Beam, Kit, and Phana were all in Phana's room studying for an upcoming quiz. The faculty of medicine was always the faculty that started classes first so while the students in every other faculty could enjoy their days exploring the campus and participating in all the beginning of the year events, the faculty of medicine students were stuck having to study and starting projects.
Beam slammed one of his textbooks closed. "I'm over this! I need a break."
"The school year just started, Beam." Phana said without looking up from his notes.
"Yea, and we're the only faculty that has to do work right now. There is still a week and half until everyone else starts classes. We will have taken a quiz and started our first major project already!" Beam slouched in his seat and folded his arms across his chest.
"Pouting won't change the situation, Ai'Beam." Kit said, closing his own book. "But I'm tired of studying too." He stood up to stretch his limbs and moved to look out the window.
"We've been in this room for three hours. Let's go play ball." Beam suggested.
"I wouldn't mind that. Ai'Pha?" Kit turned to look at Phana.
Phana looked hesitant. Phana had always taken his studies seriously and was always the top in his class because of it. Even in high school, he graduated at the top of his class in academics.
Beam saw his hesitation.
"Aw, come on Ai'Pha. We've been studying all afternoon. Your notes aren't going anywhere. Why don't you take a break?"
"Okay, fine." Phana finally closed his books and neatened up his papers. Truth be told, he needed a break too. School work was only going to get harder as the year progressed, so burning themselves out now wouldn't be a very good idea.
"Yes!" Beam said excitedly. "Maybe we'll see those losers from faculty of arts and beat them again. All they ever do is lose. They should stick to arts and not sports." He laughed.
"All that trash talk, watch today be the day they finally win." Kit chuckled. He couldn't disagree with Beam because the boys from faculty of arts really did play terribly. But they had heart and never gave up. That counted for something, right?
"Not a chance." Beam grinned. "We'll win no matter who is there."
****
After changing and grabbing their water bottles, the boys headed out to the basketball courts. Beam was chattering away about nothing in particular. There were already quite a few guys at the basketball courts and it looked like a game was trying to start. Kit scanned the guys and immediately started grinning. He nudged Phana and silently pointed. Phana followed his finger and smirked. Beam still hadn't seen anything as he was still talking and not paying attention.
"Ai'Beam," Kit stopped him. "It doesn't look like the art faculty guys are here..... but engineering is."
Beam immediately stopped talking and scanned the boys on the court. It didn't take long for his eyes to find Forth.
"You know what? As a matter of fact, I think it's too hot out here. Let's go back to the room where it's cool-"
He turned to walk away but Phana yanked him back by his shirt.
"Oh, no you don't. This was your idea. You wanted to play so we're playing. Get over there." He gave him a little shove.
Beam stumbled forward, dropping his water bottle. The sound caused a couple of the guys on the court to turn in their direction. Beam hurriedly turned around to face his friends but they blocked his path.
"I changed my mind."
"Ai'Beam." Phana called him, a note of annoyance in his voice.
"Let's go eat instead."
Kit started laughing."You are such a little wimp, Ai'Beam. Let's just play. Forth won't bite you." He said, grabbing his arm and pulling him on as they walked. "Or maybe he will." He said mischievously.
"You-!" Beam raised his fist at him but didn't swing. Kit and Phana laughed as they walked onto the court.
"You guys need some players?" Phana called out and all heads turned to see who was talking.
"Aye, Pha! What's up, man?" Forth broke away from the group and met Phana as he, Kit, and Beam approached.
"Not much. You guys starting a game?"
"Trying to. But these guys have played two games already and are ready to go. So we don't have any opponents. Do you guys want to play? You three against me and my guys."
"Sure. Who have you got?" Phana asked as they both looked at the guys on the court.
"That's Chris. And that's Duke."
Phana looked at the boys then turned to look back at Kit and Beam. Kit and Beam had good playing skills but Chris and Duke completely overtook them in size. Especially Chris.
Right on cue, both boys walked over. Phana looked at them and nodded.
"3 on 3?"
Both boys nodded.
"Cool, man up! Phana, I got you." Forth said confidently as he ran to go get the ball.
