XVI

THE ASSHAT WAS QUIET the entire time they were discussing the contents of the group report and how to report it next week.

Which was weird and relieving at the same time.

Laia stole a glance at the asshat as subtly as she could. The asshat was still rubbing his temples with his fingers and groaned every now and then, implying that his headache didn't go away yet.

Shane seemed to notice the asshat's discomfort when the asshat's breathing became quite heavy. She stops editing their PowerPoint and fishes something from inside her bag which ended up being some sort of oil inside a small bottle.

The girl hands it to the asshat. "Maybe this can help?"

Asshat takes one look at it and accepts it. "Thanks," He replies, as he places the bottle near his nose, presumably to smell it.

Shane nods and says nothing else. The two girls continued on to their individual tasks while the asshat continued smelling the oil and applying a small amount on his temples as well in complete silence which bugged Laia to no end.

However, she tried her best not to show it. She doesn't want the asshat to think that she's worried because she's definitely not!

"... what do you think of this, Laia?"

Laia blinks and turns to Shane, who was looking at her with curiosity. Probably because Laia seemed to be distracted by something (or someone).

"You okay? You seem distracted,"

Shane had the audacity to cock her head to side subtly as if implying that Laia was distracted by the asshat currently asleep on the couch.

Or maybe he's just closing his eyes. Laia doesn't know.

And she doesn't care.

"Don't worry about Samuel, he will surely help later when his headache subsides," Shane suddenly leans in close and whispers, "If it ever does,"

Laia snorts, covering her amusement behind the back of her hand. She stole a glance at the asshat and came up with the conclusion that he was indeed asleep, as he did not react or anything to what Shane whispered.

After sharing a few more laughs together, Laia decided to start finalizing the script she made based on the PowerPoint that Shane created from the research that the asshat gathered.

At least he wasn't completely useless, Laia thinks, as she once again looks at the asshat who now had his left hand covering his eyes.

Laia nudges Shane using her shoulder, pointing to the balcony. "I'm going to practice my lines there for a bit," She closes her laptop after sending the file to her phone. "You coming?"

Shane takes one glance at their other groupmate sleeping and nods. "Well, I don't want things to be awkward when he wakes up and sees me doing nothing so definitely."

Not that he was any help except for the research, Laia wanted to retort but stopped herself with a mental facepalm. At least he placed his credit card on the coffee table and allowed them to use it to buy food if they like.

The two girls walked towards the balcony, opting to close the sliding door behind their back to ensure that the asshat wouldn't be awakened from their voices.

Laia clears her throat and starts relaying her script as if she was already reporting in front of the class. She kept her back straight, hands moving around freely whenever she needed to imply something, and eyes never leaving Shane who she thought of as their adviser for the meantime.

After approximately ten minutes, Laia sighs heavily and bows deeply. "Was it good?"

The girl in front of her was about to say something when the sliding door was pulled to its opposite direction and the asshat peeks in. "Don't move your hands too much, it may distract the audience from what you are saying,"

Laia grumbles but says nothing. Maybe she did had way too many hand motions but nobody ever complained about it before.

A lingering thought started to creep inside her mind that the reason why nobody complained or said anything about it before is that they didn't want to offend her.

And apparently, the asshat currently on her left side didn't give a single fuck if he offends her or not.

"And also don't speak too quickly," The asshat grabs Laia's phone which she was holding without asking for permission, and frowns. "Honestly, what kind of model is this phone--"

"Back to the topic please," Laia interjects, not in the mood for the asshat to complain about her cellphone model for no reason.

The asshat enters the balcony as well as it wasn't enough for him to just peek. Laia liked it better when he was just peeking.

Or more like Laia liked it better when he wasn't there at all.

"Anyways," The asshat continued to read the script that Laia wrote earlier, frowning and grimacing at it. Laia wanted to kick him in the balls again. "This script sucks. I'll make a new one later and send it to you,"

Shane's eyes widened and she interrupts. "But it was already more than great--"

The asshat turns to her with an unimpressed look. "Probably for you," It was obvious that he was implying something offensive and it made their other groupmate deflate. "But not for me, our adviser, and our other classmates who are expecting more than this. It honestly looks like a kindergartener wrote this script,"

Laia internally had to repeatedly say to herself that being incarcerated at such a young age isn't worth it. But the asshat was continuously pushing all her buttons.

She sighs heavily in an attempt to calm herself and glares at the asshat. "You don't have to be rude. Anyway, I don't need you to revise the script I made," She grabs her phone back.

The girl notes to herself to sanitize it the moment they walk outside the balcony. She did spot a container of sanitizer near the dining room earlier.

