Lunch was surreal. Not only did P'Nodt, P'Kit and P'Jun stick up for me but they sat with me. They asked me questions and told me about themselves and we all laughed. Lunch was over too soon and now I was standing with P'Nodt waiting for his friends to come back from the restroom.
"Do you have lunch here every day?" he asked me.
I shook my head with a small smile.
"No, normally I go to the engineering cafeteria to have lunch with Tine but he had a project to do today."
"How long have you known Tine?" he asked.
"Since senior year of high school. He liked one of my paintings and started talking to me. After that we became friends," I said with a smile.
"That's good," he said with a strange look on his face.
P'Kit and P'Jun were walking back when P'Jun got stopped by a girl. I chuckled at the look on P'Kit's face. P'Nodt's face snapped to mine.
"What's so funny?" he asked with a smile.
"P'Kit looks really jealous right now," I laughed pointing to his friends. "Are they together?"
P'Nodt followed my gaze and laughed with me.
"No they're not, but it's obvious isn't it? Well obvious to everyone but them. They both think the other only likes them as a friend and they don't want to risk losing their friendship," he was shaking his head as he laughed.
"Why don't you tell one of them?" I asked curiously.
"If it goes on much longer I just might," he said with a mischievous smirk.
----
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. I can't even remember what my class was about. When I finally made it back to my dorm, Tine was waiting for me.
"What the hell?" he called out excitedly.
I gave him a quizzical look as I let myself into my room and he followed. My dorm was a small apartment. It had a kitchen, living room, bedroom and shower room. My uncle had insisted on getting me the best.
The kitchen had everything I needed to cook and bake, my dad had made sure of that. I had a small dining table, plus a sofa and coffee table in the living space as well as a large tv on the wall. The shower was my favourite thing about the place. It showered down like a waterfall from the ceiling.
Tine bounced like a rubber ball as he watched me put my bag of groceries away. It was like he had too much energy and he could barely contain it.
"Well?" he asked.
"Well, what? I have no idea what you're so excited about," I told him after he still hadn't explained himself.
"I'm talking about you having lunch with P'Nodt today!"
I spun to face him, my eyes wide.
"How do you know about that?" I asked.
"Pin told me, he had seen a picture of you sitting with him and his friends. Someone had posted it on Facebook," he told me, showing me the post.
It was a picture of us sitting and talking, I could see P'Kit leaning over my picture. The caption is what bothered me the most. It read 'why are the hottest guys on campus slumming it with the ugliest and fattest girl alive!'
Instantly I shrunk back and blushed even harder but this time not from shyness as I had done when Tine asked me but from humiliation. Tine came around the counter to give me a hug.
"Don't pay any attention to the caption. They are just jealous," he told me as a few tears fell down my cheek.
Tine moved us so that we were sitting on the sofa, he gave me a tissue and told me to wipe my eyes. Then he smiled softly at me as he held my hand.
"I mean it, Lai, just ignore them. They are jealous and when people get jealous they get petty. So what if P'Nodt and his friends came to sit with you, he can sit with whoever he wants."
I nodded and gave him a small smile. He was good at making me feel better.
"Why was he sitting with you though? I didn't think you knew each other," he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I don't think he'd come there with the intention of sitting with me but some girls were teasing me and they stopped them. I think they only sat with me because of that. They were nice and friendly."
Tine nodded with a thoughtful look on his face.
"I'm not so sure about that," he spoke after a minute of silence. "P'Nodt and his friends are the nicest people around. Not just in my faculty but in the whole school. They may not have gone there planning to sit with you but I don't think they would have sat down if they hadn't wanted to."
A small flame of hope ignited in my chest but I quickly squashed it down. I didn't need to get my hopes up only to be extremely disappointed. Guys like P'Nodt wouldn't be interested in girls like me, at least not romantically.
"Well, either way, it was nice to have some company when my usual lunch date cancelled on me," I accused playfully.
Tine pouted and gripped my arm before resting his head on my shoulder. He was giving me his best 'sad puppy' look that always made me laugh.
"Please don't be mad at me, I really did have to finish my project."
