"Let's go somewhere," Will said, avoiding what he was really thinking about. Across from him at the Paper Lantern's best seat in the house was Warren Peace. Warren had his hair tied up, looking neat...looking incredibly cute in his work outfit...smock of a waiter or clean up boy or whatever he did...Will didn't care what he did as long as he would go out with him.
"I'm working."
"Not tonight."
"I gotta get back to work. I can't take a break any more. It seems every time you or Layla are here..."
"Like a date..."
"A movie?" Warren made a face.
"Hey yeah, maybe a drive in..." Will smiled enthusiastically. Then he scowled, "If they existed any more..."
Warren leaned in, "You know..." he said in a serious tone, "You...since this invulnerability, flying thing...you've changed. You're somehow more...I dunno...more daring. Risky..."
Will's eyes looked down, sullen. He changed his whole demeanor now that he thought Warren was not into his new risky self.
Warren looked to the side to see if anyone was looking and took Will's hands in his own and put them up to his thick lips and kissed the back of Will's palms, "I like that dude...it's a date..." Warren got up fast, looking around to see if anyone noticed this. To his relief they did not.
Will was amazed and then overjoyed again. "Then...it's date?"
Warren bent over him, "Shhhh! Not so loud. And aren't you meeting Layla here?"
"Where'd you wanna go?"
"I don't...hey, I've never been..."
"What?"
"Well, we can talk about it.."
"Now!"
"Will..." Warren said, "Okay, I've never been flying before..."
"What?" Will mocked mock, "Never? Well, I'll just have to see to that."
"Date," Warren knocked his knuckles against the table top, "Friday night, tomorrow at like 8?"
"You not working?"
"No," Warren said, "Thank God. But it has to be dark..."
"Better in the day..." Will enticed.
"Oh man, Strong, you are really pushing this..."
"Okay when you want..."
"4pm..." Warren nodded as Layla walked in and saw him. She nodded back and smiled. Then she came over to them. "Layla..."
"Hey you two," she said, "My two strong guys..."
Will went into fake jealous mode, "Hey, I thought I was your strong guy." Then he realized he might just be jealous of Warren and Layla, the thought of them together. That Warren might not be fully gay, might be...bi or something. And that Warren might be more normal than he was. Will sighed, "Lay, sit down."
Warren sighed and was already gone.
"I can't stay. I have a lot of work to do," Layla said, "I can't even eat."
"You're not going to eat?"
"It has happened," she laughed. "No, I'll just get something fast to bring home with me...something plant like..."
"So now you eat plants?" Will laughed but dropped his smile right away.
"Now I know something's wrong," she said.
"You can read me like a book..."
"Will, I know something's not been right since...since homecoming...."
"It was a great night."
"Yeah," she smiled, her eyes wide and in memory of the adventure, romance, and exhilaration of using her powers and seeing all her friends use their's for good measure and to save the school and possibly the Earth. Outside their window, a butterfly hovered, in this still warm night. It was early December but warm where they lived.
"Layla, you know how we kissed and stuff that night...?"
"Yeah," she said, "It was nice..."
"Yeah uhm," Will stuttered, "Layla, you know how..."
"Will, just say it."
"I don't know how to."
"It'll come if not now."
"I don't...it's hard...to say and you don't have time..."
"I just made some more of it. I'll wait here until you can say it or...we can talk another time when you're ready."
"Layla, I think pretty strongly that I'm ...I'm not into girls. I'm gay, Layla."
Layla puffed, and laughed, "Oh that." She dropped her head in relief. "I thought it was something else..."
Will frowned, "Something else? You mean it shows?"
"Will, I've known you since, what first grade. Before first I think as I noticed you even back then. I always assumed it was a possibility with you..."
"I didn't know myself..."
"Wellll, I guess others can notice it if they are really close to you..."
"Then you're not hurt by this?"
"How can one be hurt by something that just is. I guess I am. I guess I was. I'm not really fully adjusted to it. I mean I thought we could have had something..."
Will took her hands in his, across the table. "We do have something."
"Just not the thing I thought or wanted..."
"No," Will looked down again. "I'm...I'm sorry."
Layla smiled, "Don't apologize. You didn't cause it and you can't choose it. It just is." She took her hands back, "What we have is friendship. You are my best friend, Will Stronghold," tears came to her eyes, "And if something ever happened to you..."
"Oh, no," Will shrugged, "I'm already past the I want to kill myself stage...nothing's gonna happen to me now...I just...I don't want to hurt you."
"I'll adjust," Layla shrugged, "I always do. I think I knew homecoming night but..."
"How?"
"It was the way you kissed me. You seemed to be into it but you weren't really. I mean you seemed TOO into it as though he HAD to be, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah," Will said. "It was nice. I thought, briefly, I might be bi but..."
"But...it was like kissing a dead fish, right?"
