As Will promised, he thought long and hard that night as he lay in bed.
He thought about Layla. Should he take Zach's advice, and ask her out? Or should he wait, and see if maybe there was some sort of mistake; Layla was Will's best friend! Why would she like him? Maybe Will's hopefulness was just that; hopefulness. Nothing more.
But maybe… she does like me, Will thought. At least a little. And I like her, right?
Will turned onto his side. He did want to ask Layla out, but would he be able to? He had never had a girlfriend before! He didn't know the first thing about it.
This is a tough decision… Will thought glumly. Maybe my head will be clear in the morning.
It wasn't. Will considered the pros and cons as he got dressed, the possible outcomes as he ate breakfast, and the probability of her saying 'yes' as he walked to the bus stop.
"Good morning, Will," Layla greeted him as he walked up to her at the bus stop.
Somehow, Will's mind stopped turning and became empty, like it had been doing recently around Layla. "M… morning…" he mumbled, tired from thinking all night about her. They boarded the bus and sat together, as always. Zach was in front of them, talking away, but every once in a while he gave Will a questioning look.
"So, dude, what are you gonna…?"
"I've got to go!" Will exclaimed, racing off away from Zach. He really, really didn't feel like telling Zach that over 12 hours was not enough time to decide.
He was one of the first people to step into the classroom, which meant all the seats around him got filled up quickly. By the time Layla and his other friends walked in, they gave Will weird looks and sat in some empty seats.
Will let out a sigh of relief. He needed some alone time, and he would never come to a conclusion if Layla was next to him the entire time. His brain started working properly for the first time since his walk to the school bus, and he settled onto the thoughts of asking Layla out.
No, this is so stupid! Will thought. She's going to say no, she's going to say no, she only sees me as a friend, she's way too smart for me… but why does she keep holding my hand, and being even friendlier, and acting shy, and… this is so confusing.
His next class was a bit better. His thoughts were more positive, at least.
Layla has been acting a lot different around me lately. I think Zach's right, maybe she does like me! In that case, I should definitely ask her out. But what should I say…?
His next class was Elective, the only one without Layla. Everyone in Hero Support was given a few choices for Elective class; Superhero Comic Art, Superhero Chess, and the Famous Sidekicks of the Twentieth Century. All of Will's friends had chosen Comic Art, as did most of the class, but Will turned out to be the only one stuck in 'Famous Sidekicks…'. He sat with his head in his hands, staring into space, thinking about the ways he should ask Layla out.
I could send her flowers, with a note attached! No, that's too girly. Maybe I could just send the note? No, she'll think I'm a coward. I just have to do it, face to face, like normal people…
"Mr. Stronghold?" a voice asked dangerously.
Will was snapped from his daydreams. "Um, yes?"
The teacher, Ms. InvisiWoman, rolled her eyes. "Mr. Stronghold, have you been paying attention at all for this entire class?"
"Uh, yeah…"
"No you haven't! Don't lie to me! Detention after school, one hour!" she yelled. She sniffed and turned around back to the board.
Will sat in his seat, open-mouthed. Detention?!
During lunch, Will sat glumly, staring at his sandwich.
"Okay, dude, why can't you hang out again?" Ethan asked from across the table.
Will sighed. "I already told you, I have detention after school," he explained.
"But why? You just weren't paying attention? You know Ms. InvisiWoman gets mad at that," Magenta said, raising her eyebrows at Will as if to tell him that he was an idiot for getting himself into this mess.
"I know! My mind was just… preoccupied… that's all," Will mumbled.
His friends all sighed. "Whatever, we'll just meet up tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay."
After school, Will solemnly trudged to the detention room. He had spent a few minutes talking with his friends, trying to squeeze in a bit of fun, and now the halls were totally empty. He could hear his footsteps echo. He turned the corner and came face-to-face with a big steel door with the words "Detention Hall" marked in black right over it. He rolled his eyes to himself, and briefly wondered if iPods were allowed, when he pushed open the door.
"Stronghold."
Oh, shit, Will cursed.
"Thank you for joining us, Will Stronghold," the detention monitor said sarcastically as he glanced at his watch to accentuate the fact that he was late.
But Will wasn't looking at him, nor did he answer, because he was staring at one other face in the room: Warren Peace.
Will suppressed the huge groan that was about to come out, and instead focused on signing in on a sheet and listening to the monitor's directions to sit away from everyone else, and not to talk.
That won't be a problem, Will thought as he made his way to a seat as far from Warren as possible.
Warren had been eyeing him while he was standing at the front of the room, but was now turning a page in a thick, battered novel. Will found this interesting: Warren Peace liked reading? It seemed rather un-bully like.
It's probably for school or whatever, Will convinced himself, as though that made it less of a good reason.
"Um… are we allowed to listen to our iPods?" Will asked softly as he raised his hand.
The detention monitor glanced at him. "Nope," he said. "That would make detention fun. And detention should not be fun."
Will stared at him. "Um… okay." He thought he saw Warren snort and roll his eyes.
Will pulled out some homework and tried concentrating on it, pencil poised and ready. But the minutes dragged by, and he grew more and more impatient.
What kind of school makes us write essays for P.E. anyway?! Will thought in exasperation.
