Me After You ✔

008

"The clownfish is able to help the sea anemone remove dead tissues and various other parasites, whilst the clownfish is itself able to remove the parasites and bacteria growing on its very own body through the constant contact with the sea anemone's tentacles."

As Arthit entered into the final two months of revision, he commonly encountered questions similar to the ones he had previously done, and could answer such questions without any difficulty. However, the teachers often emphasised that the examination setters enjoyed putting a new spin on old questions, and warned the students against being overconfident in their abilities.

Having completed the exam scripts Phana had previously passed to him, he carefully compared his answers with Nai's. The two close friends quietly discussed the questions which they had answered wrongly; by the time they completed their analysis of the papers, the school bell had begun to ring, indicating the end of class.

Arthit felt satisfied.

He slowly stretched out his arms, and pointed to the corridor with his jaw, indicating to Nai that they ought to head out for a short breather. Standing in the corridor, the two close friends leaned against the railing and looked at the azure blue sky. As the rainy season had arrived, there was torrential rain every single night. However, the days still remained bright and sunny.

Nai piped up, "Arthit, ever since you returned from the Police station, you seem to be more relaxed than before."

Arthit replied, "I did......something which I ought......ought to have done earlier......and managed.....to achieve......an acceptable result."

Nai understood what Arthit was referring to, and gave him an encouraging smile in response. However, Nai's smile faltered after a few minutes. Curious, Arthit turned to see what had caught Nai's attention – Jamie had appeared at the school gates. Her parents had arrived to pick her up from school, and seemed to be persistently nagging at her.

After looking at Jamie for some time, Arthit averted his gaze. As his gaze swept across the faraway field, he caught a glimpse of a group of youths walking past the school gates, all of them donning similar white t-shirts. Before he could take a closer look, however, the group of youths had already disappeared. None of them tried to enter the school compound by climbing up the high school gates.

Somehow, Arthit managed to learn bits and pieces about the story of that youth. Many years ago, a prostitute had alerted the police, reporting that she had been raped. The male was sentenced to imprisonment, passing away from an illness thereafter. Meanwhile, the prostitute continued on in her line of work, and simply left the child to fend for himself at the welfare centre.

Subsequently, that child managed to successfully grow into a youth. However, despite his complicated background, this youth wasn't even the least bit threatening – in fact, Arthit never ever felt a single ounce of fear whenever he faced him.

Arthit's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Nai. "Ai Arthit, sometimes I reflect upon the entire incident, and I wonder – were you truly the only person who saw Namtarn being bullied by Jay and his friends?"

Arthit didn't respond, and simply looked at Nai silently.

Nai began to explain himself, "I'm not chiding you. If I were in your shoes and had witnessed the bullying, I'd be afraid too. I'd be afraid that Jay would unleash his anger on me if I tattled on him. There's a high chance that I would have kept mum about the bullying incidents, because nobody could have expected Namtarn to commit suicide. If Nam hadn't died, the entire bullying incident wouldn't even be worth mentioning; however, she died, and as a result, the entire bullying incident takes on a more serious tone."