Chandra sat by Warren at lunch. Warren smiled, but disguised it with a cough. Chandra giggled, a sound as foreign to her as it was to everyone watching the two with rapt attention.

"What are you doin'?" Warren asked, a hidden playful tone to his voice that only Chandra caught.

"Sitting," she replied, smirking.

"Sitting?"

She nodded.

"No one sits here but me."

"Mm-hmm."

Chandra turned as Layla sat down next to her, Warren now a little uneasy. While he had adjusted to Chandra's presence, he still wasn't that comfortable with Layla, who he had seen in such a vulnerable state yesterday, and her apparent attachment to him. Chandra patted his had and he relaxed his muscles. Layla caught the exchange and squealed, causing both Chandra and Warren to wince.

"You guys are so adorable! I can't wait to see you two together at the dance!"

Warren looked surprised. "Who said I was going to the dance?" If it were any other girl, he would have added, 'why would I go with her?' But, Chandra was different than other girls, he couldn't see her hurt she he kept his mouth shut, besides, he was almost happy to have been roped into going with Chandra. It saved him having to ask knowing she'd say no. When he finally got up his courage, shocking, he knew. The Warren Peace? Lacking guts? But he knew he liked her a lot, and would eventually tell her that he wasn't just looking for a friendship. If that was all he got, fine, he would treasure it, but he wanted to know her more than that. He was secretly jealous of Zach and Chandra's closeness, however, he knew that they were no more than friends, more like siblings than anything. So he squashed those feelings, knowing them to be unjustified. Besides, it was his touch that had calmed her down at the bus stop. He turned his attention back to the conversation.

"What did you get for four? I wasn't sure if Tiferman was, A) bitten by a radioactive tiger, or B) bitten by a regular tiger, then exposed to radiation," the Purple kid asked.

The orange kid walked up and Warren started to get annoyed. "Hey/ Are we eating at Warren's table now? I feel extremely dangerous."

"Whoa. Whoa. If anything, you should already feel dangerous. Did you know that Chandra has some awesome powers?"

A few kids at other tables listening in snickered at his excitement at what they thought were weak healing powers. Chandra tensed as Warren looked towards the other tables with a smirk. They looked at him confused as he turned back to Chandra without explaining his smugness.

Ethan and Zach, who had arrived, looked at Warren in confusion. Layla seemed to understand and they looked to her, silently asking for an explanation. She shook her head as she caught Chandra's eyes. Chandra nodded her head and mouthed, 'Later.' Layla nodded, smiling as she knew how hard it was for Chandra to trust people.

Will walked by, noticing the silent exchange but having no clue what it meant. He glared at Warren, upset that the boy had seemingly stolen all his friends. Gwen tried to pull Will past the table, but he stopped, opening furious as he shook with rage while looking at Warren as Will continued to stroke his anger, ranting internally about the upstart who convinced his friends that Will didn't care about them.

Warren finally looked up from his proud chuckling. He saw Will glaring at him, but smirked. Will let out a guttural roar and lunged at Warren. Chandra saw it coming and stopped Will in his tracks, her eyes glowing a faint black for a second before Will collapsed, sick with shivers and with hives appearing all over his body. No one but Warren had seen Chandra's eyes glow, and he looked at her surprised.

Layla rushed to Will's side, breaking free of Chandra's grip as the girl tried to prevent her from getting close to the sickness. While Chandra could control the range at which it would spread, she couldn't make it non contagious. A touch would make Layla just as sick. Layla crouched down by Will, turning him over and watching as he was scared and looked up at her with confusion.

"What happened?" he croaked.

"Something terrible, yet some might say, 'deserved.'" Layla responded, glancing at Chandra for the last part of her sentence. Will raised his head weakly, following her gaze to Chandra before his head dropped back as he slipped into unconsciousness.

The cafeteria watched in shock, as Chandra got up calmly and walked to Will's side, reaching for his chest only to stop when Layla grabbed her hand, positioning herself protectively in front of Will.

"Layla?" Chandra whispered softly. "Move. He is in pain, I can stop that."

Layla looked at her. "Yes, but is that what you were doing?"

Chandra flinched as her best friend accused her of wanting to inflict more pain on the boy. She thought Layla trusted her. Besides, she only knocked out Will so he would stop putting his foot in his mouth. Layla looked at Chandra, trying to mask the slight bit of fear in her expression but Chandra caught it. Her expression hardened.

"Fine. If you want him to remain sick and in pain, be my guest." Chandra turned to go as Layla jumped up to grab her arm.

"Chandra…"

Chandra turned. "Will has done nothing but hurt you and is continuing to do so. All I did was knock him out as quickly and painlessly as possible without killing him. Unfortunately, I don't want to mess with the power of changing someone's brain. Even if it is to make him mute before he continues hurting you."

Layla looked at Chandra, seeing the hurt behind her friend's eyes. It was then she realized what she did. By not trusting Chandra, she had betrayed her. And Chandra had only been protecting her, even if Layla still cared for Will.

