Chapter 6-02

"Hey Cass," Jared said, looking happy to see me.

"Hey Jared," I replied, not wanting to be mean to him even though I was mad at Layton.

"How’s the rest of the day gone? Any idiots run you over again, eh?" Jared asked, holding back his laughter.

"Not really, but I almost witnessed two dogs fighting after lunch," I replied, looking at Layton.

As soon as I made the comment, all of the guys went still. Layton looked furious.

I felt smug and gave Layton an innocent grin just to piss him off more.

Tyler cleared his throat and the guys seemed to come out of some trance, because they pretended like nothing had happened and continued talking casually.

Layton sat next to me like if the past few hours hadn’t happened. I was facing the front, trying to ignore him. I really wanted to talk with the guys, but I didn’t want Layton to think I was including him.

So far, he’d only been acting like a jerk.

While he was sitting to my right, Layton kept staring at me. I pretended not to notice, but it was getting harder to ignore his intense gaze focused on me.

I looked around the gym, trying to use that as a distraction. I wasn’t searching for anyone in particular. Luck must have been on my side for a second or two because Zev walked through the double doors just then.

He was walking casually, with his hands in his jean pockets. It was impossible not to notice how carefree he looked. I was smiling just from looking at his happy mood.

Zev sat in the bleachers on the other side of the gym. He looked around, saw me, and smiled. I returned the smile while he waved. Since I had his attention, I decided to make my exit from the group. I quickly gathered my stuff and got up.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Layton asked, sounding irritated.

"I’m going with Zev," I replied, taking a step down the bleachers.

"No, you’re not," Layton said, forcing me back down.

As soon as his hand came in contact with my skin, I felt a shock run from my arm all throughout my body. He didn’t loosen his hold, even after he sat me down. We both just stared at his hand that had a strong grip on my arm.

I was confused by the small electric shocks his hand was creating where he was touching me.

It was pleasurable, and that scared me.

I looked up at his face, not knowing why this was happening. He looked at me and his expression softened.

I thought about the times I received a gift. I was only supposed to have three gifts and I already had them- telekinesis, my temp which was thunder, and healing.

The next thing I was supposed to receive was my element. But my element wasn’t supposed to kick in until I turned seventeen and there was almost a year for that to happen.

If it was another gift making its way through and causing the feeling, I had to get away from Layton. He had already felt the sensation and I was scared he would suspect something.

I took a deep breath and shakily pulled my arm from his hold. Jared, Nick, and Tyler were looking between Layton and I. They were all grinning at each other.

I didn’t want to stick around and answer any of their questions. I hurriedly got up to go with Zev, hoping that it would be safe with him. For future reference, I planned to avoid all contact with Layton.

"I told you you’re not going over there," Layton firmly stated.

I shrugged, not really wanting to argue with him, and kept walking down the bleachers.

"Don’t walk away from me, Cassidy. You can’t go with him."

I turned around to look at Layton. Nick, Jared, and Tyler looked tense. I noticed some of the people sitting in the bleachers were looking at Layton with fear. I cocked an eyebrow, wondering why anyone would fear Layton. Sure he was tall and intimidating, but he seemed all talk.

I started walking away from him once again. Half-way across the gym, Layton grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. The tingles I felt before returned right after we touched.

I was scared of what it meant, so I shrugged his hand away from mine as fast as I could. It felt really good to touch him, but if it had anything to do with being a Legen, I had to tread carefully.

"I told you not to walk away from me," Layton said through gritted teeth.

"I don’t care what you say."

My words made him angry and he made no effort to hide it. Layton growled and I couldn’t help but notice how animalistic he looked. He seriously needed to get a grip of himself.

When I turned to see why he was so peeved, I noticed Zev was right behind me. Layton and Zev were glaring at each other, while I stood between the two.

I rolled my eyes at their antiques and grabbed Zev’s hand, trying to drag him back to his seat.

"Don’t touch her!" Layton angrily yelled.

"In case you’re blind, she’s the one touching me. Not that I can complain." Zev smirked at Layton, and let me drag him back to the bleachers.

Layton pulled me out of Zev’s hold and put me behind him. I turned just in time to catch Coach Walker approaching us. I was relieved with his presence. It took him long enough to come, considering a fight was about to go down in the middle of the gym.

"What’s going on here?" Coach questioned, looking between Layton and Zev. He then turned to face me, but I was still hidden behind Layton’s back.

"Nothing Coach, we were just talking. Layton was already going to his seat over there," I replied, pointing to the other side of the gym.

"Okay, go take a seat over there Pierce," Coach told Layton, while nodding his head toward the bleachers where the guys stood at.

"Montgomery, go back to your seat too," he told Zev.

Both Layton and Zev stared at each other intensely a few moments, before walking away. I followed Zev. Layton didn’t look happy, but he kept walking since Coach was still glaring at him.

"I’m sorry about that," I told Zev when we got to the top bleacher.

"Don’t worry about it. It happens all the time." Zev made it sound like if confrontations between him and Layton were a daily occurrence.

We talked for the rest of the period. Layton kept looking at us and glaring at Zev every chance he got. I tried to ignore him and pay attention to my conversation with Zev.

I was still thinking of the strange feeling that overcame my body when Layton touched me. Discreetly, I touched Zev’s arm, wondering if anything would happen.

Zev noticed my touch and again froze when our hands came into contact. Other than that, I didn’t feel anything. From across the gym, I heard Layton growling.

The way he acted was throwing me off. Layton behaved like a jerk with me, yet he became overprotective when I was anywhere near Zev.