Four Walls (Book One) ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It's why Jose, the only boy I've ever loved, left me.

"Layla, you okay?" Damian rests his hand on my knee. "You look a little lost."

"I feel a little lost," I admit, fiddling with a blade of grass. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a mood-killer."

"You're fine," Jessica assures me. "Girl, we're here for you. Breakups are hard. Don't beat yourself up."

"Thanks." An almost sincere smile tugs at my lips. She's a wonderful friend and a kind soul. Why did I loathe her for so long?

"Movie night at my place later?" she suggests, glancing back and forth between me and Damian. "We can order pizza, make popcorn with extra butter, snuggle up on the couch...." She looks up at her boyfriend and bats her eyelashes. "It'll be fun!"

"I would," I reply, "but I have a shift at Gabby's. Raincheck?"

"Of course." She gives my hand a tender squeeze. "Call me tomorrow, okay?"

"Will do," I promise.

I gather up my things and wave goodbye to my friends. I can see the flicker of guilt in Damian's blue eyes. Normally, he's my main mode of transportation, but he doesn't want to abandon Jessica, and she doesn't know his secret.

I cast a reassuring grin in his direction before I start my trek home. I don't fault him for not telling Jessica about his bizarre, inexplicable ability to teleport across town. If she knew the truth, how would she react? Would she be frightened of him? Would she tell people?

It's too big of a risk, and I understand why he's afraid to take it. Despite her compassion and open-mindedness, she still might find her boyfriend's real-life superpower to be a bit too much to wrap her head around.

<><><><><><>

"Can I get you anything else?" I ask the table of middle-aged, suit-clad men.

"Just the bill, please," a guy with salt-and-pepper hair responds, pulling his leather wallet out of his pinstripe coat pocket.

I walk to the register and return with their check. The same guy hands me a hundred-dollar bill, tells me to keep the change, and then leads his associates out of the diner.

Smiling, I ring out his transaction and stick my massive forty-nine-dollar tip into my apron.

Forty-nine. Immediately, my smile fades.

I look down at the golden 'J' that still dangles from my neck. I haven't had the heart the take it off. I've worn it faithfully since Christmas. Since the day I gave him my virginity. Since the day we swore our love to each other for the first time.

Tears sting my eyes as I rip off the necklace. I gaze at the sparkly charm for a moment before shoving it into my pocket with an unnecessary amount of force.

"Layla?"

Startled, I look up to find Mariana Valdez, Jose's twin sister, staring at me. Remembering where I am, I force the happiest expression I can muster.

"Hi! Sit wherever you'd like. Someone will be with you shortly," I say.

"Actually, um, I'm not here to eat. I was hoping we could talk," she replies, fiddling with the strings on her sweatshirt.

"Oh." I've known Mariana for a while, but we've never had a real conversation. "Um, yeah, of course. Let me just tell my boss that I'm going to take my fifteen."

"Take your time," she instructs me. "I'll wait out here."

I find Gabby in the kitchen, her hands covered in flour. I ask her if I can take my break, to which she responds with a double thumbs up. I remove my apron, hang it up in the backroom, and then return to the lobby, where I spot Mariana at the corner table.