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Part 15

"The reason why Jessica's trying to ruin you is because she's extremely jealous of you, Arthit."

I scoffed at that. "Why would she—"

"Because...Kongpob likes you."

...

0_0

"...W-what are you talking about?" The words came out of my lips filled in complete disbelief.

From the sincerity of her tone, I was thinking she would be saying something true for once since our conversation started. But I guess she was lying again. This was ridiculous. Her words didn't make any sense.

Kongpob would never like someone like me.

What the hell—we...we hated each other.

...

Didn't we...?

"You're the reason why we broke up, Arthit. Kongpob didn't just break up with me, because he was tired of playing with my feelings. It was because he didn't want to lead me on any longer, when in reality, he liked someone else. He likes you." Nam remarked slowly, not noticing that I had become angry at her lying again. "I swear I'm telling you the truth, Arthit. Kongpob really likes you. In fact, he's not the one who countered your attacks on him."

Gosh, she has really gone too far with her lying right now. "I get it. You're just trying to convince me that Kongpob likes me so that I would stop battling him, aren't you?" I huffed angrily, my suspicion growing by every word she spoke. "If you think I'll stop upon finding out the truth behind all of this, you're wrong. So why don't you just stop with these lies?"

She let out a sigh. "What's wrong with you? I though you trust me as your best friend, so why won't you believe me? Please, Arthit. Believe me this once. Do you think this is easy for me to say? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me when I found out it was you, my best friend, who was the reason for my heartbreak? And what's worse, I couldn't even tell anyone about it, cause Kongpob didn't let me."

"Then why are you telling me about it now?" I shot back at her.

"Because I'm tired of hiding it from you." she answered with an aggravated sigh. "I'm tired of seeing you get hurt when trying to protect me. Do you want to know the truth? For a moment, I was enjoying the way Jessica was countering your every move. But can you really blame me for that? I mean, think about it, Arthit. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Wouldn't you do the same thing?"

What would I do if the guy I liked was in love with my best friend? Maybe I would feel betrayed if that happened to me, but I didn't believe I could choose my boyfriend over my friend. But then again, I wasn't sure either, so maybe she had a point there. But still, I didn't believe her about Kongpob though. There was no way my enemy would like me. And so, I thought of a way to compromise.

"Fine, so you want me to believe you, right?" I asked her and she nodded at me quickly. "Then prove to me that it's true. Let's talk to Kongpob tomorrow and he can tell me the truth himself."

Nam didn't agree to that though. In fact, she instantly rejected it. "No, we can't do that. Kongpob doesn't want me to say anything to you. If we ask him about it, he'll definitely lie about it."

Hmm...even more suspicious.

"Then I'm sorry, Nam. I can't believe you." I told her, starting to walk away from her.

"Wait!" Nam suddenly called out to me, grabbing my arm to stop me. "I-I'll prove it to you. Just give me time. I'll show you that he really does have feelings for you, even if he doesn't admit it."

I raised my brow at her as I turned back to face her. "How do you plan to do that?"

"Just follow what I ask you to do tomorrow." She answered, smiling for the first time. "And I promise you, I'm not going to make a fool out of you. If I do...then, then you can throw away our friendship."

I knew that I would be stupid if I still accepted Nam's offer after it was already proven that she had betrayed me. But somehow, I couldn't refuse her. After all, we were best friends for life and I knew I would forgive her sooner or later. "Okay then. I'll give you a chance to prove that what you're saying is true. But if you don't succeed, then I won't even think twice about treating you as a traitor."

After that conversation, Nam and I went home in separate ways. And as soon as I entered my room, the phone rang with May on the other line.

"So what do you think about what happened earlier at lunch? You don't hate Kongpob now?" May asked me right away.

Why did everyone believe what happened earlier would make me change my mind about Kongpob Suthiluck? "Um...was I supposed to think differently about him?" I asked her back.

May knew better than to get upset at that remark. "Oh come on, Arthit, admit it. After what Joss said, Kongpob doesn't seem that bad anymore. Of course, they could've handled it differently, but he was just trying to help out his best friend." She said, obviously wanting me to cut Kongpob some slack.

