Kaleb's POV

Everyone is starring at the 'loner girl' getting out of the car with me and Whitney. I watch as Layla lets her hair long black hair fall around her face almost like a curtain to hide behind. Thankfully mine and Whitney's friends are quick to surround us. My plan was for them to help shield Layla from other people's views as we walk inside of the school. I turn around to introduce our friends to Layla, but she is nowhere in sight. She has somehow escape from our side and ran off into to the crowd of students that are starring at us. "She just left?" I question confuse.

Connor shrugs. "Are you really that surprise? The poor girl looks like she was about to have a heart attack just standing next to you and Whitney. You caused people to notice her and incase you have forgotten, she likes to be invisible."

Stupid me. I didn't think about how she would feel with everyone's attention on her. Whitney lowers her head and shakes it. "I guess we weren't thinking." She then signals us to follow her.

She walks into the student council room, closing the door and locking it once everyone is inside. "Umm..." She looks hesitantly at me. "This morning when we pick Layla up, she had a huge bruise across her face. I just wanted to warn y'all so that y'all wouldn't freak out when y'all see it."

"What?" Winter gulps. "Is she okay?"

"She quickly covered her face and didn't want to talk about it. Actually, she didn't say anything the entire drive to school." Whitney says with watery eyes. Winter and Summer are also wearing sorrowful looks on their faces. On the other hand, the guys, myself include have our jaws clench tightly.

"Is this the first time she had a bruise on her face?" Daniel asks.

I shrug not knowing. "She keeps herself covered up most of the time. Most teachers let her where her hoodie in class, and when they don't, she does a pretty good job at hiding her face behind her hair or looking away from people."

Whitney pulls out her mirror and fixes her makeup. While still looking in the mirror she says, "Hopefully once we can get her to trust us, she will tell us what happen. If it is something that happens constantly hopefully, we can help her." She points to me. "You're up first. She's in your first period. Have you talk to Mr. Samuel yet?"

"I emailed him last night. He hasn't replied back yet."

She puts her mirror back in her purse and walks to the door, before turning around and looking at the rest of us. "Remember be gentle with Layla. She's going to try her best to ignore us, but if we want to be her friend, we can't scare her away and we cant give up." She smiles. "Girls, I will see you during cheerleading, and boys I will see y'all at lunch and with any luck, Layla."

The bell rings and I rush to my first period class looking forward to seeing Layla. As I enter the room, I notice she hasn't arrive yet. Mr. Samuels stops me as I start to head to the back of the classroom. "Mr. Knightly, I received your email. I will agree to it, but her grades my not be what you would expect."

I give him a curious look. "Are you saying that she doesn't understand the work or is it something else?"

He talks a little lower as not to allow anyone else hear. "She would be at the top of the class if she turned in her assignments, but she never turns in anything that she has to do outside of this room. If you are still okay with being her partner knowing that, then I will pair the two of you together."

"Yes, I still want to be her partner." I say before taking a seat in the back of the classroom. Layla always pick the seat farthest in the back of the classroom next to the window, so I take the seat next to that one.

About twenty minutes into class, she still hasn't showed up. Anxiously I start worrying about why she hasn't shown up yet. Giving it another five minutes, I ask Mr. Samuel if I can go to the restroom. Of course, I don't really need to go to the restroom, but I'm afraid something has happened to her. What if the reason why she didn't show up yesterday was because someone at school attack her? That would explain the bruise and why we didn't see her. Would someone really attack her on the first day of school?

I need to find out where she disappeared to. I pull out my phone and text my friends in our group chat.

Kaleb: Have any of you seen Layla or do you know where she maybe?

Whitney: She is supposed to be in your class. Did she not show up?

Daniel: Nope

Connor: You already lost her?

Winter: No

Summer: Nope

Kaleb: She never showed up.

Connor: Where are you now?

Kaleb: In the hallway. I told Mr. S that I needed to go to the restroom.

Jake: Try the library. She would hide out there a lot last year.

Summer: Let us know if you can't find her.

Kaleb: Ok, Thx.

I shove my phone by in my pocket and run to the library. The librarian gives me a puzzled look when I walk in but doesn't say anything. I walk around the library trying to spot Layla, but I don't see her anywhere. I pull my phone out of my pocket to text my friends that I can't find her but stop when I hear sniffling. I follow the sound to a secluded area that is hidden behind documentary videos that only the teachers are allowed to check out. Students aren't normally allowed in this section of the library. The crying gets louder the farther into the section I go.

In the corner, behind the last shelve I find Layla sitting on the floor hugging her knees to her chest crying. "Layla?" I say cautiously sitting beside her. She looks at me with her tears streaming from her red eyes. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

She reaches beside her and hands me her schedule. "Is this suppose to be some type of sick joke? Who would do this to me?"

I'm confuse as I exam her schedule. It's exactly how Whitney had set it up. "What's wrong with it?"

