Icy Heat

Chapter Eight: Paper Lantern

When I got onto the bus, I buried my head into Warren's chest. "Angel? What's wrong?" I shook my head. "Come on, Angel. I can't help if I don't know what's wrong." He moved my hair away from my face. "What happened?"

"Lash grabbed my ass," I admitted. I watched Warrens go from milk chocolate to lava in less than a second. "Warren, we can't do anything right now." I gripped his hands. "Look at me" I cooed. "Feel my skin" I stroked his hand before leaning forward and whispering into his ear " Hear my voice" I felt him finally calm down. I stayed in his arms until he finally calmed down. "You can get him tomorrow or the next time you see him. But the bus has already taken off."He said nothing, just held me in his arms until we got home.

Once the bus pulled up to my stop, I gave Warren a deep kiss before walking off of the bus. Once I was off and on my way to the house, my phone went off. I opened it to see a text from Warren. 'UR EVIL 😈'

I laughed at the text before sending

'I dnt knw wat u mean 😘'

I put my phone back into my pocket as I climbed the steps of my home. When I came in, I saw my mom on the phone with a client, so I just gave her cheek a kiss and walked upstairs.

About an hour later, I had finished my homework and headed downstairs for an apple to hold me over until supper but when I got to the kitchen, I saw the person I have basically hated since the beginning of school. Gwen Grayson. My mom saw me and gave me a kind smile before saying."Gwen here is going to help your brother with his science tonight."

"Well, he better not forget about meeting Layla at 8 tonight," I told her before going back up to my room. When I got in my room, I decided that I wasn't going to let Layla wait alone. I wanted to see if my brother would remember his true friends. I quickly got changed into some more loungewear, I texted Layla I was on my way, and walked out of my room. When I got downstairs I saw Mom and dad looking down the hallways but didn't pay it any mind and left the house for the paper lantern. When I got there, it was already dark. Once I got inside I told the hostess that I was meeting someone. She let me by and I walked over to where I saw Layla. "Hey flower child" I greeted as I sat down.

She smiled at me "Hey," She looked behind me and frowned. "Where's Will?" She asked me.

"I honestly don't know," I told her. "I told Mom that he was supposed to be here with us tonight." The waitress came around to us and asked what we would like to drink. "May I please have a coke?" I asked her.

She gave me a nod before turning to Layla. "Just a water please?" The waitress gave us a nod and walked away from our table. "I do hope that Will is going to come," Layla whispered to herself. You and me both Layla.

We waited for roughly an hour before I gave up and ordered myself a plate as well as Layla's. When our food came, I went ahead and started eating since I didn't eat much at lunch and I was hungry while Layla just picked at her food. I had just finished my plate when I heard a very familiar voice. "Still working on that?" Layla and I looked up to see Warren.

I smiled at him and said "Hey sparky"

He looked shocked to see me and Layla as he said breathlessly "Hey" He seemed to try to figure out where he knew Layla from.

"We go to school together." Layla helped him remember.

"You're Stronghold's friend." He finally realized.

"Yeah," Layla and I dragged out at the same time feeling angry and awkward about my brother.

"Do you want me to heat that up for you?" Warren asked my friend politely.

I smiled at his offer but Layla looked worried and began to whisper. "You're not supposed to use your powers outside of school"

I chuckled at my friend's innocence. Warren leaned down and whispered back. "I was just gonna put it in the microwave."

Causing me and Layla to chuckle. "We were supposed to be meeting Will here, but" Layla tried to explain but I guess she saw how I was smiling at Warren because she then asked. "You want to sit down?"

Warren bit his bottom lip before looking over to where the waitress was and saw how empty the restaurant was he looked back at us and said "Yeah, I think I can spare a minute." before sliding into my booth. He reached over my side and lit the candle causing me and Layla to smile. I gave him a small peck on the cheek as Layla began to explain her life story to him. When she was done explaining how she found out about her powers when our class was growing lima beans, Warren figured out something that I already knew. "And falling for him, was that before or after the lima beans?" He asked my friend while chuckling.

Layla was stunned by the fact he just straight up asked her about her crush on Will. "What? I am not in love with Will Strong..."She tried to hide the obvious embarrassment when Warren and I raised our eyebrows. She stopped and cringed as she asked. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah," Warren answered simply.

I scrunched my face at her and said."Painfully"

When we told her this, she just looked completely defeated. "Great"

"So why don't you tell him?" Warren seemed genuinely confused about why she was so shy about telling Will.

Layla looked at me nervously until I gave her the look that said, Spill. "Well I was going to ask him to homecoming but there are two problems." I looked at her confused. Problems? "He likes someone else and she's perfect." I was shocked at this. Does Layla not think she is perfect?

Warren gripped my hand softly before speaking. "Do you know what I think?" He asked my best friend. "To let true love remain unspoken is the quickest route to a heavy heart," He said poetically.

I smiled at his words and gripped his hand but when I did that, I saw that he was holding a fortune from the cookies and nudged him with a chuckle. Layla was still stunned by his words and said "That was really deep."

 "Yeah, and your lucky numbers are 4, 16, 5, and 49," He tells her as he reveals the little piece of paper.

"You are a major goofball, flame boy" I joked with a slight chuckle but stopped when he kissed my nose. I just looked at him with love and admiration. "I love you" I whispered and leaned in to give him a kiss before a woman yelled in Cantonese making me freeze.

We pulled away quickly which caused me to giggle at our own embarrassment. , I hid my smile behind my hand while he replied to the woman in the same language. "I uh, got to go," He told us before kissing my cheek and handing Layla the fortune. "See ya around, hippie." When he got up, he leaned down and pecked my lips. "Bye, Angel" I smiled and waved bye. I could feel Layla's stare down while hearing Warren and the woman from the kitchen.

"So the rumors are true? You and him?"

I nodded "Yeah. And I don't regret it. No matter who his father is" I told her as I got up and went to pay for our food.

When I got home, Mom and Dad looked at me disappointed about something. I looked at them confused. "What?"

Dad glared at me. "What? Is that all you have to say? You missed dinner with Gwen." I rolled my eyes at him and bit my lip a bit. "She was a fantastic girl, why weren't you here?"

"Because I made a promise to my actual friend, to meet up with her and have dinner, the same thing Will was supposed to do tonight." I snapped at him before walking to my room when I stopped midway up the stairs. "Also in case you care. I have a date to homecoming, so I will not go with you guys." I continued up the stairs.

~Hello my little rabbits and mad hatters. 

So two things. This chapter was a quick filler chapter until the next, so please leave a comment and vote. 

Two, I had a customer yesterday who was covered in burns and you know what. She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. She went out into the world and didn't cover her scares and that is beautiful. I sadly can't keep in contact with her but I just want everyone to understand that just because you look 'ugly' to the world doesn't mean you are. Your soul and heart are the most beautiful things in the world. Please be kind to each other. 

-XOXO The wonderland hacker