Chapter 3: Confrontation

It seemed the whole school was buzzing the next day as the Sidekicks made their way to lunch. From what Layla had gathered, Warren had gotten into another fight, and this time he was facing suspension. Apparently, Principal Powers had to physically step in to stop the disruption.

Warren was known for his bad attitude and even worse temper, but he rarely acted out his aggression. Apart from the cafeteria fiasco involving Will, Warren was actually pretty tame in a "mad at the world" kind of way. Since this was his second fight and the school year wasn't even half over, the punishment would obviously be more severe than detention this time.

Layla's concerns grew even more evident when she noticed Will in the corner, surrounded by a group of Heroes. Gwen was retelling a story, her excitement encouraged by the small cheers and looks of awe from the other students.

Will managed to look sheepish as Gwen hung onto him, his body jerking forward each time she had a wide hand gesture to describe something. On one side of his head, his hair looked a big singed, and his backpack was scorched in areas, as if flames had touched the material.

Magenta sat next to Layla, taking in her wide-eyed expression.

"Why do you think Warren would fight him again?" her friend asked, gesturing with a nod of her head toward the small crowd. "They've been avoiding each other ever since you told Will you were going to homecoming with him."

Layla shook her head, clueless.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out."

Magenta raised one eyebrow, muttering a "good luck" as her friend stood up.

Magenta, Zach, and Ethan watched as one of their own walked over to the Heroes, attempting to squeeze past the group of students who were none too happy to be interrupted by a mere sidekick.

Layla tried to ignore the glares, her focus on her best friend and not his snobby girlfriend. At the moment, she was looking livid about the new arrival.

Will noticed her finally, giving her a nervous (or guilty?) smile. She looked at him questionably, silently asking her question. He shrugged his shoulders and was about to reply when Gwen turned her eagle eye on the younger girl, stepping in front of her boyfriend protectively.

"What do you want?"

Layla's blood boiled at her tone and she straightened her back, not afraid to look Gwen in the eye. She was not about to be belittled by someone so vain and self-centered.

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't even talking to you."

She heard the whispers behind her, but didn't pay attention. Doing so would only break her concentration and make it harder to hide her nerves.

"Didn't sound like you were saying much of anything, Sidekick."

Will looked between his girlfriend and best friend, shocked. He started to speak when he was interrupted by Gwen, who talked over him as if he weren't even there.

"You'll never know what it's like to be one of us. You think Will wants to stay friends with you? What do you have to offer that could possibly be of use to him? Hero Support?" Gwen snapped nastily.

Layla's face heated from embarrassment and anger.

"He never had a problem with 'hero support' before. Will can think for himself and he doesn't need people like you telling him what to do all the time."

"You're right, Will can think for himself and he chose me," Gwen stated, pointing to herself, "So go back to your little table and I'll do us all a favor and pretend this conversation never happened."

"Stop!" Will exclaimed, stepping away from the senior and looking at her in disbelief. "Layla is as much of a hero as any of us. Her powers-"

"Why can't you just accept what you are?" Gwen interrupted, clearly insulted. "Why do you insist on hanging out with those losers?"

A few of the others in the group nodded in agreement.

"They can't offer you the same support we can. They are nothing like us!"

Will looked to Layla, frown on his face. "It's not what we are that defines us, but who we are," he argued, looking around the group helpless.

"So you'd rather be with someone like her than me?" Gwen hissed, turning her wrath on Will.

"Layla is just a friend," Will replied, confused.

He looked to Layla for confirmation but she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. Maybe Gwen was right. Maybe she was so blinded by her love for Will that she wasn't seeing what was really best for him. He deserved to hang out with his hero friends, and who was she to stop him if that's what made him happy? She didn't want to be like Gwen, deciding who he should be friends with. Perhaps the jealously over their relationship was making her unreasonable?

The cafeteria was silent for what seemed like hours. Layla's ears burned in embarrassment as she suddenly realized their voices had risen to a near shout toward the end of their heated conversation. Every pair of eyes were now on them, waiting to see what would happen.

Muttering excuses, Layla pushed her way back through the crowd, ducking her head to miss the stares that followed her every move. She pushed open the cafeteria doors and starting walking briskly back to class when she heard Will calling her from behind.

"Layla, wait!"

She forced herself to stop walking, willing the embarrassment to fade. What had she been thinking approaching them like that?

Will caught up and stood in front of her, shifting his weight awkwardly. It took him a few moments to think of something to say. It was one of his nervous traits.

"I'm sorry for what Gwen said back there. We are friends and I like hanging out with you guys. She's just really stressed about this project that's due and… she just shouldn't have said those things. I don't know why she did, but you know it's not true, right?"

Layla nodded. She knew if she told Will how she really felt, she'd probably start crying. Will looked at her in concern, probably predicting her tears and tactfully changed the subject, although what he next confessed wasn't exactly what she needed to hear.

"I'm sorry about Warren, too. I heard he wasn't allowed to come to Homecoming now."

For some reason, Layla felt her insides sink at his words. And for some reason, it hurt even more than when Will told her he was taking Gwen to the dance.

"What happened?"

"I was meeting Gwen for lunch and Warren was yelling at her and then… I don't know. His hands flamed and he looked like he was going to hurt her so I stepped in and told him to back down. He threw flames at me and caught my backpack on fire. I was going to fight back but then Principal Powers came and when we told her the whole story, about how he started it… hey, don't look at me like that!" Will explained, exasperated.

"Did you ever stop and consider the fact that Gwen may have started it? Warren minds his own business and he would never-"

'Well he did!" Will snapped. "Look, I'm sorry. I know you guys…" he grimaced, "like each other or whatever but the guy's a jerk!"

"We never liked each other," Layla snapped back, "We were only going together to make you jealous!"

Will looked shocked at her words.

"What? Why?"

"Because… because I miss you and… I was jealous. Warren was only doing me a favor."

Okay, so it wasn't the complete truth, but she wasn't ready to drop that bombshell just yet.

"Why would he help you? He hates me! And you could've just talked to me instead of going behind my back. We're still friends. I've just been busy but I'll always make time for you, Layla, and you know that!"

She shrugged, not having a response. She already felt bad and his reasoning made her feel absolutely horrible for her actions. For acting like such a bad friend.

Will frowned as the bell signaling the end of lunch echoed in the halls.

"Just stay away from him, okay? He's trouble and I don't trust him," Will sighed, putting a hand on Layla's back and guiding her through the throngs of students making their way to class.

"He's just using you to get to me, and I don't want you to get hurt."

Layla didn't have the heart to tell him that she was the one using Warren.