Layla. Chapter One: "Monday, Monday"

"What'll you do when you get lonely?

And nobody's waiting by your side?

You've been running and hiding much too long.

You know it's just your foolish pride.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.

Layla, I'm begging, darling, please.

Layla, darling, won't you ease my worried mind?

I tried to give you consolation,

When your old man had let you down.

Like a fool, I fell in love with you.

You've turned my whole world upside down.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.

Layla, I'm begging, darling, please.

Layla, darling, won't you ease my worried mind?

Let's make the best of the situation,

Before I finally go insane.

Please don't say, we'll never find a way,

And tell me all my love's in vain.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.

Layla, I'm begging, darling, please.

Layla, darling, won't you ease my worried mind?"

Eric Clapton (Derek and the Dominos), "Layla" from the 1971 album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs"

-/-/-

1986.

"Layla Estelle Randle!" Evie called to the second floor of the house, "If you're not down here in five minutes, you're going to be late!"

Layla rolled her eyes and leaned out from the doorway of her bedroom. "I just gotta finish combing my hair, Mom!" she called back, "I'll be down in a minute!"

Layla ran her comb through her jet black hair a few more times, then set the comb down on her dresser once she was done. She stood in front of her floor length mirror, taking one last final look over her appearance. After checking her appearance, she established the she looked pretty good in her choice of outfit. She then grabbed for her school bag as well as her smaller personal bag, then left her bedroom and headed down the stairway to the first floor of the house.

"Finally," Bella breathed out as her older sister entered the first floor.

Layla rolled her eyes. "You know," she began, "I don't have to give you a ride to school."

"Yes, you do," their father- Steve- commented, "We agreed that, if you got a car, you'd help with the drivin' around here, since you're the oldest."

Layla internally groaned. "Why can't you or Mom drive her?"

"Cause your mom drives Steven to school on her way to the high school, and I drive Violet. So- you either take Bella, Steven or Violet. I suggest Bella, since that takes less time for you- so take your pick."

"Alright," Layla sighed, "Bella, go get in the car. But I pick the radio station or cassette!"

Bella shrugged. "As long as it's not Billy Idol, I don't care," she said and walked out of the house.

-/-/-

Layla and Bella got out from the older of the two sister's car, locking the doors behind them. The two sisters waved goodbye to each other as they walked off to their own usual routes. They didn't usually see each other during the school day- with the exception of their lunch period and in the halls between classes, and during physical education- so they always talked together on the way to and from school, usually ignoring whatever little "spat" they may have had previously.

Cause even the thought the two didn't always get along, they were still the closest in age of the four Randle children, and they were sisters.

Layla walked up the steps and into the school building. As she made her way through the halls, she gave small greetings and acknowledgements to those she knew who passed her. These people were not close friends of hers, but people she'd known over the years from different classes and sports teams. Instead of meeting up with her friends on her way to her locker, they all met up at her locker or near her locker. She was usually the last of the group to arrive, so it was just easier for them all.

"Layla," a familiar voice called out, "You've got me on my knees!"

Layla rolled her eyes and turned to face her friends. "You know I hate when people do that," she informed tiredly.

Her friend- Thomas, who went by Tommy- gave an odd look. "Why do you think I do it?" he shrugged.

Layla had six friends that she hung out with. In the group of seven teenagers, including her, there were four guys and three girls. They were a very diverse group of young people, all different from one another in multiple ways. While there were certain things they all did that some of them had in common, there were still many things that were different about them all.

First, there was Thomas O'Brien, when went by the name "Tommy". His hair was platinum blonde, and actually his natural color, rather than how most would dye it that color. His eyes were a bright, light blue color that matched his hair color and complexion. He was tall and thin, but now scrawny, but rather was pretty well built. He was aware of how all these features made him attractive, and was even a little vein about them at times.

Second, there was Connor Jones. He was very average and didn't attract too much attention. He had brown hair, with big brown eyes to match. He was average height for a guy, average weight and an average build. There was not particular or outstanding feature in appearance on him, and he just didn't stand out in a crowd. This was part of the reason the group of friends came in contact with him- no one had really noticed him during one major day in school, and they felt bad, so they called him over. He was very kind, but also a bit shy.