There was a faint 'click', but it was enough to make Will look up. He saw that the detention monitor was gone, along with his bag and possessions.
"He left?" Will said aloud in disbelief. He heard a chuckle and jumped, realizing it was his leather jacket-wearing enemy.
"Even nerds get bored sometimes, I guess," he said. "That guy was a senior; I know him."
Will nodded vaguely, trying not to look scared. "Oh…" he mumbled.
"In that case…" one of the other detention-doers said, standing up. "I'm going for a 'bathroom break'." He winked, and left the room.
Will gulped. Was he the only normal kid in the room? Surely not every kid that entered detention was a complete delinquent? There was one shy-looking kid in the corner, but all the other kids were slowly getting up and leaving the room. Will stared at all of them. They had guts. Not like him.
Warren got up and stretched. He pushed his long hair out of his face and stuffed his book into his black bag. He swung it over his shoulders and turned around.
Will realized he was staring right at him, and quickly looked away. He pretended to do his homework, tapping his pencil against the paper and creating annoying dots. He didn't like that, and wondered if Warren was gone yet.
"Stronghold," Warren said in that commanding, authoritive voice of his.
Will jumped and slowly looked up. "Um…" he squeaked.
Warren was standing nonchalantly, all his weight on one foot. "You seriously going to stay here? Everyone else is leaving, if you haven't noticed."
"I… I noticed," Will said, not exactly looking into Warren's face.
"Is this your first detention?" Warren asked.
"Well, my first at Sky High," Will answered. He looked briefly into Warren's eyes, as though he was just talking to his friend, but backed off at the intensity he felt.
"It's kinda two hours long. Well, it is for people like us. I don't know what you did. It might be shorter for you."
Will nodded vaguely. He didn't want to admit that he had been put in detention for something as stupid as not paying attention for one class. Warren and the others had probably killed someone, for all he knew.
"You should leave, too," Warren said.
"Um… no, it's okay. I don't want to get in trouble," Will said. I sound like such an idiot… he thought.
Warren chuckled. "You're already in trouble, kid. A little more won't hurt. Come on."
Warren nodded toward the door, and Will didn't know what to do. On one hand, he didn't want to look like a wimp, especially not for Warren. That would probably make it even easier for him to beat him up. And, of course, he really didn't want to be stuck in detention for two hours. On the other hand, this was Warren Peace, notoriously the toughest guy at school. This could be a trick. Maybe Warren wasn't the blatantly-pissed-off-beat-up-the-nerd guy. Maybe he was clever.
"Well?" Warren said, starting to get impatient.
But Will could tell Warren was determined, for some reason. He didn't want to him to say no.
"Okay…" Will finally said.
He stood up, not looking at Warren, and stuffed his papers back in his backpack. He swung it over his shoulder and stepped forward to show he was ready, looking at the floor.
"Let's go," Warren said.
Will followed Warren down the hall, keeping his eyes on the shine of the black leather. He was surprised by the maze of hallways in Sky High. He had never been to this particular part of the building, and was pretty sure it was mainly for teachers and offices and, of course, detention. He might have gotten lost, or at least caught, if not for Warren. The thought confused him somewhat.
"We're going by the teacher's office now, try not to make so much noise," Warren commanded.
Will piped an "okay" and tried to silence his footsteps. It was difficult, with his squeaky sneakers. He wondered how Warren could keep quiet with his heavy-looking boots. They were soon past the office and Will was beginning to recognize the places. He could see the entrance down the hall.
"We're here!" Will said.
Warren shushed him. "Be quiet, there's our detention monitor," Warren whispered, stopping. He leaned against the wall, where the doorway would cover him.
Will did the same. "So that's where he went," he said.
Warren shushed him again. "We'll just wait until he leaves."
In the silence, Will started to think. He realized he was no longer pondering his girl problems, and, instead, was skipping detention with Warren! And, honestly, they way they were acting didn't seem very bully/freshman-like. It was almost, almost, almost like they were friends. Or, at least they didn't hate each other.
"Hey, is she waiting for you?" Warren asked all of a sudden.
"What?" Will asked, craning his neck. He saw immediately what Warren was looking at: He was staring out into the large windows at the entrance, where Layla was in plain sight, sitting on the steps.
"Um…" Will began, "I don't know. I guess she is."
Warren was frowning. "I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend."
"I never said that…" Will said. His cheeks reddened. "I mean, she isn't, technically."
That didn't seem to please Warren. "Technically?" he asked dangerously.
Will wanted to say something, but his voice only squeaked. "Um…"
So much for not hating each other. Warren seemed to be fuming, glaring at Will with a new intensity in his eyes.
Will started shaking. Warren hadn't exactly been nice to him so far in the school year, but he hadn't beat him up quite yet. Was he going to start now?
Remarkably, at that exact moment, the detention monitor moved down the hall, in the opposite direction, and Will took his chance to make his escape. He knew Warren wouldn't do anything, or risk getting caught. Will didn't look back as he exited the school and walked down he stairs to where Layla was seated. She jumped up when she saw him.
"Hey, Will!" she said.
"Layla..." he began. "There's something I need to talk to you about."
