Laia & The Transferee - Chapter 58

“MISS CHUA AND MISS LOPEZ, you are late!”

Okay, maybe Laia should’ve scolded Brie and insisted to go straight to their school than buying a bunch of vanilla muffins after buying those lattes.

If she did then the two probably wouldn’t be in front of everyone and scolded heavily by their adviser who was often late herself and yet nobody bothered to call her out on it.

“This is the first time and should be the last time..”

Their adviser continued reprimanding them but Laia wasn’t even listening, her attention completely on the asshat’s empty chair which reminded her of his forlorn expression from the night before.

“… proceed to your seats and don’t even think about getting late again!”

Brie elbowed Laia. “Hey, she’s done with her speech,”

“Huh?”

The long-haired girl raises an eyebrow at her friend’s reaction. “What do you mean “huh”, haven’t you been listening to her ranting which lasted for more than five minutes?”

Brie leans in to whisper when Laia didn’t respond to her teasing. “Which is a new record of hers, I might say,”

“Uh,” Laia fumbles with her words when her eyes drifted towards Aiden who was wearing glasses. “Uh–”

“Do you plan to stand in front of everyone for the rest of the period?”

Brie elbowed her friend again, harder this time to make her regain composure. “Hey, come on,”

“Uh, yeah,”

The two walked towards their seats and before Laia could sit down on her chair, Brie pushes her towards the chair that was beside Aiden’s who looks up with a gentle smile.

“Brie, what the hell–”

“Sit down already, Miss Lopez,” Their adviser barked from in front, glaring at her student who stood up like a deer stuck in headlights.

Laia reluctantly sat on the chair and avoided Aiden’s intent gaze that lingered for a moment until he spoke in hushed tones. “You okay?”

“Yes,” The girl’s eyes may or may not have lingered on the boy’s eyeglasses that made him more attractive. “Uh, I didn’t know you wore glasses,”

Aiden touched the rim of his glasses. “Yeah, I may or may not have ruined my eyesight because of too many movie marathons with my siblings,”

Laia smiles at the thought of the boy having fun with his younger siblings. It’s not even difficult to see him as a great older brother figure, and she’s certain that he is.

“Do they live with you and your grandmother?”

The boy shook his head. “No, they live with my parents,”

Why isn’t he living with his parents then? Laia was curious but knew it might be too early to ask so she opted to just nod and return her focus to whatever their adviser was currently discussing in front.

“… since we only have three weeks left before the third quarter examinations I am expecting that most of you had already studied for it,”

Laia feigned interest but she couldn’t take her eyes off the asshat’s empty chair.

“Laia,” Aiden’s voice made the girl blink in confusion and turn to him. “You seem distracted,”

“Uh,” It’s not like Laia could tell the boy that she was thinking of the numerous (bad and concerning) reasons as to why the asshat was absent after what just happened yesterday. “I’m a bit worried about the exams,”

Aiden smiles at her and briefly touches her hand in hopes of soothing her anxiety. “Don’t worry, we still have three weeks to bury our noses on books,”

Laia chuckles at the boy’s words. “I didn’t know you were one to use idioms on their sentences,”

He winks. “There’s a lot of things that you don’t know about me,”

The boy’s spontaneous answer (and winking) took Laia by surprise and she looks away. “I guess,”

“… okay, that’s all for today, see you tomorrow!”

Laia almost jumped from her seat when everyone stood up in unison to bid their adviser goodbye.

She may or may not have been replaying how the boy beside her winked in an adorable manner. Or maybe she thinks it’s adorable because it’s Aiden.

Ugh, why am I a dork and awkward to boot, Laia internally chastises herself.

“You good? You looked like you just swallowed a nut,”

Laia turned to Brie who was looking at her with a puzzled expression, obviously not expecting at how Laia almost forgot to bid their adviser goodbye.

“Yeah,” Laia averted her gaze from Aiden who was already in the middle of a conversation with Vivi who approached the boy alongside Shane once their adviser stepped out of the room. “I was just.. thinking of something,”

“Something or someone?”

“Brie, don’t start,”

The long-haired girl shrugs innocently. “I was just asking, though?”

Laia rolled her eyes. “Who are you kidding?”

“Is it Aiden?” Brie whispers after leaning close to her friend’s ear. “He does look good with his eyeglasses,”

The girl was about to respond when she was interrupted by Vivi’s loud laughter, making her turn around to see what made the girl laugh.