"I can do it by myself later,"

Asshat rolls his eyes. "Even if you rewrite or revise it, it will still not be up to my standards," Laia's brows furrowed as the last ounce of her patience disappeared. "Just let me do it."

"Is this because all you did earlier was sleep?" Laia couldn't help herself but spat sarcastically. "Don't worry, we all get these consequences sometimes if we tend to get all irresponsible--"

"Don't assume to know anything," The asshat cuts her off with a sneer. "You don't know anything, so don't go around acting as you do."

He then walks off and the two girls see him reaching for his own phone and call someone.

His words were enough to catch Laia off guard. She didn't know he would react that angrily, he usually just laughed at her bluntness and respond in the same manner.

Wait, why should she care? Whatever sort of emotion the asshat doesn't concern her!

Shane turns to Laia with a look of gratitude. "Thanks for defending me back there,"

Laia wasn't really defending her groupmate, though. The "rude" thing that she referred to earlier was how the asshat called her work a kindergartener's work. However, Shane doesn't have to know that.

She smiles at the girl. "No worries. It's the least I can do after you defended my work as well,"

Instead of her grin widening, it disappeared from Shane's lips and was replaced by an uneasy expression on her face. "It didn't do much since Samuel bluntly told me in my face that my opinion didn't matter,"

Laia places her hand on the girl's shoulder but was unable to say anything to comfort her. She was already used to the asshat's rudeness and offensive remarks (not that she should be) unlike the girl with her, who was probably seeing this side of the asshat for the first time.

Not that Laia didn't try telling everyone with how she punched him a few months back. Look how defending the asshat got you!

Laia can't wait to have everyone know what the asshat's true colors were. It sucks being always portrayed as the villain with an inferiority complex, especially by those who were hardcore supporters of the asshat.

The two almost both jumped in surprise when they heard loud knocks from inside. Laia peeks and sees that the asshat opens the door quickly and comes back with a huge box of pizza.

He was quick to see Laia peeking in too and raises an eyebrow at her. "What are you waiting for, christmas? Come inside and eat,"

Laia didn't have to be told twice. She immediately walks inside and goes straight to the box that the asshat opened, only to reveal pepperoni pizza.

She takes a single slice of pizza and moans in delight at how delicious it was. She wonders which restaurant is the pizza from.

The asshat, as if he read her mind, answers her question after he bites into his pizza slice. "This pizza is from Cheesilicious."

Laia stops herself from laughing and narrows her eyes at the asshat. "I don't even know if you're kidding at this point,"

"I don't care what you think," was the asshat's response as he makes his way to one of the bar stools. He turns to Shane, who was also eating her own slice of pizza. "How's the PowerPoint going?"

Shane flinches and stops biting mid-bite. "Yeah, I guess,"

Laia backs her up. "It's great. We already changed the design and used more appropriate fonts,"

"I'll check it later," The asshat shrugs and takes another slice of pizza from the box. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Which translates to, according to Laia, "when are you leaving?"

Shane, who was quick to understand what the asshat was implying as well, stands up from her seat. "Thank you but I always eat dinner with my family,"

Her remark seemed to irk the asshat as he scowls. "Then, you can go,"

Shane steals a glance at Laia who shrugs. She then walks towards the door, bids goodbye awkwardly, and leaves.

Laia awkwardly takes another slice from the box and eats it. Every fiber of her being is telling her to leave, but she doesn't want to leave just yet.

Because of the pizza. Definitely because of the pepperoni pizza that was delicious as hell.

The asshat glances at her. "Good?"

Laia's eyes widened and she replies dumbly. "Huh?"

He raises an eyebrow. "I'm asking if it's your first time to eat pizza," Of course, the asshat just had to be rude at every single conversation. "You seem to be completely enthralled,"

"Can't I appreciate this pizza in silence, please?"

The asshat laughs and shakes his head. He says nothing else much to Laia's delight, for she can finally eat in silence. Despite the silence enveloping the room like a bubble, Laia didn't mind.

After the asshat takes the last slice of pizza for himself, he turns to Laia again while holding his phone. "What do you want for dinner?"

Laia gives him a dubious look. "You're treating me to dinner?"

The asshat shrugs. "It's good to do some charity work sometimes," Laia rolls his eyes at his statement. "So, what do you want?"

Laia checks the time. It was still eight in the evening. She wanted to go home already, but she found herself thinking that it was too tiring to cook.

"Uhm, you can choose," Also known as she had no idea what she wanted at the moment.

She doesn't trust the asshat to choose something she will like, but in the meantime, she's willing to take a leap of faith.

Hopefully, she won't regret it.