Chapter 11

The Commander arrived minutes after the incident, having heard from an unknown source that there was danger at the restaurant he knew his son and friends were at. Layla was thankful that it was he that showed up, otherwise she probably would've been in more trouble than she already was. The older man talked to her mother over the phone, and the two agreed that Layla would not be going to dance tonight and would be grounded for the next ten years. She felt that was a bit of an exaggerated punishment, but she wasn't able to argue in case something more gruesome was assigned instead.

Luckily, one of the students with the ability to repair broken objects was at the restaurant and readily agreed to help. Of course, nobody could say 'no' to the Commander.

The greenery that now took over the walls, ceiling and tables, however, was a little more difficult to fix. Layla was able to remove most of it, but her power was too unstable at the moment to take it away completely. Ironically, one of the biggest irreversible problems was the twiggy contraption that held Gwen as its prisoner, although Layla secretly noted, with smug satisfaction, that she wasn't trying all that hard.

Her friends were in shock for the most part, especially Will. They had seen Layla's power before, but never that potent. It took almost ten minutes of coaxing to convince Ethan to turn back into his solid form.

When the Commander finally was able to release the top half of Gwen, the older girl started shouting at Layla, her hysteric words blending from one sentence to the other. A vine somehow found its way from the ceiling, gagging the squalling girl. At that point, Will's father ordered Layla to sit down and "not help anymore!"

It was at this point that a figure slammed open the door to the restaurant. The Commander and remaining students turned toward the individual quickly, slightly alarmed. The only ones to relax were Magenta and Layla as they realized it was just Warren Peace.

He quickly scanned the large room, his eyes softening from his panic as they landed on Layla, unharmed and sitting at a booth. Without acknowledging anyone else in the room, he quickly walked over to the table, hesitating only when he got there.

"You can sit if you want," she answered to his unspoken question.

He sat down slowly, his eyes finally taking in their surroundings.

"Felt the need to redecorate?" he asked in his gruff voice, his lips twitching just the slightest.

"Something like that," she smiled back at him, slightly embarrassed.

Across the room, Will had stopped his movements in helping to free his girlfriend as he stood watching the pair.

"Get over it," Magenta said, rolling her eyes.

"What is he doing here?" he sputtered.

Over on the other side of the room, the two teenagers were having that exact conversation.

"What are you doing here?" asked Layla, folding her arms and resting them on the table.

"I was heading to work and I heard some students talking about a pyscho freshman who demolished a building and was going to kill everyone. So naturally, I thought of you."

"What?" Layla asked, her eyes wide.

Warren grinned at her, taking in her shocked appearance. "They might have said something about red hair."

"That's ridiculous," Layla scoffed, then hid behind her hands in embarrassment. "Everyone's going to think I'm insane now!" she groaned.

"No they're not," Warren chuckled, reaching across the table and pulling her hands away from her face. As he brought them back down to the table he continued to hold them, squeezing them in comfort.

"By the looks of things what you did was pretty fucking cool. Not to mention you publicly humiliated Gwen. Not many people have the guts to do that."

"You did," Layla pointed out, referring to his incident in the school hallway.

"And that's why we're such a good match," Warren grinned, flashing his set of pearly white teeth.

Zach was holding back Will, who looked like he was seconds away from going ballistic. His face went from pale to bright red in seconds, watching as his enemy grabbed his best friends hands and then as the two obviously flirted with one another. Magenta was watching the two young men with disinterest, slightly annoyed that Gwen was now freed from her bonds.

"Come on man, you have Gwen!" Zach tried to reason. Will as still struggling against him, trying to get to the pair on the other side of the room.

"I don't care about Gwen!" snapped Will, as a voice behind the both of them shrieked "WHAT?"

Will grimaced and turned toward his girlfriend, getting nervous as the lights above them started to shake and flicker.

These actions and the loud voices caught the attention of the two teenagers across the room. Layla stood up quickly, seeing her friend in danger. Warren rolled his eyes, standing up beside her.

"Now kids..." Will's dad tried to reason, standing between them.

"I'm not a kid!" Gwen snarled, rushing forward to point her finger in Will's chest.

"You..." she seethed, eyes flashing.

"No!" Will stated, standing up at his full height, "I'm allowed to have my own friends, sidekicks or not. These guys are every bit of the hero that I am."

Gwen just laughed, the sound harsh and hollow.

"You keep telling yourself that," she said, glaring at him at full force. "By the way? It's over."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that on my own, thanks." Will snapped. He nodded to someone behind her and she narrowed her eyes at being dismissed, sniffing indignantly, and flipping her hair as she turned around.

Gwen's dramatic exit was interrupted, however, as she slipped and fell from the puddle that was Ethan.

A/N: Sorry for the wait! Life has been busy. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. You're the main reason I forced myself to sit down and get this done :)