Chapter Ten: Boyfriend

Na-Na: OH MY GOD! YOU PEOPLE MUST HATE ME NOW! I WAS SUPPOSED TO POST THIS CHAPTER DAYS AGO! I AM SO SORRY! (Starts ramming head against a wall) I AM A BAD PERSON! I HAD AN OBLIGATION AND I MESSED UP COMPLETELY JUST BECAUSE I FELT INSECURE ABOUT MY WRITING! WAHHHHHHHHH! I AM SUCH AN INCOMPETENT, IRRESPONSIBLE, INCONSIDERATE, AND INCORRIGABLE PERSON!

After 15 minutes more of crying in shame…

I am still sorry…Sniff…And I'm still a horrible person, and I still don't own Sky High but…I hope this chapter will be satisfactory…

To tell you the truth, last night was a bit unusual, but what can you do about it? Personally, this whole week had been one jump from weird extreme to another so I guess Gwen Grayson— in all her perfect pink clad beauteous glory— showing up in my house chatting it up with Mom shouldn't have been too odd. It turns out she had been there to help me and Will out with science, an agreement I had no recollection of actually making at any point yesterday. But I didn't question it. Best not to bite the hand trying to feed you. Not to mention that I actually liked Gwen somewhat. And after last night, I think I definitely liked her a bit more.

Gwen ended up staying for dinner after everyone, including myself, had insisted she stay. Though, I'm pretty sure we freaked her out when we were doing the insisting. Would forcing some nice unsuspecting girl to stay for dinner be considered holding someone against their will? Maybe. But the point was that she stayed. Her presence really lit up dinner. She even asked Mom and Dad to be guests of honor at the close approaching Homecoming dance (which I still don't have a date for). Will walked her home after dinner and came back smiling even wider than usual. I didn't get what he could've been so happy about, especially since that same smile seemed glued to his face all the way up to now while we were walking to the bus stop.

Up ahead, Layla stood with her face pointed downwards at her feet. She stood that way until she knew we were approaching her and looked at us. For some reason, she looked… different today. It wasn't just the fact she was more dressed up than usual— her hair up in buns, more make-up than I'd ever seen her wear before, fancier jewelry, wearing a long colorful skirt—something was up. Both, Will and I gave her greetings, his cheerful and mine ever so suspicious. Layla didn't notice though, instead she held her hand out to Will. I looked over his shoulder to see whatever it was. In her palm sat a fortune cookie.

"Oh! I love these!" Will exclaimed as he reached out and took it from her. He brought it to his mouth and took a bite out of it. Pulling out the fortune, he read it aloud: "Your loyalties are clear when it comes to friends." Suddenly, Wills face went from very happy to very guilty looking, as if the fortune had slapped the cheeriness off his face as his gaze returned back up to Layla's face.

"Oh, God. Oh," Layla gave a sad smile at the look of realization spreading across Will face. I of course had no idea what was going on, "I totally spaced. Uh…I'm sorry. I know you must want to kill me right now." I still had no idea what was going on. It was probably one of those Will and Layla things only they understood. Layla seemed to have perked up a bit at Will's awkward attempt to apologize.

"Actually, just the opposite. I have something to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, but you tell me what you wanted to first."

"It's about Homecoming."

"Really, me too!"

"I'm going with Gwen Grayson! Can you believe it?"

Both Layla's and my own expectant looks were dashed. Layla was able to contain her disappointment while my jaw fell open as Will continued to gloat about Gwen being his Homecoming date. My jaw remained that way, hanging open,while Layla forced a smile as she took her seat next to Will. I took one in front of them next to Ethan since my usual seat next to Zach was surprisingly taken by Magenta. But I didn't pay much attention to Ethan or Magenta or Zach. Instead, I was focused mainly on trying to listen in on whatever Will and Layla were saying. After all, it was my job to get in on this business, especially since it concerned the happiness of my best friend and the moronic tendencies of my brother. For a long time, all they did was sit in silence. Finally, Will spoke up.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! What was your Homecoming news?" I heard Will ask. There was a long pause before Layla answered.