It was Aiden helping her wear his eyeglasses.

Laia looked away immediately, terrified of anyone who might see the frown on her face.

“I’m an idiot,” She whispers to herself as she sat down on her chair, trying to distract herself by reading a Math textbook. “I don’t have the right,”

Brie had already joined the conversation between Vivi and Aiden, laughing along when Vivi started complaining about the eyeglasses not fitting her face shape.

Laia begs to disagree. Vivi looked gorgeous in everything.

Unlike her.

Sighing deeply, Laia takes a pen out of her pencil case and started solving a few equations to push her intrusive thoughts about Aiden behind her mind.

And also thoughts of why the asshat was absent and whether he was okay or not.

Great.

Jake soon joined the conversation after he was done talking to some of his guy friends about something incomprehensible to Laia who sat quite far from him.

Maybe about who won the basketball game between the sophomores and the juniors?

Laia was able to solve the sample equations that she wrote in no time (since she already knew the answers to them in the first place) and found herself listening to the conversation instead.

“Why’d you switch schools?” Shane asks with a curious tone.

Aiden smiles but Laia saw how it didn’t stay on his lips for long. “I wanted to move in with my grandmother,”

“That’s so sweet,” Vivi places her hand on the boy’s shoulder. It was obvious that it was in a friendly manner but it irked Laia to no end. “Are you particularly close with your grandparents?”

“With my grandmother, yes,” Aiden’s smile this time was more genuine. “She helped my parents raise me and until now she’s helping me mold my best self,”

“How about your grandpa?” Brie inquires. Laia could see her subtly moving closer to Jake.

Shane nods in agreement. “You haven’t talked about him at all,”

And for a good reason probably, Laia thinks. Her friends could really be dense sometimes.

Aiden awkwardly looks away and didn’t say anything. Jake probably noticed the tension in the air and he changed the topic swiftly.

“Have anyone studied already for the upcoming exams?”

Vivi laughs. “Do you seriously think I’ll be studying for the exams?”

Shane rolled her eyes goodheartedly. “Don’t believe her,” She pushes her friend lightly. “I won’t be surprised if she ends up in the top ten after everything she says,”

“Hey!” Vivi pouts. “I was just lucky last quarter!”

Jake nudges her with his shoulder. “Don’t lie, Vi,”

“But I’m not?!”

“You are,” Jake chuckles, even pinching her nose making Vivi yelp. “Don’t go all humble just because Aiden’s here,”

Aiden innocently points at himself when Vivi angrily smacks Jake in the shoulder.

Laia quickly noticed how Brie pursued her lips but remained silent. It was obvious how jealous she was but she can’t just create another scene like before if she wants Jake back.

“But have you guys honestly started studying?” Jake asked again after Vivi calmed down and settled beside Aiden who smiles at her. “Except for Laia, of course, since everyone knows that she had studied thrice already–”

Laia rolled her eyes at the boy’s obvious attempt at including her in the conversation. He had probably noticed that she had been listening to the conversation since earlier but was too awkward to stand up and join them.

“You know I can hear you, right?”

The girl returned her book and notes inside her back and walked towards the circle of friends.

She intentionally stood next to Brie who brightened at her friend’s presence. “Hi,”

Laia nods at her and asked. “You good?”

Brie stole a glance at Jake who had his hand on Shane’s shoulder. “Yeah, I guess,”

“Laia, have you honestly studied everything thrice already?” Vivi asks in an enthusiastic manner.

Laia shook her head. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration,” She casts a look at Vivi whose eyes widened in anticipation. “I only studied twice,”

“Girl, honestly!” Vivi laughs, playfully smacking Laia on the shoulder.

Jake and Shane laugh as well.

For a moment, Laia and Aiden’s eyes interlocked.

In the middle of everyone laughing, Laia found herself drowning in the boy’s green eyes that almost seemed to resemble a quiet meadow of plants and flowers.

Her eyes dropped to the boy’s lips.

Laia wondered what would it feel to kiss them.

Shaking her head in embarrassment, Laia kept her eyes on the door of their classroom in a way to distract herself from the thoughts that had recently run through her head.

What the hell, Laia Racquelle Lopez!

With how much she tried to focus on calming herself down from the possibility of blushing and embarrassing herself in the process, the girl’s eyes remained on the door for a while and immediately widened when a familiar boy came in.

The asshat.

With a fresh bruise on his eye.

What the fuck?