Bet On Love

7. The Truth (Phana's chapter)

"Ai'Pha, you know this is getting ridiculous, right?" Kit asked as he took his turn for their game of pool. Phana was standing against the wall with Beam who was waiting his turn.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Phana said guiltily.

"You know exactly what he's talking about." Beam said loudly. "You have been torturing that poor kid for years, and now this? A bet?"

Phana shrugged his shoulders. "So what? He deserved it. He made me mad."

Beam laughed out loud. "He always makes you mad, but you're always the first to start the argument." Beam moved over toward Phana and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Just admit it. You're in love with him."

Phana threw Beam's arm off of him as Beam cracked up laughing.

"Why don't you just talk to him like a normal human, instead of threatening him and placing bets?" Kit asked.

"Or are you too scared?" Beam wiggled his eyebrows at him. Phana looked down at Beam.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Ai'Beam. You're no better than I am."

Beam instantly grew quiet and walked away from him, towards the table to take his turn.

"So you admit it then?" Kit smiled.

"I didn't admit anything!" Phana shouted. Kit just shook his head.

"So what's the deal with this bet anyway? What if he actually becomes the Campus Moon? If you stick to your word, you will never be able to talk to him again." Kit says. "Wouldn't that just defeat the whole purpose?"

"What purpose?" Phana asked grumpily.

"You always finding an argument as a way to talk to him." Kit said patiently. He and Beam had been talking to Phana about this since they were sophomore's in high school, so he was used to Phana acting like he didn't have feelings for Yo. "If you lose this bet, you're going to be depressed. What will you do, leave him love notes instead?"

Beam laughed loudly at this. "He already did that before, remember?"

Phana glared at Beam but didn't deny it.

"Yea, but he never knew it was you." Kit looked at him.

"He knows now." Beam came close to Phana wiggling his eyebrows in his face again.

"Ai'Beam. Don't make me punch you." Phana said in a bored voice. Beam grinned and backed away.

"You bought him his favorite drink after threatening to punch his face in." Kit said flatly.

"Hey, he threatened me!" Phana shot back at him.

"And for good reason!" Kit shouted back, although he was smiling. He shook his head again. "Ai'Pha, when will you just be honest with yourself?"

All three guys grew quiet after this question. Kit and Beam carried on with their game for a little while as Phana stood against the wall again, lost in thought.

"What if he hates me?" Phana asked quietly.

Both Kit and Beam stopped playing and looked at each other. Then they looked at their friend who was now wearing a very somber expression.

"Heeeeyy, what's with that face?" Beam said walking over to him again. "It's never too late to start being nice."

"But what if really does hate me?"

"I don't think he hates you, Ai'Pha. He might be a bit angry, but hate? I don't think so." Kit said, facing him. He had his pool stick standing upright as he looked at Beam and nodded at him to keep going. Beam walked back over to the table to take his turn. He leaned down to hit the ball but then stood up suddenly.

"I have an idea!"

"Does it involve you finally talking to you-know-who?" Kit teased.

"Ha ha, not funny." Beam frowned.

"What's the idea?" Phana asked. He could feel the eagerness building inside of him.

"If Nong'Yo loses the bet, use his week of servanthood to win his heart. Show him you're not really an evil bastard."

Phana raised his hand and moved over like he was going to hit Beam. Beam laughed and ducked out of the way. Kit moved over to Phana and placed a hand on his shoulder (he was too short to wrap his arm around his neck).

"In the meantime, how about supporting him during the competition instead of making him feel inadequate?"

Phana thought about this. "It's too late! He'll never accept me."

"You never know unless you try." Kit removed his hand from his shoulder then scanned the area around them. "Hey, isn't that N'Yo's friend?"

Both Beam and Phana followed Kit's gaze and true enough, Ming was sitting over at the bar laying over the counter. He was surrounded by many people, but whether he was with those people, they didn't know. Phana immediately started looking around the facility trying to see if Yo had come with him. Beam was looking too.

"I don't think he's here, Ai'Pha." Beam said, still scanning the people around them. Phana couldn't hide his disappointment.

"I uh...I think I'm going to go talk to him." Kit said handing his pool stick over to Phana. He wasn't looking at Phana as he did it, so he ended up shoving the stick into Phana's elbow. Both Beam and Phana watched him walk away towards Ming at the bar.

After a moment, Beam turned to Phana. "Wanna play?"

Phana shrugged and they both continued to play pool.