Arthit, Knott, Prem, Tutah, and Bright are in their Third year and known as the crazy engineering gang to their classmates. They are also the Red Jacket Hazers. Kongpop, Tew, Wad, Oak, and Aim are First Years who are about to face the Crazy Hazers...
P'Prem and I are waiting for my mom to come to pick us up from the station. She never picks me up. She must be doing this since I brought P'Prem with me.
"Sorry, P'," I grumble. "Mom usually just tells me to catch a bike or taxi. She has not picked me up from the station since I was a kid."
"It's ok," P'Prem smiles. "She is probably excited."
"Sorry, Wad," My mom apologizes as she runs up to me, "There was a customer right before I was leaving."
"Sawasdee Khrap," P'Prem greets my mom.
"Sawasdee Kha," My mom greets him back. "Thank you for taking care of my son."
"It is nothing, Khun . . ." P'Prem replies, and my mom stops him.
"Call me, Mom," Mom laughs. "You will make me feel old if you don't."
"Ok, Mom," P'Prem complies. When my mom reaches for my bag, P'Prem stops her, "I will take it, Mom. Lead the way." I watch as P'Prem, and my mom walks off. Why is he taking my bag? I can carry it. Now that I think about it, he has carried my bag since he picked me up.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Put the bags in Wad's room," My mom tells P'Prem when we walk in the door. My room? I hadn't thought about where he would be sleeping when he was here. We don't have a guest room. I will offer to sleep on the couch later so he won't feel uncomfortable. I lead P'Prem to my room.
"Just put them on the bed." I motion toward my bed as I look about my room. I shake my head when I realize my Mom has been in here. That is a new coverlet. She didn't need to do that, but it will do no good to tell her that.
"Who is this?" P'Prem asks, picking up a picture on my desk. I walk over and look at it, frowning.
"A friend from middle school," I answer. I don't want to talk about that guy. "Let's go to the kitchen and see what Mom has cooked."
"Ok." P'Prem smiles as he places the picture back down on the desk. Why do I still have that picture? It only brings back bad memories now.
"How much did you cook, Mom?" I am floored by the amount of food on our table. "Are more people coming over?"
"What we don't eat, we can have for lunch tomorrow," she says, slapping my shoulder. "You make it sound like I never cook for you."
"Whatever," I snort, "You still went overboard."
P'Prem slaps my shoulder, "Behave. She is just acting like a mom." Why is everyone hitting me?
"That's right, N'Prem," Mom beams at my senior. "Come on. Let's eat. The food is getting cold."
I watched Mom and P'Prem talk. She asked about school, and he asked about her shop. It has been a long time since I had seen my mom this happy. I can't believe they are getting along so well. I am glad my mom likes him.