She lets out a humorless laugh. "Cheerleading? Do I look like I signed up to be a cheerleader?" I'm hurt, shock and amaze all at the same time. I'm hurting because we set her schedule to help her but caused her more grief instead. I'm shock that she speaking to me. She rarely speaks to anyone and when she does its normally just a word or two. And I'm amaze. I'm amaze at how beautiful her voice sounds. It's angelic and I find myself even more intrigued by her. "I wasn't supposed to have any off periods." She continues. "This has to be a mistake." She sniffles.

For the first time since freshman year she makes eye contact with me. Again, I see a whirlwind of emotions in her eyes, but unlike last where I couldn't decipher any of them this time, I can read a few of them. Pain. Fear. Grief. Once again, I can't find an ounce of happiness. With no control over my own hand I gently touch the bruise on her face. She freezes in fear as her breath catches in her throat, but her eyes never leave mine. "What happened?"

She stays silent before breaking my stare and wiping the tears from her face. "I have to get my schedule fix."

"Wait." I call out and grab her arm.  She flinches again, but unlike this morning she doesn't tell me to let go. "Why not give cheerleading a try?"

And for the second time today she looks me in the eye. This time there is confusion in them. "What?"

Letting go of her arm I rub the back of my neck nervously. "I mean you might like it. It would also explain why you have two off periods. All the cheerleaders have them off. They normally use them for extra practices."

"I-I don't want to be a cheerleader. Plus, isn't it something that you are supposed to try out for?"

"Normally, but the caption can put whoever she wants on the team." She looks at me in puzzlement. "Don't you know who the cheerleading caption is?" She shakes her heads no. "Whitney." I smile.

"As in Whitney Howell? Your girlfriend?" She questions.

I stare at her in bewilderment. "My what?!"

"Your girlfriend?" She questions quietly.

I start laughing. I'm probably laughing to loudly for us being the library, but I can't help it. "You're hilarious. Whitney isn't my girlfriend. She's my cousin."

Layla turns red in embarrassment as she looks down on the floor. "S-Sorry."

"You're cute when you blush." I tell her causing her eyes to widen and her blush to grow. "Come on. It's already time for second period. I'll walk you to class."

She tucks her jet-black hair behind her ears and pulls the hood of her hoodie up to cover her face. "I-It's okay. I can make it there by myself." She tries to walk by me, but I block her way. "You're always blocking my way? Why?"

I shrug in response. "It's the only way I can get you to stop from leaving. Now come on, I'm walking with you, and I won't take no for an answer." She sinks her shoulder in defeat, and she starts to follow me. "My friends are in that class with you. Maybe you can sit with them."

"Who are your friends?"

"Connor, Daniel and Jake."

She shakes her head fearfully. "Th-That's alright. I like being b-by m-myself." As we reach her class and I glance inside, a smirk appears on my face. Instead of having individual desk, the classroom has tables that seat four. I don't see Connor, Daniel and Jake yet, but hopefully the seats next to her will stay open until they get here. She groans quietly when she notices the tables instead of desk. "Bye Layla." I whisper to her. She hums her response then with her head down she walks to the farthest table in the back corner. She takes a seat and rests her head on the table covering her face with her arms. 

I step back from the door where she can no longer see me and wait for my friends. Jake runs up to me frantically with Daniel behind him as Connor saunters his way over like everything in the world is fine. "Was she in the library like I said she might be?" Jake asks.

'Yeah, I found her. She was upset because her schedule is 'messed up'. She wanted to go and get it changed already, but I was able to talk her into following it for today. Y'all have to try and get her to not change it."

"How could she resist us?" Connor smirks why gesturing towards Jake, Daniel and himself. "Who wouldn't want to hang out with the hottest guys is school?"

"Layla." I deadpan. Connor rolls his eyes at me before walking into the classroom with Daniel and Jake. I'm now worried that they might scare Layla more than help her. I would have had Whitney switch me into this class, but I already have my foreign language credits. Plus, I would be completely lost in the class since I took French instead of Spanish. All I can do for now is hope for the best.

-----------------------------------------------

A/N:  Hello.  So I am thinking about unpublishing this story.  I'm not liking it at the moment and as far as I can tell no one really seems interested in it.   I'll probably post a couple more chapters to see if I can get it to sound a bit better, but if not I'll just take the whole thing down until I can figure out a way to make it sound better.     

I have two other stories in the works Don't Give Up On Me ( already posted and ongoing) and Can't Stop From Falling (Not publish yet).  With both of those stories, I am able to binge write.  I like to prewrite and have my chapters ready to publish so I don't miss my update schedule.  With both DGUOM and CSFF the thoughts from my head easily flow on to paper (My computer), and I always look forward to writing the next chapter.  I'm not having that same spark with this story.

If anyone is still interested in this story, please let me know or else I will probably take it off within a week.  If there is an interest in it, then I will keep working on it.

~KarenJ128~