11 Chapter 11

"Lisa~, we're back," Dimitra shouted excitedly as soon as she opened the door of the house while Sophia was left to place both their suitcases inside the doorway.

"Where do you think you are to be this loud? This is not a football field !!" Lisa's voice reached the two girls before her figure managed to appear before them, as she stepped out of her room and into the living room with an irritated expression and messed up hair that indicated that they most likely woke her up.

"Is this how friends treat friends? Not even a welcome back or a hug ?" Sophia shook her head in disappointment, jokingly as she knew her friend and her grampy attitude better than to expect anything nice from the get-go.

"You woke me up and you think I will treat you well? Did you left your brains on the beach you went to, mayhaps?" Lisa replied and they both cracked a smile at her before Dimitra opened her arms widely and threw herself at her, bringing her into her tight hug.

"I missed you, my little sour friend" Dimitra told her in a cute voice making Lisa try to pray her out of her but she did not seem to bulge.

"As if! I am sure I didn't even cross your mind over there. You didn't even send a single text for two days" Lisa complained with a pout as she continued her tried to push Dimitra away from her but to no avail.

"What the hell did you do to her and she sticks so much? Did she eat glue?" Sophia couldn't help but laugh out loud, seeing her friends interaction and the way they practically tripped soon enough and started rolling on the floor. Dimitra was laughing like crazy while still holding onto her leg as tightly as she could while Lisa did her best to shake her off and free herself from this dog full of love that had the name Dimitra.

"I will not leave you...I missed you." Dimitra announced to her right as she took hold of her one foot and proceeded to tickle her sole.

"Ah~~, no stop !! Sophia help!" Lisa extended her hand towards her friend in desperation right before she started her fit of hysteric laughter.

The house got filled with the sound of the laughs of all three as Sophia instead of helping, joining Dimitra on tickling her and she had no choice but to counter their attack with more tickling, bringing the atmosphere to become so joyful and entertaining. It was always like that for them. When they were together, they always had the best of times.

It took them a while to collect themselves and after the two girls got their suitcases in their rooms, they gathered back in the living room in order to discuss their trip and inform her of how it went. Dimitra described her time as fantastic while Sophia complained a bit before they both proceeded to get into more details about everything that went down.

"Why the heck were you complaining to me? From what I am hearing you obviously had a great time. Ahhh, what a pity that I wasn't there to see you two falling in the bathtub. I would have laughed so much. Such an opportunity has gone to waste!" Lisa's reaction to their little embarrassing story had them both giving her a stern gaze that basically represented how done they were feeling with her at that moment.

"Are you serious right now? From all the things Sophia said, that's the part you retained?" Dimitra seemed shocked at her as she personally considered the part that Sophia shared a kiss with Jay far juicier and more important.

"Come on, Who cared about that? She did well. That trash of a boyfriend she had deserves to be cheated on, so just go cheat on him. I support you."

"Are you out of your mind? !!It was not cheating!! I would never! I love Shiro!" Sophia protested rather aggressively as she felt misunderstood and wrong by her use of words. She was never gonna be a cheater.

"Fine! Love him since you want to love him so badly. The heck do you see in him anyways" Lisa crossed her arms over her chest feeling a bit annoyed that her friend seemed so absolute about her boyfriend since she surely did not think well of him nor considered him good enough to be her friend's boyfriend. She knew that dude better than anyone and surely if she was to be certain about something that was the fact that he was a piece of manipulated two-faced lier.

"You on the other hand, why do you dislike him so much. You barely know him. Give the guy a chance and be more friendly for once" Dimitra tried to persuade her friend as she really could not understand the reason for her behaviour and why had she hated him so just from one time they had happened to meet each other.

"I do not need to know him. I have a gut feeling and I do not want you to be hurt again. None of you. So of course I will be careful."Lisa argued and after her reply, silence engulfed the room for a few minutes until Sophia got up and brought them both in a group hug.

"As long as we have each other, I will never get as hurt as before. Thank you for caring for me." Sophia sincerely spoke as she was touched at that moment of her protectiveness, her eyes getting slightly teary as she spoke, making Dimitra and Lisa tighten their hug around her.

"I try to protect you but I am the one who has actually hurt you the most. I am a hypocrite but I am also too weak to lose you. I am sorry." Lisa thought to herself as she felt her heartache and self hate increase for her past actions that she couldn't change but she sure craved to redeem.

The sound of the doorbell going off was what brought their sweet moment to an end, making them break apart from the hug and wipe a few of their tears.

"I will get the door, you two go unpack and take your rest," Lisa urged them as she stood up and walked towards the door while Sophia and Dimitra took her suggestion and disappeared each towards their rooms.

"Hello." Jamie smiled at Lisa as soon as she opened the door and came face to face with him.

"Oop! If it isn't our Jamie. How come you passed by? Did you got locked out again?" Lisa smiled back at him as she left those teasing words of hers.

"No, this time I'm okay, I just came to give you something small that I bought for you." He replied somehow awkwardly as his left hand travelled at the back of his neck and the other moved forward, presenting to her a small purple bag.

Lisa's eyes slightly widened at the unexpected act, her facial expression morphing into confusion as she reached out and took the gift from his hold.

