𝑩𝒊𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝑶𝒇 𝑨 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓

Chapter 2

"I'm so bored. Watch a movie with me, Louis." I pause my cooking as I hear Charlotte from behind me, tugging on my sleeves.

I turn around and smile at her, ruffling her hair playfully. She's holding her stuffed bunny, hugging it to her chest. "I can't right now, Lottie. I'm cooking for us today, remember? Miss Thompson is on her vacation." I speak to her in a gentle tone.

She looks at me with innocent eyes as she nods, her face turning into a small pout. I can tell she's been feeling lonely these days since I've been spending more time studying this year. I can barely manage taking care of her and school at the same time.

"How about you help me with cooking the pasta, hmm?" I reach for her and lift her up with ease to make her see the pasta in the boiling pot. She smiles widely as she nods. I put her down again, searching for a high chair for her. "Do you know how to make the sauce?" I ask her, raising my eyebrows.

Charlotte shakes her head, "It's hard. I watched Ratatouille like a million times, but I still can't do anything except water."

I burst out into laughter, then I take a chair and walk towards her with it. Ratatouille is her trusted source of making food? Kids have unlimited imagination. "Well, first of all, that's a cartoon. You can't learn from there, Lottie. Second of all, water is not exactly food. Anyways, I'll teach you, okay?"

Charlotte giggles as she sits down on the chair.
"Okay, but after this, we'll watch the movie, right? I chose a really good one." I raise my eyebrows in slight curiosity. Let me guess, it's either Ratatouille again, or Tangled, or Descendants.

"It's called 'Elemental', It's about a fire girl with anger issues falling in love with a water guy who helps her save her dad's shop." Oh, this is a new one. The girl's description suddenly reminds me of yesterday's incident with that problematic girl.

Every time I think about that memory, I feel pure hate towards her and people like her. Why do people get angry over small things like that? Why do they lash out at people like it's the end of the world? I just wanted to help her. When I remember the expression on her face, I remember him. He always looks like that, angrier each time than before.

"Louis?" Charlotte's voice interrupted my thoughts and memories. I look at her with a gentle smile. "I'm so excited to watch that movie with you, Lottie. Now, let's make dinner first."

After a few minutes, I hear a loud knock on the door, a familiar voice yelling through the door. "Let me in, man! It's freezing! Louis, are you home?"

I roll my eyes as I walk towards the front door, leaving Charlotte in the kitchen. "Coming!" I open the door to find Raj standing there, hands in his pocket. He grins slowly as he looks up, and I already know what's coming "Raj, don't—"

He runs and jumps at me, crushing me with a classic Raj Malik's hug. I groan in annoyance as I pull away, closing the door. "I heard drama and I came as soon as I could, the school has been talking about it since yesterday. How come I'm the only one who knows last about this?" He frowns slightly.