Laia & The Transferee - Chapter 44

LAIA DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO REACT.

The best she can do was run away.

And by running away, what Laia had in mind was to run all way to the small park that she often went to ever since she was a kid whenever she was hurting.

“But I’m not hurting?” Laia murmurs out loud, glaring at the innocent pebble near her shoe. She kicks it away before sitting on the rusty swing. “What’s wrong with me, it’s not like it’s the first time I saw someone kiss another person..”

Okay, maybe it is the first time Laia saw someone kiss another person in real life and not just on the dramas her mother watches.

The girl angrily kicks another innocent pebble enough for it to hit a garbage bin that was a bit far away from where the girl is. Maybe Laia should be a soccer player after all?

Not that she could afford whatever school offers a full-fledged soccer field so that’s another far-fetched dream.

Laia watches the sunset in silence. She hasn’t even noticed that it was already almost six in the evening and a few minutes later it will soon be seven.

“Shame that I just had to have an unconscious asshat occupying my room instead of sleeping already like what I deserve,” Laia whispers in anger. She couldn’t help but raise her head and glared at the sky above her. “What did I honestly deserve to have that asshole appear in my life…”

“Maybe he’s the person for you?”

The short-haired girl almost screamed in fear when a face suddenly appeared just above hers.

“Don’t do that!” Laia hisses at the unknown boy who was now currently laughing at her reaction.

He even had his hand on his stomach from laughing too much.

Great. Why does Laia have to be surrounded by assholes who find entertainment in her suffering? What sin did she even commit in her last life?

“Sorry, sorry,” The boy wipes a tear from his eye and chuckles again, probably remembering whatever face Laia made. “You were really scared–”

“No shit,” The short-haired girl rolls her eyes. “Try having a random person putting their face near your own out of nowhere for once.”

The boy laughs again. Is he mentally sane or is he just another copy of the asshat but this time possibly more irritating?

As the boy took his time laughing out loud, Laia took the opportunity to look at him.

Well, at least he’s quite good-looking and tall. The boy had messy faded red-ish hair that Laia thinks was dyed and would also annoy her if she had the same hairstyle.

His eyes were of the shade of light green and Laia could almost swear that his eyelashes are probably the longest that she had seen in a boy.

Too handsome, some may say, but honestly, with all the attractive boys Laia sees every day in her school (even if she doesn’t admit it) this guy’s probably a nine out of ten.

Or maybe a nine-point five.

Okay, he’s a ten.

“Are you checking me out?” The boy asks with an innocent expression on his face.

For his information, Laia had her own share of boys acting all innocent but being the total opposite so that’s definitely not gonna work on her.

Laia rolls her eyes again. Sometimes the girl honestly thinks that every day is just her basically having to have the patience of a monk. “I’m just trying to familiarize the face of this random stranger who almost gave me a heart attack,”

The boy chuckles. “Sure,”

“Whatever you’re thinking is wrong and whatever you’re thinking of doing next might be the reason why you won’t be having children in the future,” Laia even starts lifting her leg to imply that she could and would kick him in his junk if he tried something funny. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Might I say that you’re really feisty towards a stranger that might be your neighbor?”

“Huh?”

The last time the girl checked the house on both their left and right side still had people living on them.

Oh great. The house right in front of theirs just had their original owners leave to go to Europe to stay with their son.

“How fortunate,” Laia feigns a smile. “Are you Aunt Carol’s nephew?”

“She’s my grandmother’s younger sister,” The boy offers his hand to Laia who just had to notice how long and slender the boy’s fingers are. What’s honestly with these boys having much prettier fingers than she does? “I’m Aiden.”

He even has a nice name. “I’m Laia.”

Aiden wiggles his eyebrows. “Your mother must have loved watching Spanish shows when she was pregnant with you?”

“What do you mean?” Laia was genuinely confused.

“Laia is the shortened version of Saint Eulalia,” Aiden continues after Laia didn’t seem to still know what he was talking about. “She’s the patron saint of Barcelona,”

That’s definitely news to Laia. “Oh, I didn’t know. My mother never really mentioned to me where she got my name,”

“It’s a nice name, nevertheless,” The boy adds.

Laia absentmindedly nods. She never had anyone compliment her name before so this conversation with this random boy was definitely a first.

“Also,” Aiden’s hands were on his pockets as he grins sheepishly. “I kind of lost my way–”

“So that’s why you’re randomly putting your face near random girls you see on empty parks,” Laia sarcastically notes. “Should I be concerned for the other girls who live here?”

“Nah,” The boy smiles, showing off his dimples which Laia didn’t notice earlier. “Just you.”

Laia looks away in a flash when she felt heat rise to her cheeks.

Is he flirting with me?

He’s probably just being nice.

No, he is.

