Destined for You II F4 Thailand T & G

Misunderstood Pt.1

Gorya sat in her uncomfortable wooden chair as she tried her best to stay awake. She sat on the second row of the lecture hall, her hands and feet, chilly from the air conditioning. It was her junior year and second semester of college. So far, it was going well but, she'd rather be lying in bed right now. Her pen tapped on her lap to keep her awake.

The professor, a stout middle-aged man, closed his text book and looked up to the class, "Ok, before I let you go, we need to discuss our final project."

The whole class groans as the professor says, "You guys expected this. It's on the syllabus. Now." He turns on the projector to show a screen labelled: "Macroeconomics Analysis."

He flashes a pointer on the screen as he explains, "The premise of this project is to analyze macroeconomic data for one country and explore their economy within the last 10 years using models. After you've made your analysis, you need to forecast a model for what that country's future economic state will look like based on the data you've obtained."

The professor switches the screen to display another slide: "These are some examples of what your report could look like. You can choose what country you want to analyze except Thailand. I will post a spreadsheet where you'll have to type in the country you will base your project on. To make the workload easier, you can work with a partner. No, you cannot work on this by yourself.  Use this exercise to benefit your people skills." A few people chuckles and the class starts to whisper amongst themselves as Gorya paid attention to the professor.

He shuts the projector off and faces the class, "This project is due in 3 weeks, I suggest you plan accordingly. If you have any questions, email me. You're free to go." Everyone starts cleaning up their things as Gorya closes her notebook. She thinks, I hate group projects. Gorya sighs as she puts her laptop in her bag. Tap tap, a pen hitting her desk. She meets eye contact with a guy she's seen a few times in lecture, but never spoken to.

He waves with a kind smile on his face, "Hi, I'm Derek. Would you like to be partners with me?" He looked like a foreign student but, he spoke like Thai is his mother tongue. He had black hair, light brown eyes, with golden tanned skin and perfect teeth. He was attractive, but not as attractive as Thyme. Gorya hesitates and asks, "Sure, but why me?"

Derek chuckles, "I liked your report on equity benefits. It was very insightful, and I think we share similar thoughts."

"Thank you," she smiles. She raises her hand to take his to shake, "I'm Gorya, pleased to meet you."

"Likewise."

Gorya zips her backpack and stands from her seat, "Can you give me your phone number? So we could talk and organize."

"Yeah, hold on," Derek says as he takes his phone out. They trade phones and she gives his back as he does the same. "I'll text you?" she asks.

"Sounds good."

They walk down the stairs together and she asks, "Are you older than me or younger?"

"I think I'm older. You're 2001, right?" he asked. She nods, "And you?"

He holds the door open for her, "2000."

She smiles, "Thank you, P'Derek."

...

Gorya moved out of her family's home and stayed at Uncle Ga's studio. She wanted full concentration and her own space now that she's in college. Her parents supported her and luckily, the rent wasn't as expensive compared to living in the city. Plus, Uncle Ga only wanted her to work in the shop, while paying her usual salary.

She sat in front of her computer screen, racking her hair as she looked at the assignment's details. I have so many finals coming up. That's what I get for being an International Relations major and Economics minor. She groans and rests her forehead on the table.