Smoke Screen

Chapter 3

After Layla's short smoke break- which she wished would have lasted much longer- she reluctantly followed Tony back to his room. They sat in silence for several minutes, Tony deep in thought about the project while Layla was thinking about literally anything else, especially leaving.
As Tony tried to brainstorm an idea for a topic that would be interesting for the both of them, his mind kept wandering back to Layla. He was not sure why, but it did. He thought about when he had first seen her vaping behind the school. The image of here peacefully sitting there, smoke trailing out from her lips, infiltrated his mind. The smoke reminded him of something and then he got an idea.
"I've got an idea for what we can do!" He said.
"We were still brainstorming?"
He ignored Layla's remark. "We could do it on a volcano."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "What volcano?"
He thought about it for a moment then said the first one that came to mind. "Pompeii?"
She shrugged. That was not the worst idea and, again, she did not even really care what they did their project on.
"You like it?" He asked.
"Sure." She said. "So, we done here?"
"Um, if you want then I guess so. We can start working on the project some other time." They both stood up and he walked her to the front door. "You need me to drive you home?"
"No, I'm fine. I can walk." She said.
He looked at her, uncertain. "You sure?"
"Yeah, it's fine. It's not that far."
"Really? You live close by?" He asked, intrigued. That was her cue to leave. Without answering the question, she opened the door and walked outside. "See ya tomorrow!" He called after her as she walked away.
"Yeah." She responded. It was the least she could do. Tony did not seem like that bad of a guy, but she still did not know him too well. Really, she did not know him at all. She saw him at school but they were apart of different cliques. Tony was popular and on the football team. Layla was... well, she was not even apart of a clique. She was a loner who kept away from people.
She did not need anyone. She was better off alone. That was how it always was for her and that was what she was used to. She refused to rely on anyone, to open up to anyone, or to even try to give anyone a chance. To her, it was easier that way.
As Layla made her way home she walked as slowly as she possibly could. She was dreading going home. Her dad was going to be furious. He always was, so she had no doubt about it. And since she was even later than normal he would be even more furious.
Since she was already late and he was already going to be mad, she decided to stall for as long as she could since it no longer even mattered. She had to mentally prepare for entering her house. Though she knew that even if she were to have all the time in the world, even that would not be enough time to prepare herself.
But as with everything else, she was used to it. As she stood outside her house, she stopped and pulled out her vape. After taking several long hits, she was ready. Or at least as ready as she would ever be. Sliding the vape back in her pocket and taking a slow, steady breath, she opened the door and stepped inside.