The next few days of tutoring Mia went along as per usual, although Lenora made no attempt to tell her new friend of her second encounter with the town bastard. She figured that it wouldn't have made a difference, seeing that the two sides were already on the brink of war. Her adding the new story wasn't going to do much.
After that incident, she made a mental note to carry around pepper spray wherever she went. She didn't want to think that Johnny scared her more than she'd like to admit, but she avoided that area for the time being. Lenora gave an estimated time of another few weeks before she would be comfortable enough with going to that part of town again.
Mia noticed her recent agitation and had offered to lend an ear for her problems. But she declined to tell her story, only giving up snippets of scenarios, many of them altered.
"You look like you've been through war recently," Mia pressed.
Lenora sighed and slapped a hand to her head. I mean she isn't wrong.
"I'm fine," she insisted, "just met a bunch of annoying brats the other day and they wouldn't stop harassing me."
Mia squinted at her with great intent, eyes trying to read her. Lenora scoffed at the dramatic display and threw her hands up in the air.
"Seriously! I think you're just trying to divert attention away from you and Brian."
Lenora had caught the duo, too many times to count, sneaking glances at each other during Sunday barbeques. If Mia was trying to shove her previous 'no dating brother's friends' motto down her throat, then Lenora wasn't swallowing it.
Mia hid her face with her papers. "It's not like that! It was just a late night snack and then driving back!"
"You forgot the whole fancy dinner and going to the beach detail ." Lenora wiggled her brows. "See! You're blushing!"
Mia sighed and lowered the wall of paper. "We're just really good friends, Nora. Honest! I've never met anyone so easygoing and understanding and comforting who is a guy!"
Lenora feigned annoyance. "I should've recorded your face when you said that. Just look at your dreamy grin."
She laughed when Mia tossed her a failed glare. Lenora found herself finally letting loose in a long while. She couldn't remember the last time she sat down with a girlfriend and giggled over guys at school. It was a relief that she could still be a part of something as trivial as this, despite the bizarre background chaos.
Mia, on the other hand, wasn't giving in. The brunette tried to brush off Lenora's interrogation by suggesting another night out, but Lenora wasn't having it.
"I believe we were talking about your dating life, not mine," she teased. "And who gets that close to a guy that fast?!"
"You don't understand! He's kind, and he knows his stuff about cars, and can hold a conversation without trying to get funky, and the way his smile glows when I crack a joke...yeah, who am I kidding. I think I'm in love." Mia sighed in defeat and laid down on her bed, her eyes glazing over the ceiling in a trance-like state.
Lenora chortled. "Come on, it's not that bad! If you think he likes you, then go for it!"
"It's not that," Mia admitted, "It's Dom. I can't handle him getting pissed over the fact I'm dating his client."
The thought made Lenora pause the twirling of her pencil. Biting her lip, she glanced at the frustrated Toretto.
"I don't think he'll be pissed, Mia. He was fine with him taking you out to dinner last time, and he was also fine with you guys driving alone to the beach, too. I seriously think you should just do it. Besides, it's you who's dating Brian, not Dom."
Mia smiled. "Thanks for the motivational speech. I might just ask him out."
"That's the spirit," Lenora applauded. "I love a happy ending."
She hummed a jolly tune out loud, weirdly content at having set up another couple. Lenora quirked her lips as she scribbled the next few lines of her homework, not noticing the way Mia was now observing her.
"Do you have a guy back home?"
Lenora blinked at the question, momentarily lost in her thoughts. It had been a hot minute since she considered dating; the universe had decided that she needed to be buried under family drama and school in her free time. And all that still doesn't include her shitty romantic life.
"I dated a few times," she replied, "but they didn't go well." The memory of kissing boys behind the dumpster in highschool made her cringe. There was no way she thought that was the shit back then. Lenora wanted to lock those images away forever.
Mia frowned. "What happened?"
Lenora paused, unsure if she wanted to spill too much. "Well...My first boyfriend, if you could even call him that, dumped me over video games." She looked at Mia with a sheepish grin, almost breaking into laughter at the latter's expression.
