Playing For Keeps

13. Rumor Has It

Kit made sure to stay behind Phana as they walked to class, constantly looking around to see if anyone was staring, pointing, or secretly trying to take pictures. A couple of times he walked too close to Phana and stepped on the back of his shoes, causing  Phana to trip. Beam, being extra obnoxious, laughed loudly and without shame. Although it pissed him off, Kit couldn't blame Beam for laughing. He knew he looked completely stupid trying to hide behind Phana as they walked to class.

When a girl walked by, Kit darted to the other side of Phana's back and lifted his notebook that was in his hand to block his face. The girl barely even noticed him but Kit was so focused on hiding that, once again, he stepped on the back of Phana's shoe. This time, Phana's shoe slid completely off his foot and he stumbled forward, curses immediately flying from his mouth. Beam snorted with laughter the moment he saw Phana's shoeless foot.

"Damnit, Kit! Get from behind me!" He reached back and yanked Kit by the arm to stand beside him.

Another group of students walked by and Kit still tried to shrink himself and hide from their view, dipping and dodging next to Phana.

"Ai'Kit, you are being absolutely ridiculous." Phana said as he snatched up his shoe and put it back on his foot.

"I'm tired of people staring at me and treating me like I'm...I'm..."

"Gay?" Phana said blatantly as he stood to his full height and looked down at Kit. Beam stopped laughing and Kit stopped trying to hide and looked up at Pha. He was surprised to see such a serious expression on Phana's face. 

"Is there something wrong with you possibly liking a man?" Phana's voice was charged with growing distaste for the way Kit was acting. "I like a man. Should I hide too?"

Kit gawked at him. "That...that's not it, Pha!"

"Beam likes a man too. Should he be ashamed?"

Beam stuck his hands in his pockets and looked off in embarrassment. "Phana..." He whispered. Beam hated it when they brought up his longtime, currently unrequited love for Forth.

"That's not what I meant!" Kit shouted.

"Then, please, enlighten me." Phana crossed his arms. Phana had a way of looking at people sometimes that made them feel ashamed even when they had done nothing wrong. It was almost like getting in trouble by a parent.

"I just don't want so much attention on me." Kit rushed to explain. "People have been staring at me like they've just seen a unicorn or something! Guys whisper to each other when they see me. Girls giggle and squeal and take pictures without my permission. I didn't ask for any of this. You might be used to constant attention, Ai'Pha, but I'm not!"

Phana's expression softened and he unfolded his arms. It was true. Phana had been treated like a celebrity in school starting from middle school. He didn't like the attention but it was so much a part of his life now that he barely noticed it anymore. Kit on the other hand, had never received such attention.

"I just...it was all a joke and now people think that I'm dating someone I'm not." Kit looked off. What made him more upset is that he had tried to reach out to the admin of the Cute Boy fan page but whomever it was hadn't responded yet. And Ming didn't seem to care one way or another. He was too busy to care anyway. The Moon and Star competition was taking place in a matter of days and Ming was still adamant about winning. The idea of Ming winning the competition made Kit's stomach flutter because that meant he and Ming would be spending much more time together.

"I didn't mean to jump to conclusions." Phana said in a less stern voice. "But why does this make you this upset? You can still just tell people the truth and that this was all a misunderstanding."