The Hothead and The Ice Queen

Nineteen

"Layla! Cassie!" We turned our heads as Will jogged up to us.

After breakfast, I picked Layla up at her house, and we made a point not to wait for Will before walking to the bus stop. While we waited for the bus, and inevitably Will, Layla decided to distract herself by gushing about my relationship with Warren. I told her how amazing he made me feel about myself. I told her how confident I was in us and our relationship and the way he felt about me. But ultimately, I couldn't smother how happy I was and how happy he made me. This morning, my dad playfully called me out on my sunny, bubbly mood. While I thought that me talking about how happy I was would upset Layla, she just wrapped her arms around me and rambled about how the two of us were perfect for each other. But our smiles dropped when Will joined us at the stop.

"You guys are not gonna believe what happened to me last night."

I scowled and crossed my arms, popping my hip as Layla slowly held out a fortune cookie. He was thicker in the head than I thought if he didn't realize how he majorly screwed up. "Oh! Love these." Yup, thicker and slower than molasses. My scowl deepened and I huffed as he took it from Layla's hand.

His obnoxious chomping punctured the silent air, and I scoffed, rolling my eyes. I muttered under my breath, "Idiot."

As he chewed happily, he unraveled his fortune and read it out loud: "Your loyalties are clear when it comes to friends."

He looked up with a dopey smile, but Layla and I stared at him expectantly. Then he glanced down at his fortune and back at us, more specifically Layla, and it was like a lightbulb went off. "Oh, God. Oh! Oh, I totally spaced."

"You think?" Layla reached back and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze to calm me down. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, but I did release a calming breath.

Will brushed off my frigid demeanor, his eyes locked on Layla. "I'm sorry. I know you must want to kill me."

"The thought did cross my mind," I sneered.

Layla squeezed my hand again, and I tore my hand away, crossing my arms over my chest. "Actually, just the opposite. I have something to tell you," she said with a bright smile. While I understood that she liked him and wanted to confess that to him, that didn't mean he should get away with standing her up. It was so rude!

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But you first."

"Okay. It's about Homecoming." A sinking feeling settled into my gut. Where's he going with this?

Layla perked up even more. "Really? Me, too."

"I'm going with Gwen Grayson." My jaw hit the concrete, and Layla's face fell. "Can you believe it? Me, a freshman, going with the most amazing girl at Sky High."

I audibly gaped and pushed past Layla as she remained speechless. "What? You mean to tell me that you ditched Layla last night for Gwen Grayson?! How could you– mm!"

My angry rant was promptly cut off when Layla clamped her hand over my mouth and pulled me away from Will before I could turn him into an ice sculpture. "That's awesome!" Hearing her heart breaking through her trembling voice made me struggle in her hold, but it only got tighter, and I wasn't sure if it was because I was struggling too much, or because she needed an outlet for her bottled up emotions.

"I know." Will chuckled ignorantly while Layla gave him an awkward attempt at a supportive smile.

The bus screeched to a halt beside us, and Layla finally let me go. I stormed on the bus and greeted Ron before taking my seat next to Ethan. Magenta and Zach were already sitting together. The smaller boy leaned away from me and observed me with wide, frightened eyes. "Girl, you're flurrying. What's wrong?"