Girls With Luv

TWELVE April

I don't know why I feel so disappointed right now when the appropriate reaction to not opening the door to a mega-famous boyband and a truckload of embarrassment for the second time should be utter relief. When Spencer had rushed to open the door, my heart had started this bizarre breakdance and when the face that emerged wasn't that of either of the seven Greek gods, it dropped down to the basement. There is something seriously wrong with me and it's high time that I acknowledge it.

"Laney, I thought you'd be here tomorrow or something." Liya gives Laney a hug. I'm guessing she's the housekeeper Liya is so fond of. She looks older than us, maybe in her early forties, and has a gummy smile that makes you feel at ease.

"Your uncle gave me a call a few nights ago and I just couldn't wait. The last time I saw you, you were struggling with some boring internal assessment!" They both hug again and I smile. They do look super close and Spencer and I fade away into the background to give them some space.

"I've been busy with swimming stuff. You know about that."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Laney looks at us. "These are your friends?"

As if snapping out of it, Liya introduces us and we indulge in some comfortable small talk. She seems like a sweet person and I can imagine how she'd take care of the wild kid who wouldn't get out of the swimming pool even when it gets dark.

Laney moves on to doing her chores and I help her out. She scolds me for that but I can't stop myself from untangling anything that's unclean or messy, and if I see that someone else is doing the same thing, lending a hand is the least that I can do anyway. Liya and Spencer practically drag me out of the guest room that I was dusting, complaining about the unfinished lunch preparations. They're literal kids, I tell you.

"Fine, I'll cook. But you both go and help her." I command.

"We were going to." Spencer frowns.

So, as I busy myself with lunch and stuff, Spencer, Liya and Laney work their way around the beach house. Since we got here yesterday only, the house is already in place. Spencer has managed to keep her mess-freak side under control and I'm proud of her for doing that. I know it must be hard for her, she rarely volunteers to clean simply because she has an impulse of messing up everything when she's anxious. So, why bother to clean up in the first place? Please sense my tone of disappointment, we have had our own share of arguments over this one thing.

I put on my cooking playlist and take my sweet time to chop vegetables. I know we have EuphoNia next door (it still sounds like a very screwed up moment of wish fulfilment) but I can't just go there and ask them to bless us with a room concert, right? Not after I made a total fool of myself in front of their main vocalist. They're probably chilling in their ginormous beach house, laughing about the bowl-holding-dumb-lunatic whose confidence is total trash talk for kindergarten kids. I don't know what I'm saying.

Spencer comes hopping inside the kitchen and pulls down my rubber band in the classic Lee Min Ho fashion. I all but punch her nose as a reflex action.

"Hey!" I yell and point the knife in her direction. "Give me my rubber band. Right now."

"Nah. You aren't sleep-deprived enough to scare me." She grins and wraps the band around her wrist.

"Spence, this is one way to dig your own grave," Liya mumbles as she leans against the refrigerator and picks out a water bottle.

"Why aren't you both helping Laney?"

"We cleaned everything. She's fixing the pool chairs and then it's all done." Spencer answers.

"You guys actually cleaned..?"

"Oh come on, I can cook too if you want me to."

I don't know for how long we talk absolute nonsense. One thing is clear to me, I can't cook with these two fools in the kitchen. It's absolutely impossible because they know how to make their presence known. And I can't deny them the attention they deserve on a vacation. Without having me ask them to do it, Spencer and Liya stop messing around and telepathically decide to let me work. So, while I go back to chopping vegetables, Spencer starts doing the dishes in the sink and Liya loafs around in the background, being our unofficial kitchen DJ. The picture only looks domestic, don't fall prey to the illusion we are successfully trying to create.