He rubbed the spot on his neck and quickly tore his eyes away.  He concentrated on eating.

 

“…and my counselor is going to give me a video call Monday, after school, so we can start the scheduling process,” Win said.  “There are so many required classes for first year students!  I am glad she is calling me so soon.  I hope I can get registered before they all get filled.”

 

“You will, Hia,” Team assured him while dipping up more food and placing it on his plate.

 

“I hope.  It’s different than Secondary school.  If a class gets filled, it gets closed and you have to wait until the next time it is offered.  And if it is a pre-req class, you can’t move forward until you take it.”

 

Team laughed, “It will be fine, I promise!  Besides, it’s so far in the future, there is no reason to worry about it now!”

 

Win frowned, “I start there in about twelve weeks.  That doesn’t seem that far in the future to me.”

 

Team’s jaw froze in the middle of chewing.  “What do you mean, twelve weeks?” he spoke around the food that was in his mouth.  If his mother had seen him, she would have sent him from the table for such bad manners.

 

“Well, yeah.  Here, look at the starting date,” Win pushed the letter over to Team.  Team saw the date and he felt his heart racing.  The food in his mouth had turned into a huge, unflavored blob.  He wanted to spit it out, but even HE had better manners than that.

 

“My classes start two weeks earlier than yours.  That leaves me only about ten weeks to earn money before I leave.  I have some saved, of course, but they will want a big chunk upfront, and I have to buy textbooks…”  Win scratched his head and drew back the letter.  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and began using the calculator app.

 

Team picked up his glass and took a big drink to wash down the food that was in his mouth, and then he pushed his plate away.  He didn’t want any more to eat.

 

He looked over at Win who was still deep into his calculations, and then Team rubbed the back of his neck.  ‘Twelve weeks!” his mind shouted at him, ‘This is real!  Hia is leaving the village and moving to Bangkok!  Only 84 days left!”  Team suddenly remembered his mother, before she had even met Win, expressing concern for the difference in their ages.  She had warned there would come a time when Win would leave Team behind and go to college.  Team remembered that he had shrugged it off at the time.  And honestly, he had been shrugging it off all along.  It was always something that seemed like a faraway time in the future.  But it wasn’t.  It was happening for real, and it was happening soon.

 

“…so, what do you think?” Win asked.

 

Team nodded, “Okay,” he answered, hoping it was the right answer because he hadn’t heard a thing Win had said.  He picked up his glass and took another drink

 

“Okay?  How is that an answer to ‘what day should I try to get off in my schedule—Friday or Monday’?”

 

Team placed his glass back down on the table and tried to formulate an answer, “Well…I just meant…this is all new to us.  We don’t even know what classes you’ll have and what the rules might be about days off.  I meant that it is ‘okay’ if you can get either of them off.  If not, well…you will still be home on Saturday and Sunday.  We’ll make it work.”

 

Win leaned back in his seat and Team could see his muscles relaxing.  “I thought you weren’t listening, but I guess you were,” Win said.

 

“Of course I was, Hia!  This is the most important thing that has ever happened!” Team assured him, even though he was lying about listening.

 

Win reached across the table and placed his hand on Team’s arm and gave it a squeeze.  “You are the best at being a best friend!” he exclaimed.  “But tell me…if I am allowed to choose, which day should I pick?”

 

“Selfishly, I want you to pick Friday.  You could come home Thursday night.  We would be together Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  If you pick Monday, we would only have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I have school and football practice on Mondays.”

 

Win nodded, “That sounds good!  We could still see each other four days a week!  It would almost be like I never left!  I’ll discuss it with my counselor tomorrow.”  He went back to reading the information from the packet.  “Oh!  Yeah, for sure I want to try for Fridays off!  I am reading about the clubs they have and first-year Swim Club meets on Mondays and Wednesdays.  If I have Mondays off, I would have to leave early to make it back for Swim Club.”  He was quiet for a few moments, and then he reached up to play with his bangs, which were no longer there.  When his fingers touched his bare forehead, he looked up suddenly in a panic, “What am I thinking?  I can’t pay for any of this!”

 

Team leaned forward and spoke soothingly to him.  “We discussed this, remember?  You will definitely get the swimming scholarship.  But even if everything falls apart, you can get grants and loans.  And you can get a job.  You can do this, Hia.”

 

 

 

On Monday, Team had football practice after school.  Near the end of practice, he saw Win standing behind the fence.  He looked like he was about to burst with joy.

 

Team asked the coach for a few minutes and it was granted.  He jogged over to the fence and looked at Win through the diamond pattern of the chain links.

 

“What is it?  You look like you are about to explode!” Team said with a laugh.

 

“I just got off the phone with my counselor,” Win answered.  He held up a paper to show Team.  “Look!  My last class of the week is early on Thursday!  That means I will be able to come home Thursday nights and spend the whole weekend here!”

 

Team felt his heart drop, as it always did when he was reminded that Win was leaving, “82 days!” his mind shouted.  “That’s great, Hia!  I’m so glad!  You’ll be home more than you will be there!”

 

“Yeah!” Win agreed enthusiastically.  Then his face drooped a bit, “Unless I have to work my way through.  Then…the weekends will probably be when I work the most hours and I won’t be able to come home.”

 

Team felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach.  “Well…I don’t think that will happen, but…if it does…I’m sure your mom will come to Bangkok to see you as often as she can.  And maybe she will let me come with her sometimes.”

 

Win nodded, “Yeah, she would.  I…uh…I got this today.” He shoved a card through a diamond-shaped opening.  “I’m sure it isn’t anything.”

 

Team took the card and read it.  It was a notification that Win was to receive something during the senior awards program and that his attendance was mandatory.

 

“Hia!” Team gasped excitedly, “This is it!  You’re getting a scholarship for sure!”

 

“Not necessarily.  I have worked with the environmental volunteers of the village for years.  They told me that they had arranged to give me a plaque that night to thank me for my service.”

 

“A plaque?  What the hell good is a fucking plaque?” Team sputtered.  “You have worked for them since before I met you.  They need to at least kick in some cash to go with it!”

 

Win frowned and shook his head.  “They are supported by charitable donations.  I would never work for or even respect a charity that used their funds that way.  It should all go to the actual charity.”

 

Team frowned.  “I guess.  But it still sucks!”

 

 

 

That Friday night found Team sitting next to his parents and Auntie Poom in the second row of the auditorium, waiting for the awards program to start.  Win was sitting in a student chair on stage, along with the other recipients.  Team searched for Naam, the low-life, sneaky, cutthroat demon, and found him sitting on the other side of the stage.  He was dressed all in black, which Team thought suited him.  Villains in movies often wore black.  He looked down at his own black pants and then shrugged.  In a way, and way down deep, Team acknowledged that he was a bit of a villain himself.  But only a tiny bit.  He wanted Win to be happy…but…Team wouldn’t mind it if Win was happy in the local community college instead of the far more impressive college in Bangkok.

 

Team looked back up to the stage and saw Win was reading the program pamphlet for the order of awards.  Team had glanced at it when he first arrived.  He knew that the scholarship for highest GPA and the one for CORE were the first two to be announced.  They were the scholarships with the highest amounts (full ride and large stipends) that would be presented.  Team turned his glance to Naam and glared.  The dirty cheater would be getting those.  He remembered Win crying about it and he swallowed down the lump in his throat and looked back down at his black pants.  He shook his head.  No, he was not that much of a villain.  Win’s feelings mattered more and Team hoped with all of his heart that Win would win a scholarship that was large enough to pay for everything at the school in Bangkok.

 

The principal started the program by thanking the audience for attending.  She announced the first scholarship was going to the student with the highest GPA.  Team saw Win look down at his hands that he held clutched together on his lap.  Then Team looked over at Naam.  He was beaming with a smile that went from ear-to-ear.  He brushed some imaginary lint from his shirt sleeve and then reached up to pat his hair, making sure it was in place.

 

The principal was handed a red envelope with a gold circle seal on the back.  She made a big show of opening the envelope, as if it were the Oscar’s, then she read the card and announced Naam’s name.  He jumped to his feet and hurried up to the podium at the front of the stage.

 

Team looked down the row he was sitting in.  Auntie Poom, his mother, and his father were all applauding politely.  He shook his head and looked on the stage to find that Win was also clapping.  Team slumped in his seat, crossed his arms across his chest, and socked his hands firmly in his armpits.  His father elbowed him gently.

 

“No!” Team whispered angrily.  “He cheated and stole that scholarship from Hia!  I will not clap for him!”

 

His father nodded, stopped clapping, and dropped his hands into his lap.

 

Naam shook hands with the Principal; she gave him a big white envelope, and the tiny red one that she had read his name from.  Team guessed that it was for him to keep as a souvenir.  The applause stopped as she moved away and gave him the microphone.

 

As he began his speech, Team—with his arms still crossed and still slumped in his seat—glared at Naam.  He focused intently on him and with all his might, he sent him a mental message:  “Get the fuck out of here, you hammer-toed hobgoblin!  You stole that scholarship by cheating!  Go sit your ass down and shut the fuck up!!!”

 

Eventually Naam finished his speech and walked back to his seat to the sound of applause.  Team still refused to clap for him, and he noticed that his father didn’t either.  But…Win did.  Team frowned.  Win was too nice.

 

The Principal came back to the podium and introduced a guest speaker.  He was an old zombie who walked at a snail’s pace.  Team squirmed in his seat.  He knew by the look of him that he was going to talk as slow as he walked.  He was there to present the CORE scholarship.  Team checked the program guide and saw it would be quite a while before they got to the sports awards.  He fetched a deep sigh and tried to focus on the old fossil speaking.

 

He tried, he really did, but he was pissed and frustrated.  He thought the old man’s face looked like a dehydrated apple.  He squirmed a bit more.  His dad tapped him with his elbow.

 

“Here,” he whispered, “Your mom thinks you look pale.  She wants you to eat this.”

 

Team frowned, “What is it?”

 

His dad held it so that Team could see it better, “It’s candy,” he said.

 

Team nodded and took it.  He really didn’t feel like eating anything…but he wasn’t one to turn down candy.  He unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth.  Then it occurred to him how odd the situation was.  He leaned over and whispered to his dad, “Where did she get candy?”

 

His dad had been listening to the speaker.  He tore his attention away from him for a second to whisper back, “From her purse.”  He returned back to listening to the old man.

 

Team was dumbstruck.  His mother kept candy in her purse.  HIS mother.  The same woman who thought that unflavored rice cakes were a substitute for potato chips and who never allowed junk foods in the house.  She kept candy in her purse!

 

“The scores that a student achieves on the areas listed in the Advanced Placement CORE program—Math, Science, Language, and the Social Sciences, are the foundation to success in college life, and are weighed by professionals even later in life in terms of employment.  The student with the highest AP CORE scores will always be several steps ahead of a student who is focused only on their GPA which can be artificially higher due to supplementing their studies with electives…”

 

Team shook his head slightly.  He couldn’t believe the school had hired this old fart to come explain the freaking CORE program.  Even an idiot already knew the crap he was talking about.  He tuned the speaker out and again puzzled on the fact that his mother kept candy in her purse.  It was cinnamon.  It wasn’t bad, but he wondered if she ever ate chocolate.  That would have been his choice.

 

He looked at Win and saw that he was listening respectfully to the old dude speaking.  He was squeezing his hands together though.  Team knew this meant that Win was stressed.  He always did that.  He would sometimes squeeze so hard that his fingers would turn a reddish-purple from where he would hold on so tightly that the blood became trapped.  Team felt fury rising up in his chest again, despite the candy in his mouth.  “Just give Naam the damn scholarship and shut up!” He mentally screamed at the old man at the podium.

 

He looked over at Naam, expecting to find him preening at the speech and getting prepared to walk back up to the podium to accept the scholarship the way he had done with the previous award.  Instead, Team was surprised to see that Naam was sitting quietly, seeming to be looking at the tiny red envelope on top of the big white envelope on his lap.  He wouldn’t be able to take those up with him to receive the CORE scholarship, but he didn’t seem to be making any effort to find a place to put them or a person to hold them.  He was just sitting and staring at the red envelope.

 

Team frowned as he tried to figure out what was going on.  He wondered if maybe Naam was feeling guilty, but quickly discarded the notion.  Naam had gone to so much trouble to win that he wouldn’t feel guilty when he received the reward for his efforts.  Team studied him more closely to try to determine what was going on with him.  And something kept niggling at him in the back of his mind, but when he tried to focus on the thought, it would scurry away and hide.  He started to realize that it had something to do with something that the old speaker had said.

 

Team took a breath and looked away from Naam.  He closed his eyes and tried to figure it out.  He outlined the facts in his mind—Naam was about to win the CORE scholarship after just winning the GPA scholarship; he won them because he took extra classes to boost his GPA so he could beat Win who had the highest score.  Team mentally shrugged at himself.  He already knew all of this so he didn’t know why he was having this weird feeling that he was missing something.

 

“He’s wearing black.  He’s a villain.  What would a villain do?” the thought whispered to him.  Team scratched his head as he thought of an answer to himself.  “A villain would do what he did!  Take extra classes secretly to beat Hia’s GPA.”  He sent the mental message to that part of his brain that had asked the question.  That part asked him another question, “What kind of classes did he take?”  Team scoffed at the question.  How was he supposed to know that?  He looked down at his own black pants and thought, “If I were the villain, and I wanted to beat someone’s GPA, I would take super easy classes to make sure I could get the highest grade and stack my GPA.”  He blinked a few times as he thought about it.  ‘Super easy classes’ wouldn’t be CORE classes.  Those classes were brain crushers.  “The old guy had said, ‘…of a student who is focused only on their GPA which can be artificially higher due to supplementing their studies with electives …’” his brain whispered.  “Electives?” Team whispered back.

 

His dad leaned over to him and asked quietly, “Did you say something?”

 

Team turned towards his dad and said, “Electives!”

 

“What?”

 

Team turned away from his dad and excitedly began chewing the hard candy he had in his mouth.  He leaned forward and tapped on the empty seat in front of him and tried to wave his hand in such a way that Win would see, but nobody else would.  He glanced over at Naam and saw that he hadn’t moved a muscle.  It strengthened Team’s resolve to signal to Win.

 

Win kept his attention on the speaker.  After a few moments of Team frantically trying to get Win’s attention, a guy in back and a bit to the side of Win waved to Team.  He pointed at Win and Team nodded.  The guy tapped Win’s shoulder and when Win turned, the guy leaned forward and whispered to him and pointed to Team.

 

Win turned to Team and Team hurriedly chomped up the rest of the candy in his mouth.  He pointed to Naam and shook his head and then made a huge smile.  Win frowned in confusion and then looked at Naam.  He turned back and then shrugged at Team.  Team took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to convey what he was thinking to Win.  He pointed to Win and then turned his hand around and ran it down a line from his chest to his upper stomach and then pointed to the ceiling, while mouthing, “Your CORE was higher”.  He gestured to Naam and then pointed up to the ceiling, mouthing “GPA”.  He couldn’t come up with a gesture for it so he carefully mouthed the word “electives” and then shook his head and ran his hand from his chest to his stomach, meaning “Not CORE”.

 

Win turned to look at Naam again.  When he looked back at Team, his face looked hopeful.  Team pointed to himself and then up to his head and then he shrugged—mouthing, “I think, I don’t know”.  Then he held up his hand and crossed his fingers.

 

“What was that?  I missed some of it,” Auntie Poom asked, leaning over Team’s mother so that Team could hear her.

 

Team leaned over his dad so he could answer her, his parents huddled up too so they could hear.  “P’Naam was losing to Hia in GPA points so he took extra classes.  I think he took electives to make sure he got good grades.  Hia only took CORE classes.  If I am right, it means that the scholarship goes to him.  I could be wrong though.  I don’t know anything for fact.  It’s just a gut feeling.”

 

“And the winner of the 2020 Scholarship for Outstanding Performance in the CORE Program is…” the old man said as he opened the red envelope.  He patted his breast pocket and then reached on top of his head and felt, and then he looked down at the podium.  “I’m sorry.  I seem to have misplaced my glasses…”

 

The Principal stepped over and looked at the card.  She turned her back to the audience and whispered in the old dinosaur’s ear.  He nodded and then leaned toward the microphone.  “The winner is Phawin Wanichakarnjonkul!”

 

Before he had even finished saying ‘Phawin’, Team and everyone in the row beside him were up on their feet, cheering.  It took Win a few seconds longer before he managed to stand and walk over to the podium to receive the envelopes from the old man.  He shook his hand and the Principal’s and then turned to speak.  He thanked the school administrators and the faculty and then he looked at their row and said, “…and most of all, I would like to thank my family, and my friends, and my friends who have become my family.  I never could have done this without you.  I love you all!”

 

The applause didn’t stop until after Win had retaken his seat.  Team slowly sat back down.  He wondered if he had done that weird dance thing that he always did when he watched Win swimming in a swim meet.  He was terribly afraid that he probably did.

 

His hands burned and tingled from how hard he had clapped.  He rubbed them against his black pants and smiled faintly as they reminded him that he was supposed to be a villain.  He sighed.  Win was going to have everything he had dreamed of since he was a kid.  And…he would only be gone three days a week.  Three days was nothing.  They could text and videochat and play their favorite game together and it would be like Win wasn’t gone at all.  And four days a week he would be back in the village—and it was certain now since he wouldn’t have to work.  The CORE Scholarship was a big, big one.  It would pay for everything Win needed.

 

As the evening progressed, Win won two more scholarships—a big, full-ride one for swimming and a smaller one for diving.  After he won the one for swimming, he looked at Team with a grin and Team mouthed, “I told you so!”

 

The Fine Arts Scholarship went to a girl that Team had never seen before.  The Administrators gave a slideshow presentation of her work.  She was a painter, just like Win.  Team admired her paintings, but he knew that Win’s were better than hers.  If only Win would have participated in the art shows at school, Team knew he would have won the scholarship.

 

Towards the end of the evening, Win won several small awards from the charities he had worked for.  These were basically gift certificates to local shops and restaurants.  But then he won the award for Philanthropy, which was a large gift certificate to a mall in Rayong to purchase whatever he needed to fix up his dorm room.

 

When the ceremony was over, the students made their way off the stage.  Win had his hands full of envelopes and plaques.  He sat them down on an empty seat in the row in front of his mother and when his hands were empty, he gave her a huge hug.  When they parted, he moved down the line and hugged Team’s mom and then Team’s dad.  When he reached Team, Win grabbed him and held on tightly.  Team squeezed Win back, just as tightly, and whispered, “I told you so!  I knew you would win enough to go to Bangkok!  And you deserved every one of them!”

 

“Hey!  I have an idea!” Team’s father said enthusiastically.  “Since we are all dressed up in our good clothes, why don’t we go somewhere nice for dinner to celebrate?”

 

Team and Win let go of each other and Team looked around the room.  Almost everyone was gone, but the room had been packed before his and Win’s hug.  He could feel the warmth on his cheek where he had laid it on Win’s shoulder.  He wondered how long they had hugged.  It seemed like only seconds, but that didn’t match up to the emptiness of the room.  Auntie Poom had gathered together all of Win’s things from the seat and was now holding them.  They were stacked in size order and the closeness of Team’s mom to Auntie Poom suggested that they had had time to look at everything.  Team reached up and scratched behind his ear as his eyes met his father’s and saw that they were twinkling with suppressed amusement.

 

“That sounds lovely, Keow!” Auntie Poom answered with a big smile.

 

 

When they arrived at the restaurant and were seated at a table, Team looked around the room and noticed all the elegant décor.  He tried not to curl his lip, but it was totally opposite to the kind of place he liked to eat.  Here he had to keep his napkin in his lap and speak quietly and politely.  He looked over at Win and when their eyes met, he could tell that Win felt the same way.

 

After they ordered their food, the parents pretty much led the conversation.  They heaped praise on Win.  Team didn’t contribute much; he basically nodded throughout the conversation because he agreed with everything.  Until Win said that he was glad that Naam had won the scholarship for having the highest GPA.  Team had to repress his emotions because of the setting, but he frowned and shook his head.  The servers appeared at that precise moment and delivered their food.

 

“What?  Why did you frown like that?” Win asked once the servers had gone.

 

“He was a dirty cheater,” Team said in a quiet voice.  “I don’t like it when cheaters win.”

 

Win smiled, “I’ve told you, many times, taking extra classes is not cheating.  It was smart.  If he hadn’t done that, he wouldn’t have won anything…so that is why I am glad he did it.  He deserved to win something.”

 

Team looked down at the shrimp on his plate.  It wasn’t shelled.  He huffed as he began attempting to remove them from their shells.  “I think you are too nice sometimes,” he scolded Win.

 

“Okay.  See, I was about to shell those shrimp for you, but since you think I am ‘too nice’, I’m going to let you do it yourself,” Win teased.

 

Team peeked down the table and saw the adults had lost interest in them and were having their own conversation.  He nodded, “I need to learn how anyway.  You won’t be around to do it for me soon.”

 

Win leaned over and pulled the plate away from Team and began working on removing the shrimp.  “Only three days a week.  I think you can keep from eating shrimp for three days!  You can stuff yourself with them when I come home and I will shell every one of them for you.”

 

After the shrimp were all removed from their shells, he leaned over to push Team’s plate back in front of Team.  Team leaned forward and whispered in Win’s ear, “That girl’s slideshow—your paintings are better.”

 

Win’s cheeks and ears turned pink and he quickly looked at the parents to make sure they hadn’t heard.  “Hush!” he whispered.

 

Team nodded.  Then he whispered, “My mom keeps candy in her purse.”

 

Win abruptly sat back in his seat and looked at Team with his mouth open in shock.  He looked down the table at Team’s mom and then looked back at Team.  “Shut up!” he whispered in astonishment.

 

“I know, right?  I couldn’t believe it!”

 

“How did you find out?”

 

Team grinned, “She had my dad hand a piece to me.  She thought I looked pale.  I asked him where it came from and he told me she keeps them in her purse.”

 

“What kind was it?”

 

“Hard cinnamon disk.”

 

Win picked up his glass and pretended to take a drink.  Instead he looked at Team’s mom for a moment before lowering it.  In a whisper he announced, “She is a diamond with many facets.”

 

Team nodded as he turned his attention to the food on his plate.  Even though that sounded like something Win might have read in a fortune cookie, it was true and he was happy that Win saw that in her too.

 

 

Later on that night, Team was in bed, trying to go to sleep.  He tossed and turned for a bit, and finally he gave up.  He got up and went to his computer.

 

He did some work on it for a while and when everything looked good enough to him, he printed it out.  He smiled when he read the hard copy.  He had made a certificate for ‘Excellence in Fine Arts for Being the Best Artist in the World’ for Win.  He got his scissors out of the desk drawer and went to work on the second page he had printed.  He cut the coupon off the page and laughed as he looked at it.  He had made a coupon for one meal at The Lonely Dolphin to be shared with, and paid for, by Team.

 

He found a big envelope in a cabinet downstairs where his parents kept all their receipts and bills.  It was brown instead of white, but Team figured it was the thought that counted.  He slid the certificate he made into the big envelope and then closed the flap.  He laid it on his desk and put the coupon on top of it.  He flopped back down on his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

 

Early the next morning, he crept out of the house with the big envelope and coupon hidden in his school backpack.  Luckily he didn’t encounter his parents or else they would have questioned him about it, since it was Saturday and obviously he wasn’t going to school.

 

He rode his bike straight to the art supply store.  He was the only customer so he quickly purchased two tubes of cerulean blue acrylic paint.  It was Win’s favorite color and he was always running out of it.  Team thought it would be a nice little gift to include—it was practical, after all.

 

He tossed the bag into his backpack and pedaled off to the stationery store.  He wanted to buy a small, red envelope for the coupon.  He wanted it to be like when they had opened the red envelopes the night before to read the names of the winners.  He was disappointed when he saw that he could only buy them in a box of twenty.  It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford the box, but he had no use for the other nineteen envelopes.  He thought about it and decided he would just tuck the coupon into the big envelope with the certificate he made, and he put the box of twenty back on the shelf.

 

He turned to leave the store, when his eye landed on the greeting card section.  He hurried over to it and looked at the small cards on the bottom row.  He found a ‘Thank You’ card that came with a red envelope.  It was tiny so he would have to fold his coupon, but he decided that was okay.  At least the envelope would be red.  He knew that Win would understand the meaning of it.  He hurried to the cashier and paid for it and then, once outside the store, he tossed the card into the trash and put his coupon into the red envelope.  He put it into his backpack and rode off as quick as he could.  He headed towards the bridge.

 

He parked his bike at their spot and sat down to go through his backpack.  He wanted to keep the envelopes protected from the paints in case one of the tubes decided now would be a perfect time to split or leak.  He had the bag from the stationery store and the bag from the art supply store.  The one from the art supply store was just long enough (barely) to cover the big envelope.  The one from the stationery store was little.  Team put the paints in the stationery store bag and tied it closed.  In the art supply sack, he slid in the big envelope and the bag of paints, and then put in the little red envelope last.  He found that there wasn’t enough slack to tie the bag closed.  He rummaged around in his backpack to find something that would keep it secure for when Win would be pulling it out from the shelf.  His fingers grazed the keyring of Win’s that he kept hidden on the zipper pull.  He knew that he could use it; it would probably do a good job—but he didn’t want to part with it and he really didn’t want Win to know that he had it.  Frustrated, he dug around some more in the backpack.  He found a paper clip at the bottom of one of the compartments.  He nodded to himself as he pulled it out.  He straightened it out, threaded it through the sack’s handles, and then twisted it together.  He made sure that the sharp ends were turned inward and then folded down so that Win wouldn’t get cut from them.  Once he was finished with his project, he looked around at the people on the bridge to see if anyone was looking his way.  They weren’t.  Everyone was busy with their own activities, walking companions, or worries; none spared him a glance.

 

He lay down on his side, rolled over on his belly, and shoved the bag onto the shelf.  He felt around and made sure it was all the way in and pushed back as far as it could go.  Once he assured himself that nothing was hanging out or about to fall, he retracted his hand.  He held it so he could examine it.  It was fine and he suppressed the urge to shudder.  He always imagined that his hand would be covered with spiders when he withdrew it.  He lay there for a bit, watching the water.  He hoped that any observer might think that he had tossed the bag over the bridge and was watching it float away.

 

Eventually he sat up and looked around.  He convinced himself that no one had noticed him.  He got on his bike and rode away.  He stopped and parked under a tree that had a clear line of sight to the area by the shelf.  He watched for a while, and when he saw that no one had gotten curious and gone to the spot, he pulled out his phone and texted the word “Shelf”, to Win.  He saw that the text was read immediately and smiled as he put the phone back into his pocket and rode off.

 

He had just stored his backpack in his closet when he heard his dad calling him from the bottom of the stairs.  He hurried to the landing, assuming that he was going to get scolded for sneaking out.

 

“What?” he asked, trying to sound innocent.

 

“Hey!  You’re already up and dressed!  We figured you would still be asleep!  We have breakfast ready, if you want some.”

 

“Sure!” Team answered as he trotted down the stairs.  He bit back a grin when it occurred to him that his parents had no clue that he had been gone and had just sneaked back into the house.

 

During breakfast, his phone sounded the notification sound a few times.  His family had a strict rule of ‘no phones at the table’ so he didn’t dare look at it.  And although he had a lot of friends who could have sent him a message, he knew in his heart that it was Win.

 

He finished eating and put his dishes into the dishwasher.  Someone had already loaded up the tray for the birdfeeder and it was sitting next to the outside door.  “Do you want me to stock the birdfeeder?”

 

“Yes!  Thank you, Sweetie,” his mom answered.  “I haven’t had time to do it yet.”

 

Team took the tray outside and filled up the compartments and then turned on the water to the fountain.  He moved off a bit so the birds wouldn’t be afraid to come and eat their breakfast.

 

He slid out his phone and saw that Win had sent him two messages.  The first message just had two emojis—one with a big smiling face and one with heart eyes blowing a kiss.  Team’s heart flipped around a bit at the sight of that one, even though he knew Win was really just meaning, “Thanks!  I loved it!”  But he gave himself permission to be happy about the heart eyes and the kiss anyway.

 

The second message was Win telling Team that he was going to be busy tutoring all day, but wondered if they could go to their place and celebrate over dinner in the evening.

 

Team laughed at that.  He wrote back, “Of course, Dumbass!  That’s what the coupon is for!  Dinner’s on me!”

 

Win answered, “Nope!  Dinner is on me!  I am saving my coupon for some other time.”

 

Team frowned at that.  He wanted to pay for dinner, but he knew that Win had his mind set against it.  He pulled out his wallet and counted his money.  He had been being careful with his money and he wanted to be the one to pay for Win’s dinner.  He knew if he kept the money in his wallet, he would end up spending it, and if Win presented his coupon then, it would be so embarrassing for Team.  He could have kicked himself for not putting an expiration date on the coupon.  He knew how much the bill usually was for dinner so he took that amount, plus a bit extra, and tucked it away in the spot behind his student ID.  ‘Out of sight; out of mind,’ he assured himself.  At least by doing this, he wouldn’t be broke and embarrassed when Win presented the coupon.

 

 

Two weeks later Team was back in the same auditorium, sitting in the same row, along with his parents and Win’s mother, as they watched Win receive his diploma.

 

And then it was summer break.  Summers always went faster than any other time of year, but Team felt as if this summer sped by like it was wearing rocket-boosted roller skates.  And the mental countdown clock of the days they had left before Win went off to college seemed to blur as it spun.

 

Since Win had won scholarships for college, he decided to take it easy on himself for the summer.  He gave up all his tutoring jobs.  He kept his job at the Swim Club, helping the instructors with the non-swimmers, and the rest of his time he devoted to coaching Team.  Win was insistent on the goal that Team make it into the Advance category before the end of summer.  Team was content to stay in the Intermediate group, but he didn’t argue much.  He still had his regular jobs, and sometimes Win would show up to help him to give Team more time to practice.  There were times that Win would work him so hard; he would have to limp around to try to loosen up the muscle spasms in his legs.  And he often dropped off to sleep early, whether he wanted to or not.

 

Near the end of the season, with about a month left of Swim Club, Team passed a series of tests that the coach and Win had devised.  The ‘reward’ was being moved up into the Advanced group, which was something that Team had never wanted.

 

“Hia!” Team complained once the coach had left and they were alone, “I’m not ready for this!”

 

“Of course you are!” Win assured him.  “You couldn’t have passed the tests if you weren’t.”  He pulled out his phone and looked at the time.  “Oh!  I have to go.  It’s later than I thought!  Make sure you get a lot of practice in this weekend.  I should be back by Monday.”  Win hurried to his car and then drove off.

 

Team sighed as he watched Win’s car leave the parking lot and go out onto the street.  Win’s mother had saved up her vacation days for years in preparation for this month of summer before Win went to college.  She had tons of plans for the two of them, and Win was hardly around much anymore.  This weekend they were going to Bangkok to visit with his grandparents and to watch one of his uncles perform in an amateur play.  He only had two lines in the thing.  Team shook his head in disgust.  And then sighed again, because…mothers.  He had one too and he knew she would be doing stuff like this before he went off to college.  Team did understand, but he still hated it.

 

He looked at the sun and gauged that he could probably get in a couple more hours of practice before Swim Club closed for the day.  He looked at the pool and frowned.  He hurried into the locker room and went straight to his locker.  He rummaged through it and pulled out his phone.  He sent a message on the Mystery Machine group asking where they were.

 

He hurriedly showered and dressed before joining them at the park.

 

Team spent the weekend hanging out with his friends and got in zero swim practice.  Monday morning, Win messaged Team and said he probably wouldn’t be able to make it to the swim meet.  Team messaged back “Okay”.

 

But it wasn’t okay.  Team was pissed.  He hadn’t wanted to be moved up to the Advanced level.  The swim meet was only an in-house meet—he would be competing against just the guys on the team, but still…he hated competitions.  In fact, he hated swimming period.  He only did it to be with Win…and now Win was always gone and Team was stuck swimming and competing.

 

He wasn’t sure if he was even going to go or not, but he packed his backpack just in case.  He met his friends in the park and they hung out together for a while and then later they had lunch.  Team stuck to a high-protein lunch, just in case.  Eating high-protein foods was something that Win always insisted on before and after a meet.

 

After lunch, Jai and Mali left them to go to a movie.  Namfon told Team that she thought they should take a walk through the park.  He checked the time on his phone and saw that he had plenty of time left before he had to be at the meet—if he decided to go—so he agreed.

 

Once they hit the path, Team allowed Namfon to set the pace.  And she did so with a vengeance.  He had to work hard to keep up with her.  From time-to-time he peeked out of the corner of his eye at her to see how she was holding up.  She was puffing and her face was a deep red color.  Sweat trickled down from her forehead, under her bangs, and dripped into her eyes.  At one point, she uncapped a bottle of water she carried and took a huge drink.  After she recapped the bottle, she swiped her forearm across her forehead, but she kept up the pace.

 

“Okay, so why are we walking like this?” Team finally asked.  “Your face is red and you are sweating.  I think you need to sit down and catch your breath before you pass out!”

 

She shook her head, “No!  We need to keep moving.”

 

“Can we slow down at least?  Seriously, I’m worried about you!”

 

She took another drink from her bottle of water and nodded, “Yeah, slower is fine.”

 

They slowed their pace and he could hear her taking deep breaths.  She drank more water and after a bit, her red cheeks faded down to a rosy, pink hue.

 

Team had been puzzling it out as they walked, “Are you angry that Jai and Mali went to the movies without you?”

 

“Oh, goodness no!  Couples need time alone to deepen their bond.  Without that, their relationship foundation would be weak.  I want them to have a wonderful life together; I am thrilled when they go off by themselves!”

 

“Then what was the reason for the speed walking?”

 

“I was trying to make sure that your muscles were warmed up and stretched before your swim meet,” she answered.  “Are they?  I don’t know exactly how much or how long you need to work out.”

 

He huffed, “It’s fine.  Besides, I’m not sure if I am even going to go.”

 

“You will,” she answered simply.

 

He shook his head, “I don’t know.  I really don’t want to.  And Hia won’t even be there, so it doesn’t matter.”

 

“It matters.  It matters because both P’Win and the coach have put their faith in you.  You won’t let them down by not showing up.  I know you.”

 

He sighed deeply, “Well…when you put it that way, I guess I kind of have to go, don’t I?”

 

“Of course you do!”

 

He sighed again, “Okay, fine!  I’ll go.  But I want it noted that it is under protest.”

 

“Duly noted.”  She nodded solemnly, but then she grinned, “You’re a good dog, Scooby!”

 

He grunted and turned his head to look in the direction of the Swim Club.  There was still time before the meet, but he could see a few cars in the parking lot.

 

“Oh crap!”  Namfon said angrily.  “My mom is here!  I asked to be picked up around this time, but I thought she would send the driver.  She’s going to be pissed that I kept her waiting.”  Namfon sped up until she was nearly running.  Team quickly followed along behind her.

 

Instead of being angry, Namfon’s mother grinned when she saw the two of them approaching her.  “I was wondering what happened to you!  Now I see.  Hello Team!  It’s good to see you again!”

 

Team bowed and said, “Hello Auntie.  It’s nice to see you.  My apologies for Namfon being late.  We were talking and lost all track of time.”

 

Namfon’s mother’s grin grew bigger.  She reached out and touched Namfon’s cheeks which still held their pink color from their power walk, but addressed her comment to Team.  “‘Talking’?  Yes, I understand how that is.  Back in my day, I often lost track of time while ‘talking’ with a ‘friend’,” she turned to look at Namfon, “So, are you ready to go?”

 

“No—not yet.  I was wondering if I could go and watch Team’s swim meet.”

 

Her mother’s eyebrows moved a fraction and then she grinned at the two of them again.  “That sounds lovely!  Where is it?  At the little club near the entrance here?”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Team answered.

 

“Fine,” she nodded.  “I’ll send the driver to pick the two of you up afterwards.  Team, you are coming home to dinner, right?  It’s been ages since you spent time with the family!”

 

Team thought that ‘ages’ roughly translated into about eleven days, since that was the last time he had eaten dinner there.  He really didn’t want to eat dinner with Namfon’s family.  They all stared a lot and made jokes about dating and marriage and how Team was a member of their family now.  It was so uncomfortable and he hated it.  He was about to refuse when he caught sight of Namfon’s face.  He knew that since her family thought she had a boyfriend, even though both she and Team denied it to them, they were treating her better and she was a bit happier being around them than she had been in the past.  He nodded, “That sounds lovely,” he deliberately used her words since he didn’t ordinarily speak that way, “I would be happy to come to dinner!”

 

“Good,” she exclaimed with a little clap.  “I’ll send the driver back for you later.  What time will it end?”  Team answered her and then she got back in the car and backed out of the space.  She waved as she drove away.

 

“No offense, but I wish you would have just gone home with her.  I hate having dinner at your house!”

 

“I know, Scooby, but I want to be there for you.  Your parents are at work and P’Win is still out of town—someone should be in the stands, cheering you on!  This is a big deal!  Your first time swimming competitively as an Advanced swimmer!”

 

He spotted a taxi nearby and waved to signal it.

 

“What are you doing?  The Swim Club is less than a block away!”

 

“Yeah, but when I packed my bag this morning, I didn’t choose clothing appropriate for a ‘family dinner’ at your house.  Unless by some miracle, no one in your family can read English,” he said as he opened the door to the waiting taxi.  “Are you coming?”

 

 She entered the car and quickly slid over the seat to make room for him to get in.  “They are all fluent in English; why does that matter?”

 

“Because my folks don’t so I can get by with it.  It’s a shirt from a musical group in the U.S., and it has a…let’s call it ‘a colorful saying’ on it.  Highly inappropriate for your ‘future husband’ to wear to dinner.  Oh wait…on second thoughts…it might be just the thing to get them to reject me!” Team exclaimed.

 

“Oh, no you don’t, Mister!  These people are finally off my back because of you; you can’t ditch me now!” She said through her laughter.

 

After going back to Team’s house to select a proper outfit, they finally arrived at the Swim Club.  Team escorted Namfon to a seat on the bleachers and hurried into the locker room to get dressed.  He pulled his swim jacket on to help cover his bathing suit, and then went back out to sit with her to wait for his event.

 

They chatted while they watched the Beginners and then the Intermediates compete in their events.  Before the beginning of the last Intermediate race, Team stood up.  “I am in the first race of the Advanced and it starts after this one, so I have to go now.”

 

“Okay, Scooby!  Good luck!  Or…wait…is it like acting?  Should I tell you to ‘break a leg’?”

 

He laughed, “It would be good luck if I fell down these steps and did break my leg!  I wouldn’t have to compete then.”

 

“Oh!  Don’t say that!” she protested, “It could come true!”

 

He grinned and held up his crossed fingers and then jogged down the steps.  When he reached the bottom, unscathed, he looked back up at her and shrugged.  She laughed and made a shooing motion with her hand.

 

He nodded with a grin and then made his way to the swimmer’s bench.  He didn’t really know the guys that were there.  They were older than him, but not as old as Win, so neither one of them hung out with them.  He pulled his swim cap and goggles from the pockets of his jacket and then shrugged it off and laid it on the bench.  The last Intermediate race ended and he pulled his swim cap on as he walked to the platform.  On the way there he spoke to Intermediate guys as they walked past him.  He knew them and liked them and wished he was still one of them.

 

He mounted his platform and pulled on his goggles.  At the sound of the whistle, he leapt from the platform and began to swim.  His shoulders felt tight and he realized that although they had done a lot of walking to help him warm up, he hadn’t bothered with warming up his upper body.

 

As he made the turn, he realized that the guy in the lane beside him was ahead.  He did his best to catch up, but when they came to the end of the race, the other guy was still in the lead.  Mentally he shrugged to himself.  He wasn’t surprised.  The guy was older and more experienced than Team.  But…his heart sank when he touched the wall and realized the guy who had been ahead of him finished in 3^rd place.  Team was dead last.  It had never happened to him before, and it was his worst nightmare come true.  He ground his teeth together.

 

He got out of the pool, retrieved his jacket, and then headed for the locker room.  Courtesy demanded that he stay to watch the other swimmers compete, but he wasn’t in a courtesy mood.  “Fuck it!” he thought.  “I don’t care if they kick me out of Swim Club!  In fact, I HOPE they do!”

 

He grabbed his shower kit out of his locker and hurried in to the shower room.  Usually he relaxed under the hot water, but it didn’t help him this time.  He was as pissed when he came out as he had been going in.

 

He was back at his locker, fully dried, and putting on his pants when the rest of the Club entered the locker room.  A big guy named Yai, one of the Advanced swimmers, stopped at Team’s locker.  He quietly stared at him as Team zipped up his pants.

 

“What?” Team asked angrily, “Do you see something you like or something?”

 

Yai snorted with contempt, “Nope, I don’t like it at all.  I am glad you took a shower though, because you really stank out there!  I guess all those ‘private lessons’ you’ve been taking to get moved up in rank didn’t do shit to help you with your actual swimming.  The coach must have owed P’Win some back salary or something because there is no way you passed the swimming tests legitimately.  Quite frankly, you suck, dude!  So…I was wondering…these lessons…does P’Win make you pay for it, or does he give it to you for free?”

 

The way Yai emphasized the word ‘it’ left no doubt to what he was referring to and it wasn’t swimming lessons.

 

Team stepped up to him, “Listen here, you fucking piece of shit….”

 

He felt an arm come across his bare midriff and heard Win’s voice say, “Team, he asked you a question, no need to get angry about it.”  Win stepped in between Team and Yai and then directed his attention to Yai, “Team doesn’t have to pay me for swimming lessons because he is my best friend.  If you are looking for a tutor to help you correct your sloppy form, which I think would be an excellent idea, I am sure one of the instructors here would be glad for the extra money.  You should speak to the coach about it.”

 

Yai glared at Win and then spun on his heel and stalked off towards the showers.

 

Win watched him leave and then turned to Team and hissed, “Are you out of your mind?!  That big ape could peel you like a banana and eat you, bones and all!”

 

 “I can handle myself, thank you very much!” Team said as he reached into his locker to get his shirt.  He pulled it on and began buttoning it up.  “What are you doing here anyway?  Don’t you have to be at your mother’s-brother’s-wife’s- brother’s-son’s-neighbor’s-dog’s spelling bee or something?”

 

“Wow,” Win said quietly.

 

“Oh… I’m so sorry!  I forgot!  It was your great aunt’s-podiatrist’s-grandmother’s quilting exhibition, right?”

 

“I went to see my uncle in a play,” Win answered quietly.  “So, you look like you’re dressing pretty fancy for a Monday evening.  Big plans?”

 

Team took his socks and shoes from the locker and sat down on the bench to put them on.  “Yeah, I’m having dinner at Namfon’s house.  You know—like how friends do.  Well, I mean real friends, not the kind of ‘friend’ who sets you up to make a fool out of yourself!”

 

Win sat down on the bench next to him.  “I didn’t set you up!  You were great when I left!  You worked so hard this summer and you passed the coach’s tests with a fantastic time!  I don’t know what happened to you today.  You were stiff and your rhythm was way off.  Did you warm up enough before the race?”

 

“Yeah, I walked through the park with Namfon,” Team answered with a shrug.

 

“That’s not the right kind of warm-up and you know it.  Did you practice at all this weekend?”

 

“Yeah, I practice a lot,” Team said as he finished tying his shoes and stood up.  “I practiced football all weekend.”

 

“Team!” Win said in a scolding voice, “You know you have to work hard whether I am around or not!  That’s why you came in last today!”

 

Team had moved back over to his locker and retrieved his backpack.  He slammed the locker door shut and spun to glare at Win, “No!  The reason that I came in last place today is because I am not ready to compete against the Advance swimmers!  I may not ever be ready to compete against them!”

 

“That's ridiculous!” Win objected.  “You passed the tests—on your first try, no less!  Some of these guys had to take the tests multiple times to make it to Advanced!  You have all the talent, you just need to keep practicing to improve.  I’ve studied all the swimmers in your grade.  You are the best of the bunch.  If you don’t give up, if you keep working hard, you will win the scholarship when you graduate!  Then you can get into the college in Bangkok and leave this crummy little village behind!”

 

“That was always your dream!  It was never mine!” Team shouted.  “I’m not smart enough to get into that fancy college and I’m not some hotshot swimmer like you!  I’m just a regular guy!  One who will probably go to the local community college and end up in some job in Rayong.  But that’s okay because I am a realist, not a dreamer.  I know what I can and can’t do, but you just keep pushing me and pushing me because you want me to be you!  But I’m not!  I’m me.”  He pulled the backpack strap up higher on his shoulder and turned to walk away.  He stopped and turned back to look at Win, “And another thing…you think this village is trash, but to me…it’s home.  You can’t wait to get out of here, but I never want to leave it!  In a way, I am this village, so what you say about it, you are saying about me!”

 

He stormed out of the locker room and found Namfon waiting for him.

 

“What’s going on?  I could hear you yelling from out here!” she said with a worried look on her face.

 

“Nothing.  Is your driver here?”

 

“Yes, he’s waiting for us.”

 

“Let’s go; I want to get out of here!”  He took off at a pace so fast that Namfon had to jog to keep up with him.

 

“Scooby,” she said, slightly out of breath.  “P’Win is watching us from the doorway.  Shouldn’t you go back and talk to him?  The driver will wait.”

 

“Nope,” he said without even bothering to look back at Win.  “I said what I wanted to say and I don’t care to hear anything from him!”

 

They reached the car and Team didn’t wait for the driver to open the door for them.  He opened the door and slid in.  Namfon quickly followed him.  She told the driver to take them home.

Chapter 15

Namfon pushed the button on the panel and a partition slid up to prevent the driver from hearing them.  “Spill it,” she ordered.

 

Team looked down at his hands in his lap and shook his head, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

“I know, that’s why you need to.  I can tell this is big and if you keep it inside, you will blow up—metaphorically speaking, of course.”

 

Team scoffed silently at that—she couldn’t even use an expression without categorizing it as a metaphor because it would seem like lying to her.  “I told them I wasn’t ready yet—Hia and the coach—but they didn’t listen to me.  They made me do it and I came in last place.  LAST!  I have lost before, but never last place.  And then this guy…I don’t really know him—just know of him—he will be a senior this year…anyway…he said some shit to me about how awful I was and how I didn’t deserve to be in with the Advanced swimmers.  Of course he was right, but I couldn’t let him talk shit about me…so I went after him.  Hia showed up…I wasn’t expecting him; thought he was still out of town.  He pulled me away and scolded me…and I totally lost my shit on him.  I never did that before.  I can’t decide if I feel awful or wonderful about it.”  He shrugged.  “No, yeah…I know.  I’m glad I did it.  He deserved it.  He puts way too many expectations on me and then just takes off, touring Thailand with his mom.  Like…they could have taken some of these trips during the years, but she saved up all her vacations for now.  Now!  Now when I need him the most, he isn’t there for me!  And he keeps talking shit about the village and I can’t take it anymore.  I mean…he always has said this shit, but I didn’t care too much before…I always did care some though.  He can’t wait to leave ‘this dump’, as he calls it.  He doesn’t care about anything except going off to Bangkok.  He can’t wait to get out of here, so he decided to screw up my entire life.  He thinks I want to go to that fancy-smancy Bangkok college of his…as if I ever could get in there!  He thinks I can win the swimming scholarship and go there for free…can you imagine?  Me…there?  Nope, never happen!  Especially now that I came in last place!  Last place!  Oh my God, I think I’m going to die of mortification!”

 

Namfon leaned over and placed her hand under his chin, she lifted his head to look into his eyes.  She examined him closely.  “Your pulse is racing and your breathing is rapid, but…” she shook her head, “This won’t kill you.”

 

He huffed and pulled away from her, “You just don’t get it!”

 

“Let me talk it through then.  P’Win and the swimming coach thought you were a good enough swimmer to be placed into the Advanced category.  The coach tested you, a standardized test that they came up with and have used to test all of the swimmers with, and you passed it easily.  Have I got everything right so far?”

 

“You know you do,” he mumbled.

 

She gave a slight nod.  “Even though they said you were ready and you passed the test, you didn’t feel ready for it yet.  P’Win had to go away for the weekend.  Did he give you training instructions to follow?” she asked.

 

He sighed and then gave a small nod.

 

“Did you follow them?”

 

“Well…not exactly all of them.” He admitted.

 

“I know you spent time with our group all weekend; I never heard you say anything about swimming practice.  And I did have you walking briskly through the park to help warm up; I didn’t see you do any upper body warm ups though.  During the race, it seemed to me that your shoulders and arms moved a bit stiffly.”

 

Team sat back in the seat and crossed his arms.  He turned his head in the opposite direction and looked out of the window.  After a few moments he said, “Okay…I didn’t have time to do much upper body warm up.  I had to go home to pick up decent clothes to come to your house for dinner.”

 

Namfon nodded, “I see.  It’s my fault that you didn’t have time to properly warm up.  It is P’Win’s fault for not being home this weekend to monitor you and make sure you practiced.  And it is both he and the coach’s faults for moving you up to Advanced—have I got all this right?”

 

He spun his head to glare at her, “Whose side are you on anyway?”

 

“Scooby, you were the first friend I ever had—and that means you will always be the best friend I will ever have.  But you know I’m not going to tell you pretty lies to make you feel justified in how you are acting.  I see through all this huffing and puffing you’re doing and I know exactly what you did.  You didn’t lose that race; you won.  You told P’Win and the coach that you weren’t ready, but they had faith in you so they didn’t believe it.  You set out to prove them wrong.  And you succeeded.  I’m not a psychiatrist, but I think I have read enough to spot someone with imposter syndrome.”

 

“What the hell is that?” Team demanded harshly.

 

“It’s when a person doubts their own abilities, no matter what other people, and even empirical evidence shows them.  Often someone with imposter syndrome will subconsciously sabotage themselves.  Based on the thought of something like, ‘I’m going to fail anyway; it might as well be on my terms’.  It’s pretty common, by the way.  Most people have experienced it.  I bet even P’Win has at some point.”

 

“Him?  Mr. ‘never-had-a-B-in-his-entire-life’ and ‘had-his-own-cheering-section-from-the-time-he-was-a-kid’?”  Team laughed at the idea.  “He is as close to perfect as a human can get!  He’s never doubted himself!  And if he did…he would just work that much harder.”  Suddenly Team remembered Win sitting on the blanket and crying because he didn’t think he would get to go to college and Team comforting him.  And at the time, Team was astonished at seeing Win so worried, when Team knew that Win would win everything.  Team frowned.  If Win had had imposter syndrome after all the work he put in, maybe it wasn’t so farfetched that Team could have it, too.  Especially when he didn’t put in nearly the effort that Win did.  Team always knew he could do more, he just didn’t want to.  But if school would have been open 24-hours a day, Win would have given up sleep to take classes to improve his grades.  Team sighed.  “Okay—so how do I know if I have it, and if I do—what can I do about it?”

 

Namfon shrugged, “I’m not sure, off the top of my head.  After dinner we can research it, and fix your crazy ass!”  The car began slowing and she looked out the window.  “We’re here now.  Come on, big smiles!  Remember—you are supposed to be happy to be invited to dinner.”

 

Team gave her a huge, fake smile.

 

She laughed.  “You look like the big, bad wolf in ‘Little Red Riding Hood’; it’s as if you came to the family dinner to eat the family instead of the dinner!”

 

Team laughed at that and was still laughing when the driver opened the door for them.

 

That laugh helped lighten his mood a bit, so he was able to tolerate the long dinner that followed.  Namfon’s mother always invited everyone in their extended family to the ‘family dinners’.  There were several small courses to sit through.  And it was very similar to dining in a fancy restaurant.  Stiff, formal, and very polite.  The meal lasted for a couple of hours, which made Team squirm.  At his house, dinner lasted as long as it took you to eat, and by his guesstimate, it was never longer than a half hour, at most.

 

The first time he had been invited to Namfon’s family dinner, he quickly understood why she had been so against eating with other people when they first met.  These experiences were what she had based it on.  But she had quickly found out that eating a meal with friends, in a relaxed and fun atmosphere, was the reality that the rest of the world understood.  She had become a huge fan of friend meals, often being the one to suggest getting something to eat when they were all together.

 

After dinner was finally over, the family always adjourned to the ‘lounge’, as they called it.  It was just a big living room without a TV, in Team’s opinion.

 

They were on their way there, when Namfon grabbed his arm and motioned to the stairs with her head.  Team had never been upstairs before; he felt sure that was because Namfon’s parents would object to it.  But he didn’t argue with Namfon; he followed her to the staircase.

 

“And just where do you two think you are sneaking off to?” called Namfon’s mother from the doorway of the lounge, at the end of the hallway.  Before either of them could answer, she made her way to them.

 

“Team and I are going upstairs to use a computer to go online,” Namfon answered.

 

“Oh?” her mother said with her eyebrows rising up to her hairline.  “Is this for homework of some kind?”

 

“Actually,” Team hurriedly spoke up knowing that Namfon would have admitted it wasn’t homework, “It isn’t Namfon’s homework…she’s…uh…she’s helping me with a project.”

 

“‘A project’?  Hmm…that sounds interesting!”  She nodded and then said to Namfon, “Okay, you may go up to the technology room—but stay out of the bedrooms!”  She turned to Team, “You know what I am saying, I take it?”

 

“Yes, Auntie, I understand.  We will stay out of the bedrooms,” Team assured her.

 

She nodded and then started to walk back to join the family in the lounge.  She stopped suddenly and turned back to them, “And leave the door open.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Team answered.  Namfon’s arm was next to his and he had felt her muscles tense up at her mother’s words.

 

“You’re a nice boy, Team,” Namfon’s mother said with a smile.  “I don’t mean to insult you in any way…but, it’s not been that long ago when I was Namfon’s age.  I just think it is best to…acknowledge that temptations are perfectly normal, but the situations that encourage them should be sidestepped whenever possible.”

 

“Yes ma’am, we understand,” Team said with a nod.  She gave him a quick nod and then disappeared into the lounge.

 

“OH…MY…GOD!!!” Namfon seethed to him under her breath.  “She thinks we are planning on having sex!”

 

“Of course!  We are two horny teenagers who are madly in love with each other!” Team quipped.

 

“Eww!  That’s so gross!” she grumbled as she hurried up the steps.

 

“Thanks!  I love the compliment.  That is sure to help me with my imposter syndrome!” Team answered with a laugh.  “By the way, what’s a ‘technology room’?”

 

They had reached the landing to the upstairs.  “Ordinarily Mother just throws out names for rooms to sound impressive, but in this case, she is correct.  State-of-the-art computers, printers, the works.”

 

She passed by rooms and named them off as she went.  She casually motioned to one and said, “That’s my bedroom.”  She walked by it but Team stopped.

 

“Hey, why did you stop?  The technology room is further down the hall,” she said as she walked back to him.

 

“I want to see your room,” he announced.

 

“What on earth for?” she asked.

 

He shrugged, “You’ve seen mine; I want to see yours.”

 

She shook her head, “If my mother heard you say that…”  She reached over and opened the door.  “Go ahead.”

 

He walked into her room and the first thing he noticed was the unadorned, stark white walls.  Her bed was tiny and pushed up against the far wall.  It had a thin, white bedspread on it and white pillows.  At the foot of her bed was a small white dresser.  It was very clean and uncluttered in that area of the room—but the rest of the room was filled with an explosion of books.  The room was a large one, and all of the other walls, apart from the area where the bed and dresser stood, were bookshelves.  And each shelf of the bookshelf was stacked, sometimes double stacked, with books.  At the far corner of the room was a burgundy-colored chair and a matching footstool.  Behind the chair was a reading lamp, and all around the chair were stacks of books.  Thick, expensive, leather bound Science books, stacked along with cheap, secondhand, battered paperback novels.  From where he was standing, he could see the price tag was still on one of the paperbacks.  It had been purchased with what would have been pocket change for an average person.

 

Across from the chair was a big wooden desk whose top was piled high with papers.  Evidence of some recent work Namfon had been doing.  He smiled.  The room was definitely hers.  He could feel her in every part of it.

 

“Okay, let’s go to the technology room before your mom catches us in here,” he said.

 

“Well, hurry up! It wasn’t my idea to come in here in the first place!” she snapped as she closed the door behind him when he walked out.

 

When they entered the technology room, Team was impressed by what he saw.  He counted five desktop computers with printers, but the rest of the equipment was above his technological knowledge.  He had a laptop and his phone, and he used those mainly to play games and stream movies.  It was why that although he had thought for years that he would like to have a webcam set up by the bird feeder station in his backyard so he could watch it whenever he wanted, he had never done it because he didn’t know how.

 

“Wow!  Cool stuff!” he said.

 

Namfon sat down in front of one of the computers and entered the search information in the browser.  Soon she was scrolling down a list on the screen.  “Hey, I found a quiz.”  She printed it out and Team took it from the printer.  She handed him a pen and pointed to a seat at a long table.  “Fill it out; let’s see if you have it.”

 

He sat down and began marking his answers on the quiz.  A few minutes into it, she placed a paper, face side down, next to him on the table.  “When you are finished, here is how to score it.”  She moved back to the computer she had been using.  Team peeked at the screen and saw symbols and letters jumbled together and realized she was doing some kind of super advanced math—or maybe science.  He shook his head at her intelligence and then went back to answering the questions on the quiz.

 

He winced when he read some of the questions.  Most of them asked, “How often do you feel…” followed by some kind of inferiority symptom.  He answered the questions honestly, but seeing his answers, written there in black and white, he discovered things about himself that he hadn’t realized.

 

When he was done with the quiz, he flipped over the answer sheet that Namfon had left for him.  He read down it and then gave a heavy sigh.

 

“What’s the verdict?” Namfon asked from her work area.

 

“Guilty.  Very guilty, according to this,” he answered in a defeated voice.

 

“Well, identifying a problem is the first step!  Now all we have to do is research how to deal with it.”  She opened a new tab and began researching.  She printed out a stack of papers and brought them over to him.  “See…it’s not so bad.  It’s not an actual mental disorder, just a little ego glitch.”  They read the papers together and discussed them.

 

“I suspect you have been comparing yourself to P’Win.  And you have him up on a pedestal.  I don’t blame you; he is great—but so are you!  You have strengths that he doesn’t, you know?”

 

“Pfft,” Team snorted, “Name one!”

 

“Okay, I will.  Your English grades.  You have the highest in the school.  I haven’t forgotten that you told me that the teacher is working with a college professor to develop lessons especially for you since our school isn’t able to teach you anything you don’t already know.  And I also haven’t forgotten that although Win had the highest grade of a graduating student, your English points were higher than his.  Also much higher than mine, Mali’s, and Jai’s too.”

 

Team felt some of his muscles relax in his shoulders, “I guess that’s true.”

 

“Yes, it is.  And that ‘fancy-smancy’ college in Bangkok snatches up foreign language majors with high scores every year.  Not to mention, I think you will be a shoo-in for the foreign language scholarship when you graduate.  It’s a full ride.”

 

Team scratched his head where he felt his scalp prickling.  “I didn’t think about that.”

 

“Here’s something else I don’t think you thought of.  Jai is better than you at football, but it doesn’t bother you.  On the team, you aren’t competing against him; you are competing with him.  P’Win is better at swimming than you are…but again, you aren’t competing against him.  You are competing against the other guys in the lanes.  P’Win is there to coach you and to cheer you on.  I do believe he legitimately wants the best for you.  He said he thinks you have the ability to become the best swimmer on the team now that he will be gone.  I believe him.  Do you?”

 

Team shrugged, “I guess.  I mean…he’s not a liar or anything like that…it’s just…”

 

“You don’t have faith in yourself, right?  Let me ask you this—what is your opinion of the other guys who are Advanced swimmers?”

 

Team shrugged, “I don’t know.  They’re older than me and I have never paid much attention to them.”

 

She frowned, “All of them?  They are all older than you?”

 

Team nodded, “I knew all of Hia’s friends and I know all the guys in my grade, but these guys are in the middle of us, so I don’t really know them.  I did go on a weekend thing once with them, but it was awful and I didn’t really get to know them much.  And the one I did get to know…I was not a fan!”

 

She leaned back in her seat and studied him closely.  “How many guys from your grade are in the Advanced swim group?”

 

Team shrugged, “None of them.  Not in Swim Club and not from the swim team.  I doubt if any of them will ever be moved up to Advanced.  They aren’t that great, to be honest.  Unless we have some great swimmers coming up in the lower grades, once these older guys graduate, the swim team will be toast!”

 

“Team!” she exclaimed.

 

“What?”

 

“Team!  Think!” she implored with a grin.

 

He stared at her and tried to figure out what she meant, but he drew a blank.  Finally he shrugged, “I don’t know what I am supposed to be thinking.”

 

She got up and quickly began pacing the room.  It amused him because he knew she was frustrated that his mind didn’t work like hers.  He had seen her like this many times.

 

“The boys in your grade—you say they aren’t the best swimmers?” she asked.

 

“Yeah.  They kind of suck.  I really worry about the future of the team.”

 

She waved that away, “Can you beat them?  All of them?”

 

“Oh yeah,” he said, “I always do.  Always have.”

 

She smacked her hands together loudly, “Why aren’t you getting this?”

 

He startled at the sound.  “I don’t know!  What is it?  What am I missing?”

 

She rushed back to the table and sat down with a plop.  “The boys today, the ones who beat you, they are not your competition!  They will be gone by your senior year, unless one of them fails, but he couldn’t be on the team with bad grades, so that isn’t likely.  No, the ones who you will be competing against for the scholarship are the guys in your grade!  And you can already beat them!”

 

He felt his jaw drop and his heart begin to race.  “That’s true!” he said in a shocked whisper.

 

“And P’Win has been studying everyone’s stats and he knows that you will be basically a shoo-in for the scholarship in your senior year, but I bet he wanted you moved up to Advanced now to add to your desirability to colleges.  To add a bit of sparkle to your name, so to speak.”

 

Team rubbed his head.  “Oh man,” he mumbled.

 

“Indeed.  I think you owe someone a HUGE apology, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, I do,” he admitted and then looked over to her.  “I am sorry, Namfon.”

 

She laughed as she got up from her seat, “Not me, you silly pup!  I mean you owe an apology to P’Win!”

 

“I know and I will apologize to him, but you deserve one too.  You help me in so many ways and all you ever ask from me is to come to these dinners occasionally to keep your family off your back.  And what do I do?  I grumble, grouse, and complain!”

 

She smiled at him, “But you always come.  And…you know I have to be honest…I find your grumbling, grousing, and complaining amusing.”

 

From the corner of his eye he spotted a small movement in the doorway.  He got up and walked over to Namfon and gave her a hug.  “You’re the best!”

 

“Mom!!!” he heard a child call, and the sounds of multiple feet running away, “Mom!  They’re hugging!”

 

Namfon poked Team in the ribs, “You knew my little cousins were there, didn’t you?”

 

Team laughed and nodded, “I saw a tiny foot at the door.  But I did mean the apology.  The hug was just a bonus.  Maybe it will give you a few extra days of peace from your family.”

 

Namfon patted his back, “You really are the best dog, Scooby!” she said quietly.

 

“Ahem,” the sound came from the doorway.  They broke apart and stared in surprise at Namfon’s mother standing there.  “Team dear, it is getting late.  We certainly don’t want you to be in trouble with your parents for breaking curfew—they might not let you come to visit us anymore.  I’ve notified the driver that he is needed to drive you home now.  Come along,” she commanded with a beckoning gesture of her hand.

 

Team nodded, “I need the notes for my project,” he said as he walked to the table and gathered them together.

 

“Were you able to find everything you needed?” Namfon’s mother asked.

 

“Yes, thank you, I was.  I couldn’t have done it without Namfon’s help.  She really is a genius, you know?” Team answered with a smile.

 

“Yes, she is,” Namfon’s mother agreed.  “And if she let her hair grow out a bit, she would be quite attractive too.”

 

Team was stunned by that backhanded compliment.  He peeked at Namfon to see how she was taking it, and saw no reaction—which meant she heard things like that a lot.  Team ground his teeth together to keep from snapping at the mother.  He thought it was terrible of a mother to say things to tear down their kid all the time.

 

“I’ll walk down with you Team.  Namfon, you can stay here and tidy the room back like it was,” the mother said.  Team looked around the room and saw that the only things out of place were the chairs they had sat in, they were pulled out a bit from the table.  The mother took Team by the arm and guided him out of the room and down the hall.  He looked back before they reached the stairs and saw her standing in the doorway, leaning against the door jamb.  She had her hand over her mouth and her eyes were dancing with merriment.  She was laughing at his misery.  He grinned at her and gave her a subtle wave goodbye.

 

When he arrived home, his parents were already upstairs.  Team and his mother did their cat burglar routine and then he went into the kitchen.  He looked around for a snack, but only found leftovers from his parent’s dinner, fruit, and rice cakes.  He shook his head and then headed upstairs.  He kept a few emergency snacks under his bed.  He grabbed a bag of potato chips and sat on his bed, nibbling at them.  He had his phone out, looking at the text bar in the app.  He needed to let Win know how sorry he was for his behavior earlier—he had never, ever yelled at Win before, and he felt overwhelmed with guilt and remorse.  The words didn’t come to him as he stared at the cursor.

 

He finished his chips and then crept to his closet to get the blanket.  He thought maybe the words would come to him once he was in his secret spot.

 

He crept down the stairs and walked across the backyard and then turned to enter the side yard.  He stopped and gave a small yelp of surprise when a shadow next to the house rose up onto its feet.

 

“Shh!  It’s just me!”

 

“Hia?” Team whispered.

 

“Of course!” Win said and then walked over to him.  “Let me have this,” he commanded as he took the blanket from Team’s hands.  “The ground is damp.”

 

Win spread the blanket out and then sat down.  He reached to the side, under the blanket, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.  Team sat down in his regular spot and watched Win drink from the bottle, then Win passed it to him.

 

Team took a big drink and closed his eyes as he felt a ball of fire hit his stomach, and then explode, sending sparks flowing throughout his body.  There was about a quarter missing from the bottle.  “How long have you been here?”

 

Win shrugged.  “Not sure.  I was here before you got home.  I saw you riding in the back of that fancy car with a chauffeur!”

 

Team groaned, “Namfon’s mother insisted.  I would have rather walked home, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

 

“That was really nice of her!” Win said.  He took the bottle and drank a big drink of it before passing it back.  “I came here to apologize for upsetting you today.”

 

“No!” Team said forcefully.  “You have nothing to apologize for!  It was all me!  I am the one who went totally crazy.”

 

Win shrugged, “Maybe, but you wouldn’t have if I hadn’t pushed you so hard.  I didn’t realize how pressured you felt, that’s my bad!”

 

“No!  It was all me.  When I told Namfon about it, she told me that she thought I have ‘imposter syndrome’…”

 

“Oh!  Yeah, I can see that,” Win said.

 

“You’ve heard of it?  I hadn’t.  Anyway after dinner, she found a quiz online and I took it.  I scored really high on it.  And Namfon pointed out that I subconsciously sabotaged myself so I would come in last place so I could prove that I was right; that I wasn’t ready for the Advanced group.  That’s so twisted, but I think she was right.”

 

“What did you do to sabotage yourself?” Win asked while stroking his chin as he thought.

 

Team had to suppress a smile at that.  The gesture reminded him of his dad.  “The opposite of everything you told me to do,” Team admitted.  “I didn’t practice any over the weekend and I didn’t do any warm ups before the race.  The only thing I did right was to eat protein for lunch, but…well…you know me.  Food is my thing so I would have eaten it anyway.”

 

“See, that still makes me feel like it was my fault.  If I would have stayed home, I could have monitored you to make sure you were practicing.” Win objected.

 

“Bullshit,” Team said.  “I am responsible for myself.  I am basically an adult now.  I should do the right thing whether someone is watching me or not.  Besides, I was a real dick saying that stuff about you and your mom spending time together.  I am ashamed of that.  Of course she wants to be with you.  She saved up all this time and made all these plans so the two of you could make some good memories.  I am really sorry for being such a baby about it.”

 

“It’s okay!  I think it is a bit much too, but…moms, ya know?  What can you do?”

 

Team nodded, “I get it.  I think mine will be the same way when I leave for college.”  He took a big drink from the bottle and then picked at the label, “Speaking of college…Namfon helped me to see what you were doing.  She pointed out that I am already the best swimmer in my grade, and it that stays the same…and I think it will…then I am probably going to win the swimming scholarship without a problem.  She said that she thinks you wanted me to have the ‘Advanced’ title to make me look better for colleges when I apply.  She also made me realize that I am the top English student in the school, and probably the highest in any of the foreign languages.  So…I have a good shot at getting a scholarship for that, too.  And also she said that colleges, including the one you’re going to, often want students with foreign language degrees.  So, it isn’t impossible that I could get in there.”

Win took the bottle from Team and took a drink, “Namfon sounds like she is very smart.”

 

“She is!” Team said enthusiastically.  “She told me that the first step to solving a problem is to recognize you have one.  And I did that already!  She printed me off some pages of strategies on how to battle imposter syndrome.  It will take some work, but I think I can overcome it.”

 

“That’s great,” Win said with a smile.  “Do you want me to tell the coach to put you back with the Intermediates?”

 

“Nope,” Team said with a grin.  “I may not feel like I am ready yet, but you and the coach think I am.  Now instead of trying to prove myself right and you wrong, I am going to do the opposite.  I am going to try to prove that you are right and that I really am ready.  And if I fall on my face, then I will just get back up again and start over.”

 

“Well Hell yeah!  That’s the spirit!  I’m proud of you!” Win said giving Team his biggest smile.  “This dinner with Namfon really helped you!”

 

“Yeah, it did.  They had tangerine chicken for dinner,” Team said.

 

“You love tangerine chicken!”

 

“Yeah, but I didn’t get any.”

 

Win frowned, “Why not?”

 

Team grinned, “It’s my fault, really.  See, the dinners are these huge, family things—aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents—the entire family, and for the meal, there are lots of courses to choose from.  Like…we literally get menus!  Anyway, the first time I went, I picked steak as my entrée.  It was really great, and so of course I complimented Namfon’s mother on the meal.  But that didn’t feel right to me, I mean…it’s her house and she hosted the dinner, but she didn’t cook it, ya know?  So after dinner, I sneaked into the kitchen and I thanked the cook for the wonderful meal, especially the steak—which had been cooked perfectly.  Well…now every time I go to dinner, someone in the staff always gives me a little wink and a nod to let me know that there is a steak being prepared for me.  ‘Nong Team must have a perfect steak’—the cook’s specific instructions.  So now I am doomed to eat steak there for the rest of my life!” Team giggled.

 

Win laughed too.  “So, when Namfon comes here for dinner, is she given special food?”

 

Team shook his head, still laughing, “You know Mom and Dad!  ‘Eat what’s on the table or starve!’  Namfon likes it though.  She says it’s like being in a ‘real family’.”

 

“So your folks really like her, huh?”

 

“Oh gosh, yes!  You know how her name means ‘rainwater’, right?  Well my dad calls her ‘Dewdrop’!” Team laughed harder at that.

 

“Yeah, that sounds like your dad, alright!  I have been ‘Winnie-The-Pooh’ since I first started coming around here.  I was glad when he shortened it to just ‘Winnie’ though.  I wasn’t so thrilled about the ‘Pooh’ part!” He stopped laughing but continued to smile, “So…your mom…does she like Namfon?”

 

Team wiped his eyes but still had a small case of the giggles, “Oh, she loves her!  The two of them are going to some seminar next month in Rayong.  I think it is something to do with the future of libraries in a technological era.  I think they might be on different sides of the issue, but when they get together they talk non-stop about it.”

 

“That’s really good that they like her so much!”

 

Team nodded but his giggles had stopped.  He was remembering earlier in the evening and how she had helped him to discover that he was the one who was at fault for the argument between he and Win.  “Hia?  I want to apologize again.  I feel so bad about the things I said.”

 

Win shifted around and then put his arm around Team and pulled him close.  Team rested his head on Win’s shoulder.  “I know you do, Kitten.  And I feel bad about my part of it.  Just like I did that time when I yelled at you in the locker room.  Do you remember that?”  Win paused and Team nodded.  Win continued, “But you forgave me then.  And this time, I will forgive you if you forgive me.  Deal?”

 

Team nodded and mumbled, “Deal.  I just hate this feeling inside though.  I feel like I hurt you and I don’t ever what to hurt you!”

 

“I know,” Win assured him, “But remember you said then that we were brothers?  Well, brothers argue all the time; they are still brothers.  So that’s what we are.  In forty years if we can remember this night at all, we will remember how scratchy this blanket feels, the taste of this cheap-ass whiskey, the sound of the night animals creeping around in the shadows, the smell of the jasmine floating on the air, and our friendship.  We won’t remember this argument then, so there is no reason to dwell on it now.  It has no meaning.”

 

Team snuggled closer and sighed.  What he would remember would be how nice it felt to be this close to Win again.  How they fit together perfectly.  The smell of him, the sound of him, and the feel of him.  That is the memory that Team wanted to keep.

 

“Speaking of memories…do you remember the time you ate all those Thai ghost peppers on a bet?”  Win said and Team could tell he was smiling by the sound of his voice.  “And then when we were in the library, you ran out, yelling…”

 

“Don’t eat the school lunch!” they said in unison and then collapsed into laughter, clinging to each other.

 

They spent the next few hours laughing over their ‘remember whens’.  Team was in the middle of a story, and he forgot a part and had to start over.  Win looked at him and then his eyebrows drew together in concentration, “You’re drunk,” he said with a slur, “You are slurring.”

 

Team shook his head, “You’re slurring so your ears must be too!”

 

Win grinned and stood up, “Come on, Kitten, it’s time you were in bed.”  He gave him a hand and helped him up.  He folded up the blanket and handed it to Team.

 

Suddenly Win leaned forward, and for one brief, shiny moment, Team thought Win was going to kiss him.  Instead, Win placed his forehead against Team’s.  He whispered, “Don’t start brooding about it again.  You’re okay, I’m okay, and we are okay.”

 

Team nodded and whispered back, “Okay.”

 

Win squeezed Team’s hip, “Go on in now.  I’ll stay here until I see your light come on.” And he gave Team’s hip a small shove.

 

Team went back a few steps and then said, “Send me a message to let me know you got home safely.”

 

“Okay Weirdo!  Go to bed!” Win answered with a grin.

 

Team sat upright on his bed, holding his phone.  He was too tired to take a shower; too tired to even get dressed into something suitable for sleeping, but not too tired to stay up to make sure Win was home safely.

 

The message came pretty quickly.  Win had managed to flag down a passing taxi and was home and in his bedroom when he messaged.  Team messaged him back and then stretched out on his bed and fell fast asleep.

 

The swimming season would be over in two weeks, a swim meet was scheduled for each of the two weeks with the last meet scheduled for the Friday before Win left for college.  Team kept to his promise to do his very best.  He practiced faithfully, even when Win wasn’t there to make him.  The first official meet of him going against the Advanced swimmers found Team winning third place.  Third out of four, which he knew wasn’t great, but he got a ribbon and didn’t feel ashamed.  He knew that he had truly done his best.

 

Win noticed that Team was a bit slow on the turns and often started to slow up before he reached the wall.  Win intensified Team’s training on those areas.  Team suspected he subconsciously slowed down while approaching the wall because of the very first meet he had ever participated in, he had banged his knee into the wall.

 

The exercises and practices worked, because during the last meet of the year, Team won first place in his event.  He was as shocked about it as he had been during his first meet when he was twelve!

 

It was a Friday afternoon, so his parents couldn’t be there for the meet, but Win was.  As Team received his ribbon, he looked at Win and could see how proud he was of Team.  It was written all over his face.

 

At the end of the meet, after the other team had left, the coach handed out the ribbons for the year.  Team won a few, but the one he was most proud of was the ribbon for ‘Most Improved’.  He felt as if he had really worked hard for that ribbon.  He looked at Win and again saw the pride on his face.  And then like a lightening bolt, the thought hit Team—only two more days!  Win was leaving on Sunday to get himself settled into his dorm before classes started on Monday.  At the thought, Team’s stomach filled with butterflies—but no, not tiny, little butterflies—more like giant bats flying around in there.  He quickly calmed himself with the thought that Win would be home every weekend.  Thursday to Sunday.  It would almost be like he wasn’t gone at all.  The bats slowed their flying speed in his stomach, but they didn’t quite go away.

 

Win had to leave shortly after the awards were presented.  He and his mom were going away overnight, but they would be back in the afternoon the next day.  All of Win’s friends were meeting at Rick’s place and having a ‘drunk lunch’ party to say goodbye.  They had invited Team to join them.

 

 

They stepped out of Rick’s Place and were greeted with the late afternoon sunlight.  Team thought how odd it was that time seemed so irrelevant in places like bars and movie theaters.  Reality always hit you hard when you stepped outside and your sense of time resumed.

 

He walked over and leaned his back against Win’s car door.  The sun had shifted to the west, preparing for sundown, and the shadow of Rick’s Place stretched over to the car.  Win was saying one last ‘goodbye’ to the guys from the Swim Club who had thrown the party for him.

 

Team crossed his legs at the ankle and his arms across his chest as he shifted more of his weight onto the car.  He sighed quietly as he watched Win.  He had dressed up for his party—or at least in comparison to the rest of them.  He had on a white button-down shirt that looked so pristine that Team had to squint a bit when sunlight bounced off of it and hit him in the eyes.  One errant beam broke from the collective and danced along the chain and pendant that was hanging at Win’s neck.  Team smiled as he remembered the first time when he had gone to the swim meet to watch Win.  Win had forgotten to put the necklace in his locker and he had asked Team to wear it.

 

Team shook his head with a slight scoff.  This party had affected him more than he had expected it to.  All these sad goodbyes and ‘remember when’ stories from Win’s friends had stirred up his own nostalgia.  It was silly to feel all this emotional crap—well, maybe not so silly for some of the guys because they were also leaving soon and going to different colleges.  They might actually not see Win much for a while, but Team and the rest of them who were staying in the village would.  Win would come home all the time to see his mother and they would see him then.

 

Finally, after a few clumsy bro-hugs and knuckle-bumps, the guys drifted away and Win came to join Team.  “Ugh!  I hate all these ‘goodbye’ things.  Makes me feel like they think I am dying or something!  Some of them are going to be shocked when I roll up here on Thursday nights for the weekends.”  He turned to look at Team and gave him a small frown.  “I thought you said you were leaving,” he gestured with his head towards Team’s bike.

 

Team nodded, and then pretended to wipe away some invisible tears from his eyes.  “I just wanted to say ‘goodbye’ before I left.”

 

Win laughed and rammed his shoulder into Team’s, “Fuck you!”  He grew a bit more serious, “Honestly, you know I wish I could spend this evening with you, right?  It’s just…well, you know my mom.  She is feeling all sentimental and wants this ‘last night’ with me.  But tomorrow is our day.  I want us to go eat lunch together at our place and hang out for a while before I have to take off.  So don’t you dare sleep until noon, like usual!”

 

Team laughed, “I won’t!  I swear!  Besides, my school doesn’t start for another couple of weeks.  I will have plenty of days to sleep in late while you are in class.”

 

Win shook his head.  “You suck!”

 

Team barked out a laugh.  “I will dream about you, sitting in your classes, on those mornings when I get to sleep in.”  He uncrossed his ankles and kicked a rock.  It landed a few feet away from them.  “Hia?  Are you scared?”

 

“Scared?  Me?  No, don’t be ridiculous!” Win scoffed.  Then he sighed and said quietly, “I’m petrified.”

 

Team nodded, “I thought so.  And that is silly.  For one thing, you are the smartest guy in the entire village, so you will do great in school.  Secondly, you are the best swimmer AND the best diver this village has ever had, so you will do great on the swim team.  Just keep reminding yourself that you won not one, not two, but three scholarships to be there!  I bet no one else at that college could say that.  And the third reason is, everybody loves you here.  Heck, you’ve had your own cheering section since you were a kid!  They will love you there too.  And…uh…”  He paused and debated about saying the next thing.  He scratched his head and realized that it might be awkward for him to say it, but he knew Win might feel braver if he heard it.  “Okay, I’ll just say it, but if you ever tell anyone I said this, I will lie out of it!  Um…you are nice looking…I guess.”

 

Win chuckled.  “All that pausing and head scratching for a ‘nice looking…I guess’?  And please tell me how that could possibly help me in school!”

 

“Maybe not for school, but after.  Like…you know…your social life there.  ‘Cause I am sure there will be lots of,” he was running out of air so he had to take a deep breath, “…lots of girls who will want to…I don’t know…like date you and stuff.”  He swallowed hard.  He knew that Win had no idea that the very thought of Win with someone else was like being stabbed by a million daggers in his heart.  But Win’s happiness was more important to Team than the pain he was feeling.

 

Win looked down at the rocks in the parking lot.  He stretched his foot out and placed it on a small rock and rolled it with his foot.  “Oh,” he shrugged.  “So, what about you?  Are you nervous about entering 11^th grade?”

 

Team snorted, “Pfft.  No.  Same people, same school, same boring teachers.  I am used to all of that stuff.  It will be a bit weird without you there, but we always knew that would happen since you’re older than me.”

 

Win nodded and looked toward the sun.  “It’s almost sunset time.  Best time of the day,” he sighed, “I’m going to have to get going.  Mom wants us to go to that little lakeside restaurant for dinner.  It’s her favorite place.  Leave it to her to be the only person in the world who would prefer a tiny lake over,” he turned and gestured towards the ocean, “but she does. Anyway, don’t forget that we have plans for tomorrow—don’t sleep late!”

 

“I won’t Hia, I promise!” Team said with a grin as he mounted his bike.

 

Win smiled and shook his head.  He got into his car, started it, and then slid on his sunglasses.  “Do you remember that first day when we met on the bridge?  I saw you look at me and then look away.  I hadn’t intended on stopping there, but that dismissive look, your Hissing Kitten face, it was like a challenge to me.  I had to come and sit down beside you then.”  He put the car into gear but kept his foot on the brake.  “I’m glad I did.  You were the best friend anybody could have ever had.  Goodbye Team.”  He said quietly and then he drove away.

 

Team sat astride his bike, watching Win’s car until it was out of sight.  He felt as if he had been kicked in the stomach and he couldn’t quite catch his breath.  His eyes prickled and he had to blink several times to make them stop.  His brow creased in confusion.  “Why did that sound like a real ‘goodbye’?” he whispered to himself.  His mind quickly replayed the last thing that Win had said.  It stopped on one word, ‘were’.  “You were the best friend anybody could have ever had.”  ‘Were’, not ‘are’.  Past tense.

 

Team shook his head and began to pedal his bike towards home.  I’m just being stupid, he assured himself.  We are going to hang out together tomorrow.  And he will be coming back to the village all the time.  Probably every Thursday night!  That’s what he said, and he wouldn’t lie.  Not to me.

 

He felt better and his breathing returned to normal.  His pedaling became less labored and he picked up speed.  He was still a few blocks from home when he heard his phone sounding the alert that he had received a message.

 

He stopped his bike and pulled his phone from his pocket.  He saw he had a message from Win and his heart suddenly lurched in his chest.  He opened the message and there was only one word written.  It said, “Shelf.”

 

His heart began to pound so hard that he could see black spots popping up and fading away in his vision.  He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone so dry that it felt as if his tongue was stuck in his throat.  He felt panicky as he struggled to breathe.  The knot in his stomach had returned, only this time it felt like it was a giant rat in there.  It was running and biting and clawing away at his insides.

 

“Why?”  He typed the message and sent it with trembling fingers.

 

A tiny circle appeared next to his message.  It spun around a few times and then was replaced with a red exclamation mark.  “Not delivered” was written under the exclamation mark.

 

He checked his phone and saw that he had full power.  He clicked on Win’s name and pressed the ‘Call’ button.  The phone was answered after the first ring.  “We’re sorry, the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected or is out of service at this time.  Please…”

 

Team ended the call.  He turned his bike back in the direction of the bridge and pedaled as if all the hounds of hell were at his heels.  He had no time for courtesy on this ride.  Slow, stupid people who got in his way were swerved around.  On and on he rode until he reached the bridge.  He threw his bike down and dropped to his knees and then onto his stomach as he reached his hand down to find whatever Win had left for him on the shelf.

 

He felt the knot on top of the bag and grabbed it.  He put it next to him on the bridge and then reached his hand back down to the shelf.  He felt all around it, to make sure he hadn’t overlooked anything, and then slowly pulled his hand away.  (He still shuddered to put his hand there in the dark.  He had never gotten used to it.)

 

He sat up and examined the bag.  It was from a local supermarket.  He untied the knot and pulled out the items and sat them next to him.  A bag of potato chips and a can of grape soda.  He hadn’t drunk grape soda in years, but he knew what Win had done.  Team looked at the sunset and saw that it was almost at that perfect moment—the few seconds when the colors were all in a line and reflected in the water like an atmospheric dessert parfait.  He peeked into the bag and saw what else was inside it, but quickly looked away.  He refused to acknowledge it.  He rolled the bag up carefully and put it in the waistband of his shorts and pulled his shirt down over it.  Then he opened the bag of potato chips and put a few in his mouth as he watched the sunset.  He found that he had a difficult time swallowing them, so he opened the grape soda and took a drink.  He grimaced at how cloyingly sweet it was.  “Your teeth are purple,” the memory whispered in Win’s voice.  He ignored it and ate more of the chips.

 

He tried his best to eat the chips and drink the soda, but he gave up after a few minutes.  He watched the sunset until it faded into a fairly-uniform lavender color.  Then he got up and threw away the remains of the snack Win had left for him.

 

He took out his phone and opened up FaceBook.  He searched for Win’s page but found it was gone.  Team wasn’t surprised.  He tried calling one more time, but got the same recorded message.

 

He felt for the bag that he had tucked into his waistband and finding it still there, he got on his bike and rode away from the bridge.

 

He didn’t go to his house though; he went to Win’s.  He stopped short when he was a few houses away.  There was a moving truck in the driveway and strangers in the yard.

 

“I sure hope they are a nice family,” someone said from behind him.  He turned to see it was old Auntie Bor, who was Win’s neighbor and had been Win’s babysitter when he was little.  “Seems like they have either three or four little ones.  I’m not sure if all of the children are theirs though.”

 

Team stared at her, not comprehending what she was saying.  “You look a bit pale.  Are you feeling okay?”  She asked him.  He gave a slight nod, but it was a lie.  He wasn’t feeling okay at all.

 

She made a tsk sound with her tongue.  “I felt really bad saying goodbye to the young missus five weeks ago, but to say goodbye to my boy this morning…oh!” she reached up her sleeve and pulled out a tissue and dabbed her eyes.  She shook her head, “I know that she had to leave quickly for that new job in Bangkok, but to leave that boy alone for over a month—he had to pack up everything by himself and have it sent to her—but I imagine you know that already.  He’s always been such a good boy.  I just hope these renters of theirs are nice people.  Nong Win assured me that they are.”

 

“Renters?” Team asked quietly.

 

“Yes, but I guess it makes sense of course.  With them both moving to Bangkok, there’s no reason for the house to remain empty.  Plus, it will give them income.  Still though…I hate that they moved away from the village.  Why, I remember the very day they moved in.  Well, he wasn’t born yet, but he was still there…she was only here about a month before he was born.  Oh, and her husband!  My goodness…such a handsome man he was!  I remember one time…”

 

“They both moved to Bangkok?” Team interrupted.  “She’s not here?”

 

Auntie Bor studied his face, “You really aren’t feeling well, are you?  Do you feel faint?  Did you drink enough today?”

 

Team nodded, “Grape soda.”

 

“I think you need to go on home now and have your mother tend to you.  You really don’t look well at all.  But yes, they both moved away.  He went off to that college that has that good reputation and she got a nursing job in a big hospital there.  She was very excited about it.  He seemed a bit more quiet about his school though.  I suspect its nerves.  He’ll be fine once he settles in.  And his mother will be near him and that will help.”

 

“Yes, Auntie Bor.  Thank you,” he mumbled and he rode away.  He made it about a block and a half until he had to stop his bike and lean over to vomit.

 

He found himself back at home with no memory of the journey.  As soon as he walked into the house, his mother said, “You’re late. We’ve already eaten.  I left a plate for you in the microwave.”

 

Team shook his head and walked to the steps.  “I don’t feel well.  I’m going to bed.”

 

“Wait!” she called as she hurried to him.  “What’s wrong?  Oh!  You look as white as a ghost!”

 

“Headache,” he answered, reaching for the banister.

 

“I bet you haven’t drunk enough water today!  Come with me,” she ordered as she pulled him by the arm behind her.  She took him to the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of headache relievers.  She shook two out into her palm and handed them to him.  She went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water.  “Here, take those.”

 

He popped them into his mouth and washed them down with a bit of water.  He started to hand her back the bottle and she shook her head.  “No, drink all of it.”

 

He didn’t want to drink the water, but he didn’t have the energy to argue about it.  He drank the water and then handed her the empty bottle.  He turned and walked back to the stairs.

 

“I’m sure you’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep,” his father called from the living room.

 

Team didn’t answer.  He climbed the stairs and went into his room.  He didn’t bother to turn on the light.  There was no reason to.  The curtains were still open and the streetlight shone directly in through the windows.

 

He lay down upon the bed and pulled his extra pillow up to his shoulder.  It felt almost as if someone’s head was there, resting on it.  He bit his lip as a wave of pain rolled through him.

 

He stayed that way for a time.  How long, he didn’t know.  At some point he had heard his parents come up the stairs and go into their room for the night.  He reached down into his waistband and pulled out the rolled up bag.  He didn’t want to open it because opening it would make it real.  But he already knew it was real.  He just didn’t want it to be.

 

More time passed before he finally unrolled the bag.  He took a deep breath and pulled out the item that Win had placed in the bag with the potato chips and the grape soda.  He felt the cool metal of the chain wrap around his fingers.  He held his hand up so that the streetlight could shine on it and then he opened his hand.  His body jolted with shock as he acknowledged what he was seeing.  Win had left Team his necklace; his prized possession.  Team swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat.  He knew then that Win was gone and he wasn’t coming back.

 

Team lay on his side, his head resting on the pillow next to him.  He kept his hand hidden under the pillow, with the necklace clinched tightly in his closed palm.  He shook all over.  He kept the covers wound tightly around him, but couldn’t seem to get warm.  His hands and feet were cold and sweaty.  He wondered if he had a high fever when the tremors shook his body.  He didn’t care if he did.

 

Time passed.  His room was always lit, either from the sun during the day or the streetlight at night.  He wasn’t sure.  He didn’t look.  He didn’t care.

 

Every so often, one of his parents would come into his room and bring food.  They would shake his shoulder and tell him to wake up and eat.  Had he been sleeping?  Maybe he had and just didn’t realize it.  After a time they would come back and take away the uneaten food and leave more.

 

Then, at some point, his father was there.  He sat on the bed and manually turned Team onto his back.  Team could see that his father was in his robe.  It must have been early morning or late at night.  Team couldn’t tell whether the light coming in his window was early dawn light or the streetlight outside.  He realized it didn’t matter.

 

“Listen to me, Team,” his father commanded.  “I understand that you don’t want to eat, but you must drink!  If you don’t, we are going to call an ambulance and have you taken to the hospital for IVs.”

 

Team looked at his father and thought that there was no way his father could understand anything.  This had never happened to him.  He had no clue what this felt like.  Team sat up, took the bottle of water from his father’s hand, and brought it to his lips.  He drank all of it and then handed back the empty bottle.

 

“Good!  Now drink this one,” his father handed him a bottle of a thick milk-like drink with artificial strawberry flavoring.  The label said it was a meal substitute.  He drank it with a grimace.

 

“Son,” his father said, reaching for Team’s clutched hand that had slid out from under the pillow when he sat up.  “There’s a chain around your fingers.  It’s cut you.  You’re bleeding.”

 

Team slid his hand back under the pillow.  He glared into his father’s eyes, “Don’t touch it!” he growled.

 

His father drew his hand back and gave a small nod.  A tiny part of Team was astonished and ashamed by what he had just done.  He had never defied his father, or spoken to him disrespectfully, but at that moment, Team didn’t care.

 

He lay back down and took his previous position on his side.

 

“Team, I want you to keep in mind that you have parents who love you and are worried about you.”

 

Team didn’t reply and after a while, his father left his room.

 

After that, one or the other of his parents would come into his room with the two bottles every so often.  He drank them without argument and then went back to ‘sleep’ or whatever it was.  He assumed these water and milk-like-drink visits were on some kind of schedule, no doubt arranged by his mother, but he had lost all sense of time.

 

And then, suddenly…a few hours or maybe days after the water visits had began, Team sat up in bed and reached for his phone.  He ran through his list of missed calls and messages from his friends.  There was nothing from Win, but he hadn’t really expected any.  He checked the time and nodded to himself.

 

He uncoiled the chain from his fingers and placed the necklace on the bed.  He covered it with the pillow, and then got up.

 

He walked down the stairs and out of the house.  He went to the garage and got his bike out and then pedaled down the road.  He felt weak and shaky, as if he had been sick for a long time, but he kept going.  He wanted to move faster, but his body didn’t cooperate.

 

He arrived at the bridge and sighed in relief that there was still time.  As was the usual, there were a lot of people on the bridge, all watching the sunset.  Team rode his bike to what had been ‘their’ spot, inches away from that stupid ‘shelf’ that was never a shelf, just a broken piece that had lodged against another piece.  Team rolled his eyes at the idea that they had called it a shelf.

 

He watched the sky and waited for the perfect moment—the layered parfait moment.  He took a deep, deep breath and then screamed at the sky, “FUCK YOU!” as he held up his middle finger, aimed at the sunset.

 

The people around him gasped and some people farther away turned their attention onto him.  He didn’t care.  He turned away from the sunset, mentally vowing to never look at another one again, and then began to pedal away.  And he experienced something odd.  People moved out of his way.  Instead of being courteous and waiting ‘patiently’ for stupid, slow people to move, this time they scurried away.  Team’s face twisted into a bitter smile.  All it took was for people to think you were evil, or maybe crazy, and then they backed off.

 

He reached the far end of the bridge and stopped next to a post that used to hold a handrail in some far distant past.  He looked at it and began to speak.  “My mother was right about you.  You are a bad bridge.  I wish I would have listened to her when she told me to stay away from you.  But now you can listen to me!  You filthy, ugly, monstrosity—you will never see me near you again and this I swear!”  He hawked and spat.  That bitter smile returned as he watched it dripping down the post.  He flipped it off and added, “Fuck you!”

 

He rode his bike to the Swim Club, which had already closed for the season.  He stopped his bike near the walkway where he used to meet Win before every practice and meet.  He flipped it off and screamed, “Fuck you!  I hate you!  I will never, ever come back here again as long as I live!”

 

He pedaled off in the direction of Win’s house.  His bladder was full, so he thought he might take a piss on Win’s bedroom window, but when he neared the house he changed his mind.  Auntie Bor was in the yard.  She was talking to the new tenants.  Three little kids were playing in Win’s front yard—which technically was theirs now, for as long as they rented it.  No matter how angry he was, he knew he would never just unzip and pull out his dick in front of ladies and small children.

 

He rode past the house and no one noticed him.  He stopped at the driveway and looked at the garage.  He was filled with rage and pain.  He knew he didn’t have to announce that he would never return there again because that had already been decided when Win and his mother moved out.  He mumbled, “I hate you!” under his breath and quietly spat on the gravel.

 

He rode on.

 

It took a while before he managed to make it to the parking lot of The Lonely Dolphin.  He hopped off his bike and ran to the side of the building.  He felt as if he were about to burst with the need to pee.  He looked around quickly and made sure no one was looking.  When he saw the coast was clear, he unzipped his pants.  Before he could allow himself to pee though, he felt like he should let the building know that it was personal—not like he was just some drunk who didn’t know better.

 

This place was where they agreed to be best friends forever, and where they snuck away to celebrate all their special times and triumphs alone together.  Aside from that, it was also a clean place, with good food, inexpensive prices, and great service.  He gritted his teeth at the thought of not being able to come up with some insult for it.  Finally it came to him.  He let go and peed on the wall.  He zipped up and walked around to the front of the place and looked at the dolphin on the sign.  “You think you are lonely now?  Just wait.  This is not a popular place.  Hardly anybody comes here.  Soon the owners will close up the place and when they do—I will laugh my head off!  And then you will learn the real meaning of being lonely!”  He couldn’t manage to scream “Fuck you” or to flip it off because that stupid dolphin looked like it was smiling—in spite of being lonely.  Team swallowed hard and blinked a few times as his eyes began to feel prickly.

 

He got on his bike and rode away.  He wracked his brain to come up with some place he could go that he didn’t associate with Win.  It seemed like every place in the village had some memory of him.  He reminded himself that he had only been twelve when they met.  His life before that consisted of mainly just home and school.

 

“School!” he thought with relief.  His Primary school.  He hadn’t met Win when he attended it!  There were no memories there!

 

He began to pedal quickly.  The sun had set and the sky was purple, grey, and black.  The world was filled with shadows.  As he approached the school, he remembered the last time he had been there and thought he heard the sounds of ghost children laughing.  He shrugged it off.  He didn’t care if an entire horde of ghost children came after him; it was still a safe place.  Safe from all his memories of Win.

 

He rode his bike down the path and then across the grass until he was in the center of the football field.  It had been his favorite place all through Primary school.  He played football every year, even his first year when he barely understood the rules of the game.  He didn’t bother with the kickstand; he just got off his bike and let it drop to the ground.  He walked a few steps and then turned his body in the direction of where Bangkok would be.

 

“HEY HIA!” he screamed, hoping it was loud enough to be heard all the way to Bangkok.  “I HATE YOUR GUTS!  I’M GLAD YOU ARE GONE!  DON’T YOU EVER, EVER, EVER COME BACK HERE!  I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!  I WILL HATE YOU UNTIL I DIE!”  Then he screamed every curse word and insult he had ever heard before.  Some of them he even repeated a few times.  When he ran out of words, he just screamed.  He screamed until his voice finally gave out and all he could manage was a husky whisper.

 

He fell to his knees and then pitched forward.  He buried his face in the grass and began to cry.

 

Chapter 16

Hours later, in the pre-dawn light, Team made his way back home.  He felt too weak to ride his bike, so he pushed it.  He used it to help him walk home—like an elderly person using a walker.  And he actually did feel elderly.  But the pain had gone from him.  Inside he felt hollow.  It wasn’t an ideal way to feel, but it sure beat carrying around the pain that he had been.

 

Team was at the corner of his street when he saw his dad standing at their gate.  He was dressed in his robe and he was looking in the opposite direction.  As soon as he turned his head, he spotted Team.  He opened the gate and ran down the street to meet him.

 

When he reached Team, he pulled him into a tight embrace.  Team clung to him and breathed in the scent of his dad.  He smelled like home.  Team felt all his muscles relax.

 

“Dad?” he said, his voice scratchy and barely audible.

 

“Yes, what is it, Team?” His dad held him tighter as if afraid he would disappear.

 

“Have we got something to eat?  I’m starving!”

 

His dad gave him another squeeze, “You bet we do!  Come on, let’s get you home.”  He bent down and picked up Team’s bike where he had dropped it in the street and grabbed the handlebars in one hand and put his other arm around Team.  Team leaned heavily on his dad as they walked toward their home.

 

Team’s mom hurried to their gate from inside the house when his dad called to her, “Nat!  Our boy is home and he is hungry!  We still have leftovers from dinner, don’t we?”

 

“Yes!  Of course we do!  I’ll go heat them up!”  She turned towards the house but then stopped and turned back to them.  “It’s almost morning.  Would you rather I made something for breakfast?”

 

Team gave her a small smile as he and his dad entered the gate.  “Maybe both?  I am starving!”

 

She recoiled a bit.  “Oh Honey!  What’s wrong with your voice?”

 

Team gave her a tiny shrug, “It’s okay.”  And then for clarity, he added, “I’m okay now.”

 

“Well, let’s get you inside, out of this night air, and get some food into you!”  She pulled him into the house as Team’s dad headed towards the garage with Team’s bike.

 

The first few bites that Team took went down rough and threatened to come right back up, but soon his stomach remembered what food was and accepted every morsel.  By the time his mother had breakfast cooked, he had already eaten two platefuls of the previous nights dinner.  They acted as an appetizer and he tucked into breakfast with gusto.

 

His parents nibbled at their own breakfasts and mostly just watched him eat.  Whenever Team looked up from his plate, he could see them watching him and he could see the relief on their faces.  He felt a bit guilty for causing them so much stress, but it hadn’t been intentional, so he forgave himself almost as soon as he had the thought.

 

When he finished his breakfast, his mother quickly offered to make him more.  He smiled and shook his head.  “No thanks; I’m full!”  The food had worked a miracle and he felt some of his strength returning.  His voice, however, had not recovered at all.

 

He gathered up the dirty dishes and utensils from his place and took them to the sink.

 

“I’ll do that!” his mother offered.

 

Team shook his head ‘no’.  “I know the rules:  ‘You dirty it, you clean it!’”  He rinsed everything and placed them in the dishwasher.  “I’m exhausted.  I’m going to go to bed.”  He said.  But then he stopped in the doorway and turned back to them.  “I know you are wondering, so I’ll tell you.  But I won’t say his name.  We all know who I mean; there’s no need too.”  He walked to the refrigerator and got out a bottle of water and drank some in hopes that it would help with his husky, raspy voice.  When he began speaking again, he realized it hadn’t helped.

 

“When I was a kid, back when he and I first met, I hero-worshipped him.  I know it was obvious.”  He made a click with his tongue as he began to feel a bit emotional.  He took another drink from the water and shoved those emotions away.  “As I grew older, my feelings for him changed, deepened.  Again, I know you both know that, too.”  He took a deep breath, “But now—now I know who he really is.  He is a coward.  He is a liar.  And he is disloyal.  Someone with so little character does not deserve the feelings that I had for him.”  He walked back towards the doorway and leaned against the wall.  He reached over and ran a finger down the seam where the door met the wall.  “He lied to me and told me we were going to spend the next day together before he left.  He drove out of town a few minutes later.  He has either changed his phone number or has blocked me.  I can’t call him or text him.  And he has taken down all of his social media accounts.  So I can’t contact him that way.”  He took another drink of water from the bottle.  “I went by his house and another family lives there now.”

 

“What?” his mother gasped.  “Where is Poom then?”

 

“The old Auntie across the street told me she got a job at a hospital in Bangkok.  She left weeks ago.  ‘That person’ was alone, packing up everything so the renters could move in, right up until he left.  All along telling me how busy he and his mother were—spending time together before he left for college.”  Team shook his head.  “And she was already gone.”  He huffed and then drank more water.  “You want to know what else he told me?  One of his many lies—was that he had scheduled his classes so that he could leave there Thursday afternoons and be back here that evening.  He said he was going to be spending every weekend here in the village.”  He had to swallow hard to push the pain away again.  He shook his head in disgust, “And the whole time, he knew he wasn’t ever coming back here.  Anyway, it took me a bit to digest all this, and tonight I decided I needed to say goodbye to some old ghosts.”  He thought for a moment, “Or maybe it was more like exorcising my demons.  Whatever it was—it’s all over now.  I might have gotten a bit too loud and strained my voice, but otherwise, I’m okay and I’m going to stay okay.”  He gave them a tiny smile, “Okay?”

 

They each gave him a small smile and a nod, but he could see the sadness for him in their eyes.  It made the pain flare up a bit, but he blinked a few times and swallowed hard.  “After this, I don’t want to talk about him again, I hope you understand.  I want to forget all about him and just move on with my life.  One last thing though, I know you probably think I am hurting, and maybe I am a bit, but mostly what I feel is intense hatred.  Any pain I have is for the person I was before this.  And how gullible I was.”  He shook his head, “Never again.”

 

“Team,” his mother said, quietly.  “I don’t want you blaming yourself for trusting someone who hurt you.  It happens to everyone at some point, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trusting others.”

 

“And maybe he has a reason for all this.  Maybe…” his dad began.

 

“Keow!  No!” Team’s mother said sharply.  “This is not something for us to debate or to try to defend.  At some point in time, their paths may cross again.  If there are any explanations or excuses to be discussed, they will discuss those then.  As for now, our son is telling us his experience and his feelings.  We will honor those.”

 

Team’s father nodded, “You’re right, of course.  I’m sorry, Team.”

 

Team shrugged, “It’s okay.  I did the “maybe” thing in my head at first, too.  But the facts are that he lied, he is gone, he cut off all communications between us, and he will not be coming back.  And I am glad that I see his true colors now.”  He sighed, suddenly feeling very tired.  “I am going to grab a shower and go to bed.”

 

“Wait!” his mother said and got up and hurried over to the cabinet where they kept their medicines.  She grabbed a bag and brought it over to Team.  “These are cough drops—I know you aren’t coughing, but maybe they will help.”  She took some out and placed them in his hand.  “Take one now and keep the rest of those near you, in case you need them.”

 

He thanked her and popped one in his mouth and then went up to his room.  He looked with disgust at the mess his bed was in.  The covers had all been twisted around until they were almost in knots.  He decided he would change the sheets before his shower so once he was clean he could climb into a clean bed.

 

He picked up one of his pillows and removed the pillow case and then he reached for the other one.  When he picked it up, he saw Win’s necklace laying there.  He felt a giant burst of pain and rage at the sight of it.  Somehow he had forgotten about it.

 

He snatched the necklace up and stalked over to his trashcan.  Right before he dropped it in, he had a thought.  His mother had just said that someday their paths might cross again.  Team thought that if that did ever happen, it would be nice of him to return the necklace to its rightful owner.  “I’ll shove it down his fucking throat,” he whispered the vow.  Until that day arrived, however, he knew that he would have to find someplace to put it.  Someplace where he didn’t have to see it again.

 

He searched his room for some small container to put it in but came up empty handed.  He scoffed at himself.  Well, it’s not like this is a jewelry store or something.  Of course I don’t have a small box!  He thought some more and then he remembered the watch his parents had given him for his last birthday.  He hadn’t asked for a watch and really, with his cell phone, he didn’t see much need for it.  Plus, it was a bit fancier than something he would wear.  So he had placed it in the back of a drawer, ‘to save for special’, as he explained to his parents.

 

He dug through his underwear drawer and found it hidden under a pile of his oldest pairs.  He pulled out the box and nodded, it would work.  He took out the watch and laid it on the dresser top and then put the necklace in the watch box.  He put it in the drawer and covered it back up with the pile.  “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” he mumbled as he shut the drawer.  He had heard that expression somewhere, he couldn’t remember where, but it fit the situation.

 

He looked at the watch lying on the dresser top and shrugged.  It was a nice watch; he would just wear it from now on.  It wouldn’t need its box again.

 

He went back to changing his sheets.  He noticed there were a few drops of dried blood on the sheet under the extra pillow.  He remembered his dad telling him that his fingers were cut one of the times he brought in water.  Team looked down at his fingers and saw they had started to scab over.  He frowned at that.  He tried to remember how long it took for a wound to form a scab but he drew a blank.

 

He finished with the bed and then gathered up his clothes to take a shower.  Once in the bathroom he took a look at himself in the mirror and was shocked by his appearance.  He had a few blades of grass in his hair and one stuck to his cheek.  There were tear tracks all around his eyes that had washed away the dirt that surrounded them.  His face was gaunt and his eyes were hollow, but the most shocking thing of all was his whiskers.  Since before he was even fifteen, Team had been forced to shave everyday because of the thickness of his beard and the quickness with which it grew.  He rubbed his hand over the whiskers and realized they had grown out enough that they were no longer sharp and close to the skin.  “How many days?” he wondered.  “How long did I lay in that bed?”

 

He hurried out to his room and picked up his phone.  He checked the date and realized it had to have been about five days!  It was Friday morning.  He then realized that his grand “fuck you” tour of the village had happened on Thursday evening.  He shuddered as he whispered, “Of course it was”.  The first night that Win could have driven back to the village.  He turned off his phone and put it back on the nightstand.  He shook his head at himself.  Not ever again.  I made it to the other side of some kind of insanity, and I won’t ever go there again.  He went back into his bathroom and got into the shower.  He washed it all away

 

 

 

By the time school started, Team had regained the weight he had lost during his time in bed.  His voice was still slightly hoarse and husky.  During his insanity period, some of his friends had gotten worried about him when he didn’t answer their calls and texts.  A few of them had come by the house to see him.  His parents had told them that he was sick.  His damaged voice confirmed his parents’ story.

 

When it was time to sign-up for clubs, Team took a wide detour around the swimming booth and headed right to the football booth.  He signed up and then hung around a bit, talking to all of his friends from the team.  One of the guys from the swimming club booth saw him there and came over to talk to him.

 

“Hey!  What’s up with P’Win’s phone?  I tried to call him the other night and got some recording that his phone was out of service.”

 

Team looked at the guy, he couldn’t remember his name but he had seen him at the swimmer’s lunch table a few times the previous year.  He took a deep breath before speaking.  It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the guy that Win had cut all communications with him, but at the last second, his pride wouldn’t let him.  “Yeah, he has had some trouble with the cell carriers in that area.  He’s straightening it out.  His phone will be back on in no time.”

 

Another guy came over to listen to them.  “Okay!  I was wondering if maybe he had changed his number or something,” the new guy said.  “Is that why all his social media is down?”

 

“Uh…” Team paused, trying to think of a story, “No, actually.  His new school is really strict and they want everyone to get rid of their personal pages and create a new one that the school can monitor.”

 

“Wow!  That sucks!” a girl said.  She had arrived with a few of her friends and they were listening to the conversation, too.

 

Team took a look around and saw that a small crowd had gathered around.  He guessed they were all friends or acquaintances or fans of Win’s.  He sighed internally but smiled outwardly.  “Yeah, it really does suck!  But as soon as he gets his new page, he will refollow everybody.”

 

“So, how’s he doing?  Does he like it there?” Came a voice from the crowd, Team couldn’t see the face of the person who had asked.

 

“Yeah, he does!  He says it is a bit harder than he was expecting it to be.  The first class he went to, they were given a test right at the beginning of the period.  The professor said that they should have already read the first few chapters of the textbook in anticipation of the first class.”  Team hadn’t realized he was such a good liar before.  And he was proud of himself for being able to think of a story so quickly.

 

“That’s rough!  But knowing him, he probably already had read it!”  Someone said and they were answered with a chorus of agreement and chuckles.

 

“Well, if you will excuse me…” Team said as he tried to move away from them.

 

“Are you signing up for swimming?  I didn’t see your name on the list,” asked the first boy who had approached him.

 

“No—I don’t think I will have time this year,” Team said and then tried to work his way through the crowd.

 

“Make sure you tell P’Win that we miss him the next time you talk,” a girl called to his retreating back.  Other voices chimed in with more messages they wanted him to give to Win, too.

 

Team stopped and turned to face them.  He nodded.  “Sure!  I promise—the very next time I talk to him, I will give him all of your messages!”

 

“Thanks, Team!  You’re the best!” someone called as he turned and continued walking away.  A few others echoed the sentiment, but Team didn’t stop this time.  He kept walking.  He tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone he passed in the hall because he didn’t want a repeat performance.

 

He stopped by the tutoring offices and told the Administer that he would be available to tutor more hours than he had in the past.  She was thrilled to hear it and the two of them sat down and coordinated their schedules.

 

After his ‘illness’, he had contacted a young boy in the neighborhood who he thought was a good kid.  He had taken him around to the houses where he tended lawns and had introduced him as their new lawn care person.  Some seemed sad to let Team go, one old man had even given Team a cup with #1 written on it.  It was from his cabinet.  It was probably just a re-gift of a gift he had received and didn’t want, but Team was touched.

 

When he returned home that afternoon after giving the boy all of his side jobs, he felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.  It was the last connection to Win that was severed.  Now he could just be Team and live the life he would have if they had never met.  But with a new cup, he thought with a grin.  He put it on his desk and gathered up all his pens, pencils, and markers, and put them in it.

 

And since he didn’t have the swim club anymore, or all his side jobs, he was free to do a lot more tutoring.  It actually paid much better than those lawn jobs, and he liked it better.  Plus, tutoring English and playing football were things he had accomplished on his own.  There was no connection to Win with either thing.

 

Team spent the first week of school avoiding eye contact with the other students and walking quickly in the halls.  He found that if he were with his friends, outsiders were not as apt to come up and question him about Win.  Although some still did.  During one of his first tutoring sessions, one young girl had spent most of the session peppering him with questions about Win.  He was trying to help three other students at the time, and her questions became disruptive.  Luckily the other students complained about her to the Administrator so he didn’t have to.  The girl was assigned to another tutor and given a lecture on proper behavior during tutoring.  The Administrator printed up signs and hung them in every tutoring room that stated that the staff would not tolerate any distractions in the future.  After the notices were posted, Team felt much more relaxed in the tutoring center.  He did find it a touch ironic after how he had spent his life complaining about signs and rules, that now signs and rules were the things that were making his life easier.

 

Kwan was in three classes with Team.  Team always had to smile about how he had fretted that he would never see Kwan again after Primary school ended, but every year they had numerous classes together.  Kwan even ate lunch most days with Team, Jai, Mali, and Namfon.

 

Football practice started the first day of school and they met every day.  Running plays with the guys, especially when it was with Jai, was Team’s main source of fun.  And he never worried about people asking him anything about Win because the guys on the team had known Team for years.  As Team, not as half the Win/Team duo.

 

Most days when they practiced, Mali and Namfon would sit together on the first row of the bleachers.  They usually just talked together or did their homework, occasionally looking up to watch a play on the field, or to call encouragement to Jai and Team.  The water stand was under their area, so they always talked to Jai and Team when they ran over for a water break.  They weren’t always there however.  Since they both desired careers in Science, they were members of the Science club.  Some days they had a club meeting and would miss the guys’ football practice.

 

Team missed them on those days.  He still found himself looking up at the stands and feeling a bit let down to see their empty seats.  Over the previous week since practices had started, Team had noticed a guy sitting about three rows above them during every practice.  He sat by himself and seemed to be watching the players practice, but Team liked to tease Jai that maybe the guy was there to be close to Mali.  Jai would always become irate and tell Team that he would break the guy’s face if he so much as spoke to Mali.  This amused the heck out of Team, so he was always looking for the guy to mention his presence to Jai.

 

Team peeked up at the stands and looked away with a grin.  Mali and Namfon had a Science club meeting that afternoon so they weren’t on the stands, but Mali’s mystery man was.

 

Team jogged over to Jai.  “I guess he hasn’t learned her schedule yet,” he said with a grin.

 

“He?  Who?” Jai asked and then looked at the stands.  He looked back at Team, “Not funny, bro!  You know how he makes my blood boil!”

 

Team laughed, “I wonder how long he will stick around today since she isn’t here.”

 

About midway through practice, Team jogged over to the water station.  On his way over, he looked up and saw the guy was still there.  Team grinned at the idea that he was probably just going to wait around and see if Mali showed up later.

 

He was in the middle of a drink when the guy trotted down the steps and approached the railing that separated him and Team.  “Excuse me,” he called, “Hi!  Uh…Hello!”

 

Team was surprised and lowered his cup, “Hello,” he answered.  He had a feeling that this guy was going to ask him about Mali.

 

“Uh…well…my name is Nick,” the guy said, “I’m new here.”

 

“To the school or to the country?  You have an accent,” Team said.

 

The guy frowned, “I do?  That’s weird!”  He shifted around a bit and looked out at the players on the field.  “Yeah, I’m new to both the school and the country.  I haven’t made any friends yet and I enjoy soccer so I come here to watch you practice.  I mean…you know…the team practice.”

 

Team gave a small nod, “Football,” he corrected.

 

“What?”

 

“We call it football.  Let me guess, you are from the U.S., aren’t you?” Team asked.

 

The guy’s jaw dropped a bit, “Yeah!  How did you know?”

 

“‘Soccer,’” he said with a grin.  “Almost everyone else in the world calls it football.”

 

“Oh!” he laughed a bit uncomfortably.  “Yeah, my dad is an American and my mother is Thai.  I came here to stay with my grandmother for a while.  My parents are…going through some…problems.  Uh…” he scratched a spot behind his ear, “I stopped you because…well, like I said, I haven’t met many people yet and I was wondering if maybe you would eat dinner with me tonight.  Maybe show me around a bit.”

 

“Okay,” Team answered.  He finished his water and threw the paper cup into the trash.  He turned to leave.

 

“Wait!” Nick called.  And Team stopped and turned back around.  “Uh…I…uh…I’m not sure how to say it in Thai….”

 

“I speak English,” Team answered in English.

 

“Oh!  You do!  That’s great!” Nick said enthusiastically and in English.  “It’s just…well, when I asked you to dinner…I meant it as a date.”

 

“I know,” Team answered.

 

“So…you are okay with that?  I mean, if you’re not, we could just go as friends.”

 

“No, I’m okay with it being a date.  I have to finish practice and then grab a shower.  Are you willing to wait?”

 

“Yes!”  Nick said, giving Team a huge smile.

 

“Okay, then…it’s a date!” Team laughed and turned to run back onto the field.

 

“Hey!” Nick yelled, “What’s your name?”

 

Team laughed and yelled, “Team!” over his shoulder, and then continued running back onto the field.

 

After practice, Team and Jai met up by their lockers.  “I saw you talking to that asshole,” Jai stated.  “What did he want?  Mali’s number?”

 

Team grinned, “No, actually we were wrong about that.”  He reached into his locker and pulled out his towel and then closed the locker door.  “It isn’t her that he is interested in.  It’s me!”

 

“What?  Are you kidding me?” Jai asked in a shocked voice.

 

Team laughed, “Nope!  He asked me out for dinner tonight.”

 

“But…you’re not going, right?”

 

Team frowned, “Of course I am!  He’s hot and he is interested in me.  Why wouldn’t I go?”

 

“Don’t you think it is too soon?  Oh…well…uh, I mean…you are just getting over that throat thing you had.  Maybe it would be better to wait a bit,” Jai stammered and his eyes darted around to avoid looking at Team.

 

Team’s scalp prickled a bit in irritation.  “That’s ridiculous!  I’m well enough to come to school and to practice football…I’m certainly well enough to go eat dinner somewhere!”

 

“Okay,” Jai mumbled, looking away.

 

Team studied Jai closely.  And then it occurred to him what Jai had meant.  Team was a bit surprised by it because he had never confided in Jai about…the person who had gone to college that Team refused to name.  He slowly exhaled, “I appreciate your concern; I really do.  But I am perfectly okay now and I am looking forward to my date tonight.”

 

Jai nodded, “Okay…um…after your shower, I have a small bottle of cologne in my locker that Mali gave me.  You can borrow some, if you want.”

 

Team smiled, “Thanks Jai, you’re a good friend.”

 

After Team showered and dressed, he accepted Jai’s offer of the use of his cologne.  “I have to be honest,” he confided, “I’ve never used any before.”

 

Jai nodded, “I hadn’t either until Mali bought it for me.  The key to it is to go very lightly with it.  It shouldn’t be obvious to anyone else, except for your special person, that you are wearing it.  Too many guys have a tendency to dump it on themselves.”

 

“Yeah, I know.  I think that is why I never wore it.  I always wonder what kind of smells they are trying to cover up with it!”

 

Jai nodded, “I’ve seen guys in here who skip their showers and just use body spray to cover up their sweat, so I agree with you on that!”

 

Team dotted on the cologne in the few places that Jai instructed and then gave him back the bottle.  Team enjoyed the faint scent that wafted around him when he moved.  It made him feel more confident, more adult, somehow.

 

He got out his watch and put it on his wrist.  This had the same effect as the cologne.  Small things, but they were visible signs that he was rushing into adulthood, and he was embracing it.

 

“Team?” Jai spoke and Team looked up after snapping the clasp closed.  “I want to apologize if I said anything…”

 

Team smiled, “No!  We’re good!  There’s nothing to apologize for.  I know you have my back and are just concerned.  I could never take offense at that.  And besides, I am so used to Namfon that I don’t think anyone could ever offend me again.”

 

Jai laughed, “She does have a tendency to speak her mind.”

 

“She does.  And sometimes that drives me insane, but it is actually pretty cool, too.  Just don’t tell her I said that,” Team joked.

 

“My lips are sealed.  And…I hope you have a lot of fun tonight.  You deserve it,” Jai said and he reached over and patted Team’s arm.

 

“Eww!” Team joked, “Let’s not get all mushy about it!”  He smiled, “Well, I guess I’d better get out there and see if he actually waited for me or if he stood me up.”

 

“He’d better be there because if he hurts you…I swear…I will break that asshole’s face!” Jai threatened jokingly, but Team could sense that it wasn’t totally a joke.

 

Team felt touched by his friend’s concern for him.  He nodded with a small smile, “Thanks.  And by the way, the asshole’s name is Nick.”

 

Jai gave a small chuckle, “Okay then—if NICK does anything to hurt you, I will break his face!  Is that better?”

 

“Yeah.  You have a thing about wanting to break his face, though.”

 

Jai shrugged, “Yeah, I’m not blind.  I knew, when I thought he was after Mali, that I am not nearly as handsome as he is.  I might have fantasized a few times about punching him in the face.  I’ll get over it!”  He grinned, “As long as he is good to you!”

 

Team grinned at him and then hurried outside.  Nick was standing right by the exit doors, waiting for him.

 

“Hello Team!” Nick greeted him in Thai.

 

“Hi Nick!” Team responded in English.

 

“I can’t believe that the first person I have actually spoken to here speaks English.  I honestly thought I was bilingual my whole life, but since I’ve arrived here, I’ve only understood about a fourth of what people are saying!” Nick said in English as he guided them towards the parking lot.  “Why do you speak English so well?”

 

Team shrugged, “I’ve taken English classes since early in Primary school.  My aunt is a flight attendant with a major airline, and she always brought me back comics and graphic novels that were written in English.  I wanted to be able to read them, so I worked hard on it.”

 

Nick stopped, “Here, this is my car.  Or rather…it is my grandmother’s car, but I’m using it.” He opened the passenger door for Team and then, after Team was settled in, he walked around to the driver’s side and got into the car.  “I’ll tell you the truth, Team, your English is amazing!  Much, much better than my Thai, and I grew up with a Thai mother!  Turns out, what I mainly learned from her were curse words and a few simple phrases!”

 

Team laughed, “Okay, let’s make a deal—you help me with my English and I will help you with your Thai!”

 

“But you don’t need help!” Nick protested.

 

“Actually, I do.  The only times I get to really speak English are in my Advance Placement English class and when I give tutoring sessions.  I haven’t had much experience with real conversations.”

 

“Well,” Nick said with a grin, “It is going to be rough for me to talk in English, but I will make the effort!”  He started the car, “Where are we going?”

 

“There is a place a couple of blocks from here.  It’s pretty popular with everyone from school.”

 

“That sounds great!”

 

Shadows were just starting to grow long as they reached the restaurant.  Team knew it was near ‘that’ time of day, so he kept his eyes averted to make sure he didn’t look toward the western sky.

 

It was just at the start of the dinner rush, but they were able to get a table.  Once they were seated, Team looked around at the people at the other tables.  He only recognized people from two tables—one table held a few of the guys from his old swim team and the other was a large table filled with girls who had been Win’s fans.  He quickly looked away from them and turned his attention onto Nick.  Nick’s brow was furrowed as he studied the menu.

 

“Is there a problem?” Team asked.

 

“Well…yes, but it is a problem with me, not the menu.  I think I read the first selection correctly, but I can only understand the word ‘boiled’ in the second selection.  I know it doesn’t say what I think it says!”  He looked up and gave Team and embarrassed grin.

 

Team grinned at that, “What do you think it says?”

 

Nick chuckled and gave a small shake of his head.  He leaned in and whispered, “Boiled bear’s beak.”

 

Team gave a shout of laughter and quickly covered his mouth.  He shook his head.  “Here, I’ll help you!”  He got up from his place across from Nick and walked around until he was behind him.  He bent down a bit and ran his finger down the menu as he translated it out loud to Nick.  When he finished reading the menu, they discussed what to order and then Team returned to his seat.  He noticed that a lot of people were watching them.  Some shyly and would quickly look away when Team caught their eyes, some—like the girls at the ‘fan’ table, openly stared at them, with no shame.  They didn’t bother to dart their eyes away when he looked in their direction.

 

A few of the guys from the football team came in and stopped by the table to say ‘hello’ to Team.  He introduced Nick to them and they chatted a moment or two, and then Team’s and Nick’s food order arrived at the table, so the guys moved on.

 

Nick took a bite and then smiled.  “This tastes like my mother’s cooking!  My dad hates it.  He says it makes the house stink.  Can you imagine that?  He actually leaves the house if Mom cooks anything Thai.  It’s probably why she cooks it so often.”  He laughed as he said that last part.

 

Team frowned slightly.  “But he married a Thai woman.  Did he expect her to stop being Thai?”

 

Nick was chewing so he nodded.  After he swallowed he said, “They are so mismatched, I can’t imagine why they ever got married.  And they fight so much; I am shocked they stopped long enough to conceive me!  What about you?  Your parents fight much?”

 

“No.  They tend to discuss everything to death, but they never raise their voices to each other.”

 

“No shit?  Wow, that’s pretty cool.  Almost everybody I know back home has bickering parents.  Mine are the worst of the lot though.  They recently decided to ‘work’ on their marriage,” he used air quotes on the word work.  “Intense therapy, they call it.  Anyway, I guess they needed total alone time, so that’s why I came to Thailand to bunk at my grandmother’s place.  I had only met her a couple of times before now, so I guess it’s kind of cool to get to know her.”

 

“Are you enjoying staying there?”

 

Nick shrugged, “Beats being at home with my parents.  And…my grandmother is pretty cool.  Not fond of her…I don’t know what to call him…boyfriend?  Kind of odd calling an older guy that.  I guess maybe I could call him her lover?  Whatever the term, I’m not a fan of his.  He either doesn’t like me or he doesn’t like teenagers in general.  He scowls at me all the time.  But we aren’t around each other much.  When he comes over they disappear into grandmother’s room to watch TV undisturbed, at least that is what they call it,” he laughed, “and they don’t come back out until morning.”

 

“That sounds like it is kind of lonely for you there,” Team could see the truth in Nick’s eyes.

 

Nick gave a small nod.  “I miss my friends, you know?  It’s hard to keep up with them while I am here and they are there.  Hey!  Do you like Western cuisine?”

 

Team blinked in confusion at the sudden change of topics.  “Uh…yeah.  I’m not picky.  I like pretty much anything.  As long as it is not spicy.  I don’t eat things with lots of peppers.”

 

“Oh, me either!  Rips my stomach up.  So we have something in common,” Nick said with a smile.  “I heard there was an American franchise hamburger restaurant in the next village.  Is that true?”

 

Team grinned, “Yeah, it’s a big draw.  Everybody from the school goes there at least once a month!”

 

“You too?”

 

“Well, I don’t drive, but when I can get a lift over there, I go.”

 

“Cool!  Then we’ll go there next time.”

 

Team looked down at his nearly empty plate to hide a smile.  They hadn’t even finished this date, and Nick was already talking about going out again.  Team wasn’t hating the idea.

 

When they finished eating, Nick picked up the bill and motioned for the server.  When she arrived, he handed her a credit card.  As she left the table, Team leaned in and said quietly, “I would be happy to split the check.”

 

Nick frowned, “No way!  You are my date and I’ll take care of you!”

 

They stepped outside to find the soft purple light of twilight time.  Team gave a little sigh of relief that the sun had sat while they were inside.

 

“So…what would you like to do?” Nick asked.

 

Team shrugged, “That’s up to you.  I’m supposed to be your guide.  Not much really to see here in the village—maybe Rick’s Place.”

 

“What’s Rick’s Place?”

 

Team laughed.  “It’s a shabby little bar.  The owner, who says his name is Rick—but I’ve always doubted that—he is a huge fan of ‘Casablanca’.  The movie, I mean.  Have you seen it?”

 

“‘Here’s looking at you, Kid,’” Nick quoted with a terrible Humphrey Bogart impression.

 

Team shouted with laughter.  “Oh no!  Keep your day job!”  He shook his head in amusement, “Okay, so anyway, ‘Rick’ opened a bar here…I don’t know, maybe thirty years ago or so.  He named it ‘Rick’s Café’, after the place in the movie.  Nobody has ever called it that.  It’s either ‘Rick’s Place’ or just ‘Rick’s’.  Lots of the kids from Secondary school hang out there.  Or rather, I should say lots of kids from Secondary school get drunk there.  The place is usually full, but on the weekends, it’s packed.  You can barely walk around in there.”

 

“I thought the legal age to drink in Thailand is 21?”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, that’s true.  But Rick pretends he doesn’t know that his customers are teenagers, and the cops don’t care.  They pop in and drink with us sometimes.  As long as there isn’t any trouble, they leave us alone.”

 

“Do you go there often?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I’ve only been there a few times.  My friends…the ones I am closest to, we usually just hang out together and do our own thing.”

 

“Which is…?” Nick prodded.

 

Team gave a quiet laugh, “I hate to tell you this…but I’m a bit of a nerd.  When the four of us get together, we are usually studying.”

 

Nick smiled, “No, don’t be embarrassed about that!  I love smart people.  They are the ones who really get somewhere in life.  So, by that, I am assuming college is in your future for sure!  What do you plan to study?”

 

“Business,” Team answered without giving it a thought.  But then he felt shock run through him.  “Or not.  It’s funny, but I have always answered that question the same way, since I was about 12, but now I’m not sure that’s what I really want to do.”

 

“That’s interesting!  Did I help you to have an epiphany?”

 

Team slowly nodded, “Yeah, I think you did.”

 

“I was wondering…do you think that maybe we could skip going to that bar?  I think I would like to take a walk along the beach, do you mind?”

 

Team smiled, “No, I don’t mind at all.  In fact, I think I would prefer it!”

 

They got into Nick’s car and Team directed him to the parking lot for the beach which was only a couple of blocks away.  Once they arrived, Team pulled off his shoes and socks and turned up his pant legs a bit.

 

“Is that necessary?” Nick asked as he watched Team.

 

“It is unless you don’t mind getting your shoes ruined.”  And apparently Nick did mind about his shoes, because he copied Team.

 

They walked side-by-side along the shore.  Team could see Rick’s Place up the beach.  The parking lot was packed and he knew the inside of it would be worse.  Lots of people walked or got dropped off there so they wouldn’t have to drive after drinking.  He pointed out the place to Nick.

 

“Wow!  You weren’t kidding when you said it was packed on weekends.  I’m glad we didn’t go.  We wouldn’t have been able to talk.  And speaking of talking, I would love to know more about that epiphany you had earlier!  Why did you say that you wanted to study Business but then corrected yourself?  Is your dad in business?”

 

“No, my dad is an electrical engineer in Rayong.  And my mother is a librarian here in the village.”

 

“Rayong?  Where’s that?” Nick asked.

 

Team grinned, “I won’t make fun of you for not knowing this is Rayong Province since you are new here.  The capital of Rayong Province is the city of Rayong.  It’s about, oh…maybe an hour and a half drive from here.  Longer if the traffic is bad.  My dad commutes.”

 

Nick nodded to show he understood, “So, where did you get the idea that you wanted to study Business in college?”

 

Team shrugged and scratched behind his ear.  Thoughts were racing through his head, “Please don’t make me think of him and the plans we made.  We were going to study together and then later get hired at the same place so we could be together every day of our lives.  Please don’t make me look at you while we are standing close so that I can tell that you aren’t as tall as he is.  And while you are very handsome, you’re not nearly as handsome as he is.  Your bones are too big and there is no soft, gentle curves to your cheeks.  I hate him, and I don’t want to think about him!  But I’m scared because I don’t know who I am without him!”  He forced a smile, “You know, I think I probably heard it on a show or something and thought it was cool at the time and it just stuck.”

 

“Yeah, that can happen.  But hey—now at least you can think about career options and choose one that you actually like!  You won’t be stuck living your life based on what you picked as a kid.”

 

Team exhaled slowly.  His heart had been racing with the panicky thoughts, but what Nick said made sense.  He reminded himself that he had vowed to live the life he would have had if he had never met that other person.  Thinking about what he might actually like to do as a career was a good step in that direction.  “I don’t think you told me—where in the U.S. are you from?”

 

“New York,” Nick answered.  “Upstate, not the city, but I do go into the city a lot.”

 

“It snows there, doesn’t it?”

 

Nick laughed, “Yes!  It snows a lot there.”

 

“What’s it like?  It’s always been my dream to see snow in person,” Team said.

 

“I’ve always been a fan of snow.  It’s like cold, fluffy, white raindrops but instead of disappearing into the ground or forming puddles, they pile up on top of each other.  And the world becomes quiet because the snow muffles sounds.  Everything smells clean and fresh because the snow grabs onto the dirt in the air and brings it down to earth and buries it.  When I was a kid, I used to love to stay outside in the snow, until my fingers, toes, ears, and nose all began to hurt from the cold.  I would run inside and kick off my boots and pull off my coat.  I would scuttle over to the fireplace and let the heat from the fire defrost my feet.  My mom would always make hot chocolate for me and I would drink it to warm me up inside too.  Those were good times.”

 

Team sighed, “That sounds amazing!  You said you did this as a kid—but not now?”

 

“No.  Now there is school and homework and other obligations.  Also now I have to go out and shovel and salt the walkway so no one falls.  That’s not fun.  And my mom…she isn’t home much anymore, so I would have to make my own hot chocolate.” He stopped for a moment, apparently lost in thought.  “You know, there is a funny thing I noticed about people who experience seasonal changes.  In the summer, when it gets super hot, people complain and wish it was winter.  But in the winter, when it gets super cold, people complain and wish it was summer.  The only times you hear people not complaining much is in the fall or spring—and yeah, I guess they still do then too if it rains too much to suit them.”

 

Team laughed, “I have heard of people moving here and obviously expecting life to be some kind of sunny, tropical paradise—until they realize that we average 118 rainy days a year, with unrelenting heat, and we have a huge population of lizards and bugs.  No place is perfect for everyone, I suppose.”

 

When they reached the area near Rick’s Place, they turned around and headed back the way they had come.  They could faintly hear the music from quite far away.

 

“Yeah, this was the better choice,” Nick said.  “There is no way we could have heard more than ‘huh?’ over that music!”

 

Team agreed.  They begin talking about the school and comparing classes to see if they had any near each other.  They discovered they had lunch at the same time.

 

“Odd—I’ve never seen you in the cafeteria,” Team remarked.

 

“I’ve seen you.  I imagine the reason you didn’t see me because you are always surrounded by your friends,” Nick said.  “I tried to get the courage up one day to walk over and talk to you, but I chickened out.”

 

“That’s slang, right?  Meaning you felt too scared?”  Team asked.

 

“Yes!  Very good!  Chickens, real chickens I mean, have a tendency to run away if approached by pretty much anything.  So they have the reputation of being cowards.”

 

“Oh, okay.  Thanks for teaching me that.  And…if you ever see me somewhere, you can come over and talk to me.  I don’t bite.”

 

Nick laughed, “Good to know!”

 

They were startled by the ringing of Nick’s phone.  He looked down at the screen.  “I’m sorry!  It’s my grandmother.  I have to take it.”  Nick walked a few feet away and answered his phone.

 

Team looked up at the dark sky and saw that a few stars had appeared.  A wave from the ocean rolled up over his feet, covering them with a few inches of water before receding.  He hurriedly stepped back a few feet with a shudder.  He hated the ocean.  It had ‘things’ in it.  Things that could eat you.  He shuddered again at the thought.

 

Nick hung up from his call and walked towards Team with a worried look on his face.  “She wants me to bring her some cake.  She figured I was out roaming alone—because that is what I ordinarily do.  I kind of feel like I have to—I’m living in her house and driving her car…”

 

“It’s okay!  Did she say where she wanted you to buy it?”

 

“No, she knows I don’t know where anything is.”

 

Team smiled at him, “Well, in that case, I know this little stand—it’s owned by this really old woman, and you would think by looking at her that she wouldn’t even be able to find an oven if it was two feet in front of her—but she bakes the most amazing cakes I have ever eaten!  I can show you where her stand is, if you want.”

 

They hurried back to the car and once there, they rolled down their pant legs, brushed off all the sand, and put their socks and shoes on before getting into the car.  Team directed Nick and they were soon at the old woman’s stand.  A lot of the stands near hers had already closed for the evening, but luckily, hers was still open.

 

The table in front of her had a few pre-cut slices that she had already wrapped.  Next to her, on a stand, was an uncut cake.

 

“How many pieces do you need?” Team asked Nick.

 

“I don’t know.  She didn’t say.  She just said ‘cake’,” he turned to speak to the old woman.  “How much is it for the whole cake?”

 

As they bargained for a price, Team looked down at a piece of cake near him.  It had white icing with a pink rose on it.  He blinked rapidly and turned his eyes away.  It had been a mistake to come to the stand, he realized.  He had forgotten that he bought a slice of cake here for that nameless person’s last birthday.  He gave a slight shake of his head as he forced that memory away.  He told himself that he would replace that old memory with a new one.  Of buying cake there on his very first date.  He looked over at Nick and caught his eye.  He smiled at him and Nick smiled back.  Team looked away and gave a slight nod.  That was the memory he was determined to save.

 

Nick and the old woman had reached a price that they both were happy with.  She carefully took the cake off the cake stand she had used to display it, and placed it in one of the cake boxes she kept under the table in her stand.  Just as she was about to close the lid of the box, she stopped herself.  “Wait,” she said.  “I want to bless it first!”

 

She pulled out an icing bag and she carefully wrote, “Love and Joy” on the top of the cake.  Then she closed the box and handed it to Nick.

 

Nick thanked her as they walked away from the booth.  “What a nice thing to do,” he exclaimed.  “If it tastes half as sweet as she was, I think my grandmother will be very pleased.”

 

Team grinned at him, “I am sure your grandmother will love it!”

 

When they reached the car, Nick placed the cake carefully in the backseat.  He checked his watch.  “It’s still early.  I have to drop this off to my grandmother.  Do you want me to take you home first?”

 

Team leaned back comfortably in the seat.  “I don’t mind going with you to your house to deliver the cake.  Unless you would rather drop me off first.”

 

“No!” Nick said abruptly.  He gave a little laugh, “I mean, no, I would much rather you come with me.  I actually hate the idea of this date being over.”

 

Team bit back a smile and turned to look out the window as Nick drove them back to his grandmother’s house.

 

When they entered the house, Nick called out that he was back with the cake.  His grandmother answered that she was in the kitchen and to bring it in there.  Team followed behind him as Nick led the way.

 

“Oh!  You brought a guest!  I’m glad to see that you are finally making friends,” she said.

 

Nick introduced Team to her and then showed her the cake.  “Ooh!  Such a big one!  I was only asking for one slice.”  She pulled the cake from the box and read the message from the old woman.  “Oh!  A cake with a blessing!  The two of you have to eat a bit of it too so we can all be blessed.”  She went to the cabinet and pulled out three plates.  She sliced huge slabs of the cake and put the pieces on each of their plates.  Team hadn’t wanted such a large piece, but to refuse would be bad manners, so he accepted it with his thanks.

 

They sat down at the dining table, and both of the boys watched the grandmother as she took her first bite of the cake.  They were anxious to hear her opinion on it.

 

“Oh,” she said quietly.  “This tastes like my grandmother’s cakes!  Nobody bakes in the old style anymore!  Where did you find this?”

 

Nick explained that Team had been the one who knew about the stand.  Team nodded, “It’s where I always buy cake when my mother sends me to get some.”

 

“This couldn’t have been made by someone very young.  I can tell by the taste and appearance of it.  This had to have been someone who follows the old ways.”

 

“She’s a very old woman,” Nick said.

 

His grandmother nodded, “And no doubt this recipe has been in her family for generations!”

 

The door to the outside opened and they all turned to watch an older man walking in.

 

“Oh!  Hello Beloved!” Nick’s grandmother said to the man.  “Would you like some cake?  The boys just brought it in with them.  It is wonderful, and the baker even blessed it for us.”

 

The old man looked at Nick and Team with a scowl.  “No,” he said in a low, deep voice.  “I want to watch my shows.”

 

The grandmother nodded, “You go on ahead; I’ll be in there in a minute.  I just want to say ‘goodnight’ to Nick and his friend.”

 

The man walked away.  His back was rigid and he mumbled under his breath as he went.  Nick’s grandmother watched him leave and then she turned to the boys with a grin.  “He is a grumpy old man, but,” she shrugged, “It is better than being alone.”  She picked up her plate and fork.  “I’ll just finish mine in there.  Now don’t you two go burning down the house!” she said with a grin.  “Team, are you staying the night?”

 

Team’s jaw dropped a bit and he could feel heat rising in his cheeks.

 

“No Grandma.  I’ll drive Team home in a bit,” Nick said quickly.

 

“Okay.  I just wanted you two to know that you wouldn’t be interrupted.  And I don’t judge.  Goodnight!”  She took her cake and went to her room.  She shut the door behind her.

 

“Sorry—she’s just…I told you though, she’s pretty cool,” Nick said.

