AN: Heheh, um, I'm so totally sorry about this very late update! My internet completely screwed up after I finished writing this chapter and I couldn't update it. I know, I know, I could have taken it out and put it on another computer or re-typed it but there are two problems with that: 1) It wouldn't let me get into the chapter least of all let me take it out. 2) I don't write out my chapters first...I just type them and update. The below AN was written before everything crashed.

AN: Hello! True to my word, I waited to get at least 5 reviews and I'm happy to say that it only took a day to get my requested reviews! Oh, and yes, that last paragraph in the last chapter probably made a few (or more) people question my sanity, but it was intentional!

Anyways, here's the next chapter! Please read and review because I'd really like feedback, good or not. –smiles- Please note that this is AU and most things will be different except people, powers, and the school. Anything else is fair game.

Disclaimer: Nope, they are not mine. That makes me sad. I really want them! Especially Warren...

*Chapter Three*

Tired of this Game

Warren Peace growled as he sat at lunch by himself. Not that anybody actually tried to go sit with him or anything, he was quite scary, to people who knew him for a long time or only a day. He was sitting at a table near the back of the cafeteria, with his elbows on the tabletop and his hands covering half of his face in a brooding posture, his eyes smoldering as he thought.

Why can't she remember? I thought it was gonna be easy, but I guess it's not. Why couldn't we have all just been normal kids?

He was jarred out of his thoughts by the sound of something hitting the table... after it smacked him on the forehead. …Someone is gonna die.

He rubbed his forehead for a second as he picked up the box-folded note. He turned it over to find the name Warren on the front. Okay, so if it wasn't already obvious that the stupid note was for him, the name clinched it.

Who would send him a note? Give you one guess.

He opened it up with a little difficulty, since the way it was folded was confusing to him, and read the neat, loopy, cursive handwriting that obviously belonged to a female.

Hey Warren,

What do you want from me? If anything, I should be asking you stuff! (I'm frowning right now).—

He chuckled at that. She was so ridiculous.

Just do me a favor. Leave me alone, because you make me frustrated and I'm a peace-loving girl who doesn't prefer violence but you make me want to hurt someone by your stupid cheekiness!

P.S. My name is Layla, NOT Hippie!

He burned the note into ashes and blew them away once he finished reading the note. "Sorry, Layla, but that I just can't do. No matter what either of us wants to do," he whispered.

He looked up and noticed that Layla was looking at him again. She was staring at his face, probably looking for a sign that her message got through. He smirked and shook his head.

Let the games begin.

Layla groaned when she saw Warren's reaction to the note that she had thrown across to hit him. She wasn't sure that it would hit the mark, but was extremely happy when it did. She even felt a measure of pride that she was able to smack his forehead just like he had done to her.

"What's wrong, Layla?"

Layla turned back to her friends Magenta, Ethan, and Zach. "Oh, nothing's wrong. I just wish that you all were in my classes or I was transferred back over to Hero-Support!" she lied.

Ethan shook his head. "That's impossible, Layla. You have a great power and you know how to wield it. You don't belong in sidekick classes with us."

Magenta stared at her. Layla was her best friend and she'd known her for five years. She knew when she was lying and this was one of those times. "Layla, are you sure?" she stared into her friend's brown eyes and saw the returning stare wasn't as confident as the other girl would have wished.

"Hey, Zach, Ethan, you want to go get something to drink." It wasn't phrased as a question when it was used in her don't mess with me tone.

Zach looked confused. "But, we have drinks right he—"

Magenta accidentally tipped his cup off of the table to splatter to the floor. "Oops, you'd better get another drink, and something to clean this up."

The boys looked at each other, nodded, got up, and walked away.

She smirked. Layla grinned.

"So," began Layla's purple-streaked haired friend, "now that the dweebs are gone, you wanna tell me what's really going on?"

Layla sighed. She knew she shouldn't have tried to trick Magenta; she was her best friend for goodness' sake! "Well, Stronghold is giving me grief again, but that's not something that I can't handle. And there's also this other guy, Warren something. He's been on my case for some reason. He called me Hippie!" she nearly shouted, indignant.

"Wait, what'd you say his name was?" Magenta asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Warren something. Anyways, I don't care what his name is; he is an arrogant jerk who needs to learn to not get people into trouble over a stupid seat!"

