Chapter 7

"Why are you so afraid of thunder?" Ulrich asked as they sat at lunch on Friday.

Layla shrugged, looking down at her food and just poking at it with her fork. "I don't know." She looked up with a glare, glancing around at her friends. "And I swear to God, if any of you make fun of me for it or let anyone else know about it, I will kill you."

Silence was all she got in reply to that.

She dropped her gaze back to her food, sighing. The others glanced at one another, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She seemed almost...sad now. Yet no one could figure out why.

"Are you going to eat any of that?" Odd asked after watching her silently poke at her food for another minute.

Layla shook her head and got to her feet, not looking at anyone. "No, but I'm sure Gorgeous wouldn't mind some of this..." She poked the meat-like substance on her tray and made a face. "Whatever this is." She put it on a napkin, shoved her tray toward Odd, then walked out of the cafeteria.

It was a beautiful day outside, nothing but sun and light, pleasant breezes. A sigh escaped the red-haired girl as she neared the place where she figured her cat would be. The shadows of the trees, their branches swaying slightly in the wind, danced around slowly, moving at a nice, lazy tempo. This, combined with the quiet whispers of rustling leaves, created a rather relaxing atmosphere, and somehow, it only served to make Layla feel oddly empty inside.

"Hey, Gorgeous," the girl called once she was standing by the bushes in which she'd first spotted the cat. "Are you still here?" A soft meow let her know that her baby was indeed still there, and a small smile made its way onto her face.

The little white creature came trotting happily out from behind a tree, and Layla was pleased to see that she no longer looked so thin and sickly. Her fur was still a bit dirty, but giving a cat a bath didn't sound too fun, so Layla planned to ignore it. The cat would just clean herself up sometime if she really wanted to look presentable.

The redhead kneeled down when the cat was a foot or so away from her, carefully placing the food on the ground. The animal hurried forward and began to eat rapidly, as if it were still ravenous.

Silently, Layla watched the cat, though her gaze soon went unfocused. No longer did she see her new pet, nor did she even see the trees or the sunlight around her. In place of all this was just one boy, one lanky, brown-haired, twelve-year-old boy. He had eyes the color of a clear midday sky and the kind smile only a brother could have for his sister. But he didn't even have a sister.

"He'd be sixteen by now," the girl murmured to herself, the image in her head disappearing. She smiled to herself almost bitterly. "And I would be with him. That storm would've been nothing if he were still here."

"Who?"

Layla spun, standing even as she turned. Her narrowed, angry eyes soon landed on Yumi's curious face, though her anger never even faltered.

"No one," she answered rather coldly.

"It must be someone," the other female argued, frowning. "People don't usually mutter about things that don't exist."

Frustrated, Layla turned to look back at her cat, only to find that she was gone. She looked down at the greasy napkin instead, just so she wouldn't have to face Yumi. "He's gone now, so he's no one. It's none of your business, anyway." She grew tense in the silence that followed, expecting Yumi to try to pry.

"All right," the girl said, shocking Layla into moving to look at her again. Noticing the surprised, somewhat confused expression the redhead wore, Yumi shrugged. "You're right. It's none of my business." She paused, then added, "But, if you ever want to talk about it for some reason..." She trailed off, and Layla nodded silently, regaining her usual look of indifference. "Good. Wanna start walking to class? It wouldn't hurt to be early."

Slowly, Layla nodded again. "Sure. Let's go."

Yumi smiled. "Okay." And with that, they both began walking in a comfortable silence.

It only lasted for a minute or so, however, and Layla, oddly enough, was the one to break it. "He was like a brother to me," she whispered, her eyes on the ground at her feet. "His name was..." She swallowed and bit her lip, unable to continue for a moment. "His name was Jonathan Jones. I called him Sly."

After another few seconds of silence, Yumi decided to ask, "What happened to him?"

Layla clenched her fists, though her voice remained soft and even. "A rival gang got to him. And his three brothers, one of whom was the leader of their own gang. I...took his place shortly after his death." She smiled again, the same, bitter smile as before. "The rival gang fell a week later."

Yumi looked at her as that familiar silence resumed, feeling strangely privileged for getting to hear about just that small part of the American's past. She thought she understood her a bit better now, too. Whether she thought right or not was questionable.

Layla brought a palm up so she could look at it, her eyebrows raised in cool surprise. "Huh...Nasty habit I'm developing..." Blood was dripping from the small cuts her nails had made on her hand. It wasn't much, but the wounds still stung a bit. A look at her other hand revealed the same damage. She shrugged it off, though, her bloody hands soon hanging at her sides and her gray-blue eyes on the path ahead. She'd just clean herself up when they got to class.

-

"You guys should come play with us for once," Ulrich stated as he kicked a soccer ball Odd's way. The ball was soon headed toward Jeremy's head, and in a very un-goalie-like move, he ducked, letting it meet the netting at the back. "It's boring with just the three of us, and everyone else is busy enjoying their Friday."

Yumi stared at Ulrich for a moment, silently mulling over his request. She finally looked over at Layla and Aelita, and, at the girls' shrugs, she smiled. "All right. We'll play. Not like there's anything else to do." All three of the females stood and made their way down to the field, where the boys had all gathered by Jeremy's goal.

"So...who's being the goalie for which team?" Yumi asked. "Better yet, who's going to be on which team?"

"Why don't we just go with guys against girls?" Odd suggested, grinning at the thought. "We'd wipe the floor with you, of course, but it's the easiest way to separate ourselves."

Layla cocked an eyebrow. "Youthink you can beat me?"

