Chapter 47 - XLVI (1/2)
THE NEXT MORNING THE GIRL'S MOTHER acted like the argument last night never existed.
Laia wanted to bring the topic back again, but her mother would always find a way to divert the topic to something else, even to the point that she's once again bringing up the concept of who her daughter should date.
Annoyed, Laia ate as quickly as she could despite the risk of indigestion.
”Ugh,” The short-haired girl grunts as she slung her backpack behind her bag. ”I hate Tuesdays,”
Parking her bicycle on where most of her other schoolmates left their bikes, Laia quickly made her way to where the flag ceremony was being held.
Fortunately, she wasn't late. The whole area was still buzzing with noise as everyone talked with one another about most topics that Laia deemed irrelevant.
”Laia!”
Laia whipped her head to the side and saw a sheepish Brie waving her hand.
When she was finally in front of Laia, she immediately pulls her friend to a hug.
The short-haired girl fought the urge to yell at her friend for leaving her out of nowhere to take care of the asshat but instead opted to reluctantly hug her friend back.
”Don't think I forgot about how you left me out of nowhere yesterday,” Laia patted her friend's back with more force than necessary.
Brie pouts as she pulled away from a frowning Laia. ”I'm sorry, there was an emergency back at home!”
”Let me guess, one of your bags got lost?”
”How'd you know-- I mean, no! Definitely not that,” The long-haired girl nervously tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. ”Grandma came home from the Maldives!”
It was easy for Laia to remember how Brie told her a few days ago that her grandmother was currently on a cruise.
So that was obviously a lie.
And Brie had never been great at lying, Laia thinks as she watched her friend awkwardly shift her gaze from Laia to the ground repeatedly.
Sighing in defeat, Laia waves her hand to imply a change of subject.
Brie was happy to comply. ”So,” The girl even had a mischievous smile that strangely Laia remember her mother. ”What do you think of Amethyst?”
Laia pondered for an answer and in the end, decided to just shrug. ”She's okay, I guess?”
”Hmm,” Her friend obviously didn't believe her. ”Nothing to tell me?”
”Nothing,”
”Really? Because Niel might have or might not have had texted me how you girls had this silent tension ongoing after Sammy revealed that he had been to your house already before yesterday,”
A punch on the face would definitely be what Niel would be welcomed with when Laia arrives in the coffee shop later.
Laia continued to act as if it didn't bother her one bit. ”It's not a big deal like how Niel probably told you,” She kept her face as impassive as possible. ”She probably just didn't like the food that's why she was silent--”
”She was only silent when Sammy talked about you,” Brie smirks and even wiggled her eyebrows. ”That's kinda fishy, don't you think?”
It's even fishier how Brie doesn't seem to want to just drop the topic about Laia probably having a distaste for the asshat's girlfriend but Laia doesn't say that out loud.
”I thought you were friends with Amethyst?”
”Yeah? So what?”
”Then why are you so keen on wanting to hear me talk shit about her when we just met yesterday?”
Fortunately, Laia's bluntness was enough to silence Brie for the rest of the flag ceremony that also coincidentally started after Laia's statement. Despite feeling her friend's stare on her back, Laia never turned once and instead tried her best to focus on whatever the principal was talking about in front.
The principal's announcement ended being longer than Laia expected.
Bored, the short-haired girl scanned her surroundings for a familiar face, completely dismissing the idea of turning towards Brie whose phone was repeatedly vibrating from all the notifications (or messages) that she was receiving.
Unfortunately, the familiar face just had to be the asshat who was in a line with a different section.
Said asshat also grinned at her and even waved.
Laia had to crouch down in panic when those who were near the asshat (probably his friends) turned towards the direction of whoever the asshat waved at.
”Annoying asshole,” Laia whispers and grimaces upon seeing how her skirt was stained due to how she landed on a small puddle of water probably from the rain that happened during dawn. ”He always ruins my day..”
”What happened?” Brie asks when her friend stood up from her crouching position and glared at someone on the right.
”Nothing,” Laia pulls her hair into a ponytail which she was barely able to do with how the current length of her hair was. ”Amelie still not done talking?”
The girl's blunt words made some of their classmates turn to her with shock, obviously not expecting Laia to call their school principal by her given name.
Even Brie was taken aback by her friend's seemingly change in attitude.
Laia raised an eyebrow at everyone who was looking at her weirdly, making them turn away while whispering and gossiping like how they always did.
”What's the big deal? Amelie did tell me before that it's okay for me to call her by her name, especially since she didn't want to feel old,”
”How does calling her principal makes her feel old?”
”I don't know, but I'm used to calling her by her name in private,”
”So why'd you call her by her given name in public?”
Laia shrugs. ”At this point, I honestly don't care much about my reputation. It's already in pieces with how everyone is on the asshat's side whenever we fight,”
”I'm on your side, though?”
Laia couldn't help but look at her friend with undisguised skepticism.