Magenta closed her eyes and shook her head. She began to chuckle.

Layla frowned. "And just what is so funny, Magenta?"

Magenta just shook her head again and waved her hands in front of her. "No-nothing! It's just funny. I though I heard you say Warren was giving you grief."

Layla just stared at her friend as if she were a little bit slow. "I did."

Her friends head shot up. "What? Are you sure? Layla, that guy is dangerous!"

Now it was Layla's turn to laugh. "Dangerous? What do you mean? I mean, I know he's a little weird and all, but—"

"No, I mean it! He's—"

Just then, the boys decided to make their re-entrance. "Excuse us, but we got company, at nine o'clock," said Ethan as he and Zach sat down.

"Huh? What're you talk—"

"Hey, Williams, how's it going?" interrupted a most despised voice.

She closed her eyes and counted to five before answering him. "Stronghold, can't you see that we were in the middle of something? But if you really needed to talk," she turned around and stood up, looking right at him, "then go talk to a wall. You are not welcome here. Have a good day." With that sentiment, she got up and walked out of the cafeteria with her friends on her heels (and a couple of other unexpected visitors).

Will just stood there, looking smug. He knew that she would leave, but that was what he'd wanted. He had seen Warren get up, and he'd assumed that he was going over to Layla's table, so he interfered.

He chanced a look over at the other teen but found that he was no longer there. Will frowned. Was Warren not going to come over here then? Then what made me come over here? Layla's smiling face popped up in his mind. No, it can't be because of her. I'm sure of it, Warren was coming over here. Now where did he go? And he left to go back to his table with his own friends, wondering about what he was going to do.

Warren had left the cafeteria the moment that he saw Layla and her friends get confronted by Stronghold. There was no way he was going to give that prissy boy the satisfaction of knowing he was right, since he actually was planning on going over to Layla's table and he knew that that's what Stronghold thought he was going to do. So, he did what any other guy would do: he left the room quietly instead of getting caught.

He shook his head. Man, he really needed a break from the noise. It was so damn noisy here in this school! He growled at a couple of kids who were staring at him and they looked away quickly. He needed to get out for a while.

He went outside.

Layla stomped over to a fountain and plopped herself down on the ledge.

Magenta and the two boys followed her to the fountain but settled themselves comfortably on the soft grass rather than the stone-hard ledge where their currently angered friend was sitting. She had one arm crossed over her lap and the other absentmindedly making a flower burst into bloom into a wide array of unnatural colors.

Magenta calmly looked at her best friend and spoke. "Layla. Stronghold is an ass and he knows that it pushes your buttons when he bothers you. So, the obvious answer would be," she waved her arms dramatically, "don't let him bother you!" she rolled her eyes and let her arms drop back to her side when she didn't get an immediate response.

Layla sighed and stopped playing with her flower which had now returned to its natural yellow and was swaying gently in the breeze. She looked up. "He used to be nicer, a good person." Then her eyes widened in some emotion the others couldn't really place. Was it excitement? No, anger? No, no—happiness? Ugh, they didn't know. They couldn't keep up with the multitude of emotions the girl was putting out.

She was looking at something over Zach's shoulder and she suddenly shot up and, muttering a quick, "I'll be right back," to her friends, sped off to whatever had caught her interest.

Ethan sighed. "That girl is so strange."

Zach and Magenta looked at him in annoyed glances.

"And you're one to talk are you, Puddle Boy?" exclaimed Magenta.

"Hey, at least I'm not you, Gerbil Girl!" he retorted.

Zach started to laugh but quickly covered it up with a cough. Too bad it wasn't fast enough to evade the hearing of the two bickering friends.

"Oh, shut up, Light Bulb!" they shouted in good humor.

"Hey!" he grumbled as he sat down again after jumping up to claim Layla's recently vacated spot. "What?" he replied to the weird looks he was being given. "This spot's better!"

"Ugh, Zach, you moron."

Layla had seen Warren leaning against a tree away from everyone else reading a book so she decided to run up to her dark haired stalker and harshly tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around and grabbed her wrist and held it above her head before she could do it again and stared at her. "What?" he glared icily.

