Playing For Keeps

7. The Photoshoot

Ming was sleeping so heavily that the person calling his phone had to call three times before he ever even heard the ring. He tried to move his limbs so he could stop the noise, so he could stop the pounding inside his head. But his arms felt too heavy and his head felt like there was someone taking a sledgehammer to it.

The phone kept ringing, bringing Ming fully out of his sleep now. He groaned and forced himself to grab his cell. His eyes crossed every which way as he tried to see who was calling. What time was it? He couldn't tell, he just wanted the ringing to stop, so he answered.

"Hello," Ming's voice was deep and groggy.

"What the hell are you still doing asleep!?" Forth's voice boomed through the phone's speaker. Ming jerked his head away from the phone as the pounding torment enveloped his brain.

"P..." Ming croaked.

"I have been trying to reach you since last night! Get your ass here, you were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. We have a photoshoot, Ming. You're the Moon representative of our faculty!"

"Khrap. I'm coming khrap."

"You have ten minutes. Get to the university statue now." And with that, Forth hung up. Ming let the phone slide out of his hand and in between his pillows. He rolled over to look at the clock on his bedside table and had to wait for his vision to unblur to see the time.

7:45am.

How much sleep had he even gotten last night? How did he even get home last night? All he remembered was that horrible conversation with Pang and what a horrible boyfriend he was. All he wanted to do right now was roll back over and sleep until tomorrow. But it was as if Forth could read his thoughts because his phone started buzzing in between his pillows. He fished it back out and saw a message from his senior.

The statue. TEN MINUTES!

Ming groaned and slowly raised himself out the bed. There were multiple sledgehammers now, banging away on his skull. He had no idea how he was ever going to get through the activities today. He was stupid for going out drinking.

****

Ming barely remembered his shower. He rushed through it so quickly, the pain in his head was enough to make anyone forget anything. He dressed in his school uniform quickly, thankful that it wasn't wrinkled. He quickly grabbed his wallet and keys, threw them in his bag, tossed some black sunglasses on his face, and headed for the door. He was certain the bright sunlight was going to make his head hurt worse so the shades were a must.

He planned on stopping at the nearest 7-11 to buy some pain meds for his hangover. But he needed to move quickly. Good god his head hurt.

****

Ming bought some extra strength pain reliever and a bottle of water. He popped the tablets and swallowed them as quickly as he could then ran towards the center of campus. There was no way he was going to make it in two minutes, but at least he was trying.

He saw the statue coming up in the distance and immediately saw a large group of people. Ming tightened his grip on his bag and sprinted over. As he got closer to the group, he saw Wayo sprinting from the opposite direction.

"Ai'Ming!" Yo called out.

"Hey." Ming said flatly once they reached each other. Yo was staring at him with a disapproving look on his face. Wayo hated it when Ming got so drunk he had hangovers. He would scold him until Ming felt like his ears were going to fall off.