Laia & The Transferee - Chapter 50

“HEY,” Brie stood up from her seat quickly, neverminding how her plans for the design of her nails were completely ruined as she had moved from her previous position. “You okay?”

Laia coughed repeatedly until she was able to catch her breath, cursing internally when she saw how Aiden was already on his way towards her with a concerned expression on his annoyingly handsome face.

Where did he disappear to, anyway?

He just sort of vanished after everyone went to their groups.

“What happened?” Aiden’s hands were suddenly on Laia’s face, cupping her cheeks gently.

Laia tried to pull away from the boy, but couldn’t help herself from leaning into his touch.

However, their moment didn’t last when she felt the stares of every student in the room.

Every student including the asshat who was looking at them with undisguised amusement.

Brie cleared her throat. “Uhm?”

Her friend’s one word was enough for Laia to completely pull away from Aiden who didn’t seem very affected by the crowd watching them like they were a bunch of actors in a movie.

“The ginger ale,” Laia awkwardly says after a moment of silence. “I choked on it,”

“How did you choke on ginger ale?” Aiden asks after his poor attempt of stifling a laugh.

Brie decides to respond for her friend who took another sip from her ginger ale. “It’s more like someone’s unexpected action made her choke,”

“Ugh, don’t start,” Laia raises her hand to threaten Brie but to no avail as her friend merely laughs. “I swear, Brie,”

“Was I lying though?”

The short-haired girl narrowed her eyes at her friend but said nothing to defend herself and instead changed the topic. “Where did you go earlier?”

Aiden pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Who else, genius?”

The boy lets out a chuckle. “I was just making sure,” He shows Laia a piece of paper. “I asked Sir Matias about the reporting and which group should I join,”

Laia unfolds the paper and sees her name among Aiden’s new groupmates. Her eyes widened.

“We’re groupmates?”

Aiden nods with a smile. “Yeah,”

“But–”

“Well, I did tell him I didn’t know anybody except you,” He sheepishly grins. “That’s probably one of the factors why he decided to put us in the same group.”

Laia should probably participate more in her next History classes as a form of gratitude to her gracious teacher.

Brie pulled her seat closer to the two with a teasing smirk. “Hmm, wouldn’t that be a great opportunity to get to know each other much more?”

“What do you mean?”

Laia thinks the boy looks cuter when he’s curious.

Or maybe she’s just being biased.

“Well,” Brie interlocked her fingers together as she leans in, almost conspiratorially. “You are going to Laia’s house–”

“How the hell do you even know about that?”

“I listen, dearie,” Brie points at her left ear. “As I was saying, you’re going to Laia’s house and meet her kindhearted mother–”

“I’m not so sure about the kindhearted part–”

“Her beautiful garden–”

“Ah, I forgot to water them this morning–”

“Anyway, you’re definitely gonna enjoy visiting her house,” The long-haired girl even had the audacity to wiggle her eyebrows. “Or maybe just enjoy seeing Laia in her natural habitat–”

Laia couldn’t restrain a snort. “What am I, an animal?”

Aiden laughs.

Great, now he thinks I’m comedic relief as well, Laia thinks as she sneers at Brie who looks at her with confusion.

She decides to finish drinking the remaining contents of the can and walked towards the garbage can, throwing it.

“Good morning, class!”

“Good morning, sir.”

Looks like the next classes will be as boring as the color scheme of Brie’s nails are. The girl could’ve attempted to follow the design for her nails earlier but was too lazy.

Just like how Laia thought, the next classes before dismissal were indeed boring and repetitive.

Discussions, quizzes (that Laia got perfect scores on as usual not that she was being arrogant) and a shit-ton of assignments due for the next week were probably the least of Laia’s problems as her group was currently inside the asshat’s SUV as they made their way to her house.

The girl can only hope that her mother at least didn’t leave the plates unwashed on the sink.

Or leave the front door open like last time when she was running late.

“It’s here, right?”

Laia’s eyes drifted from the scenery outside the car and to the asshat’s green eyes. “Huh?”

“This is your house, right?”

The short-haired girl fought the urge to roll her eyes at the asshat acting like he wasn’t just here yesterday but answered anyway. “Yeah,”

“It’s so cute!” Thalia exclaims from behind, Laia noticing how Jake nudged her in the side after her remark. “What?”

Jake sighs but said nothing in response. Andrei looked like he wanted to say something insulting but was stopped by the asshat’s intense stare through the rearview.

Aiden, unfortunately, had to be left behind due to the asshat’s SUV being unable to carry more than five people.

Or maybe the asshat just doesn’t like Aiden for some unknown reason to Laia, seeing that he had a displeased expression on his face after being told that Aiden was their new groupmate.

Laia didn’t realize that she was looking at the asshat intently until the asshat unlocked the doors, making a click-like sound that made Laia almost jump in her seat in surprise.

