Gem | Daniel Desario

[16]

In her moment of panic, there was only one thing Layla could do. Confide in her best friends. Barging through Nicole's bedroom door, she paid no attention to Nicole and Jacob, who had just sprung away from each other in their own panic. Nicole sat up in her bed, fixing her hair, and Jacob moved away from the bed and cleared his throat.

"I'm freaking out." Layla sat down on Nicole's pink velvet shell chair, grabbed the pink pillow, and hugged it to her chest. If you only looked at Nicole's room aesthetic, with her light pink walls, pink and white decorations, and her heart-shaped mirror on her makeup vanity, you could easily think that she was a preppy cheerleader who did no wrong. She did very wrong, starting with having a secret make-out session with her best friend, who swears they hate each other! "I tried, you guys. I really tried."

"What's going on?" Jacob sat back down on the bed after realizing he and Nicole hadn't been caught. "What did you try?"

"Joey! I tried using him as a distraction, but-" Layla groaned, stuffing her face into the pillow and letting out a muffled scream.

"for what?"

"from Daniel." Layla muffled into the pillow, too embarrassed to lift her head. "I think I like him." She gripped the pillow, having never said that statement out loud. It felt like a relief from her heart. It was silent for a couple of seconds before Nicole started hysterically laughing. Layla lifted her head up slowly, seeing Nicole double over, fanning her face that had turned red from the laughter.

Jacob and Layla looked at her with furrowed brows. "Did I call it or what?!" Nicole slapped Jacob's shoulder and grinned wickedly. "We know! Everyone knows but you and Daniel!" She clasped her hands together.

After Jacob finished rubbing his shoulder from the pain, he nodded. "It is very obvious. You have heart eyes whenever you're around him, and he doesn't ever stop staring at you."

Layla slumped against the shell chair, frowning. "Even Kim knows?" she whispered. "As in, his girlfriend knows?" She felt her heart sink, wondering if Kim hated her and thought she had been a horrible friend. Layla is many things, but the one thing she hates being is a horrible friend. Her friends were the closest thing she had to call family, and disappointing them was the worst feeling she could experience, which is why she tried her best to push those feelings back and why she even became Joey's friend.

"You know..." Nicole scooted up to the edge of her bed, so she was in front of her gloomy friend. "There are some things you don't know. Kim and Daniel never made their relationship status official because one of them never wanted to. There was always something holding that official status back." Layla's ear perked up, and she suddenly sat upright.

"What do you mean? They're always kissing, holding hands, and being near each other. since freshman year!" Layla let the pink pillow in her lap fall as she no longer felt like she needed to hold something.

"Well..." she pondered for a minute, thinking of the right words to say. "Let's say Joey to you is what Kim is to Daniel."

"a distraction?" Layla tilted her head in confusion. "from who? Oh, my god. Does Daniel like someone else?" She stood up. "Oh, my god." Nicole and Jacob grinned at each other. Their friend had finally realized the truth, so they thought. "He likes someone else," she whispered, frowning.

"Yeah!" Jacob yelled.

"Who?"

"Who?" Nicole and Jacob repeated after her. "I mean, it's obvious. think about it."

Think about it, Layla thought. Then it hit her. "Oh, my god."

=

Kicking the gravel in thought, Layla walked up to Kim's house who was already sitting outside, waiting. She knew the time would come, and after Daniel had just left her house, she sat outside, expecting Layla.

"hey." Kim messed around with her car keys, staring off at the dead grass. "I knew you would come." Layla sat beside Kim, putting her arms in the pockets of her jacket as a way to not fidget. They didn't look at each other, each staring off.

"why?" Layla asked, sniffling as the cold wind hit her face.

"Daniel came. He told me what happened."

It was silent for a minute. Layla didn't know what to say other than, "I'm sorry," she whispered. If you weren't paying close attention, you would not have even heard it. She was afraid of what would come next after admitting what she had been hiding since freshman year. Something that stuck forever but was never really realized until this year, when the group became closer—when she and Daniel became closer after bullying each other for years.

"This was the plan anyway," Kim mumbled. "for him to get your attention by using me. I just didn't expect it to become this mess." she gestured between the two. "My mess of actually thinking I had a chance," she sighed, finally looking over to Layla. "He broke it off today."

"he did?" Layla's eyes widen in shock.

Kim nodded. "I don't hate you. Plus, there is this hot guy in college who I met." Kim grinned, making Layla smile. The two then went into gossip about the college guy, both feeling relieved that they could still be friends after all of this. It was all Layla could hope for.

=

It was the next day, and immediately Daniel went to look for Layla. She was beside Lindsay, who was drinking from the water fountain. She looked up from her notebook to see Daniel in front of her. "Hey," she said, giving him a small smile. She was nervous, more than ever after yesterday. Their almost kiss, her talk with Kim. He didn't know that she now knew everything.

"Hey, can we talk?" He leaned in close to her.

"yeah. I'll see you later, Linds." She patted Lindsay on the back, who was still drinking water.

Daniel and Layla walked in the halls for a while, both silent. They made it to the end of the hall, where it was empty, and they were alone with no interruptions. Layla leaned against the lockers, Daniel beside her. "I broke it off with Kim." He let out a huge sigh that has been sitting on his chest for a while.

"I know. she told me."

"I used her for something." Daniel turned to face her. His head was leaning against the lockers, staring down at her. How he loved to stare at her. Her green eyes, which held a hint of gold, her pink lips—just everything about her. He could stare at her for years and still wouldn't want to look away. It was a slight obsession.

Layla nodded, gripping her notebook. "i know."

"You know?" He stood up straight.

"I know... everything," she smiled, making his heart flutter and his breathing to quicken.

He broke off into a grin. "And you're not running away? That must mean something," he teased. She nodded, matching his grin. "Does that mean..."

"I don't know," she teased back, leaning closer to him. There was only one thing on her mind. Something she has been wanting to do forever, and now, with no interruptions, she might just do it.

"now what?"

With one last smile, she leaned up, wrapping her arms around his neck, and placed her lips on his, finally sealing them in.