"I'm going too!" She replied in a happy voice. Well, yeah she was going. But that wasn't anything big.

"Really?" Will asked, "Who with?"

"Who with?" Layla echoed quickly and nervously.

"Yeah, who asked you?"

"Oh, who asked me!" Layla said, in a sickeningly sugary sweet way, "Warren Peace."

Layla said that right as the bus was landing, making the shock hit me even harder. For a while, I sat there in utter shock, not really able to grasp what Layla had just said to Will. Warren Peace. It couldn't be him. There wasn't any way. It was just impossible. But that was what she said. Warren Peace. Very clearly. There had even been a tone of smugness in the way she said his name to Will. My stomach was literally doing flip-flops inside me. This was just so…so…

As soon as the door opened, I bolted from the bus, not caring who or what I bumped into. Running as fast as I could (amazingly fast for a short chick in a long skirt), so I could just get into a bathroom and away from Layla, and any one of my friends. Ignoring my friends' shouts from behind me to wait up, I continued to run all the way to the bathroom. Once there, I dashed into the first stall that was empty and locked the door behind me. Immediately, I crumpled to the floor in front of the toilet.

I felt sick. Really sick. Almost enough to throw up. But nothing came up. I just sat there, my arms rested on the toilet seat and my head buried in them. No tears emerged from my eyes surprisingly. The whole while, the feeling of sickness never left me as I sat alone in the bathroom, thinking hard about what I had just heard. Had I really been so wrong? Was this all some joke some one high up was trying to pull on me? Cause I was not laughing.

This wasn't how I'd seen things go in my head. Nothing in my imagination could have even matched what was going on right now. Will was going with Gwen to the Homecoming dance next Friday. But in my mind, it was just so wrong. Not that I hated Gwen, I really liked her, it's just…Will belonged with Layla. There was no way this was really how things were supposed to go. Will was not supposed to be with Gwen. And Layla…Layla was not supposed to be with…with…Warren…

When had they ever talked? When had they even given each other the time of day? There was no way Warren Peace would just ask the friend of his enemy out to Homecoming. That just didn't make sense. Well, neither did him coming to my house in the middle of the night to apologize to me, his enemy's sister. But, we had cleared things up about that. That night didn't change anything between us. He had said that we couldn't be friends.

He said we couldn't hang out because it would affect his reputation or something. But why would he suddenly have a change of heart and start hanging with Layla? Wouldn't hanging with her be just as reputation crippling as hanging out with me? It was a lie. That's it. Layla was just trying to make Will jealous or something by lying about him asking her out to the dance. Cause after all, Warren Peace couldn't have actually asked her out. There was just no way.

With that thought, I left the stall and went to the sink so I could splash some water onto my face. Staring back at my reflection, I noticed just how sickly pale I looked and cringed. I stopped thinking about it and slung my backpack back on my shoulder and left the bathroom, determined to get through this day with only what little determination I actually had left and the belief that what Layla had said has truly been a lie. Just a lie.

It was lunchtime now. Mr. Reynolds hadn't pulled any cheap tricks on me during fifth period today. That was something I felt very grateful for since I wasn't in the highest of moods. Today had been just like yesterday, crowds all round Will. But this time, I knew to keep my distance. There was no fighting the groupies, unless of course by use of super powered force. But what and where would that get me? Detention, and no closer to Will.

Dodging past people in the halls was a bit difficult today. Mr. Reynolds had let us out of the classroom later than usual, so there was no chance of getting to the cafeteria in good time whatsoever. So basically, all you could do was try and move with the masses of students pushing and shoving to get inside and try not to get pushed or shoved in the process. And in my case of unfortunate shortness, try not to get trampled either. Which was a task that was hard for me, especially considering most of this school's occupants were a safe three inches taller than me at least.

