Gem | Daniel Desario

[6]

"Hey, Layla!" Daniel called out for the brown-haired girl who was walking inside the school building. "I got you a doughnut." He waved around a sprinkled doughnut. Layla looked down towards the floor to see multiple doughnuts on the floor beside their feet.

"Oh yeah, was it from the floor?" She asked, walking up to Daniel, Nick, Kim, and Karen, one of Kim's friends, who Layla honestly didn't like.

"No, this one was though." He said, biting into another doughnut he held in his hands. He handed Layla the other doughnut, which she took with a shrug, biting into it. Nick offered a doughnut to Karen, which she looked at before looking up at him with a glare.

"What? What's your problem?" He asked.

"My problem is your face, dirtbag." Karen rolled her eyes at Nick, before walking away, an annoyed expression on her face. See, that's why Layla didn't really like her, she was completely rude for no reason. And not saying that Layla isn't rude, cause she's not the nicest, but she always had a reason why she was rude.

"What's going on with her?" Nick asked, his mouth full as they all started walking down the crowded school hallway.

"Ricky dumped her this morning. I don't know, she's on the warpath." Kim explained. Layla took another bite from her doughnut, walking alongside Daniel.

"Well, if she's looking for new customers, I'm up for a test drive," Daniel said, secretly hoping to get a reaction out of Layla but when he looked over towards her, she had completely ignored his comments, splitting her doughnut in half with a straight face. Layla did feel something though, but she just pushed it back. Spotting Nicole and Jacob across the hallway, Layla said bye to Daniel and Nick, as Kim ran after Karen, and walked up towards her best friends.

"Oh, a doughnut." Jacob grinned, taking the other half of Layla's doughnut, splitting it again and handing the other small half to Nicole. "I heard you had an eventful Halloween," Jacob told Layla who finished up her doughnut, wiping her hands on her jeans.

"Yep. Throwing eggs at Lindsay brother, hitting mailboxes, smashing pumpkins." Layla grinned. "I'm sure I had a better one than you, Jacob."

"Oh, No, nothing beats hearing your younger siblings scream and run around the neighborhood while you chase after them." Jacob sarcastically smiled towards Layla who just chuckled. The school bell ringing overhead the students made Layla turn to Nicole.

"You actually going to class today?" She asked the blue-eyed beauty who nodded her head, causing Jacob and Layla looked towards her, taken back. "Wait, are you serious? Today's Mr. Franklin's movie day. You know, the ones that are silent and that you hate?" Layla tilted her head, placing the back of her hand on Nicole's forehead, making her slap the girls hand away.

"Ms. Collins class is joining us today," Nicole smirked at her friends, making them suddenly understand why she was going to class today.

"And Kevin's gonna be there," Layla mumbled, side-eyeing Jacob as he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I gotta get to class," Jacob grumbled as another bell rang overhead them, making him slip into the crowd of students walking to their classes, disappearing from Layla's and Nicole's sight.

Layla looked over to Nicole, giving her a smile before she followed Jacobs steps.

✵ ✵ ✵

Layla was busy drinking water at the regular lunch table she sat at with her friends, when suddenly three chairs were pulled from around her, Daniel, Kim, and Nick sitting down beside her. She swallowed quickly, turning to them. "Uh, Hey?"