This isn't my first Sky High fic. This is just the first one I've liked enough to post. You'll probably see a few more sometime soon, but I want to see how receptive you guys are to this one first. Because I'm an artist and I'm sensitive.

…ha.

Rating: Teen. I curse, and while Layla's not as foul-mouthed as I, the third-person narrative does tend to reflect that now and again.

Summary: It's been a year since the chaos at Homecoming, and with their sophomore year just beginning, relationships are thrown into question, and a new Homecoming dance guarantees a fresh change from last year… or does it?

Pairing: Will/Layla initially, but Warren/Layla eventually. (Plus Magenta/Zach, and Ethan/O.C.- chill, she's not a Mary Sue. She's normal. Have faith.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High. Big deal. I just write the stuff.

4

Where's Stronghold again?"

Layla glanced up distractedly from her notebook. Warrren was sitting in one of the metal fold-out chairs next to her in Sky High's large gymnasium, waiting for the Principal Powers to make her announcement. Everyone in the school had been packed into the gym, all sitting in the uncomfortable metal chairs and all chattering away with one another.

"Will's off with his parents- apparently there's some kind of mad scientist that's been let loose in Argentina. He's wreaking all sorts of havoc, and the Stronghold Three were appointed by the United Nations to go down there and stop him."

"When's Will gonna man up and tell his dad that he wants to be his own superhero?" Magenta asked observantly. She sat on Layla's opposite side, with Zach dutifully right next to her and Ethan next to him.

It was no accident that Warren was sitting away from the rest of the "sidekicks." Even though they all had bonded after defeating Royal Pain not a year ago, Warren was still just as antisocial as ever. He really only liked Will and Layla; he could handle Magenta and Zach and Ethan, he just preferred not to.

"Stronghold's never gonna man up," Warren muttered under his breath. Even though he was a junior now, hanging out with a bunch of sophomores, he still managed to keep up that brooding, angry façade.

Layla shot Warren a dirty look. "Be nice," she mouthed to him. Out loud, she said, "Besides, we only have to be here long enough for Principal Powers to introduce the new round of freshman."

Warren grumbled (no doubt a colorful array of expletives) and slumped in his chair. Shooting her a side glance, he asked Layla, "Hey, hippie, what're you doing?"

She sighed, then scribbled out one of the notes she was writing in her lime green notebook. "I'm going to be on the homecoming committee this year- everyone didn't want it to be a fiasco like last year," she explained with a small smile, recalling the disastrous Gwen Grayson/Sue Tenny/Royal Pain and her Pacifier. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she added, "Actually, I'm not just on the homecoming committee. I'm the president."

Warren arched his eyebrows. "Your boyfriend know about this?" he asked suspiciously.

Layla's cheeks reddened, and replied quietly, "I didn't want to bother him. He's been really stressed out about his parents. He doesn't know how he's going to tell his parents about his plans post-graduation."

Will had decided, after many late-night discussions with Layla, that he was going to become his own superhero after they graduated from Sky High in two years. He had also told Ethan, Warren, and Zach, the lattermost of whom had happily informed Magenta of this plan.

"You know, the whole point of him confiding in you is that, every once in a while, you return the favor," Warren replied pointedly, carefully taking the notebook out of her hands.

He scanned the page, a sneer forming on his face. "'Black and White Ball?' 'Under the Sea?' 'Enchanted Forest?'" He looked up at her in revulsion. "What is this crap?"

Layla snatched the notebook out of Warren's hands and shot him a dirty look. "Everyone decided that they wanted to make the Homecoming dance into our prom- y'know, because we don't actually have a prom. So, before we do anything, we need to decide on a, um, theme."

"Enchanted Forest?" He repeated dubiously.

Layla opened her mouth, hesitated, and then nodded. "That was one suggestion. But I, ah, was thinking of something more original."

Warren rolled his dark eyes at his friend's hesitation. "Alright," he said exasperatedly. "Lay it on me, hippie."

Layla fiddled with her green ink ballpoint pen, then mumbled quickly under her breath, "I was thinking about… maybe… seeing if we could… have the theme be… a masquerade?"