Mia gaped. "Who the fuck does that?!"
"Terry did, apparently," Lenora said, "he wasn't too happy when I caught him playing video games once he told me he was busy at work. The relationship was mediocre anyways, and I still wonder why I stayed with him for over a year."
"That's...mature." Mia rolled over into a sitting position to face her better. "If it makes you feel better, my first boyfriend thought that kissing would get me pregnant."
Lenora almost spat out her water. "Excuse me?!"
"Yeah, he obviously didn't pass high school." Mia rolled her eyes at the memory. "Dumped me because of that. But I ain't complaining, he was the worst of the bunch, brain-wise."
"Well, it's better than believing the world is flat," Lenora offered, "else he'd really be screwed."
Mia snickered. "Don't jinx it, you might meet someone who does."
Lenora sighed and shook her head. At least her romantic past was left alone, mostly, for now. Although Mia's first ex really did give hers a run for his money.
The study session ended when Brian made an appearance in the Toretto's house. Lenora swore she sensed some sizzling envy when Vince tried to get between him and Mia in the room. She giggled and glanced at her pal, clearly enjoying Mia's love triangle dilemma, much to her expense.
"If ya ass wanna talk to Mia, then you guys can talk in the living room," Vince growled as he sized Brian up. The blonde didn't budge, showering his opponent with that smooth smile of his as usual.
"Mia wants to talk here, and I feel inclined to make her feel as comfortable as possible."
Lenora oohed at that, giving the brunette besides her a shameless wink. Mia snorted and waved her hands.
The two men before them paid no attention to the side conversation passing on between them. Lenora was only afraid that Mia's eyes would get stuck on the back of her head if the spat had dragged on. She was sure Vince was just seconds away from pouncing on the poor guy when Dom entered the picture.
The grumpy older Toretto wasted no time in shoving Vince out of the room, paying no heed to the blabbering coming forth from his mouth.
"Nora! You have to help me!" he cried, but his efforts were in vain as his voice was muffled by the closing door.
"Sorry!" Lenora called out, breaking into a sniggering fit. "Dom's too tall for me to save you!"
Mia snorted on the side, all the while flushing in Brian's presence. "So...What's up Brian?"
The blonde grinned at her. "I just dropped off my car at your brother's, so I thought maybe I should just come by on the way."
"Oh, I see." Mia twiddled her hair, glancing at Lenora nervously.
The latter blinked once before she got the message. Ah, right. She needs to do this herself.
"I'll see you soon, Mia." She made a move to pack up. Shoving her paperwork into her bag, she offered her an encouraging grin. Mia couldn't hide her embarrassment any longer and broke into a nervous chuckle.
Throwing her a wink, Lenora shut the door on her way out. She couldn't wait to hear the news tomorrow, there shouldn't be any problems with them getting together. Brian might as well spell out his feelings for Mia while he was at it.
She had one foot out the front door when Letty called out to her. "We have tomorrow's barbeque at six, are you gonna join? Dom's takin head counts."
Lenora's mouth watered at the thought, partially because she was missing dinner, but Dom could make a mean burger if she was being honest. She never would've thought the man to be a good cook out of everyone else there. The talent probably came with the big-brother-caretaker package.
"Of course! I'll cover the refreshments this time," she answered. "But I might be a bit late. My roommate's moving in tomorrow and I promised to help her around." Letty gave a thumbs up and went back to doing whatever. In the corner of her eye, she spotted Jesse waving at her from the dining table, hands still in midair fixing some mechanical remote in front of him. She waved back and closed the door.
Over time, she had gradually gotten comfortable around the ADHD teen. Jesse was the most difficult to converse with at first, given his short attention span. But she quickly got the hang of his awkward attempts at trying to be her friend. He almost reminded her of one of Ellion's friends, the guy who was always fidgeting in the back during movie nights.
Her walk back home was uneventful, and it hit her that she still had to clean up the house before Kaya moved in the next day. The memory of all the unpacked boxes laying around the living room made her head throb.
