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"I don't know, Arthit...but something tells me he wasn't acting the whole time... See, when he told me about it, he said that it wasn't an act to him. And he is never able to lie to my face. Thsi means...Daniel really likes you."

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As Nam and I headed outside campus to meet with May, I couldn't help thinking about what Michael had said. He guaranteed that Daniel's feelings for me were genuine. And if that was the case, then there wasn't supposed to be any problem anymore, right? Because that would mean we liked each other. But there was a problem. He tricked me, and I couldn't forgive him for that. At least not yet.

When we were about to get there, May was already there. When she saw us, she waved at us and signaled us to hurry and tell her.

"So tell me now." She demanded as soon as we were in front of her.

Nam cleared her throat before she spoke. "Jessica paid Daniel so he would get close to Arthit and make him fall for him."

For a minute there, May's face was completely blank. But when the words finally sank in, she immediately looked angry and exclaimed, "What?! Are you being serious?!" And Nam answered to that with a nod. May's jaw dropped. "Daniel actually followed the orders of that annoying crazy girl? How can he be so stupid?"

"Well, he probably needed some money." Nam remarked. "I mean, Jessica did pay him, right? So it's all about the money."

"If he needed money, he could've just come to me. I would've given it to him without asking him to do something like that." May joined in with a frown. "So what are you guys planning to do now?"

Nam smiled mischievously. "Arthit and I came up with a plan and decided that it's not Daniel who's to blame but instead, it's Jessica. And what better way to make her learn a lesson than to beat her on her own game? And so, we're going to do just that." She explained to May with a wicked smile.

"How are you going to do that?" May asked as we started walking.

"We're going to make Kongpob fall for Arthit." Nam exclaimed with a smirk. "After all, that's what this is all about for Jessica, anyway. She takes it as if it were a game. And so, we're going to beat her on her own game."

May frowned and turned to me. "And you agreed to that?" She asked me in shocked tone as if I just agreed to join a sorority.

I nodded. "Of course. Jessica deserves to feel hurt after what she did to Nam, to me, to you." I remarked, trying to justify my crazy decision. "And besides, it isn't like we're doing something evil here. We're just going to give Kongpob a taste of his own medicine too, since he played with Nam's heart too."

"Well, have you ever given it a thought that maybe Kongpob didn't really play with Nam? What if he just thought he could love Nam back, that was why he asked her to be his girlfriend? What if he really tried but just couldn't?" May pointed out, tapping at my conscience.

But I didn't falter. I knew I had made the right decision. "Those are just 'what ifs'. I heard Kongpob admit to his mistake earlier today." I told her. "just think about it, May. What we're doing isn't really wrong. We're just trying to protect ourselves. If we let them get away with all their deceitful ways, then they will continue doing that to us."

May shook her head. "I don't think that this would stop them at all." She remarked with a cynical tone. "I think you're just going to make things worse. What you're doing is feeding the flame when you should be killing it. But I guess we have our own opinions, right? Look, you guys are the ones to decide anyway, so you don't have to convince me. But my advice, give it a lot of thought before you put it to action, okay?"

After that, May and Nam had to go their own ways so we bid goodbye to each other. But when I got home, Nam called me on the phone to talk about our plans for tomorrow's lunch.

"So this is what we're going to do. Joss and I will try to get out of there as soon as possible to leave you two alone. And then, it's up to you to work your magic on Kongpob." She discussed, speaking excitedly. "Don't try to argue with him, okay? Treat him the same way as you treat us. if not, treat him even better."

"Yah, are you saying that I treat people differently?" I remarked. "But wait a minute, Nam. have you thought about what May said earlier? Do you think that maybe what we're going to do is going to make Jessica fight us even more?"

She fell silent for a moment. "I don't think Jessica can be worse than she already is now. And even now when we're not bothering her, she's still attacking us, so I don't think there's going to be any difference." She pointed out, and somehow, it convinced me.

"You know what, you're right." I agreed with her.

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right, aren't I?" she remarked proudly. "So anyway, let's go back to discussing about tomorrow. Let's practice what you're going to say to him. Let's pretend I'm Kongpob, and Joss and Nam have left the scene. Kongpob looks at you, waiting for you to speak first. What do you say?"