Laia’s brain almost short-circuited.

Is he blind?

Does he need eyeglasses?

Is this some sort of prank or one of those social experiments?!

“Hey, are you okay?” Aiden places his hand on Laia’s shoulder which did not help at all.

All Laia could do was awkwardly smile. “Uhm, yeah,”

Definitely not. She’s definitely not okay with what this boy that she just met just said to her.

The embarrassing part is that the boy didn’t even look fazed at what he just said to Laia who was basically a stranger just a few moments ago.

“Are you sure?” Aiden retracts his hand from the girl’s shoulder and looked at her with worry. “Maybe what I said was out of line? That was probably inappropriate to say–”

“Uh, no,” Laia bluntly says. “It’s fine. I’m good. You’re good. Yeah,”

Laia fought the urge to facepalm. She definitely looks like a fool right now.

What a great impression she’s showing her new neighbor. Aiden’s obviously thinking right now that Laia’s a sarcastic, mean, but easily flustered girl.

Definitely a no-go.

Absolutely not the ideal girl for anyone.

Not that Laia minds. It’s the least she’s supposed to be concerned about right now.

Aiden beckons Laia to come closer. Laia obliges but leaves an appropriate amount of space between them. “Are you sure you’re okay? You kind of freaked out–”

Laia waves the boy’s concerns off. “It’s fine,” She even tries to smile but fails considerably. “How about I help you go back to your new house, now?”

The boy nods. “If you’re up to it,”

“I’m definitely up for it,” Laia almost spats out of frustration to just get away from the awkward situation. “Let’s go?”

“Alright,”

The two easily made their way to where the boy now lived, Laia sparing a glance or two and slowing down her pace every time the boy would take a look at his surroundings, probably familiarizing the directions and landmarks to his new home.

Upon their arrival to the porch of the boy’s new house, Aiden hums in contentment.

“Aunt Carol really loved this house,” Laia decides to tell him while she sat down on one of the chairs nearby the small garden that the former owner took care of. “She would clean almost every day,”

“Yeah?” Aiden leans back to the tree that provided the garden shade from the sun’s rays. “Did she?”

“Mhmm,” Laia replies.

Silence enveloped the two that was interrupted by Laia whimpering due to the sudden breeze of wind that was unexpectedly cold.

Aiden was quick to notice the girl’s discomfort. “I’d invite you to go inside,” He smiles awkwardly. “But I knew we might just end up being awkward around each other so maybe you should go home– wait, that sounded wrong,”

He even proceeds to chuckle at his own words.

Laia snorts. “An A for your effort of not sounding and meaning to be rude.”

Aiden offers his hand to Laia after laughing again because of her sarcasm.

At this point, she honestly thinks that the boy in front of her finds everything funny. Or maybe he just had a bad sense of humor.

“Come on?” Aiden wiggles his hand as if to urge Laia to reach for it.

The girl shakes her head and stands up on her own, dusting herself off. “It’s fine, I can at least stand up by myself,”

Laia saw how Aiden was taken aback flashes the girl a teasing smile. “Is it because you’re not like other girls?”

Rolling her eyes, Laia pushes the boy back just enough to pass through him. “I’m going home,”

“Hey,” Aiden reaches out for the girl’s wrist which he pulls gently, making Laia stop in her steps. “Take care,”

“You do realize I live literally five steps away from your house, right?” Laia deadpans as she pulled her wrist free.

The boy says nothing else but waves goodbye once last time before he enters his new house.

Laia watched him disappear behind the door before finally deciding to return to her own house where she was immediately welcomed by the sight of the asshat on the sofa watching television.

The asshat raises an eyebrow at her. “Where’d you come from?”

The girl raises an eyebrow back after closing the door behind her. “I thought you were still sick?”

“Why are you answering my question with another question?”

“Why don’t you just answer my question, first?”

The two exchanged glares before Laia looks away and clears her throat. “Where’s Niel?”

And your girlfriend, Laia thinks but doesn’t dare say out loud.

It’s probably better that the asshat doesn’t know about Laia knowing about his relationship with Amethyst.

Or maybe he already knows?

“He went to buy some food with Ame,” The asshat turns the television off. “He didn’t want to burn your kitchen,”

“How considerate of him,” Laia rolls her eyes. Great, Niel just had to leave her with the asshat. “Why are you outside?”

“I’m inside, though?” The asshat even gestures at the living room making Laia scowl.

“You know what, I like you better if you’re asleep,” Laia says.

The girl opts to sit on the other couch opposite the couch on where the asshat was sitting at.

“I also like you better when you’re not around,” The asshat even grins at her in a mocking manner. “But we can’t be too choosy,”

Laia was about to respond in the same manner when the door opened with Niel and Amethyst appearing behind it.

“What did we miss?”