A/N: I am SO sorry for the long wait. I had considered discontinuing this story but I couldn't find it in my strength to do so. For some reason, I had a dream about Sky High and ended up writing this. Please forgive me for the extremely long wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was a little tricky to write and I'm very sick so again, forgive me for any errors or anything else. I hope I can update sooner this time. Enjoy.
"Do you really want to do this? Get back at Will, your best friend?" Layla asked herself in front of the mirror.
Layla sighed and walked to her window. She opened the doors and a cool breeze hit her face gently. Layla closed her eyes and sighed happily before climbing out onto the roof. She sat down under where the old tree stretched out. She pulled her knees up and rested her head on her knees. She used her feet to hold the skirt up, blocking a view from anyone.
"Will..." Layla whispered sadly. She sighed again and held a determined face. "Warren. I'm going with Warren and I'm going to have fun tonight, despite everything that has gone horribly wrong, or will go wrong. I have other friends..." Layla said, trying to encourage herself.
Layla groaned. "What are we even going to do? Walk up to Will and Gwen and just stand there holding hands?" She groaned again. "I really didn't think this through. What about..." Another groan. "I hate this!"
"Not as much as I do." Came a voice from the window.
Layla turned her head and saw Warren coming over the window sill. He smirked at her and sat down besides her.
"Warren, how'd you know I was here? When did you get here?" Layla asked surprised. "How long had you been standing there?" She asked worriedly.
Warren held up three fingers in front of him. "Your mom told me you'd be here." He counted off one finger. "I got here a few minutes ago. I had to introduce myself to your gushing mother." He counted off another finger and waited for Layla to stop giggling. "I've been standing at your window long enough to know you groaned and sighed six times, three each." He closed his hand with a smirk on his face.
"Sorry about that."
"Whatever, Hippie. You look nice." He said casually.
"Thanks. I don't know how but, you manage to look scary as usual, despite how handsome you look right now." Layla said as she gave him a once over.
Layla was relieved to see that Warren had, in fact, decided to wear a red tie. She also noticed he wasn't wearing slacks. Instead he wore black jeans that hugged his legs rather nicely but not too much like the ones that Zach normally wore. Also, he wasn't wearing the vest or coat, just the white dress shirt. Not tucked in and he rolled the sleeves over his elbows.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you mentioned you didn't to tuxes, Pyro." Layla said with a giggle.
"Pyro? Is that another one of your lame nicknames, Hippie?" He teased.
"Yeah. I think that ones' staying though. I like it." She said with a smile.
"Whatever, can we go now?" Warren asked as he held a hand out to Layla.
Layla took his hand and he lifted her up easily, "Yes."
Layla carefully climbed back into her room, followed by Warren and then they headed downstairs to come face-to-face with Layla's tear ridden mother.
"Oh, Layla, you look beautiful. Remind me to thank Magenta for picking out your dress. Oh, look, it even matches with Warren's tie!" She gushed.
"Mom!" Layla hissed.
"Oh, let me take a picture!"
"Mrs. Williams, we have to go now." Warren said, slightly annoyed.
"Just one, please!"
"Fine, mom. Just make it quick!"
Layla stood next to Warren awkwardly and waited until that painful moment ended. Mrs. Williams put a hand on her hip and gave her daughter a skeptical look.
"Come on, don't be strangers, get closer together! You are going to the prom together after all." She said as she positioned the camera once more.
Warren and Layla inched closer to each other awkwardly, both keeping their hands in front of them.
"Must I do everything for you?" Mrs. Williams said as she walked over to them. She grabbed Warren's arm and pulled it around Layla's waist then, she shoved her into his side.
Warren leaned down to Layla as Mrs. Williams walked back to her spot, "Is she always like this?" He asked.
Layla simply nodded. Warren looked back at her mother and gave a faint-barely-visible smile, as did Layla. The flash lit up the room for a mere second and left the two blind.
"There we go. Now go have fun you guys!" She said as she opened the front door for them. They walked out but Mrs. Williams stopped Warren and asked for a moment from Layla who just nodded.
Mrs. Williams pulled him back into the house, "I don't mean to sound rude or anything but up until yesterday, Layla didn't really speak nicely about you," She started cautiously, "b-but now she thinks differently about you," She said quickly after, "I just want you to know that if anything happens to my little rose, I'll put you out like a kitchen fire." She warned in her happy tone.