"Mhm," Odd replied brightly.

"We'll see." Layla glanced at the other two females. "I refuse to be a goalie. I want to be on the field with this idiot."

The girls couldn't help but smile at her. "All right," Aelita said. "I'll be the goalie."

"Are you going to be ours, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremy shrugged. "I guess so."

"Will you actually try this time, too?" Odd questioned teasingly. "I don't want to lose just because you're afraid of a ball."

Jeremy scowled at him. "I'll try."

"Well, there we go. Let's get this started." Layla flashed the males a cocky smile, then they all went to their places.

"First team to make five goals wins?" Ulrich asked as they all stared at the ball, their gazes oddly predatory.

"Sure," Yumi said while the others merely nodded.

"All right."

There was a shout, and then, the game was on.

Yumi managed to snag the ball first, kicking it right out of Ulrich's path. She dribbled the ball like a pro, getting it halfway to the goal before one of the boys got it back. Ulrich was the one who managed this challenging feat, soon having the ball headed in the opposite direction across the field. When he noticed Layla getting closer to him, he gave the ball a quick, hard kick, sending it toward Aelita. The girl went wide-eyed as it headed directly for her face, instinct causing her to dodge instead of block. A cheer went up from the boys as it hit the net.

"It's all right, Aelita," Yumi called to the amateur goalkeeper, noticing her guilty frown. "It's just one goal. We can still win without much trouble."

A moment later, the game was underway again.

Yumi got the ball again, but only for a few seconds. Ulrich soon stole it and began to move quickly away from the goal Jeremy was guarding. Aelita looked determined as she watched the male approach, seeming ready to actually do something this time. She never got the chance, however, for Ulrich never got to take the shot. The ball seemed to disappear from the grass in front of him when he prepared to aim for the goal.

"What the-" He turned to find Layla moving off with it, that cocky smirk on her face once more.

"Ulrich!" Odd yelled. "How could you let her-"

"Just shut up and stop her!" Ulrich retorted angrily.

It was too late to do anything, though. Layla had already sent the ball toward the goal.

Jeremy moved into the ball's path, gulping. It was moving far too quickly, and he had a feeling this was going to hurt. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited, and, sure enough, he ended up hitting the net in the ball's place. A dull sting started in his chest and fingers. Apparently, he'd tried to catch the ball...kind of.

Layla glared at the boy on the ground, having expected him to wuss out and move again. The sounds of Ulrich and Odd praising him reeeeally weren't doing anything to help the girl's competitive anger.

"Yeah, yeah," she nearly growled. "He got it. Woo. Let's just get back to playing the damned game."

And they did.

Layla got to the ball first this time. She was getting aggressive, nearly knocking Ulrich over when she started toward Jeremy's goal again. The brown-haired male looked slightly stunned by her ferocity, though he went after her nonetheless.

Odd eased up alongside the seemingly dangerous female, watching her movements carefully as he prepared to take the ball. When he finally found the opening he'd been waiting for, he tried to snag it, but Layla was too fast. She actually tried to prevent it. But in the process of trying to stop him, she ended up tripping over his foot, and he ended up tumbling over her.

The game stopped right then. Anger had Layla on top of Odd in a heartbeat, straddling him in a way that had her skirt hiked up to show a bit of red underwear. Her gray-blue eyes, narrowed and almost frightening in their anger, were locked with his. Her hands were on his shoulders, pinning them in case he tried to struggle. Luckily, that also kept her from being able to hit him.

Silence.

They both panted lightly, though nothing was said. They merely looked at each other. Then, finally, she spoke.

"You're a jerk."

"I'm not the one holding an innocent guy down," he replied with a cautious smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Layla leaned down, putting her face closer to his, their noses nearly touching. "Yes, but you are the one who knocked an innocent girl down."

His smile grew the slightest bit. "Nah. You did that to yourself."

The tension eased, but their friends didn't know that. They stood a safe distance away and watched with bated breath, just waiting for Layla to kill poor Odd.

"Hm...I suppose you have a point there." Layla removed one of her hands from Odd's person, an elbow soon on the ground by his head and her hand a fist for her head to rest on. Now, one grayish eye was even with a darker one, two pale cheeks only an inch away from touching. "But still. You started it."

"I was just playing the game."

"I know."

Silently, they gazed at each other. Their audience now looked more confused than worried, but Layla didn't think she could care any less about them at the moment. She was busy.

"Would you like to play another game sometime?" she asked, her voice a murmur only Odd could hear.

"Depends...What kind of game?" If it was the kind of game his dirty mind thought it was, he'd be more than happy to play. He was good at those games.

"You can fight a bit, right? Nothing special, like Ulrich and Yumi, but enough to pose a bit of a threat to others?"

Now he found himself hoping it wasn't anything like the games he was thinking. That would be extremely weird. "I'd say so."

Layla altered her position, now holding herself over the boy with a hand to either side of his head. Their faces were still a bit closer than necessary, however. "Want to spar sometime?"

Odd arched an eyebrow at the randomness of the question. Why was she asking such a thing now, in the middle of a game of soccer? "Um...Sure. If you really want to."

"All right." And with that, Layla stood, giving Odd a very traumatic look at her pretty red panties before she stepped over him, walking toward the edge of the field. He sat up slowly and watched her. "Sorry, guys. My temper got the best of me...again. I'll see you later."

Everyone's attention went from the girl to Odd when they realized she was leaving, the same question written on every face: What the hell? Odd could only shrug. He didn't really have a clue, either.

That girl was strange...