Laia & The Transferee - Chapter 82

BRIE’S WORDS didn’t leave Laia’s mind until the next day.

It was honestly starting to piss her off.

“What’s with the huge frown on your face at so early in the morning?”

The girl turned to her coworker who was currently holding a broom with a bored stare.

Niel raised an eyebrow. “What’s gotten into you these past days? You’re always either grumpy or forlorn, did your goldfish die or something?”

Laia rolled her eyes and took the broom from Niel’s hands. “I don’t have a goldfish,”

“Then what’s with your awful mood?”

“It’s nothing,” She tilts her head to the side. “There’s a customer,”

“Ah, Keith can handle it,” Niel pointed at Keith who was already on his way to where the customer was. “Anyway, back to the topic–”

Laia turned around and pretended that she was busy sweeping the nonexistent dirt on the floor. “Everything’s fine–”

“You do realize that I watch the news, right?”

“News?” The girl feigned innocence but knew where the topic was going.

And it irritated her before her coworker could even say it.

“Amethyst and your boyfriend are both in Germany and are rumored to be on a date and some even said they’re in a relationship,” Niel raises an eyebrow at the girl. “Did you at least call or message him about it?”

“Why should I?”

“Well for starters, you were all over one another just a few months ago– Oh.”

Laia turned to the boy. “Oh?”

“So that’s why you were in a foul mood these days,” Niel looked like he just solved a difficult puzzle. “Why haven’t I realized it sooner?”

Because you were having the best time of your life after Keith confessed to you in the same month that Samuel disappeared from my life, Laia thinks but immediately decided against saying it out loud.

She might have her mean streak going on but she’d never be mean to someone who did nothing but support her along the way.

“It’s not a big deal,” Laia shrugs. “It’s not like we were together or anything,”

“But you were?”

The girl shook her head, placing the broom aside as she sat down on one of the empty chairs. The coffee shop didn’t have many customers when it was still early in the morning so it wasn’t much of a problem if they decide to sit down and chill for a little while. “We weren’t,”

“What do you mean you weren’t,” Niel settled on the chair in front of Laia. “Were you not officially together? I thought you were since you were all over one another especially him towards you–”

Laia interjects with a loud scoff. “As I said earlier, we weren’t together officially–”

“Who’s not officially together?” Keith kisses Niel on the cheek before standing beside him and looking at Laia with a curious expression. “What did I miss?”

The girl fought the urge to look away from the obvious public display of affection done by her friends. She sighs deeply instead before responding to Keith’s question. “Nothing, I was just clearing up things to Niel,”

“More like she’s assuming things on her own before bothering to ask her boyfriend–”

“He’s not my boyfriend–”

“Then what were you two?!”

Laia’s eyes widened at Niel’s sudden outburst. Even Keith looked at the boy with surprise but eventually started massaging his shoulders to soothe him. “Calm down,”

“Sorry,” Niel lets out a sharp exhale. “I just thought everything was really good between you two and now I don’t know what to feel and how to react to what I just saw in the news and what I heard from you,”

You’re not the only one who thought that everything was good between us, Laia thinks but thought that it might seem too dramatic for her to react that way so she just shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s fine,”

“Are you not really going to message or call him about the thing with his ex-girlfriend now turned girlfriend again?”

“No,” Laia pretended not to notice how Niel had a sad expression on his face. “It’s not a big deal, don’t worry,”

Laia shrugs again. “Boys come and go, relationships start and end,”

“But you liked him,”

“Sometimes liking a person can never be enough to make them stay,” Laia was relieved to see a customer enter the coffee shop. “There’s a customer, come on,”

It was obvious that her two coworkers still had questions for her but Laia changed the topic every time either of the two tried to bring any topic that included Samuel.

Her shift ended before lunch and much to the girl’s perplexion, Brie’s convertible was parked outside. Brie was in the driver’s seat and was busy with her phone.

Laia contemplated approaching her friend’s car but decided to approach anyway when Niel was about to invite her to have lunch with them which will obviously lead to another conversation about the asshat that she’d rather avoid.

Before Laia could even raise her hand in the air to wave at Brie, the long-haired girl had already noticed her and waved her friend over with an ecstatic grin. “Laia!”

Laia immediately ran towards the car before Niel and Keith could approach her. It might be mean but Laia just wasn’t in the mood to talk about the asshole once again.

