Layla isn't sure, after everything, if they're hiding to be kind to her. It's not in Wills' nature to hide things -
not that he would rub it in her face, either - but Warren certainly would hide it, if only to avoid to requisite teasing from the rest of their age group.
It's been almost an entire year since their little 'team' saved the school and Will gained his powers; it's been half a year since Layla and him broke up.
Will had said, after a month full of fitful silence on his end and annoyed worry on hers, that he thought maybe they had gone into their relationship with different ideas. It had broken Layla's heart; half the plants on campus had died within the next week. He'd said he still wanted to be friends (and, Goddess, coming from any other boy she would have slapped him, but Will was just so genuine) and she'd agreed, although they avoided each other for a good month.
Now, heart having mostly mended itself - a one-night stand with the dishiest Senior transfer student of the year having helped quite a bit in that regard, including her self-esteem - she and Will could sit at the same lunch table, and talk on his roof, and complain about homework together once again, almost like they used to.
But not quite like they used to.
Because before, there had been no Warren. Before, it had been her and him and Ethan and Maj and Zach. There's nothing wrong with a new member of the group - it's nice to have someone who is as dry-witted as Maj and who can still talk books with Ethan - but for a while there's still, maybe, some lingering feeling between Warren and herself; it's gone long before she and Will split, which Layla is grateful for - she had always worried if that had been some odd way of cheating.
But those feelings for the 'bad boy' had faded away quickly - and now Layla was wondering if Will had harbored some feelings of his own towards the other teenager, because it was pretty clear, with their heads bent together over some project or paper, that there was chemistry.
Layla resolved to get to the bottom of that little conundrum using the most obvious solution: having their friends spy on them.