She scowled back. "You don't scare me you fire-headed...guy! I want to know just why you wouldn't say that you would leave me alone when I wrote you that note."

He smirked. "Fire-headed guy? Wow; I'm so offended," he repeated monotonously. Layla blushed and glared harder.

"I won't leave you alone. And besides, you are the one who is coming after me." He stated and burned her with his eyes. Or at least that's what that look felt like to Layla, poor girl. She felt as if she were on fire with that gaze and she had to refrain from actually checking for flames.

"What?" she cried. "You started bothering me first! And, hey, let go of my wrist!" she just realized that he still had hold of it. She tried to yank it out of his vice-like grip but to no avail. He was much stronger than her and she didn't like it.

He leaned down to her level and she immediately stopped struggling. "Get one thing straight, Hippie," she huffed but stopped at his menacing look. "Until you remember something from your past, I will not leave you alone and you cannot tell me what to do. Remember, fire kills trees." He started to let go of her wrist, but grabbed onto her hand instead.

"Hey—"

Maybe this will jog your memory, "Think before you act, Hippie, remember that I'm stronger than you," he muttered as he released her hand and walked away, back into the school.

Layla stared in shock at the place Warren once stood. He called me Hippie again! The nerve of him, that—wait, what's this? She looked at her hand and gasped. It's beautiful! But why did he give it to me? And why does it look so familiar? …I'm sure I've never seen it before…

It was a delicate emerald and ruby crystal necklace with a tiny rose inside of it. Upon closer inspection it seemed that there were tiny words on the rose, but she couldn't make them out. Mentally shrugging, she turned to go back to her friends when she bumped into something. A very hard something. In one swift move she quickly hid the necklace in her purse and looked up. And scowled once more.

Great, she thought, another person on my Would-Smother-With-Plants-if-I-Weren't-So-Nice list.

"What's up, Williams? What have you got there?" grinned Will as he leaned, relaxed, on the other side of the tree that Warren had just vacated.

She put a fake smile on her face. "Whatever do you mean? I would tell you to leave me alone and go away, but I really don't want to talk to a jerk," or at least not another one, "so I'm just going to leave. Goodbye jerk!" She skipped off to find her group of friends by the same fountain she left them at.

Will watched her go, right up until she was back with her friends, or what he would call 'losers', and only then did he leave. Layla was going to get it for being rude to him all those years; he just had to wait a little bit longer.

Warren watched her face as she finally looked at her hand. Her eyes sparkled with wonderment and confusion, but something definitely sparked in her eyes.

He watched as she turned to leave but bumped into someone. He growled; oh hell no, not that bastard! He saw Layla quickly and stealthily put the necklace in her purse and look up. Her confusion and apologetic face turned into one of disgust and false happiness. Warren couldn't hear what they were saying, but in a minute or so Layla walked away from Stronghold and he didn't follow her. He just...stared...at her. That damn idiot!

Warren just grumbled to himself and turned around when he saw Layla sit with her friends and Stronghold finally leave. He didn't realize it, or maybe he just didn't care, but he was scaring the people around him a lot more than usual with all of his grumbling and the fire in his eyes and playing around his fingers.

Poor Warren.

Just as Layla reached her friends Zach jumped up from his position on the fountain ledge and she chuckled and shook her head, inviting him to stay where he was. She didn't really want to sit down. She guessed it was because all that had just happened. She was debating on telling Magenta about what happened with Will just then.

She had completely forgotten about the necklace she had hidden in her purse.

Just as she decided that she didn't need to tell anyone about Will, the bell ending lunch period rang loud and long, scaring some of the new freshmen which made a few older kids laugh.

"Well people," Magenta started, getting up and wiping her hands on her pants, "let's get ourselves to gym before Boomer calls for us!"

Ethan and Zach shuddered at the thought of Boomer calling for them. They did not want that to happen, so they looked at each other, back to the girls, back to each other, and nodded. They grabbed the girls and high-tailed it towards the gym with the screaming and laughing girls over their shoulders.

They made it to the changing rooms just in time as the boys dumped them in front of theirs and ran into their own without slowing a beat.

Magenta looked like she was going to burst from holding back some laughter so Layla nodded and Magenta promptly laughed her heart out.