“Oh, did you upgrade your car?” Thalia asks.

“Nah,” Jake answered for the asshat who already opened the door to his side and walked outside. “His car already had this feature since he bought it.”

“When did he buy this car?” Andrei asks the moment he was outside the car, obviously admiring the vehicle beside him.

“Move, Andrei,” Thalia pushes the boy to the side as she breathes in the fresh air. “Ooh, nice neighborhood!”

Laia seriously had no idea at this point if Thalia was being serious at all her complimenting or if she was being sarcastic.

Judging from the genuine smile on her face as she turned to Laia who was looking at her from inside the car, the short-haired girl decides that she might be a little bit mean and judgmental.

“Are you staying inside the car?” The asshat asks after he opened the gate of Laia’s house as if he was the real owner all along.

Laia initially had difficulty with opening the door but gradually opened it, her legs wobbling as she finally made her way outside the car. “Don’t come in as you please, asshole!”

Jake quickly pulls the asshat by the collar of his uniform, causing him to evade Laia’s bag from hitting him in the face.

Laia glared at Jake but the taller boy merely shrugs. “He’s just excited,”

“What is he, twelve?”

“Your house is really cute, Laia!” Thalia says as she crouched down to touch a nearby flower on the garden. “Did you plant these flowers?”

“My mom,” Laia replies after opening the front door with her keys. “Remove your shoes before going inside, I just mopped the floor.”

Laia kept her eyes on all her groupmates as they made their way inside her house, checking intently if they removed their shoes which they thankfully all did.

“Okay, stay there,” She beckoned them towards the living room. “Don’t place your feet on the coffee table,”

“That’s a lot of rules,” The asshat raised his eyebrow. “Your mom didn’t have those rules last time I was here–”

Laia shoves a bread inside the asshat’s open mouth, effectively shutting him up and making the rest of her groupmates look at her with surprise and probably fear of getting a bread shoved inside their mouths as well.

“There’s more bread in the kitchen,” Laia pulled her bunny slippers that she slipped below one of the couches and wore it. “Just get some if you’re hungry,”

Thalia awkwardly laughs from her seat beside Jake. “You wouldn’t shove them inside our mouths, right?”

Laia smirks as a response, her bunny slippers squeaking as she left the kitchen to prepare more food for her groupmates who would obviously be staying for dinner.

A few minutes of silence passed before she heard chuckles and bits of conversation from the living room.

And apparently an asshat who was suddenly in front of her, munching on another slice of bread.

“What?” Laia asks, leaning back at the counter behind her as she waited for the water to boil for the soup she is cooking.

The asshat craned his neck presumably to check what the girl in front of him was cooking. “What’s that?”

Laia raised the lid of the pot for the asshat to see. “Water boiling?”

He laughs. Laia hated hearing his laughter for some reason but it also makes her chest tighten.

“I mean, what are you cooking?”

“Ah,” Laia puts the lid back to its original place and points at the mushrooms she chopped earlier. “Mushroom soup,”

“That’s a surprise,” He leans at the nearby counter. “I didn’t know you cook,”

“Well,” The girl shrugs. “It’s not like I couldn’t learn when my mother’s always not home,”

Laia internally facepalmed. She has no idea why she always says the most random yet important details of her life to the asshat.

She narrowed her eyes at the bastard who had the audacity to look at her all innocent-like.

“What’s with the glare?”

“Just wondering if there’s something in your annoying eyes that’s making me spout all these nonsense,”

The asshat laughs. “You mean my kindness and charisma?”

Laia rolled her eyes. “That’s disgusting,” She turns her attention back to the soup she was supposed to cook. “Go back to the living room, asshole,”

“How’s your throat?”

“What?”

The asshat lets out an exasperated sigh earning a light shove from the girl. “I said, how’s your throat?”

“Woah,” Laia raised her eyebrow in suspicion. “Shouldn’t you be mocking me right now? Like calling this a disease for the unprivileged people–”

He pretends to draw a halo above his head. “I have turned a new leaf–”

“I doubt that,” Probably because of how the asshat talked about her throat, she suddenly lets out a cough. “Look what you did,”

The asshat hands her a glass of water. “Drink,”

Laia obliges and was quick to empty the glass. “Thanks,”

“It’s just a glass of water,”

“Are you seriously not used to being thanked?”

“I’m used being thanked when I pretend not to exist,” The asshat bitterly remarks. “And also when I don’t talk– Nevermind,”

“Talk about–”

“Aiden!”

The two turned towards the front door which revealed Aiden wearing the most casual clothes that Laia had ever seen.

He was also holding a plate of what Laia thinks is barbecue on his hands.

“At least he didn’t show up late and empty-handed,”

Laia elbows the asshat in the side.