 

Team nodded and took another bite of his cake.  “Nick?  I didn’t say anything before but this is too much cake.  I love it, but I think I will throw up if I eat all of this.”

 

Nick laughed, “I was about to say the same thing.  Come on, let’s get rid of it!”

 

They returned to the kitchen and scraped their plates into the trash.  Nick got them both bottles of water to rinse the cloying sweetness from their mouths.  Nick also tidied up the cake crumbs and put the cake box into the refrigerator.  Then he stopped in front of Team and stared at him.

 

Team shifted uncomfortably under Nick’s unrelenting stare.  “What?  Is something wrong?”

 

Nick’s gazed softened a bit.  “No, I was hoping that you had a trace of cake on your face, but I don’t see any.

 

Team reached up to feel around his mouth.  “Why?”

 

Nick smiled, “In almost every Thai drama I have watched since I arrived, one character always ends up with a spot on their face that the other character cleans off for them.”

 

Team grinned, “That’s just on TV!  Most people know how to eat without making a mess.”

 

“I know, and it’s a shame.  Usually it goes something like this…” Nick said, and then he got a paper napkin and carefully dabbed it at the corner of Team’s lips.  And then he slowly removed the napkin and leaned forward and placed his lips where the napkin had been.

 

Team had not been expecting it so he was not prepared for the wave of sadness that enveloped him.  His mind screamed to him that it wasn’t supposed to be Nick who got his first kiss.  It was supposed to be…

 

Team angrily pushed that thought away and pulled Nick closer to him.  He returned the kiss with more passion than he actually felt.

 

They kissed a few more times and Nick broke away to get a drink of water.  He walked a few paces away and said, “Right, umm…I think I should probably be taking you home now.”

 

“Why?” Team asked quietly.  He was worried that maybe he hadn’t done something right.  Reading about doing something and actually doing it, were two different things.

 

Nick took another drink of water before answering.  “Because if I don’t, I’m going to ask you to go up to my room with me.”

 

Team felt relief.  If Nick was thinking about that, then Team knew he must not have been too awful at kissing.  “Okay.”

 

Nick nodded, “Okay, let’s go.” He turned towards the outside door and took a few steps before Team stopped him.

 

“I didn’t mean that I wanted to go home.  I meant that I wanted to go to your room.”

 

“Really?”  Nick hurried over and kissed him hard and fast.  “Are you sure?”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I am.”

 

“I think we should discuss a few things first.  I always practice safe sex and I have always tested negative.  My last test was right before I left America and I haven’t been with anyone since.”

 

Team nodded as he absorbed the information that Nick had shared.  He never would have thought to ask anything like that and was grateful that Nick had offered the information.  Team realized he had lots of things to learn.

 

“And you?” Nick prompted.  “Do you know your status?”

 

“Well…I haven’t actually…” Team paused, not quite sure how he should phrase it.

 

“You haven’t been tested?” Nick supplied an answer.

 

“No, I haven’t been.  But…I haven’t ever…done, um… anything with anybody.”

 

“So… are you saying what I think you’re saying?  Are you a virgin?” Nick’s voice sounded shocked.

 

Team felt like his face was on fire.  “Uh…yeah.  Does that matter?”

 

Nick leaned his face into Team’s shoulder.  He shook his head ‘no’.  “The boys in this village must be blind or insane.”  He hugged Team tightly.  “Listen…this is a big step.  If you’re not ready, we can wait.  I’m not here to pressure you into anything.”

 

“I’m ready!  As long as you don’t mind teaching me because I really don’t know anything.  I’m afraid it might be boring for you.”

 

Nick gave a small chuckle, “Are you kidding me?  This just makes it more exciting!”  He broke away and looked around.  “I want to make it nice for you!”  He snatched up some fake flowers in a vase that his grandmother had on the counter and a candle from under the sink and then led the way up to his room.

 

Once they got to Nick’s room, he made Team sit down on the bed while he fixed things up nice for Team.  He placed the flowers and the candle on the night stand and lit the candle.  Then he set his radio on a station that played only soft music.

 

Then Nick came to the bed and slowly began kissing Team.  He kept calling Team “My Angel”.  Team really appreciated how seriously Nick was taking it…but…Team had to fight down the urge to laugh.

 

The flowers were covered in a layer of dust and the vase was spotted with grease from being too near the stove when someone was frying something.  The candle’s scent was ‘cookies and cream’—which was a nice smell, but not exactly romantic.  And within a very few minutes, since they were in a small, enclosed room, the smell became overwhelming.  It was so strong that it made Team’s head hurt.  The radio station was playing instrumental versions of oldies songs.  And the songs were at least thirty years old, if not more.  The music sounded like what was always playing in the background at grocery stores and in elevators.

 

Team scolded himself for his lack of maturity, and he forced himself to relax against the mattress.

 

 

A couple of hours later, Nick drove Team home.  They were holding hands on the center console.  Team was looking out of his window at the passing scenery.

 

Nick squeezed Team’s hand.  “Are you okay?”

 

Team turned to look at Nick and he laughed, “You keep asking me that.  I’m fine, I swear!  I’m just tired.”

 

“Mmm,” Nick said with a nod, “So am I.  But believe me, I’m not complaining!”

 

Team laughed and squeezed Nick’s hand and then turned back to his window.  “My house is on the next street.  You want to turn left and then it is the third house on the right.”

 

Nick sighed, “I wish you could have spent the night with me.  I loved lying there next to you.”

 

“I’m sorry, but tomorrow is Saturday.  I am tutoring most of the day,” Team explained.

 

Nick raised their joined hands to his lips and kissed Team’s.  “I know and I respect that.”  He slowed to a stop in front of Team’s house.  He gave a quiet laugh and squeezed Team’s hand.  “I don’t want to let you go!”

 

Team looked up at his house and saw some lights on in the back part of the house.  “It looks like my parents are still up.  I have to go.”

 

Nick reluctantly released Team’s hand.  Team opened the car door and stepped out of the car.  Good manners dictated that he should say something, but he didn’t know what it would be.  Nick solved his dilemma.

 

“Hey Angel?  Tonight was amazing.”

 

Team smiled, “Yeah, it was.”  He looked up at the house and then back at Nick, “I have to go,” he repeated.  “Good night!”

 

“Good night,” Nick said with a sad smile.

 

Team opened the gate and walked in, shutting it behind him.  He entered the house just as his mother was starting to go up the stairs.

 

“I’m having some trouble sleeping,” she said.  She showed him the cup she was holding.  “Warm milk.  Do you want some?”

 

Team snarled at the idea, “Eww.  No thanks!  I’m going up to bed.  I have a full schedule of tutoring tomorrow.”

 

“Are you okay?  You look flushed,” she said.

 

“I’m okay!  Promise!  Just tired, that’s all.”

 

She eyed him suspiciously but then nodded and went on to her room.

 

He went up to his bathroom and took a long, hot shower.  After he got ready for bed, he popped into his walk-in closet, as was becoming his nightly ritual.

 

On the top shelf of his closet, he kept his luggage stacked up neatly.  His largest one was on the bottom of the stack—he had never used that one because he had never gone on a trip long enough to need that many clothes, the next one was the medium-sized suitcase—this one he had used fairly often on family vacations and when he went to Chiang Mai, and the one on top was his travel backpack—this one was the one he used as a carry-on on all his trips.  He moved the carry-on bag aside and slid out the medium-sized bag.  He sat it on the floor and then gingerly sat down next to it.  He opened it up and pulled out the partially-filled bottle of whiskey he had hidden in it.  He made a mental note to buy another one as he removed the top and took a couple of big drinks from the bottle.

 

He leaned back with a sigh as the warmth flowed through him.

 

He thought about his day:  “First date, first kiss, first fuck.  I’m creating a brand-new life for myself.”  He took another big drink from the bottle and reminded himself that he had to get up early the next morning to go tutor kids in English all day so he shouldn’t drink anymore.  He put the cap back on the bottle and set it aside.

 

“Yeah, I’m doing great,” he whispered to himself.  “Hooray for me.”

 

He sat for a bit, lost in thought--memories that he continually tried to banish but still clung on tightly to the corners of his mind.

 

“Stop it!  Shut up!” he hissed to the memories that wouldn’t leave him alone.

 

He reached for the bottle.

Chapter 17

When he walked out of the tutoring center at the end of his work day, he was surprised to see his dad’s car in the parking lot.

 

“Hi son,” his dad called out to him from the driver’s side window.  “Do you want a ride?”

 

Team nodded and walked towards the car.  In truth, he didn’t really want a ride.  He had intended to stop by the liquor store and buy some more whiskey on his way home.  He had only left a tiny bit in the bottle the night before.

 

“So, what brings you here?” Team asked as he entered the car.

 

“I just figured after teaching all day, you might be dreading riding the bus home,” his dad answered as he backed out of his parking spot.  As he drove towards the exit of the lot, he said, “Also, I wanted to check in with you.  See how you are doing.  I thought maybe you would have an easier time talking if it was just us guys.”

 

Team shook his head and shrugged, “I’m fine.  Got no complaints.  My sessions all went well today.”  He had been battling a hangover headache during his morning sessions but it had eased up by noon.  He could feel it starting to stir back to life.

 

“That’s good…but that actually isn’t what I meant…”

 

“I know what you meant.  I’m fine.  I told you that before—after I exorcised my demons.  I am okay and getting better everyday.”

 

“Good.  I hope it stays that way.  But if it doesn’t…”

 

“I know where you live,” Team interrupted.

 

His dad nodded.  The rest of the trip home, they discussed the new player who had been added to the Rayong Amateur Adult Football League.

 

“I think he is too young—too rough around the edges,” his dad said.

 

Team laughed, “I suppose you think it would be better to have some old geezer who gets winded before the half!”

 

“Experience matters!” his dad argued.

 

“But where are they supposed to get this experience if not out on the field?”

 

His dad laughed, “Well, you got me there!”

 

They were in high spirits as they entered the house.  The headache that had been threatening to come back to Team had left in defeat.

 

They walked into the kitchen to find Team’s mother busily slicing meat.  “Hey!  Did you have a good day?” she asked Team and he assured her that he had.  “Good because we are going to have a good, old-fashioned Thai barbecue outside!  It seems like it’s been years since we’ve done that!”

 

“I guess I’d better go start the cooker than!” His father announced happily.

 

“Too late!  It’s already going,” she said as she handed him the platter of sliced meats.  “Take that outside.  Everything else is already in place.”

 

“How did you accomplish so much since I left?” he asked.

 

“You were gone for ages!” she complained.

 

Team’s dad laughed and looked at Team, “I couldn’t remember when your last session was.  I might have sat in the parking lot for a while.”

 

Team laughed and followed his parents outside.  They took their time and enjoyed their food.  Team’s mom was on Team’s side about the new Rayong player.

 

His dad pretended to be angry, but Team could see the laughter in his eyes.  “The two of you are always ganging up on me.  I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that you planned it!”

 

“Keow, we don’t have to plan anything.  It’s obvious that we are always right and you are always wrong!  You should just learn to accept that,” Team’s mother quipped.

 

Team could hear his father playfully blustering over that comment and his mother’s snappy comeback, but his gaze was on the feeding station.  A few brave birds were there, enjoying their dinner, in spite of the humans in the yard.  Team loved the feeding station.  He loved remembering that it was his cracker crumbs and a few hungry birds that inspired the entire set-up.  It had become a source of enjoyment for the entire family.  There were even times when he would stand inside, at the patio door, and watch them.  That’s when the most birds came to feed—when they felt unobserved.  He had thought a lot in the past about putting up a webcam, so he could watch them whenever he wanted.  He began to think again about what it would take to do that.  After a while, he realized his parents had fallen quiet.  He turned to look at them and found them watching him.

 

His mother cleared her throat and leaned forward.  This caused alarm bells to go off in Team’s head.  At the same time, his father leaned back in his seat and rubbed his chin.  Team’s headache stirred and threatened to reemerge.  The two of them had something they wanted to talk to him about and apparently this dinner was just a ruse.

 

“Team…your father and I have been talking, but we aren’t exactly sure how to bring this up,” she started.

 

“It’s not about him is it?  Because if it is…” Team said, starting to get up from his chair to leave.

 

His mother placed her hand on his arm and gently pushed him back into his seat.  “No!  I promise, it isn’t.  We wouldn’t do that.  No…it’s about the jasmine plants.  We know that you have been…well…busy lately and we wondered…” she said before Team’s dad interrupted her.

 

“They’re getting pretty weedy, son.  We wondered if you would mind if we did a bit of gardening for you.”

 

“The jasmine?” Team asked with a sour smile.  “I don’t care.  You can do whatever you want with them.  Let them choke to death on weeds, dig them up, burn them…I couldn’t care less.”  He gave a bitter laugh, “We used to play this game when we were kids.  It was called ‘secret-secret’.  We had to tell each other our deepest, darkest secrets—that no one else knew.  At the time, I was twelve and all about toxic masculinity and gender ‘norms’ so the secret that I shared, that I couldn’t tell a soul, was that I loved jasmine.  He bought those first jasmine seeds and made up a story about me winning them in a contest.  All those vines and bushes came from him.  Gifts over the years.  He’s the one who always tended to them, not me.  So you can see why I don’t give a damn what happens to them now.”

 

“Oh Team!” His mother’s face was full of sorrow.  “We didn’t know!  We wouldn’t have brought it up…”

 

Team nodded, “I know, Mom.  It’s okay.  I’m going to go in and take a shower.  It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”

 

He walked away from the table and then heard his dad say quietly, “You told him you liked jasmine and he made you a garden.”

 

“KEOW!!!” his mother exclaimed in shock.

 

Team turned around and said, “That’s not helpful, Dad.”

 

His dad looked at him with shame on his face, “I’m so sorry!  I didn’t even realize I had said it out loud!”

 

Team sighed, “Look—I know what that’s like.  You knew him to be a certain type of person but that’s not who he really is at all.  That was all an act.  Frankly, I am surprised he managed to keep it up as long as he did.  Your mind doesn’t want to accept the new facts because of it.  Yeah, I have been there, I get it.  Don’t worry about it; I’m okay.  Just going to go shower now.”

 

He walked briskly up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him.  He hurried over to his closet but midway he stopped when he remembered that he hadn’t left much in the bottle last night.  He had intended to pick up more on his way home from his sessions.

 

“Shit!” he hissed.  And shook his head.  He was going to have to go back out and buy some more.  But if he remembered correctly, there was still a bit left.  As he reached his closet, his phone sounded the alert for an incoming message.  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw the message was from Nick.  He leaned against the closet door and read the message.

 

Angel—I know all the experts say you should wait 24-48 hours before making contact, but I couldn’t wait any longer.  I wanted to call you the instant you got out of the car last night and I have fought the urge ever since.  I miss you.  That sounds weird, right?  I don’t know—we just met but suddenly all I can think about is you.  Can I see you tonight?

 

Team exhaled and all his stress melted away.  He went into his closet, but instead of going for the suitcase with the whiskey bottle in it, he searched through his nice shirts hanging on the rod.  He grabbed one with a smile and then hurried over to his dresser to get the rest of the clothes he would need.  Once in the bathroom, he sent a text back to Nick:

 

Can you pick me up at my house in about forty-five minutes?

 

Nick sent back a toothy, smiley face emoji with the words—I’ll be there!

 

Team took a quick shower and got dressed.  When he felt like he looked the best that he could, he trotted down the steps.  He popped into the kitchen where his mom was sitting at the table and his dad was washing his hands in the sink.  Team noticed that there seemed to be a lot of dirt coming off his dad’s hands, so he averted his gaze.

 

“Yesterday I met a guy who has just arrived here from the U.S. to stay at his grandmother’s house for a while.  His name is Nick.  We went on a date last night and we are going out again tonight.  Okay—well, that’s all I had to say,” he turned on his heel and walked out.  But not before he saw the shock on his dad’s face and the slow smile that appeared on his mom’s.

 

Later that evening, Nick held Team in his arms as they watched an American drama on Nick’s laptop.  Their empty cake plates and forks rested on the nightstand next to Team.  He was grateful that Nick hadn’t thought to light the cookies and cream candle this time.  The air wasn’t filled with a sickening sweet smell.

 

Team reached over and paused the video.  The drama had been set in California, and it made Team curious.  “Have you ever been to California?”

 

Nick nodded, “Yeah, once.  But I was little and I don’t remember much about it.  I have been all over America, but it was back before my parents decided it was much less costly to just stay home and fight.”

 

“Where’s the best place you’ve been?”

 

Nick chuckled, “Here, in this bed, with you!”

 

Team grinned but shook his head, “No!  I’m being serious!”

 

Nick smiled, “So am I.”

 

Team sighed and nestled his head back onto Nick’s shoulder.  He pushed the play button to restart the drama and then closed his eyes.  He twined his bare legs around Nick’s and then drifted off to sleep.

 

Luckily he had sat his alarm on his phone to wake him up before his curfew because Nick had also fallen asleep.  The laptop was still playing the drama, but it was an episode or two beyond the last one that Team had seen.  They had to remove the laptop and untangle their legs to get up.

 

“This sucks,” Team grumbled.  “I have to get dressed to go home, so that I can get undressed to go to bed.”

 

Nick pulled Team close, “Then just spend the night here.  Grandmother won’t mind.”

 

“My parents would,” Team argued.  “My birthday is coming up.  Maybe after I turn 17, they will loosen up the rules a bit.”

 

“It’s a shame you told them we were dating,” Nick said as he pulled on his jeans and zipped them up.

 

Team was about to pull his shirt on but stopped to look at Nick in surprise, “Why?”

 

Nick shrugged, “If they thought I was just a friend, you could have gotten permission to spend the night.  But since they know we are dating…that probably won’t happen now.”

 

“Oh.  Right!  I should have kept it quiet!  That was stupid of me!”

 

Nick smiled and shook his head, “Not stupid.  Innocent.  You’ve never had a lover before; of course you don’t know how to…get around certain obstacles—namely, your parents.  But it’s fine.  We’ll just keep waking up to drive across town to make it home before your curfew for as long as it takes.  But, I do agree…it sucks.”

 

“I should get my driver’s license.  At least that way you wouldn’t have to go back out to take me home.”

 

“No, there’s no need for you to do that!  At least this way I can see to it that you make it home safely.  You worry too much, Angel.  Taking care of you is my pleasure.”

 

They were quiet on the way home.  They held hands on the console again and Nick set his radio to the soft, instrumental music station that he had played the night before.  Team grinned at the elevator music playing, but it was a sweet gesture and he gave Nick full credit for trying to be romantic.

 

As soon as he got in his house, he made his way into his room.  He didn’t bother to undress, just laid on the bed and waited for Nick to text.  He was already dozing when he heard the alert.  He read the text and typed a quick message.  He put his phone down and fell into a deep sleep.

 

The next morning was the first time he woke up without a hangover in weeks.  Shortly after finishing breakfast, Nick called and asked Team to spend the day with him.  Of course Team agreed.  That night, he came home and fell into bed, just like the night before.

 

Team took Nick around and introduced him to all of his friends.  There were sly smiles and a few eyebrows were raised in curiosity, but Team just smiled.

 

Team noticed that when Nick was at his side, Win’s friends and fans didn’t approach him with questions anymore.  Team finally felt as if he could catch a breath.  That stress was gone from his life.

 

By the end of the week, Nick formally asked Team to be his boyfriend.  They both laughed about it because they had barely left each other’s side since they met; unofficially boyfriends from their first date.  But after they made it official, Team took Nick home to meet his parents.

 

That night he had another dolphin dream.  It had been so long since he had had one, he had forgotten about them, but as soon as he entered the dream, he knew where he was.  A few things were different in this dream than in the other dolphin dreams though.  The most obvious change was that there was no dolphin in this dream.

 

The sun had sat and it was dark.  Team was alone.  He could still hear the people on the boat calling his name and trying to get him to climb up the ladder and get on board with them.  He ignored them, and searched as far as his eyes could see, but there was no sign of the dolphin.

 

“Angel?”  Team could hear Nick’s voice calling to him.

 

“Nick?  Where are you?” he called back.

 

“I’m on the boat!  Join me!”

 

Team looked up at the boat and he could see Nick standing by the ladder.  He was bending down with his hand extended.  “Come on, Angel, grab my hand.  I’ll help you up.”

 

“I can’t, Nick.  I have to find the dolphin,” Team said.  He wanted to leave the side of the boat and swim around to see if he could find him.  But he couldn’t move.

 

“The dolphin is gone, Team.  The only things in the water are bad things that can hurt you.  I want to protect you and take care of you.  Climb up.”

 

Team continued to search.  “He’s not gone.  He’s still here.  I just can’t see him.”

 

“No, Team, he’s gone.  Forever gone.  But I’m here.  Take my hand before something in the water hurts you!”

 

Team searched the water frantically.  He told himself that if he spotted the dolphin, this time he was going to be brave enough to swim with him, and turn his back on the boat forever.  He searched and searched but there was no sign of the dolphin.  The sky was dark and the ocean had turned black.  He was afraid.

 

He looked up and saw Nick’s pleading eyes.  With a sigh, he reached up and grabbed Nick’s hand.  Nick pulled him onto the boat.

 

Team, stood on the deck of the boat and looked back at the water.  Even in his dream he realized he had finally made a decision.

 

 

 

The first three months of Team and Nick’s relationship were amazing.  The second three months were a bit harder.  In fact, by their sixth month together, things were more than a bit rocky sometimes.  It was one of these occasions where he met up with Jai, Mali, and Namfon at a nearby park on a Sunday afternoon to study for their exams, which were coming up the following week.

 

They had been studying for awhile and had unanimously decided to take a break.  Team was peppering them all with questions of what had been going on in their lives.  Of course he still saw them often, but Nick was usually with him, and they didn’t speak as freely around him as they did when he wasn’t there.

 

As he was telling them about a concert that he and Nick had gone to the previous week, for a nanosecond, he saw a look come across Namfon’s face when he said Nick’s name.  He glanced at his other friend’s faces and found them to be perfectly neutral.  Too perfectly neutral to be real.

 

“Okay…why do you all hate Nick?”

 

“Oh no, Team!  We don’t hate Nick!  Not at all!”  Mali protested.  She waited a second and when he didn’t say anything, Mali elbowed Jai.

 

“If you are happy; we’re happy!” Jai said with a smile that was a bit too wide.

 

Team had heard all of them say that to him many times, even Namfon who would never lie to anyone, not even to protect their feelings.  ‘If you are happy; we’re happy’, but never something like, ‘I’m glad you found each other!’, ‘The two of you are the perfect couple!’, ‘Nick’s a great guy!’  Team felt stunned that he hadn’t realized any of this before.  He searched the faces of his three closest friends.  Mali and Jai both were wearing smiles that were two sizes too big.  Namfon refused to meet his eyes.

 

“What about you, ’Fon?  What’s your opinion?”

 

“Team!” Mali said quickly, “You know she feels just like we do!”

 

Team looked away from Mali, “’Fon?”

 

“Don’t ask me, Team.  You know me well enough,” Namfon answered.

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I do.  Come on, let’s go for a walk together.”

 

She shook her head, “I don’t want to go.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because you are going to ask me questions that I don’t want to answer.  I don’t want to hurt your feelings,” she answered.

 

Team smiled.  Most people would have said that they were too tired to go for a walk, or their feet hurt, or some other excuse.  Namfon couldn’t even tell a social lie like that.  That was why he was determined to speak to her alone.  Mali and Jai would keep that from happening if they stayed at the table with them.

 

He nodded, “I understand.  Let’s go.”

 

“Oh Team, there’s no reason for that!  Let’s just order some nice snacks to eat while we are studying and forget all this,” Mali offered.

 

Team shook his head ‘no’.  Namfon heaved a heavy sigh and got up from her seat.  She and Team strolled off together.

 

When they got out of earshot of Mali and Jai, Namfon said, “You shouldn’t be asking other people about your relationship.  Whatever is there or isn’t there, that should be between the two people in the relationship, not voted on by friends.”

 

Team had to nod at that.  It was very true.  “Okay, I agree with that.  It makes sense.”

 

“Good, then let’s go back now,” she suggested.

 

“No, I still want to know.”

 

“Team, you were the first friend I ever made, which makes you the most important one to me.  I don’t want to be put in the position where something I say causes you pain.”

 

“I’m a big boy, I can handle it.  And I know who you are—I know your strengths and your weaknesses—I’m not ever going to expect you to be someone you are not.  For instance, Mali.  Mali will do anything in her power to paint the world as a beautiful place.  It is very soothing to be around her.  But you aren’t her and she isn’t you.  I don’t want a rosy, happy sentiment right now.  I would like to hear some truth,” he stated.

 

She gestured to a park bench under a tree nearby and Team nodded.  They walked over and sat down together.  “Okay, the total truth is…and this is just me, I am not speaking for the group—I don’t like Nick and I never have.”  She looked at Team to see how he was taking this information.  Team sat quietly and waited for her to continue.  Finally she gave a quick lifting of her chin and then said, “I think he is a social climber whose goal it was to get in with the football players.  I’m not saying he doesn’t like you—I am sure he probably does—but you were the key to get into the group he wanted.”

 

Team received this news like a kick to the stomach, but once the pain from the blow to the gut began to subside a bit, he realized that it was probably true.  Nick’s entire social group was composed of guys from the team.  And they were the defensive players, whereas he and Jai were part of the offensive players.  He looked over at her and met her searching eyes.  “Okay, continue.”

 

“It’s Sunday.  For months we hardly saw you outside of school, but now you are free every Sunday.”

 

He huffed playfully, “Are you complaining that I am coming around too often?”

 

“I am wondering what happens every Saturday.  And I also wonder where he is on Sundays while you are with us.  He never calls you or pops by wherever we are studying, and he is the clingy type so that doesn’t seem to fit.”

 

Team reached up to scratch his head.  He had intended to interrogate her, but somehow she had turned the tables on him and was asking the questions.  He opened his mouth a few times to answer her before closing it again.  Then he shrugged, “You’re right, we have been having problems and yes, they get worse on Saturdays.  He hates that I spend the day tutoring and has been after me for months to give it up.  He says he wants to spend that time with me.  But I’m under contract so I can’t just quit.  And he doesn’t understand that I need to earn money—he comes from a wealthy family.  But even if those two things weren’t true, I enjoy tutoring.  I won’t give it up.  So we argue about it—he accuses me of not caring about his feelings, which of course I do, but I can’t just quit my job because he misses me!  Then, usually while I am still at the tutoring center, he leaves town with a few of the guys from the team.  He gets back home late Sunday night.  Then we fight and make up usually on Monday or at the latest by Tuesday.”  Team realized that by the time he stopped talking, he felt deflated and out of air.

 

“Would you explain this to me like I am 5-years-old?” she asked.  “Help me to make sense of it because this is what I am hearing:  He is angry because you spend the day, once a week, tutoring students.  He feels neglected and misses you during those times because he feels like it cuts into time that the two of you could be sharing.  So then he disappears for two days?  What about those hours that the two of you could be together?”

 

Team shrugged, “I’ve asked him the same thing.  He says it is to show me what it feels like to be left alone.”

 

“So…he is punishing you?”  She turned to look him full in the face, “Do you feel punished by him being gone?”

 

Team licked his lips.  And then slowly shook his head.  “Not really, no.  It kind of feels like a rest period.  Nick is…well, Nick is a bit intense sometimes.  It can be a bit exhausting.”

 

“Controlling is the word you are looking for,” she supplied.  “What do you think he is doing on these weekend trips of his?  Do you think he is cheating on you?”

 

“I don’t know.  I would like to think he isn’t—he has asked me numerous times to marry him after we graduate.  But…let’s just say that I am glad we always use protection.”

 

“Protection?” she almost screamed the word, “I am glad you are being careful, but Team!  Honestly!  You deserve to be with someone who makes you happy!  Someone who respects you and the work you do.  Not someone who picks a fight with you to give him an excuse to go out messing around!  And then you sit here, telling me this, like you don’t even care…”  She suddenly paused in her rant.  Then she whispered, under her breath, almost as if she were talking only to herself, “Oh!  Training wheels!”

 

“Training wheels?” repeated Team, who was bewildered.  It was an example of another trait that Namfon was famous for.  Her mind was so quick that she was often several steps ahead of everyone else.

 

She waved it away.  “I would like to change topics now,” she announced.  “Did you know that you and I went to the same Primary school?”

 

Team shook his head, “I had no idea!  I don’t remember ever seeing you there.”

 

“Well, let’s be honest, I don’t exactly stand out in a crowd.  I was even worse back then.  ‘The strange girl who hides in the shadows and pretends to read’ while all the other kids are playing.”

 

“Namfon!  I’m so sorry!  I would have been your friend…” Team began.

 

“I know you would have, Scooby.  But that isn’t why I told you this.  I want to know if you knew that they almost didn’t re-open our old Primary school this year.”

 

Team frowned as he searched his memory, “No, I don’t remember hearing anything about that!”

 

“Oh yeah!  That’s right!  It was right before the school year began.  You were having that problem with your throat.  I’ll tell you, I was worried about you with that!  It took over a month before your voice finally came back to normal.”

 

“Yeah, it wasn’t much fun,” Team suddenly felt as if he had been thrust back into those dark days.  He didn’t want to dwell in them, so he asked, “So, what about the school?  Why weren’t they going to re-open it?”

 

“A man who lives near the school contacted the police and claimed the school grounds were haunted and it wasn’t safe there.  He said he was walking his dog late one night and he heard something…” she paused.

 

Team felt all the hairs on his body stand up as he broke out in chills.  “The laughter of ghost children?” he whispered.

 

“No, it was…” she stopped and then looked at him with a frown, “Why did you say that?  Have you heard something there?”

 

“No!  No, of course not,” Team denied.  He swallowed quickly and it made an audible sound.

 

Her frown didn’t fade but she continued, “He heard an angry spirit, or so he claims,” she bent down and picked a long blade of grass.  She fidgeted with it while she told the story.  “He said he heard screams coming from the football field.  He said at first, he thought it was a person that needed help.  He went in that direction but as soon as he saw the figure, he stopped.  He said that the figure was standing alone in the center of the field, staring up at the sky.  It was screaming, but not words…just sounds.  Earlier, from a distance, the old man had thought it sounded like words.  The old man was terrified by this apparition, according to his statement.  He said that he never would have gone anywhere near the figure if he had realized it was making nonsense sounds.  He said that he thought that the figure was a demon, summoning his master—which of course, everyone knows—that is a lot worse then just a simple ghost!  He said it took a long time, but eventually the figure stopped screaming and then it seemed to melt into the ground.  The old man and his dog ran away then.  He said that he returned later that night, just as dawn was approaching.  No sooner did he arrive then the thing on the ground rose up.  It was foggy so he couldn’t see clearly, but he said that the figure pulled up something large from under the ground and began pushing it across the football field.  And the figure had also apparently developed a hunchback during its time on the ground.  The old man was too frightened to stay so he ran away again.”

 

“Well…that’s quite… a bizarre story,” Team had to force the words out.

 

She nodded, “It is, isn’t it?  For the next week, the police along with some parent volunteers of the school’s students set up surveillance at the field.  That’s when it was announced that the school might not re-open.  The figure didn’t return during that time, so it is assumed that whatever nefarious thing it was doing out there, it had already completed it or it had failed and the creature moved on to a different place.  After much debate, it was decided that the school was free to re-open—although I have heard that a few of the parents were still worried about it and pulled their kids out.”

 

“Wow, that’s so weird!”  Team tried to sound unbothered by her tale.

 

“A bit farfetched, isn’t it?” she asked.  She tossed down the blade of grass she had been playing with.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away the green grass ‘blood’ from her hands.  “While I believe the old man’s story, the scientist in me doesn’t agree with his conclusions.  ‘Occum’s Razor’ comes to mind.”

 

“I’m not a scientist so I don’t know what you are talking about,” Team said scratching his head.

 

She smiled, “Well, to put it simply and a bit inaccurately, one could say that the easiest explanation is probably the correct one.  If I were to have observed that scene as the old man described it, I wouldn’t have thought ghost or demon.  I would have assumed it was a human.  And by the screaming, I would assume that the human was terribly distraught, with more pain than they could handle.  Also, the thing that the figure pulled out of the ground?  That sounds to me like the figure picked up something—probably a bicycle, since the figure is described as being a hunchback.  You know, if the person was exhausted he…or she…might lean on the bicycle a bit as they pushed it.  And I bet that, if the screaming was like the old man said, it would cause a severe strain on the vocal cords.  Probably take weeks for it to heal.  Of course, I don’t study medicine, so I could be totally wrong about the healing time.”

 

They sat in silence for a while.  Team was surprised to find that even though she still was an avowed truth teller, she had learned to not be so blunt.  He thought about how the first time Nick had asked him out on a date, Jai had been worried that it was too soon for him.  Jai tried to cover it up by mentioning Team’s throat infection but at the time, Team had felt as if Jai knew more.  So now he had to face the fact that they all knew.  And while he loved having smart friends, he kind of wished they weren’t that smart.

 

“Do you remember what we were talking about before I started that story?” she asked.

 

“I remember, but I didn’t understand it.  You said ‘training wheels’.”

 

She nodded and then gave him a tiny smile.  “Training wheels are used when people don’t feel confident enough or strong enough to ride a bike with no help.  They come in handy.  But eventually the person is ready to remove the training wheels and ride on their own.  It is up to the person though to decide when that time is right.”

 

Team shook his head and then grinned at her.  “That was a pretty good metaphor.”

 

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?” she laughed.  “Let’s go back now.”

 

As they began to walk back, Team jokingly said, “I can’t believe you lied to me.”

 

“I didn’t!” she argued.

 

“Well, you did pretend that you didn’t remember what we were talking about before your story, which wasn’t a blatant lie, but in the ballpark of it,” Team teased.

 

“No, I asked you if you remembered, I didn’t say that I didn’t remember.”  She answered with a grin.

 

“So you never liked him?  Not even in the beginning?” he asked.

 

She sighed, “I didn’t actively dislike him back then.  I just knew he wasn’t Shaggy.”

 

Team gave a small laugh, “No, he’s not shaggy!  He keeps himself very neat and tidy.”

 

“Not that kind of shaggy, Team!  You know what I mean.”

 

“Oh…so, it’s not Kwan, even though he is around all the time?”

 

“No, Kwan is a reoccurring guest star.  You have to be the one to find Shaggy.  Remember, Scooby is a member of the group, but he only belongs to Shaggy, and that is not Nick, in my opinion.”  They were approaching the table where Jai and Mali were sitting, still studying hard for the upcoming exams.  She stopped suddenly when they were still about twenty feet away.  “We all know that I can’t lie, which is why you took me for that walk, but Team—you try to lie and you are terrible at it.”  She turned her face up to him and said in a low voice, “One day I want you to tell me about the ghost children’s laughter that you heard at our old school.”

 

 

Chapter 18

The week leading to midterms was exhausting.  Team couldn’t devote as much time to his own studies as he wanted because Nick needed a lot of help.  In spite of being surrounded by the Thai language for months, he really hadn’t grasped it as much as he could have.  It probably didn’t help that the two of them always communicated in English.

 

“I’m going to fail!” Nick said angrily, slamming his textbook closed and shoving it away from him.

 

“No you’re not!” Team assured him as he retrieved the textbook from where it had fallen to the floor.  He handed it back to Nick, “You have a good start on it!  You just have to keep trying.”

 

Nick sighed and opened the book up to the page he had been studying.  “I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I am going to contact my dad and have him enroll me into a home schooling course in America.”

 

“So…you’re going to quit school here?” Team was stunned.

 

“Yeah, it’s stupid to keep trying if I don’t understand what the work is.  My grades will fall and I won’t be able to get into a good college.  Just because my parents can’t get along is no reason that my entire life has to be ruined by coming here.”

 

“Wow.  Okay.  Your life has been ruined by coming here.  Thanks a lot,” Team said it half in jest but underneath the joking tone, he was actually a bit upset about that comment.  He had done everything in his power during the relationship to make Nick happy and now he was even passing up on his own studies to help Nick with his exam prep.

 

Nick rolled his eyes, “Come on, you know I didn’t mean it that way.  Why do you want to fight all the time?”

 

Team sighed as he gathered up his own textbooks.  “You’re right, there’s no reason to fight.  Again.  I’m going to go home so I can study.  I forgot to bring some of my notes.”

 

Nick leaned back against his headboard.  “I’m not leaving right now, so just how do you plan on getting there?”

 

Team shrugged, “I’m pretty resourceful—I’m sure I can find my way home.”  He got up and headed towards the door.

 

“Stop!  You know I didn’t mean you.  I am frustrated with studying and maybe I picked the wrong words.  Let’s study some more and I will drive you home later.”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I really have to do some of my own work.  I’ve postponed it for too long.  But…before I go, there is something I have been wanting to talk to you about.  After exam week, school is out for three weeks.  The coach expects everyone on the team to go to football camp…”

 

“No!  There is no way in hell that you are going to take off for three weeks and leave me here alone!”  Nick said.  He shot up off the bed and was in Team’s face before Team could see him coming.

 

“I thought maybe you might be flying back home to visit with your parents.  You haven’t seen them in months,” Team explained.

 

“I don’t give a shit about seeing them!  I’m staying here but I swear, if you go to camp, we’re done!”  Nick threatened.

 

“If I don’t go, my spot on the team might be given to someone else next year.”

 

“So?  Big deal.  What’s more important to you?  That team or me?”

 

Team sighed, “You, of course.  But you know it is possible to be in a relationship and have outside interests.”

 

“I don’t mind your football practices or your games.  I hate those tutoring sessions—they ruin every weekend for us—but I don’t complain.  But I have to put my foot down over this!  You will be staying home during the break.”  Nick said forcefully.

 

Team wanted to roll his eyes at the statement about how Nick never complained about his tutoring sessions.  It’s all he ever did.  Team didn’t want to go through another endless fight, which is all they seemed to be doing lately so he begrudgingly agreed not to go to camp.  He felt sick inside though.  He had been looking forward to going back to Chiang Mai.

 

Nick drove Team home, but he complained the entire trip.  He offered to wait for Team to get the notes he had forgotten and then they could return to his grandmother’s house, but Team claimed he had a headache.  He said that he thought he needed to lie down for a while.  Nick huffed angrily as he drove away.

 

Team came into his house and went directly upstairs.  He put his books down on his desk and then lay down on his bed.  He thought about how Namfon had called Nick his training wheels.  At the time, his mind had wanted to reject that, but now—he wasn’t so sure.  ‘Training wheels’ was Namfon’s way of suggesting that Nick had been a rebound for Team.  Team hated to think that.  He wanted to believe that he and Nick were in love, but as the time they had been together had progressed, his feelings for Nick had paled in comparison to what they once were.  And as much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, the feelings hadn’t been that strong even in the beginning.

 

He rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow.  He knew the end was coming.  He really didn’t want to be the one to end things though.  He allowed himself to briefly think of his own devastation when Win had left the village and cut communications between them.  He didn’t want to make Nick feel like that.  Underneath it all, Nick was a good person.  He didn’t deserve to feel what Team had felt.

 

With a groan he acknowledged to himself that he wouldn’t be able to break up with Nick.  If a break up ever occurred between them, it was going to have to be Nick who ended things.  Team sat up and fluffed the pillow.  He punched it a few times.  The thing about that was…Team knew that Nick wouldn’t do it.  Team felt trapped.

 

Exam week came and then passed.  They wouldn’t know their grades until after the vacation, but in spite of not having studied as much as he wanted, Team felt as if he had done pretty well on the exams.  He never once looked at a question on any of the tests and wondered what it was referring to.  He managed to answer every question on every test.

 

Things changed between Nick and Team during the vacation.  Nick’s grandmother and Team’s parents all worked during the day.  This gave them a lot of time alone.  Nick and Team would get together as soon as everyone had gone to work that day, and they would soon hurry off and crawl back into bed.  Sometimes it was at Nick’s place and sometimes it was Team’s.  They spent every free moment together—having sex, sleeping, and eating.  A couple of times they even managed to make it to the beach.  Nick liked playing in the ocean, and Team liked sitting on the shore, watching him. 

 

But a tiny part of him, the part that he wouldn’t ever admit to Nick, missed seeing his friends. Mali and Kwan had gone off with their families for the vacation, and Namfon and Jai had gone to football camp.  And whenever Team thought about football camp, he sighed.  He was enjoying having this time with Nick, of course, but he did miss going to camp with his friends.  And he was worried about his position being downgraded from starter to backup position.  The thought of that caused him to feel panicky inside.

 

Nick often gushed about how he loved the break they were having, just the two of them alone together everyday.  Months earlier he had asked Team to marry him as soon as they graduated from Secondary school, and now he began talking about it much more seriously.

 

One day, after they had awakened from a midmorning nap, Nick brought up his plans for their wedding.  “We’ll get married in Central Park.  It will be at twilight and we will have the trees lit up with white lights.  I want the ground to be covered in winter snow…” Nick said.

 

“Winter snow?  I thought all snow was winter snow,” Team was lying with his head on Nick’s shoulder, staring up at the ceiling, looking at the shadows caused by the sun forcing its way in through the slit between his closed curtains.

 

“No,” Nick said, “Sometimes it snows in late fall, but the ground is too warm so the snow melts away quickly.  The same thing happens if it snows in early spring.  But the best kind of snow is winter snow—when the ground is frozen and the air is frosty and the snow sticks around for a long, long time.”

 

“Yes!” Team whispered in awe.  “That’s what I want!”

 

Nick quietly chuckled, “And that’s what you shall have!  And you will wear a white suit and be my beautiful snow angel!  And after the honeymoon, we will move in with my parents and go to college together.  I can’t wait for you to meet my friends—I know you will love them!  They are a lot cooler than the people here in the village.  You don’t know how much I miss them!”

 

“Wait!” Team said as he sat up.  “You never said that we would be living with your parents!”

 

Nick smiled and pulled Team back down to lie on his shoulder again, “It’s okay!  You can hardly hear them fighting from my room.  And by living there, we will save money.  Dorms are expensive, especially dorms for married students.  It will be great, you’ll see!”

 

Team had a million doubts about how ‘great’ all of that would be.  He had always planned on living in the village but at the very least he had always assumed he would live in Thailand.  The idea of moving to another country, halfway around the world, and maybe not ever seeing his home again filled him with dread.

 

A few weeks after school resumed, everything between them returned to how it had been before the break.  Nick was back to picking fights with him every Friday night and then taking off with his friends until late Sunday night.  It occurred to Team that one of the main reasons they had gotten along so well during the break might be because all of Nick’s weekend-spree friends had gone to Football camp.  Team wondered how much time Nick would have devoted to him if any of them had skipped camp.  The only bright spot was that the coach fought the Administration on Team’s behalf, and Team was granted his starting position, in spite of not going to camp.

 

The months dragged on until the school year ended.  On the first day of their summer vacation, Nick called Team and woke him up.

 

“I’m outside your house.  Hurry up and get dressed.  We are going to the Dawn Rush party,” he said quickly.

 

“I thought you said you didn’t want to go,” Team grumbled as he got out of bed and hurried over to his dresser.  He pulled out a pair of shorts and a T-shirt as he talked.

 

“Yeah, but you said you did, so I changed my mind.  Dee and Chang called me a while ago and said the beach is already packed.  They are saving us a place near them.”

 

Team paused in mid-zip of his shorts.  He felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him.  Those were the two defensive line players that Nick spent every weekend with.  He shook his head angrily but continued to get dressed.  He had been happy when he thought Nick had changed his mind and wanted to please Team, but now he realized that Nick just wanted to hang out with his friends.

 

He grabbed his jacket, “I’m on my way.  I’ll be out in a second,” he said and then hung up his phone and slid it into his pocket.

 

He trotted down the steps and dashed into the kitchen.  His parents were just sitting down to breakfast.

 

“Hey, I’m going to the Dawn Rush party,” he said.

 

“Okay, but be careful, okay?” his mother said with a slightly worried frown.

 

Team grinned at her, “You know I never go into the water!  I’ll be fine.  I promise!”

 

“Nat,” his father said, while looking at his wife with concern, “What’s wrong?  Even if he decided to go in the water, he is a great swimmer, and there is no undertow on East beach.”

 

She shrugged, “I don’t know; I’m just being silly, I guess.  Go on, Team.  Don’t keep Nick waiting.”

 

Spontaneously, Team hurried over and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.  “I promise to be careful!” he called as he left the kitchen.

 

Nick shook his head a bit when Team got into the car.

 

“What?” Team asked, looking down to see if something was wrong with his outfit or something.

 

“You are the slowest person I’ve ever met.  It’s lucky the guys are saving our places!” Nick scolded.

 

Team was irritated.  He had gotten dressed in record time, and if Nick had agreed to go to the party last night when Team asked, he would have been up and ready when Nick arrived.  It was on the tip of his tongue to defend himself, but he stifled the urge.  If he did, Nick would get into a shitty mood and they would bicker all day.  So Team just said, “Sorry,” even though that word felt like it was being pulled from him by force.  Team was being fake.  He was fake with Nick a lot anymore.  He didn’t like it.  He glanced over at Nick and saw that he had a faint smile on his face as he drove.  Apparently Nick did like it, Team thought with a sigh.

 

Nick led the way when they arrived at the beach.  The place was packed with students celebrating the first day of summer vacation.  As they walked along, Team waved at friends and classmates when he passed.

 

Nick stopped and waved, “Come on, I see them!” he started walking briskly, dragging Team along behind him.

 

The guys had spread out a couple of blankets on the sand.  Everyone greeted them and as Team sat down, he realized that they were all mostly the defensive players on the team.  A few feet away were the offensive players.  Jai was there with them and he had brought along Mali, Namfon, and Kwan.  Luckily they were close enough that Team could chat with them easily.

 

Almost immediately Nick, Dee, and Chang took off for the water.  That’s where they spent most of the day.

 

About an hour after they arrived, some food trucks stopped by the beach.  Team, Jai, and Kwan were near the first in line to order.  Then Team went to the edge of the water and motioned for Nick to come up to the beach.

 

Nick came out of the water slowly and his face didn’t look very pleased.  “What?” he asked gruffly.

 

“I bought you some breakfast,” Team explained.

 

Nick looked up and saw the food trucks in the parking lot of the beach.  “Oh!  Well, thanks!  That was nice of you.  I’ll be there in a bit to get it.”  Then he smiled, “I am lucky to have someone who cares about me so much.”  He smacked Team on the butt and then went back into the water.

 

That smack felt like an insult to Team.  As he walked back to his spot, he thought about what Nick had said about Team caring so much about him.  Team turned to look back to make sure Nick wasn’t there.  “Not really,” he mumbled.

 

Team sat with his friends and they all ate together.  Team had Nick’s food next to him, but Nick didn’t get out of the water to join them.  Kwan had to leave shortly after that to go to his summer job.  Team felt the energy change as Kwan left.  He thought about how Namfon said that Kwan wasn’t really one of them, and he realized she was right.  Kwan was a great guy and they all liked him, but he wasn’t like family.  The four of them were.  And…he had to admit, Nick wasn’t either.

 

Jai had placed his blanket under a tree, and Team leaned his back against it with a sigh.  He scanned the edge of the water to see if Nick was coming.  He wasn’t.  Team looked down at the food container next to him.  He knew the food would be cold and gross by the time Nick arrived.  He felt himself shrug.  Namfon, who was next to him, must have felt it too.

 

“What’s up, Scooby?” she asked quietly.

 

He looked over and saw that Jai and Mali were talking together and weren’t listening to Namfon and Team.  Team smiled at Namfon, “I was thinking about a boy I saw this morning.  He was riding a bicycle with training wheels.  He looked pretty brave and strong.  I think he will be removing them pretty soon.  Maybe he doesn’t need them anymore.”

 

She quirked an eyebrow and then gave a small nod, “You know, I think that boy will discover that there are a lot of places to travel in this world, once he has removed them.  And maybe, in time, he will find someone to ride with side-by-side.  Can’t do that with training wheels.  You can’t get that close to another rider.  They become a hindrance.”

 

“Yep, I bet they are becoming more of a problem than a help to him now,” Team stated.  He looked back at the water and saw Nick and his friends were finally coming up on the beach.  “Well, I have to go and give him this,” he said, motioning to the container of now cold food.  “I’ll be back over later.”

 

While Nick was eating, he chatted exclusively with his friends and Team felt left out.  He was about to excuse himself and go back to sit with his friends, when Jai walked over to him.

 

“Oh look!” Dee said, sarcastically, “If it isn’t the other ‘hero boy’!”

 

“What?” Jai asked with a shocked tone.

 

“‘Hero boy’,” Dee enunciated with exaggeration.  “The two of you, thinking you’re better than the rest of us just because you are the ones to score the goals.”

 

“That’s ridiculous!” Jai argued.  “We don’t think any such thing.  We are all one team.  We work together to win games.”

 

Team added, “All the goals in the world won’t matter if the other team is getting them against us, too.”

 

“Oh,” Dee looked at Chang and the two of them looked at Jai and Team.  “Sorry,” Dee mumbled.  “We always thought you…well, we thought you thought we didn’t count for much.  Just a few bums hanging out in the backfield.”

 

Jai laughed, “Are you kidding?  That last game we had against Chon Buri—you guys were the ones who won that game!  If you hadn’t defended the goalie so well, that kicker would have scored at the last second and we would have lost!”

 

“Wow!  I’m sorry I…well, we…misjudged you.  Do you want to bring your stuff over and join us?” Chang asked.

 

Jai shook his head, “Sorry, we can’t this time.  I was just coming over here to tell Team that we have to leave.”

 

“Why?  What’s up?” Team asked and began to get up from the blanket.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing really.  Mali is getting a headache.  I think it is from the sun reflecting off the water and into her eyes.  She’ll be fine.  I just want to take her home and let her lay down for a while.”

 

“Okay,” Team said, settling back down in his spot.  “Tell Mali I hope she feels better, okay?  Is Namfon going with you?”

 

Jai grinned, “Yeah, this isn’t really her sort of thing.  She was ready to go home before we even got here.  She is studying some new theory from a Dutch physicist and she wants to go home and do some equations or something.”

 

“To prove it or to disprove it?”  Team asked with a laugh.

 

Jai laughed and shook his head, “I have no idea.  She tried to explain it to me and it went right over my head.  Anyway, I’ll get in touch with you later.”  He said goodbye to everyone and left.  Team watched his friends walking off the beach together and wished he were leaving with them.

 

“He’s a lot nicer than I thought,” Dee commented.

 

They stayed at the beach for a few more hours.  Nick’s friends were noticeably nicer to Team and this caused Nick to be more relaxed.  They were in good spirits when they finally left.

 

They went to Team’s house and took a shower together.  They had a lot of fun with it and continued that fun later in Team’s bed.  Afterward they both fell asleep.

 

Team woke up when his stomach gave a huge growl.  He smiled at it.  It had been hours since he had eaten and he had burned off a lot of calories.  He got out of bed and went to his dresser and got some underwear out of his drawer.  He pulled them on and then got out a pair of shorts from his lower drawer.

 

As he was pulling on his shorts, Nick sat up in the bed, “Where are you going?” he asked and then stretched with a yawn.  “Come back to bed.”

 

“I can’t!” Team said with a laugh.  “I’m starving!  I’m going to go down to the kitchen to see if we have any leftovers from last night or something easy to fix.”

 

Nick lay back down on the pillows, “Yeah, now that you mention it, I’m kind of hungry, too!”

 

Team opened up another drawer and removed a T-shirt.  After he pulled it on, he headed for the door.  He stopped before opening it.

 

“Your clothes are sandy and probably still wet.  Wear some of my clothes and I’ll wash yours up later with mine.”

 

Nick nodded, “Okay, thanks.  Oh, and if all you have down there is instant noodles, let’s order in something.  I’m tired of eating them.”

 

Team laughed, “Me too, but it is the only thing I know how to cook!  I’ll be right back.”

 

He hurried down the steps and into the kitchen.  There wasn’t much in the way of leftovers—certainly not enough to feed both of them.  He found some fruit but he was too hungry just to snack on an apple.  When he went to the pantry, he saw that most things stored in there needed more cooking skills than what either he or Nick possessed.  If you couldn’t pop it in a microwave or boil water for it, they were both over their heads.  There were plenty of boxes of instant noodles though.  Team grinned at them.  He wouldn’t mind it but he knew Nick would bitch about it.  He left the kitchen to go tell Nick that they needed to buy something, but before he could reach the stairs, he caught sight of Nick in the dining room.  He was bare-chested with a towel wrapped around his waist to cover his lower half.

 

Team laughed as he came up behind him.  “Sorry, we don’t have anything here except for instant noodles.  And you are dressed a bit informally for dining anyway.”

 

Nick was silent.  He hadn’t turned his head to acknowledge Team’s presence.  He seemed to be looking at Team’s various team pictures from over the years.  Team’s mother had them all hanging on the wall above the sideboard.

 

Team felt a wave of anxiety pass over him, but he wasn’t sure why.  Something about Nick’s posture and his absolute silence warned Team that he was angry.

 

“What is it?” Team asked.  “What’s wrong?”

 

Nick turned around slowly.  He held out his hand and the light from the window lit up the silver chain that was wrapped around his fingers.  “Why do you have Win’s necklace?”

 

“Who?  What are you talking about?” Team was stunned.  He had never mentioned Win’s name to Nick and had no idea what was happening.  Everything felt surreal—like he was in a nightmare.

 

Nick swung the chain so the medallion moved back and forth, like in some old, bad movie about hypnotism.  “I was getting some underwear and I found it in a watch box in the drawer.  To tell you the truth, I peeked because I thought maybe you had bought me a watch that matches yours to give me on my birthday next month.  It was such a surprise to find, not a birthday watch for me, but the necklace that your ex-boyfriend used to wear.”

 

Team licked his dry lips, “He wasn’t my boyfriend.  We were just friends.  How do you know about him, anyway?”

 

Nick stopped swinging the necklace.  He captured the medallion with his fingers and pulled it up into his palm.  He closed his fingers around it and all Team could see of it was the chain, still wrapped around Nick’s fingers.

 

“Well,” he said quietly, “I didn’t hear about him from you, did I?  No.  That would have been too honest and decent of you to let me know what I was walking into.”

 

“I don’t know what…”

 

Nick tilted his head and looked at Team with a smile on his lips and rage in his eyes.  “Do you have any idea of the shit I had to go through when we first started dating?  Let me answer that for you—no, no you don’t.  Seems people in that crazy school were all on board the Win/Team ship, and I was the one who was blamed for sinking it.  Almost everybody in the school hated my guts for it.  Somehow I had broken the two of you up—even though he was gone off to college and I had no idea about the two of you when we got together.  And then, every time I came here to have dinner, my place at the table faced all those cute team pictures with the two of you in them.  He has this necklace on in every one of them.  Did you buy it for him?  Is that why you have it?  He returned it to you?”

 

“No, he had it before I met him,” Team answered.  His legs were shaking and he could hear the blood whooshing in his ears.  He felt as if he was on trial, but he had no idea of the crime he was being accused of.  “I don’t understand what the big deal is…”

 

“Oh, you don’t?  I had a feeling you would play it that way…”

 

“I’m not playing anything.  It’s just a necklace from a friend who went off to college.  I had even forgotten about it being in the drawer.  He’s gone, and we have no contact now.  So, no…I don’t think it is any big deal,” Team’s words came out braver than he felt inside.

 

Nick leaned over and got his phone from the dining table.  Team hadn’t noticed it lying there.  “Okay, well let me show you the welcoming gifts I got when people found out that you and I were together.”  He looked at his phone screen for a minute and then paused, “Oh, here is a good one!”  He turned his phone around and it was a picture of Team and Win.  Win had his arm around Team.  Win was sitting on the top of a wooden fence and Team was standing on the ground, leaning against him.  Team had reached a hand up and was playing with Win’s fingers.  Neither of them were looking at the camera.  They were looking at something slightly to the left of it.  Team didn’t remember where they were or when the picture could have been taken.

 

Team looked at Nick and shrugged, “Yeah, I see it.  I don’t understand…”

 

Nick shook his head, “Are you sure?  Okay, how about this one then?”

 

He showed Team a few more pictures, and they were pretty much like the first one he had showed him.  None of them were looking at the camera, so these pictures were just shots from random people.

 

“Are you looking at these closely enough?  Don’t you see what I see?” Nick asked sharply.

 

“What?  He and I were best friends for years.  That’s not a crime!  And we aren’t even friends anymore.”

 

“These pictures are not pictures of two best friends!  These are romantic partner pictures!”

 

Team exhaled loudly, “So you are accusing me of having a lover before you?  That is a lie and you know it.”

 

Nick gave a small nod, “Yeah, I do.  But just because you didn’t go to bed with him doesn’t mean that the two of you weren’t in love.  I can see it!  Everybody sees it!”  He messed with his phone for a minute and then clicked on a video, “Let’s see if you see it now.”

 

In the video, he and Win were sitting on the grass of the quad at school.  Team actually remembered this day.  The students had been allowed to have picnics on the quad in honor of the school’s tenth anniversary since opening its doors.  As the video played, Team watched his past self squeeze the juice box he held in his hand.  He had aimed the straw at Win’s face.  After receiving a faceful of juice, Win had jumped up.  Team was laughing so hard he had fallen back on the grass.  Win wiped his face and then dropped down and landed on Team.  He grabbed a handful of grass and was threatening to make Team eat it.  The two of them wrestled around a bit and Team could hear his own voice, laughing as he pleaded, “Hia!  Hia, please don’t!  I’ll be good!” and then another burst of loud laughter.

 

Nick paused it.  “Now do you see?”

 

Team had a mixture of feelings from seeing that video.  The least of his feelings was the desire to calm Nick down; but that was what he had to do.  “You are totally misreading this whole situation.  What you see is just two friends having fun.  Maybe it is a culture thing…”

 

“Don’t you dare pull that on me!  Yeah, I wasn’t born here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand the culture—and this isn’t it!  Go check out other best friends at the school and see how they behave.  It’s not like this!  And honestly, if what I’ve shown you isn’t enough, I have tons more pictures and videos that back me up!  My cloud storage is full of them!  People bombarded me with them; some even said it was to ‘help’ me.  It wasn’t to help me!  They wanted to warn me away from you.  Because they think you belong to Win.  And let me clue you in…as time went on and you and I stayed together, you aren’t Mr. Popular now either!  No one can understand why you would give up Win for me!”

 

“This is insanity,” Team whispered as he pulled out a chair and sat down in it with a plop as his legs gave away.  “Can we please just calm down and talk?”

 

“No.  That will just give you time to make up more lies,” Nick said firmly.

 

“I’m not lying about anything!  He was my best friend, he went to college, he left me that necklace, we have no contact now, and I forgot the necklace was in my drawer,” Team counted off each point he made on his fingers.

 

Nick nodded, “Okay, pretend for a moment I believe you…which I don’t…how do you explain that you never told me about him?”

 

Team shrugged and threw his hands up with the gesture, “I don’t know.  How many friends of yours went off to college?  You never mentioned any of them to me.  It doesn’t mean that you are lying to me; it just means that you haven’t thought of them.  Out of sight; out of mind.”

 

Nick turned away and walked out of the door.  From where Team was sitting, he could see him storming up the stairs.  With a sigh, Team got up from the chair and pushed it back up to the table, and then he went up to his room.  He found Nick standing naked in the bathroom.  He picked up his shorts from the floor and gave them a hard shake.  Team could hear the little grains of sand that had been trapped in the folds of Nick’s shorts go flying about the room, hitting the walls and landing on the floor.

 

“I told you that you could wear my clothes,” Team said quietly.

 

Nick looked up and glared at Team.  He slid his sandy shorts on but left his underwear lying on the floor.  He zipped up his shorts and then moved to walk past Team who was standing in the doorway.  As soon as Nick passed Team, he stopped.

 

“When I asked you why you had Win’s necklace, the first thing you did was ask ‘Who?’.  You were hoping I didn’t know and you were going to lie out of it.  Here,” he said as he shoved the necklace into Team’s hand, “Here’s your precious ‘Hia’s’ necklace.  It goes or I go.”  Nick turned and walked out of Team’s room, down the stairs, and out the door.  Team stood in the doorway of the bathroom and listened.  He could hear the engine on Nick’s car start and a second later, he heard the tires squeal on the road as Nick took off.

 

Team sighed and looked down at the necklace in his hand.  He had honestly forgotten all about it.  Nick was making this such a huge deal, but it wasn’t even important.  He shook his head as he put the necklace in his pocket.  Nick always seemed to make a big deal out of nothing anymore.

 

He went back down into the kitchen and boiled water for the instant noodles.  He knew that if he tried to contact Nick now, he would just be ignored.  It would be better to wait a while and let him cool down a bit.

 

After he ate, he threw the packaging into the trash and noticed that the trash container was filled almost to the top.  He became aware of a sound in the distance and realized it was the trash truck making its weekly trash pickup on the next block.  It would be at Team’s house soon.  He had forgotten to take the trash bin to the curb before going to the party that morning.  His mother would kill him if he missed it.

 

He had an idea and hurriedly ran up the stairs to grab his phone from the bathroom where he had removed it from his pocket before showering earlier.  He looked around the bathroom and saw that it was a mess, especially after Nick had shaken the sand out of his shorts.  But Team had no time to worry about that then.

 

He sprinted down the steps and back into the kitchen.  He opened the trash can and removed the necklace from his pocket.  He placed it on top of his discarded instant noodle packages.  He took some pictures of it lying there, making sure that it was obviously in the trash.  He gathered the sides of the bag together and tied them.  He took pictures of this too.  Then he took the bag out to the trash bin and took pictures of the bag being put into the bin.  He rolled it out to the street and waited for a bit until the trash truck picked up the bin and dumped it.  He also took pictures of that.

 

He wheeled the trash bin back up the drive and placed it in its usual spot and went back into the house.  He went back up to his bedroom and sat on the bed.  He scrolled through his camera roll and thought about how insane this whole thing had been.  He selected the pictures that had turned out the best that showed the story of the necklace’s journey into the truck.  Then he wrote Nick a text to go along with the pictures.

 

I’m really sorry that finding that necklace upset you.  I swear, I had forgotten all about it!  And of course I choose you over it!  I tried to tell you that before you left, but I am hoping the pictures will be able to prove it better than just my words can.  If you want to talk, you know where I am.

 

Team sent the text with the series of pictures and then looked around his room.  It was a mess, too—just like the bathroom.  He rubbed the back of his neck to try to ease the tightness of the muscles back there.

 

He checked his phone and saw that Nick hadn’t opened his message yet.  That was typical Nick behavior.  Team made a small click with his tongue to convey his disgust.  He knew their relationship was on its last legs.  He could have just let this fight be their last.  With Nick being the one who walked away, Team wouldn’t be burdened with the guilt of the breakup.  But Team couldn’t do that.  It would have been as if they had broken up over Win.  He felt like that is how Nick would have framed it too.  Nick would have told everyone he knew that was the reason.  Team didn’t want such a story circulating around the village.  So that’s why he apologized and that is why he would go back to Nick.  But it was going to be for the last time.  In a week or two they would have another huge battle about some stupid shit and then Team would walk away for good.

 

He felt much better about his decision.  He made the bed and then went over to his dresser.  There were some clothes that had been pulled out from the drawers, which showed where Nick had been rummaging through them.  Team straightened the clothes and then pushed the drawers closed.  The watch box was sitting out on the dresser top.  Team picked it up and examined it.  If he and Nick were still together on Nick’s birthday (he thought that was unlikely) at least he knew what gift he wanted.

 

He sat the box back down on the dresser.  He opened it up and looked at the red interior lining.  He remembered the night that he had taken his watch out of the box and replaced it with Win’s necklace.  He frowned at the memory of himself vowing that one day he would meet Win again, and when he did, he was going to shove that necklace down Win’s throat.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace.  He placed it back in the watch box.  “A promise is a promise”, he whispered to himself.

 

Meanwhile, he had to find a new spot to hide the box.  Even if he wasn’t planning on being with Nick much longer, he didn’t want a replay of today.

 

He looked carefully around his room but no place seemed safe enough.  It was the same with his bathroom.  As he walked by his closet, he was hit with the memory of an old hiding place he used to use.

 

He pulled down his stack of luggage.  He found the old bottle of whiskey with a trace amount in the bottom.  He remembered clearly how at that time he had been drinking himself to sleep every night.  His pain had been too enormous to bear.  But he had survived it and now it was a memory.  And while it was true that Nick was a big part of that, it was like how Namfon said, he was training wheels.  Team was stronger and braver now.  He was ready to ride alone.

 

He removed the old bottle and hid it behind some shoe boxes and then he placed the necklace in the luggage.  He was putting the stack back up and then paused.  He lowered them back down on the floor.

 

He always used the smallest for every trip, but sometimes he did have occasion to use the medium-sized one.  It was rare, but it did happen.  But he had never used the large one.  He had never gone somewhere that required that many clothes.

 

He took the watch box containing the necklace out of the medium-sized suitcase and then opened the largest one.  There was a nylon pouch that ran along a wall of the suitcase.  It had an elastic top.  Team hooked a finger in it and pulled.  When he let go of it, the elastic caused it to snap back into place.  It was pretty cool, so he did it a few more times.  He assumed it was meant to pack small objects and keep them from getting mixed in with the items in the larger compartment.  He pulled it open again and dropped the watch box in it.  He let go and it snapped back into place.  He picked the suitcase up and turned it upside down.  He gave it a good shake and the little compartment stayed closed.

 

He sat it back down and examined the pouch.  If you didn’t know the watch box was in there, you wouldn’t be able to guess.

 

He smiled as he closed it and put it back on the shelf.  He piled the other two pieces of luggage on top of it like they had been.  He stepped back and examined the stack.  He couldn’t tell that any of them had been moved.  He nodded with satisfaction.  A promise is a promise, he thought again.  Then he went into the bathroom and tackled the sandy mess in there.

 

By the time Team’s parents arrived home from work that evening, Team had checked his phone about forty billion times to see if Nick had seen the messages he had sent.  He hadn’t opened them yet.  Team really wasn’t surprised by it.  Nick had a tendency to be dramatic.

 

He was down in the kitchen, talking to his dad about the score of the last local football game.  They both agreed that they were going to have a winning season.  The team was better than it had ever been.

 

His dad was chopping up vegetables for a stir-fry dinner—which was his specialty.  Team’s mom had come home from work with a headache and was resting on the couch in the living room.  In mid-conversation, she came in and offered her opinion as she took the bottle of headache tablets down from the cabinet and got a bottle of water.

 

“I could have brought those to you, Mom!” Team scolded.  “If you feel bad, you should be resting.”

 

“No, I can’t seem to lay still.  It feels like my nerves are all on edge.  I have felt this way all day.”

 

His dad frowned in concern, “Is there something going on at work that is upsetting you?”

 

She shook her head, “Nothing.  It is the same as always.”  She looked at Team closely.  “Do you feel alright?  You look a bit pale.”

 

Team grinned at her.  “You are projecting your stuff onto me.  I’m fine.  Physically, I mean.  Nick and I had another argument today.  But that’s no big deal.  I’m used to them now.”

 

“Was it a bad one?” she asked with concern.

 

It was! Team thought, but he said, “No, just the same old things.  Nick is just a bit more sensitive to things than I am and we just will have to learn how to compromise better, I guess.  I look for him to call me soon and then we will patch things up.”

 

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, his text notification alert sounded.  Team looked at his phone and laughed.  “See—this is him now.”

 

Team read the message.  Nick was happy and gushing about Team choosing him over the necklace.  He said that he was on his way to pick up some food for him and his grandmother, but he would add an extra order in for Team.  He would stop by and get him after he picked up the food and they could hang out at his house for the evening.

 

Team messaged back with a heart-eyed smiley-face emoji.  He slid his phone into his pants pocket.  “Okay, so everything is fine now.  He will be here soon to pick me up.  I’m eating dinner with him.”

 

“Good!” his dad said with a grin and laying his knife down, “I was getting tired of chopping vegetables!  I have more than enough now for just your mother and me.”

 

“Are you sure?” his mother asked, scanning his face with her eyes.

 

Team grinned, “Yeah!  It’s okay.”

 

“When he gets here, I could tell him that you suddenly felt unwell and have to cancel,” she offered.

 

Team frowned at her in confusion, “No, thanks though.  Maybe you should rest until dad has dinner ready.  You look like you feel really bad.”

 

She sighed, “Yes, you’re right.  I do.  I think I will lay down for a bit.”  She turned to walk out of the room, but then stopped and turned back.  “Be careful, okay?”

 

Team nodded, but he was worried about how odd she was acting.  He glanced over to his dad and saw that he was worried, too.

 

His mom grabbed his head and pulled it down so she could reach it.  She kissed him on his forehead.  “I love you,” she said and then she left the room.

 

Team looked back at his father.  “I know,” his dad said, “This isn’t like her.  Don’t worry, I’m here.  I’ll take care of her.  Go ahead and get ready for your date.”

 

Team thanked his dad and then ran up the stairs.  He picked a nice outfit, casual, but nice.  He knew that such things mattered to Nick.  For himself, he would have rather just stayed in his more comfortable shorts and tee shirt.  He changed and had just made it down the stairs when he heard Nick arrive.

 

He stuck his head into the kitchen to let his dad know he was leaving.  His mom was sitting at the table, drinking juice.  Her color looked better.

 

“I believe we discovered what was making your mother feel so bad.  She skipped lunch and admitted she didn’t drink enough today.  She’ll be better in no time,” his dad said, patting his mother on her arm.

 

“Mom!  You lecture me everyday about skipping meals and not drinking enough!”

 

His mother gave him a smile, “You should ‘do as I say; not as I do’!” she quipped.

 

Team smiled and his breathing felt easier.  That was the mom he knew.  “Okay, I will.  Bye guys!  I’ll be home by curfew!” he tossed over his shoulder and ran out to meet Nick.

 

“Wow!  My sweet Angel, you look so hot!” Nick said when Team got into the car.  Nick picked up Team’s hand and kissed the back of it.  He kept hold of it while he drove.  “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you got rid of that necklace!”

 

Team squeezed his hand, “I told you, it didn’t mean anything to me.”

 

“Yes, but words aren’t always the truth.  Action is.  And to see those pictures of it in the trash and being hauled away—I can’t tell you how much that meant to me!”

 

Inwardly Team squirmed a bit, but outwardly, he smiled.  “As if some silly necklace would mean something more to me than you do!  I thought you knew me better than that!”

 

Nick turned off on a side street and pulled over to the curb.  He leaned over and kissed Team.  “I know that you love me now.  I’ve always been jealous of him, but now I know that there was never anything between the two of you—no matter what the rubes in this stupid village believe!”

 

Team relaxed in Nick’s arms.  He thought that maybe the reason Nick had always been so possessive and quick tempered was because of how people had shoved Win in his face.  He wondered if maybe they could actually salvage their relationship now.  He sighed and held Nick tighter.

 

Nick chuckled as he slid away, “Let’s pause this until we get home, Angel!”

 

Nick drove a few blocks and then headed for the main street.  He liked driving this way, even though it was longer.  For the three blocks in town, there was a stop light on each corner.  Nick always said it was the only touch of modern life in the entire village.

 

“Hey look!” Nick said, “We will catch all the green lights!” he grinned, “That’s good luck!”

 

Team smiled at him.  He suddenly became aware of an aroma of some kind of food in the car.  It smelled familiar, and it smelled wonderful!  His stomach growled in response.

 

“What did you get?  It smells great!”

 

“It does, doesn’t it?”  Nick had cleared the first green light and was headed for the second one.  “I never heard of the place before.  Someone told my grandmother about it at work today.  It’s the…um…shit!  I forget its name!  It’s on the bag in the backseat.”

 

Team rose up a bit in his seat and twisted his body to look.  His mouth went dry.  It was smiling, even though it was lonely he thought with a shudder.  The bag was from The Lonely Dolphin.  Suddenly a series of memories of he and Win eating there together flooded his mind.  He tried with all his might to push them away, but more and more of them came up.  I won’t eat that!  Not with Nick! He thought in a panic.

 

Suddenly the inside of the car was awash in light.  Blinding light. Team looked up at the dome light but it wasn’t on.  He didn’t know where the light was coming from.

 

Then he heard screaming.

 

It sounded like his voice.

Chapter 19

Team was irritated.  He was trying to sleep but his parents were arguing.  They never argued, they just discussed things endlessly.  It was bad enough that they were arguing, but he could tell they were in his room, near his bed.  They had the entire house to argue in, no reason to do it there.

 

“It’s been too long, according to their timeline,” his mother said quietly.

 

“Stop that!” his dad barked.  “They don’t know everything!”

 

“Yes, they do!” his mother began to cry.

 

“They don’t know him!  We do!  Now stop that!”

 

Team bristled at his dad’s tone.  His mother was crying and his dad was harshly scolding her for it.  Team didn’t like that at all.  He tried to open his eyes but they were too heavy.  He wanted to go back to sleep.  But his mom was crying and he had to help her, especially since his dad was being such a dick to her.  He felt a hand slip into his.  It was a small hand, so he knew it was his mother’s.  She was crying harder.  “I can’t face the idea…” she said, and then sobbed.

 

Team squeezed her hand, “Shh…don’t cry,” he said, but it felt like his tongue was made from lead.  He wasn’t sure if he actually said it out loud or just thought it.

 

“Keow?!!!” his mother squealed.

 

“I knew it!” his father shouted joyfully.

 

Team sighed.  He had tried to help, but that made them louder.  He just wanted some sleep.

 

Suddenly his eyelid was forced open and a light was in his eyes.  When the light moved away, the other eyelid was opened and the light was in that eye.  Team could see a tiny, wrinkled, old man holding a little flashlight in his hand.

 

“Do you know where you are?” the old man asked him.

 

Team frowned, obviously he was in his bed, but he didn’t know why everyone was in his room.  He tried to turn his head but was hit with a stabbing pain.  His mother was holding one of his hands so he tried to raise the other one to grab his head, but it was too heavy.  He looked at it and saw it was in a cast, and there was an I.V. in the top of his hand.  Next to it was a machine with squiggly lines and flashing numbers.  “Am I in a hospital?”

 

The old man patted his arm, “That’s right!  Good!  Can you tell me the last thing you remember?”

 

Team closed his eyes to think about it.  “I remember sleeping,” he said slowly.  His tongue was beginning to feel more normal now and he knew he was saying the words.

 

The doctor said, “Yes, but before that…what do you remember?”

 

A thought came to him, “It’s smiling.  It’s lonely, but it’s still smiling,” he said.

 

“What is?” the doctor prodded.

 

“The dolphin on the bag.  It’s in the backseat.  I thought Nick turned the dome light on, but it wasn’t on.  There was light though.  And screaming…” he opened his eyes quickly.  “Where’s Nick?” he asked, and tried to sit up.  The doctor eased him back down and Team became aware of pain.  It was everywhere.  His entire body was filled with pain.

 

“Nick’s fine, Honey!” his mother assured him.

 

The pain kept increasing.  “It hurts!”

 

“Yes, I’m sure it does,” the doctor said.  “I am going to give you something for that now.”

 

Team braced himself for the prick of a needle, but it never came.  He opened his eyelids a fraction and could see someone’s hand injecting something in his I.V. line.  He sighed and closed his eyes.

 

“Doctor, what’s wrong?”

 

“He’s just sleeping now.  Don’t worry, he is out of the coma.  We’ll run tests on him tomorrow but I don’t think there is any brain damage.  His answers to my questions were very promising,” the doctor answered.

 

Coma?  Brain damage? Team startled at what he was hearing, but before he could ask any questions, he fell back asleep.

 

He woke up another time and a young nurse was standing beside his bed.  “Hello!” she said quietly.  “I’m just changing your I.V. bag.  You were running a bit low.”

 

He could hear machines beeping and buzzing on the other side of him.  He slowly turned his head and looked.  The room was large and there were other people in it.  All lying in beds with machines attached to them.  The room was almost dark, but there were faint lights near the people’s beds.  Team guessed that was so the nurses could see to tend to them.  Like the one who was changing his I.V. bag.

 

He rolled his head back and looked at her.  “Am I like them?” he asked.

 

She smiled at him.  “You are doing very well.  You will probably be in your own room by the time you wake up again.”  She gave the I.V. bag a shot with something and he immediately felt his eyelids beginning to close.  She gave him a gentle pat, “Rest now.”

 

When he woke up again, he was in a single room, just like the nurse had predicted.  He found it a bit unnerving to realize that he had been moved while he was asleep.

 

The curtains were open and bright sunlight filled the room.  The clock on the wall indicated that it was near lunch time.  Team’s mother was asleep in a chair pulled next to his bed.

 

He quietly took stock of himself.  He had already seen the cast on his arm, but he didn’t really feel pain in it.  With his good hand, the one not in a cast, he reached up carefully and felt the bandages on his head.  There was one spot that was extremely painful.  He dropped his hand and felt his face.  There were no bandages on it, but it felt puffy.  He imagined it was swollen—from a head injury?  He didn’t know.

 

He could see his leg was elevated, and his foot was a mess.  It was swollen and had multicolored bruises on it.  There were some bandages wrapped around it near his ankle.  He ran his hand down his neck and didn’t feel any pain, but then his hand grazed his collarbone and he had to bite back a yelp.

 

His chest was very painful on one side.  He took a deep breath and felt a sharp stabbing pain.  There was a large bandage taped there.  He skirted around it and felt his abdomen.  It felt a bit tender to the touch, but not terribly painful.  He reached down lower and felt around.  He breathed a sigh of relief to find that everything down there was intact.

 

He shifted a bit to try to get a better look at his leg, and felt a big rush of pain coming from all over his body.  He stopped moving and tried to look at it without moving.  His leg was wrapped all the way from he assumed his thigh to his ankle.  And as he focused more on it, he realized that it was his leg that was causing the most pain.

 

He worried a bit about his spine, but then reasoned that if he had spinal damage, he wouldn’t feel all the pain that he was feeling.  Just to be sure though, he moved the foot of his good leg.  He saw the covers over his foot move.  Again he sighed in relief.

 

The pain had started out small when he first woke up, but after he had moved, it had increased.  It seemed to be growing quickly.

 

The door opened and an older woman with a clipboard in her hand walked in. “Oh good!  You’re already awake!  I’m Doctor…”

 

“Oh goodness!” his mother said, sitting up straight in her chair and fluffing her hair.  “I must have fallen asleep!”

 

The doctor…whose name Team hadn’t heard over his mother…smiled.  “That’s understandable!  You’ve been through a lot, too!”  The doctor looked at Team, “Do you know who that lady is?”

 

Team frown a bit at the ridiculousness of the question, “Yeah, she’s my mother.”

 

The doctor nodded and then pulled a chair up beside Team’s bed and sat down.  “I am going to show you a few pictures now and ask you some questions.  Keep in mind, there are no right or wrong answers.”

 

She held up a picture, “Do you know any of the people in this picture?”

 

Team grinned.  “Yes, that’s Mali, Jai, Namfon, and me!  We were studying for our finals.  Kwan took that picture.  How did you get it?”

 

The doctor smiled.  “A friend loaned it to us.  What about this one?”

 

Team grimaced, “That’s me.  I hate that picture!  My hair is a mess in it!  Whoever gave you that one did it as a joke to me!”

 

The doctor held up another picture.  “It’s my house,” Team confirmed.

 

“What about this one?”

 

Team studied it.  It was a black and white picture, whereas the rest of them had been in color.  Nothing looked familiar in it at all.  “Could I see it a bit closer?” he asked.  And the doctor handed it to him.  After a few moments he answered, “I’m not sure, but that guy kind of looks like Albert Einstein.  Crazy hair like his.”

 

The doctor took the picture from him.  “Yes, that’s who it is.”

 

She held up a flash card with the addition problem, 2 + 2= ___.  “Can you solve this?”

 

“4,” Team answered.

 

“How about this one?”  The card was 6 x 12 = ___.

 

“72.”

 

“What is this?” She held up another picture.

 

“It’s my school.”

 

The doctor put the pictures back on her clipboard.  She looked at Team’s mother and addressed her remarks to her.  “This was our first round of tests for cognitive levels.”  She looked at Team, “Congratulations!  You did very well!  You got all of them right.”

 

Team grinned, “But you said there weren’t any right or wrong answers!”

 

The doctor looked at him for a moment with no expression.  Then she grinned, “Long-term memory intact and so is your humor.  A bit naughty, perhaps, and I suspect that is your true personality.”

 

His mother nodded with a laugh, “It is!”

 

“Is there anything you’d like to ask me?” The doctor asked.

 

“Yeah,” Team said.  “How long have I been here?  I can see bruises on my foot, but the colors of them look like they are older.  Not just a day or two.”

 

“Well…uh…” the doctor looked at Team’s mother, “I think we should send in your medical doctor to have a talk with you about that.”  She looked at his foot and then wrote something on the clipboard she was carrying.  “Yes, you are doing extremely well!” she said and then got up and left the room.

 

His father arrived before the medical doctor did.  He brought coffee for himself and Team’s mom.  “I wasn’t sure if you were allowed to have anything yet.  If the doctor says its okay, I get you some.”

 

“Before he comes in, can I ask you guys again…is Nick okay?”

 

His dad nodded, “He’s fine.  He had a slight crack in one of his wrist bones and the hospital kept him overnight for observation.  He was discharged the next day after he passed all their inspections.”

 

“Then where is he?  Why haven’t I seen him?”

 

His mother sighed, “When his father heard about the accident, he flew in from the United States.  He took Nick back home with him.”

 

“If all that happened already, how long has it been since the accident?”

 

Team looked at his dad and saw a worried look on his face, “Why don’t we let the doctor answer that?”

 

Team felt a flicker of fear with his dad’s answer.  “How long?” he gasped.

 

“Honey!  Shh…calm down.  Don’t upset yourself,” his mother soothed.  “It hasn’t been that long!”  She looked at Team’s dad and shrugged softly.  “One of your injuries was a fractured skull…”

 

“I broke my head?” Team asked in astonishment.

 

“Just a tiny bit…but the doctors were worried about your brain swelling.  So they put you into a coma.”  She fidgeted with the cover on Team’s bed.  “But it was only for three weeks,” she added.

 

“Three weeks!” Team echoed.  “I was in a coma for three weeks?!!!”

 

“Pretty much.  It was actually a few days longer,” his dad said quietly.  “They had a bit of a problem waking you up.  You know how much you like to sleep,” he ended with a tiny chuckle that sounded forced.

 

The doctor entered the room at that moment.  It was the tiny, old man who had shone the light into Team’s eyes when he was waking up.

 

“Hello, Team!  We met earlier, but I’m not sure you remember me.”

 

“Yeah, I do.  My parents just told me I was in a coma for three weeks,” Team answered.

 

The doctor nodded, “That’s correct.  Three weeks of medically-induced coma, but you didn’t come around until after three days of being off the medication.  We were worried that you might not ever wake up.  But luckily, you did.  And all your preliminary tests strongly indicate that you might have escaped being brain damaged.  Have you remembered more of the accident?”

 

Team thought for a moment, “No, just what I already told you.”

 

The doctor nodded again, “That’s common after a traumatic incident.  The fact that you remember the moments before the impact is pretty amazing.  So…let’s get you up to speed a bit.  You were a passenger in a car.  The driver of the car you were in had the right-of-way, but a car traveling on the cross street passed a line of cars that were waiting for the light.  That vehicle crashed into the car you were in at a high rate of speed.  The cars had to be separated and cut away from you.  You suffered serious injuries and were treated on the scene before being flown here…”

 

Team startled at that information.  “Here?  I assumed I was in the village hospital.”  He looked at his parents, “Where are we?”

 

The doctor answered instead, “Bangkok.  At the Rama IX Trauma Center.  And I can assure you, this is the best trauma center in Thailand.”

 

Team exhaled slowly and reached up with his free hand to touch the bandages on his head.  “A trauma center?  Were my injuries really that severe?”

 

“Yes, and after the head injury, of course, your leg was what was the most concerning.  It was trapped for a while and when it was finally free, the EMTs realized that the bones had been broken in multiple areas, and in two places, the breaks were compound fractures—the broken bones sliced through your leg and were protruding out from your skin.”

 

Team swallowed down the nausea that the image invoked.  He peeked at his dad, famous for having a weak stomach, to see how he was taking it.  Instead of a look of nausea on his face, Team saw a pained expression.

 

“Also,” the doctor continued, “Your ankle was badly crushed.  When you first arrived, we weren’t sure if we would be able to save your leg.  But I am pleased to announce that you had the finest team of orthopedic surgeons tending to you, and their reports suggest that, since your surgeries, they feel certain that you will be able to keep it.  And hopefully, in time, you might regain some use of it.”

 

Team’s mind was reeling with all this information.  And then the doctor began to list the lesser of his injuries—he had a broken collarbone, four broken ribs, his lung had collapsed but the EMTs on site inserted a chest tube, his arm had been broken in three places, and he had had severe internal bruising.  “It was pure luck that you had raised up in your seat to look into the back seat.  Had you been sitting facing forward, the injuries would have been much worse due to the direction of the impact from the other vehicle.”

 

The dolphin kept smiling, even though he was lonely, Team thought.  That dolphin had saved his life.  He remembered how he felt when he had looked into the backseat and saw The Lonely Dolphin logo on that bag, and swearing to himself that he wouldn’t eat any of that food with Nick.  He had kept that vow, although not in the way he intended.  He looked up at the doctor who was apparently waiting to answer Team’s questions.  “Am I going to die?”

 

“Yes, one day when you are a very old man.  Everybody does.  But you won’t die from this,” the doctor smiled.  “You are young, strong, and healthy.  You will recover.  And like I said before, although you will never have full use of your leg, there is hope that you might be able to regain some use of it.”

 

“What do you mean by ‘some use of it’?” Team asked, suddenly feeling very panicky.

 

The monitors that were attached to Team began to make warning noises.  The doctor looked at them and then turned to Team and smiled.

 

“Calm yourself!  This is good news!  You’re alive, your brain seems uninjured, and you kept your leg!  You should be feeling happy, not stressed,” he walked away from Team and spoke quietly to a nurse who had arrived to check on Team after the monitor had made the noises.  The nurse nodded and hurried away.  The doctor walked back to Team and gave him that same smile that he had earlier.  “To answer your question, I think in a few years, and with lots of therapy, you might not have to be in a wheelchair all the time.  With a proper brace and crutches, or a walker, you might be able to maneuver a bit—I wouldn’t call it walking however.  More like sliding or dragging your bad leg along.  Ah!  Here’s the nurse now.”

 

The nurse handed the doctor a syringe and he walked over and injected it into Team’s I.V. line.  “Just a mild sedative to help you relax.  Keep your chin up, young man!  I’ll be back tomorrow to check in on you.”  And then he nodded to Team’s parents and left the room with the nurse following close behind.

 

As soon as the door closed behind the doctor, Team’s father hurried over to the chair beside Team’s bed.  He sat down and took Team’s undamaged hand in his.  “Don’t you listen to him!  You are going to be well.  It won’t be long before you are up and running around like you have always done!”

 

Team licked his lips which had gone dry, “But he said…”

 

“Yeah, I know what he said.  He also told your mother and I that you wouldn’t survive the accident.  Then he told us you would be brain damaged.  When you didn’t wake up from the coma as soon as they thought you should, he told us that you would never wake up.  But look at you!  Awake and alert with no signs of any brain damage!  He’s just a….”

 

“Keow!” his mother said in a warning tone.

 

Team’s dad shifted in his chair.  “Okay…I’ll put it nicely.  To use your term, Team, he is a hammer-toed hobgoblin!  And a hairy-assed one at that!”

 

“Keow!  Language!”

 

Team giggled, partly from relief, and partly because of the sedative.  “So…you think he is just…what?  Pessimistic?”

 

“No, I think he is a fucking sadist,” his father answered.

 

“KEOW!  Enough!”

 

Team was biting his lip and trying so hard not to laugh.  His father didn’t use curse words, especially not the ‘F’ word, but he had…and where Team’s mother could hear it!

 

His mother came over to the other side of the bed but was careful not to touch him to avoid causing him more pain.  “I don’t approve of the way your father presented that, but…aside from the language he chose, I do agree.  This doctor seems to take delight in upsetting people unnecessarily.”

 

“He kept smiling at me,” Team told her.  “It was a creepy, cold smile.”

 

She nodded at him.  “Yes, he did that to us, too.  One of the nurses told me that he no longer has a private medical practice, so they gave him the job of being a consulting physician/patient liaison.”  She shook her head, “To be honest, I am glad for all the patients he no longer has, but I don’t think he is fit for this job either.”

 

Team felt the effects of the sedative beginning to hit him.  He yawned.  “Why is he here then?” he asked.

 

“Maybe the hospital felt sorry for him and wanted to keep him working until he could retire comfortably,” she suggested.

 

“Or maybe he blackmailed them and told them he knew where all the bodies were buried so they had to keep him on staff,” his father countered.

 

“Keow!”

 

Team giggled as his eyes began to close.

 

He could hear his mother saying, “I think you and I need to have a discussion about your language.  Let’s step out into the hallway so we don’t disturb Team.”

 

Team gave his father’s hand a squeeze of support, and then his dad removed his hand and went to join Team’s mother in the hallway.  Team was on the verge of sleep, when he had a thought that caused him to jolt fully awake for a moment:  “I’m in Bangkok and this is where…that person…lives.”

 

The next time he woke up, it was gloomy in his room.  A young nurse was next to his bed.  She smiled at him when he looked at her.  “Good morning!” she said pleasantly.  “I’ve brought you breakfast!”

 

“Breakfast?  But it was afternoon when I went to sleep!” he protested.

 

“Yes,” she nodded, “You have been on some very powerful medication.  A side-effect is sleeping a lot.  But you are awake now and your doctor ordered breakfast for you.  I was just about to wake you, but you woke up on your own.”  She sat down a tray on a portable table and then reached for a controller that was on the bed.  “I’m going to ease you into a sitting position.  I need for you to tell me if you feel dizzy or like you might throw up.  Also if there is a drastic increase in pain, okay?”

 

He nodded, “I will.”

 

She slowly increased his incline, bit by bit.  He did actually feel a bit dizzy for a moment, so she stopped and waited for it to pass before continuing.  Finally he was sitting up in his bed and she pulled the portable table over to him.  “Why would just sitting up make me dizzy?” he asked.

 

“You have been through a lot and your body is busy repairing itself.  Plus, you have been lying flat for almost a month.  It will just take a bit of time to get used to doing things you used to do without thinking about before your accident.  But you will get there!”

 

“Where are my parents?”

 

The nurse smiled, “We finally convinced your mother to lie down for a bit.  She has been sitting next to your bed almost non-stop.  She needs the rest.  And your father went down to the cafeteria to get some breakfast for himself.  He was hoping to make it back to eat with you.”  She uncovered the dishes on the tray.  There was a bowl of broth and a cup of gelatin.  With a bottle of water to wash it down. 

 

“Sick people food,” he thought with a sneer.  Instantly he remembered Win’s Senior Swim Club weekend when Team had convinced Jintana’s father that the group had food poisoning and he had fed them meals like this the rest of the weekend.

 

He frowned in disgust at himself.  Every time his guard was down, some stupid memory of that person and that time came back.  “No rice?  Rice is okay for sick people, right?” he asked, his voice a bit more sharp than he had intended it to be because of his anger at himself.

 

The nurse shook her head.  “No, I’m sorry.  Your doctor specified only liquids at this time.  I’m sure that soon there will be solids added.”

 

“It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled.  “I don’t even feel like eating this.  Not hungry at all.”

 

“That’s the medicine.  You will feel better if you do manage to eat some of it though.  Do you want me to turn on your TV?  Sometimes it helps—you know, helps people to relax—it makes the hospital sound more like home.”

 

He picked up his spoon and stirred the broth, “Okay, sure.  That’s fine.”

 

“What would you like me to turn it to?”

 

“Sports channel,” he said and then sipped a bit of broth off of his spoon.  He turned his attention to the announcer who was reading off the scores of minor league football games that had taken place the night before.

 

The nurse walked over to the window and opened the curtain.  Team’s attention from the scores faded as he watched her at the window.  After she had pulled back the curtain, she had placed her hands on the window sill and was standing as if transfixed by something she saw.

 

When his curiosity became too much for him, he asked, “What is it?  What do you see?”

 

She spun around and put her hands on her cheeks.  “I’m sorry!  It’s just…your room has the best view of it, and I kind of got lost in it.”

 

“View of what?” he asked, trying to look past her to see.

 

She stepped a bit to the side and then pointed at the window to show him.  “It’s Rama IX Park.  From here you can see the pavilion.”

 

He looked at where she was pointing and suddenly his heart began to race.  He could see the fountain in front of the pavilion and he had the weirdest feeling that he was supposed to be there.  He searched his memories of the day of the accident but they were still fuzzy.  Had he and Nick planned on going to a fountain?  Certainly not this one!  It was over two hours away from home.  They wouldn’t have driven that far to look at a fountain.  But still…he couldn’t shake the feeling.

 

The nurse was talking to him so he forced himself to pay attention to her.

 

“I think it is the nicest park in all of Thailand!  Or…at least the ones I have been to.  Have you ever been there?”

 

“No…at least…I don’t think so.  My memory is still a bit fuzzy.” He answered.  Because…maybe he had been and just didn’t remember.  The fountain looked so familiar to him.

 

“Sometimes my boyfriend and I go and spend the afternoon there.  It’s actually a Botanical garden and they have plants and flowers from all over the world.  I think he takes me there because he knows I love it so much.  It probably isn’t a place he would choose to go for himself—which makes me love it more, you know?  It’s his gift to me.”  She blushed, “Sorry, I forgot myself for a moment.”

 

“No!  It’s okay!  I want to hear about it!” Team assured her.

 

She smiled, “I spend hours taking pictures of the flowers.  It seems like there are new ones every time we go.  Eventually we make our way to the pavilion and after we tour it, we grab lunch from a vendor and then…”

 

“You sit on a bench, in front of the fountain, to eat.” Team finished slowly, visualizing it in his mind.  He could almost feel the mist from the fountain on his face.

 

“That’s right!” she said excitedly.

 

“And there are…birds?  I think you can feed them?”

 

“Yes!  Ducks and geese!  You can buy feed for them from a stand nearby.  We always do!  I have even given them some of my bread from sandwiches occasionally.”

 

“But you aren’t supposed to, right?  There is a sign…” he said, frowning with the effort to remember.

 

She giggled, “No, we aren’t supposed to.  We’re only supposed to feed them the special duck food that is sold there.  But they love the bread.”

 

“Hey!  Look at you!  Sitting up and eating!” his dad said happily as he entered the room.

 

The nurse smiled at him and then turned worried eyes to Team.  He smiled at her to let her know he wouldn’t tell.  She gave a slight nod and said as she walked out of the room, “Someone will be around in a bit to collect your tray.”

 

His dad was watching the TV as he sat down in the visitor’s chair next to the bed.  He indicated the screen with a head motion as he arranged his food on Team’s night stand.  “We watched that game in here last night.  It was a good one!  We kept hoping you would wake up to watch it with us.  It looks like that sleep helped you a lot though.  It’s good to see you eating!”

 

“If you call spooning up broth as ‘eating’ then yeah, I guess,” Team grumbled.

 

“I do!  And once you finish with it, you need to eat up all that gelatin too.”

 

Team snarled.  “It’s lime.  I don’t like the lime flavor.”

 

“Suck it up, buttercup!” his dad said with a grin.  “You will have a surprise if you finish it.”

 

“What?  An empty bowl?”

 

“Nope—Jai, Mali, and Namfon are on their way here from the village.  Mali said that even if they weren’t allowed to visit with you, they were going to hang out in the hallway and peek in at you.  Namfon said,” his dad paused and gave a laugh, “She said that if they weren’t allowed to visit you, they were going to go to the laundry and steal some uniforms and pretend to work here.”  He shook his head in amusement, “I don’t know how she comes up with things like that.”

 

Team finished his bowl of broth and picked up his gelatin cup and looked at it, “Sounds like something she saw in a cartoon.”

 

His dad laughed harder, “You’re right!”  He unwrapped his breakfast sandwich and took a bite.  After he swallowed the bite he continued, “I talked to Dr. ‘Evil Smile’.  He said if you ate all of your breakfast, they could come in to visit you for a few minutes.”

 

Team spooned up some of the gelatin and swallowed it as quickly as he could to avoid tasting it.  “Seems like a waste to drive all the way here for just a few minutes.”

 

“Not to them.  They missed you.  Don’t forget, to you it’s only been a couple of days since you saw them.  For them, it is almost a month since they saw you.  They call us all the time getting updates on your condition.  They wanted to come here as soon as you woke up from the coma, but we thought it would be best for them to give you a bit of time to get all the way awake.  How’s the pain?”

 

Team gave a quiet sigh, “It hurts, but I can bear it.  I don’t want a nurse to come in and knock me out with a shot to the I.V.  I want to see my friends.”

 

His dad nodded.  “The doctor said they will be giving you pills now instead of shots.  If your pain gets really bad, I want you to let us know so we can get you the medicine you need.  Your friends will understand if you aren’t awake when they get here.”

 

Team gave a small nod and continued forcing down his gelatin.  He glanced at the window and saw the fountain again.  “Dad?” he asked, “Have we ever been to the Rama IX Park?”

 

“Rama IX Park?” his dad mused as he rubbed his chin, “No, I’m fairly certain we haven’t.  Why?”

 

Team pointed to the window, “I can see the fountain from here and it looks familiar.”

 

His dad got up and walked over to the window and looked closer at it.  “I don’t know, Team.  It’s pretty, but it looks like a regular fountain to me.  Nothing that spectacular about it.  Maybe you went on a school trip there?  We can ask your mother when she wakes up.  She will know if you did.”

 

“If you did what?” his mother asked as she entered the room.

 

Team could tell by looking at her that she had gotten some rest and he was glad.  “Have I ever been to Rama IX Park?  Like on a school trip or something?”

 

She frowned as she thought, “Nope, not that I recall.  I’ve heard it is a wonderful botanical garden; I bet you would like it.”

 

His dad’s phone gave the text notification sound.  He pulled out his phone and read the message.  “They’ve arrived.  They are on their way up here.  Did you finish that gelatin?”

 

Team nodded and held up his empty cup to prove it.

 

“You ate?” his mother asked excitedly.

 

“Broth and gelatin.  It was lime,” he grumbled.  “I had to eat it though or else my friends couldn’t come in here.”

 

“You ate lime?” asked Jai as he entered the room.

 

“Yeah.  I wanted to see you losers!” Team quipped with a laugh.

 

“I’m honored!” Mali said. “We all know how much you hate lime!”  She was carrying a vase of flowers which she sat down on Team’s nightstand.  She gave him a quick kiss on his forehead.

 

“You’re all worth it!” Team assured her.  He looked at Namfon who had just entered the room.  “Except you!”

 

Namfon laughed and shook her head.  “Even though you are being mean to me, I’m still glad to see you awake!”  She sat down in the chair next to his bed and took his hand in hers.  “It’s been a long time!”

 

He squeezed her hand and smiled at her.

 

Jai and Mali, with a bit of help from Namfon, told Team and his parents all the things that had happened in the village since they had been in Bangkok.  It was surprising that so many things had occurred in the tiny village in that short span of time.  The woman who worked at the post office had her baby.  It was a boy and they both were doing fine.  Team’s mother was especially happy to hear this news.  She said she would drop by and see them as soon as she was back in the village.

 

A stray dog had entered the park one day and terrorized a group of children—or so they said.  The story changed a bit when it was discovered to be an elderly farm dog who had wandered into town.  He was actually a lovable, friendly dog who had wanted to play with the kids.

 

And the art supply store had permanently closed.  When Team heard this news, his mind automatically flew back to the days when he knew a secret artist and had purchased art supplies for that person for special events.  He didn’t want to remember that, so he directed his gaze out the window, and focused on the fountain.  After a time, he was able to shove away his unwanted thoughts and returned his attention to the occupants in his room.  His mother and Mali were discussing the postal worker’s new baby and his dad and Jai were excitedly talking about the previous night’s football game.  Namfon still held Team’s hand, and when he looked at her, he saw that she was studying the tip of her shoe as it traced the lines of the tiles on the floor.

 

A nurse entered the room.  He sighed and said with a smile, “I’m sorry.  I hate to break this up, but I’m afraid that it is past time for Team’s medication.  Plus…it’s actually against the rules to have more than two visitors at a time.”

 

“Oh my!” Team’s mother said as she hurriedly got to her feet.  “We had no idea that we were breaking the rules!”

 

“It’s okay,” the nurse assured her, “But we are going to have to ask some of you to leave.”

 

Everyone offered to go, so Team said, “If none of you mind, I would like for Namfon to stay.  I need to speak to her alone.”

 

They all agreed.  Jai and Mali tried to send Namfon some warning looks, but Team saw that she was still studying the floor.

 

After they left the room, Team asked the nurse if he could wait a few minutes before taking his medicine.  The nurse looked at the clock, “I will deliver the rest of the meds on this floor.  I’ll be back in about ten minutes or so.”  He walked out and shut the door behind him.

 

Team squeezed Namfon’s hand gently, “Where’s Nick?”

 

She sighed, “He is back in the US with his parents.  He only had a tiny break in a wrist bone.  They took him to the hospital in the ambulance while you were still trapped in the car.  The hospital discharged him the next morning, and his dad got to the village that evening.  They flew out the next day.”

 

Team gave a small nod; it matched what his parents had told him.  But there was more, he knew it.  “And he made it back to the US safely.  You’re sure?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure.  I still follow him on FaceBook and I have seen his posts since he arrived back home, all safe and sound.  He still has to wear a wrist brace, but otherwise he seems fine.”

 

“Okay, well… that’s good.  I don’t understand why everyone is acting so odd though.  What is it that people don’t want me to know?”

 

She pulled her gaze from the study of the floor tiles and sat up straight.  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “Scooby—why don’t we wait a few days for this?  I’m not sure if you are feeling up to hearing it.”

 

“I’m okay, but I won’t be if you don’t tell me.  I will imagine all kinds of things.  I already have been.”

 

She nodded and with her free hand she pushed her glasses back on her nose from where they had slid a bit.  “He has posted pictures of himself driving a brand new car.  I don’t know much about cars, but Jai says it is a top-of-the-line sports car.  Jai says they are really expensive.”

 

“Probably a gift from his folks.  He said they had a lot of money.”

 

She shrugged, “Could be.  But his grandmother has also been spotted around the village driving a fancy new car too.”

 

“Oh!  You think he took a payoff?”

 

She nodded, “I’m afraid it looks that way.  Do you know who hit you?  None other than the only grandchild of the richest, nastiest man in the village.  Jai was out that evening and heard the crash.  Of course he didn’t know you were involved when he went to the scene.  The ambulance arrived about the time he did.  He saw the grandfather talking to Nick as they were putting him into the ambulance.”

 

Team sighed and looked at the fountain.  “If he took the payoff, I will have no case.”

 

“That’s true.  I’m sorry, Scooby.  That night, Jai called us as soon as he saw it was you in the car.  Mali and I hurried there when we heard.  We took a lot of pictures so we could show you what happened.  I knew that I wouldn’t remember half of what was going on, so I ran around taking pictures of everything.  So did Jai.  Mali took a few but then spent time with your parents.  Anyway, we saved all of them on our group page.  Jai made a file for them, so you can see them when you are feeling better.”

 

Team gave a small nod, “Good,” he said.  Then he turned his full attention on her, “What else is it about Nick?  I feel that you are holding back something, but I know you won’t lie to me if I ask you directly.”

 

She frowned and looked back down at the floor.  “I really don’t want to tell you this.  But in his most recent posts, from about the last week or so, he has been putting up a lot of pictures.  Him with some guy.  Numerous references to them being reunited.  Of course the guy could just be a friend…but Nick calls him a pet name instead of his given name, so it appears to me to not just be a friend.”

 

Team shook his head slightly in disgust.  “What’s the pet name?”

 

“Nick calls the guy his ‘Angel’ and says how happy he is to be back with him.”

 

“Angel?  He calls him Angel?” Team asked in shock.

 

“Yeah, that’s what it says.  Maybe you should calm down a bit.  I wish I hadn’t said anything!”

 

Team huffed, “No, it’s just…that was his pet name for me.  I guess he believes in recycling.”

 

“I’m sorry that I told you!  Are you hurting badly?  I thought you were pretty much over him after our talk during the Dawn Rush Party,” she said quietly.  “I wish you hadn’t asked to speak to me alone.  You know I can’t lie, but I didn’t want to tell you!”

 

“Dawn Rush Party?  I was there?”  Team tried to remember but drew a blank.  “Nick said he didn’t want to go to it—that I remember.”

 

“He must have changed his mind because the two of you were there.  You sat on the blanket with him and the football team’s defensive players.  Mali, Jai, Kwan, and I sat on the blanket with the team’s offensive players.  Nick spent a lot of time in the water with his friends, so you moved over and sat with us.”

 

Team gave a bitter smile, “That must have been why we went—so Nick could be with his friends.  What did I say to you that day that made you think things were done with us?”

 

“You told me that you saw a boy on a bike with training wheels, but the boy looked like he was ready to get rid of them and ride on his own.  This was based on a metaphor I previously used…”

 

Team interrupted, “I remember when you told me the metaphor, but I don’t remember this discussion.  So, I basically told you I was over Nick, huh?  I’m not surprised because I was feeling that way for a while; and I am not surprised that you are the one I told about it.”

 

“You weren’t really mad either, so it wasn’t like something said in the heat of passion.  I never trust emotional outbursts because those can be temporary feelings.  You said this in an almost matter-of-fact tone.  And that’s why I was so surprised when I heard that the two of you had an argument that evening.  I would have assumed that you would have used it as a way to exit the relationship, but your mom said you seemed happy to make up with him when he texted you.  She said you seemed in a good mood when you left the house with him.  The accident happened less than a half hour later.”

 

“Wow!  You’re right!  I don’t remember this at all, but I do remember thinking something around finals week that the next fight we had, I was going to be done.  That’s weird!  Why would I go back with him and why would I be happy about it?  I wanted out of the relationship.”

 

She gave a small shrug and then her eyes darted away.  He looked away from her and stared out the window at the fountain.  He knew if he had been at the Dawn Rush Party, there was no way the two of them had been to Rama IX Park.  He took a deep breath and let it out.  “What aren’t you telling me?  I can see you struggling with it.”

 

She lowered her head and seemed to be speaking to the floor.  “It’s the worst part, I’m afraid.”  She raised her head and looked at him with the pain visible in her eyes.  “We all follow each other on FaceBook, like I mentioned earlier.  He also has our phone numbers in his contacts, or at least he had them before he left…Scooby…” She stopped and sighed. “I wish I wasn’t the one to tell you this!  But…he never contacted any of us to check on your condition.  Not even your parents.  Nothing.  When he left, he knew how bad off you were.”

 

“Wow,” Team said without much emotion.  “Sounds like I picked a real ‘winner’ with that one, huh?  But…yeah…I think that is more evidence that he took a payoff.  Probably the deal was to take the cash, walk away, and pretend that nothing happened.  Damn it!  He really stabbed me in the back if he actually took the money.”  He shook his head slightly, “What am I saying?  Of course he took the money.  He has a big selfish streak, which was one of the reasons why I was done with him.”

 

In disgust he again turned his attention to looking at the fountain.  “Do you know of any time that I went to Rama IX Park?  Did I ever mention anything to you about it?”

 

She leaned a bit to the side so she could see the fountain through the window.  “No, you never said anything about it.  Why?  What is it?”

 

He tried to shrug but it sent a wave of pain through his collarbone.  “Ouch!” he grumbled.  Then he said, “I don’t know what it is but when I look at the fountain—I feel like I remember being there—or like I should be there.  It’s hard to explain, but I can see it in my mind.  I’m sitting on a bench, talking to someone and I am feeding the ducks.  There is a sign saying you can only feed them food that you purchase there.  I think I must be following the rules because it seems like I am tossing them seeds…grain…maybe?  I don’t know.  My folks say that I have never been there…but….I don’t know.  I figured if anyone knew about it, it would be you.”

 

“You said, ‘…like I should be there…’.  Do you think it could be a premonition?”

 

“I don’t know.  I’ve never had one before.  Do you believe in that stuff?  There is no scientific proof,” he teased.

 

“There is no scientific proof that they don’t exist either.  I grew up in the same village you did.  You know everyone there believes in things that can’t be explained,” she countered.  “Now tell me more about what you are seeing.  What is the weather like?  How do you feel?  Tell me more about the person you are talking to.”

 

“Well…I can feel the spray of the water from the fountain hitting my face.  It’s a warm day but not terribly hot.  I’m looking at the ducks so I don’t see who it is I am talking to.”  He paused for a moment and frowned in concentration.  “It seems like I am saying ‘It’s okay; it will be fine’.”

 

She leaned back in her seat and gave him a huge smile, “There you go!  That’s the message!  It is your mind telling you that everything is going to be okay!  And you said that you are sitting on the bench in this vision, correct?”  When he agreed, she continued, “Sitting on the bench, not in a wheelchair, Scooby!  It means that you will visit the park after you get well.  And the vision is assuring you that you will!”

 

He relaxed against his mattress with a sigh.  “I hope that’s true!  I have this asshole of a doctor who is all doom and gloom.  My parents have told me not to listen to him—but he told me that I will basically have to drag my leg around while I am using a walker for the rest of my life.  It terrifies me!”

 

“I don’t see how he could judge that so soon!  Your bones haven’t even had a chance to mend yet!  I’m with your parents.  Don’t listen to him!  You trust that vision you are having!”

 

He squeezed her hand, “I will.  Whenever he comes in here, I will look out my window at the fountain.  Thank you!  The vision theory is probably all bullshit, but it makes me feel better.”

 

The door opened and the nurse stepped in, “Sorry to break this up, but it is past time for Team’s medicine.  I am sure he is feeling the pain pretty good now.”

 

Team gave a small nod and Namfon rose from the chair.  She squeezed Team’s hand before letting it go, and then she leaned down to whisper, “I can’t prove it through an experiment or an equation, but it feels true to me.  I don’t think it is a bullshit theory.”

 

He looked at her and saw the belief in her face.  It almost made him feel like crying.  Instead he smiled and mouthed “thank you”.  She smiled back and gave him a tiny nod, “Hang in there, Scooby!  We’ll come back to visit you as soon as we can.”

 

Over the following week, Team’s strength began to come back.  After a few days of eating regularly, his I.V. was removed.  He was helped to get out of bed and into a wheelchair, and although the only distance he got to cover was from his room to the lab for testing, it felt like a vacation.  In his room, his eyes were always on the fountain.  In his mind, he could hear himself saying, “It’s okay; it will be fine” and he would feel this rush of reassurance flow through his soul.

 

Until the day the test results came back.  Dr. Creepy Smile and a man who introduced himself as the Head of Orthopedic Surgery entered his room together.

 

The surgeon sat down in the chair next to the bed, while Dr. Creepy Smile stood on the other side of the bed.  Team suddenly felt a flutter of panic and looked at the fountain.  He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself.

 

“Team,” the surgeon spoke, “We have been going over your x-rays and your bones seem to be healing very well!  Quicker than we expected, actually.  But…there is a slight concern.  In two places, some of your muscles in the area are creating adhesions…”

 

“What’s that?” Team asked in a panic.

 

His parents were in the room and they moved a bit closer to the bed to hear the news.

“It is your muscles attempting to shield your broken bones.  They become tough so they can support the break.  But if left alone, they will become scar tissue.  And you will lose the flexibility of your muscles.  I strongly suggest that you let us remove the adhesions before the scar tissue takes over.”

 

“I must voice my opposition to this procedure,” Dr. Creepy Smile interjected.  “There is no reason to put the boy through more surgeries.  This leg has been badly damaged.  It is a near certainty that it will be useless the rest of his life.”

 

“With all due respect, Doctor,” the surgeon interrupted, “I don’t agree with your prediction.  Team is young and strong.  There is no way we can determine at this point what the future might hold.  But it is a definite outcome to say that without removing the adhesions, Team’s chances of making a full recovery are greatly diminished.”

 

“Do the surgery,” Team said.

 

“But we haven’t had a chance to discuss the alternatives,” Creepy Smile objected.  “And you haven’t discussed this with your parents.  You aren’t old enough to make decisions like this.”

 

Team’s father leaned forward and addressed the surgeon, “We agree with Team.  We want him to have every chance to make a full recovery.”

 

“Which will not happen!” said Dr. Creepy, “With or without this surgery, your son will never regain full use of that leg!”  He looked at the surgeon, “I think it is terribly unprofessional of you to give people false hopes!”

 

The surgeon stood up and in height he towered over the much shorter doctor.  “I have made no promises about his future ability to walk; I only gave him the facts that his chances are greatly lessened if his muscles become rigid.  I never give my patients false hopes.  But a bit of hope never hurt anyone.”  He turned his attention to Team, “Nothing to eat or drink after midnight.  I will schedule the surgery for first thing in the morning.  I am certain it will go well.”  He turned to Team’s parents and gave a little bow, “Good evening,” he said and then walked out of the door without saying another word to the doctor.

 

The creepy doctor watched him leave and then turned his attention back to Team.  “There is something you should understand about surgeons.  They operate.  That’s what they do. Anything that comes along, they want to operate to fix it.  It’s like that old saying, ‘when you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail’.  Do you understand what I am saying?”

 

Team had been looking at the fountain and remembering the vision of himself sitting on the bench unaided, saying the words, ‘It’s okay; it will be fine’ to some unseen person.  He took a breath and turned his eyes on the doctor.  “Yes, I understand what you are saying.  But…I don’t agree with you at all.  This is my leg and my life, not yours.  I am going to have the surgery—there is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind!”

 

The doctor jerked his chin up sharply and then gave a brisk nod, “Fine!  I wish you well with it,” and then he strode out the door.

 

“Way to go, Team!” his dad said approvingly.  “That’s the spirit that will get you back on your feet!”

 

That night passed slowly.  Team was aware that he had had a few surgeries after the accident, but he wasn’t awake and aware of them.  He was pretty anxious about it.  He hadn’t felt like eating in the evening, but once it was midnight and he was not allowed to eat, of course—that’s when he became hungry!

 

He dozed off and on, and kept an eye on the clock.  He would think that hours had passed during these little naps, only to find it had only been minutes.  His parents were in the room with him and he tried to act like he was totally fine, but inside he was a nervous wreck!

 

Shortly after dawn arrived, so did a nurse with his pre-op shot.  “This might make you feel a bit drowsy,” she said with a grin.  “Don’t fight it.”

 

He felt the jab of the needle and then her cleaning the area and putting a bandage over it, and then he decided to rest his eyes for a moment.

 

When he opened them again, his parents were sitting at the little table eating.  He looked past them at the window and saw that it was raining.  This puzzled him because it hadn’t been raining when he closed his eyes.  He looked at his leg and saw that the wrapping from his thigh had been removed.  His leg was only wrapped from the knee down.  He touched his bare thigh and sighed a breath of relief when he realized his leg felt the touch of his fingertips.  When he took his fingers away, there was some brown coating that came off with them.  He smelled his fingers and they smelled like medicine.  “What’s this brown stuff on my leg?” he asked.

 

“Hey!  You’re awake!” his dad said as he got up and hurried over the bed.  He got a wet wipe out of the box on the bedside table and cleaned Team’s fingers.  “It’s just stuff they put on the skin near an operation site to kill germs.  It keeps the incision from getting infected.”

 

“Oh, okay.  I probably shouldn’t have touched it then.  When are they coming to get me for the surgery?”

 

His dad chuckled.  “Hours ago,” he said.  “It’s all done now.”

 

Team blinked in confusion.  “It is?  Wow, having surgeries is so weird.  People moving you around from place to place and you don’t even know it.”  He shook his head slightly.  “Weird,” he said again.

 

His mom cleaned off the table and threw the containers in the trash before coming over to the bed.  “All that worry last night kept you from sleeping.  The pre-op shot knocked you right out,” she said with a smile.

 

“So…what did the surgeon say?  Did he get the adhesions out?”

 

“The surgeon was very pleased with the surgery,” his mother said.

 

“Yep,” his dad agreed.  “He said they weren’t nearly as big or as deep as he had feared they would be.  He just had to cut out a few bits and you were back here in your bed within a very short time.  It was over so quickly that your mom barely had time to start worrying about you.”

 

“Keow!” his mother scolded, “Don’t tell him that!”  She looked at Team and grinned, “It was quick but I still managed to worry about you.”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Team saw something large and white rolling into his room.  He turned his head to see it was a bed on wheels, being pushed by a man.  Another man dressed in the same kind of uniform walked in behind him.  He looked a bit familiar but Team couldn’t place him.  Another man followed behind the two.  This man Team knew very well.  He felt the smile spread across his face.

 

“Mr. Doctor!” Team exclaimed.  It was his nickname for the doctor who had delivered him and who had always been their family physician.

 

“Hello Team!  I just stopped by here to see if maybe you would be interested in taking a little road trip?  What do you say, son?  Do you want to be transferred to the village hospital?”  The man asked with a huge smile.

 

“Really?” Team asked in surprise.  “Can I really go home?”

 

“You won’t be going to your actual home for a couple of days.  We need to keep a watch on you in the hospital until then.  But you have no more need to stay here; you are no longer considered a trauma patient now.  And besides, I have heard that maybe the atmosphere here isn’t the greatest,” he ended with a little motion of his head towards the doorway and added in a little wink.

 

“Yes!” Team agreed, “It’s not.”

 

Mr. Doctor nodded and said, “Yes, well…as soon as I heard your surgery was over, I spoke to your surgeon and he cleared you to leave.  Your other doctor though…he would prefer that you stay here.  So, since it is my day off, I thought I would come here to oversee your transfer myself.”  He looked at the window, “I had hoped to get in a bit of golf this morning while waiting, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  Ah well…such is life.”  He turned to Team’s parents, “Well folks, I think it would be better if we stepped out and let these gentlemen prepare Team for the trip.”

 

His mother hurried out the door but his dad picked up a large bag and then scanned the room with his eyes.

 

“Did you know they were coming to get me?” Team asked.

 

His dad grinned and held up the bag, “Yep, this is your stuff that your mom and I packed up to take back with us.  We’ll be driving right behind you on the way home.”

 

After he left the room, the men set to work on the bed with wheels.  They pulled it right next to the bed and then lowered it so it would be level with Team’s mattress.  Team studied the guy that he recognized earlier and then realized what their jackets said.  He grinned, “You’re the EMT guys!  I knew I recognized you!”

 

“Yep, that's right,” the guy nearest him said—he was the one that Team hadn’t recognized.  “And you look a whole lot better now than you did the last time we saw you!  We are the ones that helped take care of you and then later transported you to the helicopter to fly here.  I can honestly say, I was pretty worried about you that night.”

 

The other guy nodded, “Yeah, I was too.  Okay, now we are going to move you from this bed to the transport bed.  Don’t try to help us.  Just lay still and let us move you, okay?”

 

Team agreed and within seconds they had him moved over.  They raised the height of the transport bed and began to wheel him out of the room.  Team quickly looked at his window.  He wanted one last look at the fountain.  But the rain made it look like a different place.  He didn’t feel the pull to it as he had.  It was just a fountain now—not a magical place.

 

Later, during the long ride home in the ambulance, Team had time to think about it.  In his vision, the day had been sunny.  He assumed that is why he didn’t feel the same about it in the rain.  He realized it didn’t really matter anymore.  He had gotten the message it sent to him:  “It’s okay; it will be fine”.  He believed that, way down deep in his soul.  And the closer he got to home the more he became certain of it.  It might take a while to heal, but Team knew that he was going to be okay.

 

 

Chapter 20

During his time in the village hospital, his room was always filled with banners, balloons, flowers, snacks, and visitors.  All of his friends basically hung out in his room, and even guys from the football team were regular visitors.  He occasionally had visits from people he had worked for in the past and a few teachers from his Primary school.

 

One afternoon he was sitting in his wheelchair, looking out of the window.  The view was of the hospital parking lot, but beyond that, there was the parking lot to the most popular restaurant in the village for teens and young adults.  Namfon and Mali had been in to see him and when he mentioned how much he wanted some grilled pork, they had volunteered to go pick some up for him and bring it back.  He was watching them hurrying across the hospital parking lot, on their way to the restaurant, when he heard people entering his room.

 

He turned his head, expecting it to be people he knew, but instead he encountered two strangers.

 

They were older people—older even than his parents.  And just by looking at them, he could tell that the woman was in charge.  She was tall and elegant and her silver hair was pulled back into a bun in the back of her head.  The man was short and kind of plump, with eyes that twinkled with merriment—a sharp contrast to the lady’s severe demeanor.  Team felt almost as if he should sit up straight in his wheelchair.  He quickly looked down at his shirt to search for potato chip crumbs.  He found some, but didn’t dare brush them off in front of his visitors.

 

“Are you Teerayu Siriyothin?” The woman asked.

 

Team gave a small bow with his head, “Yes ma’am,” he answered.  “I go by the name ‘Team’.”

 

She gave him a formal smile.  “Hello Team, my name is Somruedee, I am a lawyer here in the village.  This is my legal researcher—his name is Yod.”

 

Team bowed his head to both of them, “Naang Somruedee; Naang Yod,” he said as a greeting to them.

 

“No, not Naang Yod,” the man corrected him with a big smile, “Just Uncle Yod.  I don’t deserve such a high title.”

 

Team gave him a small nod and then turned his attention back to the woman.

 

“Team, we have come here because we believe you could use our help.  We heard about the accident and how gravely you were hurt.  We would like to help you to go after the one responsible.  It is common knowledge that the young man who was driving the vehicle that hit you is the grandson of the wealthiest man in the village.  We fear that if we wait to pursue the matter, it will be too late to get help for you.  Very wealthy people have a way of paying their way out of problems.  Do you understand what I mean?”

 

“Yes, Naang Somruedee.  I’m afraid that has probably already happened in this case.  I believe the driver of the car I was in took a payoff before he hurried back to the U.S.” Team informed her.  “I don’t know it for certain, but my friends have seen pictures of him with a new car and his grandmother, who lives here in the village, has also been seen driving a new car.  It was her car that was destroyed in the accident.”

 

Naang Somruedee pursed her lips and thought for a moment.  “There could be witnesses that haven’t been paid off.  Yod would like to search for them—with your permission, of course.”

 

Team gave a small smile, “I don’t think it would do any good—maybe when the accident first happened there would have been time, but it was over a month ago now.  I am sure they have all been paid.  And honestly, I can’t afford to hire a lawyer.  I won’t be able to go back to my part-time job and my parents…”

 

“You can’t afford ten percent of nothing?” She asked and he frowned at her in confusion.  She gave him a smile, a warm, friendly smile, not like her previous, ‘scary professional’ smile.  “Team,” she said, “Your fee will only be ten percent of what we can recover for you.  If that is nothing, than that is what we will be paid—10% of nothing.  We just want to do what we can to help you.  And if there is any little scrap of evidence that can help you win your case,” she turned to the little old man standing beside her, “Yod is the one person on this Earth who can find it.  He is the best legal researcher in the business.”

 

Team didn’t know anything about lawyers and legal researchers or even things like lawsuits and court hearings—just programs he had seen on TV, so he felt very out of his depth.  “I…uh…I’d have to ask my parents…”

 

“Of course!”  Naang Somruedee answered, “Of course you should!  We just wanted to speak to you first because the accident happened to you.”  She pulled out a card and handed it to him.  “Here is my office number and I’ve written my private cell number on the back.  Have your parents call me at their convenience and I will discuss this with them.”  She turned to the man, “Do you have anything you would like to add, Yod?”

 

“I would like to ask about the picture of the driver with his new car.  Do you have it?”

 

Team gave a small shrug, causing a bit of pain in his collarbone, “I’m not sure.  It would be easy to find though—my friend saw it on his FaceBook page.”

 

“Oh excellent!” he said.

 

Team thought for a moment.  “My friends…some of them came to the accident scene right after it happened.  One of them told me she saw the grandfather speaking to Nick—he was the driver of the car I was in.  I’m not sure if she took a picture of it, but she said she took pictures of everything, and so did two of my other friends…but I don’t know…I haven’t looked at them yet.  It feels a bit too soon…you know?”

 

Uncle Yod nodded, “Of course, I totally understand that.  I think it would help your case a lot if I could view them though.  Maybe it would help to locate witnesses to the accident.”

 

Team nodded.  “Namfon, my friend, would probably be the one you want to talk to about the pictures.  She will be here in a few minutes.  She and another friend went to pick up some grilled pork for me…”

 

“Oh!  Grilled pork is my favorite!” Uncle Yod exclaimed.

 

Team grinned at him, “Mine too!  This hospital food is worse than what most people would feed their dogs!”

 

Uncle Yod turned to Naang Somruedee.  “I think I will stick around here and wait for Team’s friend.  Hopefully she can show me the pictures of the accident scene and the picture of Nick with his new vehicle.”

 

She gave a small huff and shook her head with a smile, “You’re not fooling me at all!  You want to stay here in hopes that they will share their grilled pork with you!”

 

“Shh!!!  Don’t give me away!” he scolded.

 

She laughed and turned to Team, “Make sure you give my card to your parents.  I truly want to help you.”

 

Team assured her that he would and then she left his room.  Almost immediately, Namfon and Mali returned with the grilled pork.

 

Team introduced them to Uncle Yod.  Uncle Yod questioned Namfon about the pictures.  She handed Team the bag of pork skewers and sat down next to Uncle Yod.  Mali sat down on the other side of him, and they went through the pictures together.  Team tuned them out.  He wasn’t ready to face the scene yet, or even to hear about it.

 

“You kids did an amazing job capturing these pictures,” Uncle Yod announced.  “If you would be kind enough to send them to me, I’m sure they will be helpful!”

 

Namfon sent them to his phone and she included hers, Mali’s, and Jai’s phone numbers in case he had any questions.  “We’ll do whatever we can to help Team,” she declared.

 

“How about helping me eat some of this pork then,” Team suggested with a laugh.

 

“As if you ever need someone to help you get rid of food!” Namfon said with a laugh and then snatched the bag out of Team’s hands.  She gave some to Uncle Yod and Mali, before taking a couple for herself.  Then she returned the bag to Team.

 

While they ate, Uncle Yod told them funny stories about what life was like in the village when he was a kid.

 

That evening, Team spoke to his parents about Naang Somruedee's offer of taking the case for ten percent—even if that meant ten percent of zero.

 

His parents knew of her reputation as the best lawyer in all of Rayong Province.  They were extremely happy to take her up on her offer.  Team’s mother called her right away to confirm it.

 

A few weeks later, Team left the hospital and returned home.  His parents had converted the dining room into a temporary bedroom for Team, since he was still in a wheelchair and couldn’t go upstairs to his own bedroom.  They stored the dining room furniture in the garage and set up a hospital bed and a TV for Team.  When the curtains were opened, he could see the birdfeeder.  He spent more time watching the birds at the birdfeeder than he did watching TV.

 

His mother went back to work at the library and his father worked at home so he could take care of Team.  They spent a good part of every day back at the hospital where Team took physical therapy.  The largest part of each session focused on his upper body, since the broken collarbone, ribs, and arm bones were almost completely healed, the goal was to gain enough strength to begin using crutches, at least part of the time.  The last part of the sessions was in the hot tub, where his physical therapist would help him do gentle leg exercises, to keep his muscles from becoming weak.

 

He looked forward to the hot tub sessions.  He always worked as hard as he could with his upper body exercises, so the heat helped ease his aching muscles.  He also enjoyed feeling his leg move under the guidance of his therapist’s hands.  He felt certain, regardless of what the doctor with the creepy, cold smile had said, that he would regain full use of it in time.

 

One day, a few weeks after his physical therapy had started, he was surprised to find himself being wheeled in a different direction after changing into his swimming trunks.  His dad was pushing his wheelchair at a pretty quick pace.  Team looked over his shoulder at him.  “Where are we going?  The hot tub is in the opposite direction.”

 

His dad gave a quick nod, “I know.”

 

With a puzzled frown, Team turned his head back to look ahead and then he saw where they were headed.  A sign said that it was the way to the swimming pool.

 

“Stop!” Team nearly shouted.  “I’m not going to get in a pool!”

 

His dad continued forward until he came to a button on the wall.  He pushed the button and the double doors opened up.  He pushed Team’s wheelchair through the doors.

 

Team could see his physical therapist already there waiting for them.  She was dressed in a pale green, one-piece bathing suit, with her hair pulled up in a high bun.  She was smiling and holding a yellow pool noodle in her hands.

 

“NO!” Team shouted.  He felt a twinge of remorse when he saw the smile quickly drop from her lips.  “I WON’T GET INTO THAT POOL!”

 

His father set the brake on the wheelchair and then walked around to the front of it.  “Please excuse us for a moment, I’m sure we can straighten this out,” he said to the physical therapist.

 

She nodded and laid the pool noodle down beside the pool.  Then she hurried into the office and closed the door.

 

His dad bent down, with his face near Team’s.  “Before you say anything…I know.  I know why you don’t want to be here, and I understand.  But you need to understand something, too:  This is it, Buddy.  You said you would do whatever it takes to regain the use of your leg and prove that asshole doctor wrong.  This is what you have to do.  They can get you vertical in the water and get your leg moving with no impact on it.  The hot tub was okay to start, but this is what you will have to do from now on.  So, you get to decide—are you going to get your ass into that pool, or are you going to give up and keep it parked in that chair for the rest of your life.  What’s it going to be?”

 

Team’s eyes darted over to the pool noodle and then back at his dad.  “I can’t use that thing!  I won’t.  I don’t even want to see it!”

 

His dad looked toward the pool, “Do you mean the pool noodle?”

 

Team lunged forward and grabbed his dad’s arms.  He whispered, “I didn’t know how to swim that first day.  The weirdoes were using those things and splashing around in the shallow water.  I was embarrassed but I had to admit I didn’t know how to swim.  And then Hia…”  Team stopped and shook his head.  He wanted to bite off his tongue for saying that name.  “HE took me out to the deep water and had me hang onto his arm.  He taught me to swim, not the coach, not the assistants—it was him.  And for a joke, I called him my…”  Team had to take a deep breath and blink a few times to get it out.  And when he did, his voice cracked, “I called him ‘Pool Noodle’.  It was a running joke we had for years.”

 

His father’s face looked white with shock.  “You mean you two lied to us?  You were out there in the deep water without an adult supervising you?”

 

Team let go of his father’s arms and leaned back in his chair.  “Oh my God!  Are you kidding me?  It was over five years ago!  What are you going to do….ground me?”  He slapped the arms of the wheelchair, “What are you going to take away?  My wheelchair?  Or maybe my luxurious hospital bed in the motherfucking dining room?  Or refuse to take me to the toilet to take a shit…which I can’t even do alone anymore?”

 

His dad nodded, “You’re right.  Your life really sucks right now.” He turned and gestured to the pool, “But if you want it to get better, you know what you have to do.”  He got up and walked over to the pool noodle.  He picked it up and said, “I’ll get rid of this and have them find something else for you to use.  I’m going to tell her that you have agreed to get into the pool.”  He stood, waiting for a response.  Team sighed and then gave a quick, angry nod.

 

After a bit of finagling, Team eventually ended up in the pool.  He had a hunk of Styrofoam in his hands that looked like a miniature surfboard.  He was surprised at how right it felt to be back in a pool.  The feel of the water on his skin and the smell of the chlorine in the air felt like a second home to Team.  He remembered how it felt to swim so fast that when he reached the end of the pool and made his turn, his face would be buffeted by his own wake.  For a moment, he imagined he could hear the whistle announcing the start of a race.

 

He had been lowered into the pool by a machine.  He was in a harness that slowly moved his body until he was vertical in the water.  He could feel the bottom of the pool under his feet.  He concentrated on it and realized that the foot of his bad leg felt the same sensations of the pool bottom that the foot of his good leg felt.  He breathed a sigh of relief as he concluded that must mean he didn’t have any nerve damage.

 

The therapist led him through a series of exercises, and with each one, his confidence grew.  His leg was still stiff and painful, but it was cooperating.  At one point he glanced over into an adjoining lane and noticed metal handrails above the water.  “What’s that?” he asked, indicating it with his head.

 

She smiled, “That’s a water treadmill.  You will have plenty of time on it in the near future.”

 

“Today?”

 

“No, I don’t think you’re quite ready for that yet,” she answered with a slight shake of her head.

 

“Can I at least try it?”

 

“Team,” she said, reaching up to scratch her eyebrow and leaving little droplets of water on her cheek, “I don’t want to discourage you—I appreciate the enthusiasm—but I am afraid you could end up in a lot of pain.  Your muscles have gotten soft from lack of movement.”

 

“I can deal with pain,” he assured her.  “And I can stop if it gets bad.  I just want to see what it is like.”

 

She looked at the machine for a moment and then she looked back at Team.  “If I let you try it, you have to swear to me that you will be honest about the pain level and not overdo it.”

 

Team grinned, “Okay, I swear.”

 

She grinned and shook her head, “Why don’t I believe that?”

 

He laughed, “Honestly, I swear.  I don’t want to injure myself.  I just want to try it to see if I can do it.”

 

She gave a resigned nod, “You need to brace yourself though.  You might not be able to right now, but if you can’t, then you must keep in mind that it doesn’t mean you never will be able to.  Okay?”

 

“Okay!  Let’s go!”

 

“Make sure that you have a good grip on your flotation board.  I need to go to the control panel and give you more slack so you can get there.”

 

He gripped it tightly and she went over to the hoist machine and pushed some buttons.  He felt the pull of the harness drop suddenly.  He braced himself with his good leg.

She hurried back over to him and took hold of his waist and guided him towards the next lane.  He held onto the little surfboard and leaning against her, he hopped with the toes of his good foot.  He momentarily thought about his first time going into the deep water and hopping on his toes at first to keep the water out of his nose.  But he banished the memory and focused on making it to the treadmill.

 

Once there, she instructed him how to use it.  He handed her the mini surfboard and took hold of the handrails.  Suddenly the treadmill moved and his upper body lurched forward.  She grabbed him and kept him from face planting into the water.  “No!  Remember:  Let your injured leg set the pace!”

 

He felt embarrassed because she had just finished running down the rules and he had forgotten them that quickly.  He nodded and then took a deep breath.  He willed his injured leg to move, and was terrified that it wouldn’t be able to.

 

To his surprise and relief, the foot of his injured leg moved the belt of the treadmill and his good leg took the next step.  Then it was the injured leg’s turn again, and it did as it was supposed to do.

 

“Look at you!” his therapist said enthusiastically.  “I didn’t think you would be able to do it yet!”

 

He looked down at his legs and watched them working as a matched pair as he walked on the treadmill.  “I didn’t think I could do it either!” he admitted.

 

After a few minutes, she asked, “How is your pain?”

 

He nibbled at the edge of his lip.  But then he remembered that he had sworn to tell the truth.  “It’s pretty bad,” he admitted.

 

“Okay, then it is time to stop for today.  On our next session, you will probably be able to do it longer!”  She turned off the treadmill and helped him to step off of it.  “Stay right where you are.  I am going to turn on the lift and have it bring you back to your chair.”

 

As soon as he was settled in his wheelchair, a male nurse came for him.  He helped Team shower and get dressed.  Afterward he had Team sit on a bench while he wiped down the wheelchair.

 

The pain in Team’s injured leg had started out bad and continued to grow worse with each minute that passed.  He felt as if he had giant charley horses in every muscle.  He was carefully rubbing his thigh muscles when Mr. Doctor came into the shower room.

 

“Hey Team!  I heard you had a pretty good workout today!  Your therapist is very enthusiastic about your progress, and so am I.  But…I also heard that you are in quite a bit of pain right now.  Is that true?”

 

“Well…it does kind of hurt, but that’s normal, right?”  Team was fearful that the doctor would make him slow down on his therapy.  He didn’t want to slow down!  He wanted this nightmare to be over as soon as possible.

 

“It could be.  Why don’t you let me check your leg and see what’s going on?”  The doctor bent down and gingerly felt different spots on Team’s leg.  “Um-hmm, there’s a spot, right?  And here?”

 

Team tried not to wince at the doctor’s touch, but he had zeroed in on the exact spots where the pain was the worst.  Team nodded.

 

“I see.  Well…it’s not anything to do with the bones.  It’s your muscles.  I suspect they are starting to wake up.  They haven’t been used much these past few months,” he stood up and looked down at Team with a smile.  “You’re right, this is normal.  But, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”  He went out into the hall and came back with a little cup of pills and a glass of water.  “Take these for the pain.”

 

Team swallowed down the pills with the water and then handed the doctor back the empty containers.  The doctor put them in the trash can and said, “Now, make sure you don’t take anymore for six hours.  I’ll go out and tell your dad, too.  To make sure you don’t forget.”  He walked towards the door and then stopped and turned around.  “Don’t let this hold you back.  Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

 

Team nodded, “I will.  I won’t ever give up.”

 

The doctor smiled, “That’s the spirit!”

 

When the doctor left, the nurse helped Team get settled in his wheelchair and then pushed him out to meet his dad who was waiting in the hallway.

 

“I bet you are pretty tired, huh?  Let’s get you home,” his dad said after thanking the nurse and taking charge of pushing the wheelchair.  They went outside and his dad pushed him over to the van parked in the spot reserved for wheelchair users.  He must have already been out there because the lift was down and the door was open.  He locked Team’s wheelchair in and then hurried around to the driver’s side and pushed the button for the lift.

 

Once Team was settled in, his dad drove out of the hospital parking lot and entered the main road.  Team leaned his head against the window and watched the world going by outside.

 

“I spoke to your doctor.  He told me that he gave you some pain medicine and that you couldn’t have anymore for six hours.”

 

Team gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

 

His dad chuckled.  “I can tell that they are starting to work.  Before you go to sleep on me, I want you to know that we are all super proud of you.  You tried so hard today and you did so well!”

 

Team thought about it for a moment and then said, “Not only am I going to make a full recovery, I am also going to be chosen for the National Swim Team in college.”

 

His dad chuckled again.  “Well that is certainly something to look forward to!”

 

Team looked at his dad and could tell he wasn’t taking Team seriously.  “This is me talking, not the pills.  I decided today that if I have to be in the pool, then I am going back to swimming.  And I am determined that I will be fast enough to be selected at some point during my four years of college.  I won’t stop until I am.”

 

His dad looked at him in puzzlement, “But Team…you hated competing.  Even in small local meets.  The Nationals are…”

 

“I know.  Aside from the Olympics, the Nationals are the best of the best.  I’m going to keep practicing until I have earned that title.  I have this year to get well in, and then four years of college to become worthy of being chosen for the team.  And I will be chosen.  There is no option.”

 

His dad was quiet for a while as they rode along.  Finally he said, “You certainly have a lot on your plate…however, I have never known you not to be able to handle a full plate.  If this really is what you want to do…then I believe you can do it.”

 

“It’s not just a want…it’s a need.  I have to do this.  I don’t know why I feel this way, but I do.”

 

His dad nodded slightly.  “I understand that feeling.”  He turned his head and looked at Team, “I really do believe in you.  I think you can do anything you set your mind to do.”

 

Team leaned his head against the window.  “What my mind is telling me to do now is take a nap.”

 

His dad laughed, “We’re almost home!  Try to stay awake until after we get you to bed.  You are pretty heavy even when you are helping.  I can’t imagine trying to get you out of the chair and into bed while you are sleeping!”

 

“Okay, I’ll try,” Team answered and forced himself to open his eyes and sit up straight in his chair.

 

As soon as he got settled in his bed, he immediately fell asleep.  He stayed asleep until his mother woke him up with a tray of food.

 

“Sorry!  I hate waking you up!  Your dad told me all about your successful day, and I know that made you very tired.  But, I think you need to eat something before your next dose of medicine.”

 

Team pushed the button on his bed that raised his head.  He saw that his mother was already in her nightgown.  “Geez!  What time is it?”

 

“It’s after nine.  I kept hoping you would wake up on your own, but when you didn’t…well, I wanted to make sure you had something to eat before I went to bed.”

 

She sat the food down on his tray in front of him.  The smell of it woke up his appetite.  He dug into it with gusto.  She sat down in the chair next to his bed.  “I heard about your day from your dad, but I would like to hear your version of it.”

 

He nodded while he chewed and after he swallowed he told her all about how he hadn’t wanted to get into the pool, but once he was in it, and felt his leg moving he knew down in his soul that he would regain the use of it.

 

“Your dad told me that you said you would be chosen for the National Swimming Team in college.  I would like to hear more about it.  What made you decide that?”

 

He chewed the bite he had in his mouth slowly as he thought about it.  “I don’t know really.  Or at least I don’t know how to put it into words.  It was just a feeling or a flash or something.”

 

She nodded slightly and then got up and walked to the window.  She pulled one of the drapes back and looked out.  If it were daytime, she would have been able to watch the birds at the feeder from that window.  But it was night.  It was too dark to see out the window, and even if she could have seen the feeder, the birds had long ago retired for the evening.  She sighed.  “I’ve had a feeling all day.”  She dropped the curtain and turned to face him.  “An odd one.  I could tell your dad about it, he would listen, but he wouldn’t get it.  Ya know?”