"Di-didn't they know that we would have been fine on our own? That we still have," she looked at her black and purple watch, "two minutes left?"

Layla looked at her own watch and frowned. "Um, Magenta, we have like two seconds to get in the changing room!" and ran into the room with a startled Magenta on her tail.

"Oh, whoops!" she said as she reached her gym locker and began getting her clothes while Layla did the same.

"Yeah, yeah. Hehe, well at least we weren't late! We've gotta thank the boys for that!" laughed Layla.

Magenta just laughed.

Gym started, once again, very uneventfully for the small group once they all got together again after changing. They were all stretching and warming up when Coach Boomer started talking and when he started talking, people generally shut up and listened. Not like they had a choice.

At least the good kids did. The others, who felt that they already knew everything, didn't.

"Once again, we will be doing Save the Citizen!" Boomer announced to groans from some and whistles and cheers from others.

Layla, Magenta, Ethan, and Zach just started to head for the bleachers as they always did since the only ones Boomer ever played were the ones he favored, and they weren't a part of that group.

Except this time, Coach Boomer did something he had never done before. He called on Layla to play.

"What?" she stuttered. "I can't play, Coach Boomer, you know that! I only use my powers in defense, never to just show off in these shows!"

"Get in there with Stronghold, Williams. Just use your powers or you will fail. You just need to pass one game and then you can sit out." He explained.

"Wait, did you say Stronghold?" she spat.

"Yes, I believe he did, Williams. Now come on and get in the ring. Don't keep me waiting." said the brunet as he smirked and jumped into the ring himself.

She sighed in defeat and climbed into the ring. She looked at her friends sitting on the bleachers and saw that they were giving her different looks: Ethan was confused and showed it, Zach was stunned, and Magenta was looking a bit scared for her as well as mad at Coach Boomer—presumably for making her best friend get in a match when he knew that she did not like using her powers just to show off to a crowd.

Layla walked up to Stronghold and stared at his innocent face. Wait a minute, Will, innocent? Why that little...! She glared up at him and said in an angry whisper, "Did you have anything to do with this, you jerk?"

He just glanced back at her coolly, with that innocent expression still planted on his face. "Why, whatever do you mean, Layla? It was just a coincidence," he purred with malicious amusement in his eyes that he just couldn't get rid of, not that he was trying to hide it.

She just grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited to see her opponents. She gasped when she saw who stepped into the ring across from them. Lash and Alex Bowen. The super-stretcher and the shape-shifter who could change into anything and wasn't limited to one thing like Magenta. Great, she thought, one person who might still be sore after I almost got him expelled last year—and actually did get his best friend expelled, one person who is giving me a perverted look right now—gross!— and one person whom I absolutely cannot stand! Great.

"Ready?" asked Boomer as he looked between both teams. Once he got nods saying 'yes', he yelled, "Ready, Set, GO!" and dropped his arm, starting the exercise.

Immediately, Will flew up and towards the dummy they were supposed to be saving while Layla was left on the ground looking around hopelessly, wondering if she should use her powers or not. She knew that she would have a good chance of helping her team win if she did, when suddenly a purple and black striped arm shot out at her and tried to grab her. It would have, too, if she hadn't jumped out of the way just in time.

Suddenly, Alex, the shape-shifter, was in front of her and he reached out to grab her arms and toss her away into the corner while Will was being tackled by Lash, but Layla wasn't going to give up without a fight and, she considered, it is now self-defense since Alex will probably kill me if I don't do anything! So she sent some power into the floor, willing something to come up.

Something did. Yes!

A vine shot up through the floor of the gym and the ring and grabbed Alex around the ankles, tripping him as he tried to step forward to reach for Layla again, for she had jumped out of the way the first time.

He fell with a loud thunk! and as he was trying to tear the very strong vines away from his ankles, another one rose up and wrapped itself around his arms and wrists, effectively constraining him. As he struggled to get free, completely forgetting about his own power since he was surprised that Layla had actually used some of her own against him, the girl in question turned to watch the match with Lash and Will.

It looked like Lash was getting the upper hand, but she refused to use any more of her powers in this barbaric game to show off strength just to help out Will. Actually, it looked like he didn't need her help since he managed to get free of Lash's entangling arms and flew up to the dummy to once again try to save it.

