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Layla walked as fast as she could into the thick layer of snow on the ground that crunched under her boots as the snow rolled down just as slowly, landing in her hair. Her nose was red from the cold, and her fingers were stiff. She was walking next to Lucas, her boyfriend, or something like that. Layla was happy to be with Lucas, he was cute, popular and hot, he was once named the hottest boy in school.
“Layla, wait.” Lucas said, stopping. Layla stopped and looked over at Lucas, she made a small confused noise. "Shouldn't we say thank you for today here, it's getting dark."
Layla was at a loss for words. Already? They have been together after the sun has gone down before. “Uh, yeah. We can do that, but why so early?” she replied, and gave a small smile. Lucas smiled back and started to walk another way.
"Yes, but will we just see you tomorrow at school then?" he waved as he left and didn't even let Layla say goodbye herself. Nederen, but see you tomorrow, maybe she could just ask him tomorrow, he could just be in a bad mood.
Layla opened the door to her home where she could smell her parents cooking dinner. She took off her outerwear, "Hey, I'm home now." she said as she walked into her room. She took a deep breath as she laid down in her bed. Layla couldn't stop thinking about what could be wrong that Lucas suddenly didn't want to be together anymore and why he didn't just say he didn't want to anymore.
She took out her phone and clicked on her and Lucas' messages. She wanted to write and asks, but what should you write so as not to sound angry? She wasn't mad at him after all, just confused. Hey Lucas! Just wanted to ask why you didn't bother to be together after dark today? So it's okay if... No. It could be that he had something he needed to do at home, it happens sometimes, maybe she should just write a sweet, little message, without asking about private things... She sat and thought for a little longer until she came up with something to write: It was nice today!
After eating dinner, showering and getting ready for bed, she checked her phone again. Huh… Lucas still hadn't answered. Maybe it was something important he had to do. That's fine, sometimes you're just busy. She understood well, but she had a bit of a bad feeling about this. Layla wrote another message, just so he might see that she had written tomorrow morning.
“Layla! go to bed though, you have school tomorrow. There is a week until your holiday, you might as well wait to go to bed late until then!” cried her mother. Layla rolled her eyes and turned off her phone.
The next day at school, she was not met by Lucas, but her friend; Liz. “Hey Liz. Do you know where Lucas is?” Liz shrugged her shoulders and looked around a bit.
“Nah.” she replied. Layla pulled out her phone and looked at the messages she sent Lucas yesterday. They were only read but not answered. "Should we check his Instagram story?" she asked as she took out her phone.
Layla sighed and nodded, “Yes, you can? My phone is deep in my bag.” she said, scooting closer to Liz. Once she had stood next to Liz, she opened her phone and clicked on Instagram, looking for Lucas' story.
“Um, what the fuck?” Liz said slowly, she turned the screen over to Layla so she could see what had shocked her.
The picture was one of Lucas with his friends, but Lucas was standing with his arm around another girl and their faces too close to be friendly. Layla's eyes widened in shock, was Lucas cheating?
“What… Does that mean Lucas..” Layla said after some time, her voice shaking a little. Liz looked up at her, put her hand on Layla's back and started stroking up and down.
The bell rang for class after some time, during which time they had just stood together in silence. Layla tried not to cry, maybe there was an explanation, but she didn't know what she wanted to hear. “Come on, let's go to class, you're sitting next to him there Jax, right? I've heard he's super nice, he's friends with Michelle.”
Jax… her sidekick. Liz's friend's friend. He was a quiet boy and didn't talk without being spoken to first, but he was also nice. It's actually very nice to have a sidekick who didn't make noise so she could take a break from everything.
When Liz and Layla entered the room, almost all the seats were still empty, but not Layla's place. “Wait a minute Layla, can I ask you something? It's not bad.” Liz said.
“Um, yes. I'm sure you can, we're not in a hurry, the teacher hasn't even arrived yet.” Layla replied as she walked over to her seat and set her bag down on the floor. Jax was disturbed by the sound and looked up at her, Layla just gave him a little smile and he quickly looked away again. She could see his ears turning a little red.
Liz coughed a little, “Yeah.. Would you like to go to the Christmas market that's come down town? Michelle and her friends are coming, so I wanted to invite you too.” she said looking over at Jax.
“I would like to.” Layla replied back with a smile on her face. “Could you help me break up with Lucas after school?” she asked suddenly, Liz looked shocked but nodded and went over to her seat.
Layla stood outside the market with Liz while they waited for the others. She had broken up with Lucas, although it took a small argument that easily ended with her blocking him, and now she could enjoy herself with her friends and forget everything that had happened.
“Hey, girls!” Layla heard a shout and looking over towards the sound she could see Michelle with her friends and… Jax. Since Layla and Lucas broke up, she had seen more of Jax. He had talked to her more, but blushed every time she smiled at him.
Liz looked over at Michelle, "Hey, Michelle!" she said starting to say hi to the others there with her Layla looked over at Jax where she noticed he was already looking at her she smiled at him.
"Come on, let's get something hot to drink, it's very cold." One of Michelle's friends, whom she recognized as Asher, said and started to leave. Layla laughed a little but started to follow him along with the others.
Layla could feel someone run up a little next to her, she looked over and saw Jax. "I heard what happened with you and Lucas, he was an asshole anyway." Jax said, grinning a bit, Layla's lips pulled up into a big smile.
“Haha, yes. I guess he is.” she replied as she turned her head forward. She saw a huge Christmas tree, and some tables with drinks, Christmas snacks and apple slices.
“Are you hungry? I will have to pay.” offered Jax. Layla thought about the question for a bit and nodded. They went over to the snack table. “Do you want some of this, or something else?”
“This is fine, choose something that you would also like to have yourself. We can share it." Layla replied. Jax looked at her with a shocked expression but smiled a little. He picked something for both of them, paid and gave some of it to Layla.
Together they went over to a free table and sat down. “Jax, can I have your number?” Layla asked. Jax looked at her as if she had suddenly become a ghost. His cheeks turned red.
He cleared his throat, “Uh, yeah. Sure." he replied, taking out his phone. They had just finished getting each other's numbers when Layla heard footsteps approaching them.
“There was in. We just thought you had run away from us.” Michelle said and sat down at the table, right next to Jax, the others also sat down and started talking. Layla looked over at Jax again where they made eye contact. Layla smiled at him, he smiled back as his cheeks flushed.