Wow...everyone really fell for Joss' lie that easily. Well, of course they did, Kongpob always had that convincing power on people.

"He seems the same to me." I answered her. "Anyway, I saw you talking rather happily with Michael before. I thought you didn't like him?" I teased, shifting the topic towards her so she would be in the hot seat instead of me.

"You saw us? Where?" she asked in a confused tone.

I couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. It really seemed like she didn't want to be seen together with Michael. "I saw you two at the cafeteria after Joss' confession. Daniel and I were supposed to join you two at the table, but you two seemed to really be enjoying each other's company so we just left you alone." I remarked in a teasing tone.

"What?! Why didn't you just join us?" She screeched loudly in the phone as if totally caught in the act. "Michael and I were just talking about business, nothing personal. He's going to be helping me out with something."

"And what is that?" I couldn't help but be nosy. Somehow, May and Michael's relationship amused me. I kinda wanted them to end up together, they would honestly make a real cute couple.

"It's a secret." She answered immediately.

Hmph, everything's a secret nowadays...

Glancing at clock in front of me, I decided I had to go because I had a lot of homework to do. And so, I bid her goodbye and ate my dinner before I started burying myself in my homework. In a way, I was glad I had a lot of work to do because if I didn't, I probably would be thinking of things like what Nam was planning and what she had said about Kongpob.

Could Kongpob really...could he really...

...like me?

No...

Impossible...

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When the next day arrived, I felt much better. Maybe it was because Nam and I were temporarily back to being friends. Whatever it was, it made me arrive to school earlier than usual.

And once again, I saw May and Michael together as they were walking down the hallway. It was hard not to notice them as Michael was wearing a pink beanie today. They seemed so engrossed in their conversation that I didn't even try to call May's attention in fear of disturbing them.

I entered my first class after getting my book from my locker. As usual, Nam was already seated on her usual place. But unlike yesterday, today, she was smiling at me again and asking me to sit beside her. After all, I did say I was going to give her a chance.

"So here's the plan." Nam spoke as soon as I sat down. "Later in the hallway, I want you to pretend you trip and fall. You're going to do that in front of Kongpob, okay?"

"What?!" I asked in shock. "Why do I have to do that?"

"Because if Kongpob really likes you, which is true, then he'll help you." Nam explained with a proud smile.

With Nam acting like there was nothing going on between us except for the fact that she had to prove Kongpob had feelings for me, I began to warm up towards her. "And how can you be so sure he'll be there to help me?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at her.

She looked so proud and excited about her plan as she answered me, "Don't worry about that, I took care of it already. Just do it right after this class ends, okay?"

"Fine." I agreed reluctantly. "But if it doesn't work..."

"It'll work." She assured me. "And if it doesn't, I have other plans. It's not like you're the only one good in coming up with plans, you know." She joked, winking at me.

"Ha-ha!" I mocked her before the teacher finally arrived.

Nam and I seemed to be back to normal as we sat through the first class of the day. She would ask me some questions about the lesson and I would answer her, just like old times. It felt good to have her back.

At one time, I checked the classroom for Daniel because, I didn't know why, but I sort of missed his company. He was sitting behind me beside Michael. And when he saw me look his way, he gave me a bright smile.

When the bell finally rang, Nam practically pulled me out of my seat as I hurriedly fixed my things. She then told me that Kongpob would be arriving any minute so I better be prepared.

Thinking about it made my heart beat faster. I was actually nervous about it.

About seeing Kongpob.

About falling in front of Kongpob.

About...feeling for Kongpob.

Shit...

Once I caught a glimpse of Kongpob and Joss walking down the hallway, I instantly did as we had planned.

I walked towards them, then stumbled, pretending to sprain my ankle with a loud yelp and then fell on my knee as Kongpob neared me.

As I did all that, being extremely proud of my acting skills, my nervousness grew and I couldn't help but thinking...

Will he really help me?

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