She searched his face for a reaction, and, seeing none, went back to stare down at her notebook nervously. When she had initially thought of the idea, she was ecstatic. She had visions of the auditorium being done up in white lights, with vines snaking up the walls and a soft glow over the entire room. The tables would be cloaked in deep red tablecloths that hit the floor, and the chairs would have gold tapestries wrapped around the backs. Everything would look warm and old-fashioned and everyone would be wearing masks and…

"Hey, I don't care," Warren replied drily, successfully snapping Layla out of her wonderful reverie. "It's not like I'm going."

"What?!" Layla exclaimed loudly, staring at him with big brown eyes. She barelu even noticed the dozen or so people that had turned around to stare at her. "You can't not go to Homecoming! I'm doing this for my friends!"

At her sudden and- in his opinion- uncalled for outburst, a smirk had wormed its way onto his face, tugging one corner of his mouth upward. "So?" he retorted stubbornly.

Punching him on the arm, she snapped, "So you're my friend! You have to go to Homecoming, Warren."

"Uhh, no, no I don't." He crossed his arms over his chest and slumped lower in his chair.

Layla stared the hothead down. "Yes, yes you do," she said seriously. Seeing an opportunity in the making, she switched gears and wheedled, "Besides, don't you want to take Jenna?"

After they had saved the superhero world from a certain conversion in a super-villain world, and Layla and Will had finally admitted their true feelings, Warren had hooked up with a girl in his grade who could control ice, Jenna Frost.

"I'm not going with her," Warren informed her coldly. "Now be quiet, hippie. You're prettier when you're mouth is shut."

Stunned, Layla could do nothing but blink dumbly at backhanded compliment. She kept quiet, as she was told, and sat back in her seat.

She sat there, confused as all hell. In a backwards kind of way, Warren had just admitted she was pretty. That in itself wasn't anything really special, though it was pretty flattering, but the problem was, it brought up way too many questions to mind.

Ever since the summer started, Will spent nearly all of his free time with his parents, busy saving the world and making everyone's lives safer. And Layla didn't mind. After all, she was a good girlfriend, and she knew Will was doing something he loved: helping people.

And, on nights when Magenta was on a date with Zach and Ethan was hanging with his girlfriend (a regular citizen that lived next door to him), Layla would go to the Paper Lantern. This was usually during the weekend, on Friday and Saturday nights. Layla was okay with that, too. It was then that she could order some really good Chinese food and wait for the dinner crowd to thin out so she could talk freely with Warren while he cleaned tables.

Hey, it beat hanging out with her mom while she talked to animals.

As it turned out, Layla ended up spending several of her Friday and Saturday nights at the Paper Lantern. To the point where she just considered a ritual during her weekend. Help her mom at the Animal Shelter, see the Adam Sandler movie with Magenta, Zach, and Ethan, and finish the day at the Paper Lantern with Warren.

There were a few weekends when Will would be able to break away from his parents long enough to actually take his loyal girlfriend out on a date or two. But those were getting to be few and far between, what with his already hectic schedule. It was only two weeks into the school year, and Will had only been there for about four of the ten days.

Not that Layla would ever complain. Will was her best friend. And boyfriend. He had one of the toughest jobs in the country, and it was only natural for him to be out of the picture every so often. Layla understood this.

So why did this thing with Warren suddenly get her so wound up? And, furthermore, why was it that she wanted Warren to go to Homecoming so bad? This was Warren. If he didn't want to do something, it would be like pulling teeth to get him to do otherwise.

Okay, that didn't make any sense. And it wasn't even all that true. Warren wasn't all that stubborn. Well, he was, but he was usually pretty complacent when around Layla. He never was truly purposefully difficult with her. That was why she expected him to go to Homecoming, no problem. Why start putting up a fight now?

Why did it bother her so much? Warren was his own person. He could make his own decisions! It wasn't up to her to make him be social.

That wasn't right, either. She genuinely liked making him be social. She was actually pretty damn proud whenever Warren had a nice conversion with Zach without growling or making threats. So of course she would want Warren to come to Homecoming and continue to be social with their friends.

And still, she hadn't found an answer. And, dammit, why did that 'pretty' thing keep popping up in her head?

Warren didn't mean it when he said she was pretty. He was just making a flippant comment to distract her and get her off of the topic of Jenna.

