Maybe, Probably, Certainly (Project S: Spike/Waterboyy)

Chapter 8: Always All Ways (Apologies, Glances And Messed Up Chances)

Than heard a soft but persistent buzzing near his ear. For a few confused seconds he wondered if he changed his alarm sound, but then he realized that it was actually someone calling him.

At 7 a.m. in the morning.

The day after they had a practice till nearly 3 a.m.

"What on earth..." He groaned and instinctively looked to his left, to make sure it didn't wake up his roommate. And as always for the last week he had that unpleasant jolt, when he found Achi's bed empty.

Contrary to what the note left for Than said, the musician still didn't contact him in any way, shape or form, which was as much aggravating as worrisome. Kluay, who was not easy to handle under the best of circumstances, was particularly affected by this. If Than was to be completely honest, he always had the impression that Kluay's interests in Achi stemmed mostly from being ignored, probably for the first time in his life, and once the novelty wore off, he would find something else to amuse him. Yet, as the time went by, it has become quite clear that this was not the case. Maybe there really was something genuine behind that carefree and nonchalant mask the sophomore showed to the world.

Than checked his phone and Kluay's name flashed on screen. Speaking of the devil... "Yes, P'?" He said in a monotone and a rather tired voice.

"Did you hear from Achi?" The swimmer sounded agitated and a little bit accusatory.

"I told you, P'. He hasn't contacted me yet." The silence fell on the other side of the line. "Why?" Than probed cautiously.

"Because," Kluay replied in a deceptively calm manner, "I've just talked with Mrs. Songpaisarn from the Dean's Office and it turns out that Achi requested a transfer to another university."

***

After hanging up on Than, who was not helpful at all with his reasonable explanations of why his roommate might prefer changing schools, Kluay started thinking of ways to delay the transfer procedure. Surely if he could just talk it over with the boy, he'd be certainly able to change his mind...

And then he caught himself. What am I doing? And what for? He's already sent countless text and left a dozen of voicemails, to no avail. Enough was enough. The silence was the most telling and the loudest answer he could get.

He dialed Achi's number once more and left the final message. "If you wanna go, GO! No one here is stopping you. Have a nice life." Kluay said that with derision in his voice.

However, when he was done, he felt more miserable than ever.

***

Puen was quite aware that he was unusually on edge before their match. Pumped but focused was more his style, but apparently not today. First he got unreasonably annoyed with two of his players for developing a fever overnight, then their bus was late, and as result they got stuck in traffic. He was also mad at Kluay for sharing the news about Achi with Than this morning, because it made his junior preoccupied and distracted. Because he couldn't take it out on the swimmer, he snapped at Than, who deliberately changed seats on the bus. And, as if the universe was conspiring against him, Kawin joined his friend for the rest of the ride, and Puen could hear them laughing once in a while. Just perfect, he thought.

What's worse, by the time they were doing their warm-up routine, his strange mood spread across a whole team. Now everybody seemed nervous and, for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to say to change the atmosphere. He knew that once they were on that volleyball court, the players would snap out of it, but this was not the way he wanted to start off their season, even if it only was a friendly match.