Smoke Screen

Chapter 7

    The next day when Tony and Layla worked on the project they did so in silence. Tony was confused. Did he do something wrong? He could not recall saying or doing anything that upset her so he was stumped. They were getting along so well the day before, so why the sudden change?
    "You alright?" He asked her.
    She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah." She said in a way that seemed to mock the question for being stupid. They continued to work in silence as Tony was not sure what to say and Layla just did not want to talk.
    After an hour of silence, Tony decided to try to break the ice. "What's your favorite color?" He asked.
    Layla gave him an annoyed look. "What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.
    "It's just an icebreaker question." He said.
    "Why?"
    "To get to know you."
    "And why would you wanna do that?" Layla would not budge. They were back to square one but Tony was not going to let it stay that way.
    "Because I don't know you yet." He said. "That's kinda the whole point of getting to know someone." That was not the answer Layla was looking for and he knew it. "What's your favorite food?"
"We should just work on the project." Layla said.
"We already did that, let's take a break." He said.
She eyed him carefully, finding that he did not seem like he was going to back down. She groaned. "Will you let it rest if I say yes?" He nodded. "Fine. But only for a minute."
"Alright!" Tony said as he sat up straighter. For the next hour they asked each other simple questions and got to know each other more. Though it was mostly Tony asking questions, Layla asked some as well.
    Tony only asked simple icebreaker and surface level questions, until something she had said popped into his head. "Why doesn't your dad let you drive his car?" He asked, recalling what she told him the first day they worked on the project together.
    She made a sound of annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "Because he doesn't trust me." She said. "He thinks I'll crash it. That or use it to drive away and never come back."
    "He really thinks that?" He asked. She nodded. "You must be some driver." He joked.
    Layla visibly hardened. "I'm a great driver." She said.
    "It was just a joke." Tony said. She knew that, but after he brought up her father it left a bad taste in her mouth. Tony could see that. "Do you get along with your dad?"
    "I have to go." Layla said, standing abruptly. Tony was confused by her sudden shift in demeanor. She was now completely shut off and would not even look at him. Instead she looked down, seemingly deep in thought.
    "I'm sorry if I pried too far." He said.
    "It's not that." She said. He did not believe her. "I just remembered that I have something I need to do." That was not a lie. She had stayed with Tony much longer than she had thought she would, meaning that her dad must have been waiting for her. And that was never good.
    Though she did not want to go back home to her dad, she would have rather done that than sit and talk to Tony about her daddy issues. Though Tony did not seem like the type to force her to talk about something she was not comfortable with and she knew he would probably drop the subject if she refused to talk about it, she still did not like the fact that it was still hanging in the air.
    The unanswered question awkwardly filled the room, making it too uncomfortable for her. Even if they were to go back to working on the project, what he said would have still been hanging over them awkwardly. She did not want to talk about it and she did not want to think about it. But it was now the only thing on her mind.
    She just had to get out of there. She needed some space to unwind and calm down. She just needed to smoke, to put herself at ease and to space herself away from all people, thoughts, and cares.
    "Alright. We'll work on it tomorrow then." Tony said. Layla left, not answering him. After stalling for as long as possible, she went home to be greeted by an angry dad. He lectured and yelled at her for being late, despite him already knowing that she had been working on a project for school.
    Or at least he should have known. She told him the first time he lectured her about it and she reminded him again after that as well. But she would not have been surprised if he forgot or just had not even been paying attention to what she said to begin with. Apparently, a school project was not enough of an excuse for staying out after school.
    That really pissed Layla off. He never cared what she did! Throughout the day he would ignore her altogether and would forget she even existed! He could have called her at any time throughout the day to ask where she was, but he did not. That was either because he forgot about his own daughter or because he did not care for her. Layla had a strong feeling it was both.
    It did not even matter what she did. This happened all the time whether she was hanging out with someone else or by herself. Sometimes she would even just be sitting in her own bedroom and he would still find a reason to lecture her. That was why Layla gave up. She no longer cared about his lectures. They did not bother her, they were just apart of her routine.
    She could never escape them or her dad. She could only stall and vape to forget him, his words, and her hardships. That was what worked for her, but she could tell it was not as effective as she would have liked. She could tell that her coping skills would not work for long and could only end badly. But with no other options, no other help, what choice did she have?