Jeez Louise! I DO so hate annual, state reviews. A person cannot do anything but work during review time. I have missed writing so much. Thank God the dreaded review is over!
(You can't see me, but I'm literally jumping for joy.)
So on with normality.
Don't own the characters.
This scenario is courtesy of Riderazzo.
Thank you for your suggestion and I hope you like it.
Part 4To the naked eye Layla seemed to be the same old Layla that everybody was used to seeing everyday. She was still wearing her favorite colors of greens and browns. Her attention to others never wavered. She was smiling and seemed happy, but to one person in particular it was seen as the façade it really was. Warren Peace knew that something wasn't right. He knew it by the loss of sparkle in her eyes and the slight tightness in her lips. It was also not hard to figure by the drooping plants in her wake. Layla was not happy and Warren was determined to find out what had caused this change in her demeanor.
"Hey Hippie," Warren said as he snagged her outside in the little garden behind the school before asking bluntly, "What's wrong?"
"What are you talking about?" Layla asked blinking suspiciously innocent eyes up at him, "What makes you think that anything is wrong?"
Warren didn't answer. He merely gently grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to look behind herself. Every plant in the garden was drooping and wilting on the spot.
"Oh," Layla said looking over the disaster, "Um…oops."
"What's wrong?" Warren asked again as he spun her back around to face him.
"I really don't want to talk about," Layla said looking down.
"Tough," Warren grunted out as he crossed his arms over his chest, "So spill it."
Layla chuckled softly when she looked up at Warren. The look in his eyes let her know that he meant business and wouldn't let up. When Warren wanted something, he got it.
"Fine," Layla said sighing, "But I won't tell you here. This school has ears everywhere."
"Aren't you and Will going on a date tonight at the Paper Lantern?" Warren asked.
"Yes," Layla agreed looking puzzled, "I'm meeting him at 8:00."
"Then you come at 7:00," Warren demanded as he turned to leave, "We'll talk on one of my breaks. Oh, and fix the garden."
"Yes sir!" Layla said with a happier grin as she turned to perk up the poor little garden.
That night Layla arrived at the precise time of 7:00 and luckily it was a very slow night so she was the only customer at the moment. She looked quite lovely in a mossy-green colored dress with roses embroidered on the hem, but her face gave away her wariness.
"Sit," Warren ordered as he showed her to a booth and they both sat down, "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure where to begin," Layla said as she fiddled nervously with a folded napkin.
"Start at the beginning," Warren said gently as he took the napkin out of her hands.
"Well…" Layla said, "Will and I have been dating a while now, right?"
"You think?" Warren joked before sobering back up at her withering look thrown his way, "A little over a year. What about it?"
"Um…well…Will and I have made out a few times since we started dating," Layla said blushing slightly.
"And?" Warren encouraged even as he started getting uncomfortable with the topic of this discussion.
"Will made a small comment that made me start thinking a little," Layla said not looking up.
"What did Stronghold say?" Warren asked a little testily since he knew that Will was not one to watch his mouth sometimes and had hurt people's feelings in the past by accident.
"He…he…um…he said that the way I kissed was different from Gwen," Layla said turning an unbecoming scarlet.
"What?" Warren asked in disbelief.
"Willsaidthatididn'tkisslikeGwenandimightwanttothinkaboutlearninghowtoFrenchkissbetterbecauseitisaturnonformenandthatikissedgoodbutheknewthaticouldkissbetterandican'tbelievethatiamtellingyouthis," Layla gasped out in one huge rambling statement.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Warren said, "Say that a little slower."
"Will said that I didn't kiss like Gwen and I might want to think about learning how to French kiss better because it is a turn on for men and that I kissed good, but he knew that I could kiss better and I still can't believe that I am telling you this," Layla said with a groan as she hid her face in her hands.
"You mean that idiot compared you to her Royal-Pain-in-the-Ass and then criticized how you kiss?" Warren growled in disbelief, "He's a jackass!"
Layla looked up at Warren's apparent anger in shock. She always knew that he cared, but this display for her sake was comforting.
"It's my fault," Layla said as she imagined Warren turning Will into a Shish-ka-hero, "I asked him to be honest with our relationship and tell me what he needs and I'll do the same. This was the first time he asked me for anything. I…I never knew that my kissing was lacking."
"Kiss me," Warren growled angrily.
"Wh…what?" Layla stuttered out in shock.
