Rule No. 1: Don’t be too emotional : Chapter 14

“Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion.”

Arthur Koestler

“Jane, what’s wrong with you today? You seem totally out of it.”

“I just didn’t get enough sleep, I guess,” I replied.

“Kurt chewed you out in class, man. He called on you to give a definition and you couldn’t answer. You didn’t even hear him calling your name several times.”

“I’m just exhausted. Once I get some coffee, I’ll be better.”

“Focus, dude. Midterms are coming up.”

“Yeah, yeah… ”

“Oh, P’Jane! Hello,” Gap greeted the tall figure walking toward us with a slight smile. Before I knew it, P’Jane sat down next to me, naturally sliding his arm around my waist.

“How is everyone doing today?”

“Same as usual, P’,” Gap answered .

“And what are those three hunched over over there?” P’Jane asked, referring to Namkhing, Sherry, and Putt.

“Doing an analysis,” Sherry explained .

“The professor put us in groups of three, so we had to split up.” Namkhing and Putt were buried in their iPads, ignoring everything else. P’Jane nodded and pulled out his own study sheets to read. He didn’t disturb anyone, but even though my notebook was open, I couldn’t concentrate. My eyes tracked the letters and lines, but nothing stuck in my head. I glanced at P’Jane and saw him taking notes.

“P’Jane,” I finally called out. He looked up at me immediately. I locked eyes with him.

” Someone asked me to tell you something.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Who?”

“Her name is Jui. She asked me to tell you she’s sorry for running away. She’ll be waiting for you at Parking Lot B at 10: 00 PM tonight. And… she wants you to unblock her number.” P’Jane let out a small smile.

“Who?”

“Jui. You know, Jui.”

“Jane… I don’t know her. I’ve never heard that name. Is she in your year?”

“Really? You don’t know her?” P’Jane nodded.

“No. I think she has the wrong person.”

“But she said ‘P’Jane’ in the fourth year… isn’t that just you?” P’Jane’s signature smirk appeared as he flipped to the next page of his notes. He seemed to treat the whole thing as a joke.

“Well, it’s definitely not me. She’s clearly confused.” I couldn’t help but be suspicious. I sat there staring at him even after he went back to his studies. He had a track record… was it so strange for me to doubt him? Why was he so calm? Did he truly not know her, or was he just a world-class actor? Finally, P’Jane looked up again.

“So, do you want to stay together tonight?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Stay with me. That way, you can be sure I’m not going anywhere at ten.” That sounded like a good idea. At least I’d know for sure. But…

“I can’t. Tonight, both my dad and momn are away at a funeral in the provinces. My mom told me to look after my siblings.”

“That’s easy. I’Il just sleep at your house.”

“Wha… what?!”

“I can sleep in the living room.” I thought it over. I wanted to be with him to catch him red-handed if anything happened. He was being transparent, at least.

“I can’t… I have a younger sister. And you’re a stranger to my family. If I let a man sleep over and something bad happens, my mom and dad would kill me.” I trusted him not to do anything to my sister, but I knew my parents wouldn’t understand. P’Jane leaned his chin on his hand.

“So, what do you want to do? You can trust me, or we can call that person over right now so I can prove I don’t know her.”

“What are you guys fighting about?” Namkhing asked , looking up from her iPad.

Everyone’s eyes turned to us. P’Jane and I waved them off.

“Nooo, we aren’t fighting! Just talking.”

“Oh, really? You look so stressed; we thought it was an argument.” After they went back to their work, I looked at P’Jane and then back at my notes before whispering, “Fine. You can come over tonight, but you have to sleep on the sofa downstairs. I usually share a room with my brother.”

“No problem,” he answered instantly. I felt a little guilty. Whenever I stayed at his place, I got the bed, but now I was making “Prince Jane” sleep on a cramped sofa. But hey, it wasn’t my fault he acted suspicious. He had to prove himself. Until our relationship is solid, we have many more hurdles to clear.

