“Just die. Liam damn Blake.”
Olivia jeered at Liam then ordered him to play a different song, saying the one he played was crappy. Then she randomly grabbed one of the boxes of Chinese food we had brought to eat and started eating it without permission.
“Wow, befitting the loser party host, even her manners are loser-like.”
Liam admired Olivia’s bold manners and asked her if she didn’t buy anything to eat for dinner. To this, Olivia took out a box of diet salad from the car she had brought and threw it to Liam.
“What, demon hag. Did you gain weight recently? Salad without dressing, that’s too harsh.”
“Get lost, bedwetter.”
Saying that, Olivia started eating the chow mein as if possessed. Liam yielded the egg fried rice to me and ate the salad full of only grass with a resigned face.
“…What are you going to do now?”
Throwing away the empty chow mein box anywhere, Olivia asked Liam. Liam picked up the box she threw away and asked what she was asking about.
“Aiden bastard saw it. You and me, living here. Looks like he’s planning to spread rumors that I live in a fucking shitty trailer. He’ll probably talk about you too while he’s at it. But there’s no misunderstanding about him… He knows that your parents don’t have the kind of jobs where they’d live in a place like this, because of what he did before.”
The ‘he’ Olivia mentioned was me. My mom runs a small pediatric clinic downtown and my dad runs a not-so-big law office located not far from there. Considering their respective professions as doctor and lawyer, their income isn’t particularly high—compared to what ordinary people commonly think—but it’s not so poor that it’s hard to make a living either.
“What Cheick’s parents do for work… I don’t really know.”
Liam looked at me with a somewhat curious face and said. I’ve never told Liam exactly what my parents do for work. Because it would be rude to blabber before he asks.
“Mom’s a doctor. Dad’s a lawyer. No matter how stupid Aiden is, how could he think a kid like this lives in trash like this?”
While I was preparing to answer Liam, Olivia quickly asked Liam.
“I never would have dreamed it until Aiden told me. The clothes he wears are shabby, and more than anything, his car is total crap. So I thought he’d be poor, if not as much as us.”
Olivia spoke to Liam as if I definitely wasn’t present. I explained that the reason I drive a junk car is because it hasn’t broken down yet.
“Whether it’s clothes or cars, not buying new things until they’re completely broken and unusable is our family’s creed.”
“…Then I won’t be thrown away either until I’m completely unusable?”
When Liam asked with his yellowish-green irises prominently sparkling, I glanced at Olivia. She turned her head away from us and stuck out her tongue, pretending to gag something up. Then she muttered in a thoroughly disgusted voice. ‘Homo bastard.’
“Friends aren’t objects, so how could there be throwing away or not.”
Not knowing how much Olivia knows, I gave Liam an answer using the word ‘friend’ and looked at Olivia. And said:
“I’m not as rich as you think. Just ordin—”
“If you’re planning to say you’re ordinary, you better shut your mouth now. Look at this neighborhood. Seeing this, can you still say you’re ordinary? Don’t be ridiculous. Ordinary? No. You’re blessed.”
Olivia shut me up by overwhelming me in one breath, then made it clear to Liam that whatever Aiden does from now on and whatever damage he suffers, she wouldn’t take any responsibility.
“Do that. Anyway, even if I’m exposed, I won’t receive much damage, right? Of course, my vanity has kept my mouth shut until now, but it’s just what I haven’t said until now being revealed. If I had lied like someone and made things big, there would be a lot to clean up. But I just… from now on, some rude kids will look down on me a bit, my popularity will drop slightly, and that’ll be all.”
Saying that, Liam turned off the music flowing from his smartphone.
“Ah, fuck, yeah. Must be nice. You didn’t go around blabbering about living in a wealthy neighborhood like me, and you don’t have one or two people who’d bite and attack if something happens because you’ve earned their resentment, so yeah, really nothing much will happen.”
The loser party is over now so everyone get lost to your positions, Olivia declared the party over and went into the trailer. And shortly after, sobbing sounds like an animal crying could be heard through the half-open trailer window.
“That’s really strange. I thought I visited your house quite often until now, but why couldn’t I even guess what your parents do for work?”
When Olivia’s crying began to subside, Liam looked at me and asked in a small voice.
“You have a surprisingly oblivious side.”
“Haha, that’s true… But still. Normally if parents have those kinds of jobs, there would be licenses or related books at home.”
“Things like licenses are all at their respective workplaces. Related books are in the study, but the study door is usually locked so you wouldn’t have seen them.”
This is something that’s been true from when I was very young until now, but my parents didn’t want their child—me—to feel any pressure because of their professions. So they put things that prove their abilities in places out of my sight and guided me to do purely what only I could do.
When I confessed that story, Liam nodded with a bright face and leaned his head against me. And whispered in a much more subdued voice than before:
“When we adopt a child too, let’s definitely do it like that.”
“…Huh?”
“Even if the dads are sports stars, if that child wants to become a painter, let them freely draw, if they want to become a legal professional, let them freely study… freely.”
“Okay.”
At this point, when it’s way too early for marriage talk, child talk comes up. I was too flustered, but Liam wasn’t saying anything wrong, so I unconsciously answered, okay. And on the way home, I kept thinking about how Liam said the word ‘freely’ three whole times.
***
Sophia Idiot.
When I came home and checked the newly posted content on my social media feed, Sophia’s post was too intense. Her new post couldn’t be seen separately from Virgil’s new post.
Virgil I’m the biggest idiot in the universe.
The two definitely had a date at Peggy’s Diner this evening, so what went wrong? I’m curious but I don’t know who to contact first, or even if it’s okay to contact them. So thinking a decent guy would reply on his own, I sent both of them DMs asking what happened. Then Virgil replied first.
Virgil
I’m screwed
It’s over
What kind of opportunity was this and I blew it like this
I’m really an idiot
I asked Virgil, who was repeatedly blaming himself while typing at a fast speed, to calm down and explain what happened first. While doing that, Virgil created a group chat and invited me and Liam to it.
Liam
:->
It suddenly became a 3-person conversation. But I approve of this lineup
Hi Hopper
I was just wanting to see you and we meet here
Virgil
Please, can you at least give me the speaking rights here?
Dating is just between the two of us
Here, either chime in agreement or curse at me, just pick one
Liam
lol sorry
So hurry up and tell us what happened
Virgil
If you think about it, this is all because of Leda Swan
Liam
What?
Virgil
That miserable bitch somehow followed us all the way to Peggy’s Diner
If she’s so obsessed with a friend to that extent, isn’t there really something wrong with her head?
Or does she hate me that much?
No matter how I think about it, it’s strange
She’s crazy, not in her right mind
Liam
Wait Virgil, you seem too worked up
Virgil
Yeah, you’re close with Leda so my words might sound excessive
But isn’t this a bit strange?
Sophia must have thought similarly to me because as soon as Leda came, the two of them started fighting like crazy
I just sat there unable to say anything and came back
If I were a courageous guy, I would have taken Sophia and left right there
I’m so pathetic
Is there another idiot like me?
Tchaikovsky
No
But in the end, what happened with Sophia?
Virgil