"Sure thing." Warren said indifferently before walking back out and straight down the walkway, "Let's go." He said to Layla who quickly followed him.
"How do you plan on getting all the way up to school?" She asked.
Warren pointed at something that was parked right out front of her house. Her jaw dropped for a moment. It was a black motorcycle.
"Wow, it's beautiful. Nice body, shiny paint job and I love the flames that are on the gas tank. Oh, and the leather seats? Perfect touch." Layla said as she ran her hand over the bike.
Warren stared at her, hiding his shock and confusion. Though, his voice, wasn't so well hidden, "You know about motorcycles?"
"Not really." She said simply along with a shrug.
Warren shook his head to himself and climbed onto his bike, helping Layla on afterward. He handed a helmet to her and let his ride roar to life. Layla quickly pulled the shield over her eyes and adjusted her helmet over her face.
"Wait, what about your helmet?" Layla shouted over the noise.
"That is my helmet." He shouted back without looking at her.
He didn't give her a chance to protest or ask another question, he just pressed a red button on the handle bar and in a matter of seconds they were chewing out the road at high speed. Layla was too busy holding onto Warren for her life to do or say anything else. Another button was pressed and there was a loud noise coming from behind them. Something told Layla that it was something coming from the bike itself. When Layla looked back, she yelped and hid her face into Warren's back. They were at least thirty feet off the ground.
Layla kept her head against Warren's back for the whole ride up to Sky High. She pulled her face from him when she heard the engine die down and then fully turn off. Warren got off, helped Layla not fall from the bike and gain her composure. Layla pulled her helmet off and Warren scoffed.
"What?" She asked, slightly annoyed that he was laughing at her.
"Your hair." He said with a chuckle.
"What? What's wrong with my hair?" She asked frantically.
"I wish I knew." He said with his usual deep laughter. Well, at least to Layla it was usual. Not many others have heard it. And by not many others, I mean no one but his parents and that was back when Warren was a little kid.
Layla groaned and walked over to the motorcycle's rear-view mirrors. She tried adjusting it to see herself but Warren pulled her hand away from it. The forced he used caused Layla to stumble a bit.
"Do not touch my bike." He threatened.
Layla immediately missed her Warren. Wait, my Warren? What's that all about? She asked herself.
"I was just on it." She snapped as she rubbed her wrist absentmindedly.
"Yeah but you can't break anything by just riding it. Just don't even touch it like that anymore, got it?" He barked.
"Whatever." Where did that come from? I think I've been hanging around Warren a little to much for my own good.
"What did you just say?" He hissed.
"Nothing, let's just go." She said as she walked past him, "Hothead." She mumbled.
"I heard that." He mumbled back.
Layla chuckled and rolled her eyes. They finally stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at each other.
"You ready?" Warren asked.
"No." She answered.
"Cool." He said as he grabbed her had and pulled her up the stairs. Then Layla noticed he was wearing his usual leather gloves.
"Why do you always wear those gloves? And why do you cut the part that cover the fingers?" She asked as they walked through the doors and into Warren's nightmare.
"Because, if I don't," He pulled one of his gloves off his hand, the one he was using to hold Layla's. He grabbed her hand again and Layla immediately felt the heat coming from his hands, "they're too hot to touch." He said simply. He was about to pull it back on but Layla stopped him. He looked at her skeptically.
"Not many people have touched your hands then." She whispered loud enough so he could hear over the loud music playing.
"What?" He asked in confusion.
"Your hands, their not too hot. The heat becomes comfortable after the first few seconds." She said.
He gave her another skeptical look but shrugged, pulled the other glove off and shoved them into his back pocket. Layla hesitantly wrapped her hand around his and let out a breath of relief when he held her hand.
Warren avoided people's glares and looks as they made their way to the tables. Layla kept her eyes busy by looking for her friend. Thankfully the gym was only lit by a few decorative lights, perfect for her to spot Zach between everyone else. She pulled Warren the rest of the way through and finally stopped at their table.
"Hey guys." She chirped.
"This is weirder than I had pictured it." Ethan said as he stared at Layla's hand in Warren's.
"What?" Layla asked, clearly confused.
"Don't worry, I told them about your little plan and I made sure they wouldn't spill to anyone." Magenta said as she got up from her seat and gave Layla a hug. "You look great, Mother Nature," She glanced over at Warren and smirked, "You too, Hothead."
