Don't Cry Over Phở

Chapter 12: A "Group Project"

Luca half turned towards me, his eyes glancing over me before looking at my face. He didn't say anything as he waited for me to continue. His brown eyes flickered down again.

Realizing I was still holding his arm, I quickly let go of it and awkwardly cleared my throat. "I need your help with something."

He narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. "And why my help in particular?"

I sighed, staring down at the ground for a few seconds. This might be harder that I thought. "I overheard my parents saying the phở restaurant was not getting enough business so I was wondering if you could help me promote it," I said in a rush.

I held my breath as I gauged his reaction. An expression of realization washed over his face as he finally understood my dilemma.

He nodded slowly. "And how would we do that?"

Taking it as a good sign, I continued, "Well I was thinking we could meet somewhere and brainstorm ideas? I already have some."

He was quiet for a moment and I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I really can't believe I'm hoping to work with Luca for the first time in my life. What has my life come to? I shuffled my feet nervously.

He let out a deep sigh, "Alright."

Looking up, I grinned broadly at him. "Yay!! How about we use your house?"

His expression quickly dropped to a frown as he groaned. "I say yes and now you're asking to use my house?! What next, helping you commit arson?"

Against my will, my mouth quirked up a little. "Well I guess I could also use some help with tha-"

He interrupted me with a stare down. "Allison I swear."

I laughed, "Alright I was just kidding, but can we please use your house? You know both of my parents work."

With a sigh of frustration, he ran his hand down his face. "Fine, but only because I care about my job and your parents."

Ouch. That kind of stung, but I'll take what I can get. "Okay so it's settled. I'll see you after your tutoring club then," I smiled, feeling a little giddy about the thought of saving the restaurant.

He waved me off and continued walking without a single glance back. I scoffed. Typical Luca.

Since I wasn't going to be at tutoring club today, I sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for Luca to finish. I stared down at the list of ideas I had to save the restaurant. They weren't exactly full-proof plans, but once I run them by Luca maybe they could work.

Glancing down at my phone to check the time, I saw that tutoring club should be ending right now. Standing up, I headed towards the door as it opened with many kids streaming out.

I already called my parents, telling them that Luca and I were skipping work today. My mom started cursing at me angrily in Vietnamese before I told her it was for a "school project." They weren't fond of the idea of me being alone with a boy, but since it was Luca, all of a sudden my mom cheerfully told me to "have fun." Damn, talk about favorites.

Spotting a familiar figure with black, messy hair, I waved to get his attention. "Ready to go?"

Luca's face looked less than thrilled to see me, but he grudgingly walked over to me. "Let's go, but I'm not waiting for you to catch up," he said in a dismissive tone as he continued walking past me.

Ugh, what an asshole. Why did I think this was a good idea to work with him again?! However I kept my mouth shut as I followed him. Turns out that Luca lived in an apartment that was a 10 minute walk from the school.

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We didn't say much on the walk, the silence between us filled with the chirping of birds. Once we reached the door to his apartment, he opened the door with a key. Taking in my surroundings, I saw that it was a relatively small apartment, but it was nicely furnished with a minimalistic design. A large Chinese calendar hung in the kitchen and there were various house plants and statues sitting around.

"Luca! I thought you were work-" said a voice from another room. A middle-aged woman suddenly came into a view, her surprised expression taking me in. Her hair was the same color as Luca's and her skin had a youthful glow that made her look extremely well for her age. Her features resembled Luca's, but hers were more lively and soft. She was beautiful.

Luca cleared this throat, "Hello Auntie. This is Allison."

I smiled nervously and bowed, giving a small dip of my head. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

"Oh my gosh! Luca, is this your girlfriend?! She is so pretty!!" she exclaimed, coming straight towards me and holding my face in her hands.

I stilled at her sudden touch and my eyes widened as a sudden blush came over my cheeks. Luca looked just as horrified as I was as he immediately said, "No!" He rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean no. We're just partners for a project," he lied.

His aunt released my face and frowned. "Aw that's unfortunate." She looked at me and winked, "You're welcome here any time though."

My face turned slightly pink again and I was about to mutter my thanks before Luca grabbed my arm and pulled me into one of the rooms. He shut the door and sighed before turning to me. "Sorry about that. My aunt loves teasing me."

I smiled, "It's okay. I like her."

Luca smiled a little too, "Yea she raised me." His love for his aunt was evident in his soft tone. He flopped on his bed, his long legs hanging over the edge as he looked up at me questioningly.

"So you going to show me your ideas or what?"

For a second I was spacing out as I realized that I was in a boy's bedroom. Alone. With none other than Luca Chen. My hands started feeling clammy on its own accord as I tentatively sat on the corner of his bed.

"Well uh here are some ideas I came up with," I said, my heart starting to race a little as I handed him my notebook of hastily written ideas. I didn't know what he would think of them. Was coming here even a good idea?

As he read them, I took the chance to let my gaze wander around his room. His room was surprisingly neat for a teenage boy. Black bookshelves sat in a corner with various AP and SAT study books. His bed covers were dark gray, matching the minimalistic theme of his room. A single stuffed Pikachu plush sat on his bed. I couldn't help, but smile a little. Someone's a Pokemon fan.

Hearing the ruffle of pages, my attention flickered back to Luca. He looked up at me, frowning. "You want to make a mascot... for a phở restaurant," he said slowly.

"Yea! Like you know how Jollibee has a bee and McDonalds has Ronald McDonald?" Personally, I thought it was a pretty genius idea.

He simply just stared at me. His unnerving eye contact made me a bit nervous, so I looked away. "So I'm taking that as a no?" I asked sheepishly.

"Allison," he sighed, running his hand through his dark hair. "We've got a lot of work cut out for us."