Being Arthit & Kongpop. from SOTUS the Series Book 1 of 3

Chapter, 16, Americana Black and Senses Blind

The clanging of the weights and dumbbells hitting the floor were almost enough to drown out the somewhat vulgar grunts coming from the other students and faculty using the University gym.  

The beauty of it for Tat was that it was free.  

It was "Core Day" and his abdomen was already screaming at him to quit but,  he had two more sets of crunches and nothing would stop him.  "No pain, no gain."

Eight,  nine,  ten,  and with the final sit-up,  Tat flopped backwards on the work-out mat and sighed.  Resting there for a moment,  his stomach roared a growl he was sure could be heard over all the other noise in the room.

Putting his hand on his now aching and grumbling stomach he stood.  Picking up his weight gloves and water bottle,  he headed for the shower, and then home to his nightly bowl of poached chicken breasts,  blanched vegetables,  salad greens, and his only gift to himself,  a piece of fruit.  Usually, it was a single wedge of pineapple or some other high-in-sugar harvest.  

Tat's parents weren't what anyone would call wealthy so he shared his dorm room with two other boys.  Both of whom he found with their heads buried in their computers when he came through the door.  

From the small fridge,  he was getting the above-mentioned foods.   He always had them prepared ahead of time.   One of the boys commented that he forever ate the same thing and asked how he could stand it.  

Tat smiled.  "Determination."

Neither of the roomies spoke to him very often,  they were both bookworms,  nerds supreme,  and,  very shy.  Tat,  to them, was the big guy on campus.  They saw him and all his qualities and popularity as something they could only dream of.  

He was as uncomfortable around them as they were with him.  His reason being,  because of the silence and awkwardness they projected,  he thought they didn't like him.  He was always pleasant and friendly but no more.  

It couldn't have been further from the truth.  They both admired him like mad,  even envied him.  Their friends asked about Tat all the time.  "They were so lucky."  They lived with the next head Hazer.  He was everything they would love to be,  but,  in their case,  they were two,  small,  and, judging themselves harshly,  plain boys.  

Tat fired up his computer and sat at his desk,  ready to launch into his own homework.  His mind,  however,  was distracted and he was still thinking about what the girls had said earlier.   He opened Facebook and searched for Kongpop's story.  

The page was filled with all kinds of photo's and drawings that he didn't want his roommates to see, so,  he took the laptop and sat on his bunk.  This way the screen wasn't visible to them. 

He found himself giggling a few times and more than once,  almost in tears as he read the story.  It was well written and detailed,  he wondered how the writer had such insight into P'Kong's "capture" of P'Arthit.

The moment he finished,  his courage was at its zenith.  He pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Kongpop.

"P'Kongpop."  He asked his question without any explanation or introduction. 

"What does P'Knot like to eat?"

Less than ten seconds later...

"Strong black coffee,  Americana."

..............................

Even with Kongpop's much longer strides,  he was having a difficult time keeping up with Arthit.