"Just because I'm doing this doesn't mean we're all buddies here." He hissed.
"Got it." They all said in unison.
"There they are!" Zach suddenly shouted, drawing some unnecessary attention to them.
Magenta hushed him along with a blow to his arm.
"Sorry. They they are," He said in a lower, calmer tone, "on the dance floor by the food table."
Layla tried to look at where he directed but she couldn't see through all of those people. On the other hand, Warren, being taller than most, could see over people well enough to spot Gwen and a hint of Will.
"I see them," He looked down at Layla, "What do you wanna do?"
She took a deep breath and let it out with a coy smile, "I guess we dance." She said before dragging him off into the mess of sweaty teenagers.
"Come on guys, we have to keep an eye out on this. I wanna know what goes on." Magenta said as she tried her best to follow her friend. She had a lot of trouble finding them because, unlike Warren, she was very small. Thankfully, Zach wasn't so small, in fact, now was the moment that Magenta noticed how freakishly tall he really was. "Do you see them?" She asked Zach.
Zach stood on the tip of his toes, "Who? Will and Gwen or Warren and Layla?" He asked but then gasped before Magenta could speak, "No wait, I see Will and Gwen. Layla and Warren are on their way there, come on." He said hastily as he grabbed Magenta's arm and towed her through the mess of people. Before they were too far, Magenta managed to grab Ethan and pull him along as well.
"Okay, I think this is close enough for them to notice." Layla said as she glanced over at Will and Gwen.
Her eyes widened when she noticed that the song was some sort of trance/techno thing and Gwen was grinding her backside to Will's... Layla shuddered.
Warren smirked, "I take it you haven't done a thing like that in your life."
"You have?" She asked skeptically with a hint of mock in her tone.
"Not many girls get to dance with me," He said with a smirk, "so consider this your lucky day."
Warren pulled them a little closer to Will and then turned Layla around in one swift movement. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her back to him, "Now just move like she is as best as you can, Hippie."
Layla swallowed the lump in her throat and glanced over at Gwen. She took a deep breath and just moved her body to the rhythm of the music. Soon enough, Warren joined in and was grinding up against her but to a comfortable distance for both of them because after all, they were just doing this to get back at Will.
"How am I doing?" She asked Warren.
Warren moved his head down besides hers, "Well, by the look of pure hatred on Will's face, I'd say pretty good."
Layla cautiously stole a glance at Will from the corner of her eye and he was, in fact, glaring holes at Warren and herself all the while he moved to the beat with Gwen. Layla gave herself a coy smile and turned around in Warren's hold on her hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to move.
"What are you doing?" Warren hissed at her.
"I don't know, this is the other way around now and I don't know what I'm doing anymore." She admitted.
"Hey!" Someone called out in a whisper.
Layla searched around and her eyes quickly landed on Zach that was dancing up towards them with Magenta. Clearly the 'hey' belonged to Magenta, just to make things clear.
"Hey, Punk. I need your help." Layla nearly whined.
"Say no more, follow my lead, Mother Nature... and try to keep up." She responded.
Magenta started to move her body to the beat of the music against Zach's who, in return, moved against her in perfect synchronization. Layla followed along, getting the feel of the rhythm along with her partner. In a while, they were dancing like naturals.
"My work here is done. Check it out," Magenta said as she pointed at Will by nodding her head, "he's so blowing his top."
"Magenta, you're a really good dancer." Zach said quickly.
Magenta hushed him loudly, "Zach, I'm in the middle of something!" She hissed.
Something snapped inside the glowing boy that made him close the gap between him and Magenta, who in response, gasped at his sudden action, "You sure are. You're dancin' with me." He said as he continued to dance with Magenta who was also beginning to dance in return.
"What now, Hippie?" Warren asked her as the fifth song since they had started dancing started.
"I don't know? Do you have any ideas?" She asked.
"Well, that idea I had comes to mind..."
"No. I'm not here to murder them." She said firmly.
Warren just shrugged, "Then I don't know."
"Maybe we should go sit down for a while, my feet are starting to hurt." Layla said as she walked through the crowds of people. Now she seemed to notice that nearly every living being was giving her looks and glances. She had forgotten that Will wasn't the only one there and that she was dancing with none other than Warren Peace, the school's Hotheaded Bad Boy. Yeah, it requires capitals, it's a title.