Analyzing the situation, I didn't quite agree. "Are you sure he would wait for me to speak? I know for a fact that Kongpob never keeps his mouth shut for more than a minute. So how about you start the conversation, because I really think that's what he's going to do."

Damn, I really knew Kongpob too well...

She seemed to be amused by what I said, because she let out a laugh before she continued. "Okay, okay then. So I'll say hi." She said, turning serious again. "Your turn."

"Hi? Kongpob never says hi to me, Nam. That is so unrealistic. When he talks to me, he usually starts with a very annoying line, like 'You must be smelling funny to have caused Nam and Joss to leave us' or something along those lines." I corrected her.

"Yah, Kongpob's not that mean, you know." She defended.

"He's that mean to me!" I couldn't believe it. Nam still believed that Kongpob was a good person after everything he had done to her. "Are you crazy? How can you say that after he made a fool out of you?"

"Okay, you know what? Let's not go over your conversations with Kongpob anymore. Just think about this before you say anything to Kongpob. If you manage to make him fall for you, you're not only winning a battle with Jessica, but also the war against Kongpob. "Nam said encouragingly.

She was right, I agreed. And so, after talking to her, I decided to do some research to help me in controlling my anger towards Kongpob. I typed in 'how to deal with retarded people', and a lot of tips came up.

One of them was my favorite. It went something like 'Remember that he has a different way of thinking so never get mad when he can't seem to understand what you're saying.'

I decided to remember that one.

❤︎

As Nam and I walked towards the cafeteria the next day, she once again reminded me of her words of encouragement. "Don't forget, Arthit. Succeed, then you win two battles." She said as she raised her fist high and made the "fighting" sign.

"Yah, I'm not stupid so you don't have to keep reminding me." I complained, starting to feel like she was way too excited about this. I mean, sure, I was too, since I still hated how Jessica and Daniel for making a fool out of me, but I wasn't really that happy to do it. For some reason, May's words somewhat scared me. What if everything wasn't as it seemed and Kongpob really wasn't to blame that harshly...

We entered the cafeteria and looked for a vacant table. Nam and I settled for a table near the door so we could easily call for Joss and Kongpob when they entered any minute now. And sure enough, they entered and Joss was looking around for seats. Nam stood from her seat and waved at him to approach us.

As they walked over to us, Kongpob seemed to be confused. But he didn't look like he was going to complain when they sat down in front of us. Actually, I thought that he would feel a bit uncomfortable sitting at the same table with his ex-girlfriend, but I was wrong. He looked more comfortable than ever as he was smiling smugly.

...I thought he would be more uncomfortable being around me. Especially when he had told me to stay away from him.

"Nam, did you bring what I asked you to last night?" Joss spoke first.

Nam's eyes widened in surprise (I must admit, they really planned it well). "I left it in my locker!" she replied as she slapped her forehead lightly, before standing up hurriedly. "I'll go get it for you now."

Joss stood up too. "I'll come with you then." Then he turned to Kongpob. "See you later."

Damn, they really planned it well. It was so smooth, anyone would believe them.

Once they were gone, I waited for Kongpob to start the conversation. He was usually the one who did that anyway. But when he didn't after a full minute of silence had passed, I opened my mouth to speak. Yet before I could voice my thoughts, the annoying guy finally decided to speak first.

"You asked Nam to set us up? You must really like me." He remarked with a laugh. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from me? I don't like you."

"Do I have to like you to be friends with you?" I tried to say calmly. "Look, I just want to be friends."

"I don't like to be friends with someone who likes me. I don't like to give false hope." He replied casually as he started fiddling with a piece of paper on the table.

He looked kinda nervous and not really looking me into the eyes.

I wanted to say that if that was the case, then why did he do it with Nam and gave her false hope, but I stopped myself. "But I don't like you, okay? So can we just be friends?" I asked in a sweet voice.

"Why do you want to be my friend when you don't even like me? It's like saying you want to befriend Jessica." He remarked, looking at me with that handsome arrogant smirk of his.

0_0

--_--

Urrr, did I say handsome?

--_--

I meant annoying.

Once again, he managed to use my words against me. But I wouldn't get trapped this time. "Fine, so I like you then." I finally said, trying to remind myself of the plan to seduce and kill. "Now can we be friends?"

He shook his head. "No." he replied, turning serious. Then he stood up and walked away from me, for the second time.

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