Playing For Keeps

9. There for you

Ming, Panit, and Win sat together at a table. They had a break in the freshman activities and they were all going over their schedules for the semester. Classes would be starting soon and Panit was nervous. He was hoping that he would be able to have a few classes with Ming or Win so that he wouldn't be completely alone. Out of the five classes he had on his schedule, he shared one with both Ming and Win, and two with just Ming.

"Three out of five isn't so bad! I won't be all alone." Panit smiled.

"I thought you were trying to be a new and confident Panit. New Confident Panit shouldn't be scared about being in a class where he doesn't know anyone." Ming teased him. Panit immediately began to pout.

"One step at a time, Ming." Win chimed in. "You can't expect leaps and bounds when New Confident Panit is...well...new."

"He's right." Panit huffed. "Cut me some slack. And besides, what if I have a class with P'Blue or P'Forth? That will be so scary."

All three boys immediately began to look around just in case one of the mentioned seniors happened to be walking by, then Ming shook his head.

"That can't happen. They're second years."

"It can still happen. Some of the classes offered in the freshman second semester aren't mandatory freshman classes. We can take them in our sophomore year if we want to, which means they can too." Win said. He turned to Panit. "So you might not have a class with him this semester, but next semester..." He didn't even need to finish as Panit already knew what he was implying.

Panit's eyes grew wider. "Oh, I hope not!" He began to look around again. Win cracked up laughing at the panic on Panit's face and Ming gave him a shove to shut him up. Win kept laughing.

"And you told me to take it easy on him." Ming shook his head then turned back to Panit. "Don't worry about it, Panit. Handle it when the time comes. There's no use stressing over it now."

"Ummm, I'm not so sure about that." Win said, his laughter quickly subsiding. When both boys looked at him questioningly, he pointed past Panit, behind him. "The man of the hour has just arrived."

Ming and Panit turned to look immediately. All three boys stared as Blue rounded the corner of one of the engineering buildings flanked by four other engineering students. Ming was happy to see that Forth was not one of them.

"Oiii!" Panit quickly turned back around. "Please don't see me, please don't see me." He mumbled under his breath.

"Why don't you like P'Blue?" Win asked. "Are you still upset about our first day at the freshman hazing activities when you and Ming got in trouble?" He chuckled as he recalled the memory. Win hadn't known Ming and Panit then, but he remembered their faces because they were the first freshman to get in trouble. When he found out that Ming lived a few doors down from him, that's when he introduced himself. Panit also lived in the same dorm, just on a different floor.

"And what happened that other day when he said he wanted to talk to you?" Ming asked too.

"He's nosey!" Panit barked then covered his mouth and glanced over his shoulder to peek at Blue again. Blue was sitting on a table next to a girl with his feet resting on the sitting bench. His friends had all taken seats and were conversing with the rest of the students at the table.

"All he did was pester me and ask me a bunch of personal questions. Then he made fun of my accent. I don't even have an accent."

"You mean your northern accent?" Win asked.

"I don't have an accent!" Panit said again, getting louder, causing his voice to squeak on the word 'don't'. "He probably just wanted to get under my skin."