"Well, I...Layla, I'm gay so I guess hey yeah." Will made his eyes wide and shook his head. He smiled and she returned it. "So you are adjusted?"
"To this? Well, like I say, I kinda knew homecoming night...but hearing it. I think part of me knew long before that and now I think that's why I'm throwing myself into my work..."
"Layla, I'm always going to be your friend, no matter what or who we see..."
"Do you have anyone you are thinking about?"
Will hesitated and with Layla, that was all that was needed for an answer.
Layla smiled, and leaned in, "You do! You do, tell me who is it?"
Will leaned back in his seat, then forward, about to tell her. Across from them in another booth, Warren dropped his entire plastic tray box of utensils onto the table so that it purposefully made a loud crashing sound with the clanging of metal. He angrily began to put the leftovers from a now gone family into the tray-box. He eyed Will and made his eyes wide. Will saw fire in them. Will leaned back again. A bird flew into the restaurant and past their table, "Lookatthat!"
"Will, it's just a bird," she said. "Oh wow, a red bird."
It flew out again. "Lay, I can't tell ya. The other guy, he doesn't want anyone to know."
Layla sat back in her seat now, "Oh." She thought about it, "Oh. I guess I can respect that but you know I'm not going to tell ANYONE not even Magenta."
"And...especially not Zack. It'll be all over school in no time the way he babbles." Will said, "Once W...once I get the other guy to want to, I'll tell everyone..."
"Even your parents?"
"Eckfff," Will sighed, "Them last!" They laughed. "Really, you remember how hard it was to tell them I didn't have any powers..."
"Your dad, yeah, but your mom was cool with it and I bet she'll be cool with this. I bet..." she paused, "I bet, that even your dad will be okay with this...Will."
"I dunno." He shook his head. "For him, everything seemed so...happy once I got my super strength...this...this might kill him."
"I doubt that. If a two billion ton comet didn't..."
"Not that way..."
A caterpillar was under their table.
"Give it time," Layla said, "And when you are ready and this other guy is ready..." Layla looked over as Warren cleaned yet another table. "Okay, Will, I really do have to go now...I hate to not eat and run..."
"It's okay," Will said, "I'll talk to you later or tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure thing," she stood up and he stood with her and she hugged him. "Don't worry. I think this is the first step toward you being you INSTEAD of you having to be the you other people want you to be. Me. Your parents. Warren."
"Warren?" Will choked over a sip he was taking from his bottled water just after they had hugged.
"Yeah, mister tough guy, I don't know how well he'll take different. He doesn't take different too well, you know." She whispered.
Will stammered, then said, "Well, I think, hum, huyuhm, he's been taking different differently lately." He thought about what he just said, thought it sounded silly, ridiculous even, but then he readjusted his thought on that and thought it sounded fine. "Yeah, that's it."
Layla kissed him on his forehead, something she's almost never done, "See you later." She walked out and smiled back at him from the exit, "It's okay, Will, it's all okay."
Will smiled at that and turned to look for Warren and found him: in his face. Warren raged, "You told her!" He tried to whisper his threat or angry tirade.
Will put his hands on Warren's chest...oh my, he thought, oh my. "No, calm yourself," he whispered, "I just told her about me. That's all. She guessed there was something..." he shut his eyes to think of a different word, "Someone, someone in my life but she had no idea it was you."
"HAD?" Warren yelled and then looked around to see who took notice. A little kid was looking out at them from the side of his father's seat, "What you lookin at?" Warren shot a little fire out his eyes and the little boy began to cry.
"Has. She still doesn't know." Will took his hands back and Warren, who grabbed Will's blue jacket, let go of him and dusted him off.
Warren nodded, and sighed, "I...I can't let this get out, man. I just can't. I'm not really wanting this but...I'm...I'm...."
Will whispered, "Turned on? Me too."
Warren looked down at his erection through his pants, "Yeah that. Even now..."
Will nodded, "Okay, you better get to work or you'll get fired. Then how're you gonna take me on our second date...?"
A spider crawled up onto Will's former seat. Will noticed it. "That's odd. This place is usually so clean..."
"Date?" Warren smirked and his dimples lit up the room to Will.
"Yeah," Will said, "Date. Tomorrow. First one. Me paying in flying."
"Cheapskate." Warren snickered. "Look, I really DO have to get back now. Talk to you tonight on the phone...we can have that thing we had on the phone you know?"
"No."
"Phone s-e-x...." Warren smiled.
"We haven't...oh yeah...."
That night, Warren opened his closet. "What to wear?" He looked at all his raggy clothes. "What will impress?" He shrugged. "Will likes me just the way I am..." He put his hand on his dad's tuxedo, thinking it would be the thing he would wear. "Naw..." He shut the closet, unaware that the tux began to move...with some kind of life of its own...
to be continued...