HEROES & SIDEKICKS ▹ W. PEACE [✔]

nine.

Mrs. Lee welcomed Astrid back at her restaurant after giving a long and passionate speech to Warren about treating women right and not hurting a fine woman like her, finishing it up with a great smack at the boy's chest and a free meal for the silver-haired girl.

So, the night before Homecoming, it wasn't shocking to see Astrid lounging by a table booth at the Paper Lantern, nursing a plate of chow mein. Somehow, Lash had got a hand of her number and texted her an invitation to a party at the Stronghold residence, but she pretended not to have seen it. He got significantly less daring now that Warren was back in the picture.

A buzzing sound alerted the girl of another message on her phone. She groaned again, expecting it to be from Lash, but was surprised to see it was from Layla.

L: "Did you know Will's hosting a party? It seems like only heroes are invited."

A: "Lash texted me, telling me to go. UGH!"

L: "Will knows about my crush and has been avoiding me. Apparently, I embarrass him."

Astrid frowned at it. There were so many things wrong in that sentence.

A: "Did he tell you that?"

L: "His girlfriend was kind enough to deliver the message."

The silver-haired sighed in irritation.

So the monster had finally decided to bare its fangs. Gwen Grayson was indeed a royal pain in the ass.

A: "And you believed her? Layla, Plastic Barbie is the most two-faced bitch I've ever seen. Even Penny is better because at least she doesn't pretend to be nice. I can't believe I'm defending Stronghold, but he's too dumb to notice your feelings for him. And if he's really embarrassed, then it should be at himself for being such an ass."

Layla's answer took a bit more time to arrive.

L: "I'm not sure you are defending him."

A: "What I'm saying is that it's unlikely that he knows about your feelings. And nothing that comes out of Plastic Barbie's mouth can be taken seriously. She saw you as a threat to her relationship with him and decided to hurt you and send you away."

L: "Well, it worked."

Astrid huffed.

A: "I'm at Paper Lantern with Warren. Why don't you come over?"

L: "Will's been leaving me voice mails asking me to meet him there, but I don't wanna see him."

A: "Okay, I'll make sure to kill him for you."

L: "Thanks."

"I don't have words to express how disturbing it is to see our teachers on a date," Warren grabbed her attention as he passed by her table.

The tempestuous hero girl snorted. "You mean Mr. Medulla on a date. I'm pretty sure Coach Boomer would like to be anywhere but there," she corrected, taking another look at the big-headed mad scientist who had one blonde twin on each arm, sitting across from the grumpy gym teacher.

"You must be kidding me," Warren glowered in annoyance at the entrance.

Astrid's eyes laid upon the figure of Will entering the restaurant, sitting at the booth in front of hers. He was busy on the phone, so he didn't notice either of them.