 

Team met her eyes for a moment and then looked down at his now empty plate.  “Is it a bad one?” he whispered.

 

“No…and that is why it feels odd to me.”  She walked back to the chair and sat down again.  “Since the morning of the day of your accident, I have walked around with this heavy feeling of doom in my chest.  It was like at any moment, I was waiting for another horrible thing to happen.  I couldn’t shake it no matter what.  Even when good things started happening and I knew you were going to survive and your mind and body were intact.”  She gave a quick shrug of her shoulders, “But this morning when I woke up, that feeling was gone.  I felt as if things were going to be okay now…no, wait.  Not okay…more like normal.  And not the new kind of normal that we have now, but normal-normal.  I didn’t know that you would be doing different physical therapy today.  Your dad didn’t even know until you were changing into your swim trunks, and he was stressed about how you would handle it.”  She gave a sigh, “Anyway, all day today I walked around feeling this relief but certain the doom feeling would show up at any moment.  Like when you lose something and then later you remember where you left it.  But it didn’t come back.  I don’t think it’s going to either.  It has gone and didn’t even leave a mark to show it had been here.  And like I said, I could discuss this with your father, but he wouldn’t understand.  You do.”

 

He had felt himself relaxing as she told him about her feelings.  He shrugged and then gave a small nod.  “I’m not sure I understand it…exactly.  But I do trust your feelings.  You have some kind of sixth-sense-witchy-power that is usually pretty reliable.”

 

She laughed at his description.  “Not sure it is a power, exactly.  I think a lot of people have feelings like I do but they ignore them.  Or they trained themselves to stop having them.  But I have them.  And…you do too, don’t you?”

 

Team shrugged and then turned to look at the window.  Realizing that all he could see were the closed drapes, he looked back at his mother.  “More than Dad; less than you.”

 

She smiled, “Okay, now that we have settled that, tell me what you saw or felt today that made you decide you want to go to the Nationals.”

 

“I didn’t want to get into the pool, and all I could think about was him, and I really don’t ever want to think about…anything like that anymore.  But…back then…at the beginning, I only joined the Swim Club to be with him…” he paused, lost in thought.

 

“I always suspected that,” she said.  “And I understood it.”

 

He nodded.  “But then Dad was telling me that I had to get in there and do the work or miss my chance of walking again.  I don’t want to drag a useless leg around for the rest of my life.  Like you said, I don’t want this new normal, I want the real normal-normal.  So I got in the pool.  I had to get in the water using this hoist thing. While you are getting moved, you are in a sitting position.  Once you are in the water, the direction changes and it straightens your body out to where you are standing.  It felt so good to stand up again!  And to feel the pool bottom under my feet.  But once I was fully in the water, and it was moving against me, and the smell of chlorine was heavy in the air…I kind of forgot about him and remembered me—racing through the water.  And then, I heard…well, I didn’t really hear it…I’m not insane…but I imagined I could hear a whistle being blown to start the next race,” he paused and looked down and picked at his bedspread.  “It’s a therapy pool, you know?  It’s not made for racing so there aren’t any jumping platforms.”  He looked up at his mom, “But suddenly it’s like I saw them there.  Shimmery, like a ghost or something.  And then…” he stopped and took a deep breath.  “I imagined, or saw…I don’t know what you would call it, but it was me.  I stepped up on the platform, and it was me how I look now—with the scars on my leg.  Anyway, I stepped up and then bent to get into position, and then I saw behind this me-vision a banner that said it was the Nationals.  This daydream, vision, whatever…it stopped then.  But for a moment Mom, I felt like I really did see future me!”

 

She shivered and rubbed her arms.  “I believe you.  It is a shame though that you didn’t get to witness the end of the race to see if you won.”

 

He shook his head.  “No, it’s like how Dad reminded me—I hate competitions.  I think the fact that I was selected to go to the Nationals based on my ability, was the message, not whether I won or lost.  That’s immaterial.”

 

She nodded and reached over to pat his arm, “That is a great attitude!  And you are right—to be chosen for the team would be the true honor.”

 

His father stuck is head in the door.  “Nat, I’m going to go on to bed now.”

 

“Okay,” she answered.  “I’ll be up in a minute.”

 

His dad said goodnight to Team and then left the room.

 

“I wanted to tell you that I went by the construction site for the new bridge today on my lunch hour.  It seems like half the town was there watching.  They are still speculating on who the anonymous donor could be.  The theory now is that it was someone who moved away from the village and then became super wealthy.  This person heard about what happened and decided to fund the project.”

 

Team looked up at the ceiling and thought about it for a moment.  “Yeah, I guess that could be it.  Seems a bit weak for a theory though.  Like…why would this person still care?  I am assuming if they knew about what happened on the old bridge that must mean that they have people still living here in the village.  And I don’t know anybody who has bragged about having a wealthy relative who used to live here.  Do you?”

 

She thought for a bit and then shook her head, “No, I never have heard anything that I can recall,” she shrugged and then got up from the chair.  She bent over and kissed his forehead.  “I’m sure there will be a new theory in a day or two.”

 

He grinned at her, “And I am sure you will tell me all about it.”

 

“Of course!  Your dad was never one to be interested in local gossip.  And you probably aren’t either…but you are a captive audience.”

 

They laughed together over that and then she reminded him not to forget to take his medicine.  She looked at his clock and admonished him to wait for at least another half hour before taking it.  She gathered up the dishes from his dinner and left his room.

 

He looked back at the ceiling and thought about the theory the townspeople had about who had financed the new bridge.  He grinned when he thought of his father’s answer whenever someone asked him who he thought did it.  He always gave the answer, “An idiot!”

 

Shortly after Team had been transferred back to the village hospital, a toddler had gotten away from his mother and had run across the old bridge.  Luckily there was a man near him who had grabbed the back of the child’s shirt, just as he was about to go over the edge.  Even back when Team was a kid himself, he had known the bridge was dangerous for little kids.  The bridge had been closed for a time while the town council debated what should be done about it—whether installing guardrails would be cost efficient.  The council contacted some engineers to come and look at the bridge, and when they finished their inspection, they stated that it would cost a fortune to make it safe again.  Several of the metal support beams had rusted through and most of the wood on the underside of the bridge had rotted.

 

When Team heard the news that the bridge was going to be demolished, he remembered when he spat on the post and cursed at it.  He couldn’t help but smile to know that the old thing was going to be torn down.  He had avoided going anywhere near it since his grand “Fuck You And Goodbye Tour”.  One time Nick had suggested they go to the bridge to watch the sunset.  Team had been appalled at the suggestion and told Nick he would never set foot on that old thing, that it was in horrible shape and liable to collapse at any time.  It made him feel good to know that he called it almost a year before the engineers did.

 

Shortly after the announcement that it was going to be destroyed, an anonymous donor had pledged to pay for a new, safe bridge to be built in the same spot—with one provision—whatever could be salvaged from the old bridge would be used in building the new bridge.  The donor wanted to preserve as much of the old bridge as was possible.

 

And now, that was pretty much all the people in town wanted to talk about, and everyone had their own theory.  As for Team, he really didn’t care—but if he had been forced to give an answer, he would copy his dad’s answer and say “An idiot”.  Someone who had more money in their pocket than brains in their head.

 

He was bored with thinking about the local gossip.  Since he had taken such a long nap, he felt wide awake.  And his leg was starting to hurt pretty bad again.  He picked up his phone and thought about playing a game on it.

 

He scrolled through his apps but none of them interested him.  Plus, since it was still early, he would inevitably see some of his friends online, since all of his groups were comprised of his friends from school.  And…he really did have the best friends anyone could ever ask for…and it was because of this, he didn’t really want to talk to them tonight.  Any and all of them would inquire about how he was feeling, and about his leg.  And tonight…he just wasn’t in the mood for it.  He just wanted to forget about it for a while.  To just be a regular guy playing a game.

 

He looked at the one app he hadn’t considered.  He sighed deeply.  He remembered how much he had loved to play the game in the past—which was probably why he had never deleted it—even though it had been ages since he played it.  The zombie slayer game that had been his and that other person’s favorite game.

 

He sighed again.  He thought about it for a while and came to the conclusion that since that other person had deleted or blocked him on everything, he must have deleted the game app, too.  And if he had, Team concluded, that gave him the game by default.  He smiled at how stupid he was being.  It didn’t matter if that other person still played it or not—Team had the right to play a game that was on his own phone.

 

He quickly clicked it open.  As soon as it loaded all the necessary updates, he found himself staring at the “Groups” page.  He had only ever been in one on this app, and it was still there.  The title was still the same, “Us”.

 

Team clenched his teeth and then took a deep breath and opened the tab for the group.  He exhaled in a whoosh when he saw that his old icon was the only one there.  He gave a little nod and whispered, “It’s mine now!”

 

He went out of the game app and located a picture of people on a beach.  He went back to the app and changed his old profile picture (the angry kitten) for the new picture.  He grinned when he changed his name from “Hissing Kitten” to “Summerbreak”.  He looked down at his leg and laughed.  Then he went out to the main game board.  He had never been there before; the two of them had always played private games.

 

Almost immediately he got invited to play by two different guys back-after-back.  When he checked their profiles, he found that both of them were older and were in Bangkok.  He refused both.  He made some mental rules for himself—only guys his age or younger, and definitely no one from Bangkok!  The idea of that made him shudder.  Of course it made sense that a lot of the people playing would be from that area.  Huge city and lots of schools—but there were other areas of the country that he could pick from.

 

He scrolled through the player’s lists and found a few that seemed suitable.  One guy, “KaptainCurt” he debated about.  He was 16 so that fit Team’s age range rule, but he was from Rayong Province.  Team didn’t have any mental rule about it, but it was too close to home—literally.  He could possibly know the guy and that would ruin the game for him.

 

He narrowed his choices down to three, since four players were considered to be optimal, and he invited them to play.  They all accepted his invitation, so he found himself playing the game with “AlwaysAnime” a 16-year-old from Loli, “Lisa_Lover” 16, from Phuket, and “noTomorrowYOLO” a 17-year-old from Yasothon.

 

They had to communicate by text because AlwaysAnime’s microphone was messed up on his phone.  This actually suited Team because voices always pulled him out of the game mentally.  With the chat running alongside the game, he could read it or not, as he chose.

 

Within the first twenty minutes or so of the game, Team was asked if he was sure he was 100% human because he played like he was part buffalo and he was told to use his hands on the controller instead of his feet.  He chuckled over the insults.  This was what he had been missing in his life.  The only one of his real-life friends who would have ever insulted him was Namfon, and her insults really stung because she always told the truth.

 

Every few minutes, “Lisa_Lover” would text:  I LOVE LISA!!!

 

The bold print always drew Team’s eye, so he kept seeing it whenever it was posted.  Finally he wrote, “Who is Lisa?  Is she your girlfriend?”

 

Lisa_Lover answered, “I wish!  It’s Lisa from BlackPink!”

 

From then on, the screen was filled with dozens of messages from him about how deep his love for her was and then giving an accounting of everything he loved about her.

 

After about ten minutes of his incessant posting, to which no one responded, he finally asked, “Are any of you guys BLINKs?”

 

He waited for a few minutes and when no one answered him in the chat, he quit the game.

 

Summerbreak:  Geez, obsessed much?

AlwaysAnime:  What a weird guy!  Glad he is gone.

noTomorrowYOLO:  What in the hell are BLINKs?

Summerbreak:  Give me a second.  I will find someone to take his place.  Don’t either of you get killed before I get back!

 

He looked at the player board and instantly he was drawn to a profile picture of a snow scene.  He clicked on the profile and saw it was a 17-year-old male in Chiang Mai.  He liked everything about this player—except for his user name.  It was WinterSnow.  Team frowned at that.  He remembered how Nick used to insist that winter snow was the best snow.  It seemed far-fetched to think this player could be Nick, especially since Nick didn’t like to play games, but Team felt suspicious just the same.

 

He decided to send a private message to the player.  “Hi!  Have you ever seen snow?  Did you take that picture?”

 

WinterSnow answered almost immediately.  “Yes, I took the picture!  I took it from a webpage.  LOL!  I’ve never seen snow in person, but I hope to one day.”

 

Team was about 95% sure by the answer that it wasn’t Nick.  He decided to ask one more question.  “Why did you pick ‘WinterSnow’ as your user name?”

 

WinterSnow answered back, “The title of the picture was ‘winter snow’, and I liked it, why?”

 

“No reason, just curious,” Team wrote.  “Do you want to join a game with me and two other guys?  We had a fourth guy playing with us but he left.”  Team knew that when the guy didn’t tell him the difference between winter snow and late fall or early spring snow, it wasn’t Nick.  Nick wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity to spout some facts to make himself feel superior to other people.

 

“Yeah,” WinterSnow answered.  “But I have to be honest—I’m not really a great player.”

 

“That’s okay,” Team wrote.  “Neither was he.”

 

Team clicked the “Invite” button and WinterSnow accepted it.  When he was on the board with Team and the other two, he wrote,

 

WinterSnow:  Hi!  I’m Than.  Thanks for letting me join!

noTomorrowYOLO:  Hi Than, I’m Mod.  How do you feel about Lisa from BlackPink?  Are you a super fan?

WinterSnow:  Sorry, not really.  I mean, I like the group, but I’m not a super fan.

AlwaysAnime:  Don’t be sorry!  We’re glad!  The last guy we had in here was a nut!  Scroll back and read all his messages—or maybe not.  I don’t think any of us read them when he was posting them.  My name is Gwang.  We are using text instead of voice because my mic is messed up.  Old phone.

Summerbreak:  I’m Team.  I’ve been to Chiang Mai.  I loved it there.  Are you in the mountains?

WinterSnow:  No, I live in a valley.  I can see the mountains from the window of our store, though.

AlwaysAnime:  What kind of store is it?  Do you sell anything interesting?

WinterSnow:  No, just boring stuff.  We own a small grocery store.  My dad is sick and my mom is taking care of him and my baby sister, so I have been running it by myself for a while.  It gets boring here at night, but I have to stay open in case someone realizes that they don’t have food for breakfast or something.

Summerbreak:  I love little grocery stores!  I used to work in one when I was younger.  There’s a lot of work to do!

WinterSnow:  You’re right!  I keep pretty busy.  And today, some interesting people came into the store.  There is a circus performing in a neighboring village.  A few of the performers were on their way to a PR thing and they stopped by and bought a bunch of stuff for their road trip.  They were all dressed up in their performance outfits.  When they were at the register, one of them—I am sure it was the clown—farted.

noTomorrowYOLO:  They actually farted in your store???  Hilarious!  What makes you think it was the clown?

WinterSnow:  Because it smelled funny.

noTomorrowYOLO:  Than, I hate to tell you this, but that joke stinks.

AlwaysAnime:  Sorry to break up this Dad-joke-fest, but shouldn’t we play the game now?

 

Team didn’t say anything, he just posted the emoji of the little guy laughing so hard he was crying.  And it matched what Team was doing.  To Team, the best jokes in the world were fart jokes.

 

For the next few hours they played the game and told stupid jokes in the chat.  It was so much fun that Team’s cheeks actually ached from smiling so much.  When they cleared level three, the game suddenly paused.

 

AlwaysAnime:  That was me.  I’m sorry guys, I really have to get off here now.  I have to go to work early in the morning.

noTomorrowYOLO:  Yeah, I have to go too.  This was a lot of fun tonight.  Usually I end up in the game with boring people.  Let’s make a private group so we can play together again tomorrow, okay?

WinterSnow:  I’m not sure if I will be able to play tomorrow.

noTomorrowYOLO:  Come on, Than!  You said you are bored at nights because no one ever comes in there.  Join the group!

Summerbreak:  Count me in!

AlwaysAnime:  Yes!  I want us to all stick together!

WinterSnow:  Alright, I’ll join.

Gwang sat up the private group.  He gave it the uninspired name of “Zombie Killers”.  Uninspired because that was the entire point of the game and every player was a zombie killer, but Team decided it didn’t matter.  He had met some great guys and had fun playing a game and he was thrilled that they were going to stick together.

 

He plugged his phone into the charger and then reached over and switched off his bedside lamp.  He was on the edge of sleep when he remembered he hadn’t taken his pain medication.  He was too tired to sit back up and take it, plus…the pain in his leg had gotten better.  He thought he would just wait until morning to take it.

 

 

 

He was sitting on a bench on the deck of the boat.  He could hear people inside the cabin laughing and talking.  There was a sign on the door that said “No Team Allowed”.  He sighed when he read that.  There were signs posted everywhere.  And Nick was nowhere to be seen.  Of course he wasn’t.  He had just been the bait to lure him into the trap.  And then they paid him and he flew back home to the U.S.

 

He heard a splashing sound at the side of the boat, so he got up and tried to walk over to see what was there.  His legs were stiff and didn’t seem to want to walk, but he forced them to move.

 

He made it to the other side of the boat and looked down at the water.  A familiar white head appeared from under the waves.

 

“Hey!  You’re back!” Team excitedly called down to the dolphin.  “I knew you weren’t gone for good.  Nick said you were, but in my heart, I knew it wasn’t true.  I wish I hadn’t listened to him!  He tricked me.”

 

A loudspeaker clicked on and Team heard:  “Team must not talk to dolphins!”

 

“Wait for me!  I am going to get off this boat,” he said to the dolphin.  He walked along the deck, looking for the opening and the ladder.  They were nowhere to be seen.  The side of the boat was solid.  But that was impossible because he had gotten on the boat that way.

 

Suddenly there was a loud rumbling noise, and a tall chain link fence sprung up from inside the railing.  The boat picked up speed and turned to the west towards the open sea.  Team lumbered over to the fence and linked his fingers through the diamond pattern.  He looked over the side of the boat and saw the dolphin was swimming fast and keeping up with the boat.

 

“Don’t give up on me!” Team called to it.  “I will figure out a way to escape!”

 

 

 

When summer ended, Team decided to do home schooling for his senior year because physical therapy took up a lot of his time.  He was surprised at how quickly he managed to get his school work done everyday.  Even with his school work and physical therapy, he still had a lot of free time.

 

Naang Somruedee and Uncle Yod had done their best to find witnesses who hadn’t been paid off, but they had come up empty.  Team was disappointed, but not surprised.  That was always the way it was in the village.

 

When Uncle Yod found out how bored Team was with all the extra time on his hands, he told Naang Somruedee, who offered Team a part time job with them.  Team gladly accepted and the time passed more quickly after that.

 

 

 

 

Team was laying on his bed, listening to Namfon lecture him, when the message alert on his phone sounded.  He started to reach to get it and she stopped him.

 

“Don’t you dare pick up that phone!” she ordered.  “You have to make a decision now, TODAY!”

 

Team shrugged, “I’ll get around to it.”

 

“When?” she could barely contain her fury.  “You were accepted to five colleges.  You have to pick one!  And I know you know I want you to pick the one in Bangkok.  I don’t understand why you didn’t pick it as soon as your acceptance letter arrived!  It is the best school of the five, and all of us will be there.”

 

“Yeah, I know.  I just didn’t think I would be accepted to any of the schools I applied to, so when I got accepted at all of them—well, I just need time to weigh all my options,” he explained.

 

She had her hands on her hips and was shaking her head.  “Do you realize that there are students who are on waitlists on every one of those schools?  Four of those kids are running to their mailboxes everyday, praying to finally get into the school they want, and you are just laying here on your bed, playing with your phone, holding onto their spot!  Don’t you care about anyone else?”

 

“Yeah, of course I do.  I just…I never thought about that,” he admitted.

 

“Well, think about it!  Last week, when you won the foreign language scholarship at the award’s ceremony, I thought sure you would finally tell us that you would come with us to Bangkok.  But you didn’t.  And graduation is next week…you have to pick a college!”

 

He sat up, “Listen, Fon…”  His message alert sounded again and he instinctively reached for his phone and looked to see who the messages were from.  It was Than.  He was also doing home schooling because his father was still ill and Than had to run the store.  Team and Than had become close friends and often messaged each other during the day.

 

“Really Team?” Namfon snapped and then with a shake of her head, she walked out of his room and down the stairs.

 

Team jumped up from his bed and ran down the stairs after her.  “I’m sorry, Fon!  It’s just natural for me to look at my phone when I get a message!”

 

She stopped near the front door to put on her shoes, “Maybe it is natural for you to look at your phone when you get a message, but you don’t answer mine very often anymore.  That’s why I had to come here to speak to you!”  She grabbed her helmet and went to the door.

 

Team’s dad was coming in the door as she was going out of it.  “What’s up, Dew Drop?”

 

“You need to have a talk with your son!  He has to pick a college!” she said as she jammed the helmet on her head.

 

Team followed her outside.  “’Fon!  I…” Team started.

 

“Skip it Scooby!” she said over her shoulder and she got onto her tiny, flaming orange, motorcycle and drove away.

 

She and Team had taken lessons together on how to operate motorcycles and after they passed the course, Namfon’s mother had bought her the cycle of her dreams.  Team had bought his own motorcycle. It was second-hand.  Black and a bit scruffy looking, but he loved it.  He still didn’t have a license to drive a car, but he could legally operate his motorcycle.

 

He sighed and went back into the house.

 

“She’s right, you know,” his father said.

 

Team grinned, “Yes, she is.  She’s also a bit late.  I already picked one and have even pre-registered for my classes.  And I let the other colleges know that I would not be attending.  I did it last week.”

 

“You did?  Why didn’t you say anything to anybody?  Why did you let Namfon get so upset just now?”

 

“I ran after her!  I was going to tell her—but she tore out of here on that orange monstrosity before I could.  I’ll give her time to get home and then I will call and tell her.  I’ll apologize too,” Team said.  “I didn’t mean to upset her for real.  I was just teasing with her.”

 

“So…don’t keep me in suspense!  Which one did you pick?” his dad said impatiently.

 

Team grinned and then shrugged, “Bangkok, of course.”

 

“Why ‘of course’?  You swore you wouldn’t go there because…”

 

“I know.  But I talked it over with Than, and he said…”

 

“Than?  Who’s Than?”

 

“Oh,” Team said, trying to sound super casual, “He’s just this friend I have online.  We play video games together.”  Team could feel the back of his neck getting hot.  And his cheeks, and also the tips of his ears.  He felt a bead of sweat rolling down his back.  “He’s…well, he’s kind of smart and we talk sometimes.”

 

“I see.  This friend, Than, was it?  What did he say that made you pick Bangkok?”

 

“I told him about…you know, him.  I didn’t go into details, just told him there was a guy that I hated that goes to the college in Bangkok.  We…me and Than…discussed what I needed from a school and it really came down to two things—a great pre-law program and a school with a great swim team.  See…I had thought that if I went to one of the colleges that had a crappy team, it would increase my chances of getting picked for the Nationals…”

 

His dad nodded, “Yeah, that’s true.”

 

“Yeah, but…as Than pointed out, the school has to have a more than one really good swimmer to even go to the Nationals.  Like…what good is to if I am the best one on the team, but can’t go to Nationals because the rest of the swim team sucks?”

 

Again his dad nodded, “Yes, excellent point.”

 

“Yeah, so that took three of the colleges off my list.  It was down to Chiang Mai and Bangkok.  I was really leaning towards Chiang Mai…you remember that trip to football camp I took there?  I really loved it.  And…Than…he lives there, so I would already know somebody.”

 

“I see,” his dad nodded, “But then you decided not to go there?”

 

Team nodded, “Because Than said that to give up going to the best school because someone I hated went there was dumb.  He said that my entire future depends on where I go to school and that should be the deciding factor.  I owed it to myself.  And it made me think about this past year—he doesn’t know about the wreck and all the crap I had to overcome, but even so, he’s right.  I owe it to myself to create the best life I can.  And that would be by going to the college in Bangkok because of their pre-law program.  Also, Than won’t be going to college until next year.  His family owns a neighborhood grocery store, and his dad has been sick for a while.  He’s getting better, but Than has been running the store by himself for the last year.  Within the next year, Than feels certain that his dad will be back running the store, and then he can go to college.”

 

“Well, I think we need to celebrate!  Come into the office and I’ll make us a drink!”

 

“Your office?  You hardly ever let me in there!” Team said in shock.

 

“This is a special occasion!  Come on!”

 

In the office, with his dad sitting behind the desk and a big map of the world on the wall behind him, Team felt a bit like he was visiting the principal.  Or job interview.  He knew his dad worked in an office, but at home, he was just Dad.  It was odd for Team to see his father in his natural element.

 

His dad laughed, “Don’t just stand there!  Sit down and be comfortable!”

 

“It’s weird seeing you like this.  You look formal.”

 

“Well, we could go sit in another room, if you like…however,” he reached down to the drawer next to him and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.  “I don’t have any bottles of whiskey hidden in other rooms.  So, I think we should stay here.”

 

He took some soda from a mini refrigerator beside the desk and got some glasses from another drawer.  He mixed two drinks and handed one to Team.  Team watched him mix the drinks and saw that his dad wasn’t being as stingy with the whiskey as he had in the past.

 

Team took a drink and said, “This is much better than the watered down 7&7 that you use to give me.  Glad to see that you finally learned how to make them!”

 

His dad laughed, “Team, I always knew how to make them, but I used a light hand with the booze because you were still a kid.  You’re eighteen, about to graduate and leave for college.  You’re a man now.”

 

Team leaned back in his chair, savoring the drink, and the words of his father.  “I don’t suppose you have any snacks in here though, right?”

 

“Wrong,” his father answered.  He opened another drawer in his desk and pulled out an opened bag of potato chips and sat it on the desk between them.

 

“What the hell?” Team asked in surprise.  “First I find out that Mom carries candy in her purse and now I see you keep potato chips in your desk!  I thought the two of you were anti-snacks!  What about all those rice cakes?”

 

“We were trying to set a good example for you.  I think we probably failed with that.  And as for the rice cakes—your mother actually loves rice cakes.  I love your mother, so I eat rice cakes.”

 

Team laughed and grabbed some chips out of the bag.  “It’s weird—when I was a kid, I thought of the two of you almost like supreme beings or something.  The older I get, the more human you become.”

 

His dad laughed, “That’s because we can relax more now.  You are pretty much fully cooked—a real person with thoughts and opinions of your own.  To be honest, being a parent is the hardest job there is.  You’re always afraid that you will forget to teach your kid some fundamental thing and it ends up ruining their entire life, and it will be your fault.”  He reached for the chip bag and got a few out.  “So, this decision about going to school in Bangkok—is it set in stone now?”

 

Team nodded, “I’ve already pre-registered for my classes and have been assigned a dorm room.  Luckily they have single rooms.  I would hate to share a room with someone.”  He pulled up a screen shot on his phone and showed his dad that the school had okayed his class schedule and that he was officially enrolled.  After they discussed the classes a bit, his dad handed him back his phone.

 

“How are you about the situation that you were hoping to avoid by going to another school?”

 

Team grunted, “You mean him, right?  Well, once I discussed everything with Than, I calmed down a bit and thought more clearly.  Back before he left the village, he was determined to get a Business degree.  I am assuming that hasn’t changed.  I went online and looked at a map of the campus.  The Legal Studies area is way across the campus from the Business Department.  And as for the swim team…I am a first year, so if I make the team, it will be the Junior team.  Again, assuming that he hasn’t lost interest in it, he will be on the Senior swim team since he is third year.  Same school, but two different teams.  I checked and they don’t practice or compete together.  And in two years when I am moved up to the Senior team, he will already be gone.  I think it is possible on a campus that size, that our paths will never cross.”

 

His dad nodded and then reached for Team’s glass, “Here, let me freshen that up for you,” he offered.  It hadn’t really needed freshening up; Team had only drunk less than half of it.  He watched as his dad poured in a good measure of whiskey, but didn’t add any soda before placing it back in front of Team.

 

Team felt all the hair on his body stand on end and huge butterflies began to flap around in his stomach.  “What is it?” he asked.  “There’s something you have to tell me, isn’t there?”

 

“Drink your drink, Team,” his dad said as he raised his own glass to his lips.

 

Team slowly shook his head.  “I don’t think I want to.  Not until I know what it is that you aren’t telling me.”

 

His dad sighed and got up from his chair.  He took some keys out of his pocket and walked to the file cabinet in the corner of the room.  He unlocked it and then slid open the top drawer.  He searched for a moment and then withdrew a file folder.  He shut the drawer and then walked back to the desk.

 

He opened the folder and took out a single sheet of paper, which was the only thing in the folder, and placed the paper on the desktop, facedown.

 

Team backed away from it as if it were a venomous snake about to strike him.  “What is it?”

 

“It’s something I think you need to see.”

 

Team shook his head, “I don’t want to.  It’s about him, isn’t it?”

 

His dad resumed his seat and picked up his glass and took a drink.  He peered down into the glass as if searching for an answer in the depths of the liquid.  Finally he said, “Whenever there is a scheduled meeting at work, they send us around copies of the agenda beforehand.  Most of the other managers take a look at it and then toss it or put it away.  Not me.  I study it.  I want to know what is planned on being discussed so I am not caught unaware and maybe put on the spot during the meeting.  I hate that!  Also, occasionally your mother and I get invited to dinner parties hosted by friends of hers.  One of her friends has a husband who is full of himself and a bore.  I don’t like being trapped in conversations with him, so I always ask who will be there.  That way I can plan my movements and I am usually able to avoid being with him for too long.  I think my motto must be: Forewarned is forearmed.  Based on this, I strongly suggest that you take a look at that paper.”

 

Team looked at the paper and could tell there was a darkened rectangle on the other side of the page.  He knew it was going to be a picture.  And he strongly suspected who was in that picture.  He didn’t want to look at it—but…he trusted his father’s judgment.

 

He took a big drink from his glass and sat it down.  He wiped his hand on his shorts to remove the condensation he had gotten from the glass, and the grease and salt from the potato chips he had eaten.  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then he reached for the paper and drew it closer to him.  He flipped it over and looked at it.

 

His eye was drawn immediately to Win’s slightly raised eyebrow and then to his smile.  Team knew this expression—he had seen it hundreds of times over the years.  He knew that Win had been teasing the person taking the picture, and immediately before the picture was taken, the teasing half-smile had spread to a full smile.  His eyebrow hadn’t quite eased down from where it had been lifted while teasing.

 

That was the only parts of the picture that were familiar to Team.  Win had made drastic changes to his appearance since leaving the village.  His hair had been bleached until it was almost white, and he wore the front of it pulled back—Team realized it was a style that ancient warriors had worn and Team wasn’t surprised at Win’s choice.  A small bit of hair had escaped the elastic band and it had landed on his raised eyebrow.

 

Then he noticed the earrings.  So many piercings!  Even helixes and an industrial.  Some of the earrings were hoops and a few of them dangled.

 

Team’s eyes traveled lower.  Win was bare-chested in the picture, wearing only his swim trunks.  And then Team noticed the tattoos.  There was even one that only the top of it peeked out above his swim trunks.  Team imagined to get something tattooed that low, the person would probably have to be…suddenly Team felt as if his brain was itching and the ends of his hair hurt.  He needed to sit down, but he was already sitting down.  He looked at the floor, wondering if maybe he should just lay down on his father’s dark blue rug—and then he realized he could smell the color blue and could hear the rug singing.  He wondered if he was having a stroke.

 

With a shaking hand, he put the paper back on the desk, face down.  He picked up his glass and took several big drinks.

 

He and his father sat in silence.  Finally the rug stopped singing and he could hear his own breathing.  Much like he always did before a competition.  He shook his head a bit to clear it and then looked at his dad.

 

“I must have done something really horrible in my past life to be punished like this.  He was always too handsome to be a real human, but this?  I mean, come on!!!  What the heck!  He looks like some kind of god!”

 

His father gave a small nod.  “That’s why I thought it would be best for you to see a picture of him here to brace yourself for when you meet him again.”

 

“Yeah, I appreciate it.  But the campus is so large, I probably won’t ever run into him.  But like you said:  Forewarned is forearmed.  I will recognize him if I see him, at least.”

 

“Team,” his father said quietly, leaning forward in his chair.  “You didn’t read the information under the picture, did you?”

 

Team blinked, trying to comprehend what his father was saying.  “There was writing on there?  I didn’t see it.”

 

His dad chuckled, and then shook his head.  “You need to read it, Team.”

 

Team took a deep breath and flipped the paper back over.  He was determined to ignore the picture and just read the writing.  Of course, that’s not what happened.  He had a hard time tearing his eyes away from the picture.  But then, once he did, he was shocked by the information he read.

 

He tossed the paper back on the desk and stood up.  He shook his head violently.  “No!  There has to be a mistake!”

 

“There’s not.  I double-checked the information before I gave it to you.  He is the Vice President of the Swim Club at the school.  If you join the Swim Club, you will have to see him a few times every week for the meetings.”

 

“Then I won’t join the Swim Club!” Team declared.

 

“What will that do about your chances of being chosen for the Nationals?  Don’t you think they will want someone who is practicing all year, and not just during swimming season?”

 

“Oh well, SHIT!” Team snapped.  “This sucks!  I should have picked Chiang Mai!  And now it is too late and I am stuck…wait a minute…”  Team stopped and stared at his father.  “How long have you known about this?”

 

His dad took a drink from his glass and sat it back down on the desk.  “A few weeks…maybe a month.”

 

“And you didn’t tell me?”  Team was aghast.

 

His father shook his head.  “You never want to discuss him.  I didn’t know you had already made your decision and arrangements.  If we had discussed it before you decided, I would have shown you.  But you made the decision on your own.”

 

Team huffed angrily, but he knew there was truth in what his dad said.  If his dad had approached Team wanting to discuss that person, Team would have shut him down.  But Team had made the decision to go to the college in Bangkok with the idea that he wouldn’t actually see that person.  And now he knew he would have to be around him numerous times each week.  And with him looking like that!  It was too much.  He couldn’t do it.

 

“And it is like what your friend, Than said.  You are going to the best school to get the best education you can get.  It shouldn’t matter who else attends that college.”

 

At the mention of Than’s name, Team felt a wave of calmness flow over him.  He sat back down in his chair and he reached for the soda bottle.  He poured pure soda into his glass and drank a bit.  He grabbed a few potato chips and ate them.  He picked up the paper and looked at the picture again.  And then he read the information at the bottom of the page more carefully.  That person had been chosen for the National Team each of the past two years.  He had won first place both years in the diving portion but had come in lower in the swimming competitions, but no lower than third place.

 

He looked back at the picture again and studied it for a bit.  Then he laid the paper back on the desk.  “You know what?  If you put candy coating on a dog turd, it’s still a piece of shit.  And so is he.”  He nodded, “Thanks for preparing me.  It’s okay.  I can do it.  I can face him.  I’ve been through a lot worse things and came out of them just fine.  I will do whatever I have to do to make it to the Nationals.  Including seeing this person multiple times a week.”

 

His dad studied him for a moment and then smiled, “You know, you really make me so proud of you.  I don’t think I could have handled the things you have had to.  But you come out the winner every single time!  I agree; you can do this!”

 

Later, when Team returned to his room, he plopped down on his bed and he sent Namfon a long, apology text.  He admitted that he had teased her too much.  He told her that he was officially enrolled in the college in Bangkok and sent her the screenshot of his schedule for proof.

 

She wrote him back immediately and accepted his apology, (he thought she let him off too easily), and suggested that the four of them go to Rick’s that night to celebrate.  Team suggested that they invite Kwan too, since all five of them would be going to college in Bangkok.

 

Team had heard from Kwan earlier in the week and learned that a group of chefs had formed a club a few years previous and they gave scholarships to students who showed skill in the culinary arts.  Kwan had been selected to receive a full-ride scholarship.  He hadn’t known about it and hadn’t applied for it, and he had no idea how they knew about him.  Team told Kwan that it was obviously the Sous-chef from the restaurant where Kwan had worked all through high school.  Kwan had started as a busboy and had worked his way up to being an assistant to the Sous-chef.  Kwan’s father had refused to pay for college if he was planning on studying ‘cooking’, which in Kwan’s father’s opinion was a job for women.  Kwan had confided in the Sous-chef that he wanted a culinary career but it was impossible because his father would not pay for college if he did.  After discussing it with Team and hearing his opinion of who submitted his name, Kwan said he had asked the Sous-chef if he had offered Kwan for consideration for the scholarship.  He denied having any part in it, and further said he had never heard of the organization.  Team laughed at that and assured Kwan that was probably because the Sous-chef didn’t want Kwan to feel beholden to him.  The Sous-chef was the only possible suspect in Team’s mind—unless it was the head chef, but that wasn’t likely since he seemed unaware of Kwan’s presence in the kitchen.  But all that really mattered, in Team’s opinion, was that Kwan had won the scholarship and could go to school and become a chef.

 

Namfon had no objection to Kwan joining them, but she wanted to have a group decision on it.  They opened up their group page, ‘The Mystery Machine’, and Team allowed ‘Velma’ to make the announcement about what college ‘Scooby’ would be going to.  Everyone seemed pretty excited about his choice and they agreed they should go out that night to celebrate.  No one had any objection to Kwan joining them, so Team exited out of the group and messaged him.  Kwan was thrilled to be invited and said he would meet them at Rick’s.

 

Finally Team had the time to read the messages that Than had sent earlier.  Than wrote that he had gotten a big delivery at the store and it was raining there.  Which meant that he had to stock the shelves but then every time someone came into the store, Than would have to mop the floor as soon as they left.  He knew he was going to be super busy all night, so he told Team he probably wouldn’t be able to text him.  He ended with this:  “Since we probably won’t be able to talk tonight, I want to leave you with something to think about.  If you farted while traveling at the speed of sound, would you smell it before you heard it?  We’ll discuss it tomorrow—and no fair asking your friend who loves physics!”

 

Team giggled at that.  Than knew him so well!  That is exactly what he would have done.  But he wouldn’t since Than said not to.

 

He rolled over on his back and opened his pictures.  He went to his ‘Favorites’ and clicked on Than’s picture.  As he looked at it, he remembered the night he first saw it.  Their group, the ‘Zombie Killers’, had been playing together every night for a few weeks. One night while they were getting ready to log off, Gwang suggested that they all share a picture of themselves the next time they played.

 

Team found one of himself that he kind of liked—Nick had taken it of him and it had been Nick’s favorite picture of Team.  Or so he said.  Obviously Team hadn’t ever meant much to Nick.  But…the picture was okay.  They were at the beach and Team was leaning against Nick’s (grandmother’s) car.  Nick had managed to get the correct lighting and focus—which had surprised Team at the time, because almost all the pictures Nick took of Team were awful.  He had Nick send it to his phone, Team had intended to use it as a profile picture on his FaceBook page, but he had never put it up.  He was shy about doing things like that.  He had a picture of a football as his profile picture.  He had used the same one for years.  So, this picture was still unused, just sitting on his camera roll.

 

The next time they met as a group, as soon as they posted their pictures, Team knew immediately why Gwang had suggested it.  He was extremely handsome.  Rugged, masculine beauty.  Mod was okay looking.  He was a bit skinny and looked tall.  Team thought he probably had his last growth spurt and would soon gain some weight to match his height.  They all seemed to like Team’s picture, but then Than put his up.  Than was short and plump, with thick glasses and an odd haircut.  It looked like he had probably cut it himself—but that was understandable since he worked constantly so he didn’t have time to go to a barber for a proper cut.  Also, he was poor, so he probably didn’t have the money to go, even if he would have had the time.

AlwaysAnime:  Good Lord, Than!  Don’t you sell antiperspirant at your store?  You really need to use some!  You have huge pit stains!

WinterSnow:  I know.  I have hyperhidrosis.

noTomorrowYOLO:  What’s that?

WinterSnow:  It’s a medical condition.  It just means I sweat more than the average person.

noTomorrowYOLO:  I bet if you lost some weight and took off that heavy sweatshirt, you wouldn’t have that anymore.  But dude—your hair!  What’s up with that hairdo?  Or should I call it a hair-don’t!

AlwaysAnime:  And why are you wearing that mask?  I wanted us to put up pictures so we could see what we all look like.  Between your glasses and that mask, there isn’t much left of your face to be seen!

WinterSnow:  I have bad allergies.  I wear it all the time.  Except when I sleep.  If I take it down, I start sneezing and my eyes water, and it is like that for me for the rest of the day.

Summerbreak:  You’re standing in front of your store, right?  It looks really great, Than!  All of the cans are perfectly lined up on the shelves!  And your windows and floors are spotless!  You must have worked all day to get it that nice.

 

Team had been disgusted by the way they had attacked Than.  He had stretched the picture and had taken a good look at the condition of the store.  It really was immaculate.  He thought Than should be proud of that.

 

Later, after he and Than had become closer friends and were texting each other all the time, Than told Team that he had felt embarrassed about putting up his picture.  He had appreciated that Team hadn’t joked with him about it like the others had, and had instead found nice things to say about his store.  Team cringed at the word “joked”.  Those guys had been ruthless to Than.

 

Team had always known that true beauty was on the inside not the outside.  Getting to know Than had solidified that lesson in his mind.  He was ashamed of his response to seeing that person’s picture earlier.  True…physically that person was stunning, but inside…he was ugly and cruel.  Than, on the other hand, was maybe not that handsome on the outside, but was amazingly beautiful on the inside.  Plus…he told great fart jokes, and in Team’s mind, you couldn’t beat that combination.

 

And Team felt as if he had no right to judge others on appearances anyway.  He had never told the ‘Zombie Killers’ about his accident.  Mod and Gwang would have made fun of his scars if they knew.  Than wouldn’t, but Team didn’t want him to know about them.  He was ashamed of them.  He reached down and ran his fingers over the scars.  Most of them had faded to a light pink, but one was still a deeper color.  It was from his latest surgery, a few months previous.  It had been to remove the plates and screws that had been placed to hold the bone in place while it healed.   He didn’t need them any longer.  His breaks had healed and his bones were strong and sturdy.  He reached down to his ankle and rubbed the spots where the screws still were.  Mr. Doctor and the surgeon both agreed that the plate and screws had to remain in his ankle, the injuries there had been too severe and that while the bones looked fine on the X-Rays, they didn’t trust them.

 

Team put his legs together and flexed at the ankle.  They didn’t match.  The plate was keeping his ankle from being as flexible as the one that had not been injured.  The doctors had tried to convince Team that it was only mere millimeters that separated the flexibility of the two, but Team knew that a millimeter loss in flexibility might lead to loss of even a one-hundredths of a second in speed—which didn’t matter much in real life, but in swimming, a one-hundredths of a second drop could spell the difference between winning and losing.  He wanted it out and he was determined to find a surgeon who would remove the screws and plate for him.

 

 

 

 

Summer flew by like summers often do, and on the last Sunday morning of the break, Team found himself stuffed in the backseat of the family car along with everything his mother thought he might ever possibly need for his dorm room.  The trunk was also filled to capacity.  His motorcycle was on a trailer hitched to the back of the car.

 

Team’s nerves were on edge.  The next day would be the start of his college career.  First thing in the morning was freshman orientation and after lunch was each department’s orientation.  These didn’t make him nervous though—it was what was scheduled after that.  The first meeting of the Swim Club.

 

Tomorrow he was going to come face-to-face with that person after two years apart.  He wished for the millionth time that he would have chosen to go to Chiang Mai for college instead.

 

Than had been texting with him during the entire drive to Bangkok and telling him fart jokes that kept him laughing.  Team knew that Than understood how nervous Team was, even without Team telling him.  Sunday was a busy day in the store for Than, Team knew this was always true, but not once during the trip did he tell Team he was too busy to text.  Team took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat.

 

He looked out the window and saw that they had arrived at the front entrance of the college campus.  It was too late to back out now.

 

 

Chapter 21

Team grumbled as he placed the crutches in his dorm room closet as soon as they arrived.  “I don’t know why you made me bring these things, the boot is good enough!” he indicated the boot cast he had on.  A month earlier he had gotten the plate taken out of his ankle, against his parents' wishes and against Mr. Doctor’s recommendation.

 

“It’s not been that long since the surgery.  You might need them one day if you spend too much time on your feet.  Better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them,” his mother answered.

 

Then she spent hours fixing up his room to make it feel homey.  At one point she realized that she had forgotten to buy toilet paper.  His dad offered to go pick up some and grab them all some lunch.

 

When he came back to the dorm, Team was dismayed to find that his dad had bought the biggest package of toilet paper rolls the store had, “So you don’t run out,” he explained.  It was too big to fit into a discreet bag, so Team knew that anyone who had passed his dad in the building saw that giant package of toilet paper.  The only thing that kept Team from dying of embarrassment was the knowledge that the only person he knew in the building was Jai, but his room was on a lower floor and even he probably didn’t see Team’s dad carrying it.

 

After they had eaten lunch and cleaned up the mess.  His mother kept looking around for things to do.  “We haven’t unpacked your suitcases!” she exclaimed joyfully.

 

He smiled at her, “Yeah, I saved them.  I want to put that stuff away myself.”

 

She nodded slowly, “I understand.  You want to feather your nest a bit on your own.”  She sighed and looked around again.

 

“Nat?” his father said gently, “I think it is time for us to go now and let Team get settled in.”

 

She bit her lip and nodded.  “I know.”  She looked up at Team and he could see tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

 

Team laughed, “Don’t start!  I’ll be home Friday evening!  Jai will be driving us all back for the weekend.”

 

She frowned at him and then said in a scolding tone, “This is a huge step in our lives.  I am going to acknowledge it whether the two of you do or not!  Let me have this moment!”

 

Team reached out and pulled her into a hug with a laugh.  “Okay.  Have your moment!  But I will be home almost every weekend, so you won’t even have time to miss me.”

 

“I’ll make the time,” she said in a muffled voice because her face was buried in Team’s shoulder.

 

“I will bring home all my dirty laundry for you to wash when I come back.  Think of how much fun that will be!” he joked.

 

“It will be!  I will have lots of fun watching you wash it!”  She laughed and smacked his back lightly.  Then she pulled his head down and whispered in his ear, “It will be good here.  All will be well.  I feel it.”

 

He nodded to indicate he understood.  He wasn’t sure if he agreed though because every time he thought about who he was going to see the next day, his heart would race at an alarming rate.  He thought that probably wasn’t the best sign.

 

“I left you a little surprise in your suitcase,” she whispered.  “Something to remind you of home.”  She stepped back and wiped her eyes with a tissue she took from her pocket.  Team quickly swiped his with the back of his hand.

 

“Hey, do you have one of those hugs for your old man?” his dad asked as he moved over to them.  Team nodded and his dad pulled him into an embrace.  “You’re going to be okay.  And don’t you worry about your mother.  I’ll take good care of her.”

 

Team nodded and buried his face in his dad’s shoulder, the way his mother had buried hers into Team’s.

 

His dad whispered, “I left a surprise in your suitcase, too.  I wonder if you will be able to figure out who gave you what.”  He laughed and then playfully pounded his hand against Team’s back.  “I’ll see you at home on Friday.”

 

Team walked them to the door, where they repeated the hug sequence again.  And in the case of his mother, one more time for the road.  But eventually they left and Team found himself alone in his room.

 

He walked over and sat down on his bed.  This was it.  The moment he had dreamed about his entire life.  He was finally on his own.  His own boss.  An adult.  No one could tell him what to do or how to do it—he was in charge now.  It was wonderfully horrible or horribly wonderful—he couldn’t decide.  All he knew was, for all that time dreaming of this moment, it had still caught him unaware.  What the hell was he supposed to do with his life?  He had no idea.

 

He thought about different times in his life when things had hurt him or overjoyed him, and the first people to be by his side were his parents.  He thought of Than’s father being sick and his mother taking care of him and Than’s little sister, and Than giving up years of his life to run the grocery store for his parents.  He thought of Kwan’s father forbidding Kwan from going to college to study culinary arts and if that odd scholarship or grant, whatever it was, hadn’t arrived, Kwan would have been forced into studying a subject that didn’t interest him, to later have a career that didn’t interest him.  And poor Namfon, with her overbearing, smothering mother.  The queen of the backhanded compliments.  It was actually a miracle that Namfon had turned out as well as she had.

 

Team realized he had pretty much won the lottery in the parents’ category.  They weren’t perfect people, but that was what made them special.

 

He wiped his eyes and then laughed at himself.  He was acting like someone had died.  He was just at school and would be going back home Friday evening.  Nothing had really changed; it would all be the same.  (But way down deep inside, he didn’t believe his reassurances.)

 

He had had ‘a moment’, as his mother had called it, but it was over now.  He told himself that she was a sentimentalist, and while he might be a tiny bit like her in that, he wasn’t going to let it control him.

 

He decided to unpack his luggage and then he would be done with moving in.  He reached into his travel backpack and pulled out a cup with #1 on it.  The cup the old man had given to him as a ‘goodbye’ gift when he had turned over his lawn care jobs to the neighbor boy.

 

He placed the cup on his desk and put all his pens and pencils in it, just like he had at home.  He moved it a few centimeters to the right and it was exactly perfect.  He reached back in the backpack and pulled out a small stack of graphic novels—the series was his favorite—and he placed them on one of the shelves above his desk.  He had another book that he had brought with him, but he had no idea why.  It was his very battered copy of his English-to-Thai dictionary.  He hadn’t used it in years.  He had stopped depending on it when he got a cell phone and could look words up on the translator online.  Plus, he was fluent in English now.  He had even won a scholarship based on it.  But for some stupid reason, he felt compelled to bring the dictionary with him.  It had always had a place on one of his bookshelves at home—which is where it should have stayed—but he brought it anyway.  He had packed and unpacked it numerous times the night before, drove himself crazy over it, but then had given up and tossed it in the bag with the other books.  He slid the dictionary in place next to the other books on the shelf and stepped back to look at it.  He had to acknowledge that it looked right standing there next to his graphic novels.

 

He put away his toiletry items and medicines in the bathroom and then hid a bottle of whiskey under his bed.  The dorms had strict rules against alcohol for minors, or so they said.  He knew if they bothered to search his room, under the bed would probably be the first place they would look.  But he imagined the dorms were pretty much like everywhere else—as long as you didn’t cause problems, they weren’t concerned about it.

 

He unpacked his medium-sized suitcase and put his clothes away.  He thought it was funny that he chose to put them in the dresser in the same order of his home dresser.  But, he reasoned, it would save time searching for things later.

 

He closed the now empty suitcase and opened up the largest one he owned.  He was surprised when he saw a bag on top of his clothes, then he remembered that his parents had said they left him presents.  His dad had even challenged him to decide who had given him what.

 

He opened the bag and saw that there were a few items in it; it was a collection of ‘snacks’.  Dried apple slices, banana chips, and Styrofoam—known to others as rice cakes.  He laughed when he saw the snacks.  Obviously these came from his mother.  He actually liked the dried apples and banana chips, but heck no to the rice cakes.  He gathered them up and took them to his food shelf.  He stored the dried fruit snacks and started to throw away the rice cakes.  He checked the expiration date and found that they would be eatable for a long time.  He sighed and put them up on his shelf.  He would wait until they expired and then throw them away.  He couldn’t just toss them—they were a gift from his mother.  He shook his head in disgust at himself.  He was just as sentimental as she was.

 

He went back to his suitcase and removed another layer of clothing and put the items in drawers.  After removing another stack, he saw another bag that had been hidden.  He grinned and set the clothes aside and reached for the bag.  When he opened it, he let out a loud, bark of laughter.  Inside the bag were a huge box of condoms and a tube of lube.  He couldn’t picture his dad buying these items—he had to have bought them in Rayong because there was no way he would have bought them in the village.  His dad had enclosed a note, “If you are too embarrassed to buy these for yourself, let me know when you start to run low and I will get more for you.  Better safe than sorry!”

 

Lube?!!!  His dad bought him lube?  Team couldn’t stop laughing about it.  He imagined a lot of dads might buy their sons condoms, but the lube was so unexpected.  Team realized that his father was a lot smarter than he had ever given him credit for.

 

After he managed to stop laughing, he gathered up the condoms and the lube and hid them under his bed with the whiskey.  He hoped his room never got searched because he would be far more alarmed with them being discovered than the whiskey.  His dad had bought the biggest boxes available of both items.  Supplies that would probably last someone like Team years before they were used up.  The person searching his room would think he was some kind of deviant or super human, or something.  This thought made Team have another bout of the giggles.

 

He finally recovered enough to go back to unpacking his big suitcase.  Once he had emptied it of all of the stacks of his clothes, his knuckle brushed against something hard on the back wall.  He frowned in confusion as he stared at the spot.  There was nothing there, but he knew he hadn’t imagined it.  He reached out and ran his fingertips along the wall and then stopped when they collided with a hard object.  He traced his fingers around it and realized it was a box.

 

He felt all around the area and finally understood that it was a pouch with an elastic top to it.  “Probably to put small things in while traveling so they don’t get lost,” he thought.  He had never used this big suitcase; this was the first time he had ever needed to pack this much clothing, so he knew it wasn’t something left over from a previous trip.

 

He hooked his finger into the elastic and pulled it open.  He reached into the pouch and pulled out a watch box.  He smiled and shook his head slightly.  His parents must have bought him a new watch.  He looked down at the one on his wrist.  It was a bit worn, but he really hated the idea of replacing it.  He decided he would just wear the new one when he went home for visits.

 

He opened the box to look at his new watch and his jaw dropped in surprise.  Instead of a new watch in the box, there was an old necklace.  One he had long forgotten.  One that didn’t belong to him.  He sat down on the floor with a plop, still looking at the necklace.  How?  How had it gotten into the suitcase?  Who had put it there?  The last time he remembered seeing it was when he put it in his underwear drawer and had vowed to one day return it to it’s rightful owner—by shoving it down his throat.  And now, here it was, in the same place that person was.

 

He pulled the suitcase closer to him and again hooked his finger into the elastic band.  He stretched it out and then let it snap shut.  He did it a few more times as he thought about the necklace.  No one knew he had it.  His dad had seen a chain around his fingers during one of his visits during Team’s crazy time, but he hadn’t seen the necklace.  Team had never discussed it with either of his parents.  If not them, then who could have put it there?  He pondered as he continued to stretch and release the elastic.  He looked at his fingers and watched them.  He had the oddest feeling that he had done that before.  He opened the pouch and put the watch box back in it.  He let it snap shut and then he picked up the suitcase and turned it upside down and shook it.  He sat the suitcase back down on the floor.

 

He reached up and scratched his head.  He realized it had been him.  He had put that box in there.  He had hidden it there; he just couldn’t remember when or why.  When he tried to focus on it, he came up blank.

 

“Why?” he whispered.

 

There was sand all over the bathroom.

 

Team frowned at what his mind had whispered.  “Sand?  So?”  He hated all this subconscious crap.  It was like that reoccurring dream he had of the damn dolphin and Team being trapped on a boat by a fence.  If subconscious crap would just be straightforward, people would understand the messages better!

Mad.  He was mad.

 

The word ‘mad’ made him think about Nick.  The guy had always been pissed about something or another, every damn day.  It had been exhausting.

 

He leaned his back against the dresser and closed his eyes.  Suddenly he got a flash of Nick standing in the dining room, wearing nothing but a towel.  Nick turned around slowly.  He held out his hand and the light from the window lit up the silver chain that was wrapped around his fingers.  “Why do you have Win’s necklace?”

 

Team’s eyes flew open in shock.  Nick had found it?  No…that couldn’t have happened.  He would have remembered that!

 

Sand all over the bathroom.

 

Team shrugged.  That wasn’t any help.  Sand?  It was a coastal village.  There was sand everywhere.  For there to be sand in his bathroom wasn’t unusual.  He often brought sand back in his clothes from the beach.

 

The word ‘beach’, kept running through his mind.  He decided to play a bit of a game and create a scenario to see if he could make it fit.

 

He got up from the floor and went to his mini refrigerator and took out a cola.  He unscrewed the cap and took a drink.  It hadn’t been in there long enough to get cold—it was just slightly cooler than room temperature.  He winced as he swallowed it.

 

“Okay,” he said aloud, “Nick is in the dining room with just a towel on.  There is sand all over the bathroom.  He wouldn’t be dressed in only a towel if my parents were home, so obviously we are alone.  And the sand in the bathroom, along with the towel makes me think we had showered.  The necklace was in my underwear drawer—that I know is true because I remember putting it there.”  He stopped and took another drink of the soda and then sat down on the bed.

 

“I couldn’t have been in the bedroom with him though, or else I wouldn’t have seen him in the dining room with…it.”  He thought for a while.  “Maybe I went downstairs for something and he came down there after me.  If we had showered off the sand, I probably told him to get some of my clothes.  That box was hidden well so he had to have rummaged around in that drawer to find it.”  He looked over at the suitcase again, “But how did he know who it came from?  How did he know his name?  I know I never mentioned it.”

 

People.  The people told him.  They sent…

 

“Pictures and video clips?” Team whispered.  “They thought that person and I were a couple and Nick had broken us up?”  It sounded so odd, but at the same time, it felt true.  “And Nick knew for a long time but didn’t say anything until he found that necklace.”  Team could feel his head beginning to throb.  He closed his eyes against the pain.  In his mind he saw his bathroom, covered in sand and wet clothes on the floor.  “Here’s your precious ‘Hia’s’ necklace.  It goes or I go!” Nick said as he shoved it at Team and then stormed off.

 

Team shuddered.  Nick had used the name that Team had always called that person.  He blinked and shook his head.  This imagination game he was playing had the feel of being real.  A real memory.  But that couldn’t be.  Team knew it hadn’t happened.  Finding the necklace would have been something that Nick wouldn’t have stayed quiet about.  He would have brought it up in every argument, and he hadn’t…so it wasn’t real.

 

But…why would he have hidden it in his suitcase?  That part made no sense to him.  If Nick had already seen it, then there was no reason to hide it.  He and Nick were in a relationship.  If Nick wanted Team to get rid of the necklace, he would have.  It didn’t mean anything to him; he had forgotten about it after putting it in his drawer.  He would have just thrown it away.

 

You did throw it away.

 

Team scoffed at the thought.  “No I didn’t!” he snapped.  He got up and went to the suitcase and retrieved the watch box.  He opened it up and looked at the necklace.  “See! It’s right here!  If I would have thrown it in the trash, it would have been picked up by the garbage truck and taken to the landfill!”

 

Again he blinked and then he frowned.  Something was right on the edge of his consciousness but he couldn’t quite grasp it.  “You know what?  It doesn’t matter.  I’m tired of this game.  Nick didn’t find it, but maybe at some point I thought he might and that’s why I hid it.”

 

In the trash.  There’s proof!

 

He looked at the necklace and shook his head.  Proof?  What kind of proof?  The necklace was right here!  He took it out of the box and wound the chain around his fingers.  It was real.  It had some tarnish on it—if he were imagining the necklace, he would have imagined it shiny and clean—like how that person always kept it.

 

He put it back in the watch box and snapped the lid shut.  He placed the box on the top of his dresser and then went back to sit on his bed.  He reached for the warm bottle of cola and his eye fell on his phone.

 

He diverted his hand away from the soda and picked up his phone instead.  “This is crazy!  What am I looking for?  I probably deleted his account ages ago!”  But he opened his messages and scrolled down through the names.  He had gone down so far that he was about to give up, but then his finger stuttered on Nick’s name.  Team hadn’t deleted him!  He thought if there was anything to these…memories?  Images?  Imagination? he was having, there would be some mention in the messages.

 

He clicked it open and saw his last message to Nick, which was a heart-eyed, smiling emoji.  Team scowled at that and then scrolled past it.  He saw some pictures that made him freeze.  It took him a couple of seconds before he could even breathe.  It was a series of pictures that showed the journey of the necklace from being placed in the trash can in his kitchen all the way through to it being hauled away on the trash truck.  Team read the message he had written to Nick that was under the pictures:  “I’m really sorry that finding that necklace upset you.  I swear, I had forgotten all about it!  And of course I choose you over it!  I tried to tell you that before you left, but I am hoping the pictures will be able to prove it better than just my words can.  If you want to talk, you know where I am.”

 

Team read Nick’s answer.  He had been happy and loving.  He said he was on his way to pick up food for him and his grandmother and would get some for Team and then pick him up to spend the evening at Nick’s house.  Team’s reply had been the heart-eyed emoji.  And that was the last of the messages.

 

Team laid the phone on the bed and reached down and rubbed the scars on his leg.  He realized that the memories he had just experienced were real.  It had happened.  And the reason why he hadn’t remembered before was because it had happened right before the accident.

 

After the accident, while he was in the hospital, Namfon had told him that he and Nick had gone to the Dawn Rush Party the morning of the accident.  Namfon said that Team had implied that he was over it with Nick and would be breaking up with him, but later, after the accident, Team’s mother had told Namfon that Team and Nick had had an argument but had made up and Team had been happy about it.  When Namfon told Team this, he hadn’t understood why he had been happy to be back with Nick.  Now he understood it.

 

Even though he couldn’t remember his thought process at that time, he got it.  He wouldn’t have wanted their final breakup to be about Nick finding that person’s necklace.  He wouldn’t have wanted Nick telling people about it.

 

He reached over to grab his soda bottle and saw that his hands were shaking.  Seeing them made him realize that he was shaking all over—as if he were freezing, although the room was still fairly warm.  It had been hot when he and his parents entered the room earlier and they had to turn on the air conditioner.  It hadn’t reached optimal temperature yet.  He knew the shaking was because he had recovered a missing memory.

 

The doctors had told him that not being able to remember anything about the day was perfectly normal after a trauma.  He had never thought much about it—it didn’t worry him that he had lost a day.  But after that memory came back, it was a bit unsettling.  This fight was the worst one that he and Nick had ever had, and he had blocked it out of his mind.  He wondered what else might have happened that day that he forgot.

 

He reached under his bed for the whiskey and had to move the condoms and lube aside to get it.  Once he had it, he poured a small amount of it in a glass and dumped the rest of his lukewarm soda on top of it.

 

He took a drink and shuddered.  He hated warm soda.  But he couldn’t drink the whiskey straight.  He and his friends were going to go to dinner later and then drive around a bit to get familiar with the area.  He couldn’t sit around in his room getting drunk.

 

After a while the shaking stopped and Team was able to think clearly about things.  All that was missing from his memories now was the Dawn Rush Party, and he didn’t feel as it that was anything important.  He already knew that he had hung out with Namfon instead of Nick, so that told him all he needed to know—Nick had changed his mind about going to the party when he found out his friends were going to be there.  He and Team had gone to the party together and Nick had abandoned him in favor of his friends.  That wasn’t anything new or unusual.  It was very easy to imagine, so he didn’t need to struggle to recover the memories of it.

 

He sat his empty glass down on the bedside table and got up from the bed.  He walked over to the dresser and picked up the watch box.  He had lied to Nick and had hidden the necklace.  He scolded himself for not throwing it away.  But he had been so done with Nick at the time, which he knew that was why he hadn’t.  He wasn’t going to let Nick boss him around and manipulate him any longer.  But…Team also knew that wasn’t the only reason he had kept it.  The necklace wasn’t his to throw away.  It had a rightful owner, and Team had made a promise to himself that he would return the necklace to that rightful owner (by shoving it down his throat).  Now, the two of them were in the same area and it was definite that they would meet again, and very soon.  He opened his underwear drawer and placed the necklace under a stack of a few pairs.  He slid the drawer shut.  “A promise is a promise!” he whispered.

 

Then he hurried back over to the bed to get on his phone and text his friends to check when they were going to leave for dinner.  As he waited for an answer, he thought he would love to tell them about getting his memory of the latter part of that day back…but he knew he couldn’t.  He wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about it.  He would have had to explain what triggered it and what the memory was.  He knew he could never tell anyone about the necklace…they wouldn’t understand.

 

The answer on the group chat was that Namfon’s mother was still hanging around.  As soon as she left, which seemed as if she would soon, they could go.  Mali was already with Jai in his room, so Team said he would go on down to the lobby to wait for them.  On his way to the door, he stopped at the closet.  He opened it and pulled out a box containing brand new, high top, basketball shoes.  He took off his boot cast and put it in the closet and put on his high tops.

 

He was aware that he was supposed to wear the boot cast for a few more weeks, but he refused to be seen wearing that thing, and also, he felt like it had been long enough.  He had planned for the surgery to remove the plate from his ankle to take place early in the summer, but the village had been hit by a particularly vicious virus.  The hospital was filled with patients needing treatment—and sometimes, even with the treatment, they didn’t make it.  Team’s surgery kept getting postponed, and although he was disappointed, he understood why an elective surgery had to wait so that people battling for their lives could receive care.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to have the surgery until a month before leaving for college.

 

He pulled on his new high tops and tied them snugly.  When he stood up, he felt a minor flare of pain in his ankle and realized that he hadn’t laced his shoe tight enough to protect it.  He sat back down to lace that shoe tighter and then stood up again.  He smiled.  It was almost as good as the cast!

 

 

 

“Stop Jai!  Pull over!” Mali ordered.

 

Jai hit the turn signal and brought the car to a stop at the curb.  “What’s the matter, Babe?  Are you feeling sick?”

 

She shook her head and hopped out of the car.  “Come on!” she ordered over her shoulder.

 

“What is it?” Namfon tilted her head to see around Team.

 

Team shrugged.  “Just a tiny shop with plants outside.  There’s no one around so it can’t be a popular spot.”

 

The four of them had eaten dinner together and had driven around for a while, making note of which places seemed popular and which didn’t.  They had gotten a late start so they didn’t have a lot of time to explore the area much, and they were now headed back to the campus.

 

Jai got out of the car and began walking towards where Mali was standing.  Team and Namfon scrambled out of the backseat and hurried to join him.

 

“What’s she doing?” Team asked Jai.

 

Jai shrugged.  “No clue.  But she said to stop so I stopped.”

 

Team nodded, “Good!  That will keep you out of prison.”

 

Namfon poked him in the back as she walked past him, “Rude.”

 

Team laughed.

 

They walked up to Mali and found her examining the plants on the stand.

 

“Mali, what’s up?  Why did you make us stop here?” Jai asked.

 

Mali turned around with a huge smile on her face.  “Don’t you guys know what this plant is?”  They all shrugged and shook their heads, so she continued, “It’s a jade plant.  Jade plants are for good luck!  I want us all to buy one and trade them with each other.  That way we will all have good luck in our new school!”

 

She reminded Team of his mother, because this was something that she would do.  Team felt a wave of unexpected homesickness hit him.  He shoved it aside with the thought that it was okay to miss his parents, but he wasn’t alone.  He had his Scooby-Doo family here with him, so it was going to be okay.  He suddenly realized that if he had chosen Chiang Mai college instead of the Bangkok college, he would have been alone.

 

He went to search the plant shelves.  He knew that Jai and Mali would be trading with each other, so he searched for one to give to Namfon.  The plants were all the same, but the pots were different colors.  It took him a bit of time to find what he was looking for, but eventually, just as he was about to give up, he found it.  It was pushed all the way to the back and hidden by shadows.

 

He paid for it and then went to lean on the car to wait on the others.  His ankle was feeling a bit tired.  Namfon joined him soon after.

 

Team extended the plant to her.  “Namfon, I wish you all the best of luck and good fortune in college and in life,” he said, and then he grinned, “It took me forever to find a pot with this hideous, fluorescent orange!  I know it is your favorite color—and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that your dorm room already has this disgusting color everywhere!”

 

She laughed and nodded, “My mother had a fit!  She was planning on making my room all pink and frilly.  Yuck!”  She accepted the plant from him and then handed him the one she had purchased.  “I also wish you the best of luck and good fortune, both in college and in life.  I bought you one with a dark blue pot.  It symbolizes both your swimming and your legal studies.”

 

Team took it and thanked her, “I get the swimming, blue for the water, but how is this for legal studies?”

 

She grinned, “It probably wouldn’t to anyone else.  When I was little, my mother sued a small business in the village.  I don’t remember what the case was about.  Some trivial thing that pissed her off, which—that’s easy to do.  She hired a lawyer from here in Bangkok to represent her case—obviously she wouldn’t hire someone from the village—heaven forbid!  Anyway, when the lawyer came to the house, I crept down the hall and peeked at him from the doorway.  He had a blue folder in his hand…and from that time on, when I think of a lawyer, I think of the color blue.”

 

“Did she win the case?”

 

Namfon’s face twisted in disgust, “Of course she did.  Rich people always win.”

 

“Uh…I hate to be the one to remind you, but you are a ‘rich people’.”

 

She glared at him, “My mother is rich.  I am a scholarship student, just like the rest of you!”

 

He laughed, “Okay!  Stop glaring at me!  You’re scary!”  When she relaxed and laughed with him, he looked over at Jai and Mali, cuddling near the plant rack, each one clutching a new, potted jade plant.

 

Namfon was right—they were all scholarship students—his was for foreign language, Jai’s was for football, Namfon’s was for CORE, and Mali’s was for highest GPA.  Mali and Namfon had gone through a stressful time at the beginning of senior year when they realized that Namfon was on track to win both scholarships—highest GPA and highest CORE; Mali was her only real competition.  Since Namfon came from a wealthy family, she didn’t need the scholarships to be able to attend college, but Mali wasn’t rich and really needed a scholarship, it was her only shot at attending college.  Somebody happened to tell them about a way that Mali could win the GPA scholarship.  All she had to do was take a few extra classes in some easy electives and it would put hers higher.  That somebody was Team.  Only two years before he had been totally against the practice when Naam had done the same thing to that certain person, but since Namfon and Mali were both excited about it, it didn’t seem like such a cheat.  Mali had enjoyed taking the electives and her grades from them had pushed her GPA up higher than Namfon’s.

 

Mali and Jai made their way back to the car to join Team and Namfon.  Team pulled out his phone, “This seems like a good photo op!  Our first night on campus and our new ‘good luck’ plants he said.  They all smiled and held their plants up so they would show, and Team extended his arm out as far as he could and took a picture of the group.

 

“This was a great idea, Mali!” Namfon said.

 

Mali smiled but then suddenly the smiled dropped from her face.  She handed Jai her plant and said, “I’ll be right back!”

 

“Wait, what’s wrong?” Jai called to her.

 

She stopped and turned back, “I want to get Kwan a plant too.  If he hadn’t had to work his last shift at the restaurant tonight, he would have been here with us.  I want him to know we were thinking about him.”

 

Team pulled out his wallet, “That’s a great idea, Mali!  Let me go in half with you!”

 

“Fourths!” Jai corrected as he pulled out his own wallet.

 

Everyone handed Mali a few coins and she headed back to the plant stand.  Team and Namfon got into the car but Jai stood outside it to wait for Mali.

 

“You know,” Team said, “I think I saved your poor plant’s life tonight.  It was the only ugly orange planter there was, and it was pushed way at the back of the shelf.  I had to dig to find it.  It would have died from lack of light and neglect back there.  Poor ugly thing.”

 

Namfon laughed, “You know nothing about shopping and it shows!  I think someone wanted it and put it back there to hide it until they could get the money to buy it.  And given that it was the only beautiful orange one there, but several of the other colors, like your blue, were available in multiple pots, I bet it is the most popular, not the least popular as you seem to think.”

 

What she said made a certain amount of sense to Team.  He nodded his head, “Okay, maybe you are right and there are a lot of people who love this ugly color.  I’m just glad, if there really was someone who hid it there, that they didn’t come back and catch me with it in my hands.  I would hate to end up arrested over fighting with someone over a ‘good luck’ plant in a hideous pot on our first night here!”

 

 

The next day at lunch, the four of them, plus Kwan, were eating together.  Team was tired—after returning back to his dorm room the night before, he had played the game with his Zombie Killer friends, and then later, he and Than had messaged for a while.  He’d even sent Than the picture of him and his friends with their new plants, after Than had demanded to know everything they did.  Team had been hesitant to talk to him about it since Than had to postpone going to college for another year, due to his father’s poor health.  Team didn’t want to cause Than pain, but Than insisted this way he could live it vicariously, and promised to steal the idea of trading ‘good luck’ plants with his friends, once they reconnected next school year, which he was sure his father would be well by that time and able to go back to running the store.

 

Mali had insisted that they all meet early in the morning to attend orientation together.  She wanted to be sure that the five of them would be able to sit together.  Her plan had worked.

 

The orientation had been a bore.  There was nothing discussed that hadn’t already been covered in the Student packet that the school had sent to them after enrollment.  Mali had taken tons of notes during it, Namfon had focused all of her attention on it, Jai had slept through it, Kwan fidgeted through it, and Team had several mini anxiety attacks during it.  Not because of the orientation, but because whenever he would check the time, he would think—‘only xx more hours until I see him again’.  And even though orientation had been boring, which should have made time slow down, time seemed to be flying by.

 

He picked at his lunch because the anxiety had formed a knot in his stomach.  He glanced around the table and noticed that none of them seemed to be eating either.  And no one was talking much.  Seeing them this way pulled him out of his own thoughts as he tried to puzzle out theirs.

 

“My dad told me that when my parents went to college, there were two carloads of kids who all traveled together.  My dad drove one, with a trailer on the back to take their stuff, and a friend of his drove the other car, and it had a trailer too,” he paused and saw that they were all listening to him.  “After orientation, they had lunch together, just like we are right now, and they made a deal.  They were all going to be studying different majors, so they wouldn’t see each other in classes.  They would make new friends.  But…” he paused for a bit of a dramatic effect, “They all swore that their friends from the village were the core group and that they would find time everyday to meet up—whether for lunch, dinner, or just study time.”

 

“Did they stick to it?  Or did it fade away over time?” Namfon asked, looking at him with fear in her eyes.

 

“My folks are still friends with the core group.  They don’t meet everyday now, of course, but they are all still very close friends.  I don’t know about the rest of the group, but I know my parents only stayed close with their core group.  The rest of the people they met in college faded away.”  Team stretched his hand out to the center of the table, “How about we make the same promise?  Let’s swear to remain a core group!”

 

Namfon was the first to place her hand on his.  “I swear it!” she said.  And then the rest of the group also placed their hands on the pile and swore.

 

Then the mood at the table shifted back into its usual chatty normalness.  Team felt a bit pleased with himself for discovering what the problem was and coming up with a solution to fix it.  He was quiet for the rest of the meal, however, because the problem that was giving him anxiety wasn’t solved—it was still coming.  A check of the clock showed that time was still sprinting ahead.

 

After lunch, the group dispersed to go to their own areas of study—Jai to Engineering, Mali and Namfon both to the Science area—but Mali was going to the Pre-Med area while Namfon was going to the Physics area, Kwan to the Culinary area, and Team to the Legal area.  It was far from the cafeteria and very far from the pool, so he rode his cycle there.

 

He forced himself to pay attention to the speakers at the Legal Studies orientation.  Even took a lot of notes on what was being said, smiling to himself to think he wouldn’t have thought of doing it if he hadn’t seen Mali taking notes earlier in the day.  As much as he tried to lose himself in the lecture, he felt his heart racing in his chest, and felt bolts of anxiety racing through his system from time to time—especially when he looked at the clock on the wall and noted the time.

 

And the time flew past and the lecture ended.  As the other students were leaving the auditorium, Team put his notes into his backpack and pulled out the information sheet for the swim club.  He checked and double checked the list to make sure he had everything he needed.  (For years he had hated that his mother always came behind him and rechecked everything that he had already checked, but at this moment, he wished she were there to do it one more time for him.)

 

The information stated that they were to come to the first meeting prepared to swim.  Team put the sheet back into his backpack and left the auditorium.  He found the nearest men’s room and ducked into a stall.  He slipped off his pants and underwear and pulled on his swim trunks.  Even after all the years of playing various sports, he still hated getting naked in public.  Especially with strangers.

 

Once he was dressed, he left the school and got on his motorcycle.  He found that his hands were shaking so badly, it was difficult to get the chin strap of his helmet to snap in place.  He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and then managed to get it fastened.

 

When he arrived at the parking lot for the pool, he saw several guys walking into a side door.  The information packet had said to enter through the locker room door, so he assumed that was it.  He walked in that direction and saw a sign with an arrow pointing the way.

 

He entered the locker room and saw a guy with a swim jacket on and a lanyard around his neck with his ID.  It identified him as Sai, Swimming Assistant.  He took Team’s name and checked it off and told him to pick an empty locker and put on his swim trunks.

 

Team got a locker in the back, away from most of the other guys.  He pulled his outer clothing off and stored it in the locker.  When he was finished, he went back up near the door and took a seat on a bench where he saw a few of the others were sitting.  From his vantage point he saw four guys denied entry because they hadn’t brought their swim trunks.  The Assistant told them that if they couldn’t follow the directions that were in the information packet then they couldn’t join the club.  He marked their names off the list.  It seemed a bit harsh to Team, and the Assistant, Sai, seemed like a nice guy, so Team assumed it wasn’t a rule that he had made up—rather one that he had to follow.

 

Sai closed the door and told the boys sitting on the benches to follow him.  He led them to a large room that had a long table with three chairs at the front of the room and rows of folding chairs in the rest.  Sai instructed them to take a seat, the meeting would begin soon and then he left the room.

 

Team went to the middle of the second row and sat down.  The chairs were metal and when he sat down, it felt as if he were sitting on an ice cube.  He made the mistake of leaning his bare back against the back of the chair, and jerked away from it as his back met the cold metal.  He looked at the clock.  The meeting was scheduled to begin in just a few minutes.

 

He watched the second hand sweeping across the numbers on the clock face.  His pulse rate began to get faster and faster.  He thought back to when he made his vow to one day make it onto the National Swim Team.  He wished he could go back in time and shake some sense into himself.  He didn’t want this!  He wanted out!  He looked at the door and imagined himself getting up and running from the room.  He could grab his stuff from the locker and just jump on his cycle and get the hell away from here.  He didn’t want to ever see that person again—why he had ever thought he could do this was crazy!  And besides—he hadn’t even swam in any kind of competition for two years!  He only practiced in the physical therapy pool during off times.  The nurses there had became friendly with Team during his treatments and he found out they used the exercise equipment and pool when no one was around.  It wasn’t strictly in the rules that they couldn’t—kind of a grey area—so they invited Team to join them.  Of course they marveled at how fast he could swim, but no one had timed him and no one had raced against him, and he was probably just fooling himself that he could go back to competitive swimming again.  He had to go—get out quick!  His name was on the list and that person would see it and he would know that Team was a coward, but…Team didn’t care what he thought.

 

He started to get up when one of the guys with a clear view of the hallway whispered to the group, “They’re coming!”

 

Team settled himself back in his seat.  It was too late.  If he bolted for the door now, he would collide into them.

 

The three leaders entered the room.  They were dressed in swimming trunks with swim jackets pulled on over their bare chests.  They all wore lanyards with their IDs around their necks.  Team’s eyes automatically locked onto the one person he didn’t want to see.  He realized that the picture he had seen of the person hadn’t done him justice.  He was far better looking in person.

 

“A candy-coated dog turd is still a piece of shit!” his brain reminded him of what he had said when he saw the picture of that person while he was in his father’s home office.

 

Suddenly Team felt all his anxiety disappear.  He remembered how very much he hated this guy.  If anyone should have felt anxiety at their meeting again, it should have been the other guy, not Team.  Team hadn’t lied and backstabbed—that guy had!

 

He felt his spine straighten and his shoulders go back.  He lifted his head high.  He had no fear.

 

The President of the Swim Club’s name was Toh.  He introduced the Vice-President and the Assistant to the group.  He told them that the club could only take eighteen members so they would have to compete for a spot.

 

The rows and seats were numbered, and that was the order that they would compete.  Team was in row 2, seat 5.

 

Then it was the Vice-President’s turn to speak.  He listed the rules for the club, and since there were a lot of them, his speech took a while.  He looked at the boys as he spoke, and one time his eyes met Team’s, there was no flicker of recognition in them.  His eyes then moved onto the next boy as Team’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion.  How could that person not recognize Team?  True, he had been in an accident, but it hadn’t damaged his face.  Aside from being a bit older, his looks hadn’t changed.

 

When the Vice-President was finally finished telling them all the rules of the club, the Assistant, Sai, led them out to the pool to do warm up exercises.  Since Team had been sitting in the second row, he would be in the second group to swim.  He was glad for it because it would give him extra stretching time, plus allow him to judge what the abilities of the swimmers the first group were.

 

Team took a moment to glance around the area.  The pool was a huge one!  Eight lanes that seem to stretch out forever.  There were stands all around the pool that reached up halfway to Heaven.  He wondered what it would be like once they were all filled with people watching swim meets.  He imagined he would be a bit panicky to compete in front of such a crowd.  Then he reminded himself that his goal was to make it to the Nationals and in addition to having a much larger live audience, it was also showed on TV—the whole world could watch.  He gave a small shudder and wrenched his eyes away from the bleachers and looked at the diving area.  There were the standard high and low diving boards, but this college had something that only a few places had.  It had a platform for diving.  Team craned his neck back to look at the top of the thing—which he guessed was the standard height of ten meters.  Team felt sick just looking at it.  He couldn’t imagine the horrors of climbing up there and then jumping off of it!

 

Water had a surface.  If the person came down wrong—Team imagined a broken neck, or a busted skull—with blood and brains floating on the water.  It made him feel like throwing up, so he averted his eyes and focused on his stretching.  He comforted himself by remembering that the diving club was separate from the swimming club so he would never have to experience the horrors of platform diving—neither watching it nor participating in it.

 

The President and Vice-President came out to join Sai and the guys preparing to swim.  They each carried clipboards in one hand and ink pens in the other.  The President carried a normal pen with a cap, but the Vice-President carried an old-fashioned ink pen with a button on the top that made a clicking sound when the pen tip was exposed and then another click sound when it was retracted.  He stormed around the area, watching the guys warm up, and the entire time he kept making the pen do the clicking sound.  Clickclickclickclick.  It was irritating, to say the least.

 

He had walked around in the area where Team was stretching and when he left the area, a guy near Team whispered, “He’s scary!  He looks like someone who would throw a drowning person an anchor!”

 

Team suppressed a laugh at that.  The Vice-President was even worse than that guy could imagine!

 

From where Team was standing, he could see the pool and the wall of the building.  Suddenly an opening appeared in the wall and a young woman exited from a hidden door.  She was tall, with long, slender limbs.  She was wearing a white one-piece bathing suit, covered by a swim jacket that matched the ones worn by the three leaders’ of the men’s team.  She also wore a lanyard around her neck, so Team suspected she was one of the leaders of the women’s team.

 

Her hair cascaded down her back in a long flow of waves and when the sun hit it, the shine her black hair emitted was a dark blue.  She wore strappy sandals on her elegant feet, and they scarcely seemed to touch the ground as she glided her way forward.  Team knew where she was going as soon as he saw her.  And almost as if he had written the script for her to follow, she made her way to the Vice-President’s side.

 

The two of them stood together, smiling their perfect smiles, and flashing their perfect teeth at each other.  It was all just so…perfect.  Team could imagine the two of them making commercials selling air conditioners in the Antarctica.  Everyone would buy one from them.  Team idly wondered if she were also a candy-coated dog turd, and as if on cue, she tossed her head back and gave a phony giggle.  Team rolled his eyes and looked away.  She had answered his question.  Fake, phony, dog-turdy.  The two of them were a perfect match.

 

Sai blew the whistle for the first match.  Team moved a bit closer so he could watch.  Some of the other guys crowded around behind him.

 

“She’s so hot!  How on earth did that guy snag her?” he heard one of the guys behind him ask.

 

“Are you kidding?  Don’t you know who he is?”  Another guy asked with a laugh.  “My older brother told me all about him.  They call him ‘one-night-Win’.  Half the girls are in love with him, the other half he has already pumped and dumped.  And knowing his reputation just makes the other girls want him more!”

 

Team felt revolted and moved away so he wouldn’t have to hear more.  He wanted to focus on swimming, and that was all.  He had four years to be chosen for the National Team and he wasn’t going to waste one second thinking about anything else.

 

The race ended and Team wasn’t impressed with any of the swimmers.  They were okay—but basically mediocre.  He supposed they could learn to be better though, with the proper training.  At least the first two who finished.  The other six…if he were in charge, he would scratch their names from the list.

 

Team tugged on his swim cap and pulled his goggles up on top of his head.  The first round of swimmers left the pool and Sai signaled the next group to prepare.  Team made his way to lane five and stepped up on the platform.  He slid down the goggles and waited for the whistle.

 

Once he heard it, he leapt from the platform.  His first few strokes felt too conscious and jerky.  But then, his body took over and bypassed his brain.  Instead of focusing on his movements, he thought about the cold-smile doctor who had told him that he would drag his leg behind him for the rest of his life.  He thought about all the pain and work he had done to be able to walk again.  He remembered how angry he had been being forced back into the pool and how he had the vision of himself being at the Nationals.  These thoughts gave him the power he needed to make it down the lane and then back.  He reached out and touched the wall.  He yanked the goggles off and realized he was the first one back.

 

He couldn’t help but smile.  He hadn’t competed in such a long time; he wasn’t sure how he would do.  He had half expected to end somewhere near the middle, so to come in first was amazing!

 

Once all the swimmers had returned, Sai signaled them to leave the pool.  Team pulled himself out, and was shocked to find the Vice-President barreling towards him with rage written all over his face.

 

“YOU!” he barked, “Number 5!  I want to ask you something.  Do you see those pretty colored ropes floating in the pool?”

 

Team was taken aback.  He turned to look at what that person was pointing his pen at.  “You mean the lane markers?” Team asked.

 

“Oh!  At least you know what they are called—that’s a start!  Do you know what they do?”

 

Team blinked in confusion, “They mark your lane?” he answered as a question instead of a statement.

 

“Good!  So you know what they are called and you know what they do, but you don’t agree with them?  I see.  You know, it is not enough to be the fastest, you have to have form!  You are a sloppy, lane hog.  Now, I want you to do it again—only this time, I want you to give me two laps.  And keep your body aligned with the black line on the bottom of the pool.  Sai, I want you to time him.  And…wait…you know what?  Since the lane hog here is going to inconvenience all of us…I think we should all watch him to see how he does!  Go on, lane hog…and be quick about it!  There are others here who would like a chance to swim, too!”

 

Team pulled his cap back on and stepped up on the platform.  The VP tapped his pen on the platform near Team’s feet.  “Is this how you behave when a senior is speaking to you?  Didn’t your parents ever teach you how to be polite?” he asked.

 

Team could feel a huge wave of hatred and rage filling him up.  He had thought he hated this guy before…but it didn’t come close to how much he hated him now!  Nobody insulted his parents!  Nobody!  He was tempted to step off the platform, beat the shit out of that person, and then just drop out of the college.  The only thing stopping him was the knowledge that it would put a black mark on his record.  And with a black mark, he would never be able to compete in the Nationals, no matter what school he went to.  He took a deep breath and then turned and made a small bow.  “I am sorry…” he had to dig down deep, way deep, within himself to be able to say the name, “P’Win…for my sloppy performance.  I will do better this time.”

 

Win gave him an evil smile and a quick nod of his head.  “Good,” it was all he said, and then he turned around and walked back to his girlfriend.

 

Sai blew the whistle and Team dove back into the water.  As he swam he began to plan his next move.  He was foolish to think he could join the swim club, putting himself around that guy.  He comforted himself with the thought that he might not make it into the club, but if he did, he was going to have to find a way out of it.  A way that wouldn’t hurt his chances in the future to go to the Nationals.

 

He finished his swim and pulled himself out of the pool.  The other swimmers had stood around the pool watching him, as Win had ordered them, and several of them secretly gave him a nod, a thumbs up, or an okay sign as he walked by them.  He appreciated their support, but couldn’t draw attention to them by acknowledging it for fear of causing them to be reprimanded by Win.

 

He grabbed a towel and dried off as he walked to the bench to grab a seat in the sun.  From his angle, he couldn’t help but see Win and the female coach by the pool, watching the swimmers.  He noticed that Win and Toh both making notes on their clipboards.  Occasionally one of them would confer with Sai about something…Team suspected it was swim times.

 

Once the last group had finished their swim and had joined the others on the benches, Toh turned to speak to the group.

 

“I’m sure some of you are wondering what qualifies us to have been given the jobs we have.  We would like to give you a demonstration.”

 

Then the three of them pulled off their jackets and stepped up on the platforms.  Team felt his jaw drop.  Win had huge wings tattooed on his back.  They were so big that they took up almost his entire back.  Team suddenly remembered telling his parents about Win after Team had seen him swim for the first time—how when he swam, it was like watching a bird soaring across the sky.  He forced his jaw shut with a snap and turned his eyes away.  He didn’t want to see that and he didn’t want stupid memories coming back into his head.

 

The female coach blew her whistle and Team heard them dive into the water.  He fought the temptation to watch them, but he lost.  He ended up standing on the edge of the pool with the other guys, watching them swim.  Toh and Win were neck and neck the entire swim, with Sai coming in slightly behind them.  Toh’s hand touched the wall before Win’s but it was almost too close to determine.

 

They climbed out of the pool and hurried over to the diving area.  Toh went off the low dive—very obviously not a good diver.  Sai went off the high dive.  He was okay, not amazing, but okay.  Some of the guys near Team begin to whisper about the whereabouts of Win.  Team didn’t wonder—he knew.  He had known since the first time he spotted it.  He tilted his head back to look up at the platform.

 

A few moments later, Win stepped out on the landing and approached the diving edge.  “There he is!  Up there!” someone in the crowd said.

 

Win walked to the edge and then turned around with his back to the crowd.  He raised his arms in preparation for the dive.

 

“Nope!” Team thought as he turned his head and walked back to the bench.  “I have enough things in my life giving me nightmares.  Watching some fool kill himself in the pool on my first day doesn’t need to be added to them!”  Instead he watched the female coach watching Win.  Her head was high and her shoulders were back as she watched him with a proprietary pride.  Just seeing her posture was enough for Team to think that she was certain that she was the one who would turn “one-night-Win” into “every-night-Win”.

 

The crowd gasped.  Team hadn’t heard a splash so he assumed it was the person leaving the platform that had drew the sound.  Then he heard the splash.  The crowd was silent for a moment and then they broke into thunderous applause.  The young woman was beaming with pride as she clapped.

 

Team averted his gaze and sat, staring at the ground at his feet.  He thought about the other winners of the races that day.  He didn’t know anyone’s time, not even his own, but he felt certain that his was the best.  Only eighteen guys would be chosen and he knew he would be one of them.  He had to find a way to get out of it, but…he also knew that the swim club members would have the first chance at being picked for the swim team after the semester break.  If he did manage to get out of the club, he might not make it onto the swim team.  It would cut a year off of his chances of ever making it to the Nationals.  He sighed in despair and disgust.  He sat there, lost in thought, until the three leaders returned.

 

“Go hit the showers, men.  When you are finished, take a seat in the meeting room where you were earlier.  We will join you in a bit with our decisions,” Toh announced.

 

Team was quick in the shower.  He was glad he had picked a locker in the back.  The majority of the guys had picked spots in the front, which meant he had the back of the room to himself.

 

As he went to pull on his socks, he noticed a bit of swelling in his ankle.  He thought it was probably from jumping off the platform and pushing against the walls during his turns.  It didn’t really hurt, so he wasn’t worried about it.  He finished putting on his shoes and went to the meeting room to wait.

 

It felt as if Team had waited a long time before the rest of the guys began trickling into the meeting room, and then they all sat waiting for a much longer time for the swim leaders to arrive.

 

Finally they entered the room—according to order, with Toh at the front of the line, Sai at the end.  They all had their clipboards with them.  They took their places behind the table, and Toh remained standing while the other two sat.  He addressed the group, “As I mentioned before, the swim club can only accept eighteen members.  The three of us have each selected six members to be on our team.”

 

Team felt panic rising in him again.  It wasn’t just one big team, it was three separate teams!  He hadn’t counted on that.  He began to pray that he wouldn’t be chosen.  Or if he was, that he didn’t end up on the Vice-President’s team.  But he felt in his gut that he would be.

 

Toh read off the list of the names he had chosen.  Team’s name was not on it—and it felt like, by rights, it should have been.  Toh was the President and had first choice of the swimmers.  Team knew his time had to have beaten some of the guys that Toh had selected.

 

It was the Vice-President’s turn.  Toh sat down and Win stood up.  He was clicking his pen again and each time it clicked it sent sparks of anxiety soaring through Team.  All Team could do was pray, “Not this guy!  Please—not him!  I don’t want to be on his team!  Please!!!!”

 

“For my six choices,” Win announced and clicked his pen.  He ran it down the list he had on his clipboard as he read the names aloud.  “I have chosen: Taeng-Mo, Pair, Yoo, Kulap, Ling,” he paused, “And…Tine.”

 

Team felt every muscle in his body relax immediately after hearing the name Tine.  He had been certain, and terrified, that Win was going to say his name.  He took a deep cleansing breath and felt his heart rate beginning to slow down.  The only one left to choose swimmers now was Sai, and Team wouldn’t mind being on Sai’s team! He begin to hope that he would be in the swim club after all.

 

“There’s no Tine on the list,” Sai said to Win.

 

Win clicked his pen a few times as he studied the list.  “There’s not?  Hmm…I forget the kid’s name,” he said and then he looked out at the boys in the chairs and searched.  His eyes met Team’s and he stopped.  “That one!  The lane hog!”

 

“His name is Team,” Sai said.

 

Win turned to look at Sai, “What was it?” he asked while still clicking his pen.

 

“Team,” Sai answered.

 

Win nodded and wrote it on the paper on his clipboard.  He raised his eyes and met Team’s again and said, “I want Team.”

 

 

 

Chapter 22

During the time since being placed in Win’s group, Team had been brainstorming ways to get out of the club without having a negative report on his record.  He couldn’t think of anything so he found himself back at the pool area two days later for the first official meeting of the swim club.

 

As soon as he walked into the locker room, he saw cards taped on the lockers.  He walked over to one and saw it had a student’s name on it.  He walked around, looking at the cards, until he found the locker that had been assigned to him.  He sighed dejectedly when he saw that it was in the front row, with nothing to hide behind while he dressed and undressed.  And from his locker, he could see down the tiny corridor that led to the office.  The office had windows that faced the locker room and Team could see through them to the desk inside.  He knew that if he could see inside the office from where he was, anyone inside the office could see him.  He wondered what would have happened if he took the name card off the locker and stuck it on an empty locker in the back row.  He sighed again and shook his head.  Whoever had placed the cards on the locker probably had it written down on a list.  Team opened the locker and put his items inside.  He had worn his swimming trunks under his pants again so it didn’t take him long to get undressed.

 

As he closed the locker, he looked back at the name card.  Whoever had written the name cards had gotten his name correct, so he knew it couldn’t have been Win—who seemed to have the misapprehension that his name was ‘Tine’ not ‘Team’.  Team had texted with Than about it, and Than didn’t seem surprised.  Of course the only part of the story that Than knew was that there was a guy that Team hated, but none of the back story.  Than told him that happened a lot.  Some small slight from a person would cause great hatred in the person who had been slighted and totally forgotten about by the person who had committed the slight.  And he reminded Team that the thing he had most worried about when deciding to go to school in Bangkok, was what he would say when he met his enemy face-to-face again, but now he didn’t have to think about it again.

 

Team took a bit of comfort from Than’s words, but only a small amount.  Team just couldn’t believe that Win had forgotten him—even though he could see it in Win’s eyes and the way he kept forgetting Team’s name—but it just didn’t make sense.  They weren’t just some acquaintances who had a bad encounter once—they had been best friends for four years!  There was no way that someone could forget four years of their life.  But it seemed as if Win had.  And even if Team didn’t understand it, and maybe felt a bit stung by being so unforgettable, he was glad for it.  At least he wasn’t going to be put in the position of reminiscing over the past.  Than had been right about it being the thing he dreaded the most.

 

He sat down on one of the benches in the front of the room and waited.  As the other boys finished changing, they came to sit on the benches too.

 

A boy walked over and sat down next to Team.  “Hi!” he said.  “I’m Kulap.  I don’t know if you recognize me…”

 

“Yeah, I do,” Team answered with a smile.  “We are in some classes together.”

 

“Yep,” Kulap agreed.  “Pre-law.  I don’t think anyone else here is in Legal Studies.  Do you?”

 

Team looked around quickly and shook his head, “I haven’t seen any of them in my classes.”

 

“I’m glad you and I are in the same swimming group!  I just wish it wasn’t P’Win’s.  That guy is a douchebag!  Like how he went off on you during tryouts!”  Kulap shook his head and then said, “I was in the third group to swim and I was watching your group.  Of course I noticed you because you were the fastest in your group.  I never saw you move from the middle of your lane.  And once I heard the way he talked to you, I was scared to death when it was my turn to swim.”

 

Team nodded slightly.  “Do you plan on being on the swim team this year?”

 

Kulap shrugged, “I hope to, but I’m not sure I will make it on there.  I came in third during my race—I was kind of surprised to make it into the swim club.  I wasn’t surprised that you did—although, maybe I was a bit.  You are a really talented swimmer, but for whatever reason, that douchebag doesn’t seem to like you.  I almost wonder if he is a bit intimidated by you.”

 

Team looked at Kulap in shock.  “What do you mean?  Why on earth would he be intimidated by me?”

 

Kulap grinned, “Dude!  Don’t you get it?  Look—he is the second fastest swimmer of the 3^rd years.  Not sure how he rates against the 4^th years, or even the 2^nd years because I haven’t seen them.  But of the 3^rd years, P’Toh is number one—which is why he is the President.  P’Win is number two—and I am sure you noticed when they raced that it is only by a few hundredths of a second—which I bet kills him!” he stopped to laugh for a moment before continuing, “And P’Sai is in the third spot.  P’Win beats him easily.  And like I said, I don’t know about the swimmers in the other years, but based on what I saw, your speed is very impressive.  He is probably worried that you will beat him.”

 

“Me?” Team asked in astonishment.  “There’s no way I could beat him!”

 

Kulap sat up straighter as the three leaders walked into the room.  Under his breath, he said, “Maybe not now, but soon.  And I think he hates you for it.”

 

It was on the tip of Team’s tongue to deny the accusations against Win.  He had never known Win to be petty and vengeful.  But then again…he had realized two years ago that he never really knew the real Win until the day he drove away from the village.  Team kept his mouth shut but privately he agreed with the label that Kulap had given Win.  He was a douchebag.

 

P’Toh had them to go out to the pool where he assigned lanes.  Team’s group was in lanes 5 and 6.  There were two empty lanes beside them, which Win had stated were punishment lanes for when someone had to swim extra laps.  He looked at Team when he said that and Team bristled.

 

Win announced that P’Sai was to take over his group during their warm-ups.  Win picked up a clipboard and his click pen.  “I need to speak to Tine alone in the office,” he said.

 

“His name is Team,” P’Sai corrected.

 

Win huffed and gave a small shake of his head.  He pointed at Team, “You!  I need to speak to you in the office.  Follow me!”

 

When they reached the office, Win pulled the door closed behind them.  Team was confused.  He wondered if maybe Win was about to tell Team that he remembered him.

 

Win, still carrying the clipboard and the click pen, walked around the desk and sat down.  “Take a seat, Tine,” he ordered.

 

Team started to correct him but bit his tongue and sat down.  He felt very uncomfortable.  Win was fully dressed; he even had on his swim club jacket over his school uniform.  Team was dressed only in his swim trunks.  He wore his goggles around his neck and kept his swim cap clutched tightly in his hand.

 

“There is a form that I have to fill out about you,” Win said.  He looked at the paper on his clipboard and clicked his pen repeatedly.  After he read whatever was written on the paper, he looked up and made eye contact with Team.  “I need you to tell me about your scars.  Were they caused by an illness or an accident?”

 

Team was stunned.  No one had ever asked him about his scars.  He often noticed people looking at them and then quickly looking away, pretending they hadn’t seen.  He didn’t like it, but he understood why they did it.  However, to be asked about them, and so bluntly, made him feel dazed—and a bit insulted.  It really wasn’t Win’s business.  “What does it matter?” he asked.  “I passed my physical.”  It was true that he had passed it.  But then he had surgery afterwards.  He had scheduled it that way on purpose, in case of problems from the surgery.  But his ankle was fine.  Mostly fine.  He still had a bit of stiffness and swelling sometimes, but nothing he was worried about.  Certainly nothing that would interfere with swimming.

 

Win examined his paperwork again.  “Yes, I see that you did.  They have your name written down as ‘Team’, not Tine.  Why is that?”

 

“Because my name is Team.”

 

“Oh!  Why didn’t you say so?”  Win clicked his pen and then marked out something on the paper.  “I wrote it down wrong.”  He looked up at Team and studied his face with a frown.  “Okay!  I figured it out!  You look like a guy named Tine that is in some of my classes.  Is he your brother?”

 

Team shook his head, “I’m an only child.”

 

“That’s too bad,” Win said and then clicked his pen a few times while looking back at the form.  “You didn’t answer my question—accident or illness?”

 

“Why?”

 

Win snapped his head up quickly and looked at Team.  “Because I have a form in front of me that I have to fill out.  Look…personally, I would rather not have this conversation, but I have to ask you the questions on the form.  Of course you don’t have to answer them.  However, if you don’t…I’m not sure if you will be allowed to stay in the swim club.  It’s not up to me.”

 

Team thought about grabbing at this chance to get out of the club—except—not only would his record say that he was uncooperative, it would probably say that he had medical issues.  He imagined the cold smile of the doctor when he told Team his leg would be useless.  Team had to prove that doctor wrong.  He took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh.  “It was a car accident,” he answered.

 

Win nodded, “Were you the driver?”

 

“No, I don’t drive.  I was a passenger in a car that was hit in an intersection by a drunk driver who had run a red light.”

 

“Were there any fatalities?”

 

“No.  Why would that be on the form?” Team asked angrily.

 

“I am assuming it would be relevant.  Possible mental issues that could arise, I imagine.”

 

“I don’t have any mental issues from the accident, and I am all healed now, so I don’t have any physical issues either.”  Team said, shifting around in his seat, hoping that the meeting would soon be over.

 

Win nodded, “Good!  So I guess that means you don’t need any special services.” he said.  When Team shook his head ‘no’, Win continued, “Your injuries were not listed on your physical, so I need you to detail them for me.”

 

“What?  Why?  I’m fine now,” Team said, feeling his rage growing.

 

Win tapped the clipboard.  “I did tell you that you don’t have to answer, but…”

 

Team shoved down his rage and gave Win the list of the injuries he had sustained in the accident.  While he talked, Win had listened to him intently—but he hadn’t written anything on the form.  Team was angry at this invasion of his privacy, so when he finished reciting his injuries to Win, Team asked, in admittedly a bit of a sarcastic tone, “Shouldn’t you be writing this down?”

 

Win’s jaw muscles visibly clenched and unclenched a few times, and then he clicked the pen twice, before speaking.  “You had a fractured skull and a concussion.  You were kept in a medically-induced coma for three weeks.  You had a broken collarbone, four broken ribs, your lung collapsed and you had to have a chest tube put in.  Your arm was broken in three places and you had internal bruising, but no bleeding.  Your leg was broken in multiple areas, two of which were compound fractures.  Your ankle had been trapped during the accident and the bones were crushed.  You had to go through several surgeries on your leg and ankle, the last of which were the removal of the screws and plates that held your bones in place during healing but are no longer needed.  Did I miss anything?”

 

Team felt his jaw drop a bit in surprise as he shook his head.

 

“No?  Okay then,” Win said, “You can join the others in the pool.”

 

Team got up from his seat and began walking to the door.

 

“Oh…one more thing, Tine,” Win said.

 

Team stopped, turned to face him, and saw that Win was busily writing on the page attached to the clipboard.  Win looked up and met Team’s eyes.  Team could see the fury in them as Win said in a low, threatening tone, “Don’t you ever tell me how to do my job again.”

 

As Team stared into Win’s eyes, he felt the hatred he had for Win grow so much larger and stronger that it almost felt as if it was its own entity living inside him.  His memory flashed to himself in his old Primary school’s football field, screaming his rage into the night sky.  What he had felt that night was only a drop in the bucket to how much hatred he now had for Win.  He shoved it down as much as he could, bowed politely and said, “I beg your pardon, P’Win.”

 

Win jerked his eyes towards the door and motioned with his head, “You can leave now.”

 

The other guys were finishing up their warm-up exercises when Team joined them.  He used his anger to give him extra energy as he hurried through the exercises and joined the guys from his group who had begun to swim laps.

 

He had barely gotten into the pool when Win arrived.  He called his group to the edge and explained the game they were going to play.  One guy would get to start and thirty seconds later, another guy would jump in.  Once each swimmer reached the end of the lane, he had to get out of the pool and then jump into their other lane.  The object of the game was to try to catch up to the swimmer ahead of you, with guys entering the lane at thirty-second intervals.  If you were caught by the guy who was behind you, you were out, and the winner got to take your spot.  And on they would go until all the swimmers but one was eliminated.

 

It sounded like fun to Team as he hurried out of the pool to get into the line.

 

“Lane hog!  What are you doing?” Win asked.

 

Team blinked in confusion, “Uh…getting into line?” he answered as a question.

 

“No.  You have a ‘special’ assignment.  You get to swim in an open lane, all by yourself. Until I see improvement in your alignment, that’s where you will stay.” Win ordered as he pointed to one of the punishment lanes.

 

Team knew there was nothing he could say, so he pulled on his swimming cap and went to the punishment lane, and jumped in.  Mentally he felt as if he wanted to stomp around and scream ‘It’s not fair!’, like he might have done in Primary school.  He knew his words would have no effect on Win even if he had spoken them.  So he swam.  He took all his anger and frustration out on the water.

 

When he returned to the start of the lane, Win was there, watching him.  “What are you doing with your arms?” he yelled.  “You are flapping them all around like a chicken.  Use your arms to cut through the water!”

 

Team did as he was told.  With each sweep of his hands, he imagined slapping Win across the face.

 

At first, using his arms in the way Win had ordered him to felt odd and unnatural.  But after a few laps, his body adjusted to it and he could feel the alignment of his body correcting and even felt as if he were gaining a bit of speed.

 

The next time he reached the beginning of the lane, Win was still there, and he was watching.  He gave a slight lift of his chin and then walked away.  Team grinned to himself because Win hadn’t been able to find anything to bitch at him about.

 

After a few more laps, Team noticed that the women’s swim leader was back and was cuddling up to Win.  Team shook his head at that.  It was unprofessional for them to be doing this during club meetings.  He idly wondered if Win showed up during the women’s meetings.  He scoffed at himself for the thought.  Of course Win did!  He had no morals—no sense of right or wrong.  He had proved that to Team years ago.

 

As he swam, he thought about how Win had spoken to him in the office.  He seemed to be demanding to be respected for his position at the club.  Team decided from now on, he would be respectful—extremely respectful.  He would use his most respectful tone and words when addressing Win—which hopefully wouldn’t be often.  He would take it over-the-top with the respectfulness.  He would have to keep his face neutral because if Win even suspected Team was doing it to irritate him, it wouldn’t work.

 

Team was surprised when P’Toh blew his whistle and declared the rest of the time to be free swim.  The lane markers were moved so that the shallow water was cut off from the deeper water and then cut into two parts.  In one of those parts there was a water basketball game set up.  The deeper water was marked into lanes for those who wanted to practice their swimming.  Team had had enough swimming so he joined some of the others in the basketball game.

 

He had a great time playing basketball with the guys.  They had just started the second game (Team’s side had won the first game), when P’Toh blew the whistle again and told them the club meeting was over.

 

As they were walking into the locker room to gather their stuff for showers, Win stood by the door and watched them enter.

 

“Tine!  I’d like a word with you,” he said when he saw Team enter.

 

Team sighed and tried to make his face muscles relax into a neutral expression.  Since he had a good time playing basketball, his anger had dissipated a bit.  Now it was back in full force.  “Yes, P’Win?” Team answered in his most proper and respectful tone.

 

Win frowned quizzically for a moment, but then regained control over his face.  “I wanted to tell you that when I was a first-year student, I spent all my free breaks swimming.  I was always trying to improve myself.”

 

Team nodded slightly.  “That is a very interesting story, P’Win.  Thank you for sharing it with me.”  Internally he was thinking, “Cool story, Bro.  Fuck off!”  He knew the underlying message was that Team shouldn’t do anything but swim—no free time, no playing games.  There was no way Team was going to stop having fun, no matter what Win tried to do.  Free time was free time.  He was going to do what he wanted.

 

Win stared at Team, obviously expecting him to say something more.  Team didn’t speak, but didn’t break eye contact.  He fought hard to keep his face relaxed.

 

Finally Win said, “Hit the showers, Tine!”

 

Team gave a tiny bow and said, “Thank you, P’Win!”  And he hurried away, but not before he saw that tiny frown appear on Win’s brow again.

 

Once he was under the shower stream, he let out a small laugh.  It was galling to grovel to that piece-of-shit, but Team felt as if he had won that exchange.  Win hadn’t known how to react.

 

Every school day, except Thursdays, the group from the village all met for lunch.  Thursdays were busy days as most of them had scheduled double classes that day so they could have three-day weekends.  Team walked from the Legal Studies department to the cafeteria with Kulap for lunch.

 

Kulap got a message on his phone just as they reached the cafeteria.  “It’s Ling.  He wants to know if he can join us.”

 

Team shrugged, “Fine with me.”  He didn’t really know Ling yet.  He was in the swim club and on the same team, so Team thought it was a good chance to get to know him better.

 

Kulap messaged back and forth with Ling a couple of times and then slid his phone into his pocket.  “He’ll be here in a few minutes.  I told him we would wait for him.”

 

They entered the building to get out of the sun, but leaned against the wall right next to the entry doors so Ling could see them when he arrived.

 

“He won that swimming game of P’Win’s yesterday, did you know that?” Kulap asked.

 

“No.  I missed it.  Punishment for my alignment, you know?”

 

“Mm,” Kulap answered with a curt nod.  “Ling caught up with me because I lost my momentum.  I was watching P’Win with that lady swim club president, or whatever title she has.  I think he dumped her.”

 

“Why?  I mean, what makes you think that?”

 

“She was there, you know?  Hanging all over him, and then she wasn’t.  She let go of his arm suddenly.  She looked really pissed and stormed off.  I was watching her leave when Ling caught me and I was out.  It was a shame too because I had already caught Taeng-Mo.  Ling went on to catch the others.  I think if I hadn’t been distracted, I would have won.  It was a good game though.  I hope you get to play with us the next time.”

 

Team took a deep breath and let it out.  His anger from the previous day had came raging back.  He had to fight it down before he spoke.  “Yeah, I hope so.  It looked like it was a fun game.”

 

Suddenly his arm was grabbed from behind and Team startled when he heard the shrill laughter.  “Oh Team!  You say the funniest things!” she squealed.  At first Team didn’t even recognize her because she was wearing the school uniform.  The two times he had seen her before, she was wearing a bathing suit and a swim jacket.  It was the women’s swim leader.  He looked around quickly and saw Win entering the cafeteria door.  He must have walked past them at the time she had said that.

 

Once Win was out of sight, she let go of Team’s arm.

 

“Why did you do that?” he asked her in astonishment.

 

She grinned, “He doesn’t seem to like you, so I figured it would really get under his skin if he thought we were together.  I want to be with him.”

 

“Then you should be hanging on him, not me!”

 

She shrugged, “I would, but he won’t let me.  Maybe now he will.”  She laughed and walked away.

 

“Wow,” Kulap said quietly, “She’s evil!  And he saw her with you; I saw him look over here.  I don’t envy you.”

 

“But I didn’t do anything!” Team protested.

 

“I know that, you know that, and she knows that—but he doesn’t.  I would keep my head down if I were you.”

 

Ling walked in and Kulap told him everything before Team even had a chance to say ‘hello’.

 

Ling shook his head, “Oh, you are in trouble now, my dude!  Don’t worry; we’ll have your back if it gets too bad.  We can even take it up with Administration if we have to.”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I don’t want to do that!”

 

Ling shrugged, “I wouldn’t count it out so quickly.  P’Win doesn’t strike me as the type to just let things go…and he already doesn’t seem too fond of you.  Personally, I think he is afraid of your swimming abilities…”

 

“That’s what I think, too!” Kulap interrupted.

 

Ling nodded, “Yeah, let’s be honest here, you are the best swimmer on the team.  It’s very obvious—no one is even close to you.  So by rights, you should be the chosen one, held up in the highest regard.  But he treats you like dirt.”

 

“And that thing where he can’t seem to remember your name.  Calls you Tine instead of Team.  That’s just too weird to be real,” Kulap added.

 

Team gave a small shrug, “He told me I look like a guy in one of his classes named Tine.  I’m sure he will learn my name eventually.  Come on, the line is short now and I am starving!”  Team was desperate to change the subject.  He appreciated that they were on his side, but it made him nervous talking about it.  He felt as if they were looking for trouble, and in Team’s experience, he knew that a person didn’t have to look for trouble; if trouble wanted you, it would find you on its own.

 

They got their food and sat down at a small table together.  Ling was in the Engineering department and was telling them that it was already much harder than he had expected and it was only the first week!  He had no idea how he was going to learn it all.

 

“One of my closest friends is a first-year in Engineering,” Team said.  “His name is Jai.  Do you know him?”

 

Ling shrugged, “I don’t really know people’s names yet.  There are so many students in the department.”

 

Team searched through his phone and found a picture of Jai and showed it to Ling.  “Oh!  Hey! I do know this guy.  He’s super smart!”  He handed Team his phone back, “He seems like a nice guy.”

 

“He is!” Team assured him.  “He doesn’t talk a lot though.  Especially to strangers.  You should introduce yourself to him—tell him you are my friend.  He’ll be more apt to talk to you if he knows we are friends.”

 

“Okay!” Ling said with a relieved smile, “It would be nice to know someone in class, ya know?”

 

Kulap nodded, “The only person I know in Legal is Team, and that is because I met him in the swim club.  Glad I did!  I would hate to be all alone in class.”

 

Team thought again how lucky he was to have his closest friends from his village all at the same school.  It made him certain he had made the right choice when he picked Bangkok.

 

Suddenly a tray was placed on the table beside him.  He looked at it and was revolted to see it was covered with mashed and mixed together food.  It looked like vomit.  Like vomit that had been collected from several different people and stirred together on the tray.  He looked up from the tray and into the furious eyes of Win.

 

“I figured since you like my leftovers so much, I should give you a bit more.  Enjoy!” He patted Team briskly on the shoulder in a fake friendly gesture and then walked away.

 

“Damn!” Kulap exclaimed.  “He’s even more of a douchebag that I thought!”

 

“What are you going to do with that mess?” Ling asked.

 

Team looked at the tray that was threatening to overflow with the slop on it.  He looked at his own tray that held his lunch and his stomach flipped over in revulsion.  He sighed.  “I guess I’ll take it back with mine.  I don’t feel much like eating any more now anyway.”

 

“I think you should report him,” Ling advised.

 

Team shook his head as he got up from the table.  “No, I’m not going to do that.  Obviously he thinks I am going after that girl.  I guess I am lucky he didn’t punch me in the nose!”

 

“No, if he wanted her he wouldn’t have dumped her.  This was just a way to mess with you!” Ling stated.

 

Team looked down at the gross tray and nodded, “Yeah, you could be right.”

 

“I wonder if he is trying to get you to drop out of the swim club,” Kulap mused.

 

Team thought about it for a moment.  “I guess that could be why.  I won’t though.  No matter what he does.  I am sure you have noticed my scars.  I was in a bad car accident and some of the doctors, one especially, thought I wouldn’t ever regain the use of my leg.  I was told that I would probably spend my life in a wheelchair.  But I didn’t give up and I didn’t give in.  Some of that was determination; some of it was pure stubbornness.  I wasn’t about to let those doctors win.  And I won’t let P’Win win either.”

 

Ling laughed, “Well alright!  You’re pretty tough, I will give you that.  You know what?  I think, if I were a betting man, I would put all my money on you!”

 

“Yeah, but how much are you willing to take?” Kulap asked.  “Everyone has their limit.”

 

“I don’t know, to be honest.  I can deal with being called ‘lane hog’ and ‘Tine’ and swimming a million punishment laps, but this tray is a deep insult.  I am going to assume it is a one-off and he won’t be doing anything like this again.  Maybe it was in the heat of the moment,” Team said.

 

“I think it was more a case of a douchebag doing douchebaggy things,” Kulap argued.  “And if it is, this is just the beginning.”

 

As Team walked over to the tray return station, he had to move slowly in order to keep the slop from spilling out over the edge of the tray.  Some of it had already dribbled out onto his hand and had run down his wrist.  It made him feel sick to his stomach.  He had to keep reminding himself that it was just food, not puke, but his queasy stomach wasn’t listening.

 

During his walk, he thought about how easily he had just discussed his accident with Kulap and Ling.  Aside from being interrogated by Win about his scars, he had never told outsiders about the accident before.  At home in the village, everyone knew so there was really no need to talk about it.  He was a bit stunned that he had offered up the information so easily.  He took it as a sign that he was beginning to overcome the trauma and put it in his past, where it belonged.

 

There was an old man working at the tray station.  He was a big guy, and still had muscle tone, even though his face skin was drooping off his chin.  He wore a hairnet to cover the two small tufts of hair that he had left on his sweaty, bald head.  Privately Team thought that if was him, he would have just shaved off those two little patches of hair and skipped wearing the hairnet.

 

“What’s this?” the old man barked at Team when he saw the slop on the tray.

 

Team carefully sat it down on the counter and then placed his own next to it.  “Some guy pulled a joke on me and made me bring this up here,” he explained.

 

“And just who is going to clean that mess?” the old man asked, placing a hand on his hip.

 

“I…uh…I don’t know,” Team could see the anger on the man’s face and it intimidated him.  Obviously it was the man’s job to clean the trays, but Team thought he shouldn’t say that.  The man continued to glare at Team.  Team didn’t know what else he was supposed to say, so he started to back away.

 

“Not so fast!” the man said.  “Somebody is going to dig through that mess to retrieve the eating utensils, and I am pretty certain that it’s not going to be me.  Now if you didn’t make this mess, then you need to give me the name of the person who did it so they can clean it up.”

 

“Oh…well…um…I don’t know his name,” Team lied.

 

“Look kid—whoever did this is bullying you.  I have to report any bullying to the Administrator, its part of my job—the campus is supposed to be safe for everyone.  Why don’t you just tell me his name and then you can leave?  Otherwise, you’ll have to dig through that mess, find the utensils, and then clean the tray.”

 

“Do I have to wear a hairnet?” Team asked.

 

“Yep, health regulations.”

 

Team gave a resigned nod, “I’ll do it.”

 

The man opened the door and let Team into the cleaning station.  He gave Team a hairnet and Team put it on.  He felt humiliated, but soon his hand was in that mess on the tray, digging around for spoons and forks, all he felt then was nausea.  Win had hidden quite a few in that mess, along with straws and chopsticks.  Team pulled them out and laid them on the counter.  Finally after running his hand through the mess a few times and coming up with nothing but slime and chunks, the man allowed him to dump the contents of the tray and then wash it.  After that, Team had to wash the utensils that had been hidden and clean the countertop where they had lain.

 

“Okay, that’s good enough now,” the man said.  He held out his hand for the hairnet and Team gladly returned it to him.  “I’m going to talk to you off the record here—if the Administration learned about it, I could lose my job.  But you seem like the kind of guy who will keep his mouth shut so I am willing to chance it with you.  The way I see it, whoever did this to you is an older student.  They all know the rule about huge messes like that being the responsibility of the person bringing the tray up here, so this is a common tactic they use.  I have two pieces of advice to give you—advice I would give to my own sons or grandsons—number 1, if this happens again, leave the tray at the table and sneak out without any of the dining room workers seeing you, and number 2, and I am only advising this because you aren’t a little fellow; the little fellows have to rely on Administration to help them—but you look like you can hold your own one-on-one.  My advice to you is to catch this fella out—not on campus, but in town, and then beat the living shit out of him!  He’ll soon learn not to mess with you again!  But don’t do it on campus; if you do, both of you could be suspended or even expelled.  Do it in Bangkok.  Cops there don’t care about some fist fight between young guys—it happens all the time.  Probably wouldn’t even get a ticket for it.”

 

Team had scrubbed his hands and wrists in the sink next to the counter and was drying them.  He rolled down his sleeves and started to button them.  One of the sleeves had a drop of slop on it from where he had carried the tray.  He looked up at the old man and nodded.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“I bet you already had it in mind, didn’t you, kid?” the man asked with a grin.

 

“Oh…I’ve only been thinking about it every day for the past two years,” Team answered with a grin as he scrubbed the spot on his cuff.

 

The old man laughed, “I knew it!  I knew you weren’t meek and mild.  My fighting days are over, but I want you to do me a favor—I want you to throw one good punch in for me.  Tell him ‘this is a gift from Aom!’”

 

“Aom?”  Team laughed.  “Aom?!!!  Are you kidding me?”

 

The old man bent over from chuckling so hard.  “What?  My parents named me that when I was a baby!  I actually was ‘sweet-natured’ back then!”

 

Still laughing, Team threw up his hand and waved ‘bye’ to the old man named Aom.  He walked back to his table to find that Ling had left, but Kulap was still there.  He was scrolling on his phone when Team arrived back.

 

Kulap looked up as Team sat down at the table.  “That took a while!  Ling had to get to class.  I’ve been reading about P’Win on ‘IYKYK’.  There are tons of threads about him on here.  Seems like everyone is interested in every move he makes.  I’m sure he loves all the attention.”  Kulap shook his head, “Douchebag!”

 

“What is ‘IYKYK’?” Team asked.

 

“It means, ‘if you know, you know’.  It is a secret website devoted to campus gossip.  Haven’t you heard about it?” Kulap asked.

 

Team shook his head, “Nope.  I don’t go in too much for gossip though.”  He remembered on the day of the accident, Nick had shown him some pictures and a few video clips of Team and Win together.  Nick had told him that a bunch of people had shipped them together, but Team had always been unaware of it.  “I think there might have been a hidden one for my old Secondary school but I never saw it.”

 

Kulap laughed, “You really should!  You might see things about yourself that you never knew!”

 

“Me?  I doubt that!” Team scoffed.

 

Kulap laughed, “I wouldn’t doubt it if I were you!  Look!”  He turned his phone around and Team’s picture was on the screen.  Team took the phone and looked at it.  It was Team, in his swimming trunks, doing warm-up exercises before swimming.  The thread it was in was called ‘Incoming Hotties’.

 

“I’m actually jealous!  There’s nothing about me on the entire site!” Kulap laughingly complained.

 

“I wish there wasn’t anything about me on there!” Team said decisively and handed Kulap back his phone.

 

“Apparently you didn’t read anything below your picture!  There are a few threads about you.  Speculation about who you might be dating.  Oh, by the way, that female that was hanging on your arm today, her name is…” Kulap paused and scrolled down a bit, “Chompuu, third-year student, and she is the Vice-President of the Women’s swim team.  Someone wrote that they just saw the two of you together in the hallway outside the cafeteria and now everyone is speculating if you two are together.  Someone else said they saw the two of you in Bangkok at a theater last night.”

 

“That’s complete bullshit!” Team sputtered in his anger, “That’s why I don’t pay attention to gossip things.  People just make up stuff.”

 

Kulap nodded, “I agree.  It wouldn’t surprise me at all if I found out that Chompuu was the second commenter.  P’Win dumped her today, but now this makes it look like she was already done with him.  However, I read under one of his threads that he told someone they never actually dated.  She was after him but he turned her down.  I don’t think that’s likely though.  She is gorgeous!”

 

“But she doesn’t have a good personality at all!” Team objected.

 

“But she has a great rack and long, gorgeous legs!  Who cares about her personality?!!!” Kulap countered.

 

“Physical attractiveness is a great thing to have, but for a relationship to work, you need a lot more qualities than just your looks,” Team stated.

 

“We’re talking about ‘One-Night-Win’ here.  He isn’t looking for someone to take home to meet his mother!  He doesn’t care about personalities!  I am positive he did the ol’ pump-and-dump with her and then claimed to have never dated her.” Kulap replied scornfully.

 

At the mention of Win’s mother, Team’s mind brought up an image of Auntie Poom.  He swallowed hard to push away the lump that formed in his throat and shook away the image.  “But if that is what he is known for, why would he deny being with her?  It just adds to his reputation, right?”

 

Kulap shrugged, “No idea.  Who knows what goes on in his head?  Probably nothing…well, to be fair, I can’t say that.  He’s not stupid.  He is an honor student and he is always in the library tutoring someone or another.  But he is still a douchebag, and douchebags do weird stuff and they lie all the time.”  Kulap shut off his phone and slid it into his pocket.  “I hate that guy, that’s all I know.  Every time I try to talk to a girl, I always find out she is all about him.  I just don’t get it.  I don’t see why everyone wants to be dumped by him!”

 

“So you are interested in a lot of girls?” Team asked.

 

Kulap took a drink from his glass of soda that was almost empty and he shrugged.  He sat the glass down and said, “Sure…I mean…isn’t everyone?”

 

“If you could, would you date all of them?  Or would you just pick one and settle down right away?”

 

“I would date all of them, obviously!  I mean, if I found one that I really liked a lot more than any of the others, I would settle down.  But I’m not looking to settle down to just one at this point.  Why?”

 

“So you are basically saying you would do the same thing that he does, if you had the chance,” Team summarized.

 

“Wait!  Hold up!  Whose side are you on?” Kulap asked angrily.

 

“I spent a year working for a lawyer and I am examining every side of the issue, like how she taught me to do.  It has nothing to do with being on anyone’s side.  Because if I were to pick a side, you know it certainly wouldn’t be his!” Team explained.

 

“Yeah…no, I know you wouldn’t be.  As much as I hate him, he hates you double that!  That’s a cool trick you just did though.  And…I don’t know…maybe I am jealous of him a bit.  But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a douchebag!” Kulap stated emphatically.

 

“He certainly is,” Team agreed.  His phone sounded a notification so he pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was from “The Mystery Machine” group.  He quickly opened it to read the message.  ‘Velma’s’ class had been let out early; her professor wasn’t feeling well.  She wanted to know if anyone was free.

 

‘Scooby’ answered her that he was getting ready to leave the cafeteria, and the rest of his day was free,  She messaged him back that she would meet him in the parking lot in front of the cafeteria as soon as she could get there.

 

Kulap was busy writing something on a small piece of paper when Team slid his phone back into his pocket.

 

“Are you finished with lunch?” Team asked.  “I need to meet up with a friend in the parking lot in a few minutes.”

 

Kulap nodded as he slid the paper over to Team, “Yeah, I just have to take my tray up to the return.”  He stood up, gathered all his lunch items together, and slung his backpack onto his shoulder.

 

“What’s this?” Team asked, pointing to the paper that Kulap had written on that was still lying on the table.

 

“That’s for you,” Kulap answered.  “It’s the online address of ‘IYKYK’.”

 

Team stood up and picked up his backpack.  “I don’t need it!  I told you—I don’t pay attention to gossip!”

 

Kulap grinned, “Just take it with you.  You might give into curiosity, now that you know people are talking about you.”

 

Team picked up the little scrap of paper and tossed it into his backpack.  “I’ll take it, but I’m really not interested.”

 

They walked together to the tray return.  The old man, Aom, saw Team and waved.  Then he held up his fist as a way to remind Team to punch his bully one good one for Aom.  Team nodded and then laughed.  He wouldn’t forget his promise.

 

He and Kulap stood and chatted a bit by the parking lot while Team waited for Namfon.  Once she arrived, Kulap said ‘goodbye’ and got into his car and left.

 

“Hey!  Where’s your bike?” Namfon called over the sound of her motorcycle’s engine.

 

“I left it parked at Legal and walked here,” he called back.

 

“Hop on!  I’ll take you to it,” she said.

 

“Hell no!” he said scornfully.  “There is no way I’m getting on that orange monstrosity!”

 

“Legal is pretty far from here, and it is hot!  I don’t want you to have to walk out in this heat, and I don’t want to sit here and wait for you!  Now come on!”

 

He thought about it for a moment.  She had a point—it was far, he had underestimated the distance when he walked to the cafeteria.  And it was truly very hot.  And…his ankle was feeling a bit…tired?  Overworked?  Or maybe a tiny bit painful?

 

He reluctantly nodded and she reached back and opened the seat hatch and pulled out her spare helmet.  It matched hers.  It matched the bike.  Outrageously, Overtly Orange.  With sparkles.

 

Team reached for it, but he really didn’t think he could put that thing on his head.  He glanced around quickly to see if anyone would see him if he did, and then he froze.  Win was leaning against the wall of the cafeteria building, watching them.

 

That was what made his decision for him.  He quickly got on the back of Namfon’s cycle and pulled the helmet on.  “Let’s go!” he urged.

 

Later, after retrieving his bike from the parking lot at the Legal facility and riding alongside Namfon, touring the campus together, Team thought about seeing Win watching him.  He thought it was creepy.  It wasn’t like Team had looked up at the same moment that Win had looked over—Team could tell by Win’s posture that he had been in the same position for a while.  His back had been against the wall, his ankles were crossed, and his arms were crossed over his chest.  He looked comfortable and relaxed. And nosy.  And creepy.  Team imagined he was still pissed about the girl hanging on him.  Except, he didn’t really look pissed.  He looked…interested.  Team frowned when his mind suggested that word.  It was a weird concept and he fought with himself about it.  Obviously Win was not interested in Team in the least…and he wasn’t interested in ‘Tine’ either, so Team was at a loss why his mind had come up with that word.  But it had, and no amount of arguing with his mind would change it.  He decided to push all thoughts of Win and how he may or may not have looked out of his mind, and just enjoy riding his cycle.  And that’s what he did.

 

Sometime later, about an hour or so, they came to a stop at a red light.

 

“What time is it?” Namfon called to him.

 

He pulled out his phone to check it and saw that he had missed a message from ‘Fred’ on their group chat.  He and ‘Daphne’ were at the Science facility’s Common area and wanted ‘Scooby’ and ‘Velma’ to come study with them.

 

He held up his phone so Namfon could see he had a message, “They want us to come to the Science Common’s to study,” he yelled over the sound of their engines.

 

She nodded and at the next intersection she turned to the right.  Team followed her.  They made it to the Common’s area very quickly and parked their cycles in the parking lot and set off on foot to find their friends.  Team had forgotten that his ankle wasn’t feeling the best, but it reminded him as he walked across the grass.

 

As soon as they reached the table under the trees where Jai and Mali were studying, Namfon excitedly told them about finally getting Team to ride on the back of her cycle.  “You should have seen him wearing my extra helmet!” she laughed.

 

“’Fon…you could have said ‘hello’ to them first!” Team scolded.

 

“Sorry!  I just couldn’t wait!” Namfon said, still laughing.

 

“I don’t get it,” Team said as he sat down on the bench and opened his backpack to remove his books.  “You claim you hate sparkly things, and yet your bike and helmets are sparkly!  You were always arguing with your mom about it when she tried to get you to wear clothes that were sparkly and when she wanted to decorate your dorm with sparkly things.  Make it make sense!”

 

“Well, duh!  She wanted me to have PINK sparkly things—which is gross.  I have ORANGE sparkly things—which is cool!” she explained.

 

“Maybe in your world…Namfonland, population 1!”  Team said with a dismissive shake of his head.

 

“It’s okay,” she said with a grin.  “I don’t mind living in my own little world.”  She reached over and picked up a tiny piece of paper near where Team’s textbooks were lying.  “Hey!  What’s this?  ‘IYKYK’?”

 

“It means ‘if you know, you know,’” Team answered.

 

“I know what the letters stand for!” she snapped jokingly.  “I mean what does it mean as a Website address?  And why do you have it?”

 

“The guy I had lunch with, Kulap, gave it to me.  It’s supposed to be a secret gossip site for the school.”

“Oh, gossip?” Namfon squealed, “Yes, please!”  She entered the address into her phone and was soon engrossed in the Website.

 

“Why would he give you the address to a gossip page?” Jai asked with a slight frown, “I’ve never known you to be interested in things like that.”

 

Team shook his head, “I’m not.  He gave it to me because there is a thread or something about me and he thought I would want to read it.  I don’t.”

 

Namfon’s head popped up, “About you?  Why?”

 

Team shrugged and then opened his textbook and began to read.

 

Namfon went back to looking at her phone and then she suddenly let out a laugh.  “He’s an ‘Incoming Hottie’, according to this!”

 

“Let me see!” Mali said as she closed her textbook and leaned over to look at Namfon’s phone.

 

Jai and Team exchanged a look and a shake of their heads and then went back to studying.  Mali and Namfon had an ongoing, whispered conversation, as they scrolled the gossip site.  Then they began to giggle.  It caught Team’s attention.  He looked up from his book and saw they were looking at him.

 

“What?” he asked.

 

“According to this, you and I are in a relationship.  Together!  With each other!” Namfon said in between her giggles.  “Lots of people think so!”

 

“Well, my goodness!” Jai said.  “If lots of people on a gossip site say something, it must be true!  When were you going to tell us?  And when is the wedding?”

 

The four of them laughed together, but then suddenly, Namfon stopped laughing and her face became somber.

 

“’Fon?  What is it?  What’s wrong?” Mali asked, grabbing her by the arm.

 

“It’s…just something on the thread,” Namfon said and handed Mali her phone.  Mali read it to herself and as she did, her face looked like a volcano about to erupt.  “Oh!  I wish I knew who ‘devilmademedoit’ was!  I would give them a piece of my mind—and a swift kick in the ass!”

 

“What did they say?” Jai asked angrily, already ready to join in kicking that person’s ass with Mali, even though he had no idea what was going on.

 

Mali bit her lip and took a breath before reading it out loud.  “It says:  ‘She’s not good enough for him.  She’s not even pretty!’”

 

Namfon frowned, “Oh, no, not that one!  It’s the one from ‘Blueskies’ that answered it.”  She looked at the guys and shrugged, “I never cared about trying to be pretty, so I don’t care if someone says I’m not.  It’s irrelevant.”

 

Mali scrolled down to find the answer from ‘Blueskies’.  She nodded when she found it.  “Got it!  It says:  ‘What a mean thing to say about such a nice girl!  She is in some of my classes and I really like her.  She is kind and helpful.  You need to delete your account and get a life!’”

 

Namfon had looked down at the table as Mali read.  Her face seemed to get redder and redder with each word.

 

Mali looked at Namfon, “Do you think you know who ‘Blueskies’ is?”

 

Namfon gave a small shrug, “I’m not sure, of course, but there is a girl in some of my classes named Skye, and I have talked to her a few times, so I guess…it might be her.”  Namfon answered, and then she offered up an additional bit of information that no one had asked for, “She smells like vanilla.”

 

Team, Jai, and Mali all exchanged a quick look.  It went unnoticed by Namfon who was still studying the surface of the table.

 

She looked overwhelmed to Team and he felt certain that she had a crush on Skye; no other reason to comment on a person’s smell that Team could think of.  He grinned, “Hey ’Fon…” he had been prepared to tease her until he saw the look on Mali’s face.  She looked as if she would slit his throat if he uttered a sound.  She reminded him of his mother when she was silently scolding him.

 

“What is it, Scooby?” Namfon asked, moving her gaze from her examination of the table to his face.

 

He shot another quick look at Mali and then said, “I’ve always heard that a true friend has your back, even if you aren’t around.  If ‘Blueskies’ is the girl in your class, it sounds like you have made a really good friend!  She sounds like a nice person.”

 

Namfon nodded and looked back down at the table, “I think so.”

 

Team was glad that Mali had stopped him from teasing Namfon.  Sometimes he forgot that Namfon was actually a very sensitive person.  He looked at Mali and she gave him a tiny nod with a small smile, just like his mother always did when he did the right thing.  He smiled back at her and then turned his attention back to his textbook.

 

It wasn’t much later that he looked up from his studies and noticed that the Commons area was filled with other people.  Subconsciously he had been tapping his pencil against his book in time with the beat of a rap song that was playing nearby.  He looked across the table at Jai who was frowning as he read.  Team looked at Mali who had turned her attention away from her books to watch a group of people sailing a Frisbee to each other.  Namfon was scrolling on her phone—Team assumed she was still on that gossip website.

 

“It’s too ‘peopley’ here to study,” Team said, indicating the other students with his hand.

 

Jai slammed his book shut, “Exactly what I was thinking.  Only I thought of the word ‘overpopulated’.”

 

“I know the weather is nice, but I think we should go to the library to study, if we plan to get any work done,” Team said.

 

Jai looked at Mali and she nodded.  Jai began to gather up his books.  Team marked the page in his textbook to be able to find his place again, and then put all his stuff into his backpack.  When he stood up, his ankle gave a sudden, sharp twinge, but then the pain went away just as quickly and he forgot all about it by the time he got to his cycle.

 

Right before he turned into the parking lot of the library, he suddenly remembered that Kulap told him that Win often did tutoring at the library.  He could have kicked himself for suggesting going there to his friends.

 

They met at the entrance, and Team stepped forward and walked in front of them.  If any of the group noticed, they didn’t say anything, although it was unusual for Team who usually walked behind.  He walked quickly, trying to be inconspicuous as he scanned the library for signs of Win.  In the back of the building were tables for students to study.  Team spotted Win at the far right of the area.  Win was busy helping two female students and had his back to them.  Team quickly pivoted to the left and his friends followed him.  He headed for the table next to the wall, in an attempt to put as much distance between he and Win as was possible.

 

When he sat down at the table next to the wall, he casually looked to the right to see if he could see Win.  The bookcases were laid out in a diagonal fashion so it blocked the view.  Team let out a sigh.  If he couldn’t see Win; Win couldn’t see him.

 

He got out his books and set to work.  Since it was only the first week of school, he didn’t have much homework yet.  After he finished, he read the next chapter in a textbook that was for the class he already disliked.  He knew he would have to force himself to really concentrate in that class because if not, he knew he would slack off more as the semester went on.  As he read the chapter, he outlined it and made notes on each section.

 

He forced himself to finish the chapter.  He closed the textbook and told himself he should do the same thing for his other classes, but he was so bored he was afraid he would fall asleep.  He looked across the table at Jai and Mali and saw that they were both deeply engrossed in their work.  He looked at Namfon, who was sitting next to him, and saw that she was still scrolling on her phone.  He leaned over to whisper to her, “Are you still on that site?  Why aren’t you doing your homework?”

 

“I got it done earlier.  I’m quicker than you are,” she whispered back.  “Besides, this is a lot more informative than any textbook!  I am going deep into the collective mind of the students in this school.”

 

Team frowned.  “If you are so interested in things like that…why study Physics?  Why not Psychology?”

 

She shook her head, “My career would be over the first day.  I know my strengths and my weaknesses.  I would be too blunt and tell everyone the truth, and that wouldn’t be good for a person in a fragile state coming to me for help.  Physics doesn’t have emotions and cannot be harmed by my bluntness.”

 

Team couldn’t resist asking her, “So…have you looked up Blueskies’ profile to read their other comments on other threads?”

 

Her face began to redden and she looked away from him.  “Of course I did.  And that was their only comment.  Now, leave me alone!  I am in the middle of reading about a huge scandal that happened over the summer between three Second-year students!”

 

“That’s interesting!  The only time they ever commented was to defend you,” he tried to hide the grin that wanted to spread across his face.  “Yep, definitely a good friend you have there!”

 

“Find something to do and stop teasing me!” she hissed at him while looking at her phone.  She raised her eyes to look at him and then mouthed the word “Asshole!” and then grinned before looking back at her phone.

 

He chuckled quietly and then pulled out his phone from his pocket.  He saw that he had missed a message from Than since he had to turn the sounds off his phone in the library.  He smiled as he leaned back in his chair to read it.

 

Than told him that he had received a big delivery that morning and had been busy trying to stock the shelves.  It was another rainy day in Chiang Mai, and usually rainy days were fairly quiet in the store, so Than thought he would be able to get a lot of the stock put on the shelves.  No such luck though because for some reason, it had seemed as if everyone in the village decided to come into the store that day.  A few times he had to run back to the stockroom and hurriedly open a box of something to retrieve a box or a can of something that a customer wanted but he hadn’t been able to get out on the shelf yet.  Plus there was the usual problem of having to mop up the rainwater that the shoppers brought in with them before someone else came in that could slip and fall and then sue the store.  There had been a break in the rush of customers, so Than had taken that time to sit down and put his feet up for a bit and message Team.

 

Team stopped reading for a moment and thought about Than.  Anyone could be tired and have aching feet in a situation like that, but Team knew that Than actually had bad feet.  He had fallen arches and hammertoes, which meant that any pair of shoes that Than wore, except for sandals, caused him incredible pain.  But sandals didn’t offer him any arch support, so even they caused him pain.  After a long day in the store, the pain often traveled up his legs and into his back.