While I was trying to get inside, I managed to see a gap through the door just big enough for me to safely squeeze through. I thanked my lucky stars for the fact I was really skinny even though I ate too much for a normal girl (I'd never survive on any diet that doesn't have bread, chocolate, or meat. I only eat salad whenever Layla's around). Once inside, I tried to see if any of my friends were already seated at our table already. I expected Layla to be there first since her fifth period class was close to the cafeteria— thus meaning she didn't have to deal with hunger driven crowds. To my surprise, she wasn't there. She wasn't in the Sidekick lunch line either.

Scanning the tables closer to the back of the cafeteria (the place the popular people usually sat since it was near the windows) I spotted Gwen amongst all of the other people who were popular. I would've sat with her had it not been for the fact that the rude girl was there as well. As much as I liked Gwen and wanted to sit near my brother (since that was most likely where he was going to sit since his Homecoming date was there), I still had no respect for Penny, and I think the feelings of hostility were reciprocated.

Suddenly, a flash of red caught my attention. Layla! I thought eagerly to myself. My eyes followed in the direction the head of red hair had went in all the way to the table on the far left of the cafeteria. But trust me when I tell you that I was shocked out of my mind by where she went to sit down. Why? Yeah, you guessed it. She went all the over there to the far side of the cafeteria to sit at the table of the one and only Warren Peace. Right across from him. What shocked me even more was the fact that he was talking to her and she was laughing. So… what she said on the bus… it was… true?

Nausea like what I'd been feeling earlier today when I'd heard her say she was going with Warren to the dance began plaguing me again. But there wasn't a bathroom to run to this time, and I don't think I wanted to find a garbage can to spew into either. So I continued to stand there near the entrance of the cafeteria watching the two of them chat like some loser, all the while feeling sicker and sicker. This had to be one of the most pathetic moments in my life. Seriously.

Magenta and Zach and Ethan even went and sat with them, causing me to feel even worse. Layla hadn't been lying when she was talking to Will earlier to today. What she said was the truth. But Warren, Warren was the person who lied to me. Reputation my butt! Yeah, he said he didn't want to look approachable by having me hang out with him. But now he was surrounded by people. My friends to be exact. Did he just not like me or something? Was I just not good enough like Layla or the others? It hurt. It really did.

I didn't have time to focus on the hurt because Warren had decided to leave the cafeteria. Which meant he was heading in my direction since I was near the exit. I so didn't want to look at him face to face right now. I couldn't trust myself to not burst out and cry right in front of him if our eyes met. So I avoided his gaze and brushed past him pretending to have not seen him. I doubt he even noticed we had just passed by each other.

Suddenly, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and drag me through the doors of the cafeteria and down the hall. For a second, I was too caught off guard even react to whatever was going on. So I just let myself get dragged by whoever it was. But I was snapped out of my reverie when I was pulled into a small dark room that was dimly lit. The arm around my waist released me and I was finally able to get a look at the person the limb belonged to. Someone I didn't even expect to see today.

Standing in front of me was Lash. At first, I was surprised because I was wondering how Lash could even be here since he had sprained his ankles and his wrist yesterday. Then I remembered the Nurse had said that his case had been minor so that was probably why he was already back and kicking. But then that lead me to the next thing. Why the heck did he just drag me out of the cafeteria and into what I believed was the janitor's broom closet?

"Before you yell at me or try and kill me, let me explain," Lash said quickly clamping a hand over my mouth. I immediately swatted it away.

"I wasn't planning to," I said annoyed, "But you better make with the explaining already." Lash sighed exasperatedly and ran a hand through his hair.

"Do you promise not to kill me after I explain?" Lash asked nervously. My eyebrow arched up as I watched with suspicion as he fidgeted around anxiously waiting for my answer.

"Sure."

"Well…" Lash began, "There's this girl I've been dating for two years. For a while, I thought we really had a great thing even though we kept it a bit hush-hush around school." He stopped for a second, a frown forming on his face. "But she's really popular and she's gotten really egotistical and…flirtatious. This whole year she's pretty much dated every other hero guy. And she hasn't talked to me since our last date before school started again."

