Chapter 5: Grandpa Chu

School finished rather quickly after it began. Laz had a philosophy about how to get through the day without attracting attention. Be air because people don't notice air. It wasn't that he hated others or even that he didn't want to make friends, he just discovered that in a small town, everyone had their own groups and joining one was a bit of a pain.

As opposed to trying to be something he wasn't, Laz would rather be who he was by himself.

With no after school activities to take up his attention, he decided to just head for the restaurant early. Normally, he would go around 4pm and be done by 7, but since grandpa was having a bad day anyway, he figured it was better to stay away from the apartment for as long as possible.

Grandpa Chu owned a take out restaurant in town called the Golden Panda, not that far away from the Shack on main street. Grandpa Chu and Laz's grandfather were good friends for several years before Laz's grandmother passed away. After that, Laz's grandfather started having episodes the two didn't get together as much. Laz met Grandpa Chu again when he moved in two years ago, although they had already met a few times when Laz's parents used to come to town with him. Grandpa Chu didn't have any grand kids as his daughter was always working her high profile career and his son had never been married. He just called Grandpa Chu's son Uncle Chu since it was easier for everyone that way when working at the shop. Although Uncle Chu had gotten a degree in business, he preferred the quiet life and helping his father run the restaurant allowed them both to work and support themselves.

Laz liked helping them out, either by working the counter or sometimes making deliveries on the scooter. Although he couldn't legally do that, as long as it was in town, Grandpa Chu would let him. The scooter didn't require being road registered and when it was winter or bad weather, Uncle Chu would just drive the small delivery van.

Laz liked working with all the smells and the sounds and also liked listening to Grandpa Chu's stories of when he was younger or even some of the crazy things he used to do with Laz's grandfather.

The other interesting part about all this was that no one ever recognized Laz as being a 14 year old from the local junior high. Since he was somewhat average in all things and had a face that no one really paid attention to, people didn't remember him.

Once he had the baseball cap and jacket on from the store, he was even less noticeable.

Just like air.

"Hey little Laz, how was school today?" Grandpa Chu asked when Laz walked in.

"Same as always, which basically means boring but bearable," Laz replied while flashing him a smile.

"Ha, you know, they say these are the best years of your life little man. Maybe you should look for a girlfriend or something," Uncle Chu chuckled as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Ok, how about you ask your girlfriend to introduce me to her daughter, eh? Or maybe a younger sister, I don't mind," Laz laughed while poking fun at this lonely bachelor.

"That's cold little buddy. Think you can even handle a mature woman? Does that thing even work yet?" Uncle Chu said while glancing down at Laz's jeans.

"Who knows, but I bet you I will find out before you use yours again," Laz replied while giving him a sly grin.

Grandpa Chu walk up behind the two of them and smacked them both in the back of the head, putting a stop to the conversation.

"Sorry grandpa."

"Sorry dad."

"Remember to keep things professional when on the job boys. We want customers to feel welcomed, not feel like they are walking in on a pissing contest," Grandpa Chu scolded while holding back his smile. He actually liked their playful bickering as it made things a bit more lively.

"Oh hey, uncle, grandpa, did either of you hear about the tree in the ocean thing or know anything about that?" Laz asked as soon as he thought about it. Since he could only listen to the conversations of others during the day, he wanted to see if he could find anything out.

"Oh, you heard about that? Why didn't you just look it up between classes?" Uncle asked.

"Left my phone at home today," Las responded regretfully.

"I still remember how excited you were when you first bought that," Grandpa Chu laughed.

"Yeah, I was happy that i would have my own phone as opposed to just using the one at the apartment, but turns out it was a waste. Least it lets me get online at school," Laz replied, thinking back to how he was showing it off last year. He was looking forward to being like other kids at school and having his own phone. But due to a lack of friends, he never really had a use for it, other than as an alarm clock.

"Hey Laz," Uncle said with a serious face.

"You doing ok? I mean, I know it 's hard to be new in town, but I kind of thought by now you would have at least a friend or two your own age."

At first Laz thought he was being made fun of again, but looking at the concern on uncle's face made him realize that he was honestly concerned.

"It's ok Uncle," Laz assured him with a grin. "I talk to a few people at school but for the most part, i just like being by myself," Laz lied, hoping to put some of his concerns to rest.

"Alright, alright, he's always got us," Grandpa Chu said encouragingly.

"Yeah, that's true. Worse comes to worse, he can just live upstairs for the rest of his life eh?" Uncle said trying to dispel the awkwardness he had caused.

"In your dreams, why would I want to live with you until you die?" Laz shot back.

"Ohh ho ho. So you think I'm going to be single for the rest of my life huh?" Uncle fired back while giving him a barely angry look.

"Oh. No. Sorry. You are right. After all, you've always got Rosie and her 5 friends right?"

SMACK

This time Laz was the only one to get hit.