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Part 2

It was no surprise to me when I got to school the next day that about 85% of the people around me were eyeing me suspiciously. Like I said before, Kongpob, being one of the hottest guys in school, had always been influential and way with words that charmed everyone around him. And so, having been labeled as someone who planned to ruin his reputation, I was now hated by the majority.

And to add another thing, someone started another rumor about me, saying I sabotaged my own best friend's romance just because I couldn't be together with Kongpob. Because of this rumor, I got a hate letter from Kongpob's fanclub (told you he was influential). They wrote that I should stop meddling on other people's lives, how I should've valued my friendship with Nam, and said that Kongpob was just right when he dumped me, because he is not gay anyway.

Hah! The joke's on them, but I wasn't about to reveal his secret to them.

It was really annoying how a plan could backfire and hit you twice as hard. Who would've thought I'd fail with my plan when I thought that I had planned it perfectly? And now that it backfired on me, I couldn't even find a way to get away from it. I couldn't just tell everyone it wasn't true because I knew for a fact that no one would believe me.

"I have to figure out a way to get him back." I told Nam as I instantly showed her the letter upon entering our classroom.

Nam took some time to read the letter before responding. "How could they say such mean things about you? They don't even know you personally. I can't believe people can be so horrible." She commented with a frown.

"They're really stupid. How could they hate me for doing something like spread rumors? Everyone else does it anyway, and they're doing it to me now. What's so special about Kongpob?" I let out, not bothering to care whether the other people in the room could hear me or not. "I mean, Kongpob broke up with you, isn't that supposed to make him the bad guy?"

"Hey, people might hear you..." Nam warned as I took my seat.

"Who cares? My situation can't get any worse anyway." I remarked. "Kongpob's just too popular."

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. He enjoyed being popular, didn't he? After all, he was using it to counter my attack. And so, I'd help him become even more popular. Taking out my cell phone while the teacher hadn't arrived yet, I checked my phone book for his number. As expected, it was there. If you're wondering why, well, it was because of Nam. She had said once that I had to keep Kongpob's number, so that if I couldn't reach her on her own number, I could just call him, since they were always together.

Tearing a piece of paper from my notebook, I wrote down his number and placed it in my pocket. "I'm such a genius." I exclaimed to myself happily.

"Why? Have you figured something out?" Nam asked, as she turned to me with a curious expression.

I nodded as I gave her a playful smile. "Kongpob is going to be ten times more popular soon." I noticed how she seemed a bit happier today as compared to yesterday. "Hey, why are you suddenly looking better? Did I miss something?"

Now it was her turn to smile. "Why wouldn't I cheer up when I see my best friend getting in trouble just because he wants me to feel better? I really appreciate how you're trying to defend me from Kongpob, Arthit."

Just then, our teacher came in so our conversation was cut short. I took out my book and tried to listen intently to what the teacher was discussing. If you hadn't noticed, I was a good student. In fact, I never got a failing mark in my whole school life. But somehow, I couldn't focus very well today as the teacher discussed about projectile motion. Instead, my mind continued to formulate my new plan.

After class, I needed to go to the computer lab and print a note, no, a notice saying Kongpob was looking for friends and below would be his cell phone number. Then, when I finished creating the master copy, I would go to a copying machine and make about fifty copies of it. Lastly, I would post them up on every corner of the school. Every girl, if not even gay people, would definitely call his number and try to talk to him. He would probably be disturbed for days, maybe even weeks.

I must've been smiling way too widely as I thought about my plan, because all of a sudden I heard my teacher calling my name. "Arthit! What is so funny that you can't stop yourself from smiling?" she demanded, looking at me with an angry expression.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am. It's nothing, please go on." I told her, feeling my cheeks turn red.

The teacher must've had a rough day because usually, she was very kind to everyone, despite the mistakes. But today, she didn't accept my apology. "I want you to answer the problem I wrote on the board. If you can't answer it, I'm giving you one hour's detention."

Great. Why did I have to be distracted during a very confusing topic? Since I hadn't been listening I had no idea how to solve the problem at all. And so, I got myself in detention together with two other classmates who just happened to be picking up a piece of trash under their tables, but the paper ended up being a note so they were punished. Because I got stuck in detention, I couldn't work out my plan. So much for another perfect plan.

As I sat on my seat, waiting for the hour to be over, I turned towards my other two classmates sitting beside me to check what they were doing to keep from boredom. They were playing games from their cell phones secretly behind occupied seats. And they weren't just playing; they were completely engrossed with the game. Suddenly, another idea came into my mind again.

"Hello! My name is Arthit. What's yours?" I introduced myself after moving my seat nearer to one of them.

"Michael." he remarked, not taking his eyes off from the game to bother looking at me.

Not letting his indifferent behavior get to me, I continued talking to him. "Michael? Hm... can I ask you something? Do you have a girlfriend now?"

"Why would you want to know?" he asked, finally looking up for the first time. He had a very cute expression showing confusion.

I gave him an innocent smile. "Well...see, I have this younger sister who's really pretty and nice. She's looking for a boyfriend right now and I think that she might like you."

Suddenly, the other very tall-looking guy beside him looked up from his own cell phone and spoke. "But Arthit, you don't have siblings."

Okay, how did he know that? I didn't even know him. But of course, I didn't bother to ask. "Did I say sister? I meant my friend. My friend is looking for a boyfriend." I responded with a laugh. I took out the piece of paper containing Kongpob's number from my pocket and handed it to him. "This is her number, maybe you can call her or something. In fact, if you have someone in mind who you think maybe interested, you can give him this number too."

"What's her name?" Michael asked, finally looking somewhat interested.

"Um... Her name is...ummm Mary!" I remarked, too excitedly.

The other guy raised his eyebrow again as he smiled. "You seem to be very eager to get her a boyfriend." He pointed out, looking at me weirdly.

I shook my head. "No, it's not that. It's just that, this friend of mine, Mary, she just got over a bad relationship and I really think that this would help her get over it." I explained, using my most serious tone to make it sound very realistic.

As I was talking, Michael's eyes gazed towards the door. It seemed like someone just stepped inside, so I turned to see who it was.

Big mistake!

"Kongpob!" Michael greeted Kongpob at the exact moment I saw him. Wait...No. They knew each other?

When Kongpob saw me looking at him, his lips opened into a huge grin. Why he was smiling at me was beyond me. No, actually, he was probably wanting to rub it in that he won our little gossip war. And so, I decided to ignore him and turned away.

"Hey, what's up?" Kongpob asked Michael as he took a seat behind him.

"Wow, you look happy. Didn't you just break up with your girlfriend?" Michael asked him with a sly smile, turning to him.

Kongpob nodded, his smile not disappearing from his face. I couldn't help but hate him even more for not even trying to look hurt when talking about his breakup. Unfortunately, I didn't see what was coming next until it boomed.

"Well, Arthit was just telling me about this friend of his who's looking for a new boyfriend. Here's her number." Michael remarked, showing Kongpob the paper I gave him earlier.

With his number on it.

Fuck.

I was so busted.

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