"Your girlfriend cheating on you has to do with you dragging me into a broom closet alone with you how?" I asked giving him look that said "Keep going."

"Well, that's the thing. This is the part I think you would probably not like," Lash said, "I've decided she needs know what it feels like." Okay, that's where he lost me.

"Huh?"

"Stronghold, I'm going to cheat on her. At least, pretend to cheat on her anyway to make her jealous."

"Um…Okay…Still, what does this all have to do with me?"

"Get with the program. We-- you and me-- are going to be a fake couple. I'm new boyfriend."

"WHAT?" My "What?" came out as a cross between a growl, a shriek, and some sort of hysterical raspy gagging noise.

"Well, seeing as how you don't have a boyfriend; a fact you made very clear to me yesterday when you were hauling my ass to the infirmary, and you're also the girl that is going to make my girlfriend most jealous out of them all. Not to mention that the bonus is that I don't have to go ask out some Sidekick," He summed up, backing away from the intense glare I was giving him now that I was over the initial shock of what he said.

"What gives you the right to make me your "fake girlfriend?" I don't like you that way. Personally, I don't really like you much at all. Yesterday was an act of mercy. Today, I am not feeling any kind of merciful on your part. It's not like I can just forget all those times you tried picking on me or my brother or my friends. And besides! There's a guy I like!" For a second while I was saying my piece, I swear I though I saw a flash of hurt cross Lash's face before it went away.

"You don't have much of a choice anymore, Tenni," Lash said with a tone of absolute seriousness, "Cause in about, give or take, thirty seconds, Speeds gonna come crashing through that door and catch us making out. Knowing him and how he can't keep a secret, it'll be the gossip of all of the school before classes are even done today." My jaw dropped.

"And why would I make out with you?" I shrieked.

"No one said you had to." Lash said as he held me there.

Suddenly, I found myself pressed up against the door of the closet by Lash, whose mouth was only inches away from my ear. I was about to blast him off when the door we were leaning on opened, sending us crashing out of it and onto the floor. I manage to keep my head from smashing into the floor, but I wasn't able to stop Lash from falling as well. He ended up falling right on top of me, bringing our faces too close for my own comfort. Lash made no move to get off me though. He just kept staring intently down as me as I struggled to get out from underneath him. This was so not happening. I was so not getting sexually harassed by…Lash of all people! This was the guy who was supposed to shove me in lockers, or try and trip me in the hallway, not try and kiss me! This was wrong! So very wrong!

"Oh My God."

Wait, that wasn't Lash's voice. I'm pretty sure it wasn't my voice either; it sounded too deep and masculine. I looked up in the direction the voice had some from.

Speed.

The pudgy bully was standing above us, jaw agape as he looked back and forth from me to Lash.

"No way…" Speed said, still gaping at us.

"This…This isn't what it looks like, I swear!"

"Sure, it's not," Speed said, a look of mischief on his face, "Well, I didn't mean to barge in on your guy's 'Private time.' So I'll be going." Speed gave one last smirk and then dashed off before I could tell him that Lash and I weren't together. It was too late.

I gave one good shove and Lash went tumbling off of me. I got up from the floor and stood, glaring down at the tall brunet as he lay there staring back up at me. It was after a while of that— me glaring and him staring back blankly— before he began to laugh hysterically up at me. I watched him, wondering for a second if he was on something. And I wasn't about to doubt that as a possibility seeing as how he had done more than several insane things in just the course of events that had just taken place. My clueless expression returned back to one of deep anger.

"You are an ass, Lash," I spat out, kicking him none to gently on the shoulder. He just kept on laughing.

"We talked about this already," Lash said merrily, "I'm not and ass. I'm your boyfriend!" That earned him another nudge, and not as gently as the last time, to the ribs. "Owww…" he moaned a bit, "Maybe you should stop being the pain in the ass. This isn't a bad thing."