"Kiss me," Warren demanded, "Unlike what others may have thought, I have been kissed by a few excellent kissers. Let me see what the jerk is talking about."
"I can't do that," Layla gasped.
"Yes you can," Warren said, "We are just friends and I'll be making a judgement call. That way we'll know if Will is full of sh…"
"Okay!" Layla said as she covered his mouth with one of her hands, "But if I kiss you as a friend how will you know how I kiss Will?"
"Imagine that I'm Will," Warren instructed as he sat down beside her, "Really show me what you've got."
It took Layla awhile to get over her shyness and to imagine that she was with the love of her life, but finally she was able to show Warren her skills.
"Not bad," Warren said with a grin, "I still think that Will is full of…um…bull. Try this little maneuver on Romeo and he'll never think of Gwen again.
Warren then gave Layla a kiss that curled her toes up. When he was done she was left gasping.
"Who the hell have you been kissing?" Layla demanded with wide eyes.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Warren said with a chuckle before turning sharply at a gasp from behind him.
There stood Will Stronghold staring at the two of them with a look of complete hurt on his face before he turned around and walked back out the door.
"Will!" Layla gasped as she scrambled to her feet and caught up with him outside, "This isn't what it looks like."
"What?" Will gasped in disbelief, "I saw you kiss Warren and then I saw Warren kiss you back! What the hell do you think I saw?"
"Chill out," Warren growled angrily as he stalked out the door, "Layla said it wasn't what it looks like and it wasn't. I was just helping Layla…"
"Count her tonsil?" Will ground out punching Warren backwards several yards before he turned viciously and yelled in Layla's face, "We are through!"
Will took to the sky and left his devastated girlfriend behind.
"Will!" Layla screamed as she tried to stop him and when he didn't come back she burst into tears.
"I'll go get him," Warren said coming up to comfort his friend, "I know where he goes to pout. You wait here."
"He might hurt you," Layla said tearfully.
"No he won't," Warren said somberly, "Just wait here and help out in the restaurant. I'll fix this."
"Promise?" Layla asked as she moved towards the door.
"Promise," Warren agreed.
It wasn't hard to find Will. He always went to sulk at a local cliff that was outside of town. Will had shown Warren his favorite "thinking spot" as he called it. Sure enough, there stood Will as Warren walked up.
"Go AWAY!" Will growled as he heard Warren approach.
"You're an asshole," Warren said sitting down on a handy boulder.
"What?" Will snapped as he turned around, "You are sneaking around with my girlfriend behind my back and you call me the asshole?"
"One, we weren't sneaking. Two, you are an asshole for comparing Layla to Gwen."
"Wha?" Will asked in surprise, "How do you know about that?"
"I forced Layla to meet with me earlier because I noticed that something had been bothering her for awhile now," Warren explained calmly, "She told me what you said and she was pretty upset about it. You don't compare a woman to another woman, doofus."
"So you made your move," Will snarled out.
"Nope. I had her kiss me while she was thinking of you so that I could see her skills at kissing. Layla is an awesome kisser and I kissed her back to teach her a few new moves. She was kissing me to make you appreciate her more."
"You were teaching her how to French kiss?" Will asked physically deflating.
"Yes."
"And that was what I saw tonight?"
"Yep."
"And she was doing this all for me?"
"Yes, again."
"And she has been upset and I didn't notice?"
"Uh-huh."
"I am a asshole."
"I couldn't agree with you more," Warren said as he moved to stand in front of Will menacingly, "Now you listen to me. You go back to the Paper Lantern and apologize to Layla. You never hurt her feelings again by comparing her to another woman. You treat her like the jewel she is with the respect she deserves. You never hit me again or I'll burn you alive where you stand. You got it?
"Got it," Will squeaked out as he took a nervous step backwards.
"Go now!" Warren growled and as Will took off he smiled good naturally, "Will, you're an idiot."
Layla still had a problem though. Will couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself anymore. The couple was often found hidden away in the school garden and for some reason the plants kept blossoming at the oddest moments. Warren couldn't be happier.
To be continued…
I still need your help!
Okay people. This is your mission if you decide to accept it. What are some scenarios that you envision your favorite characters doing are getting into? Review or email and let me know. I will write the ideas that I love the most.
Thank you for those who chose to help already and thanks for those who may offer more ideas.
Love ya,
Fiery Peace