Beam was so busy watching Forth run gracefully across the court that he didn't notice Duke directly in his face.
Duke waved his hands. "Anybody home?"
Beam was startled at his presence. "Sorry...uh...yea." They both walked over to the court, passing Kit and Chris as they went.
Kit looked up at Chris who was standing directly in front of him, arms crossed. Chris looked down at Kit and smirked. He was practically twice his size. Kit's head stopped at the top of Chris's rib cage and with his arms folded over his chest like that, it made his arms look massive.
Kit frowned and looked off in aggravation. "You have got to be kidding me." He mumbled under his breath. His biceps are the size of my head!
"Alright, heads or tails?" Forth asked Phana as he positioned a coin on his hand.
"Tails, but um..." He trailed off as he looked at his friends and their partners. "I think we should change opponents."
Forth looked confused as he looked out at the rest of the guys. He looked at Beam and Duke. There was a size difference but not much. Then his eyes landed on Chris and Kit. Chris still had his arms folded and was looking very smug. Kit looked as tiny as ever.
"I see what you mean."
"I'll play Chris." Phana said, walking over to him. It only seemed fair as Phana was closest to his size. He was actually slightly taller than Chris. Chris just had a lot of muscles.
"Kit and Duke, you two together." Forth said, then his eyes landed on Beam. Beam immediately went rigid.
Oh no oh no oh no.
"It's you and me, Beam."
Beam gave a slight nod and stiffly walked over to Forth. Forth flipped the coin and let it fall to the ground.
Tails.
"Your ball." He tossed the ball to Beam. Beam began to dribble slowly but he couldn't think straight. All he knew was that Forth was right here in front of him and his heart was beating so fast and hard he could hear the pounding in his ears. Could Forth hear it too? What if he forgot how to play properly??
Beam continued to dribble slowly as he looked at Forth who was crouched, waiting for him to do something. The sun was reflecting off his black hair and caused shadows to fall across the cuts of muscles on his arms. How could someone be so handsome?
"Beam, let's go! Get your head in the game and do something!" Kit shouted at him, startling him. He immediately tried to make a move but Forth was expecting it and was able to block him and steal the ball. Not too long after, he made a basket, scoring two points for his team.
Kit stomped over to Beam.
"If you're gonna play like that, we might as well all go home!" He whispered harshly.
Beam looked out across the court in embarrassment, his eyes landing on Phana. Phana looked at him in confusion and raised his hands as if to say 'what are you doing??'.
"Sorry. I couldn't focus. It's...hot out here." Beam lied.
"Yea, right." Kit said flatly. "Get it together." He walked back over to his partner, Duke.
Forth came back, bouncing the ball, grinning.
"You alright there, Beam? Don't tell me this is how you're gonna play. We might as well call this a win right now." He teased.
Beam looked at him. There was no way he was going to be able to play properly with Forth smiling in his face like this. The fact that he was smiling was a miracle in itself. Forth rarely ever smiled. But here he was, in his face, smiling. Beam looked away once he felt butterflies attacking his stomach.
Nope. No way he could play.
Forth started dribbling the ball. "Come on. Show me what the med squad's got."
The game started up again but Beam just couldn't focus. Forth passed the ball to Chris and Phana started to block him and prevent him from getting any closer to the basket.
Beam felt like he was playing outside of his own body; like he wasn't fully present. Things seemed to be going on around him in slow motion. When he heard cheering, he came out of his little trance to see what happened. Kit had scored a basket.
"Short stack has some skills." Chris said matter of factly.
"Who are you calling short??" Kit screeched. His face immediately turned red as he began to approach Chris. Phana instantly flung his arm out to stop him.
"Ai'Kit." He said, a note of warning in his voice. Kit had always had a quick temper. But mention anything about his height and it was quicker than a fuse with no fear of who said it. But even being fearless, there was no way Kit would win a fight against Chris. He was just too big.
Kit let out a frustrated breath and turned and stomped away.
"Hey uh...don't call him short okay?" Phana said to Chris. Chris shrugged.
"I didn't mean anything by it."
They all focused back on the game.