 

Team thought with shame about how he used to call people a ‘hammer-toed hobgoblin’.  It was his go-to insult.  Once he found out that Than had hammertoes, Team was a bit disgusted.  Until he researched what caused them.  In the majority of cases they were caused by children wearing shoes that were too small for them for long periods of time.  In other words—poor children whose parents couldn’t afford to buy them shoes that fit properly after a growing spurt so the children had to continue wearing the shoes they had before the growth.  Team remembered early in his puberty outgrowing his shoes every few months for a while.  He was lucky that his parents could afford to get him new ones each time.  Than, and poor kids like him, weren’t that lucky.  Team realized that his ‘funny’ insult was, in fact, heaping shame on people who were poor and walking around in pain daily.  And once the damage was done, they were not able to comfortably wear shoes again even in their adult years.  Of course there were surgeries that could fix hammertoes, but a lot of people probably couldn’t afford the surgeries—and adults with families to take care of probably couldn’t take off work for a long period of time to heal.  Which meant that they learned to live with the pain.  Team had had a taste of what that was like, and now the idea of other people living with pain broke his heart.

 

He sighed and went back to reading Than’s message.  Than’s little sister, Tukta, was going to be in her first dance recital at her preschool.  She was going to be dressed as a butterfly.  Their mother had ordered the costume and it had been delivered along with their stock that day.  Their mother had Tukta to try on the costume to make sure that it fit.  It fit her very well, but once she had it on, she didn’t want to take it off.  Their mother was too tired to argue with her, their father had a bad spell the previous night and she had been up tending to him, so she allowed Tukta to keep it on.  Tukta kept sneaking away from her parents and coming into the store, where she swooped and danced through the aisles while declaring to the customers that she wasn’t Tukta anymore.  Now she was a butterfly!

 

Than said it was unfortunate that she wasn’t as tiny as a butterfly because she kept knocking into customers and items on the shelves.  But even after all the messes that she caused, Than had to admit that she was the prettiest and sweetest little butterfly that he had ever seen!

 

At the end of the message, Than had closed with this thought—“Farts are ghosts of things we eat!”

 

Team clamped his hand over his mouth to hold back the bray of laughter that threatened to escape.  He couldn’t help the little cuffs of breath that escaped around his hand and through the cracks between his fingers as he laughed.  Jai looked up at him from his book with a smile.  “Something you want to share?” he asked.

 

Team shook his head.  They were his friends and he loved them all to death, but none of them understood the power that fart jokes had over him.  Fart jokes were his reason-for-being, but his three friends thought they were in poor taste.  Jai told him that once.  About them being in poor taste.  Team had told him he didn’t know they were in poor taste because he had never tasted a fart before.  At the time he had roared with laughter and Jai had just smiled and shook his head.  When that memory came to mind, he laughed harder behind his hand.  He tried to quiet his laughter for a moment to pull his hand away and whisper, “It’s a fart joke.”

 

Jai nodded and went back to studying.  When he bent his head back down to study the formulas written on the page in his textbook, Team had a clear view of the aisle between two bookcases directly behind Jai.  And who he saw stopped his urge to laugh right in its tracks.  It was Win with his two female students.  They were searching the area for a reference book.  Once they found it, they turned to go back to their side of the library.  Just before he was out of the aisle, Win turned quickly and made eye contact with Team.

 

Team looked away immediately.  He hadn’t liked the look in Win’s eyes.  He looked amused.  Team half expected him to knock over one of the bookcases and tell the librarian that Team had done it.

 

Team looked down at the spot on his cuff were the drop of slop had been earlier.  It had left a tiny stain, even though Team had scrubbed it thoroughly as soon as he saw it.  He knew that he would have to keep the shirt in rotation, he only had a few uniform shirts, so every time he would wear this shirt in the future, he would be reminded of the slop-filled tray and the promise he made to the old man, Aom.  He knew that one day he would get the chance to keep that promise.

 

He hit the reply button and told Than about his day.  He told Than about the tiny professor in the tiny classroom, who yelled at the top of her lungs whenever she spoke—and it was a lecture class so she was speaking all the time.  He said his ears were ringing at the end of the class and joked that he had noticed that no one had fallen asleep during the lecture.  He told Than about riding all around the campus, numerous times, with Namfon on their motorcycles.  But he didn’t tell Than that he had ridden behind her on the orange monstrosity, nor did he tell him anything about Win.  He wanted to keep the message light and fun, although he knew his was no match for Than’s message.  No water puddles or dancing butterflies.

 

By the time he hit the send key, his friends were ready to leave the library.  He tossed a glance to the right as they walked by the section where Win had been seated earlier.  He was still there, but this time there were three different students at his table.

 

Team puzzled about this as he rode his motorcycle back to his dorm.  Win had won three scholarships.  His dorm, classes, books, and food were paid for.  He was even given a monthly stipend that should be far and above enough for anything else he could need.  So…why was he tutoring?  Team remembered Kulap telling him that Win was usually in the library tutoring, so he probably tutored a lot more than just the five students Team had seen him with.  Team thought it was odd that Win needed to earn so much money in addition to his stipend.  He wondered what he could be doing with all of it.  Suddenly he remembered the nickname, ‘One-Night Win’, and then he understood.  Win needed the extra money to keep up with his reputation so he could ‘wine and dine’ before ‘the pump and dump’.  Then he shook off the thought.  He didn’t want to be thinking anything about Win, except maybe how much he hated him.

 

The next morning, Team lay awake in his bed and pondered what he should do.  He had bagged up all of his dirty laundry and put it in the trunk of Jai’s car, alongside the bags from the other’s in the Scooby Doo group.  Jai was going to be driving them back to the village later, but Jai had a Friday morning class he had to attend first.  There was an open swim for the swim club, and it was not mandatory to attend.

 

Team didn’t want to go to it.  Since it wasn’t mandatory, it didn’t matter if he skipped it.  He got up and made the bed.  He went to his mini freezer and pulled out a frozen breakfast meal and popped it into the microwave.  He ate it while watching the morning news.

 

After he was finished and had cleaned up after his meal, he took a shower.  When he got out, he wrapped a towel around his waist and came into his room.  He was again debating with himself over whether he should go to the swim club or not.  He checked the time and saw that the campus shuttle bus would be coming around soon so he had to make up his mind quickly.

 

He reasoned that since it was an open swim day, they wouldn’t have to meet in their groups, so it was logical to assume that not all three of the leaders would be there.  In fact, mathematically, there was only a one-in-three chance Win would even be there.  With that in mind, he grabbed his swimming trunks and pulled them on.  Then he hurried to his closet and grabbed a uniform shirt and pants.  After he got them on, he grabbed his travel backpack and tossed in a pair of underwear, a pair of shorts,a tee shirt, and sandals, and then he dashed out of his room and made it to the front of the building a few moments before the campus shuttle bus arrived.

 

While riding on the bus to the pool, he sent a message to the group, The Mystery Machine, to let them know where he was so Jai could pick him up there.  Mali answered and promised to let Jai know if he didn’t see the message.

 

Team got off the bus and hurried into the locker room.  The first person he saw was Win.  He was carrying his clipboard and that awful click pen.  Team huffed angrily as he undressed in front of his locker.  A one-in-three chance, but yet—there he was.  Team shook his head at the thought and then walked out to the pool.

 

He looked around for P’Toh and P’Sai but neither of them was there.  He sighed.  He wished it was one of them that he didn’t want to see.  It would be so much easier.  He had never seen either of them anywhere but at the pool.  Win seemed to be everywhere Team went, except for classes and his dorm room.  They were his only safe places.

 

Kulap showed up a few minutes later and he and Team decided to hang out together.  Win paced alongside the pool, making notes on his clipboard.  “What a douche move, even for him!” Kulap said and made a motion with his head to draw Team’s attention to Win.  “It’s a free day and he is making notes on what people need to work on!  Everyone is just goofing off and he is over there judging them!”

 

Team nodded.  “Let’s go to the other side.  He can still see us, but we don’t have to be near him.”

 

They swam over and challenged each other with fun, silly things they had each done in pools since their childhoods.  “How long can you hold your breath?” Kulap asked.  “I was the champ at my old Primary school!”

 

Team shrugged, “I don’t really know.  I never tested how long I could do it, I don’t think.  Maybe I did and just don’t remember.”

 

“The douchebag is headed this way now.  It would be the perfect time for you to go under to get away from him—before he scolds you about some imaginary flaw!” Kulap urged.

 

Team nodded and said with a laugh, “Yep!  I am out of here!”  He took a deep breath and then swum down to the bottom of the pool.  He had always loved being down in the deep water, except his mind insisted on calling it ‘Hia’s World’, just because that was how he had thought of it is a kid.  As if that piece-of-shit owned everything below the surface, he mentally scolded himself.

 

It was so peaceful at the bottom of the pool and he knew that Win was going to be in their area when he came up, so he fought against the urge to breathe for as long as he possibly could.  But since he was a living human being, he couldn’t stay under forever and eventually had to come back up to the surface.

 

“Good Lord!” Kulap exclaimed.  “Do you have an oxygen tank down there?”

 

Team laughed as he pushed his hair back.  “Why? Was it a long time?”

 

“Long enough that P’Win was getting ready to jump in to get you!” Kulap said, indicating to Win who was standing on the edge of the pool.

 

“That is a cute trick, Tine.  We’ll time you Monday and see how long you can actually stay down there.”  Win turned around and picked up his jacket and clipboard from the ground.  He had to look around a bit before he found his click pen and once he found it, he stalked away.

 

“Was he really about to jump in?” Team asked in bewilderment.

 

“Yeah!  I didn’t think the ol’ douchebag had it in him, but he must not be 100% terrible.  Just 95%.”

 

“Unless he was going to come down there and hold me down,” Team declared.

 

Kulap laughed.  “Probably not.  Your folks would sue the school and him if you drowned.  That’s probably what he was thinking.  And stupid me, for a moment I thought he was decent!”

 

They laughed together and then swam a few more laps.  Some of the guys decided to start a basketball game but when Team looked at the clock, he realized he had just enough time to get showered and changed before Jai’s class would be over.  Kulap joined in with the basketball players and Team headed to the showers.  On his way in, he walked past P’Sai who had arrived—Team assumed it was to take over for Win.  Team shook his head as he went into the showers.

 

He got dressed into his shorts and tee shirt.  It was against the rules of the school to be on the school grounds without being in uniform.  Team didn’t care.  He didn’t think P’Sai would care.  The only one apt to give him crap was Win, but Team assumed he had left when P’Sai arrived.

 

He grabbed his bag and started on his way outside to wait for Jai to arrive.  But on the way out the door, Win walked in from the outside.  Obviously he hadn’t left when P’Sai arrived.

 

Team bowed very politely—actually a lot lower of a bow than what someone of Win’s status would ordinarily receive.  It was not as deep of a bow as one would give to a king, but close.

 

“I hope you have a pleasant weekend, P’Win!” Team said in his most polite voice.  “Excuse me!”

 

Win flicked his head a bit as if giving permission for Team to leave.  So Team gave him a big, fake smile and walked out the door.

 

As he sat on the bench outside, waiting for Jai, he wondered how long he could keep doing the ‘extreme polite’ thing.  He was still getting a shocked look from Win each time he did it, but Team knew that wouldn’t last.

 

Jai pulled up at that moment.  Mali and Namfon were already in the car.  Jai called out of the window, “Get in loser, we’re going home!”

 

Team laughed and quickly got into the backseat.  As they were driving away, Namfon looked out the back window.  “Scooby is that P’Win?”

 

Team turned around in the seat and looked.  Win was walking to his car that was parked by the side of the building.  Team hadn’t seen this angle of the building when he was on the bus.  He was weirdly shocked that Win still had the same car.  He knew he shouldn’t be, it had only been two years since Team had watched that car drive away from him at Rick’s Place for a final time, but it seemed so much longer than two years.  “Yeah, that’s him,” he said as he turned back around to face forward.

 

“Wow,” she said, “he looks…”

 

“…like an evil demon belched out from the deepest bowels of hell?” Team supplied.  “Yep, that fits.”

 

“That wasn’t what I was going to say at all!” Namfon scolded.

 

“I know.  I will tell you my philosophy about him and his looks, okay?  It’s this—if you take a dog turd and apply a beautiful candy coating on it, it doesn’t change anything—it’s still just a piece of shit.”

 

“Scooby, I have seen some things on the ‘IYKYK’ site about the two of you.  Some people are saying he doesn’t treat you well.  They speculate that he either hates you or is jealous of you.  Is this true?”

 

Team grinned bitterly, “Let’s just say that I don’t think he is jealous of me.  As for the other part—that’s nothing new.  And it is mutual.”

 

She nodded, “Are you okay?”

 

His grin broadened, “Of course!  I knew what it was going to be like here, but I’m here and still standing.  It’s going to be fine.”

 

Team’s phone sounded an alert so he looked at it and saw it was a message from Than.  Team opened it and read the question that Than had written.  “Why did the skeleton burp?”  Than had put multiple empty lines down the message so that Team had to scroll a long way before he got the answer, “Because he didn't have the guts to fart.”  Team had to cover his mouth to stifle his laughter.

 

Jai looked at him with the aide of his rear view mirror.  “Fart joke?” he asked.

 

Team nodded because he couldn’t answer without taking his hand down.  Mali turned around in her seat and smiled at Team.

 

Beside him, Namfon scoffed, “Honestly!  You’re so immature!  And yet you wonder why we picked you to be the dog!”

 

Team laughed harder at that.

Chapter 23

During the next few weeks, Team became more comfortable being on campus.  It didn’t exactly feel like home, but it no longer felt odd and foreign to him.  He could easily go from any given Point A and travel to Point B, without getting lost or feeling confused.

 

His classes were going okay—some he liked better than others—and to be totally truthful, although he never told anyone, he despised not one, but two of his classes.  He had known from the start that he would hate one of them, the other one was an unpleasant surprise.  And of course, these classes were held on Mondays and Wednesdays—the same days that swim club met.  On those mornings he would often let out a groan when he woke up because he always knew his day was going to be full of crap.

 

In the swim club meetings, Team, or rather—‘Tine’, was still being singled out to swim laps in the punishment lanes during every meeting while the other guys got to do fun activities.  However, during this weeks’ Monday meeting, that had changed.  That upcoming weekend was ‘Club Weekend’ on campus.  It was a weekend that was set aside for parents to come to the school to see what their sons and daughters were doing with their free time on campus.  The swim club presentations were in the late afternoon on the Saturday of that weekend.  P’Toh, P’Sai, and P’Win were determined that their first-year students were going to perform their utmost best for the parents.  The first-year students would be the first to swim, with P’Toh’s group first, P’Win’s group second, and then P’Sai’s group.  The three leaders would also be performing with their third-year groups, plus Win would also be performing with the diving club.  As P’Toh explained all of this to the club members, Team let his mind wander.  All he cared about was the lap he had to swim.  After he was finished with his swim, he intended to leave immediately.  He wasn’t interested in watching Win.  He had already figured out how the scheduling would be and had discussed it with his parents, who of course were planning on coming.  He told them that as soon as he was out of the pool, he was leaving.  They assured him that all they were coming for was to see him and that they would leave when he did.

 

P’Sai asked for a show of hands for those whose parents were planning on attending.  Team and quite a few of the others had raised their hands.  Win grabbed up his clipboard and his click pen and began writing down names.  Then he and P’Sai sat with their heads together, studying the notes on the clipboard.  P’Toh was still talking so Team let his concentration wander over to the table where Win and P’Sai were huddled.  He wondered what they were discussing.

 

They finished what they were doing before P’Toh had finished his talk, and P’Sai brought over the paper to P’Toh to read.  He paused and read through it and then gave a nod.

 

“Okay guys—I have another announcement to make.  During the break after exams, our swim club will be going to SCUBA camp.  We’ll spend the three weeks taking SCUBA lessons and by the end of vacation, those of you who aren’t already certified will have earned it.  Those of you who already are certified will meet your criteria for recertification.  We have to raise money for the trip, so during ‘Camp Weekend’ we will be taking shifts working in a booth selling roast pork on skewers.  We have done this in the past with pretty good success.  P’Sai and P’Win have come up with the schedule, and don’t worry, the shifts are fairly short—only two hours each.”

 

Team raised his hand.

 

“Yes, Team?  What is it?” P’Toh asked.

 

“I…um…Do we have to go on this trip?” Team asked, feeling his cheeks grow hot as some of the boys looked at him in shock.  Team knew that it sounded like a cool trip to a lot of the guys, but Team was terrified of swimming in the ocean, and he had no intention on going on this trip.

 

P’Toh shook his head, “No, it is not a mandatory trip—however, working in the booth on ‘Camp Weekend’ is mandatory.  And to that end, I am now going to read off the days and times each of you need to be in the booth.  P’Win and P’Sai scheduled the boys whose parents are coming to the event to be in the booth on Sunday.  The rest of you will have the Saturday hours, with the booth being shut down while the groups are swimming.”

 

P’Toh read Saturday’s booth schedule out loud.  A few of the boys grumbled quietly amongst themselves, but P’Toh heard and looked up from the page he had been reading from.  He scanned the group and everyone fell quiet instantly.  He looked back down and flipped the page.  “On Sunday, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Kulap and Tine,” he frowned and then crossed out and rewrote on it.  “That is Kulap and Team.”

 

Team wanted to groan himself at the earliness of his shift.  He had never been a morning person, and the idea of having to be up that early on a Sunday, a day he always reserved for sleeping in, was irritating.  But he kept his groan to himself.  He didn’t want to get glared at by P’Toh.  And the use of the name ‘Tine’ hadn’t slipped his notice.  He knew that Win was the one who had written his name down so he wouldn’t give Win the satisfaction of knowing that Team wasn’t happy about it.

 

He tried to think of the positives and came up with three of them.  One, he was assigned to work with Kulap—who was the person he hung out with the most from the swim team; Two, since he had the early morning shift, it would probably be an easy one—not many people wanted to eat ‘pig-on-a-stick’ for breakfast; and Three, as soon as his shift was over, he could jump on his cycle and be back to his dorm, and in his bed, within a half hour.

 

After reading off the last of the names, P’Toh released them to go to the pool.  Instead of the other guys having fun and playing games while he swam laps, this time they all had to swim laps.  And although Team wasn’t generally a vindictive person, he did get a tiny glimmer of satisfaction from seeing the others having to deal with what he always had to.  When the club meeting was finally dismissed and they were sent to the showers, many of the others complained about how tired they were and how sore their muscles were.  Team felt the same as he always did after swim club; he had gotten used to it.

 

They had a repeat of it at the Wednesday meeting, and upon dismissal of that meeting, it was strongly suggested that they all show up for the ordinarily optional Friday meeting.  Team showed up, as he always did, but some of the others didn’t.  All three of the leaders were there, and they made notes on who didn’t show.

 

During the Friday swim, Win ordered ‘Tine’ to swim in the last lane, and Win walked along the edge of the pool in time with him.

 

“Come on, Tine!” Win chided him, “I’m barely moving here!  Make me run!”

 

Team reached the end and turned.  He pushed off hard and swam as fast as he could.  At one point he managed to look over and see that Win was having to jog pretty quickly to keep up with him.  Win saw him peeking and barked, “Straighten those arms!  You’re chicken-flapping again!”

 

When P’Toh blew the whistle to signal the end of the meeting, Team climbed out of the pool.  He noted that his ankle felt a bit stiff and sore.  He thought he had probably pushed too hard against the wall on his turns, although the memory of Win having to jog to keep up with him made the pain worth it.  After showering and dressing, he put on his high tops and laced them snuggly.  He barely noticed his ankle discomfort after.

 

The next morning his parents arrived at his dorm room shortly after the crack of dawn, bearing bags of breakfast foods.  They sat at his small table and ate while they planned their day.  Even though Team was still half asleep, he enjoyed having his parents there.  He never realized how much he missed them until the time he was with them again.

 

After they ate, Team made his bed and took a shower, while his parents watched the morning news on his TV.  After that, they set off on a tour of the campus.  Of course, they had seen it all before, but for the weekend, there were booths and decorations up in the main quad area.

 

As they approached the quad, Team could smell charcoal burning on a grill somewhere nearby.  Even though he had just eaten a huge breakfast, the smell drew him along.  He was surprised when he realized it was coming from the swim team’s booth.  A couple of P’Sai’s boys were manning the booth.  Team didn’t really know them, and they didn’t really know him, but they all recognized each other as members of the club.  They told Team that they had only been open for a short time but had been swamped with customers.  Team felt his heart sink at this information.  He was scheduled for the first shift the next day and had hoped that having the first shift in the morning would be basically customer-free.  He had even thought that most people wouldn’t want to eat ‘pig on a stick’ that early in the day, but here he was, money in hand, preparing to order some himself.

 

Team ordered one—since he had just had breakfast, he wasn’t hungry at all, but the smell of it was too compelling to ignore.  His dad stepped up to the counter after Team had received his.  He looked back at Team’s mom, “Nat?  Do you want me to order some for you?”

 

She shook her head, “After that big breakfast we had?  Heaven’s no!  I’ll just take a tiny bit of yours.”

 

His dad nodded and ordered two.  After paying for them he handed one to his wife and kept one for himself.  “Just carry it for me, okay?  Eat what you want of it.”

 

She huffed, “I only wanted a tiny bite!  I think you can carry both of them!  They’re small!”

 

“Oh!  Yeah, I could, but I thought it might be fun to take some pictures of Team in different parts of the campus.  You know—so when you get missing him, you can look at them and imagine what he is doing.”

 

She grinned and nodded, “That’s a wonderful idea!  I love it!  I just wish we had planned it out so he could have his backpack with him!”

 

“We could go back to his dorm and pick it up…” his dad suggested.

 

“No,” she said, “We’ll just use our imaginations when we look at the pictures later.  I have a lot of places I want to go today and don’t want to waste time going back for the backpack.”

 

“Plans?” Team asked.  “What plans?”

 

“The malls, Team!” she answered with a laugh.  “So many things to see and buy that we don’t have in the village!’

 

Team hated shopping with a passion.  He always suspected his dad did too.  He glanced at his dad and noticed that his smile looked a bit too perfect to be real.  Inwardly he nodded and agreed with himself—his dad definitely hated shopping.

 

As they walked around the campus so Team could get photographed in every area where he might be at some point during the week, he noticed his dad, glancing over at the pork skewer in Team’s mom’s hand.  He gave Team a quick, almost imperceptible nod and wink.  Team took it to mean to watch the skewer, so he did.

 

Within a few minutes, Team’s mother had eaten all the pork from the skewer.  When she went to throw away the skewer, Team asked his dad how he knew she would eat it all.

 

His dad laughed, “It’s something I learned about your mom back when we were kids.  She would always say she didn’t want something; she would just eat a bit of mine.  And then she would eat everything.  So, I learned to order doubles so she could have as much as she wanted.  I’ve never told her—for one thing, she wouldn’t believe me, and for another, it might embarrass her or hurt her feelings—which I never want to do.  It’s just a little nuance of her personality that I enjoy.  I would call it a quirk, but I’m not sure how that word is used nowadays.  I wouldn’t want it to sound like I meant kink.”

 

Team laughed, “No, a kink is still a kink, and a quirk is a quirk.  Eating more than what one thinks they will isn’t a kink.  I mean…well, I guess it would depend on what they were eating though.”

 

“Team!” his father rebuked him with a shocked voice and Team giggled. 

 

“Sorry, I got carried away!” Team said through his laughter.

 

“Oh!  That sounds like fun!” his mother said as she rejoined them.  “Where did you get carried away to?”

 

“You don’t want to know,” his dad answered.  “I think we have all the pictures we need.  How about we hit the mall before the stores get too busy?”

 

“Great idea!” she said, linking arms with both of them.  “Lead the way!”

 

For the first part of their shopping trip, Team’s mother had an agenda—to buy Team a new wardrobe.  He didn’t know why.  He didn’t ask for it or even feel like he needed it.  While he was in class, he wore the school uniform.  After class, he changed into shorts and t-shirts.  And he had soft shorts and t-shirts to sleep in.  Anything else was a waste of space, in his opinion.

 

His mother wouldn’t listen to his objections.  Instead she kept pushing him into dressing rooms to try on her selections and then model the clothing for her.  She picked dressy kinds of clothes for him.  Not exactly suit-and-tie dressy, but much more formal than his usual style.  And what was worse, as soon as it was paid for, she handed the items to him so he could carry his stuff—stuff that he didn’t want and didn’t need.

 

Finally, after Team was loaded down like a pack animal in an old movie, she switched to selecting items for herself.  Team sighed as he dumped all his packages on the floor and sat down on a bench next to his father, who was playing a word game on his phone.

 

“I hate this!” Team grumbled.  “And I know you do too!  How can you look so calm and relaxed?  I know you would rather be anywhere but here.”

 

His dad paused his game and turned to look at Team.  “You’re half right.  I do hate shopping, but as for the part about rather being somewhere else…nope.  I am perfectly contented being here with the two of you.  You know there aren’t any shops or stores in the village that compare with the ones here.  This is your mom’s idea of heaven, so she is happy.  And we get to be here and share her happiness.  That’s pretty cool in my opinion.”

 

Team rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, I guess.  But…ugh… I still hate it though.  And why is she buying me all these clothes?  I don’t wear things like this.  It’s a total waste of money.  And this stuff is going to take up tons of room in my closet.”

 

“You only have your uniforms in there now.  Plenty of space for your new clothes,” his dad corrected.

 

“Yeah, but why?  If it was shorts and t-shirts, I would be happy about it…but this stuff?  I don’t understand.”

 

His dad fought and lost the battle to keep from grinning.  “Team!  They’re dating clothes!  You are in a huge university located on the outskirts of a mammoth city.  Eventually you are going to find a guy that you are attracted to and decide to start dating.  Your mom is just helping you out.  You won’t have to scramble trying to find something nice to wear at the last minute.  You’ll be able to just go to your closet and pick something.”

 

Team wrinkled his nose and shook his head.  “I’m not out here looking for guys, but even if I was, he would have to accept me for me.  And I am not a fancy kind of guy.”

 

“Perhaps not, but everyone likes to look nice for dates.  I mean, sure…he has to like you for you…but that won’t keep you from brushing your teeth, combing your hair, and putting on deodorant.  Putting on a nice outfit is the same as those things.  I remember when you dated Nick, you often dressed nice to go out with him.”

 

Team sighed and then shrugged, “I kind of had to.  Nick was pretty picky and demanding.  I don’t intend to ever get with someone like him again.”

 

“I’m glad.  Honestly…I never liked him, but I didn’t feel as if I had a right to offer an opinion on him.  I knew what you had been through, and I knew that you felt as if you needed someone to help you get past it.  Nick was who you picked.”

 

“I would have picked anyone at that time.  Nick just happened to be there,” Team admitted.

 

“How are you now?  Is ‘that person’ still calling you by someone else’s name?”

 

Team nodded.  “I am okay with it.  I mean…at first I thought it was weird that he didn’t remember me…but now I’m glad.  It is a strictly professional relationship.  I would have much rather been in anyone else’s group than his, but I am dealing with it.  I have to or else give up my dream of being picked for the Nationals—and that is a dream I don’t intend to give up on.”

 

“It is so odd to me that he doesn’t remember you.  It doesn’t make sense!”

 

Team looked down at his fingers and picked at a piece of skin next to his thumbnail. “It kind of does to me, I think.  He always hated the village; did you know that?  He couldn’t wait to leave it.  One of the only times we ever really argued was when he said some shit about it.  I admit I was already mad but what he said sent me over the top.  And it wasn’t even the first time he had said it.  Probably said the same or similar things a hundred times over the years.  Anyway, I think he just blotted everything out of his mind once he left there, and that includes me.  And like I said…I am okay with it.”  He yanked at the piece of skin and pulled it off.  The spot began to bleed.  Team hid it from his dad as he got up, “I am going to go to the bathroom,” he said and then hurried away before the blood could drip onto the floor.

 

Once inside the bathroom, he pressed a paper towel onto his bleeding thumb.  It took a while for it to stop bleeding.  He kept bandages in his backpack, but unfortunately, his backpack was in his dorm room.

 

His ankle felt a bit weird.  It hurt a bit, but mostly it felt kind of numb.  As if it had fallen asleep, but that couldn’t be because he felt it when he was moving around.  He bent down to tie his shoe tighter but realized it was tied almost as tight as it could get.  If he pulled the shoestrings much tighter, he was afraid they would snap.

 

He gave up on the idea and then left the bathroom.  He rejoined his father and took his seat next to him.  His dad was engrossed in his word game on his phone and barely noticed Team had returned.  Team pulled out his phone and saw that he had missed a message from Than.

 

With a smile of anticipation, he opened the message.  Than always had the most interesting things to say, and this time was no different.

 

Than started by explaining that his mother was in charge of doing the ordering for the store.  It was her way of trying to contribute in things, even though Than often told her she had enough to do with taking care of his father and sister—but she insisted.  Up north of them, the strawberries had ripened and were offered for sale by their regular vendor.  She had placed an order for some the previous week and they had gotten delivered that morning.  Than knew as soon as he saw the order that someone, either the vendor or his mother, had made a mistake, so he kept the delivery person there while he discussed it with his mother.  The order was extremely large for a store their size.  Excessively so.  His mother looked over the invoice and realized that she had accidentally added an extra zero to the order—promising to purchase ten times the amount of strawberries than they could possibly sale.  She tried to get the driver to take them back, but he refused.  She called the vendor and they refused to take them back.  The store was stuck with them.  And strawberries have a short shelf life, so within a few days, a week at most, they would go bad and have to be thrown out.

 

Than expected his mom to get angry or upset…or maybe even something worse.  She was under tremendous stress and a mistake like this could really damage the store.  Probably not ruin it completely but really harm them in the short term.  However, she surprised him by taking control over the situation.  She sent the delivery driver away and then she hurried into the kitchen and brought back her two biggest pots.  She filled them with strawberries and grabbed some sugar and a few other items from the shelves.  Then she went to the storage area and got some boxes of their jam jars that hadn’t sold the previous year.

 

She told Than to call the radio station and have them announce that the store was having a sale on strawberries.  She told him the price to advertise, it was far less than it should be, and he said that he felt like his eyes were about to pop out of his head at it.  She told him that she would rather sale them at a loss than have to throw them all away.  She couldn’t abide wasting food.  She also told him to make up a sign for the front door, in case customers missed the announcement on the radio.  Then she took all the items into the kitchen with her.  Than made the sign for the door and called the radio station.

 

By the time the first customers came into the store in search of the strawberries, the store was filled with the smell of his mother’s homemade jam that she was making in the kitchen.  She made little finger sandwiches out of bread, cream cheese, and strawberry jam for Than to sell for a tiny price.  The customers all seemed to enjoy having a little snack so they stayed around the store longer, many of them purchasing some of the fresh strawberries, along with other items.  But the thing that most surprised Than was the desire from the customers to buy his mother’s jam.  After receiving many requests about it, she told them that she could make jam but she would have to charge a lot more for it then what they had on their shelves that were manufactured in bulk.  The people ordering didn’t care about the extra cost, they loved her jam.  So Than created an order list and the customers ordered jars of his mother’s jam and paid in advance for them.  After a few hours of people popping in to grab a finger sandwich (many people bought a lot more than one sandwich) and ordering jam, Than did some figuring and realized that they were on track to at least breaking even for the over purchase of the strawberries.  That wasn’t even counting the sales of the tiny sandwiches and the beverages that the customers had purchased to go with them.

 

At one point, Than had gone into the kitchen and saw his dad, sitting at the table in his bathrobe, hulling and slicing strawberries for the jam, while his mother was busy at the stove, making the jam, and his little sister was sitting on the floor eating finger sandwiches.  She proudly announced to Than that she was the official taster.

 

His dad was looking happier and livelier than he had in a long time.  And his mother was humming as she stirred the big pot of jam.  She winked at him and said, “You’ve heard the saying that ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’, right?  Well, now we have a new saying—'when you order too many strawberries, make jam and sell it for a big profit’!”

 

Than ended his message explaining that he probably wouldn’t have any time to play their Zombie game over the weekend because any spare time he had was going to be used by chopping up strawberries for the jam.  And he was already getting nauseous from the smell of strawberries.

 

“One more thing, before I go,” Than wrote.  “I have to warn you against Ninja farts.  They are silent, but deadly!”

 

Team quietly giggled when he read that last sentence.  He quickly wrote back and told Than that he wouldn’t be on the game either.  His parents were in town and he was hanging with them.  He mentioned that he had a ‘swimming thing’ and they were there to watch it.  He promised to do his best to be back on the game sometime on Sunday.

 

Team scrolled some social media sites for a bit before getting bored and going back to re-read the message from Than.  Eventually, his mom joined him and his father, and they went to lunch.  Team had a taste for strawberries, but since they were just getting ripe up North, none had made it down this far into the country.  He settled for drinking a strawberry soda with his lunch instead of his usual cola.

 

Once lunch was finished, his mother wanted to do some shopping for the house.  After going to three different stores, she finally found some drapes that she wanted for the dining room.  Team was exhausted and his ankle was even more numb than it had been earlier.  Sometimes when he walked, it felt as if his foot wasn’t even touching the ground.  Luckily, after finding the drapes, his mother noticed the time and announced they had to leave to get Team back in time.

 

Team got changed in the locker room before many of the other boys arrived.  He was glad he had gotten there a bit early so he could change in privacy.

 

His dad texted him and told them what section and row they were sitting in so he would be able to find them after his swim.  His attention was drawn to the door when he saw a movement.  P’Toh and P’Sai had walked in.  A split second later, he saw the blond hair of the one he most wanted to avoid.  He looked back at his phone and texted his dad, “Remember, as soon as I am done, I want to leave.  I don’t want to stay and watch any of the others.”

 

His dad sent back the ‘thumbs up’ emoji.  Team sighed in relief and put his phone in his locker.

 

They all went outside to do their warm-up exercises.  Team looked at the partially filled bleachers and gulped.  Even only partially filled, there were hundreds more people here than at any swim meet he had ever participated in.  He remembered back to his first sight of the bleachers and his attempts back then to imagine them filled with people.  He had panicked a bit at the time, but now, seeing actual people in over three-fourths of the seats, his mind boggled.  During actual meets, all of these seats would all be filled.  And if, or rather—when, he made it to Nationals, the crowd would be about ten times the amount of people that were in the seats, plus the ones watching on television.

 

He felt frozen in place at the thought.  He wanted to run, but he couldn’t even breathe.

 

“Hey!  Tine!  Look alive over there!  Let’s see a bit more stretching and a little less crowd gazing!” Win barked.

 

It was enough to break the spell of his panic.  Since he had forgotten how to breathe earlier, he now had to take several deep breaths before he could start exercising.

 

As he bent and stretched, he listened to Win counting off.  As much as he hated Win, he found that the harder he forced himself to concentrate on Win’s voice, the less he thought about the crowd that was watching their every move and he felt much calmer.

 

P’Toh blew his whistle and his group of guys walked towards the platforms to prepare for their swim.  Team didn’t know if it was just the lighting, but every one of them looked pale and scared to death.

 

“Let’s watch their swim, guys,” Win suggested.  “You can watch for any mistakes they make and try to avoid them on your swim.  The head swim coach is in the crowd tonight, and he will be watching and taking notes.  Make sure you give it all you’ve got; it’s your only shot before official tryouts.”

 

This information did not make Team feel any calmer.  He looked at the guys in his group and didn’t think they enjoyed having that information either.

 

P’Toh blew his whistle again, startling Team.  P’Toh’s group jumped off their platforms and began swimming.  Team tried to watch them, but his eyes kept being drawn up to the bleachers, and looking at the people who were watching the swimmers and cheering for them.  Team suddenly felt very sick to his stomach.

 

P’Win lined them up in the order that he wanted them on the platforms.  Team was in the center, between Pair and Yoo with the other guys on either sides.  Team was a bit insulted by his placement.  Pair and Yoo were the weakest, slowest swimmers in the group.  He realized that Win must think he was almost as bad as they were.

 

Before he climbed up onto his platform, he was determined to prove Win wrong; that he shouldn’t be sandwiched in with the weakest swimmers.  But once he was on the platform, he looked at the crowd and suddenly again he wanted to run away.  He remembered how much he hated swimming.  He couldn’t imagine why he was even here attempting it.  Why should he care about the Nationals?  Just because of some weird vision he had when he was still being medicated?  It made no sense—none whatsoever!

 

Win moved to stand between the platforms of Team and Yoo.  “Guys, all you can do is your best.  Don’t worry about the people watching, focus on your strokes in the water.  This is about you, not them.”  He turned his head slightly in Team’s direction.  He looked up at Team as he continued speaking, “I know you can do it.  I believe in you!”  Team knew that Win had meant that for the group, but it kind of felt like he was saying it to Team personally—although Team would have laughed at that thought if he wasn’t so terrified.

 

Win stepped back and the boys lowered their goggles and got into position.  Team listened to his quick breathing and consciously slowed it down.  Taking deeper, slower breaths and exhaling through his mouth.

 

When Win blew the whistle, Team flew off the platform—moving more from panic than from style.  At first the sounds from the crowd threw him off his strokes, so he forced himself not to hear them, to focus only on his strokes and his kicks.  He made it to the end of the pool but when he flipped and started to shove off the wall, his foot was numb and he couldn’t feel it touching.  As he pushed with it, he felt a jab of pain in his ankle, so he quickly switched his balance to accommodate his other foot being the sole one to push off the wall.

 

He was aware that he had started slowly, due to his attention to the crowd, so he was determined to finish as quickly as he could.  He touched the wall and pulled off his goggles.  He became aware of the crowd cheering and calling his name.  He was the first one back to the wall.  He was glad he wasn’t the last one and honestly, he wasn’t really surprised that he was the first.  He often watched the guys in his group during practice and he thought he was the fastest.

 

Win stood by the pool, watching, and making notes on his clipboard with the awful click pen, as the boys all made it back to the wall.  When they all arrived back, Win gave them a nod and they climbed out of the pool, to thunderous applause.  Win led them back to the locker room and they passed P’Sai’s group preparing for their swim.  Several of the boys gave Team a thumbs up or a pat on the back as they passed.

 

When they got to the locker room, Win stopped them.  He was shaking his head.  “Why do you suppose,” he asked, “that the boys from P’Sai’s group reacted like that to Tine?”

 

Pair was the one to answer, “Well…” he gave a bit of a scoff, “Of course they did!  Team won!”

 

“Won?  Won what?  This was not a competition.  You boys don’t compete against each other; you’re on the same team!  It was an exhibition to demonstrate the talent we have in the club.  If there is any competition, it is you against yourself.  For instance, Pair, since you are the one who answered, let’s start with you.”  Win checked the notes on his clipboard.  “You have a bit of a problem leaving the platform.  You have been working hard on improving your skills and tonight, you left the platform flawlessly.  That means that YOU won.”

 

Win went down the line of the boys, telling them the good things he noticed about their swim and their improvements, pronouncing each one a winner.  Team could see their shoulders going back and their heads raising up just a bit higher after receiving praise from Win.

 

Win saved Team for last.  “And finally, you, Tine.  You touched the wall first…a good long time before the others returned.  They think you are the winner…but you and I know differently, don’t we?  You startled going off the platform, giving you a shaky start.  The sound of the crowd threw you off even more.  But then…something odd happened.  A brand new problem!  On your turn…you…I don’t even know what term to use.  You basically wobbled.  And then you weren’t aligned with the center for three strokes!  It was the worst performance from you that I have ever seen!  If we are going strictly by ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, you are the ‘loser’.”

 

Team could see the shock on the other guys’ faces.  He wished he were shocked too, but he wasn’t.  He couldn’t even defend himself to himself, because he knew that Win was right.  And what is worse, he knew the head coach probably made notes of all those errors too.  He nodded, “Yes, P’Win.  I will focus on those areas and improve them.”

 

Win nodded, “Yes, starting Monday I expect to see you working harder than you have been and taking swim club more seriously!”

 

When he finished scolding Team, he told them all they could hit the showers, and then stick around if they wanted to and watch the other years have their swimming and diving exhibitions.  And then Win hurried away to get changed and then start doing his warm-up exercises.

 

Team went to his locker and to get his shower kit.  He was surprised to find the other guys had followed him.

 

“Oh my God!” Ling exclaimed.  “He is such an asshole!  I don’t know how you stayed so calm when he was saying that shit to you!  I felt like punching him in the mouth!”

 

“Seriously Dude!  That was uncalled for,” Taeng-Mo agreed.  “You were the best and the fastest!  And him over there telling us how great we were and how awful you were…ridiculous!”

 

The other guys were nodding in agreement.  Kulap said, “I still think you need to turn this douchebag in.  He singles you out every single time and shits all over you!  You need to report him and get moved to another group—I know that neither P’Toh nor P’Sai would treat you the way he does.”

 

Team sighed as he reached in his locker and pulled out his shower supplies, “I really appreciate you guys trying to make me feel better…but the truth is…he’s right.”

 

“Bullshit!  That crowd was roaring your name!  They could see everything you did,” Yoo exclaimed, “If there were all these mistakes like P’Win said, they would have booed you, not cheered for you!  I agree with Kulap, you should report him and request to be moved to another group.”

 

Pair’s locker was next to Team’s; he opened his locker and pulled out his shower things, too.  He shut the locker door and leaned on it, “Are you going to watch him swim?  See if he is perfectly aligned at all times?  Like…he MUST be perfect if he feels that free to criticize you so much!”

 

Team shook his head, “Nope!  As soon as I’m showered and dressed, I am out of here.  Are any of you sticking around?”

 

Kulap nodded, “Hell yeah!  I want to watch him.  I think he is more of a talker than a doer.”

 

Most of the others said they were going to stay too.  Team nodded, “Well, let me know how he does, okay?”

 

The group dispersed with the other guys headed towards their own lockers and Team walking towards the shower.  Kulap stopped him, “Hey Team, do me a favor, okay?  Call me in the morning when you get up.  I’m scheduled for the first shift with you in the booth and I am afraid I will sleep in.”

 

Team nodded, “Okay, but if you don’t hear from me, call me!  I’m also worried about it!  I never get up that early!”

 

Kulap nodded, “Sure!  Will do!  I heard from some of the guys who worked the booth today that it is actually really easy.  The meat is already on the skewers and already cooked.  They are stored on trays in a smoker.  All we have to do is take out a tray and load the skewers onto the two grills.  If there is a lull in customers, we give them a flip now and again, but the grills are mainly for show—and for smell,” he said with a laugh.

 

Team sighed in relief.  “Thank God!  I don’t do much cooking and I was afraid I would sell half-raw skewers or something!  I didn’t want to make people sick!”

 

Kulap laughed, “Yeah, I imagine the school wouldn’t be thrilled by being sued either!”

 

Team showered, dressed, and left the locker room before the other guys had even left the showers.  He was in a hurry to get out of the area before the 3^rd year students began their swim.  He checked the message his father had sent him earlier to find the section where his parents were sitting, and hurriedly made his way in that direction.

 

He didn’t get very far until a group of about six girls, Team guessed that they were probably all in Upper Secondary School, stopped him.  They gushed over his performance and asked him to sign their programs.  No one had ever asked him for an autograph before so he had no idea what to write.  The girls helped him though by basically telling him what they wanted him to write for them.  Once he finished with the autographs, they wanted him to take selfies with them.  His mind flashed back to when Win always had his own cheering section back when they were kids.  He pushed that thought away and smiled for the camera.

 

He finally managed to get away from them by telling them he was on his way to meet his parents.  Since they all had parents of their own, they understood.  They promised to come to every meet and cheer only for him.  He thanked them as he walked away, but privately he thought they would be disappointed.  He hadn’t even tried out for the swimming team yet, and since the head coach was watching the exhibition swims today, with Team’s mistakes, there was a good chance he wouldn’t make the team at all.

 

A few people called out his name and cheered as he passed through the crowds of people milling around, totally oblivious to the first-year girls’ swimming events that were happening.

 

A man pushed his way through the milling people until he reached Team.  “Team!  Hey Kid!  Do you remember me?” asked the old, muscular man.  And Team grinned in response.  He noticed that the old man had swirled his two remaining tufts of hair around on his head a bit in an attempt to cover his bald head.

 

“Well, sir, you look just like a bad-tempered ex-fighter whose parents thought he had a ‘sweet nature’ when he was born.  An uncle by the name of Aom.”

 

The old man laughed and patted Team’s back.  “Yep,” he said, “That’s me!”  He motioned his head to the side, indicating a space where there were no people.  Team nodded and the two of them walked over to the spot.  “Yes, this is much better.  We can talk without being overheard here,” Aom said.  “So, have you done it yet?” he asked while holding up his clenched fist.  “Have you taught the guy who gave you the slimy tray a lesson?”

 

Team shook his head, “Not yet.  But it will happen.  I can guarantee it.  I just haven’t seen him off campus.”

 

The old man nodded, “Wise.  When I told you to take it off campus, I thought you were just a regular guy.  I didn’t know that you were the star swimmer of the first-years!  You definitely don’t want to do anything to mess that up—not for you or for the school!  You being expelled would be horrible!”

 

“Oh, no!  You must have me confused with someone else!  I’m not the star!  I made some horrible technique errors out there!” Team said insistently.

 

Aom chuckled, “Kid, I’ve got eyes!  Errors with your technique?  Who the hell cares?!  You are as fast as a bullet, that’s what matters.  Nobody cares about…whatever tiny mistakes you think you made!  They only care about speed…and you’ve got that!  Wow, do you ever!  I can’t wait until swimming season starts.  I promise you that I will be in the stands cheering for you at every meet!”

 

Team reached up and scratched a spot on his scalp, “Well, I may not make the team though.  The head coach is here tonight, watching us…or rather…judging us.  Those technical errors that I made…they will probably influence his decision.”

 

Aom looked at Team with a puzzled expression.  “Are you really that modest?  Or are you stupid?”  He shook his head, “Obviously you have no faith in yourself… but I will tell you who does.  The person that set up the line up.  What a work of art that was!”

 

It was Team’s turn to be puzzled.  “The line up?  What do you mean?”

 

“I come to all the sporting events here at the school—I like sports, I don’t have much else to do, and I think it looks good for an employee to show support for the school—so I have learned a thing or two about things.  The line-up at the exhibitions is usually the best swimmer placed in either the first spot or the last spot—I think it is a subtle way of the club coaches to pass a message to the crowd—in the first spot the message is ‘this kid is number 1!’ and in the last spot the message is ‘you will never see this kid in last place again!’, you see?  But you…” he laughed and shook his head, “That line-up was amazing.  The crowd was shifting their focus between the first and last lanes to see which one it was, and there you were—smack dab in the middle—it reminded me of geese.  Have you ever seen geese flying, Kid?”  When Team gave a negative shake of his head, Aom continued, “When geese fly, the strongest one is in the lead with the weaker ones to the side and behind him—like a V shape, understand?  Well, that’s what happened during your swim.  At first it was a V, with the others behind you, but then you made your turn and headed back.  They were still coming down, so for a bit, you all made a W formation.  But then they made their turns and it went back to a V on the way to the finish.  It was beautiful and brilliant!  Surely you heard the crowd going crazy!”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I get nervous with crowds, so I tune them out.”

 

“NO!” Aom almost shouted.  “Don’t do that!  The sound of the crowd is your way of determining how you are doing!  You can’t know everything that is going on, but the crowd knows and they will tell you.  If you hear someone else’s name being cheered, it means you need to pick it up a bit, but if you hear your own name, it means to keep doing what you are doing!  People don’t like to back a loser, so even if they have money bet on the other guy, they won’t keep shouting his name if he is losing, but they won’t shout yours either, they will get quiet.  And you will hear your name clearly from the others in the crowd.  This was a strategy that I used back in my fighting days.  Everyone else that I have given this advice to, I always follow it up with a warning not to get cocky when they hear their names being chanted because that’s when they will mess it up and lose, but I don’t have to tell you that—you don’t even realize how good you are so you aren’t going to get full of yourself!”

 

“No, I…” Team started to answer, when a shrill whistle pierced the air.  “What’s that?”

 

Aom craned his neck to see.  “I think it was the signal that the first-year girls’ swim is over, and it is now the second-year boys’ turn in the pool.”

 

Team looked at the section where his parents were supposed to be sitting and saw his dad standing about midway up the rows of bleachers.  His dad waved to him and Team nodded and waved back.  Aom saw the gesture and looked up at the bleachers.

 

“You have to go now, right, Kid?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, that’s my dad,” Team answered.

 

Aom nodded.  “Just remember what I told you—always listen to the crowd.  They know things that you can’t know.”

 

Team nodded, “I’ll remember, I promise.  Thank you!”

 

Aom grinned, “No—thank you for listening.  Most young folks think old people are just elderly children.  As if we have forgotten all the lessons that life has taught us so that anything we say is going to be foolish and not worth even listening to.”

 

Team was surprised, “Not me!  Two of my closest friends in my village are old enough to be my grandparents and they are brilliant!  I like older people!  I think they have a lot of wisdom.”

 

“Good for you!!!  You will go far with that attitude!  And take it from an old, wise man here on the campus, you ARE the Superstar of the first-years.  No matter what you think or what anyone else tries to say to the contrary, you are IT!”

 

Team felt his face and the tips of his ears growing hot with embarrassment and he gave a tiny bow with his head.  “Thank you, Uncle Aom!  I will try to remember,” and with a wave, he was off and hurrying to get to his parents’ section.  Since the second-year boys were swimming, he knew it wouldn’t be very much longer before the third-year boys got their turn.  He wanted to be long gone before then.

 

He looked up the bleachers and saw that his father had resumed his seat and was watching the swimmers.  Team started up the steps, but when it was his bad leg’s turn to take his weight, it sent up a shock wave of pain.  Luckily at that exact moment, some people in the seats nearest him recognized him from his swim and called and waved at him.  He leaned against the handrail and waved back.  He made his way up the steps by sliding along the railing and doing a step-together-step movement that kept his bad leg from having to take his weight.  Along the way up, many people called to him and waved, so it made sense that he would walk this way to be able to acknowledge everyone.

 

His dad noticed him approaching when he was a few steps away.  He got up from his seat with a huge smile.  He swooped Team up in a big hug and patted him vigorously on the back. “You did so good!  Fastest in the group by far!  You keep this up and there is no doubt that you will be chosen for the National Team by your senior year!”

 

“Really?” Team whispered.  “I made a lot of technical errors.”

 

“I didn’t see any!  But even if you did, so what?  You are a first-year!  If you were already perfect, there would be no reason to train.  That’s what you are in the club for…to learn.  But your speed…that is all you, and it is amazing!”

 

His dad released him, and Team looked at his mom who had remained seated.  He was taken aback to find that she was holding a baby in her lap.  By the looks of the baby, Team guessed her to be about eight-months old or maybe a bit older.  He had no idea who she was.  His mom beamed with pure joy.  “You were wonderful!” she said.  “We filmed it for you so you can watch yourself later!  I can’t wait for you to see it!”

 

“Thanks!” Team said with a grin, “But whose baby is that?”

 

He felt his dad give his arm a small squeeze and for some reason, that squeeze gave Team a tiny flicker of fear.  He felt as if his dad were sending him a message to brace himself.

 

“Team?” The woman said shyly as she stood up from the seat next to his mother.  “Do you remember me?’

 

Team felt the air whoosh out of him.  She smiled and then pulled him into her arms.

 

“Auntie Poom!” Team said as he hugged Win’s mother close.  “Of course I remember you!  How could I ever forget my cookie buddy?”

 

She laughed, “Shh!  That was our little secret!”

 

That memory had popped into Team’s brain and out of his mouth before he even had time to think.  Whenever he stayed overnight with Win, as soon as Win went to shower, Team and Auntie Poom would hurry into the kitchen and snack on cookies together.  Auntie Poom was really the one who liked cookies more than he did, he preferred salty snacks, but it was nice to eat junk food with someone who appreciated it.  His parents didn’t allow unhealthy snacks in the house, and Win was generally against snacks too, but Team and Auntie Poom had been snacking, kindred spirits.  They had to eat the cookies quickly because Win was very fast in the shower.  There were times Team barely made it back into Win’s room before Win was out of the bathroom.  Team tried to push down these memories, but he couldn’t.  Not with her standing right there, reliving those times with him.

 

She stepped back and took a good look at him.  “My goodness!  You are all grown up now!  And your swimming has improved so much!  You killed it out there!”

 

“Uh…thanks, but um…I did make some technical errors so…it wasn’t up to…well…standards."  He didn’t want to mention Win so he didn’t say whose standards weren’t met.

 

She giggled, “Oh Team!  You haven’t changed a bit!  You were always your own worst critic!”  She held out her hand, “Come here, there is someone I want you to meet.”

 

She moved forward to the seat that was next to the one she had been sitting, and the man who occupied it stood up.

 

“Woon, this is Team—he and Win were best friends back in the village that we lived in.  For years I swore I either had two sons or no sons!” She gave a small, slightly uncomfortable laugh at that last part.  “Team, this is my husband, Woon.  He is a doctor at the hospital where I worked when I first moved back to Bangkok.”

 

Team and Woon shook hands, “Pleased to meet you, Doctor Woon,” Team said politely.  Although the thought of a Bangkok doctor brought back horrible memories of his time in the trauma center there.

 

“Oh no, Team!  Not Doctor Woon, call me Uncle Woon!  Any friend of my stepson is a friend of mine!” Woon said with a huge smile.

 

“Oh…well…we’re not…” Team stammered, then just smiled and said, “Thank you, Uncle Woon.”  He realized there was no reason to tell this stranger his life history.  He would probably never even see him again.

 

“Team,” Auntie Poom said, pulling at his arm, “There’s someone else you have to meet!”  Auntie Poom walked over to Team’s mother, and they exchanged smiles as Auntie Poom picked up the baby.

 

“Team, this is our daughter, Pensri!”  She kissed the baby’s cheek and smiled, “Pensri…can you say ‘Hi’ to P’Team?”

 

The baby looked at Team when her mother pointed to him.  Knowing who she was related to, Team couldn’t help himself from scanning her face to see if there was a resemblance to him.  Of course there wasn’t.  Win had never looked like his mother and the baby, Pensri, had a different father.  Team felt his muscles relax then.  He actually liked babies a lot.  He bent down a bit and greeted her.  “Hi there, Pensri!  My, what a pretty dress you are wearing!”  And it was a pretty dress, pink and frilly.  But it had some dark pink blotches on it where something had gotten dribbled onto it.

 

“Well, it was before Win gave her part of his snow cone!” Auntie Poom laughed.

 

At the mention of Win, Baby Pensri looked around for him.  “He’s not here now, Darling,” Auntie Poom said.  “He has to swim first, then he will be here.”  She turned to Team, “You are staying for his swim, aren’t you?  Maybe we could go to dinner afterwards and do some catching up.”

 

“No!” Team said quickly, but then tried to cover up for it, “No, I’m sorry.  We already have dinner plans…we’re…uh…having dinner with some friends of mine.”

 

The baby gave Team her full attention.  As they made eye contact, she raised one eyebrow and then gave him a smirk.  He had seen that same expression, hundreds or maybe even thousands of times on her older brother’s face.  And with that simple expression she changed her entire look—from a child who bore no resemblance to her elder brother, to one who looked exactly like him.  Plus, Team had the implausible and uncomfortable feeling like she knew he was lying about having plans with friends.  As if she could see right through him, the way her brother always had back in the day.

 

Team quickly threw a glance at his dad, who thankfully understood the message Team sent.  “Yes,” his dad said, moving closer to them, “Unfortunately we already had these plans.  In fact, we really need to be leaving now or else we will be late.”  He reached over and shook Uncle Woon’s hand, “It was so nice to meet you!”

 

Team’s mother got up and hurried over to the baby and gave her some cheek kisses.  She hugged Auntie Poom and swore to be in contact with her (Team assumed from this that they had already exchanged contact information), then she echoed her husband’s sentiments to Uncle Woon, before going back to kiss the baby a few more times.  Finally, it was Team’s turn to say his goodbyes.  He started with Uncle Woon, and then Auntie Poom pulled him into a tight embrace with her free arm.  He hugged her back, careful to avoid crushing the baby, and right before he stepped away, Pensri reached over and touched his cheek.  Team smiled and took her hand from his cheek and gave it a kiss.  It was a bit sticky and smelled faintly of something Team couldn’t quite identify, but it was familiar.

 

“Hi!” Pensri said, and everyone laughed.

 

“Hi!” Team answered her with a grin and then he waved to her as they walked away from the little family.

 

His parents walked down the steps in front of him and he was thankful for it, because when he tried to walk down them, he realized his ankle had the same problem that it had had while trying to go up them.  His bad ankle sent up shock waves of pain when he tried to put his entire weight on it.  So he went down the same way as he had gone up, except on the opposite side—leaning against the handrail and doing the step-together-step movement.  He imagined he looked a bit like a crab, but he thought it might not be too noticeable to anyone watching him, because he was facing the crowds in the stands and some of the people spoke to him or yelled his name, the same as they had done on his way up the stairs.

 

When he finally got back on the flat ground, his ankle was fine, maybe a bit numb, but he could walk on it with no problems.

 

Once they entered the parking lot, his dad asked, “So…what are we really doing for dinner?”

 

Team’s mother sighed, “I think we need to get some take out or delivery.  I want to go back to Team’s dorm and put away all these new clothes.”

 

“It’s okay!  I can do that later!” Team protested.

 

She shook her head, “You won’t though.  You will just drop the bags onto the floor of your closet, telling yourself that you will put them away ‘later’, and then ‘later’ never comes.  If they are hanging up in your closet, maybe at some point you will decide to wear some of them.  You definitely won’t if they are still in the bags on your floor.”

 

Team didn’t answer that.  She was right and they both knew it.

 

Once they got settled into the car his mom sighed.  “It was so lovely to see Poom again!  I hadn’t realized how much I missed her until I saw her.  Oh!  And that sweet, precious baby of hers!”  She raised her hand to her face and then gave a small laugh, “I can still smell her!  She smelled like strawberries!”

 

Team gave a small jolt, “Strawberries?”

 

She turned around in her seat to look at him, “Yes, it was the flavor of the snow cone she had eaten earlier…from…you know…it was before we ran into them.”

 

He nodded but after the mention of strawberries, his mind had traveled to a small grocery store in Chiang Mai.  He wondered how things were going with the jam making.  He wanted to pull out his phone to check for messages, but he knew his parents would be upset if he did.  They were only going to stay for dinner and then head back to the village.

 

His father dropped them off, along with all of Team’s bags and bundles, at Team’s dorm.  He went to pick up dinner while Team and his mom put away his new clothes.

 

As they worked, his mother talked non-stop about seeing Poom again—and how happy Poom seemed, how nice her husband was, but mostly she focused her comments on Pensri.  How beautiful she was, how smart, how well-behaved—and how lucky Poom was to have her.

 

Team was still thinking about the jam making and his mind wasn’t entirely on the conversation at first.  To be honest, it had been surreal to see Auntie Poom again and he kind of just wanted to push the entire thing out of his mind—Auntie Poom was associated to a time before, and to that person.  He didn’t like thinking about such things.  Jam making in the kitchen of a grocery store after hours was a perfect thing to think about.  But…bit by bit, more of what his mother was saying began to filter through to him.  He took a good look at her face and how it beamed when she said Pensri’s name.

 

Team knew that his parents had always hoped for a large family, but late in her pregnancy with him, there was some kind of problem.  He had to be delivered early and by Caesarean section and his mother had to have more surgery to fix whatever that problem had been.  Team didn’t know the details of it really.  His parents had just gave him a glossed over version of it when he was a kid and he never asked them again.  But he knew that he was a very small, weak baby, and his mother was sick, and his dad had to take care of them both for months.  His mother couldn’t have any more children after that.

 

She was in the middle of saying something more about Pensri when Team blurted out, “Did you ever think about adopting a baby?”

 

His mother’s mouth slapped shut and she looked at him in shock.  Finally she shook her head, “No, we had you and you were our miracle baby.  And we felt so blessed to have had you!”

 

He smiled at her, “Yeah, I feel pretty blessed in the parent department myself!  Which is why I was wondering that.  You and dad are the best!  I think you should adopt a baby…or even more than one.”

 

She laughed, “I imagine we are too old to be considered for adoption.”

 

“But Auntie Poom is older than you and she had a baby, so that seems like it means you wouldn’t be thought of as too old!”

 

She had placed a black shirt on a hanger and turned to hang it on the bar in the closet.  “Well, I don’t know…maybe we’re not, but…don’t forget…we live in a two-bedroom home!  Where on earth would we put a baby?”

 

Team pulled out some black dress slacks from a bag.  He knew he would never wear them.  He handed them to his mother who put them on a hanger that was designed to hold pants.  “My room,” he offered.

 

“Your room?” She asked with a scoff and a shake of her head, “And just where do you expect to sleep when you come home?”

 

Team shrugged, “The couch in the living room is fine with me.  And besides, after this coming summer break, I won’t be home for any long stretches of time for at least seven years.”

 

“Seven years?” She gasped, “What do you mean seven years?!”

 

“Well,” Team said as he folded up the now-empty bag, “I have four years of pre-law, and in the summers, we’re supposed to do intern work for lawyers to look good on our applications for law school—except for first year’s because we don’t really learn anything that useful in our first year of school.  Anyway, after graduation, there are four years of law school—and summers there are spent doing more intern work to help us get jobs after we graduate law school.”

 

She closed his closet door and then walked over to his table and pulled out one of the chairs.  She seemed to melt down into the seat.  “Eight years,” she whispered.  Then she looked over at him, “You’ll be twenty-six years old then!”

 

Team nodded and got her a glass of water.  She took it with trembling hands and drank it down quickly.  Team had no idea why this information seemed to come as a shock to her.  He had known it since he got his first acceptance letter for college in the mail.

 

But she seemed upset and he knew he had to do something to make it okay again.  “But…you know…it won’t be any different from how it is now.  I visit there all the time!”

 

“Visit?” she asked, “It’s funny, but I never thought of it as ‘visiting’.  I thought of it as you being home.  Like this…” she gestured around the room, “This seemed the temporary situation, but back in the village was your real home.  I guess I’ve had that backwards.”

 

Team shook his head, “No, the village is home and this is temporary, just like you thought.  Except ‘temporary’ in this case will be about eight years.”

 

Team’s dad arrived with the food then and he chattered about the restaurant and the crowd and the traffic as they passed around the food.  His mother kept raving about how wonderful everything was, but she barely ate anything, just pushed the food around on her plate.  After a time, his dad studied Team’s mom for a moment and then looked at Team with a quizzical expression.  Team gave a tiny shrug and then nodded.

 

After dinner, the three of them cleaned up the mess together.  Once it was clean, his parents decided it was time to start the drive home, to avoid being out too late.  Team’s mother excused herself to go to the restroom.

 

“Okay,” Team whispered to his dad.  “I really upset her—but I didn’t mean to!  She kept talking about Auntie Poom’s baby so I asked her if you guys ever thought about adopting a baby…”

 

“Team!” his father hissed in shock.

 

“I know!  But it gets worse—she started coming up with reasons why you couldn’t and one of them was the bedrooms.  I told her that she could use mine because I wouldn’t be home much for the next eight years.  I guess she hadn’t realized it was going to be so long.”

 

“Oh Lord!  I only went to pick up food!  You seemed to have said an awful lot in that short period!”

 

Team nodded and bit his lip, “I know!  And I didn’t mean to upset her!  Honestly!”

 

His dad sighed, “I know you didn’t.  Don’t worry about it.  I will talk to her.  I’m sure by the time we get home she will be fine.”  He shook his head, “A baby though?  At our age?  You must have lost your mind!”

 

“But if you saw her face, Dad, you would understand why I asked.  And Auntie Poom is older than you.”

 

His mother came out of the bathroom, so they all hugged and said their goodbyes.  Team felt himself blush as he asked, “Guys…uh…would you mind texting me to let me know that you made it home safely?”

 

This brought a smile to his mom’s face, “Sounds like the shoe is on the other foot now, doesn’t it?”

 

After they left, he took his shower and got ready for bed.  It was early for him to do that, especially on a Saturday night, but he had to get up super early to make it to that stupid booth on time in the morning.

 

He sprawled on his bed and scrolled on his phone for a bit.  No new messages from Than, but he hadn’t really expected any.  He imagined it took a lot of work and a long time to make jam.  He smiled about how clever Than’s mother was.  He wondered if she had ever taken any marketing classes.  It seemed unlikely, from what he had gathered from things Than had said in the past, his parents were village born and raised.  Married young and took over the store from Than’s grandparents who wanted to leave the village and see a bit more of the world—which in truth had only been a few miles away and up in the mountains.  Their share of the store’s monthly profits kept them very well since there wasn’t much to spend money on while living there.  No electricity, no phone, and aside from a few food items, they lived off of the vegetables and fruits they raised themselves, plus what they traded with their neighbors.

 

So…it didn’t seem likely that Than’s mother had ever attended college, but yet she had a keen sense of how to market her jam.  Cooking it during store hours so the customers could smell it while shopping, and then selling the tiny sandwiches to give them a sample.  Team grinned, it was no wonder she had gotten so many orders for her jars of jam.  He was certain that her homemade jam probably tasted a lot better than the mass-produced jars on the shelf and were a lot easier to obtain than the customers having to make it from scratch on their own.

 

He went to the Zombie game but no one from his group was on.  He wasn’t surprised.  Saturday night was date night for some of them.  The group usually didn’t play much on the weekends.  He and Than played alone on date nights and teased each other about being losers for being at home.

 

He signed out of the game and went onto a game he used to play long before the accident.  He saw some guys on there from Rayong that he used to play with and they invited him to join them.  He played until he got his text from his parents letting him know they had made it home safely.  His dad sent him a text a few minutes later, letting him know that they had talked all the way home and his mother was fine now and not to worry anymore.  Team smiled when he read that.  He had been worried.  Also he had felt guilty.  He didn’t like upsetting his mother.  Even though that had not been his intention, that was the result.

 

The guys reached the end of the level and before they started on the next level, Team logged off the game.  He checked his messages and saw that Than still hadn’t sent him one.  Without thinking about it, Team tapped out a goodnight message.  As he reread it, he realized they had never done that and it would be weird of him to do it.  It would make Than think Team was missing him or something, which…that was just too much.  He backspaced the message away, and then exited out of the app and set his alarm.  He plugged his charger into the phone and crawled into his bed.

 

He didn’t expect to be able to go to sleep that early, but he figured he should try.  As he lay there, he thought about Than and his parents still up, working in the kitchen.  He closed his eyes and imagined the scene.  He imagined the kitchen to be old, but clean.  Lots of wood around—rustic looking.  

 

He imagined Than and his father sitting at the table, slicing strawberries into a huge white bowl with a blue stripe near the top.  Than’s mother was at the stove, stirring a huge pot of strawberries, almost magically turning the fruit into jam, and the whole place filled with the scent of strawberries.  Team imagined he could see the scent—and it was like big, pink clouds floating around the room—they looked like the spots on Pensri’s dress from the snow cone.

 

His alarm went off and he reached over and grabbed his phone with a groan.  He shut it off and laid it down on the bed next to him.  He opened the drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a notebook and an ink pen.

 

Since shortly after coming to college, Team had been keeping track of his reoccurring dream about the dolphin.  He had read some articles about reoccurring dreams and he had gotten a bit worried.  One article even suggested it could be a sign of mental illness, which scared the crap out of him because he had been having the dream since he was twelve.  That’s a long time for a mental illness to take root and grow.

 

All of the articles suggested keeping a dream journal though, so now every time he had the dream, he journaled about it.  The first thing he did was to make a check mark on a calendar.  As he did, he tracked it and realized that it was the first time, since he started journaling them, that he had had one on a Saturday night.  He had noticed a pattern of them occurring on Sunday nights and on Tuesday nights.  He had started to think that they were anxiety dreams because he had them on the nights before the classes that he hated.  And…also swim club.  But having this one on a Saturday had kind of messed with the theory.  He examined his mood before he had gone to sleep the previous night.  He had still felt guilty over upsetting his mother, but it had calmed down a lot after getting the text from his dad saying they had talked and she was okay.  He also felt a bit irritated about having to work in the booth today.  Not really the work, although the idea of that sucked, but more the hours that he had been scheduled.  But even at that, it shouldn’t be enough to cause him to have that damn dream.

 

Right before going to sleep he had envisioned Than’s kitchen and the jam making that was probably happening.  This vision, these thoughts, had made him feel calm.  But then he entered his dream state and found himself clomping around on the deck of the boat, trying to find a way off, trying to move around quickly, but his legs barely moving.  He checked numerous times to make sure that the dolphin was still there, despite the feeling like the boat was picking up speed.  The dolphin was always there, keeping up with the boat.  At one point he called to it and ask that it not give up on him, that he would find a way off the boat somehow.

 

Team finished writing in the journal and put it back in the drawer.  He gathered up his clothes and headed to the bathroom.

 

In the shower his mind kept going over the dream.  In his real life, his awaken life, there is no way that he would leave a boat to jump into the ocean.  But in his dream life, he was desperate to do just that.  The ocean had things in it that could eat you—the boat was safe.  It made no sense to him at all.  Then he thought about the dolphin.  It wasn’t afraid of the ocean.  It dove down deep and then broke the surface and jumped high into the air.  It swam along happily with no worries about what might happen to it.  “Because he never saw a killer shark movie!” Team thought with a grin.  But then the vision of a great white shark swallowing up the white-headed dolphin popped into his mind.  He almost dropped the soap, and he quickly pushed that thought right out of his head and prayed that it wouldn’t come back and visit him in a dream!

 

After finishing his shower and getting dressed, Team called Kulap, who assured Team that he was already up and dressed and would meet him at the booth.  Team was glad he remembered to call Kulap; he had almost forgotten that he had promised to.

 

Team skipped breakfast and instead took some money with him.  He knew that he would end up eating some of the pork skewers anyway so he decided to just make it his breakfast.

 

He could smell the charcoal burning long before he reached the booth.  There weren’t many people around on the quad and Team hoped it would stay quiet so they wouldn’t have too many customers.

 

P’Sai was the one in the booth.  He had started the smoker grills and had loaded up the trays they would need for the first two hours.  He showed Team where everything was and how it worked and instructed him on how to stock everything for the following shift.

 

P’Sai looked at his watch, “And you’re sure that Kulap said he would meet you here?  It’s getting very close to opening time.”

 

“Yeah,” Team answered, “I called him before I left my dorm and he said he was up and dressed and would meet me here.”

 

P’Sai nodded with pursed lips, “It’s just…well, my folks wanted us to go to the museum in town.  They are waiting for me to be done here.  I wish he would hurry up so I can go.  I hate to keep them waiting!”

 

“Oh no!  It’s okay!  There’s nobody here, so I can handle it by myself until he gets here.  No sweat.”

 

P’Sai rubbed his forehead, “Naw, I don’t think I can just leave you here alone.  What if he doesn’t show up for some reason?  No, I’ll stick around.”

 

Team shook his head, “It’s okay, honestly!  Kulap is my friend and I trust him.  He is on his way right now.  Probably had trouble getting a taxi or something.  You should go.  I’ll be fine.”

 

Team laughed to himself a few moments later when P’Sai took off.  It hadn’t taken much convincing on Team’s part to get him to leave.

 

Team took some money from his wallet and put it in the cash drawer and took a soda from the cooler and some skewers off the grill for his breakfast.  He thought about Than for a moment.  No doubt he was already in his store preparing for a big day.  People had enjoyed the tiny sandwiches so much the day before, Team had no doubt that the word had spread, and more people would be there that day than the day before.  Team marveled again at how smart Than’s mother was.

 

Team didn’t have too much time to think about anything after that as the customers started coming in.  As it had done to him and his parents on the previous day, the smell lured people from all over the quad right to the swim club’s booth.

 

Once he had time to take a breath, he pulled out his phone and looked at the time.  It was already 8:30 and Kulap hadn’t arrived yet.  He had said he was leaving his dorm near the time that Team was, and he should have been there long before then.  The first thing that came to Team’s mind was a car accident.  He brushed that thought aside.  He knew it was just some kind of post-traumatic thing because he had been in one, so he was always worried about it happening to others.

 

He called Kulap’s phone, and it went right to voicemail.  Team frowned in puzzlement as he hung up.  He sent a text to Kulap, asking where he was.  For the next few minutes, he checked it repeatedly and saw that it had been delivered but not read.

 

He got busy again with more customers.  At one point during the time, he realized that his foot was feeling numb again.  There was some pain in his ankle, and it felt as if it were traveling up his leg.  Mild pain, nothing he couldn’t handle, but he did try to keep as much weight off of it as he could, taking most of his weight with his good leg.

 

During the slow time, he called Kulap again, and like before, it was sent directly to voicemail.  Kulap was almost an hour late, which meant…Kulap wasn’t coming.  He must have turned off his phone and went back to bed.  Team ground his back teeth together.  He could understand the desire to blow off the assignment, Team hadn’t wanted to come either, but he wouldn’t have done this to Kulap—or to anyone.  Objecting to doing something is normal, but not showing up doesn’t hurt the ones who gave the assignment, it hurts the ones who did show up.  In this case, Team.  It hurt Team, and Kulap was supposed to be his friend.  Team shook his head and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

 

By the end of his shift, as he was loading up the warming area with the pork skewers for the next shift, the pain in his ankle had grown considerably larger.  His entire leg, all the way up to his hip, felt the throb from his ankle.  He had to continuously make tiny movements while serving the customers and that kept his weight shifting back and forth from his good leg to his bad one.  And the crowd at the booth had been unceasing.  Everybody and their neighbor wanted pork skewers it seemed.  He had been so very wrong to think that no one would want them in the morning.  His only consolation, if you could call it that, was the next shift—pre-lunch ending in lunch time, would be worse.  He was glad he hadn’t been assigned that one.

 

Ling and one of the guys from P’Sai’s group were scheduled for that time slot—from 10-12.  But by ten minutes past ten, neither one of them had shown up to relieve him.  Team had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He called Ling’s number, and just like Kulap’s phone, it went right to voice mail.  He texted a few times.  They went unread.

 

By 11:30, Team was sweating and shaking with the pain.  He had no idea who was scheduled for the 12-2 shift, but he knew he couldn’t stay and cover it.  He was going to close down the booth and leave.  He wasn’t sure what he should do about the charcoal in the grills though.  If he left and the place burned down, they would blame him for it.

 

He had been totally swamped with customers up until about 11:15.  The time he expected the biggest rush of customers had actually gone quiet.  He propped his throbbing foot on the other one, in an attempt to elevate it—or at least keep it off the floor, and leaned his elbows on the counter as he bent at the waist, riding out the burst of pain that lifting his foot had caused.

 

“Tine! What in the hell are you doing here?” barked Win as he entered the booth.

 

Team straightened himself the best that he could.  “Working the booth,” he answered.

 

“Not doing much work laying on the counter that way!  And you were scheduled for the first shift.  Did you switch the schedule?”  Win was enraged and Team could feel the energy from ten feet away.

 

Team shook his head, “No, I was here.  Nobody else showed up.”

 

“Nobody?  You worked it alone?”  Win snapped.

 

Team clenched his jaws together because his teeth wanted to chatter as a bolt of pain tore up his leg, causing his whole body to shake.  He didn’t want to open his mouth so he just nodded.

 

Win stepped closer and stared at Team.  “Are you sick?  You are pale!  And you’re shaking and sweating!  People don’t want to buy food from a sick person!”

 

Team shook his head, “Not sick.  Just…a bit hungover, that’s all.”

 

“You went out drinking when you knew you had to work the booth?” Win fairly screamed.  “You are so irresponsible!”

 

Team felt his own anger growing, “Irresponsible?  Me?  At least I showed up!  You should be yelling at the other guys, not me!”

 

Win’s eyes narrowed, “I told you before, don’t tell me how to do my job!  And did you even bother to call them?”

 

Team huffed, “Of course I did!  The two of them that I know, anyway.  Went straight to voicemail, both of them.”

 

Win shook his head, “And did you think to call me and report this?”

 

Team straightened his spine even more.  The anger was giving him strength.  “I don’t have your number,” he said slowly, enunciating every word.  Win might not remember Team, but Team remembered Win.  And he remembered the time when Win drove away from him and changed his phone number so Team couldn’t call him again.

 

Win scoffed and walked up to the counter.  He grabbed a napkin and took his awful click pen out of his pocket.  He wrote on the napkin and pushed it towards Team.  “Here!” he said.

 

Team didn’t look at the napkin; he looked into Win’s eyes.  Team turned the napkin face down and then with the tips of his fingers, he slid the napkin down the counter.  When he had it in the right place, he pushed it over the edge of the counter and let it fall into the trashcan.

 

The muscles in Win’s jaw visibly moved as he clenched and unclenched them.  “You look like shit; I’m ashamed that customers saw you in this condition.  Step out!  Now!”

 

Team smiled, “Thank you!  Oh, and by the way, Mr. P’Win, Sir—I believe those people would like to order.”  He motioned to a small crowd that was beginning to gather behind Win.  Team turned and walked out the back door.  He walked with his legs held stiffly to keep his knees from shaking from rage and pain.

 

Once he reached the parking lot where he had parked his cycle that morning, he sat down on the bench next to a trash can.  He felt like vomiting and the pain and shaking had gotten much worse from the walk.  He looked across the lot at his cycle.  He didn’t think he could walk all the way over there without puking or dying or something.  He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone.  He opened up The Mystery Machine group chat.

 

Scooby:  Hey, I think I sprained my ankle.  It really hurts.  I don’t think I can get home on my own.  Can you guys help me?

Velma:  Hang on, Scooby!  We’re on our way!  I just have to ask you something first, ‘Scooby, Scooby Doo, where are you?’

 

He sighed as he leaned his head against the trashcan.  He sent back a message telling them where he was and then he closed his eyes.  He knew they would never let him down like his other ‘friends’ had.  He would be home soon.

 

 

Chapter 24

Team raised his head up from leaning on the trashcan when Jai’s car arrived.  Jai, Mali, and Namfon exited the car quickly, leaving their car doors open, and hurried over to him.

 

“Team?” Mali spoke softly, “Honey, how bad is it?  You look awful!  Do you want us to take you to the hospital?”

 

“No!” Team said loudly and emphatically.  “No more hospitals!  It’s not that bad.  I just need a ride home.”

 

“Keys!” Namfon said, extending her hand.

 

“What?” Team asked in confusion.

 

“I’ll ride your cycle home for you.  You don’t want to leave it here, do you?”

 

Team shook his head.  “You have always wanted to ride my motorcycle.  You are about to find out how cool a real cycle can be, and you will dump your orange monstrosity over a cliff!”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys.  As he attempted to hand them to her, his hand shook so badly that they dropped onto the ground.  Namfon hurriedly snatched them up and then looked closely at him.

 

“Scooby?  Maybe you should at least consider getting checked by a doctor.  You’re shaking and sweating, and you look as white as a ghost.  Maybe you broke it and it’s not just a sprain.  How did you hurt it?”

 

He gritted his teeth against a wave of pain and shook his head, “It’s not that bad.  And it’s not broken.  I just turned it funny or something, but I had to keep standing on it afterward.  I will be fine once I am home and can prop it up.”

 

“Okay then, let’s get you home,” Mali said, moving over to his side, “Jai, you take that side, I’ll get this one.”

 

“No Mali!” Team protested.  “Just Jai!  I can’t lean on you!”

 

“Bullshit!” she snapped.  “Do as I say!”

 

She was so much like his mother at that moment, that any argument he might have had died before reaching his lips.  He did as he was told, and she and Jai got him into the backseat of Jai’s car within a moment.  Namfon rode past them on Team’s motorcycle, headed in the direction of Team’s dorm.  Jai was quick to drive after her.

 

Team leaned back against the seat and took a deep breath.  Just knowing that he would be home soon and able to prop up his ankle made him feel much better.  He had been fighting down the urge to throw up since leaving the booth, but that had passed.

 

Once they arrived at Team’s dorm building, his three friends all helped Team into the elevator.  He was thankful that he lived in one of the modern dorms.  There were still some on campus that had only staircases.  And even older dorms that didn’t even have air conditioning.

 

When the elevator reached his floor, since Namfon still had his keys, she ran out and hurriedly unlocked his door and held it open.  Jai and Mali maneuvered Team down the hall and into his room.

 

When they got Team into his room, he asked if someone could get his crutches out of the closet.  Namfon was closest so she got them and gave them to him.  He shifted his weight from Jai and Mali onto his crutches.  He used them to support himself while he removed his shoes, which was surprisingly a lot more painful than he had expected, and then made his way over to his bed.

 

Mali was right by his side.  “Okay,” she said as she stacked pillows and placed his foot up on them.  She examined his ankle closely.  “I don’t see any bruising, but there is some swelling.  Do you have any pain relievers?”

 

“I have some over-the-counter headache medicine,” he said.  “They’re in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.”

 

She started to go but Namfon waved her away and hurried in to retrieve them.  She came back a few moments later with a couple of prescription bottles in her hands.  “I found these in there,” she handed them to Mali, “By the date, I think they were from Team’s last surgery.”

 

Mali read the bottles, “An anti-inflammatory and a pain medication.  And the bottles are still full!  Team!  Why didn’t you take your medication?” she scolded.

 

Team shrugged, “I don’t know.  The pain wasn’t that bad, and I hate the way I feel when I take those pills.”

 

“But still…you should have taken the anti-inflammatory medicine even if you didn’t take the pain medicine!”  She opened the bottles and took one pill from each.  Jai hurried over to Team’s refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of soda and brought it over to Mali.  “I want you to take these now, and no argument!”

 

Team took the anti-inflammatory pill from her hand and swallowed it down with help of the soda.  "I don’t want to take the other one,” he said, backing away from it.

 

“Team!  You are in pain!  It’s written all over your face!” Mali stated.  “You need to take it!”

 

“It’s not that bad now.  And I don’t like those!  They make me sleep and then feel all weird and groggy when I wake up.”

 

“Do you have ice packs?” she asked.

 

“No, nothing like that,” he answered.

 

“I would allow you to take only half of one, if you had ice to put on your ankle.  Do you have any frozen foods, like bags of vegetables?  We could use that instead.”

 

“Nope, just microwave pizza.”

 

“Hey!” Jai said suddenly, “Would a bag of frozen broccoli work?”

 

“Yes, why?” Mali asked.

 

“I have some!” Jai said.  “Just give me a minute to run down to my place and get it.  Go ahead and give him only half a pill.”

 

Jai ran out and Mali broke one of the pain pills in two and gave him one of the pieces.  He took it reluctantly.

 

“Scooby,” Namfon asked, “Why did you have those pills in your medicine chest?  Did you know you might need them or something?”

 

Team shook his head, “When I was packing up at home to come here, I basically just shoved everything into my bag.  My mom insisted on unpacking everything, so I didn’t even know those were here.”

 

“Well lucky for you they are.  By the way, guys…broccoli?  Jai has frozen broccoli in his freezer?  How odd.  I didn’t know he even ate broccoli, did you?”

 

Namfon shrugged, “I never paid much attention.  Although I remember suggesting to him when we first met that he should eat more fiber.  His gloomy attitude…ya know?  But he seemed to get over that as soon as the two of you became a couple.”

 

They looked at Team and he shook his head.  “I don’t think I knew he liked it, but like Namfon, I don’t pay attention to what he eats.”

 

Mali shook her head, “It’s just odd.  Anyway, I need to wash your face.  Where do you keep your washcloths?”

 

“My face?  What’s wrong with my face?” he asked, reaching up to touch his cheeks.

 

“You were leaning up against that nasty trashcan and it is making me feel ill to imagine what kind of germs you might have picked up!”

 

He told her where they were, and she selected one and got it wet before bringing it over to the bed to wash Team’s face.

 

“Oww!” he complained, “That’s hot!”

 

“Barely warm, you big baby!  And it has to be hot to kill the germs,” Mali scolded.

 

“See!  You just admitted it was hot!” he challenged.

 

“Hush!  And stay still!” she instructed as she scrubbed his face.

 

Jai arrived back then with a big bag of frozen broccoli.  Mali took it from him and gently placed it on Team’s ankle.  From the first moment it came into contact with his ankle, Team felt an instant decrease in the pain.  He sighed in relief.

 

“Better?” Mali asked.

 

Team nodded with his eyes closed, “Much!”

 

“You know I don’t want that back, right?  I don’t want feet-flavored broccoli!” Jai joked.

 

“Yeah…I am curious about that,” Mali said, “I thought I knew everything about you, but I had no idea you liked broccoli!  Why have I never seen you eat it before?”

 

“I’m a man of mystery, I guess,” Jai said with a laugh.  “I like broccoli—it’s no big deal!”

 

“Cruciferous,” Namfon said.

 

Team opened his eyes and looked around at them.  Mali and Namfon were on either side of his bed and Jai had sat down on a dining chair.

 

“What does that mean?” Jai asked.

 

Mali nodded to Namfon.  Namfon then said, “Because of raffinose and glucosinolates.”

 

“Because of what?” Jai asked.

 

Team giggled, “Science-based fart jokes!  I love it!”

 

Mali gave Team a tiny poke.  “Shh!” she whispered.

 

Team looked at Jai and saw his face was red.  “Okay!” Jai said, “I admit it!  I don’t eat broccoli in front of you because I don’t want to fart.  There…I said it!”

 

Everyone, except for Jai, laughed.

 

“It’s okay, Love.  I like broccoli too.  We will just eat it together sometime, okay?” Mali asked in a soothing voice.

 

Jai shook his head, “Only if everyone else eats it!”

 

Namfon laughed and shrugged, “Fine by me!  I love broccoli!”

 

Team’s eyes were getting heavy, so he closed them.  The coldness of the bag of broccoli along with the medicine and having his ankle propped up, had taken away his pain.  He sighed, “I am a huge, huge fan of broccoli!  Probably the biggest broccoli fan in the world right now,” he said.  “I don’t mind eating it too much either.  Count me in.”

 

“But not that bag that is on his nasty foot!”  We have to buy a new bag!” Jai declared.

 

Everyone was laughing and Team felt no pain as he slipped off to sleep.

 

The next day his ankle was almost back to normal.  The evening before, Mali had sent Jai out to pick up an elastic bandage wrap and after Team woke up from his long nap, she wrapped his foot and ankle in it.  The support from the wrap, plus using Jai’s frozen broccoli every few hours, and keeping his foot propped up had kept Team from needing anymore medication.  He did decide to stay home from school and from swim club the next day to give his ankle time to recover a bit more, but he honestly felt as if he were skipping school because he knew he would have been capable of going to class and to swim club.

 

He texted with Than a bit, but Than’s mother was still up to her eyebrows in jam making.  Than had had to drive to the nearest city, to their vendor’s warehouse, after the store closed the night before to pick up more cases of jam jars and lots of extra sugar.  And now his mother had added slices of cake with strawberry icing for Than to sell in the store.  They, along with the strawberry jam finger sandwiches, were a huge draw with the villagers.  Than was super busy so he wasn’t online much.  Team understood, and Team explained his being online during school hours as having a cold, he didn’t want anyone, not even Than, to know about his ankle.  He assured Than that he was going to sleep a lot so Than wouldn’t feel guilty about not being online to entertain him.

 

But all he did was lay around and watch TV.  He was glad it was a Monday because he hated his Monday class, and he was even kind of glad to miss swim club.  And he knew it was smart not to go there because of the ‘wobble’ that Win had noticed in his turn during the exhibition swim would have had him making ‘Tine’ spend the entire time making turns.  His ankle might not have felt so good after that.

 

It seemed like years passed before evening rolled around.  Jai, Mali, and Namfon arrived at his door with their textbooks, pizza, and some gossip.

 

“I found this on ‘IYKYK’ earlier today and I have been dying to tell you about it—well, not actually dying,” Namfon said, “I meant that in the sense…”

 

“Ugh!” Team huffed, “We all know that you didn’t mean it literally!  What did you find?”

 

“I’ll read it aloud instead of passing the phone around,” Namfon said.  “It’s from a user named ‘on_scene’.  It is suspected he or she is someone who either works with the Administrators of the school or knows someone who does.  Anyway, they posted this:

‘My sources tell me that someone in leadership of the swim club (suspect ONW) filed an official complaint against three of the club members.  Apparently the three were assigned mandatory turns in a booth that was hosted by the swim club during ‘Club Weekend’ and they did not show up.  This left one member to work alone for a double shift.  The three perpetrators were called in to see the Administrators who have placed them on a one-week suspension from attending classes and swim club meetings.  The swim club leader who brought the charges added to it by giving them a written warning that they were now on probation.  Any step out of line again would result in their automatic removal from the club and a report to the Swimming Coach that would probably keep them from ever being on the school’s swim team.’”

 

 

“Wow!” Mali said, leaning back in her chair.  “They really took it seriously!  Good!  It was terrible what those guys did to you!”

 

Jai reached into the box to grab a slice of pizza, “Serves them right!  Mandatory is mandatory!  You didn’t want to get up that early and work the booth, but you did it anyway!”

 

“What does ‘ONW’ mean?  They said they suspected it, but I don’t know what that stands for,” Team asked.

 

Namfon shifted a bit in her chair, and then she nibbled at her bottom lip, “It’s…” she sighed, “It means ‘One-Night-Win’.  That’s what they call him on IYKYK…‘ONW’, I mean.”

 

“Oh,” Team said and then he reached into the box and grabbed a piece of pizza and laid it on his plate.  “They’re wrong though.  It wasn’t him.  I mean…he was pissed, sure…but at me, not at them.”  Team shook his head, “It was so stupid.  I was there!  I showed up and didn’t leave, even when those guys didn’t show up to help.  But then he came in yelling at me, demanding to know why I was there!”

 

“Do you think you could be wrong,” Mali asked.  “Maybe he was mad at them and you took it the wrong way.”

 

Team had just taken a bite, so he shook his head.  Once he had the bite chewed, he picked up his napkin and wiped the grease off his fingers.  He wiped his mouth and then said, “You are a very nice person, Mali, so you have a tendency to think everyone else is.  He isn’t.  He’s really kind of awful if you want to know the truth.”

 

Mali shrugged, “He seemed really nice in Secondary School.”

 

“Seemed,” Team emphasized.  “And he had me fooled, too.  Not anymore though.  Once you have picked up a rock and have seen all the squirmy things under it, you can’t forget it.”

 

Jai dropped his crust down on his plate, “Gee, thanks for the visual, Dude!”

 

Team gave him an apologetic grin, “Sorry!”  Then he looked over at Namfon who was studying her plate, but not eating.  “What’s up with you?  What are you thinking about?”

 

She gave a roll of her shoulders that was a cross between a shrug and an attempt to loosen the muscles to relieve stress.  “I don’t know.  He does seem to have a dichotomy of threads on IYKYK.  He seems to either be loved or hated.  Not much middle ground.”

 

Team shook his head, “Let me guess…the ones who love him are all girls and the ones who hate him are the boys who like the girls who like him!”

 

She shook her head slightly, “I don’t know…screen names don’t tell you much.”

 

“Speaking of screen names, ‘Blueskies’?  What have you learned about them?  Is it the girl in your class?” Team asked.

 

Namfon blushed from the roots of her hair all the way down to her fingertips.  She picked up her pizza and right before she put it in her mouth, she mumbled, “I…I would like to not be asked anything about that topic.”

 

A sharp frown from Mali made Team drop the subject.  “This pizza is really good!  Is it from our regular place?” he asked, and the talk turned to more general topics of conversation.

 

Tuesday he was back in class and his wrapped ankle served him quite well.  He walked normally and without pain.  He didn’t share classes with Kulap on Tuesdays so he couldn’t confirm to himself that he was one of those who had been suspended.  Since no names were mentioned in that post, Team reasoned that it could be three other guys and the reporting swim leader could have been P’Toh or P’Sai.

 

However, Kulap wasn’t in his class on Wednesday, so Team felt more sure that it was actually the three who had not shown up on the Sunday that Team worked.  It still didn’t prove who was the swim leader who reported it.  His feeling was that it would be P’Toh, as the President, who would make such a call.

 

After his class, he stopped in the men’s restroom before leaving the legal studies building.  He removed his shoe and unwrapped his ankle.  He stored the elastic wrap in his backpack before putting his shoe back on.  He didn’t want anyone to see the wrapping in the locker room of the swim club and report him to the swim leaders.  He didn’t want anyone to know he had had a tiny problem with his ankle.

 

He put his shoe back on and laced it tightly.  As he took a few practice steps, he could feel a bit of discomfort in his ankle, but nothing that he couldn’t handle.  He promised himself that he would go straight home from swim club and re-wrap it then as it helped much more than just his high-top shoes.  He hurried out of the building and hopped on his cycle and rode over to the swim club.

 

P’Sai was standing by the entrance when Team arrived.  P’Sai hurried over to him.  “Toh is in the office.  He told me to send you there as soon as you arrived.”

 

Team was taken aback, “Me?  Why?”

 

P’Sai gave him a gentle push towards the door, “He’ll tell you.  Don’t waste time going to your locker; go directly to the office.”

 

Team gave him a small nod and then entered the building and went to the office.  The door was closed so he knocked on it.

 

P’Toh opened the door, “Come in, Team.  We need to have a talk.”

 

Team walked in and P’Toh closed and locked the door behind him, which set off alarm bells in Team’s mind.  He peeked at the window that looked out into the locker room and realized that the blinds were closed.

 

“Take a seat,” P’Toh said as he gestured to the guest chair in front of the desk as he walked behind it and sat down in the desk chair.

 

Team sat down carefully on the edge of the seat and placed his backpack beside him on the floor.  His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest.

 

“Team…I need to speak to you about a complaint that has been filed,” P’Toh began.

 

“A complaint?  About me?” Team asked in astonishment.  He knew he had obeyed all the rules so he shouldn’t be in trouble.  However…he knew it was possible that Win might have filed it.  Team didn’t know what grounds he could come up with, but it was possible Win could since he found fault with everything Team did.

 

P’Toh was studying the paper on the desk in front of him.  “You?  No, not against you, but on your behalf.”

 

Team frowned deeply.  “My behalf?  I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean.”

 

P’Toh cleared his throat before speaking.  “The complaint was made to the Administrators via an anonymous letter they received.  It was alleged that it was from more than one member of the swim club.  In the letter they enumerate several instances where they accuse Vice-President Win of segregating you from the other members of the team and humiliating you publicly.”  He pushed the letter over to Team to read.

 

As Team read it, he mentally noted that everything in the letter was factually true.  He also noticed the word ‘douchbag’ appeared quite a few times, along with the assurance that they had urged Team numerous times to report Win to the Administration and get moved into another group.  He knew just by reading it which parts were written by Kulap and which ones were by Ling.

 

There was a large, blank space, followed by a signature line.  P’Toh tapped the space with the cap of his pen.  “I need to take your statement and get your signature.”

 

Team leaned back into his seat with a sigh.  It was over.  He would be removed from Win’s group and placed with either P’Toh or P’Sai and it wouldn’t be his fault.  No black mark on his record to keep him from the Nationals.  And he would be able to play the games the other guys did during club meetings.  He would have fun, which was the point of swim club.  And he wouldn’t have to put up with the extreme workouts…and best of all, he wouldn’t have to be around Win anymore!  He realized that Kulap and Ling must have believed it was Win who had turned them in and this was their way of getting even with him for it.  But it didn’t matter what their reasons were…what mattered was that Team would be free, and his time in the pool would be so much easier!

 

He leaned forward again, and he began to talk.

 

Once he had finished telling his account, P’Toh wrote it down on the form.  He completed it and then pushed it over to Team.  “Read it carefully, and if I have everything correct, sign and date it at the bottom.”

 

Team nodded and read what P’Toh had written.  P’Toh had done a good job summarizing what Team had said, so Team picked up the pen.  His hand hesitated for a moment because he knew that once he signed it, he had sealed his fate.  He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then signed and dated the form and pushed it back to P’Toh.

 

“Right, well we are finished here.  You can go ahead and suit up and join the others in the pool.  I will take this over to Administration and turn it in.”

 

Team nodded and then got up from the chair and walked to the door.  P’Toh joined him and unlocked the door so Team could leave.

 

He stepped out into the hallway and had only made it a few steps when his arm was grabbed from behind and he was spun around and pushed up against the wall.  The sudden, unexpected pivot sent a bolt of pain in his ankle and the shockwave of it coursed through his body.  It took his mind a moment to pull the focus away from the pain to realize that Win had him pinned against the wall with his chest pressing against Team’s.  Win had his hand clamped tightly on Team’s arm.  His eyes raged and the look of pure hatred was on his face.

 

“What did you do?” he hissed angrily as he squeezed Team’s arm in rage.  “Do you know how hard I had to work to earn this position?  And it took only a few minutes for you and your friends to destroy my life!”

 

Team tried to speak, but all that came out was, “I…I…uh.”

 

“Win!” P’Toh bellowed from somewhere behind Win.  “He didn’t do it!  He recanted everything the others reported!  Let him go!”

 

Win peered deeply into Team’s eyes, “You recanted it?”

 

“Yes, he did.  The document is signed, and I am on my way to the Administrators’ office now.  It’s over.”

 

Win backed away from Team a bit, but he still held Team’s eyes with his own.  He loosened his grip on Team’s arm but didn’t remove his hand completely.  Instead, he used his thumb to stroke Team’s arm where his fingers had been.  Team had the thought that it was like Win was trying to erase what he had done.

 

“Win, you good here?” P’Toh asked.

 

Win gave a small nod, “Yeah, I’m cool.”

 

“Team, are you okay?” P’Toh asked.

 

“Yeah, fine.  It’s okay, you can deliver the form.  I haven’t changed my mind.”

 

Team could hear P’Toh as he walked through the locker room and then out of the building.  He became aware of the sounds of the guys practicing in the pool.  But there was only silence between him and Win.  Finally Win said, “Well, Tine, I guess I owe you an apology.”

 

Team was angry.  Extremely angry.  He was mad at Kulap and Ling for writing the letter—after Team had told them repeatedly he didn’t want it reported.  He knew they had only done it to get even with Win, not to help Team.  He realized they weren’t really his friends—which he had suspected ever since they didn’t show up for their shifts at the booth and left Team to do it all, all by himself.  He was angry that he had been put into the position where he had been forced to defend Win, when that was the last thing on earth he wanted to do.  And he was pissed that his ankle was hurting again.  Because of his being so angry at all this stuff, he forgot about his plan to always be super polite to Win as he snapped, “You don’t owe me shit.  But stop petting my arm!  I’m not your damn dog!”

 

Win looked down at his hand on Team’s arm, and he slowly removed it.  “No, you’re not my dog.  But that’s okay, I’ve never been a dog person anyway.”  He suddenly leaned forward and for a split second, Team thought Win was about to kiss him.  Team jerked his head back, but Win followed the movement.  Then Win whispered in Team’s ear, “I wasn’t supposed to, but I read that complaint.  Let’s just say that Toh might have ‘accidentally’ left it where I could see it.  Everything in it was true.  In fact, I can guess who actually wrote it, but I thought you were the mastermind behind it.  Now I don’t think you were.  Why did you recant it?”

 

Team could smell the familiar scent of Win’s skin and he felt Win’s breath on his neck, and the whispering in his ear was making his head swim.  His anger increased by his body’s reaction to Win, the person he hated most in the world.  He put his hand on Win’s chest and pushed him away.  “I didn’t want to…believe me.  I really wanted to tell the truth, but I couldn’t.  P’Toh and P’Sai are both really nice guys.  They would let me play the games and have fun during the swim club meetings and it would be great to be in either one of their groups.”

 

“But?  I feel there is a ‘but’ here,” Win prompted.

 

Team looked down at the floor for a moment.  He took a deep breath, and then looked up and met Win’s eyes.  “I want to be picked for the National team.”

 

Win’s eyebrow raised dramatically and then he gave Team a smirk, “So, you think you are good enough to be on the National Team?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I know I’m not.  Not yet.  But I have four years to train for it.  And I know I won’t get there by playing games and having fun.”

 

“I saw how you reacted to the crowd during the exhibition swim and that was only a fraction of the size of the crowd that will be at Nationals.  And I suspect you aren’t one who really enjoys competition.  So…why do you want to go to Nationals?”

 

Team had told his parents about the vision he had had of himself at Nationals the day he had been forced to get into a pool after swearing he would never go in one again.  He had never told anyone else, nor did he intend to.  It was too real, and also too weird, to tell anyone else.  “It’s personal,” he answered.

 

“Oh, ‘personal’, okay.  At least you have a good reason,” Win said sarcastically.  Then his smirk turned into a real smile.  The first smile that had been directed at Team since back in the village days.  Team looked back down at the floor to avoid looking at it.  “And,” Win continued, “You think the ‘nice guys’ Toh and Sai aren’t what you need?”

 

Team shook his head.  “I’m sure they have tips and pointers, but I know me…if I’m not pushed, I will get lazy.  And that’s not what I want.”

 

“Well, I’ve always heard that ‘nice guys’ finish last…and to me, that means being a loser.  I don’t like to lose, and I guess that’s why I’m not a ‘nice guy’,” Win said.  “But you do realize that since you have recanted that complaint on me, if you try to complain about me later, it won’t be taken seriously by the Administrators, right?”

 

Team looked up and nodded, “Yeah, I know that.”

 

Win was smiling so big that Team could have counted his teeth, if he had been so inclined.  “Tine, you have no idea what you are in for!  If you think what you’ve had so far was tough, you will never survive what I am about to put you through.”

 

Team felt his spine stiffen as he pulled himself up to his full height and he squared his shoulders.  “I’m not afraid of you.  Bring it on!”

 

Win gave a small laugh, “Oh, I will!  Starting today.  You missed quite a bit of swim time.  If you have any plans for tonight, I suggest you cancel them.  You will be here, making up for the time you lost.  Now, go get suited up and then hit the pool.”  Win turned and walked away.  He went out the door to the pool area.

 

Team stormed off to his locker.  His anger hadn’t dissipated, it had actually gotten worse.  He texted ‘The Mystery Machine’ group and told them he had plans for the evening and wouldn’t be meeting with them for homework or having dinner with them.

 

As he was getting changed, he kept thinking about the talk he and Win had just had.  He went through every second of the exchange in his mind.  His mind kept circling back to that horrible moment that he thought Win was leaning in to kiss him.  And how Team, after hearing Win’s whispered confession, had placed his hand on Win’s chest and pushed him away.  According to the Code of Conduct rules for the school, Team should have been immediately written up and taken to the Administrators office for putting his hands on a senior—especially in anger.  Win could have probably had Team instantly expelled.  But he hadn’t done it.  Hadn’t even scolded Team for it.  Win had just continued on with their conversation.

 

He knew that Win had to be aware of the rule, but knew that for some reason, he didn’t want to enforce it.  Maybe he was grateful that Team had cleared his name.  It was possible, Team supposed, but it was more likely that Win had decided to overlook it so he could keep Team around to torture.  This seemed more likely to Team.  He sighed as he shut his locker and began to make his way to the pool.  He had a bad feeling about it.

 

During the rest of the meeting that was left, Win had Team swimming laps in the punishment lanes like usual.  But once the meeting was over and the other guys left the pool, Win pulled out a bag full of small pool weights.  He took them into the pool and began depositing them down the lanes.  He hadn’t made Team go inside, so Team was able to see where Win dropped the weights.  It wasn’t like a ‘hide-and-seek’ thing, so Team had no idea what the plan was.

 

Team watched to mentally make a map out of the route that Win took, in case that information would be necessary.  As he watched he couldn’t seem to not look at the wings that were tattooed on Win’s back.  They were so large it was impossible to not look at them.  His mind reminded him of when he was younger and had often said that Win went through the water so fast, it was like watching a bird soar across the sky.  Team frowned at that memory and corrected it.  He didn’t think those were bird wings.  They looked more like angel wings.  And they were black.  So, a dark angel?  A demon, perhaps?  He gave a small nod and thought that suited Win.

 

When Win finished in the pool, he climbed out, dragging along the empty bag.  He grabbed a towel and began drying off.  Team kept his eyes averted because…just because.  He didn’t want to watch Win rubbing a towel all over his body.  It made Team feel angry, but he didn’t understand why.

 

“Okay, Tine.  You chose to stick with me instead of going with one of the ‘nice guys’, so I am going to reward your loyalty and let you play a game,” Win said, as he dropped the towel and pulled on his swim jacket.  “I placed twenty weights out there.  You are to bring them back here and put them in the bag.  There is a catch though.  You can only bring back one at a time and then swim back to collect the others.”

 

“Twenty of them?” Team asked aghast.

 

Win nodded, “Yep.  Sorry it’s such a small amount.  I would have put out more, but twenty is all we have.”

 

“I’ll be here all night!” Team exclaimed.

 

Win shrugged, “I did tell you to cancel whatever plans you have.  But if you are quick about it, you might get out of here before it gets dark.  Go ahead, don’t let me keep you.”

 

The pool lights came on when Team was retrieving the twelfth weight.  It was at the bottom of the deepest part of the pool.  Team grabbed it up and began swimming to the surface when the lights came on.  He didn’t know if Win had turned them on, or if they were automatic, but when he broke the surface of the pool, he saw that night had fallen.  And he still had eight more weights to find and bring back after he dropped off the one in his hand.

 

He was exhausted.  He absolutely felt like quitting, but when he swam up to the bag to deposit the weight, Win looked up from his phone and grinned at Team.

 

“Are you having fun with this game?” he asked.

 

Team bit back an angry retort and gave Win a fake smile.  “Yep, lots of fun!”

 

Win nodded, “Good!  I’ll keep it in mind for next time.  I think I will ask Toh about buying more weights.  Maybe another twenty.  Twice as many weights, twice as much fun, right?”

 

Team stretched his fake smile even wider, “Sounds great!”

 

“You know, since you are having so much fun with this, I could go put these back in the water and you could bring them back again,” Win suggested.

 

Team’s heart sank.  “Uh…well, you’ve already gotten dry.  And the water is getting a bit cold now since the sun is gone.  We wouldn’t want you to take a chill.”

 

“That’s very kind of you to be concerned,” Win answered with a smirk.  “And you have a good point.  I would hate to get all wet and cold, so we will just stick with the ones that are still out there.  How many are there left?  Eight?”

 

“Yep, that one was number twelve.”

 

“Okay,” Win said, leaning back in his chair and picking his phone up from the table, “I am going to watch a few episodes of my favorite show while you finish.”  He laid the phone back down and zipped up his jacket.  “Brr,” he shivered, “Now that you mention it, the air is a bit chilly tonight too.  I’m glad you warned me about not going into the water.”  He again picked up his phone and seemed interested in whatever was on the screen.

 

Team ducked under the water and swam away, looking for number thirteen.

 

By the time he returned with the twentieth weight, he was exhausted all the way down to his bone marrow.  He was freezing and his stomach felt weird.  He didn’t know if he felt like throwing up or like going to an ‘All-you-can-eat’ restaurant and bankrupting them.  He pulled himself out of the pool and grabbed a towel.

 

Win got up from his chair and walked slowly over to him, studying something written on a piece of paper.  He held the paper in front of Team’s face.  “Pick one,” he said.

 

Team had to lean his head back a bit to focus on the paper.  He saw days and times written down.  “For what?”

 

“If you want to make Nationals one day, you have to get more practice in than just three days a week.  I have classes, these swim club meetings, my own swim club meetings, and tutoring, but here are some blocks of time that I have free, or could shift things around to free up the time,” Win explained.

 

“Oh…well…that’s not really necessary…” Team began.

 

“Yes, it is!” Win objected.  “You want to go to Nationals, and I am the one who knows what you need to do it.  Don’t argue with me…pick a spot!”

 

Team sighed and picked the time slot on Tuesdays.  He had an early class on Tuesdays and the rest of the day was free, so it was his easiest day.  Or had been.  Now it would be just as awful as the other swim club days.

 

Win nodded, “Okay, good!”  He pulled out his awful click pen and wrote on the paper.  As he was putting his pen back into his jacket pocket, he looked down on the ground beneath Team’s feet, “Well, good Lord!  Did you bring the entire pool with you when you got out?”

 

Team looked down at the puddle.  It wasn’t extraordinarily large but he was too tired to defend himself.  He just shrugged and said, “It will dry,” and then he walked past Win and went into the locker room.  He grabbed his shower items from his locker and went into the shower room.  He tossed his towel into the towel cart and grabbed a fresh one from the shelf.

 

The hot water from the shower warmed him up quickly.  He was still exhausted, but at least the queasiness had left his stomach, so now he felt ravenous.  All he wanted to do was grab some food on the way home and crawl into bed to eat it.

 

He wrapped himself up in a towel and hurried to his locker to get dressed.  No sooner had he gotten his locker door open, he heard the sound of wheels rolling towards him.  He turned to see Win pushing the towel cart from the shower room out into the locker room.

 

Win stopped at the bench on the other side of Team’s locker and put his hands on his hips.  “Tine!  You are only allowed to use two towels!  One for the pool and one for the shower!”

 

Team was stunned, “I did only use two!”

 

“Then what are all these towels?” Win gestured around the area and Team looked to see.  There were a couple of towels on the bench, a few on the floor, and one hanging from the top of the lockers.

 

“I don’t know…they aren’t mine!” Team defended.

 

“Well…they have to be, don’t they?  You are the only one here.”

 

Team opened his mouth and then closed it.  There was no point in arguing.  He already knew where this was headed.

 

Win smirked.  “Pick up your towels and put them into the cart.  I need all of them so I can start the laundry.  I don’t want to be stuck here all night!”

 

Team bit his tongue and then gathered up all the towels and dropped them into the cart.  He turned back to his locker.

 

“Excuse me?  I said I need all of the towels!”

 

Team turned to look at Win.  Win met Team’s eyes and then looked down to Team’s waist, where he was still wrapped up in the towel from his shower.

 

“I can bring it to you in a minute.  Let me get dressed first and I will bring it to the office,” Team offered.

 

“Now,” Win said.

 

Team yanked the towel off, slammed it into the cart, and glared at Win.  Win chuckled.  “My goodness!  Such a temper!  You have on your underwear!  Your dignity is intact.  Pull back your claws, Kitten!”

 

Team froze.  He stared at Win and watched as Win’s jaw dropped open and all the color left his face.  Team felt the same thing happening to his own face.

 

Team stared at Win; Win stared at Team.  Time passed and Team became aware that the only sound he could hear was the pool pump outside.  He had never heard it before because he had never been in a situation where it was so silent in the locker room.

 

Suddenly Win spun on his heel and stormed off to the office, leaving the towel cart behind.  He slammed the office door and pulled the blinds closed.

 

Team turned back to his locker and pulled out his pants.  He was still stunned so his mind wasn’t focused on getting dressed.  He shifted all his weight onto his bad leg to pull on his pants, and the pain from his ankle made him gasp and plop down hard onto the bench.  As he slid on his pants, his mind finally cleared enough so that he could acknowledge what had just happened.  Win called him ‘Kitten’, not ‘Team’, which Win could never seem to remember, even though it was written on everything related to the swim club, even the name tag that was pasted on his locker.  But Kitten.  The name that Win had given Team years ago.  The name that only the two of them knew.

 

Team dressed quickly and hurried out of the building.  He jumped on his cycle and roared off on it.  He made a couple of stops on his way home.  And the entire time his mind was in a whirl.  He kept remembering Win saying ‘Kitten’.  He couldn’t stop hearing it in his mind.

 

When he entered his room, he forced himself to stop thinking about it.  He took off his shoes and opened up one of the bags.  He pulled out a can of biofreeze and sprayed it on his ankle.  He felt instant relief from the pain.  He pulled out his elastic bandage from his backpack and wrapped it firmly around his foot and ankle.  Then he pulled out the two ice-gel packs from the bag the biofreeze had been in and put them in the freezer, next to the bag of Jai’s broccoli.

 

He sat down on his bed and propped his ankle up on some pillows.  He ate dinner while messaging with Than.  A woman had come into the store and had made a special order of the finger sandwiches and an entire cake.  She was going to go visit some family members up in the mountains and wanted to take them a treat.  She warned Than’s mother to expect some orders from the village she was visiting because they didn’t have much luck growing strawberries.

 

Than’s mother was excited by the prospect.  Than was too, except he was terribly sick of the smell of boiling strawberries.  But, they were now on their way of not only breaking even on the over-purchase of the strawberries, they might even possibly make a profit from it—which was boggling Than’s mind.  His dad was still helping as much as he could and seemed to be getting stronger by the day.

 

Team didn’t want to tell Than what he had really been doing, so he made up a story about a project he was working on for his International Contracts class—one of the classes he hated.  He said that he had met with classmates to work on it, and they had lost track of time.  Than seemed to believe it, and asked questions about it.  Luckily, they weren’t difficult questions so Team didn’t have too much trouble making up answers.

 

When Team saw the amount of food he had purchased for his dinner, he thought perhaps he had over bought.  He had planned on saving the leftovers to eat the next day.  But while messaging with Than, he realized he had eaten it all.  And he was still hungry.  He fixed a frozen microwave pizza and ate it, while imagining that the box would have probably tasted better.  Then he ate a bag of potato chips, but finally he felt full.

 

Than told him a couple of fart jokes and then had to go.  More strawberries to chop for jam.  But he was certain that before long, his strawberry chopping days would be over.

 

Once his stomach was filled and the distraction of messaging with Than was over, Team’s mind gave him a nudge to remember Win calling him Kitten.

 

With a sigh he got off his bed and went to his dresser.  He opened up his underwear drawer and pulled out the watch box.  He opened it and examined the necklace inside.  He remembered how it used to sparkle and shine.  He remembered how he used to watch sunbeams dance along the chain as it hung around Win's neck.

 

But now it was tarnished and it looked old and dirty.  He wrapped the chain around his fingers and hid the dolphin medallion in his palm.  He remembered when his dad told him that he had a chain around his fingers, and he was bleeding.  He imagined that the old, dirty chain still had traces of his blood on it.

 

Win didn’t wear a necklace anymore.  Team remembered when he couldn’t go a second without this one.  Except for when he was in the pool, of course.  He had even kept it on when he showered and when he slept.

 

Team let the medallion drop from his palm and swing back and forth, like a trick by a hypnotist in an old movie.  Team watched it swing.  He thought, “He didn’t forget me.  Not really.  And this has all been some kind of joke.  No…not a joke.  It was a game.  A mind game!”

 

Team nodded as he agreed with himself.  He reached for the bag that had held the biofreeze and the gel packs.  There was one item left in the bag and Team pulled it out and looked at it. “That’s okay,” he said.  “I like to play games, too.”  He read the instructions for the jewelry cleaner that claimed it was specially formulated to remove tarnish from silver jewelry.  He gave a bitter smile and said, “This is about to get good!”

 

 

Chapter 25

Team couldn’t put his plan into action for a couple of weeks.  He had the perfect moment—the perfect event—in mind, but he had to wait for it.  He didn’t mind however.  After using the jewelry cleaner on the necklace, it gleamed and shone, just like it had in the past.  Every night, Team would take out a polishing cloth and spend hours shining it.  All the while imagining how it was going to be and chuckling to himself.

 

Team wasn’t surprised when Win acted as if that ‘Kitten’ moment hadn’t happened.  He still continued to call Team ‘Tine’.  But since learning that Team was focusing on making the National Team one day, Win’s demeanor had shifted a bit.  Now he explained things to Team instead of just having Team do as he ordered.  For instance, the first Tuesday that they had the pool to themselves, Win explained the purpose of having Team fetch the weights from the bottom of the pool.

 

“I have noticed that you can hold your breath an extremely long time.  Also, your timing is faster the longer you stay under.  That’s why I had you fetching those weights.  On reflection, I do think…perhaps…that maybe having you retrieve twenty of them might have been a bit much.  I got really bored waiting for you to bring them all back.  We are going to keep practicing it…but with fewer weights from now on.”

 

Win swam out and dropped five of the weights.  When he was finished, he swam back and pulled himself out of the pool.  He spoke as he dried himself with a towel, “I have placed them in the same area, so you won’t have to waste time swimming around looking for them.  I want you to swim out, dive down, retrieve a weight and bring it back.  Try to stay under for as long as you can.  You appear to be a sprinter, but I want us to work on longevity.  Try to pace yourself.”

 

Team had looked away from Win as he used the towel.  For some reason, it irritated Team to watch him rubbing his body with it.  He didn’t understand, and he didn’t care to ponder it.  He nodded, “Yeah, I think that is true about me.  I can feel it when it happens.  It’s like an adrenaline rush but it fades over time.”

 

Win chuckled, “That’s why I have you swim laps during the club meetings.  I have been trying to get you to learn how to finish as strongly as you start out.  It hasn’t worked so far.  Maybe now that you understand what the goal is, and you agree that this is an area where you need work,” Win shrugged and Team saw it from the corner of his eye.  Win continued, “Maybe it will work now.”

 

Team climbed the platform and waited until Win gave him the signal.  Win got the stopwatch, clipboard, and his awful click pen, and then gave a short blast on his whistle.  Team entered the water and swam out to retrieve the first weight.

 

By the time he was swimming back with the fifth weight, he could tell that he was swimming slower than when he had first started.  He felt discouraged when he reached the wall and dropped the weight into the bag.  He looked up at Win who was making notes on the clipboard.  “I already know,” he said.  “I felt myself slowing down.”

 

Win gave a slight nod, “But not as much as usual.  Now that you are aware of it, you paced yourself better.  You actually did a pretty good job, Tine.”

 

Team blinked in confusion.  The other guys always got remarks like that from Win, not Team.

 

“Do you watch the Nationals every year?” Win asked.

 

Team shook his head, “Not since I was younger.”  When they were kids, the two of them had always watched the Nationals together, but Team had given them up, along with everything else that reminded him of Win.

 

Still making notes on the clipboard, Win nodded.  “Go ahead and get showered and meet me in the office when you are finished.  I have some videos I would like to show you.”

 

Team did as he was told, but he was irritated.  He didn’t want to watch clips of Win at Nationals, and he knew that was what Win had planned to show him.

 

Once he was fully dressed after his shower, he pulled his backpack onto his shoulder and went to the office.  Win was sitting behind the desk, watching a clip on the computer.  Team suddenly felt very uncomfortable.  He didn’t want to pull a chair over and sit close to Win to see the screen.

 

Win looked up as Team entered the room.  “It took you long enough!  Grab a seat.”

 

A large TV screen in the corner turned on.  Win projected from the laptop onto it, much to Team’s relief.  And then to his surprise, Win didn’t show him clips of his own appearances at Nationals, but other people.

 

“This swimmer won the Nationals in 2012—maybe you saw him—your natural style is a lot like his—he was also faster while swimming underwater,” Win explained.

 

They watched the young man swimming the round that gave him the win.  Knowing in advance that the guy had won didn’t detract from the excitement of watching him swim.

 

Win paused the screen, “Look!  Did you notice what he did with his arm?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I saw him suddenly pull ahead, but I didn’t see how.”

 

Win took the video back a few moments and then explained to Team what to watch for and then pushed the play button.  This time Team noticed it.  Win grabbed the clipboard and his awful pen again and began to make notes.  “Okay, I have found two more swimmers I want you to watch.  One didn’t win but did come in second—still very good.”

 

One of the swimmers was a woman from the 2018 Nationals who had won, the other was a man from the 2004 Nationals who had came in second.  For both of the swims, Team again got lost in watching the overall rounds, but Win noticed every little thing.  He made notes and they discussed how Team could implement these things into his own technique.

 

After Team left the practice, he went to the gym.  He had worked out regularly in the village during physical therapy staff off hours, but he hadn’t stepped foot in a gym since leaving.  Lots of the pointers he had picked up from watching those swimming videos were involving the arms.  Team knew that he had a tendency to use his legs more—he had been scolded numerous times about flapping his arms like a chicken by Win—so he thought it would be a good idea to go back to working out.  Luckily, he needed to focus on his upper body because he knew better than to do any leg workouts.  As long as he kept his ankle wrapped, it was fine, but he knew it would be stupid to put it through too much.  He didn’t want a reoccurrence of the pain he had gone through on Club Weekend.

 

Team went back to his dorm room and grabbed one of the bags he had saved from the grocery store.  He went to his drawers and selected a workout outfit and put it in the bag, and then put the bag into his backpack.  He hurried back out and jumped onto his motorcycle.

 

The gym, or as it was more formally called, “The Fitness Center”, was located just outside the campus, on the main road going to Bangkok.  Team parked his cycle and went in to sign up.  He had to show his school ID and then he was given the discounted student rate.  It was fairly affordable.  He made sure to read all of the fine print before signing the contract though.  He had heard about gym membership contracts and how some of them were next to impossible to get out of.  This one seemed to be a fair contract though.

 

After he was signed up, they showed him where his locker was located and then left him to get dressed.  He dressed quickly and then went into the workout room.

 

He liked the cleanliness, the equipment, and the overall feeling of the place.  He saw a couple of people he knew from campus and chatted with them a bit while waiting for their turns on the equipment.

 

After his workout, he showered and dressed.  He had to hurry to meet up with his Scooby friends for dinner.  He wasn’t late, but almost.  They were all there and seated before he arrived.

 

Once they finished dinner, they went to the library to study.  Team got caught up with the work he had missed from the previous day, and even worked ahead a bit.  He detested the class, so he gave it extra effort.  Every time he moved; he felt his muscles give out a tiny bit of pain with the effort.  Team liked that.  It was a nice kind of pain.  The kind that spoke of health and muscle growth.  Even with all the swimming he was doing weekly, it wasn’t the same kind of work out that he got with the weights.

 

At one point during the evening, Win walked by their area.  He was talking with a boy, Team assumed it was a student Win was tutoring, and was deeply involved in whatever they were discussing.  Win didn’t even glance in Team’s direction.

 

Team watched them until they were out of sight and then thought about the private meeting they had had earlier.  Win had been pleasant—pleasant for Win, that is.  In other words, he hadn’t been a raging asshole.  All in all, it had been a pretty great day for Team.

 

When he got home, he looked at the watch box on his dresser.  He didn’t even bother to open it.  He picked it and the cleaning cloth up and put them in his underwear drawer.  He had lost the desire to shove it in Win’s face.

 

He played a few levels in the game with his Zombie Killer friends, but since it was Tuesday and everyone had school the next day (except for Than), they signed off early.  Than and Team messaged each other for a while.  The strawberries were finally gone from the store.  His mother was using the last of them to make more jam.  Than was thrilled that he wouldn’t be smelling boiling strawberries again for a long, long time.  He had a couple of really good fart jokes for Team, and he signed off while Team was still laughing.

 

The next day Team came straight home after Swim Club.  He yanked open his drawer and pulled out the watch box and cleaning cloth and slammed them down hard on his dresser top.  Win had been worse than ever before.  It was so bad that some of the other guys in the club would give Team a tiny shake of their heads or an eyeroll directed at Win when he wasn’t looking.  It wasn’t much, but it helped Team to know that they all saw how horrible Win was to him.

 

Kulap hadn’t been in his class that day.  Of course, he could have missed for any number of reasons, but Team felt certain that it had been Kulap, Ling, and the guy who had been scheduled to work with Ling on Sunday, who were the ones who had been suspended.  Team felt kind of…well, not glad because he was friendly with Kulap and Ling, but maybe he felt a bit vindicated by it.  They had done him dirty.  He would have never treated anyone the way they had treated him.  And he didn’t think it was any kind of coincidence that none of them showed up for their shifts.  It felt more like something they had planned.  And he definitely believed the anonymous letter complaining about Win had been from them.

 

The next Monday, Kulap was back in class.  He walked into the room, took his seat, and never looked in Team’s direction.  This was odd behavior because usually the two of them chatted together before class.

 

After class, Kulap was the first one out the door once it was dismissed.  Team was surprised to find him waiting beside Team’s motorcycle when he entered the parking lot.

 

“I want to know something,” Kulap said instead of a greeting.  His brow was furrowed, and Team could clearly see the anger in his eyes.

 

Team shrugged and said, “Okay, what do you want to know?”

 

“I want to know how the school found out that we didn’t show up for our shifts at the booth on Club Weekend.”

 

Team gave a small nod, “P’Win came in during my fourth hour working the booth and asked me what I was doing there.  So, I told him.”

 

“You just…” Kulap stopped and shook his head, “You told him?  Why would you tell him that?!!  You should have covered for us!”

 

“Why?  Why should I have covered for you?  It was me who got fucked over—why should I lie for you?”

 

“Oh my God!  Seriously?!!!  It wasn’t a big deal!  If you handled it alone for four hours than obviously it wasn’t that difficult!” Kulap’s anger had grown, and he was only an octave or so away from screaming at Team. “And since it was P’Win that you told, now I know we were right when we suspected it was him who reported us!  A week’s worth of classes gone—and we can’t even make up the work or do extra credit assignments for it!  Do you know what that could mean for my GPA?  And I have to have a high GPA in pre-law to qualify for Law School!  I can’t believe you would do that!  And yet while you were stabbing me in the back, I was doing something nice for you!”  Kulap stopped his rant, took a breath, and then smiled, “I reported him to the Administrators for his constant mistreatment of you.  I expect he will be removed soon from the Swim Club; maybe even today.  You’re welcome!”

 

Team gave a slight shake of his head, “I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.”

 

Kulap’s smile dropped and his frown reappeared, “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean…you didn’t report him, you wrote an anonymous letter to the Administrators complaining about him.  I was called in to clarify the matter.  And I did.  I gave a signed statement saying the allegations were false.”

 

“False!” Kulap screamed.  “What the fuck, Dude??!!!  Everything we said in that letter was true!  We were trying to save your stupid ass!”

 

Team scoffed and said, “The hell you were!  You thought it was P’Win who reported you, so you used me to go after him…AFTER I had told you numerous times that I did not want him reported.  You didn’t write that letter to benefit me; it was for revenge, and you tried to use me as the tool to get it.”

 

“Yeah, ‘tool’ is the right name for you!  How could you be so stupid?!!  Don’t you realize that you fed the monster?  And once you feed a monster it becomes worse!  Don’t come running to me again whining about how bad he is…I’m done with trying to save you!”

 

Team had to battle his rage before he could trust himself to speak.  “I never came ‘running’ to you, and I never ‘whined’ about it.  You did this all on your own.  As for me…I can handle anything he dishes out.  I’ve told you that before.  He doesn’t frighten me!”

 

“Okay, if he doesn’t scare you, why did you lie to save him?  I think you were afraid he would retaliate against you.  Maybe beat you up, or something, and that’s why you did it!”

 

Team gave a bitter laugh, “No, I am not scared of him.  I’m using him.  My form, technique, and speed have all improved since I was put into his group.  He can do or say anything he wants to, but in the end…I WILL BE THE WINNER!  I am choosing the battles that I want to fight and make no mistake…I will win the war.  But I am fighting it on my own terms.  Not his, not yours, not anyone else’s.  MY TERMS!”

 

Kulap laughed and shook his head, “You don’t have the killer instinct.  He does.  He will chew you up and spit you out.  You don’t stand a chance.”

 

“Watch me!”

 

“Nah,” Kulap said with a shake of his head, “I am done with this little domestic drama.  I’ve already quit the Swim Club.  So, you do you.  I hate the douchebag, and I’m not a fan of yours, so whoever wins the war is immaterial to me.”  He turned and stalked off.

 

Team hopped on his cycle and rode around for a bit before going to Swim Club.  He was in a foul mood and the last person he wanted to see was Win.  But, as luck would have it, Win was the first person he saw when he entered.  He was standing beside what had been Kulap’s locker, laughing at something an unknown guy was saying.  When Team got closer to them, he recognized the guy as the one who he had seen with Win in the library the week before.  Win looked at Team and then said loudly, “Well, since Tine finally decided to show up, I would like to introduce the newest member of our group.  This is Chaiya.  He is taking Kulap’s spot.  I’m sure that you will all make him feel welcome.”  Then Win pointed out the members of the group to Chaiya and told him their names.  Of course, when he got to Team he introduced him as Tine.  Team didn’t bother to correct him.

 

“Okay guys, suit up and meet us by the pool.  Chaiya, since you have already changed, follow me and we’ll get you started,” Win said as he walked away.

 

“Okay P’!” Chaiya said, very enthusiastically and very informally, as he trotted along behind Win.

 

The guys had gathered together for the introductions, and they were still standing in a small group watching Win and the new guy walking away.

 

“‘P’?  He calls him ‘P’?  What are they, cousins or something?  None of us would dare be so casual with P'Win!" exclaimed Pair.  “And what happened to Kulap?”

 

“He quit,” Ling said.  “He was mad about the suspension.”

 

“Oh!” Taeng-Mo said under his breath, and then said louder, “I knew some people had gotten into trouble, but I didn’t know who.”

 

Ling nodded, “Yep, it was Kulap.  And me, and Wat from P’Sai’s group.  We skipped working the booth on Club Weekend.”  He looked at Team, “Sorry for ditching and leaving it all on you.  I screwed up—it won’t happen again.”

 

Team gave him a nod and a smile.  The atmosphere felt a bit tense.  Team could feel it and he knew the rest of them could too.

 

“So…does anybody know anything about P’Win’s new shadow?” Pair asked.  “Who is he?  I don’t remember seeing him during the club try-outs, do any of you?”

 

Everyone said they hadn’t seen him there.  And then Yoo spoke up, “You know, I think I have seen him before though.  If I’m not mistaken, I think he is on the diving team.  My girlfriend’s brother is on the team, and he needed a ride home one night.  I came here to pick him up and I think this guy was in the parking lot.”

 

“I guess that could explain why he is so close to P’Win…if they are teammates, I mean,” Pair said.

 

“I saw them at the library together, too,” Team said.  He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, he had been thinking about it and it just slipped out of his mouth.

 

“Interesting!” Pair said.  “Sounds like they are closer than just teammates then.  Maybe they are friends.”

 

“Good Lord!” Ling said loudly, then lowered his voice, “Who would want to be friends with P’Win?  The guy is a nightmare!”

 

Team shook his head, “I can’t imagine.  But…I know that none of us are, and if we don’t get dressed and out there soon, there will be hell to pay!”

 

After the club meeting they returned to the locker room.  Each one of them carrying a bag that  contained their brand-new swim club jackets.  They were quiet, except for Chaiya, who had already taken his jacket from the bag and had put it on.  He was chatting a mile-a-minute to Ling, whose locker happened to be near Kulap’s old locker.  Ling mumbled a few ‘uh-huh’s’ occasionally.

 

Team had opened his locker and put the jacket inside and was reaching for his shower kit when P’Toh entered.

 

“Listen up, guys!” he called.  “Wednesday the photographer will be here to take the team picture.  You are to be dressed in your regulation swim trunks and your new jackets.  Now…this gives you two days to get the wrinkles out of them.  If you show up without your regulation trunks, without your jacket, or with a jacket looking like it just came out of the bag, you will NOT be in the picture.  Does everyone understand?”

 

“Yes, P’Toh!” they answered in unison.

 

P’Toh gave a sharp nod of his head.  “Good.  And another thing…don’t be late to the meeting…we will not wait for you!  The photographer is on a time limit, so be respectful.”

 

Again, they said, “Yes, P’Toh!”  And then P’Toh turned and went into the office.

 

Team turned back to his locker and again reached for his shower kit, but this time his hand was shaking.  His heart was racing in his chest and his stomach was filled with fluttering butterflies.  This was it!  What he had been waiting for; he knew it would be coming soon, and when they received their jackets, he had braced himself for it—apparently not enough though, according to the physical response he was having at hearing the news.

 

As Nick had pointed out, the afternoon on the day of the accident, that necklace was in every team picture that Win and Team had been in together.  This time would be no exception.  The only thing different was…this time, Team would be the one wearing it instead of Win.

 

He hurried off to take his shower.  Later, as he was dressing, he realized that he had been so consumed with his own thoughts about what Win’s reaction would be seeing the necklace again, that he hadn’t noticed the silence from the other guys.  When he finally became aware of it, he realized that the silence was oppressive.  It had changed the atmosphere that was usually in the locker room.  All of the guys generally discussed things that were going on in their lives—what they were going to do afterwards, what a horror Professor such-and-such was, a cute girl they had their eye on—things like that.  But now there was nothing but silence.

 

Team scanned the area, looking for the new guy, and saw that he wasn’t at his locker—which was Kulap’s old locker.  Ling saw him looking and walked over to Team.

 

“He went back out to the pool.  He’s helping P’Win remove the lane markers.  Diving club is scheduled for about a half hour from now—I heard them talking about it.  Apparently Yoo was right with his guess about that creep being in the diving club.”

 

Team shook his head.  “Shh, be careful!  Voices carry.  Let’s all meet in the parking lot.  We can talk about it there.”

 

Ling nodded, “I’ll pass the word to the other guys,” he said and then hurried over to whisper to Pair.

 

Team finished dressing—his mind was still occupied with thoughts about the necklace.  Every time he thought about it, he would get a rush of adrenaline soar through his veins.  He had waited so long…and although he knew it was just two more days, he didn’t want to wait.

 

Once he was done, he gathered his stuff together and placed the jacket bag into his backpack and pulled it up on his shoulder.  When he walked out of the building, he saw the guys loitering around the bench that was against the wall.

 

He walked over to them.  “We need to take this further away from the door,” he said.  “Whose got a car here?”

 

A few of them did, so they selected Yoo’s car which was the furthest away from the building.  “I’m going to bring my cycle; I’ll meet you guys there.”

 

The guys walked away, seemingly at random, as to appear like by some weird chance they all happened to arrive at Yoo’s car.  Team stalled around for a bit, allowing them time to reach the car, before starting his cycle and riding over to them.  He parked it so that he could view the door of the locker room.  He knew it was silly, but it seemed like in a lot of shows and movies he had seen, whenever people discussed…or rather, gossiped…about others, the person they were speaking about always came and stood behind them and listened to everything.  Team knew that it was a fictional plot tactic, it had probably never really happened in the history of the world, but he wanted to be certain it wouldn’t happen now.

 

“Okay,” he said, “Who’s going to start?”

 

“Me!” Taeng-Mo announced emphatically.  “I just want to know one thing:  Why in the hell is this guy on our team?!”

 

A few of them nodded.  Pair spoke up, “That guy couldn’t swim his way across a bowl of soup, even if he was using a cracker as a floatation device!”

 

Team had to laugh at that.  It was true.  Win had placed Chaiya in the other punishment lane that was next to the one where he made Team swim.  Team had seen up close and personal how awful a swimmer Chaiya was.  His swimming was barely a step above a dog paddle.  It took him the entire meeting time to swim one lap.  And Win devoted all his time, encouraging Chaiya, calling out pointers—in a nice tone, and praising him for any small bit of improvement.  It had set Team’s back teeth on edge.  Especially when Win looked over at Team at one point and yelled, “Dammit Tine!  What are you doing with your arms?  I thought you were past all that!”

 

“And a jacket already?  How in the world does Mr. Johnny-Come-Lately Chuckle-Fuck deserve a jacket on his first fucking day on the team?  The rest of us have had to wait for months to get ours!” Ling exclaimed.

 

“I imagine they just gave him Kulap’s,” Team suggested, “But still…I agree, he shouldn’t have gotten it so soon.”

 

Yoo shook his head in disgust, “They should make him wait at least until he learns how to swim.  It’s a spit in our faces.”  And the others agreed.

 

“I think we all know why, we just don’t want to say it,” Ling said.  He was leaning against Yoo’s car, and he crossed his arms over his chest and his face was defiant.  “I’ll say it though…we had to try out to be in the club, and we were picked from a large group of hopeful swimmers.  Now, even though I am good friends with Kulap, I understand that they had to replace him…but it should have been with one of the guys who tried out and almost but not quite made the team.  Obviously, we didn’t overlook ol’ Chuckle-Fuck from try-outs…we would all have remembered someone who swam so terrible.  So…the reason he was picked to join is because he and P’Win are friends.  Point, blank, period!  And he is already P’Win’s favorite.  I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but this is the oddest part to me.  Like…it’s not right to have a favorite, but we all know that people in authority always have one.  But, if P’Win was going to favor someone, I think it should be Team.  I could even understand it if he did.  Team’s the best swimmer we have.  Better than any of the rest of us in the club.  But he hates Team and is besties with this…Chuckle-Fuck!  It’s insane!  Once our competitions with other schools start next month, what role will he play?  Even if P’Win can get the fundamentals into this dude’s head, he still won’t be competition ready—not in the least!”

 

“There’s something I don’t understand though,” Pair pondered, “How can…what did you call him?  Chuckle-Fuck?  How can he be on the diving team, but not be able to swim?  It’s counterintuitive, isn’t it?”

 

“Simple,” Yoo answered.  “My sister’s boyfriend doesn’t swim well either.  But better than Chuckle-Fuck.  I don’t think any of the guys on the team are swimmers.  Divers climb up to the board, jump off, and then come up from the water and make their way to the side to climb out.  Even that stupid dog paddle thing Chuckles was doing is good enough for that!”

 

Taeng-Mo had been scrolling on his phone and he nodded. “Yoo is right.  Look,” he turned his phone around so they could see the picture he had pulled up.  “Last year’s diving team.  Only Win is wearing a swimmer’s jacket, so he was the only one who was an actual swimmer.”

 

Team quickly looked away from the picture. For a moment he remembered being in his dad’s home office, the day that he had seen a picture of Win after not seeing his face for two years.  He pushed that memory away.  “So, even though he can’t swim and doesn’t really need to know how…we are stuck with him on our team,” he grumbled.

 

“Yeah,” Ling agreed.  “And it seems more and more likely it is only because he and P’Win are besties and want to hang out together.  No other reason I can think of.”

 

The rest of the guys nodded in agreement.  Team noticed some cars were turning into the parking lot.  “I think the rest of the diving team are arriving.”

 

“Yeah,” Yoo agreed.  “Let’s head out of here.  I’m starving!  You guys want to grab some food together?”

 

The rest of them agreed, but Team had to decline.  He told them he already had plans.  He started his cycle and was the first of them to leave.

 

He stopped at a drive-thru place and grabbed a to-go bag and headed home.  He hadn’t been lying to the other guys—he had had plans.  He had planned on going to the gym and then meeting his Scooby friends for dinner and study time, but he had changed his mind.

 

Once he arrived back at his dorm, he messaged The Mystery Machine group and told them he couldn’t make it.  He put his dinner bag and his backpack on the table and then went to his dresser and pulled out his regulation trunks.  Nobody wore them for swim club meetings.  For one thing…they were ugly, and for another, they were mainly for competition wear and times when the club represented the school.  During regular meetings they could wear whatever trunks they wanted.

 

He stripped down and pulled on the trunks.  Then he went to the table and grabbed the jacket bag out of his backpack.  He took the jacket out of the bag and gave it a couple of hard shakes and most of the wrinkles smoothed out.  He took it over to the dresser and put it on while standing in front of the mirror.  He examined it from every angle.  It looked pretty good on him, he had to admit it.

 

Once he finished admiring himself in the mirror, he reached over and pulled open his underwear drawer.  He rummaged around and withdrew the watch box and sat it down on the top of the dresser.  He took a deep breath and then opened the box and removed the necklace.  He opened the latch and brought it up to his neck…and then he stopped.

 

He had worn the necklace more than a few times over the years, but he had never been the one who put it on his neck.  He frowned at himself in the mirror.  He wished his brain would put all those stupid, old memories away.  It didn’t matter who put it on him in the past!  He was going to be the one to do it now.

 

He clasped the necklace and then dropped his hands and looked at himself in the mirror.  The jacket acted like a frame, calling attention to the necklace laying on his bare chest.  He had known how it would look; he had seen it on the other person in all their past team pictures.  But it was jarring to see it on himself.

 

He quickly took it off and put it back in the watch box.  He turned his back on it as he changed into shorts and a T-shirt.  He went to the table, sat down, and ate his dinner.  The entire time he was having a mental battle.  He didn’t think he could actually do it.  He wanted to, and he felt like Win deserved it…but it was a mean thing to do.  He reminded himself that Win was playing mind games with him by pretending he didn’t remember him for so long but then slipping and calling him Kitten, and then to compound it, he had gone right back to calling him Tine!

 

He knew that he needed to think about it—to think it all the way through, including possible outcomes if he did decide to do it.  But…he didn’t want to think about it.  So, he didn’t.  After he finished eating, he did homework for a while.  He got bored after a time and got in on a game with his Zombie Killer friends.  Later, when the round ended and everyone signed off the game, he and Than messaged for a while.  Once he began to feel tired, he said goodnight to Than and then turned off his phone.

 

When he got into bed, his mind started prodding at him.  The harder he tried to push the thoughts away, the more they pushed back.  In frustration he looked towards his dresser and felt a wave of shock flow through him when he saw the watch box still sitting on the top of it.  He had forgotten to put it away after he had tried the necklace on.

 

He bolted out of bed, grabbed the box, and tossed it back in the drawer.  He knew there was nothing to think over.  He wouldn’t be able to wear it.  It was mean and he wasn’t a mean person.

 

On Tuesday, his individual session with Win had been like the previous one—a bit of helpful, targeted training, and after showering and dressing, he had met Win back in the office.  Win told him that he had been watching old Olympics swimming clips.  He had found some that he thought would be helpful to Team.  As before, Win projected it from the computer onto a TV screen, and they watched the clips together.  Win would point out isolated moments that showed a breathing technique or a leg or arm movement that might be helpful for Team to implement.

 

Win had pulled his chair around and had it near Team’s and he made notes as they talked.  Team had felt very encouraged by it; like he was gaining a great deal of knowledge in areas that he had never thought of before.  These things, if he could master them, might help his chances to make it to Nationals.  He idly wondered if Win had done these things—hunted up other swimmers’ performances, looking for pointers—but then his next thought was that he doubted it.  Win had always been an extremely talented swimmer and hadn’t needed any help to excel.

