Chapter Eleven:
Crush Culture

»»-----　★　-----««

So here was the problem: Laila Bjorgman might have a crush on Evie Grimhilde. Like, a complete and total full-blown crush where her heart skipped a beat everytime Evie texted her, everytime they facetimed and Evie laughed and Laila found it extremely hard to hide her rosy cheeks. The kind of crush where whenever there was a comfortable silence, Laila had to restrain herself from blurting out I like you! through the phone.

After months of completely denying any sort of non-platonic feelings for Evie, Laila had woken up one morning, checked her phone, saw a positively heart-warming good morning message from Evie, and knew—she knew she had it bad. It had crept up and hit her so suddenly that she'd had to sit down. it was like her eyes had been opened and now she saw everything, no longer blind to her own feelings. The thing was, though, Laila felt like she'd had the crush for a while, longer than she had realised... and if she really thought about it, even since the first time they met, she had found Evie to be cute. Perhaps that was when it had started, and she'd just never realised it.

They had never run out of things to say, too. Whether it be about friends, Chemistry (Evie had been helping Laila try to understand it... and she was pleased to report that it was going well! She understood Chemistry, like, ten percent more now!), or the most recent stupid thing Ingrid did, they never seemed to run out of topics to talk about.

"Wait, so she pushed you down a hill?"

Laila rolled her eyes. She fell back onto her bed and groaned, moving her phone from one ear to the other. Her and Evie had been on a call for almost an hour, and Laila's hand was getting a little tired from holding the phone up. "Ugh, yes! It was so cold. My pants were practically drenched because of the snow."

"Oh, my God," Evie said, laughing through the phone as if she couldn't believe Ingrid would do such a thing. Laila could definitely believe it.

Just the sound of Evie's laughter made Laila warm and fuzzy inside. It felt like a comforting hug. Like anything and everything was going to be alright. Like she'd been wrapped up in a warm and cosy blanket, been given a mug of hot chocolate and curled up beside the fireplace in the middle of winter.

So, yeah. Laila might just have a crush on Evie.

But what was the problem with that, you might ask? Well, Laila's little sister, Ingrid, would not stop teasing her about it. Lalia loved her sister—she really did—but there was only so much teasing Laila could take. Especially since she was home in Arendelle right now, not back at Auradon where she would only see her sister every now and then—no, instead she had to put up with the teasing daily. So returning the favour and pushing Ingrid down a hill seemed like a very appealing idea to Laila at the moment.

"Hey—"

Speak of the devil.

As Ingrid walked into Laila's room, her voice abruptly stopped when she noticed that Laila was on the phone. Laila frowned at her younger sister, aggressively pointing a finger at the phone held up against her ear, silently telling her to be quieter. Ingrid rolled her eyes.

"Dinner's ready, so hurry up. I'm hungry," Ingrid said, only a little bit quieter than before. She'd turned fourteen about a week ago, and seemed to think she was just that good. She winked at Laila, and said, "C'mon, you can profess your love to Evie later!"

Unfortunately, she was gone before Laila could yell at her.

"Gotta go. Dinner." Laila stood up from her bed. "I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

"Yeah, for sure."

Laila hung up and made her way to the dining room, where the rest of her family was.

Despite the dining table being dramatically long (like, seriously, they didn't have that many people in their family), everyone had this unspoken agreement that they'd all sit together at one end of the table. Ingrid sat at the head of the table (which Laila thought did not seem fair—Ingrid was the youngest!), Laila next to her, and then their Aunt Elsa next to Laila. Kristoff and Anna sat opposite them.

As Laila slid into her seat, waitstaff started handing out food. Ingrid rubbed her hands together in glee, and said, "I'm so hungry."

Elsa—who wasn't present at every dinner they had, having to be in the Enchanted Forest quite often, however she was here, now—turned her head toward her nieces. "So, how's everyone's day been, then?"

Laila said, "Good." She picked up her fork and started to dive into the meal in front of her: beef and potato stew (AKA lapskaus, one of her favourite meals).

"I bet it's been good," said Ingrid, winking at Laila.

Laila made a face. "What?"

Ingrid turned to address the entire table. "Laila's been talking to her girlfriend!"

Having just taken a sip of water, Laila started to splutter. After a few seconds she recovered, and quickly said, wide-eyed, "We're just friends."

Anna and Kristoff exchanged a smile.

"But you've got a crush on her!" Ingrid said in a sing-song voice.

Laila frowned, defensive. "Fuck off."

Kristoff butted in. "Hey, language."

"Aha!" Ingrid exclaimed with enthusiasm, pointing her finger at Laila, ignoring their dad. "So you don't deny it!"

"Well, you've got a crush on Saxa, so there!"

Ingrid gasped. "Doesn't mean you need to announce it to the entire world!"

"Just returning the favour."

