Exploring!

"How is living with my cousin going?" Achara suddenly asked as she and DAO stepped out of the car, in front of the hostel.

"She is fine. At least, I don't have to clean after her." DAO scoffed.

Achara rolled her eyes and brought out a packet of chewing gum. She gave DAO one piece and threw two into her mouth. The two of them waited silently, waiting for Dana, who had gone to park her car inside the hotel's parking lot.

Since middle school, Achara, DAO, and Dana have been friends. While Achara was outgoing, mischievous, and curious, DAO was a little reserved but fun to be with. Dana, on the other hand, was the nerd of the group and a total jerk.

The three girls were from fairly rich homes, but Dana was the richest of them, followed by Achara.

Because Achara has a serious case of asthma and her intermittent attacks tend to be life-threatening, she had planned to share a hostel with DOA, so she could have someone nearby in case of any emergency.

Two weeks before the university resumed, Achara's Aunty, Aunty Belle, came to visit them with her only daughter; Nan.

After lunch, that day, Aunty Belle had raised the issue of how unwise it would be for Achara to live alone in a hostel due to unpredictable asthmatic attacks.

"I will not be living alone. My best friend, DAO, has agreed to share the hostel with me, Aunty." Achara explained with a small smile.

She knew her aunt was genuinely worried about her, so she was feeling warm inside. But then, at the mention of Dao's name, Aunty Belle had frowned and looked disappointed.

"I was thinking maybe you and Nan could share a hostel, Achara. Just like you, Nan has never left home, and she is not good at making friends." Aunty Belle leaned towards Achara with a pleading gaze. "What about we do it like this, let Nan share the room with you so the two of you can take care of each other? Hmm?"

Achara wasn't expecting this request and didn't know how to say 'No' to Aunty Belle. Though Nan was not her kind of person, Aunty Belle had always been good to her.

"Aah… I…"

"Do you even have to ask her like this, Belle?" Achara's mother had interjected before Achara could figure out what to say.

Just like that, Achara and Nan became roommates.

When Achara told DAO, DAO was upset because she also didn't like sleeping alone. She and her sister had always shared a room back at home.

On their first day at school, while sorting out their hostel arrangement with the concierge, they met Hellen, who was also looking for a roommate and DAO decided to team up with her.

That night, Achara had suddenly pressured DAO into swapping rooms, and she reluctantly agreed, thinking that something must be wrong with Nan if someone as outgoing as Achara could start avoiding her.

It's been a few days since then and Dao was doing her best to accommodate Nan, who turned out to be quite neat and reserved. In fact, when it came to sharing space, DAO found Nan to be compatible with her own temperament.

Luckily for them, their rooms were beside each other. Achara and Hellen's room was the first, further down the corridor, followed by DAO and Nan's room, which was in the middle, and lastly Dana's room.

Since they were not far away from each other, Achara would be able to get as much help as she could possibly need even if Hellen wasn't around.

As Nan followed them around on their first day in school, DAO subconsciously found herself talking to Nan or watching out for her whenever she noticed that Nan was being left out of their discussions.

At this point, DAO was feeling good about her unexpected roommate.

"Sooo… can we permanently swap rooms?" Achara asked mischievously.

"Mm" DAO paused and gave Achara a good look. "That reminds me. What are you hiding from me?"

Since that class where she saw that fine boy called Anurak, DAO had suspected Achara of hiding something from her, but she couldn't figure it out. But she was sure it had to do with her original roommate.

"She wants to hit on your roommate." Dana just arrived and overheard them, so replied to her.

Went into the hostel and approached the elevator doors

"I don't understand." DAO paused just as the doors opened and Dana stepped in. Ignoring the two girls, Dana brought out her phone and started pressing it, either playing some brain-tasking game or reading.

Impatient, Achara grabbed Dao's hand, and they entered the elevator together.

"You know how we said we are going to have the best fun in the university?" Achara asked with excitement.

"Hmm mm." DAO nodded, still not getting where this was going.

