Laia & The Transferee - Chapter 51

“WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?” The asshat didn’t miss the opportunity to immediately invade Aiden’s personal space and look at the plate of barbecue that the other boy was holding like it was a murder weapon.

He honestly looks like those strangers you see that would randomly come up to you to ask for your name and the most obvious thing to do when you encounter them is to run or smack them with the nearest object possible.

Contrary to how Laia expected Aiden would react to the asshat’s rudeness, all he did was laugh and that laugh was enough to make Laia forget everything bad that happened today.

Or maybe the bad thing being just the asshat’s awful impersonation of a territorial gorilla or a stranger with no concept of personal space.

“My grandma said I should at least bring some chicken barbecue because arriving in someone else’s house empty-handed is impolite,” Aiden says after placing the plate of barbecue he was holding on the dining table.

Laia quickly shakes her head. “Ah, that’s not true–”

“It’s fine Laia,” He flashes her a smile. “It’s the least I can do since I didn’t contribute at all to our group’s chosen topic and previous discussions,”

“Well you did just transfer yesterday–”

The short-haired girl elbows the asshat who lets out a yelp.

Aiden didn’t seem to hear the asshat’s jab and instead addressed everyone with his question. “Is anyone allergic to chicken?”

Andrei reluctantly raised his hand behind Thalia who Laia honestly thought looked just excited about everything.

Has this girl never heard of chicken barbecue before?

Jake turned to Andrei with a perplexed look but changed it to a sympathetic expression when Andrei looked at him, even going as far as to pat him on the shoulder.

Now Laia knew how Jake manages to string along three women behind his back at the moment.

“Don’t worry,” Laia points at the soup that was almost ready for dinner. “I made mushroom soup,”

Andrei visibly lightened and even sighed in relief as he slowly made his way towards where Laia was, sneaking a peek at the contents of the pot. “It smells nice,”

“I’m a very good cook,” Laia says as she lifts her chin upwards. “Now go along and set the table,”

“Set the table?”

Laia fought the urge to roll her eyes. Of course, Andrei just had to be one of those kids who had no idea how to set the table.

He probably had maids to do everything for him, the girl thinks as she lets out a sigh.

She decides to feign a smile at the boy who thankfully wasn’t in the mood to antagonize her like how he usually is. “Get six plates and six pairs of utensils from that drawer,”

“And?”

“Put those on the placemats I already placed beforehand,” Or more like the placemats that her mother forgot to wash and hang outside. “And ask Jake for help,”

“Jake?” The poor boy looked terrified.

Did Jake do something to him in secret or was he just intimidating to others?

But didn’t the other boy just pat him in the shoulder earlier?

Ah. It may be because of how annoyingly tall he is.

“He knows his way around setting a dining table,” Laia says as she pushes Andrei towards where Jake currently was. “Just go,”

Andrei reluctantly walked towards Jake and relayed what Laia told him prior. Luckily for him, Jake was willing to help and in no time, the dining table was set.

Looks like Laia was right about Jake knowing basic household chores. Probably because of his big family, as Laia recalled from one of Brie’s stories, Jake had three younger siblings and absent parents.

Once she deemed that the soup was ready, Laia put on her mittens and carefully transferred the contents of the pot inside another bowl.

Unfortunately, despite how careful the girl was she still managed to get slightly burned in one of her fingers, making her yelp loudly. “Fuck!”

“What happened?” An oh-so-familiar voice came inside the kitchen.

Great, it just had to Aiden out of everyone who could’ve heard her.

“I’m okay,” Laia quickly placed her reddening finger below the running water from the faucet. “It’s not worth fussing about,”

She kept her eyes on her finger, reluctant to see what sort of expression was the boy beside her making.

After the pain gradually faded away, Laia wrapped her finger with one of the dishcloths they had in their kitchen. “I’m fine, you should go back to the dining room–”

Laia unconsciously lets out a squeak when Aiden suddenly reached for the drawer above her and took out the first aid kit that they kept in there.

“What–”

“Here,” Aiden takes out a small bandage from inside the kit and wraps it around Laia’s finger gently. “Does it still hurt?”

“Just a bit,” Laia could barely breathe at their close proximity which allowed her to see how Aiden’s eyes were actually the combination of green and brown hues. “Your eyes are really beautiful,”

The girl pulled her hands away from the boy and quickly turned away in embarrassment.

What the fuck was that, Laia Victoria!

She was about to come up with the most awkward and obviously fake reason for the nonsense that just had to spout when Aiden spoke from behind her.

“Yours are as well,” He even seemed embarrassed as well and Laia could almost see him with a shy smile on his lips. “Beautiful, I mean.”

What?

“Beautiful–”

“Hey, what’s taking the soup too long– oh.”

Great. The asshat just had to join the awkward situation while holding his plate like an excited toddler who wants to eat.