And Jenna… why did Layla feel a tiny sense of victory when he told her that he had no intentions of going to Homecoming with Jenna? She had no problems with the Ice Queen… On the contrary, Layla kind of liked her. She was nice, in a distant kind of way.

But Jenna was the least of her worries. No, Layla had a feeling this was less about Jenna and Homecoming and more about Warren and herself.

There was definitely something wonky going on with her hormones. That had to be it. Why else would her gaze automatically drop down to his bulging biceps whenever Warren crossed his arms over his chest?

Whoa. She did not just admit that.

Tugging at the collar of her mint green cardigan, Layla leaned over and whispered to Magenta, "Is it just me or does it feel kind of stuffy in here?"

Zach, who had overheard her, leaned passed his girlfriend to shoot Layla a quizzical look of surprise. "Dude, what are you talking about?" he asked. "It's freezing in here!"

"Oh," Layla said distractedly, sinking back into her seat. Despite Zach's earnest assurance that it was, indeed, an icebox in the gym, Layla unbuttoned and removed her cardigan, leaving her in a cream tank top she had decided on this morning as an undershirt. With her cardigan, the dark jean miniskirt, matched with a pair of eco-friendly pale green espadrilles looked sweet and cute. However, she realized belatedly, once she took off the cardigan, the spaghetti-strap tank and mini showed off a lot more skin than she was typically comfortable.

But at least Layla didn't feel as stuffy. She took this moment to lean down and grab the tortoise shell clip she had attached to the strap of her biodegradable handbag and quickly twist her straight coppery hair at the base of her neck and secure it with her clip.

That was better. She felt comfortable, enough that she could focus on her Homecoming plans and not on any pesky hormones that she may or may not have to deal with later.

She turned to a fresh page in her notebook, and it was only then that she was aware that she was being observed. Tilting her head, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Warren was eyeing her with a look she had never seen before. Curious, she pretended as though she hadn't noticed anything and stared at the blank page, hoping for inspiration.

She jotted down a few notes for what would be absolutely necessary, regardless of the theme. A DJ, obviously, along with food and drinks. But what kind? Snack food, like crackers and chips, or better stuff, like fancy hor d'oeurves and mini quiches?

Warren was still staring! Okay, it wasn't totally obvious. Actually it was hardly even noticeable, but Layla did notice it. And she was starting to think she recognized the look.

Okay, she was being flat-out preposterous. She was projecting her feelings or emotions or something onto other people and was imagining this crap. Right? That's what a therapist would say, right?

That was it. She had to know. There was only one way she could tell.

Stifling a yawn, Layla sat up from her seat and arched her back, letting her arms stretch towards the ceiling while straightening her legs from their confinement in the small space.

Smoothly, mid-yawn, Layla snuck a peek at Warren. Well. She'd b damned. She was right. She wasn't nuts.

No, no. She had to be imagining this. Okay. One more test.

Pushing a lock of red hair behind her ear, Layla sat back in place, 'focusing' on her notebook. As she did, she continued to settle into her seat, crossing her legs primly as she uncapped her pen to scribble down a few more ideas.

Once more, Layla glanced over at Warren. She really was right.

That was just weird.

Leaning over, Layla whispered to him, "Warren?"

He grunted unintelligibly, staring deadest at Principal Powers, who was just beginning to walk up to the podium.

"You know, it's very inappropriate to stare at your friend's legs like that," she said innocently, staring at the principal as well. After a few seconds, she looked over at Warren, unable to contain the wry grin that was forming. He glowered down at her, daring her to say something more.

After a few seconds had passed, Warren finally broke their stare down to give Layla's legs a once-over once more. "It's not my fault they make really short skirts anymore."

Layla chuckled under her breath, letting her leg slide down to cross at the ankles just as Principal Powers began her speech. So what if she didn't have all the answers to all of her questions. At least she still had a sense of humor, and her friends.

That was good enough for now.

4

I liked it!

Kinda.

I think this deserves a chapter 2, or at least a one shot that expanded on this.

(Note: Everything in bold was my original Author's Notes after the chapter. For all five of you that have actually read this and liked it, you should know that I started this out as an oneshot that turned into a chaptered story. Don't worry. I've already finished it, so there will be no frustratingly long pauses in between chapters. I'll be posting a new chapter every couple of days.)