Dinner was quick and plain, with Lenora setting up a bowl of ramen and a side dish of stir-fried cabbages with jerky. She organized her scattered clothes and shoes into a pile, and sorted them into the walk in closet of her room.
She was grateful for the two bedroom complex. Though upon her first arrival, she got to call dibs on the rooms. Kaya didn't seem to mind, which made the deal even better. Lenora was finishing setting up the remaining lamps in the house when her voicemail rang.
Thinking nothing of it, she reached over and pressed the speaker button. An unfamiliar voice of a woman blared through the microphone.
"Hi, Lenora! It's Kaya! I'm just calling you to give you a heads up about tomorrow. I have a bit of stuff I need to get in so I'm bringing two of my friends to help me sort it out. If that's ok with you, just shoot me a text. I can't wait to meet you!"
Lenora paid no mind to the message as she dusted the floor around her. Of course she wouldn't mind it, she was no stranger to coming to a new place unsupervised and scared. Though the good thing about that was she now had more time to go to the grocery for refreshments. And in all honesty, there was quite the anticipation with meeting Kaya.
She hoped that Kaya was going to be a decent roommate; it was her first time living with someone other than her sister. Previously, she had the privilege of owning a single in her college dorm back in northern California. But to save some money, she had come to the conclusion that she should just split the rent with another person. She knew she had more than enough funds for a whole apartment to herself, but something told her that she should start using her money wisely.
Shooting a simple text back, she set the phone down and got ready for bed. It was early compared to her usual schedule, but her body was starting to shut down despite her protests. She dropped the idea of watching a late night movie and climbed under the covers. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and she decided that getting enough rest wouldn't hurt.
Though it barely felt like five minutes between her head hitting the pillows and her eyes springing open at the screaming alarm over her head. Lenora grasped the offensive device and slammed it off. But the damage had already been done. Her body refused to go back to sleep as she tossed and turned under the blankets.
Opening one eye, she was met with the glaring sunlight shining its presence down on her face. The clock by her side printed the time in bold red for her to see. Lenora moaned and groaned and wished she didn't agree to help Kaya unpack. She had failed to realize how tired she was despite sleeping more than twelve hours.
It was t-minus thirty minutes until Kaya's arrival, and she still looked like she had just gotten out of a camping trip. Stepping out of the shower, Lenora scrambled to get herself together, pulling on her koala onesie. She realized she still had more than twenty minutes to spare and so decided to be comfortable for breakfast.
Tying her hair up into a bun, she grabbed whatever that was left in the fridge and threw it all together. Buttered toast with cereal was what she had to put up with for now, and she scribbled down the grocery list for the afternoon.
She was craving potato salad the other day, so she made it a priority to highlight it on top of the slip. Dom's potluck wasn't for another half a day so she was confident that she could sort out Kaya and figure out refreshments next.
Chasers for the drinks sounded like a decent side to bring, although she couldn't wrap her head around the dessert selection. Lenora was in the middle of shoveling her last spoonfuls of cereal into her mouth when a loud knock came from the door.
Fuck! She's ten minutes early!
Her mind reeled at the thought and she whipped around to locate her sweater and leggings. But lo and behold, once she was actually trying to find them, they've decided that it would be best to grow legs and run away.
Cursing, she knew that it was too late to run upstairs to change. The knock came again, this time much louder than before. Lenora, panicking, smoothed down her onesie and skidded to the door. Screw looking decent, Kaya was going to see her like this for most of their time together anyways.
Lenora swung open the door, heart racing in anticipation. What did she look like? Was she intimidating? Smart? Her mind jumbled together in a massive yarn as she winced at the sunlight beaming in without warning.
"Hi!" Kaya's voice sounded from the opening.
In her dazed condition, Lenora's greeting stuck to her throat. Her eyelids flickered, and her gaze focused on the newcomer-or in this case-newcomers. Then she felt her eyes bug out like Bugs Bunny's; Lenora almost spat out her milk.
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A/N: Take a wild guess as to why Lenora's soul is leaving her body! Drop it down in the comments!
;)