IN THE MATTER OF MONTHS

14. How it all started

Tine swore for the umpteenth time as he kicked his shoes off when he entered his dorm room, Fong had been pestering him to go see a movie with him but after the worst day he had had, he absolutely wasn't in the mood for it, he just wanted to take a quick shower to ease his sore muscles, eat the hot chicken noodles he had picked up while returning and crawl into the bed to sleep off this day. Thank the heavens for it being a Friday so that he won't have to get up too early tomorrow.

He had been running around the campus to take a few pictures of light affecting the look of a certain subject, his assignment, which he had to complete in two days because it had slipped his mind about the deadline being this Friday. He had been dashing in and out of different departments to find a stationary object like a garden or a statue and take their pictures at different times of the day to point the play of light on the filming. The assignment, although interesting, was very tiring. He would have enjoyed it if he had taken his time to complete it.

The past week had put him in a bit of a funk, he was easily irritable and confused. Constant mood swings and frustration gnawing at the pit of his stomach, and all of this because of that one big asshole. Sarawat Gunthithanon.

Sarawat had been playing a game of hot and cold with him and Tine could not keep up, the business student had been pretty approachable for the past month Tine had known him but since last saturday, or to be precise-their day out, one which Tine had mentally been calling a date all along, He had been missing in action. He had also Cancelled the 3 guitar lessons Tine had with him this week. The pale boy was confused beyond his mind, racking his brain over and over about if he had done something to cross the Guitarist.

All he could come up with was that they had had a pretty amazing Day, they had taken the bus to a music shop which was in the other part of the city after they had met outside the dorm Gates. Sarawat Was wearing A beige colored Shirt and dark pants looking like a snack and Tine had sighed, steeling his mind to make a habit of seeing Sarawat look so gorgeous everyday and not panic. It would take him some time to get used to it.

Sarawat had taken him to his favorite music shop and explained to him about different types of guitars, his expressions had turned animated while he rambled on and on about bass guitars and electric guitars and acoustic guitars, how Tine should get himself an acoustic guitar, so that he could learn from the ground level and how he had already planned a structured scheme for his guitar lessons. Business Students. Tine had tuned out most of the one-sided conversation which was starting to resemble a long T.V advertisement, focusing only on the way the tanned boy talked so passionately about the things he loved, his heart thumped loudly. He had insisted on buying the guitar for Tine too but Tine wouldn't have that, he paid for himself by his monthly allowance, putting him in a position of begging for some money from P'Type or getting a job. He decided to beg first and then later find a proper job maybe.

They had then eaten some pad kra prao from a meals on wheels and talked about their respective courses and what got them into it. Sarawat was very vague with the questions related to his family but Tine did not notice, because he had been avoiding the topic of his family too. They talked about Tine's life in New-york and how he fit in. They were so into each other's stories that they never really noticed that they had subconsciously been back to the Bus stop near the university. Tine could swear that they had just boarded the bus. They still were mostly insulting each other but at least they were a little more civil about it. Both of them had a serene smile on their lips while they sat on the bench outside the dorm campus looking at the setting sun.

Tine felt nice, he closed his eyes remembering all the times he had seen the boy sitting beside him smile today. And how it had completely enamored him. Sarawat smiled rarely but when he did he could force you to stare. He was glad that Sarawat was at least comfortable around him. And ironically, then Sarawat had stood up abruptly