Forget Me

Chapter Eleven

Korn arrived at school early on Wednesday morning. He made his way straight to the notice board and wasn't surprised to find several students staring at a bulletin. The teachers had kept their promise and made sure to have the exams graded and tallied by the end of their mid-term holiday.

There was no segregation by class. Rather they were organized from the best to the worst. As expected, Mew and most of his classmates dominate the rankings. Korn was pleasantly surprised to find his results in the top 25%. Something that had never happened before.

He wanted to celebrate with Mew but he hadn't seen him for more than 24 hours. After parting on Monday evening, they had gone their separate ways. Neither one making any plans with the other. The intensity of the last encounter had left Korn feeling off-balance enough that he need time away. Not much...just enough to come to terms with the new world he had uncovered and what, if anything, he planned to do about it.

He had taken the opportunity to visit his sister in the hope of getting some much-needed advice. In the end, he'd chickened out of talking and spent the day teasing P'Kavitra about her love of studying rather than of boys.

"I mean, what is the point of university if you don't have any fun?"

"Just because you don't like to study, don't mean I have to be lazy too."

"Hey...I'll have you know I'm doing really well this term. I might even make it to college."

"Tell that to mum and dad."

"And what will you do...die a well-educated virgin?"

She'd basically thrown him out after that, but the visit had done the necessary work of helping him clear his head. He felt ready to face whatever happened next. Looking at his results now, he knew they would make his parents happy. One less thing he didn't have to worry about.

When they had insistent he attend a school with a strong academic track he hadn't thought much of it. They had a great basketball program and that had been his target. Now that he was doing well in class as well, he found himself interested in exploring his options.

"Is that you're your name I see in the top half of the class? Is this a joke?"

"Not you too, Coach," Korn complained.

"Who else thinks it's a miracle." Their school's basketball, football, P.E. and all-round-everything coach, Mr. Chanchai, asked with poorly concealed amusement.

"Mr Perpat called me into the teacher's lounge because he thought I was cheating."

"Are you?"

"No."

"Wow...you didn't hesitate."

Korn was getting upset at the not-so-subtle implication of moral turpitude.

"Then again...I've noticed something different about you. You are more settled."

"What does that mean...?"

"You aren't just going with the motions. You seem to have an idea where you are going. Perhaps if you use some of that energy in the game we might win in the inter-school championships in the second term."

"Are you challenging me?"

"Of course. But you know the work gets done now...not a minute before the game."

"Yeah yeah...you just want to torture us," Chimmon said as he draped himself over Korn's shoulder to answer the coach.

Game who had come with Chimmon added, "We have better things to do."