Or more like she doesn’t want another conversation about him ever again if possible.

“Are you running from your coworkers?” Brie asked once Laia sat on the passenger seat. “Did you have a fight or something?”

Her two coworkers reluctantly waved at her as the convertible passed them by. Laia stopped herself from looking away with envy once she saw how the two had their hands intertwined.

Hard to believe that it was her and Samuel in that position just a few months ago.

Laia shook those thoughts away and turned to Brie who was looking at her with worry on her face. “What?”

“You just look really sad,” Brie says. “Did you have a fight with them?”

“Nah,” Laia tried to distract herself with the houses and the buildings that they passed by. “I just have a headache, that’s all,”

“Did you not sleep again yesterday?”

“I slept,”

She did not. Laia spent the entire night contemplating between sending the asshole another message or even calling him altogether before throwing her poor phone inside her side cabinet as her final decision.

“Your eyebags beg to differ,” Brie points at the spot beneath her friend’s eyes before returning her focus back to driving like a good citizen once the traffic light turned green. “Anyway, did I tell you where are we going?”

Ah. Laia internally facepalmed. She was too focused on escaping her two coworkers that she didn’t even ask Brie why was she in the Brewing in the first place and where was their destination.

Apparently, constantly thinking of the asshole might’ve made her lose a lot of her brain cells in the process.

“No, you did not,” Laia replies. “You haven’t told me either why were you in the Brewing in the first place,”

“Ah,” Brie had the audacity to look surprised. “I was waiting for you to finish your shift because Vivi invited us to her farewell party,”

“Farewell party?”

“Yep,” Brie even pops the ‘p’ enthusiastically. “She’s going to Paris next week, didn’t she tell you?”

Vivi may or may have not sent Laia a message sometime around this week but Laia ignored it, thinking that it was just Vivi sending her another meme. Apparently, Vivi finds her happiness in pissing Laia off with her infinite number of memes.

“I didn’t know she was leaving too soon?”

Brie sighs sadly. “I’m gonna miss her so much,”

“I thought you’re going to Paris next month? You’ll end up seeing her there anyway so don’t be too depressed,”

“Ah, speaking of that,” Brie pouts at Laia who raises an eyebrow in return. “I’m actually not going to Paris,”

“Huh?!”

Brie smiles sheepishly. “I was able to convince my parents about staying here for college but for grad school, I’ll be off to England–”

Laia hugged Brie tightly making the long-haired girl yelp in surprise. “Laia, I’m driving!”

She didn’t let her friend go and instead tightened the hug further. It wasn’t often for Laia to be expressive when it came to showing her love for her friends but she was very happy with the news.

“Laia, we’re going to crash if you keep doing this!”

“I’m so happy,” Laia whispers to her friend. Her throat was weirdly dry and her eyes started to sting again. “I’m so happy you’re staying,”

Brie temporarily stopped the car and placed her hands on her friend’s shoulder, smiling brightly. “I’m incredibly happy as well that I’ll be staying with you,”

Laia swallowed her pride and continued to express her genuine happiness. “How did you manage to convince your parents?”

“First of all, I told them how disappointed and angry I was at them regarding how they always put their work and businesses over me,” Brie says as if it was nothing but it made Laia’s eyes widen. “I also told them that I hated how they were always not there and how it affected me as a person,”

“For the final step, I talked about my hobbies and passions that I managed to love and pursue without both their knowledge and guidance,” Brie gently held Laia’s hands. “After that, they both apologized to me and I started talking about how I’d rather stay here for college, and then they agreed without a single argument,”

“That’s a lot to take in,” Laia says honestly. “But how about the course that they want for you? Are they still insisting on it or did they allow you to choose your own course, the course that you like?”

“Uh about that,” Brie bit her lip. “I’m not really interested in any of the courses available in the schools here so I think I’d just go for the course that they want for me,”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Yep,” Brie smiles at Laia reassuringly. “At least we’ll be together, right?”

“But you’ll be studying that course for the next four years,” Laia was still worried. “Won’t that be a problem for you in the long run if you end up not really liking it?”

“Eh, don’t worry about me,”

“Brie–”

“Vivi’s calling,” Brie pulled her hand free from Laia’s and reached out for her phone that was ringing loudly. “We’re on our way, just a few minutes,”

She was quick to drop the call and started the car again. “Let’s talk about it later?”

Laia knew that it was an empty promise but she nods regardless.