Alex, forgotten until now, caught Layla by surprise as he had finally remembered his power and transformed into a fly to escape and once he did he grabbed the girl from behind and tried to crush her to the floor, but, her being a girl and more flexible than him, she wriggled her way out of his grip and rolled away before he slammed into the ground.

She was just about to look up and see how her teammate was doing, when she was once again caught, but this time it was by a long arm which slammed her to the ground.

"Lash? Oh my god, I thought that you were battling Will! Idiot!" she berated herself. She could now see that Alex was going against Will who had almost grabbed the dummy when their two opponents had decided to switch again. Alex was now a giant bird who was trying to peck him to death. Layla would have laughed at the scene if she didn't have her own problems to deal with. Plus, the timer was almost done! They had to win! "Lash, get off of me, you stretching freak!" she shrieked.

He laughed mirthlessly, and said, "Nope, I like it like this. Me in control and you losing the game!" he wrapped his long arms around her and started to pull her up, her back to his chest.

Before he could, though, she decided once again to use her powers in this exercise. This time, she produced extremely tall vines full of poison ivy—who knew they had that under their gym?—and covered him with it. He let her go in shock as he tried to get away from the clingy vines and started scratching himself where the ivy touched bare skin.

The bell rang, and Layla looked up in shock. Had they won? Yes! Apparently they had. Will was dropping back to the ground with the dummy over his shoulder.

Automatically, the vines she had called up went back to where they had come from, leaving gaping holes in their wake.

Will came down to her and dropped the dummy at her feet, smirking smugly. "We won, Williams. How's about a kiss to celebrate?" he whispered and blew her a kiss. She gasped and slapped him across the face.

Correction: she tried to slap him across the face, but was prevented from doing so as Coach Boomer came down and raised both Will and her arms, announcing officially that they won the match to applause and cheers.

She stalked out of the ring and slammed herself down on the bleachers with her friends. "This period needs to end. NOW." She grumbled with her arms crossed again.

When her friends didn't answer, she looked up at them only to see that they were staring in shock over her shoulder. She turned around and groaned at what she saw. Apparently Boomer had chosen new opponents while she was grumbling about being "forced to play that stupid exercise all because of that stupid Stronghold" and three people had accumulated behind her. Warren, Will, and Lash: one looking at her with approval, one with smugness, and one with hate. Wonderful, just what she needed. Oy vey.

"Go away, all of you," she muttered sweetly, yet darkly at the same time. At her tone, all but two people shuddered.

Lash glared at her and said, "No; you can't tell me what to do, Williams."

Will just stated, "I believe this is a free country, Layla, and I choose to sit here. You can't make me leave." How she hated his smug tone.

Warren looked at her like he was trying to decipher something, sighed when he didn't find it, and just said, "No," before leaning back in his seat.

Stupid girl, I know you can remember it, wear the necklace, or at least remember what it's from.

The bell finally rang for the end of the period and Layla almost ran to the dressing room just to get out of there. She really hated gym.

Lash stared at her until she was out of sight and only then did he get up to go to the boys' dressing room. That girl will get what's coming to her, and I will be all too happy to deliver it, personally.

Will watched her go with amusement until he too got up to get dressed. That girl is going to suffer a lot more for standing up to me and for being little Miss Priss.

Warren was the last of the 'stalkers' to leave. He was thinking that it was definitely going to be harder than he thought to get her to trust him and remember their past. He finally got up and left as well.

This whole thing is getting crazy, first it was Lash last year, it's always been Stronghold, and now Warren is bugging the heck out of me! Really, when will they give it a rest?

—sigh—

Well, I guess this is it for this journal entry. But what do they all want from me?

AN: Once again, so sorry about the late update! If you read the above AN, then you know why.

So, was this chapter any good? I wasn't really sure on the Save the Citizen part, but eh. Oh well. I'm really sick and I couldn't really care less right now.

Please review! It will make me smile and hopefully make me feel better and not so sick! Hehe

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Can I make another deal with you all? I promise to update really fast if I can get a lot of reviews for this chapter! My internet will not screw up again, I won't let it!

ttfn!

EvilFaerie17

EDIT: 9/26/2011