Roommates - Not in Bangkok anymore [completed]

Chapter 30

Can's POV

"Hey... Can, right?"

A group of three girls blocked the way for him.

General education queen bee Phoebe Rutherford stood in the middle, her hands propped up on her hips and a wide, very fake smile on her face.

Can had heard of her.

Whenever Tin complained about the general education kids and how fake and vapid they all were, Phoebe sooner or later came up.

Can wondered why she was cornering him now, alone, after people had largely left Tin and him alone during breakfast. There had been stares, of course, a lot of them, blatant ones, too. There had been a few hushed comments. But nothing more.

Next to Phoebe was Maria, who a little over a month ago had been Diana's friend – but Can couldn't imagine that Diana would hang out with someone who ran around with the queen bee. He tried to make a mental note to ask Diana about this.

Can didn't know the third girl and he wasn't keen on getting to know any of them.

"I'm sorry, can this wait? I'm already late for training," he said impatiently, already trying to get past them.

"Awww, we can't have that," she answered, still smiling too obviously, "we'll come with you. Cheer for you during training."

With a nod from her, all three girls turned around in a surprisingly coordinated movement and linked their arms to Can's, Phoebe on the left, the unknown girl on the right – and Maria next to Phoebe.

"You know, I've always wanted to have a gay best friend," Phoebe declared.

"I'm sure you can find one that suits you."

Can tried to free himself from their grips without causing too much of a scene – and failed miserably.

"I have already decided that I want it to be you."

If Can hadn't already been suspicious that she was up to something, he definitely was now.

He tried to wrestle himself free again, and this time, the girls let go of him – but they continued to walk alongside him as he quickened his pace, hoping to reach the football compound soon.

At least they couldn't follow him into the locker room.

"I'm flattered, I suppose, but I can't," he felt weird, having to reject a girl's offer of friendship – fake friendship, if Can trusted in Tin's assessment. "I don't think I'll make a good gay best friend. All I care about is football."

Well, and he cared about Tin, too, but he wouldn't mention that.

The girls now stepped in front of him again, effectively blocking his way. He tried to sidestep them.

It didn't work.

"Is this how you were able to turn Tin?" Phoebe pretend-innocently twirled one of her blond locks around her fingers. "Playing hard to get?"

Ah... so this was what this was all about?

He took a deep breath.

"I'm not playing anything. I really need to hurry, I'm already late and Coach Lavinia isn't the forgiving kind. I'm sure you find your perfect gay best friend soon."

With that, he determinedly ran forward, breaking the girls' barrier and finally getting away.

When he rushed onto the training pitch, he immediately understood that he hadn't lost them quite as well as he had thought. Far from being discouraged by his actions so far, the three girls were now standing at the edge of the field and waving at him happily when they saw him emerge from the locker room.