Then there was Russel Jacobson, who went by the name "Rusty". He had hazel eyes and tussled strawberry blonde hair. He was tall- which made sense, since he was the star of the boys basketball team- but not taller than his blonde friend. He was known throughout the entire high school, but he was humble. It was not hard for him to be known and popular, but ironically, he didn't care about popularity. A lot of people envied his group of friends, since they were so close with him, but they envied them in silence.

There was also Beckett Carson, who went by "Beck". His eyes were a mix of brown and green, which went with his dirty blonde hair. All of the girls in school had a firm belief that he had the best hair in the entire school, and he probably did. He was skinny with a medium frame, and about the same height as his friend who played basketball. He didn't really care much about appearance, despite his incredibly good looks. He was also known throughout the school- mostly by the girls. He was three-fourth's Hispanic, but due to his father's father- his grandfather- he didn't have a last name to match the majority of his heritage.

Then there was Margaret Sullivan, who went by the name of "Maggie". She had curly red hair and bright green eyes. She was average height for a female, had a small frame and was slim. Her raid hair was in wavy curls, rather than untamed curly q's, and it always fell in front of her face. This was intentional, considering she was incredibly and unbelievably shy- until you got to know her and she got comfortable with you- and she used it to hide her face. She was originally born in Ireland, but moved to America when she was five years old; for this reason, she only had a slight accent when saying certain words.

Next was Carter Erickson. She had big brown eyes and wavy dark brown hair. Her skin was not too light, but not too dark, due to her parents being a mixed racial couple. Her hair would usually have different colors throughout the edges or layers, usually a very loud color- except for her roots, since she didn't want to kill her hair. Even with that, she never dyed her whole head so that she could still show off her naturally dark hair with natural red highlights. She was the shortest of the group with a frame right in between small and medium, and a slim figure. She was very artistic and talented in all different forms of the creative arts- acting, singing, instrumentals, writing, drawing, all that stuff and more.

And finally, there was Layla Randle, with her bright green eyes and straight jet black hair. She wasn't short, but she wasn't tall either. She had a frame somewhere between small and medium, but more leaning toward medium. Her features were all inherited from her mother, making her the spitting image of her mother. She didn't mind this, though, cause she thought her mother was a pretty good looking girl when she was younger, and still did look good. Her personality, though, was a mix from both of her parents, depending on the situation at hand.

"You ready to go to homeroom?" Maggie asked.

Layla thought for a moment. "Let me think," she drawled, "It's Monday, so- no."

"You're never for homeroom," Connor teased.

"She's not the only one," Carter yawned.

"I second that," Beck interjected.

Rusty gave a confused look at each of his friends. "Am I the only one who's ready for class?" he asked oddly.

"Yes," Tommy confirmed tiredly.

The group all then headed to homeroom just as the bell rang.

Hi there! So, this is the unofficial sequel/spinoff to my outsiders fanfic, Loyalty. If you read that story, you probably remember Steve and Evie's daughter Layla, who they had when only eighteen years old. You probably remember that they kept the baby, and decided to get married. Well, this is the story about their daughter who was born during that story, Layla, now that she's eighteen years old and on the verge of adulthood. She will go through the struggles of most teenage angst, including relationships- both romantic and friends- college, graduation, etc. She will also be dealing with problems that have resulted from the once common rivalry between Socs and greasers, but you'll get into that later on.

You do not necessarily have to read Loyalty to read this story, but it is recommended, since that's where Layla starts out.

Certain parts of this story will be loosely based off the Eric Clapton song, "Layla", which you first read. When I named Layla when writing Loyalty, I had music choice classic rock on, and that song began, which gave me the name for her. She was born in 1968, so the song was not released, but this story will take place 1986 into 1987, so the song was out since it was released in 1971.

I hope you liked this chapter, and the story in general, and stick around! The story will be updated every two to four weeks- two weeks being the shortest amount, four weeks being the longest wait, it has certain dependents. Peace from all the hippies of the world! (get used to that, since I sign off every author's note with it) =^-^=