"Sure, it's getting too hot out there anyway." He said casually, hoping that innocent little Layla missed the point he had been hiding since the fourth song.
Layla sat down on a chair and Warren sat across from her with a bored expression on his face. Before a word could be said at the table, Will walked up to their table with two cups of punch in his hand.
"Hey guys." He tossed the full cups into the trash can.
Smooth move, dick. Gone to get punch for the lady, come to talk to the Hippie. I think even Layla noticed that, and that's saying something.
"Oh, hey, Will. Where's Gwen?" Layla asked cheerfully. That girl hid her emotions better than Warren thought.
"Oh, she's dancing with some friends. I got thirsty so I came to get some punch." Will said with a coy smile.
"But you just-" Layla started.
"So I see your here with Warren." Will interrupted quickly as he risked a glance at the dark boy in front of him.
"Oh, yea-" Layla searched for something to say.
"Hey, Lilly pad! Oh, hey, Will. How's it goin'?" Magenta said as she emerged from no where.
"Fine, I was just asking Layla about her and War-"
"That's great, Will. Hey, Gwen is looking for you. Better not keep the princess waiting, right?" Magenta said quickly before pushing Will away from the table, "Thank you, come again." She said once he was gone.
"Thanks, Punk. I don't know what I'd do without you." Layla said with relief. "Hey, wheres' Ethan?" She asked as she searched behind Zach for him.
"You won't believe this! Quintelle asked him to dance with her!" Zach said in his hyper way.
"Quintelle? The chick that can talk to fish?" Warren asked, sounding even more uninterested in this whole thing.
"Aquatic animals, actually." Layla corrected happily.
Warren glared at her, "What. Ever." He cracked his fingers, "What now, Layla?"
Layla blinked in confusion. Layla? He never calls me Layla. She glanced at her friends and then realization dawned on her. Warren never called her by her nickname when other people were around.
"I don't know. Any ideas, Punk?" She looked over at Magenta with hopeful eyes.
"Of course I have ideas. I just can't get them out of my files... but they're there." Magenta said.
"Gee, thanks for the help, Rat." Warren grumbled.
"Hey buddy, don't call my girl a rat, alright? Her name is Magenta!" Zach said bravely.
Warren got up from his seat. For Zach it happened in slow-motion therefore, he looked twice as intimidating.
"What did you just say, Zach?" Warren asked, saying Zach's name dripping with venom.
Zach felt the need not to back out of this, "You heard what I said."
"I thought so." With that said, Warren had Zach lifted by his shirt and although his feet weren't off the ground by much, Zach was crying out for help.
Magenta suddenly gasped, "I have an idea! Warren, throw Zach out the doors."
"My pleasure."
"Wha-" Zach went flying across the room and out the doors. Warren followed after with Magenta and Layla close behind. The rest of the school ran out after the commotion.
"Mind filling me in on this 'idea' of yours?" Warren asked as he stalked his way down to Zach who was trying to get off the ground. Warren knew what he was doing, Zach shouldn't be too hurt.
"Okay, you just have to pretend you're about to punch the life out of Zach over something. Then, Will would try to be the hero and help his 'friend' out. Then Layla will step in and stop Will from hitting you. That'll make Will jealous for sure, he wouldn't like his ex girlfriend and best friend defending his archenemy."
"Are you sure about this, Maj? What if someone gets hurt?" Layla said worriedly.
"It won't be me so, that's not such a bad idea. Sorry I called you a rat." Warren managed to say before he closed the gap between Zach and himself. He pulled Zach by his shirt and pulled his face close to his own, "Relax, Glow Stick, this is all part of the plan, just play along." Warren whispered at him as he shook him around.
"I'm not playing when I do this," Zach said calmly before freaking out in Warren's hold, trashing around like a maniac.
"Not so sure about what you had said before are you, tough guy?" Warren's hands ignited in flames and Zach started to scream.
"Dude! You're not supposed to kill me!" Zach hissed at Warren.
"Right..." Warren cooled down and was no longer holding fire at Zach's face.
Just as Magenta predicted it, Will came up and pulled Warren back by the shoulder. What would've been harmless from a human, caused Warren to drop Zach and whirl around to face Will, who was a head shorter than himself.
Warren snarled and shoved Will back causing him to lose his grip. Hey, having super-strength didn't mean having a super-grip. Warren's flames rolled up all the way to his elbows. At this point, the teachers took action and rounded up the students and sent them back into the gym, not wanting them to get hurt in what was about to unfold here.
