Destined You & I (Completed)

Chapter 2

2006

The scorching heat is finally dying down in the city of Bangkok. There still isn't much of a breeze, but the less humid air is very much welcomed. People rejoiced in the fact that they didn't feel their shirts stuck to their backs the second they stepped out of the house.

It's late in the afternoon. Arthit was on his way home after studying with his friends for their upcoming junior high school entrance exams. Unlike his twin sister Krystal, he really needed to buckle down, and study. Arthit is actually very smart, but he is just not interested in academics. Arthit has always had trouble sitting still, or focusing on one topic for too long. It's as if ants were crawling up his pants when he stayed in one spot for too long. He can't imagine ever being stuck in an office when he grows up. He says that's where brain cells go to die.

His parents has no qualms with whatever he wants to do with his life when he grows up, but for now, he has to live by their rules under their roof. They really want him and his sister to go to the same junior high school. So, it's crunch time. He had just spent three hours in the library sitting in the same seat by the window. The same seat with the same view overlooking the same street down the hill. The only thing that kept him from running away was his friend Knot. Knot had put a firm hand on his shoulder every time he wanted to get up and leave. His group of friends have made a pact to all get into the same school.

After the ironically mind-numbing three hours of so called studying, Arthit is so glad study time is over for today. He was walking across the school's courtyard to get to the gym. He needed to get all his pent-up energy out of his system. Maybe he will find someone to play some one-on-one. Even just shooting some hoops alone would be better than just going straight home.

Home was pretty basic to him. His family consisted of his parents, and him and his twin sister Krystal. His mother is a typical stay at home mom, and his father is an executive director at a manufacturing company. They weren't rich per se, but they had more than enough with a little bit extra for life's indulgences such as annual family vacations.

Arthit had always looked forward to their foreign vacations. Last year, they went to London and Paris. Arthit really liked the Eurostar train ride from London to Paris that was only about two and a half hours long. He really liked seeing other parts of the world, and different cultures. Like the churches in Europe were so different from the temples in Thailand. Even temples from China, Japan, and South Korea were so different. Arthit liked to people watch, and understand why people do what they do. He liked interacting with people. Someday, that's what he will do.

'Eh, where did this come from? Oh, there's another one, and another one. Why are there mangosteens on the floor?' Arthit thought to himself. He looked left to the street where the fence separated the school grounds from the public area. There were more mangosteens on the other side of the fence. Arthit picked up the few of them near his feet.

"Don't worry. I'll get them." Arthit heard someone say from the other side of the fence.

A boy with a straw basket was walking around ducking his head here and there looking for the lost fruits. Arthit had picked up a few more on his side of the fence and ran to the exit gate. He jogged up to the boy with the straw basket. The boy was reaching underneath a tuk tuk for one of the mangosteens. His head was ducked so low that he didn't notice the driver returned to the vehicle.

"Hey, watch out!" Arthit ran over to the boy, and pulled on his backpack to pull him back from the vehicle. The tuk tuk drove off from it's parking spot.

"Oh, thanks." The boy with glasses on turned around with a bright smile. Arthit didn't know if it was his smile that was blinding him, or was it the sun that was hanging low in the sky right behind the smiling boy.