Chapter 15: Chapter 14: The Pros And Cons Of An Unconventional Relationship
Forest Lake High School, Temperance, South Dakota....
Layla was fortunate that her father had not returned from the previous night out and that she didn't have to worry about having to clean up the house after his insistence upon making it a mess each and every chance he got. She'd gone to school and suffered through the most mundane aspects of her day before finally getting to have a break via lunch. Casey had been busy with cheerleading practice once again and couldn't join them, but everyone seemed to understand that her life had been pulled in different directions ever since they made it to high school. As they sat and chatted about events from the past and what was to come with the new school year due to the one they were in was only a few months away from coming to an end, Layla seemed more or less preoccupied and her friends had immediately taken notice.
"Something on your mind Layla?" asked Derrick already going for the kill in the heat of the moment.
"Huh?" asked Layla peeling her eyes away from the slightly still red apple and half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she'd selected for her lunch that day.
"You've hardly said a word all day and you just keep staring at your food." added Amy with an arched brow of concern.
"Something's going on." said Derrick eyeing her suspiciously. "Jarrett being a pain in the ass again?"
"No...well...yes...but...not lately." replied Layla not really sure if she wished to defend her currently absent father in the sight of her friends.
They had each known what kind of an overbearing asshole Jarrett Quinn was and felt a bit sorry that Layla had him as a father in the first place. Many a time, they had assisted her in cleaning the house that he had managed to wreck after a short period of showing up drunk early in the mornings to before his taking off again for another night of binge drinking and nefarious exploits.
"Then why the long face and silent treatment?" asked Derrick with an arched brow.
"Yeah what's got your panties in a bunch today?" asked Amy smirking in Layla's direction.
"Fuck off both of you...." began Layla. "It's nothing to do with school, panties, or my dear old dad."
"Then why don't you enlighten us as to what it is about?" asked Derrick paying close attention to her facial expressions.
"Well, you know how yesterday I went to work like always after school?" asked Layla trying to find a way to describe her lager afternoon without upsetting her friends too much.
"Yeah?" replied Amy interested in hearing more. "So what of it?"
"This junkie kind of tried to come at me with a knife." admitted Layla. "He seemed to be from out of town and...."
"Some junkie tried to kill you for serving him lunch?" asked Derrick both shocked and slightly upset.
"Not exactly..." attempted Layla once more. "You see there was this group of bikers and their leader, big dude really tall with thick facial hair kind of beat him to a pulp and afterwards we kissed and he handed me a knife for better defense in the future."
Derrick and Amy stared at her in disbelief with mouths agape and confusion behind their collective eyes.
"Whoa...wait...you say you kissed some biker dude?" asked Derrick.
Layla rolled her eyes, it figured that, that would be the only thing he'd been focused on out of the entire story.
"Holy shit." replied Amy shocked. "Our girl's first kiss was with a badass biker dude."
Layla sighed recalling that Amy was right about it having been her first kiss.
"Listen, it wasn't like....it was only in the heat of the moment...the junkie had a knife at my throat and Brick came around the corner..." she attempted to explain.
"So his name's Brick?" asked Derrick trying to figure out why anyone would want to name their son Brick of all things.
"It's a nickname obviously." added Amy.
"Who cares...the point is...that kiss was just spur of the moment and wouldn't have happened if I wasn't in danger." finished Layla.
"And yet you were over here thinking about it." replied Derrick reading her dead to rights. "Must have really been some kiss for you to pine over it after all this time."
"And here I thought her first kiss would have been with Kerry." said Amy.
Layla narrowed her eyes at Derrick whom seemed to shrink where he sat.
"Well that cat's out of the bag." he said casually. "Tell us more about you kissing....what's his name...Brick?"
Layla rolled her eyes once more.
She had just confessed to her friends that she was held at knife point by a junkie weirdo and all they wanted to do was talk about her kissing a biker.
"His name is Marrok." she admitted. "Marrok Kenneally."
"Marrok Kenneally, what a strange name for a biker." said Amy trying to recall any biker's she'd ever heard of with that name. "What's his club name?"
"The Howler M.C. I think." replied Layla thinking back to Brick and his impressive patches.
"So...are you going to...you know... go out with him?" asked Derrick with an inquisitive expression on his face.
"Are you crazy?" asked Layla nearly forgetting where they had been in the wake of her outrage. "He's a biker and besides he's literally like thirty-one years old."
Amy didn't seem phased by this reply.
"So?" she said as if this had been no big deal. "In case you've forgotten this is Temperance, South Dakota, you're legal here...besides thirty is the new twenty as far as this place is concerned."
"Well what if I'm not interested?" asked Layla. "I've got a lot on my mind as it is, the last thing I need is a biker boyfriend to further complicate things."
"Seems like you're plenty interested if you keep reminiscing about that single kiss at the diner." added Derrick once more causing Layla to narrow her eyes at him.
"What if he's not interested in me?" asked Layla. "Look I appreciate what you guys are trying to do but...it was just a momentary laps in judgement on both our parts after what the junkie did in the alley, there is no way he's interested in me when he could have any woman that looks in his direction."
"Oh...he must be quite the looker if you're getting all "reasonably insecure"." chimed Derrick much to Layla's chagrin.
"Knock it off okay." she warned her friend. "Seriously, I have more important things to worry about than some biker guy and a kiss."
Amy had not been convinced and neither had Derrick from the looks of them.
Layla once more rolled her eyes and set about collecting her things to head to her next class.
Try as she might, she still couldn't shake the memory of the odd sensation that overtook her body, out of her mind following the heat of the moment kiss with the biker known as "Brick" Kenneally.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone