The Love we Share

Chapter 4

"And is he okay? He seems pretty lost," Graf said, looking at Sky's crestfallen expression as he stood next to his mother. "His mother has huge expectations from him. He should constantly come first in every exam, the only she gets peace," Rain said, shaking his head. "Wow! That must be hard on the poor chap," Graf said sympathetically. "I guess Pa. I am just glad you and Dad are not like that with us. I would have succumbed to brain injury if I had to study like that," Rain said, rolling his eyes and clutching his throat dramatically. Both Pakin and Graf knew that Rain was not the one to study. He did not get poor grades, thanks to his brothers, especially Phayu, but he had an artistic bent of mind, happy with his drawing and sculpting. He had recently taken up pottery and clay-work as well, and everyone was quite proud of him. They knew it might be tough for people to understand him, but thankfully, Rain only cared about the opinion of people close to him. What others thought hardly mattered.

During the parent-teacher conference, parents of toppers were asked to speak. Sky's mother gave a lecture of almost 30 minutes, which Rain and his father found hilarious. Their smiles were noticed by the teacher. "Is that your Dad Rain?" he asked. "Yes Ajarn, he is my Pa," Rain said, slightly emphasising on the Pa. "Is Rain still going for the art classes on the weekend?" the teacher asked, not sounding very happy about it. Graf nodded. "Yes, he is," he said. "It's better you stop those classes and let Rain focus on studies," the teacher said, quite rudely. "Oh, why?" Graf asked. "This is the age to concentrate on studies, and not waste time away," the teacher said. "Let us be the ones to decide that, Ajarn," Graf said, quite sternly. The teacher was surprised. "But his marks?" he asked. "We are not going to pressurise our children into an early grave, Rain is doing well enough to get into any prestigious art school, and that's all that matters," Graf said, in his no-nonsense tone, effectively shutting the teacher up. Rain showed no outward reaction, but he internally cheered for his Pa.

"But his marks? Blah, blah, blah?" Rain made fun of how his teacher had behaved during the parent teacher conference. The four of them were sitting in a café, finishing their homework. "God! He was so annoying. Thank God Pa put him in his place," Rain said, as he rounded the table to sit next to Phayu. Phayu smiled indulgently at his boy, knowing that there would be no stopping Rain now. Pai and Sky laughed out loud. Rain was truly hilarious when he was in a mood. Rain, in an attempt to do his homework, looked into Phayu's pouch for a pencil, where he found a love letter folded in the shape of a heart. "Ooh! What is this? Did you get a love letter Hia?" Rain asked, giggling. "Give that here!" Phayu said, snatching it and tearing it and throwing it away.

"Who gave it to you Hia?" Rain asked, making his puppy dog eyes and pouting at Phayu. "I don't know and I don't care," Phayu said, flicking Rain's forehead, making the younger wince. "It's good Hia. You don't want to be distracted with all these silly things. More important for you to study right now. Focus is the key," Rain said, sounding surprisingly like Pakin, making everyone laugh. "I am surprised some girl even wants to talk to him. He is allergic to the whole lot of them," Pai said, laughing. Phayu flicked him on the forehead too. "And how about you? There are girls sitting around the basketball court and screaming their guts out when you play! Do you even notice them?" Phayu asked Pai.

"Aiyaa, they are so loud, annoying and obnoxious. Are you saying they are screaming at me?" Pai asked, completely clueless. "Not at you, for you," Sky mutters. "What? What did you say?" Pai asked. Sky shook his head. "He said that they are not screaming at you. They are screaming for you," Phayu said helpfully as Sky glared at him and Rain giggled. "Hia, just like I told Hia Phayu, you must worry more about your studies than about random girls, okay? Make Dad and Pa proud," Rain said. "Aie, just because you and Phayu are handfasted, doesn't mean I should jump into this shit," Pai said. Phayu kicked him under the table. "What?" Pai mouthed. "Handfasted? What do you mean handfasted?" Sky asked. "Oh, Phayu and Rain are promised to each other," Pai laughed. "Wow! I did not know that!" Sky said. "It was some weird respect to the elders thing that they did when we were kids," Pai said explaining to Sky, as he looked at with complete focus at Pai. A look that did not go unnoticed by Phayu, who smirked quietly to himself.