A different view

Chapter 2

Beam's POV

I was waiting for Forth in front of his building, quite close to where the food courts were. An over-animated girl just rushed over to the closest bench and slumped down next to the girl sitting there. "Preeth how much longer will it take? I'm hungry" she pouted.

The mere mention of the name stirred back the memories of a few days ago.

"Just finishing the graphs Lin. Another 5 mins."

"Hey remember the day of the freshmen's fair? I forgot to ask you what happened when P'Forth and P'Beam were talking to you. You took off so suddenly saying you'd miss the bus"

"Nothing much, really. Let's drop it."

"Come on, you barely looked at them during their conversation. Were they harsh on you?"

Their backs were towards me and I found myself inching closer to hear Preeth's response.

"I looked down out of respect Lin. I come from a very conservative family. We do not look into the eyes of our elders unless asked. It's considered as being arrogant if we do. I respect them so I kept my head down. They were not rude to me in any way."

"That's rich coming from you Preeth. Both of them were playboys before they committed to each other. Everyone knows that. What respect do you owe them?"

"I just base my opinion on my interactions with them. Not what others think of them. P'Forth as a head hazer has instilled discipline, integrity, morality, and brotherhood amongst us. At least, he's trying to. That earns praise in my book. What he does in his free time is none of my business."

"And what about P'Beam? We have no interactions with him at all. Does he inherit the praise from his boyfriend?" the one called Lin asked sarcastically

"I know P'Beam from long ago"

I froze. This girl knows me? How? From when?

"He was my senior in school and would always come to the aid of anyone being bullied in school like P'Kit even though he was scrawny himself. Of course, P'Pha would then come later and help P'Beam. People used to mistake him as a mischief-maker but he actually helped a lot of kids. I admire his strength to stand up for what's right"

"You know P'Beam? Did he recognize you?"

"Not really that was over 8 years ago. I moved out of the country later. In fact, it was because of him that I..."

Lin's phone rang and the conversation stopped. Preeth. It was not a familiar name at all. I tried hard to think back if I knew someone like her but nothing clicked. Not long after Forth arrived and we headed back home.

"What's wrong babe?" Forth asked snuggling on my neck as he wrapped his hands from behind while we were sitting on the balcony. We went through enough to know not to hide anything from each other.

"I overheard a conversation between Preeth and her friend today" I could feel Forth's muscles tense. He waited for me to continue. "She said that she knew me in school and that she admires me but I don't remember her at all. I feel like shit."

"Hey, we don't remember every person we meet and well you are memorable in general," he said sheepishly.

"I'm serious Forth. What if she has a crush on me?"

"Then she'll get over it. Unless you're interested to pursue it" he said with a little fear in his voice

I turned around to him and looked into his eyes. "Listen to me Forth. I am never going to be interested in anyone but you. I'm just feeling guilty that we were rude to her the other day. I just feel like we did something wrong."