 

No sooner had he had the kind thought about Win, the office door opened, and Chaiya popped his head in.  “Hey P’!” he said.

 

“Oh, Chaiya!” Win said, getting up hurriedly and going to the laptop to shut off the video.  “You’re early!  But that’s fine, Tine and I were finished anyway.”

 

They were?  The video they were watching hadn’t ended yet…and Win had talked about two more that he wanted Team to see.

 

“Hi Team!” Chaiya said, surprisingly getting his name correct.

 

“Hey Chuc…uh…Chaiya,” Team said, mentally kicking himself for the slip of the tongue.  He had stopped himself before he called Chaiya by the team’s nickname for him.

 

Win ripped off the sheet of paper he had been making notes on and handed it to Team.  “See you tomorrow,” he said as a dismissal.  “Don’t forget it is team picture day.”

 

Team looked at the clock on the wall and saw that they still had almost a half hour left before the session was over, but he was being asked to leave so Win and Chuckles could hang out together.  Team understood, in a way.  Best friends like to hang out every spare minute they had free…but technically, Win wasn’t free.  He was just ditching Team like an old, unwanted sandwich wrapper.  Team got up from his seat, slung his backpack up on his shoulder and grabbed the paper.  “Yeah, I remember that it’s picture day tomorrow.”

 

As he turned to walk out the door, Chaiya walked over and took the chair that Team had vacated.  “He took my place,” Team thought, and then pushed it away.  He didn’t have a place in Win’s life, and he was glad for it.  Chuckles was more than welcome to sit in Team’s empty seat.

 

Team quickly exited the office and hurried outside.  He wadded up the paper with the notes on it and tossed it into the trashcan that was next to the bench, and then he hopped on his cycle.  His teeth were grinding as he roared out of the parking lot.  Since he had unexpected free time, he went to the gym.

 

He threw himself into his workout, pushing himself to the limit.  When he was finished, he was exhausted, and his muscles were shaking from the punishment that he had put them through.  Usually after a good workout, he felt relaxed and happy.  Not this day though.  The entire time he was working he kept hearing Chaiya’s voice as he said, ‘Hey P!’.  Team’s lips twisted into a bitter sneer.  He didn’t like Chaiya, nobody on the team did.  Except for Win and it was so obvious.  Of course, he liked his best friend…after all…he had brought this no-talent swimmer onto their team and had given him a jacket on his first day.  Chaiya had been wearing it when he came to the office.  The rest of them were waiting to wear theirs for the first time in the team picture.  This guy really didn’t fit in with them at all.

 

When he left the gym, he met up with his Scooby friends for dinner.  He didn’t really feel much like eating, but he was the biggest eater in their group, so he knew he needed to at least attempt it.  He still felt sour and bitter inside for the way he had been dismissed earlier.  He thought if he ate something sweet and light it would help his disposition.  It didn’t.  It landed like a rock into the pit of his stomach and lodged there.

 

Luckily everyone was chatty during the meal, so no one seemed to notice that Team wasn’t.  Or rather…they didn’t mention it if they did notice.  He saw Namfon casting side-eyed looks at him from time-to-time, and there was a time he saw one from Mali, but the two of them mainly carried the conversation throughout the meal.  Jai was never one to talk much, but he occasionally would contribute to the conversation.

 

Kwan had some free time and he joined them for dessert.  Team hadn’t seen him in a while, so he did manage to push aside his bad day to talk with him a bit and to catch up.  But Kwan couldn’t stay with them long.  His cooking club would be helping to cater a huge gala that was being thrown by the President of the college.  Of course, they couldn’t handle the entire menu on their own, so they were preparing the Hors-d’oeuvres and would be passing them around during the party before the meal.  Kwan was very excited about it.  They were making a huge variety of tasty little bites.  Team said if he were a guest at a party like that, he would probably have to sample every kind and wouldn’t be able to eat dinner.

 

“That’s not true!” Jai laughingly replied.  “You eat more than anyone I’ve ever met!  You could eat all the trays and still have room for dinner!”

 

Everyone, including Team, laughed at that.  But then he saw Namfon toss a glance at the food he still had on his plate from dinner that he hadn’t been able to finish.  She didn’t meet his eyes, but she didn’t say anything to contradict what Jai had said.

 

After Kwan left to go to his cooking club, the four of them left the restaurant and went to the library to do their homework.  They took their regular table in the back and Team set to work on his homework that was due the next day.  He was scolding himself mentally for not doing it sooner.  He hated the class and knew that he would slack off on it, so up until then, he had kept on top of it.  But it was a big, boring assignment and he kept putting it off.  Now it was crunch time and he had to get it done.  It didn’t help his mood.

 

After a while, his frustration and stress grew to the point where he slapped his pencil down and rubbed the back of his neck.  He happened to glance over to the other side of the room and saw Win and Chaiya sitting at Win’s usual tutoring table.  He remembered seeing Chaiya with Win the week before in the library and had assumed it was one of his tutoring students.  But Win always tutored at least two or three students at a time.  He didn’t do one-on-one tutoring, so this wasn’t a session.  And as soon as he had that realization, the two of them started laughing about something they were looking at in a book.

 

Team continued to rub the back of his neck as he thought, “Yeah, laugh it up now, Chuckle-Fuck!  You’ll learn soon enough that Win is blackhearted and disloyal.  I can’t wait until he squashes you like a bug.  I’m going to laugh my head off!”  Then he scolded himself for having evil thoughts like that.  He knew better than to wish someone else pain and misfortune.

 

“Are you okay, Scooby?” Namfon asked quietly.

 

“I’m fine!” Team snapped.

 

“Excuse me?!!  What’s with that tone?” she said reprovingly.

 

Team felt shame wash over him.  The three of them were all looking at him in varying degrees of surprise and shock.  “I’m…I’m so sorry, Namfon!  I shouldn’t have answered you like that.  I’m just…I think I did too much at the gym today.  I’m not sick; I just don’t feel the best.  But I had no right to speak to you like that.  Forgive me?”

 

She gave him a nod, “Of course.  And I knew something wasn’t right when I saw all the food you left on your plate at dinner.”

 

Team thanked her for forgiving him and they all went back to studying.  Team stared down at his textbook and thought about how much he would rather be back in his room, playing the game with the Zombie Killers, or better yet…messaging with Than.  The thought of Than and the game beckoned to him.  He didn’t want to do this stupid homework and he didn’t want to sit in the stupid library and watch stupid Win with his stupid new best friend laughing and having fun.  He gathered up his homework materials and put them in his backpack.  “Sorry guys, I’m going to call it an early night,” he said.  He got up and slung his backpack onto his shoulder and took off walking through the library, headed towards the exit.

 

The library had a vestibule between the main area and the door.  Namfon caught up to him there.  She grabbed his arm and turned him around to face her.  “I want you to know that I don’t believe what you said back there.  Oh, I believe you are sorry that you snapped at me and that’s all been forgiven, but I don’t believe the reason that you gave.  You know I am here for you.  If there is something you want to talk about, I’ll listen.”

 

Team gave a small smile.  “I appreciate that.  And the same goes for you.  If, oh…let’s say, supposing you wanted to discuss anything about ‘Blueskies’, I would be willing to listen to you, too.”

 

“I…I don’t want to discuss it,” she stammered, her face turning red.

 

Team nodded, “I understand.  And I don’t want to discuss anything either.  But I appreciate the offer.  And I promise…if I ever do decide to, I will come to you about it.”

 

“Me too,” she said with a nod.

 

Team moved his chin to indicate the interior of the library, “I need to see you inside and safe before I can leave.”

 

“Are you trying to act like you are my father?” she quipped.

 

“Nope, just a friend who wants to make sure nothing happens to you.”

 

She grinned, “Don’t forget what I said.  I’m always here for you.”  She turned and went back into the library.

 

Team got on his cycle and went directly to a little convenience store that was located just off campus.  He grabbed a few bags of chips and some colas to snack on back in his room.  Then he left the store and rode to his dorm.

 

In his room, he tossed his backpack on the floor, and plopped on the bed with his bag of snacks.  He fished his phone out of his pocket and signed onto the game.  None of the members of the Zombie Killers group were online.  He checked his messages and saw that Than had sent him one earlier—when he was in the library.  It was mandatory that cell phones be shut off while there.  Thinking about that made Team remember seeing Win and Chuckles in there and his anger, which he had managed to put aside, came roaring back.

 

He read Than’s message.  Ever since the great strawberry mishap and the dozens and dozens of jam making that had occurred, Than’s father’s health had been slowly, but steadily, improving.  Now instead of being in bed almost entirely, he got up and dressed every day.  He often came and sat in the kitchen or the living room.  And Than wrote that his father had made it into the store that day.  Of course, he couldn’t actually do any work, but he sat on a stool behind the counter and spoke to the customers.  He had been in the store for a couple of hours, and then had eaten dinner at the table with the family.  He was exhausted but elated.  He had gone to bed early and Than’s mother was feeling less stressed, so she had given Than the evening off and she was taking care of the store.  Than was going to go to bed and try to get a few extra hours of sleep, which was so rare for him that it felt like a vacation.  He signed off with a fart joke.

 

Team didn’t laugh.  The joke was funny enough, but he was hoping to message with Than for a bit.  It would have helped take his mind off things.  But he was glad that Than’s father was doing so much better, and he was glad that Than was getting a much-needed break.  He just wished it was on another night.  He shut off his phone and laid it on the bed and he grabbed his backpack from the floor.  He did some work on his homework assignment.  The entire time he was grumbling to himself about it.  He hated the class.  He hated Wednesdays.  And Mondays.  And he reminded himself that this was just the first semester.  Of the first year.  Eight years in total studying this crap.  He slammed his textbook shut and decided he had done enough.  He didn’t even care what grade he got on it.  He was done with it.

 

He took a shower, and it didn’t help his mood.  He grabbed his textbook and shoved it into his backpack.  He went to his drawer and pulled out his regulation swim trunks and put them on top of his backpack as a reminder and took his new jacket—now without wrinkles—out of his closet.  Jai said he would pick it up in the morning and bring it to him at the pool before the club meeting when Team was bitching about how to keep it wrinkle-free when it would have to ride in his backpack on a cycle.

 

He went to his underwear drawer and pulled out the watch box.  He grabbed up his polishing cloth and then took the necklace out of the box.  He used the cloth on it and rubbed it until it shone brightly, even in the low lights of his dorm room.  He wanted to make sure it looked nice in the picture tomorrow.  He gave a bitter smile as he polished it.  “I should do what I originally planned and shove it down his throat.  But…that’s probably against the law, so I will just shove it in his face instead!”  Once he realized that he couldn’t get it any shinier, he returned the necklace to the watch box, but kept it sitting out on his dresser top.  He wanted to make sure he didn’t forget to put it on the next morning.

 

He had a fitful night’s sleep.  Every time he managed to drop off, he would get plunged immediately into that damn dolphin dream.

 

The fence was higher, and the boat was traveling faster.  He looked through the diamond-shaped grid of the fence at the dolphin.  “I’m trying,” he said to it.  “I don’t know how to get off the boat!  I don’t want to be here anymore.”  He thought about it for a moment, and then asked, a bit tentatively, “Can you help me?”

 

The dolphin rose out of the water in a colossal leap and then dove down under the water, re-emerging several yards away.  He swam back to the boat and kept pace with it.

 

Team sighed.  He realized that, after all, it was a dolphin and incapable of helping him.  Or even understanding him.  But at least he was there with him.  “Don’t give up on me, okay?” he called to it, even though he had just had the thought that the dolphin couldn’t understand him.  “I’ll figure out a way to get free.”

 

The next morning, after recording his dream in his journal, he flipped through it and read some of the entries.  He realized that it wasn’t actually the same dream.  It was the same situation, and the same characters, but in each dream, there were differences.  He wondered if it were actually some kind of story that his brain was telling him in his dreams.  And, he reasoned, if it was a story-- it would have an end at some point.  It had to, right?  No matter how long the story goes, eventually it reaches an ending.  He shut the journal and put it back into his bedside table drawer.  “Unless I am totally crazy and just trying to make myself feel better about it,” he grumbled.

 

He made his bed, ate breakfast, and took a shower.  He still hated getting totally undressed in the locker room, so he always wore his swim trunks under his uniform on swim club days.  Today was no exception.  He pulled his regulation swim trunks on and then covered them with his uniform pants.  He put on his shirt and was buttoning it up, when he paused.  If he were going to do it, he knew he had to wear it all day.  If he were seen putting it on before the picture was taken, Win would know it was planned.  If he had it on, it would look like it was just a normal thing for him to be wearing.

 

He left the bathroom and walked to his dresser.  The watch box was still on the top of the dresser, waiting for him to open and take out the necklace.  He hesitated for a moment and thought about it.  His anger became stirred up inside him again, and so he opened the box and retrieved the necklace and placed it around his neck.  He clasped it closed and then looked at himself in the mirror.  He grinned at his reflection, and then buttoned up his shirt, and put on his tie.

 

Jai arrived shortly after to pick up Team’s jacket to keep it wrinkle-free and he assured Team that he would deliver it to him in the pool’s parking lot right before the club meeting.  Team grabbed up his backpack and walked out with him. 

 

He got to class early, and it was weird because Kulap was in the class with him and in the past they would hang out together.  But now he didn’t even look in Team’s direction.  Team took out his homework and read through his answers.  It was sub-par, but he couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to correct it.  He sighed and shut the book.  He looked at the clock on the wall.  It was going to be a long, long day.

 

Every time he moved, he could feel the medallion shifting under his shirt.  He would get a nervous burst of Adrenalin at the thought of what was going to happen at the club meeting.  He kept imagining scenarios of what Win’s reaction would be.  It amused him and killed the time, plus it helped him to mentally escape from his boring class.

 

There was a question-and-answer session going on around him when he pulled himself out of his latest daydream.  He had no idea what they were discussing, or maybe it was debating, he wasn’t sure.  He looked at the guy who was stating his opinion about something and Team felt puzzled.  Some of these people were really interested in international contracts and the laws surrounding them, it seemed.  He wasn’t.  So he let his mind wander back into another daydream, picturing shock on Win’s face when he saw the necklace around Team’s neck.

 

When class was over, he came out of his daydream to realize that the students were leaving the room, stopping by the professor’s desk and depositing their homework in a tray that was placed there.  Team got up and grabbed his backpack from the back of his chair and walked to the desk to drop off his homework.

 

“Team?  Stick around, I want to talk to you,” the professor said when Team had moved to walk out of the classroom.

 

He turned back around and walked back to the professor’s desk.

 

When the last student left the room, the professor turned and looked at Team.  “Where were you today?  You weren’t in class.”

 

“No, I was here,” he pointed to his assigned seat.  “Sitting in my regular place.”

 

“You were here physically, but not mentally.  Whenever someone participates in class, I put a checkmark next to their names.  I want to show you something,” she picked up a booklet and placed some papers on it to cover the rest of the students’ information and highlighted his.  “Look,” she said, “Only a few checks by your name.  One-third of the grade is based on classroom participation in discussions.  Your homework and test scores aren’t very high, but the lack of participation is going to bring your grade down.  What do you think we should do about it?”

 

Team shrugged, “I don’t know…I mean, I just like to listen to the others discussing things.  I don’t think I understand the subject as well as they do, so I am learning from them.”

 

“You have the textbook and access to the Internet.  Plus, you have never come to me on your own and said you didn’t understand the material.  I’m going to help you increase your participation points, and that will help raise your grade.”  She turned to face her desk and grabbed up a booklet of sticky notes and then a pen, which she clicked before writing.  Team shuddered at the sound.  It reminded him of Win’s horrible click pen that he clicked so often, it always made Team remember an old movie he saw one time that featured a dance where the dancers used castanets held in their hands that they clicked in time with their dance movements.

 

“Here,” she said as she handed him a sticky note with some writing on it.  “I want you to research this topic and write a report on it.  You can use the report to formulate a speech to give to the class.  This is due three weeks from today.”

 

Team took the sticky note and looked at it.  He recognized a word from that week’s vocabulary list, and there was a question about how it tied into a case number of a trial in United Kingdom.  He nodded, thanked her, and put the sticky note into his backpack.

 

She bent down and wrote in her ledger.  “There, I have entered your speech in the lesson plan so I won’t forget.  Three weeks from today.  And I think a ten-minute speech will be enough to give an overview of the case to the class.”

 

He thanked her again and then hurried out of the room before she decided to give him more work.  He was pissed.  He hated this stupid class and now he had to do a report and a speech in front of the class!  He had to grudgingly admit that it was nice of her to give him the opportunity to improve his grade, but he didn’t want to mess with it.  At all.  Not even the report, but most especially not the speech.  He hated public speaking!

 

In the past, he and Kulap used to eat together after class.  But Kulap wasn’t anywhere in sight as he had decided not to be friends with Team again.  Also, Team wasn’t really hungry anyway.  His stomach was filled with butterflies.

 

He hopped on his cycle and went off campus to the convenience store.  He bought some chips and a cola and ate his snack in the parking lot.  Then he got back on his cycle and aimlessly drove around the campus for a while.

 

The afternoon melted away slowly, but eventually he got a text from Jai, saying that his class had ended, and he was headed to the swimming pool parking lot to bring Team his jacket.  Team turned his cycle and hurried over to the parking lot.  Jai was doing him a huge favor, so Team didn’t want to make him wait.

 

He got the jacket from Jai, chatted for a few minutes, and then went into the locker room as Jai drove away.  Team hung the jacket in his locker along with his backpack, and he removed a bag he had packed that morning.  He headed into the bathroom with it.

 

He combed his hair, washed his face, and brushed his teeth.  He wanted to make sure to look his absolute best for this picture.  He reached under his collar and felt for the clasp of the chain.  He wanted to make sure that it was in the back and wouldn’t show up in the photo.  The medallion was what was important, and he wanted to ensure that it was front and center with nothing to distract from it.  He grinned at himself in the mirror as he placed his toiletry items back into his bag, and then hurried back to the locker room.

 

He dropped the bag in his locker, pulled off his shoes and outer clothing, placing them in his locker, and then took out his jacket.  He gave it a shake to make sure there were no wrinkles, but he knew there weren’t.  He had been fussing with it since he got home with it on Monday, and Jai had taken very good care to make sure it didn’t wrinkle under his care.

 

He slipped his arms into the sleeves and felt a rush.  One that was separate from the rushes he kept getting about the necklace.  This rush was a small moment of pride for making it onto the swim club, and also a bit of gratitude for being forced back into the pool for therapy after the accident.  He had hated it at the time and fought so hard against it, but just being able to put on this jacket made it seem worth it.  And he knew that one day he would wear the jacket that alerted the world that he had been chosen to be on the National team.  Win must have been awarded his during his first year, because he remembered reading that Win had been to the Nationals both of his previous years.  Win wore his Nationals jacket daily and Team could, begrudgingly, admit that he admired it.

 

The thought of Win, and what was about to happen, got Team’s heart pounding hard and fast in his chest.  He peeked down to see if the medallion was swinging in time to the rhythm of his heart, but it laid flat on his bare chest, not betraying his emotions.

 

Some of the other guys had gathered around in small groups, chatting with their friends.  They all were wearing their new jackets, and Team noticed that more than a few of the jackets still looked wrinkled from the packaging.  He doubted if they would really have to stay out of the picture.  In his life, he had come to realize that the people in charge of things often made empty threats.

 

He looked at the clock and saw there was still a bit of time left before the club meeting started.  He was too much on edge to go join his friends.  He wanted to take this time to imagine, one more time, the different scenarios that were possible once Win saw the necklace.

 

He sat down on the bench that was in front of his locker, which faced the office and the doorway to the pool.  He was lost in his musings when he saw, from the corner of his eye, someone sitting down next to him.  He turned his head a bit and looked to see who it was.  He almost groaned when he realized it was Win’s stupid, new best friend, Chaiya.

 

Chaiya saw Team look over at him.  Chaiya examined Team for a moment and said, “I wish I had been smart like you guys and waited to wear my new jacket until picture day!  Look!” he held up his arm and Team noticed a bit of something on the cuff of the sleeve.  It looked like a mustard stain.  “I tried to get it out,” Chaiya continued, “but I couldn’t.  I scrubbed and scrubbed…it didn’t even get any lighter!”

 

“Is it mustard?” Team asked.

 

Chaiya nodded.  “I didn’t know mustard stained this much.”

 

Team gave a small nod.  “I wouldn’t worry about it.  It’s on your cuff, not the front of the jacket.  It won’t show in the picture.”

 

“Yeah, I don’t think it will…but I’m worried about what they’ll say,” he said, using his head to motion towards the office.

 

Team wanted to laugh at that.  He was Win’s best friend, so obviously P’Toh and P’Sai wouldn’t scold him for anything.  And of course, Win wouldn’t either.  Chaiya could pretty much do anything, short of burning down the building or killing someone, and he would never get into any trouble at all.  “Just keep your arm down to your side and they won’t even see it,” Team advised.

 

Chaiya dropped his arm down and looked.  He studied it a bit, moving it around, “Hey!  You’re right!  It doesn’t show!  I thought it seemed so much larger than what it is!”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I know how that is.”  He wanted to find a way to exit the conversation, but he couldn’t think of any way that wouldn’t be rude.  He looked down at his ankle and noted that he could still faintly see the imprint that had been left by the elastic bandage he had removed before he arrived.  He frowned a bit.  It shouldn’t have left a mark; he hadn’t had it on that tightly.  He wondered if it was a bit swollen or something.  He would have liked to compare it against his other ankle to see if there were a difference in sizes, but that would draw attention to it.  And…Team mentally shrugged, it didn’t hurt, so there wasn’t a problem with it.  He reasoned that he had probably just wound it tighter than he had thought.

 

“Your necklace is really cool,” Chaiya said.

 

Team’s heart started racing again.  If it was that visible to someone sitting beside him, it would be even more obvious to someone looking at it from the front.  “Thanks,” he said.

 

“Is it new?  It’s so shiny!”

 

Team couldn’t help but grin.  “No, I’ve had it for years.  I just like to keep it polished.  Silver tarnishes so easily, you know?  I have to keep at it, or it starts looking like something you had long forgotten in an old box or something.”

 

“Oh wow!  Really?  Because I inherited an old coin from my grandpa and it is tarnished so badly, I can’t even tell what it is!  So a person can get that old muck off of it?”

 

Team nodded, “Sure!  With the right stuff, you can get all of it off.  You should research it first though.  Some things are worth more money if they have the natural age marks on them.  Cleaning it might destroy the value.”

 

“Thanks Team!  You sure are smart!” Chaiya gushed.  “I wouldn’t have thought of that!”

 

Team shrugged and looked away.  Chaiya seemed to be an honestly nice guy.  Team could understand why Win was so close to him.  Team still hated him though.  It wasn’t right that Chaiya got all the advantages handed to him that the rest of the club members had had to work hard for.

 

P’Sai came into the locker room from the pool doors, “Alright everyone, the photographer is all set up and ready to take our picture.  We need to get out there now.”

 

Team’s heart lurched in his chest and began to beat even more rapidly than it had been.  He didn’t know a heart could even beat as fast as his was.  His mouth was dry too.  He realized he had pure adrenalin coursing through his veins.

 

As the guys all walked out together, following behind P’Sai, Team saw the photographer had set his camera up facing the bleachers.  Team hoped that his ankle would let him go up the stairs, but he reasoned that it should.  He hadn’t had any real problems with it since Club Weekend.

 

P’Toh was standing beside Win at the front of the bleachers and they were discussing a paper on Win’s clipboard.  Suddenly Win called out, “I need Banks, Ot, and Tine for the bottom row!”

 

The three of them walked over to the bleachers and P’Toh instructed them how they were to sit.  Team watched Win from the corner of his eye, but Win was looking down at the paper and didn’t look up.  Once Team was seated, he realized that he was sitting next to P’Toh’s and P’Sai’s best swimmers.  He felt really good about sitting next to them because he knew this meant he was Win’s best swimmer.  Of course, he knew that already, but he was glad to see Win acknowledging it.  He realized he was sitting on the end and suddenly the words of old Aom whispered in his mind, “You see the boy at the end? This is the only time you will see him in last place.”

 

Win looked up from his paper and scanned the three that were seated on the bleacher.  He looked back down at his paper and made a checkmark and then he froze.  He slowly raised his head and looked at Team—but not in the face.  He looked at the necklace around Team’s neck.  He stared for a moment and then his eyes darted up to meet Team’s.  Team forced himself to keep his face as neutral as possible, although he was struggling to fight down the urge to burst into laughter.  The shocked look on Win’s face was better than any of the fantasies that Team had had.  Win lowered his eyes a fraction to look at the necklace again.

 

“Win…we’re ready to start the next row,” P’Toh prompted.

 

Win quickly looked back at his paper and called off the names for the next row.  As P’Toh was instructing the boys on the seating arrangements, Win went back to staring at the necklace.  Team had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

 

Even though Win was staring intently at the necklace, P’Toh didn’t have to issue anymore prompts to him.  Win called the next two rows of boys in turn, and when they were all seated to P’Toh’s satisfaction, Win laid down the clipboard out of the line of sight of the camera, and then climbed up the steps to take his place beside P’Toh and P’Sai on the fifth row.

 

Once everyone was settled, the photographer moved over to the camera.  He instructed them to smile, but Team didn’t need the reminder.  He felt himself smile the biggest smile he had ever smiled in his life.  He still had to hold back his laughter though—he didn’t want to freak out the guys sitting near him.

 

In his mind, with the words unspoken with his lips, he sent a mental message to Win.  “You can call me Tine all you want.  I know you know who I am.  You remember me and you remember giving me this necklace.  And now you know that I know that you know.”  And then a small chuckle escaped him.  Revenge was sweet—and so much better than he had ever imagined it would be!

 

The photographer stepped away from his camera, “That’s it!” he said.

 

P’Sai dismissed the boys, instructing them to go hang up their jackets and then come back to the pool for swim practice.  Team walked back to the locker room as if he were on a cloud.  It was the best he had felt in years…probably since the afternoon that Win had driven away from the village.  Team felt as if he had won whatever the war between them was.  He had landed the kill shot.

 

Back at his locker, he took his jacket off and hung it on a hook inside his locker.  Then he took off the necklace and stood, looking at it and grinning.  He knew it had hurt Win to see it again, of course it did.  It had been his prized possession—Team couldn’t begin to count the times Win had referred to it that way.  Win had worked two years to earn the money to buy it, doing odd jobs and tutoring around town.  That was what he had told Team the first day they met, but Team didn’t actually know the real reason it was so special to Win until two years later.  Team had always assumed it was because of how hard he had to work to get the money to buy it—and that was probably partially true—but the real reason was the old man who had made the necklace.

 

It was a Saturday when Win saw Team walking home from doing his lawncare jobs.  He pulled the car over to the curb.  “Hey!  Are you done for the day?”

 

Team scowled but controlled his urge to answer sarcastically, so he just said, “Yeah.”  Team was still in his ‘my feet are too big, I have pimples in places I didn’t even know could get pimples, I have weird hairs showing up in places that were smooth before, I always smell bad, and all people are irritating’ phase.

 

Win grinned at his sullen face.  “Kitten, do you want to go with me somewhere?  I’ll buy you dinner at the American hamburger place if you do.”

 

The restaurant was too far from the village to be able to ride his bike, and his parents didn’t like foods from the west, so it was rare that Team got to eat from there.  He perked right up at the thought.  “Sure, Hia! I have to get cleaned up first though.  I am soaked in sweat and I stink!”

 

Win laughed, “Yes, please do!  Use lots of soap while you are at it!  I’ll come by your house and pick you up in about an hour, okay?”

 

“Okay!” Team agreed happily and Win drove off.  Team hurriedly pushed his lawnmower down the sidewalk on his short trip home.

 

Later, when Win picked him up, he said, “I want to go to the other place first.  Can you wait a bit to eat, or are you starving?”

 

“I’m always starving, but I can wait.  Where are we going?”

 

“To the cemetery by the river,” Win answered, not taking his eyes from the road.

 

“The cemetery!  Eww!  What for?  Why are we going there?” Team was disgusted.

 

“I want you to meet my grandparents.”

 

“Your…your grandparents?  They live in Bangkok, don’t they?  I mean…they didn’t die, right?”

 

Win grinned, “Not those grandparents.”

 

“You mean your dad’s parents?  How did you find out who they were and where they were?”

 

Win shrugged, “Not them either.  I still don’t have a clue who they are.  These are my honorary grandparents.  I come to see them whenever I can.”  He reached up and touched the necklace, “My grandfather made this.”

 

Win then told Team the story:  When he was just twelve years old, he was running errands for a neighbor, and he came upon the old man’s booth.  The old man had retired to the area because the village had been his wife's home as a child.  They met and married while living in the city.  She had worked as the manager of a hardware store, and he worked for a jewelry store as a clerk.  Sometimes he would create a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry and he allowed the store to display it and sell it, with him taking a cut from the sale.  He developed a good reputation and soon he worked full-time for the store creating his jewelry line and allowing them to be the only distributors.  He and his wife created a happy life for themselves, but they had not been blessed with any children, although they both had wanted them.  The old man had a brother who lived near them in Bangkok, but he hadn’t really amounted to much, in the old man’s opinion.  His brother had been married and had a couple of kids, but his wife left him and took the children.  The brother didn’t really mind them being gone, but the old man and his wife did.  They missed the children, but they never got to see them again.

 

A few years before the old man retired from the jewelry store, his brother passed away.  The old man and his wife had handled all the arrangements because they didn’t know how to contact the brother’s children…who would have all been adults by that time.  When it came time to retire, the old man and his wife moved back to the village because it was her dream to return.  The old man wasn’t as fond of the village as she was, but he adored her and wanted her to be happy.  He set up a booth and created jewelry on a much smaller scale to sell to the locals.  He didn’t really make much money from it, but he felt as if it was something useful for him to do.  He wasn’t one who wanted to fish or play golf in his retirement years.  And his wife had waited so long to return home, he didn’t want her to have to leave the village to go traveling—which was his dream.

 

The old man’s wife had died a few years before Win met the old man.  The old man was free to go anywhere he wished; he had honored all his promises to her by bringing her back to the village—where she had lived very happily for the few years she had left before her death.  But he found that he couldn’t leave, because to leave the village was the same as leaving her behind, and he couldn’t do it.  The only trip he ever took was to the cemetery once a week to put flowers on her grave.

 

He had told Win this story and many others during the two years that Win had gone to see him to make his payments.  Sometimes Win even did odd jobs for the old man and had the amount deducted from what he owed instead of taking pay for it.

 

A few months after Win made his last payment, a strange man came to his door one afternoon.  He introduced himself as the landlord of the old man.  The old man had died a few weeks before, but no one could be found to take the man’s belongings.  The landlord had been forced to clean out the apartment himself—he was going to put the man’s things into storage until the next of kin could be located.  While cleaning out the apartment, he had found an envelope addressed to Win, so he had brought it to him.

 

Win found that inside the envelope was all the money that Win had paid for the necklace, with extra included for the hours he had worked for no pay for the old man.  And the old man had included a letter in which he told Win how much those visits Win had made to see him had meant to him.  He said that in his mind, he liked to imagine that he was Win’s grandfather because he would have loved to have had a grandson like Win.  He also said that he knew that his wife would have dearly loved Win too.  He wanted Win to have the money back and to consider the necklace as a gift, given to him with much love, from his Grandpa Manee and his Grandma Muk.

 

Win told Team that his mother had taken him to their graves that day, and he brought them flowers.  The cemetery was too far for him to get to on his bicycle, so he used the money that Grandpa Manee had given him to start an account with a florist in the area.  He wanted flowers placed on their graves every week.  He told Team that he always set aside a portion of the money he earned after that to send to his account with the florist to make sure that his grandparents always had flowers from him, and he hoped that somehow they knew he would never forget them—even though he hadn’t actually met her—and that he loved them.

 

That day he introduced Team to them at their graves and said that Team was his best friend, the best, best friend in the entire world.

 

Team looked at the necklace in his hand and muttered, “Shit!”  All his joy at getting revenge had evaporated, and now he just felt like some kind of nasty goo on the bottom of someone’s shoe.  Of course, Win had had shock and pain on his face.  Seeing the necklace again probably brought back all those memories of his Grandpa Manee, just like it had for Team.

 

He scolded his brain, “Dammit!  Why didn’t you remind me of this BEFORE I decided to get revenge this way?”

 

His brain didn’t answer him.  He looked at the necklace in his hand and felt the last bit of joy from winning the battle leaving him and being replaced by shame.  It was a mean thing to do.  He knew it.  Even if it hadn’t been a gift from his non-biological, deceased grandparents.  But it made it worse because it was from them.  He remembered that Win had never been close to his mother’s parents.  Nor even his uncles, who resented their aunt leaving her house to their little sister instead of one of them.  His dad had run off when he was a baby, so all he had ever had was his mother.  And the graves of two deceased old people from the village who he claimed as grandparents.

 

He gritted his teeth.  He didn’t know why Win had given him the stupid necklace in the first place.  If it was his prized possession as he had always claimed, he should have kept it.  And Win was an awful person, so he deserved whatever pain he felt; Team thought these thoughts as he battled with himself.

 

“That’s true,” his brain agreed with him, “He is an awful person; but YOU aren’t.  You shouldn’t change who you are just to get back at him.  You have to remain true to yourself!”

 

“Oh, shut up!” Team hissed under his breath.  “Stop giving me guilt trips.  It won’t work!  I am not a bit sorry!”  He slammed his locker door and walked out to the pool area.

 

“Tine!  It’s about time!  Everyone else is already swimming laps!” Win scolded.  “Go do your warmup exercises, we are going to work on your arm movements today.”

 

“Okay, P’Win,” Team answered.  “Uh…I forgot to put this in my locker,” he said, showing Win the necklace, “Would you keep it for me?”

 

Win scowled at Team.  “Do I look like your mother or something?  No, I will not keep your necklace for you!  Go put it in your locker.  And since you have taken up so much time, plan on staying later to make it up.”

 

“I think you should keep it,” Team stepped closer and spoke in a quiet tone.  “It’s yours.”

 

“Mine?  What do you mean, Tine?  Obviously that is your necklace!  You wore it today in the group picture.  How could it be mine if you were the one wearing it?”

 

“Just…just take it, okay?”

 

“Oh my God!  Are you trying to BRIBE me, Tine?  I know you want to be on the National team, but to stoop to bribery?  Is that what this is about?”

 

“What?  No!  I would never…”

 

“Never?  Well, it sure looks like that is what you are doing!  But unfortunately for you, I don’t have any say about the National team.  That is a decision that is left to others.  And I won’t tell you who they are or else you will be trying to bribe them with your necklace, too!  Oh…” he paused and looked at Team, searching his face with his eyes.  “Now that I know what you are capable of, I think I will need to keep a close eye on you.  I’ll tell you what, Tine…from now on, the only time that necklace is to leave your neck is when you are in the pool.  I will be sticking to you like glue.  When I tell you to show me the necklace, you had better have it on, no matter the time, or the place.  If I show up at your dorm room at four in the morning and knock on your door, you had better have it on when you answer.  If I ever catch you without it on, there will be no time for you to explain, I will go immediately to Administration and report you for attempted bribery of me, and apparent bribery of someone else and let them investigate the matter.  Is that understood?”

 

“But I…that’s not what…” Team stammered.

 

“I asked you if that was understood,” Win said harshly.

 

Team nodded, “Understood.”

 

“Good!  Now go put YOUR necklace away and be quick about it!”

 

Team walked back inside and went to his locker.  He couldn’t understand what had just happened.  When he had done the wrong thing, it was okay, but when he did the right thing…it was the wrong thing and he was being punished for it.  It made no sense.  And was Win really going to be popping up at odd times to make sure that Team was always wearing the necklace?  Team was terribly afraid he was.

 

“Tine!” Win barked from the doorway.  “How long does it take to put that in your locker?  Hurry up!”

 

“Yes, P’Win,” Team called, and he slid the necklace into his jacket pocket and closed his locker door.

 

Chapter 26

Win made Team swim an extra ten minutes to make up for the time he wasted arguing about the necklace.  The rest of the guys were finishing getting dressed and leaving for the day by the time Team had been dismissed.

 

Team hurriedly took his shower and got dressed as quickly as he could.  P’Toh and P’Sai were still there, but just the same, Team didn’t want to be in the locker room alone, in case Win decided to come scold him again.

 

After he was fully dressed, he reached into his locker and pulled out his backpack.  He reached for his jacket that was hanging on the hook.  He felt like he could officially wear it now.  He had saved this moment until after the team picture was taken to keep it looking nice, but now it felt as if it were really his to wear or not, as he saw fit.  He decided he would wear it.  He sat his backpack on the floor and pulled on the jacket.  As he closed his locker door, he jumped back in surprise.  Win had been standing behind it and Team hadn’t noticed him there.  Team didn’t know how long he had been standing there silently, watching him, and it gave him a creepy feeling.

 

“Have you bribed anyone else?” Win asked.

 

“I wasn’t trying to bribe you!”

 

Win raised an eyebrow and looked at him with scorn in his eyes.  “That’s how I took it.  And unless you have your necklace around your neck, I am going to assume you found someone who would take it.  Are you wearing it?”

 

“No, but I have it!”

 

“I told you; it can only be off your neck while you are in the pool.  Since you aren’t in the pool, and it isn’t around your neck…I’m afraid I will have to go to the office and make a report on you.  I wonder how the Administrators will deal with that.  I don’t suppose it will look very good on your record; do you?”

 

Team huffed and thrust his hand down into his jacket pocket and pulled out the necklace.  “See?  I have it!”

 

“It’s not on your neck though, is it?”

 

Team clenched his jaw tightly to keep himself from saying anything else.  He could feel his temples throbbing as the tension of his clenched jaws increased.  He was a bit surprised that his teeth didn’t shatter under the pressure.  He took the necklace and unclasped it and raised it to his neck, “Alright, fine!  I’ll put it on!”

 

“You should have put it on before you put on your shirt and jacket,” Win scolded.  “You can barely move your arms.  Here, give it to me!”

 

Team handed Win the necklace and Win stepped behind Team.  Team could feel Win’s fingers on the back of his neck as Win clasped it in place.  It felt weirdly nostalgic to Team.  He could even remember Win saying, “I forgot to put it in my locker, wear it for me!”

 

Team didn’t have to push away this memory.  He was jolted out of it by the sound of Win’s voice coming from behind him, “Remember what I told you, I will be keeping an eye on you.  Anytime or anyplace, I might appear.  And that necklace is to be on your neck.  I gave you a chance this time to put it on after being caught without it.  I won’t be so nice the next time.”

 

Team clenched his teeth even harder and turned to face Win, but he wasn’t there.  He was walking towards the office.  Team exhaled loudly, grabbed his backpack from the floor and stormed out.

 

That evening, he was with his Scooby friends in the library.  He got up from their table to go to a bookshelf a few aisles away to search for a book.  He was doing the groundwork for the report and speech he had to do to make up for his lack of participation in his class.  He didn’t actually have to start work on it that very day, but he knew if he didn’t force himself to do it, he would wait until the last minute to even start it.  And then he would stress and feel overwhelmed.  So, he decided to start by locating some books on the subject.  He would rather do research online, but he knew that the professor wouldn’t approve.  She was old-fashioned that way.

 

As he was reading the titles of the books, scanning quickly to find the one he wanted, he saw a movement from the corner of his eye.  He turned to see Win a few steps away, leaning against the bookcase, watching him.  Team sighed in anger and reached down under his collar and pulled the necklace out from under his shirt.  Win saw it, gave a small nod, and walked away.

 

Team had a book in his hand, and he had to fight the urge to throw it at Win’s retreating back.  He gave an angry sigh and went back searching for more books for his report.

 

 

Team loved his classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  He didn’t blank out during them, and he didn’t have to be encouraged to contribute to the classroom conversations.  He had a group of guys he liked, and they all always chose each other during group assignments, and then, even if the assignments were for groups of two, all of them worked on their assignments together.

 

It was Thursday, the day after his revenge against Win had failed and flipped around so that he was the one who was punished for it.  He still hadn’t been able to wrap his mind around it.  But he had put all his thoughts about that away.  He was walking out of the building with his friends after class.  “I want you guys to text me when you get to problem six,” Team said.  He had worked ahead so his homework for that week was finished.  “I want to know which database you used for researching.  That way we can compare the information and see which one was the best and most accurate.”

 

“Sure…you just want to steal our answers!” teased one of the guys—his name was Art.

 

Team purposefully bumped his shoulder into Art’s, “As if I would steal an answer off of you!  Exactly how many did you miss on that last test?  And just to remind everyone, I got all of them correct!”

 

The guys all groaned in unison, and Team laughed at their frustration.  Team had the highest grade in the class, and everyone knew it, mainly because he told them… repeatedly.

 

His laughter died in his throat as they came to the entrance of the parking lot and Team saw Win standing next to Team’s cycle and looking up the sidewalk at him.

 

“Uh…I have to go.  I need to talk to a guy about something.  Don’t forget to text me!” he called as he started away.

 

He walked quickly over to Win, his anger increasing with each step.  “What?’ Team asked in a huff when he reached Win.

 

Win’s eyebrow raised and he gave a small quirk with his shoulder to indicate a shrug, “I just wanted to see if you have been bribing anyone today.  Let me see.”

 

Team gave a deep, angry sigh and reached under the collar of his shirt.  He felt for the chain and once locating it, he pulled out the necklace so that Win could see the medallion.

 

Win gave a small nod of satisfaction and then walked away.  Team could see that Win was walking in the direction of where he had parked his car.  Team wondered how Win knew where to find him.  His major wasn’t listed on any of the Swim Club forms.  There were a lot of buildings, and parking lots, on campus.  How did Win know where to find him?  Team supposed that Win might have seen his cycle in the pool parking lot and recognized it when he saw it parked in the Legal Studies lot, but still…how did he know which facility Team was in?  Team didn’t know and he certainly wasn’t going to ask!

 

“How did you know what my major is?” Team asked and then cursed himself for his curiosity.

 

Win stopped walking and turned to face Team.  They were a few yards apart and other students were in the area, but for a moment, Team felt as if they were the only people on earth—which was a weird thought, so he pushed that right out of his head.  Win smirked, “I know everything about you, Tine.”

 

“Except for my name!” Team snapped.

 

Win threw back his head and laughed at that, and then turned and continued walking to his car.  Team cursed himself for letting Win know it bothered him to be called by the wrong name.  Also, he had snapped at Win, forgetting all about his vow to be extra polite to him.

 

Win got into his car, started it, and then backed out of the parking space.  He drove away in the opposite direction, and Team found himself staring at the back of the car as it drove away.

 

Team shoved his helmet on and mounted his motorcycle.  He thought for a moment that one of the slang words for motorcycle was ‘bike’.  He shook his head at himself as he thought about the symbolism.  Win saying some kind of cryptic shit and driving away, while Team got on his ‘bike’ to go home.  He half expected to get a text telling him to go check the shelf.

 

“Stop it!” he hissed to himself.  “That was years ago.  It’s done.  Let it go!”

 

But because of the thought about the symbolism, Team didn’t go back to his dorm room.  He went to the gym instead.  His Thursday class was a late one, so he really didn’t have time to go to the gym before meeting his friends for dinner and had not planned on it, but he did it anyway.  He got in a quick workout, fast shower, and arrived at the restaurant only a few minutes late.  Since he had to rush there, any stress relief he had gotten from his workout was short-lived.  He was in a dark mood, but he was determined not to show it to his friends.  Especially because he knew he had been a grump lately.

 

Team chatted away during the meal.  He told them some funny stories about things that had happened in his class that day, even though his friends didn’t know any of the people in his class.  But they all laughed at the appropriate time.  Mali shared a bit of a medical case they were studying in one of her classes and Team tried to maintain his focus on her words and even to ask a question.  Jai didn’t talk much, of course he never did so it was normal for him.  Namfon contributed to the conversation here and there, but since Team was forcing himself to act as normally as possible, he noticed that she wasn’t participating as much as she usually did either.  He turned to study her closer and noticed that she looked a bit pale, and she was basically just playing with her food, not really eating it; just moving it around a bit on her plate.

 

She noticed him looking and she gave him a pointed look and then dropped her gaze down into his plate—which resembled hers.  Not much had been eaten, but the food had been moved around a bit.  He scooped up a big bite and ate it while she was looking.  She gave him a small shake of her head and then looked back down at her own plate.  She scooped up a tiny bit and put it in her mouth.  Team looked back at Mali who was discussing something about some medication that was new on the market and what the uses for it were.  Team hadn’t heard the name of the drug when she said it because he had been focused on Namfon’s plate, but he didn’t have any of the conditions it was said to treat, so he basically just nodded every once in a while and went back to playing with his food.

 

Later, at the library, he had to force himself to concentrate.  He didn’t actually have any homework to do, so he went back to doing research for his report.  He glanced over to the place where Win usually sat when he was tutoring, but he wasn’t there.  Team was relieved.  He struggled to remember if he had ever seen Win there on a Thursday evening before, but he couldn’t remember.  He kept looking at that spot the rest of the evening, but Win was never there.

 

The next morning, Jai dropped him off at the pool for Swim Club.  They were going back to the village after Jai’s class for the weekend, so he left his motorcycle at the dorm and rode with Jai to save time later.

 

Win was standing outside, next to the locker room entrance door when Team walked up.  He moved to block the door so that Team couldn’t enter.  “Show me,” Win ordered.

 

Team reached under his collar and pulled out the necklace to prove he was still wearing it.  Win gave a quick nod, “Good!” he said, and stepped aside to allow Team to go into the locker room.

 

Team’s teeth were on edge and his jaw muscles were clenching and unclenching through the entire time of Swim Club.  It didn’t help that during the last part of the meeting, during their free swim time, Chaiya got out of the pool and hung out with Win, ‘helping’ him do whatever it was that the Vice President of the Swim Club did.  (All Team knew about the job was that Win had a clipboard and a horrible click pen and was always writing down stuff.)  Team thought it was so gross the way they hung out together all the time.  And it was wrong to blatantly show favoritism.  Not to mention, if anyone needed extra time practicing, it was Chuckles.  But instead, it was Team who was given the extra laps to do.

 

The rest of the guys were playing basketball in the shallow part of the pool.  Win had Team at the deep end, going down to the bottom and then back up again.  Over and over again.  It was exhausting and boring.  And once, Win had to go inside for a few minutes, so he had Chuckles to watch Team while he was gone.  Team was livid!

 

But finally, the club meeting was over.  When Team went into the locker room, some of the other guys on the team looked at Team and shook their heads and then directed their looks towards Chuckles when he wasn’t looking.  Team knew they still all felt the same way he did about the guy.  He remembered in Primary School doing classwork and having to decide which item in a group didn’t belong.  ‘Which one of these things is not like the others?’—easy answer.  Chaiya.  Why he was here and on the team, no one could guess.  Aside from being Win’s bestie, of course.

 

As soon as he had showered and dressed, he hurried out the door.  Luckily Jai and Mali were already there and waiting for him.  He hopped into the car and they drove off.  Team reached down and made sure the necklace latch was closed properly.  He had dressed quickly and now he was worried that he hadn’t done a good job with it.  He assured himself that it was fine and then dropped his hand.

 

Jai was driving them towards the exit of the campus.  Team was surprised because Namfon wasn’t with them and he had assumed Jai was on his way to pick her up.

 

“Isn’t ‘Fon coming along?” he asked.

 

Mali turned a bit in her seat to look at Team.  “No, she said she needed to stay here this weekend.  I asked why and she told me she would rather not discuss it.”

 

Team laughed, “Skye!”

 

Mali grinned and shrugged.

 

“I wonder when she will tell us about her?” he mused.  “I have to say, I am proud of her for being able to keep something to herself.  Usually she blurts out everything!”

 

“And I am proud of you for not pushing her,” Mali said.  “She will tell us when she is ready.”

 

They rode along in silence for a while.  Once they entered onto the highway, Team had a sudden thought.  “Hey, I was just thinking…does Kwan ever go back to the village?  I haven’t seen him on the weekends when we’re there.”

 

Jai shivered, “I swear, sometimes Team, you creep me out!”

 

“What?  Why?” Team asked in surprise.

 

“Sometimes you know things or something.  It’s kind of scary!” Jai said.  “Since I drove you to Swim Club this morning, I got to my facility super early.  I decided to go to the quad and hang out, and I ran into Kwan.  We talked for a bit…about him going to the village.  That’s why your asking me that now is creepy.”

 

“Well…” Mali prompted, “What did Kwan say?”

 

“It’s a lot and I need to concentrate on driving, so let’s wait until we get back home to the village, okay?” Jai suggested.

 

“Nope, pull over and we’ll switch seats.  I’ll drive, you talk,” Mali ordered.

 

With a small chuckle, Jai used his turn indicator and when the area was clear, he drove to the shoulder of the road and parked.  “I’m not really sure if I should tell you guys his story.  He didn’t tell me I could.”

 

“If he didn’t say you couldn’t, then it is fair game.  Besides, Team and I won’t repeat a word of it.  Right, Team?” Mali asked as she undid her seat belt and opened her car door.

 

“Right!” Team agreed.

 

Jai nodded and got out of the car and went around the car.  He took Mali’s seat, and she moved over to the driver’s seat.  She adjusted the seat and controls to accommodate her smaller size and then she merged back into the traffic.  “Speak!” she ordered.

 

“Okay, okay!  Such a nag!” Jai teased.  “As I said, I ran into Kwan in the quad this morning.  We were both early, so we sat together on one of the benches.  I mentioned that I had dropped Team off at the pool for Swim Club and was picking up everyone after class to go back to the village.  I asked him if he was planning on going back this weekend.  I was shocked when he told me that he hasn’t been back since he left, and he never wants to go back there again.  I guess his father is a really bad guy…”

 

“Yeah, I figured he was,” Team agreed.  “I have known Kwan since our very first day of Primary school.  He never talked much about his dad, but I always had this feeling…ya know?  Like there was stuff he wasn’t saying, and none of it was good.”

 

Jai nodded, “You would be one to feel something if it was there.  You have that weird empath ability or whatever it is called.  Anyway…he said that his mom left when he was pretty young…”

 

“About third year, if I remember correctly.  She got a position in a corporation in Japan and Kwan’s dad wouldn’t let her leave the country with their two sons…Kwan has an older brother,” Team supplied.

 

Jai nodded, “Yeah, that’s what he said.  And once the older brother got to be a teenager, their dad made him start paying rent and buying his own food.  It wasn’t like the dad needed help with the bills; he is a policeman in Rayong.  He is pretty high ranking and makes good money.  He just did it to be a dick.  Sorry, Mali!  I mean…he was being…I don’t know…a bully?  Sometimes the older brother didn’t make enough from his odd jobs to pay his dad.  When that happened, the dad would lock him out of his bedroom.  He would be forced to sleep on the floor in the living room.  There was a shelf that the dad would stock with a few items of food and tell him that he had to make it last until he could bring in more money.  Kwan secretly got some dog walking jobs from the neighbors, and he would turn his earnings over to his brother because he couldn’t deal with how badly his brother was being treated.  The day the brother turned 18, he left the house and never came back.  He and Kwan kept in contact through texts and emails and such.  Then the dad set his sights on Kwan—not that he had escaped abuse over the years—but he hadn’t had to pay for rent or food.  Without his brother’s income, the dad started making Kwan pay.  Kwan found a job in that restaurant he always worked in through upper Secondary school.  He started there doing custodial work.  In time he got promoted to busboy, and then later to the wait staff.  And eventually he was made an assistant to the sous chef there.  His dad kept increasing his rent, so Kwan worked all the time just to be able to sleep in his bed and have a bit of food.  He couldn’t save a cent for his own.  And at the same time, he was expected to maintain his grade point average.  Sometimes, with all the hours he worked in the restaurant, his grades would slip.  Then his dad got physical with him…”

 

“Fucking dick!” Mali  muttered under her breath, but loud enough so that both of the guys heard her and looked at each other in surprise.

 

“Um…yeah…uh,” Jai stammered a bit, trying to recoup from his shock at hearing words like that come out of Mali.  “So…all along his dad kept telling him that he had some money set aside for him to go to college.  He said that his eldest son was a loser and a disgrace to the family, and it was Kwan’s duty to make his father proud.  He decided that Kwan was to go to college in Rayong and study Engineering.  Kwan, of course, didn’t want to study Engineering.  He wanted to study Culinary Arts.  He tried to tell his dad that, and it didn’t go so well.”

 

Team nodded, “He told me that his dad didn’t think that was a ‘manly’ profession and refused to pay a cent for college unless it was something that he would be proud of.”

 

“And,” Jai continued with a nod, “Kwan didn’t have any money saved because his dad had taken all of his earnings for years, and he didn’t have great grades so he wasn’t up for any scholarships.  He felt like he didn’t have any options in the matter.  Either do as his dad said, or never go to college.  But even if he got to go to college, he wouldn’t be able to study what he wanted to study.  And then…someone put his name into that chef program thing, and he won a massive grant…”

 

“I thought it was a scholarship,” Team interjected.

 

“Nope, a grant.  All the money upfront, for Kwan to do with as he wished.  I don’t know how much it was for, but Kwan says it was enough to pay completely for four years in our school and still have some leftover…”

 

“Wow,” Team said with a surprised voice.  “I had no idea!”

 

“No, he didn’t want to say anything…Kwan isn’t one to brag and he knows that we all, except for Namfon, needed scholarships to be able to afford college.  Anyway, this amazing thing happened to Kwan, and can you guess what his dad did when he found out?  I’ll tell you!  He tried to get the money…oh…not through Kwan.  He went to the bank and tried to withdraw it!”

 

“What?!!!  Oh my goodness, such a horrid man!” Mali was incensed. 

 

Jai nodded, “And he might have been able to get it, except for one tiny thing he hadn’t taken into account…Kwan was already 18.  Legally an adult.  His dad had no say over his bank account any longer.  So, then he began to hound Kwan for it, day and night.  Kwan refused to turn the money over to him.  And one night, the dad kicked in the door to Kwan’s bedroom…which, as a reminder, Kwan paid rent to live there, and he started beating Kwan, demanding ‘his share’ of the money.”

 

Mali put on the turn indicator and pulled the car to the shoulder of the road.  She wiped her eyes.  “I can’t drive anymore.  When you finish, take over, okay?”

 

Jai patted her arm and then reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a small package of tissues and gave them to her.  He kissed her forehead.  “The next part of the story gets better, okay.”  She hugged him and then nodded.  He continued, “Kwan ran out of the house and called his brother and his brother arranged to meet him in their secret spot.  I have no idea where that is, because it is between the two brothers.  But the elder brother was waiting for him and he took Kwan to his home.  He has a good job and was recently married.  The brother and his wife took Kwan in.  Kwan had already graduated, but still had to get through the summer until school started.  I’m not sure where the brother and sister-in-law lived, but Kwan was able to keep his job in the restaurant.  Since he worked in the kitchen, he couldn’t be seen by people who came into the restaurant.  His dad came in there a few times looking for him, but the staff, who Kwan had confided in, told his dad that he didn’t work there anymore.  Eventually he stopped coming in.  Kwan worked the entire summer, and I’m sure you remember that a virus hit the village pretty badly then.  Lots of people on staff got it and had to miss work.  Kwan was lucky enough not to catch it, so he often worked double shifts.  He happily paid his brother rent money and managed to save enough to buy a truck and the things he needed for his dorm.”

 

“Why didn’t he just use some of that grant money?” Team pondered.

 

Jai shrugged, “I guess, maybe…he just wanted to do it on his own.  Or maybe he just wants to be very frugal with that grant money to make it last?  I don’t know.  Anyway, he said that once he arrived in Bangkok, he was finally able to relax and not look over his shoulder anymore.  You know…a Rayong cop in Rayong Providence has a lot of power there.  He ain’t shit in Bangkok!”

 

“Language!” Mali scolded.

 

Jai chuckled but didn’t remind her of the curse words she had used earlier.  “If his dad came to Bangkok looking for him and causing trouble, he could be arrested.  I think his dad is smart enough to realize that.  Kwan feels safe and happy, as long as he is in Bangkok.  He says he won’t ever go back to the village again.  His sister-in-law has family near Bangkok, so they come to visit often, and Kwan gets to see them then.  He is hoping that one day they will move there too.”

 

“I wish there was something we could do for him!” Mali exclaimed.

 

Jai looked at her and smiled, “We already did, Dumpling.  And it was because of you.  It was your idea, and the rest of us went along.  Remember the night we first arrived, and you insisted that we stop and buy each other the Jade plants?  And then you went back to get Kwan one to give him when he arrived?  We all chipped in on it, but it was your idea.  He told me that it is his prized possession—the thing he loves most in the world.”

 

Team felt a chill go up his spine.  He raised his hand up and felt the necklace hanging from his neck.  It had been Win’s prized possession; he used to say it all the time.

 

“Oh!  I’m so glad to hear that!” Mali said and she used a tissue to blot at her eyes.  “Such a small, cheap thing, but I’m glad it meant something to him.”

 

Jai nodded, “I mean ‘prized possession’ is a pretty strong thing to say.  But I could tell by his face that he meant it.”  Jai put the car into gear and pulled back out onto the highway.  They drove for a while, talking about random things, but the atmosphere was still heavy from hearing how awful Kwan’s home life had been.

 

Team was mainly quiet.  He wanted to make some joke about Jai calling Mali ‘Dumpling’, but he restrained himself.  He figured it was a private nickname and at the time Jai said it, they had forgotten Team was in the car.  Team decided it would be the kindest thing to forget all about it; remove it from his mind entirely.  It belonged to them.

 

He knew he had focused his mind on the ‘Dumpling’ thing because he didn’t want to think about something else, but it kept coming back into his mind anyway—no matter how much he wanted to push it away.  He cleared his throat, “Uh…prized possessions—I don’t think I have ever had something that I would call my ‘prized possession’.  I have things I like but nothing that I really cherish, you know?  I was wondering though…if someone had a prized possession, do you think they would ever…like…I don’t know…voluntarily give it up.  Or give it away, or something?”

 

Mali turned a bit in her seat and looked at Team as if he were an alien life form.  “No!  Of course not!  The whole meaning behind ‘prized possessions’ is that they mean everything to you.  Why would you give them away?”  Then she frowned, “Well…wait…I guess someone who enters a religious order of some kind, like maybe a monk or a priest…yeah, they probably do, to prove their devotion to their vows.  But not regular people.”

 

They passed a sign announcing a football game that weekend being held by the Rayong Amateur Adult Football League.  It was between the Cormorants and the Nightjars.  The guys spoke excitedly about the match.

 

"My folks got us tickets to it!” Team bragged.

 

“Man!  I would love to be there to see the Cormorants decimate the Nightjars!” Jai exclaimed.

 

“Pfft!  No way!  The only way the Cormorants could win is if the Nightjars forfeited!  The Cormorants don’t have any defense to speak of!”

 

“But they have an amazing offensive team!” Jai argued.

 

“Who cares if they do!  The Nightjars have a good defensive team so they won’t score many goals!  But since the Cormorants defense is so weak, the Nightjars won’t have any problems getting goals.”

 

“Would you like to make a bet on it?” Jai challenged.

 

“Name it and I’ll cover it!” Team shot back.

 

“Hey guys?  This is getting boring!” Mali complained.  “Can you talk about all this when I’m not around?  I’ll be spending a lot of time this weekend with a couple of my friends from Secondary that I haven’t seen since graduation.  That will give you lots of time to talk about this stuff.”

 

“Okay, Mali.  Sorry, I got carried away.  Jai, I’ll ask my folks to grab another ticket if they can, and you can go to the game with us.  Of course, you’ll have to sit on the Nightjar side with us,” Team offered.

 

“If they can, I would love to go!  I won’t embarrass you by cheering for the Cormorants, but I know I will be collecting on that bet!”

 

Team laughed, “You didn’t name an amount and we didn’t shake on it!”

 

“We will before the game starts.  Because even if your parents can’t get another ticket, I’ll be watching it on TV, so you won’t be able to cheat!”

 

“As if I would even need to!  You know you are going to lose, that’s why you didn’t say how much we were betting!”

 

“Oh brother,” Mali sighed, “Here we go again!”

 

The guys chuckled apologetically, and they switched the subject to more general topics.  When they reached Team’s house, Jai popped open the trunk and grabbed Team’s laundry bag.  “I’m going to help Team up to the house with his stuff,” Jai called to Mali who was still in the car.  “It won’t take me a second.”

 

“It’s okay, Jai,” Team said, reaching for the bag.  “I can handle it.”

 

“Shh!” Jai said quietly.  “I want to talk to you.  Let’s go to your porch.”

 

They hurried up the walkway that led up to Team’s house.  Jai carried Team’s bag of dirty laundry, while Team just had his backpack.  He felt ridiculous not to be carrying his own bag.

 

“Okay, what is it?” Team asked quietly when they reached his porch.

 

Jai sat down the bag, “Wow!  That’s really heavy!  You must have every piece of your clothing in it!”  He casually tossed a glance over his shoulder and then gave a slight nod when he turned back to face Team.  “I wanted to answer your question, but not in front of Mali.”

 

“My question?”

 

“Yeah, about what would cause someone to give away their prized possession.  I would.  I would give everything I have to Mali.  No ‘thing’ could mean more to me than she does,” he gave a slight shrug, “I didn’t want to answer in front of her though because…well…she has a great deal of power over me, but she doesn’t really need to know it.”

 

Team had to bite back a grin.  “Uh…I think she might suspect it.”

 

“Suspecting isn’t knowing,” Jai said.

 

Team let his smile out, “Okay, if you say so.”

 

“By the way, you didn’t…like…hear me call her something…did you?”

 

Team shook his head.  “Nope, I did not hear you calling her ‘Dumpling’ and I will never mention it again, or tell anyone else, either.”

 

Jai grinned, “Thanks!”  He started back to his car, tossing a wave to Team over his shoulder.

 

As they drove away, Team entered the house, carrying his bag of laundry.  He went to the laundry room, opened his laundry bag, and put the first load of his dirty clothes into the washer.  After starting the machine, he went into the kitchen and searched the refrigerator to see if there was anything good to eat.  His folks had left him a plate of food, with a note on it indicating it was for him.  He grinned as he pulled it out and looked at it better.  It was probably leftovers from their dinner the previous night.  He put it into the microwave.  Once it was heated thoroughly, he took it out and carried it upstairs to his room.

 

He scrolled on his phone while he ate.  In the back of his mind, he was turning over what Jai had said.  Team thought it was a crazy theory about why, or rather to whom, he would give his prized possession to, but it was actually typical of Jai.  Team couldn’t imagine a guy who loved someone as much as Jai loved Mali.  Well, probably his dad loved his mom like that.  Otherwise, he didn’t think the average person loved another one that much to get rid of their prized possessions.

 

When he was finished eating, he got up and walked to the dresser.  He unhooked the necklace and laid it on the dresser top.  There was no reason for him to wear it in the village.  Win hadn’t set foot in the place since he left for college.  No reason to suspect Win would decide to come there now.

 

He looked at the necklace on the dresser top and thought about it.  He needed to keep it safe though.  If it got lost or something over the weekend and he didn’t have it on Monday, Win could follow through with his threats.

 

He looked around his room for some place to put it to keep it safe.  His watch box was back in his dorm room, and he didn’t have another one.  He stared at it for a long time, thinking about it.  Finally, with a huge sigh, he picked it up and clasped it back around his neck.

 

The weekend passed quickly and pleasantly.  His parents were able to get another ticket and Jai joined them for the game.  The score was tied 1-1 at the final, so Team’s and Jai’s bet was a bust.  They decided to bet on their teams’ season performance instead.

 

The majority of the rest of the time, Team spent playing games with the ‘Zombie Killers’ and texting with Than.  It was basically the same things he did in his dorm room, but it was nicer to do it at home, with the sounds of his parents downstairs and them occasionally popping into his room to chat for a bit.

 

At Swim Club on Monday, Win was again blocking the doorway to the entrance of the locker room and again, Team had to show him the necklace to gain entry.  Once inside, he went to his locker and then looked over and saw Chuckles at his own locker.  Team had forgotten all about him.  But his hatred came roaring back as he watched him trotting after Win everywhere he went and calling him ‘P’.  Every time Team heard it, it sent a flame of resentment flowing through him and he could tell the other guys felt the same.

 

On Wednesday, when he got to the classroom of the subject he hated the most, he found a group of students standing outside the locked door.  “Door’s locked,” one of the guys informed Team.

 

Within a short time, an Administrator came with a clipboard.  He informed the students that the Professor was ill, so class was cancelled for the day.  He took all their names down on a form and assured them that they would get attendance credit for being there and then he dismissed them.

 

Team wasn’t a monster, so he wasn’t happy that the Professor was ill, but he was thrilled about having a free day.  He messaged ‘The Mystery Machine’ group and told them his class was cancelled and to save him a seat.  He hopped onto his cycle with a smile.  He never got to eat with his friends on Wednesdays, so he was happy about being able to.

 

He grabbed a prepared lunch tray and hurried over to the table where his friends and others from the village were sitting at the core table.  In fact, the ‘core table’ had grown to three tables, as other students from the village learned about the core group table and joined them.  What had started as a small group of first-year students had grown to include students from all the years.  Including some fifth-year students, who were in Med school and Law school.

 

He had just lifted his fork to his mouth when he saw Win walking in his direction.  With a sigh of exasperation, he put his fork down and reached inside his shirt for the necklace.  Win walked by him without a glance and sat down at another one of the core tables that held some of the older students.

 

Team frowned at that.  Team ate lunch two or three times a week at the core table, and he had never seen Win there before.  Of course, Win had the right to be there…he was from the village, after all…Team just hadn’t expected to see him there.

 

After thinking about it for a few moments, while looking at Win’s back, he finally picked up his fork and brought it to his mouth.

 

“He only comes on Wednesdays,” Namfon said quietly.

 

Team looked at her.  She was looking down at her plate.  “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” he asked.

 

She looked up at him and then said with a grin, “You never asked me!”

 

“Well…I…what???” Team sputtered in shock.

 

She giggled.  “I have been working on myself since we first met.  I try very hard to not just blurt out whatever comes to mind.  That was your suggestion, remember?”

 

“I suggested that for Mali and Jai!  I never said that you shouldn’t tell ME things!” Team objected.

 

“Oh!  Okay!” she said with a grin, “P’ Win eats at a core table on Wednesdays.  Is that better?”

 

“Yeah, thanks,” Team answered sarcastically.  “By the way, you never said…what did you do last weekend.”

 

She blushed and looked away, “I’d rather not talk about that.”  She focused her attention on eating her lunch.

 

“You’ve changed,” Team said.  “Not over the past few years since we met, I mean since we came here to college.”

 

He waited and after a bit gave up on her responding; he went back to eating.  His eyes kept being pulled to look at Win.  It was so unexpected seeing him there.  And Team thought it was odd that Win only came there on Wednesdays, which was the only day that Team never came there.  Team wondered if that was on purpose.  But if so, it was odd because they saw each other four times a week at the pool, and a few nights a week in the library.

 

On Thursday as Team left his class, he searched the parking lot for signs of Win.  He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Win was not standing near his cycle, waiting for him as he had the previous week.  He said goodbye to his class friends and walked over to his cycle.  He mounted his bike and was preparing to put on his helmet, when Win pulled his car up behind him.  Win got out of his car and walked over to Team.

 

“Sorry I was late—I was involved in a conversation and lost track of time,” Win said, and then he grinned, “I have a date tonight.”

 

“Congratulations,” Team said in a monotone.

 

Win laughed, “Well, show me what I want to see so I can get going.  I have a lot to do before my date.”

 

Team reached into the neck of his shirt and pulled out the necklace.  Win gave a small nod and turned and walked back to his car.  He got in and drove off.

 

Team shoved his helmet on his head angrily and started his cycle.  He left the parking lot and drove around for a bit before meeting his Scooby Doo friends for dinner.

 

He knew that Namfon had gotten into the habit of checking how much he ate, so he forced himself to eat everything, even though he didn’t feel a bit hungry.

 

Later the group went to the library and sat at their regular table to study.  Team’s gaze wandered over to the table where Win usually sat.  He wasn’t there.  And Team reminded himself that Win didn’t come to the library on Thursdays.  With a sigh of relief, he set to work.

 

The speech he was supposed to give was coming up on Wednesday.  He had already finished writing the report and was now using it to outline the points he wanted to cover during the speech.  He had his report, a stack of index cards with pertinent facts, and a notebook open where he was trying to lay out the framework for the speech.  He was deeply focused on his work when suddenly he felt a hand come down on his shoulder and give it a squeeze.  He startled and looked up to see Win standing there.

 

“Hey!” Win said with a grin.  “Do you have something to show me?”

 

Team reached into his shirt and pulled out the necklace.  “Why are you here?  You said you had a date tonight,” he grumbled.

 

“Oh, I do!  We’re meeting here,” Win answered.  Then he looked down the aisle between the bookshelves and grinned.  He looked back at Team, “My date’s here now; right on time!”

 

Team, not being able to control his curiosity, looked in the direction that Win was looking.  To say he was surprised at Win’s date’s appearance would be an understatement.  There were similarities to other dates of Win’s that Team noticed—tall, slender, delicately boned—and this one even had bleached blonde hair.  In fact, if Team didn’t know better, he would think the two of them were related—and of course they looked perfect standing together, as Win did with all his dates.  But this date was different in one major aspect than the rest of Win’s dates that Team had witnessed.  This one was a guy.  A guy!  One that looked so much like Win—people who didn’t know might assume they were brothers!

 

Win looked at the guy and they grinned at each other.  They quietly conversed for a few moments and then they walked away together.  Win placed his hand on the small of the other guy’s back as they walked.

 

Team looked back down at his notebook to try to refocus on his work.  But he noticed his hand which was holding his pencil.  From there his gaze wandered up to his wrist.  It was not slender, delicate, or small boned.  It was broad and sturdy.  Maybe even wide.  He frowned as he contemplated the size of his bones.  He hadn’t really even noticed the size of them before.  But…he thought…the size and the strength of his bones was probably a factor in how well he had recuperated from the injuries he sustained in the car accident.  And…it didn’t matter anyway.  So what if Win was bi…Team was assuming, it wasn’t like Win said he was bisexual, but having a date with a guy seemed to indicate he was.  But it didn’t matter.  Who cared?  Certainly not Team.  Because the days of him pining over Win and trying to get his attention were long gone.  But Team did have to acknowledge that maybe Win liked guys, he just had never liked Team that way.  Team’s stomach clenched up but then he shoved it away.  He wasn’t a kid anymore, and he wasn’t interested in Win, so it didn’t matter that Win wasn’t interested in him.  It didn’t matter at all.  Not in the slightest.  He looked back at the size of his wrist and sighed.

 

Suddenly Namfon, who was sitting beside him, slammed her textbook closed.  Team startled and looked at her.  She was looking at him with a frown.  He noticed that Mali and Jai were also looking at him.  He wondered why they were all looking at him.  “What?” he asked.

 

“I’ve finished my homework; Scooby and I are going back to his dorm now,” Namfon announced.

 

“We are?” Team asked because this was the first he had heard of it.

 

She nodded, “We are!  Do you have snacks there?  Oh, never mind; of course you do!  Come on, gather up your stuff, we’re leaving.”

 

Team gathered up his textbooks and notes and put them in his backpack.  He pulled the strap up on his shoulder, “I guess we’re leaving now,” he said to Jai and Mali with a small shrug.

 

He and Namfon walked out of the library together.  “Why are we going to my place?” Team asked.

 

"Hush Scooby.  We’ll talk when we get there.”  She got on her motorcycle and put on her helmet.  Team had parked his cycle next to hers, so he copied her, and they rode side-by-side to his dorm building.

 

Once they reached his room, Namfon kicked off her shoes and sat down on his bed.  “Snacks, please!”

 

Team tossed his backpack on the floor next to the bed and went to the refrigerator and took out a couple of bottles of soda.  He got a big bag of potato chips from the cabinet and then joined Namfon on his bed.

 

“Here,” he said, handing her one of the colas, “So…what’s up?”

 

“Did you know,” she asked.  “Did you know he was Bi?”

 

Team felt as if he had been punched in the stomach.  Of all the topics he had imagined she wanted to talk about, this hadn’t been one of them.  “No…and…I mean…well…we don’t know for sure he is Bi.  He didn’t say it.”

 

Namfon took a drink from her bottle and shook her head, “No, he didn’t say it, but then again…did he actually have to say it?  He is a guy who is on a date with a guy.  Not just hanging out with a guy, he specifically referred to the guy as his date.”

 

Team shrugged, “What does it matter?  Who cares?”

 

“I do!” Namfon said with a laugh.  “There have been rumors for a while.  A couple of users on ‘IYKYK’ have claimed to be guys that dated P’Win a few years ago.  People on the site didn’t believe them.  It got pretty bad for the two…threats to dox them, and stuff like that.  One of them deactivated.  The other one stopped posting anything about P’Win.”

 

“That’s crazy!  Gossipy people are the worst!  They just need to mind their own business!”

 

Namfon giggled, “I’m one of those ‘gossipy people’ you know!”

 

“You just read it.  You don’t add onto it…do you?”

 

She shook her head, “Nope.  Never have.”

 

“And it’s not like you even say anything, because you never told me that there were rumors about him being bi,” he said, with a slight edge in his voice.

 

“No, although I did think about it a few times.  I am awful with the social things, so in order to avoid doing or saying the wrong things, I just keep quiet.”

 

He sighed, “Look…you can tell me things.  I know who you are, and I accept you.  I think your reluctance comes from me telling you not to blurt out every thought you had to Mali and Jai, when we first met.  I think you probably understood it after you got to know them better—Mali is too gentle and Jai is a bit…quick to anger.  But you can be yourself with me, always.  I can handle it.”

 

She took a big potato chip from the bag and took a bite from it.  She seemed lost in thought as she chewed it slowly.  Finally, she said, “Okay, there are things I want to ask you about, but they are things I don’t think you want to share.  However, there are things you want to know that I haven’t wanted to share.  How about we trade stories?”

 

Team ran a hand through his hair and exhaled slowly.  The truth was…he wouldn’t mind talking about all this stuff with someone, and he really was curious about what was going on in her life.  “I know that you always tell the truth, but I have noticed that you have learned how to dance around it a bit.  Like how you say, ‘I would rather not discuss it’.  Could you do that if you were asked about my secrets?”

 

She nodded, “And if you make me promise not to tell, then I could also say that.  Because even though I tell the truth, I never break promises.”

 

“Okay…promise you won’t tell anything I tell you,” he said.

 

She smiled, “Only if you promise the same.”

 

He nodded, “I promise.”

 

“I promise, too.  And as a sign of good faith, I will tell you my secrets first…and then you will know it is safe and that I won’t betray you,” she said.

 

He smiled at her, “I never thought you would betray me.  That’s not who you are.  But a good, juicy, gossipy story, is hard to keep to oneself, especially when there are friends who are interested in hearing it.”

 

“This goes both ways, you know?  They want to know what’s going on with me, too,” she said.

 

“Which is…” he prodded.

 

She smiled and then her cheeks turned pink, “Remember ‘Blueskies’ who defended me when the person commented that I wasn’t good enough, or pretty enough…whatever it was…to be with you?”

 

“Yeah, I remember,” he said, trying to hold back a laugh.  He had asked her many times about ‘Blueskies’.

 

“Well, ‘Blueskies’ is the girl in my classes…her name is Skye,” she began.  “She…well…we…are…we became friends.  Our classes are predominately filled with male students, and in a few of them, we are the only girls…so…like with projects and stuff, obviously we team up to work on them…although lots of the boys want to work with her, she’s very pretty and smart, you see…well, she feels more comfortable working with me.  And it’s only natural that…you know…we work together and take breaks together and we talk, so we became friends.  After a time, I asked her straight out if she was ‘Blueskies’ and she told me she was.  She thought that you and I made a cute couple, and she didn’t like people saying bad things about us…or rather…me, I suppose, because no one said anything bad about you.  Anyway, I told her that you and I were only friends and that I liked girls…and for a second after I said it, I wished I hadn’t because sometimes people can get uncomfortable…you know what I mean, right?”

 

Team nodded.  He understood the fear very well.

 

She took a deep breath and then said, all in a rush, “She said she was glad because she thought maybe she liked me.  I mean, like-liked me, not just like me, you know?”

 

Again he nodded, this time with a grin.

 

“She had a boyfriend all through upper Secondary…she said he was a perfectly nice boy, but something wasn’t right, but she didn’t understand…said it felt like something was missing…anyway, she broke up with him before college.  He is a student here, too.  He’s tried a few times to get back with her, but she just isn’t interested in him that way.  She suspected that she might like girls better, but never dated a girl before.  So…we started dating a bit.  I mean…it was the same things we did before, but after our talk…it was different.  I…I don’t think I am explaining it well.”

 

“You are,” he assured her.  “I know what you mean.”

 

“Good,” she said.  She adjusted her glasses and then got up and began to pace around.  “So, time passed and we got closer…and more physical…not sexual, but romantically.  But it was beginning to feel like it was sexual, too.  Like kissing was enough at first but then it was becoming to be not enough.  She had been with her boyfriend but I had never been with anyone that way, so we didn’t really know…stuff.  Anyway, we began to research what to do…”

 

“You researched it?!!” Team squawked.

 

She frowned at him, “Of course we did!  We’re scientists, remember?  And we didn’t want to fumble around like idiots.  I mean, when we are kids and they teach us about sex education, it is about procreation…heterosexual sex.  How did you learn what to do?”

 

“Uh…well, Nick taught me,” Team stammered.

 

“See?  You had an experienced partner to guide you.  We didn’t.  So we read up about it.  And last weekend, I stayed here on campus while the rest of you went back to the village, and Skye came to my room and we watched…a…let’s call it an ‘educational video’…”

 

“‘Educational video’?  Do you mean a…porno?!!!!”

 

“No, Scooby… we watched ‘Bambi’!” She said sarcastically.  “Of course we watched a porno.  Do you know of any other kind of video that would teach us?”  She shook her head at him in disgust.

 

“So, well…how was it?” he asked, trying his best not to giggle.

 

She wrinkled her nose, “They had dirty feet.  I was distracted by that.  So unromantic, you know?  And also, no emotion.  It was as cold as a film in Biology class…although I think maybe it was made for people with a different world view.  I.e., men who wanted to watch pretty, naked girls having sex.  But the fundamentals were there.  And we did what they did, but in our own way.”

 

“You did?” Team asked.  “How was it?  No!  Sorry!  That’s rude.  Forget I asked.”

 

“You’re right, that’s rude.  I won’t go into details, I’ll just say that she arrived in my room Friday evening, intending to stay for a couple of hours.  She didn’t leave my room until late Sunday night, and by the time she left, we had agreed to be a couple.”

 

“Oh!” Team said excitedly.  He had to fight the temptation to give her a tiny knock on the shoulder while saying ‘You dawg!’.  “That’s great!” he said instead,

 

She was beaming as she nodded and then walked back to the bed and sat down again.  “We had to discuss many things that most people don’t have to.  We’re both Physics majors and that could be a real problem in the future…”

 

“Why?”

 

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “There aren’t a lot of Physics jobs available, so the competition is crazy.  Plus, even in this day and age, some places will not even entertain the thought of hiring a woman, which is insane.  Anyway, we have to face the very real possibility that we will have to compete against each other for jobs.  And we had to discuss how we will handle it if one of us gets a job that we both wanted.  We've decided that we have to remain true to our dreams, like…I don’t want her to give up what she has worked for, and dreamed about her entire life, for me, and she doesn’t want me to give up my dreams for her either.  We’re not like Jai.”

 

“What do you mean, ‘like Jai’?”

 

“Surely you don’t think Jai’s dream was to be an Engineer, do you?”

 

Team chewed on a chip.  “I don’t know.  I never thought about it.  Do you think it wasn’t?”

 

Namfon laughed, “Oh Scooby!  You are so cute!  Of course it wasn’t!  Jai eats, breathes, and probably dreams about football!  I think his dream was to become a coach or something…he is a good player, but not professional level, so playing pro-ball is out of the question.  However, the only thing Jai loves more than football is Mali…who wants to become a doctor.  Mali can’t afford medical school and her scholarship is only for college.  I think Jai picked Engineering instead of Sports Sciences to major in because he will make more money in Engineering.  I’m sure he wants to make sure she gets her dream, so he gave up his so he can help her.”

 

Team felt a chill run up his spine as he instantly remembered Jai telling Team how he would give up his prized possession for Mali.  If what Namfon suspected about the situation was true, Jai had given up his career goal, football—his ‘prized possession’, for Mali.

 

“Did I say something wrong?” Namfon asked.  “You look funny.  You know how much I love Jai and Mali, right?  And I’m not knocking them at all…I just don’t want Skye and I to make those kinds of sacrifices, so I thought we should start our relationship off with that understanding.”

 

“No, you didn’t say anything wrong.  I think it is mature of you and Skye to have these discussions now before you are faced with the situations.  I was just thinking about something Jai said once that might confirm your suspicions about him giving up his dream career.”  He exhaled noisily.  “Being poor sucks.”

 

“Yeah, it does.  Oh, I know what you are thinking—but like I have said, numerous times—my mother is rich, I am not!  I am here on a scholarship too, and it is the first time in my life that I didn’t feel dependent on my mother.  It’s great!  But I have to have a PhD, so that means at least four more years of study after college.  I will have to ask my mother to help me, and that is galling.  And you—law school after graduation.  Your scholarship won’t cover that.  Irritating to be poor, doubly irritating to want the highest levels of education on top of it.”  She sighed, “Well, that was all of my story about me and Skye—except…I would really love for everyone to meet her, and we can announce our relationship status to everybody.  That would be cool!”

 

“Maybe this weekend?  We are all staying here because Mali has that project she’s working on.  But I’m sure she’ll have time for dinner or something,” Team suggested.  “My calendar is free so if there is a time that everyone else can meet, count me in!”

 

She clapped her hands excitedly.  “Oh it will be great!  Of course I have to discuss it with Skye—could be a problem since she didn’t go home last weekend, and then we have to figure out Mali’s schedule.  If Mali’s there, Jai will be there.  Oh!  And Kwan!  I want to invite him too!  The others told me about his talk with Jai and all the crap his dad put him through!  Just awful!  I want to make sure that he always feels welcome with us!”

 

Team nodded, “I agree!”

 

“Your turn now.  I’m not sure what you plan to discuss, but I know that I really want to know the story of the necklace, and why P’Win made you show it to him.”

 

Team sighed and reached under his collar and pulled out the necklace for her to see.  “Before I tell you about what’s happening now…I need to tell you the history of this necklace.”

 

He told her about Win working for two years to pay for the necklace and how the old man who made it died and left the letter and money for Win.  He told her about how Win had posthumously adopted the couple as his grandparents and used the money to keep their graves supplied with flowers.  Then he told her about how Win had only ever taken the necklace off for swimming and how a few times Team had worn it when Win forgot to put it in his locker.  Then he told her the difficult parts of the story—about how Win was supposed to meet Team the next day, but instead had driven out of his life for good—and the text message to go to their special place (he didn’t specify the place to Namfon, just called it ‘their special place’) and Team found snacks and the necklace in a bag there.

 

“What kind of snacks?” she asked.

 

“Does it matter?” he asked.

 

“I don’t know…but I am curious,” she answered.

 

He sighed, “He left me a grape soda and a bag of potato chips.”

 

“Grape soda?  Odd.  I’ve never seen you drink grape soda.”

 

He sighed again, “That’s because I stopped drinking it before you and I became friends.  I was mad about it when I was a kid.  I was drinking it and eating chips when I met him, and we were in what later became our special place.  I assume that is why he chose grape soda instead of cola.  I felt like it was a reset of some kind to him.  He sent me to that place, at the same time, and gave me the same things I was eating and drinking the moment we met.”

 

“Oh,” she said quietly.  “So the snacks were significant!”

 

He shrugged.  “Anyway…” he continued with the story.  He told her about the watch box, even got up and took it from his drawer to show her.  Then he told her about finding it in his large suitcase when he arrived at college but having no memory of how it got there.  And then how he had regained his memory of the events of the argument he had had with Nick, earlier on the day of the accident.  He showed her the pictures that he had sent to Nick to convince him that Team had thrown it away.

 

“He was right about the WinTeam shippers at school.  I knew about them.  There was an underground webpage for the Secondary school like there is here with IYKYK, only not nearly as good as IYKYK,” she said with a nod.

 

“You knew about them?  And you didn’t say anything?  Why?”  He was shocked by her admission.

 

She shrugged, “I figured you probably knew about them.  It was like how we all knew about P’Win’s cheering squad.  It was just a fact of life at the school.”

 

Team shook his head slightly, “I didn’t know until Nick told me.  People had been sending him pictures and videos of me and…uh…him together.  And to me they just looked like friend kinds of things, but not to Nick.  And some of the people who sent that stuff to him blamed him for me and the other one breaking up.  Of course there was no ‘break up’ because we were just friends.  But I wasn’t about to throw the necklace away just to appease Nick.  So I guess I staged that whole trash thing to convince him I had thrown it away so that we could make up and then I could break up with him another time when it wasn’t connected to the necklace.  I don’t remember exactly my thought process, but I am certain I didn’t want him to tell people that the reason we broke up was because of Hia…uh…P’Win…whatever…you know who I mean!”

 

She nodded, “Well, at least this makes sense.  I remember being confused when your mom said that the two of you had been arguing but had made up and you were happy about it.  I knew from our conversations that you were pretty much done with him.  Also, to hide it in your suitcase was very clever.  And an interesting choice.  You said you had never used the big suitcase before, but that is the one you chose.”  She paused for a moment, “I’m not sure that you want to hear what I am thinking.”

 

Team sighed, “Probably not, but go ahead.”

 

She gave him a small smile and a nod, “Okay then…you said you never used that one because you had never been somewhere where you needed to take that much stuff with you.  But…you knew that one day you would be going to college.  Perhaps, subconsciously, you put it there to save for when you got here.”

 

Team laughed, “That’s kind of stretching things a bit, don’t you think?”  But in the back of his mind a thought whispered, “You hid the whiskey in the medium-sized suitcase.  It was a safe place; no one ever found the whiskey…you could have put it there, but you chose the large one.  Why?”

 

He pushed the thought out of his mind and then told Namfon about how worried he had been before going to the first Swim Club meeting and seeing Win again.  But after all the worrying he had done, he had been shocked when Win didn’t remember him, and always called him ‘Tine’.  At first he had been stunned by it but then he was glad about it.  And he had started to actually believe it was true, until the day that Win had slipped and called him by a nickname he had given Team years earlier.  And like with the ‘special place’, he didn’t tell Namfon that Win had called him ‘Kitten’, just said nickname.

 

Namfon pulled the bag of potato chips closer to her and began eating them in earnest.  “OOOH!” she squealed, “so he definitely remembered you!”

 

Team looked at her, hand down in the bag of chips and chewing rapidly.  At that moment, she reminded him of the gifs he had seen of people eating popcorn while watching something interesting.  He had to grin at the image.  He nodded, “Yeah.  If he had called me by my name, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it.  My name is on my Swim Club records, it is written on my locker, and all the guys call me by it.  But it was the nickname that only he and I knew about.  I was convinced he hadn’t forgotten about me…so…I thought about the necklace.  It had gotten tarnished and old looking from being stored for so long.  I bought some jewelry cleaning stuff and started cleaning it up.  I was waiting for a specific time to…I don’t know…to wear it in front of him, I guess.”

 

“And you did it, right?” she asked around the chips in her mouth.

 

“Yeah.  Club picture day.  I thought that since it had been in every club picture of us before—around his neck—that it should be in this one too—only this time around my neck,” he answered.

 

“Why?” she asked.

 

“Why?  I don’t know—why not?” he asked with a shrug.

 

“You said you had picked out a specific time—this means it was premeditated, which knowing you, you thought for a long time about it.  But…what was the goal?”

 

He didn’t answer.  He got up and walked over to his dresser and picked up the watch box from the top of it.  He opened up his underwear drawer and put the box back in it and then pushed the drawer closed.  He turned and looked at her, “Because I wanted to see it…the look on his face…the hurt in his eyes…when he saw the necklace again,” he quietly admitted.

 

“Revenge,” she supplied the motive.

 

He nodded and then walked back to the bed and sat down again.  “He spotted it almost immediately and he couldn’t take his eyes off of it.  And it was great!  I felt so…I don’t know…elated?  Vindicated?”  He looked down at his hand and began picking at a piece of skin next to his thumb nail.  “At first…but then…”  He shrugged, “I don’t know…I felt bad.”

 

“Because you are not a petty, vindictive person by nature,” she said.

 

He shrugged again.  “I guess.  Anyway,” he looked up from watching himself pick at his thumb and met her eyes, “I tried to give it back to him.  I pretended I had forgotten to leave it in my locker and asked him to hold it for me.  But he wouldn’t; he told me to go put my necklace in my locker.  I said, ‘It’s not my necklace, it’s yours,’ and then he accused me of trying to bribe him…”

 

“Bribe him?  For what?” Namfon asked in a shocked voice.

 

“For a place on the National Team.  He said he wasn’t the one who picked the team, so it was wasted on him, but he was going to keep an eye on me and make sure I wear the necklace 24/7, except in the pool.  He said that if he ever sees it gone from my neck, he will go to the Administrators and tell them that I tried to bribe him with it and that I must have offered it to someone else and they took the bribe.  And now he pops up everywhere I am and demands to see it.”

 

“This is the craziest story I ever heard!”

 

“I know!  I’m living it!  I keep thinking about ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, are you familiar with it?” he asked.

 

She thought for a moment and then shook her head, “No, I don’t think I ever heard of it.  Why?  What is it?”

 

He sighed, “It was a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge that we studied in my Advanced English class.”

 

“That explains why I never heard about it.  I never made it as far as you did in English.  So…explain it to me please!”

 

“Some sailor dude shot a seabird—an Albatross, which is a good luck bird for sailors.  After he killed it, all sorts of misfortunes happened on the ship and the crew blamed it on the guy since he killed a good luck bird.  For punishment, the guy was sentenced to wear the corpse of the Albatross around his neck.  There is a line from it that keeps running through my mind:  ‘Ah! well a-day! What evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung’.”  He touched the medallion of the necklace, “This is my own personal Albatross.  I taunted him to be vindictive and now I am sentenced to wear this thing forever.  If I had just given it back to him in a nicer way, none of this would have happened.”

 

She rolled down the top of the chip bag and put it away from her.  “Well, I think you have it better than the guy in the poem.  At least the necklace won’t start rotting and stinking while it is hanging around your neck.”  They both laughed about that, and then she said, “You need to wrap up your thumb; you’re bleeding.”  She rummaged in her backpack for her phone and pulled it out as Team was walking to the bathroom.

 

He washed the blood away and applied a medicinal cream onto the injured spot.  He wrapped it with a bandage and then left the bathroom.

 

Namfon looked up from her phone as he entered the room, “You said you were totally free this weekend, right?”

 

Team nodded, “Yep, why?”

 

“I’ve been texting with Skye and with Mali, trying to make plans for the meeting,” she gave a tiny giggle, “I told Mali that I wanted to introduce everyone to my girlfriend, since we are official.  She is so excited for me!”

 

He sat back down on the bed.  “Oh, so you did end up telling Mali everything?”

 

Namfon laughed before answering, “No way!  Can you imagine me telling Mali, of all people, that Skye and I watched porn together to learn how to have sex!  Because I can’t!  No…I just told her that Skye is the girl from my class who I liked, and I found out that she liked me, and now we are officially a couple.  The rest of the story stays between us; remember…you promised!”

 

“Of course!  I won’t say a word!”

 

Her phone sounded an incoming message alert and she read the screen.  “Okay…so it tentatively looks like we will be having dinner and drinks on Saturday.  Haven’t heard back from Kwan yet.  And Saturday is good for you, right?”

 

Team nodded.  “So how did you have time to arrange all of this stuff in just the time it took me in the bathroom?”

 

She shook her head, “Nothing is officially arranged.  Just a possibility of it being on Saturday-- no place or time confirmed yet.”

 

Within a half hour, all of the arrangements were finalized.  Kwan couldn’t make it for dinner because he had to do some prep work for a brunch for Sunday but could meet up with them at the bar.  Team was to ride with Jai and Mali and Namfon was riding with Skye.

 

Namfon was quiet after everything was settled, and Team had an uneasy feeling about her silence.  He knew she was thinking about something but had no idea what it could be.

 

Finally, she said, “Scooby?”

 

He braced himself, “Yeah, I’m right here.”

 

She gave a small laugh.  “I know, I see you.  I was just thinking…remember when you hurt your ankle and we helped you?  I noticed something…”  She got up from the bed and walked over to his closet and opened the door.  She reached in and pulled out a black dress shirt and a black pair of slacks.  “Why haven’t I ever seen you wearing these?”

 

He shrugged, “They’re new.  My mom insisted on buying them…although I told her that I had no place to wear such things…”

 

“But you do!  To the dinner Saturday night!  It’s in Bangkok proper…not here on campus!  In a nice restaurant!  You don’t want to show up in your regular clothes, do you?”

 

Team shrugged, “I don’t know.  I didn’t think about it.”

 

“Of course you didn’t,” she said with a sigh.  “I love that about you, but I also kind of hate that about you.  Okay, so wear this outfit for me, okay?”

 

“Yeah, I guess I could.”

 

“Good!” she said, and then she looked at him more closely.

 

“What?” he asked, fighting the urge to run a hand over his mouth to see if he had potato chip crumbs on his lips or something.

 

“We went to the same Primary school,” she said.

 

“Yeah, I remember you telling me that.”

 

She nodded, “And I was just remembering you from back then.  You look the same now as you did.  Same haircut, I mean.  Have you ever changed it?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I guess not.  I just go to the barber for trims.  Why?”

 

“Well, I mean…don’t you think it is…odd…that you started college with the same haircut that you started Primary school with?  A haircut that your parents picked for you when you were little?  Don’t you think it is time for a change?  Something that reflects the man you are now?”

 

“I don’t know.  I never thought about it.  What about you?  You haven’t changed since I met you!”

 

“Well, no.  Because I had changed right before we met.  When my mother was in charge of deciding my look, I had long hair and contact lenses.  I chose this look because it is me.”

 

“It’s Velma,” he argued.

 

She laughed, “Okay, but I chose how I wanted to look like…and yeah, it’s Velma, but it’s also me.  Don’t make any plans for early Saturday.  We’re going to go to the salon in the mall and get you a new hairdo.  One that says ‘Team’.”

 

“I don’t know, ‘Fon!  I don’t like making changes,” he demurred.

 

She snorted, “Obviously!  But it’s just hair, Scooby.  If you don’t like it, it will grow back really fast!  Also…it’s none of my business, but I was wondering…have you dated anyone since Nick?”

 

“No, I am not looking for a relationship!  That one was bad enough; I don’t want anymore!”

 

“You could just date for fun, you know.  Lots of people do.  In fact, most people do.  It doesn’t mean you have to make a commitment, just because you have dinner with someone or something.”

 

“Is this your way of not saying ‘casual sex’?”

 

“Maybe…but so what?  With proper protection and mutual respect, who does it hurt?”

 

“I guess it doesn’t,” he agreed.  “But I don’t think that is really for me.  I don’t think I am the ‘casual sex’ kind of guy really.  I think if I were to date someone, or sleep with someone, it would have to be someone special, someone that I could care about, and I haven’t met anyone yet who I feel like I would want to date.”  He looked down and noticed that the necklace was on the outside of his shirt.  He always wore it on the inside, next to his skin.  He picked up the medallion and put it back under his collar.

 

“I just want you to be happy, like I am, and like Jai and Mali are,” she said, looking dejected.

 

He smiled at her, “Okay!  I will go to the salon with you and get my hair done, but I have to say ‘no’ to the dating thing!”

 

She bounced off the bed with glee and said with a grin, “It’s a start!  I’ll take it!”

Chapter 27

Team had butterflies in his stomach when he woke up Saturday morning.  Namfon was blowing up his phone in her excitement to go into the mall in town and get Team’s hair styled.  He kept going into the bathroom and looking at his hair.  It was funny, because he had never even thought about his hair before—except when he had awakened from the coma and saw chunks of it had been cut out for the monitors to attach.  But…the spots had filled in quickly and his hair had grown back the same as it had been before.  He reassured himself with Namfon’s words about it only being hair, and he could grow it out if he didn’t like the new style.

 

He forced himself to eat a bit of breakfast before jumping on his cycle and riding to the bus stop.  He parked it next to Namfon’s orange monstrosity and joined her on the bench outside the ticket office.

 

“I am so excited!” she squealed when he sat down.

 

“No shit?  Couldn’t tell that by the 600 texts you sent this morning.  You played it really cool,” he joked.

 

She laughed, “You are getting an entire new look!  I can’t wait to see what they do to you!”

 

“I get some say in it right?” he asked.  “I mean, my barber always listens to me.”

 

“Of course you do, Scooby!  People don’t just let them do whatever they want!  Honestly…it’s like you’ve never been to a hairstylist before!”

 

“I haven’t.  I always go to small barber shops and tell them I want a trim.”

 

The bus arrived and they boarded and took a seat.  “That explains why you’ve always had the same haircut then,” she said.

 

During the bus ride, she chatted on and on about how great he was going to feel and how change is good for one’s soul, and other cliches that fit the situation.  Team looked out the window and watched the passing scenery.

 

Namfon suddenly stopped, mid-sentence, and grabbed her chest.  “Oh no!” she gasped.

 

Team looked at her in fright, “What is it ‘Fon?  Are you in pain?”

 

She shook her head violently, “Oh Scooby!  I just realized…I sound exactly like my mother when she is trying to make me do something I don’t want to do!  I’m so sorry!  Your hair is fine, we don’t have to go to the stylist.  We’ll just walk around a bit, and I’ll buy us some lunch, and then we can go back to the campus, okay?”

 

Team smiled and shook his head, “Some detective you are, Velma!  If you had paid attention to the clues, you could have deduced that I actually do want to change my hair…but not too much.  Like…ugh…have you ever seen those guys who stop and look at any reflective surface and mess with their hair?  And they are all like…‘Oh, don’t touch it!  You’ll mess it up!’?  I hate that!  I don’t want to turn into a guy like that!”

 

Namfon relaxed against the seat with a sigh, “But you won’t, Scooby!  That’s not your nature at all!  You aren’t shallow and vain, and a new style won’t change your personality.  But that imitation was spot on.  Is it who I think it is?”

 

Team huffed out a quiet laugh, “If you were thinking Nick, it is.  The guy was obsessed with his looks.  I mean, yeah, he was attractive, and at first, I was obsessed with his looks too, but after a while…just yuck.  Shut up already, you know?”

 

She nodded, “I actually didn’t spend much time talking to him, but…yeah, I thought he was a bit vain and stuck up.  He acted like he was better than you, and boy, I sure didn’t see it.  So, if you aren’t against changing your hair, what did you have in mind to do with it?  Whatever you say, we will go with.”

 

He shrugged, “I don’t know, actually.  But I don’t want to go in cold and the stylist just do what they want either.  Oh!  And absolutely no color change!”

 

She nodded, “I hear you and we will make sure the stylist hears you, too.  Hey!” she exclaimed as she turned on her phone, “Why don’t we look at some styles online and you can maybe get an idea of one you would like!”

 

The two of them sat with their heads pressed together, peering at the screen of Namfon’s phone, the rest of the ride to the mall.  As they were getting off the bus, they chatted enthusiastically.

 

“I love this style, Scooby!  I think it will really suit you!”

 

“I hope the stylist knows how to do it!” Team exclaimed.

 

“Oh sure!  It’s just an off-center part with some longish layers cut in the hair.  I’m sure it isn’t that difficult!”

 

They hurried through the mall until they came to the salon.  Namfon checked the time on her phone, “Made it!  With five minutes to spare!  Luckily that traffic jam we ran into wasn’t worse or else the salon might have cancelled your appointment!”

 

Namfon checked them in, and they were soon ushered back to a booth.  The stylist introduced himself to Namfon as Maurice and discussed Team’s haircut with her.  Team thought it was odd, they were talking about him like he wasn’t even there, but decided it was probably because the appointment was under her name.

 

Namfon showed Maurice the style they had selected on her phone.  Maurice enthusiastically agreed with their choice.  He took out a book of hairstyles from under his desk and thumbed through it.  He found the page he was looking for and showed Namfon the different angles of a haircut very similar to the one they had picked.

 

“Um…since it’s my head, do you mind if I take a look at it?” Team said, trying not to sound as aggravated as he felt.

 

Maurice laughed, “Sorry!  My bad!  Sure, you can look too.  I just thought it would be a good idea to get the Missus’ approval first.  Wives have a way of becoming very irate with stylists!”

 

“She’s not my…” Team began before being interrupted.

 

“Oh, we’re not married!” Namfon sounded as shocked as she looked.  “Good heavens, no!  No offense, Team!”

 

“None taken,” he assured her.

 

“No, he just has had the same haircut since he was a little boy.  I thought…and then he agreed…that it was time for him to get a new style.  He was hesitant to come alone, so I am just here as his support system,” Namfon explained.

 

“Oh!  Okay!,” Maurice said and then looked at Team, “Sorry about the mistake!  But you two look really good together so I assumed you were a couple!  Anyway, let’s discuss this cut.  I can do the off-center part and the layers easily, but to have any movement to your hair, you need a root permanent.”

 

“No!” Team interjected, “I don’t want curly hair!”

 

Maurice and Namfon both laughed.  Namfon shook her head, “No, a root permanent doesn’t make your hair curly.  Look at mine; there’s no curl, and I get root permanents quite often.”

 

Team reluctantly agreed, and soon he was draped in an apron with curlers in his hair, drenched in a foul-smelling liquid.  He had to keep the mess on his head for a while, so Maurice brought back an older woman and gave her a haircut while they waited for Team’s time to be up.  Namfon was busy scrolling on her phone, Maurice was busy cutting the old woman’s hair, and the old woman and Team had nothing else to do but stare at each other.  They both shifted their glances away to try to not look at the other, but there wasn’t much to look at, so they kept making eye contact.  Team could tell by her expression that she wasn’t a fan of a guy getting a permanent.  Team wasn’t fond of it either, so he bore her no ill-will.

 

By the time the buzzer sounded, alerting that the time was up for Team’s permanent, Maurice was just finishing up with the old woman’s hair.  As she left, Maurice came back over to tend to Team.  He rinsed out Team’s hair, and much to Team’s dismay, he put a different kind of foul-smelling liquid on Team’s hair.

 

“I thought we were done!” Team complained.

 

Maurice chuckled, “Not yet, sorry!  But this doesn’t have to stay on as long.  Unfortunately though, it is drippy.  Here,” he handed Team a towel, “Blot this on your forehead if you feel it starting to run down.  We don’t want it getting into your eyes!  I am going to clean up the other station and I will be back when the bell rings.  Then it will be time for the final rinse.”

 

The drippy crap really got on his nerves.  He swiped at his forehead with the towel Maurice had given to him and looked at Namfon with a frown.  “What’s so interesting on your phone?” he grumbled.

 

She looked up and grinned, “Just reading some juicy gossip on ‘IYKYK’.”

 

“What is it?” he asked.  Not really interested but looking for anything to take his mind off of the constant itchy, stinky, dribbles running down his forehead.  A drop had landed at the corner of his mouth and even though he had wiped it off immediately, he could now taste it.  It tasted worse than it smelled.

 

“Are you sure you want to hear it?” she asked.  “You aren’t usually into this kind of thing.”

 

“Sure, I’m sure!” he barked.

 

She giggled as she got up and came over to him so they could talk quietly.  “You’re grumpy!  Don’t worry, it won’t be much longer before your hair is finished.  Anyway, I was reading some gossip about a certain person’s date Thursday night—you know who I mean, right?”

 

Team sighed.  “Yeah.  I know.”

 

“Well…apparently, it wasn’t that much of a big deal,” Namfon said with a grin.

 

“He’s a flop in the sack?  Yeah, I figured as much,” Team said scornfully.

 

“No! It’s not that at all.  The guy reportedly told a friend who told a friend…you know how that goes, anyway, someone heard it third or fourth hand and posted the deets, it sounds like they met at the library and then went to get dinner.  They drove to the restaurant separately.  As soon as they finished eating, that certain person got up, paid for their dinner, thanked the guy for the date, and then left.  Of course, now the rumor is that he must not be bi or else he would have…you know…but he didn’t.”

 

“What are ‘deets’?” Team asked.

 

Namfon frowned, “How old are you, Grandpa?  ‘Deets’ means details.  Anyway, what do you think about it?”

 

Team shrugged.  “Sounds like he wasn’t into the guy.  Doesn’t prove or disprove anything.  Or it could be that some details…or rather ‘deets’…were lost by the time it reached the third or fourth person—whoever that was that reported it.”

 

Namfon nodded, “Yeah, could be either, but I think he just wasn’t into him that way.”

 

Team shrugged, “He must have been to ask him out though.”

 

“That’s the thing!  He didn’t ask.  The other one did.  I guess from the sounds of it, he had asked numerous times in the past and was always refused.  My question is…why would that person accept a date with someone he had refused numerous times?  He obviously already knew he wasn’t interested in the guy that way.  And why meet at the library?  That one has been itching at my brain ever since Thursday night.”

 

Team laughed.  “Sometimes there is no ‘why’; there just is.  Like…maybe he agreed to the date because he was bored or something.  And as for the library, why not meet there?  It is in a central location, and maybe he didn’t want the guy coming to his dorm.  Could have been the library or anything near the quad, really.  I think you think too much.”

 

“Team, I love you to death, but you are no fun sharing gossip with,” Namfon said with a smile and then returned to her seat and became engrossed in her phone again.

 

Thankfully the buzzer sounded shortly after, and Maurice came back and rinsed Team’s hair.  He gave Team a wet cloth to wash his face with.  Team scrubbed it and his neck.  He felt like he could still smell the nasty odor all over himself.

 

As Maurice was removing the curlers from Team’s hair, it seemed like every other curler had managed to entangle a few of Team’s hair strands.  As the offending curler was removed, so were the ensnared hairs.  Team, ordinarily not a tender-headed person, winced each time it happened.  He silently vowed to never get a permanent again.

 

Eventually all the curlers were removed, and Maurice set to work.  Although he had cut Team’s hair before the permanent, now he was busy cutting it for a second time.  Team imagined he wouldn’t have much hair left by the time Maurice would be finished with him.  But he reminded himself of what Namfon had told him:  It was only hair, and it would grow back.

 

Maurice put down the scissors and picked up a blow dryer.  “Team, when you dry your hair, I want you to aim the air in this direction,” Maurice instructed.  “If you blow it downward, it will flatten it out and it won’t lay correctly.”

 

Team assured Maurice that he would do it the correct way, and then Maurice began the blow out.  Team was relieved that it would soon be over, he wasn’t one that liked to be fussed with.  Plus, he was hungry and looking forward to lunch.

 

After a short time, Maurice turned off the blow dryer and laid it down on the counter.  He ran a comb through Team’s hair, did a few extra snips and then nodded.  “Hey, Support System, what do you think?”

 

Namfon looked up from her phone at Team.  She jumped up, clamped her hand over her mouth, and hurried over to him.  She stared for a moment and then lowered her hand, “OH. MY. GOD!” she said, over-enunciating each word.  “Team!  It’s just…you’re so…oh wow!  You look amazing!  I mean, you were never not cute…but this is…wow!”

 

Team started to relax because he knew that Namfon wouldn’t lie, but then he remembered that she thought the sparkly Orange Monstrosity was beautiful.  He suddenly envisioned his hair to be like an orange, curly, clown wig.  He looked at Maurice, who was smiling happily.  “Am I allowed to see my hair?” he asked harshly.

 

Maurice’s smile grew larger, and he spun Team’s chair around to face the mirror.

 

Team stared at himself in the mirror.  He was shocked at what he saw.  He still looked like himself—only much older.  Not like an old man, but like a real adult.  And…he could privately admit to himself, a handsome adult.  “Oh wow,” he breathed.  “How?”

 

Maurice chuckled, “Surprising what a different part, a few layers, and a root permanent can do, right?  Of course, I am very skilled with styling hair, so that helps!”

 

Team couldn’t take his eyes off himself—not in a vain way, but in a shocked way.  Had he known a different hairstyle would make him look like this, he would have done it ages ago.  And to give credit where it was due, without Namfon pushing him into it, he wouldn’t have done it.

 

“Go ahead!” Namfon urged, “I know you are dying to!”

 

Team grinned and ran a hand through his hair and watched it fall back into place.  He grinned at it but refrained from doing it again.  He wasn’t going to turn into a douche like Nick and a lot of other guys he knew.  Once was enough.

 

“Are you happy with it, Mr. Team?” Maurice asked.

 

“Very happy, Mr. Maurice,” Team answered with a grin.

 

Maurice smiled and handed Team his card.  “You will need to come back for trims to keep it like this, and I know you hate it, but you will have to keep your roots permed if you want it to stay like it is now.”  He took out another card, “Here Support System, just in case he loses his card.  Or…you know…whatever.”  He blushed and looked away.

 

When they arrived back at the reception desk, they had a bit of a quarrel over who should pay.  Namfon insisted since it was her idea, it should be her.  Team insisted that since it was his hair, it should be him.  Ultimately Team prevailed and he paid the bill and left a nice tip for Maurice.  They left the salon and hurried over to their favorite restaurant at the mall.

 

Once they were seated, Team pretended to study the menu, while peeking at Namfon.  “You know he was interested in you, don’t you?”

 

Namfon looked up from the menu, “Who?  Maurice?  Oh gross!  He’s old enough to be my dad!”

 

Team laughed, “No he wasn’t!  Maybe about 23 or so!”

 

Namfon shrugged and looked back at her menu.  “I don’t care.  I don’t like guys, you know that!”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, but it was a compliment.  Now you know that people look at you and see someone they could be interested in.”

 

“As if I care about stuff like that!” she scoffed.  “All I care about is how Skye sees me.”  She closed her menu and turned to look out of the big window that gave a view of the stores across the floor from them.

 

The server came and took their orders and removed the menus.  She brought them back their drinks.  Team took a drink of his cola while watching Namfon staring out the window.  He was tempted to ask what had captured her attention, but he waited.  He assumed she would say something eventually.

 

Namfon kept watch out the window until the server arrived with their orders.  Namfon started eating without saying a word.  “Scooby?” she asked while looking down at her plate.  “Do you think you could do me a favor?”

 

“Yep,” Team said, while dipping up a bit more to put on his plate.  “I’ll do it.”

 

She gave a small laugh and shake of her head, “You don’t even know what it is!”

 

Team shrugged, “Doesn’t matter.  You need something, I’ll do it.”

 

She nodded with a smile, “And this is why you are my bestie!”  She took a deep breath and said, “After lunch, I want you to go with me to the jewelry store across the aisle.  I want to buy a gift for Skye.”

 

Team used his napkin while he thought about it.  “I would be happy to, but…don’t you think someone else…Mali, maybe…would be a better choice?  Or heck, even Jai…he’s bought gifts for Mali before, so he could be a big help.  I’m a jewelry virgin, I’ve never bought something like that.”

 

“I know!  That’s what makes you the perfect choice.  See…I don’t want to buy her something that is the ‘right’ thing.  I want to buy her something that feels ‘right’.”  She paused and scratched her head.  “Like…I don’t want anyone to influence me, you know?  Just support me.”

 

“Okay!  I can be your Support System…you were mine earlier.” He ran his hand through his hair, in a jokingly douche move, and then grinned at her.

 

She grinned back at him.  “It looks so good though.  You can flip it anytime you want.”  She looked back at her plate and moved the food around.  “Of course, I’ll have to look at things in the store…but my mind bulks at the idea of a ring.  It’s too soon, and I don’t even know what she would like, or if she would even want one.  I think she and I would need to discuss something like that first.”  She looked up at him, “I don’t mean Jai and Mali, because I think they are a very equal couple, but some people…” she paused and shook her head.  “Have you ever noticed it?  I don’t mean to sound sexist here—because I am sure it isn’t just a male trait, but I don’t know any lesbian couples, so I can’t speak factually about them.”

 

He had to suppress a grin at her trying to ‘factually’ explain something that was concerning her.  “’Fon?  Skip all that.  I know who you are and I know your not a sexist.  You asked me if I noticed something.  What?”

 

She sighed and then nodded, “Some…I’m going to say people here…some people, once they buy their significant other a ring, and the significant other accepts it, suddenly they become controlling.  That’s what I wondered if you noticed.  Like…they will tell their loved one what to or not to wear, how to do their hair, who they can or cannot talk to.  It’s so gross.”

 

“Well…now that you mentioned it…maybe?  Like with Nick…he didn’t buy me a ring or anything, but once he started talking about us getting married one day…he changed.  He criticized me all the time. It was confusing for me then…I mean, now I know he was a dick, but at the time…I honestly thought he was a good guy.  But he always said something…or gave me this look, you know…that made me feel I had said or done something wrong.  I never could figure it out.”

 

She nodded, “Exactly that!  Yes!  And I want Skye to know that I’m not like that.  I don’t want to control her or try to mold her into something she’s not.  My mom spent my whole life doing that to me and I know how awful it is!  I would never want to make Skye feel like that.  I want to buy her…I don’t know…something like maybe a bracelet or a necklace that just shows how grateful I am that she is allowing me to be in her life because she is very special to me.  Does that sound stupid?”

 

Team leaned back in his seat with a sigh, “I think that sounds great, ‘Fon.  Honestly, I do.  I can see why she loves you.”

 

Namfon blushed from her fingertips to her scalp.  “Oh hush!  She never said that!”

 

“She didn’t have to though, did she?  She agreed to be your girlfriend.  And she agreed to meet your crazy group of friends.  That speaks volumes!”

 

Namfon laughed, “You have a point there!  Are you finished eating?”

 

Team grinned and snatched up the check, “Just let me pay and we’ll go.  We can’t dine and dash—that’s against the law.”

 

“Oh no!  I was going to pay for lunch,” Namfon protested.

 

“You can get it next time,” he said, getting up to go to the cashier.

 

“But you always say that and then never let me pay!” Namfon protested.

 

Team didn’t answer.  He paid for their lunches and then went back to the table.  “Well, what are you waiting for?  The store won’t come to you!  Let’s go!”

 

Namfon jumped up from her seat and hurried across the square.  Team had to hustle to keep up with her.  He was glad he had wrapped his ankle that morning, but he still felt a few twinges of pain in it.

 

Namfon rushed inside the jewelry store with Team on her heels.  The salesclerk greeted them from behind a glass counter full of sparkling gems.  “Ah!  Let me guess!” he said with a grin, “You’re looking for something special.  An engagement ring, perhaps?”

 

“Oh no!” Namfon said.  “It’s much too soon for that!  No, if you don’t mind, we would just like to look around a bit.”

 

She and Team began to search the locked counters at the jewelry inside.  Namfon moved slowly, looking at everything offered.  Standing beside her, Team could feel her impatience growing.  Finally, on the bottom shelf of the third counter, tucked into a corner, Namfon found what she was looking for.

 

“There!” she exclaimed, “Can I see that bracelet?”

 

The man unlocked the door in the back and slid the panel open, with the sound of smoothly rolling ballbearings.  He reached in and pulled out the little box and placed it on the countertop for Namfon to inspect.  Team looked at it too.  It was a thin, gold chain, with a tiny heart pendant.  It looked sweet and delicate.

 

“Oh!  That’s it!  Don’t you think so, Team?” she asked, never taking her eyes from the bracelet.

 

“If you are sure, then, I am sure.  It is really pretty,” he said.

 

“Yes,” she whispered.  “It’s perfect!”

 

“Are you certain, Miss?” the salesman asked.  “I’m sure that we could find something…nicer.”  He looked at Team, “If I knew what your budget was, I am sure I could help you find something a bit…more special.”

 

Team looked at the low price displayed discreetly in the corner of the box containing the bracelet and realized why the salesman seemed so eager to show them something else.  And it explained its placement in the display case.

 

“No!” Namfon insisted.  “This is it!  This is the one I want.  Unless…are you sure Team?”

 

Team was feeling a bit irritated at the salesman’s demeanor, although he didn’t think Namfon really noticed it, Team didn’t want anything to spoil this moment for her.  “I’m sure, Namfon.  Like you said, it’s perfect.”

 

The salesman placed the small box into a bag and rang up the purchase.  He looked at Team when he announced the total, and blinked in surprise when Namfon handed him her credit card.  Team had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

 

After the sale was complete, Team and Namfon headed towards the door of the store.  She was so excited, it was as if she were walking on air, and she was talking rapidly.  She slipped her arm in his and they walked arm-and-arm.

 

“I saw a lot of double hearts entwined, and I almost got one like that…but then I saw this single heart one and it made more sense to me.  Like…I’m giving her my heart, not assuming I have hers, you know?”

 

“But I think you do have her heart,” Team teased.  “However, I think that sentiment, about giving her your heart is kind of perfect, actually.  No pressure on her, just love.  Make sure you explain it just that way when you give her the bracelet.  She will swoon.”

 

Namfon giggled, “No she won’t!  Will she?”

 

Team laughed, “You are giving her a perfectly impractical gift.  Reminds me of another couple whose first gift was a tiny, pink pig—totally impractical, but so sweet!”

 

“You don’t know how much I have admired…and also a little bit envied…their relationship,” she said.  “I want one just like it!”

 

“Don’t we all?” Team quipped.  “And I think you are well on your way to having one that is perfect for you.  Starting tonight.”

 

They exited the store and turned onto the walkway.  Namfon giggled and hugged Team’s arm.  “I can’t wait for tonight!  Announcing our relationship to everyone.  Of course, everyone already knows, but to be officially official…it makes it all seem more real.”

 

Team smiled down on her and when he looked up, he startled a bit to see Win walking towards them.  Mentally he sent the message, “Please!  Not now!” because he didn’t want anything to damage this moment for Namfon.  With his free hand, he reached into his shirt, pulled out the necklace, and made sure that Win could see the medallion.  Win gave a quick nod and continued walking by them.  Namfon was in the middle of talking about the reservations at the restaurant and how much she was looking forward to going out afterward to the nightclub they had all been wanting to try but hadn’t had the chance to yet.  Team breathed a sigh of relief when he realized she hadn’t noticed the exchange between him and Win.

 

They were headed towards the exit of the mall when Namfon suddenly stopped in her tracks.  “Do you have a shower cap?” she asked with urgency in her voice.

 

Team giggled at that.  “What?  No!  My mom does though.  Why on earth would you ask me that?”

 

“Because you need one for tonight!  Maurice has your hair perfect; I don’t want it ruined, and I know you will want to take a shower when you get home.  Come on!  Let’s hurry and pick you up one before the bus comes.  We have time, don’t we?”  She pulled out her phone and checked the time.  “Yes!  We do if we hurry!”  She took off quickly, pulling Team along behind her.

 

“’Fon!  Nothing with lace or flowers! I mean it!” Team called to the back of her head as she pulled him through the store.

 

A bit later, aboard the bus on the way back to campus, Namfon took the bracelet out of the box and was admiring it.  Team reached into his small bag and pulled out his brand-new shower cap.  He shook his head with a rueful grin.  After searching around the store, all they could find was one display hook filled with shower caps.  White, covered in tiny, pink rosebuds, and trimmed with white lace.  He had to laugh, as he thought, “The things we do for friends.”

 

It kept his hair dry though.  After his shower that evening, when he pulled it off his head, not one hair had gotten wet or moved out of place.  He stood at the mirror and ran his hand through it a few times and marveled about how it fell back perfectly into place each time.  With a laugh he mentally promised not to make running his hand through his hair a habit.  He hated that shit on other people.

 

He shaved and then got dressed in the outfit that Namfon had seen in his closet.  Pieces from the shopping trip when his mother had insisted on buying him nice clothes to wear out.  ‘Date clothes', his father had called them.  Team had to grudgingly admit that they had come in handy.  Without these clothes, he would have either had to buy new ones or wear his regular clothes—which none were suited to the kinds of places they were going that night.

 

As he was dressing, Namfon texted him privately, instead of going through the group chat.  She said:  Don’t you dare wear those tired hightops with that outfit!  Wear the black dress shoes in your closet!

 

Team laughed as he texted back:  Yes ma’am!  And what else do you demand I change?

 

A few minutes went by before she texted an apology and told him that he could wear whatever he wanted.  Then it was his turn to apologize and let her know he had just been teasing her.  And he had been.  Kind of.  He knew what she was doing.  She was fixing him up to become more dateable.  And a part of him appreciated it.  He even had to admit he looked good with his new haircut and dressed in the nicer, more formal and stylish clothes.  But…internally he didn’t feel like he was ready to date anyone.  He was very happy for his friends that they had partners, but after Nick, he wasn’t sure it was something he wanted in his life.  He had been happy for a short time in that relationship, but the rest of the time, it hadn’t been so pleasant.

 

Through ‘The Mystery Machine’ chat, Jai contacted Team and let him know he was about ready to leave.  Team texted back that he would meet him in the lobby.

 

Team knew he couldn’t wrap his ankle, or else it would show, and he also knew he wouldn’t have the support of the hightop of the athletic shoe, so he was a tiny bit worried about wearing the dress shoes.  But once he put them on, he felt relieved.  As long as he didn’t have to run in them, he was sure he would be okay.

 

Namfon and Skye were already at the restaurant when Team, Jai, and Mali arrived.  Namfon introduced everyone before they went inside.  Instantly Team could understand why Namfon was so crazy about Skye.  She was a beautiful, sweet, and smart girl.  And although he wasn’t close enough to smell her, he had it on good authority that she always smelled like vanilla.  And who doesn’t like the smell of vanilla?

 

They had a reservation and luckily there was only a short wait for their table.  The restaurant was much fancier than any Team had ever been in before, and he was thankful that he listened to Namfon about what to wear.  Left to make his own choice, he would have worn his everyday clothes and would have been terribly out of place.

 

During their dinner, they all got to know each other.  On the previous day, while the plans were being finalized, Namfon had requested that they not bombard Skye with questions.  She didn’t want Skye to feel like she was being interviewed.  Team could imagine that it was probably very uncomfortable for Skye to meet Namfon’s friends, so he was very careful to be polite, but still warm.

 

Skye relaxed with them in a fairly short time.  As she did, all the tension left the table.  Team watched her and Namfon interacting together, and it was extremely obvious that they were crazy about each other.  It filled his heart with joy, and he could feel himself constantly grinning.  He noticed Jai and Mali showing more affection than usual.  Team assumed that being around a new couple reminded them of when they had first gotten together.  This also warmed Team’s heart.  Overall, it was a very happy dinner.

 

While they were waiting for their dessert to arrive, Namfon leaned over to Team and whispered, “You have something green on your teeth.  I think it is either spinach or parsley.”

 

“Oops!” Team whispered.  “Thanks!”

 

He excused himself from the table and hurried to the men’s room to remove it.  When he returned to the table, their desserts had already arrived.

 

“It’s about time you got back!” Namfon complained, picking up her spoon to start eating her dessert, since they had all waited for him.  “What in the world took you so long?”

 

Team took a big scoop out of his bowl and just before putting it into his mouth, he asked, “Are you really asking me what I did in the bathroom?  Is nothing sacred to you?”

 

Skye giggled into her napkin and Namfon swatted him on the arm.  “Asshole!” she hissed at him.  Team was sure it was supposed to be a quiet insult; however, it came out louder than she had intended.  All of them laughed when they heard.

 

Jai received a text message alert on his phone.  He had already finished with his dessert, so he picked up his phone to read the message.  “It’s from Kwan.  He’s at the club already.  He said the place is filling up fast, but he is saving a booth for us.”

 

Team scooped up the last bit from his bowl and nodded, “Good!  Let’s go get wasted!”

 

Namfon elbowed him and he looked at her and she shook her head.  She gestured to Skye who had gone silent.

 

“Oh…Skye, um…I was just joking.  None of us really drink much.  No one will be getting drunk and rowdy,” Team said, “I am the biggest drinker in the group, and I usually only drink two.”

 

Skye relaxed and nodded.  “Thanks Team.  When you said that about getting wasted, I kind of freaked out.  I usually only drink a cola or juice…”

 

“Really?” Namfon interrupted.  “Me too!  I don’t like the taste of alcohol at all, and I like to keep alert.”

 

“Yeah!” Skye said, “That’s exactly how I feel, too!”

 

Team grinned, “Sounds like you two are very compatible.  Just like these two,” he said, motioning to Jai and Mali.

 

Jai looked at Mali and they exchanged a loving stare for a moment.  Then Jai tore his eyes away from her and signaled to the server.

 

“Yes?” she asked with a smile.  “Would you like to order another round of desserts?  Or maybe some coffee?”

 

“No, thank you,” Jai said, “Everything was wonderful though!  I just wanted to pay the check.”

 

“There’s no charge,” she replied with a smile.  “It’s already been taken care of.”

 

Team frown and looked around the table, “Who paid?” he asked.

 

The server gave a small shrug, “I’m afraid I can’t answer that.  It seems as though one of our patrons paid for your meals along with theirs.  They said that you seemed like such a happy group, they wanted to add a bit more happiness to your evening.”  She asked again if they wanted to order anything else.  When they assured her that they were finished, she left them with a nod and a big smile.

 

“That’s weird,” Team said.  “Why would someone pay for our table?”

 

Jai shrugged, “I didn’t see anyone I knew in here, did anyone else?”  When they all said they hadn’t, Jai nodded, “I agree with you Team, it’s weird.  Why would a stranger pay for us?”

 

“I don’t think it was weird at all,” Mali said, pushing back her chair and standing, “I think it was very nice!  I hope something very nice happens for that person in return!  I’m going to the Ladies room to freshen up before we go to the club.”  She looked at Namfon and Skye and requested, “Come with me?”

 

As soon as the three women left the table, Team fished out his wallet from his back pocket.  “I’m going to leave a good tip then, since I didn’t have to pay anything for my dinner.  Too bad I didn’t know someone else was going to pay, or else I would have ordered something more expensive.”

 

Jai laughed.  Then he said, “Here, I’ll help with the tip,” and reached for his wallet.

 

“No need to,” Team said.  “I knew it was an expensive place, and I knew I would eat a lot, so I am okay to leave a nice sized tip.”

 

Jai nodded and put his wallet back into his pocket, “Okay, but promise me that you will let me know if you run short before you get your next stipend check.  I have some put back for a rainy day and I’ll help you out.”

 

Team smiled, “You’re a good friend, Jai!  Thanks for the offer, but I am sure I can make it until stipend time.  I’m just glad we usually eat at cheaper places!”

 

Jai laughed and nodded, “Me too!  And I still think it was weird.  Who would pay for strangers?”

 

“Someone with more money than intelligence,” Team answered.

 

Jai barked out a laugh, “You sound just like your dad!”

 

“I do?  How?”

 

“That’s what he always says about the anonymous doner that built the new bridge!”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, now that you mention it, that’s probably where I heard that!  Oh great!  Now I sound like my dad!  I’m not even that old yet!”

 

The two of them were still laughing when the others returned to the table.

 

When they got to the club, they saw Kwan sitting alone in a booth.  “Hey!” Skye exclaimed, “I know him!”

 

“Skye!” Kwan exclaimed, beaming at her.

 

Skye slid into the booth next to him.  Namfon sat down next to her, and Skye turned to her and asked, “Do you remember me telling you about the guy from the fundraiser?  The guy who gave me the bottle of water and the cold compress when I got overheated?  And later gave me one of the cupcakes he was selling?  This is him!  I didn’t know his name!  But I guess he is your friend, Kwan!”

 

Namfon smiled and nodded, “Yeah, I’m not surprised he helped you.  Kwan is a great guy.”

 

“Aw shucks, Fonny!  You’re making me blush!” Kwan teased.

 

Team sat down on the end spot, next to Namfon, and Mali scooted over next to Kwan, while Jai took the outside spot, across from Team.

 

“I feel so bad for you two guys,” Kwan said, craning his neck around to be able to look from Team to Jai and back.  “You each are only sitting by one lovely lady, while I have two!”

 

“Yeah, watch those hands, Mister!” Jai jokingly warned.

 

“Ditto,” Namfon said.

 

Kwan laughed, showed everyone his hands, and then put them in his lap.  “I didn’t order yet—although they have been walking by the booth every few minutes giving me the stink eye.”

 

They flagged down a server and ordered drinks.  Skye was telling them more about the story of when she met Kwan, when Mali interrupted her.  “I’m sorry, I just had to tell you that I adore your bracelet!  Where did you get it?”

 

Skye smiled and said, “This old thing?  Why…I’ve had it now for about…five hours.”  And then she turned to Namfon and gave a slight nod.

 

Namfon blushed so hard that her ears turned bright red, “We didn’t want to say anything until everyone was together, and now we are…so…Skye and I are officially official!”

 

Everyone cheered and hugged as best as they could, over and around anyone who was between them and the hugger.  “Namfon!  I am amazed at how beautiful that bracelet is!” Mali exclaimed.

 

“Team helped me pick it out,” Namfon admitted.

 

“No, I didn’t.  Honestly!  I just repeated back to her what she said.  I wasn’t about to get involved in such an important purchase!” Team declared.

 

“Oh you big booger!” Namfon scolded.  “I thought you were being honest with me!”

 

The drinks had arrived, and Team had just tipped the glass up to his lips but being called a ‘big booger’ made him have to grab a napkin to keep from spitting all over the table as he laughed.

 

“Skye, what do you think about football?” Mali asked.

 

Skye shrugged and looked around the group sheepishly, “It’s good exercise, I suppose.  And some people really love it.  It’s a very popular sport…but…as for me, I’m not really a fan of it.  Sorry if that offends anyone.”

 

Mali smacked the table lightly, “Namfon!  You picked a science genius who is not a football fan?  Thank you!!!”

 

Everyone laughed and then Jai gently tapped Mali on her shoulder.  She turned to him, and he said, “Hey!  Hi!  Remember me?  I’m terrible at science and I love football, so why did you pick me?”

 

“Because I love you, you silly goof!” Mali teased and everyone at the table said “Aww!” in unison.

 

Jai was beaming as he said, “I think we should get a group picture to commemorate this moment—Namfon and Skye becoming officially official, and Mali admitting she loves me publicly.”

 

Team chuckled, “There was never a question that she did.  It was obvious to me that the two of you were in love the day I met you on the first day of our first year of Secondary School.  You couldn’t keep your eyes off of her and she blushed whenever she spoke to you.”

 

“I did not love her then.  You’re crazy!  She just irritated me, and I had to think about how much she irritated me, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Jai said with a laugh and kissed Mali’s forehead.  He pulled out his phone and stood up.  He tried to position himself to where he had a good angle and could get everyone in the frame.

 

“Excuse me,” a server said, approaching the table.  “Would you like me to take the picture for you?”

 

Jai thanked him and handed him his phone.  Then Jai hurriedly sat back down and draped his arm around Mali’s shoulders.  They all looked at the camera and smiled and the server took the picture.  He studied it for a second and then nodded, “It looks pretty good!  How about a second one, just to be sure?”  He shifted his position a bit, and then he was ready to take the picture.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Team noticed a small group of people walking behind the server, on the way to their table.  Two men and two women.  Nothing extraordinary about that.  Except…one of the guys had blonde hair.  And the front of it was pulled into an elastic at the back of his head.

 

“There!  Now I am positive that’s the keeper!” the server said and then he handed Jai back his phone.

 

Jai thanked him and then looked at the pictures.  Mali looked over his shoulder at the screen.  A few seconds passed and then everyone’s phones sounded alerts.  “I sent them to you,” Jai said.

 

Everyone scrambled to get out their phones.  Team took his out of his pocket and opened the pictures.  He tried to force himself to look at the pictures and not at the table along the front wall where the group of four had been seated.  He knew it couldn’t be Win.  There was no way in this gigantic city that they had ended up in the same bar, so he didn’t need to look.  After studying the picture for a bit, but not really seeing it…he looked.  He had to know.  And…of course it was Win.  He was seated in the chair that had the best advantage to look at Team’s table, and he was.  Win was watching him.

 

Team bristled under his gaze but turned his head and put his phone back into his pocket.  Conversation had resumed at their table, but Team couldn’t focus on what was being said.  He was too aware of Win.

 

Namfon leaned over and whispered, “Are you okay?  You look funny.”

 

“I always look funny,” Team attempted to joke, “I think I must have been a clown in my former life.”

 

“Seriously, Team,” she still spoke in a whisper, but she was firmer, “Are you okay?  You really don’t look well.”

 

He raked his hair back, realized what he had done, and gave a small laugh at that gesture.  “I have a bit of a headache,” he lied.  “It’s nothing.  Don’t worry about me.  This is your night!”

 

He picked up his drink and as he drank, he wondered about the other occupants at the table with Win.  Team didn’t recognize any of them.  He thought that Win should be there with Chuckles, since he was Win’s bestie, but then remembered back when he was Win’s best friend.  Win went to Rick’s Place without him all the time.  He sat his glass down a bit too hard, and it caught Jai’s attention.  He looked at Team with a puzzled look.  Team gave a small shrug, “Just clumsy,” he said, and Jai nodded and looked back at Kwan who was telling them a story about a bake-off or something.  Team tried to follow the story, but the words were just a jumble to him.

 

“Can I speak to you?” Win said from beside him.  Team startled.  He hadn’t realized that Win had walked over.  He wanted to say no, and by rights, he could.  He wasn’t on campus, so he didn’t have to associate with Win at all.  Then he realized that everyone at the table was watching them.  He didn’t want to be the cause of any friction, so he turned to Win and smiled.  “Of course, P’Win!  What is it?”

 

“Not here,” Win said, and walked away.

 

Team suppressed a groan, threw a fake smile at his tablemates, and got up and followed Win across the room to a small alcove near the restrooms.

 

Win leaned back against the wall, with his arms crossed over his chest.  He was smiling, but Team knew it was a fake smile.  He could see the anger in Win’s eyes.  And seeing that made the anger grow inside Team.

 

Team pointed to his chest.  His shirt was unbuttoned far enough down that the necklace could be seen without any hindrance.  “See?  I’m wearing it!” Team tried to keep the anger from his voice, but he could hear it.

 

“I know.  I saw it earlier.  That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about, however.”

 

“Oh.  Well…what is it then?”

 

Win gave him a smirk and said, “I was just noticing how crowded this place is.  So crowded in fact that they are having to turn people away.”

 

Team shrugged, “Okay?”

 

“Well…something occurred to me.  Your group is taking up a booth.”

 

“And?” Team snapped.  He wanted Win to stop playing and get to the point.

 

“And…correct me if I am wrong…but aren’t you all first-year students?  How many people in that booth are old enough to be in here?”

 

Team’s mouth went dry.  He had to lick his lips before he could speak, “What does that matter?  Cops never care unless there is a problem.”

 

Win’s smirk became a full smile, “Well, maybe that’s true where you come from, Tine, but it’s not true here.  In fact, if the management somehow became aware of your ages, they might call the police on you, to avoid themselves getting into trouble.”

 

“And just how would they become aware of our ages?” Team challenged.  He knew he was being threatened, but he wanted Win to come out and say it.

 

“I suppose someone who knew you could tell them,” Win countered.

 

“Meaning you?”

 

“Now I didn’t say me, Tine!  Where did you get that from?” Win’s smile grew larger.

 

Team could feel his anger growing by the second.  Suddenly he remembered old Uncle Aom’s advice, to go after the one who had given him the slimy tray, but to do it in the city, not on campus.  He had said that the cops were used to guys fighting, it happened all the time.  The worst that could happen would be a ticket with a small fine.  He felt his hand draw up into a fist.  He was going to do it.  He was going to beat the ever-loving-shit out of this guy and when he was done, he was going to shove the necklace down his throat, just like he had planned from the beginning.  He took a step forward and then something weird happened.

 

Instead of seeing the angry blonde man in front of him, his mind played a trick on him.  Suddenly the person he saw was a boy, with thick, black bangs that were always too long so that he had to peek from under them.  A boy who was sitting by the window in the overhead shelf in a garage, with the sun caressing his face.  A boy who was looking at him as they sang together, while Team played the guitar.  A boy who smiled at him.  A boy that Team loved.  And then the face changed.  A black eye appeared on the boy’s face; his lip was split open, and blood ran down his chin.  And his eyes were filled with emotional and physical pain.  Team stared in horror at the vision and then blinked hard to erase the scene from his eyes.

 

Team felt a huge wave of guilt wash over him, leaving him feeling drenched in regret and revulsion.  The face he saw before him now was the angry, blonde man, but Team knew.  No matter what his eyes saw, Team knew that person was still… “Hia,” he whispered.  He took a step closer to Win and laid his hand, the one that had earlier been clenched into a fist, on Win’s arm.  “Just me, okay, Hia?  I’ll leave, but let the rest of them stay, okay?”

 

The smirky smile was gone from Win’s face and his eyes were no longer filled with rage.  He looked surprised, or maybe even shocked.  He didn’t say a word, just gave a small lift of his chin to indicate that he agreed.

 

“Thank you!  I have to go back and let them know I am leaving and then I’ll go!” Team hurried away before Win could change his mind.

 

When Team arrived back at the table, they all got quiet and looked at him expectedly.  “What was it?” Namfon asked.  “What did he want?”

 

“Who?  Oh, P’Win.  Nothing really, just some stuff about the next club meeting.  I only talked to him for a second.  The rest of the time I was in the bathroom.  Sorry guys but I’m afraid I’m not feeling the best.  I’m going to go back to my place.”

 

“What is it, Team?” Mali asked with concern.

 

Team shook his head, “It’s nothing much, Mali.  Just a touch of stomach upset.”

 

“I asked you earlier what was wrong, and you told me you had a headache, you didn’t say anything about your stomach!” Namfon argued.

 

“Cut me some slack, ‘Fon!  I’m not as honest as you—and I didn’t want anyone to know that I feel the need to be home, and next to the toilet.  It’s embarrassing, for goodness sakes!”

 

“You?  The self-proclaimed king of fart jokes?  Hardly.  Nothing embarrasses you!” Namfon said in disbelief.

 

“Look—I just feel like I need to leave.  It’s no big deal!” Team said a bit frantically.  He was determined that his friends enjoy their evening, but Namfon was making it hard for him to leave.  He didn’t want Win to think he lied and then follow through on his threat to report them to the management.  And as soon as he had the thought, Win walked past him and went back to his table.  Team could see Jai’s eyes track Win and then look back at Team.

 

“Are you sure, Team?” he asked and then cut his eyes to Win and then back at Team.  “Do you need anything?”

 

Team gave a forced laugh, “No, I have plenty of toilet paper, thanks!  And I still have your bag of broccoli; I might put it on my stomach and see if it helps the pain.”

 

“You should put something warm on your stomach for pain, not cold,” Mali suggested.

 

Jai stood up and spoke to him quietly, “Team, seriously…”

 

“I’m good, Jai,” Team answered him in an equally quiet voice.  “I’ve got this.  And I know where you live if I need you, Okay?”

 

Jai sighed, nodded, and sat back down.  Team said goodbye to the rest of the occupants at the table and told Skye he was glad to have met her.  He started to back away from the table and Namfon caught his hand, “Team, really…what’s going on?”

 

Team bent down and whispered to her, “I wouldn’t make a good impression on your girlfriend if I shit myself at the table, now would I?  This is your night, ‘Fon.  I want you to have the best time of your life.  Don’t worry about me.”  And then, before she or anyone else started lobbing anymore questions at him, he strode away.

 

He hurried out the door just as a taxi was pulling up to discharge passengers.  Team went to the driver’s window and asked, “Are you headed to the campus?”

 

The driver shrugged with a hand in the air, “I go wherever I am paid to go.”

 

“Good!” Team said, climbing into the backseat.  “I need to go to Dorm Row.”

 

The driver pulled away from the curb, “Sure thing.  It’s a bit of a drive though, so I hope you have the cash.”

 

Team nodded and then leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.

 

“Hey, if you puke back there, it’s going to cost you extra!  Aim it out the window!” The driver warned.

 

Team nodded, “I will.”

 

All the way back, whenever Team would close his eyes, he saw the battered face of the boy he had loved.  When he opened his eyes, he felt the same wave of guilt wash over him.  “I didn’t do it!” He sent the message to himself.  “Why do I feel so guilty over something I didn’t even do?”  And the answer that came back to him was:  Because you wanted to do it.  You wanted to hurt him!

 

When they finally pulled up outside Team’s dorm building, Team pulled some cash out of his wallet and handed it to the driver.  He hadn’t bothered to count it so he hoped it was enough.  “Keep the change,” he said, just in case, and then he started up the walkway.

 

The driver called to him, “Oh wow!  Thanks buddy!  I hope you have a great night!”

 

Team sighed.  He had overtipped apparently.  It was too late to worry about it, so he just threw up his hand in a wave and then entered the building.

