Free Discovered by E. D. Brady

easily,”
Ben contradicted.
    Issy and Ben
continued to banter back and forth while the others looked on.
    Jay raised
his eyebrows and shook his head, his tongue pushed against his cheek. “Alright,
already,” he finally piped in. “One more game.”
    Layla and
Issy kicked butt easily. After a few minutes of immature gloating and reminding
the guys that females are the supreme gender, Layla decided that she needed to
go home.
    “I’ll be back
soon,” Jay told the other three.
    “How long are
you guys staying for?” Layla asked. “Will I get to see you again?”
    “Joey and I
are leaving tomorrow, but we’ll be back in a couple of weeks, probably the
Friday before Thanksgiving,” Issy said. “So be prepared to slaughter them
again.”
    “Go team!”
Layla blurted out, fist pumping Issy.
    “You know it,
my friend,” Issy said, smiling warmly.
    “Why are you
leaving so soon, though?” Layla asked. “I thought you were staying longer.”
    “Something
came up, and Joey is needed back at work,” Issy explained.
    “Don’t I get
a farewell hug?” Joey asked. Layla walked over and threw her arms around him
loosely. “I’ll see you before Thanksgiving, Layla,” he said warmly.
    Layla smiled,
delighted by the way the twins were so sure she’d still be around in a couple
of more weeks. All things considered, this was one of the better weekends she’d
ever had.
     
     
     

Chapter 7
     
     
     
     
    Layla rushed
out the door to Julie’s car, a few choice words silently running across her
mind. Once again, it was going to be humiliation walking into Schultz’s class.
    “I want every
single detail,” Julie demanded. “Why were you over there the entire weekend?”
    “Well, I can
tell you that we still haven’t started our project yet,” Layla said, smirking.
    “So what did
you do?” Julie pushed.
    “Mostly hung
out. Jay has some friends in town, so we spent most of the weekend with them.”
     “So, are you
like an item now?” Julie asked.
    “I think so,”
Layla replied, hardly believing the turn of events over the weekend. “We’re
involved, whatever that means.”
    “I’d say it
means you’re an item,” Julie confirmed.
    They rushed
into Schultz’s class and breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed he wasn’t
there. Layla and Julie took the first two desks, threw their book bags on the
ground after taking out their textbooks and looked more than settled by the time
Schultz returned. Thank heaven for small miracles.
    When the bell
finally rang at the end of the class, Layla shoved her textbook back in her bag
and stood to leave. Jay was next to her in an instant. “Walk you to your next
class?” he asked.
    “Sure,” she
responded, smiling sweetly.
    “See you at
lunch,” Julie butted in, giving Layla a knowing smirk.
    “I’ll save
you a seat,” Layla called after her.
    As they
walked down the hall, Layla had a sneaking suspicion that something was
bothering Jay, as though there was something he was reluctant to say. “Is
everything alright?” she asked apprehensively.
    “No…yes.” He
shook his head as though trying to clear his thoughts. “Everything is fine,
it’s just, we never did start our project yet, and I was wondering when would
be a good time for you to work on it.”
    “Anytime,”
she said. “How about you?”
    “I’m not sure
about today or tomorrow. Can I get back to you about it?” He looked straight
ahead, walking stiffly, not bothering to keep pace with her.
    Layla felt
her heart sink. The easy, comfortable way that she and Jay were together all
weekend seemed to be gone. He was like an awkward stranger to her somehow. She
felt a sharp pain in her gut, wondering if maybe he had a change of heart about
their new relationship status. This was what she had feared most, the
understanding that if a romance between them was to fail, it would ruin the
friendship that they both seemed to enjoy.
    To make
matters worse, when he left her in front of her next