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The school day was nearing its end while Pete sat in the library, attempting to focus on writing his paper. Tin was at the basketball court with some other friends, probably flirting with the girls that hung around there every afternoon. Pete was glad because it meant that Tin wasn't there to call him out on the fact that he couldn't sit still and wasn't actually writing his paper. He just tapped his pen on top of his notebook instead of writing anything. Tin also couldn't point out the fact that his face was still flushed and he could not keep the small, almost shy smile off of his face. Tin would accuse him of having met a girl or something and Pete really didn't want to have to tell Tin otherwise. He wasn't in a habit of lying to his friends but he also wasn't sure if he could tell Tin or the others that it wasn't a girl that had been flirting with him. "Hey, Pete, are you done?" Tin asked as he approached the table Pete was sitting at, making Pete look up at him. "What's your face like that for?"
"Done? Why? I thought you were at the basketball court," Pete replied instead of answering Tin's question.
"I was. Kongpob and everyone is meeting at his place. Figured you would want to go join them." Tin shrugged as if he didn't care either way and Pete rolled his eyes.
He knew Tin wanted to see their friends just as much as he did. They didn't get to hang out as much as they used to when they were younger. More of them had gone to the same school together in elementary, and they'd had more free time before they had started their last year of high school. They were all busy planning the next step and trying to choose what university to go to. Tin and Pete were pretty sure they were going to go to the same university because it had a really good international program. Pete had been studying English very hard to get into it.
Ming and Yo were looking to get into the same university, the one that Yo's crush had gotten into. They were still trying to get either Ming or Yo to tell them more about this girl that had Yo so smitten. Though a part of Pete couldn't help but wonder if maybe they didn't tell them because his crush wasn't a girl. Or maybe that was just him hoping that he wasn't the only one in their friend group that wasn't normal.
Pete knew that Kongpob and Em were looking to get into that one university. It had a really good engineering department, and that was what Em wanted as well as Kongpob's mother. Kongpob was more interested in another department, but that university had a good one of those. So whichever one he chose, he was likely to go to school with Em.
It made sense to him that they'd end up pairing off for university with the friend they'd gone to high school with. But he knew that it would mean even less time together as a group. Pete was sad about that, but trying not to be. They would all still be friends and they still had some time to make up for the distance before then. They would have an entire long break after graduation before classes started. Maybe they should go on a vacation together. Pete decided he would suggest it that evening as Tin drove the two of them to Kongpob's home.
The drive there didn't take too long. He and Tin chatted about their days and sang along with the radio as they went. Soon enough they were pulling into the familiar drive that led up to Kongpob's family home. Tin parked on the back side of the house, like he always did when they showed up to hang out with Kongpob during an event put on by his parents, even though there did not seem to be an event going on that evening. Pete never really knew when they happened unless his mom asked him to accompany her. They often used the back entrance just on any normal day, anyway. When Tin parked the car, it was next to the one that he knew Ming drove which meant at least he and Yo were there already.
Tin and Pete got out of the car and went inside, taking off their shoes once they were in the entryway for the slippers already waiting for them. Kongpob had anticipated they would use the back entrance, which most directly accessed the staircase closest to his bedroom. There were muffled voices inside once they neared the room, and when they went in they found Yo sitting on Kongpob's bed while Ming was in the desk chair and Kongpob stood out on the balcony with a lit cigarette in his hand. "Those are horrible for you," Pete commented with a frown once he noticed.
"I know," Kongpob replied, though he didn't bother to put out the cigarette. He just took another drag off of it instead. "Em should be here soon," he said after he blew the smoke out to one side. "He stopped to grab pizza."
Pete sat down next to Yo on the bed while Tin sat on one of the chairs. "What did you want us all here for?" asked Tin.
"To celebrate. Em and I had our final interviews today." Kongpob's smile as he flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette was soft and almost secretive. Before Pete could ask him about it, Em came walking in the room with pizza and drinks for all of them.
"Does this mean you guys got in?" asked Yo as he sat up a little straighter on the bed.
"Mn. It's more of a formality at this point, but yes. You're looking at two of next term's freshmen engineering students at our university of choice," Em told them as he set everything down on Kongpob's desk.
There were mixed congratulations from the others, Em couldn't keep the proud smile off of his face while Kongpob just said a thank you for both of them and put out his cigarette before going back into the bedroom, closing the sliding glass door behind him. "Have any of you heard back yet?" Kongpob asked them, ignoring the question that Tin asked about what had changed his mind.
"Do not ignore me," Tin insisted as he flicked a small wad of paper he'd gotten off of Kongpob's desk that he'd balled up in order to do so once he realized that Kongpob wasn't going to answer him. "Last I knew you had pretty much decided you were going to do what you wanted, not what your mother wants."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Em said as he grabbed himself a slice of pizza and handed one to Yo, who had come over to get one to take back to the bed to eat. Yo smiled brightly at him in thanks before returning to his spot, leaning against Pete’s side as he ate the slice of pizza. "What made you change your mind?"
“I talked to one of the older students,” answered Kongpob with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Was she hot?” asked Tin as he raised his brows and smirked.
Kongpob rolled his eyes at Tin and went over to get a piece of pizza for himself and grabbing one of the bottles of cola. “He wasn’t a girl. We just… talked about the department and how come he enjoyed being an engineering major.” Kongpob shrugged his shoulders again. “It sounded like a place I wanted to be.”
“Has anyone else heard answers on where they applied?” Yo asked around a mouthful of pizza.
“Chew then speak.”