I laughed, as predicted, and pushed him away.
"I never said I was mad."
---
The next day, as usual, I went to meet Tine and his friends at the engineering cafeteria. I arrived before he did so I got my food and took a seat to wait for them.
As I was waiting a group of girls approached me. I could see them smiling and sneering a little. Butterflies flitted in my stomach as they got closer. Instead of a confrontation, like I was expecting, they passed by me. I thought I had imagined it all, however, I was wrong.
Suddenly, I felt an ice-cold drink being poured on my head and down my back. Naturally, I jumped with a shriek and all I heard was laughter. I turned to see the group of girls that had walked past howling with laughter. One of them was holding an empty cup.
"Oops, sorry!" she smirked. "I slipped."
My cheeks flamed as tears pricked my eyes. Other people in the cafeteria joined in with the laughing. Not wanting them to see me cry I grabbed my things and raced out, heading straight for the bathroom.
Humiliation surged through me as I stared in the mirror at the pale green stain on my shirt and the sticky fluid in my hair. In my bag was a hoodie I always brought with me just in case stuff like this happened.
Once I was sure I was covered up I raced back home. Luckily, I didn't have a class in the afternoon. Once home, I attempted to get the stain out, eventually giving up when it seemed hopeless. With a sigh, I got into the shower to try and wash the shame away.
I felt a little better when I stepped out of the hot spray. My hair didn't look like a sticky mess anymore. Once I stepped out of the shower I noticed several missed calls and a few texts from Tine.
'Lai, we're running a little late but we are on our way. Wait for us!'
'Lai, are you coming to eat with us today?'
'Lai? What are you doing?'
'Answer me, Lai, please. I'm getting worried.'
There were several more messages like that interspersed with missed calls. Not trusting my voice not to break, I decided to send him a message to at least stop his worrying.
'Sorry Tine, I got out of my lecture late so I decided to go home. My phone was on silent so I didn't hear it go off.'
I hated lying to him but I couldn't tell him the truth. He was just as overprotective as my dads and uncle.
Just as I put down my phone it instantly started to ping. Hesitantly I picked it up and turned on the screen. Someone had tagged me in a video. With my stomach in knots, I clicked on the link. Instantly, a video of what had happened was all over Facebook. Lots of people were laughing and being mean in the comments.
'Oops, fatty will need a new shirt! She best go to a car dealership to find the right size!'
'Damn! So funny! That will teach her to steal our guys!'
'Should have thrown it right in her ugly face!'
With tears streaming down my face I turned my phone off and curled into a ball. Eventually, I'd cried myself to sleep until an incessant knocking woke me up. I looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. I had only managed to sleep a couple of hours and now my head was banging.
"Lai! Open the door!"
I jumped at the sound of Tine's panicked voice. Reluctantly, I opened the door and he instantly wrapped me in a tight hug. My tears came again and I couldn't fight them.
"At least let us get in the door before you do that. I'm sure she doesn't want everyone else to see her cry."
I looked up to see Pin, Max and Trip behind him. Without breaking the hug Tine moved me further into my place so the others could come in and shut the door. With my head lying on Tine's chest I watched them place bags down in my kitchen and start to get plates. I tried to leave Tine's embrace but he held on tight.
"I need to help them," I told him with a small chuckle.
"They can find what they need," he replied, making me laugh even more.
Tine moved us so that we were sitting on the sofa, he had to free me from the hug but he held my hands tightly in his. We didn't speak and it was only when the three guys brought the food and drinks to us that someone finally broke the silence.
"Tine said all these were your favourites and that you don't really drink that much. So we got you these to cheer you up," Max said, shaking my shoulder.
I gave all three a small smile of thanks. They smiled back wider and I couldn't help matching them.
"Are you ok?" Tine asked.
I nodded and reached for the bbq pork buns I loved from the Chinese vendor near school and the cup of pink milk.
"Yeah, I was upset earlier but I'm ok now," I told them honestly.
I was so used to being treated that way that I had learnt a long time ago to just let it go. I know if I don't, it would well up inside me and burst out, in a way that could hurt me or my family.