Girls With Luv

ELEVEN Liya

"But what is the necessity? It's not like we're gonna spend our vacation with those strangers!" I whine but April remains unfazed.

"It's basic courtesy to introduce ourselves to the people who were already staying nearby before us." She argues and Spencer raises an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, we didn't permanently move here. It's a vacation. And we came here to literally get away from other people. Why do you want to do the exact opposite of that?!" I'm so glad that the cartoon in a neon pink crop top is on my side. She makes some valid arguments.

"I know right?! People are bad, we must stay away from them at all costs to preserve our own sanity!"

"Yaaaas, I'll write a book that is NOT about people."

"You go, girl!"

"April, just let go of that stupid salad and chill with us. I'll even consider watching Reply 1988. I'm sure it's so much better than loud neighbours who weren't asleep at midnight."

April loudly drops the salad bowl on the kitchen counter and glares at us.

I flinch and lean closer to Spencer, who is suddenly very still.

"Dude, you did not just drop the 1988 bomb, did you?" I whisper in her ear. Let's just say that this particular kdrama is currently April's biggest weakness and she absolutely hates it when people, especially the ones who know her well, use her weakness against her. Spencer is dead meat today.

"Stop acting like obstinate brats!" April scolds.

Spencer and I stare at each other with our eyes wide open. She definitely had a bad dream last night and now she's cranky. It's better to shut up and go along with her plan of socialising with the neighbours. I've been coming to this place ever since I was a tiny kid and never have I taken out time to get to know the random people who live nearby, but sure I can do that as an adult. Right? Shouldn't be that bad.

We sit quietly and let April pack some colourful chicken salad in a very neat and aesthetic manner. Everything about this girl is neat and aesthetic, I don't know how. She can make a jute doormat full of dusty footprints look like a work of art. Back home, we have a lot of stuff that she made out of things we wanted to throw away. There are pencil stands, coasters, table covers and even wall hangings. I'm also into all this stuff so a couple of times when work wasn't acting like an angry bull running behind us, we both sat down and let our creativity flow. Spencer, on the other hand, would sit back and either click our pictures and record videos on her phone or try to draw our caricatures. I personally feel that living with friends is one of the best experiences ever, simply because you get to do a lot of fun and crackhead stuff with people who know and understand you without having doubts. Spencer, April and I met in college and we grew closer after discovering that we, in fact, share the same brain cells that others can't begin to acknowledge. Spencer was the typical nerd with giant spectacles covering half of her face, I was the one doing all the responsible Student Council stuff and April was the social butterfly who made everyone smile no matter what. On the surface, it seems like we belong to three completely different worlds but put us under one roof and you'll know how insanely similar we actually are. The similarity is goosebumps-worthy.

"Okay, this is ready." April grins at her salad bowl, evidently satisfied. "Let's go. It's gonna be lunchtime soon and we need to cook as well. So let's get going, wish a sweet hello to the neighbours and come back without causing a scene."

"Without causing a scene?" Spencer frowns. "Do you sometimes forget that we aren't teenagers?"

"Actually, I do. It's not that hard, since you both keep switching roles between workaholics and whiny adolescents who just won't stop whining or bickering."