Konnichiwa minna-san! How are ya! I shall not rant here, for it will be really irritating. Meet me at the bottom! And thanks for the advices about Warren's major OOCness! I thought after they became friends his character would morph -- ah well. Ja ne! Thank you SOSOSOSO much for reviewing my first crappy and completely OOC chapter, GrayDove, SuicidalLipsroom777, aspirer, aspinminder, wayhottu (even though your review was only um, thirty three LOVE IT's, I still really do love you!), jade-snake and stevenstraitrawks (did you know that I live in Singapore, and I play Maple Story too?)! ((BIG huggles)) I dunno, I'd better reply to all of your reviews --
All right, no more chanting, beginning of the story!
JUMPY
Chapter Two of Distinguished
Layla was having a dilemma… she was caught between her one true love and one who truly loved her. But when she got into deep trouble, who would be the one saving her?
With the remote control in one hand, the teenage girl idling in front of the television fiddled with it, unaware of how much the television was already flickering due to the rapidity of the switching of channels. She barely noticed what was shown on each channel before quickly changing it to another, without much enthusiasm. Absentmindedly she switched to the last channel, the channel with all the MTV's and live interview shows that were held at the Stadium near her house. Sometimes she swore she could hear the cheers from this distance.
Layla looked up upon hearing something that sounded somewhat… interesting to her. It was another one of those interviews, but the names were familiar… She lifted up her head and watched with mild intrigue.
"Once again, welcome to the highly popular live interview TV show, Live it Live (A/N: this is not a typo. It is pronounced as 'live liv it live laif, or something like that. You know what I mean ), and your host for tonight is me, Kellie! And tonight, we have – drums roll please – the Stronghold Three, featuring The Newcomer, Will Stronghold! Everyone give him a hand, please!" the stadium was filled with roaring applauses. Everyone hooted and screamed and whistled as Will Stronghold rose from his seat. He did a somewhat charismatic wave, and all the fangirls melted; when he blushed slightly the camera managed to catch that tiny action in full, making all them fangirls squeal with absolute delight. Finally he got over the amusement and ambled to sit in the empty chair directly opposite the female host.
"Hi, Will!" the female host, Kellie, shouted with enthusiasm and winked flirtatiously at the overly famous guy now sitting opposite him, and could barely hear the background where all the fangirls were shrieking with jealousy. Will answered with a rather shy smile. Even though this wasn't his very first interview he was still rather introversive, not exactly one of those who would give up anything for another, more thrilling recount of their most recent adventures.
"Well, tell us more about your most recent adventure, the one with Royal Pain. Come on, we know we want to hear it, don't we?" Kellie beamed mischievously and the rest of the audience tagged along. Layla saw and could feel with her heart how much embarrassment Will was suffering from, and her heart cringed with nervousness. After all, this was a live show, not a recorded one. What if Will made a fool of himself in front of so many people?
But unbeknownst to her Will was actually brimming with confidence; after so many interviews his self-esteem increased significantly and he was no longer the funny, sarcastically droll and rather timid guy who happened to have flying powers and super strength; he was now the self-confident, brilliantly witty and extroversive Will. And he was good at pretending to be the direct opposite.
Right now the Will Stronghold on-screen was talking animatedly about his battle, how Warren Peace, Layla (at the mention of her name Layla beamed with pride even if no one could see) and fellow members did their part (though he changed he did not take all the glory for himself) and how they managed to transform all the babies back again, pausing at all the right places, waiting for the audience to clap, or gasp with awe, or get all nervous.
Layla was too intrigued by Will's story that she didn't even notice his sudden improvement in storytelling skills; she was utterly smitten with him. She seemed to be sucked into the world in the television; as he relived that fateful homecoming night she was blinded by his every movement… every swish of the hand, every nod of the head, every charming smile he wore… Layla found herself smiling stupidly to no one, except for her dream sweetheart appearing on television, and was awoken rather rudely and abruptly from her stupor when her infuriating ears made her catch something she was not meant to. At least, she thought not.
"Do you have anything to add then, Will?" Kellie's sweet tingly voice broke the awkward pause right after Will had finished his encounter.