 

Once he reached his room, he flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.  He was angry with himself for not taking the shot at Win when he had the chance, and he was filled with horrible guilt for even thinking about punching him.

 

He had forgotten—or rather, he had allowed himself to remove it from his mind—but now he remembered.  He remembered the Win who he knew before, before he left the village and blocked him on everything, and even the Win he was before he dated Daow.  He remembered the Win who he was, or at least who Team had thought he was.  And those memories hurt.  Team didn’t want to remember them.  He just wanted to remember the devil who had lied to his face and stabbed him in the back.  And who now treated him like shit.  That’s the only version of Win who should be in his mind.

 

But the memories kept coming at him and he couldn’t make them stop.  And for each one of them, the guilt in him grew.  How could he ever think of punching Win?  And the answer was—he couldn’t.  Team would never hurt Win.  Not even this horrible, angry, backstabber version of him now; but because of who he had been, and what he had meant to Team.  No matter what Win ever said or did to him, Team knew he would never be able to do it.

 

He got up from the bed and went to his dresser to get some clothes to sleep in.  He felt like the clothes he was wearing were a bit too nice to be brooding in.  And they were definitely not as comfortable as his sleep shorts and tees.

 

He took a shower and wore that weird shower cap again.  Maurice had shown him how to dry his hair and style it, but Team knew he would have to practice it a few times to get the hang of it, and he didn’t feel like messing with it then.

 

The shower didn’t help him.  He felt as awful coming out of it as he had going into it.  He had a huge knot in his stomach and kept looking at his knuckles to reassure himself that he hadn’t actually punched Win.  And although he knew he hadn’t, he felt like he had.  It was an awful feeling.

 

He rummaged through his backpack and found the notes he had been making for the speech he had to make on Wednesday.  He shuffled through them a bit and put them aside to read the draft he had made in his notebook.  The words kept fading and the bloodied and bruised face of teenaged Win kept replacing them on the page.

 

With a growl, Team shoved the notebook and note cards away from him and then bent over the side of his bed and dug around under it, feeling around for the bottle of whiskey he kept there.  His hand made contact with the huge box of condoms his father had given him.  They were still unopened, and likely to stay that way.  He shook his head with a sigh and continued feeling around until he found the bottle.

 

He pulled it out and unscrewed the lid.  He brought the bottle up near his mouth and then stopped.  He lowered it and put the cap back on it.  He took it to his tiny kitchenette and put it on the counter while he retrieved a glass and some cola.  He thought it would be better to make a civilized drink rather than chugging it from the bottle like a caveman.  He opened the freezer and pulled out Jai’s bag of frozen broccoli and took it and his drink back to his bed with him.  He propped his foot up with a pillow and put the bag of broccoli on his ankle.  Walking around the mall earlier in the day and then wearing dress shoes that didn’t support his ankle had caused it to hurt a bit.  He examined it and thought it looked a bit swollen too, but decided it wasn’t anything to worry about.

 

He got an incoming message alert on his phone.  He picked his phone up off the bed and read the message from Jai—from his personal account, not ‘The Mystery Machine’ group chat.

 

Jai:  Did he catch up to you?  Is he with you now?

Team:  What?  Who is ‘he’?

Jai:  P’Win.  As soon as you walked out, he downed his drink, threw some money on the table and ran out of here.  His date is pissed!  We all thought P’Win was going out to speak to you.  And then since neither of you came back in, we assumed you were together.  But I got worried that maybe the two of you were fighting, or had been arrested for fighting, or something.  Are you okay?

 

Team took a drink from his glass, frowning in anger as he reread the message.  That asshole had run him out of the club but didn’t even stay!

 

Team:  I didn’t see him.  There was a taxi at the door, so I didn’t stick around outside.  I’m sure his leaving didn’t have anything to do with me.  He probably just got bored with his date and left.  He seems that type.  And I only left because I wasn’t feeling great.  Remember, I told you that?

Jai:  I remember.  I didn’t believe you then and I don’t believe you now.  I think he said something and whatever it was, rattled you, and that’s why you left.

Team:  LOL!  I promise…it was just some stomach issues.  I didn’t want to embarrass myself at the table.  And I didn’t want the rest of you to have to wear gas masks!  I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s evening, especially Fon’s.  It’s a big night for her and I am so happy for her!

Jai:  Me too!  I have never seen her glowing with happiness before.  It’s a good look for her.  I’m going to pretend that I believe you that you are feeling sick and wish you a speedy recovery.  But Team, keep in mind, I’m only one text away.  If you need me, I’ll be there.  I’ve got your back, Brother.

Team:  I appreciate it, Jai.  But I don’t need help with this.  It’s just a piece of shit, and I can handle it on my own.

 

Team laid his phone back on the bed and took another drink from his glass.  He felt a bit better.  Actually, he felt a bit choked up from that last message of Jai’s.  Jai was a quiet guy, and not demonstrative at all, except to Mali, so for him to tell Team he had his back and to call him brother, that was huge!

 

Team picked his phone back up.  He wondered if Than would be online.  He often got bored on Saturday nights, alone in the store, and would come on to play games.  Team opened the game app and went to their group page and saw that Than was online.  The other guys weren’t.  Team imagined it was because they had dates or were with their in-real-life friends.  They never were online much on the weekends.

 

Team sent Than a message, asking him if he was playing at the moment.

 

Than:  Hi!  No, I’m not playing, just watching some guys.  They are newbies and don’t know shit.  It’s funny!  Are you home already?  You said this was a big night so I assumed you would be out until late.

Team:  Yeah, I’m home.  Been here for a while, actually.  I’m not feeling the best, headache, so I came home.

Than:  Oh!  That’s too bad!  I hope you feel better!  When I saw your message, I thought maybe something bad had happened.

 

Team clicked his tongue and then took a drink.  He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.  If he were honest with himself, he would have to admit that the reason he got online was to talk to Than about what happened.  Anytime Team confided things in Than, Than always had good advice.  It was just hard for Team to talk about things, even when he wanted to.

 

Team:  Okay, I lied about the headache, although I actually have a bit of one now.  Something did happen.  You know that guy that I always complain about?  He was at the club tonight.

Than:  The guy you hate?  Oh no!  Did he do anything?

Team:  Yeah, that’s him.  And…he kind of did, but not exactly.  We had a few words.  I got pissed and then something happened that freaked me out, so I left and came home.

Than:  What was it?  What happened?

Team:  He pissed me off, like I said.  I realized that we weren’t on campus, we were in the city.  I knew that I could fight him and nothing much could happen since we weren’t on campus, you know?  I couldn’t be expelled for it.  I was just about to punch him and then…it was weird, but I remembered something and then I couldn’t do it.

Than:  What did you remember?

 

Team thought about the question for a moment.  He hadn’t ever given Than any real facts about the situation.  He thought back to how when he had to make the choice of what college to attend, he mentioned that he didn’t want to come to Bangkok because a guy he hated went to the school.  Than had told Team that was crazy, that he needed to go to the school that would help him the most to achieve his goals and not base it on anything like that.  It was good advice on the surface, but Than didn’t know the entire story so his answer might have been different if he had known everything.

 

Than:  Sorry, my bad!  You didn’t answer so I’m guessing it is something you don’t want to talk about. You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.

Team:  No!  You’re good!  It’s just something I never told you about.  It feels weird even to say it now.  But this guy, the one I hate—I was just about to swing on him, but then suddenly I remembered back when…he used to be my best friend.

 

Team sent the message and then bit his lip.  The pain came in a huge wave when he wrote the last part.  He kind of wished he could pull it back and for Than to not know that about him and Win.  But it was too late now.

 

Than:  Wow!  But to be honest, I’m not really that surprised.  For a person to hate another one as much as you hate this guy, I always felt like there was more to the story.  I felt like he must have either done something way beyond evil, or that he meant something to you at some point.

Team:  Both, actually.  He was really special to me, and he did something beyond evil to me.  But tonight, I remembered him from long before all this bad shit, and I got a vision of that version of him with a black eye and a bloody lip given to him by me and it made me feel so sick.  I didn’t lay a finger on him, but I still feel all this guilt, like I did it, but I didn’t do it!

Than:  Back when my mom was canning all that strawberry jam, she sent me to our vendor’s late one night, after the store closed, to pick up more ingredients.  She didn’t have time to wait for them to be delivered.  They are a bit slow.  Anyway, I drove our truck into town and got the stuff and on the way back, I stopped to get gas.  The gas pumps were old at the place—it was the only place open that late—so I had to go inside the station to pay for the gas.  When I did, I noticed an announcement of the lottery having their biggest jackpot ever.  The drawing was going to be held a few days later.  So, I bought a ticket.  The next few days, I planned what I was going to do with the money.  A big house for my family, a cool car for me, hiring help for the store—maybe expanding the store, or even starting a chain of stores in all the small villages around the mountains.  And do you know what happened?  Somebody won it, but it wasn’t me.  So, there is no cool car parked outside, and we are still living above this tiny grocery store, that I still run by myself.  Do you understand my point?  Thinking is not the same thing as doing.  This guy must have hurt you really badly in the past, and is now pushing your buttons, but YOU DIDN’T HIT HIM.  You have to let that guilt go.

 

Team took a long, deep, cleansing breath and let it out.  Than was right, and Team was glad he confided in him. Team felt that knot in his stomach dissolve.

 

Team:  Thank you so much for that!  I feel better now!

Than:  Good!  Now tell me what was so special about tonight.  You were too busy to talk earlier and I have been dying to hear what it was!

Team:  I thought I told you…but yeah, I guess I was too busy.  I had to go get my hair done, which, if you knew me, you would know I am not that kind of person.  I was a bit stressed about it, but I like it now.  Anyway, tonight our friend group got together to celebrate Namfon and her girlfriend becoming an official couple.  It was great!

Than:  Namfon?  Is she the physics girl?  And she has a girlfriend…as in she likes girls, not boys?  How do you feel about that?  Were you surprised when you found out?

 

Team frowned at the phone screen.  He hoped Than wasn’t a homophobe, but it kind of sounded like he might be.  Team groaned.  He didn’t want to lose Than, but he wouldn’t be friends with someone who held views like that.

 

Team:  Yes, she is the physics girl.  And no, I wasn’t surprised because she told me she liked girls before she even told me her name the night we met at Football camp.  I have to ask though; do you have a problem with LGBTQ+ people?

Than:  Hell no!  I totally believe that love is love, and happy for your friend and her girlfriend for becoming official.  The reason I asked was, I always kind of thought you and Namfon were together, or you wanted to be together, and just hadn’t said anything to me about it because it was private.

 

Team let out a huge sigh of relief.  He even had a chuckle about Than thinking he had those kinds of feelings for Namfon.  It was hilarious.

 

Team:  LOL!  I love her to bits, but not that way.  I admire her because she hasn’t got much of a filter.  She always tells the truth…couldn’t lie if she had a gun to her head.  Our personalities kind of play off each other, so we get along well.  I am thrilled that she found her girlfriend and I loved meeting her tonight.  I could tell that Namfon’s feelings for her were justified and they are returned, so I think they will be very happy together.

Than:  That’s great!  So, Football camp?  I didn’t know that you played Football!  You told me that you were on the swim team, but you never mentioned any other sports!  I am learning a lot about you tonight!  What other mysteries are there?  Are you artistic?  Do you play any instruments, or sing?

Team:  You are killing me here!  LOL!  I was so upset earlier, now I can’t stop laughing!  I used to play Football, but I don’t anymore.  You know that I am fluent in English and that is how I got my scholarship.  I am not artistic in the least.  And I don’t sing or play any instruments.  So, how about you?  What don’t I know about you?

 

Team looked down at the scars on his leg and sighed.  He did love playing Football and after the accident, one of the worst emotional pains he had was not being able to play during his senior year.  But learning how to walk again did take up a lot of his time, he thought with a rueful smile.  And as for playing a musical instrument…Than didn’t need to know that he used to play the guitar.  It was one of those things he gave up.  Although he had played for years before meeting Win, whenever Team even looked at the guitar case, his mind instantly took him back to the times when he played while Win sang.  He gave the guitar to his dad and asked him to get rid of it.  His dad stored it in the garage, telling Team that one day he might want it again.  Team had thought at the time how ironic it was that it ended up being in a garage after being played so many times in another garage.  But then, he hadn’t thought of it again.  Until Than asked.

 

Than:  Not much to tell about me.  I work in the store and that is about it.  I did fairly well in school, and one day I hope to go to college and maybe major in Business.  I would really like to improve the store somehow, not sure how, but I figure I can learn that in school.  I wouldn’t say I am artistic, but I do like to make little cartoon drawings for my sister.  They make her happy.  I sing with the radio and can’t play any instruments.  And as for sports…my weight, bad feet, and severe allergies won’t let me do much of anything.  Hey!  Since tonight was so important, there has to be pictures, right?  Let me see them!

 

Team opened his photo app and looked at the two pictures taken at the club.  He liked the first one of himself better than the second one.  He thought his face looked a bit tense, because he had seen Win walking behind the waiter who had taken the picture.  He clicked on the first one and sent it to Than, naming everyone from left to right in the picture—himself, Namfon, Skye, Kwan, Mali, and Jai.

 

Than:  Oh my God, Team!  You had a major ‘glow up’!  I thought you were very attractive before, but…damn!  Why are you single?

 

Team felt his face, neck, and ears grow hot, and his cheeks hurt from the huge grin on his face.  He even might have let out a small giggle.

 

Team:  LOL!  You’re hilarious!  As for me being single, I am waiting to find the right one, not just one for right now.  I feel so much better now, do you have time to play a game or two?

 

Than did, so they killed zombies together for the next few hours.  Later that night, Team had the stupid dolphin dream again.  When Team wrote it down in his dream journal, he realized that nothing had been changed or added to the dream for a while.  It was just Team’s dream-self, clopping around on the boat and asking the dolphin how he could escape.  The dolphin couldn’t (wouldn’t?) answer, and instead would leap from the water and dive back down again, over and over.   The awake version of Team didn’t understand it at all.  Since it was his dream, and he created everything in it, why was he trapped and why did he keep asking the dolphin what to do?  Apparently, even in dreams, dolphins can’t talk.

 

He spent Sunday in his room.  He finished writing his speech and then practiced it by talking to his chairs.  They made a good audience.  They sat through the speech three times and didn’t ever voice a complaint.  And when, each time at the end of his speech, he asked for questions from the audience, none of the chairs asked any.

 

Finally, Team was satisfied that the speech was good enough.  He hated the idea of having to give one, but at least he was finished with the work behind it.  He did the rest of his homework for the week and then spent the evening killing zombies with Than.

 

Monday galloped by as fast as a stallion in a race.  Team dreaded going to swim club because he didn’t want to see Win.  He knew that Win had gained a lot of power after that encounter at the bar and Team knew that Win was going to be giving him a lot more trouble.  Team had fed the beast by backing down from him, and now the beast would be stronger and fiercer.

 

When he parked his motorcycle in the parking lot, he was surprised to see that Win was not standing in the doorway to the locker room, waiting on Team to check to see if he was wearing the necklace.  Team wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign.  But he hurried in the door and went straight to his locker.  He had just put his backpack into it when P’Sai approached him.

 

“Win wants to speak to you in the office,” he said.

 

“Why?” Team asked, feeling alarmed.

 

P’Sai shrugged, “I don’t know.  He just told me to give you the message.  He said he wanted to speak to you as soon as you arrived.”

 

He thanked P’Sai for the message and then closed his locker with a sigh.  He knew what it was.  Win was going to kick him out of the club.  The only thing he was thankful for was that he was still dressed in his school uniform.  At least he wouldn’t have to take the time to get dressed before he left.

 

The door to the office was closed and Team wasn’t sure what he should do, so he tapped gently on it.

 

“Come in!” Win called from inside.  Team walked in and saw that Win was seated behind the desk.  No one else was in the room.  Win said, “Close the door behind you, Tine.” and then he gestured to a seat in front of the desk.

 

Team shut the door and took the seat, as he had been instructed.  He tried to brace himself to face being dismissed from the club.  He was struggling with it though because he knew with a black mark on his record, he would never be able to be in the Nationals.  He wished, not for the first time, that he had waited until the next year to join the club.

 

Win silently stared at him across the span of the desk.  He clicked his awful click pen a few times before he began to speak.  “I want to discuss what happened at the nightclub on Saturday night.  The incident was observed, and I have been reminded that I, myself, am also not yet 21…”

 

In spite of himself, and also to his surprise, Team mumbled, “Wednesday.”

 

Win’s eyebrows shot up high on his forehead.  “Yes, Wednesday is my birthday.  Odd that you know that.  However, I suppose in a close community, such as our club, information does get passed around.  Anyway, getting back to that night…I would like to offer you my sincerest apologies for my behavior.  I was out of line, and I regret my actions, and I can assure you that that behavior will not be repeated—neither by me nor anyone on my behalf.”

 

Team’s jaw dropped.  He certainly hadn’t expected this…quite the opposite, in fact.  Whoever had ordered Win to make the apology must have great power.  Team thought it must be the coach or someone in Administration.  They had scared Win enough that he even looked sincere when he apologized.  It didn’t seem forced or fake.  Team didn’t know how he should answer, and he felt like Win was expecting one, so he just nodded.

 

“So…by the nod, are you indicating that you accept my apology, or just that you heard it?” Win asked.

 

“No, I mean…yeah, sure.  I accept it.” Team stumbled over his words.

 

Win sighed and laid his click pen down on the desk.  “Thank you.  I want you to understand that this is your private apology.  I would like for you to allow me to apologize to you in front of your friends who were there that evening.”

 

“What?  No!  That’s not necessary!  They don’t know anything…I told them I wasn’t feeling well and had to go home.  If you were to apologize, then they would know I was lying.”

 

Win nodded, “I understand, and I certainly don’t want to make this situation worse than it is.  However, I must make amends.  I read something once, I forget who said it, but it goes something like…’An apology without a change in behavior is just manipulation’.  So you see…I have to make amends.  Would you like to invite your friends back to the nightclub one evening, and allow me to pay for it?”

 

“NO!  God, no!  I don’t want anything.  You apologized, I accepted, that’s enough.  If you give me the form, I’ll sign it.”

 

“Form?  Oh…no, there isn’t one.  But…” Win opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a folder.  “Here,” he said as he pulled out some papers and pushed them across the desk to Team, “This is a complaint form.  You can fill it out and then take it to the Administration office and they can discipline me.”

 

“No way!  Why?  I accept your apology; it’s over.  I don’t understand though…if there is no form or no witnesses…how can you prove to whoever that you actually did it?”

 

Win looked taken aback for a second, “I guess if anyone asks you to confirm it, you can.  I trust you to tell the truth.”

 

Team scratched his head.  This was a weird situation, and he didn’t understand.  They had been in a small alcove at the nightclub—Win had led them there, and it was so that they wouldn’t be overheard.  No one had been around them there.  No one could have possibly witnessed it.  But someone made Win apologize.  But no form or witnesses made zero sense to Team.

 

“I would like for you to take some time to think about how you would like for me to make amends.  You have turned down both of my suggestions, so you come up with something and I will do it.”

 

Team shook his head.  “No, it’s not necessary.  Can I leave now?”

 

Win nodded and picked up his clipboard.  He picked up his click pen and then he tossed it on the desk and picked up a regular ink pen—the kind with a cap.  The quiet kind of ink pen.  “I think you are really going to enjoy today’s meeting.  You will get a chance to have some fun with the other club members, instead of just swimming laps by yourself.  Hurry and get changed…you won’t want to miss any of it!”

 

Team left the office and headed for his locker.  He didn’t understand what had just happened, none of it made any sense, but he was just glad he hadn’t been kicked out of the club.

 

After he changed, he headed out to the pool area, and stopped in his tracks when he saw what Win had been talking about.  Along the outside of the pool were obstacles.  It was a complete course.  The other guys had gathered around some of the equipment and seemed excited about it.

 

“See?” Win said from behind him.  “It’s going to be a fun day, not a day for work!”

 

“It’s not in the pool,” Team said, “Swimming is water stuff.”

 

Win walked around and looked at him with a frown.  “Everyone else is excited about it.  Why aren’t you?  You get to be a part of the group, not off by yourself.  I thought you would love this!  And…by the way, Tine… I decide what’s swimming and what’s not swimming, not you.”

 

Team accepted his reprimand with a nod.  He was looking at the events and he knew he shouldn’t even attempt them.  He was barefoot and had no support on his ankle.  It wasn’t a good idea at all.  “Yeah, you’re right.  It looks like fun.”

 

P’Toh gathered them together and explained the rules.  They would move through the course in their groups.  If you had the slowest time in the round, you were eliminated from the competition and had to go sit on the bench.  Team quickly decided that was what he would do.  He would come in last place in the first event and be benched.  That way he looked like he had participated but wouldn’t be in a position that might cause damage to his ankle.

 

However, the first event was an upper body event and he won it easily—without really trying.  And so it went, event after event, he kept winning.  Finally, he was the last one standing in his group.  He was okay, not feeling much pain in his ankle, so he felt good about his win.

 

P’Toh blew his whistle and announced that the winner from each group would now compete against each other.  Team hadn’t counted on that happening, so he felt a bit of panic in the pit of his stomach.  He scolded himself for being so foolishly competitive and winning the events.

 

P’Toh explained what the competition was, and Team’s panic grew even stronger.  Each of the three would go to a separate section of the bleachers.  They had to run up the stairs, across the top walkway, and then back down the stairs on the opposite side.  The winner of the event would be the winner of the tournament.

 

He knew he would have to forfeit.  He couldn’t possibly do this event.  It was basically all ankle work.  Then he heard his group chanting his name, and Win gave him a nod, and so, with a deep sigh, he walked over to his set of stairs.

 

When P’Toh blew his whistle, Team took off like a shot.  Somehow, he convinced himself that if he went as fast as he could, he could finish the race before he could cause damage to his ankle.  He knew that was a stupid thought, but he hung onto it anyway.  He made it up the stairs, across the walkway, and over halfway down the opposite stairs when he heard it.  No, he didn’t actually hear it with his ears, but he felt it, and he knew what it would have sounded like if he had heard it.  It was a pop.  Something in his ankle had popped.  It wasn’t a good thing.  Not at all.  But he won the race.

 

Everyone was cheering and slapping him on the back.  P’Toh’s student had came in last place, and Team could tell by P’Toh’s face that he was not happy about it.

 

Win announced that the rest of the meeting time was free swim time.  This raised another cheer from the guys.  Team started to make his way to the locker room.  Mentally reminding himself to walk normally.  Not to let anyone know.  This caused him to keep his leg muscles tight.  He imagined he looked like a robot.

 

“Hey!  Where are you going?  It’s free swim!” Win said as he caught up to Team.

 

“Oh…uh…I guess I forgot to tell you earlier.  I have to meet with one of my professors to discuss a speech I am making to the class on Wednesday.  She wants to go over my notes with me.”

 

“Oh, okay.” Win said with a frown.  “Are you okay?”

 

Team forced a small laugh, “Are you kidding?  I just won!  I’m great!  I just hate public speaking, so I am dreading this meeting.”

 

Win’s frown didn’t ease, “I’m sure you’ll do fine.  You aren’t thinking about retracting your acceptance of my apology, are you?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, it’s fine.  I wouldn’t do that.”  Team kept moving towards the locker room.  He was afraid if he stopped moving, he wouldn’t be able to start again.  “I have to hurry and shower.  I don’t want to smell like a sweaty armpit at my meeting.”

 

Win nodded and walked back towards the pool.  Team sighed in relief and walked his robot walk as quickly as he could.  He grabbed his stuff from his locker and went into the shower room.

 

Under the hot spray, he soaped up quickly.  He didn’t want to look.  He was afraid to look.  He knew what he would see.  But eventually he had to peek.

 

It was huge.  Team had never seen it so swollen before.  And the pain was hitting him like lightening strikes.  It would start at the bottom of his foot and then race up his leg, stopping near his hip.

 

And suddenly, he began to shake violently following each pain burst.  His mind thought of it as thunder after the lightning.  This isn’t good.  This is sooo not good.  Nope, not good. His mind kept repeating it in a loop.

 

He had to sit on the bench to get dressed.  His hands trembled so much that it was hard to button his shirt.  Eventually he managed to get everything on, except the shoe that would have to be put on the foot of the injured ankle.  He couldn’t do it.  He bit his lip to keep from crying.  But he realized that the only way he could leave the locker room was if he had on his shoe.  And he wanted out of there.  He wanted to go home.

 

He loosened the laces as much as possible, and then he maneuvered the shoe over and around his foot, while trying to keep his ankle from moving.  It was slow and difficult, but he finally managed to get it on, without jarring his ankle too much in the process.  But then he knew he was going to have to stand up.  He was shaking so badly from the pain, he wasn’t sure if he could even hold his own weight, even on his good leg.  And the idea of putting any kind of weight on his bad leg sent his mind reeling.  But he had to, so he did.

 

Using that same theory of moving fast to do the less damage, Team lurched out of the locker room and into the parking lot.  He made it to the bench next to the wall of the pool and had to sit down.  No sooner had he sat down than he had to lunge up to his feet and throw up in the trash can that was next to the bench.  Once he started throwing up, it kept happening with every roll of pain until eventually there was nothing left to throw up, so he just heaved with it.

 

His heart was racing, and he felt panicky.  He remembered reading something when he was a kid about a bear who had been shot and had tried to run away from the pain.  He knew he would if he could.  And then his mind reminded him of animals chewing off their legs to get free of traps.  This caused him to shake harder with the next bolt of pain that shot through him.

 

He fumbled his phone out of his pocket and got to ‘The Mystery Machine’ chat.  He wrote:

 

Scooby:  Help. Ankle. Pool.

Fred:  I’m on my way.

Daphne:  Jai, we’re on the quad.  We’ll run to the road to meet you.  Pick us up!

 

Team’s strength gave out then and he slid down the side of the trash can and sat down on the bench with a plop.  They hadn’t used their nicknames in the chat.  They realized, with just those three words from him, how serious this was.

 

He knew he had great friends.  He felt emotional and had to fight back the tears.  The pain had increased to the point where he felt like it might just kill him.

 

Then he remembered something that happened when he was in second grade.  A friend of his had gotten hurt on the playground and Team had helped him into the nurse’s office.  The kid had fallen and was bleeding from a cut on his leg.  The blood scared the kid, and it scared Team a bit too.  But not the nurse.  She was cold and hard.  Told the kid to stop crying, he was being a baby, and that it was too far from his heart to kill him.  And to a second grader, that made a certain kind of logical sense.  When you died, your heart stopped.  And a leg was a long way away from a heart, so what she said seemed true.  Team was much older now and knew that lots of things could kill you, no matter the distance away from your heart.  But still, just the same, he kept whispering to himself, “It’s too far from your heart to kill you.  You’re going to be okay, because…it’s too far from your heart to kill you!”

 

Four million years later, or maybe it was just a few minutes…Team had no idea how long it had been…Jai’s car pulled up.  The three of them jumped out of the car and ran over to Team.

 

Team fished out his keys and handed them to Namfon.  Jai and Mali bent down, and Team threw an arm around each of them, and they helped him to stand up.

 

“Team, this time you have to go to the hospital,” Mali stated in her no-nonsense voice.

 

“No!  No doctors, no hospital!  I want to go to my room.  I’ll be fine.  It’s too far from my heart to kill me.”

 

They were moving slowly towards the car.  Team helped with his good leg, but he kept his injured leg from touching the ground, so Jai and Mali had to take on a good deal of his weight.

 

“What does that even mean?” Jai asked.  “It makes no sense.”

 

“What is it?” a voice called from behind them.  A voice that made Team groan in despair.  “What’s wrong with him?”

 

Team put his foot down on the ground and removed his arms from around his friends’ shoulders.  He turned to face Win.  “Why are you asking them, as if I wasn’t even here?  There’s nothing wrong with me.  Go back inside.  Shoo!”  He flapped his hand in Win’s direction.  From the corner of his eye, he could see Namfon standing next to his cycle, and she was looking at Team in confusion.

 

Win turned and looked at Namfon.  “Will you please tell me what is wrong with him?”

 

Team looked at Namfon and mentally screamed at her to keep quiet.  Of course, she didn’t.  Ever the truth teller she said, “It’s his ankle.  He was supposed to keep a surgical plate in it because the bones were too damaged from the wreck, but he doctor-shopped until he found one who would take it out.  He has been in constant pain since.  Never this bad though.”

 

Win’s jaw dropped, “We did an obstacle course today.  Running and jumping!”  He quickly turned to look at Team, “Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t do it?” he asked harshly.

 

“What do you mean, I couldn’t do it?  I did it!  And I beat everyone!  And you know what?  I could do it again!  In fact, I bet I could beat my time from the last one.  I’ll show you, you son-of-a-bitch!  You don’t tell me what I can do!”

 

“Team!” Mali scolded in a shocked voice, and she sounded so much like his mother that he shut his mouth with a snap.

 

“Team!” Namfon yelled at him, “That’s P’Win!  Not that evil doctor.  P’Win didn’t know!”

 

Team blinked in confusion.  Evil doctor?  The one with the cold, creepy smile?  Win didn’t have a cold, creepy smile.  He had a nice smile, except he never smiled anymore.  But Team couldn’t confuse them, could he?  One thing he knew though—Win was staring at him, like he was a germ under a microscope, and Team knew he better be nice, or he could get kicked out of the swim club.

 

He walked a few feet towards Win and then bowed deeply.  “I beg your pardon, P’Win.  That was uncalled for.  Please forgive me.”

 

Win reached out and grabbed Team by his upper arms, “Team!  Stop fucking bowing to me!  I hate that shit!”  He took one hand off Team’s arm and lifted Team’s chin, “Look at me!” he ordered.

 

Team looked in Win’s direction, but he couldn’t see him very well.  There were big, black spots dancing around in front of his eyes.

 

“How bad is this pain, Team?” Win asked quietly.

 

The black spots started to whirl around, and they made Team feel like he was going to throw up again.  He hated throwing up.  He closed his eyes to keep from looking at the spots.  “I’m not a baby, I’m not crying, and it is too far from my heart to kill me.”

 

“Why does he keep saying this weird shit?” Jai whispered, but his voice carried.

 

“It’s the pain,” Win and Mali answered in unison.

 

It sounded funny and Team let out a small giggle.  Then he was hit by another round of the shakes, and they caused him to sway a bit.

 

He felt strong arms come around him and his cheek found a resting spot on Win’s shoulder.  Win said, “I’ve got you, Team.  I won’t let you fall.”

 

And then Team’s world went black.

 

Chapter 28

Team became aware of movement.  It took him a bit, but then he realized he was in a car.  He heard the quiet voices of his parents from the front seat and deduced he was in the back seat.  His eyes slowly opened and after a moment, they focused on the ceiling of the car.  By its position, he knew that he was laying on his back.

 

The car slowed to a stop, and he heard the sound of a motorcycle engine in the distance.  “Here they come,” his mom said to his dad.  But then Team realized it wasn’t his mother’s voice speaking, although it did sound a bit like hers.  Mali had been the one speaking, and Team assumed that the male voice he had heard was Jai’s.  But who was coming?  Who was ‘they’?

 

The motorcycle sound roared up next to the car and then the engine turned off.  The door behind him opened and Win’s face appeared, leaning over to look into Team’s eyes.

 

“Are you awake?” he asked Team.

 

Team thought it was a stupid question.  He was looking right into Win’s eyes.  But then he realized that he couldn’t move his eyes—or anything else.  And he couldn’t speak.  Maybe he wasn’t awake?  But it felt like he was.  Team was confused.  And then the pain came.  It felt as if lightning had struck his ankle and then a huge monster began to chew on it.

 

He blinked.  “It hurts,” he said.

 

Win nodded, “I know it does.  We’re going to help you.”

 

The door on the opposite side opened and Jai leaned in.  He looked at Win and nodded.  Then Win slid his arms under Team’s armpits and locked his hands together on Team’s chest.  Jai took hold of Team’s calves.  Team struggled a bit, “Stop it!  What are you guys doing?!”

 

“We’re trying to help you, dumbass.  Stop fighting us!” Win hissed.  “It’s how we got you into the car after you fainted.  We’re going to carry you up to your room.”

 

“Wait!  I fainted?” Team asked in astonishment.

 

“Either that or you suddenly decided to take a nap in the parking lot,” Win answered.

 

Team shook his head.  “I can help.  I don’t need you guys to be doing everything.”

 

“Team,” Mali cautioned, “Sit up slowly.  You fainted once, you can do it again if you move too quickly.”

 

He gave a small nod of his head to answer her.  Jai let go of his legs and walked around the car to Win’s side.  Team pushed himself upright and felt a bit swoony.  Win had kept hold of him and quickly lowered Team’s head to lean on Win’s shoulder.  “She just told you to go slowly,” he scolded.

 

Team took a few deep breaths and felt the lightheadedness pass.  He nodded, “I’m okay now.”  He tried to move his arms, but Win was in the way.  “I know how to use my good leg and my arms to get around.  If you give me room, I can get myself out of the car.”

 

Win got out of the car and Team made his way across the seat and then out of the open car door.  As soon as he got out, Win grabbed him by the waist and held on tightly, taking Team’s weight.  Jai positioned himself on the other side, and he and Win joined their arms together, creating a seat for Team.

 

Mali grabbed Team’s backpack from the back seat and slung it up on her shoulder.  She instructed Team to stick out his good leg and lock it into place.  Then she carefully lifted his other leg and, bending it at the knee, she placed it onto his good leg.  “This will keep it stabilized a bit.  At least it will keep it somewhat elevated and not swing back and forth.”  She closed the car door and then she hurriedly took the lead, trotting up the walkway, while Jai and Win, carrying Team, hurried behind her.  Team could see his motorcycle in his parking space, so he realized the cycle he had heard earlier was Namfon parking it.  But Mali had said ‘here they come’.  Team darted his eyes to the side and studied Win’s profile for an instant.  He knew that Win must have ridden there on Team’s cycle with Namfon.

 

“Where’s ‘Fon?” he asked.

 

“She ran ahead to get things ready,” Mali answered.  She had reached the dorm’s entrance and had opened the door to allow Win and Jai to bring him inside.  Then she hurried over to the elevator and pushed the button.

 

Once it arrived, they entered it and Mali pushed the button for Team’s floor.  When the doors closed, Team said, “You guys can put me down now.  I can get there on my own, if one of you let me use you like a crutch.”

 

“No,” Win answered.  “The gravity will cause you more pain.  Better to keep your ankle elevated.”

 

The elevator doors opened on Team’s floor, and they rushed out and headed down the corridor to Team’s room.  His door was open, so they darted in.  They all quickly kicked off their shoes and Mali arranged them next to Namfon’s.

 

“Mali,” Namfon said, “I found this can of Biofreeze.  Will it help?”

 

“Yes!  That’s great!  Bring it here please,” Mali said as she took Team’s good foot in her hand and removed his shoe.  “Namfon, I’m going to need your help.  I need you to hold Team’s calf firmly while I take off this shoe.  As soon as I get it off, you’ll have to turn your face away when I spray the Biofreeze on Team’s ankle to keep from breathing it in.  But no matter what, you can’t let go of Team’s leg.  Can you do it?”

 

“Yes, I’ll do it,” Namfon said and positioned herself by Team’s leg and then took hold of it.

 

Team felt her squeezing tightly and he knew that she was determined not to let go.

 

Mali dropped to her knees and reached for Team’s foot.  She slowly and very carefully, unlaced the shoestring.  It took a while to have it completely removed from the shoe, but once it was, she dropped it onto the floor beside her.  She reached for the tongue of the shoe, but then froze.  She took her hands away and covered her mouth with them.

 

“Mali,” Jai said.  “Look at me.”  She dropped her hands and turned her head to look at Jai, and once they made eye contact, he continued.  “You are going to become a doctor one day.  You know that there will be times when treatments you have to administer temporarily cause pain but are essential.  Like…if someone has an injury and there is dirt in it.  You have to clean the wound before you can treat it, but it will cause pain to your patient if you do.  You can’t leave the dirt in it or it could become infected, right?”  When she nodded, he said, “This is just like that.  You can’t do anything to help Team’s ankle if his shoe is on.  It must come off.”

 

She gave a brisk nod, ran her hands down the sides of her skirt, and bent back down to study Team’s shoe.  Then she looked up at Team and nibbled at her lip.

 

“Mali, Jai’s right,” Team told her.  “You’re going to be a great doctor.”

 

She looked back at his shoe and took hold of the tongue.  She pulled it up, towards the toe, as much as she could.  Then she spread the sides wide.

 

Team kept his jaws clamped tightly shut in order to keep his pain inside.  He didn’t want to upset Mali.

 

Mali looked at Namfon.  “We’re going to do this now.  Turn your face away because I am going to blast the spray as soon as the shoe comes off.”

 

Team lost himself for the next few moments in the agony of having his shoe removed, only coming back when he felt the icy cold spray hitting his ankle and the pain becoming numb.  He raised his head from someone’s shoulder and looked at Mali.  “The pain is gone now,” he said.  And it was only when he heard his voice that he realized he was crying.

 

Mali buried her face in her hands and Namfon jumped up and rubbed her back.  Then Namfon turned to the guys and said, “Let’s hurry and get him in bed.  We need to get ice on his ankle before the pain comes back.”

 

“Not the ice packs,” Team said to her as the guys carried him towards the bed, “I want the broccoli.  I always feel better when I have my broccoli.”

 

“My broccoli, you mean,” Jai said, in an attempt at humor.  “But…on second thought, go ahead and claim it.  I certainly don’t want it back!”

 

Jai and Win got Team down on the bed and his ankle propped up on pillows.  Namfon carefully put the bag of frozen broccoli on Team’s ankle.  “The reason why you don’t like those ice packs is because you bought the cheap ones,” Namfon scolded.  “You are supposed to buy the gel ones that don’t freeze solid.  I left one out on the counter to soften up a bit.  That way we can switch out the broccoli when we need to.”  She looked at the spot by the door where they had been tending to Team.  “That can of Biofreeze was over half empty.  You didn’t have it the last time we had to bring you home, so you must have bought it since.  How often are you using it?”

 

“I don’t know,” Team said with a shrug.  He was beginning to tremble all over and he was trying to make it stop.  “Just a spritz or two sometimes.”

 

Mali had regained her composure and joined Namfon at the side of Team’s bed.  She pulled the blanket over from the other side of the bed and covered Team with it.  “I really do wish you would let us take you to the hospital, or even a clinic…”

 

“No!” Team said emphatically.  “I’ll be okay tomorrow.  I always am.”  He saw how distraught her face looked and he softened his tone, “But thanks for the blanket.  That Biofreeze must have frozen my blood!”

 

“You are shaking from pain, not cold,” Mali corrected gently.  “Here, let’s get you your pills.”

 

Namfon had done a good job sitting up everything.  The two prescription bottles, one containing the anti-inflammatory medicine, and one containing pain medicine, were on the nightstand, next to Team’s side, along with a bottle of water.  His crutches were within arms distance of the bed.

 

Mali shook out a pill from each of the bottles and uncapped the water bottle.  Team pushed off the blanket and started to sit up when he felt the bed give a small shake and then arms behind him, holding him up.  Team took the pills and swallowed them down with a bit of water and then handed Mali back the bottle.

 

“Uh…Mali…Team has been vomiting.  Quite a lot, in fact.  Maybe he should drink the rest of that water,” Win suggested from beside him.  It was his arms that were supporting Team.

 

Team frowned and turned to look at him.  “How did you know that?  Were you spying on me?”

 

“Of course I was!  You told me you were okay, but I could see that something was wrong, so I followed you outside to see what was going on.” Win answered.  Team was about to explode in anger but then he saw the huge wet spot on Win’s shoulder.  Instead of blowing up, he sighed and turned back to take the water from Mali.  Internally he screamed at himself, “Of course you had to pick his freaking shoulder to be the one to cry on!  Idiot!  Jai was right there on the other side of you!  If you had to cry, why didn’t you cry on Jai?”  His only defense to himself was that he was out of his mind with pain.  He finished the water and handed the empty bottle to Mali.

 

“Do you have a bucket, or a large bowl or something?” Mali asked.  “If you were throwing up before, there’s a good chance you could again.”

 

“I have a trash basket next to the desk, but it’s okay.  I don’t feel sick now,” Team said.  And thankfully that was true.  The pain was back, but not as bad as it had been.  He was still shaking a bit, but it felt like that was slowing down too.  He knew from experience that it wasn’t a response to the pills because, even though they worked quickly, it wasn’t this quick.  It was from his ankle being elevated and because of his broccolis, that was what was helping him.  He also knew that once the pills did start to work, he would be feeling much less pain.

 

Mali walked to the desk to get the trash basket and brought it back to the bed.  “This tiny thing?  If you need to throw up, I doubt if this little thing could hold it.”

 

“I know just the thing!” Jai said excitedly.  “I’ll be right back!”  He rushed to the door, slid on his shoes, and was gone before anyone could even answer him.

 

“Well…we’ll just keep this handy until he gets back with whatever.” Mali said.  She placed the trash basket next to the bed and then went into the bathroom.  She came back out a few moments later with a warm, wet, washcloth.  She walked over to Team, sat down on the edge of the bed and said, “Here, I want to wash the sweat off,” and then proceeded to wipe the tear marks away from his eyes and cheeks, not wiping on his forehead where sweat might actually be.  He smiled and then took the cloth from her hand and raised it to her face, “It looks like you’ve been ‘sweating’ a bit yourself there, Mali.”

 

She took the cloth and giggled.  Then she gave a little sob and leaned forward and pressed her face lightly against his shoulder.  “Oh Team, I’m so sorry!  I wouldn’t hurt you for all the gold on the planet, not on purpose!”

 

Team patted her back, “I know that Mali!  And you didn’t hurt me—you helped me!  I couldn’t have done it myself.  Without you, I would still be in the doorway, and in pain.  I’m feeling so much better now.  You are going to be a wonderful doctor one day.  You will never live in someone’s memory as the doctor with the ‘cold, creepy smile’.”

 

She gave his arm a squeeze and then sat up.  “I think we need to get you changed out of your uniform and into something comfortable before your pill knocks you out.  Namfon, could you please go into Team’s bathroom and get one of his large-sized towels?  Not the regular-sized ones, the big ones that he keeps on the bottom shelf in the closet.  I noticed them earlier when I got the washcloth.”

 

Namfon hurriedly brought the towel to Mali.  “Right then!” Mali said, “Namfon, I need you to help me to change Team’s clothes…”

 

“Whoa!  No!” Team objected.  “I don’t need any help changing my clothes!”

 

“Team…” Mali said in a no-nonsense voice, “We will use the towel to keep you covered to protect your modesty.  With the two of us working together, we can have you changed in no time.  You might be able to do it yourself, but it will take much longer and cause unnecessary stress on your ankle.”

 

“Yeah…no,” Team said in a determined voice.  “I am not letting women change me!  Especially my women friends!  Not happening!”

 

“Don’t be silly, Scooby!  We’re not going to look at you, for goodness’ sakes!  We’re not over here plotting to sneak a peek at you!  We’re just trying to help you!” Namfon exclaimed with her hands on her hips.

 

“No…I know that ‘Fon!  It’s just…” Team paused.  The only word he could think of was ‘icky’, and that seemed like something a little kid would say.

 

Win walked over to Team’s dresser and opened up the second drawer and pulled out a pair of soft, sleep shorts and a tee-shirt.  Team watched him in amazement.  He had never been to Team’s dorm room, but he had known exactly which drawer to go to and also which of the items Team liked to wear the best.  “It’s alright.  I’ll help him.  I’m just going to need you to explain to me how to do it properly.”

 

Mali explained the procedure and then she and Namfon went into the bathroom and closed the door.

 

Win pulled down Team’s covers and spread the towel over him.  Team thought it was ridiculous, but he kept quiet as he tried to unbutton his shirt under the towel.  His fingers felt heavy and clumsy, and he knew the pain pill was starting to work, although he didn’t notice any real decrease in his ankle pain.

 

He had managed to unbutton two of the buttons and was fumbling with the third one, when Win reached over and pushed his hands away.  “Let me do it.  You probably don’t realize it, but it’s taking you forever.”

 

“I can do it,” Team mumbled, but he didn’t try to stop Win.

 

In no time, Win had Team’s shirt unbuttoned and taken off and was helping to pull the tee-shirt on over Team’s head.  “I got it!” Team snapped as he finished pulling the shirt on.  He felt Win’s hands messing with his pants button, under the towel.

 

Team smacked Win’s hand away, “I can do that myself!”

 

Team got his pants unbuttoned and unzipped, and then he kind of gave up struggling and complaining and let Win pull them off and pull on his sleep shorts.  Win kept a firm grip on Team’s calf to keep his ankle from being jarred.  He gently rolled Team from side-to- side as he pulled up the shorts.  By the time he finished dressing Team, Team was almost asleep.

 

Mali and Namfon came back into the room and Mali removed the modesty towel that covered Team and replaced it with the blanket from earlier.  Team wasn’t shaking anymore, but it was nice.  Especially when she patted the blanket after making sure it was pulled all the way up to his chin.

 

“Where’s Jai?” Team asked.

 

She shook her head, “I don’t know.  I thought he was going to his room to get something.  He must have gone to a store to buy it.  Why did you ask?  Do you need him for something?”

 

Team closed his eyes and shook his head, “No, I was just asking.  Curious…you know?”

 

When he opened his eyes again, the room was dark, except for his desk lamp.  Everyone was gone and Team knew it had to be late.  He looked over at his nightstand and saw the bottles of medicine were still there, but no water.  It didn’t matter though because he had to get up anyway.  His bladder felt like it was about to burst.  He leaned over and reached for his crutches.

 

“What is it?  What do you need?” Win popped his head up from the floor near the desk.

 

“Jeez!” Team exclaimed.  “What the fuck!  You scared me to death!  Why are you still here?”

 

Win jumped up and hurried over to the bed, “I’m taking care of you.”

 

Team scowled.  “I am an adult.  I don’t need anybody taking care of me.  Go home!”

 

“Well…I can’t, actually.  I live in one of the old dorms.  The doors are locked at midnight.  There’s no way I could make it in time.”

 

“Ew!  One of those old ones?  Dude!  Why do you live there?  They don’t even have air conditioning in those old things!”  Team again leaned forward to get his crutches, but Win got there first and handed them to Team.

 

“Mine has air conditioning,” Win said.  “Shared bathroom though.  What do you need?  I’ll do it for you.”

 

“You can’t,” Team said.  “I need to take a piss.  And that is so gross that you have to share a bathroom.  Sounds like a prison cell.”

 

When Team stood up with the crutches, Win kept trying to help.  Team thought he looked like a flapping chicken, like what Win said he looked like when he didn’t use his arms properly in the pool.  “Stop!  You’re freaking me out with all these darting movements.  I’m going to end up falling over to avoid you!  I know how to use crutches, I’m a bit of a pro at it; and I know how to pee all by myself.  So… shoo!”

 

“Do you want me to go in there with you?  Just in case…” Win asked.

 

“No!  I do not want you to go in there with me!”

 

“Well…at least leave the door open.  That way I can get there in a hurry.”

 

“Yeah, I think not.  Just…I’ll leave it unlocked, okay?  But that’s it.”

 

After keeping his ankle propped and quiet for a few hours, Team thought it should be feeling better.  It wasn’t.  And having it low to the ground was causing the pain to come roaring back to life.  He quickly made his way to the bathroom.  As he passed by the desk area, he saw one of his graphic comic novels on the floor and the English-to-Thai dictionary laying beside it.  Team realized that Win had been sitting on the floor, reading when he woke up.  He turned to look at Win.  “Why were you sitting on the floor?  Why didn’t you sit on the loveseat to read?”

 

Win shook his head, “I couldn’t.  The overhead light would have bothered you.”

 

“But that desk lamp light doesn’t reach the floor!”

 

“Yeah, it was okay.  I managed.”

 

Team knew that Win had to have been uncomfortable…for how many hours?  He didn’t know.  With a sigh he stopped at his dresser and opened the second drawer.  He pulled out a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt and extended them in Win’s direction.  “If you have to stay here, at least you should be comfortable.”

 

Win took the clothes with a big ‘thank you!”  Team continued onto the bathroom.  After he emptied his bladder, he got out a washcloth and held it under the hot water faucet.  He wrung out the washcloth and turned off the faucet and then looked at himself in the mirror.  He thought he looked pretty bad.  He looked like he was sick—pale and blotchy.  He grabbed a towel and made his way back to the toilet.  He closed the lid and sat down on it.  His entire body felt sticky from dried sweat.  Pain sweat.  By the feel of the throbbing in his ankle, he knew that it would be coming back, but he could at least remove the first layer of it.  He wiped his face and neck with the washcloth and then dried off with the towel.  He managed to get a few swipes in on his arms and chest, but after drying them, he gave up.  He got up and put the towel and washcloth in the hamper and brushed his teeth.  He was grossed out that he hadn’t brushed them earlier, right after he had thrown up, but he hadn’t even thought of it at the time.  When he was done, he thought about combing his hair, but decided not to bother.  He was just going to be going back to bed.  And besides, with his new haircut, it still looked good.  He ran his fingers through it and watched it land in place.

 

He turned off the light and headed back towards the bedroom area.  He stopped when he saw that Win had already changed his clothes and was now lying on the opposite side of the bed.  He sat up as Team approached.  “You said I should be comfortable, and your floor is hard!  I’m comfortable here though.”

 

That hadn’t been what Team had meant by being comfortable, but the pain from his ankle was streaking up to his hip at an alarming speed.  He just nodded and then sat down on his side of the bed.  He leaned his crutches back where they had been.  Win was up, out of the bed, and by his side in about a half of a second.  “Here, let me help you get settled.”  He guided Team’s leg while Team shifted the rest of his body.

 

“We had pizza and saved some for you.  Do you want me to heat it up?” Win asked.

 

Team shook his head.  “Not hungry.  Is it time for my pills yet?”

 

“Yeah, in fact, I was planning on waking you up for them, but you woke up on your own.  But…you should have something in your stomach.  When Jai was out, he bought some soup for you.  Do you want me to make it?”

 

Team sighed, “No, I just want my medicine.”

 

“Okay,” Win said and hurried to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water.  He brought it and another bottle with him.  He handed it to Team.  “If you don’t want to eat, you have to drink this.”

 

Team looked at the bottle in his hand.  It was a pink, milk-like, nutrition drink.  He felt like all the blood drained from his face when he saw the label.  It was the same drink that his parents used to bring to him during that dark, crazy time after Win left.  “Why?  Why did you give me this?”

 

“It’s a meal substitute,” Win said.

 

“I know that.  Why did you give me this?” Team repeated.

 

Win frowned in puzzlement.  “You vomited a lot, so your stomach is empty.  Your medicine has a warning not to take it on an empty stomach because it could cause vomiting.  I offered you pizza and soup and you refused both, and this is a meal substitute.  It has a ton of vitamins and minerals.  And it will also help to rehydrate you.  Plus…it’s strawberry.  You love strawberries.”

 

At the mention of strawberries, Team suddenly thought about Than.  When Win had helped him to undress, he had put Team’s wallet and phone on the table.  Team looked across the room at his phone.  He suddenly wanted nothing more than to escape this situation and message with Than.  But messaging with Than was private, and Win wasn’t going to be going anywhere.  Team huffed, “You sound like a paid spokesperson for that crap.”  He snatched the bottle from Win’s hand, unscrewed the cap, and chugged it down.  He handed Win back the empty bottle and said, “It says ‘Strawberry’ on it, but it tastes like drinking milk from a rusty can.”

 

Win sniffed the empty bottle.  “Yeah, I can smell the minerals in it.  You probably should have opted for the pizza.”

 

Team sneered at Win and then turned to reach for his medicine from the bedside table.

 

“Whoa!  No!  I’ll get them for you!” Win said, rushing over.

 

“Dude!  I can reach them myself!” Team protested.

 

“No!  Mali told me that I had to be the one to give them to you.  She said that if you were fuzzy headed that you might take too many on accident.”

 

Team scoffed.  “I’m not fuzzy headed and you said it was time for it.”

 

Win snatched them away from Team.  “I am doing what I was instructed to do!  Mali was very insistent on it.”

 

Team leaned back against his pillow with a sigh.  He knew that Win was telling the truth.  Mali was sweet and gentle, but once she had her mind set on how she wanted things, she was as firm and strong as a brick wall.

 

Win gave Team the bottle of water and then he gave him one pill from each bottle.  He reached over Team to the other side of the bed and retrieved his phone.  He checked the time and then wrote it on a piece of paper that was next to the pill bottles.  He picked up the can of Biofreeze.  “Do you want a blast of this?”

 

Team was drinking the rest of the water from the bottle, so he just gave a nod.  Win sprayed Team’s ankle and the icy blast killed the pain signal that was in midrace up to his hip.  Team swallowed the last bit of the bottle and handed Win the empty with a sigh of relief.

 

“I’ll get you an ice pack.  Jai bought some of the more expensive kind that stays bendable after being frozen.  I think they have probably been in the freezer long enough now.  Or would you rather have that bag of broccoli?”

 

“Broccoli.”

 

Win pulled it out of the freezer and then paused on his way back to the bed.  He reached over the counter and retrieved a black thing that Team had never seen before.  Win carried it with him to the bed.  “This was what Jai meant when he ran out of here, saying he knew just the thing to put next to your bed, in case you had to throw up.”

 

He handed it to Team and Team examined it.  It was huge, with a flat top, steep sides, and a deep well to hold liquids.  Team looked up at Win, “This is what mechanics use to drain oil from cars, isn’t it?”

 

Win nodded, “Yeah, I think so.”  He carefully placed the broccoli on Team’s ankle.  He picked up his phone and messed with it for a second and then laid it back on the other side of the bed.

 

Team looked back at the thing.  “Well…it certainly could hold a lot of puke, that’s for sure.  I mean…I think a herd of elephants could come in here and take turns barfing in it and it still wouldn’t be filled up.”

 

He looked at Win; Win looked at him.  They stared at each other for a moment, and then Win’s lip twitched, and Team lost it!  He howled with laughter and Win joined in.

 

“What was he thinking?” Team managed to get out through his laughter.

 

“That’s what Mali asked him!” Win said, still laughing.  “I couldn’t wait to see your reaction!”

 

“I mean…who in the history of the world, ever vomited that much?  I would hate to see the poor guy!  Probably shriveled up and blew away in the next breeze!”

 

Win gingerly sat down on the edge of the bed and took the pan from Team and put it on his nightstand.  “As funny as this is, Jai meant well.  He is a great friend to you.”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I know.  He’s a great guy.  I’m just glad he has Mali in his life to guide him.  He should have checked with her first.  Like, for real…what in the world am I going to do with this huge pan?”

 

Win looked at him very seriously and said, “Well, if you ever decide to quit pre-law and become a car mechanic, you will be ahead of the game because you won’t have to buy one.”

 

This set them both off laughing again.  When the laughs were dying down, Win got up and walked over to the loveseat and retrieved the modesty towel they had used earlier to change Team’s clothes.  Win folded it a few times on his way back to the bed.  He went around to the other side and removed the pillow, placing it next to Team’s calf, and putting the towel where the pillow had been.  “That’s to make sure I don’t bump into you,” he said.

 

Team instantly flashed back to the first time Win had spent the night with him.  He had a bruised and swollen knee from hitting it in the pool during a swim meet earlier in the day.  Team didn’t like remembering that at all, so he shoved the thought right out of his head.

 

Win crawled into the bed and shifted around a bit, getting comfortable.  “Are you feeling any better now?”

 

“Yeah, thanks.  The broccoli helps a lot.”

 

“Do you think you can sleep?”

 

Team involuntarily yawned at the question, and then chuckled, “Yeah.  These pills always knock me out.”

 

They fell quiet after that, until sometime later, Win’s phone alarm went off.  Win startled and grabbed his phone and shut it off.

 

“Why did you set an alarm?” Team asked grumpily.  He had been on the verge of falling asleep when it had sounded.

 

Win got up and removed the broccoli from Team’s ankle.  “It was a reminder to remove the broccoli.  We can’t leave it on there too long or it could freeze your skin.”

 

Win put the bag in the freezer and then climbed back into bed.  Within moments, his breathing was slow and deep.  Team laid there, in the dark, and listened to it.  He excused it to himself as there was nothing else to hear in the otherwise quiet dorm room.  Subconsciously, Team slowed his own breathing to match Win’s, and soon he was deeply asleep.

 

Sometime during the night, Team awakened with a strange feeling of heaviness on his chest.  He reached up to feel what it was.  It was an arm.  Win’s arm.  And Win’s head was on Team’s pillow and his face was buried in Team’s neck.

 

Team was angry.  He didn’t want this person to be this close to him.  Heck…he shouldn’t even be here at all…let alone in Team’s bed!  He was the Vice President of the Swim Club, not a friend.  Team debated whether he should give him a hard jab with his elbow to get him to move away.  Or better yet…order Win out of his room.  If he couldn’t get into his dorm, that wasn’t Team’s concern.  He could sleep in the streets for all Team cared…except…Team thought about how horribly frightened he had been when he was in the parking lot, next to the trashcan.  That pain had scared him out of his mind.  Since his ankle was propped up and he had taken his medicine, it had eased a lot.  But what if it came back?  He knew it wasn’t likely, but it was possible.  And if it did, it would be nice if someone was there to help him.

 

He huffed out his breath and closed his eyes.  It didn’t matter.  It would be dawn soon.  His ankle would be better by then and Win could go back to his dorm.

 

Team felt someone shaking his shoulder.  He opened his eyes and saw his room was filled with early morning sunshine.  He looked up at the person shaking him and was shocked to see that it was Win.  His ankle sent up a bolt of pain and then Team remembered the night before.

 

“You need to wake up now,” Win said.

 

“Is it time for my pills?” Team asked, rubbing a hand across his eyes to try to force them open.

 

“No, not yet,” Win answered.  Team looked more closely at Win and saw that he was dressed in regular clothes, not the sleepwear that Team had loaned him the night before, and not his school uniform.  He was dressed in regular clothes, but they weren’t Team’s.

 

“Why are you dressed in that?  How?” Team asked.

 

“Jai went to my room and picked up some clothes for me.  I took a shower in your bathroom—I hope you don’t mind.  It was nice to shower in a private bathroom again!  Oh, and I didn’t mess with your pretty, lacy shower cap.

 

Team rolled his eyes at that.  Then he became more aware of the pain in his ankle.  It was pretty strong, and it certainly felt as if it were time for his medicine.  Maybe even past time for it.  He had seen Win noting the time on a paper the night before, and he looked over at the nightstand to locate it.  There was nothing on the nightstand except for Jai’s vomit vat.  No paper, no water bottle, no pills.

 

“Hey!  Where are my…” Team began, and then Win cut him off.

 

“Yesterday evening, your friends had a discussion about whether they should call your parents and let them know what was happening since this was the second time.  Namfon voted that they should be told.  Mali voted that you are an adult, and your health care should be your decision.”

 

Team slid up in his bed.  “What the hell?” he exclaimed.

 

Win continued, “Jai sided with Mali and so they didn’t call them.”

 

Team grinned.  “Jai always sides with Mali!  Good for him!  Especially in this case.  I’m going to be just fine, probably by tomorrow.  There’s no reason for my folks to know anything.”

 

Win looked down at the floor and nodded, “Yeah.  So anyway, after they had their vote and decided to keep it from your parents, I called them and told them.”

 

“YOU DID WHAT?” Team yelled.  “You had no right!”

 

Win shrugged.  “Oh well.”

 

“What the fuck do you mean ‘oh well’?!!!  You just took it upon yourself to call my mommy and tell on me, like I am two years old?” Team sputtered in rage.

 

Win smirked at him, “Of course not!  I would never do that!”

 

Team relaxed, “Oh, thank God!”

 

“No,” Win said, “I called your daddy.  And he told your mommy.  And they called your doctor who made arrangements with an orthopedic surgeon here in Bangkok who has scheduled an appointment for you this morning.  Your parents are on their way here now.  In fact, I look for them to arrive within a half hour or so.  I thought you would probably like to get dressed before they get here.”

 

Team felt so filled with rage he could barely speak.  He pointed at Win, “You…you…how very dare you?  I’m not doing it!  I’m not!  No more surgeries!  I’m done!  All these fucking scars everywhere…and they want to put that metal back in me…turn me into a fucking cyborg!  I’m not doing it!  I’m not!  You think you can stand there in your perfect, unmarked skin, and make decisions about my life?  The hell you are!  You don’t know what I have been through!  I’m done!”

 

Win sighed.  “First of all, I’m not making any decisions for you.  No one is.  But your parents love you and they have a right to know what you are going through.  You can discuss the surgery with them and tell them your answer.  And secondly, just because you don’t see scars on me doesn’t mean that there aren’t any.  Sometimes scars are invisible.”

 

Team thought about the pain that Win had experienced in his life by being rejected by his father.  He swallowed down anything else he might have said in response because he knew it was true.  Win did have his own scars, but they were invisible.

 

“And another thing…” Win started and then he paused and thought for a moment.  “I would like to tell you what I see when I look at your scars.  Because I do look at them.  Very often.  I look at them and I imagine what happened:  One day, you were going through life, minding your own business and the Grim Reaper, that demon of death, came for you.  He had prepared long and hard for the battle, and he caught you unaware.  However, he hadn’t bargained on how strong you are and how stubborn.  The two of you fought many battles, long and hard, and although unprepared, you had to fight this war on your own.  But finally, after winning numerous battles, you grabbed him by his cloak, and you looked into those empty sockets where his eyes should be, and you said, ‘One day you will win, but that day is not today!’, and then you kicked his bony ass back to hell, or the underworld, or wherever it is that he spends his time.  You won the war, and each scar on your body is a medal that you won on the field of battle.  You are a warrior, and you should be proud of your medals and display them with honor, because you have won battles that none of the rest of us have ever even imagined.”  He paused to take a breath, “Oh and one more thing…a bit of metal in your ankle won’t make you a cyborg, but even if it did, cyborgs are fucking awesome,” he pointed at Team, “And you know that!”

 

Team’s jaw had dropped open during Win’s speech, but now he clamped it shut.  It was true, Team had always loved cyborgs.  With a grunt, he nodded.

 

“So…what’s it going to be?  Are you going to face your parents in your jammies, or dressed and ready for them?”

 

Team snarled and then reached for his crutches.  He got up from the bed and made his way over to his dresser to select something to wear.

 

“By the way,” Win said, “I noticed that your little jade plant was a bit withered, and I watered it.  Then I took it from the desk and put it on the windowsill so it could get some sunlight.  I hope that’s okay.”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, thanks.  I don’t have a green thumb.”  He started towards the bathroom and Win stopped him.

 

“Nothing by mouth.  Don’t be eating or drinking anything!”

 

“Oh gee, I’m glad you stopped me,” Team said.  “I was just debating which to eat first, the soap or the toilet paper.  That was close!”  He took a few more steps and then turned to look at Win.  “What exactly did you tell my parents?”

 

“I told them what your friends had told me about the other time they had to help you and then I told them what I witnessed:  You throwing up, fainting, and crying.”

 

Team let out a melodramatic sigh as he entered the bathroom.  “Oh great!  They probably think I’m pregnant!”  As he shut the bathroom door, he could hear Win’s shout of laughter.  Team bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the sound.  He caught sight of himself in the mirror and thought about what Win had said about his scars.  He hadn’t been wrong, really.  Team really felt like he had fought many battles.  And…he hated to even think it, but…he was going to agree to the surgery and fight another one.  His ankle had worked well and hadn’t hurt when he had the plate in it.  He had been in pain almost daily since he had had it removed.  He had to acknowledge, just to himself, that he was in this predicament because of a stupid choice he had made to have it removed.  Win said he was a warrior.  He was going to face this like one.

 

He had washed off, shaved, brushed his teeth, and was in the process of getting dressed when he heard his parents arrive.  The sounds were a bit muffled through the door, but he could clearly hear his dad saying ‘Winnie!’.  He heard Win answering one of them with, ‘yeah, I told him, he knows’.  And then he heard the door to his dorm close.

 

Team finished dressing and walked out of the bathroom.  His parents were sitting side-by-side on the loveseat, Win had left.  Team’s bed had been made and everything was tidy.  Jai’s barf trough was nowhere to be seen.  He knew that Win had been the one to clean his room.

 

“You changed your hair!” his mother exclaimed.  “Oh, I love it!”

 

The room had been filled with tension until she said that, and Team had to laugh.  “Yeah, I thought it was time for a change.”

 

“So…you know why we are here,” his dad stated.

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I do.”

 

“And what are your thoughts about it?” his dad asked as he gave him ‘the look’.  ‘The look’ that every parent has given their child at some point that let the kid know they weren’t going to take any shit from the kid.

 

“My thoughts are that I was an idiot to ever get the plate removed.  I am in constant pain, and I don’t want to live this way.  I just hope I haven’t done too much damage to it and that it can be fixed.”

 

“Oh…well…I wasn’t prepared for that,” his dad said and then looked at Team’s mom, “Were you?”

 

She smiled as she shook her head ‘no’.  “We thought that you would be set against having anymore surgery.”

 

Team sighed, “I was.  But…I don’t know.  I am stubborn, but I think I need to use that as fuel for the battle.  I don’t want to keep hurting and having to limit what I do.  I’m too strong to live my life this weak.”

 

His dad stood up and made to hug Team but paused.  “I don’t want to make you lose your balance,” he said.  Team shifted a bit and leaned towards his dad and took the hug.  “Well…I need to use your bathroom…been up drinking coffee all night…and then we will be off," his dad said.

 

After he entered the bathroom, Team’s mom got Team's attention by waving her hand.  She held a finger to her lips and motioned towards the bathroom with her head.  Then she pulled up her pant leg a bit and showed Team a huge bruise on her ankle, the same side as his injured one.

 

“What happened?” he whispered.

 

“I caught it on a book trolley late yesterday afternoon.  He,” she said, jerking her head in the direction of the bathroom, “He says it is just a coincidence.”

 

Team gave a quiet laugh.  His dad would never understand it, but Team did.  It wasn’t a coincidence.

 

As they left the dorm building and entered the parking lot, Team stopped short.  Jai’s car was parked next to his parents’ car.  Jai, Mali, Namfon, and Win were all standing beside it.  And they were all dressed in normal clothes, not their uniforms.

 

“What are you doing here?  It’s Tuesday!  Surely you all have classes,” he said.

 

Jai nodded, “Yeah, we do.  We all called in sick.  We’re going to be with you today.”

 

“For the record, I did not call in sick,” Namfon corrected.  “I just said I had something I had to do today and I wouldn’t be in class.”

 

Team had to laugh at that.  Namfon, always the truth teller.  His eyes fell on Win.  He wanted to ask why he was with them, but he didn’t.  He didn’t want to fight in front of his parents or his friends.  So he just gave him a nod.

 

Mali handed Team’s mom Team’s pills and the notes they had made about the times Team had taken them.

 

Then they all got into their cars and drove towards the hospital where Team was scheduled to meet with the orthopedic surgeon.  Team’s nerves felt on edge, so he pulled his phone from his pocket and read the messages that Than had left for him the previous night.

 

Than’s mother had, this time deliberately, ordered too much fruit.  She was going to try to recapture the excitement that she had caused with her strawberry jam, finger sandwiches, and cakes.  Except this time, instead of strawberries, it was apricots.  Than stated emphatically that he HATED apricots.  The taste, the smell, and even the name made him nauseous.  Team had to laugh at that because he felt the exact same way about them.  Grossest, nastiest fruit on the planet.  Than said that his mother already had batches of them simmering on the stove, and late the night before, Than had to carry out huge garbage bags full of the skins from where they had been peeled.  He said they were like dead, rotting slugs.

 

He had gone outside, away from the store, to eat his dinner in an attempt to escape the smell.  He said that even his can of soda smelled like it when he opened it.  Than said that he was afraid that the whole world smelled like boiling apricots.

 

Team laughed as he messaged back and assured Than that Bangkok didn’t smell like apricots.  It hadn’t reached them yet.  Team told him that his parents had arrived for a surprise visit, so he might not be on much for a few days.

 

Than answered, hoping that Team had a good time during his parents’ visit and ended with a diarrhea fart joke that left Team rolling with laughter.  When he shut off his phone, he saw that they were entering the hospital parking lot.  The drive had passed quickly and without any anxiety for Team, thanks to Than.

 

Testing took a while.  They had given Team shots in his ankle to numb it a bit as they had to move it around for X-Rays and scans, but it didn’t numb it much at all.  He was pretty much in agony during the whole time.

 

The surgeon finally came into the room to share the results of the tests.  The damage wasn’t as bad as they had feared it would be.  There were several small stress fractures along the original break.  The pop that Team had felt on the stairs, and the cause of the horrible pain, was because he had ripped apart some of the new bone growth.  They were going to take him right to surgery and put the plate back in.  The prognoses for a full and complete recovery was excellent.

 

Team was very glad to hear that, of course, but the pain was so intense, he could barely take in the information.

 

“Right,” the surgeon said, noticing Team’s pain.  “Let’s get your pre-op IV going and start prepping you for surgery.”

 

The doctor left the room, and his parents hugged and kissed Team many times before they left the room.  A woman came in and injected his IV line with something and almost immediately, Team noticed that his pain was no longer in his ankle.  It was on the wall across from him and he could see it.  Red flames with bolts of violent red lightning erupting from the flames, all dancing around on the pale green wall.  His ankle felt heavy, and then it would give a tiny humming feeling, and the pain on the wall would come alive again.  Team thought it was kind of neat.  It was his pain, but he didn’t have to feel it.  The wall did.

 

There was a nurse in the room, and she reached for Team’s necklace.  He put his hand over the medallion and held it there tightly.  “I can’t take it off!”

 

“It must come off,” the nurse insisted.  “You can’t wear jewelry during surgery!  Now, move your hand so I can get it.”

 

He looked at her and said, “I can’t!  It’s not the pool!”

 

“I’m not going to argue with you.  It’s coming off!”

 

“Dad!” Team yelled.

 

His dad popped his head in the door, “Did you yell for me?”

 

Team nodded.  His attention was grabbed by the lightning and the flames on the wall.  “Is he here?  I need him.”  He frowned.  He meant he needed to speak to Win, but it didn’t come out right.

 

“Yes, he’s here.”  His dad turned his head and said, “Win, Team wants to see you.”

 

Win hurried into the room, right up to Team’s bed.  “What is it?”

 

“It’s not the pool,” Team answered, but he couldn’t turn his head to look at Win.  He was watching his pain on the wall. It seemed to be getting smaller.  Weaker.  He thought maybe the wall was eating his pain.  He thought that was so nice of the wall to do that for him.

 

“He won’t let me take that necklace off!” the nurse said angrily.  “He’s being very stubborn about it.”

 

Win laughed, “Yeah, ‘Stubborn’ is his middle name.  If you leave us alone for a moment, I can get it.”

 

“Well see that you do!” she said as she walked out of the door.

 

“Team,” Win said softly.  “I know it’s not the pool, but I think we can change the rule to include medical treatments.  So, not in the pool or during any kind of medical treatments when they tell you it has to come off, but otherwise you have to wear it.  Okay?”

 

“Okay, Hia,” Team said as he watched the flame become a tiny ember and the lightning was merely a tiny spark.

 

Win moved Team’s hand away from the necklace and unclasped it.  He slid it off of Team.  “I’ll keep your necklace for you and give it back after your surgery.  Okay?”

 

Team shook his head.  “It’s not mine.  It’s…um…”  He couldn’t think of the word.  He closed his eyes to see it that would help.

 

It was nice in the darkness.  He didn’t feel any pain, not even that little hum in his ankle.  And he didn’t see it anymore because the nice wall had eaten it all up for him.  But he knew he was looking for a word there in the dark.  “It’s…umm…”  He couldn’t find the word, even though he tried to find it.  It was too dark and too comfortable here.  “Um…”  He didn’t care if he found the word anymore, so he stopped looking for it.

 

He felt something very soft touch his cheek.  A tiny kiss and it felt like the tip of a feather on the wing of an angel.  Then he thought he heard a whisper.  It sounded so far away.  The whisper said, “It’s ours.  It belongs to us.”

Chapter 29

Team became aware of a small hand in his.  That was always the way it was when he woke up from surgery.  He didn’t even have to open his eyes to know that it was his mother’s hand.

 

He opened his eyes a fraction and looked at his ankle.  He was relieved to see everything was still there.  His leg was on a hoist of some kind and his lower leg was held up higher than the rest.  A quick glance showed him that he was still attached to an IV bag, but there was no sign of any monitors on him.  From experience, he knew this meant that he was doing well and didn’t need them.  He sighed and then squeezed his mother’s hand to let her know he was awake.

 

“Hi!” she said in a low tone, but a high pitch.  Team had long ago gotten used to her ‘after surgery’ voice she used with him.

 

“It’s over,” he said.  His voice sounded husky and he felt a bit of pain in his throat.  He knew that they must have put a tube down his throat during surgery.  He knew that the pain and huskiness wouldn’t last long.

 

She nodded, “Yes, it is!  And everything went well.”  She looked away from him and called for Team’s dad, who was watching TV on the other side of the room.  Team saw that Jai and Mali were there too.  But the room was different than any other hospital room he had been in before.

 

“Hey Buddy!” his dad said quietly when he reached the bed.  “Surgery’s over and everything is fine.  The damage wasn’t as bad as the surgeons feared it would be.  Plate is back in, and the prognosis is that you will be able to be up and around really quickly.  A couple of weeks—or maybe a month.  How are you feeling?”

 

Team shrugged, “No pain.  Sleepy though.  Are we in some kind of hotel or something?” he gestured at the room.

 

His mother gave a small laugh, “No, but it looks like it, doesn’t it?  This hospital has family-style suites.  Your dad and I have a bed!  Imagine that!  After all those times we slept in chairs during your other stays!  But…it is still a hospital.  Nurses are coming in and out, constantly.”

 

Team smiled at her enthusiasm.  It had always bothered him to see her asleep sitting up in a chair.  He was glad they would be able to rest and still be there, in the room, with him.

 

In the past, he hadn’t been able to have more than two people in his room at a time, ‘hospital rules’, but since his parents were both in the room, along with Jai and Mali, he knew that this was another way the hospital was different from others.  He was glad about it.

 

He couldn’t help but notice that Namfon wasn’t there…and that other person wasn’t there either.  He assumed that Namfon must have gone to one of her later classes after his surgery was over.  As for the other person, Team had no idea where he would be, nor did he care.  He didn’t even understand why he had looked for him to be there in the first place.  He was disgusted with himself.

 

The door to his room opened, and Namfon and Win hurried in.  Win was carrying a cardboard beverage holder containing drinks in cups.  Namfon was carrying a bag with the logo of a takeout restaurant on it.

 

“He’s awake!” Team’s dad told them with a grin.

 

Namfon sat the bag down on the little table by the window and hurried over to the bed.  His parents stepped aside as she leaned over the siderail on the bed and hugged Team.  She whispered, “Don’t worry about your parents.  We’re taking care of them for you.  P’Win and I just picked up some food for them.”

 

Team nodded and whispered, “Thank you.”

 

She squeezed his arm and then raised up.  She turned to his parents, “The foods here; lets go eat it before it gets cold.”

 

“Oh no, that’s okay, Sweetie!” Team’s mom told her, “You go ahead.  I am going to sit here with Team for a while.”

 

“Auntie Nat?” Win said, “I will sit with him while you eat.”

 

She looked at Win for a moment and then looked at her husband.  He nodded at her.  “Okay, Win,” she said, and then turned to Team.  “We are just going across the room.  If you need us, we’ll be right back.”

 

“I’m okay, Mom.  Go eat something.  I don’t want to have to worry about you!” Team ordered.

 

She smiled and then hurried over to the table where Jai and Mali were arranging the food and plates.  Team’s dad and Namfon followed her there.

 

Win approached the bed.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace.  “Since your surgery is over, you can wear your necklace again.”

 

Team frowned, “But you said…”

 

“What?” Win asked with his eyebrow raised.  “What did I say?”

 

Team felt his frown grow deeper.  He didn’t understand why Win was pretending not to remember what he had said.  Team remembered it quite clearly.  His cheek felt the memory of Win’s kiss, and Team reached up and placed his hand on the spot.  Win had kissed his cheek and whispered to Team that the necklace was theirs, that it belonged to them, and now he was back to calling it Team’s necklace.  But Team knew that he was right about the kiss and the whisper.  It was right after the wall had taken his pain and had eaten it and Team had gone into a dark cave…and…his mind skittered for a second.  “Think, Team, think!  You just remembered that the wall ate your pain and then Win kissed your cheek and whispered in your ear about the necklace.  The wall?  ATE YOUR PAIN?  Of all the things that didn’t happen, these things didn’t happen the most!  It was a drug-induced dream!”

 

Team dropped his hand from his cheek.  “You said I didn’t have to wear it in the pool or during medical things.”

 

Win nodded, “Yes, that’s what I said.  However, the surgery is over, and you aren’t on any monitors.  I asked the nurse who came in here a while ago if you could have it back and she said you could.”  He reached over and lifted Team’s head up a bit and put the chain around his neck and clasped it.  “There,” he said, giving the medallion a tiny pat, “Now your necklace is back where it belongs.  If for some medical reason it has to be removed and I’m not here, give it to your parents to keep for you and then put it right back on afterwards, okay?  Don’t want you to be tempted to go bribing anyone with it the moment my back is turned.”

 

Team looked at him with disgust.  “I’m not going to bribe anyone!” he snapped.  Win grinned and sat down in the chair his mother had been sitting in earlier.

 

Team was angry with himself.  He knew a person couldn’t help what they dreamed, especially if they were on medication, but to dream that this…horrible person…had kissed his cheek was beyond disgusting.  But the weird thing was, he still felt the memory of that kiss on his cheek.  So much so that he had to fight the urge to put his hand back up there.  He couldn’t understand why it still remained so vivid in his mind, even after realizing it had only been a dream.

 

He turned his head away from Win’s direction and his gaze fell on the tray table next to his bed.  There was a Styrofoam cup on it with a spoon next to it.  From previous surgeries, he knew that it would contain crushed ice for him.  His mouth felt as if he had been lost in the desert for weeks.  He tried to reach for it but realized that the hand closest to the tray, the hand with the IV in it, was still strapped to the bed rail.  Since he couldn’t use that hand, he tried to reach it with his free hand, but he couldn’t reach it.

 

“What is it?” Win asked, getting to his feet.  “What are you reaching for?”

 

“It’s nothing,” Team said.  “Forget about it.”

 

Win walked over and looked at the tray.  “Is it the ice?  Was that what you wanted?”

 

Team shrugged, “Yeah, but it’s okay.  Mom will be done soon.”

 

Win picked up the cup and spoon and went back to the seat next to the bed.  He sat down and then shoveled some ice into the spoon.  “Here,” he said, “I’ll help you.”

 

Team shook his head, “I’ll wait for Mom.”

 

“It might be all melted by then,” Win said.  He brought the spoon up to Team’s mouth and with a sigh, Team opened his mouth and let Win feed it to him.  “You are swallowing funny, and your voice is all husky.  Why?”

 

Team swallowed the ice and said, “They have to put tubes down your throat in surgery.”

 

“Is your throat hurting you?”

 

Team shrugged nonchalantly, “A bit.  Ice helps.”

 

Win nodded and then loaded up another spoonful of the ice.  After a few more rounds of it, Team was done, but Win kept trying to get him to eat more of it.  “You said it helps!” Win protested.

 

Team nodded, “It did.  It’s numb now.”  He looked at the window and tried to gauge the time based on the sun.  He didn’t know what direction his room faced, nor if there were any buildings that might be blocking the sun from the window.  “What time is it?”

 

“About 5:30,” Win answered.

 

“Is this the first time my parents have eaten today?”

 

Win nodded and looked over at the table.  “Yeah, your surgery took a while, and then you were in recovery for probably about an hour.  We couldn’t get them to even think about food until after you were brought in here.  Jai let me use his car and I went and picked up food for everybody.”

 

Team startled at that.  “Jai let you drive his car?”

 

Win shrugged, “Yeah, why?”

 

“Because he only lets Mali drive it.  He’s pretty strict with it.”

 

“Hmm,” Win said, looking over at Jai, “Really?  Because I mentioned being willing to go pick up food and he handed me his keys.  No problem.  Namfon went with me and on the way back, I took her to her dorm, and she picked up her motorcycle.  She’s going to give me a ride back to my dorm later.”

 

Kwan came in, carrying a vase full of flowers.  Predominantly carnations and daisies, and Team gave him a huge smile when he saw them.  Kwan sat them down on the tray table and leaned over the bed railing and gave Team a hug.

 

“Kwan, are you planning on staying here for a while?” Win asked.

 

Kwan nodded, “Yes, I was, P’Win.  Why?”

 

“I am going to let you sit with him while I go eat, then.” Win said, gesturing to the chair as he stood up.

 

Kwan took the seat and thanked Win.  Team watched Win as he hurried over to the table and took a seat next to Team’s mom.  She had already filled him a plate and he began eating it with gusto.  Team realized that Win had been worried about Team’s parents, but Win hadn’t eaten anything earlier either.

 

Kwan passed on ‘get well’ wishes from mutual friends of theirs.  He told Team the newest goings on at his cooking club and promised to send Team some goodies from them during his recovery.  He gestured with his head towards the table and said, “They kept in touch with me today.  The doctor told them that you are going to be fine again within a short time.  Having that plate taken out wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but they don’t think there is any permanent damage.  If you had kept walking on it there might have been though.  You aren’t going to do that again, are you?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I learned my lesson.  It’s going to stay in.  Are you done scolding me now?”

 

Kwan laughed, “Team!  I wasn’t scolding you!  Because if I was, I would have told you that was a really dumb thing to do.  You were doing great before you had it taken out.”

 

Team grinned and nodded, “Okay, that is scolding!”

 

Team’s mother had finished eating and had returned to Team’s bedside.  She and Kwan chatted a bit, and then Kwan announced he had to leave.  He picked up Team’s hand and gave it a squeeze.  “Promise me that you will do everything the doctor says!”

 

Team nodded, “I promise!”

 

After he left the room, Team asked his mother for his phone.  She had been keeping it for him since they arrived at the hospital.

 

She retrieved it from her purse and gave it to him.  Two teams from Rayong Amateur Adult Football League were playing against each other on the TV, but Team wasn’t a superfan of either team.  He would much rather read the messages from Than.  His mom sat back down in the chair next to his bed and turned her attention to the game.  Namfon and Mali had their textbooks with them and they were doing their homework.  Everyone else was deeply involved in the game on TV.

 

He turned on his phone and saw that Than had left him three messages.  He snuggled down into the bed and opened the first one and began to read.

 

It had been raining all day in Chiang Mai and the humidity was very high.  Even with the door to the store being open, there were no breezes coming in, and no nasty apricot smell leaving.  Than said he was actually thankful for his severe allergies because he could wear his mask all day.  He chewed stick after stick of peppermint gum, trying to cover the stench of the boiling apricots.  It helped a bit, but he could still smell them.  And he felt as if some of their essence came up from the steam from the jam making and mixed with the heavy humidity in the air and then floated down and covered everything that Than had to touch.  The shelves, the products, the cash register, the broom…everything was coated with the slimy feel and smell of apricots.  He was not happy about it.  He said that even the lenses of his glasses would fog up, and when he tried to wipe the moisture away, it would smear with the sickly residue.  His sister thought it was funny that he hated them so much.  She took apricot peels, that she had secretly snatched from the trash, and hid them around the area where Than would sit during his breaks.

 

His second message was about a trip into the city.  His mother needed an emergency batch of canning jars and had ordered them from their vendor.  They wouldn’t be able to deliver them until the next day, so Than’s mother sent him to them to pick up.  Than avoided all the main roads to the city and took the backroads so that he didn’t have to bother about speed limits.  He sped through the countryside, worried about his parents who would have to run the store in his absence.  However, once he arrived at the loading dock of the vendor, he saw a long line of vehicles in front of him.  The boss of the loading crew told him it would be at least a half hour before it was his turn to be loaded.  He was upset over the wait, still worrying about his parents (although he had called and they reassured him they were fine), so he decided to leave the truck in the line and walk down the block to the library.  On his drive to the vendor’s, he had noticed the library had a banner flying outside, announcing a book sale.  He spent the half-hour waiting time at the sale.  The place was crowded with people and there were shelves, tables, and boxes filled with books to choose from.  Than didn’t have a huge amount of time to shop, so he asked the librarian in charge of the sale if she knew where he could find business textbooks.  She was very helpful and took him to the table where books of that kind were displayed.  (Team looked at his mother, seated next to him, and gave her a smile.  She often was in charge of the library book sales in his village and was always willing to help find just the right book.)  Than found a newer edition of an introduction to business textbook which he was very excited about, and then he asked the librarian about books for young children.  She helped him there and asked questions about his sister’s age and interest.  She immediately picked up two from the children’s table and showed them to Than.  One was a story about a butterfly dancing ballet in the forest and then later coming onto a farm to dance for the animals—which Than said his jaw had dropped at the story, because it was absolutely perfect for Tukta!  The other book was a story of a girl’s doll coming to life.  Than felt put-off by the book jacket.  He hated stories about dolls coming to life; he thought they seemed creepy.  (Team had to agree with Than on that!  His least favorite horror stories were where dolls came to life.  Usually they had evil intentions and they hurt the one closest to them.  They always ended up, either emotionally or literally, stabbing their best friend in the back.)  At the thought, Team looked at Win, who was deep in a conversation with Jai.  Team imagined they were talking about the game.  Win happened to look over at that moment and their eyes connected.  Win tilted his head a bit with a puzzled look on his face.  Team scowled, gave a small shake of his head, and went back to reading Than’s message.

 

The librarian assured Than that it was a wonderful story, about acceptance and friendship, so Than took her word for it, and after giving the pictures a quick scan to make sure there wasn’t any bloody knives or anything, he added it to his stack and paid for the books.  On his way back to his truck, he stopped by a small stationery store and bought a new notebook and some pencils.  Back in the truck, he opened the pencil bag and used one of the pencil’s erasers to remove some doodles and scribbles from the books he was going to give to Tukta, then he opened up the intro to business textbook and skimmed through the first chapter.  He couldn’t wait to get home and start reading it and taking notes on it.

 

The last message was after Than had returned home.  Tukta had loved her books—he had had to read to her each one of them three times.  He said the doll book reminded him of a child with a puppy, nothing creepy about it.  Then he ended with two jokes.  One was a fart joke, and one was a diarrhea joke.  Team was still laughing over them when he hit the reply button.

 

He made up a day with his parents to tell Than.  First breakfast with them, then classes for Team, while they shopped at one of the malls for slipcovers for the living room furniture.  They came by and picked Team up after his class and dragged him around the malls with them because they still hadn’t found slipcovers that they both liked.  Finally, they decided to go to dinner, but his mom wanted to go to a ‘nice’ place to eat, not some fast food place, so they dropped Team off at his dorm to get ready, and were going to pick him back up after they were spruced up.  Team told Than that he hated going to fancy places; however, he didn’t blame his mother for wanting to.  There weren’t many fancy places to eat in or near the village.  They planned on going to see a movie after dinner.  Team joked that he wasn’t going to have much time to do homework while they were around, and he was going to remind them of that if his grades dropped—they wouldn’t be able to blame him for it!  Since they hadn’t found the correct slipcovers yet, they were probably going to be in Bangkok for a few more days, so Team reminded Than he might not be online much.  (Team was starting to become aware of the increasing pain in his ankle and he knew that it must be getting near time for his pain medication.)  He finished his message and hit the ‘send’ button.

 

A millisecond later, as Team was laying his phone down on the bed, someone’s phone made an alert sound.  Everyone in the room, including Team, grabbed their phone and looked at it.  “Oh!  It’s me!” Namfon said, and then she frowned.  “That’s so odd!  It’s from Skye, and she sent it over an hour ago and it just now arrived!”

 

“Maybe it’s because of the hospital’s computer system’s drain on the Wi-Fi,” Win suggested.  “It could have slowed the receipt of the message.”

 

“Hmm,” Mali said with a frown, “You weren’t here then though.  You and P’Win went to get dinner for us around that time.”

 

“Oh!  That’s right!” Namfon said as she got to her feet.  “Maybe we drove through a dead zone then, because…” she turned to look at Win, “your theory doesn’t make sense.  The Wi-Fi here is the strongest to be had.  It wouldn’t have slowed down an incoming message.”  She hurried towards the door, “She wanted me to call her and since I didn’t get it until now, she’s been waiting for over an hour!”

 

As she was going out of the door, a person from food service came in it.  Namfon stepped aside and let the man enter before she bolted from the room.

 

Team sighed when he saw the cart the man pushed.  He hated hospital food, most especially he hated the after surgery ‘meals’, if you could call them that.  He knew without looking that there would be a bowl of broth, a bottle of water, and a small dish of gelatin on a tray for him.  And he would be willing to bet all the cash in his wallet that the gelatin’s flavor would be lime.

 

The man placed the tray down on Team’s bed table and Team looked to see what was on it.  A bottle of water, a bowl of broth, and a small dish of gelatin.  Team thought it was a shame that he hadn’t had anyone to bet with him, because he would have doubled his money.  He scowled at the green blobs that he supposed were supposed to look like squares, but they had lost their edges at some point.  He mumbled to himself, “They must get this shit at a bulk rate price.”

 

“Excuse me?” the man said, “I didn’t hear what you said.”

 

Team forced himself to smile.  “I just said thank you.”

 

The man smiled and nodded.  “The nurse told me to tell you to hit the call button when you are finished.  She said it was almost time for your medicine.”

 

Team nodded and thanked the man again.  The man left and Team focused his attention to his ‘meal’.  The broth smelled like someone with really bad breath was standing too close to him—talking into his nose.  It was so gross.  And he could totally forget about even attempting that green slop.  He hated lime.  His mind quickly flashed on Than and his hatred of apricots, and Team had to admit to himself that it could have been worse—he hated apricots a lot more than he hated lime.

 

He heard the crowd getting excited as if something happened at the football game, so he looked towards the TV.  His eyes stopped before they made it there because they connected with Win’s eyes.  Win was watching him.  He looked at Team’s tray and then back at Team and gave him a stern look.

 

Team scowled at him and then picked up his spoon.  He knew that look.  Win was telling him that he had to eat to get the strength to heal.  Team knew that already and Win didn’t have to scream with his eyes like that!

 

He scooped a spoonful of broth into his mouth.  It occurred to him that if he was eating something that smelled like bad breath, it was definitely going to cause him to have bad breath too.  He almost laughed at the thought.  When he swallowed the broth, it was hot and salty, and it stung his throat.  By the third spoonful, however, his throat had become numb.  He finished it as quickly as he could and then he uncapped his water.  He took a couple of big drinks and rinsed that taste away.

 

Namfon came back into the room.  Her face was flushed, and she had a huge smile.  “Skye wants to come here with me tomorrow to visit you,” she said to him as she seemed to float back to her seat.

 

 It was nice to see her so happy and Team smiled.  Then he looked down at the bowl of gelatin and the smile slid from his face.  He thought it looked like a huge bowl of fluorescent green booger blobs.  He wasn’t going to eat it.  He hadn’t been hungry anyway, and he had eaten the broth, he decided it was enough.  He laid his spoon down and then looked over at Win—who was looking at Team.  Win frowned at him, and Team could read the look Win was giving him as if he were saying ‘Eat it!’.  Team stared at him for a moment and then thought, with all of his might, hoping that it would show on his face, ‘Fuck you!’.

 

Team got a reaction from Win, but not the one he was expecting.  Win put his hand over his mouth and turned away.  His shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.  And no one noticed but Team.

 

Team’s stomach gave a weird little flip at the thought of the two of them sharing this secret.  He didn’t like it.  Not a bit.  He reasoned it must be some kind of strange effect of the anesthesia, just like that odd dream he had had of Win whispering to him that the necklace was theirs and the kiss on the cheek.  No way would he have dreamed that stuff without the anesthesia.  He ran his hand quickly over his cheek where the kiss had been, and then he dropped his hand.  He grabbed his spoon and filled it full of the gelatin and shoved it into his mouth.  He took a big drink of the water and washed it down in an attempt to keep from tasting the lime.  It didn’t really work, but he repeated the process until all of the gelatin was gone.  He drank the last bit of water from the bottle and then shuddered in disgust.

 

His mother, who was in the guest chair next to him, saw the shudder and quickly pulled his covers up over his shoulder.  She touched his forehead, searching for fever.  “Are you cold?” she asked.

 

He shook his head, “No, just disgusted.  Why is it always lime?”

 

She laughed, “I love lime!  I think it’s the best flavor!”

 

“Eww,” he said with a sneer.  “I guess we don’t have everything in common after all.”

 

She laughed and reached for the call button.  “I’m going to let them know that you are finished eating now.”

 

“Can we wait a bit?” he asked.  “I don’t want to go right back to sleep!”

 

“Team…” she said, with a slight shake to her head, “You just had surgery.  You will be awake longer tomorrow.  You know the routine.”

 

He sighed.  “Okay, fine.  Whatever.”

 

She pushed the call button.  “Well, that attitude of yours…you definitely got that from me!”

 

He looked over at her and grinned.  “Sorry for the attitude.  I just hate all this crap.”

 

“I know, Sweetie, but soon it will all be a memory.  One that you can file away in some distant drawer in your mind, and never have to dwell on again.”

 

Two nurses came in and asked everyone to step out of the room.  They helped Team use the urinal bottle and then gave him a sponge bath to ‘get ready for bed’, while he was in bed.  He thought they were ridiculous, and he hated having people tend to his bodily needs.  He diverted himself by watching the football game on TV.

 

After he was dressed in a fresh hospital gown, they changed the dressing on his ankle.  He sneaked a peek at it when it was unwrapped.  It wasn’t too much of a mess, but it still turned his stomach to see it.

 

One of the nurses gave him an injection in his IV tubing, and then switched off the light above his bed.  They wished him a good night and then left the room.  His parents and his friends…and Win, came back into the room and resumed watching the game, after turning down the sound a bit on the TV.  They spoke quietly too.   Team thought they were acting like he was about to go to sleep, and he intended to prove them wrong.  He focused his attention on the game.  The score was tied, 0-0, and he wondered if it was due to excellent defense, or poor offense.  He watched the bottom of the screen, looking for the chart that showed how many tries for goals there had been so he could determine which team had the stronger offensive team.

 

And the next thing he was aware of was a nurse beside the bed making the middle of the night check.  He could see his father, asleep in the guest bed, and his mother wrapped up in a robe, sitting next to him in the guest chair.

 

“You are doing very well!” the nurse told him.  “Your doctor said that you can go on the six-hour medicine rotation, instead of the four-hour, if you choose.”

 

Team sighed in gratitude.  “Yes, please!  I hate sleeping all the time!”

 

“Okay, but…if the pain becomes too much for you, you can request it be moved back to four-hour intervals,” the nurse explained.

 

“I won’t!” Team assured her.  “This pain isn’t really that bad at all.”

 

She nodded, “Yes, but keep in mind, you have been medicated every four hours so that could be why it isn’t.”

 

He assured her that he would make the request if it became too much for him.  He thought about the pain he had had on Monday, after he had injured it.  It had felt as if someone were hacking off his ankle, using a rusty saw.  Now his ankle felt like a deep, severe papercut in comparison.  Still painful, but nothing at all like it had been.

 

“And since you ate your dinner and kept it down,” she continued, “we don’t need to keep this in any longer.”  She removed his IV and placed a bandage on the spot where it had been attached.  Then she moved to the foot of the bed and placed an elevated, fitted pillow on the bed, and then carefully removed the harness that had been holding his leg up and gently lowered his leg down on the pillow.  Instantly the aching in his thigh and lower back was gone.  He smiled as he looked at his leg, still elevated, but nothing like it had been and at the place on his hand where the IV had been and knew that soon he would be back to living a normal life again.  “When can I go to the bathroom on my own?” he asked.

 

“Well, you haven’t been okayed to use crutches yet, so I am afraid you still have to stay put.  Here…let me help you,” she said as she reached for the urine bottle.

 

Team hated peeing in bed.  It went against his nature.  And it was particularly difficult with his mom and a nurse both right next to him.  But he managed and offered up a prayer of thankfulness that he hadn’t had to ask for a bedpan to poop yet.  He hoped that he would be allowed to start using crutches in the morning so at least he could have the dignity of shitting alone, and in a toilet.

 

After she dumped and cleaned the urine bottle, she brought it back and sat it down next to his bed, within his reach.  She looked at her watch and then checked it with the clock on the wall.  “Someone will be in with your medication in a few minutes.  Go ahead and take it so you can sleep through the night, but after this dose, then it is up to you whether four or six hours, okay?”

 

Team agreed and then she left the room.  “Mom?  You can go back to bed.  You don’t need to sit up and wait.”

 

She reached over and smoothed his covers and then gave them a little pat.  “Nope.  I’m staying right here!”

 

They only had to wait about ten minutes or so before the nurse with the meds came around.  Team took the pill that was given to him and the nurse left the room.  “Now,” Team said to his mom, “I’ve had my medicine.  It will take a bit for it to kick in, so I am going to play on my phone until it does.  You need to get some rest.”

 

She playfully scowled at him, “And just who is the parent here?  You or me?”

 

“I am,” he said with a grin, “Give me my phone and go to bed!”

 

She laughed and got his phone from the charger and brought it over to him.  She kissed his forehead, “Give me a yell if you need me, okay?”

 

He nodded, “Promise!” he said.  He could see he had some messages from Than and was anxious to read them.

 

Than told Team all about the rest of his day and his evening in the store.  They had had mild interest in the apricot jam, but nothing like the wild interest that there had been with the strawberries.  Than’s mom had decided to only use the fruit she had already purchased, and not buy anymore.  Than was relieved that the apricot nightmare would soon be over.  His mom had placed a form out for the customers, asking them what kinds of jams or jellies they would be interested in.  The earliest responses up to that point had indicated leaning heavily towards grape and apple.  His mom had laughed at that because those were the two fruit-flavored things that sold the best in their store.  She had thought that giving them choices, they would pick other flavors that were not so available.  She had an aversion to grapes, so she focused her attention on apples.  She had spent what little free time she had, between making batches of apricot jam, looking up recipes for apple cakes.

 

His dad had been prescribed a new medication a few days before to add to the ones he was already prescribed.  He had spent most of the day helping to peel and chop up apricots.  He seemed to have a bit more strength and he had stayed out of bed the entire day.  Than was hopeful that the new medicine would help his dad to finally recover fully.

 

Tukta had made herself a mustache of apricot peels and had chased Than around the counter, threatening to kiss him.  He finally managed to make a deal with her—she had to throw the peelings away (far away from him) and scrub her face, and he would read her new books to her.  She had agreed, and he read the books to her quite a few times before she had to go to bed.  He was glad that Tukta liked the books, but he was getting sick of them.  He added a couple of really great fart jokes and then announced he had locked the store’s doors for the night and was going to go to bed.

 

Team started to reply to Than, but then realized he couldn’t.  It would be time stamped, and there was no way a person’s parents would keep them up this late on a school night.  It could raise questions with Than that Team didn’t want to answer.  Talking to Than had always been his escape from some of the harsher realities of his life, and he wanted to keep it that way.

 

So he lay back on his pillow and imagined the story that he would tell Than about the dinner at the fancy restaurant—he had been to a few of them in his life and he felt confident that he could make up a story that would fit—but he was stumped about what movie he could say they had gone to.  He had a habit of discussing movies with Than, so Than was up to date on all the films Team had seen recently.  He lay there and puzzled it out for a bit.  He finally concluded that he couldn’t make up seeing a movie unless he knew what was in the theaters.  He would pick one that would sound like something he wouldn’t like and tell Than that was the one they went to.  He would say that he got so bored he fell asleep and missed most of it.

 

Satisfied with that story, he closed his eyes and began to daydream about everything that Than had described to him.  Than hadn’t said if it was still raining there, but in Team’s imagination, it was.  Instead of the store, Team imagined seeing Than’s family’s kitchen.  It was almost as if he were reading Than describing it, although Than never had.  Team had envisioned it many times before, so the sight of it came easily to him.  He could see big pots of gross apricots, simmering on the stove, with Than’s mother stirring them from time to time.  He could see Tukta, sitting on a dark green tiled floor, looking at the pictures in the books that Than had given her, and pretending to read the stories to her dolls.  Than’s father was sitting at the kitchen table, with a large blue bowl in front of him, slicing up the apricots he had peeled and placing the chunks in the bowl.  Team frowned at that though.  The bowl wasn’t usually blue.  It was white, with a dark blue pattern and the rim of it was also dark blue.  He had imagined that bowl scores of times, he didn’t understand why his mind had said it was blue, when he knew it was white.

 

Team thought it might have been because of the medications he was on.  Like that odd dream he had had about Win kissing his cheek and telling him the necklace belonged to them.  Keeping his eyes closed, Team reached up to his neck and felt for the medallion.  He rubbed his thumb across it and with his other hand, he touched his cheek, where he had dreamed that Win kissed.  He couldn’t get over how weird that was.  Why would he have dreamed something so crazy?  He could kind of understand the crazy thoughts he had had about the wall eating his pain.  He knew that certain drugs didn’t actually take away pain, they just made pain seem irrelevant, as if it didn’t belong to the person but to someone or something else.  A dissociation from it.  A part of his brain knew the pain was still there, but he projected it onto the wall and as he had grown closer to sleep, the pain on the wall seemed to grow smaller, which was why he thought the wall had eaten his pain.  So, he could make sense of those crazy thoughts, but not the dream about Win.  That was still a huge mystery to him.  It was almost like he hadn’t dreamed that at all, but if he hadn’t, it meant that it had really happened.  And that was absurd!  Win would never do such a thing.  Or say such a thing.  It had to have been a dream.  But why?  He hated Win and certainly wouldn’t dream stuff like that about him.  Well, not anymore.  Once upon a time, sure.  But that was before Team knew how awful Win actually was.

 

He woke up when the meal cart entered the room, bringing him his breakfast.  He was still holding onto the medallion.

 

He adjusted the bed until it had him in an upright position and then he pulled the tray closer and pulled off the lid that covered the meal.  The food was grey.  Plops and mounds of grey lumps.  But it was solid food, and he was starving.  And…it didn’t actually smell too bad.

 

“Your doctor took you off your liquid diet!” the guy who delivered the meal said.  “That means you are doing very well now!”

 

“Why is it grey?” Team asked.

 

The guy laughed, “I don’t know, dude, I just deliver it, I don’t cook it!  But everyone who has eaten it said it tasted pretty good.  As a perk of the job here, I get free meals, but I bring in my own from home.  My work friends all eat here, and they said today’s food was good.”

 

Team took a tentative taste.  “Oh!  Okay!  It’s not bad!” he said and then began to shovel it into his mouth.

 

When the food service guy left the room, Team’s mother emerged from the bathroom.  “Good morning!” she said.  “I heard you complaining about the food, but it looks like you changed your mind!”

 

Team looked up at her and grinned, “I think I would eat my shoes right about now.  I’m absolutely starving!”

 

She sat down in the chair next to the bed with a sigh and a big smile, “I’m glad to hear it!  I hate it when you can’t eat.  It’s so un-Team-like that it frightens me.”

 

“I’m feeling better now.  How’s the bruise on your ankle?”

 

She grinned, “Almost gone.  Fastest healing bruise I ever had.”

 

He grinned back at her, “So you know that I am telling the truth about feeling better.”

 

She nodded and gave him a wink.  “Of course, your dad is not a believer, but that doesn’t matter.  Speaking of him, have you noticed he isn’t here?”

 

Team paused chewing for a moment and looked around the room and laughed, “Nope, too busy tackling these grey mountains of gloop.  Where is he?”

 

“The doctor came by while you were still asleep.  He said, unless things with you changed, you will be getting discharged tomorrow morning!  And by the looks of your coloring and your appetite, I think any changes with you are for the better.  So, Dad went to your school to let them know that you will be out for the next two weeks…”

 

“Oh!  I can’t miss two weeks of school!” Team hastily objected.  “They would never allow that!”

 

She grinned, “Well…they did.  It might have been because Win went with your dad and explained to the administrators that you had had an accident on school property, doing a school sanctioned club activity, that caused damage to a pre-existing condition.  I imagine they are worried that we will sue them.  But whatever their reasoning was, they agreed to allow you to take the time off and be a distance learner for the next two weeks—and it won’t effect your grades in any way.  Win and one of the administrators took your dad to the Legal Studies building and they met with your professors, and they were all happy to accommodate you.”

 

“So, I’m going back to the village with you guys then?” Team asked while taking the last bite of food from his plate.

 

“Yep!  As soon as Win called us the other night, Dad went to the garage and got out your shower things and reinstalled them in your bathroom at home.  He is going to buy the things you will need for your dorm and install them there.  Win is helping him with it.”

 

Team frowned, “Dad doesn’t need his help.  It’s just a shower attachment and a bench.  He can do that himself in like five minutes.”

 

She gave a small nod with a shrug, “I guess Win just wanted to help.  And since we are on the subject of Win, I have to admit to being curious.  How are things between you two now?”

 

Team’s frown grew deeper.  “The same as they have been since he left for college…or no, I think they are worse.  He is an evil backstabber, that hasn’t changed.  And now he is also…as a guy who used to be in the Swim Club with me would say, ‘he’s a douchebag’.”

 

Her frown matched his, “Team…that’s foul language, not to mention a terrible thing to call someone!”

 

He shook his head, “You just don’t get it, Mom.  He’s really awful, especially to me.”

 

“He has been very concerned about you…” his mom started before Team interrupted her.

 

“As you said, probably worried that I would sue the school for my injury.”

 

She scoffed, “Why would he care if we sued the school?  It wouldn’t come out of his pocket.  Well, never mind.  It doesn’t matter.  I have some village gossip and I have been dying to tell you about it!  There is a new theory about the anonymous donor who paid for the bridge!”

 

Inwardly he groaned.  He couldn’t care less even if someone were to hold a gun to his head.  But he loved his mom, and she enjoyed discussing the theories.  And his dad wasn’t receptive to gossip so Team would be patient and listen to her.  “What is it?”

 

“Well…” she said with a glint in her eye and a smile playing about on her lips.  She was obviously very excited to share this story.  “Do you remember the old man and his grandson that lived in the huge mansion on the hill?”

 

Team bit back a grin at this.  ‘…the huge mansion on the hill’, as if there were scores of other mansions in the village.  It was the only mansion in the village.  So he nodded, “I do remember them.”

 

“They hadn’t been seen in the village for a while.  People suspected that maybe they were on a long vacation or something…who really knows with these super wealthy people…but…a few weeks ago, a bunch of trucks arrived at the mansion and began to tear it down!”

 

“Really?” Team asked, starting to become a bit more interested in the story.  “Is it really gone?”

 

“Yes!  Every last brick and timber…gone.  Someone has been tending to the property though, so it looks like a park.  The assumption is that he sold his property, and the new owners want to build their own home on the land.  Of course, everyone wonders why he would sell his family’s ancestorial home.  His family was there before the village was even a village.  Anyway, the new theory is that the old man is the one who paid for the bridge to be rebuilt as a goodbye present to the village.”

 

Team settled back against the mattress and looked up at the ceiling.  Most of the theories that his mom told him were ridiculous.  But this one had some merit.  The two of them liked to poke holes in the theories, but this one was harder to dismiss on the face of it.  Team said, “Well… he probably is the only one who lived in the village that could afford it.  I think.  I mean…who even knows how much building a bridge would cost?  But a rich guy like that might be able to afford it.”

 

“Yes, I’m sure he could.  No one knows how rich he actually is.  For generations his family name is and has been associated with all kinds of major enterprises—not just here in Thailand, but all over the world.  You can’t pick up a financial page without seeing their last name all over it!”

 

Team rubbed his chin in thought.  And then he grinned, “I got it!  The flaw in the theory!”

 

She laughed and sat forward in her chair in excitement.  “I wonder if it is the same flaw that I found!”

 

Team nodded, because he knew how much they thought alike so it wouldn’t surprise him if she had discovered the same flaw.  “The family name,” he said.  “If he had paid for it, it wouldn’t have been anonymous.  His last name would have been engraved in gold on the bridge and he would have held interviews to publicize his donation!”

 

She laughed and clapped her hands, “Exactly what I thought!  Good job!”  Then she leaned back into her seat, “Also, as a sidenote to it, neither he nor his grandson ever donated a single coin or drop of sweat for any village charity or event.  Why would he suddenly care for the well being of a village when he was leaving it, when he never cared while he was a citizen of it?”

 

“I knew the grandson a bit.  Well, I knew of him would be more accurate.  He was a grade ahead of me.  Super rich, super attractive, super narcissistic, and a bully.  He had a group of people who followed him around and worshiped him, but just by looking at him, you could tell that he thought they were like lowly worms.  Still though…I always felt a bit sorry for him, even though he was awful.  He lost his parents in a small, private airplane crash when he was a baby.  That’s why he lived with his grandfather.”

 

“Yes, I remember when that happened.  Front page news, all over the country.  And the grandson is the old man’s only family left.  He will be a very wealthy and powerful man one day.”

 

Team shrugged, “At first, maybe.  I have a feeling he will tear through his inheritance and end up being broke within ten years after the old guy is dead.”

 

She sighed, “I hope the old gentleman takes that into consideration when he puts his final affairs in order.  Maybe give him a financial guardian or something.”  Her phone rang and she answered it.  “Hello Dear!” she said with a warm smile.  “No, he’s awake.  Already had his breakfast and he ate every bit of it.  His color and his eyes look so much better today!”  she paused and listened to his dad speaking to her on the other end of the phone line.  “Okay,” she said, and then she pushed a button and his dad’s face was on the screen.

 

“Hello Team!” his dad said, “Hey!  You really do look much better today!”  Team could see the background behind his dad and knew that his dad was in Team’s dorm room.  “I don’t know if your mother told you, but I’m going to fix up your shower so when you come back here in a couple of weeks, it will be ready for you.”  He panned the phone a bit and showed Win, “Win is here with me.  We are going to get your school stuff to bring to you.  Do you know offhand what you will need?”

 

“I don’t know…I guess pretty much everything,” Team answered in a puzzled voice.

 

“I’ll tell you what…I will turn the phone over to Winnie and he can help gather up the things you need.  I’m going to go work on your shower!”  His dad handed the phone to Win and took off before Team could object.

 

“Uh…I guess the stuff in my backpack?” Team suggested,

 

Win went to the chair where it was hanging and picked it up.  He brought it over to the bed and laid it down.  “Do I have your permission to open it so you can see what is inside?” he asked.

 

Team almost laughed at how formal Win sounded, but he didn’t.  He just told him it was okay.

 

Win pulled out the books and folders from the backpack and placed them where Team could see.  “Oh wow!  This is a good idea!” Win said, as he examined the empty interior of Team’s backpack.

 

“What is?”

 

“This!” Win said, holding the tiny metal ring that had been attached to the zipper pull. 

 

Team swallowed hard when he saw it.  After Team had stolen it out of Win’s trash pile at The Lonely Dolphin that day, millions of years ago, he had put it in his backpack on the zipper pull.  He had gotten so used to it being there, it was very convenient for being able to locate the pencil pouch in the back of the bag, that he didn’t seem to be able to function correctly unless it was there.  So every year since (even his senior year where he had homeschooled—but still used a backpack to keep school items together) he had transferred the ring over from his old backpack to his new one.  Looking back, he realized he could have replaced it with another ring and tossed that one into the garbage—as he should have—but he had never done it.  He felt his face growing hot under Win’s glance and hoped Win wouldn’t figure out that it had been his originally.  Team quickly scolded himself for that.  There was no way he would know that.  There must be billions and billions of those kinds of rings around.  “Oh!  Yeah, it comes in handy,” Team said.  “I can locate the back pouch in an instant with it.  I think I got the tip from some magazine article somewhere.  With a title like ‘Tips for the Successful Student’, or something.”  He wondered if he was talking too much.  Or too loudly.  It felt like it.  When he and Win had started their conversation, Team’s mother had excused herself and had gone across the room.  She was curled up in a comfortable-looking armchair, reading.  She hadn’t looked up from her book, so he must not have been too loud.  Regardless, he stopped talking.

 

“I think I am going to steal this idea!” Win said.  “I hate fumbling around in my backpack!”

 

Team thought it was ironic that Win was going to steal the idea of the stolen ring.  He just nodded, “Yeah, it saves time and aggravation.”

 

“There are only two textbooks here,” Win said, gesturing to the books from the backpack that were now on the bed.  “Where are the rest?”

 

“On my desk.  There are some folders there too.  Oh!  And my laptop!”

 

Win laid the phone down on the bed while he retrieved the items from Team’s desk.  Team had an unspoiled view of the ceiling of his dorm room.

 

“Good Lord!” He heard Win say from a distance.  And then the screen shimmied an instant as Win put the books on the bed next to the others and picked up the phone.  “I thought our Business books were huge, but these Legal things are monsters!  How do you carry them all?”

 

“I work out at the gym,” Team said with a laugh.  “I don’t have to carry them all at once, you know.  Just what I need for each class.  And that really big one, the one about case studies and legal briefs…I don’t have to bring it to class, but I need it when I do homework, so I don’t haul it around.”

 

“It’s a good thing you don’t!  Otherwise, Mali would have a hernia patient to deal with!” Win joked, then he said, “I don’t think all of these books are going to fit in your backpack.”

 

“If you go into my closet, on the top shelf is my travel backpack.  It is a lot bigger and stronger than my school one.”

 

Again, Team was treated to a view of his ceiling.  He realized that when he got back to his dorm, he was going to have to get some cobwebs down from there.  There were some in the corner that looked big enough to ensnare a dragon if they decided to work together.

 

“Okay,” Win said as he returned to the bed and picked up the phone, “I have it and it does look big enough to hold them all.  And I put your laptop in its case.”  He held a finger to his lips and took the phone with him to the kitchen area.  He pointed to the snacks that Team had placed on his shelf.  Team threw a glance at his mother and saw that she was engrossed in her book.  He looked back at the phone screen and nodded vigorously.

 

Win laid the phone on the table, (Team got to see another view of his ceiling and saw the cobwebs weren’t as bad in this area) and hurried over to get the travel backpack.  He picked up the phone and propped it up against something on the counter (Team couldn’t see it but suspected it was the microwave) and began to stuff the snacks down the front pouch of the backpack.  He hadn’t put the books into it yet, or else he would have had a harder time carrying it around.  Team knew that the snacks would all be smashed and squished by the weight of the books, but potato chip crumbs were better than nothing, and otherwise he would have to go for two whole weeks eating only healthy food!

 

After the snacks were safely in the backpack, Win asked Team what else he needed.  Team thought about it for a moment and then rattled off a list of things.  He instructed Win where to find the things he needed as he named them off: his phone charger, a few pairs of underwear (it made Team cringe to ask), some sleep shorts and t-shirts to wear instead of the hospital gown, something casual but decent to wear home from the hospital, and his shaving kit.  Win kept Team propped up against the microwave as he took Team’s school backpack around with him to gather up the items.  When he was finished, he returned to the kitchen area and picked up the phone.  “I got everything you said.  Anything else?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I have a lot of stuff still at home.  I can get by.  I actually don’t need most of that stuff, but I’m hoping that they will let me shower and change today.  I am sick of these hospital gowns!  And the razors they have are those cheap disposable ones.”

 

Win shrugged, “I don’t blame you.  I would want my own things too.  When I went to get your shaving stuff, your dad told me he was almost finished, so we will be on our way back soon.”  He paused and then looked towards the window, “I was wondering something…”

 

“What?”

 

“Your little jade plant.  It perked up pretty good after I watered it and moved it where it could get more light…but…two weeks?  I’m not sure it will make it that long without care.”

 

“Oh,” Team said quietly.  “I never thought about that.”

 

“So…that’s what I was wondering…could I take it back to my room and tend to it while you are gone?

 

“Sure!  I mean, if you want to.”

 

“Yeah, I would like to.  I would hate to know that I could have done something to help it and didn’t.  I do think it is past time for it to be fed.  Where do you keep your plant food?”

 

Team frowned, “My plant food?  I don’t have any.  I didn’t know you were supposed to feed a plant.  I thought all they needed was water and sunlight.”

 

Win grinned, “How would you feel if every time you sat down to eat, everyone else had a plate of food, but you only got a glass of water?  I’m sure you remember the broth and gelatin!”

 

Team scowled, “Don’t remind me!  But be serious…do they really have to eat?”

 

Win nodded, “They get nutrients from the soil but in a pot, after a time, the nutrients get used up.  So you have to give them houseplant food.  It’s no big deal, I can pick some up for it.”

 

“Okay, if you really don’t mind.  I will pay for it…”

 

“No, it’s on me.  It will be a ‘get well gift’ for you, and it’s a really cheap gift!” Win laughed.

 

“Uh…the other night…you were reading one of my books.  Did you finish it?”

 

Win shook his head, “No, I only got about halfway through it.  Why?”

 

Team shrugged, “You can borrow it if you want.  I know it is a great story and I’m sure you would like to know how it ends.”

 

“Really?” Win asked in a surprised voice.  “You would actually let me borrow it?”

 

Team shifted a bit against the mattress in a vain effort to escape Win’s scrutiny.   Team wasn’t one to loan out his things, but Win was offering to take care of his plant, so it seemed only fair.  “Yeah, and take the English-Thai dictionary too, I never use it anymore.”  He shifted around a bit more, “So, what part were you on?”

 

Win grinned, “They had just put the oil on the lake and set it on fire!  It was so great!”

 

Team grinned back at him, “Well…if you liked that part, just wait until you see what happens near the end of the book!  And that is only part one of the trilogy!  The rest of the books get better and better!  When you are finished with this one, I will loan you the others, if you want to read the rest of the story.”

 

“No kidding?!  That would be great!  They were always my favorite characters!” Win said excitedly.

 

“Yeah, I know,” Team said.  When he realized his mistake, he quickly covered it by saying, “I mean…yeah, I assumed so.  They are pretty much everybody’s favorites.”

 

“Um…I hear your dad putting his tools in his toolbox, so I think we’ll be leaving now.”

 

“Okay,” Team paused.  He didn’t want to sound stupid by saying good-bye, but he didn’t know what else to say.

 

“Yeah, we’ll be there in a little bit.  ‘Bye!” Win said and disconnected the call.

 

Team frowned at the phone.  He didn’t understand why he had gotten so weird about saying good-bye.  Honestly though, every conversation with Win lately was weird.  Team decided that someone should write a manual or something, explaining the proper protocol to speak with the Vice President of a Swim Club, when he used to be…Team stopped his thoughts and shook them away.  It didn’t matter.  Win was just somebody that he used to know.  It had no meaning now.  Team realized he might have slipped a bit on the boundaries between a Swim Club member and the Vice President of the club, but he wouldn’t let it happen again.

 

“Mom?” he called softly.  She didn’t acknowledge him, and she seemed deeply involved in her book.  He called her more loudly, “Mom!”

 

She startled and tossed the book aside and hurried over to him.  “What is it?  Is something wrong?”

 

“No!  I just wanted to give you back your phone.”

 

She played like she was going to hit him but grabbed her phone instead.  “You gave me such a scare!”

 

“Sorry, but you didn’t hear me the first time.  I just said it a bit louder, that’s all.  It must be a good book.”

 

She nodded, “It’s wonderful.  It’s about this young princess who was taken to a castle to marry a prince and there she met the man of her dreams.  Only he wasn’t the prince, it was the prince’s manservant!  So tragic!”

 

Team scoffed, “It doesn’t sound so tragic to me.  She just needs to break the engagement and the guy needs to quit his job, and the two of them can go back to her kingdom or something.”

 

“Oh you!” She scolded, “It’s not a modern story!  The time was in the 1400s!  People just didn’t do those kinds of things then!”

 

“A lack of common sense is probably why none of them are around anymore!” he challenged.

 

She laughed.  “Usually you are like me, but in this case, you take after your father!  No romance in your soul!  Neither of you understand the angst and longing one would go through!  But I love you both anyway!” she laughed and went back to her armchair, picked up her book from the floor, and continued to read it.

 

Team thought back to the night, sitting in the garage with his father after throwing tools against the wall.  He remembered his father’s story about how desperate he had been to keep Team’s mom from marrying another, and how long he had worked to regain her love and her trust.  He remembered crying on his dad’s shoulder about the situation he himself was facing.  His mother was very wrong about his dad and him not understanding angst and longing.  They had lived through it and came out the other side, and now they didn’t want anything to do with the stuff.  It was freaking painful.  But, he thought with a smile as he peeked at her, even though she was wrong about them not understanding, he loved her anyway.

 

A few moments later, two nurses arrived in the room, pushing a wheelchair.  “We’re the shower squad!” exclaimed the old woman in an extremely perky voice.

 

“Doc ordered a shower for you,” mumbled an even older man beside her.

 

“Great!” Team exclaimed, pushing back the covers and preparing to help get into the wheelchair.

 

“We need to wrap your leg up to keep it nice and dry, and then we will be on our way!” the woman nurse chirped.  The male nurse remained quiet.

 

As they wrapped up his leg, the female nurse chirped on and on, and the male nurse was silent.  Team thought the relationship between the two probably worked out pretty well.  The non-talker didn’t have to speak, and the talker didn’t have to stay silent.

 

Later, with the three of them in the shower stall together, Team was distinctly uncomfortable by the awkwardness.  He didn’t mind some conversation, but she was way too talkative, and the man was too silent.  Team just wanted it to end.  The hospital supplied the same soap that he had had to use in every hospital he had been in.  Cheap and left a white film on the skin, particularly noticeable on the fingernails.  He figured that like with the lime gelatin, they must have gotten a good deal on it and had bought it in bulk.

 

Eventually the shower was over, and he was redressed in a fresh gown.  They allowed him to blow dry his own hair and he was thankful for that.  He imagined they would have just aimed the direction downward and flattened his hair to his scalp.

 

They rolled him back into his room as another nurse was leaving with the dirty sheets from his bed.  “Oh look!” squeaked the ‘shower squad’ nurse, “A fresh, clean bed for a fresh, clean boy!  Can’t ask for anything better than that!”

 

Team felt mildly insulted by her referring to him as a ‘boy’ but then realized at her age, even his dad would probably seem like a ‘boy’ to her.

 

He had just gotten settled into his bed, and the shower squad left, when his dad and Win came into the room.  Win was carrying Team’s school backpack on his shoulder.

 

“What took you guys so long?” Team asked.  “Is that my clothes?”

 

“Uncle Keow drove me to my place so I could drop off your plant,” Win said.  “And yeah, this is your stuff.  Where do you want me to put it?”

 

Team rose up in bed and reached down and lifted his leg off the pillow.  Then he turned and reached for his crutches that were leaning against the wall.  “You can just give it to me.  I want to change out of this.”

 

“You can’t do that!”, Win exclaimed.  Then he turned to Team’s parents, “Is he allowed up by himself?”

 

“I don’t know…” his mom said quietly and looked towards the door as if in search of a nurse or doctor walking by.

 

Team pulled the crutches over to the bed and used them to get up.  His dad said, “Honestly, they are going to let him go home tomorrow, so he’ll be using them then, I guess.  Maybe we should call down at the nurse’s station and ask them if he can.”

 

“Go ahead and debate it or call them or whatever, but I am going to the bathroom and change out of this gown.  Give me my bag,” Team said, extending his hand.

 

“No!  If you insist on going on your own, at least let me carry it for you!” Win said, clutching the bag tightly against his chest.

 

Team huffed and rolled his eyes.  “Fine.  But you aren’t staying in there.  Did you bring my shaving stuff?”

 

“Team!” his mother said in a scolding voice, “You can worry about shaving in a few days.  Your stubble doesn’t bother any of us!”

 

Team scraped his hand across his cheek and heard the raspy sound of the stubble against his palm.  “It bothers me; it itches.”

 

Team started off for the bathroom with Win right on his heels.  When Team entered the bathroom, he was glad to see the sink’s countertop was low.  He stopped and turned around to face Win.

 

“You can set it down on the counter.  I can take it from there,” Team instructed.

 

“Will you at least let me keep the door open?” Win asked as he sat down the backpack where Team had indicated.  “Someone should know if you need help or something.”

 

“Hell no!” Team said.  Then he pointed to a button by the toilet.  “That’s an emergency button to call a nurse.  I don’t need any other help.  Besides, if I were to fall, and I won’t…but if I were to, you guys would hear a thud.  Now, go on.  I want to get dressed and shave before they bring in lunch.”

 

“And they catch you not in bed?” Win challenged.

 

Team shrugged, “Yeah, that too, I guess.  But also, I want to feel comfortable…like myself again.  I hate hospitals-- pissing in a bottle, shitting in a bedpan, and wearing these ridiculous gowns.  I want to use the toilet on my own, wear my own clothes, and shave my face.  And I want to do those things privately…just like every other person on the planet.  So go.”

 

Win sighed and turned to leave.  He pulled the door closed behind him and tossed a parting shot over his shoulder, “I am doing this under protest,” he said.

 

Team shook his head at the closed door.  As long as Win did it, Team didn’t care how he felt about it.

 

He pulled the backpack off the counter and put it on the floor next to the toilet.  He sat down and used the toilet and when he was done, he pulled off his gown and rummaged through the backpack.  He pulled out a pair of underwear, an oversized T-shirt, and a soft pair of shorts.  He had long ago learned how to maneuver putting clothes on over an injured leg by leaning his upper body against the wall and doing a funny little wiggle move to get the waistband over his hips.  Once he was dressed, he moved over to the sink.  He placed the backpack on the counter on one side of him, and on the other, he carefully lifted his leg and placed his knee on the counter.  He filled the sink with hot water and then reached inside his bag and pulled out his shaving kit.  When he unzipped it, he found a bottle of his aftershave had been placed inside.  He stared at it in puzzlement.  He didn’t keep aftershave in his kit.  He had a small collection, six or seven bottles of different fragrances that he kept on a shelf in his bathroom in his dorm.  This bottle was his latest purchase.  He had been wearing it for a little over a month.  He liked it because it was light and fresh, while most of his other ones were a bit too perfume-y for Team’s taste.  He knew that somehow Win had randomly selected the correct one and put it into his bag.  He wondered how Win could have guessed correctly.

 

His attention was diverted by the sight of his lacy shower cap.  It had also found its way into his backpack.  He knew that this was some kind of joke that Win was playing on him.  To tease him for using it.  He straightened his shoulders and frowned.  He wasn’t going to take the bait.  He wouldn’t mention finding it.

 

He grabbed a washcloth from the stack on the sink’s edge and got it wet from the hot water in the sink, and then laid it on his face.  Once his face was damp and steamy, he applied the shaving cream.  He used his razor to remove the whiskers, being super careful not to nick himself—which he imagined would give his parents and Win a reason to scold him by saying it was too soon for him to be out of bed and the nick was the proof.

 

When he was finished, he drained and rinsed the sink and got the washcloth hot again to wipe off the lingering traces of the shaving cream.  He dotted on a bit of the aftershave and then put everything back into his shaving kit.  Then he grabbed out his toothbrush and toothpaste and gave his teeth a good scrub.  Finally, when he was finished, he looked at himself in the mirror.  He was a bit pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes, but otherwise, he looked pretty good.

 

He grabbed the hospital gown and his backpack and opened the door.  Win had been leaning against the wall beside it and he was visibly startled when the door opened.  He quickly grabbed the gown and backpack from Team.  “I got these.  You might want to hurry.  I can hear the lunch cart in the next room.”

 

Team got into bed, handed Win his crutches, and had just gotten his leg lifted up onto the pillow, when the cart rolled in.

 

“Hey Dude,” it was the same guy from the cart at breakfast.  “Good to see that you were able to get dressed today!”  He pulled the cover off the food tray, “This time we have some yellow blobs for you."  He laughed, “My friends were divided on it.  Some thought it was okay, others—not so much.  But here,” he reached into his pocket, “I took some extra salt packets for you.  Hopefully it will make it a bit more tasty.”

 

“Thanks,” Team said.  His appetite had returned, but honestly, the sight of the yellow mountains on his plate kind of pushed it back a bit.

 

The guy laughed, “The salt will help, I promise!”

 

The guy left to go finish making his deliveries, and shortly after, his dad and Win left to go pick up lunch for the three of them.  Which felt weird to Team.  He didn’t understand why Win kept hanging around.  But he shrugged it off and dug into his yellow blobs, which after he added the extra salt, was almost eatable.  His mother curled up in the armchair and continued to read her book.

 

Midway through his meal, he glanced over to his bedside table and saw that someone had plugged his phone into his charger.  He picked up his phone and casually peeked at the time.  He calculated that he would be getting his next dose of medicine within a half hour.  He quietly sighed in relief.  He would never have admitted it but moving around had caused his pain to flare up a bit.  But it was worth it, he concluded.  He felt as if he had reclaimed a bit of his dignity and he felt much more comfortable in his own clothes.

 

A nurse came in with his medicine before he had even finished eating.  He took the pills and then quickly cleaned his plate and pushed it away.  He lowered the bed and snuggled in comfortably and was asleep before his dad and Win returned.

 

When he woke up, his pain had eased a bit.  His Scooby Doo friends were in the room with his parents, along with Kwan and Skye.  Team sighed in relief to find that Win wasn’t there.

 

Kwan visited with him for a few minutes, but then had to leave for a club meeting.  He had brought another bunch of flowers and a tiny box of cookies he had baked for Team.  Skye stuck around for a while before leaving.  She was shy and it was an effort to think of things to talk to her about, since he didn’t really know her, but he did appreciate that she came to see him.  Namfon beamed the entire time.

 

When Namfon left to walk Skye out, Mali zipped over to his visitor chair before anyone else could.  She spoke to him very low and soft, only a tiny bit above a whisper.

 

“Team, I need your help,” she said.  “Since this is your parents last night here before returning to the village in the morning, Jai and I would like to take them to get a proper meal.  They have been living on take out food, and you know how your mom values nutrition.  There is a small place where Jai and I go sometimes—very nice atmosphere—very peaceful.  They serve organic food, so the quality is very high, and it tastes like a bit of heaven.  The hitch is…I don’t think your mom will want to leave you.  Would you be willing to help encourage your parents to come eat with us?”

 

Team leaned back on his pillow in surprise and gave Mali a huge smile.  “Mali!  That’s so nice of you and Jai!  I would love for them to go with you!  But…like you said…Mom won’t want to leave me alone.”

 

“Oh!  You won’t be alone!” Mali corrected.  “Namfon is going to be here with you while we are gone.  She just walked Skye out to her car.  She’s coming right back up.  We already discussed it before you woke up.”

 

Team nodded, “Well, that might work, then.  At least we can try it!”

 

They waited until Namfon returned to the room, and then the four of them launched a Scooby Doo campaign to convince Team’s parents to go out to eat at the nice restaurant with Mali and Jai.

 

“We can’t just leave Team…with him lying helpless in a hospital bed!” his mother protested.

 

“But he isn’t helpless now,” Mali pointed out.  “He has been using his crutches today to get around; and besides, Namfon will be right here with him.  If he needs anything, she can do it.  Team and Namfon hang around all the time together, don’t you?”

 

Namfon nodded, “Yes, we do.”

 

Team’s mother frowned, “Team will have dinner brought to him, so I know he won’t go hungry.  But what about you?”

 

“Oh!  That’s not a problem!” Mali said hastily. “Namfon can grab something from a vending machine downstairs.  She isn’t picky and I am sure she will have something to eat.” 

 

Team’s mom continued to look at Namfon, waiting for her to answer.  Namfon smiled, “I promise you; I won’t go hungry.  I’ll have dinner.”

 

“Nat?” Team’s father said, “I think it’s really nice of the kids to think of us.  And honestly, we could use a break.  Why don’t we go with them?  It won’t be for very long, and Team will have Namfon and all the doctors and nurses here to take care of him.  Plus, he has his phone.  He could call us if he needed us.”

 

She looked from her husband to Team and then back to her husband, “But Team has to eat hospital food.  I don’t think I would feel right about enjoying a meal when he can’t!”

 

Team laughed, “Whether you are here or not, I have to eat it.  I really like the idea of you and Dad having some time to relax.  The three of us can go out together after I’m better and you can buy me double my regular order to make up for it, okay?”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she scolded jokingly, “We would have to take a second mortgage out on the house if we were to buy you double your regular order!”  She sighed then, “Are you sure?”

 

Team beamed at her and nodded, “I’m positive!  Go!  Eat good food and relax a bit!  It would make me feel better to know that you guys are taking care of yourselves too, not just focusing on me.”

 

“Well…I…I don’t know.  I would need time to change and fix up a bit…” his mother said, running a hand through her hair.

 

“No, you don’t, Aunt!” Jai said.  “It’s not fancy there at all.  It is just a tiny, family-owned place.  Mali and I have popped in after club meetings, while still in our school uniforms.  Totally casual.”

 

“Well…I’m not sure…” his mother said, glancing at Team.

 

“Come on, Nat!” his father urged.  “When was the last time we went on a double date with another couple?  It’s been ages!  It will be fun!”

 

“Well…I guess…if you really think it’s okay…” she said, to no one in particular.

 

“It’s okay!” Everyone answered in unison, and it made Team’s mother laugh.

 

“I’m sorry, I guess I was just being a bit overprotective.”  She picked up her purse, opened it and retrieved her comb.  She dashed into the bathroom and fixed her hair.  She emerged a few moments later.  She quickly kissed Team on his cheek and handed him his phone.  “You call me if you need anything!”  Then she turned to the rest of the group, “Let’s go!  I’m starving!”

 

The four of them were laughing as they left the room.

 

“That was so nice of them!” Team said to Namfon after they left.

 

“Um-hmm” she answered, looking at her phone.

 

Team assumed she was back on the school gossip site, so he didn’t bother her.  He picked up the remote and turned the TV to the sports channel.

 

Namfon’s phone sounded an alert and she read the message and then she sent her own message.  She looked at Team and beamed.  “Mali texted.  She said they were driving to the restaurant now.”

 

Team smiled quizzically.  He didn’t understand why there was a need for a text to announce that.

 

Namfon giggled at his expression.  “Now it’s time for part two of the plan,” she said.

 

Team’s door opened up, and Win walked in carrying a couple of overstuffed bags with the name of a franchised fast-food restaurant on them in one hand, and a container with three cups of soda in the other.

 

“Part two?” Team asked.

 

Win grinned, “Yeah, part two!  It’s been days since your parents had a healthy meal, but it’s going to be two whole weeks until you can eat something unhealthy!”

 

“I asked the nurse on duty if you had any dietary restrictions, and she checked and said you didn’t.  I told her what we were planning, and she okayed it,” Namfon assured him.

 

Team could already smell the hot grease on the fries and his mouth was watering.  He grabbed his bed tray and pulled it to him.  “Well, don’t just stand there!  Give me food!”

 

Win laughed as he placed the bags down on the tray, “All of this isn’t just for you!  There are three of us!”

 

Win was unpacking the sacks when Namfon’s phone sounded the incoming message alert.  She read the message and grinned, “Hey guys—I’m going to eat dinner with Skye.  She is in the parking lot, waiting for me.  I would say ‘I’m sorry’, but…I’m not!” she said that last part with a laugh.

 

“But…” Win said, looking down at the piles of food on the tray, “What about your dinner here?”

 

“You guys can have my share,” she turned to Team, “No offense, Scooby!  You know I love you, but when it comes down to a choice between eating dinner with you or eating dinner with Skye…you know what I have to do!”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I know.  Go on, don’t keep her waiting.”

 

Namfon kissed Team’s cheek, “Jai is driving us home to the village on Saturday so we can see you.  Take care, do what you are told, and feel better!”  She turned to Win, “Thank you for your help with part two of our plan.  Make sure you get half of mine, grab it before Team does!”  And then she hurried out the door, leaving the two guys alone.

 

“Well…that was unexpected,” Win said.  “I don’t really know what to do now.”

 

“I do!” Team said.  “Let’s eat!”

 

Win laughed and sat down on the visitor’s chair next to Team’s bed.  He unwrapped a sandwich and opened the bun.  He took off the tomato and onion and put them on the wrapper that Team had spread out on the tray as a placemat for his food.  Team picked up the vegetables that Win had dropped and ate them.

 

“So…” Win said, pausing in the middle of taking a bite, “I bet you were glad to hear that your professor said not to worry about giving that speech.”

 

Team froze, with a French fry in his hand, on the way to his mouth.  “She said what?  Dad didn’t tell me that!”

 

Win nodded, “She told us that she was going to mark it as completed in her grade book.”

 

Team let out a huge sigh.  “I am so glad!  I hate public speaking with a passion!  I wish I would have known it on Wednesday though, so I could have celebrated it!”

 

Win looked at him with a frown, “What do you mean?  Today’s Wednesday.”

 

“It is?!”  Team put down his sandwich and grabbed his phone and checked the date.  “I thought it was Thursday!  I guess I lost a day…no…I gained one.  Something.  I don’t know.  I’m confused.”

 

Win nodded as he chewed, “It’s the meds and how much you have been sleeping.  No big deal.  What’s important is, you don’t have to give that speech.”  He paused and chewed a bit more before swallowing.  “But…if you are planning on becoming a lawyer, shouldn’t you get used to public speaking?  They have to make a lot of speeches in court, don’t they?”

 

Team shrugged, “I guess they do.”  He played with a fry for a moment before tossing it into his mouth.  “Why are you here?”

 

Win laughed and took a drink from his straw before placing his cup back down.  “I’m no science wiz, but you can check this with Namfon—everybody has to be somewhere.  It’s impossible for a person to be nowhere.”

 

“Why here?” Team insisted.  “Shouldn’t you be at Swim Club?”

 

Win shrugged, “Toh and Sai can handle it.  I am at the hospital with a club member who was hurt during a club meeting.  I think that is a pretty good excuse.”

 

“But…” Team hesitated, “I mean…it’s your birthday, right?  If you were going to skip Swim Club, shouldn’t it have been to have dinner or go out with your friends or something?”

 

“As you pointed out, it’s Wednesday.  All my friends have class tomorrow, so it doesn’t make sense to go out.”  Win shrugged, “I have a family thing Saturday.  I’ll celebrate it then.  So, today is just another Wednesday.”

 

They ate in silence for a while.  Then Team said, “What you just said…about me being a club member…I’ve been thinking about that.  I think I should drop out and let you guys get someone to fill my spot.  I’m not going to be able to swim for weeks and the club has those competitions coming up.  If you can fill my spot right now, the guy will have time to train a bit before competitions begin.”

 

Win stared down at his sandwich that was lying on the wrapper he had spread out in front of him.  He slowly nodded his head.  “Absolutely”, he said.  Then he turned his head and looked directly into Team’s eyes, “NOT!  You are a member of the club whether you are in the water or on the bench.  If you can’t participate, then you can cheer on the other members of the club while they do.  You have the jacket, you are in the club photo, and you are not going to drop out.  Period.  I can’t imagine what would even put that thought into your head, Tine, but it is not up for discussion!”

 

“Really,‘Tine’?” Team scoffed, “That bit is getting so tired.  You remember ‘Auntie Nat’ and ‘Uncle Keow’, but you don’t remember me?  I call bullshit.  And besides that…you called me Team in the parking lot the day I got hurt.  I heard you and I am sure my friends did, so stop acting like you don’t know who the hell I am!”

 

Win nodded, “Okay.”  He reached over and grabbed Namfon’s sandwich and unwrapped it.  He ripped it in two.  He put the bigger portion at Team’s place and put the smaller portion onto his.  He opened up the bun and picked the small bits of tomato and onion off and put them next to the sandwich on Team’s placemat.  He looked over at the TV where they were running an advertisement for the games to be played over the weekend.  “I’m glad the Nightjars’ game is on Sunday instead of Saturday so I can watch it.  They are my favorite team.”

 

“No shit?!  They’re my favorite team, too!” Team said around a bite of hamburger that he had tucked into his cheek, and then he picked up the bits of vegetables that Win had put on his placemat and popped them into his mouth.  “Jai likes the Cormorants.  I think he’s crazy because…”

 

“…they have a weak defense!” Win finished.

 

“Exactly!  He thinks that since their offense is so great, they will win.  But without a strong defense…”

 

“…the other side will score off them!  It is understandable why he likes them so much though.  He is an offensive player, so he roots for the team with the strongest offense.  Which, it is true, they do have it,” Win said.

 

Team finished his food and gathered up the bits and scraps and wadded them up with his placemat.  "We have a bet on which of those two teams will finish higher for the season.”

 

“So, what’s the first thing you’re going to buy when you win?”

 

Team laughed as he put the wadded ball into the empty food bag.  “Probably junk food.”

 

Win laughed, “Yeah, I can see that happening.”

 

Win gathered up their empty cups and put them into the bags.  He looked around the area, making sure everything had been disposed of, then he crept out of the room with the dinner trash.  He came back a few minutes later, empty handed.  “I found a trashcan in the vending room downstairs.  Now, there is no evidence of plan two!”