Chandra saw the realization on Layla's face, but it was too late. Chandra knew she would forgive her eventually, but not that day. "I will forgive you…" Layla brightened, "But not right now." Layla dimmed. Chandra reached out slowly towards Layla, who stood still, surprising Chandra, as she had expected the girl to flinch. Chandra smiled sadly, before starting to walk out of the cafeteria.

"Wait!" Layla called. "Aren't you going to heal Will?"

Chandra sighed. She knew the girl regretted her actions, and she didn't want to leave Will, no matter how stupid he was, in pain. She turned and walked back over to Will, placing a hand under his shirt and Warren growled.

"Relax Warren, skin to skin contact closest to the source of the infection heals the affliction the quickest and most painlessly."

Warren stopped growling, but watched closely as Chandra closed her eyes, a green glow emitting from behind her lids and from her body as she worked. Warren couldn't help but think that she looked even more beautiful this way. She opened her eyes, the glow fading from her body and Will coughed before opening his eyes. He looked at Chandra, unaware that it had been her to make him sick and smiled thankfully. Chandra nodded to Will, then looked to Layla, who was looking at her with a sad gratefulness. Chandra got up, once again, for the first time noticing the silence in the lunchroom as everyone stared at her, shocked at her power of healing and watching the drama as it unfolded. Only Warren and Layla knew that Chandra had been the cause of Will's collapse, but everyone knew that the girl was a lot more powerful than she appeared. After all, no one weak would glow like that. The smarter students knew there was more to the story. After all, why would Layla block her best friend, who could heal her sick other friend, from reaching him. But most people were just in shock that the strongest boy at the school could be laid so low in seconds.

Lash stood up and clapped slowly. "Well, it looks like your father's invulnerability doesn't include sickness. My, my, Stronghold. You seem weak as a kitten." Will struggled to sit up, his superstrength and even his regular strength failing to respond to him. Layla looked more closely at Will and realized that he had shrunk. All his muscles, barely showing before, were much smaller, his skin hanging slightly loosely, as the muscle that had filled it seconds ago was now gone. His strength had left him, his muscles depleted, and his powers struggling to channel through his almost nonexistent muscles.

"Chandra!" Layla called as Lash stepped forward menacingly, with Speed closing from the other side. Chandra turned, seeing the danger while Lash looked at Layla, confusedly. Why would the girl call out to her friend for help? Chandra was just a healer, and while stronger than he had thought, clearly not offensive. He stepped forwards again, screaming when his ankle cracked beneath his weight, suddenly finding himself on the ground. Chandra just blinked, staring at him, her eyes calm, and speed was on the ground, his muscles seemingly becoming jello. It didn't hurt, but it sure was unpleasant to not feel where his body was.

Just then, professor Medulla arrived with a cup of coffee in his hand, before seeing the boys and laughing. "The bullies finally found someone they couldn't match!" he cackled before turning to Chandra, "Very impressive, my girl."

Chandra rolled her eyes at his excitement. "Professor M, really?"

"Oh yes, I can't wait to see what the newest affliction is. Masterful application of science, I must say. To stop all proprioceptive input from reaching Mr. Speed's brain while weakening the bones in Lash's ankle enough for it to snap at his own weight? Genius! Even I might not have thought of that idea on the spot."

Chandra then chuckled at the look on Warren's face as he looked between her and the teacher who supposedly hated all his students, or at least found them a waste of space, watching the teacher cackle proudly and with joy.

Chandra looked back to Will, who was looking at her in confusion.

"Surprise," she cackled before quieting herself and walking over to Will and crouching down beside him.

She looked at him seriously. "You're lucky Layla is my friend," she said quietly. Everyone was straining to hear her words. "And you're lucky she hasn't given up on your pathetic ass. She is way more than you will ever deserve. Get your head in the game before you miss the opportunity. With a wave of her hand, Will's muscles returned to their former strength. Chandra had considered leaving him at his strength without his powers, but figured that Will had learned his lesson for now. Will cautiously stood up, before beaming at Chandra.

"Thanks for the help." He paused, a thought crossing his mind. Gwen had stayed back, while Layla had rushed to his side. He looked at Gwen, who was looking at him with a sweet smile on her face, but Will could also see her looking at him with something akin to triumph, and suddenly, Will was a little wary of the girl who he thought might love him.

Chandra saw the shift in Will's eyes as he looked at Gwen. She lunged at him, surprising everyone when she pulled him into a hug. She whispered in his ear, "I'm glad you're back." She pulled away and grabbed Layla's hand, pulling her towards Will. I suggest you two catch up. It's clear who actually cares about you, and it isn't the girl over there who stood by and watched. Chandra smirked as Gwen's face lit up in rage, before walking out of the room, her head held high.

She didn't see Warren still sitting at the table, smiling at her as she left. She was truly the strongest girl he had ever met. And he knew, in that moment, it would be stupid to let her go.