Will pretended to think for a while, and then burst out, "If someone is watching this channel right now, please, I'm sorry I didn't respond to your calls and instant messages, I was too busy. Please don't do this to me."
Layla now watched him with intensity, listening carefully to his every word. Why was he saying that? It wasn't like she did anything bad behind his back…
The audience stared at him with amazed eyes, surprised that Will Stronghold would say something like that. The host tried to break the building ice, and her efforts were in vain as hushed whispers covered every corner of the stadium. The Stronghold Three briskly left the stage and the show ended with Kellie gushing about some excitement and thrill they had tonight and all that crap entertainers use when they have nothing left to say.
Layla searched for her remote control, brushing away cushions and stuff violently. In the end she found it resting in her left palm. She sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her long, red hair, and decided to ask her boyfriend's best friend for opinions, and to search for comfort.
"What is it that you want this time?" Warren's husky voice snapped, his impatience vibrating loudly through the phone line. "I'm busy enough as it is."
For the third time that night Layla was both surprised and remotely hurt. Only a few days ago Warren was taking her to the park in his convertible and calling her his Green Princess!
"I'm sorry, Warren, but I just need to meet you again, I need opinions, please help me!" she knew she sounded desperate but that was what she was.
"I can't. I've got no time to spare and listen to your rubbish." The voice sounded more and more angry and Layla was completely lost; she didn't even offend him in the first place!
"What… what's wrong with you, Warren Peace? I've had a bad enough day and you have to treat me like that! Why are men always doing this to hurt women? It's either behaving freaking well or attacking and hurting the girl at the same time! What's WRONG with all of you!" Layla spat into the receiver, frustration welling up within her like a bubbling pit.
"Shut up. Aren't women the same? Don't think I don't know what you've actually been up to. It was just like those high school days in Sky High (A/N: Ground Low is the exact opposite of Sky High, a lame code I made Layla use to cover up her school name. Lame, I know.) where you use me to achieve your purposes. Calling me a cutie and going to the dance with me, eh? Women are creatures with so many tactics. They do all sorts of silly things just to get what they want. Aren't you doing the same again? Just because Will Stronghold neglected you doesn't mean you can pretend to be intimate with me and hug me and get all over me in the park when Mrs. Stronghold flew over! She's told me all about it, and what she saw you doing. She's very worried about it and she's made Will apologise to you in public, so aren't you satisfied yet! If you don't truly want to be my good friend then get out of my way and stop doing this to me." The last sentence Warren seethed; he sounded more exasperated than annoyed, and that hurt Layla greatly.
"I didn't know anything… That hug was genuine and I've never done anything after high school to make Will notice me! Hey, listen!" the phone clicked and she knew Warren had put down his receiver.
"Listen to me explain…" She whispered into the phone, into nothingness except for a monotone that would never go away. Hot tears cascaded down her face, staining her skirt.
How could all this happen so fast? Life… was really too unpredictable for her…
And as the last word flashed across her thoughts her sadness was distracted by something else. Something like a marvelous light shining down into her temporarily pitch dark world… literally.
Her bedside table was glowing, its light pale, but noticeable. Layla carelessly wiped away her tears on her sleeve, sniffed and walked over, intrigued.
As she opened the drawer she noticed the object glowing was the lemon, the lemon she had miraculously created a few days before, and it seemed to be hissing…
She forced herself to calm down as she felt her pulse rate decrease slowly. She listened with her heart to the hissing… And it seemed to be saying something…
"If you are willing, I could grant you what you wish for…"
A/N: Wahahaha! Finally another crappy chapter. Warren is angry with Layla's actions, therefore he has a huuuuuge mood swing… Hahaha… I know, it wasn't Will flying overhead, it was his mum… All righties people, after reading, you should know what to do, and that is to REVIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW! Love you people loads ((huggles))
Reviews and constructive criticism appreciated greatly. Flames ignored, and particularly irritating flames shall be deleted, I don't care about the number of reviews… Harharhar… You know you want to find out more about the lemon… Or maybe you don't… Hahaha…