 

Team lowered the back of his bed a bit, to put himself in a reclining posture, which was more comfortable on his hip and thigh.  But when he did, he accidentally let out a burp.  Only it wasn’t just a burp.  It was the granddaddy of all burps.  It was so loud Team was surprised it didn’t rattle the windows.

 

“Dude!” Win said in shock and awe, “What the hell?”

 

Team was laughing so hard, he had trouble answering.  “More room out…” he had to pause for air, “than in!”

 

“Not anymore!  That thing was wall to wall.  And it smelled like onions!”

 

If Team had been capable of it, he would have been rolling with laughter.  But his leg being propped up prevented that, so he was forced to stay in one place.  Eventually, their laughter died down, and when it did, Team asked, “So, why did you pack my shower cap?  I didn’t ask for it.”

 

Win raised an eyebrow and smirked at him, “Your shower cap?  I doubt that very much.  I snatched it out of the bathroom before your dad could see it.  I figured you wouldn’t want him knowing that someone was sleeping over in your room after dates and didn’t want to get their hair wet in the shower before doing the walk of shame out of there.  Or victory lap.  Whatever you call it.”

 

“No, seriously…it’s mine,” Team argued.

 

“Um-hmm,” Win nodded.  “And I bet you look really sweet in your shower cap, with the tiny flowers and that cute lace trim.  Probably about as sweet as I look in the crown they gave me when they proclaimed me king of ‘I’m-not-that-gullible-land’.  But it is not my business who that shower cap belongs to, and I didn’t think you would think it was your parents’ business either.  Now shush…the pregame show is starting.”

 

The TV screen showed the players preparing to go out onto the field.  They were two European teams that were both amazing.  His parents were looking forward to the match so he knew they would be back in time to watch the start.

 

He wasn’t wrong.  Within a few minutes, his parents, along with Mali and Jai arrived back at the room.  His dad was carrying a bag from a local market.  Team would have bet money that somewhere in that bag was rice cakes.

 

“Hi,” his mother said, rushing over to Team’s bed.  “Where’s Namfon?  Are you okay?”

 

Team laughed, “I’m okay!  Namfon left to go be with Skye.  I wasn’t alone though.  P’Win volunteered to baby sit me.”

 

“I’m glad to hear it!  We had a marvelous time, and I would hate to have come back to find you lying here alone!”  She said, but then she slightly recoiled, “Why does it smell like onions in here?”

 

“I…uh…I guess maybe I forgot to put on deodorant,” Team said quietly.

 

“I smelled it too,” Win said, “I just didn’t want to mention it.”

 

Team’s mother put her fingers on her lips, “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.  Let me go get you a clean shirt and your deodorant so you can smell fresher.”

 

Win got up, “That’s okay, Auntie!  I can get it for him.  You go ahead and watch the game.”

 

She nodded, “Okay, Win, you handle that.  I am going to find a bag to put that shirt in.  It’s going to need a good soak once we get home to get that smell out.”

 

With Team’s permission, Win dug through Team’s backpack and located a shirt and the deodorant.  Team pulled off his shirt and looked over at his mother.  She had removed the contents of the bag his dad had carried in.  As he suspected, it was loaded with bottles of juice and bags of rice cakes.  No football game could be complete without those, at least in his mother’s opinion.

 

He used the deodorant and took the shirt from Win.  Win, with his back to the rest of the room, reached into his pants pocket and pulled out an opened roll of breath mints.  He slyly handed them to Team.  Team took one from the roll and popped it into his mouth.  He tried to hand the roll back to Win, but Win shook his head and pointed at him, conveying that he wanted Team to have them.  Team nodded and slid them under his pillow and then pulled on the clean shirt.

 

His mother hurried over with the empty bag and snatched the ‘dirty’ shirt from Team’s bed and dropped it into the bag.  She quickly tied the bag shut; Team supposed it was in effort to keep the smell from escaping. “The medication really does mess with a person’s system, doesn’t it?” she asked.

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I bet it was the anesthesia because I have taken these other medicines before without this problem.”

 

“Well, it’s all taken care of now.  I’m just sorry I announced it in front of your friends.”

 

Team smiled, “It’s okay.  I am sure they understand that it’s not my fault.  Oh look!  Isn’t that guy the one you think is the best one?”

 

She turned to the TV to look.  “No, that’s not him.  It’s the guy in the background.  The one with the odd haircut.”  She got drawn to the TV, as Team had intended, and she walked back across the room and sat down to watch.  She dropped the bag down on the floor beside her.

 

Win had resumed his seat in the visitor chair next to the bed.  The mint that he had given Team stirred up the gas in Team’s stomach a bit, causing him to burp a few more times.  He had to keep his lips shut so the burps had to escape through his nose.  Each time it happened, Win would hurriedly bend down, pretending to study something on the floor, as he tried to hide his laughter.  Team didn’t have that ability to hide, so he just had to lay there and bite the inside of his cheeks.  Watching Win laughing didn’t help, so he had to keep his eyes averted.

 

Everyone stayed until the game ended.  Right before they left, the nurse came in with his nighttime medication.  As soon as the nurse left, so did his friends and Win.  Mali and Jai told him they would be home to see him on Saturday, but all Win said was, “Bye Team!”  Which although it wasn’t anything, it was something because Win was finally calling him by his name.

 

In the pre-dawn hours, Team was jolted awake.  He reached for the call button and pushed it.  A nurse quickly came in response.

 

“Is it time for my meds yet,” he asked.  He could feel the sweat beginning to pool on his forehead.

 

“Yes, it’s been about five hours.  I can send someone in with them.  How bad is it?”

 

“It’s pretty bad.  Three-day pain; I’m prone to it,” he explained.

 

The nurse nodded, “Your doctor made a note on your chart about it.  He has ordered a stronger anti-inflammatory for you, in the event it happened.  Let me call down to have someone bring you the medication.  I’ll be back to check the incision and I’ll put some ice on it.”  She hurried out of the room.  His mother passed her as she came to his bed.

 

“Honey?  Why didn’t you let me know!”

 

“It just hit me.  I’m okay, you can go back to bed.”

 

“Like fun I will!  I’m staying right here, Mister, until this passes!”

 

 

Several hours later, Team was in a wheelchair, being pushed by a young nurse’s aide, while his mother walked along beside them.  Team held his backpack on his lap, while his mother carried the two vases of flowers from Kwan and the tiny box of cookies he had baked for Team.  Although his mother objected to the gift, she had relented because it was just a small box, and she thought Kwan was ‘the sweetest boy in the world’.  She couldn’t find it in her heart to make Team refuse.

 

Team’s father had already gone out to pull the car up to the door.  Team was on his way home!  He was so excited…or he might have been, except for the fact that he had been up almost all night and had received his morning medication about a half hour or so previously.  Now he was fighting gallantly to stay awake.

 

“Auntie Nat!  Let me carry those for you!” Team heard a familiar voice, and it took all his power to roll his head to the side to see.  Win took the items from his mother’s hands and then reached down and picked up the backpack from Team’s lap and slung the strap onto his shoulder.  “I was afraid I had missed you!”

 

His mother laughed, “You almost did!  A few more minutes and we would be gone.”

 

“Yep, getting outta here!” Team said.  He could hear the slur in his voice, so he tried to sit up a bit straighter in his seat and force himself to be alert.

 

Win looked at him with a frown.  Then he looked at Team’s mom.  “What’s wrong with him?”

 

She smiled, “He had a rough night, and he didn’t sleep much.  He had his medicine a while ago, and he is fighting sleep.”

 

The elevator arrived and they boarded it.  “Rough night?  Why?  Upset stomach?  Something he ate?” Win asked as he pushed the button for the ground floor.

 

“Oh no!  Nothing like that!  I’m sure the food here is fine,” his mother said, taking a quick look at the aide standing behind Team.

 

“Naw, it sucks.  We had brown for breakfast.  And it tasted brown, too,” Team corrected.  The aide gave a tiny giggle at that.

 

“Don’t tell on me for saying it,” the aide said, “But I agree.  It really wasn’t very good this morning.”

 

“Yesterday it was grey,” Team said.  “I liked the grey.  Not the brown though.  Uh-uh.  Gross.”

 

His mother patted his arm and then shook her head.  She turned to speak to Win, “Team is prone to three-day pain.  He got it around 4:30 this morning.  It was quite a struggle, but around 6:30-ish, the crisis passed.  Ordinarily, he would have slept the rest of the day, but since he is going home, he has stayed awake.  In order to leave, he had to eat breakfast and have a shower…”

 

“Shower squad!” Team interjected.  “I’ll miss them!  Wait…no I won’t.”  Then he giggled.

 

“What’s three-day pain?” Win asked.

 

The elevator doors opened, and they exited it.  “It’s a soft tissue response to surgery.  It has nothing to do with the bones or the plate and screws, it is swelling in the soft tissues from being injured.  Swelling and pain in the area grow in intensity until the swelling has gotten to its maximum point.  Team had nurses helping him with it, and his doctor prescribed a much stronger anti-inflammatory medication, so he only had the attack for a few hours.”

 

“It hurt like a bitch,” Team mumbled to his chest as his head had fallen forward during the elevator ride.

 

“Language!” his mother said automatically, but then she looked at him and smiled.  “Look at me!  Scolding him when he doesn’t even know what he is saying!”

 

“But Auntie!  Why is he going home after something like that?” Win asked, his voice aghast.

 

“Because it’s over now.  It’s passed.  His doctor came in to check on him this morning and said that he was fit to go home.”

 

“But what if it comes back?”

 

“Win, look at me,” Team’s mom ordered.  “You know me very well.  I worry over everything.  I’m not worried about this.  Like I said, Team has gone through this before, and I know from experience what to expect.  His father’s sister’s boyfriend…”

 

“Kad!  I like him.  She’s cool, too.  Buys me books.” Team mumbled.

 

“Yes, Kad,” his mother said, again patting his arm.  “As I was saying…Team will fall asleep in the car on the way home to the village.  Kad is going to meet us at the house and help us get him in.  We’ll have him sleep on the couch in the living room, so both Keow and I can tend to him.  He will sleep all day today, all night tonight, and in the morning he will wake up—starving and angry that he slept on the couch because he doesn’t like the cushions.  However, the pain in his ankle will be pretty much gone then.  And it will stay gone.  This crisis, although horribly painful for him and terrifying to me, is a sign that he is healing very well.  It’s over now, Win.  Nothing more to worry about.  He’ll probably still be on crutches when he returns to school, but he won’t be hurting anymore.”

 

The automatic doors at the end of the hallway opened and they left the building.  Team took a deep breath and sighed, “Smells wonderful!”

 

“The air quality index says the conditions are pretty bad today,” Win corrected.  “And it smells horrible out here!”

 

Team tried to shake his head, but all he managed was a small roll of it to the side.  “Could smell like a wet fart, wouldn’t matter.  Freedom.”

 

The aide pushed the wheelchair up to the car.  Team’s dad was standing there, ready to help Team into the car.

 

“Uncle Keow, if you take this stuff, I can get him.  I’m in a better position,” Win offered.

 

Team’s dad agreed and took the backpack, the vases of flowers, and the tiny box of cookies from Win.  Win took hold of Team, but he really didn’t have to do much.  Team was very used to the routine.  He used his arms and his good leg with the help of the door, and he pulled himself up, out of the wheelchair, and then down into the back seat.  He sat with his good leg outside the door, foot resting on the asphalt, and leaned forward.

 

Win tried to help him get his leg into the car, but Team said, “No, I want to watch.”

 

Team watched the nurse’s aide push the wheelchair back into the hospital.  Once the automatic doors closed behind her and she disappeared from view, pulled his leg into the car and leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes, and gave a deep sigh.

 

Win laughed, “Did you see something you liked?”

 

Team gave a tiny nod, “Wheelchair going back because I don’t need anymore.”

 

“Oh,” Win said softly.

 

Team kept his eyes closed.  He wanted to make it where the last thing he saw was that wheelchair going away, and that the next time he opened his eyes, he would see home.  He snuggled a bit more deeply into the car’s seat and gave a deep, deep sigh of contentment.

 

He felt something move across his chest, and his eyes flew open.  Win’s face was only inches away from his and they were looking eye-to-eye at each other.  “You forgot to put on your seat belt," Win said quietly.

 

“I can…” Team started to object.

 

“It’s okay, I’ve got it,” Win said.  He moved a bit to the side and forward as he clicked the belt into place.  His cheek grazed Team’s along the way.  It was the same exact place where the dream kiss had been.

 

Win then leaned in closer and whispered, “I’ll take good care of your plant, I promise.”  And then Win moved away and out of the car, closing Team’s door behind him.

 

Team closed his eyes again.  He heard his parents calling their goodbyes to Win and felt the car being put into gear.  They moved slowly for a few moments and then came to a stop.  Team could hear the clicking of the turn indicator.  The car then turned to the left and began to pick up speed.  Team knew they were out of the hospital parking lot and onto the main road.  He had escaped.  He was free.  He smiled as he fell asleep.

Chapter 30

The smell of food cooking woke Team up.  He looked around the room, recognizing it as his living room back in his home in the village, and saw his father asleep in one of the easy chairs.  The other chair had a light blanket folded and laying on the seat.  He immediately knew that was where his mother had slept for the night, and that it was she in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.  His stomach let out a colossal roar and he hoped she was cooking up a large amount of food, because he knew it was going to take a lot to fill him up.

 

His leg was propped up on some pillows.  By the pain in his thigh and lower back, he suspected it had been raised up a bit too high.  He reached down with his hands and eased his leg off the pillows, and then he leaned over and took hold of his crutches that were propped up against the couch.  He used them to help him get up.

 

He felt achy spots in a few places in his back where the couch cushions had spent the night drilling into him.  He looked back at the couch with a scowl.  His parents had obviously bought it because they thought it looked nice, but it certainly wasn’t comfortable to sleep on.

 

He made his way to the tiny half bath under the stairs.  After emptying his overfilled bladder, he moved over to the sink and splashed some water on his face.  He ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to smooth it down a bit, and then he joined his mother in the kitchen.

 

“I hate sleeping on that couch,” he grumbled as a greeting to his mom.

 

She grinned, “And I bet you are starving to death,” she guessed.

 

Team shrugged, “I could eat,” he admitted.  Then he grinned back at her, “I hope you made a lot!”

 

She laughed and then began putting the food into serving bowls and taking them to the table, “I most certainly did!  I knew you’d be starving after not eating much yesterday.”

 

Team nodded, “I don’t even remember much about yesterday at all.  Except eating ‘brown’ for breakfast and…um…yeah, I do remember watching the wheelchair going back into the hospital without me.  Then I closed my eyes and thought that the next thing I would see would be home.”  He said with a smile.  Then a slight frown came upon his brow.  “Wait…was,’ he paused, trying to remember if it was real or a dream.

 

“Was what?” his mother asked as she pulled out his chair at the table and motioned with her head for him to take his seat.

 

“Was, um…was P’Win there?  I seem to remember something about a seatbelt, maybe.”  He asked as he sat down at his place at the table, leaning his crutches against the wall behind him.

 

His mother nodded, “Yes, he was there.  He helped us to get you out to the car and settled in.  Go ahead and start dipping up some food.  I’m going to go wake up your dad!”

 

He dipped up a large amount of food onto his plate and frowned in concentration as he tried to force himself to remember the events of the previous day.  Had Win actually been the one to fasten his seatbelt?  And did he…whisper in his ear…something?  About his plant, maybe?  Whispering.  He shook his head.  No, that couldn’t be right.  It was too…weirdly intimate.  He couldn’t understand why he kept having these odd dreams about Win and whispering stuff.  It was bizarre, and he didn’t like it.  Not one little bit!

 

His parents joined him at the table and his mother laughed.  “You don’t need to wait for us!  Eat!”

 

Team didn’t need any coaxing.  He dug into his plate as if he hadn’t eaten in years.

 

“How are you feeling today?” his dad asked as he picked up his cup of coffee.

 

Team shrugged as he finished chewing the bite in his mouth.  “Ankle’s not too bad.  My back is in spasms though.  That couch is horrible to sleep on!”

 

His dad nodded, “Yeah, I have taken a couple of naps on it.  It’s not the best.”

 

Team looked at him in disbelief, “You purposefully napped on it?  After I told you numerous times how much it sucks?”

 

His dad laughed, “Well, I just thought maybe it was because you objected to being downstairs instead of in your room.  But I found out differently.”

 

Team shrugged and then nodded as he continued to eat.  He did hate sleeping downstairs.  He had had to sleep in the dining room for months after the accident, so to even spend one night downstairs made him feel like he was an invalid all over again.  But…he reminded himself…he wasn’t an invalid anymore.  There were no wheelchairs here, nor a special van parked in the driveway.  He would heal quickly from the surgery, and after some physical therapy, he would be back to his old self.  The one he was before he had gotten the plate in his ankle taken out.

 

“I have to be honest,” his dad said, “getting you into the house and onto the couch was no easy job.  I am very thankful that Kad was here to help, but wow, Team!  That bookbag of yours!  It took everything we had to get it up to your room!  We ended up having to drag it up the stairs for a bit!”

 

Team grinned, “Yeah, I knew it was heavy.  H…uh…P’Win told me it was when he packed it.  But luckily, I don’t have to carry all of them around to every class.  Otherwise, I imagine I would be in a lot worse shape right now, but probably with my back, not my ankle!”  Team scolded himself mentally.  Had he honestly started to call Win, Hia?  That was insane.  He blamed it on the medicine he was on.

 

His dad chuckled, “And I kept thinking, as we were dragging the bag to your room, that this is only the books for the first semester of the first year!  You will be cramming all this stuff inside your head.  It will be a miracle if you will be able to even lift your head up by the end of eight years, due to all the contents of these books being inside there!”

 

“Eight years,” his mother muttered, looking down at her plate.

 

“Now Nat,” his father jokingly scolded, “Don’t start that again!  You will always be able to call, text, and video chat with him, just like you do now.  And Team comes home for the weekend all the time.  I don’t think that will change.”

 

Team suddenly felt full.  He used his crutches to get up from the table and, against his mother’s protests, he rinsed his plate and put it into the dishwasher.

 

“It’s about time for your next dose of medicine,” she announced.

 

Team shook his head, “I don’t need it.”

 

“Uh…I think you do, mister!  I woke you up in the middle of the night to give you a dose and you didn’t even argue.  You just took it.  And that’s how I prefer it!” she stated.

 

Team shook his head, “I don’t even remember that.  I must have taken it in my sleep.”

 

“It was almost six hours ago, so I know the pain must be coming back.  So, you will be taking it!”

 

Team chuckled at her.  “Okay, okay!  I want to go upstairs and take a shower first, then…I promise...I will take the anti-inflammatory pill, but not the pain pill.  There is no need for it.”

 

“Team!” she fussed, “You have to take your medicine so you can get well!”

 

“The anti-inflammatory is to help heal, and I will take that.  The pain pill is just to make me comfortable.  And…I’m comfortable enough, aside from the back pain from sleeping on that couch!” He said with a laugh.

 

“Well…” she hesitated.  “I will bring your medicines upstairs to you after I’ve finished eating, and we will discuss it then.”

 

Team made his way upstairs, and when he entered his room, he saw that his dad and Kad had placed his backpacks on his desk.  He was relieved to see that they had because it meant he could sit in his desk chair to unpack them.  If they had put the bags on his floor or his bed, it would have been much more difficult for him.

 

He shut his door behind him and then went to his desk and sat down in his chair, leaning his crutches against the wall.  He opened the front part of the backpack that held his books and looked at his snacks.  Luckily, by some miracle, they had survived the trip home, pretty much intact.  There was a small amount of crushing visible on a few potato chip bags, but nothing to worry about.  Still perfectly edible.

 

He gathered up the snacks and laid them on his lap, and with his good leg, he maneuvered the desk chair over to his bed.  He put the snacks onto his bed and then carefully got up from the chair and sat down beside them.  He grabbed a few of the bags, and then bent down and shoved them under his bed.  He did this until all of his snacks were carefully stowed away, and then he got back on the desk chair and made his way back to his desk.

 

He thought about leaving his books in the bag, but then realized it would be a hassle to dig through the bag each time he needed something.  It made much more sense to take the books out and stack them on his desk.  He would be able to locate everything more easily.

 

He unzipped the main section of the bag and reached inside.  His hand met with something soft.  He was puzzled so he pulled it out to take a better look.  He was repulsed when he realized it was the shorts and T-shirt that he had let Win use to sleep in.

 

“What kind of weirdo puts dirty clothes into a bag of books?” he muttered to himself.  Win had been in his bathroom.  Surely, he had to have seen the hamper to put dirty clothes in!  Why had he sent them home with Team?  It was so rude that Team could barely contain his disgust.  “I bet they reek, too.  Probably got his stink all over my backpack and books!”  He brought the shirt up to his nose and smelled it.  It didn’t reek, but…then he reasoned…Win hadn’t worn it for that long.  A few hours at most, since he had been awake and showered before he had awakened Team on Tuesday morning.

 

He smelled it again, it still had a smell to it, but not a bad one.  In fact, once upon a time, many years ago, Team had loved this smell.  He had wanted to smell just like this, so he made mental notes of all the products Win used—his soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, body lotion—everything.  But even though Team bought and used the exact same products, he could never manage to smell like this.  He had gotten the idea that maybe it was his laundry products, but one day he casually managed to check to see what Win’s clothes were washed with; Team was dismayed to discover it was the same products that Team’s family used.  He puzzled about it for many months, until one day, his mother visited a friend in the hospital who had just had a baby.  She kept smelling her hands later, and when Team asked her what she was doing, she told him she could still smell the baby from where she had held it earlier.  He laughed at her—imagining that maybe she meant that the baby had a poopy diaper.  She smiled and shook her head at his silliness, and then she told him that everyone had their own smell.  She told him that when he had been born, she smelled the top of his head all the time, memorizing the smell.  She believed that she could have picked him out of a crowd of babies, while being blindfolded, based only upon his smell.

 

He thought she was messing with him but then later, he did some research online and found out that it was true.  Everybody did have their own individual smell.  And since humans were a part of the animal kingdom, everybody noticed it on some level, but most people didn’t consciously realize it.  Team’s mother did, and apparently Team did too.  Except…he didn’t notice anyone else’s smell, except for Win’s.

 

Sitting there in the desk chair, smelling the smell of Win on the T-shirt, Team realized that hadn’t changed.  He still knew Win’s smell.  And although he hated Win…despised him, actually—he didn’t hate the smell of him.

 

He dropped the shirt into his lap, along with the shorts, and began unpacking the textbooks and stacking them up according to his class schedule.  As he worked, he suddenly remembered the day of the exhibition swim, and how his mother had held Win’s baby sister.  She kept smelling herself afterward and remarked about the smell of the child.  He vaguely wondered if she had ever noticed Win’s smell.  She had hugged Win numerous times, so Team thought she must have.

 

“Oh my!  That really is a big stack of books!” exclaimed his mother, causing Team to startle because he hadn’t heard her come in.  She continued, “I thought your dad was just joking, but now I can see why he and Kad had a hard time carrying them up the stairs!”  She ran her finger down the stack, reading the titles.  “They certainly start you off on a run, don’t they?  Hard to imagine how much more difficult it will be during your eighth year,” she sighed, “Well, anyway, I am glad to see you haven’t gotten into the shower yet.  We forgot to wrap your ankle.  I brought up some plastic.”

 

She bent down and began to wrap his ankle for him.  Midway, she looked at him with a puzzled frown, “What’s up, Pup?” she asked.  “You haven’t said a word since I came in here.”

 

He shrugged and then gave her a smile, “Nothing!  I guess I was just thinking about all the homework I am going to have to catch up on.”

 

She smiled and shook her head and then went back to wrapping his ankle.  “I wouldn’t worry about it, if I were you.  Remember, last year when you homeschooled?  You did more work, faster, and with better grades when you were working here alone.  I bet you will tear right through those assignments…once you are feeling better.”

 

“I already do,” he said.  She looked up at him with disbelief on her face.  “No,” he exclaimed, “I swear I do.  I mean, sure, it hurts…I just had surgery on it, so it is bound to, but it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as it did when I injured it on Monday.  And also, not as much as it did during the three-day pain period.  It feels like it is healing.  And I don’t mind healing pain.”

 

“Well, you go ahead and take your shower and we will get your medication into you, and then you won’t even feel that.”  She had finished wrapping his ankle and got up and reached for one of his textbooks.  “I’ll wait here for you and enjoy a little bit of ‘light’ reading.”

 

He put the last book on his desk, picked up the shorts and shirt from his lap and threw them over his shoulder, and reached for his crutches.  Once he was up from the chair, he grabbed the strap of the backpack that had his clothes and toiletry items in it.

 

His mother looked up from the textbook with a frown.  “Why are you taking that bag with you?  You already have your clothes,” she looked pointedly at the outfit he had tossed on his shoulder.

 

“Oh…these aren’t…well…” he stammered, “I need my shaving stuff.”

 

She sighed and shook her head with a grin, “No one is even going to see you!”

 

“I’ve told you before, I don’t care what I look like…stubble itches and I hate it!”  He hurried off to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.  He was puzzled about why he hadn’t told her the clothes were dirty and he needed to get clean ones out of the bag.  Of course, she had been with him non-stop for days and might have questioned when he had worn them.

 

He tossed the backpack and the dirty clothes on the countertop and got undressed for his shower.  Once he had the water temperature fixed perfectly, he eased down onto the bench and leaned the crutches against the wall outside the shower.

 

It felt wonderful to be able to shower alone.  No weird ‘shower squad’ nurses to be creeped out about.  It was just him, water set to the right temperature, and his soap and shampoo.  He took his time, and even put the handheld shower head right above a sore spot on his shoulder where the couch hadn’t supported him the night before.  By the time he was finished with his shower, he felt like a new man.

 

He toweled off the best of his ability and then reached for his crutches to help him get out of the shower.  Once he was vertical, he wrapped the towel around his waist and made his way over to the counter.  He opened his backpack and pawed through the clothes inside.  He located a clean pair of underwear and put them on.  Then he searched through the rest of the clothes to find something to put on.

 

He put all his dirty clothes into the hamper and saw that he was left with one outfit.  He wrinkled his nose at it.  He wasn’t a fan of the shorts.  The leg opening was too big.  He hardly ever wore them because he felt ‘flappy’ in them.  He wouldn’t be able to explain that to anyone else, but he knew what he meant.  Then he looked at the tee shirt with a sigh.  It had shrunk a tiny bit in the laundry at some point and was snug against his shoulders.  Not exactly tight, but too snug.  It bothered him every time he wore it.  He didn’t want to wear something that he was fussing with all the time.  He wanted to be comfortable.

 

He looked over at the clothes that Win had worn.  He liked that outfit.  It was loose enough to be comfortable, but not flappy.  He hated flappy.  He wondered if he had put something in the hamper that would be more comfortable than the only clean choice he had—of course he could have gone out in his towel and gotten something from his drawer, he still had tons of clothes in the dresser, but his mom would be curious.  He looked back at the clothes that Win had worn.  He picked up the shirt and smelled it again.  He shook his head, it wasn’t dirty, didn’t smell bad, no reason he couldn’t wear it.  He pulled it on over his head.  And, he reasoned, the shorts didn’t even matter because he had underwear on.  It wasn’t like they could touch his skin.  So he pulled them on too.  He shoved his clean outfit back into his backpack and retrieved his blow dryer.

 

He styled his hair and then took time to shave his face.  As he headed back to his room, he felt great.  He felt as if he had regained a sense of himself and his independence.  He also felt a bit tired—which he hated.  But he blamed that on the medications he had been given all week and the surgery.  He knew that his body was channeling his energy and strength into healing, so he would have to bear with it when just taking a shower made him feel like he needed a nap.  It wouldn’t be forever.  Just for now, he reminded himself.

 

“Hey!  You look handsome!” his mother said as she closed the textbook and got up from the bed where she had been sitting.  “You were in there so long that I was beginning to worry about you!”

 

Team laughed and leaned his head down a bit and took his hand from his crutch to run it through his hair, “It takes time to look this good!” he joked.

 

She laughed, “Well, that’s a problem I’ve never had!  Just give me five minutes, a comb, and a dab of lipstick and I am good to go.”

 

Team sat down on his bed and leaned the crutches on the wall next to him.  “That’s because you are a natural beauty.  Not all of us are so lucky!”

 

She laughed and then said, “Let’s get you settled in and then I will give you your medicine.”  She helped him get the covers pulled down and propped his ankle up on a stack of pillows before smoothing the cover across his shoulders.  “All good now?”

 

He smiled and nodded.  She had made him feel like he had when he was a little kid.  He didn’t mind it though; he thought it was kind of nice.  And familiar.

 

She handed him a bottle of water and then reached into her pocket for the pill bottles.  He opened the water, took a drink, and then shook his head.  “I will take the anti-inflammatory, but I don’t want any more pain pills.”

 

 She shook her head as she poured one out onto her palm.  “The doctor said you need them right now.  He said the pain can cause you to involuntarily and unwittingly tense your muscles.  They have to be relaxed for healing.”

 

He huffed in disgust.  “Okay!  Fine!  But only half of it!”

 

They battled back and forth for a few moments and then his mother agreed.  She declared that half was better than none and then used the scissors from his desk drawer to cut the pain pill in half.

 

She gave him his pills and he popped them into his mouth and washed them down with a big drink of water.

 

She excused herself and went into his bathroom and came out carrying his dirty clothes from the hamper.  “Do you have anything else that you want to toss into the wash?” she asked.  When he told her he didn’t, that all of his dirty clothes from his backpack were already in there, she told him that his dad had gathered up all his dirty clothes from his dorm room the day that he and Win had gathered up his textbooks.  “That way you won’t have to face a mountain of dirty laundry when you get back there.”  She smiled, “As I was sorting them, I noticed that you had worn one of your new outfits—the black one.  Was it a date?”

 

He laughed and shook his head, “No!  It was a dinner for Namfon and Skye.  Our way of meeting and welcoming Skye to the group.”

 

“That was very nice of all of you!  Of course, you are all pretty nice kids!” she declared.

 

Team thought back to that night, in the club, when he had been prepared to punch Win in the face.  Until he had that strange vision/flashback thing.  He counted on his fingers.  It had only been six days ago.  How?  It seemed like it had happened years ago.  But the clothes from that night were just now in the laundry, so it couldn’t have been.  He scratched his head in puzzlement.  Then he realized his mom was looking at him closely.  He flipped his hair back.  “Yeah, it was a big deal for Namfon.  That’s why I changed my hair.  Well, not exactly why I did it, but when I did it.  Anyway…how’s that book you started reading the other day?  Have you finished it yet?”

 

“You know me so well!” she said with a laugh.  “No, I didn’t finish it yet.  I plan on reading it this afternoon while I am doing the laundry.  I did read up to the last few chapters at the hospital, but I forced myself to stop.  I have a feeling this one could have a sad ending.  I didn’t want to be caught crying by a nurse or something!  So I saved it for home.”

 

Team frowned, “But usually stories have happy endings.”

 

“Tell that to Steinbeck!” she countered.  “Did you ever read any of his books?”

 

Team laughed, “Yeah, I had to read them for advanced English.  And I get your point.  But Steinbeck’s books are classics, while your author…”

 

“Is great at writing angst!  And pain.  And I am worried that’s how this one will end.  I don’t know what I will do with myself if the princess gets stuck being married to the prince!  And her poor lover was badly injured from a dual when I put it down.  If he dies…”  she shook her head.

 

Team laughed, “If there is a sad ending, you can remind yourself it is just fiction.  And then get another book to read.”

 

She glowered at him playfully, “Oh you!  You’re just like your dad!  Honestly, both of you are so cynical about love!”  She turned to walk out of his room and then paused and turned back around, “Oh!  I forgot to tell you something!  It was the oddest thing!  Before I started cooking breakfast this morning, I decided to sort your clothes to get ready to wash them later today.  That shirt…the one I put into the bag in the hospital because you had severe body oder that smelled just like onions, remember that?”

 

Team grinned at her, “Of course I remember!  You announced it in front of my friends!  I look for them to tease me about it for the next fifty years or so. Why do you ask?

 

“Yes, I’m sorry about that.  I should have spoken to you privately,” she apologized.  Then she continued, “Well… I had filled up the sink with vinegar and water to soak it for a bit before washing it—I thought I could cut some of that smell out of it and, like I said, it was the oddest thing!  I braced myself and untied the bag to retrieve the shirt…and there was no stinky onion smell.  In fact, the only smell on the shirt was a faint trace of your aftershave!  What do you think about that?  Isn’t that the craziest thing you ever heard of?  I mean…the entire room reeked of onions that night, and now…no smell at all!”

 

Team scratched his chin, pretending to contemplate that strange development…which wasn’t really strange at all, considering what she had really smelled was the lingering aroma, in the air, of the most marvelous meal he had eaten in ages…and wouldn’t be eating anything like that again until he was back in his dorm.  “I can’t imagine,” he finally said after a bit.  “Could it have had something to do with the bag it was in?”

 

“I don’t see how!  It was just a regular bag that one can get in any grocery store,” she stated.

 

“Could someone…maybe a nurse…or housekeeping…taken the shirt down and washed it in the hospital?”

 

She shook her head, “No, I put the bag in my suitcase that night before going to bed.  And besides, even if someone had washed it for us…I don’t think they would have put it back in the bag.  Plus…remember…it did have a trace of your aftershave on it.”

 

 He gave a big shrug, “I guess, somehow, the smell dissipated on its own then.”

 

She frowned, “I’ve never heard of something like that happening in my entire life.  I was tempted to think maybe I had just imagined the smell…then I remembered Win saying he had smelled it on you that night too.”

 

“Oh!  Maybe it was just on my skin then, and not my sweat.  I assumed that you meant it was pit sweat, but if the smell is gone now, I’m guessing it wasn’t in my sweat, just on my skin…or maybe it was my breath.  I’ve heard things can leave your body in odd ways,” he suggested.

 

“I suppose that could be it.  You never had that happen before, but maybe they used a different combination of surgery medications than they used on you before,” she mused.  Then she saw Team give a big yawn.  She gave a small laugh, “Right!  That’s my cue to leave.  You snuggle on down there and take a nap.  I’ll fix a lunch that is easy to heat up, in case you are still sleeping, we’ll heat it up for you later.  Scooch on down in that bed and get some sleep!”

 

After she left the room, Team allowed his eyes to close.  He thought how weird it was to become exhausted just by taking a shower.  But he was.  It made him feel like he was an old, old man.  However, he knew it was because he was still healing, and he needed lots of rest because of that.

 

He breathed in deeply and realized he could smell Win very clearly.  It was coming from the shirt.

 

“I shouldn’t have put his dirty clothes on!  That’s gross!” he yanked the shirt off, over his head, and tossed it on the other side of his bed.  “That’s better!” he thought.  “Enough!” as he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

 

When he woke up from his nap, he noticed as soon as he opened his eyes, that his mind felt clearer than it had in days.  He also felt as if he had had a good sleep and felt energized from it.  Then he realized at some point, he had rolled onto his side, in his normal sleeping position.  Which wasn’t really a good thing.  He was supposed to sleep on his back and keep his ankle propped up at all times.  He focused his mind on his ankle and realized it didn’t feel any worse from leaving the pillow pile and laying flat against his mattress, but he was worried that it might start hurting, so he rolled over slightly and sat up.  When he did, the shirt that smelled like Win dropped from his shoulder and landed on the bed.  He reached up and felt his cheek and realized it was warm in a small area.  And he knew…it was the place where he had rested his cheek against the shirt during his nap.  As if he had been cuddling with…his mind shut down then.  He refused to acknowledge that.  It made him feel sick.  He blamed this odd behavior on the medication he was on.  He snatched up the shirt and tossed it against the wall and it landed on the floor.  Then he reached down and lifted his leg up so that his ankle was once again on the pile of pillows.

 

He picked up his phone off the bedside table and turned it on.  He saw several messages from Than.  He grinned in anticipation and opened the first one and began to read all the news from the tiny store at the base of a mountain in Chiang Mai.

 

Team’s father poked his head in the door as Team reached the last of Than’s messages—one in which he was celebrating the very last batch of apricot jam on the very last day that his mother would make it.  It hadn’t sold very well, so she was firm in her resolve to never make it again.  Than could scarcely contain his joy at the news.  He couldn’t wait until the horrendous smell of boiling apricots would be out of his life forever.

 

“Hey!  You are looking really good now!  Almost your old self!” Team’s dad announced happily.  “How are you feeling?”

 

Team nodded with a smile, “Pretty good!  How are you feeling?  You look a bit pasty.”

 

His dad laughed, “Well, I have a good excuse for it!  I slept sitting in a chair all night!  And… this was after worrying about my kid’s health all week.  I think I am entitled to one pasty-face day.”

 

Team laughingly agreed with him.

 

“I just came up to check on you and to see if you were awake.  Your mom has been busy doing your laundry and reading that silly book of hers, so I made lunch.  Are you up for it?”

 

At the mention of the word ‘lunch’, Team’s stomach let out a growl.  Team laughed, “Yeah, I feel like I am starving!  I hope you made a lot of food!”

 

“Of course I did!  I know how you eat!  Do you need any help getting up from the bed, or down the stairs?” his dad asked.

 

“Nope, I’ve got it!” Team assured him.

 

“Then I am going back downstairs and set the table,” his dad said as he turned to leave.

 

Team got up from his bed and snatched his crutches and made his way into the bathroom.  He emptied his near-to-bursting bladder and then cleaned up a bit and combed his hair.  He went back into his bedroom and stopped at his dresser.  He opened the drawer where he kept his soft, sleep-worthy Tee-shirts.  He sorted through them and rejected each one in turn as not being comfortable enough, or the wrong color or style to go with his shorts.  He knew that it didn’t matter—it was just lunch with his parents, after all—but he did want to look presentable when he joined them at the table.

 

He looked over at the shirt that was lying in a heap on the floor from where he had thrown it earlier.  It was the right color and style for the shorts he was wearing.  Plus, it was very comfortable.  And besides, he didn’t want to dirty up everything he owned.  His mother was bound to become angry with him for doing that.

 

He made his way over to the shirt, and with the rubber-tipped end of one of his crutches, he managed to snag up the shirt and raise it to the height necessary for his hand to grab hold of it.  He jerked it off the crutch end and then pulled it on over his head.  He scolded himself for being so silly.  It was just a shirt…in fact, it was his shirt, and he could wear it whenever he wanted.  It didn’t matter who or what it might smell like.

 

Once he had the shirt pulled on and smoothed down, he left his room to go eat lunch with his parents.

 

That afternoon he texted with Than—he made up some story about coming back home to the village for the weekend to help with the new slipcovers and to watch the Rayong Nightjar’s game with them on Sunday.

 

They texted off and on throughout the day and played their game together that evening.  Than couldn’t stay on long though because he had to get up early to run errands for the store before it opened.  Team was secretly glad because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay up nearly as late as he usually did.  His mom brought up his medicine before she went to bed, and he took the anti-inflammatory pill but not the pain pill.  They argued back and forth about it, until Team promised to take it after he got offline.

 

Playing the game with Than took his mind off the pain, which really wasn’t much to start with.  When they finished the game and said their goodnights, Team closed his computer and slid down in his bed.  He didn’t need the pill and he wasn’t going to take it.  He knew his mom would be angry about it, but he felt like it should be his choice.

 

When he awakened the next morning, he felt refreshed and alert.  The mental fuzziness that had been his constant companion for days was lifting from him.  His pain was tolerable, even with the missed dose of medication.  He felt as if he had made the right decision.  His mother didn’t agree.

 

And she was even more upset when he refused his morning dose after breakfast.  But his friends were coming back to the village to see him, and he wanted to be awake and alert to visit with them.  Ultimately, the tie was broken by his father…who was on Team’s side, much to Team’s surprise.  His dad was a lot like Jai in the fact that he always deferred to his mom the way Jai deferred to Mali.

 

“Nat,” his dad said, “Team has been through this stuff for years.  If he thinks he doesn’t need the medicine, then I think we should listen to him.  He has agreed to take the anti-inflammatory pills, which is what he needs to heal, but not the pain pills, which he doesn’t need to heal.”

 

“I don’t like knowing that my child is in pain!” she exclaimed.

 

“He’s my child too, you do realize that, right?  But he is also a man now, and I think he deserves the right to make his own decisions.”

 

Team felt uncomfortable.  They were talking about him like he wasn’t even there.  And their words carried an edge to them.  He wasn’t used to them quarreling.  It had happened so rarely in his life that he didn’t know how to handle it.

 

His mother nodded and then bent over to look at Team’s foot.  She gently felt the sole of his foot and then his calf above the temporary cast.  She stood back up and put her hands on her hips, “There is no heat, swelling, or redness, so I am going to take you at your word that you aren’t in a lot of pain.  I will back off about the pain pills, on one condition…” she said.

 

“What’s the condition?” Team asked.

 

“That you don’t hide behind your pride.  If the pain comes back, you have to swear to me that you will let me know so I can give you your medication.”

 

Team saw his dad give him a small nod.  Team nodded to her, “Okay.”

 

“No!  Not ‘okay’, you have to look me in the eye and swear to it,” she demanded, and stuck her hand out to be shaken.  Team laughed at the gesture, but his mother wasn’t joking.  “Your dad reminded me that you are now a man.  This is how an honest man conducts himself.  He looks someone in the eye, makes his vow, and then shakes the other person’s hand,” she challenged.

 

Finally understanding how serious his mother was, Team used his crutches to get him out of his seat at the table and stand before her.  He looked her in the eyes and said, “I swear to you that if the pain gets too uncomfortable, I won’t ‘hide behind my pride’.  I will let you know that I need the medicine.”  Then he shook her hand.

 

“There!” his father said, the relief was evident in his voice, “It’s settled then!”

 

Team’s mother looked at Team.  “I don’t like this, but I accept it.  I really don’t have a choice.”  Then she left the kitchen.

 

“Dad?  I’m…geez!  I’m sorry!  I really didn’t mean to upset her!  Not at all!  I just don’t want to be drugged up if I don’t have to be,” Team stammered his explanation.

 

His dad shook his head.  “It’s not your fault, Son.  And it isn’t your mom’s fault either.  What you just witnessed was a mama bear protecting her cub.  Perfectly natural—especially since you have just come home from the hospital, and she is on hyperalert regarding you and your health.  You are a grown man who wants to be able to decide what is right for yourself.  Also, perfectly natural.  This is just a rite of passage.  She will accept your decision, but I have to warn you—the mama bear in her is very strong!  When you are in your sixties and she is in her eighties, if you get so much as a splinter, that mama bear is still going to spring into action to heal and protect you.  And she will continue nurturing you until the day she dies.  I think that makes you pretty lucky.”

 

Team softly nodded.  “Do you think I should go in there and apologize?”

 

“Apologize?  No, you don’t have anything to apologize for.  However,” his dad said as he walked over and picked up a tray of food for the birds, “I think it might be a nice thing to go in there and talk to her a bit.  Maybe let her know that you do appreciate how much she cares for you.  And you don’t have to worry about me interrupting, I am going out back and stock the birdfeeder.”

 

Team found his mother in the living room, curled up in one of the armchairs.  Her book was lying unopened on the seat, beside her leg.

 

“Uh…did you…um…finish your book?” he fumbled with a way to start the conversation.

 

“No, not yet.  I’ve been busy and wanted to devote my full attention on it,” she said.  She picked the book up and studied the picture on the cover.

 

“So…do you think we should talk, maybe?” he asked, taking a seat on the couch, propping his crutches next to it.  The couch was fine for sitting but sucked for sleeping.

 

She sighed.  “He snapped at me.  Over the years, I could count on one hand the number of times he has snapped at me and have fingers left over.  And when he did, I realized I was in the wrong.  I am living in the past, and you are zooming off into the future.  Of course we can’t see eye-to-eye.”

 

“But…we’re both here now—in the present.  I know you love me, and that you want the best for me.  And I want you to know that I appreciate all that you do, and I love you, too!”

 

“I’ve always felt a bit sad…did you know?  Since I was only able to have one child.  But…I have to admit, I’m okay with it because I got the best one in the bunch!  Why cry over quantity when you have quality?”

 

Team felt his face grow warm and knew that he was blushing.  “Well, I feel like I won the jackpot in the parents’ lottery!”

 

Once the hurt feelings had been soothed, their conversation drifted off into other topics.  His mom was going back to work on Monday, while his dad was going to work from home so he could tend to Team.  It was similar to the arrangement they had started shortly after the accident.

 

After a time, Team reached for his crutches and used them to help him stand up.  “My friends are coming over here later, so I am going to go upstairs and grab a shower.”

 

“Do you need help wrapping up your cast?” his mom asked.

 

“I wouldn’t say ‘need’ exactly—but I could use some help with it.  That is…if you don’t mind.”

 

She laughed, “Of course I don’t!  It’s the only thing you will let me do to help you!”

 

They went up the stairs together and entered Team’s room.  Within a few moments, Team’s mom had his ankle wrapped.  “Do you want me to sit up here with you while you shower, in case you need anything?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, thanks though.  But since I’m not taking those pain pills anymore, my head feels clear again.  And with the bench in the shower, there really isn’t much chance of me falling or anything.”

 

She gave a small, almost undetectable sigh and then nodded, “Well…I can’t say that I will miss reading your textbooks.  I would much rather go downstairs and finish reading my book.  It’s much more interesting!”

 

“Okay, and when you do finish the book, I want you to let me know every little detail about how it ends!” he teased…but he was only half kidding.  He hadn’t read a single word from the book, but his mother’s retelling of what she had read had interested him.  For some odd reason, he felt the need to know if it had a happy ending.  He really hoped it did.

 

He went to his dresser and pulled out his favorite sleeping outfit.  His mom had washed it and brought it upstairs earlier.  The last time he had worn it was the night that he was laying in agony with a bag of frozen broccoli on his ankle.  Just thinking about that made him shudder—but it also reaffirmed how much better he already felt—and as the days passed, he knew he would feel better and better.  It was now almost all just a memory.

 

When he got undressed for his shower, he paused a moment and smelled the shirt again.  He could still faintly smell Win on it.  He hesitated for a moment before putting it into his clothes hamper and then, with a shake of his head, he laughed at himself.  He thought how glad he would be when the medicine finally left his system so he would go back to thinking more clearly—and he promised himself that he would never, ever tell anyone that he had slept in someone else’s dirty clothes.  It was insane and disgusting, especially considering how much he hated Win!

 

He knew his friends wouldn’t be arriving until later in the day, so he wasn’t in a huge hurry.  He took his time showering, shaving, and styling his hair.  He was vaguely surprised to see that he almost looked normal again.  A bit of darkness under his eyes, and maybe a bit of paleness, but otherwise, it was the same Team looking back at him through the mirror.

 

He went back to his bedroom, intending to make his bed and straighten up a bit, and found that someone else had already done it.  He strongly suspected it was his mother.  He smiled at the thought and then stretched out on his bed and grabbed his phone.

 

He and Than texted for a while.  Than was so happy that the smell of boiling apricots was finally leaving the store.  His mom had boiled the last batch the day before, but Than said the smell had lingered like an ill-tempered ghost all through the night and most of the morning.  When Than first came down to the store that morning, he had shut off the air conditioning for the store and propped open the outside door.  He sat a fan near the opening and allowed all the fresh air to blow around and dilute some of the old noxious vapors.  Eventually though he had to shut the door and turn back on the air conditioner as the temperatures began to rise.  His mother had offered to watch the store for a while and let him have a break, so he took his lunch outside to eat.  Then he took a long walk, all the while texting with Team.

 

Team wasn’t allowed to bring his phone to the table with him, so he hurried downstairs and ate very quickly.  He got finished and returned to his phone before Than even had a chance to miss him.

 

After Than returned back to the store, he noticed that his eyes kept watering.  And he couldn’t seem to stop sneezing.  He checked the pollen/mold index and realized he probably shouldn’t have spent so much time breathing in the fresh air that day since the totals were both super high.  He said it was worth it though, just to clear the stench that had felt as if it had taken up residence in all of the cells in his body!

 

He told Team he had been studying in that secondhand Business book he had bought from the library book sale.  He said it gave him hope that one day soon, his father would be well again and able to run the store without him, and he would be able to go to college.  He figured if he knew the basics of what was being taught before his first semester, maybe it would help him to get good grades.  At least that was his hope.

 

Team told Than an imaginary story about helping his parents putting on the slipcovers, and the many missteps they all took during the process.  His mother was very pleased with how they looked, but she did keep fussing and adjusting them.  They didn’t seem to want to stay perfectly crisp, even with the pins they had used to attach the slipcovers with.  He confided in Than that he felt as if his mother would end up getting rid of them—and he guessed it wouldn’t take long, perhaps a month or two.  And then they would go back sitting on their old, faded furniture.  At least until his parents decided to buy new.  Team admitted it had been quite a while since they had bought new furniture—except for their sofa.  And while Team didn’t tell Than the story of it, he did tell him that it was okay for sitting on but was torture to sleep on.  He made up a story about dozing off and taking a nap on it once and waking up so stiff he could barely walk.  A fictional story with a tiny bit of truth mixed in.

 

In the late afternoon, Team received a text from his Scooby Doo friends group.  They had left Rayong and were on their way to Team’s house.  Traffic was light so they estimated they would be there in about a half hour or so.  When Team told Than that his friends would arrive soon, Than was glad to hear it.  He told Team that he was having a pretty severe allergy attack.  Along with the sneezing and watering eyes, he had developed a migraine.  He said it was so bad that every time his heart beat, he felt like he was going to throw up.  His mother demanded that he take his prescription medication and go straight to bed.  She would be able to handle things by herself.  Than felt bad about it, because the medication was so strong that he would probably sleep all the rest of the evening and all through the night, but he did feel awful and she insisted, so he had taken it.  He got confused about the football game that Team was looking forward to and thought it was that evening, so he told Team he hoped his team won and then told him goodnight.

 

Team quickly told Than that he hoped he felt better when he woke up and then ended the thread and closed the app.  Team was worried.  He had never known Than to be too sick to work.  Team knew it had to be really, really bad.  He didn’t like to think about Than being in pain.  It made him feel sick to his stomach.

 

Shortly after this, his mind was distracted from worrying about Than as his friends arrived home from Bangkok to see him.  Jai entered his room first, carrying a large box in his arms; he was followed in by Mali and Namfon, both wearing huge smiles.  Team’s mood lightened immediately at the sight of them.  It felt like it had been years, not just days, since he last saw them.

 

Jai carefully sat the box down on the bed beside Team.  “There!  This is for you!” he announced.

 

“For me?  Why?” Team asked in astonishment.

 

“Because we love you, Scooby!” Namfon said with a laugh.  “Go ahead!  Open it!”

 

“Wait, just a minute,” Jai interrupted.  “There’s something that I’ve always wanted to know, but the time never seemed right to ask you.  How do you get up and down the stairs on crutches?”

 

Team laughed.  “I don’t.  I mean, I get up and down the stairs, but not by using the crutches.  I’ve had this bedroom my entire life, but there was a time when I was too little to walk up and down the stairs on my own.  So…I sat down and did it on my butt, using my arms and legs to push or pull me up or down.  I do the same thing now.  Except, now I only use one leg.  But it’s a lot stronger now than when I was little!”

 

Jai laughed, “I would pay money to see that!  Okay, now that my curiosity is satisfied, open the box!”

 

The box flaps were held together by a small piece of tape, so it only took Team a flick of a finger to get it open.  On top was a bag from a famous store at the Bangkok mall near the university.

 

“The first gift is from all of us,” Mali said.

 

“That’s so nice of you guys…but I know this store, and I know you really shouldn’t have bought anything from there!  It’s expensive!” Team objected.

 

“Not so much…” Jai began.

 

Namfon interrupted, “All of us pitched in together.  Jai and Mali, Skye and me, Kwan, and P’Win…so each share wasn’t so big.”

 

“P’Win?  Why…how was he in on this?” Team asked, flabbergasted.

 

“I had class so I couldn’t drive them to the mall…it was Namfon’s idea, by the way,” Jai began.

 

“I had a club meeting so I couldn’t go with them…” Mali continued the story.

 

“Kwan, Skye, and I were at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to take us to the mall.  P’Win drove by and saw us there.  He stopped and asked us where we wanted to go and we told him, so he drove us,” Namfon supplied.  “Once we got to the mall, he offered to walk around with us and then drive us back to the university.  I thought that was very nice of him.”

 

Jai nodded, “We had agreed on a budget, but…P’Win told them he wanted in on it too.  They texted us and we agreed, so…anyway…open it up!”

 

Team opened the bag and pulled out a black satin robe.  It flowed over his hand like it was made of water.  Just the feel of it shouted that it was super expensive.  But the sheen of the material was the true giveaway.  Team had never seen anything as beautiful in his entire life.  “Wow!  You guys…”

 

“We had discussed blue but P’Win said that although blue was your favorite color, black was actually your favorite color to wear,” Mali supplied.  “Is that right?”

 

Team had forgotten.  They used to joke about it all the time, because Hia preferred to wear white rather than any other color.  Team liked to say that Hia was the hero and Team was the villain, but Hia didn’t like that.  Hia said that he was like the day, and Team was like the night.  Daytime was for work and study, but nighttime was for fun.  Mysterious and full of wonder and delights.  Team used to laugh at that.  He remembered the day when the sun peeked in the window of the garage and reached out and caressed Hia’s cheek while Team watched it and that was the moment when he realized he was in love with him.  Hia was wearing white that day, as he did most days.  While Team was in the shadows, playing his guitar, wearing black.

 

“Team?” Mali asked, “Is it right?  Do you prefer to wear black?”

 

Team pulled himself out of his memories with a small shake of his head, “Yes, I do,” he answered, and his voice sounded strange and faraway.  He cleared his throat and forced himself to speak more loudly, “I like the robe very much.  In fact, I think I love it!  Thank you all so much for thinking about me, although I wish you hadn’t spent so much money on it.”

 

“Nonsense!” Jai said stoutly.  “Divided six ways, 'twas but a mere trifle.”  He laughed, “That was my best British imitation.  How did I do?”

 

Team laughed, “Your pronunciation was terrible, and your word choices were like from the early 1900s!  Otherwise…you were great!”

 

“Try it on!” Namfon urged.

 

Team grabbed his crutches and went over to his mirror.  Jai followed him with the robe and helped Team keep his balance as he pulled it on over his shorts and tee-shirt.  Even Team could see that the robe made him look good, and he accepted the compliments from his friends without an argument.

 

“Well…when you get through preening in front of the mirror,” Namfon teased, “Come on back here and look at the rest of your gifts!”

 

Team was shocked, “The rest?  This robe is all that you should have given me…and it was too much!  You shouldn’t have gotten me anything more!”

 

“They’re just small gifts!  Here…open this one first!  It’s from Skye,” Namfon said as she pushed a bag at him before he had even fully got settled back on his place on the bed.  He leaned his crutches back against the wall, adjusted his robe over his legs, and then took the bag from her hand.

 

He opened the bag and found it contained a big package of his favorite gummies.  Strawberry flavor.  “Oh hey!” he said happily.  “How did she know?  Oh…never mind.  I think I can guess how she knew.  Please tell her ‘Thank you’ from me.  I love them!”

 

Namfon’s cheeks were a pretty pink—Team guessed it was half embarrassment and half pleasure.  She grinned and promised to tell Skye.

 

“Here,” Mali said, pulling out a smaller bag from the box, “It’s from Kwan.  He didn’t come back with us, although he really wanted to see you…but…his dad, you know?”

 

Team nodded sadly.  He had kind of forgotten the story Jai had told them, and he was ashamed about that.  He had always known that Kwan wasn’t happy at home but he had never imagined how bad it actually was.  Team opened the bag and found a container filled with tiny cookies that had a most delicious cherry and almond aroma.

 

“He said he had a couple of his friends in the cooking club help him make them.  They picked a recipe that is supposed to stay fresh for a few days at room temperature.  But we all know that you will have these cookies eaten in no time!” Mali teased.

 

Namfon reached in front of Mali and pulled another bag from the box, “Open mine next!” she said as she offered it to him.

 

Team laughed at how pushy she was, but he accepted her gift.  When he opened it he saw it was a hardback book.  The cover of it had a picture of two guys, in college, based upon their clothing.  They were standing with their backs to each other, with sad expressions on their faces—hidden so that the other boy couldn’t see.  The title of the book was ‘The Devil Doesn’t Bargain’.  “Cool!” Team said excitedly.  “A new horror story!”

 

“It’s not a horror story,” Namfon said with a scowl.  “What on earth gave you that idea?”

 

“The title!” Team retorted.  “The Devil Doesn’t Bargain.”

 

“It’s a BL, Silly!  I have it…well, not this copy, but my own copy, at home.  I think this one is my favorite BL ever!”

 

“What’s a BL?” Team asked, looking at the picture to see if he could get a clue.  She was right though.  There was no sign of devils, demons, or even a monster.  It was just these two sad-looking guys.

 

“BL stands for boy love,” Namfon explained.

 

“Boy love?”

 

“A gay romance book,” Namfon clarified.

“A gay one?  Wow.  I didn’t know there were such things.  Every romance book I’ve ever seen was for straight people,” Team said.

 

Namfon nodded, “Yeah, that’s the way the world used to be, but it’s changing now.  There are even GL, Girl Love, stories too!”

 

“I’m surprised that you would read a…what was it called?  A BL story?  Because you don’t like guys.” Team challenged.

 

“I like love though.  Plus, I read pretty much anything that catches my attention.  And, like I said, this one is probably my favorite one.  I really think you will like it.”

 

Team shrugged, “Aside from homework, I really don’t have much to do.  I might give it a read.  Thank you!”

 

“Mine next!” Jai exclaimed, reaching into the box and pulling out a bag.  “I didn’t have time to shop in Bangkok, so I had to stop in Rayong today to pick you up something.”

 

Team shook his head, “You didn’t have to!  None of you had to bring me gifts!  I’m just thrilled to see all of you here!”

 

Jai blushed, “Oh hush!  Of course we came to see you!  The last time we saw you, you were still weak and pale.  I, for one, can see a marked improvement!  I’m glad we can stop fretting about you and get on with our lives,” he joked, then said, “Open it up!”

 

Team could tell by the feel of the bag that it also contained a book.  He knew that they knew he wouldn’t be up to doing much of anything that took much movement.  Books did seem like a logical gift.  He reached into the bag and pulled out the book.  It was a collectable book about the Rayong Nightjars.  Team gave a loud laugh, “Where did you buy this?”

 

Jai blushed again, “We stopped by the stadium’s gift shop on our way here.”

 

“A Cormorant fan buying a Nightjar team book?”  Team was almost doubled over with laughter, “That must have stung!”

 

Jai nodded, “Yeah, little bit…little bit.  But, as awful as you are, I guess you are still worth a few moments of my humiliation!”

 

Team managed to stifle his laughter a bit.  “Are you coming over here tomorrow to watch the game?”

 

“Of course!  Wouldn’t miss it!  You know how much I love juice and rice cakes with my football games.  It doesn’t feel right if I don’t have them!” Jai joked.

 

“You know how much I appreciate this gift, right?  I know it cost you more than money to get it for me.” Team said and leaned forward with his fist extended.  Jai met Team’s fist with his own as they fist bumped.

 

“Well…that was touching,” Mali said jokingly.  She reached into the box, pulled out a bag, and handed it to Team.  “This is from me.”

 

Team felt the bag and was glad to find that it didn’t contain another book.  As it was, he was doomed to be spending a lot of time with books for the next two weeks.  He reached in and pulled out a small, stuffed Scooby Dog plushy.  It had a cast on the same leg as Team’s.  “Oh wow!  Mali!  Where did you find this?  It’s so cute!  Look, he has a cast on the same leg as mine!”

 

Mali giggled, “I know Team!  I put it there.  I bought the Scooby in a small toy store near the hospital the day of your surgery.  Then, I made his cast out of gauze and a bit of plaster of Paris.”

 

“You made it!” Team exclaimed and saw that Namfon and Jai looked as surprised as he felt.

 

Mali nodded, “Remember last year when I took the electives so that I could beat Namfon’s GPA?” She paused and looked at Namfon, “Thank you again for agreeing to that!”  When Namfon patted her arm, Mali looked back at Team, “I always liked arts and crafts when I was little, but as I got older…I spent all my time studying, so I forgot about how much I liked it.  Anyway…my electives were in the arts, and since then…sometimes I do a bit of crafting here and there.  It helps me to cope better with stress.  So…long story short…that’s how he ended up with a cast on the same leg as yours.”

 

“Mali!” Namfon said softly, “You are so talented!  I never knew that about you!”

 

“Me either,” Jai said.

 

Mali smiled, “I guess I am just a woman of mystery!”

 

“I love him, Mali!” Team gushed, “I really, really love him!  And I will take very good care of him.”  Team carefully placed the Scooby stuffy on his bedside table.  He pulled some tissues out of their box and folded them into a tiny pillow, which he placed under Scooby’s cast to keep it propped up.  They all laughed at how cute it looked.

 

“Okay,” Namfon said as she reached into the box, “Here’s the last one!”  She handed the bag to Team.  “It’s from P’Win.”

 

Team looked down at the bag and felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and a prickling sensation in his armpits.  His stomach gave a big, uncomfortable flip.  He momentarily flashed back to the moment where he pulled the bag from the shelf the day that Win had gone away.  He had to restrain himself from throwing it on the floor.  “What is it?” he asked.

 

Namfon grinned, “It’s something he said you will need.  Especially since what happened after stage two of our plan the other night in the hospital.”

 

Team frowned in confusion.  It was like Namfon was speaking in code and he didn’t have the answer key.  “What?  What does that mean?”

 

She giggled, “Just open it, Scooby!”

 

Team could see that his hands were trembling a bit as he reached into the bag.  He hoped no one else noticed.  He felt something big, heavy, and made of glass.  He took a good grip on it and pulled it from the bag.  It was a scented candle.  Someone, presumably Win, had also placed a strip of tape on it to hold a candle lighter on it.

 

“Do you get it now?” Namfon asked.  “P’Win told us that when your mom came back into your hospital room after stage two the other night, she smelled the onions and thought it was your hygiene!”

 

“That was so hilarious!” Jai said while laughing.  “Mali and I could barely keep straight faces!”

 

Team laughed with them.  “You?  What about me?  And P’Win was no help!  He told her he smelled it on me too but hadn’t wanted to mention it!  She made me take my shirt off and she tied it up in a bag.  Once we got back here at home, she took it out of the bag to soak it and…it was like a miracle…there was no onion smell!”

 

“P’Win said this should help hide the smells of your snacks from your mom,” Namfon said while still laughing.

 

Team turned a bit to place the candle on his nightstand and midway there, he decided to check the bottom to see what the scent of the candle was.  There was one—he wasn’t sure what it was—kind of smelled like a mixture of coconut, coffee, and caramel, that made him sick when he smelled it.  Any other kind he was fine with.  He read the sticker on the bottom and would have dropped the candle if it hadn’t been for Jai’s quick reflexes.

 

“Whoops!” Jai said as he caught the candle.  “I’ve got it!”  Jai placed the candle on the nightstand beside Mali’s Snoopy.

 

“Thanks,” Team said quietly.  “I almost dropped it.”

 

“Well…I think that’s understandable,” Mali was quick to defend him.  “After all, you just had surgery a few days ago.  You’re bound to still be a bit weak.  Don’t fret about it!”

 

Team gave her a slight nod, “Thank you, and I promise not to fret about it!”  But he was fretting.  Not about his presumed weakness in almost dropping the candle, but the reason he had.  When he read the label on the bottom of the candle jar, the fragrance was listed as jasmine. Jasmine!  How…why?  Was that some kind of weird coincidence that Win just happened to buy him a freaking jasmine candle, or was it on purpose?  Could Win actually remember that Team’s favorite flower was jasmine?  Team shook it off.  He decided it had just been a coincidence.  Weird, but not terribly so.  Jasmine was a popular candle scent and Win probably just grabbed a candle without even reading the label.  Team felt better about it.

 

“Some detective you are, Scooby!” Namfon said in a scolding tone.

 

Team frowned at her, “Why?  What did I miss?”

 

Namfon turned her back to him.  She looked over her shoulder and said, “Don’t you notice anything odd?”

 

He scanned the back of her and didn’t find anything out of place.  “No, you look the same as you always do.”

 

“Exactly!” she said with a nod and then turned around to face him.  “I…well, actually, all three of us, look the same as we always do.  Like when we meet on campus during the day, or after school for our study group.  But, ask yourself this…why do we need our backpacks now?  A little impromptu study break?”

 

Mali giggled as she took off her backpack and handed it to Namfon.  “I’ll watch the door,” she said.  She hurried over to it and opened it a crack and peered out.

 

Jai put a finger to his lips and said, “Shh!”  He pulled his backpack off his shoulders and unzipped it.  He reached inside and began pulling out small bags of potato chips.

 

Team put his hand over his mouth to hold back a shout of happiness.  Namfon unzipped her backpack and started pulling out different snacks and when she finished, she opened Mali’s backpack and unloaded even more goodies.

 

Jai whispered, “We decided that it wouldn’t be feasible to bring you any colas because you have no way to keep them cold.  Do you want us to put these under your bed?”

 

Team, with his hand still over his mouth, nodded vigorously.  He lowered his hand and whispered, “You guys did way too much for me!  But I appreciate it so much!”

 

Namfon gave a quiet giggle, “P’Win told us that you had some snacks packed from your dorm room, but they weren’t enough to last YOU two whole weeks.  Anyway, this was his idea.”

 

Team felt kind of off-balanced hearing that, but as he thought about it…it did make sense.  His friends had been around him through other surgeries and hadn’t brought him snack foods.  Team felt like it was so odd though—how suddenly it seemed like everything in his life lately was tinged with Win in some form or another.

 

“Are you about done over there?” Mali whispered.

 

“Yeah, is somebody coming?” Jai asked from his place on the floor where he was shoving the last of Team’s treats under the bed.

 

“No, I’m just getting bored standing here,” she answered.

 

Team realized he still had the bag that the candle had been in on his lap.  He picked it up to put it in the box that his friends had brought, when he felt a slight bit of weight at the bottom.  Something else was in that bag.  Something small.  Instinctively, Team reached up and felt for the necklace.  He found it securely latched around his neck.  He didn’t want to find out what was at the bottom of that bag.  He felt a superstitious dread of it.  But he took a deep breath and plunged his hand into the bag and pulled out…two rolls of breath mints.  Team sighed in relief that it wasn’t something…well, he didn’t want to even think about that time.  He slid the rolls of breath mints into his robe pocket.  He knew they would come in handy if his mom happened to come into his room after he had been snacking.

 

Hours later, long after his friends had gone home to see their families, and Team’s parents had gone to bed, Team was bored.  He kept checking his phone to see if Than was online.  Each time being disappointed.  And worried.  He had hoped that Than would wake up, feeling much better, and they could text or play a game.

 

Since he had been so bored after his friends left, he hadn’t been able to find anything to watch or play on his computer that interested him.  He had picked up the book that Namfon brought him and had been reading it while snacking on a couple of bags of chips.  He had laid the book down to check again for anything from Than, but he looked over at it and shook his head in disgust.  That thing was thicker than “War and Peace”.  And the plot was so obvious, and in Team’s opinion, it was ridiculous.  Boy A liked Boy B, Boy B liked Boy A, but for some stupid, made up reason, they were both afraid to admit it to the other one.  Team had to shake his head again.  It was implausible.  People, especially guys, didn’t act like that.  If it were based in reality, the whole story would be told in the first chapter.  Just like…one guy would say to the other one, “Hey, I kind of like you,” and the other guy would say, “Yeah?  I kind of like you too.”  The End.  Team snorted, but not in this clunker of a book.  It just went on and on with silliness that would never happen in real life.

 

Team reached over and picked the book back up, “You dumbasses just need to talk to each other!”  Team reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the rolls of mints.  He opened the roll and put one of the mints in his mouth.

 

He thought about Than some more.  He thought about how Than had forgotten that the football game was on Sunday and had said he hoped that Team’s team won.  Team had to smile at that.  Than was so nice.  Here Than was, feeling super sick, and he still wished for Team to be happy about a football game.

 

But, of course the game was the next day.  His friends were coming over to watch it with him and his parents and he was looking forward to it.  He thought about how funny it was the other night when he and Win were on the same page about the Nightjars.  And how Win was glad about the game being on Sunday instead of Saturday because he would be able to watch it.  Couldn’t watch it on Saturday because of a family party celebrating his birthday.

 

Team’s mind went back to a birthday party in the past, when Team had given Win a tee-shirt of a local band that Win hated.  It was so funny to watch Win pretending to be happy with the gift and how only he and Team knew how much he hated them.  And then Team had gone into the other room and had sent the text that said “Shelf” on it.  And the look that Win gave him when he got the message!  It was pretty cool.  And that was the year that he had given Win the paint brushes because he wanted to start painting with acrylics.  Team had had a rough time about getting the money together to buy those brushes, but at the last moment, he had found a way.

 

Team chewed on the mint in his mouth and then he became aware of what he was doing.  He swallowed hard, almost choking on a sharp piece of mint.  He had been…ewww…he had been reminiscing about the past.  That was disgusting!  And he couldn’t even blame the medicine because he hadn’t taken any.

 

He looked over at the lit candle and realized that was the culprit!  It was the smell of the jasmine that had caused his mind to play tricks on him!  He grabbed the candle and blew it out.  He picked up his phone again and checked, but still nothing from Than.

 

He found his place in the BL novel and went back to his reading.  Although he thought the story was stupid, he kind of wanted to know how it ended.  And he was still a long, long way from the end.

Chapter 31

Team closed the door and leaned his back against it with a sigh.  It had been a very long day.  He and his parents had arrived back in Bangkok early in the morning.  They had spent most of the day in the hospital, getting tests and x-rays on his ankle, and then waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the results.

 

Eventually they got the results of the tests back and the doctors had been very pleased with Team’s recovery from the surgery.  They had removed his cast for the tests, and instead of putting on a new one, he was put into a removable boot.  Team had been very excited, however…the doctors had insisted that he must still use his crutches.  No weight on the ankle for at least two more weeks.  Inwardly Team thought it was ridiculous that he still had to use the crutches.  All the pain, aside from a faint achy feeling from time to time, had gone away and after his past surgeries on his ankle, as soon as the boot had gone on, he had been allowed to stop using the crutches.  He sighed with resignation.  He was determined to follow the doctors’ orders exactly.  He hadn’t before—he should have listened when he was told to keep the plate in, but he had doctor shopped until he found one to remove it—and he hadn’t even followed that doctor’s orders about keeping on the boot cast; he had stopped using it weeks before he was supposed to because he didn’t want to be seen wearing it.  He hadn’t done physical therapy either.  And it was because of his stubbornness that he was in the spot he was in.

 

He shook off his regrets and looked around his room.  Funny how at some point he had begun to think of his dorm room as his home.  But it kind of was now, and he was glad to be back.  After spending the day at the hospital, he and his parents had gone to the mall.  In search of a bookstore, Team remembered with a grin.  When his mother had finished the last chapter in her book, she came to the realization that it was part one of a trilogy, and she had been furious.  She complained bitterly that had she finished reading the book in the hospital, instead of waiting to go home, she would have been able to pick up the other two books in the series before returning to the village.  The village did have a bookstore, but it was tiny and mainly catered to an older clientele—and there wasn’t much call for historical romances among their regular customers.  They offered to order the books for her but said that it might take weeks for them to arrive.  She thanked them but said not to bother with ordering the books.

 

So after leaving the hospital she had instructed her husband to drive them immediately to the mall so that she could buy the other two books.  After she had purchased them, they went to a small, family-style restaurant and had a late lunch. 

 

Team had been ready to go back to his dorm room then, but his mother insisted on going to the grocery store and getting him all stocked up.  She explained to him that anything he had had fresh in his refrigerator at the time he went to the hospital, wouldn’t be fresh now.  He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he basically lived off canned, frozen, and prepackaged food—he never even went down the fresh food aisles when he shopped.

 

She loaded the shopping cart with bags of fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, whole grain bread, and of course…rice cakes.  Team was stunned by the amount of stuff she put into the cart.  Not even he could eat that much food in the short amount of time that he had before they expired.  He started to object, but caught a glimpse of his father, who shook his head at Team.  Then Team understood.  His mother was still worried about him, and since he wouldn’t be at home for them to take care of, buying him tons of healthy food was her way of taking care of him while they were apart.

 

The grocery store visit seemed to take hours, but then finally they left the mall and returned to Team’s dorm room.  Once there, his mother unpacked all the groceries and put them away, and then she changed the sheets and pillowcases on Team’s bed.  He was glad for the help because he definitely wasn’t going to sleep on those sheets.  He had withered around, crying and sweating from pain, on those sheets just 14 days before.  It really hadn’t been very long, but in Team’s mind it seemed like years.

 

When he had been in the hospital, on the video call with Win, he had seen a huge cobweb canopy on the ceiling above his bed.  He looked up and pretended to just notice it.  He called it to his parents’ attention, and within only a few moments, his dad was busy cleaning his ceilings.

 

After all the work was done, his parents stalled around for a while, chatting about nothing much, but seeming to be reluctant to leave.  Finally, his dad took a peek at his watch and told his wife the time.

 

It was a two-hour drive back to the village, and they both had to go to work the next morning, so they decided it was time to leave.

 

Team had to reassure his mother (numerous times) that he would be riding back to the village on Friday with his friends.  He also had to convince her that he was fine and could take care of himself now.  If he had any problems, Jai lived in the same dorm building and would definitely come to help him.

 

She made it very clear that she wasn’t happy about leaving him in his room, all alone, but eventually, with Team and his dad working together, they managed to convince her to go.

 

Team’s smile grew as he pushed away from the door and went over to sit on his bed.  He pulled out his phone and used it to make another grocery order.  This time with all the foods that he would actually enjoy eating.  He even paid a bit extra to purchase cold colas instead of the ones they sold at room temperature.  Once the order was completed, they gave him the estimated time of arrival for the delivery, which—since it was late afternoon on a Monday and they weren’t busy, was going to be within a short time period.

 

Team sighed in anticipation.  He hadn’t had any “good” food since his friends had brought him snacks on their visit.  He had been bored, just lying around in his bedroom, so the snacks hadn’t lasted very long.  And it felt as if it had been years since he drank a nice, cold cola.

 

He checked his phone to see if Than was online.  He wasn’t.  Team assumed that meant the store was busy, and thought how funny it was that a tiny village grocery store would be busy on a late Monday afternoon but a full-sized grocery store in Bangkok was having a slow period.  But as he thought about it, it made a certain amount of sense.  In Bangkok there were plenty of places for people to shop, but Than’s village only had his store.

 

He got up from his bed and went to his desk where his books were stacked after his dad had unpacked them.  He picked up the smaller book that was laying on top of his textbooks.  It was “The Devil Doesn’t Bargain”, the book that Namfon had given him during her visit to the village.  He shook his head with a tiny snort.  It was the stupidest book he had ever read.  A tiny lapse in communication had led to years of emptiness between the two main characters.  It had taken them up until the last chapter to finally have a talk and clear the air—something that Team thought they could have done hundreds of pages earlier.  And while Team had to grudgingly give some credit to the author for the ending tying up loose threads that he, as a reader, hadn’t noticed.  So…of course he had to go back and read the book for a second time to catch all the slight references that he knew would be handled at the last chapter.  It had been a long two weeks, with nothing but homework to do, so he read it another time…or maybe two.  He turned the book a bit and looked at it.  It definitely didn’t look like a brand-new book anymore.  He started to put it on the shelf with his graphic novels, but then he stopped himself.  He knew that if it was in view, Namfon would comment about its slightly battered appearance.  He didn’t want to answer any questions about whether he had read the book and if he liked it or what he thought, etc., so he put the book into his desk drawer and made sure it was closed.

 

He went into the kitchen and pulled out the bags of fresh fruits and vegetables.  He washed everything and then took them to the table, along with a knife and a couple of platters.  He set to work on cutting them up and placing them on the platters.  He was almost finished when his groceries arrived.  He had the delivery person bring the bags into his room and then he gave a nice tip.

 

As soon as the delivery person was out the door, Team rummaged through the bags and grabbed one of the colas.  He opened it and took several big drinks.  He had paid extra for them to be cold, but traffic must have been bad because the cola wasn’t as cold as he hoped, but it was still wonderful.  Two weeks of water and juice…it made him a lot less picky about a minor thing like temperature.

 

He opened up a bag of chips and shoved some into his mouth.  He chewed as he put the rest of his snacks away.  Then he took his chips and cola with him back to the table and finished making the platters.  Once they were finished, he put them into the refrigerator, tossed his empty potato chip bag into the trash, and grabbed another bag.

 

He checked the time and saw that Jai’s class had probably ended a few minutes before.  He opened the group chat and sent the message:

 

Scooby:  Hey!  I’m back on campus.  My place for pizza and studying tonight?  I’m buying!

Fred:  If you’re buying, count me in!

Daphne:  Me too!  Pick me up, Fred!

Velma:  Sounds excellent!  Glad you’re back, Scooby!

 

Team was smiling as he closed the chat.  He ordered the pizzas and then he set the table.  He used paper plates for the pizza, but for the fruits and vegetables, he used real bowls and plates.  He didn’t actually entertain very often, so he wanted it to look as nice as he could make it.  He put out four napkins (but kept a small stack nearby because one napkin was never enough when you were eating pizza!) and forks.  He didn’t think anyone would need any other utensils, but he wasn’t sure so he left it with just forks.  He sat the fruit and vegetable platters on the counter and put spoons next to them.

 

Namfon arrived first.  She was happy to see him and chatted on and on, pretty much non-stop, about things that had happened with her and Skye and in her classes since he had been gone.  Team couldn’t get a word in edgewise, but it didn’t matter.  He was enjoying just listening to her.  They had kept in touch daily through the chat, but it was the first time they were alone to talk since he had hurt his ankle.

 

He knew that Namfon and Mali often talked about all the juicy gossip on IYKYK, but Team wasn’t interested too much in that stuff.  Namfon didn’t talk much of the gossipy news with him, but she told him lots of stuff about her and Skye that she didn’t share with anyone else.

 

The pizzas arrived, with Mali coming in immediately after.  Namfon and Mali helped him get the pizzas on the counter and poured colas for everyone.

 

When Jai walked in, he was carrying a folding chair with him.  And walking in behind him was Win.  Team hoped the shock didn’t show on his face.

 

“Hi!” Win said, coming up to him.  “I wanted to bring back your plant.”  He held the plant in his right hand.  It looked as if it had grown several inches in the past two weeks.

 

“Is that really mine?” Team asked, “It looks huge!”

 

Win grinned, “Yeah, I fed it and kept it watered, made sure it got lots of sunlight.”

 

“Wow!  What kind of food did you feed it?” Namfon asked coming over to take a closer look.

 

“I have extra if you want some.  I’ll bring it to you tomorrow, okay?” Win asked her.

 

“Really?!  Thanks!  My poor little plant needs it!” Namfon gushed.

 

“P’Win?” Mali asked, “Would you have enough for me, too?”

 

Win smiled and nodded, “Sure, Mali!”

 

Team left them and went over to Jai who was putting the chair at the table.  Jai spoke in a whisper, “I hope this is okay.  I was talking to him when you sent the message about having pizza here tonight.  I’m afraid I mentioned it to him, and he…well…I thought it would be okay to invite him too.”

 

Team gave a small lift with his chin.  “It’s cool.  But why was he talking to you?  Something up?”

 

Jai shook his head, “Nah, we talk sometimes now.  He seems nice.  I don’t know…I know he’s caused some crap with you though, so I wasn’t sure if it was okay…I didn’t know…” he finished with a shrug.

 

“No, it’s okay if you like him.  Some people do.  No accounting for taste, I guess,” Team said with a sniff, but then gave Jai a smile to soften how sharp his words had sounded.  “Honestly, I mean it.  It’s okay with me if you are friends with him.”

 

“Do you still hate him?” Jai leaned closer to whisper the question.

 

Team nodded.  He looked over at Win, chatting happily with Mali and Namfon.  Then he shrugged.  “Sometimes I do.  Sometimes I just dislike him intensely.  But that’s between me and him.  It shouldn’t keep anyone else from liking him.  And it looks like everyone else already does.”

 

Jai looked at the trio and then back at Team, “Yeah, we all do, but you are more important.  If you say not to be friends with him, we won’t.  You know that we love you and respect your feelings.”

 

Team gave him a small smile.  “I would never tell my friends who they can be friends with.  And like I said, this mess is between the two of us.  I don’t think either one of us need cheerleaders, so I am sure that I can safely say that we would never ask any of you to pick sides.”

 

Jai quickly shook his head, “No, you are taking this too seriously.  P’Win is a bit like Kwan to us—you know?  Like we like him, but he isn’t actually a part of us.  The four of us are a unit.  P’Win and Kwan are outside that.”

 

“Okay, if that’s the case then of course it’s fine if he hangs around occasionally.  As long as we four stay the core and no one else gets in unless we all agree.”

 

Jai nodded, “I agree with that, and I know the others will too.”

 

Team moved towards the refrigerator.  Jai hurried over, “What do you need?  I’ll get it!”

 

“We’re going to need another glass of cola.”

 

Jai nodded and poured a glass full and brought it to the table.  He said it down in the place in front of the chair he had placed at the table.

 

“Okay!” Team called to the others.  “I’m going to start eating now.  If you aren’t at the table before I finish eating all the pizza, that’s on you!”

 

They were laughing as they hurried over to the table.  Team sat down in his place, and took the bowl, plate, and fork and placed them in the spot next to his…which was Win’s place at the table.

 

“What’s that for?” Win asked.

 

“I made a couple of platters…fruit in one, vegetables in the other…to go along with the pizza,” Team answered.

 

“But what about you?” Win asked, trying to return the things to Team’s place.

 

Team held up his hand to stop Win.  “I just came back from spending two weeks at home.  I have eaten orchards of fruit and farms full of vegetables.  What I am lacking in nutrition is lots of greasy, fatty foods!  And besides…I know you aren’t really a fan of pizza, or really any foods from the West.  At least this way you’ll have something to eat.”

 

Win grabbed a big slice of pizza and put it on his paper plate.  “Are you kidding me?  I’m not that picky anymore.  I’ll eat any food that’s free!”

 

Since they were all scholarship students, they all could understand that, so they laughed at Win’s statement.  Win’s laughter joined in with theirs and for a brief moment—a flicker really—there and gone before Team could analyze it, he had a thought.  Having Win at the table didn’t feel the same as it did when it was Kwan.  It felt more…real, or maybe it was natural?  Team didn’t understand it, and he lost the thought as a conversation began about how expensive it actually was to live on campus.

 

After they finished eating, they all worked together to clean up the mess and wash the dishes.  Jai even took the trash downstairs to the trash bins.  Then everyone resumed their seat at the table and took out their textbooks and began to study.  Team didn’t really need to do homework.  He had finished all of his assignments that he had been given for the time off, plus he had worked ahead for all of his classes.  Even the classes he hated.  With a sigh, he opened up the textbook for Wednesday’s class and read through the discussion questions at the end of the chapter.  Since he had gotten a pass on giving the speech, he was determined to join in with the class discussions so that he didn’t get himself into the same predicament again.  He had saved the report he had written and thought at some point during the next seven and a half years, he might be able to use at least a part of it for something—a theme paper, report, or…heaven forbid…a speech.

 

After making notes from the discussion questions, he skimmed the chapter again and wrote down some information in the text.  He had a couple pages full of notes before he got so bored he couldn’t focus any longer and closed the book with a sigh.

 

Win was sitting on one side of him and Namfon was on the other side.  They both looked up when they heard him sigh.

 

“What’s wrong?” Win whispered.  “Are you in pain?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, just bored.  I’m all caught up with my work.”

 

“I’m done too, but not bored,” Namfon said with a grin and waved her phone at him.  He knew she was scrolling the gossip site again.  He grinned and shook his head.  He said in a louder voice that would include everyone, “I’m going to go lay on my bed for a bit.  I can prop up my ankle over there, plus it will give you guys more room to work.”

 

Mali laid down her pencil, “Do you need me to help you get settled?  Fix your pillows…anything?”

 

Team shook his head and smiled at her.  “No thanks, I can do it by myself now.  I’m not in any pain, but I still have to keep it elevated off and on throughout the day.  I’ll be fine…go ahead and do your homework.”

 

She nodded and picked her pencil back up and her eyes went back to skimming her textbook.  Team got up and left the table.  Once he reached his bed, he plopped down on it and laid his crutches on the floor beside his bed.  He stretched out on the bed, propped his ankle up with an extra pillow and fished his phone out of his pocket.

 

He read the long message from Than, telling Team all about his day.  He had already worked his way through the first half of the textbook he had purchased at the library book sale.  He told Team that although the book was reasonably new, he did worry that some things might be outdated, so he spent a lot of time reading about the topics in each chapter on online sites.

 

His dad seemed to be feeling much better lately and Than was glad for it.  And his mother, after the great apricot fiasco had given up on making jam for a while.  Now she was baking cakes and Than sold them to their customers by the slice.  The cake slices were some of the best selling items in the store.

 

Than’s sister had a friend come home with her after preschool.  They had had a lot of fun playing together and now each were in talks with their parents to try to plead their case about having an overnight visit.

 

Than ended with a hilarious fart joke.  Team was laughing over it when he saw a movement from the corner of his eye.  He looked up from his phone to find Win standing next to his bed.

 

Win held the graphic novel and English-to-Thai dictionary in his hand.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.  I’m leaving now and I just wanted to return these.”

 

“Did you finish it?” Team asked, sitting up, leaning his back against the headboard.

 

“Yeah!  It was excellent!”

 

Team took the novel from Win’s hand, “Then you have to read the next one!  Keep the dictionary, in case you need it.”  He leaned over and grabbed his crutches and took the book over to his bookshelf.  He put it back into its spot and took down the next one in the series.  He went back to the bed and handed it to Win.

 

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

 

Team laughed, “Sure, it’s my idea!  And you proved you are trustworthy because you returned the first book.  Honestly, I had forgotten all about it.”

 

Win took the book and put it and the dictionary into his backpack, then he zipped it closed.  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked quietly.  “Alone?”

 

Team couldn’t imagine why, but he shrugged and indicated the bathroom with his head.  Win nodded and walked towards it with Team coming along behind him.

 

Once inside, Win shut the door behind Team.  “Thanks,” Win said.  “I didn’t want to say this in front of the others…too embarrassing.”  He reached up and scratched his head, his face began to pinken.  “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry,” he paused for a moment before continuing, “I had two stacks, you know?  That day I was here with your dad, I mean.  One with the books you loaned me and your plant, and in the other pile were things I was putting into a bag for you.  I don’t know how I messed up, and I didn’t even realize it for days…but I didn’t mean to send that dirty outfit to you!  The clothes I slept in that night, I mean.  I was going to wash them and then bring them back, but I accidentally sent them in with your stuff.”

 

“Oh!” Team said with a smile and a shake of his head, “Don’t worry about that!  I just figured you sent the clothes so they could be added into the laundry with my other clothes.”

 

“It was so gross though,” Win said with a shake of his head.  “I got them all dirty and then put them in with your stuff…was it the bag with your books?”

 

“Yeah, but it wasn’t a big deal.  And you didn’t even wear them long enough to get them dirty!” Team assured him.  He thought to himself that if the clothes had been gross, he wouldn’t have worn them.  He felt his face and the tips of his ears getting hot, so he quickly changed the subject.  “You won’t believe this,” he said, with a small chuckle, “That shirt…the one that Mom put in the bag and tied it shut because it smelled like onions, remember?  Well, somehow or another, when she took it out of the bag at home, it didn’t smell anymore.  She was just about to chalk it up to her imagining it…until she remembered that you said you smelled the onions too!  Thanks a lot for that!”

 

Win put his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter, “Sorry!”

 

Team chuckled, “Yeah, you sound sorry!  ‘Sorry’ my ass!”  Then he realized he was joking around with Win.  He didn’t like that and he straightened his back and said, “Well…if that’s it then…” and started moving towards the door.

 

“Yeah,” Win said, “that was all I wanted to say.”  Then, just as Team’s hand was reaching for the door handle, Win asked, “Can you ride your motorcycle with that cast?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, I have to have use of my foot and ankle for the gears.”

 

“How will you get to class?”

 

“The university provides special transportation services for students who have mobility problems.  I signed up for the services today, so I am set.  They will even take me into the city for my weekly physical therapy appointments.  Which reminds me…”  Team leaned his hip against the countertop and dug into his pocket for his wallet.  He got it out, opened it up, and extracted a card.  He gave the card to Win.  “This is the information for my physical therapist.  Her name is Hom, but she doesn’t want to be called P’Hom, it’s ‘Sis Hom’.”

 

“She must still be young then.” Win said, looking at the card, “Why are you giving this to me?”

 

Team sighed, “Because I figured you wouldn’t believe me about what I can or can’t do, so I told Sis Hom to expect you to call her and told her to give you whatever information you need.”

 

Win gave a slight nod, “You’re right, I wouldn’t believe you.  I’m not calling you a liar though.  You just handle pain better than most people so…yeah, it’s good to have an expert that I can ask.  Thanks for this,” he looked back down at the card.  “Is she pretty?”

 

Team thought about what he had heard about ‘one-night-Win’ and hoped Win wasn’t planning on making Team’s physical therapist his next victim.  But…it didn’t really matter.  She couldn’t hold whatever Win did against Team.  That would be unethical.  Probably illegal too.  He shrugged, “Yeah, she’s pretty.  And yes, she’s young.  Probably just graduated within a year or so.”

 

Win looked up and grinned at Team, “Well…that will make the sessions better, won’t it?”

 

Team shrugged, “I don’t know, it depends.  Sometimes it is better to have a younger person because they are fresh out of school and up to date on new treatments and such.  But there is something to be said about working with someone who is older and more experienced.”

 

“Uh-huh, ‘working with’, I hear ya,” Win said with a grin.

 

Team shook his head, “I don’t think you do, actually.  I don’t care who it is, how old they are, or what they look like…what I am interested in is having someone who can help me get out of this cast and back on my own two feet.”

 

Win frowned and then nodded his head, “Yeah, I understand.  All work, no play.  That’s smart.”

 

Team nodded, “Okay then…if we’re finished…”

 

“You’re coming to the pool tomorrow, right?  For our regular Tuesday session?”

 

“I hadn’t planned on it,” Team admitted.  “I can’t get into the pool…”

 

“I know, but we usually spend half the session watching swimming videos…I figured we could spend the entire session on Tuesdays doing that until you are able to go into the water.”

 

“Oh…well, okay.”

 

“And during the regular club meeting days, you can come ride the bench.  I’ll put you to work, timing the guys or keeping records…stuff like that,” Win said.

 

“Yeah, I figured you would tell me to come to the regular club meetings, but I didn’t expect the special sessions to continue.  But sure, if you think watching videos will help, I’ll do it.”

 

Win nodded, “Yeah…I think they’ll help.  So, I’ll see you tomorrow then.  Oh!  I don’t know if you saw…you were talking to Jai at the time, but I put your plant next to the window.  To give her some sunlight.  It’s a better place for her than on your desk.”

 

Team laughed, “Her?”

 

Win laughed, “She is definitely a girl!  A very feminine, elegant lady.  Didn’t you know that?”

 

Team shook his head, “Just looks like a plant to me.”

 

They left the bathroom and Win called ‘goodnight’ to the others and left.  Team laid back down on the bed and scrolled on his phone for a while, until Than was finished with the customers in the store.  His friends finished studying and they talked for a bit before leaving.  Once they were gone, Team spent the rest of the evening playing the Zombie Killer game with Than.

 

That night he had the dolphin dream again.  When he wrote it down the next morning, it was the same as the others had been lately.  Clomping around on the deck of the boat, asking the dolphin what to do, and getting no answer.  Team shut the dream journal with a sigh.  For a while the dream had been progressing like a sequential story, but now it seemed to be stalled in the same spot, playing over and over in a loop.

 

After school that day, one of his friends from class drove him over to the pool.  He was glad for it.  That morning, he had ridden on the special bus to the Legal Studies building.  He had been the only passenger.  The driver’s name was Paitoon, and he had complained to Team all during the drive.  He had told Team all about his son, who had gotten a great job in Japan but didn’t visit often.  And he never sent money home.  Paitoon was full of bitterness and anger.  Team privately thought that was probably why Paitoon’s son never wanted to come home.

 

Win was standing outside the locker room door as Team got out of his friend’s car.  Win hurried over to him.  Team reached into his shirt and pulled out the necklace.  “See?  I have it on!” he said angrily.

 

Win laughed and reached for the straps of Team’s backpack.  “I’m glad you do, but that wasn’t why I came over.  I wanted to help you carry your backpack.”

 

Team frowned, “I can do it!”

 

Win nodded, “Yeah, I can see that.  However, I can’t in good conscious allow you to while you are on crutches.”

 

Team scoffed but allowed Win to remove the bag from his shoulders.  “I carried it all day today in school and it didn’t kill me!”

 

Win looped the straps of Team's backpack over his shoulder and said, “But if you were a Business major, we would be in the same facility, and I would have done it for you.  Let’s go inside now.  It’s hot out here.”

 

Team sputtered, trying to think of something to say, but words failed him, so he just walked beside Win to the door.

 

Team’s mind boggled with what Win had said.  Or actually only hinted at, but Team knew what he meant.  Win was reminding him that they had always planned both of them going into Business studies.  Team had changed his mind during the time they were apart, and Win had just gotten a tiny dig in about the change.

 

Win led the way through the locker room and then into the office.  “Here, I got a place for you set up!  See!  A comfy chair to sit in, and the wooden one for your ankle.  I know it’s not comfortable, so I brought in some towels to make a cushion.”  He gestured to a huge stack of folded towels on the desk.

 

“That’s nice, but not necessary…” Team began.

 

“Of course it is!  We will be sitting for two hours!  Your ankle will get tired.”

 

“I’ve kept it down all day in class,” Team corrected.

 

“Exactly!  So now you can rest it!”  Win said with a decisive nod.  “Go on, sit down!”

 

With a sigh, Team sat down in the comfortable chair and Win hurried over with some of the towels.  “Let’s get you all situated so I can start the video.”  He put a few towels down.  “Try that and let me know if you need more.”

 

Team propped his ankle up on the stack of towels.  “Um…maybe just one more?”

 

Win carefully picked up Team’s ankle, put another folded towel down, and then lowered Team’s ankle onto it.  Team had to squelch the sigh that wanted to be emitted.  His ankle hadn’t actually hurt, but it, and the rest of his lower leg, did feel very tired from the weight of the cast.  Propping it up had given him a feeling of relief.  He looked at Win and nodded, “Thanks, it’s good now.”

 

“Good!” Win said as he hurried back towards the desk.  “We can get started now.”  He went to the computer that was on the desk and pushed some buttons to project the video onto the TV.

 

Team startled when he heard music playing.  Usually they heard the voice of the announcer for the swim competition and crowd noises.  He looked at the TV and saw the title come up.  It was “The Ghost of Sapphire Lake”.  He blinked in confusion.  He turned to look back at the desk to let Win know he had made a mistake, but instead, he saw a grinning Win carrying two large boxes of movie popcorn.  He handed one to Team and put the other one next to the comfy chair beside Team, then he went back to the desk to retrieve two extra large colas.

 

“What are you doing?” Team asked when Win took the seat next to him.  “I thought we were going to watch swimming videos.”

 

Win had a handful of popcorn, and he put it into his mouth before pointing to the screen.  “It’s a camp on a lake.  Somebody will swim in it, I’m sure.” His voice sounded muffled because of the popcorn in his mouth.

 

Team could feel the warmth of the popcorn through the box and knew it was freshly popped.  The smell was unmistakably that of real theater popcorn—not the fake kind you make in the microwave.  “How did you get this?” he asked, holding up the popcorn box.

 

Win sighed, “Are you going to talk all through the movie?”  He shook his head, “I ran down to the theater on the corner, bought a ticket, went inside to the concession stand and bought stuff for us and brought it all back.  Now hush!  Something is watching that couple from the bushes!”

 

Team turned his attention to the TV.  He nibbled at the popcorn for a few moments and then turned to look back at Win.  “You HATE ghost movies!  They give you nightmares!”

 

Win nodded.  “Yep, but you love them.  So are you going to watch it or not?”

 

Team nodded and looked back at the TV.  Win got up and went to the desk.  Team could hear him opening a drawer and then pushing it closed before returning to his seat.  He tapped Team’s arm with something.

 

Team turned and saw a giant box of miniature, chocolate covered mints.  He grinned as he snatched them away from Win’s hand.

 

“Are they still your favorite?” Win asked.

 

Team nodded vigorously as he opened the top of the box and poured out a few of the mints into his palm.  He tried to hand the box back to Win, but Win shook his head.  He held up a box of chocolate covered peanuts to show Team, and Team nodded.  Those had always been Win’s favorite movie snack.

 

Team turned his attention back to the movie and was soon lost in it.  Sitting in a comfortable chair, eating his favorite movie snacks, and watching a great movie.  He felt happy and contented.

 

Near the ending, there was a jump scare.  The ghost had been nowhere in sight but was suddenly filling the entire screen with its face distorted in a silent scream of rage.  Team jumped violently and Win let out a squawk and grabbed Team’s arm.  He buried his face into Team’s neck.  Team had to chuckle.  He thought, ‘some things never change’, but then his mind quickly reminded him that they do.  This man, sitting next to him in the dark, with his face hidden from the ghost was also the same person who had plunged a knife right into Team’s back by driving away from him and cutting all contact.  No matter how much candy coating he was wearing, Win was still a piece of shit.

 

Team felt revulsion and would have probably pushed Win off of him but Win peeked at the screen and saw the ghost was gone, so he sat back up on his own.  Team, after remembering how he had referred to Win as a piece of shit with a candy coating, found that he no longer had a taste for the remaining mints that he had been eating so happily before.  He closed the box and put it on the floor.

 

After the movie ended, Win grabbed a small trash bag and gathered up the boxes and cups they had used.  He picked up the mint candy box and shook it.  The mints rattled around in the space, so he showed Team the box.  “Do you want me to put them in your backpack for you?”

 

“Uh…sure, yeah, thanks.  I forgot I didn’t finish them.  I got feeling a bit full,” he lied.

 

Win laughed, “Well, knowing you…you will be hungry again in about ten minutes.  These will be good to snack on while you are waiting for food.”  Win unzipped Team’s backpack a few inches, dropped the box into the opening, and then zipped it back up.  He picked up the bag of trash, “I’ll be right back!”  He hurried out of the room.

 

Within a few moments, Team could hear the sound of an aerosol can being sprayed.  Win walked into the room and sprayed a good bit of some cloyingly sweet, artificial floral smelling, room spray.  He opened up a window, and then picked up a manila folder from the desktop and began waving it towards the window.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Win laughed, “Well…technically…it’s against the rules to have any kind of food in this building.  Popcorn is a bit fragrant, so I am trying to get rid of the smell.  I sprayed in the locker room too so if someone comes along and smells the spray, they won’t know that it’s to cover up a smell here in the office.”  He continued waving the folder towards the window.  “I had thought about substituting chips for the popcorn, but popcorn and movies go together better.  So…you haven’t said anything.  Did you like the movie?”

 

“Hmm,” Team paused as he thought.  “I did, for most of it.  That ending though.  I mean, come on!  Trapping the ghost in the mirror was cool, but the part about putting it into the old sea captain’s chest, wrapping it in an iron chain, and then dropping it into the lake…yeah, not so much.”

 

“Really?” Win asked in surprise, “Why not?”

 

“Iron?  I mean, hello!  It’s going to rust and dissolve!” Team explained.

 

“Well, yeah, that’s true,” Win agreed, “But that will take decades…maybe even centuries.”  Win shrugged, “The survivors will have a chance to live their lives and probably be long dead before those chains come apart.  The ghost will be a problem for someone else.”

 

Team ran his hand through his hair in frustration.  “Even if that were true about the chains, they put it in a captain’s chest and dropped it into the lake.  You KNOW that some chucklefuck is going to find it someday and get all excited by the chest and open the damn thing!”

 

Win laughed, “Yep!  I bet they will make a sequel and that’s exactly what will happen.  And I do agree about the use of the captain’s chest being stupid.  It’s an interesting thing.  Who wouldn’t open a captain’s chest that they found at the bottom of a lake?  There might be some kind of treasure in it…or even just the chest’s own historical value!”

 

“I wouldn’t open it,” Team declared stoutly.  “Not after seeing this movie!  That ghost was terrifying!”

 

“I KNOW!” Win said with huge eyes.  “I’m going to be having nightmares for a week about that face popping up out of nowhere!  Scared the piss out of me!”

 

Team chuckled, “I thought you were going to rip my arm off!”  But in his mind, he thought about how lucky Win was to only have a dream for seven nights.  Team had been having the weird dolphin dream for seven years!

 

From the doorway came a voice, “Hi Team!  It’s so good to see you again!  I’m glad you are better!”

 

Team turned toward the voice.  He thought, ‘speaking of chucklefucks, and in he walks’.  It was Chaiya, Win’s bestie.  Team had totally forgotten about this guy’s existence.  “Hello Chaiya, yes, I am much better now.  Thank you!”

 

Chaiya came into the room and moved to stand near Win.  “We missed you so much!  Are you coming back to Swim Club tomorrow?”

 

“He is,” Win answered.  “He still can’t be in the water yet, but he can help me, Toh, and Sai keep times for you guys.”

 

“That’s great!” Chaiya said.  “Just having you there will make it so much better.  I’ve been so scared about the upcoming competitions.  I know it probably sounds silly to you though, since you are such a great swimmer!”

 

“Everybody,” Win told Chaiya, “Including super swimmers like Team, everybody gets a bit nervous before competitions…isn’t that right, Team?”

 

Team had looked at the clock on the wall and realized that Jai would be there soon to get him.  He grabbed his backpack and pulled it on and then reached for his crutches.  After he was standing up, he answered, “Yes, that’s true P’Win, everybody gets nervous.”  He looked at Chaiya, “You’re going to do just fine, Chaiya.  Try not to stress about it too much.”  He lied right to Chaiya’s face.  Chaiya was the worst swimmer he had ever seen, and unless he had improved a lot since Team had been gone, Chaiya was going to lose every event in was in.  “I need to get going.  My ride will be here soon.”

 

They told him goodbye and as he was leaving the room, he heard Chaiya ask Win why it smelled like flowers in the building.  Team had to bite back a grin on that.  Win had been right about spraying the air freshener everywhere instead of just in the office.

Outside the building, Team sat down on the bench and leaned his crutches against the trash can.  He had tried to hide his irritation but Chaiya standing next to Win and saying ‘We missed you…” had gotten under his skin.  Who was the ‘we’ in that scenario?  The Swim Club or he and Win.  If he had said it while in the doorway, Team would have assumed he meant the club members.  But moving over to Win before saying it, made him think he meant himself and Win.  Team ground his teeth together.  Chaiya was such an irritating little pissant.  He couldn’t imagine why Win had chosen him to be his best friend.  Obviously Win had no taste.  Team reached up and scratched his head.  He remembered when Win had ‘proposed’ the idea of the two of them being best friends.  Team couldn’t understand why someone like Win would have picked him.  Team bristled at the memory.  He looked over at the spot where he always parked his motorcycle and wished it was there now.  He would hop on it and ride away.  But the last time it had been there, Namfon had been the one who had drove it away.

 

Team broke out into a sweat and looked at the bench.  He reached over and grabbed his crutches away from the trash can and used them to get away from the bench.  He remembered the last time he had sat there…he had been in agony and was out of his mind with the combination of pain and fear.  He looked at the trash can.  The last time he had been near it, he had thrown up everything he had inside.  Then he looked at the doorway of the building and thought about the last time he had been inside there…he had watched a pretty good horror movie and ate some of his favorite snacks.

 

He felt his anxiety weaken as he looked at the door.  He heard Jai pull up behind him, but he took a moment and kept looking at the locker room door as he thought.

 

Win knew Team.  He knew that Team would overthink everything.  That was why he had come out and insisted on carrying Team’s backpack and arguing with him as he got Team into the building.  It was to distract Team from his thoughts so he wouldn’t develop a fear of entering the building.  And the movie was Win’s way of overwriting the last memory that Team had of being there.  He caused Team’s memory of the injury to fade under the new experience of relaxing and enjoying himself there.

 

Team scratched his head again.  But…that was ridiculous.  Win was a horrible person, he would never do something like that just to make Team feel better!  Team knew he was giving Win too much credit for being a decent human being.  Win was evil and selfish and just probably wanted to see the movie but was afraid to watch it alone and he couldn’t let any of his new friends know he was scared of ghost movies.  Team took a deep breath and blew it out and gave a nod of agreement with himself before turning to get into Jai’s car.

 

 

Chapter 32

Wednesday’s class went pretty well.  Team had made discussion notes to refer to and he had used them four times.  After the third time he had spoken, he looked over at his professor.  She gave him a slight nod with a smile.  He saw her make a check in her book… and he assumed it was for him.  She had canceled his speech, so he was going to see to it that he was never assigned another punishment from her.  He watched the other students as they participated in the discussion, and he could see interest in their eyes.  Some of them even seemed to feel very passionate about the subject.  He could tell they were sincerely feeling it, not faking it like he was.  He hated the class, and now even more so since he was going to have to join in with the classroom discussions.  It would mean a lot more work for him to do to make sure he had something to say.  He already spent an inordinate amount of time doing the work for this class and for Monday’s class.  Since he hated them, he had to make sure to do the work for them first before doing homework for Tuesday’s and Thursday’s classes—the ones he loved.

 

Once class was over, he made his way down to the parking lot and found that the school had sent the minibus for him.  As he approached it, the driver lowered a long, gently sloped ramp.  An attendant hurried over to help him up the ramp, but he didn’t need any help.  He was used to using crutches and there were no stairs, so he could do it all on his own.  He didn’t like people fussing over him, and he didn’t want to draw any more attention from the other students in the parking lot.  The ramp was covered with a bright red coating that prevented slips or slides from crutches or wheelchairs.  The brightness of the color didn’t help camouflage the user of the ramp.

 

When they reached the pool parking lot, the ramp was again lowered for him.  He got down it as quickly as he could.  Sai was standing at the locker room door.  “Hey!” he called to Team with a big smile, “Glad you are back!  And you arrived like a king…they rolled out the red carpet for you!”

 

Team felt his cheeks get warm, “Very funny,” he grumbled.

 

Sai laughed at Team’s reaction.  “Seriously…I really am glad that you are back.  And you got here early!  None of the others have arrived yet.”  He stepped a bit to the side to give Team more room to get through the door.  “Win wanted me to tell you to drop off your backpack in your locker and then meet him in the office.”

 

Team stopped moving and looked at Sai, “Did he say why?”

 

Sai shrugged, “Don’t know…but he wasn’t angry, or anything, so you aren’t in trouble.  If that is what you are worried about.”

 

Team shrugged, “Not worried about anything.”  He put his backpack in his locker and then went to the office.  The door was closed so he tapped lightly on it.

 

The door was flung open and Win looked at him in surprise.  “Sorry!  I didn’t think to leave the door open for you.  How did you knock?”

 

Team gave a small shake of his head.  He leaned his body forward, shifting most of his weight onto his armpits, and took a hand off the handle of the crutch, “Like this.  See,” he said, waving his hand around a bit, “I’ve got a lot of skills.  I can do just about anything I have to do.”

 

“Oh!  Ouch!  Doesn’t that kill your pits?” Win asked with a wince.

 

Team laughed, “Not too much.  As long as I don’t have to do it for long.  So…you told P’Sai that you wanted to see me?”

 

“Uh…yeah, come in,” Win said, moving away from the door.  “I’m going to put you to work.”  He went to the desk and picked up a clipboard.  “I use these sheets to make notes on the guys—things they did well, things they need to work on, that kind of stuff.  You have fresh eyes…maybe you can spot something I have missed.  I’ll have the guys do some laps and you can record their times and make any notes that you think apply.  But one thing to keep in mind…we never let them know what their lap times are.”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, I’ve noticed that.  Speaking as one of the swimmers…that sucks!  Why don’t you tell us?  I mean…every other coach has in the past.”

 

Win nodded, “Yeah, I know.  We don’t think it is beneficial in any way.”

 

Team frowned at him, “Uh…yeah, it is!  It gives us a benchmark, so we know what we have to beat!”

 

Again, Win nodded, “See…you actually agree with us!”

 

“No I don’t!”

 

Win sat down at the chair behind the desk, he motioned for Team to take the opposite seat.  Team shook his head and looked at Win impatiently.  Win smirked and shook his head.  “I will give you an example,” Win began, “Suppose there is a swimmer who swam a lap in…oh, I don’t know…let’s say four minutes…”

 

“Four minutes!!!!” Team sputtered, “For one lap?  They certainly wouldn’t be in the Swim Club with a time like that!”

 

Win chuckled, “It’s hypothetical!  Anyway, swimmer A swims a 4-minute lap.  If we tell him his time, he will set his sites on beating that 4-minute mark…”

“And he should!  Four minutes…hell no!”

 

Win continued, “So if his timing drops down to 3.58 minutes, he will be happy.  But…is that the best he can do?  Who knows.  He reached his goal, and he will do his best to maintain it.  That’s not what we want.  We want everyone to reach their true potential, not some random goal.  We want them to keep striving to better themselves each time they get into the water…and believe it or not, it seems to be working in most cases.”

 

“‘Most cases’?” Team repeated but phrased it as a question.  “Am I one of the cases?”

 

Win stood up and picked the clipboard back up from the desk.  He searched around for an ink pen, finally locating one in the drawer, his old click pen.  “You already know that I’m not going to tell you anything.  Foolish to even ask.”  He motioned with his head, “Come on, let’s get you settled by the pool before the guys get out there.”

 

As the Swim Club members entered the pool area, they all rushed over to see Team.  He was happy to see them all, but after a while, he felt a bit overwhelmed by the attention.  Win ordered them to go do their warmup exercises, and Team was glad for the interruption.

 

During the first part of the meeting, the three coaches had the guys swim laps.  Team had to work quickly to get the times written down, before the next group began their turns.  Eventually, after everyone had had two turns, Toh announced that they would hold some races where they would compete against each other.

 

They used up every lane, including the one that was usually reserved for Team’s punishment laps, but not the one at the very end.  Chaiya was assigned to that lane and Win instructed Team to work with him.

 

Win spoke quietly to Team, “Just see if you can come up with ideas on how to increase his speed, or correct his form…whatever you see, okay?”

 

Team gave a tiny nod and then made his way over to the bench that was a few feet away from the edge of the pool, and the lane where Chaiya was swimming.  Team watched him for a while and recorded his times.  He tried to keep his face blank, but it was difficult.  Chaiya’s lap times were the lowest Team had ever seen.  It was almost as bad as Win’s hypothetical swimmer whose time was a 4:00 minute lap.

 

After a while, Team got bored and stopped timing Chaiya.  He looked through the student pages on the clipboard, looking for one with his name on it.  He flipped through the stack twice and didn’t find his page.  He wasn’t really surprised though.  Win wasn’t stupid enough to put Team’s information where he could see it.  He had explained the philosophy of the team’s officers.  None of them were allowed to see their times.

 

He looked up and saw Win on the other side of the pool.  Their eyes met.  Win looked down at the clipboard in Team’s hand and then looked back up into Team’s eyes.  Win quirked his eyebrow and smirked.  Team huffed and turned his head.  He looked over at Chaiya’s lane and noticed his stroke had changed.

 

Team watched him go down the lane, take his turn, and then head back up the lane.  And he saw Chaiya’s stroke change again.  Team suddenly felt as if he knew what the problem with Chaiya’s swim times were.

 

He grabbed his crutches and made his way over to the front edge of the pool.  “Chaiya!” he called.  “Will you come here for a moment?”

 

Chaiya had been swimming back down the lane, but he stopped and swam back to Team.  “Is something wrong?” he asked Team.

 

Team shook his head.  “Not wrong—I just have a question for you.”  Team squatted down in an attempt to sit on the pool rim.  He kind of managed when he extended his casted leg out to the side.  Chaiya hopped out of the pool in an attempt to help him.  Team laughed, “Sorry, I didn’t think it would be that hard to sit down.  Sit down next to me, okay?”

 

Chaiya sat down, dangling his legs in the water.

 

“I noticed that you have an adequate form and speed up here, close to the edge of the pool,” Team said quietly.  “But when you are about a quarter of the way down the lane, your speed drops and your movements become erratic.  Chaiya—tell me something…are you afraid of deep water?”

 

Chaiya shook his head, “Of course not!  I’m a diver!  I am always in deep water!”  He quickly looked around and saw that no one was close enough to hear.  He sighed, “Please don’t say anything…”

 

“I wouldn’t!  I swear!” Team promised.  “It will stay between us.”

 

Chaiya licked his lips nervously, peeked around once again to make sure no one else was there, and said, “I’m not scared when I am diving.  It’s over quickly…you know?  Just down, a few kicks to the surface, and then I make my way to the ladder.  But with laps, it’s different.  I’m always so aware of…”

 

“The fact that it’s over your head?” Team offered.

 

Chaiya turned his head quickly and looked at Team.  “Yes!” he exclaimed quietly.  “How did you know?”

 

“Because that used to freak me out too,” Team admitted.  “When I was first learning to swim, I would think, ‘the water is two times over my head…and now it’s three times!’”  I was scared to death!”

 

“But you’re not now though, are you?”  Chaiya asked and when Team shook his head ‘no’, Chaiya asked, “How did you get over it?”

 

Now it was Team’s turn to look around and make sure no one could hear.  “It might sound dumb because it was just an internal talk to myself, you know?  But..uh…I told myself that the water would only be over my head if I was on the bottom of the pool.  While I’m swimming on top of the water, it’s not over my head.  It’s under me.  And how much water that is under me doesn’t matter.  And then I wasn’t scared of it anymore.”

 

Chaiya stared at Team, unblinking, for a few moments.  Then he nodded slowly.  “I get it,” he said.  He stood up and then leapt into the water.  Team managed to get back up from the edge of the pool after a few attempts.  He grabbed his crutches and went to the side of the pool to watch.  This time Chaiya’s stroke didn’t waver.  He still wasn’t a great swimmer, not by any stretch of the imagination, but his form and speed both were better than they had been.

 

Chaiya reached the end of the pool, made his turn, and started back.  Again, he didn’t waiver and kept his strokes smooth and even.

 

“What the hell?” Win whispered in quiet amazement from behind Team.  Team startled; he hadn’t been aware of Win’s presence.  Win kept his eye on Chaiya, but mumbled to Team, “What did you say to him?  I have been working with him for ages, and he has never done this well!”

 

Team shrugged, “I’d rather not discuss it.”  As the words came out of his mouth, he had to bite back a grin.  To his own ears, he had sounded like Namfon.  “If you want to get the ‘deets’, talk to him—but honestly, I wouldn’t if I were you.  Just be glad he is doing better.”

 

Chaiya was nearing the front of the pool.  Team walked over to meet him there.  “Great job, Chaiya!  I missed timing you on that lap.  Do you think you could do it again?”

 

Chaiya looked up from the water at Team.  He beamed at him.  “You bet I can!”  He climbed out of the pool and took his place at the rim.  At Team’s signal, Chaiya launched himself into the water and Team started the stopwatch.  Chaiya was moving even faster and smoother through the water this time.

 

Toh walked over and stood next to Win and they had a quiet conversation as they watched Chaiya swimming.  Team tried to hear what they were saying, but he couldn’t make out anything.  He gave up after a few moments and just concentrated on timing Chaiya’s return.

 

When Chaiya completed the lap, Win bent down and spoke to him.  Toh came over to Team and took the clipboard.  He looked at Chaiya’s times and then reached over and gave Team a pat on the back.  “I don’t know what you said to him, but it made a huge difference!  Come with me to lane one.  I want you to watch Narong for me.  Maybe see something I haven’t seen that can help him.”

 

“Narong?  But he’s an amazing swimmer!” Team exclaimed in surprise as he walked beside Toh, who had slowed his normal walking speed so that Team wouldn’t have to work hard to keep pace with him.

 

Toh nodded, “He is.  But…I think he could be much faster.”

 

Team gave a slight shrug, “Sure, I can watch him for you.”

 

They made it to the first lane and Toh blew his whistle.  “I want you guys to line up, we’re going to be swimming laps.”

 

Many muffled groans were issued following this announcement.  It was near the end of the club meeting and most of the guys were probably hoping to take it easy, get some free swim time, for the last bit.

 

Narong was the third in line to swim in the first lane.  Team sat on the bench by the lane.  He carefully watched the first two swimmers take their turns so that Narong wouldn’t realize he had been singled out by Toh for Team to monitor.

 

Narong started off the platform flawlessly.  His strokes were quick and precise.  His turn at the end was sharp with a good push off from the wall.  By the time Narong had reached the end of the lap, Team hadn’t detected a single problem.  It was a perfect swim.  He looked at Toh who was looking at Team expectantly.  Team gave him a slight shrug.  He looked at Narong, who had gotten back into the line in order to wait for his next turn.  Then Team saw what the problem was.  Narong stood with his arms crossed.  He looked at the clock and then gave a sigh that was big enough that Team could see it even from a distance.  Team looked at Toh and gave him a nod.

 

Toh hurried over to Team.  “What?  Did you figure it out?”

 

Team nodded, “I think I have P’Toh.  I don’t think Narong has a passion for swimming.  I think he has talent but no drive.  I imagine he is fine with his placement and sees no need to improve.”

 

Toh looked at Team in amazement.  “How do you know all this?”

 

Team shrugged, “I guess because I know the signs.  He looked at the clock—I know that sounds stupid for me to give as a reason, but…it’s not just looking at the clock, it’s the way he looked at it.  I don’t know…I felt like he was looking to see how much longer he had to be here.  Like…he wants it to be over.  I know the signs because I used to be like that.”

 

“You?” Toh asked in astonishment.

 

“Yeah.  For years.  I swam and I did pretty good, but I didn’t like it.  Didn’t care to improve; I was fine where I was.”

 

“Well…what happened?  What changed?  Because you’re nothing like that now!”

 

Team sighed, “I was told, by an evil doctor, that my leg would be useless for the rest of my life.  Water therapy helped me regain the use of it.  So…” Team stopped and shrugged, “Every time I swim, I think about him and I want to prove to myself that he was wrong.”

 

“Oh wow!” Toh said softly.  “I had no idea!  I’m sorry you went through that, Team!  That’s horrible!”

 

Team nodded, “Yeah, it was.  Anyway, the only way that Narong will ever pick up speed is if he finds a reason to.  And honestly…I think that probably won’t happen.  I think he is content where he is.”

 

Toh gave a slight shake of his head in defeat.  “I think you’re right.  His swim times have remained consistent throughout this whole term.  Well, thanks for your help.  I’ll keep encouraging him, but I think I will have to relax my expectations.”

 

Team’s glance happened to go to the last lane of the pool.  Chaiya had climbed out of the pool and was toweling off.  He and Win were deep in conversation.  Win said something and the two of them laughed together.

 

“P’Toh…I was wondering,” Team said, “Do you think it would be okay if I left early?  The school is sending a ride to pick me up, you know… the vans for people who have physical challenges?  Anyway, I would hate for them to have to wait for me…”

 

“Sure Team!  You don’t even need to ask!  Whatever you need to do, you do it!” Toh said sincerely.

 

“Thanks P’Toh!”  Team tossed a quick glance towards the other side of the pool and saw that they were still deep in conversation.

 

“Thank you for all of your help today!” Toh said.

 

“I was glad to help,” Team said, and then he hurried into the locker room.  He went to his locker, opened it, and pulled out his backpack.

 

He went outside and sat down on the bench…although he hated sitting on the stupid thing.  He forcefully pushed the bad memory of the bench aside and reached into his backpack.  He pulled out his phone.  He glanced around quickly, making sure no one else was around, and then he called Student Services.  He told them that he had been dismissed early and was ready to be picked up.  Luckily, they had a vehicle nearby and were there to get him almost immediately.

 

Thursday was a great day for Team.  He had always loved the class, and he had the highest grade in it.  Plus, he had made lots of friends there.  This Thursday was even better though.  This was the day he started his physical therapy.  He knew from experience that it was not going to be pleasant…in fact, it might even hurt a bit…but he believed an old saying of his mother’s, ‘Soonest begun, quickest done’.  Today he would start it, and one day soon it would all be over.  Of course, ‘soon’ was a relative term.  It would still be many weeks, possibly even months, before he was fully healed, but he didn’t let that kill his good mood.

 

But the sight of Win, standing in the hallway outside his classroom killed it.  “What are you doing here?” Team asked.

 

Win laughed, “That’s not very nice!  And here I was, being kind enough to come here and pick you up to take you to your appointment.”

 

“I didn’t ask you to,” Team huffed.  “And I have a ride.  Student Services is coming for me.  Probably already here.  So, I don’t need your help.”

 

Win reached over and pulled on the straps of Team’s backpack, “Let me carry that for you.”

 

Team told him it wasn’t necessary, he carried it all the time, but Win was insistent so eventually Team let Win take it from him.  “Alright,” Win said with a grin, “Let’s be on our way!”

 

“I don’t need you to go with me…” Team began.

 

“I know, you said that.  But you did give Sis Hom my name and told her that I was to be kept in the loop, correct?  I called her earlier and she gave me permission to come to your appointment.  In fact, she is glad for it.  That way she can teach us both the exercises you have to do everyday so I can help you with them.”

 

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Team grumbled under his breath.

 

“What was that?” Win asked with an even bigger smile.  “I didn’t quite catch it.”

 

Team gritted his teeth and then forced a fake smile onto his face, “I just said, ‘fine’.”  He walked over to a spot on the wall and inserted a card into an inconspicuous slot.  An elevator door that was hidden by the façade of wall covering opened immediately.  “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

 

“Oh wow!” Win said, hurrying over.  “That’s cool!”

 

Team got into the elevator, “Not really.  It actually…hey!  What are you doing?”

 

Win had jumped into the elevator before the door closed.  “I’m riding it with you!”

 

“You can’t!  Look!  There is a sign right behind your head!” Team protested.

 

“A ‘sign’?” Win said with derision, “Since when did I ever do what a ‘sign’ told me to do?”  He stopped and sniffed.  “Wait…why does it smell like pee in here?”

 

Team had to bite down hard on the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing.  “I started to tell you that it wasn’t as cool as you thought…before you jumped in here.  I have a feeling that some kids might let their friends use their keycard to piss in here.”

 

The smell was pretty horrible, so Win had his mouth and his nose covered by his hand.  “Why on earth would they do that?!!”

 

Team struggled mightily to keep from laughing.  “I don’t know!  I don’t even know if they actually do that—it’s just a theory.  One thing I do know though…that smell is going to stay inside your nose for the rest of the day.  Everywhere you go, you will still smell it.”

 

“Great!” Win grumbled.

 

A small laugh finally escaped Team, “Well nobody told you to get on the elevator!”

 

When they reached the bottom floor, they stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the main doors.

 

“I can’t wait to get outside and breathe in some fresh air!” Win exclaimed.

 

Team shook his head, “It won’t do any good.  I told you, that piss smell is in your sinuses now.  I think it must be the ammonia in the urine.”  He stopped as he could see the Student Services bus through the glass door.  It was parked at the curb and the driver was standing beside the bus, lowering the ramp.  The driver was Paitoon.  The grumpy man whose son lived in Japan and seldom visited and never sent his dad money—even though, according to Paitoon, the son had a pretty big salary.

 

Team did not want to ride with Win, and he didn’t want to ride with Paitoon.  He actually figured that the lessor of the two evils was…surprisingly…Win.  At least with Win, Team wouldn’t have to listen to him having a pity party for himself.  He sighed, “Okay, fine,” he said to Win, “If you insist on taking me to my therapy appointment, you have to go and tell the driver.  I’ll wait here for you.”

 

Win grinned at Team, “Okay  You’ve got a deal!”  He hurried down the walkway and spoke with the driver.

 

Team watched, and although he couldn’t hear anything that was being said, he could imagine it.  He could tell by Paitoon’s face that he was pissed.  He spoke with Win for quite a while before walking over back to the driver’s seat and pressing the button to retract the ramp.  Win hurried back up the walkway to Team.

 

“Oh my God!” Win said when he reached him.  “That guy is a total asshole!  He yelled at me forever about wasting time for Student Services.  And when I nicely mentioned that he was wasting more of it by yelling at me…somehow that made him even madder.”  Win finished with a laugh.

 

“Did he tell you about his son?” Team asked with a grin.

 

“No, but he mentioned that kids today have no decency; we’re all a bunch of delinquents.  Why?  What’s the story about his son?”

 

They started walking towards student parking.  “Well,” Team began, “He told me all about it on my first ride with him.  He said his son got a very good job in Japan and now seldom comes around and never sends money home.”

 

Win turned around and looked back to where the bus had been but was now gone.  “Well gee…I wonder why.  With such a sweet dad like that it’s hard to imagine being able to stay away.”

 

Team laughed, “Yeah…but I have wondered something about the whole thing.  Like…was Paitoon—that’s the driver’s name, by the way…was he always horrible and that’s why the son is ghosting him; or did he turn awful because his son ghosted him.”

 

“I would bet that he was always horrible,” Win said after thinking about it for a moment.  “The lines on his face are deep and look like he has always had a scowl on his face.  No laugh lines around his eyes though.”

 

“Hey, yeah!  Good catch!  I didn’t even think about that!”

 

“Wait a minute…” Win said, stopping in his tracks.  He peered at Team intently.  “You knew that he was going to bitch at me, didn’t you?”

 

“Well…” Team said hesitantly, “I didn’t exactly know he would, but I knew there was a chance.  But since this was all your idea…and, well…I just had surgery and am still weak…” he let his voice trail off, while consciously opening his eyes wide in an attempt to look innocent.

 

Win stared at him for a moment and then made a click of his tongue.  He shook his head slightly and grinned, “Okay, you win.  Come on, let’s get you to your appointment.”

 

Win opened the car door and tried to help Team into the car, but Team was capable of getting in by himself.  Win put Team’s crutches and their backpacks into the backseat and then got in on the driver’s side.  Team was feeling a bit…discombobulated…by being inside Win’s car again.  He hadn’t given it much thought before sitting down in the seat…but it was such a weird feeling being back in there again.  It was almost like a time capsule…nothing had changed.  It even smelled the same.  Team looked at the rearview mirror and saw the air freshener hanging on it.  It looked like the same one.  Of course it wasn’t, or else the smell would have been long gone, it was just the same design and the same smell.  The seat felt super familiar under him too.  He looked at the belt that was across his chest and he could faintly see a trace of ink from a pen that had leaked in his pocket shortly after Win had bought the car.  Team had felt so bad about it getting on the strap, but Win had shrugged it off.

 

Team’s heart rate began to speed up and he felt almost panicky.  Too many memories were coming up for him of their times together in the car.  He looked over and saw Win pull his keys from his pocket.  Win started the car, but Team could not take his eyes from the keychain.

 

His mind jittered around for a second, until he reminded himself that it wasn’t like a tiny pink pig, or a bracelet with a heart—it had been a practical gift, so of course Win would still be using it.  It wasn’t personal, it was practical.

 

Sunset between two mountains in Chaing Mai.  Team could see it had faint scratches and worn marks on the plastic now.  He assumed that was part of normal wear and tear, from being in use since the day he had come home from Football Camp and had given it to Win.

 

In the past, as soon as they got inside the car, Team would reach over and turn on Win’s playlist.  He didn’t do that now.  They rode in silence.

 

Team’s eyes kept getting pulled back to the keychain.  Chaing Mai.  It made him think about Than.  Team realized that the picture had been taken in a valley, looking up at the mountains.  He knew that Than could see the mountains from his window, he had told the group that the first night when he joined them in the game.  And since that time, Than often spoke to Team about the mountains.

 

Team tore his eyes away from the keychain and looked out of his window.  He watched the scenery go by and thought about Than and Chaing Mai.

 

After a while, Win pushed the button to start his playlist.

Chapter 33

They didn’t speak for most of the journey.  Team stared out his window, lost in his thoughts about Than and Chaing Mai, while Win’s music played.  Team was surprised that Win still had the same playlist, with a few new songs added to it.

 

Suddenly the music stopped.  Win cleared his throat, “Uh…Team?  I think I probably should have asked you this before we started, but…do you have any special problems, or needs, that I should be aware of?”

 

Team frowned, “Just my crutches, but you know about them.”

 

“No…I mean with traveling in a car…because of your accident.  Is there something I should avoid…or…?”

 

“Oh!  No, nothing.  I don’t have any problems with riding in a car,” Team assured him.  “Well…I mean, except…I avoid the road where it happened.  But other than that, I’m okay.”

 

“What road was it?” Win asked quietly.

 

Team shrugged dismissively, “Main, in the village.  At one of the intersections…we had the green light.”

 

“Ugh!  Main!  There is no reason to have those stupid stoplights!  And to have three of them in a row is ridiculous!  I hate that road!”

 

Team nodded, “I know.”

 

“You always hated that road too!”

 

“Yeah, I always have; I hate it even more now.”

 

“Then why were you there?” Win turned his gaze away from the road to look at Team.

 

Team looked at Win scornfully, “Because I wasn’t the driver; I was the passenger.”

 

“Oh.  Yeah, driver picks the roads, I guess.  Who…”

 

“Hey!” Team interrupted, “You need to get into the next lane!  Our turnoff is the next right!”

 

Win signaled and had to wait for a large truck to go by before he could change lanes.  The next place to turn was only a few yards ahead.  “Do I turn here?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“I didn’t realize Sis Hom’s office was located at the hospital,” Win said as he completed the turn and drove slowly through the entrance to the parking lot.

 

“It’s on the side, not the main part.  If you didn’t know where it was…where were you driving us to?”

 

Win shrugged, “I don’t know.  I guess I figured you would tell me, but you didn’t.”

 

Team sputtered, “I assumed you knew.  You said you spoke with her and got okayed to come to the appointment!”

 

“I did!  But we talked about you…not about her location.”

 

Team shook his head.  “Drive down to the last doorway.”

 

Win drove to the end of the parking lot and found a parking spot close to Sis Hom’s entrance.  He hopped out of the car, got Team’s crutches from the backseat, and both of their backpacks.  He went to Team’s door to help him, but Team had already gotten out of the car.  He was using the door and the edge of the car to hold his weight.  He took the crutches from Win and moved away so Win could close the door.  “Why do you have our backpacks?  You could have left them in the car!”

 

Win looked around and then said quietly, “This is Bangkok.  Lots of people around here.  Some might not be averse to breaking into a car.”

 

“For our backpacks?” Team asked incredulously.

 

Win sighed, “Mine wasn’t cheap, and by the feel of yours…I don’t think yours was either.  And textbooks are expensive.  A thief might not get much for them on the black market, but it would cost us a lot to replace them.  And it doesn’t matter…I’ll carry them, you don’t have to.”

 

Win hurried ahead and opened the door to the building.  Team walked in with Win right behind him.  It was a nice waiting room.  Bright and lively, with little plants growing in pots located on tables and shelves on the wall.

 

A receptionist took Team’s name and told him that he would be taken back very soon; Sis Hom was just finishing with a patient.

 

They sat down in a couple of seats to wait.  As soon as the receptionist closed the frosted glass window, Win was on his feet.  He walked around and examined the plants.  Team picked up a magazine and flipped through it.  It was about golf…and he had a mild interest in golf, so he found some articles in the magazine that kept him occupied.

 

After a while, Win sat back down.  “They need watered.”

 

Team pulled himself out of the article and asked, “Who does?”

 

“The plants!” Win answered in surprise.  “They are too dry.  Makes you wonder about a place that can’t be bothered to water their plants.”

 

Team huffed, “I’m sure they employ some kind of service that takes care of them.  You can’t determine the care here with how moist their plants are!”

 

A door opened and Team’s name was called.  They both got up and made their way inside the door.

 

A nurse took them to a treatment room.  She took Team’s vitals and then told them that Sis would be into see them in a moment.

 

When Sis entered the room, she gave Team a smile that was pleasant and professional.  But he watched that smile change when she looked past him and saw Win.  Her face lit up and the smile became more real.  Team watched as her hand went up to touch her hair and then caress her neck as she slowly lowered it.

 

Win had asked Team if she was pretty when Team first told him about meeting her and scheduling his physical therapy with her.  He had said she was, but honestly…he hadn’t really noticed her very much, except in a professional manner.  He had hoped with her being young, freshly graduated, that she might know some strengthening exercises or something that would help him recuperate quicker.  He looked at her more closely now.  She was tall, slender, and she had delicate bones.  Her wrists were slender, and her fingers were long and looked artistic.  Team realized that she was Win's type.  He looked over to see Win’s reaction to her.

 

Win was asking her questions about the exercises that Team would be doing, and she was answering him…explaining her goals for Team’s treatment.  Team hadn’t been listening.  It didn’t really matter though.  He knew she would instruct him when the time came to do the exercises, plus…he had been through all this stuff before.

 

“What do you think, Team?  Does that sound good to you?” Win asked, looking away from Sis Hom.

 

“I’m sorry…I think my mind wandered for a moment,” Team said, more to Sis Hom than to Win.  “Could you repeat it?”

 

She explained to him her exercise plans for him, and her timeline.  He nodded and agreed to everything she said…but he didn’t really agree.  Her plan was going to take months, and Team knew himself better than that.  He knew he would surpass her goals, but he wasn’t going to argue with her.  He would just show her as time went on.

 

She had him get up on an examination table and she removed his boot cast.  As soon as she had it off, Win bent down and examined Team’s ankle very closely.  Team cringed so hard; he was surprised he didn’t turn himself inside out.

 

There was always this…smell…a very unpleasant smell…when the cast came off.  It wasn’t like foot odor, which would be bad enough, but it was different.  A totally different smell than Team associated with his body.  It was a warm, feral kind of smell.  Team imagined it as the same smell of dried urine on the underbelly of some large, furry, wild animal.  It was awful and he hated having that smell on him, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.  And he certainly didn’t want Win’s face to be that close to it.  Even from Team’s position on the table, the smell was pretty overwhelming.

 

“Wow!” Win said, “Your ankle looks so much better!”

 

“Does it?” Sis Hom asked with a smile.

 

“Yeah!  The last time I saw it was right after he had hurt it.  It was swelled up so badly that it looked at least twice the size as it normally does, and the skin was shiny from it!”

 

Sis nodded, “Then yes, I imagine it does look much better now.  If you notice though,” she touched the area near where the surgical incision had been, “Here is still some post-operative swelling.  It’s really not too bad, but still, something we need to be aware of while doing his exercises.  Of course, we will be watching the entire foot and lower leg for swelling, but this area in particular.”  She looked up at Team.  “Do you feel up to starting your exercises today…or would you prefer to wait and start them next week…giving yourself a bit more time to heal?”

 

“No!” Team said a bit louder than he meant to.  He smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, I meant I don’t want to wait.  I want to start today!”

 

She laughed, “Enthusiasm!  I like that!  Okay, so Win, you said you were willing to help him, correct?”

 

“Yes ma’am!” Win answered with a grin.  “Just show me what I need to do!”

 

Sis had flinched a bit when Win called her ‘ma’am’.  Team didn’t think she appreciated it much.

 

She pushed back her bangs and stroked her hair.  She cleared her throat as she dropped her hand to the side, “Okay, so I need you to place one hand on Team’s calf and hold his foot in your other hand.  We are going to see if he is able to push against you.”

 

Team was cringing all over again.  Win was going to get that feral smell on his hands!  In the past, Team had done this exercise by pushing his foot against the wall.  He would happily do it that way again and leave Win out of it.  He was trying to object, but Win took Team’s foot into his hand, and he rubbed the ball of his thumb against Team’s instep.  It didn’t hurt, it didn’t tickle, but it did feel…something.  Team stopped talking.

 

“Alright Team, see if you can push with your toes against Win’s hand.”  Team did it.  Flexing his ankle hurt a bit, but not too bad.

 

“Oh!  Good job Team!” Sis Hom said with quiet enthusiasm.  “I haven’t seen anyone push that well this soon!  But we don’t want to overdue it.  We’ll let you try it one more time before we move on to another exercise.”

 

The second time he pushed, he was able to push harder with less pain.  He felt his heart race.  He knew it wouldn’t be long before he was back to where he had been before he had the plate removed.

 

Sis walked them through a few more exercises, and then re-examined Team for swelling.  She instructed Win on what to look for.  Then she replaced Team’s cast and she took Win out of the room with her—so they could wash up.

 

Team cringed all over again at the idea of them having to wash that smell off their hands.  Then he wondered if Win would make a move on Sis while they were gone.  She definitely had been sending him signals that she was open to it.  Team thought he would be able to tell once they returned to the room.

 

But when they returned, Team couldn’t see any difference in their appearance or manner towards each other.  They looked and acted the same way as they had before they left the room.  Team found it a bit hard to believe though.  ‘One-night Win’ getting such strong signals from a woman who was exactly his type, not grabbing a chance with her?  That didn’t add up to the stories Team had heard about him.

 

“Well, you did a wonderful job today, Team!  Keep up the good work, and I’ll see you back here next week!” She said as she picked up a clipboard and made some notes in it.

 

Win handed Team his crutches and then grabbed up the backpacks.  He walked slightly ahead of Team and opened up first the door to the examination room, then the door to the office, and finally the car door.  He took the crutches from Team as Team got settled into his seat, and then he put them and the backpacks in the backseat.

 

As he started the car, Win said, “That was fun!  And you did such a good job!  I’m glad you invited me to come with you.”

 

Team frowned, “I didn’t invite you; you kidnapped me!”

 

Win roared with laughter, “I gave you a ride to an appointment!  That’s hardly kidnapping!”

 

They left the hospital parking lot and entered the highway.  About a mile down the road, Win clicked on his turn indicator.

 

Team looked around the businesses to try to guess where Win was going.  There was a tire store, a small stationery shop, and a fast-food restaurant.  “Why are we turning?  Where are you going?”

 

“This way,” Win said with a grin as he turned the car.

 

“I know you’re turning ‘this way’!” Team said angrily with a shake of his head.  “Do you need a tire or something?”

 

Win laughed, “Nope,” he said.  Then he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked.  “You need something to eat.”

 

Team huffed, “No I don’t!  I can eat at home.  I’m not even hungry,” and just then, his stomach gave a loud roar.  “That’s just gas.”

 

“Sounds like a mighty big fart in there!  Don’t go spraying it around my car, my air freshener isn’t that strong”, Win said with a laugh.  “Come on, Team.  Let’s eat.  I know you will like this place.  This is where I picked up the food to bring to you that night in the hospital.  You liked it then, right?”

 

At the memory of that hot, juicy burger and the crisp, salty fries, Team’s stomach betrayed him by letting out an even louder roar.

 

Win was laughing as he got out of the car and took the crutches and the backpacks from the backseat.  He carried both the backpacks on his shoulder as he brought the crutches around to Team’s side of the car.  “I’m going to grab some food—and it sounds like you need to use their toilet before you shit your pants!”

 

Team looked around quickly to make sure no one was around to hear that, then he shoved open the door and snatched the crutches from Win.  “Fine!  I’ll go in there with you!”

 

Win walked ahead of Team and when he reached the door, he held it open so Team could go in first.  They entered into a short hallway.  Through a doorway on the left was the dining room.  A small alcove on the right led to the restrooms.  Win poked Team in the back, and when Team turned to look at him, Win motioned with his head towards the restrooms.  Team scowled at Win, causing Win to chuckle.

 

“Shut up!” Team hissed.  “I only came in here because I didn’t want to sit in your car waiting while you were in here eating.”

 

“Oh, okay,” Win said with a raised eyebrow.  “Why don’t you go sit down and I’ll go up to the counter and get my food.”

 

Team just huffed at him without answering but went through the doorway and sat down at a table that was next to the windows.  He propped his crutches against the seat next to him and watched the traffic out on the highway.

 

After a bit of time passed, Win came to the table carrying a tray.  He unloaded it onto the table, putting a small burger and a small fry at his place, across from Team.  Then he sat a double hamburger and an extra large order of fries down in front of Team.  Finally he sat down two large cups of cola.

 

Team looked down in shock at the large serving sizes Win had placed before him.  “What the heck am I supposed to do with this?”

 

“Eat it,” Win said calmly as he took his seat.

 

“I told you I wasn’t hungry,” Team said, unwrapping his straw and putting it into the cup of cola in front of him, “But I do appreciate the drink.”

 

“It’s okay,” Win said, also preparing his straw, “You don’t have to eat it.  We can just throw it away when we leave.”

 

Team looked back down at the food in front of him.  He could smell the delicious aroma that was coming from it.  He unwrapped the hamburger and used the wrapper as a placemat.  “I’ll try to eat a little bit of it,” he said.  “I hate the idea of wasting food.”

