Smoke Screen

Chapter 20

    When Tony returned with her red pencil bag, Layla immediately sat up. Seeing it made her immediately feel better. Or was it seeing Tony? She shook that thought out of her head. No. No. No.
The bag was what she wanted. Or really, it was what was inside.
He handed it to her before sitting back down on the chair. As soon as it was in her hands, a spark of relief and excitement washed over her. She quickly unzipped the pouch and pulled out a silver vape.
Tony eyed it with a look of realization and disappointment. But he also was not surprised. He should have figured that was what she wanted him to get.
The second the vape was warmed up, Layla put it to her lips without hesitation. Man I missed this. She thought as she breathed out. It had not been too long since she had last vaped, but she did have to heavily cut back on it for the last week.
Her dad had spent most of the past few days at home, to her dismay, and frequently took his frustrations out on her. He had not let the thing with the stolen vape go, and she knew that if he were to have caught her with one that would have been all the proof he needed to prove her guilty. Or at least in his mind.
That was some stress she did not want to have to deal with. And it was also a situation she did not want to bring Tony into. That was one of the biggest reasons she tried to keep him more than an arms length away. If he were to find out about everything that happened at her home, everything would become so messy.
Yet despite all of her best efforts, there he was, sitting across from her and refusing to leave her alone. She smiled slightly at how stubborn he was.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Tony asked when he noticed the smile on her face.
She immediately turned away from him. "Nothing." They were silent for the next several minutes. The only sound hovering in there air was Layla's long inhales and exhales.
Smoke began to fill the room. Tony was not happy about it but did not say anything. He did not like the idea of her doing something that was bad for her health, but knew it was not his place to stop her.
He was not that close to her, even though he hated to admit it. She was her own person and from where he was now, there was not much he could do about her actions. All he could do was watch her as he wondered what she was thinking.
    Layla noticed him staring at her and raised an eyebrow. "Whatcha thinking about?" She asked.
    Tony quickly looked away. "Nothing." He said. Layla smiled slightly at his reaction as she shook her head.
    Putting the vape back into her pencil bag, Layla abruptly stood up. Her head spun slightly, but she ignored it. As she crossed the room she stopped next to Tony and sent him a quick glance. "See ya around, Toretto." She said and left.
    Tony stood up but did not follow. He could tell she just wanted to be alone now and respected it. But she did say she would see him around. That gave him hope. Even if that was not how she meant it, he took it as a sign that she would not mind it if he were to approach her again. And that was exactly what he planned to do.