Magenta and Layla managed to hide enough to stay outside and watch in case it went too far.
"Where is Principal Powers anyway? Shouldn't she be trying to stop this by now?" Layla asked.
"Yeah but Powers isn't here today. Don't ask me where she is because truthfully, she can be anywhere in the world fighting a giant monster or an evil robot." Magenta answered as she watched closely on where Warren's fireballs landed, making sure none of them would land on Zach who was laying on the floor helplessly. "Layla, I think it's time for you to step in. Looks like Will is about to make his first blow. I don't think throwing fire balls at Will is going to do anything. He's missing for the sake of the plan, step in!" Magenta ordered.
"Right." Layla said nervously. She started to walk over nervously and slowly. That all changed when Will went for a blow at Warren's face, merely missing as Warren threw himself on the ground and rolled out of harms way. Layla started to run at them, "No, no, no..." She said to herself.
Warren glanced over at Layla for a split second and suddenly found himself flying into the air. Layla watched as he flew up and back down again, falling onto the ground. He tried to get off the ground and succeeded. He stumbled the first few steps but then regained him composure. He sent a cold glare at Layla that told her "Do something before I have to fry his ass! It's your choice."
"Uh... Um... What to do?" Layla asked herself nervously. "Oh!" She lifted her hand and a vine from a near by apple tree slowly crept towards Will, "Come on, come on, come on..." Layla prayed as the vine kept it's steady pace.
Warren almost got hit on the face this time, he dodge by moving back. He tripped on the crater that was left by Will's first real strike, and fell backwards onto his backside.
"Damn it, Layla." Warren growled as he got up to his feet, "You have five seconds," He threatened even though no one could hear him. He ignited his hands in flames once again and as Will began to run towards him, he tossed a fire ball at him and managed to get Will on the shoulder.
Will hadn't noticed that his shirt caught fire until his sleeve was disintegrating. He quickly started to pat his shoulder, trying to put the fire out. When that didn't work, he tore the white dress shirt off and tossed it aside, leaving him in a white jersey. He stomped on the floor and the move sent Warren flying over Zach and rolling a few feet away.
"Got ya'." Layla whispered to herself when the vine finally wrapped itself around Will.
Will struggled to free himself. He looked down and noticed it was a vine. His head shot towards Layla and he stared at her in disbelief, "Layla,"
Zach got up from the ground and stumbled toward Warren, "Dude, are you okay?" He said as he helped the angry man up.
Warren jerked away from Zach as soon as he was on his feet, "Don't call me dude! I'm not gonna get my ass handed to me by Will just so Layla can get back at him. Will's ashes are mine!" Warren snarled as he charged at Will at full speed. He tackled the trapped boy to the ground and grabbed him by the neck.
"Warren!" Layla screeched in pure terror as she watched her friend choke her ex-friend out. She looked back at Magenta who was now next to Zach, checking if he was okay.
For the second time, a vine sprouted from the ground and jerked Warren's body from Will's in the blink of an eye. Even Layla was shocked at the reaction, it had never happened before. Well just a few times when she was about to fall from a tree, a vine would break her fall but nothing like that.
Layla trotted up to the two and stopped in between them. Her eyes were brimmed with tears that glistened in the dim lighting, "I'm sorry." She managed to say before walking away toward the bus stop.
She knocked on the door and they opened for her. Ron smiled at her for a moment but when he noticed the tears running down her face, he asked, "Layla, what's wrong?"
"I don't know, Ron. Can you please take me home?" She asked as she sat on a window seat.
"I can't, it's still too early and I can't leave the school grounds unless-"
Layla's sobs escaped loudly and she let her head fall on the window with a loud thud.
"Okay, okay, I'll take you!" Ron said, feeling really uncomfortable, "Just stop crying, please."
Layla nodded her head and pressed her lips together tightly in attempt to muffle her sobs. Last thing she heard was her friends calling after her as they ran toward the bus that was currently taking off. She managed to see Mr. Boy and some other teachers yelling at Ron to stop. She turned her head away and wasn't even fazed when the seat belts popped out and wrapped themselves around her shaking body.
"What have I done?" She whispered to herself.
Thank you for sticking by my side so far. I'll try to update soon but I can only update on weekends so don't expect too much please. Thanks!
Yours truly, Shadow.