 

Win nodded.  He opened the bun on his sandwich and removed the tomato and the onion and put them on Team’s wrapper.  “I won’t hold it against you if you can’t eat much.  You didn’t ask for it—and you did tell me that you weren’t hungry.  I just didn’t want to eat alone.”  He wiped his hands on a paper napkin.  “You were right about that piss smell from the elevator sticking with me.  The smell of that onion is cutting through it though!”

 

Team looked down at the tomato and onion Win had put on his wrapper.  “That wasn’t me, you know?”

 

Win laughed, “The piss in the elevator?  I know you wouldn’t…”

 

“No,” Team interrupted.  “The smell when the cast came off.  I know you smelled it.  It’s horrible, but it’s not from me.”

 

Win leaned back in his seat and looked intently at Team, “I know that.  I know what you smell like.  It is just some kind of chemical or product they use when they make the cast.  And I am sure that Sis Hom knows that, too.  She works with people in casts all the time.  No one is judging you.”

 

Team’s mind quickly flashed back to when he opened his shaving kit at the hospital and saw the correct bottle of aftershave in it.  He hadn’t asked for it and he had a few different scents.  But Win had thrown in the right bottle.

 

He shook the thought away.  It was probably just a coincidence anyway.  He picked up the tomato and onion from his placemat and ate them.  “I don’t care if anyone judges me.  Think what you want.”  He looked at the huge sandwich and fries that were in front of him.  “Seriously though, I will never be able to eat all of this.  You shouldn’t have bought so much.  How much was it?  I’ll reimburse you.”

 

Win was in the middle of chewing so he shook his head and made a shooing motion with his hand.  Once he had the bite swallowed, he said, “I just got paid so I am rolling in money at the moment.”

 

“‘Rolling in money?’” Team asked around a mouthful of hamburger.  “From tutoring?”

 

Win shook his head, “No.  From my real job.  Well…no…that’s not true.  I don’t have a regular 9-5 job, but I do work occasional days and weekends sometimes, and that pays a lot more than tutoring does.”

 

“Oh,” Team said with a nod.

 

Win stared at Team for a moment. “‘Oh’”, he mocked, “Aren’t you going to ask for details?”

 

Team shook his head, “Not my business.”

 

Win laughed, “Okay—since you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you.  My first summer here was…well, let’s call it ‘eventful’.  My major was Finance, and I was…uh…bored during the school break, so I tried to find some kind of part-time job.  Of course no one would hire a first-year student.  I was about to just give up, when I heard a rumor about a place near my mom’s house—I was staying there off and on.  Anyway, there is a Marketing firm near her place and I heard that the third-year student intern that they had hired quit.  Without even giving any kind of notice.  I heard later that he dropped out of school then too, but I didn’t know that at the time.  I worry that maybe he couldn’t handle the stress or something…but anyway, I went to the firm and asked if I could take over the intern’s spot.  They were in kind of a pinch because they were creating a whole campaign, and they had really needed the intern to pitch in and help.  They had a lot of work for him that no one else had the time to do.  So…they hired me.  Not as an intern though because that involves paperwork and all kinds of approvals.  They hired me as temporary help.  I really enjoyed it.  So much so that I decided to go for a double major—and now I major in both Finance and Marketing.”

 

“Both?”  Team said with genuine amazement.  “I’ve heard of double majors before.”  He shook his head, “No way I could do it!”

 

Win grinned, “You could if you wanted to.”

 

“I don’t get it though—but, never mind.  It’s not my business anyway,” Team said picking up a fry and popping it into his mouth.

 

“What?  Tell me!” Win implored.

 

Team sighed, “Fine, but don’t bite my head off if I ask a nosy question!”

 

“I won’t,” Win said, “I promise.”

 

“Okay—you have three scholarships, and you do tutoring.  Now you tell me that you also have this freelance thing that pays you well…so why are you living in the cheap, old dorms?”

 

Win picked up his napkin and laughed behind it.  “If you think it’s bad where I am now, you should have seen my dorm the first semester I was here!  I lived in the really old ones—the ones without air conditioning!  It was awful!  So the next semester I moved to the dorm I’m in now.  Like I told you before, no private bathroom, but there is air conditioning.  And to answer your question, there’s a guy who’s a graduate from the Finance program.  He started his own business and is doing well for himself.  He came and spoke with our class during my first semester here. I think it was the professors’ showing us what we could achieve…you know how they do.  Anyway, after class was over, I asked him if he would take me on as a client, help me with some investments.  He agreed, and that’s what I do with my money.  I live frugally, using only a tiny bit of my scholarship money to survive on; work for extra money, and then I invest and let my money work for me!”

 

“Wow!” Team said in honest admiration, “I’m surprised by that, but I guess I’m not totally.  You were always one to plan ahead.  You started planning for college when you were like…twelve?  Or was it earlier?”

 

Win laid his hamburger down and picked up his cup of cola.  He messed with the straw, but didn’t take a drink.  He sighed, “Yeah,” he said finally, “But my goal is actually a 180 from that time—well, never mind that.  Doesn’t matter.  I was going to ask you if you are going back home this weekend?”

 

Team was puzzled by Win’s demeanor and confused about the 180 thing.  He shook his head, “No, not this weekend, why?”

 

Win took a sip from his straw and then sat the cup back down on the table.  “I have to work this weekend, so we need to coordinate when we have free time so I can help you with your exercises.”

 

Team shook his head, “I don’t need help.  I did all the same exercises before and I used my wall.”

 

“A wall can’t tell you the strength of your push,” Win said.  “And I did tell Sis Hom I would be helping you—that’s why she taught me all the exercises.  We’ll have to work together until at least next week and hear what she has to say about you doing the exercises with your wall instead of with me.”

 

“Fine…whatever,” Team mumbled as he took another bite from his hamburger.

 

“This weekend I will be working in the office—working with the data that I gathered last weekend,” Win explained.  “That was an experience!  They dressed me up all in green.  I had to wear a hat with a huge, green plastic, dill pickle on it.  It looked like an infected…well, never mind, we’re eating.  Let’s just say that I felt like a total fool wearing it.  I had to pass out these tiny paper cups that contained three tiny pickle slices to the customers in a grocery store.  Then I had to get them to fill out a questionnaire about them.  You know nobody ever wants to do that shit, right?  Like, maybe they won’t mind eating the free food that’s offered, but they don’t want to fill out forms about it.  Anyway, I thought maybe I could hook people in by using a bit of…humor?”

 

This caught Team’s attention.  “What did you do?” he asked.

 

Win grinned, “I asked them if they wanted to taste my pickle.”

 

Team’s jaw dropped, “You did not!”

 

Win laughed behind his hand and nodded, “I did!”

 

Team had a French fry in his hand and he used it to point with, and laughingly said, “You did not!  I know you didn’t!  That’s fucking offensive as hell!  You would have been fired!”

 

Win shrugged, “They could only fire me if they caught me.  And besides, I only asked young people that.”

 

Team shook his head and popped the French fry into his mouth and then wiped his hands on a napkin, “You didn’t.  I don’t know who you think you are talking to, but I know you.  You wouldn’t do that.”

 

Win had been taking a drink from his cup.  He sat it down and then grinned at Team, “You’re right; I didn’t.  It makes a good story though, doesn’t it?”  He wiggled his eyebrows at Team.

 

Team laughed and threw a fry at Win.  It smacked him on his forehead and fell onto the table.  “I knew you were lying, you loser!”

 

While still laughing, Win used a napkin to wipe the grease off his forehead from where the fry had made contact.  Team realized what he had done—he had just thrown a French fry at the Vice President of the Swim Club…and hit him.  In the face.  He looked down at his food, surprised to find that he had eaten a lot more than what he had planned on eating.  He was disgusted with himself.  Somehow, as if he had stepped into some kind of time warp, he had forgotten who this version of Win was.  The vile, backstabbing, candy-coated piece-of-shit, Vice President.  Team had, momentarily, reacted to Win as if he were like a friend or something.  He picked up his cola and took a drink.  He decided with determination that he wouldn’t do that again.  And he wasn’t going to eat any more of this food.  And furthermore, he wasn’t going to let Win help him with his exercises.

 

“Speaking of getting fired, though.  One time I almost was,” Win said, launching into another story, “I had to cook these little sausages and have people sample them.  I went by the cooking directions on the package, but they looked undercooked and slimy…so, I added more cooking time.  All of the data I collected that day remarked that the sausages tasted burned.  Because of the way I prepared the sausages, the entire survey was ruined.  My boss was furious with me.”

 

In spite of himself, Team was interested.  He picked up a fry and dipped it into some ketchup before putting it into his mouth.  “Oh wow!  What happened?  Because obviously you weren’t fired…right?”

 

While crumpling up his now empty sandwich wrapper, Win shook his head.  “I told him about how they were so gross when I cooked them according to the directions, so he did it in our office breakroom.  He even used the same little electric skillet I had used.  And he got the same results I did.  Gross and undercooked.  We thought maybe it was the electric skillet, so he took a package home with him that night to cook them on his stove.  He got the same result.  When he cooked them the extra few minutes like I had done, they tasted burned.  Thinking that maybe there was some kind of art needed to cook these sausages correctly, he sent packages home with the office staff and had them cook them.  No one could get it right.  The results were either undercooked or burnt.  The boss ran more tests on them—even had employees to compete to see what they do with them to make them edible.  They brought in dishes where they had used the sausage in with their own recipes—and the sausage ruined every dish.  That sausage made everything taste terrible, and it was our firm’s job to come up with a sales campaign for it.”

 

“Did you?”

 

Win shook his head, “We couldn’t.  I mean, we all know that ads that proclaim this product is ‘the best’, ‘the fastest’, ‘the whatever-est’—it’s all just hyped up.  No one actually believes it unless they use it and like it.  But these slimy bits of fried diarrhea—what could we say that wasn’t an outright lie?”

 

At the mention of the word ‘diarrhea’, Team lost all hope of composure.  He snorted the cola he had been drinking out of his nose, had a coughing fit, and was rolling with laughter, all at the same time.

 

Once Team began to quieten down a bit, Win continued, “I got to keep my job, and the firm turned down the sausage account.  First time they had ever had to reject a campaign.  The sausage company was super pissed.  Vowed to ruin the firm.  They went out of business about six months later, and we are still going strong.”

 

“Assholes!” Team exclaimed.  “I’m glad they lost their business!  Trying to sell crappy food—as if there isn’t enough of that in the world!”

 

Win nodded, “But not here though, right?  Are you finished?

 

Team nodded and then looked down at his place.  He had eaten everything.  He was disappointed in himself for not sticking to his resolve to not eat—or at least to stop midway.  But, he reasoned, it really wasn’t his fault.  The food there was so good.  He gathered up his wrapper, empty fry container, and his drained cup and handed it all to Win, who took it, along with his own trash, to the garbage can.  Team used his crutches to get up and follow along behind.

 

They left the restaurant.  Win helped Team get settled in his seat and then put the crutches and backpacks in the backseat.  Win got in the car and started it.  As they were backing out of the spot, Win asked, “Is there any place you need to go?”

 

Team shook his head, “No, my therapy appointment was all I had to do.”

 

“I have to go to work this evening.  Do you want me to drop you off at your dorm, or somewhere else?”

 

“Dorm’s fine.  We’ll probably go to the library later, but I can get a ride from Jai.”

 

Win gave a slight nod as he turned back on the highway leading to the campus.  “I have to work tomorrow, but I get off around 7:00.  I can get to your dorm around 7:30ish.  Will you be there?”

 

Team frantically scanned his mind for some excuse.  Jai and Mali were going to spend the weekend together so they wouldn’t even be on campus.  Namfon and Skye were going to some kind of physic thing so they wouldn’t be around.  Team had planned on hanging around his room, maybe playing Zombie Killer with the guys in his group—or probably just with Than, since the other guys often had dates on the weekends.  Finally, he gave up trying to think up an excuse and shrugged, “Okay, that’s fine.”

 

Win took his hand off the wheel for a moment and reached into his shirt pocket.  He pulled out a roll of mints and extended his hand to Team, “Here,” he said, “I thought you might need these.”

 

“No thanks!  After I ate those in the hospital, I kept burping!”

 

“I know, that’s why I thought you might need them now.  Keep the onions from messing with your gut.”

 

Team took the mints and popped one in his mouth.

 

Win returned his hand to the steering wheel.  “I don’t know if you were aware of it, but I came to the hospital the day you were released.  You were pretty…medicated…at the time.  Your mom told me you had had a rough night of it and my first thought was indigestion from the take-out food.”

 

Team shook his head, “Nope, three-day pain.  It’s kind of usual for me after surgery.  And as for indigestion—I have a cast iron stomach!  Nothing bothers me.”

 

“Except for Thai ghost peppers!” Win said with a short laugh that he cut off immediately.

 

Team felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on him.  He turned his head and looked out of his window.  Neither of them spoke the rest of the way back.

 

When they arrived at Team’s dorm, Win insisted on carrying Team’s backpack up to his room.  Team tried to argue, but Win wouldn’t back down, so Team gave him a shrug and they went inside the building together.  They rode the elevator in silence.  Once Team got his door unlocked and stepped inside, Win placed Team’s backpack on the floor, reminded Team of the time he would arrive the next day to help with his exercises, and then left.

 

Team leaned against his closed door and shut his eyes.  The thing that Win had said before going silent—about the ghost peppers—kept running through his brain.  It was a component of an inside joke that the two of them had shared for years.  In the past, Team would have supplied the punch line and they both would have laughed.  The worst part about it was…Team had wanted to say it.  But not to this Win.  To the Win he had known before.  Or thought he knew.  Or whatever. 

 

The punchline was stuck in his brain though.  He could hear it, repeating over and over.  It reminded him of when a part of a song got stuck in his head.  He found that the only way to get past that feeling was to play the song.  He imagined he would have to do something like that to get rid of this thought.  So, he whispered to the empty room, “Don’t eat the school lunch!”

 

He didn’t laugh, and he didn’t feel that much better for saying it out loud.  But at least it had stopped echoing around in his brain.  And for that he was grateful.

 

 

Win came to Team’s dorm room to help with his exercises every day that week.  At the next appointment with Sis Hom, before Team could say a word, Win told her all about how he had been helping Team.  Sis thought it was an excellent plan, and after she saw the improvement in Team’s ankle’s flexibility, she encouraged them to keep working together.  She even started calling Win “Coach”.

 

So Team continued working with Win; he really couldn’t think of a reason to get out of it.  On Thursday’s Win would be waiting outside Team’s classroom.  They would ride down the piss-scented elevator together and Win would drive them to Team’s therapy appointment.  In the elevator, Win always put on a mask and pulled his shirt collar up over it to try to filter out the smell.  One time, Team suggested that Win wait for him in his car instead of coming inside the school after him.

 

“No way!” Win’s voice was muffled by the stink barriers he had in place.  “You would skip out the back or something!”

 

Team laughed, but the truth was…he probably wouldn’t have.  He hated riding the special services bus worse than he hated riding with Win.  Plus, Sis Hom would have a fit if Win wasn’t there.

 

After each therapy appointment, Win drove them straight to the same restaurant.  Team would go to their usual table to save it while Win went to the counter to get their food.  He never let Team pay anything…always promised that he would let Team get it the next time, apparently forgetting that he had said the same thing the previous week.

 

Team made sure to never to drop his guard again…he always kept in mind that he was eating dinner with the Vice President of the Swim Club…and that was it.  And Win must have thought the same because their conversations centered on what was happening at the club.  The competitions with the other schools had started, so they often rehashed what had happened during the previous meet and what they hoped to happen at the next one.

 

Team couldn’t compete, obviously, but he did sit on the bench and cheer on the other members of the club.  Win, Toh, and Sai also sat on the bench with him.  And sometimes the Presidents and staff members from the other clubs would join them.  Which seemed kind of weird since it was a competition between them, but they all seemed to be friends.  One of the Presidents confided in them that he was transferring schools at the end of the semester to one that had a better swim team.  He was the best swimmer in the school, but he would never be able to get to Nationals based on that.  There were only he and one other student who were great swimmers at his current school…that was not enough to build a team to send.  Team remembered how Than had used that argument to persuade Team to go to a school where there were other good swimmers—he had told Team that it didn’t matter how good a swimmer he was if there weren’t others.  He had listened to Than and now he realized that Than had been right and that something like this was actually happening to someone.  He had to smile about how smart Than was.  He would have liked to have told Than about it, but it didn’t seem like something he could share.  This guy had told them this in confidence, so Team thought he should keep it to himself.  Although it did raise Than up in Team’s esteem.  Not that Than needed anything to elevate him.

 

All of the other club’s staff members knew about Team’s ankle, of course.  That was the reason he wasn’t competing.  Win spoke to them all and got them to agree that if Team was healed in time to compete, they would allow it.  Win beamed at Team when they all agreed.  Team privately counted on his fingers the number of weeks left in the competition.  He compared it with Sis Hom’s estimation of how long his healing would take.  He concluded that the smile Win gave him was because he had already done the math.  If he healed on schedule…there was a possibility that Team would be able to compete in one or maybe even two of the meets.

 

They met every day for Team’s exercises.  A few times, Win was tutoring in the library at the same time Team was studying there with his Scooby friends.  After Win’s session was over, instead of leaving, he would come over and join them.  And when it was time to leave, he would drive Team home so he could help him do his exercises.  Other times he would stop by Team’s dorm, often bringing along some kind of dinner for the two of them.

 

Time passed quickly, and soon Team was freed from his crutches.  His tall boot cast was replaced by a shorter one that looked almost like a hightop shoe.  Sis Hom gave them some exercises that they could do in the pool so those were added into the rotation.  And, in Team’s opinion, the best part was that he no longer needed the use of Student Services to get around.  He could ride the regular shuttle buses around campus.  There were three steps to go up on the buses and three to go down, but Team managed them very well by letting his good leg take the lead, and maneuver them by doing a step-together-step—never letting his injured leg take the full force of his weight.  He still had to use the pee-perfumed elevator at his school, however, because it would take him far too long to try to climb up and down a flight of stairs using this method, but he didn’t mind it too much.  He was on his way to freedom.

 

Once Team began the pool exercises, he kept wanting to try to swim laps.  Win had to restrain him, and they argued over it constantly.  Eventually, Sis Hom agreed that Team could attempt it—but no using the platform and no pushing off the wall with his injured foot.

 

As soon as Team began to swim down the lane, the memories of how he had felt the first time he swam a lap after the accident came rushing back.  The doctors still weren’t positive if Team would regain the full use of his leg, but one day, during his water therapy, he took off, without permission, swimming down the lane—much to his physical therapist’s surprise.  She had scolded him severely afterward, but it hadn’t mattered to Team.  When he felt his leg moving in the water, being able to kick with it as well as he could with his uninjured leg—he had known in his heart that he would walk again.  Now he felt that same rush all over again.

 

From the corner of his eye, he could see Win moving along the outside of the pool, keeping up with him.  Win was forced to jog quickly.  Team grinned as he swam.

 

When he got to the turn, he was very careful to only use his uninjured foot to push off the wall and start his swim back to shallow water.  He picked up speed and watched Win as his jog also sped up, he was practically running to keep up.  Team knew that although he had missed a lot of practice time, his speed was still adequate.  He might have to dig deep for a while, but he felt certain that he would make it back up to the time he had before his surgery.

 

Win met him at the edge of the pool.  “That was pretty good, Team!  Your arms were a bit sloppy though.”

 

Team scoffed internally.  It seemed as if Win could never compliment him.  Then he smiled and said, “I will work on them, P’Win.”

 

Win nodded and then wrote on a paper on his clipboard.  Team thought Win was probably recording Team’s lap speed.  Then he noticed that Win looked a bit pale.  He should have been flushed from jogging along with Team, if there had been any color change to his face.  But he actually looked a bit chalky.

 

“Do you feel okay?” Team asked.

 

Win looked at Team in surprise.  “Sure!  Well…I do have a bit of a headache.”  He looked at the next lane where Chaiya was practicing.  “Chaiya, could you do me a favor?”

 

Chaiya stopped swimming immediately and gave Win his full attention, “Of course, P’!  What do you need?”  Chaiya swam to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out of the water.

 

“I am going to go inside for a few minutes.  I have a small headache, and I want to take some medicine.  Can you keep an eye on Team—just be aware of him—make sure that he doesn’t need any help?”

 

“Yeah, I can do that…but P’…I can’t swim well enough to save him if something happens,” Chaiya explained.

 

“Nothing’s going to happen!” Team objected.  “I can swim as well as I ever did!”

 

Win looked at Chaiya and nodded.  He pulled the whistle from around his neck and handed it to Chaiya.  “If anything happens, blow the whistle.  Toh and Sah will come.”  He looked over at Toh who was across the pool, standing near the first lane, watching one of his swimmers making a turn.  Win waved his hand to get Toh’s attention.  Then he pointed to Chaiya.  He showed Toh the whistle on the chain around Chaiya’s neck.  Then he pointed to the door.  Toh nodded.

 

“There,” Win said to Chaiya, “Toh will be listening for the whistle, so you don’t need to worry.  I’ll be out soon.”

 

“I don’t need a babysitter!” Team called to Win’s retreating back.

 

Team quickly swam some laps, and Chaiya ran along the outside of the pool, keeping his eyes always on Team.  But, after a while, he got tired and sat down on the bench.  Team grinned when he saw Chaiya sitting on the bench, trying to catch his breath.  Team wasn’t tired in the least and felt as if he could swim all day.  After a while, and a lot more laps, he became aware that he had not seen Win return.  He swam to the side of the pool.

 

“Hey, has P’Win came back?  I don’t see him anywhere.”

 

Chaiya shook his head, “No, I was wondering about him too.  He was just going to go inside and take some headache medicine…at least that’s what I thought.”

 

Team pulled himself out of the water.  He dried his leg and foot off the best that he could and then put his boot cast back on.  He used the towel to dry off his hair and body before wrapping it around his waist.  He could feel trickles of water flowing down his leg and into the boot, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.  “He probably decided to stay inside, out of the sun, and do paperwork, or something,” he said.  But that wasn’t what he was thinking.  Team knew Win.  Win seldom got sick, or even complained about feeling bad.  But when he did… it was usually something big.  Team felt…well, not worried because he didn’t care at all about Win as a person…but he did feel a bit concerned, maybe.  Only because Win was the Vice President of the club and Team was a member of it…and somebody needed to check on Win.

 

He looked at Toh and Sai and saw that they were busy with their teams and were also monitoring Win's other swimmers.  Team realized that since they were busy, they probably hadn’t noticed that Win hadn’t returned.  He sighed.  “I’m going in and grab a shower now.  I’ll peek in on P’Win.”

 

Chaiya nodded and then went over to his lane, “I guess I’ll swim a few laps before the time is up.  P’ told me that I am going to have to swim in at least one of the competitions coming up.  I am trying so hard to get my speed up…but I don’t know if I will be able to.”

 

“Chaiya, I think you are doing much better than what you think.  I’ve noticed a lot of improvement in your swimming since you got over that little bump in the road.  You’ll do fine.”

 

Chaiya beamed at Team, “You really think so?  Wow!  Coming from you…that’s a huge compliment!  Thank you!”  Chaiya quickly climbed up onto his platform and jumped in.

 

Team walked away and assured himself that it wasn’t really a bad thing to lie if it made someone feel better.  And…to be fair, Chaiya’s form and speed had actually improved.  Not enough to win any kind of competition, but there was no reason for Chaiya to know that.

 

He walked into the building and instead of going to his locker to get his shower kit, he turned and went to the office.  The door was open and Team peeked inside.  He saw Win sitting at the desk.  His head was lowered and with one hand he was massaging the back of his neck.  In the other hand, he held the awful click pen and he was clicking it rapidly.  There was an empty water bottle in front of him, and a container of over-the-counter headache pills beside it.

 

Team tapped lightly on the door frame.  Win looked up at him and Team could see that he still looked terribly pale.

 

“Um…I was headed to the shower and thought I would stop by and see how you are feeling.  You didn’t come back out so…um…Chaiya was saying how he was concerned, you know?  And I thought I could let him know.” Team stammered.

 

Win shrugged, “I’m okay.  I’m about to head out there now.”

 

“Well, uh…you don’t…you actually don’t look okay.  You look really pale.  Maybe you shouldn’t go back out in the sun.  Besides, it will be over soon.  I thought I could grab a shower and be out of the way before they came in.  So…I guess that’s all…”

 

“Your times were really good today,” Win said as he looked down at the desktop where the clipboard lay.  “The sessions when you couldn’t get into the pool doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on it.  Within a few more practices, you will be right back where you were.”

 

Team gave a slight nod, “I wasn’t sure, but it felt like I was doing okay.”

 

Win gave a small smile, “‘Okay?’  You did much better than just okay.  I don’t think many people would do as well this soon after surgery.”

 

Team felt a bit puzzled.  And uncomfortable.  Win seldom, if ever, said encouraging things like this to him.

 

“I noticed that the wobble is back on your turns,” Win continued.  Team almost grinned.  That was more like it.  Win sounded like his old self.  Complaining about something.

 

“Yeah, it’s because I can’t push off with my foot yet.  Once I get the okay from Sis Hom, or my doctors, the wobble will be gone.”

 

Win nodded.  He clicked his pen a few times watching the tip going in and out.  “The time you had the wobble before…during the exhibition swim…that was because you were in pain, wasn’t it?”

 

Team shrugged and then realized that Win hadn’t seen him because he was still staring at the pen.  “Yeah, I guess it was…maybe a bit.”

 

Win nodded, “The next day, when I found you at the booth, you were sweating and shaking.  Pain, not hangover, right?”

 

“Uh…yeah.  I don’t understand why you’re…” Team began.

 

“You didn’t tell me.” Win said.  He tossed the pen down on the desk and looked up at Team.  “I yelled at you for the wobble.  I made you practice and practice until that wobble disappeared.  If you had just told me that you were in pain…” He stopped and shook his head with a sigh.  “Your friends told me, the day that we all helped you home, that it had happened before…that they had to pick you up.  That was after being in the booth, correct?”

 

“Yeah, I thought they told you that?” Team said, he felt his brow wrinkle as he tried to remember.

 

Win shrugged, “I’m not sure if they did or not.  Even if they did, I didn’t connect the dots until just now.  I punished you for being in pain, Team.  No matter how evil you think I am, I wouldn’t do that on purpose.  I wish you would have told me.”

 

Team wasn’t sure how to feel about this.  Like…was he supposed to comfort Win, or thank him, or…what?  “Um…I’m okay now though.  Just going to head to the showers and then Jai’s picking me up.  You still look really pale though.  You don’t need to help me with my exercises tonight.  I can use my wall, and you can go home and go to bed.”

 

“I’ll be there,” Win said with another sigh.  He picked up his pen and wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Team.  “Here, it’s a note giving you permission to use extra towels.  I know that you have to get your foot and leg dry before putting on the cast, and I also know that you aren’t comfortable without a towel wrapped around your waist.  This way you can have two towels and you won’t have to choose.  Keep the note with you, in case anyone challenges you about it—but I don’t think anyone will.  Do you want me to pick you up at the library tonight, or will you be in your room?”

 

“My room…but really, it’s okay if we don’t…”

 

“I said I would be there.  Go on now, hit the shower before the rest of them come in,” Win ordered.

 

Win arrived at Team’s dorm room on time and with food.  To Team’s eyes, he could see that Win was still incredibly pale.  They did Team’s exercises and then sat down to eat the food that Win had brought.  After a few mouthfuls, Win announced that he was full and left.  Team knew for sure then that something was really wrong—the dinner was fried pork and sticky rice—Win’s favorite food.  Win had barely touched it.

 

Win was like this for several days.  The guys in Swim Club whispered about it.  Win wasn’t even scolding anyone about anything.  And he was super pale.  Team was, in spite of himself, worried about him.

 

He was in the library with his Scooby friends working one evening.  Actually, he really wasn’t working.  All of his homework was finished, and he wasn’t in the mood to work ahead.  Win was tutoring some students and Team arranged his seat so he could see them.  Win was still too pale.  He looked weak and sick.

 

Team felt a poke on his arm.  It was Namfon.  “Is P’Win taking you home from here?” she whispered.

 

Team shook his head.  “No, we did my exercises early because he is going to be busy tutoring all evening.  Why?”

 

Namfon just gave him a little nod.  She gathered her books together and slid them into her backpack.  “Guys, Scooby and I are going to go to his place.”

 

“We are?” he asked.

 

She nodded, “We are.”

 

Team saw her exchange a look with Mali.  Namfon gave a tiny nod.  Mali lifted one shoulder in a little shrug.  Just from these small gestures, Team deduced that there was something Namfon wanted to talk to him about and Mali wasn’t sure if she should.  He felt his stomach muscles tighten with anxiety.

 

They walked out of the library and then it hit Team that he was going to have to ride on the back of the Orange Monstrosity again.  He made a few derogatory remarks about it as he put on the sparkly orange helmet—but the truth was, he was kind of excited at the prospect.  He wished he could be on his own, cool, non-sparkly, black motorcycle, but he still wasn’t allowed to ride it.  So, even though the cycle itself was not one that Team wanted to be seen riding, it was good to be on one again.

 

Namfon took the long way back to Team’s dorm.  Whether it was so that Team could enjoy taking a ride, or whether it was to make sure lots of people would have the opportunity to see him on it, he didn’t know.  But he was happy about it.  And glad that this talk was being slightly postponed.  He had no idea what it could be, but he had an unsettling feeling it was something big.

 

When they reached Team’s dorm room, Namfon walked over and sat down on Team’s bed.  Team hurried into the kitchen area and grabbed two colas and a big bag of chips.  He knew that Namfon liked to snack almost as much as he did.

 

He brought them over to the bed and sat down.  He placed the bag of chips between them and handed Namfon one of the colas.  She took a drink from the bottle as soon as he placed it into her hand.

 

“We’re not going to be doing homework, are we?” Team asked, although he already knew the answer.

 

She shook her head.  “I finished mine earlier and I watched you looking around, not doing anything, so I figured you had finished yours too.”  He nodded, and she continued.  “I think we need to talk, Scooby.  I have debated with myself about it for a while, I even checked with Mali about it, and I am still not sure if I should even mention this…”

 

“Tell me, ‘Fon, because all this preamble is making me nervous.  If there is something you think I need to know, then just say it.”

 

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “I’m not even sure where to start.  I guess…well, do you remember when you and I shared secrets and you told me about the pictures that Nick had shown you?  And how he told you about the WinTeam shippers in the village?”

 

Team felt his face grow a bit warm, “Yeah, I remember.  I still don’t understand why all those people were so interested in some imaginary…”

 

“Team,” she interrupted, “It’s worse here.  Much worse.”

 

“What?” Team asked in shock.  “What do you mean?”

 

She took another drink from the bottle before speaking.  “There were always threads about the two of you on IYKYK—mainly about how much the two of you didn’t get along in Swim Club.  Most of those threads were speculating that he was jealous of your swimming ability…”

 

“Which is complete bullshit…” Team mumbled.

 

She nodded, “That’s not his personality and he wouldn’t be giving you extra swim time if he was jealous, so I agree with you.  But you know how people are, lots of them go negative on every issue.  Anyway…” she took another deep breath and blew it out, “Things on there have started to change since you hurt your ankle and P’Win has been around you more.  Team—there are not just random threads here and there about you two now.  There are categories, pages and pages dedicated to the two of you.  Even after seeing all these, I still wasn’t going to say anything to you about it—I know you don’t like all these gossip things, but…I…” she gave a small gesture with her hands, indicating confusion.  She took her phone from her pocket and searched around on the IYKYK site and then found what she was looking for.  “I think it would be easier if you just read a bit yourself.  I know, I can see it on your face that it is unpleasant for you…but after you read some, you’ll understand why I think you should know.”  She pushed her phone in his hand.

 

He shook his head but then he reluctantly began to read the posts.  And he saw all the pictures, Win helping Team get in and out of the car, eating together in the restaurant, and talking to each other in the library.  He sighed in disgust.

 

CandyKisses42:  Omg!  They are both so hot!  I wish I could be the center in a WinTeam sandwich!

User5943672: Who cares! Win is a douchebag and Team is a jerk.  Don’t you people have anything better to do with your time?  Losers!

Magicmoment:  And yet, here you are!  I guess you don’t have anything better to do either!

Magicmoment:  LOL!!!  How very odd!  “No name, bunch of numbers” is a troll!  Who would have guessed?  Blocked me right after I posted that.  Now who’s the loser?

Someone named MaryBell posted a picture of the two of them, sitting in the restaurant.  Win was putting his unwanted tomato and onion on Team’s wrapper.  MaryBell wrote after the picture—“Where is my Win?  I would kill to be Team!”

Tomas:  So the key to your heart is for someone to give you their garbage?  Come on over to my dorm!  I have bags full of it; I’m too lazy to take it outside to be picked up.  You can have it all and will love me forever!

MaryBell:  Don’t be stupid!  It’s not garbage!  Nevermind!  You will never understand a love like theirs!

Tomas:  LOL!!!!  YOU ARE SO DUMB!  They hate each other!  Win is only there because Team got hurt at school.  The administration is making him drag Team around everywhere, so Team won’t sue the school.  Grow up!

1WhoKnows:  Not true.  I know someone who is from their village.  They knew each other before they came here.

Tomas:  So?  I knew people before I came here too.  There’s a guy in one of my classes that I beat up in the third grade.  I knew him then, didn’t like him.  I know him now, still don’t like him.

1WhoKnows posted some team pictures from when Win and Team were at the Swim Club in the village.  “See, proof that they knew each other.”

Tomas:  Like I said, so?  Doesn’t mean shit.  They were on the same swim team as kids.  Stop the presses!

1WhoKnows posted a picture of the two of them at some event in the village.  It was similar to pictures Nick had shown Team.  Win’s arm around Team’s shoulder, Team playing with Win’s fingers, them laughing at something out of sight of the camera.  Neither of them noticing the person who was taking the picture.  “Now what do you have to say?”

Sunblossom69:  Nice try.  That’s AI!  So obvious!  Win doesn’t date guys.  Period!

Thai-Ton:  Well actually, that’s not AI.  You can tell by the fingers and the teeth.  That’s a real picture.  And by the looks of it, it’s from years ago.  Team still looks like a kid here and Win’s got super black hair with long bangs.  If you notice, they have the same look as they do in one of those early team pictures.  I’m guessing they were still in lower secondary school.  Also, I’ve heard that Win is bi.

Sunblossom69:  “Well actually”, I don’t give a fuck.  Doesn’t mean that Win likes him or has ever liked him!

1WhoKnows:  According to my friend, they were inseparable for years.  Because of what I know, I never believed those stories from our Swim Club about them hating each other.

Gillmonster:  No, they do!  I am in the Swim Club and believe me---they detest each other!  It’s very uncomfortable being around them.  Luckily I am not in the same group.  I would hate it!

1WhoKnows:  I’m surprised no one noticed the necklace.

That person then posted two team pictures, one from years ago, and the one from the present year.  They circled the necklace around Win’s neck and then circled the one around Team’s.  “Look familiar?”

Gillmonster:  Holy shit!  It’s the same one!  Team wears that necklace every day!  And it’s P’Win’s necklace?  Hilarious!  I can’t wait to tell the guys in the club!

Sunblossom69:  Are you stupid?  Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby or something?  As if there is only one necklace like that in the whole world?  There’s probably millions of them!  Smh.  Educate yourself!

 

Team felt as if he had read enough.  He handed the phone back to Namfon.  And sighed while shaking his head, “I don’t get it.  I really don’t.  It’s crazy!  Why do all those people even care?”

 

Namfon shrugged, “I guess because it’s interesting.  You’re interesting—the two of you together.  People use their imaginations and build something from the smallest exchanges.  That’s why I felt like you should know.  There are people following the two of you around, taking pictures and posting them.  I thought maybe if you were aware of them, if they saw you see them, they wouldn’t be so brave.”

 

He glanced at Namfon’s phone where she had laid it on the bed.  “I know one of them.  The one that had no name with random numbers.  It’s Kulap.  Remember me telling you about him?  He quit Swim Club when he got into trouble after he didn’t show up to help on my shift in the booth.  Was super pissed about me telling on him.  He always called P’Win ‘Douchebag’ and he told me he wasn’t fond of me either.  We are in two classes together and he never speaks to me.  I’m curious who ‘Gillmonster’ is though.  It’s someone in Swim Club but not in our group.”

 

“I’m more interested in who ‘1WhoKnows’ is,” Namfon said.  “Obviously the person knows someone from the village who is telling them things and giving them the pictures.  But, it is someone older…anyone our age, or even a year older, who was in the village would know about you and Nick.  I think they would believe that you and P’Win hate each other and would speculate that Nick was the reason for it.  Everybody thought that you dumped Win for Nick; but this person is just using old pictures and repeating old gossip from before you got with Nick.”

 

Team felt his jaw drop open.  “Wow!” he said quietly, and full of admiration, “That went right by me!  You are a super genius, Velma!”

 

She laughed, “Yeah, I know it.”  Then she became serious, “I think the person who is giving this person information might be sitting with us everyday at the core tables.  I am going to start watching to see who is watching you.  And you should keep an eye out wherever you are, especially when you are with P'Win.  Like I said, I think if they see that you are aware of them, they won’t be so brazen to take your pictures.”

 

Team gave a shudder, “That’s so weird to think about that.  Those older students…they are all adults, ready to go out into the world…with professional careers!”

 

Namfon nodded, “Yes.  Are you going to tell P’Win about this?”

 

Team shook his head, “No.  I think it will be enough to stop people if I am keeping a lookout.  No reason for both of us to be paranoid.  And besides…I don’t think he’s feeling very well.  He complained of a headache days ago, but he is still pale.  He picks at his food too.”

 

“I noticed his pallor,” Namfon said.  “He’s been quieter too.  Hopefully it’s just a small virus or something.”

 

Team nodded and then looked back down at Namfon’s phone.  “I’m glad you told me.  I’m not glad it’s happening, but at least now I am aware of it and can maybe make it hard for them to get pictures of us.”

 

“Yes,” Namfon agreed, “So, that’s our plan—you watch to see who is taking your pictures, I will watch to try to discover the leak at the core tables.  We have ourselves a real mystery to solve, Scooby!  I think we should call it, ‘The Case of the Snooping Shippers!’”

Chapter 34

When class was dismissed on Thursday, Team left the classroom and entered the hall. Win was leaning against the wall, waiting for him, as he had been every Thursday. But even from a distance, Team could see the paleness of Win’s cheeks. He even looked frail.

“Hey,” Team said as he neared Win, “You look like complete shit. You should be home in bed!”

Win gave him a small smile and shook his head, “Nope! Couldn’t pass up the chance to ride the urine coach with you.”

Team inserted the key to the elevator as Win pulled a mask out of his pocket. He put it on and yanked up his collar to cover it as he stepped inside.

“I could take the bus, you know. You don’t have to go with me. Heck, at this point, I could easily just skip the session,” Team offered.

“NO!” Win said abruptly. “You are doing so well; you can’t stop now! We are near the finish line!”

Team sighed, “I think we already passed the finish line, to be honest. I think they are dragging this out a bit longer than is necessary. You’ve seen me walking without the cast the last two sessions! Doesn’t it seem like my ankle is healed to you?”

“You have to do what they tell you to, Team, you know that!”

Team sighed, “Yeah. It’s just so frustrating. And you…you look like straight-up death. I think you should be focused on yourself. Have you even been to a doctor about this?”

“It’s just a headache—I told you that,” Win said dismissively.

“For six days! Who has a headache for six days?” Team asked incredulously as they stepped out of the elevator.

Win pulled down his collar and took off his mask, “Me, apparently.”

“Are you drinking enough water?”

“Yeah, I’m keeping hydrated. I’m carrying around a water bottle with me, everywhere I go. Stop fussing at me. It makes my head pound.”

“Carrying it around, or actually drinking from it?” Team asked.

Win scoffed, “Both.”

“It’s just…well, my mom gets really bad headaches and it’s always because she’s forgotten to eat enough, or drink enough. So, I thought maybe that’s what yours is.”

They had reached the car, and Team was settling into his seat. He noticed a bottle of headache pills in the console. Win put the backpacks in the backseat and then got into the driver’s seat. “I’m probably not eating as much as I should,” he admitted, “So I have been drinking those meal supplement drinks your folks told me to have you drink…”

“They told you that?” Team asked in astonishment. “When?”

“When I called them the night that you were in so much pain. They told me to make sure you ate something, but if you wouldn’t, to give you one of the strawberry drinks. They told me the name brand, and I told Jai. He went out and picked some up and that is why I had it to give to you that night when you rejected everything else we had for you to eat. Anyway, I’ve been drinking those when I can’t eat. And as a side-note, that’s not why your mom gets those headaches. It’s because she has a psychic twinkle, and when something is wrong, she picks up on it.”

Team turned and looked at him in astonishment. “I didn’t know you knew that!”

Win nodded without taking his eyes off the road. “Yeah, I noticed it years ago. You have a bit of it too, but I don’t think it’s as strong as hers and it doesn’t give you headaches. And as for me, I’m not psychic at all, so my headache is my own.”

“Mom does have, what you called a ‘psychic twinkle’, but I don’t!” Team stated firmly.

Win glanced over at him, “Yeah, you do. There were lots of times you would say that something didn’t feel right to you—a person or a place, and I always trusted you.”

Team sat back in his seat and looked out his window. Okay, he did have that flash about being at the Nationals—for a moment he had seen it as plain as day—but that was the only time, at least the only time he could think of, and he hadn’t told Win about it. “I don’t remember anything like that,” he muttered.

“I do.” Win said equally quietly.

They drove the rest of the way in silence.

For the past few visits, Sis Hom had been allowing Team to remove the boot cast and wear what she referred to as ‘practice shoes’. Team internally agreed that they were indeed practice shoes—practice shoes for DANCING. They were tiny, thin slippers with a leather sole. They even had a little elastic strap across the top of his foot. He felt ridiculous wearing them; had asked if he could just wear his socks or some athletic shoes, but she had been adamant. She said that he needed protection for the bottoms of his feet, and she needed access to his ankle. So he wore them. Begrudgingly.

During the appointment on this day, after he had practiced walking, she told him that he was ready for more of a challenge. She opened a door at the back of the exercise room and led them outside. There were a small set of steps. Three on one side, a small landing, and three on the other side.

“Our ankles do a lot of work going up and down steps,” she explained. “Of course, we will be taking our time with them, to get your ankle used to bending and flexing. Over the next few weeks, we will be working extensively with them, today is just the introduction.”

Team had to force himself not to roll his eyes. She was making it sound like they were training for the Olympics or something. It was just three tiny steps each way.

She instructed him to go up and down the steps using the step-together-step method. He nodded to show he understood her, but he had been doing this for weeks on the bus.

He grabbed hold of the handrails and started up the three steps. He realized that it was different than what he had been doing on the bus though. Even though his injured ankle was not taking any of his weight, it was bending a bit. It didn’t do that in the boot cast.

He noticed every movement of it. It didn’t hurt, or ache, or even feel numb. It felt like his regular ankle did. By the time he reached the landing, he was feeling a bit of elation. But then…he looked at the steps on the other side of the landing and felt his heart begin to speed up. He turned back to look at the side he had just climbed up. He froze in place. All of his muscles locked, his heart was racing. He broke out in a sweat and his mouth went dry. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Team? Hey, Team?” Win said from beside him.

Team turned his head to look at Win, but he couldn’t move and he couldn’t speak.

Win touched Team’s arm, “Team, you’re hyperventilating. You need to slow down. Breathe with me. Inhale on a count of five—one, two, three, four, five, hold it for five—one, two, three, four, five, and exhale—one, two, three, four, five. Okay, let’s do it again.” After a few moments of counted breathing, Team began to feel a bit better. Win noticed, “Okay, you’re doing much better now. Keep doing that. What’s going on? Tell me what made you freeze like that. Are you in pain?”

Team shook his head. He ran his dry tongue across his lips, but that didn’t help to wet them. “I’m not hurting now…but, that day…I was running down the stairs during that race. I felt it…” He paused and shuddered, “I felt it pop. And then the pain came, and it was awful. I can’t do it, but if I don’t, I can’t get off this thing. I’m trapped!”

“No, no, no,” Win quietly soothed him. “You’re not trapped. You can do this, Team. We’re near the finish line here. You know that you don’t stop swimming until you touch the wall.”

Team nodded, “I know. I just…I can’t do it.”

“Team, listen to me,” Win said even more quietly, and he stepped closer to Team, almost whispering in his ear, “The hospital is only a few yards away from here. If something were to happen, which it won’t, but if it did, I would grab you up and carry you there. Even if you punched me in the face and yanked my hair every step of the way. There is no way that I will ever let you lie in a bed of pain, relying on BioFreeze and frozen broccoli for relief. You know that I am the one who stepped in before and I would do it again. I don’t care how pissed that makes you. I will help you no matter what the cost.”

Team took a hand off the railing and wiped some sweat off his face. When he took his hand away, he could smell the sweat on it.

“I stink,” he said. “My sweat smells weird.”

“It’s the adrenaline burning off,” Win explained. “And if you think your sweat smells bad, you should smell your breath!”

Team looked at Win in shock. He saw that Win’s eyebrow was raised. And then…Team laughed.

Win nodded, “That’s better. Let’s do this, Team. We’ll do it together, okay?” He took hold of Team’s hips. “Hold onto me.”

Team took hold of Win’s shoulders. Win stepped backward down to the next step. Team reluctantly stepped down with his good leg. Once it was firmly in place, he lowered his injured foot. He shivered. Win looked up at him and Team nodded. Win stepped down to the next step. Team followed him. The next step took Win to the ground.

Team took the next two steps down and joined Win at the bottom of the steps. Sis Hom was standing there too, and she was all smiles. “Congratulations Team! That was amazing! It’s still early, but I think you earned a break! We’ll pick it up from here next week.”

“No,” Win said.

“What?” Sis Hom asked him in astonishment.

“Is there a medical reason why he needs to stop now?”

“Well…no. Actually he has progressed to the point where he can determine how far to push himself. But he was extremely hesitant…”

“Team?” Win asked with a firm tone. “Are you in any pain?”

Team reluctantly shook his head, “No, no pain.”

Win nodded, “Okay, then I’ll meet you at the landing and you can do it again.”

“But Sis Hom said…” Team began.

“She said that it was up to you. You said you are not in pain. I know that means you want to keep going, correct?”

Team looked at the steps. No, he didn’t want to. Not if he had to walk down them again.

“I know you,” Win stated. “If you leave now, you will run this over in your head a million times. You will convince yourself that you just got lucky. That if you were to do it again, it would hurt. So…that means you have to do it over and over again, until you truly understand that it will not hurt you.” He climbed up the steps. “Let’s go. I don’t want to wait here all day.”

Team started to reach for the handrails and then stopped himself. He thought, Sis Hom is my physical therapist, not HIM! She said I didn’t have to do anymore today. And besides that, I’m a grown man. I don’t have to do what anybody says! He looked up and saw Win on the landing looking down at him—as if he were a god, or a king, or something. Team felt his hatred for Win come rushing to the surface.

“Well come on! Hurry it up! And this time, walk up them correctly. One foot after the other,” Win demanded.

Sis Hom was standing beside Team. He looked at her and she gave him a little nod. “It’s okay to try, if you feel like you’re ready.”

But he didn’t feel like he was ready. And he didn’t like being pushed or rushed. They weren’t in the pool now, so Win was not his boss. He was ready to give up and just try it during the next session, when a sneaky little subconscious thought decided to let itself be known. “He’s right. If you give up now, the next time you will be more scared than you are now.”

“Shut up,” he mumbled under his breath to himself.

“I see your lips moving but not your feet,” Win called down to him.

Team ground his teeth together in anger. He grabbed the handrails and walked up the steps. He watched his ankle bending and flexing with each step. It seemed to be moving smoothly and took his weight without even a slight twinge.

He reached the landing; Win had stepped down to the second step. He reached out and took hold of Team’s hips. “Keep the momentum going!” he ordered.

And Team walked down the steps, one foot after the other, just like any other person. When he reached the ground, he was panting from fear, but also with a bit of elation.

“Good job!” Win said with a huge smile. “Do it again!”

Team nodded and went around to the other side and climbed the steps. This time when he reached the landing, he saw that Win was still standing on the ground at the foot of the steps. “This time, use the handrails,” he said.

Team felt panic rising up in him as he looked down at Win.

“It’s okay, Team. I’m still here. And I meant what I said—even if you punch me every step of the way, I’ll get you help if you need it. But you won’t need help, and you don’t need me. You can do this by yourself.”

With shaking hands, Team took hold of the handrails. He walked down the stairs alone. By the time he reached the ground, he could feel the smile spreading across his face. Win was grinning at him and he pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “YES!!!!”

Team laughed and hurriedly walked by him. He didn’t have to be told to do it again. Up he went and then down, again and again. Sis Hom had told him that it was up to him now what he wanted to do, so he began to walk quicker. A bit later in his steps series, he started jogging back to the start after coming down the steps.

He lost count of the times he had done the steps. All he was aware of was the fact that his injured ankle could do everything that his regular ankle could do. He decided not to think of it as his ‘injured’ or ‘bad’ ankle anymore. From now on, he was going to think of it as his ‘new’ ankle.

He remembered the elation he had felt the first time he had walked on his own after the accident. It had felt like he had received a miracle. And after screwing that up, he had been given a second chance at his miracle, and he vowed he would never mess it up again. And he would never stop feeling grateful for second chances.

He reached the landing and jumped from it to the ground. He laughed when he landed and started to run back to the start, when he happened to glance over and see Win lounging on the grass. He was laughing. When he saw that he had Team’s attention he said, “Well, now you’re just showing off!”

Team laughed and instead of running to the steps, he veered off and ran around Win in a circle. “I’m a cyborg!”

“Cyborgs are cool!” Win said.

“And you fucking know it!” Team finished it. They had been quoting the lecture that Win had given Team the day Win had called Team’s parents about his pain. Team remembered, but he doubted if Win did.

Although Team had never been much of a dancer, he stopped running for a second and did a few dance steps. It was the only way he could express his joy. Then he started running in circles around Win again. “Where’s Sis Hom?”

“I don’t know. She watched you for a while, then got up and went inside.”

“Probably bored. Not much fun watching someone climb steps.”

“I enjoyed it,” Win said.

“Yeah, but you’re weird.”

Win laughed.

Team dropped down on his knees in front of Win and grabbed Win’s water bottle. “I’m dying of thirst. Do you care if I…?”

“No, go ahead! You deserve something better than lukewarm water to celebrate with though!”

Team chugged down most of the water. He stopped himself from drinking it all, remembering just in time that Win needed it for his headache. He handed Win back the bottle and then took a good look at him. “Hey!” he said in surprise.

“What?” Win asked with a shocked laugh.

“Your color looks normal!”

Win nodded with a small, “Yeah, headache’s all gone. Fucking starving now though.”

At that moment, the side door to Sis Hom’s therapy area opened and she stepped out. She walked over to them with a smile.

“I have good news and bad news,” she said.

Team stood up and Win followed suit. “What’s the bad news?”

She shook her head, “Nope! I want to tell you the good news first!” She handed Team a slip of paper. “I’ve been on the phone with your doctor, and I told him about your progress. He wants to examine you tomorrow morning and put you through some tests of his own. I wrote down all the information for you on that paper. Unfortunately, he does want you to put back on the cast and wear it until he completes the tests. However, I would strongly suggest that you bring along your other shoe to the appointment, because based on what I can see, you will leave the appointment without the cast. Of course, that is up to your doctor and what the tests reveal.”

Team was practically bouncing with excitement, “Okay then…what’s the bad news?”

Her smile grew larger, “The bad news is…you won’t be coming here anymore, and I am going to miss you!”

She gave him a nice little speech about how much she had enjoyed being his physical therapist and how she had been inspired by his strength and determination to reach his goals, etc. He imagined it was a speech she gave to all of her patients when they were discharged, but it was still nice to hear.

When she finished, she turned to Win. She pulled a small card out of her pocket. “And you were a wonderful coach for Team. He was lucky to have you. I have a few other patients who could really use a coach like you. I’ve written my personal cell phone number on the back of this card. Call me later and maybe we can coordinate our schedules…”

Win politely handed her back her card, “No, there’s no need. I have a crazy, unpredictable schedule, and besides…I am only interested in Team’s recovery. I’m sure your other patients will all do as well as Team has, just by following your instructions.”

“Well,” she said, while looking down at the card in her hand, “You know where my office is…if you ever change your mind.”

Win smiled and nodded, “I do, but I won’t.”

She gave a small sigh, and then turned back to Team, “Again…congratulations on all that you have achieved. I imagine you probably want to get out of here now and go celebrate.”

“I know that I sure do!” Win said more to Team than to her, “I’m dying of starvation!”

Team laughed, “Okay, just let me change from these practice shoes.” He sat down on a bench and removed the shoes and handed them to Sis Hom. Then he put on his shoe and his boot cast. He hated the feel of it and the way it restricted his movement. But he reminded himself that he only had to wear it for less than a day now. If he were lucky and passed all the tests in the morning, that was.

As they drove to the restaurant, Team watched Win from the corner of his eye. He didn’t understand how someone with the nickname, ‘One Night Win’, couldn’t have realized what Sis Hom was really offering. Heck, Team was basically as green as grass—the only person who had ever tried to pick him up was Nick—but even he knew the real reason that Sis Hom wanted to give Win her private cell phone number…and it wasn’t for coaching other patients.

Also…something else was strange about that. Even if Win wasn’t interested in coaching any of her other patients…why hadn’t he just accepted her card, even if just being polite, and then tossed it away later? It was almost like he wanted her to know that he didn’t want her number or something. When Team had seen Win hand her back her card, he had cringed a bit inside. No matter the polite manner and words he had used, rejecting the card had been rude.

When they got inside the restaurant, Team picked their regular table as Win went to the counter and ordered. Team remembered to look around at the people to see if any of them were watching them. There was a small group of women in the corner, eating together and discussing a book they had all read; Team thought they were probably book club members having a meeting. A couple of booths were filled with young families, and a few of the tables were occupied by elderly couples. Only one table caused him to be concerned. There were four people sitting at it and they were wearing uniforms from the university.

They seemed oblivious to both Win at the counter and Team at the table. They weren’t watching either of them or even pretending to be messing with their phones so that they could secretly get pictures. They just seemed to be eating and chatting. They were too far away from Team’s table to hear what they were talking about, but one of them opened a textbook and appeared to be reading something to them out loud.

Win arrived at the table with a loaded tray. He put Team’s usual order—jumbo-sized everything, in front of him, and then…much to Team’s surprise, Win unloaded another jumbo-sized order at his own place. Win never, ever ate jumbo-sized meals.

Team laughed as he unwrapped his sandwich and spread out the wrapper. “You weren’t kidding about starving, were you?”

Win shook his head as he put his tomato and onion slices on Team’s wrapper, “Nope! I just hope this is enough food to fill me up!”

Team quickly darted a glance at the table with the students to see if they had taken pictures of that. They still seemed to be involved in their own conversation. Team reached over to get the tomato and onion but then stopped his hand before it got there. “Do you know that you can order hamburgers without tomato and onion?”

Win had taken a huge bite and was in the process of chewing. He nodded. Once he had the bite swallowed he said, “Yeah, I know, but you like them, and it doesn’t hurt for you to get extras.” He took another big bite.

Team picked up the slices and ate them. “What do you do with them when I’m not here with you?”

Win shrugged and then took a drink from his glass, “I don’t come here without you.”

Team had taken a bite of his hamburger and stopped in midchew, “Never?” he spoke around the food in his mouth.

Win shook his head, “No, I don’t usually like Western cuisine, but today it’s pretty good!”

“I like Eastern food too—why do we always come here if you don’t like it?”

Win shrugged, “This is supposed to be a reward for you. To give you something to look forward to after your appointments.”

“Oh, so that’s why you never let me pay?”

“No! I would let you pay, I just always forget. I’m getting absent minded in my old age.”

“You’re about to make yourself sick with how fast you are eating,” Team scolded. “No sense shoving it down like that if it all comes back up.”

Win laughed, “Okay, Mom!” but he did slow down a bit.

Team glanced back over at the table. No suspicious activity spotted.

“Do you know someone over there?” Win asked.

“Who? Oh no. Do you?”

Win took a good look at the occupants at the other table. He shook his head, “No, their emblems on their shirts say they are from the medical facility. I don’t know anyone there.”

“Sure you do!” Team corrected. “You know Mali!”

Win looked down at the French fries in front of him. He smiled, “Yeah, you’re right. I do know Mali.”

Team wasn’t so happy about that smile. He knew that Jai wouldn’t have been either. However, he knew that Mali was deeply in love with Jai and would never cheat on him. Not even with ‘One Night Win’, their university’s answer to Casanova. “You know that she and Jai are together, right?”

Win laughed, “Yeah, I know!”

“Okay, well…okay,” Team said and focused on eating for a while.

They had almost finished eating when Win asked, “Are you going to tell your parents about your appointment tomorrow?”

Team shook his head and then took a drink from his cup. “Nah, they have taken off so many days of work already for this. And it is such short notice. I’ll send them a message after the appointment and let them know the good news…if there is good news, I mean.”

“Are you going to keep the cast on until the doctor says to take it off or are you going to take it off as soon as you get back to your dorm room.”

“No, I want to, but I won’t. I’ll do what the doctor says to do.”

Win nodded, “Good!”

“Yeah,” Team nodded, dragging a French fry slowly through a puddle of ketchup. He sighed softly. “I…uh,” he paused and swallowed hard. He dropped the fry and wiped his fingers on his napkin, “I didn’t. Before, I mean. They told me to keep the plate in, that my ankle wasn’t strong enough on its own. But…I thought I knew better. I went to a few doctors to get a second opinion, and when I found one that agreed with me…well…you know.” He shook his head, “No, well, maybe you don’t.” He looked up at Win, “I had the surgery to remove it. I was supposed to stay in the boot cast for at least six weeks, but I took it off after three weeks and wore high top tennis shoes as a replacement. But…it wasn’t a good replacement. I was in pain almost every day. Most of the time, it was manageable, but occasionally…it wasn’t.” He paused and took a drink, glad to remove his eyes from Win’s for just a moment. This wasn’t easy for him to say but he felt as if he had to. He cleared his throat, “When you…when you called my parents and told them about it, I really wanted to…” he stopped and shrugged, “I was pissed. Then the doctor told me if I had walked on it much longer, it was possible that the damage would have been too bad to fix. And I would have kept walking on it if you hadn’t told on me. So…thanks for butting in.”

“Team! You don’t have to…”

“Yeah, I do. Because of that, today…when I was freaking out and you said that you would get me help if I needed it…I believed you. So I guess I owe you double thanks.”

Win shook his head, “No. I owe you an apology. A big one. Both times you injured your ankle…they were my fault.”

Team frowned, “How could they be your fault?”

“When I set up the schedule for the booth that day, I put you with Kulap because I had noticed that the two of you were friends. I thought it would be fun for you to work with him. But I guess since you were friends, he thought he could get away with not coming in to work that shift…”

“That was his fault, not yours!” Team interrupted.

“And the wobble! I made you practice until it disappeared. And it did. But that was because you forced yourself to distribute your weight evenly, putting strain on your injured ankle…”

“You didn’t know. I didn’t tell you that it hurt, so that’s my bad,” Team assured him.

Win rubbed his forehead. “I was the one that came up with the idea for the obstacle course too, I thought it would be fun. Now I can’t help wondering if every time I correct someone’s form…maybe they are hurting, and I don’t know it. I’ve been going through every correction…”

“Stop! We’re all adults. I highly doubt if anyone else has bad form because of pain, but if they do, they need to tell you. Again…none of this was your fault. If you had known my ankle hurt, you wouldn’t have…”

“I wouldn’t!” Win agreed hastily. “Swimming a few hundredths of a second faster isn’t worth harming someone!”

“You look pale again,” Team said.

“Guilt,” Win said around the rim of his glass as he drank the last of his cola.

Team shook his head, “Knock it off. It was my bad, not yours. And besides…you helped me so much today. In fact, so much that I may be able to get rid of this cast tomorrow morning! If you hadn’t helped me to go down the steps and made me keep doing it…I would have listened to Sis Hom. And you were right; I would have convinced myself that I had just gotten lucky. I would be facing a lot more time in this cast. Tomorrow, if all the tests are good, I’m going to be free and I’m not scared of steps anymore!”

“I will take you to your appointment,” Win stated.

“Oh, there’s no need to trouble yourself with that! I can take the bus into Bangkok. The number 24 bus goes right to the hospital.”

“I’m taking you,” Win said even more firmly. “I’m your coach, right? Your coach has to be there when you cross the finish line.”

“I guess that’s true,” Team agreed. “Okay, you can take me.”

“Good!” Win said with a smile, “I’m glad that’s settled. Do you want something more to eat?”

“Hell no! I’m stuffed!”

Win got up, “I’m not! I’ll be right back!” He walked back up to the counter.

Team looked at the table where the students from medical studies had been sitting. They had left at some point and their table was empty. Team looked around at the other tables and didn’t see anyone that fit the age range. Plus, no one was looking at either him or Win.

Win came back to the table carrying two very large ice cream sundaes. He sat down one in front of Team.

“Hey! I said I was stuffed! I can’t eat this!” Team argued.

“Sure you can! It’s strawberry! Strawberries are your favorite fruit!”

Team picked up his spoon and fished out a big chunk of a strawberry and popped it into his mouth. He noticed without surprise that Win’s sundae was also strawberry. It had always been Win’s favorite fruit, too.

Strawberries reminded him of Than and his mother’s jam. And cakes. And finger sandwiches. He was mentally transported back in time when Than messaged with him during the strawberry crisis that ended up being a wonderful thing for their family. Especially Than’s mother who had discovered a way to showcase her jam skills and introduce their customers to her extraordinary cakes.

“You’re smiling. You must like it!” Win said happily.

Team thought about Than for a second longer as he answered, “Yeah, I like it a lot.” He focused on Win and said, “Your color is coming back.”

Win nodded, “Yeah, headache flared up for a second during my confession, but it’s totally gone again. Confession is good for the soul—so everyone says. Apparently it’s also good for headache relief.”

“You had nothing to confess. You shouldn’t have made yourself sick over it. That was dumb. You aren’t a mind reader; you can’t just know when something hurts someone!”

Win nodded and ate another spoonful of his sundae before speaking. His voice was quiet and he kept his eyes on his sundae, “Will you promise me you will tell me if ever you hurt again?”

Promise? Team wanted to scoff at the very word. He was being asked to promise something to a promise breaker. Worse than that even, Win was an OATH breaker. Team used his napkin to wipe his hands and pushed the half eaten sundae away from him. “If ever I start hurting again, I’m going right away to the doctor. I don’t want to hurt anymore, and I don’t want to take any chances of causing permanent damage.”

Win looked up from his study of his sundae. He stared Team in the eyes, this time instead of asking, he ordered, “Promise me that you will tell me if you are ever hurting again!”

“Okay, fine! I promise I will tell you if I start hurting again! Are you happy now?”

Win nodded. He finished his sundae and then looked over at Team’s. “You didn’t finish yours.”

Team grimaced. “I can’t! I’m stuffed. I had to force myself to eat some of it.”

“Do you mind?” Win asked, picking up the ice cream cup.

“No, go for it,” Team said. He grinned when he saw Win tucking into it. “I have never seen you eat this much. Not ever!”

Win gave a slight nod, “To be honest, I haven’t eaten in days. I’ve been living on those meal substitute shakes. I’ve been drinking water, but even the thought of trying to eat anything was disgusting.” He finished eating the contents of the cup and sighed, “I feel full now though.”

“I know you live in the old dorms. Do you have a refrigerator?”

Win grinned, “Yeah, I have a small kitchen set up—tiny cooktop, microwave oven, and a small refrigerator. Why?”

“Because in a couple of hours, you are going to be starving to death again. Probably for the next couple of days until your body gets used to the idea that food is always available. You have been in starvation mode,” Team explained. “You might want to get a super-sized order to go, and then you will have it to heat up in your microwave quickly.”

Win nodded, “Good idea. But I don’t want re-heated fries, they suck. I think I will stop by a Chinese place I like and buy something there to take home.”

They left the restaurant and headed back to the dorms. Win called ahead and his order at the Chinese restaurant was waiting for him to pick up. He tried to convince Team to get something too, but Team felt so full he could barely take a deep breath.

As they neared Team’s dorm, Win began yawning. After his second or third yawn, he admitted that he suddenly felt very tired.

“Have you been sleeping much?” Team asked.

Win shook his head. “Headache wouldn’t let me. Every time I would try to lay down, my head hurt worse. I could only sleep sitting up, leaning a bit to the side.”

“A full stomach makes you tired too, if you haven’t slept much. If I were you, I would go back to my dorm, put the food in the refrigerator, and go to bed. Your empty stomach will probably wake you up again in a couple of hours.”

“I’m supposed to tutor tonight, but I think I will have to cancel the session.”

They pulled up outside Team’s dorm. Team leaned over the console and grabbed his backpack from the back seat. “That’s a good idea,” he agreed. “Go home and get some sleep.”

“I can carry that for you!” Win stated, turning off the car and reaching for the door handle.

“No.” Team said, already exiting the car. “You’re too tired. Hey—are you going to be okay to drive there?”

Win nodded, starting the car. “It’s only about six blocks from here. Don’t forget—I will be here in the morning to take you to your appointment.”

Team started to argue, but the sight of pure exhaustion on Win’s face made him bite down on his words and not let them out. Instead, he nodded and walked away from the car. He tossed Win a wave before he entered his building.

Once inside his dorm room, he got on his Scooby friends’ group and sent a message asking if they were all going to the library to study later. They were, and Namfon offered to pick Team up on her cycle. Team chuckled to himself as he accepted her offer. Hopefully the cast would be removed in the morning, and this would be his last time riding the Orange Monstrosity.

His phone sounded a message alert, and he smiled when he saw it was from Than. He clicked on the message immediately. His smile kind of faded when he read Than’s message though. Than told him that his parents wanted him to help them in the storage room this evening. Than’s parents thought that they might put an industrial-sized stove in there for his mother to use to make jams and bake cakes more efficiently than what she had been able to do with their regular stove. Than was confused on how it could be done though. They needed the storage space for their store inventory—and the storage room was packed solid, almost every square foot of it. They had a shed out back, behind their house, but it wasn’t weather safe…or pest safe. He didn’t want to be the one to have to open soggy boxes and find bugs or mice or something inside. So that would mean having to fix it all up. Than feared it was going to be a busy night and said he probably wouldn’t have any free time to message with Team.

Team messaged back, trying to sound cheery, and told Than that with the three of them working on a solution together, they were sure to come up with something feasible. He signed off after wishing Than good luck.

Team’s smile came back quickly as he thought about how happy Than’s mom would be to have such a nice stove, and how much help to the family that extra money could be. She had already proven herself to her customers so it definitely would be successful, he had no doubts.

He also thought about how odd it was that tonight was the night they came up with this plan. He had just been thinking about her jam and cakes while eating the strawberries earlier. He wondered if that was a hint of the twinkle that he inherited from his mother, or just a weird coincidence.

That evening, in the library, Team had just finished one assignment and closed his textbook. He was reaching for his backpack to pull out the next one he needed, when Namfon leaned over to him. “It’s time to leave,” she whispered.

He looked up at the wall clock and saw that it was still early. He frowned at her, but she just nodded. He shrugged and put his notebook and textbook in his backpack. Namfon had already told the others that they were leaving, so Team slung his backpack onto his shoulder and told them all goodnight. He followed Namfon out of the library.

“Why are we leaving now?” he asked her retreating back.

“We need to talk,” she answered, handing him a helmet and putting on her own.

They rode through the night streets on the back of the Orange Monstrosity until they reached Team’s dormitory.

They were quiet on the ride up in the elevator, but once they got into Team’s room, he said, “Okay, so what’s up?”

“First things first,” she said as she sat down on Team’s bed, tucking her legs under herself. “Snacks please!”

Team gave a small chuckle as he went into his kitchen area and got them each a cola and a big bag of chips to share.

“You are the only one who snacks as much as me,” he said with a laugh.

“In your dreams!” she retorted, then grabbed the chips from his hands. “I only snack around you; you snack all the time!”

She put some chips in her mouth and then turned on her phone and began to scroll. She found what she was looking for and handed Team her phone.

It was a picture taken earlier in the day. Win and Team were eating their sundaes and laughing (Team didn’t remember them laughing about anything, but there was the evidence in front of his face). The caption read, “Our strawberry lovers! What? I meant that they both love strawberries—not that they were actually lovers! What were you thinking? (Winky face emoji)”

Immediately after that post were posts debating on who loved whom more. He scanned those quickly—all of them said it was Team, except for the person who’s username was 1WhoKnows. That person stated that it was actually Win who loved Team more; he was crazy about Team, in fact. They swore they had it on good authority.

Team sighed, shook his head, and handed Namfon back her phone. “I hate this stupid shit!” he declared.

“I know you do,” she said, “But I was wondering if you had maybe forgotten to look around to see who was there.”

“No! I looked! The only people in there that were our age were four people from pre-med. They never even noticed us…and they were gone before we got the sundaes!”

“Okay, but someone in there did notice you…obviously.”

Team closed his eyes and searched his mind. “Over here,” he said, gesturing with his left hand, “there was a small group of women—late 30s to early 40s. They were discussing a book they had read. I thought it was probably a gathering of a book club.” He gestured again, this time closer to himself, “Here’s where the med students sat. Four of them—involved in discussing something from their textbook. I watched them off and on and they never looked at us. Over on the far side were two booths with young families. One family had a child that looked like it might be old enough for pre-school, and an infant. The other family had two toddlers—maybe twins? Both families seemed to be very busy with the children…almost too busy to find time to eat for themselves…neither noticed us. Up front were a few couples…three I think. They were sitting at the small tables, the ones that only seat two. They were all older…grandma/grandpa type age. None of them looked at us.” He opened his eyes. “That’s it, that’s all I saw.”

She nodded and ate some chips, lost in thought. They sat in silence for a while, the only sound was the crunching of the chips. Namfon opened her phone again and stared at the picture. Suddenly she said, “Oh my God!”

“What? What is it?” he asked, excitedly. He knew that she must have solved the mystery.

“The butler did it!” she said with a grin.

“The butler? What butler? What are you talking about?”

She laughed, “Scooby! We live in a city that is filled with college students, right?”

“Um…well, yeah. And?”

“And…” she said with a grin, “Lots of those students work part time at places where the hours are flexible…such as…fast food restaurants! Did you happen to notice any of the workers there?”

Team thought very hard and tried to picture the workers. He drew a blank. He looked at her and shook his head, “No, I don’t think I did.”

“Exactly! That’s why I said the butler did it! It’s a cliché based on some old mystery stories from way back, but the premise is a good one. People don’t notice workers in places. It’s like they are part of the scenery; they blend in.”

“Oh wow! I can’t believe I didn’t think about them!” he said in astonishment.

“Well, don’t feel too bad about it. I didn’t think of them either and I’m a genius,” she quipped.

“In your dreams!” he joked, throwing that insult back at her.

She quickly untucked one leg and acted like she was going to kick him. He laughingly dodged it.

“At least you know now who to look for the next time you go in there,” she said.

“Yeah…oh, well no. Today was my last therapy session so we won’t be going back there,” he said but he had a weird feeling come over him at the thought. Sort of like a dark cloud passing overhead and blocking the sun. Heavy, dark, gloomy. But that was ridiculous because once his cast was off, he could ride his cycle there any time he wanted. It wasn’t like he could never eat a hamburger again in his life…it was just…well…just that he wouldn’t be going there after therapy again.

“Scooby! That’s great! No more therapy! Why didn’t you say something? You silly old pup! We would have all wanted to celebrate that with you!”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. Didn’t think of it until just now. We can celebrate after the doctor tells me I can take off the cast, okay?”

“When do you think that will be?”

“Actually…maybe…hopefully, that is…tomorrow? I have an appointment to have tests ran, but if everything is okay…fingers crossed.”

They talked for a while about his doctor visit and what kinds of test they would probably have for Team, and then Team decided it was time to stop talking about himself. “So, how are things with you and Skye?”

She gave him a big smile. “We went to lunch with her sister and her cousin. They are Skye’s best friends, she adores them, so of course I was thrilled that she was introducing them to me. She’s not out to them yet, so she introduced me as a ‘friend from physics’. I wasn’t insulted, but she was worried that I was, she told me afterwards. But I get it. I haven’t come out to people—aside from our group. I keep imagining how my mother will handle it. It makes me laugh about how red her face is going to get…until I remember that my scholarship will only pay for four years and I need eight years for my PhD, and then it’s not so funny thinking about her being angry and disappointed in me. I’m going to have to stay on her good side to get her to pay for it. Which is so aggravating.”

“I know what you mean,” Team said with a nod.

She patted his arm, “I know you do. And…it’s actually much worse for you and Mali. Both of you are in the same boat as me…eight years of school needed, only four of them paid for, but I am the lucky one. I have a rich mother who will pay for it…all I have to do is not crush her dreams for me. I think Jai is planning on paying for Mali’s…but what are you going to do, Team?”

He shrugged. “Maybe try to find myself a rich husband?” He laughed, “I think I will wait to worry about it. Tonight, I just want to be happy about the possibility of getting rid of this cast tomorrow—and you should be happy about meeting Skye’s most important people! That says a lot about how much she cares about you!”

Win showed up at his door early the next morning. Team had just woken up, hadn’t even had time to take a shower yet.

“Why are you here so early?” Team grumbled.

Win laughed as he came in. He held up a big bag, “I brought breakfast! You were right about needing to eat a lot! I woke up every few hours, starving! I felt like a newborn baby!”

Team went to his dresser drawers and pulled out a clean outfit to wear. “Did you shit after every feeding like a newborn, too?”

“Actually, I did!” Win answered with a laugh.

“Ew, Dude! TMI!” Team scolded scornfully on his way to the bathroom.

“You asked; I answered,” Win responded before the bathroom door shut behind Team.

Team took a shower, styled his hair, shaved, and got dressed before leaving the bathroom. Win was just taking the food out of the bag when he entered the room.

“Hey! You didn’t have to wait for me!” Team said in a surprised voice.

“It’s cool,” Win laughed, “I told you I was eating all through the night.”

Team sat down and looked at the mountain of food that Win had placed before him. “I’m…uh…I’m kind of nervous. I’m not sure I can eat this.”

Win was shoveling food in his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in a month. “Nervous?” he asked around a mouth full of food. “What about?”

Team scoffed, “Because of my appointment? Like…how do you not know that?”

Win shrugged, “You’re doing great; you know that. Either you are well enough to get the cast off, or you have to wear it a bit longer. That wouldn’t be the end of the world.”

Team shook his head and scooped up some food, “Maybe not for you!”, he quipped. But internally, he knew that Win was right. There was nothing wrong with his ankle now, that he knew for a fact. The bones might not be mended enough to go without external support yet. But if not now, they would be soon.

“Oh!” Win said in midchew, “I forgot!” He picked his backpack up from the floor and rummaged through it. He pulled out the last book of the trilogy that Team had loaned him and the English to Thai dictionary.

“You finished it?” Team asked excitedly. “What did you think of the ending?”

“I swear, I thought I was going to die when they had to move the satellite and then found out there was a bomb on it!”

“Yes!” Team agreed. “And like…less than twenty seconds left before they could get it deactivated!”

“Could you imagine seeing that in a movie? Everyone would go crazy!”

“Uh…wait!” Team got up from the table and hurried over to his dresser. He rummaged through a stack of papers on it and finally found what he was looking for. He brought it back to the table. “Look! The last time I was home I got a package from my aunt. She sent me a new series, plus this newsletter. Read the front page!”

It took Win a few moments to read it because it was in English. He had to ask Team what one of the words was, but he finally reached the end of the article. He looked up at Team and grinned, “So they are going to make these into a film series? Excellent! I’m definitely going to go to see them! Too bad they won’t reach Thailand for ages.”

Team shrugged, “I have an address to a site where you can see them as soon as they are released. Of course they will be in English. How well do you understand spoken English?”

“I do better at reading it, and you just saw how long it took me to read that article.”

Team took a bite and chewed it while thinking, “You know…I could help you. I mean…once the first one is released…we could maybe watch it together, and if you didn’t understand something…we could pause it…”

“That would be great!” Win gushed. “I really need to work on my English more, I know. Do you still take classes?”

Team shook his head, “No, I took the college classes when I was in Upper Secondary. I finished all that are offered.”

Win stopped chewing and looked at him in surprise, “You did?”

Team nodded, “Yeah, the school made arrangements with a college in Rayong. I got to take their English classes online. They let me go at my own speed, since it wasn’t in a regular classroom. Anyway…I completed all the classes before I graduated Upper Secondary. I…uh…well, that’s how I am here…I won the Foreign Language scholarship. My first week here, the school gave me a test based on the final test of the highest level of English class that they teach and I passed it, so they just accepted my credits and told me I didn’t have to take any more English classes.”

“I’m impressed but not surprised. You were always the best one in class,” Win said. “The Foreign Language scholarship is a big one, isn’t it? Seems like I remember that it was.”

Team nodded, “Four-year full ride.”

“That’s great! Pre-law though…you need at least…what…seven or eight years of study?”

Team felt a knot forming in his stomach as he nodded, “Yeah, eight years.” He pushed away the remains of his breakfast, suddenly losing his appetite.

“I suppose, after the four years of pre-law, before going on to Law School, that will be enough to get some kind of job with a lawyer, right? I mean so you can earn the money for Law School.”

Team shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe. During my last year of Secondary, I worked part-time for a lawyer. Hopefully that will help my chances.”

Win stared at him with his eyes widened in surprise. “How did you do all that—school, college English classes, and working for a lawyer?”

Team wiped his hands on his napkin and then laid it down on the table. “I didn’t go to school. I couldn’t. Surgeries, healing time, physical therapy—they were all during that year. So I homeschooled. My days were pretty boring so I worked a lot on my studies…pretty much all the time. But then I pulled too far ahead of the class, I had actually finished all the assignments scheduled by the first six weeks of school. I needed something else to do…so I went to work. They knew of the health things I was going through and allowed me to come in when I could…no set schedule. I ended up being there a lot. Anyway, I developed an interest in law and that is why it’s now my major.”

“Did you make good money?” Win asked, “Or was it like a volunteer thing?”

Team looked down at the napkin he had laid down on the table. “I bought my motorcycle after working there for a while. It’s used, of course…but…”

Win nodded, “Still expensive though.” He used his napkin and then began gathering up his empty food containers.

Team helped and in no time the table was clean and bare, except for the books that Win was returning. Team walked over to the shelf above his desk, where he kept his books. He pulled one down and held it where Win could see the cover. “Do you like these characters?”

Win walked over so he could see it better. “Yeah! They are pretty great!’

“That is book one of the new series my aunt just sent me. The series has six books. I’m on the third one now. Would you like to borrow the first book in this series?”

“Really?” Win asked in surprise.

“Sure, but you will still need to use the English to Thai dictionary, so take it back home with you.”

Win nodded, “Thanks!” he said. “I’ll take good care of them.”

Team looked at the book that Win was returning to him. It looked exactly how it had when it left him. “Yeah, I know or else I wouldn’t lend them to you.”

“You never did before,” Win muttered.

Team didn’t like to talk about ‘before’. He didn’t even like to think about the time ‘before’. He didn’t answer. He just turned back to his shelf and slid the book Win had returned back into it’s slot.

“What’s this?” Win asked.

Team turned to look and saw “The Devil Doesn’t Bargain” in Win’s hand. He felt his whole body get hot with embarrassment. He knew that his face had to be fiery red as his cheeks felt like they were about to boil. He took the book from Win’s hand and looked down at it. “Namfon…” he began, and then stopped himself. He wasn’t about to tell Win that Namfon had given it to him and admit to ownership of it. “She left it...it’s hers, not mine!”

Win gave a slight nod, “Yeah, I knew it wasn’t yours or else it would be on the shelf.” He looked down at the graphic novel in his hand, “So...is this series as good as the last one?”

Team had to force himself to focus on the book in Win’s hand, not the one Team had just laid down on his desk, face down. “Seems like it. Of course, I’m only on the third one so I don’t know how it will end up. Don’t blame me if it sucks though. I had already finished that other series so I felt like I could recommend it.”

Win gave a slight nod, “I won’t. And it’s from the same company, so it’s probably good.” He looked over at the table where the dictionary lay and to the chair behind it where his backpack was hung. “Don’t you think we should leave soon?”

“Yeah,” Team agreed. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”

Win took the book over to the table and packed it and the dictionary in his backpack. He pulled it up on his shoulder and turned back to look at Team.

Team had gotten his backpack out and had placed his other shoe and sock in it. When he noticed Win watching him, he said, “Just in case.”

Win crossed his fingers with a laugh, and then grabbed Team’s backpack from him and pulled it up on his shoulder to join his.

Team tried to grab it back, “I can carry it! It’s just a sock and a shoe! It doesn’t weigh anything!”

Win nodded, “Yeah, I know that and you know that, but anyone who might see us wouldn’t know that. They would think I was terrible for letting you carry a backpack while you’re in a cast!”

Team scoffed, “I don’t care what anyone thinks!” he declared, but that was a lie. He knew it was a lie. After finding out about the WinTeam shippers and realizing that people had been watching them and taking pictures, he had been freaking out internally about it. He didn’t want people talking about he and Win like they were a couple or something. It was weird and uncomfortable, so yeah, he did care.

Win shrugged, “I don’t usually care...but on this I do. I don’t want people saying I am a person who wouldn’t help someone who is obviously at a disadvantage. Come on, let’s go! It’s getting late!”

Win walked out the door and with a huff, Team followed.

The appointment took hours. Team had been through it before and knew it would be a while, but even he was surprised at how long it took. First he had gone through a series of scans and x-rays, then they had him climbing, walking, and running on their equipment, and then more scans and x-rays. Win had sat with him throughout all of it. Team had expected to be given a verdict after the last round of scans and x-rays had been taken. But that was not the case. The doctor in charge called a meeting with several other experts and told Team he could either go home and wait for the results, or wait in the waiting room.

Team opted to wait in the vending room. There were lots of snacks available and a TV in the corner. He and Win turned on the sports channel and watched while they snacked.

Some time later, Win pushed away his snack and said, “That’s it. I’m finally full. Couldn’t eat another bite.”

Team picked up the bag and read the ingredients. He tossed the bag back down on the table. “No wonder! That stuff is terrible! Full of all natural, healthy shit!” he laughed. “Seriously though, what happened is your body has realized you’re not in danger of starving now, so you’ll go back to your regular appetite.”

Win looked at him in amazement, “This knowledge is something I might expect from Mali, not you! Since when are you such an expert on this stuff? Like...you knew I would be hungry every few hours, and I was, and now you know that the spell is over. How?”

Team gave a dismissive shrug, “I don’t know. Probably read it somewhere.” He turned back to the TV and pretended to be watching it. He didn’t say what he had wanted to say. He bit those words back and didn’t let them escape. He knew he couldn’t say: “I know because I didn’t eat for five days after you left! I just laid in bed and wanted to die!” He would never tell Win that and let him know how much his leaving had effected Team. He felt a renewed surge of anger and hatred for Win at the memory.

“Excuse me,” a voice from the door called.

Team looked and saw it was a nurse.

“The doctors would like for you to join them in the conference room now,” the nurse said. “Do you know the way there?”

Team nodded and thanked the nurse. Then without a word spoken between them, Win grabbed up the backpacks and hurried to the door. He paused and let Team step out first and led the way.

As they entered the conference room, Team’s doctor rose to meet them. He ushered them in and introduced them to the other five doctors at the table, and then had them take seats and join them.

Team’s doctor walked over to a large box on the wall and flipped a switch. It was a light that lit up a third of the box. There were pictures and x-rays of Team’s ankle from the day he had arrived at the hospital, before having surgery.

Looking at the pictures made Team’s stomach flip and flutter. He had forgotten the extent of how bad the injury was-- he had even forgotten about the pain. Seeing the pictures brought it back.

The doctors commented on the injury-- mostly using language he didn’t fully comprehend-- but it didn’t matter. In a nutshell what they were saying was: “Yuck! What a mess!” and Team agreed.

The doctor then flipped a switch and lit up the middle panel. It was Team’s ankle after surgery. There were a few different pictures and x-rays here, showing the healing progression. Even to Team’s untrained eyes, he could see a huge difference from the stuff in the first panel. His eyes kept getting drawn back to the first panel. He had caused that. He had hated the feel of the screws when he ran his fingers across his ankle. And he had hated the slight difference in flexibility that he had with the plate. Getting them removed had caused that mess. He promised himself that he would never do something that stupid, ever, ever again. The pain and the damage displayed was making him feel so sick. He forced his eyes away and mentally vowed to stop looking at it. It was over now, he was healed, no reason to dwell on it-- just never let it happen again.

“In conclusion…” the doctor said, “Today is the day that we can pronounce you as healed. How about it, Team? Would you like to remove that boot cast for good?”

“Yes!” Team agreed excitedly. “I brought along a shoe...just in case!” He removed the boot cast and the doctors all applauded. Win handed him his backpack and Team withdrew the sock and shoe that he had packed. Team put them on and then stood up triumphantly. Again, the doctors all applauded.

“So, Team...do you want to keep this boot as a souvenir?” Team’s doctor asked.

“Heck no! I’m glad to see the last of it! Throw it away!” Team said laughingly.

“Excuse me, “ Win said hesitantly. “Will Team have any restrictions?”

“Good question!” Team’s doctor replied. “No, while we were discussing Team’s case and going through all the tests and scans from today, we determined that there was no need to impose any kind of restrictions on him.” The doctor looked at Team, “You are free to do whatever feels okay to do. However, any sign of pain or swelling...I want to see you back here immediately. Understood?”

Team nodded, “Yes, I understand. I let it go on too long before, thinking things would get better. Instead I learned to cope with the pain and discomfort as the damage kept getting worse. I won’t do that again.”

Team’s doctor walked over to him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Good man! Now...it is a beautiful day outside. Why don’t you go out there and enjoy it?”

Team laughed and agreed. He rushed to the door and Win grabbed up his backpack and Team’s now empty one, and hurried after him. Team was walking so quickly towards the outside door, Win had to jog to catch up with him.

Once inside the car, Team hastily got out his phone and began texting his parents to let them know about his news.

“Do you want to grab something to eat to celebrate?” Win asked.

“Ugh. No! I’m stuffed,” Team groaned and then looked up from his phone screen to look at Win. “Why? Are you hungry again?”

Win shook his head with a grin, “No, I actually feel overfull. Kind of heavy and bloated. But I thought since we always stopped before, you might like to.”

“Sounds like you have a big fart in there just waiting to come out!” Team laughed, then he said, “Actually, I would really like to just go back to the dorm. There’s something I want to do.”

Win gave a slight nod. He looked at the clock on his dash. “Swim Club just started. Are you going to go there today, or skip it?”

“Oh no! I’ll be there. I mean, of course I’m going to be late, we both already are-- but I am anxious to try out my new ankle. I haven’t been off the platform since this began, or used my ankle to push off during the turn. I really want to see what it’s like now that the pain is gone.”

Team’s phone alerted and he looked down at it to see that it was from his and his parents family chat. He read the messages on it-- they were very happy that he was able to remove the boot cast, but a bit unhappy about Team not letting them know about the appointment until it was over.

He looked over at Win and grinned, “I’m in trouble for not telling them before the appointment.”

Win grinned back, “I’m not surprised. But at least they can’t ground you from your stuff anymore.”

Team laughingly agreed and then texted an apology to his parents. By the time he had finished, they had reached Team’s dorm. He jumped out of Win’s car as soon as it stopped and then took off running. He fished the keys out of his pocket as he ran.

He had kept it maintained during the entire time, and he had ridden on the back of Namfon’s Orange Monstrosity, but it wasn’t the same. He craved the feeling of freedom that riding his cycle always gave to him.

He didn’t want to miss all of Swim Club, so he only rode around campus once. But he promised himself a long ride after. He parked in the pool parking lot and hurried inside. Win was in the office and came out to meet him.

“Here,” he said, handing Team his backpack, “You left this in my car.”

Team took it with a laugh. “Sorry about that! I was just...in a hurry. Ya know?”

Win nodded, “Yeah, I know. I watched what you ran to. It must have been hard to stop.”

“Yeah, but I reminded myself that I have the rest of my life to ride it.”

“There’s still a lot of time left, if you hurry up and get changed,” Win said, and then he turned to walk out. He stopped and held up his clipboard. “I’m going to be timing you today.”

“Are you putting me in the competition tonight?” Team asked as he pulled his swimming stuff from his locker.

“Not tonight. It’s too soon. Next Friday is the last one. Maybe you’ll be ready by then.”

Team nodded and Win walked out. Team changed quickly and ran outside. He wanted to skip his warm up exercises, but Win was watching him, so Team knew that he couldn’t.

When Team was nearing the end of his warm-up routine, Win walked to a platform with an empty lane. He turned and looked at Team pointedly. Team nodded and picked up his cap and goggles from the bench where he had laid them before exercising.

He saw the whistle hanging around Win’s neck and the clipboard in his hand, and felt a wave of anxiety flow through him. It didn’t really seem fair to be timing him on his very first swim with his new ankle. He was bound to be slower at first. Never the less, he walked to the platform. He knew he would never win in an argument.

He mounted the platform and pulled on his cap and goggles. He placed himself in the diving position.

“Are you ready?” Win asked.

“To swim...yeah. To be timed...not so much.”

“It’s just a marker to see how your speed has been effected. Don’t worry about it,” Win said.

Team gave a nod, and Win blew the whistle. Team dove from the platform and began swimming. He had been a bit worried that his new ankle would have a problem with the jump, but it hadn’t, so Team began to relax a bit and focus on the swim.

As he neared the wall, he felt a bit of worry creeping in. His old ankle hadn’t been very useful in pushing off during the turns. He soon realized that there had been no need to worry as his new ankle handled the turn as well as his unharmed ankle. He felt a sense of triumph as he swam back to the start. He wasn’t even terribly concerned about his speed for the lap. He was mostly just overjoyed at how well his new ankle was functioning, and the absence of any type of pain.

He had known after doing the steps and running on the previous day that he was healed. This had been confirmed by findings of the doctors earlier in the day after reviewing the results of his tests and scans. But after clearing the platform and pushing the wall, he really knew it. Down deep in his soul he knew it now. His ankle was finally, totally healed.

He touched the wall and pulled up his goggles. All of the guys from Swim Club had gathered around to watch him, including Toh and Sai, who were standing next to Win. Everyone cheered, except for Win who was busy writing on the paper on the clipboard.

“Good job, Team!” Sai called above the applause.

Toh gave him a grin and a thumbs up, “We’re all so proud of you!” And then he and Sai went back to their areas.

Win finished what he was writing and laid the clipboard on the ground, face down. “I want you to climb out. I need to examine your ankle.”

“It’s fine!” Team assured him.

Win gave him a withering glare. “I wasn’t asking you; I was telling you-- get out of the pool so I can examine your ankle.”

Team climbed out, begrudgingly. He thought to himself, “And...just like that, the douchebag is back! Give some guys a whistle and a stopwatch and it goes right to their head!” He looked around and saw the other guys’ glances darting between Win and Team. He could see their compassion for him and their dislike for Win in their expressions.

Win took Team’s foot into his hands and examined Team’s ankle from all angles. He even flexed it and pushed carefully onto the spots where it had been swollen in the past. All along asking, “Does this hurt?” “Does this?” “How about now?” With Team answering “No!” to each question. Finally, satisfied with his examination, Win stood up. He picked up the clipboard and looked at it for a moment. He looked at Team, “You still need to work on controlling your arms.” Then he looked at the club members who were lingering in the area. “Swim Club isn’t over yet. Go back to what you were doing.”

The guys didn’t dare speak back. They all did as they were told and soon it was just Win and Team left in the area.

“You look like you have something to say,” Win challenged.

“No, P’Win, not a thing,” Team answered-- he attempted to sound lighthearted, or at the very least normal, but even to his own ears, he could hear the sharp edge of anger in his voice.

Win lifted his chin slightly in a half nod. “I see. Perhaps it would be better to discuss this in the office.” He turned and walked towards the building.

Team snatched off his swim cap and goggles, ran a hand through his hair, and then grabbed his towel. He wrapped it around his waist and followed Win to the office.

Win was standing at the office door when Team arrived. Win motioned with his head for Team to come into the office, and then he shut the door behind Team when he entered.

“Take a seat,” Win said as he sat down behind the desk.

“Can’t. I’m wet.”

“It’s a wooden chair! It will dry. Sit!”

With a sigh of disdain, Team sat down.

“So...what do you want to discuss?” Win asked.

“I don’t,” Team said. “You told me to come in here and I did.”

“Okay,” Win said, leaning back in his seat, “Let me rephrase my question. What is making you sigh audibly, roll your eyes, and glare at me?”

Team was about to argue that he had done none of those things...but then he had to admit to himself that he had. He huffed and then said, “I didn’t like it when you examined my ankle in front of everyone! I told you if it hurt, I would stop immediately and I would let you know it hurt. You humiliated me! You were acting just like my mother!”

Win reached up and massaged his temples, “I’m sorry that I humiliated you. That was not my intention. I know you agreed to let me know if your ankle starts hurting, but I also know that you have an abnormally high tolerance for pain. What other people might consider painful, you ignore. That’s why I called your parents that night to let them know about your ankle. For you to be throwing up, passing out, and crying-- not to mention talking out of your head from the pain-- that scared me. It actually scared me half to death. That injury happened on my watch. My fault. I am going to make sure nothing like that happens again. So I will keep checking your ankle—but I will do it more discreetly in the future. Also...comparing me to your mother is not the insult you were hoping for. I happen to know she is a wonderful person.”

Team made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Fine. As long as you don’t do it in front of anyone else.” He started to get up, “I’m going back out there now.”

“No,” Win said. “Sit back down.”

Team sat back down with a plop and looked at Win.

Win shook his head, “We aren’t done here yet. You’re still glaring at me. What is it? You might as well tell me because you won’t be leaving this room until you do.”

“Well...I don’t know. It just seems to me that...forget it. Doesn’t matter.”

“It matters. Say it,” Win ordered.

Team squirmed for a moment. He noticed that he was bouncing his leg. He wasn’t bouncing it out of nerves, but rather out of irritation. “Okay, I will. Everybody else out there was happy and encouraging. But you,” Team made a dismissive sound. “You’re over there, like, ‘fix your arms, you’re flapping like a chicken’,” He said the last part in a mocking tone with a toss of his head.

Win cocked an eyebrow at him. “I don’t believe I mentioned chicken today.”

“Maybe not today, but you always do!” Team railed. “I just don’t know why you never say anything nice...like...at all!”

“Oh! So what you’re saying is that I should be more encouraging then?”

Team shrugged, “I don’t know...why not? Why can’t you? Afraid it would kill you to say something nice? You know how hard I’ve worked...you’ve been there, helping me!”

Win looked down at himself. He plucked at his jacket sleeve and then lifted the whistle chain around his neck. He let it drop back down. “Huh,” he said. “That’s so weird. When you look at me, do you envision me wearing a short skirt and shaking my pom-poms for you?”

“What?” Team sputtered in surprise. “No! What?”

“Simply put-- I am your coach, not your cheerleader. I’m not here to bolster your ego; I’m here to teach you how to be better. You had your choice...remember? You could have chosen either Toh or Sai to be your coach, but you didn’t want them because...if I remember correctly, you called them ‘good guys’. You picked me because I wasn’t a ‘good guy’ and you knew I would work you harder than they would. Correct?”

Team sighed, “Yeah, I remember. Can I go now?”

“No. We haven’t finished.” Win leaned forward in his seat, “I want to hear your opinion on how you did today. Were you proud of yourself? Because, in the end, your opinion should be the only one that matters-- not mine, not Toh’s, not Sai’s, not the other members’ of the club, not even a stadium full of people watching you when you compete, just yours. So, how did you do?”

Team shrugged. He felt very uncomfortable with how this talk had shifted around to him. “I don’t know-- I guess my arms were weird…”

“Stop! That was my opinion. I want to hear yours. Step-by-step, give me your opinion on what you did well and what you think needs improvement. Start with the platform.” Win instructed, and then he leaned back in his seat to listen.

Team thought about it for a moment. “I was a little bit worried when I was on the platform. I wasn’t sure how well my new ankle would handle the jump. I probably hesitated a bit before the jump-- but the jump itself was okay. I won’t be worried again so there won’t be any hesitation next time.”

Win nodded, “Okay, go on.”

“I think...I think I did okay going down the lane. I was conscious of the wall coming up and I knew I would have to push off with both feet—I felt a bit of anxiety about that because my old ankle wasn’t great at the turns. I think this might have given me a bit of a slower time going down the lane than it should have, but no pain at the wall, so I won’t be worried about that anymore. My timing will improve.” He looked at Win who made a motion with his hand to continue. Team took a deep breath, “I don’t know about trouble spots on the way back. I’m sure it wasn’t perfect, but it felt like I was in sync and was keeping a good rhythm.” Team shrugged again, “I guess overall, I think I did pretty good, especially considering that this is my first complete swim since I got my new ankle. And yeah, I can say I’m proud of it, I guess. I think I need to focus more and I know I need to work on my speed. But I’m sure I will increase my speed now that I know my new ankle can handle everything so I won’t be worried about it anymore.”

“So to be clear...your goal is to increase your speed, correct?” Win asked. Team nodded and Win picked up his clipboard. “I’m going to make note of that and I’ll keep a close eye on your times.” He studied the paper on the clipboard for a few moments. Then he looked up at Team. “You know that I keep my notes private, and I have explained to you why I do that. I think I might break my own rule and share some of the notes from today with you.”

Team was stunned. He didn’t answer; he just looked at Win.

Win went back to studying his notes. “You said you hesitated at the platform but overall thought it was a good jump. I have never notice any problems with you on the platform...but today...today was different.” He looked up to meet Team’s eyes. “Today when you jumped, I wrote down ‘sleek’. Actually, now that I think about it, I think a better word would be ‘fluid’-- as if you were already apart of the water before you even got into the water. The pain from your old ankle must have really held you back, but you compensated for it so well, that I never saw a problem. It was a very impressive jump.” He looked back at his notes. “On the swim down the lane, you mentioned that you were worried about the upcoming wall so you felt as if your speed suffered from that worry. What I saw was you staying under for a while-- which is always a strength for you, and when you came up, your strokes were even and measured throughout. Your turn was sharp, crisp...clean. You did pick up speed after the turn-- I think how you described it was you ‘were in sync and kept your rhythm’.” Win nodded, “Very apt description. Mine has a bit more technical terms, but we said basically the same thing. Now, you have said that you are going to increase your timing. I’m going to hold you to that...and I am going to be excited to witness that because…” Win stopped, waited for a moment, and then grinned, “I paused for dramatic effect just then, I hope you appreciated it. Today’s swim was your fastest time since you joined the Swim Club.”

Team was so shocked, he felt as if he had melted into the chair. As if somehow he had lost all of his bones and was now just a pile of goo, like a slug or a booger or something.

Win laughed, “You might want to close your mouth, I’ve seen a fly or two in here. You wouldn’t want to catch one.”

Team shut his mouth was an audible snap. Win laughed harder at the sound. Then he looked back at his notes, “The thing about your arms-- it’s actually only your left arm that’s the problem. On the stroke, your left elbow sticks out a bit more than your right elbow. Correcting it probably won’t have an effect on your timing, and it’s possible that no one else but me would ever even notice it. But it throws off the symmetry of your form. If you correct that, then I won’t have anything to criticize you for-- nothing. Because other than that, your swimming is basically flawless.” He looked up from his notes, “There, was that what you wanted to hear?”

Team shook his head. When he spoke, it was only a bit over a whisper, because he was still in shock. “I hoped for...maybe...something like ‘good job’.”

Win nodded. “Good job, Team,” he said. He put the clipboard back down on the desk. “Now for the rest of the time today, I think your focus should just be on doing easy laps. Let you and your new ankle become comfortable working together. We can practice for starting on Monday to prepare you for next week’s competition.”

Team nodded and then got up and walked out of the office. He went to the pool and jumped into his lane. He swam. Luckily his body knew what to do because his mind was reeling from everything that Win had said. As his mind began to clear a bit, he started chanting a reminder to himself to tuck his left elbow in. It felt weird and awkward, but Team knew that in time, it would become second nature to him.

At some point, during one of his laps, Win was waiting at the end of the lane. He was standing next to the platform making notes on his clipboard. Team touched the wall and Win looked down into the water at him.

Win gave a slight nod and then walked away.

Team grinned at Win’s retreating back. He got the message. He had finally fixed his flapping, chicken wing, arm; Win had nothing left to criticize.

Chapter 35

On the following Monday, P’Toh announced the swimmers who would be swimming in the last club challenge meet on Friday. Team noticed that Chaiya looked pale and shaky after hearing his name called. He hadn’t been in any of the competitions so far. Team imagined he probably hoped that they had forgotten about him and he wouldn’t have to compete. As he was thinking this, P’Toh continued his announcement.

 

“As I’m sure you all remember, Team was injured before the first of our club competitions. At the time, we thought it was only fair to alert to other teams’ captains and let them know that Team was our best swimmer and might be able to swim in the last meet. The captains decided to hold back their own best swimmers so that we will all be going into the match blind to the capabilities of the others. So, the very last swim of the club competitions this year will be the best of the best. And of course, Team will be swimming for our club. It will be a real ‘clash of the titans’!”

 

A massive cheer went up from the club members. Team’s stomach lurched and he felt unsteady on his feet. He wanted to sit down. But he knew that would make him look weak, so he just smiled and nodded as the others called their congratulations to him.

 

Later, as he was doing his warm-up exercises, Win walked over to him and gave him a smirk. “Pretty exciting news, wasn’t it?”

 

Team knew what he meant, but pretended he didn’t. “What news?”

 

“That you are considered our ‘Titan’.”

 

Team shrugged, “It’s just a lap down and back. No big deal. I do hundreds of them a week.”

“Oh,” Win said, his eyebrow raised to join the smirk. “So...why did you turn pale when Toh announced it?”

 

“I didn’t!”

 

“You did. And...I’m your coach, remember? You have to be honest with me. Are you scared?”

 

“Nothing to be scared of,” Team said. He walked by Win and walked toward the pool.

 

“Team!” Win said sharply.

 

Team looked back at him. He silently battled with Win with his eyes. Then, with a sigh, he lowered his eyes and nodded.

 

Win nodded back. “I thought so. You don’t need to be, you know? I highly doubt that any of their swimmers are as fast as you. We might not have been able to watch their best swimmers in action, but their overall club stats prove that. All you need to do this week to prepare is the same things you are already doing. Nothing extra. You are going to destroy them!”

 

“That doesn’t help,” Team grumbled as he stepped up onto the platform. He took a deep breath and felt his muscles ease. He realized it actually had helped, at least a little bit. He leapt from the platform, made his way down the lane, did a quick turn, and then swam back to the start.

 

Win had been timing him. He looked at the stopwatch and then made a note on the paper attached to the clipboard. He had no expression on his face as he turned to walk away.

 

“Well?” Team called to his retreating back.

 

Win turned back to look at him. He gave him a small ghost of a smile, “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

 

It was like that the entire rest of the week. Team missed Win’s constant criticism. At least when he was screaming about lane hogging, wobbly turns, and flapping like a chicken, Team knew what to work on. Now with the silence, he felt as if he were on his own. So, he kept doing what he was doing and praying that he was doing it right.

 

The night of the competition, all of the guys were excited and in high spirits-- all of them except for Chaiya and Team. They would exchange glances every so often and Team could read the absolute panic on Chaiya’s face. He wondered if Chaiya could see it on Team’s face too.

 

They were never to use their phones in the locker room, but Team’s parents had sent him a message letting him know where they were seated in the stands. He put his phone away and went to the doorway to the pool to look out to see if he could spot them.

 

Chaiya was already in the doorway, looking out. He had a goofy smile on his face so Team peeked over his shoulder at the crowd. It took him a minute to try to figure out what had captured Chaiya’s attention. It was a young woman, seated in the right side stand, third row, on the side that was nearest the pool. She was waving a small, handmade banner with ‘Chaiya’ written on it. She was a tiny girl with a pretty, pleasant face.

 

“Is that your girlfriend?” Team asked.

 

“Yeah,” Chaiya answered softly, but then quickly straightened his shoulders and said firmly, “I mean, no! I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t even know who you are talking about!” He turned on his heel and hurriedly walked back into the locker room.

 

When Chaiya swam his race, he came in fourth place. Team was frankly flabbergasted at how well he had done, and it seemed like many of the other club members were too. He was congratulated by everyone he walked past on his way over to Team.

 

“I know that fourth place isn’t the best...and I know I was swimming against all the worst swimmers from the other clubs, but without you I couldn’t have done so well,” he said.

 

“Me?” Team asked in surprise, “I didn’t do anything though.”

 

Chaiya nodded, “You did. You taught me not to be afraid of the water that was under me. When you took that fear away from me, I feel like I actually began to learn how to swim. Your race is coming up soon, and you look scared to death. I wish there was something I could say that would help you like you helped me.”

 

Team shrugged, “It’s just performance anxiety. I haven’t swam competitively in years...and back when I did...I hated it. I am just sitting here, thinking about all the choices I made that led me back to this stuff.” He gave a small laugh, “I’m a bit mad at me at the moment.”

 

“Team, you are the best swimmer in this club, and I bet you are better than all the others that you will swim against. You’ve got this; don’t worry!”

 

“I agree, Chaiya.” Win said, as he joined them. “Can you give us a moment alone?”

 

“Sure P’!” Chaiya said as he started walking away from them, “Good luck, Team!”

 

“He’s right, you know. You don’t have anything to worry about,” Win said.

 

“I’m not worried as much as I am angry at myself. I don’t want to do this. I chose years ago not to do this again. And yet, here I am!”

 

Win chuckled, “Good! I’m glad you are angry. You always swim faster when you are angry, so this will help you. One more thing that might help you-- I know you and I know what you are feeling. You think that you are carrying the weight of the club on your shoulders...but you’re not. You won’t be carrying us; we will be behind you, pushing you along.” Win reached over and gave him a little pat on the shoulder, “They are calling your race now. Remember to ignore the crowd. Just focus on your swimming. Go get ‘em...Tine.”

 

Team looked up quickly and caught the grin on Win’s face, right before he turned and walked away.

 

Team tugged on his swim cap and walked out to the pool. He mounted his platform and looked at the stands in the general area where his parents said they would be sitting. He couldn’t see them through the throngs of other people in the stands, but knowing they were there and would be cheering for him helped. Right before he pulled on his goggles, he glanced over to the club’s bench. P’Toh, P’Sai, P’Win, and all the guys from the club were up on their feet, cheering for him. Team took a deep breath and lowered his goggles. He got into position and waited for the sound of the whistle. While he waited, he debated whether he might actually throw up this time. Or get a huge case of diarrhea. One way or another, it felt like something was going to start spewing from him, he felt certain of it. All those thoughts stopped though when he heard the whistle.

 

As soon as he hit the water, he envisioned the creepy, cold smile of the doctor who took such pleasure in telling Team and his parents that he would never have much use of his leg. He felt the rage flowing through his veins and almost immediately after, came to the wall for his turn. He made it as sharply as he could and started back up the lane. He became aware of the crowds and he remembered Win telling him to ignore them. Then he remembered old Uncle Aom telling him that he needed to listen to the crowd to gauge how well he was doing. He cleared his mind and on his next breath, he tuned in the crowd and listened to them.

 

“Team! Team! Team!” the crowd chanted with each of his strokes. He knew that he must be in the lead, and he envisioned Aom telling him to not get cocky, just keep doing what he was doing. As he neared the wall, he wondered if Aom was somewhere in the stands, watching. Team hoped he was.

 

Team touched the wall and pulled off his goggles. He could hear the cheers from the crowd and he looked over to their club bench. The guys were all cheering for him. His eyes sought out Win and found him on the far side of the group. He was doing a weird dance-- a bit like hop, hop,shuffle, shuffle, wiggle, wiggle, clap. It was the stupidest dance that Team had ever seen in his entire life. Team could feel his own muscles responding to the dance and he discovered that he had muscle memory of doing it. It was a copy of the dance he had always done for Win during his competitions.

 

Their eyes met and Team howled with laughter. He was laughing when the other swimmers began to reach the wall.

 

He won first place for his race and their club won second place overall. After showers, while the club members were getting dressed, P’Toh came into the locker area to congratulate the guys. He gave a long speech about how proud he was to be the president of a club with such great members, and a bunch of other nice things. It was a good speech, until the end when he had to give them bad news. Aside from the grilled pork booth they had worked during Club Weekend, they had taken in a cut of the concessions during the competitions between the clubs. The money had been to pay for the scuba camp during the semester break. Unfortunately, P’Toh had to announce that they were still very far from the amount they needed for camp. They still had a week to come up with the money to secure the reservations, but they were out of ideas on how to come up with a large sum of money in such a short time. P’Toh welcomed any suggestions and invited them to stop by the office during any club meeting if they could think of anything. If not, the trip would have to be canceled.

 

A lot of the guys were really saddened by this announcement. Some of them gathered together in a group to try to brainstorm fundraising ideas. Team finished dressing and sent a message to his parents to find out where to meet them. He felt someone poke him in the back. He turned around and saw that it was Win.

 

“You know you are not supposed to be on your phone in the locker room!” he scolded.

 

Team nodded, “I know but I’m not talking. I am just waiting for my parents to message me and say where to meet them.”

 

“Going home for the weekend?” Win asked.

 

“Yeah,” Team answered with a nod.

 

“That sounds nice. And while you’re home, I don’t want you to worry about Toh’s announcement. I have a strong feeling that the money we need will arrive and the trip will be on,” Win said with a grin.

 

Team shrugged, “I wasn’t worried. I’m not going on the trip, but if somehow the club comes up with a way to get the money, I will be happy for you. I mean...I’ll be happy for those of you who want to go on it.” His phone sounded the message incoming alert and he read it. “Well, that’s my folks. They are at their car, waiting for me. And of course they picked the east parking lot! Only like a four mile hike!” Team grumbled and then laughed with a shake of his head.

 

Win laughed, “Hardly that far...and at least now you can walk. Still no problem with your ankle, right?”

 

“No, it’s doing great now! But...I’m still lazy.”

 

Win nodded, “Make sure you get a lot of rest this weekend. Monday we start intensive training.”

 

“What? What for? The competitions are over!”

 

“Swim team tryouts are right after the break. We have to start training now, and hopefully it will be enough to get at least some of you onto the team. Those spots aren’t easy to get, you know?”

 

Team felt a cold lump forming in his stomach, which had just settled down after his race. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s true.” He rubbed his stomach to ease the tightness inside.

 

Win laughed, “Stop it! You’re not worried about that, are you? You’re the best in the club, you will definitely make it onto the swim team; I’m certain of it.”

 

“Oh good!” Team said with mock happiness, “That makes one of us who believes that!”

 

Win shook his head with a grin, “Go on! Don’t keep your parents waiting.”

 

 

Near the end of Team’s private session on Tuesday, Win sat on the bench, scrolling on his phone instead of giving Team any feedback. Every once in a while, Team would look over at Win to see if he was even bothering to time him. He wasn’t.

 

After a few more laps, Team gave up. He pulled himself out of the water and began to dry off.

 

“Hey! Your time’s not up!” Win scolded.

 

Team shrugged. “The club competitions are over and exams are coming up soon. I wouldn’t mind having some extra study time until after exams.”

 

Win laid his phone down, “So that’s it? You’re planning on dropping your extra practices now? What about your goal to make it to the Nationals?”

 

Team shrugged again and said with a huff, “You aren’t even timing me today. I have fixed everything you told me to fix. Now it’s just a matter of my speed. And...I did win my race, so I must be doing okay. But, to be honest, I’m not doing that great in my International Contracts class. I really need to bring up my grade in there.”

 

“Oh? I’m sorry to hear that! I didn’t know. Of course you should focus on that. You’re right, your swimming is fine. But we can’t have you failing any of your classes. That would kill your chances of making the swim team, which in the long run, would really hurt your chances of making the Nationals,” Win said with concern.

 

Team reached up and scratched his head, “Well...I’m not exactly failing it. I’m sitting on a ‘B’ average, but I have to push it up to an ‘A’.”

 

Win laughed, “A ‘B’? You’re worried about a ‘B’? I thought you were worried about a ‘D’ or ‘F’...but a ‘B’!” He shook his head, “You’ve changed. You never used to worry about getting a ‘B’!”

 

Team sighed as he ran the towel down his legs to dry them, “I didn’t used to worry about making it into Law School back then.” He wrapped the towel around his waist, “I hate International Contracts. I have to force myself to focus on it. It’s pretty much a foundational class that I have to build the rest of my studies on. It’s a bit...stressful. So, yeah. I could use the extra time on Tuesdays.”

 

Win nodded, “Do you have things like handouts and notes for the class?

 

“Yeah, why?”

 

Win gave a slight shrug, “I could tutor you, if you want.”

 

Team gave a slight laugh, “It’s International Contracts! What do you know about International Contracts?!”

 

“Well...we do study a bit about contracts in Business, but no, I don’t know anything about International Contracts. I do know how to tutor someone though. I’m pretty good at it. If I had your handouts and notes, I could help.”

 

Team sat down on the bench on the opposite side of Win. He was on the verge of refusing the offer, but he felt a slight loosening of his shoulder muscles and he felt like he could breathe a bit deeper. “It’s dreadfully dull. I mean...it’s a real snoozefest.”

 

“I wasn’t expecting it to be entertaining,” Win said with a grin.

 

“Well...I don’t know…”

 

“Look, I’m not going to beg you to let me tutor you. I’ve offered. Either take it or leave it,” Win ordered.

 

“Okay! I’ll take it! God, you don’t have to be so grumpy!”

 

Win laughed and shook his head. “Good, we can start tomorrow night. Bring your notes and stuff with you to the library and we can get a table in the very back so we won’t disturb anyone.”

 

“Fine,” Team grumbled. Then he shook his head, “Sorry for the tone, I actually do appreciate it. I have the class tomorrow and I’m going to ask the professor if I can do something for extra credit.”

 

Win nodded, “That’s a great plan. We’ll get you well-prepared for your exam, and if you do get some extra credit work, I’m sure you will get that ‘A’.”

 

Win’s phone sounded the alert for an incoming message. He picked up his phone and read it. Then he grinned, “I told you so!” he said, and then showed Team the message.

 

It was from P’Toh, letting Win know that they had received notice that the scuba trip was on. They had received the money they needed.

 

Win took his phone back and wrote a message to Toh, who responded almost immediately. When Win read it, his eyebrows pulled together in a slight frown. “Oh...well now I guess I was wrong.” He looked up at Team, “See, Toh deliberately announced the trip would have to be canceled on Friday because most of the guys were going home for the weekend. Lots of them come from wealthy families, you know? We kind of hoped that a parent or two would chip in and pay for the trip...but Toh just sent me a link to some kind of charity who sent the money.” He went to the link that Toh had sent and carefully scanned the website of the charity. After a few minutes he said, “Huh. This is odd.” He handed Team his phone. “See the pictures of the kids scuba diving?”

 

Team studied them for a moment, didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, and then shrugged, “Yeah, so?”

 

“I clicked on them to find their origins-- I wondered if they were taken at the place we’re going. But look…” Win clicked on image origin and the information said it was a stock photo.

 

“Okay, I agree...that’s weird,” Team said with a nod.

 

“Right? Why would they use stock photos? If they are a charity that helps young people to learn scuba diving-- which is what they state right there on their home page, they should have their own pictures.” Win rubbed his chin as he clicked around on the website. “Okay, found something else! Look at the copyright! It’s from this year! They have, supposedly, been a charity for years!”

 

Team scratched his head. “Hmm…” he said as he thought. “Oh! Maybe they had a page and something happened to it, so they made a new page!”

 

Win gave a slight nod, “Yeah...I guess that fits. I don’t know though...something just feels...off? You have a touch of psychic abilities, do you feel it?”

 

Team laughed, “I don’t have any such thing! My mom might, but I don’t!” He took back the phone and looked more carefully at the web page. He clicked through the pages, skimming through the information. After a while, he handed the phone back to Win. “Seems okay to me; I don’t know. Looks legit. The only thing I think is odd is their name...but only because it is stupid, not fake.”

 

“Yeah,” Win said, again looking at his phone. “‘Under The Sea’. It makes me think about the song from “The Little Mermaid”. It’s a bit...juvenile. Honestly, I wonder if it is a shell company. Like I said, some of the guys have rich parents. Not everyone gets rich honestly. Someone could be trying to hide some capital with a phony charity.”

 

“And?” Team prompted. “I mean...if you don’t know anything then you aren’t breaking any laws by accepting it, are you?”

 

Win seemed lost in thought for a few moments. Finally he said, “No, we aren’t. And also...it occurs to me that if I did raise a stink, it wouldn’t end well for us at all. Even if we helped break up a shell company, who would ever want to donate to us again? If they thought we were going to dox donors and track down where the money came from, no one would ever want to donate again...not even people who are honest. They wouldn’t want the hassle or embarrassment. I’m not going to say anything to Toh about my discomfort.” He turned slightly to fully face Team, “In fact, let’s just keep this between the two of us, okay?”

 

“Sure!” Team agreed, “I won’t say anything. It’s really nothing to me anyway. I mean, of course I am happy for you and the guys who really wanted to go on this trip. Maybe someone can send me a postcard, because I definitely won’t be going!”

 

 

Team got very lucky with his extra credit assignment. His professor agreed to let him write a report about any of the topics they had covered in class. Before his accident, she was the professor who had given him the speech assignment as punishment-- and had later waived the punishment and he hadn’t had to give the speech. But...he had written a report that summed up everything that was to be in his speech. It was a bit short on the page count, but he knew he could pad it up with just a bit of information from another source or two.

 

Win quizzed him at the library that night and helped Team to see where his weak areas were and they concentrated on working only on those areas. On his way out of the library, he found a couple of books on his report subject and checked them out. By early the next evening, he had added the new information into his report and had the required number of pages for the extra credit. Of course he wasn’t stupid enough to turn it in right away. He didn’t want to alert his professor to the fact that he had already had it written.

 

Toh had put out the sign up sheet in the office for the scuba trip with the reminder that he had to turn it in on Friday. Almost all of the guys hurriedly got into line to sign up right away; they were all so excited about the trip. Team was happy for them, and also happy for himself. He planned on spending everyday of that three week vacation at home in the village. Just chilling out after the semester and recharging himself for the new one coming up.

 

The next week, during his Tuesday afternoon class, the students were separated into groups and were discussing their projects that were due the following week. The projects counted for half of the exam grade, but Team wasn’t the slightest bit worried about his grade. He was the top student in class and it was one he truly enjoyed.

 

The professor walked up to their group and discreetly handed Team a slip of paper. Team looked down at it and it was a request for Team to be excused from class and to report to the Administration Building, Room 530.

 

Team instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He looked at his professor and quietly asked, “Why?”

 

The professor shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know. I don’t even know whose office that is. You can go ahead and leave. Take your stuff and don’t worry about coming back to class. I’ll mark you as excused. You probably don’t want to keep anyone in AdMin waiting.”

 

Team hurried to his motorcycle, his legs a trembling mess. He searched his mind trying to prepare himself for what he might have done wrong. He couldn’t think of anything. Well, except for being a few minutes late for his class the day before...but certainly that didn’t warrant being called to the Administration Building, especially from a class. During exam prep week.

 

He parked in the lot in front of the building, realizing that he had driven mostly on autopilot because he couldn’t remember how he had gotten there. His mind was still sifting through everything he could have possibly said or done wrong.

 

He approached the entrance to the building and there was a uniformed guard who stood at the doorway. “Please state the nature of your visit and who you are here to see.”

 

“I...I don’t know, exactly. I got this,” Team said, showing the guard the note that he had been sent.

 

The guard read it, handed it back to Team, and then gave a quick nod as he opened the door. “You want to take the elevator to the fifth floor. Once there, turn right at the first hallway you come to. The number is clearly marked on the office door.”

 

“Thank you,” Team said through dry lips. He hurried to the elevator and pushed the button with the number five printed on it.

 

His heart was jumping in his chest when the elevator reached the fifth floor. He got out of it and headed down the corridor and then made the right turn at the first hall. The numbers on the doors were easy to see as he walked along. Finally he came to room 530. The door was opened so he walked in.

 

There was a woman sitting behind a desk a few feet ahead, but before one could get to the desk, they had to walk past four chairs that lined the wall. Three of the four chairs were occupied. A guy he had never seen before, P’Toh, and Win. A thought sprung into Team’s mind instantly-- somehow this was linked to the charity that donated the money for the trip, and that Win had been suspicious of. Team frowned at the thought-- he didn’t know the one guy, and besides...Win had said he wasn’t going to mention his suspicions. Even if he changed his mind and confided in Toh, it should have just been Win and Toh being called in about it. Team had only been Win’s confidant in the matter. None of them were any help in giving him a clue-- they all were looking at the floor in front of them. No one made eye contact with him.

 

The woman stuck out her hand for the note Team carried in his. He gave it to her and she read it. She picked the phone receiver and pushed a button. “They have all arrived”, she announced to whom ever was on the other end of the phone. “Yes sir,” she said and she put the receiver back on the cradle of the phone. “He’ll see you now.” She gestured to a door on the wall next to her.

 

The unknown boy led the way, with Toh immediately behind him. Win followed Toh, and Team followed Win. The boy walked into the office, but both Toh and Win stepped aside to allow Team to enter.

 

“Take the other chair,” Win whispered to him.

 

Team entered the office. There were two chairs in front of a huge desk where a small, bald man sat. The unknown boy had sat in the chair furthest from the door, so Team sat down in the unoccupied seat.

 

He looked closer at the man at the desk. He noticed that the man wore glasses that were in a black frame that created large circles around his eyes. Team thought that the magnification must be pretty strong because the man’s eyes looked too big for his face. He reminded Team of an owl. Team knew he would have remembered if he had ever seen this man before; he hadn’t. The man was a complete stranger to him.

 

“Shut the door behind you,” he said. “This is a private meeting.”

 

Team heard the door close and was aware of movement behind him as Toh and Win lined up behind the chairs. He watched the tiny, bespectacled, bald man shuffling through a stack of papers, searching for something. He apparently found it as he selected a few papers that had been stapled together and then put the rest of the stack of papers on the other side of him.

 

“Well let’s just get to it then, shall we?” he said. He looked over at Team, “Nice to meet you Team. I’m Coach Thuanthong. I’ve heard some wonderful things about you.” He looked down at the paper in front of him. “So guys, mostly you’ll be in the same categories-- Decha 880, Toh 440-- but Win, I’m afraid I’ll be giving your 220 spot to Team now. I guess that leaves you…” he paused and looked down at his paper and studied it for a few seconds, “Um...well...I guess that leaves you with the mile.” He looked up and grinned, “You’d better smile about that since you have bugged and begged me for it for two solid years!”

 

Team’s mind was spinning. He felt like he had entered into someone else’s dream or something. Nothing made sense to him. All he had registered is that somehow he had knocked Win out of his place at the 220-- which Team took to mean swimming. But it was impossible for Team to do that because he wasn’t even on the swim team yet. Tryouts weren’t until after the semester break. And even if he did somehow manage to make it onto the team, he would be on the junior team because he was a first year. Win was a third year, so he would be on the senior team.

 

As he was lost in his confusion, he felt something on his back, near his shoulder. It was a thumb, and it was pressing in slightly. Without turning around, Team knew instinctively that the thumb belonged to Win. And he knew the message Win was sending with that slight pressure. He was reassuring Team that everything was fine.

 

“But…” Coach Thuanthong continued, “There is going to be one huge change! This year...for the very first time, we are going to have a relay team, and you four are it!”

 

Team was even more confused. “Excuse me, sir...uh...Coach Thuanthong, but I don’t know what this is about.”

 

The coach looked startled and then shifted his glance to the two standing behind Team’s chair. “I assumed you had told him!”

 

“No sir,” Win answered. “We left that for you.”

 

“Oh! Thank you boys for that!” the coach said. He took his glasses off and used a cloth from one of his drawers to clean the lenses. Team was shocked to see that it looked like the man’s face had almost disappeared once the glasses were gone. But he wasn’t surprised to see that the man’s eyes were actually very small. Team knew he had been right about the extreme magnification of his lenses. “Team,” the coach said as he put his glasses back on. “I want to show you something.” He opened a drawer and pulled out a file folder that was bulging with papers. “This is your file. Compiled by Win. He has pretty much documented every movement you have made since you joined the Swim Club. I have every time noted, every correction noted...everything is right here. I was especially impressed by your lap times after your surgery and recovery period. One would expect someone to have a lag in their times as they worked their way back after such a long absence, but not you. Not only did you keep your time, you actually improved it! And like I said, I was very impressed by that. I was also impressed that for every task that Win and I created for you...no matter how difficult...you proved yourself. But none of this was quite the tipping point for me. You see, I am pretty strict about first year’s participating. It’s not impossible of course...Win and Toh are examples of that...but along with timing, dedication, and...I guess we can call it ‘good old-fashioned gumption’ there has to be one more thing. The final touch. The cherry on top of the sundae, so to speak. And when Toh turned in the sign-up sheet yesterday, I knew that final touch was there.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and pushed it towards Team. It was the sign-up sheet for the scuba trip. The first name on the list was...Team’s. “You signed up even before Win, who lives for scuba diving! That’s when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Win and Toh were right about you.”

 

Team tore his eyes away from the sign-up sheet, that had his name on it and he had most certainly NOT signed, and asked. “Right about what, Sir?”

 

The coach beamed at him, “Right about you being perfect for the team.” He paused for a moment and studied Team’s face, seemingly looking for a reaction that he wasn’t finding. “You obviously don’t understand yet what I’m saying, do you? Team, you’re going to Nationals!”

 

Team couldn’t get his mind to understand the word. Nationals? What did it even mean? Not the major swimming team that he had hoped to train for, for the next three years, to be chosen. It couldn’t be. He wasn’t ready for that kind of thing. And it was on broadcast TV. Everyone in Thailand would see that he wasn’t ready for that! Fourth year plan, not first year! He felt Win’s thumb rubbing the spot on his back as if he knew the turmoil of Team’s thoughts.

 

“And of course,” the coach continued, “Obviously you are already included on the first year’s swim team this year. You don’t need to bother with try-outs. You’ve made it.”

 

The coach then turned his attention to the entire group and began talking excitedly about finally having a relay team to enter into the Nationals. Never once, in his entire time of coaching, had he four swimmers with such fast times. He chatted on and on, and Team felt the words flow over him without being absorbed. His mind was still reeling about his name on the sign-up sheet, and making it to the National team as a first year. And now learning he wouldn’t just be in one event there, but two. It was a bit too much to take in all at once.

 

The coach told the guys that they might get placed in more events, and specified that of course Win would have his diving events, but the spots he had assigned to them now were set in stone. Then the coach dismissed them, but asked Team to stick around. As soon as the others left, the coach told Team that he had witnessed Team’s swims on Club Weekend and during the Swim Clubs competition. He raved about Team’s swimming abilities, and said a lot of other nice things, but Team’s mind really couldn’t take them in. He just smiled, nodded, and said “Thank you” a lot during the conversation.

 

The coach finally said ‘goodbye’ to him and sent Team on his way. He left the coach’s office and entered the reception area. The woman that he had given his note too earlier was busy working at her computer and didn’t look up as he left. The other three guys had already left, which didn’t surprise Team since the coach had kept him in the office for quite a while.

 

As he walked down the hallway, he felt numb. And a bit unreal. He saw the men’s restroom on the left of the hall and he pushed open the door and went in. He was thankful that no one else was in there. He looked at himself in the mirror and he knew he looked pale.

 

“Shock,” he whispered to himself. Every movie, show, and book always stated emphatically that the best thing for shock was to keep warm. He felt hot and sweaty though, so he grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and ran it under the cold water faucet. He wrung it out and put it on the back of his neck. Instantly his mind was clearer and he felt more present, more real. He kept it on his neck for a few minutes and then ran it over his face before throwing it away and leaving the men’s room.

 

He passed the same security guard on his way out that he had met on his way in. He walked toward his parking place, only to stop for a moment midway there. He stopped when he saw Win, standing beside his motorcycle, apparently waiting for him.

 

As Team drew nearer, Win smiled, “Hey! My car’s in the pool parking lot. Can you give me a lift?”

 

“Yeah. How did you get here?”

 

“Toh.”

 

Team looked around, “Where is he?”

 

“He had to get to class. I told him I would catch a ride with you,” Win said as he opened up the carrier on the back and pulled out the helmets. He handed Team’s to him and put on the other one.

 

Team wasn’t one to give people rides ordinarily. Not that he was against it, it just never happened. Everybody he knew had their own vehicles and they all met up instead of traveling together. He had ridden behind Namfon a few times, especially when his ankle was in the cast. But he never held onto Namfon the way Win was holding onto him. If he would have, she would have given him a sharp elbow to the gut and told him to loosen up. Win was clinging very tightly onto Team. It made Team imagine a barnacle on a boat. He wondered if Win was frightened. Team knew that he was a careful driver and had passed his motorcycle driver’s test with super high marks, but Win didn’t know that. With this in mind, Team made sure to drive extra carefully.

 

They pulled into the pool’s parking lot and Team stopped the motorcycle. Win released his death grip on Team’s midsection and got off the back. Team was finally able to breathe fully for the first time since they got on the bike.

 

Win took off his helmet, “Turn it off!” he ordered.

 

“What?” Team called over the sound of the engine. Win reached over and turned off the key.

 

“Hey!” Team protested.

 

“I want to talk to you. Take off the helmet so I can see you.”

 

Team pulled off the helmet and Win grinned at him and asked, “Well?”

 

“Well what?”

 

“Oh come on! Aren’t you excited?!!! You are going to the Nationals! I thought this was your goal!”

 

Team shrugged, “Yeah, it was my goal for my fourth year. Not my first. I am nowhere near ready for something like this!”

 

“Bullshit! You heard the coach! You are the complete package!” Win objected.

 

“Yeah...I heard...but his final decision was based on the sign-up sheet. I didn’t sign-up. It’s some kind of mistake.”

 

“Mistake? How could it be a mistake? He showed you the list and your name was the first one on it.”

 

Team scratched his head, “Yeah...but I didn’t write it there. Someone else must have…”

 

“Are you serious? Of course no one did that! You had to write your complete government name on it. You’re the only one who knows your complete government name is Teerayu Siriyothin, so you must have signed it,” Win argued.

 

“Wait...what?” Suddenly Team realized what Win was saying. He put down the kickstand and got off the motorcycle. “You know my government name! You set me up, you son-of-a-bitch!” Team advanced to Win...to do what, he wasn’t sure, because he already knew he couldn’t hit him. And he was a bit surprised to see that Win didn’t flinch, blink, or move back as step. He held his ground and looked Team directly in the eye. Team stopped less that a foot away from him-- still not sure what he was going to do.

 

“‘Set you up?’”, Win gave a slight nod, “I guess maybe you could call it that. Or...maybe you could call it being a good coach. I knew what you were capable of achieving, and once you told me that your goal was to make it to the Nationals, I made it my goal to get you ready. I have known the coach for three years, so I know what he looks for...and I trained you to meet all his qualifications. He was at the club competitions and he watched you win your race. He was impressed...but still not ready to make the call. When Toh showed me the sign up sheet for scuba camp-- I seized the opportunity. I wrote down your name and mine under it. I knew that you weren’t going to sign up, so you wouldn’t see it on there. And I knew that no one else would know your legal name, so they wouldn’t say anything to you about seeing it on the list. Toh turned in the list last night and Coach called me this morning and told me he had decided to give you a spot on the Nationals. So...it worked.”

 

“I’m not going on that stupid trip! And I am not at all ready for Nationals! You had no right to do what you did!” By this point, Team was yelling and pointing his finger at Win. He was aware of other vehicles arriving in the parking lot and people walking into the building, but he didn’t care.

 

“I think I had every right to make sure the Coach was aware of your swimming abilities and desire to go to Nationals. I have been telling you since you were 12-years-old that you have an innate talent for swimming-- but you never had the motivation to work with it. When you came for club try-outs and I saw you swim again, I knew that you had found your motivation and that you were ready to work.”

 

Team felt as if the air had been knocked out of him. They both had slipped a few times and said small things about stuff from ‘the time before’, but never something as blatant as that. It felt like a very low blow and Team floundered for a moment to try to figure out how to respond. Finally he said, “I won’t do it. I absolutely will not go on this trip. Nothing you can say will ever make me do it.”

 

Win shrugged, “If you don’t, Coach will drop you from the National team and you will never make it back on it.”

 

“I don’t care!” Team said defiantly.

 

“And...the Coach will have to give up his dream of finally having a relay team. Toh and Decha won’t be much harmed by it, but I will be. I’m much better at long-distance swims than I am at short sprints. Because you got the 220, I was finally going to be able to swim the mile. I’ve worked hard for that spot.”

 

Team laughed bitterly. “I don’t care! Why would I care about you getting into the category you want? And why would I care about that tiny, blind, bald Coach having his dreams come true? Neither of you mean shit to me!”

 

“You have to go. You have no choice.”

 

Team turned on his heel and quickly walked back to his motorcycle. He got on it, lifted the kick stand, and put on his helmet. His hand was on his key, about to turn it, when he looked back at Win. “I have a choice. I am an adult. A fully-grown man. Not you or anyone else gets to tell me what to do with my life. I am not going on that scuba trip. No way in hell.” He stopped for a moment and then said through gritted teeth, “The ocean is just a bowl of monster soup! I’m not volunteering to become a cracker for some sea creature! And another thing-- unless it is about the Swim Club, don’t you ever speak to me again!” He turned the key, started the engine, and rode off.

 

 

That night, he and his Scooby friends met at the library. To different degrees and intensities, they were all stressing about their upcoming exams. Except for Namfon, who seemed to be her regular self.

 

The words in the textbook in front of Team seemed to blur and become as indecipherable as ancient hieroglyphs would be to him. He closed the book and began to paw through his backpack. Eventually, and with great relief, he finally found what he was looking for. A page of notes detailing his weak areas that needed extra study. Written in Win’s handwriting, but Team dismissed that.

 

Namfon was scrolling on her phone. She stopped scrolling and began studying her phone intently. She looked over at Team with a questioning look, and passed him her phone. Team took it with an inward groan. He had a bad feeling about what he was going to see.

 

He looked at the picture and saw that he was right. Earlier, when he and Win were in the parking lot, he had heard people in the area. He was intent on his argument with Win and hadn’t even bothered to look around to see if anyone was watching them.

 

In the picture, it was obvious that Team was furious. He was all up in Win’s space, yelling, with his veins popping out in his face and neck. He swallowed down some embarrassment and looked at Win in the picture. Holding his ground, looking unflappable. The person who posted it, “RiceBalls”, had the caption, “I told you they hated each other! Here’s proof!”

 

Many people had commented their opinions about how it was not in context. Some even mentioning that if they were actually in the middle of an argument, Win wouldn’t be looking as cool and collected as he was.

 

A person by the name of “1WhoKnows” stated that it looked like a Lover’s Quarrel. They posted a poll that had four selections-- a) Lover’s Quarrel, b) Not even a fight, c) They hate each other, and d) Just checking the results. Namfon had previously clicked on the “D” selection, so Team could see the results-- Lover’s Quarrel—51%, Not a fight—12%, They hate each other—10%, Just checking the results—27%.

 

Team sighed and handed Namfon her phone.

 

“What happened?” she whispered.

 

Team rolled his eyes, “He…” Team wasn’t really ready to tell the entire story, he still needed time to work things out in his own mind. So he said, “He just reminded me how much I hate him, that’s all.”

 

“Oh,” Namfon said with a small nod. “Did you need to be reminded to hate him?”

 

Team frowned, “What?”

 

“Had you forgotten that you hated him?” she asked.

 

He looked around the table and saw that Mali and Jai had abandoned their studies and were listening-- everyone seemed to be waiting for his answer. “No! Of course I didn’t forget! I’m not literal like you. When I said he reminded me...I meant he was being an asshole again!”

 

He looked down at the notes, in Win’s handwriting, laying on his textbook. He huffed at the sight. He opened his book, shoved the notes inside it and then crammed the textbook into his backpack. “I’ve got a headache,” he mumbled. “I think I’m going to go home and get some rest. I’m tired of studying.”

 

When he got back to his room, he took out his textbook and put it on his bed. He went into his kitchen area and grabbed a bag of chips and a cola. He took his snack back to his bed and with a deep sigh, he opened the book and looked at the notes.

 

He pulled his phone from his pocket and saw that Than was online. He sent Than a message, asking him if he was busy.

 

Than: No, just sitting at the counter, waiting on non-existent customers. What are you doing? I thought you’d be studying.

Team: I had a horrible day, and I am over this studying crap. It’s like my mind keeps going blank on me.

Than: I read somewhere that your brain can only work for so long before it refuses to accept new information. It said that cramming isn’t really a good thing to do before exams.

Team: Sounds great to me. At this point, I don’t even care if I fail everything.

Than: In that case, do you want to go kill some zombies with me?

 

Team felt his muscles relax as he smiled. He put some chips in his mouth and leaned back against his pillow. With his leg, he shoved the textbook off his bed.

 

Team: Yes, that would be perfect!

 

 

 

“...what’s your favorite?” Chaiya asked him.

 

Team’s attention had been laser focused on the car beside them. He turned to look at Chaiya, “My favorite what?”

 

Chaiya shook his head with a smile, “You weren’t listening, were you? I told you I had brought along a selection of mustards for us. Surely there will be camp kinds of food to eat and I thought mustard would probably come in handy.

 

“A selection? I thought mustard was just...you know...mustard. Like yellow or brown.”

 

“Well those are two of the ten core selections. And then there are varieties that are made from those ten core mustards using herbs, alcohols, etc.-- there are at least 30-40 different varieties at any time available in large supermarkets. And that’s not counting gourmet blends or artisan specialties.”

 

Team shook his head slightly, “I had no idea. You certainly know a lot about mustard. Like you were a professor...or...no! You must be the Mustard King!” Team was a bit surprised at the words leaving his mouth. They had came out on their own volition. They sounded rude even to his own ears. And he saw a change of expression on Chaiya’s face. He looked shocked. “Oh! I’m sorry, Chaiya,” Team hurriedly apologized. “I didn’t mean to be rude. It was supposed to be a joke, even though it didn’t sound like it.”

 

Chaiya shook his head, “No need to apologize. I’m not offended. Can I ask you something? Have you ever been to any western country...like any in Europe or maybe Canada or the U.S.?”

 

“No, I have never left Thailand. Why?”

 

Chaiya said, “You must be psychic then.” He grinned, “Never mind. I’ll tell you all about it one day.” At that moment, his phone sounded an incoming message alert. He looked at his phone and the smile that lit up his face made Team feel certain that the message must be from the girl with the banner from the club competition-- who was absolutely not Chaiya’s girlfriend-- according to Chaiya.

 

Team smiled and then turned back to the window. Win had been given permission by the coach to drive his car instead of riding the bus like the rest of them, and he was keeping pace with the bus. They had stopped again and Team knew they were on the edge of town so this was the last stoplight they would come to. After this it was open road. Win had a pretty heavy foot, so he would be far, far ahead of them soon.

 

Win bent down and forward a bit so that he could see Team. Win was grinning at him. Team was angry-- he was on a stupid bus, headed towards stupid scuba camp, where he was going to have to share a stupid room with Chaiya ‘The Mustard King’, for the next three weeks, and Win was eating it up. Team could tell. So he shifted his body a bit, ended up turning about 3/4s of his body towards the window. He put up his hand, and then gave Win the finger. He could see Win throw back his head, roaring with laughter. The light changed, and Win sped out of sight.

 

Team leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe he had caved and agreed to go on the trip. Of course he had to. He knew what Win said was right, if he blew off the trip, he would have to give up all his hopes of ever going to Nationals. And he had to go to Nationals. The vision he had of himself there had been the one thing that had gotten him through his recovery and physical therapy. Whenever he felt like giving up, he would remember seeing himself there-- standing strong on his own two legs. He hadn’t thought it would come so quickly, but it had. So it was a choice between “now” or “never”.

 

He tried to look at the bright side-- if he survived this trip, he would be scuba certified-- which he didn’t care about and would never use. But he would stay in the Coach’s good graces. He just hoped he wasn’t going to end up being a hot lunch for some creature from the deep. He knew it was going to be a miserable vacation.

Notes:

Disclaimer-- Team says "The ocean is just a bowl of monster soup", this is not an original line of mine. It is a quote from a tweet I saw way back when I was first outlining this story and it fit with my vision so well that I made sure to include it in my outline. I went back to the person's page recently and saw that they have been suspended from the app. Anyway, all credit and much thanks go to the writer of this line!