Yo rolled his eyes and pushed his glasses up his nose so they sat on his face correctly. Ming reached over and pinched his cheek. “He asked if anyone else got confirmation yet,” Ming translated for Yo, having well enough learned how to understand his best friend when Yo got a bit too focused on his food.
“Not yet,” answered Pete with a shake of his head. “What if we didn’t get in?” He worried at his lower lip, idly wringing his hands in his lap until Kongpob handed him the cola that he’d grabbed.
“You did,” he insisted, smiling in what he hoped was a reassuring manner as he patted the top of Pete’s head with his newly freed hand. “Stop stressing so much.”
“Yeah. The only one who needs to worry is Yo. He’ll probably cry if he doesn’t get into the same university as P’Pha,” Ming said through his laughter as he moved out of the way of Yo’s reach while Yo attempted to throw a punch at Ming’s shoulder.
“You never have told us about this mysterious Phi of yours,” Tin pointed out as he got himself some of the pizza as well before leaning back against the side of his desk. “What’s she like?”
Ming looked as though he was going to say something but after a second he seemed to deflate a little and he glanced over at Yo, seeming as though he was silently asking for permission to say whatever it was that was on his mind. Yo seemed to hesitate and there was a tension that grew in the room while Em mumbled something about needing to change the subject. But then Yo shrugged his shoulders and Ming nodded his head before saying, “P’Pha is tall and far too pretty for his own good. His friends are too. Pretty, I mean. Not tall - one of them’s quite short, actually. Anyway, it’s really unfair that they just wander around like that.”
“His?” Pete questioned, turning to look at Yo.
Yo nodded his head and seemed to hesitate again before he took a deep breath and said, “I don’t really like… girls. At all. Not even a little.”
“Is that why you’ve never really talked about him before?” Kongpob asked as he sat down on Wayo’s other side. Yo nodded his head again and picked a topping off his pizza to eat instead of actually answering, looking at it instead of anyone else in the room. “Ai’Yo, you can talk to us about anything. All of you can.” He glanced around at the others before focusing on Yo again and gently nudging him with his shoulder. “We aren’t going to judge you because you like guys.”
“Of course they’re not. They don’t judge me,” insisted Ming. He then paused for a second before continuing on, “But that could have been because I never said before now. Oh well. I’ve said it now. I’m bi.”
“We already knew that,” Em said with a slight shake of his head. “You’re not exactly subtle.”
“Oh. Well. There you go.” Ming waved a hand in an absentminded manner without having real meaning. It was more just a vague motion simply to move. “I told you none of them would care that you like a boy.”
“Yeah…” Yo mumbled the word and nodded his head a little, still seeming hesitant about it. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, honestly, but at the same time he wasn’t sure he could trust it. What if they changed their minds? Or they made fun of him behind his back? He knew Ming wouldn’t, but there was that anxious voice in his head that told him the others were going to hate him after finding out.
“Me too,” Pete said quietly after a moment had passed, making Yo look over at him and Kongpob lean forward so that he could look at Pete as well. “Boys. I like boys. And there’s this guy…” Pete was very red in his face as he spoke, a small and shy smile forming on his face as Yo leaned heavily into his side. Pete’s admission made all the concern that Yo had been dealing with moments before just seem to disappear.
“Is that why you had that ridiculous look on your face earlier?” asked Tin before rolling his eyes. “Who is this guy? Do I know him?”
Pete shook his head a couple of times. “Just a Phi that I know. He’s really nice and funny and I like spending time with him.”
Kongpob reached over and gently squeezed Pete’s wrist before patting his arm and sitting up straight again. “Just be careful,” Kongpob insisted. “And you should introduce us to him sometime, let us see if he’s good enough for you.”
“Doubtful,” scoffed Tin. He shrugged when Em shot him a look because it was true. Pete was someone that Tin thought the world of. It would take someone incredible to be good enough for his friend, and Tin doubted it was possible.
“So, wait, that’s three of six,” Ming said as he did a quick count of them. “What about you three?”
“Ming it’s not polite to ask,” said Pete with a shake of his head. While he knew that they were all accepting, his earlier concerns having been erased by everyone taking the news in stride, he also knew that it wasn’t right to try to make any of the others admit something that maybe they weren’t ready to admit yet.
“He’s right,” Kongpob said. “People can share what they want when they want. Otherwise, it doesn’t really matter. We’re friends and we’ll be here. That’s all that matters.”
Ming sighed heavily and rolled his eyes before grumbling, “Yeah, yeah.”
“He’s only disappointed because he wants to know who it’s okay to flirt with,” said Wayo as he got up to go get one of the drinks off of the desk.
Ming opened his mouth to argue and then shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back in the chair he was occupying. “He’s right. I gotta know who I can try to charm next.” He flashed Pete an overdramatic wink, then, and chuckled when Pete shook his head with a smile on his face and focused on opening his soda instead. “Oh, that’ll be fun.”
“Be nice to Pete,” insisted Kongpob, though he was sure that his comment had fallen into deaf ears. Not that it really mattered, he knew that Ming was simply playing around. Which he thought was a great thing as it seemed to lighten the mood in the room again, which had gotten a bit strained at the personal admittances from the two sitting on the bed with him. He was glad that they had finally told the rest of them, even if Kongpob had an idea for a while that they were perhaps not as straight as say Em or Tin. He hadn’t wanted to actually assume or pressure them into saying anything, and the fact that they finally did was just a great thing so far as he was concerned.
The fact that Pete and Wayo liked guys didn’t bother Kongpob at all. The only thing that he was concerned about was whether or not whoever these guys were they liked were people that would treat them well. Though he wanted to know right then, Kongpob knew that only time would tell.