"This isn't a bad thing?" I practically hissed that out, "Think about it Lash. While this plan of yours is beneficial for you, but I see no upsides to my side of this plot of revenge on your girlfriend. In fact, there have only been cons so far as I have seen. I don't want you as any kind of boyfriend, pretend or not. And what will people think? What would my friends think? Let alone my brother?"

"Okay, okay, so what if my plan wasn't one of those well thought out kinds of plans. But that's not my style. So what if the people will think badly of you? I'll go and make them regret ever thinking something like that. Besides, I only need you to play along until Homecoming. Just enough to make Penny jealous," Lash said seriously.

At that time, I didn't realize he had been talking about defending my honor. If I had been paying attention to that part, I probably would've thought it awfully sweet and thoughtful in a brutish sort of sense. But the fact was that I hadn't been. No I paid more attention to what he said after that. His girlfriend was Penny? Snobby cheerleader who dissed my friends, Penny? Maybe this whole plan had some sort of upside. Not that I was happy about the part of having to play loving girlfriend for Lash, but getting revenge on a girl I didn't like? The offer was rather appealing.

This also meant I had a date for Homecoming. In the beginning, I had planned on just going with Ethan, you know, as friends, since neither of us looked like we were going to get dates. Lame huh? I guess this was probably the best I'd be able to do. It wasn't like my dream date was suddenly going to show up and get on his knee and ask out to the dance. So maybe I could see if I could get him a little jealous by supposedly dating Lash. Even though it I highly doubt Warren Peace would get jealous over me. I mean, there's nothing overly interesting about me that I'd be willing to let anyone know. So yeah, it was either go with Lash and lose my self-respect or go with Ethan (No offense to him. He's my friend.) and kiss my dignity good bye. Not too hard of a decision.

"What do you say?" Lash asked, holding his arm out to me. I stared at it. Taking it would mean saying yes to his proposal. I knew I'd regret it, but I ended up giving into the reasons I why this was okay. Reaching out, I pulled him to his feet. He gave me a big goofy grin.

"So?"

"Alright…"

"I'm so glad you came around Sugar Plum!"

SMACK!

"Owww…"

"Never call me Sugar Plum."

"Honey Buns?"

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

"Ow! Ow! Quit it!"

"…"

"What about love?"

"Not in public."

"Deal."

Na-Na: YOU GUYS STILL HATE ME DON'T YOU! I'M STILL SORRRRRYYYYYY!

Ghostly Green: I enjoyed writing that scene. Will becoming popular is what really sets the stage for Tenni to go above and beyond.

Movie-CaffineAddict: She might have a crush on him. Or something... But no one's gonna figure stuff out about Tenni until Homecoming. Who finds out? You must read to find out.

Claire: Yay! I'm so glad you have finally started reading my story. It's so great!

RaevenMoon: Yeah, It really does seem like Lash can reform.

Arisa-san: OMG! LOL! You are so right! Say hi to Nai-Nai for me. And don't worry, I'm still gonna read Sai and Kage.

albortadora2325: Maybe. It's still a hard pick between Lash or Warren

Crystal Moon Magic: Having your own point of view is a very important thing to represent personality. Glad you agree and like Tenni.

Iloveplotbunnies: I am so sorry I took so long with this. I hope it is good enough to make up for tardiness a bit.

Fuzzy Makes Me Happy: I tried to get Warren in a bit. Sorry he didn't get any dialogue. But I'm also glad you thought lash was in character. I was afraid he wasn't.

Sasha: Helping Lash is just Tenni. I'm very proud of her.

Tenni: Jeeze. You are so critical. And I am against you making fun of her hair. I personally think it's nice.

M u M m I e I m I s S y O u: Ah. Got it. I understand, no worries. Just read on.

SmithysTrivia: I was just trying to show what Lash would be like when he couldn't hide his vulnerable side. He always so full of himself, so it's a change from the usual.

Next Update: Mall

Will be Posted March 4th, Saturday