"Open it. It's a simple souvenir. Since you did not come along on the trip I thought to bring you something " Jamie explained his actions further in hopes of not get misunderstood despite the fact that he mostly in his life approached women for one reason only. With her it was different because he truly had nothing but friendly intention yet her glance grew stern on him after he spoke and an aggressive look took over her face, making him feel nervous.

"What are you exactly trying to achieve by giving me a gift?" Lisa questioning him directly as she was not someone that tended to beat around the bush when it comes to actions that she finds suspicious and his, surely were being that.

"Eh...No-Nothing, just because we left you alone and you had to sit and keep company to Theo for one night, as a thank you ..." He replied in a way that made his nervousness way more obvious, his eyes looking everywhere but at her as once again she had managed to intimidate him. From the first time he met her he felt like this and he surely was not someone who gets intimidated easily and that was one of the reasons he had decided to befriend her. For it is well known that if someone is powerful or has somehow of potential, it's better to have them on your side.

Shee was not fully convinced with his reply however she still proceeded to open the gift, slightly wondering what could it be. A question that got answered soon, leaving Lisa staring at the wooden looking keychain that was most likely made out of porcelain, if she was to guess from the way it felt to her touch.

"Thank you very much. It's really...something else" She replied sarcastically as she could not even understand why would someone but her such a thing however her thoughts soon vanished as Jamie proceeded to open the wooden log in two and reveal the engraving of the city that existed inside.

Lisa's eyes sparkled at the sight, considering the tiny city very beautiful and enchanting even as a miniature.

"I got it because I think it looks like you. Rough on the outside but friendly on the inside, or so I hope you are," Jamie recalled the words of the sweet shop worker that helped him choose it and spoke of them as close to them as he could remember.

"Now, I do not know what to do with you, should I slap you for calling me rough or hug you for calling me friendly? Anyway, the thought is what counts so thank you" Lisa decided to accept his consideration and smile at him a bit, making him feel slightly relieved.

"Okay, I'm glad you liked it...em...so ...now, we can be friends, right?" He looked at her with a gaze of impatience as he had practically done all that just to secure that status.

"I did not know you wanted to be my friend. May I ask why?" Lisa arched an eyebrow at him, not understanding why someone would work so hard to win the friendship of someone like her for even she was aware that she was not the easiest person to be around.

"Because we look alike. I'm a wooden log too, you know." He replied, half-jokingly half-seriously, intending to make her understand that he too tends to have a front that is different from what he really is inside and that was the thing they actually had in common and maybe it could become something that could help them connect in this potential friendship.

Lisa smiled at him soon enough, understanding what he meant more or less yet she still didn't see why they had to be friends, but since it seemed like something he wanted and since they were going to basically be neighbours and share common friends, she no longer saw the idea as absurd.

"Thanks for the gift then, my new silly friend. See you around~" She joked with the way she referred to him and he thankfully took it well, flashing her a smile right before he bowed his head slightly and took his leave towards the elevator, soon leaving Lisa alone in the hallway, looking at her new keychain in admiration briefly, right before she proceeded to secure it back in the small purple bag that it came in.

She turned around to return back to her apartment, her one hand pushing the door for her to enter and taking hold of it to close it back but before the door managed to shut, a hand appeared out of nowhere and halted it. She didn't look behind her back as she had thought that she closed it, however, she sure got startled as a hand took hold of her arm and slammed her on the wall.

"The heck are you doing?" Lisa questioned Shiro's sudden actions as he had basically entered hin her house without her permission however instead of responding to her with words, he just took hold of her shoulders and banged her against the wall with force, the placed his arms at the side of her head, trapping her between him and the concrete wall.

"Spill it out!! Where the heck did you took my file to?!" His eyes were full of anger as he accused her and demanded the whereabouts of his file as he was certain that none other but her could have taken it. However, she did not reply to him, making him take hold of her neck violently, only to see her face morphed in pain and he unconsciously ended up relaxing his chokehold a bit.

"Did you really thought that you would snitch my whereabouts to Raven and I would not give you out as well? It is not enough that you put me in danger, you are trying to get on top now? The audacity." Lisa whispered to him as her heartbeat had grown louder out of fear that her friends may hear anything or may appear suddenly from somewhere and find them in this situation that was hard to explain.

Shiro's expression of anger left its place to confusion upon hearing her words as he knew nothing about Raven nor he had given any information out to anyone regarding her.

"The heck are you talking about? I did not report you to the gang. Besides, I know very well what Raven is capable of doing if he was to find any of us" He argued then a realisation suddenly hit him, which made his eyes grew wide.

"Didn't he do anything to you?" Shiro questioned her, his gaze unwillingly betraying his desire to hear a negative answer however when Lisa heard his question, she reflexively brought her hand on her neck and left her eyes to travel to the floor.

"Just leave me alone. Okay!" That was all she ended up replying with yet Shiro did not only leave but actually took hold of her arm and pulled her further inside the house and into her room, where he shut the door behind him and locked it.

"Have you lost it? Just what are you doing? Get out! You can't be here" Lisa tried to push him out in panic, for all she was thinking at that moment was the potential of a misunderstanding happening between her and her friend, however, he did not seem to budge, his serious and cold looking gaze soon making her give up on her tries.

"Strip" The word rolled out his lips with determination, leaving her stunned in place.

--- To be continued...