Once the game got started back up again, it wasn't long before the ball was back in Forth's hands. Beam tried everything to focus. His eyes darted back and forth between Forth and the ball. He tried to watch his movements so he could try to judge which direction he was going to go. But all Beam's thoughts were slowing him down and Forth was too fast. Forth maneuvered around him but Beam wasn't ready to give up yet. Forth dribbled twice, then jumped to make the shot and Beam jumped with him.
But neither of the boys were paying attention to how close they landed to each other. Beam landed first and watched in disappointment as the ball went in the net with a perfect swish. Forth came down, shortly after, drawing his arms back from his shooting form, his elbow slamming directly into Beam's face.
Beam let out a high pitched yelp as his head cocked back and he fell to the ground, hitting the back of his head.
Forth immediately dropped to his knees in shock. "Beam! Are you okay?"
Beam cupped his nose and mouth as he tried to sit up. All the other boys came running over to see if he was alright. Forth helped him to sit up straight.
"Are you alright, Ai'Beam?" Phana asked.
"What exactly happened? I couldn't see over this big brute." Kit glared at Chris. He was obviously still upset over the "short stack" comment.
"I didn't know he was so close behind me. I hit him with my elbow." Forth said, his voice laced with worry. "I think he hit his head when he landed too."
Phana kneeled down on the other side of Beam. "Are you okay, Beam?"
Beam slowly lowered his hands and was surprised to see them coated in blood.
"Shiaaa!!" All five boys hollered out in unison.
"Get him some tissues!"
"Go get a towel!"
"Take him to the school infirmary!"
Everyone was talking at once but it all sounded very faint and dull to Beam. Getting hit so hard in the face, seeing the blood, and with the heat beating down on him; he was beginning to feel very dizzy. Who was that shouting? Forth?
"Come on, Beam. I'm taking you to the infirmary."
It was definitely Forth's voice. He was closer now. Beam turned his head towards Forth's voice and his eyes crossed as he tried to focus on his face. Forth's face was wrinkled with worry as he threw his arm around Beam's shoulder.
"Come on, Beam. Can you stand?" He asked as he tried to gently lift him. Phana helped out on Beam's other side.
"Pha and I can take him to the infirmary." Kit said. He was worried too, especially since Beam wasn't responding.
"I brought my car. I can get him there faster. You're welcome to ride in my car if you want." Forth and Phana finally got Beam to his feet. He swayed and almost lost his balance.
"Ai'Beam!" Both Phana and Kit called out but Forth caught him.
"Quick, where are your keys?" Phana asked.
"That blue and black bag at the edge of the court." Forth motioned with his head. "I have a towel inside too. Bring it for his nose, it's getting on his shirt."
Beam couldn't feel the blood running down his nose, past his lips. His head was pounding too hard and all the sounds sounded muffled to his ears. Who was holding him right now? He was feeling dizzier and dizzier but he didn't want to stop hearing Forth's voice. It was close but sounded muffled too.
"Forth?" Beam said softly.
"He's trying to talk!" Kit yelled. Kit came closer as Forth tried to hold Beam steady. He gently raised Beam's face by the chin.
"I'm right here, Beam. Can you stand?"
Beam wanted to respond but he couldn't. His eyes were too busy trying to focus on one of the four Forth's that were floating in front of his vision. Four beautiful Forth's.
"You're supposed to keep the head back with nosebleeds." Chris said from behind Duke. At that moment, Phana came running over with the towel and keys. Forth snatched the towel and put it to Beam's nose.
"Ahh!" Beam gasped.
"Not so hard, Ai'Forth!" Kit yelled at him.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"I'll drive your car, Forth. Kit, you help him get Beam to the car." Phana ordered and jogged off to the parking lot. Kit moved over to drape Beam's arm over his shoulder to help him walk. Forth draped his other arm over his shoulder and continued to hold the towel to his nose as they walked slowly.
Crap. Forth thought to himself. How in the world did a simple basketball game turn to this? Please don't let his nose be broken!
When they reached the car, they helped Beam inside. Kit ran to the passenger side and Forth climbed in the back with Beam.
"We're heading to the infirmary, okay Beam?"
All Beam could do was rest his head back on the seat and close his eyes.