Chapter 43 Enemy Friend

Santichai walks into the gym with a cooler full of water. He put the water down and sat next to some female students who volunteered to deliver water to the volleyball players after practice. Santichai did not choose to participate in school activities for extra credit, he joined the book club, but when Asnee found out that the book club president was gay, he removed Santichai's name from the book club and signed him as a towel boy assistance on the college volleyball team.

He sat there watching Asnee practice set up and spiking with four other students who were also in the volleyball team. He overheard the two female students sitting next to him comparing Asnee and Decha.

"Hey, between Frank and Asnee, who do you think is cuter?"

"Umm...I think Asnee is much cuter and smarter."

"Although Frank is shorter and less intelligent than Asnee, I like him more." She giggled. "He's my type."

As soon as the coach blew the whistle for the volleyball players to rest for ten minutes, the two girls quickly grabbed two bottles of water and rushed towards Decha and Asnee.

Asnee took the water bottle and started talking to the female student. The female student began to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Decha grabbed the bottle of water and handed it to a junior beside him. He walked over to Santichai and sat next to Santichai.

Santichai hands Decha a bottle of water and a towel. Decha took the water bottle and started drinking. He looked at Santichai and asked, "Are you going to wipe my sweat like those girls do to other players?"

"It's not appropriate," Santichai said, handing Decha the towel.

Decha asked, "I'm curious, why do you always hang out with Asnee?"

Santichai said, "We are high school classmates."

Decha scoffed, "Me and Ai Nee are also classmates, but we..."

Santichai said, "He never mentioned you."

Decha said, "Why would he mention about me." He scoffed shyly. "He must hate me. I was the reason that he got transferred to a different school."

Santichai asked, "What happened?"

"We had a fight over a girl. It was more like...well...I stole his girl," Decha said.

Santichai, "Oh..."

"I'm surprised he never told you that," Decha said.

"It's not his fault," Santichai said.

Decha smiled and said, "Let's start again, I'm Decha Frank Dudar, everyone calls me Frank." He stretched out his right hand. "Nice to meet you."

Santichai reached out and shook Decha's hand, "Santichai Kittibun, my friends call me Chai."

Decha smiled and said, "Since you're a friend, I'll call you Chai."

Santichai nodded, "Mmm." He raised his head and met Asnee's angry eyes. He quickly pulled his hand out of Decha's hand.

Decha laughed, "You are that afraid of Ai Nee?"

Santichai said, "No, I'm not."

Decha said, "You are, I can see it in your eyes." He stood up and dropped the towel on the floor. "I better leave you alone, Ai Nee is about to punch me with his fist." He walked back to the volleyball court. He walked over to Asnee. "Don't stare at me, practice hard, you have poor jumping ability, you may not get a point."

Asnee looked at Decha madly and frowned quietly, "Fuck you."

After the volleyball team finished training, Coach Somchai called all the players and assistants together. Coach Somchai said, "I want everyone to relax and not think too much when we are on the field. Our first game will be on Tuesday next week. This weekend I want everyone to relax and prepare yourself for next week's tournament." He looked at his players. "We're going to the beach to relax."

"Will the school approve this?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

The players muttered around and looked at Coach Somchai.

Coach Somchai smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've talked to the dean, and she agreed, but she also said that if anyone doesn't want to go, there's no force." He took out the registration form from the clipboard. "I have signed all your names."

The students laughed.

Coach Somchai said, "This is for the assistants, you can sign up if you want to go."

When the registration form got to Santichai, Santichai handed the registration form to the person sitting next to him without looking at it.

Since it was Thursday, next Tuesday was the first game, and there was no practice on Monday afternoon, so Coach Somchai had his assistants polish the ball and siege the court. When the assistants were done, they went into the bathroom and cleaned the towels that the players had left on the floor.

Asnee was already waiting for Santichai when he came out of the men's room. He asked, "Why don't you sign up to go to the beach?"

Santichai said, "I don't want to."

Asnee sighed and said, "Either you want too or not, you are going?"

Santichai asked, "Why?"

Asnee said, "Because I'm going. You will like it."

Everyone was on the bus early Saturday morning. Coach Somchai said, "Everyone pays attention, not only will the volleyball club go to the beach today, but the book club will also go to the beach." He looked at his players. "I don't want any trouble, but anyone who misbehaves will be kicked out." He raised his voice. "Everyone understands!"

The students inside the bus all said in unison, "Understood, coach!"

It took them almost all day to reach the beach. The university rents a private beach for the students. When the bus stopped, coach Somchai said, "Listen, everyone." The students lowered their voices. "If you want to sleep in the house, then you're going to have to share a room with other students, but if you decide to pitch your own tent, it's less crowded, but it's a little inconvenient to go to the toilet." He paused for a moment. "If you want to set up your own tent, walk forward and leave the bus now."

Asnee said, "Chai, let's set up our own tent." He stood up and walked towards Coach Somchai. "Chai and I will share a tent."

Coach Somchai said, "Okay. Go out and get your tent from teacher Mai."

At dinner, Decha put his plate on the table and sat beside Santichai. He smiled at Santichai and said, ""Hey, Chai, do you want to share a room with me?" He scooped a spoonful of food and put it in his mouth. "I heard that there are a lot of mosquitoes at night.

Instead of looking at Decha, Santichai said, "It's okay, we have mosquito nets."

Decha looked at Santichai and said, "Hey, Chai, you don't have to follow Ai Nee everywhere. If you disagree with something, just voice your opinion."

Asnee breathes through his nostrils. He looked frantically at Decha and said, "Frank, stop bothering me. Don't cross the line."

Decha said, "What are you going to do? Huh? You only have your fists."

Asnee flexed his hand into a fist. Santichai quickly grabbed Asnee's right hand. He said, "Asnee, don't do this, he wants you to get kicked out of the volleyball team."

Asnee got up quickly and started walking away. Santichai grabbed the plate and followed behind Asnee, but Decha grabbed Santichai's right arm and said, "Let him calm down on his own, your food hasn't been touched yet. Sit and eat."

Suddenly, Asnee rushed forward and punched Decha in the left cheek. Asnee punches Decha to the ground and the students quickly move aside.

Decha stood up slowly, blood dripping from the tip of his nose. He looked at Asnee frantically, "You..." He raised his fist and rushed forward to Asnee, but the other volleyball players jumped in and stopped Decha.

"Ai Frank, don't."

"Ai Frank, Ai Nee, you two are captains and shouldn't fight. If the coach finds out, you two will be kicked out of the team."

"Cool it down, please."

Asnee looked frantically at Decha and said, "I warn you; my patience has a limit." He walked away.

The next morning, after breakfast, the students of the volleyball team and the students of the book club sat on the beach. Coach Somchai walked forward with a volleyball in his hand. He smiled and looked at the students. "Are you ready?" he said, looking at the students sitting on the beach staring blankly at him.