“Winner! Slave topples the King!” my younger brother, Jet, shouted. I sighed and dropped my cards.

“Congratulations,” I grumbled.

“Big Jane and Jean, keep playing for Queen and Sub-Slave!” Jet said excitedly.

Jean pouted.

“I’m always the Sub-Slave. Big Jane hasn’t budged from being the Queen. He’s in the safe zone.” P’Jane just smiled. My siblings had started calling him “Big Jane” to avoid confusing him with me. We played several more rounds until I saw Jean yawn.

“Jean, go shower and go to bed. You too, Jet.”

“Aw, come on, P! It’s only 10: 30!”

“It’s late enough! You have school tomorrow.” I tapped Jet’s head with the deck of cards. He grumbled but got up. When Jean and I were in front of the bathroom, I whispered, “Jean, lock your door tonight. Check all the windows.”

“Geez, P, what are you worried about? No one’s going to hurt me. Isn’t Big Jane your boyfriend?”

“Listen, kid… anything can happen in this world.” I ruffled her hair.” Better safe than sorry.” Jean went into the bathroom. I walked back to P’Jane and Jet; they were chatting and getting along well. It warmed my heart. Even though he hadn’t met my mom yet, he didn’t look down on our family. Eventually, Jet went up to shower and P’Jane was left with me. He pulled me into a hug.

“I’m glad I got to stay at your house,” he whispered.

“Why? It’s nothing compared to your condo.”

“I’m serious, Jane. I like you so much. In twenty-seven years, I’ve never liked anyone as much as you.” I blushed furiously.

“I like you too… but I can’t compete with you. Your status, everything… we aren’t on the same level.”

“You can. Jane, after you graduate, I want you to move back to America with me.” I nearly broke my neck turning to look at him.

“What?!”

“I’m serious. Come live with me.” He looked at me with zero traces of a joke. Part of me wanted to fly with joy, but the other part knew how complicated that would be. What would his billionaire father think? Or his socialite mother?

“Let’s just survive dating for now,” I said. He laughed and kissed my cheek.” We will.” At 12: 12 AM, I saw him settled on the sofa. He really didn’t have a secret meeting at a parking lot. The next day, Putt was acting weird. After we cleared the air about my relationship with P’Jane, he dropped a bombshell.

“Go with me somewhere, Jane.”

“Putt, why did you bring me here?” I asked, trembling. We were standing in front of Khlong Prem Central Prison.

“Don’t be scared. I’ve been here twice already. If you’re afraid, hold my hand.” I grabbed his hand. I never planned on stepping foot in a prison. Putt led me through the security checks.

“Go in. They only allow one visitor at a time. I’ll wait here.” I realized who was here. I walked to the glass and picked up the phone. On the other side was a guy in an orange jumpsuit.

“How are you, Thee?” Thee, the former Student Union president, looked haggard. Prison had changed him.

“It’s hard to say I’m ‘fine, ‘ but I’m getting used to it,” Thee replied through the phone.

“You’re strong, Thee. You’ll be out before you know it.”

“I’m glad you came. So, what’s new with you?”

“I have a boyfriend now,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“He gave me this necklace.”

“Wait, you have a boyfriend? Who?”

“He’s in our faculty, but he’s a senior. P’Jane.” The line went dead quiet. Thee stared at me, his face turning a sickly, pale yellow.

“Thee? Thee! Can you hear me?”

“You mean… Jane Patrick?” Thee’s voice was shaking. Then he began to scream.

“What the hell is wrong with Putt?! How did it come to this? He said he was going to keep you away from P’Jane! Why did he let this happen?!”

“What do you mean? You and Putt talked about me and P’Jane?”

“Jane! Get away from that Soul Hunter right now! Do you want to end up like me?!”

“Thee, you’re scaring me! What are you talking about?”

“Jane, listen to me,” Thee said , his voice cold and desperate.

“P’Jane is the one who put me in prison. He’s the one who went to the police and told them I was embezzling club funds-and that l had a girlfriend who was only in the eighth grade!”