Anna tried to intercept. Putting her hands up in a 'calm down' type of gesture, she said, "Kids, why don't we just—"

Ingrid turned on Anna with a frown. "I'm fourteen! I'm not a kid!"

Laila smirked. "Um, yes, you are."

"Shut up." Ingrid rolled her eyes.

Ever since Ingrid had turned fourteen about a week ago, she'd been trying to convince their parents to enrol her in Auradon Prep now, even though the school year was halfway through. She was too excited to wait until the start of the new school year. The only downside, as Ingrid had told her a few nights ago, was that Saxa wasn't going to Auradon Prep, so they wouldn't be able to see each other as often as they do now. Instead, Saxa was staying in Arendelle.

Ingrid had a crush on Saxa—that much was obvious—but the question was if Saxa had a crush on Ingrid... and Laila was about eighty-five percent sure she did. Childhood best friends to lovers? Laila was so there for it.

"Well," Elsa said, clapping her hands together in an attempt to break up the growing tension surrounding the table. "It's great to hear you had a good day, Laila. Um..." Elsa looked across the table at Anna and Kristin, the former who was trying to hold in her laughter. "Anna, Kristoff! Did you guys have a good day, or...?"

As Kristoff started to answer, Laila snuck a glance at Ingrid, who poked her tongue out at her. Laila returned the gesture with an eye roll.

Here was the thing: Laila loved her sister—she really did—but bloody hell did Ingrid drive her mad sometimes. Especially when the topic turned to who each other liked.

Especially when the topic turned to Evie.

Because Laila really liked Evie.

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instagram — ingrid
&& one hour ago, 7:52 P.M.

♥︎ liked by laila and 62 others
ingrid oh to be young and in love
1 hour ago

tagged: laila

view all comments...

laila
alright i have many things to say about this but first off YOURE LITERALLY YOUNGER THAN ME so what do u mean "oh to be young"
1h     5 likes

↳ laila second thing is that u are SO
LUCKY that evie doesn't follow you on
instagram or i would literally kill you
          for posting this
1h     6 likes

↳ ingrid why do u have to be so mean🙄
1h     4 likes

↳ ingrid but anyway i could always
screenshot it and send it to her
1h     7 likes

↳ laila you wouldn't dare
1h     2 likes

↳ ingrid wanna bet
1h     3 likes

↳ laila wanna FIGHT
1h     2 likes

↳ ingrid do my chores and i won't
send it to her
1h     5 likes

↳ laila you've got to be kidding me
1h     3 likes

↳ ingrid you have 24 hours
1h     5 likes

↳ laila have i told you how much i hate
          you recently. because i hate you
1h     4 likes

laila
this is also the worst photo of me ever i mean look at my HAIR it's a MESS,,,, why did you have to post it
1h     2 likes

↳ ingrid because i want you to suffer
1h     3 likes

↳ laila i'm showing that to mom
1h     9 likes

↳ ingrid my god how OLD are you
1h     5 likes

↳ laila mentally? seven
1h     4 likes

↳ ingrid yeah wbk
1h     3 likes

↳ laila do my chores and i won't show
          it to mom
1h     6 likes

↳ ingrid i hate you
1h     5 likes

↳ laila awww i hate u too 🥰
1h     2 likes

↳ ingrid wait i feel like u doing my
chores and me doing your chores is
very counter-productive
1h     3 likes

↳ ingrid hear me out but how about
a compromise [shudder] we do our
own chores
1h     6 likes

↳ laila u know what that's probably
for the best
1h     2 likes

saxa
the best bjorgman sister!!!!
1h     4 likes

↳ ingrid i'm sorry WHAT
1h     6 likes

↳ saxa IT WASN'T ME LAILA
          STOLE MY PHONE I SWEAR
1h     5 likes

↳ ingrid uh huh
1h     2 likes

↳ saxa pls u have to believe me
1h     3 likes

↳ ingrid fine but i will say i am slightly
          offended
1h     2 likes

↳ saxa it wasn't me!!!! 😔😔
1h     4 like

↳ laila MWAHAHA
1h     3 like

↳ laila but out of curiously who IS your
          favourite is it me or ingrid
1h     5 likes

↳ saxa oh god don't make me choose
1h     3 likes

          ↳ saxa though because i don't want to get
          blocked i think i must say that ingrid is
          my favourite
          1h 2 likes

          ↳ ingrid AHA yes i win
          1h 4 likes

↳ laila please saxa just said it so she
          wouldn't get blocked🙄 i'm OBVIOUSLY
          the favourite sister
1h     2 likes

↳ ingrid i don't care she still said it
          no take backs
1h     2 likes

»»-----　★　-----««

Authors Note!!!

so laila's finally realised that she has a crush on evie—can we believe it?! never thought this day would come! as always, please vote and comment what u thought. it means so much. love y'all xoxo

word count: 1796
21.03.2021