Setting Layla Afire

I've been single almost four months. I couldn't believe Will and I didn't work out. We'd been friends since grade school. Maybe that was the problem. Will and I were always meant to be...friends who had a crush on one another, but never spoke about the crush. I hadn't talked to Will in two weeks. We were still slightly friends after the break up but.. things would never be the same.

I didn't know who he hung out with now. Who he dated, if anyone. I didn't help him with homework anymore. Life was a drag. We're in our third year at Sky High, junior year. We dated for the rest of freshman, all of sophomore...and broke up in September this year...when junior year began. It's now January. We've just returned back to school from holidays.

School wasn't my main priority anymore though. Neither was the Paper Lantern. I went there often because that was mine and Will's favorite restaurant. Before we started dating, I had found out Will's arch enemy, turned less enemy and more friend after they saved the world together...well, we saved the world together, Warren Peace also worked there.

Apparently his family owned it.. Apparently, Warren was part Chinese. I hadn't ever guessed that part. I hadn't known a lot of things about Warren. Sure he... liked destruction and... fire, I mean who wouldn't if they were a pyrokinetic but... he was a good guy deep down.

After he and Will became, slight friends, he even admitted he felt bad about us faking dating just to make Will jealous...when Will was dating Gwen Grayson who turned out to be Sue Tenney, an evil woman back from the grave (so to speak).

Sometimes I found myself thinking about Warren. Especially now that I'm single. I don't know what it is about him. Maybe it's the sense of danger... maybe it's the way his hair hangs in his eyes? I don't know, but I'd like to find out.

--x--x--

That evening after school, I decided to go to the Paper Lantern for the first time since August of last year. The last time Will and I had went together. I didn't remember seeing Warren there...maybe he didn't work there anymore. I was worried.

Sitting down at a table that was a little unusual for me... it was towards the back. I had never liked to sit in the back when it was Will and I together. But for some reason... I didn't want anyone to see me. A male walked out, I knew it wasn't Warren. I chewed on my bottom lip, when he asked if I was ready to order anything. He recognized me as a girl who came in here quite often, so by now, I'd memorized the menu.

"Does Warren still work here?

I asked and the male's face stiffened slightly, a curt nod.

"Is he working tonight?"

"No miss, he's not."

He said in kind of a rough tone.

"Do you know where I could find him...? It's kind of important."

I made my voice sound dire and the male sighed, nodding as he gave a cell phone number for Warren out of his back pocket. Written on the back of it was,

"For Layla W. Our regular customer."

Was Warren...did Warren know I was going to ask about him? I was confused...

"Thanks.. I'm going to go out and call him now..."

I stood up slowly from the booth in the dimly lit room and rushed outside, pulling my cell phone out to give him a call. I hoped he would answer.. It'd be nice to talk to someone and maybe not be judged for what happened between Will and I. Warren hadn't really ever been mean to me before. Even if we'd never saw eye to eye.

Even if he did burn my hand once, just once.