[COMPLETED] The Academy For Genetically Gifted Children Book One: Genesis

Layla

Chapter 29: Layla

In a weird sense Layla missed Kai—his presence at least. No matter what situation, he always made her laugh, despite his annoying tendencies. Lately he seemed so busy, constantly running around and being short when giving explanations for his disappearances.

She probably would have been more worried, if not for Ben. Ben understood her. He really talked to her, like she was more than just a pretty face. They had grown incredibly close over the past few weeks; Layla trusted him so much that she even shared her music with him.

It had been a nice day out, not too warm and not too cold. They were both done with classes and were laying out in the lawn behind the girls' barracks. They were shoulder to shoulder, staring up at the clouds, when Ben had asked her if she knew what Valentine's Day was. When she told him that she didn't, he tried to explain it to her.

"It was like this big holiday for people who loved each other to say it, but in an extra special way. The new Nation stopped celebrating it a while ago, claiming that it was a pointless holiday, but my parents carried on the tradition. Every February 14th they would exchange gifts and make sure to tell each other how much they loved one another."

Layla had looked thoughtful as she said, "Well shouldn't people who love each other tell one another that everyday? Why's there have to be a special day for it?"

Ben didn't say anything to her response, but merely looked amused and held her hand in his. Layla pulled out her mp3 player, a rare and old electronic device that played cd's, the only electronic device she owned. She had one of her favorite disks from home in—not the Souls Blue track she had boughten recently. Layla never shared that with anyone.

"Let me listen," Ben had said with his cute smile so big that it almost reached his blue eyes.

She had hesitated at first—no one ever knew her love for music, how different it was from what people perceived her to be. But she let him, because she felt she loved him, and that's what you do when you think you love someone—give pieces of yourself to them, bit by bit.

She had taken the headphones off and placed them over his short but thick brown hair, the grass rubbing against her legs, scratchy and thin. At first he said nothing, but began to bob his head with the pulsating music.
"This is great!" he shouted, and Layla had laughed and felt genuinely happy.

That good memory seemed far way now. She and her group had another Training session coming up. Ever since the first one they started having sessions every two weeks. They weren't as bad as the first time; surprisingly none of the instructors forced her to swim. After her 'accident,' as everyone called it, most people left her alone.

Instead of being constantly surrounded by people, captured by her beauty, people avoided her. She had to admit it was kind of refreshing—it didn't bother her a bit.

At first she was worried that her power was fading. If people weren't swayed by her beauty, could she still use her voice?

Her worry was quickly eradicated, though. Last week she had told an annoying boy in her Psychoanalysis & Anthropology class to shut up and he ended up not being able to speak for the next 48 hours. Her professor had not been very happy about that.

Oh well. At least I know I can still use my powers, Layla thought. Because without them, who would I be?

Layla glanced at her watch. It's the afternoon already! She had promised to watch Kai and Annie's first rugby game, and now she was going to be late. She was outside, drawing the thawing plants; it had gotten warmer recently, after a seemingly long winter. She got to her stiff feet, stuffed her sketchpad into her messenger bag, and ran off to the Training Center field.
                        ~

Ten minutes later and breathing a little harder, she made her way up to the stands. She easily spotted Rion, Andi, and Darcy, shouting and screaming as the players ran down the field. Some unidentifiable person tackled another, and the students in the stands cheered.

"Where's Ben?" Layla asked her friends.
Darcy turned towards her. "He's taking an exam, remember?"

Layla had forgotten, which was strange. She almost always remembered his schedule. Andi and Rion erupted in shouting, tearing her from her worries.

"Kai just scored!" Rion exclaimed.

"And Annie cleared the path for him, tackling an opponent. It was stunning," Andi added.

Layla felt a surge of pride for her friends, proud of how well they were doing. She would hate to be getting tackled and dirty. Finally the whistle for half-time was called, and Layla could just make out Kai and Annie's faces as they gathered around their team and instructor.

Layla let out a little gasp—the two almost resembled Darcy with the amount of bruises and scratches covering their bodies. Rion had explained to Layla how rough of a sport rugby was, that it was kinda like football but with a lot more passing and a lot less protective gear, but seeing it played first hand showed her how tough it was. She looked at the scoreboard; the Crimson Glories had 22 while the Coyote Browns had 14.

Andi was talking to Rion above the crowd, discussing some analytics of the game that Layla had no idea about, though Rion looked entirely captured.

She turned her attention back to the field. The most noticeable thing to Layla was Kai's dominance on the field. He was meant for this game, Layla observed; his strength and tactic allowed him to over power everyone else.

It seemed none of the other kids had exceptional strength, although she was worried about their match against Josh's team. Her concerns disappeared though when Kai and Annie's team won by a landslide with Annie moving swiftly past her opponents to score.

Those supporting the Crimson Glories went wild in the stands: confetti was thrown, banners swayed in the icy air, and shouts of victory erupted from the students.

Down on the field, the two teams met in the middle and bowed to each other—the Academy's end-game policy.

Afterwards, Kai hoisted Annie up onto his shoulder as the other teammates surrounded them. Even Instructor Paine had a smile on his face.

Naturally, everyone celebrated the win with a big meal in the Dining Hall. Luckily most students were studying, so the Crimson Glories had the place to themselves. Ben arrived halfway through the meal, but even his arrival seemed it couldn't dampen Kai's spirits.

"Can you believe that! Our first game ever and we won. Kids will be talking about Annie's goal for weeks!" he exclaimed.

Annie blushed uncharacteristically and said, "You were the real star of the team though, Kai. You plowed through everyone."

Kai tried to look modest but failed, Layla noticed.

She smiled inwardly towards herself as she thought, What a goof.

He puffed out his chest and said, "Well, as you guys know our next game is in two weeks, against the Ghost Whites, which will be an easy win. Our tough game will be two weeks after that, against the Celestial Blues. I hope you all will be there to support us."

Rion clapped his friend on the back and said, "Of course we will."

Kai smiled at his friend in return, but Layla noticed the deep bags under his eyes and couldn't help but feel worried for him.
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