"Well, one of the things I want to do is explore my sexuality."

"What do you mean?"

"She wants to lose her virginity before the end of the semester and also wants to try dating a girl," Dana reported without even looking up from her phone.

DAO turned to Dana with wild eyes. She wasn't sure she had that right. But then, Dana wasn't even looking her way. She huffed and turned back to Achara who had an annoyingly silly smile on her face.

"Achara, what does she mean?"

"Weeell." Achara scratched her head when she saw that DAO wasn't as excited as she expected.

"I want to hit on Hellen." Achara repeated Dana's words."

"What if she is not gay?"

"But she is."

"How did you know that? She doesn't look gay to me."

"Because I saw her necking with another girl at Moonlight on Saturday."

"They did more than that," Dana interjected again.

"You saw them too?" DAO asked her.

"Yes. She fingered her partner at the VIP. So disgusting."

Dao's eyes widened at Dana's words. As if guessing the other's thoughts, Dana looked up and glared back at her. "They were loud."

"Wow! She is a wild one!"

Then it occurred to Dao that if Hellen was gay, then she couldn't possibly have anything to do with that cute boy from that evening.

"Don't you think it's perfect like this?" Achara grabbed Dao's hand. "This way, I wouldn't have to go searching around for a lesbian." Even though Achara could be said to be the leader of the group by outsiders, between them, she always sought Dao's approval for almost everything.

"As long as you keep her away from that cute boy, I am good."

"You really like that boy." Achara giggled.

"He is so cute." DAO cooed as Anurak's face flashed across her mind.

Dan suddenly looked up and raised her brows at DAO.

"So soon?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" DAO frowned "Nothing. I just think you should be sure of what you want before you jump into another relationship." She shrugged and went back to pressing her phone.

"It's been 4 months since Richard broke up with her. I don't think it's too soon. I think you should be happy that she is even moving on." Achara snatched Dana's phone and glared at her.

Twitching her nose, Dana instantly snatched back the phone and slapped Achara on the arm. "What's wrong with you?"

Achara yelped in pain and started rubbing the spot.

"I should be asking you that, Dana. What's wrong with you? Everyone wants to fall in love except you. Why?"

"Is that why you want to break my phone again? Don't think I will let you off if you break it again, I will make you buy something more expensive!" She snapped.

Achara was the reason she had to replace her iPhone two months ago, and she wasn't going to let that happen again.

Just then, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened. Dana instantly stepped out. She briskly walked to her room's door, leaving the girls behind.

"Do you think she is angry?" Achara asked. Dana's outburst had taken her by surprise.

"She can't stay angry with you." DAO rolled her eyes. "So when are we going to talk to Hellen?"

"There is no better time than the present." Achara grabbed Dao's hand, and they quickly approached Hellen's room…

After seeing P'Sud on Tuesday evening, Anurak seemed to have run out of bad luck.

The only sour sight he couldn't get rid of was King and his men since they were in the same class. But Anurak was doing his best to stay out of their way.

Then came Thursday.

Sophea had called him the previous night that her Fridays would be free for the next two months because the only lecturer on her schedule for that day was traveling, and the substitute lecturer refixed the lecture into an empty slot on Tuesdays. This meant that Sophea could travel down either on Thursday evenings or first thing on Friday mornings and be in his arms, four hours later at the minimum.

Since these two became lovers, this was the first time they had stayed apart for so long. Therefore, it was a big deal for them.

Anurak was still immersed in happiness when he found out that apart from practicals, all other lectures would be happening from Mondays to Thursdays. Fridays would be for practicals and some parts of Saturdays if the need arises.

Because of this, all his other days were filled with lectures. In fact, Tuesdays promised to be depressing to think about. Lectures would start at 8 a.m., and he wouldn't get a single minute to rest until 3 p.m. Thereafter, they would go in again and end everything around 6 or 7 p.m., depending on the mood of the last lecturer for the day.

He could barely keep his excitement together. The schedule looked tight, but there was enough time for him and Sophia on weekends.