Chapter 10

The two girls were waiting anxiously in Layla's living room, although for two entirely different reasons.

Although she would never admit to anyone else, Magenta found Zach's humor and awkwardness kind of charming as of late. His affections didn't slow down; in fact they seemed to increase the closer the date of the dance. While it was extremely embarrassing, secretly inside she was flattered that someone would take that much of an interest in her. The expression on his face was priceless when she finally relented and agreed to go to the dance with him.

The only drawback was that they'd have to spend the evening around Miss Techno-bitch, but if Magenta had any say in the matter, that wouldn't last for long. Besides, she had to bail Layla out from the awkwardness that was sure to ensue. She wasn't quite sure if Will had even thought to clear the idea with his girlfriend of bringing Layla along. Magenta had a strong suspension that she wouldn't be too happy, to say the least.

As for Layla, her nerves were on edge with all the thoughts swirling around in her head. It would be so much easier if the two boys just got along. What if she slipped up and Will found out tonight? What if Warren finds out she was around Will at the dance? Would he care? What if...

She felt a nudge against her side and looked over to her friend quizzically. Magenta looked at her oddly and then her eyes snapped up to something over Layla's shoulder. The redhead whipped her head around and nerves erupted in her stomach upon seeing Will and Zach standing inside the living room, looking a bit out of place with their dress clothes.

"Are you okay?" asked Will upon sensing his friend's distracted demeanor.

Layla nodded and stood up slowly. Layla's mom was there in a heartbeat, grinning and fawning over how everyone looked that evening. Magenta went over to greet Zach and Layla smiled unsurely at her best friend as he reached his hand out for her own. Placing her palm in his, she was suddenly embraced in a warm hug. It was nice. Familiar. Layla closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. Meanwhile, Layla's mom was making a fuss as she took pictures left and right.

"Now everyone stand together... No Zach, stand behind Magenta. There you go! Okay, now smile!"

"Where's Gwen?" Layla questioned in-between grinning for pictures.

"She said she would meet up later. She had to go to the school and make sure everything was ready before everyone started arriving."

Layla nodded in understanding, secretly glad that she would have another hour or so Gwen-free.

"You guys ready yet?" Magenta asked, visibly uncomfortable having the camera pointed at her face. Will stepped back and grabbed Layla's hand again, pulling her towards the door. She noticed Magenta giving her a pointed look, as if accusing her of something. It's not like she and Will never held hands before.

Layla simply smiled in return and followed the lead, hugging her mom in the process as she walked out the door. The two couples made it to the minivan out front, which housed Ethan and his date for the night. They were to meet the other students at a local restaurant, where they would have dinner before heading to the dance. Ethan's mom smiled at the teenagers, letting the girls know how pretty they looked before putting the car in gear, waving at Layla's mom, who was standing by the door with a tissue in hand. Layla rolled her eyes.

The restaurant was nearly packed when they arrived, and after another round of goodbyes to Ethan's mom, the group walked inside. A lot of the students were already seated, the excited chatter almost deafening.

As Layla was sitting, waiting for their order to be taken, she thought about the conversation that the two girls shared earlier in the day.

"Are you going to tell him that you and Warren are an item now?"

"I don't know!" Layla exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I don't even know what we are, like if he wants me to be his girlfriend or if..." she started, letting the end of her sentence hang out in the open. "I'm pretty sure Will wouldn't like it very much anyway if he knew I was for real dating someone he hates," Layla finally explained.

"So you're just going to hide this from him?"

"Not exactly... I'm just going to wait until things cool off a bit. Will doesn't want me seeing Warren, but maybe after some time he'll loosen up to the idea and then everything will be okay."

It was a nice thought, but not very plausible. However, Layla took to seeing the good in everything, she always had. Magenta, on the other hand, was always blunt and straight to the point. If the expression on her face was any indication, she severely doubted Layla's reassurance that everything was going to turn out nice and dandy.

"You do realize it's not just Will that doesn't like Warren? Their feelings are mutual. Secondly, did you forget about Gwen? Not only is Will blinded by the fact that she's a total psycho freak, but Warren attacked her. Do you think Will's just going to forget that?"

"This is fun!" Will exclaimed over the noise of the other students, slightly leaning forward in order for everyone at their table to hear him. "I miss hanging out with you guys."

"Well maybe if your ego wasn't so inflated then we'd let you!" Magenta snapped.

The whole night it was 'me this, me that' and the Magenta was sick of it. Just for once could Will not talk about himself? She looked toward Layla for confirmation, but the other girl was staring off into space, obviously in deep thought.

Zach was goofing off as usual and Ethan and his date looked slightly uncomfortable sitting next to each other. It was unfortunate that both parties were shy. Magenta hadn't seen them interact so far, although they kept sneaking curious glances at one another when they thought the other wasn't looking.

It wasn't until everyone had gotten their food and started to dig in that things became interesting. Will had his arm draped casually over Layla's shoulder, who still looked as distracted as ever. Zach had tried to mimic his friend's movement, but ended up hitting Magenta in the head. After the third attempt she turned her ferocious glare on him, about to tell him off, when his eyes went wide as they stared at something behind her.

Magenta whipped her head around so fast that she accidentally elbowed her date in the ribs. The platinum blond gave a soft cry of pain, but the strong-willed teenager had bigger things to worry about now.

As the sinister shadow fell over the table, everyone except Will and Layla held their breaths for the outcome.

Gwen looked furious, her eyes darting back and forth between her boyfriend and the younger redhead, obviously coming to her own conclusion. Layla was picking at her food, moving her fries across her plate with her fork. Will grinned up at his girlfriend, but having enough sense to recognize the signs of trouble and dropped his arm from Layla's shoulder.

At the loss of weight Layla finally looked up, her eyes filling with dread.

"What is she doing here?" Gwen's shrill voice rang out in the restaurant.

"I invited her." Will said simply, moving to stand up to calm his girlfriend down.

"Oh I almost forgot. Her loser boyfriend couldn't make it, could he?" she sneered, an obvious dislike for the other girl apparent on her face.

"Why don't you back off?" snapped Magenta, coming to her friend's defense.

"Shut up sidekick." Gwen hissed, turning her wrath on the entire table. "Like you're even better."

"Gwen..." Will pleaded, not wanting to upset the older teen but also wanting to protect his friends. "Let's just go."

"You act like you're so great!" Magenta growled, standing up to have a better advantage. "You're nothing but a stuck up bitch. People may like you because you're pretty, but that's the only thing you have going for you. I see right through your little act," she snarled, pointing her finger at the other girl, "And I think you are the ugliest person I have ever met."

"It's nice that you think that." Gwen chastised, grinning like a mad cat. "But at least I have a real power. I'm somebody. People like you," she started, gesturing at the table, "Are nothing more than the disgrace of the hero world. You can't do anything useful; you just get in the way."

"Stop," said a voice from the table. The group of friends turned to the source in shock. They had never heard Layla sound so angry. So forceful. It was a complete 180 reaction to what they were accustomed to. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wild. Her hands were clenched at her sides, her nails digging into her palms.

Gwen simply flashed a nasty smile. "Especially you," she clarified, "Nobody wants someone so pathetic."

At this comment, Layla screamed in outrage, her pent up anger and frustration toward the other girl finally rising to the surface. All she could see was red as she raised her hands toward the other girl.

She could feel her power pulsing through her veins, the energy unstoppable.

She could vaguely hear the screams from the restaurant as the windows burst open, glass flying everywhere as the snaky vines rushed forward...