“Uh,” His eyes drifted towards Aiden and towards Laia and to her finger wrapped in a small bandaid. “You burned your finger?”

“Yeah,”

The asshat suddenly had an almost mocking smile on his lips. “Looks like you’re not as much as a good cook as you said you were,”

Laia fought the urge to throw the bowl of soup at the asshat’s face.

What was she expecting, concern? The asshat just proves to her continuously how much of an asshole he is.

The short-haired girl turned towards the bowl of soup and carried it. “Let’s eat,”

She saw Aiden glared at the asshat for a split-second but she’s probably seeing things.

When has a boy ever defended her anyway? All they ever do to her is disappoint her every time she thinks they turned a new leaf.

“Here’s the soup,” Laia places the bowl of mushroom soup intentionally near Andrei who brightened. “It’s still hot so don’t eat so quickly,”

“Yeah, you don’t want to end up like Laia who had to bandaid her finger,” The asshat says from his seat next to Jake who elbowed him. “What?”

“Don’t start,” The taller boy warns.

The asshat shrugged. “I’m just saying,” He even had a disgusted expression on his face that proved to Laia that he probably already had a hunch of what happened between Laia and Aiden. “You can’t put a bandaid on your tongue, you know?”

“Just eat,” Thalia adds as she puts more barbecue on the asshat’s plate as a distraction which didn’t work as the asshat continued scowling. “Don’t ruin the dinner,”

“Am I though?”

“Oh for shit’s sake, shut the fuck up,” Laia couldn’t stop herself from banging her fists on the table which effectively shut everyone up. “If you want to spend your dinner talking shit about people then eat outside!”

The asshat lets out a sarcastic laugh. “You’re telling me to go outside? What is this, kindergarten?”

“This is my house and I can tell anybody to get the fuck out if I want to,” Laia was gritting her teeth so much that she feared it might crack. “Get out!”

“Okay,” The asshat kept his eyes on Laia as he pulled his chair backward and left, banging the front door close behind him.

The sound of his car’s engine was enough indication that he not only left the house but left everyone as well.

“Great,” Thalia awkwardly chuckles. “Uhm, how are we supposed to go home?”

Andrei placed his bowl of soup down with a miserable expression on his face. Laia thinks he looks like a lost child at that moment. “Aren’t we supposed to practice as well?”

“Fucker,” Jake groans as he leaves the table as well, his phone already on his hand and Laia presumes that he’s probably attempting to call the asshat.

Aiden was the only one left still eating, not a single fuck given to the whole situation that just happened. Laia honestly aspired to be like him at the moment but all she felt right now was rage and confusion.

What the hell just happened?

The asshat was alright earlier, they even had a decent talk before Aiden arrived and the beautiful eyes thing–

Oh hell, Laia thinks as remembering the whole eyes thing made her flush.

She quickly chased those thoughts away as she tried to distract herself by biting on her chicken barbecue while avoiding looking at Aiden altogether.

Jake returns to his seat with undisguised annoyance. “Fuck,”

Thalia turns to him after she wipes the sauce on her lips with a napkin. “What did he say?”

“He’s gone back to his condo,” Jake almost angrily bites into his barbecue. “He’s gonna cool down, he says,”

“Cool down?” Andrei asks.

“Cool down meaning drinking again,” Jake ran his fingers through his hair exasperatedly. “And just in time for his father to visit as well,”

Thalia visibly paled and even Andrei almost choked on his soup.

Is Laia honestly the only person around here who has no idea whatever is going on with the asshat’s family?

“That’s not good,” Thalia nervously wrings her hands together. “Should we go after him?”

Jake shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,”

“Maybe convince him to come back?” Aiden suggests. It was the first time that he spoke since the whole fiasco earlier.

“He’s not the type to listen to anyone especially if he’s angry,” He pinned Laia with a glare which Laia raised an eyebrow at. Is he really implying right now that the whole situation was Laia’s fault when it was the asshat who started it? “It’s a hopeless cause,”

“I could try calling Brie–”

Jake raised his hand to stop Laia. “Don’t,” He sighs. “Her appearance will only worsen things,”

“Then what should we do?” Andrei asks almost reluctantly.

Laia honestly still had no idea what’s going on.

“Laia,” Jake hands her his phone which looked more expensive than Laia’s entire wardrobe. “Talk to him,”

“Are you serious right now? You want me to have a conversation with the same asshole who I nearly had a fistfight with earlier?”

Jake pushes the phone towards Laia’s hands. “Trust me.”

Laia exchanged glances with the rest of her groupmates who nodded in agreement to Jake, except Aiden who looked skeptical.

At least someone’s sharing the same thoughts as Laia!

“Are you really sure–”

Jake takes the phone from Laia’s shaky hands and dials a number before placing it back in her hands when the call was answered.