The Corner Store

Chapter 9 - No One Asked You Blondie

She very calmly threw away the trash in the garage, went to the washroom while muttering something under her breath, and came back and sat on the dinner table, all while shooting Landon death glares strong enough to psychically kill him.

Ignoring her stares, he started setting up the paper plates and plastic cups and cutlery, and now got possessed by the living spirit of Gordon Ramsey.

"Oh God here we go again..."

"Cooper, shut up. Your voice seriously irks me." She fake smiled; her eyes still never leaving Landon. And not the cute glares either. The ones that make her look like Ted Bundy's evil, evil accomplice.

Poor Cooper sank in his chair, pouting like a little toddler.

"So let's start with our appetizers. A family sized Cesar salad, with garlic seasoned croutons, Parmesan cheese and beautifully grilled chicken. Next to it, we have a mix of sweet garlic and Buffalo chicken wings lying on a bed of perfectly drenched up fries, with honey sauce and ranch sauce as dippings. Next..."

Cooper reached out to take one of the wings but was swatted away by Landon.

"Hey! Are you a donkey sandwich? No eating until after the introductions. Blimey Potter, my father will hear about this!"

"That's Harry Potter dipshit. And your dumb introductions are too long. We can clearly see what you're cooking bro just let us eat." Whined Cooper, he stomach audibly making unpleasant sounds. I looked over at Lara and she was quietly counting to ten; clearly overly upset about something.

Remind me to ask her about it later.

"I will not be disrespected in my own house Parker. Anyways. Moving on from this blatant disrespect. For the main dish, we will be having a mix of lemon chicken and orange chicken with together with veggie Shanghai noodles. And finally for drinks we have whatever crap y'all got." He finished, standing there in his mommy apron, clearly proud of himself.

A few awkward seconds of dead silence were broken by Cooper's rumbling stomach.

"Can we please eat now Mr. Jail Warden."

Lara didn't even wait for an invite as she filled it up with food.

"Uh no yeah, you can begin eating dude. Maybe before we're left with nothing but crumbs and dressing on the plate." He smiled at Lara, who only continued to shoot him daggers.

I tried my best to not say anything for the sole purpose of taking it all in. I'm the new kid, I've always been the new kid. I never managed to stay for more than a few weeks at a time. Yet here I am, sitting between people who actually want to spend time with me. People who took time out of their day to make sure I was okay. They actually cleaned my house for me, cooked edible food, and are willing to stay a whole day to make me feel better. I don't know what good I have done to deserve this, but I'm happy it happened.

I still need to ask Axel what he told them because it doesn't make sense for them to come and do all this just because I'm 'sick'.

"Uh earth to Sophia." Waved Lara.

"I'm sorry, did you say anything?" Focus bro. Honestly.

"Yeah. I haven't seen your family yet. Are they on vacation or something?"

Uh oh. This was not up for conversation. This is the part of my life that I never wanted to share with anyone.

Well of course except that random outburst you had with Axel. It's like one nice guy opens his mouth and you're already sharing your trauma. Absolute lognut I am.

"Umm.. uh.." I picked at the chicken on my plate without making eye contact and the silence was veering a little towards awkward.

"Well.."