Stories of LITA 1

I - The Song of Sky and Rain

Sky was not shy, but he was definitely an introvert. Making friends did not come easy to him. Living in a small town, child of divorce and being gay. That was three strikes right there. But Sky was determined that it would change here. It was different here. This was the big city. Same sex relationships did not wreak the same havoc here that they did in smaller towns.

He looked around the big hall, where all the freshmen were gathered. He liked this. Sitting tucked to one side, just observing people and faces. There were lots of interesting ones, fresh and cheerful, some looked worried, some nervous, some just chill.

All of a sudden, his eyes fell on a boy. He had just entered the hall and was looking around eagerly. Sky gaped. Like literally. There was nothing overtly special about the boy. He had regular brown hair in a weirdly mushroom cut, dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans. But his eyes! Oh my God his eyes! A delicate brown, like the colour of melted molasses, that turned just this side of gold when they reflected the sun, and that just twinkled with laughter, as if there was private joke in his head only he knew about. He had an open, vibrant face, and obviously a lot of energy. He couldn't seem to stand still. Sky had never seen someone quite like that boy.

Suddenly, the eyes he had been admiring so much zeroed in on him, almost as he became aware of the scrutiny on him. He bounced (bounced!!) over to Sky with a billion dollar smile.
"Hi! I am Rain!" he said. Sky could actually see and hear the exclamation points in his voice. He mentally shook his head. 'One of those,' he thought, not too maliciously.

"Hi," he said cautiously. "Tell me your name!" Rain said. "Sky," he said, without adding too much information. "Wow ! Sky and Rain. I love that! We are so going to be besties!" Now Sky was convinced that he was talking to someone totally naive and silly. But he was still enamoured by Rain's sweetness.

Sky was amazed at Rain's capacity to make friends. He would bounce from person to person, introduce himself and generally plop down between conversations he had no idea about, not caring even one iota about what the discussion was.

Their group soon grew. Apart from Rain, there was Sig, Por and Ple. And Ple's brother Som would join them sometimes. Everyone liked Rain. But they felt he was too dumb, too airheaded to be taken seriously. But Sky knew better. The spaced out character was a persona, that Rain needed to nourish. And as Sky quickly learned, Rain was neither naive, nor silly.

The spacey nature with which he so easily fooled people hid a clever, brilliant, and dazzlingly creative mind that came up with ideas that were spectacular and well loved. Another thing that Sky admired about Rain was his tenacity. He never stopped trying, never stopped working hard to achieve what he wanted. Rain knew he was bad at theory, but that didn't stop him from giving some of the best minds in their class, including Sky, a run for their money during exams.

But his most wonderful feature, according to Sky, was his immense love and loyalty towards his friends. He never let go, no matter how hard the situation. When Sky saw him make new friends, he assumed that he would be forgotten, knowing that he was not as vivacious as Rain. But Rain would have none of it. He would drag Sky into every discussion, every activity and every party. Sky would become an integral part of every plan that Rain made. He even introduced Sky to his school friends, who turned out just as goofy as Rain, and Sky loved it.

Rain even dragged him off to meet his Mama, after meeting whom, Sky understood where Rain got his sunshine from. Rain's mama categorically stated that Sky was now her second son, something no one had ever said to him. "Yay! Now you are not just my best friend, you are also my brother!" making Sky flinch at the shenanigans he would be probably bullied into.

Sky was like his father, a slightly aloof and reticent man, so he was a little wary of introducing Rain to him. Rain's exuberance could sometimes be a little overwhelming. Which was why he was surprised.. no, wait.. not surprised. Shocked! Yes, shocked, when he introduced his father and Rain. He didn't even know his dad could be that way. "Where is my father, and what have you done with him?" Sky had asked, when his dad had been dragged off into another scheme by Rain.

The thing that finally broke the wall around Sky's heart was the staunch defence that Rain had launched against his school bullies. They had met Sky when he was showing Rain around his town. They had stopped at an ice-cream parlour where Rain just had to try the double chocolate fudge, or he would die! Sky had rolled his eyes but had taken him inside. His school bullies had said offensive things and laughed at him. At first Sky had restrained Rain but finally Rain shook him off. "Where do you guys study? What Faculty?" Rain asked, sitting at their table.

They had probably no answer, because out of the five of them didn't finish school, and 2 were in local universities. But, one of them, Mork, Sky thought, answered about their current status. "Oh!" Rain said guilelessly, his doe eyes and pouty lips giving the impression he was sad. He sighed and shook his head. "No wonder you make fun of Sky. After all, he has more brains in the nail of pinkie finger than all of you have put together! Anyway! Gotta go! We live in Bangkok you know?" As if that was the biggest yardstick of intelligence. He had cackled heartily as he led Sky out of the shop. Turning around, all Sky could see were their shocked faces. Rain became Sky's support from that day onwards.

Sky could never forget the club incidence. He had told Rain that he was gay, thinking that like others, Rain would stop talking to him. Rain had pooh-poohed the idea in no uncertain terms and told him that he had been around with the wrong people if he thought being gay was bad. And since it was the last day of exams, all of them went to the club to hang out. A couple of guys came along with a swagger. One of them started hitting on Sky, calling him a sight for sore eyes. Rain snickered. So the other guy started hitting on Rain. "Are you hitting on us Phi?" Rain asked, his eyes totally innocent. 'Uh-oh!' Sky thought. This was usually his expression before he blasted people into smithereens.

The two boys nodded eagerly. "Ew!" Rain said, scrunching his nose. "People with faces like yours, don't hit on people with asses like ours!" he said, nose up in the air. Sky, Sig and Por nearly fell off their chairs, they were laughing so hard! The two boys who came up were so embarrassed that they disappeared and never came back. That was Rain. Absolutely no filter. Someone who would do anything for a friend. That was the day, Rain became Sky's hero.

Rain, despite his name was a veritable ball of sunshine. He hardly ever had the gloom and doom attitude, which is why Sky watched with growing trepidation as that light dimmed. When Rain had talked about Phayu, Sky had thought Rain was exaggerating. But then something made him uncomfortable. Rain's face, when Phayu dragged him away. Sky was struck dumb. Could it be that the wonderful senior they all talked about was a silent predator? And that's why maybe Rain was afraid to make a scene. Because he was afraid no one would believe him.

Which is why Sky ran out mid-session, shocking everyone. When he heard the interaction between Phayu and Rain, he was appalled. He nearly broke down the door to get in, shocking Phayu terribly. When Rain had collapsed, Sky had threatened the senior, saying that maybe no one will believe Rain, but they would believe Sky. Phayu looked properly chastised. Sky refused to leave Rain's side. When Phayu requested to meet Rain, Sky invited himself along. Phayu told him in no uncertain terms that he liked Rain, and wanted Sky's permission to officially hit on him.

That was good, but Sky would still keep an eye on them. And if that meant having the wonderful Prapai in his life, well that would just be icing on the cake. Even after he officially started dating Phayu, Sky was always an integral part of Rain's life. He included him in every single plan, and every single information. Which was, frankly, a bit much most of the time.

Several friends had said that once Rain got into a relationship, he would forget Sky and his other friends. So Sky kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. But that never happened. Instead, they grew even closer together when they started dating two best friends. People may say that he was not the brightest star in the sky, but for Sky, Rain was his brightest star.