Kaleb's POV
"Nope! Not happening." I say as Layla frowns and walks back into the dressing room.
"Kaleb, why not?" Whitney exclaims. "She looks gorgeous in that dress.
"N-O. No. No way in hell am I going to let her wear that. It's way too revealing. Every guy there will be staring at her."
"What's the problem with that, Kaleb? Her bruises are all finally gone and she's beautiful. Let's her show herself off a little."
"I said no, Whitney. I don't want other guys staring at her." I growl.
She snarls at me before sitting down beside me as we wait for Layla. "This is why I didn't want you to come." Whitney huffs. "You won't be happy until she's dressed like a nun."
"I would be-" I start to say but I am cut off by Layla.
"Umm... Since you two can't agree on anything, would y'all mind if I pick a dress out to try on?"
"Yes, you can pick a dress out." Whitney says excitedly.
I rub the back of my neck nervously. "Yeah, sorry about that. We probably should have asked you for your opinion."
Layla quickly walks off and in a few short minutes she is back hiding a dress from me and Whitney. "Why are you hiding the dress?" Whitney asks. "We want to see."
Layla smirks at the two of us. "Y'all can see it once I try it on. I've been wanting to try this dress on since we walked into this store." She says before turning on her heels and running into the dressing room.
After about five minutes Layla peeps her head out from the curtain. "Are y'all ready to see me?" Whitney and I eagerly nod our heads. Layla pulls the curtain back and walks out. Neither I nor Whitney say a word. We are both render speechless. Layla frowns at our lack of words. "Y'all hate it don't y'all?"
(Layla's dress)
Standing up, I grab her hand and spin her around causing her to giggle. "It's perfect." I whisper to her.
Whitney has the biggest smile on her face as she starts jumping up and down squealing in excitement. "You look amazing! Have you really been eyeing this dress since we got here?" Layla bites her lip and nods her head. Whitney laughs. "Next time tell us to shut up and just grab the dress. You have amazing taste."
While Layla is changing back into her normal clothes, I pay for her dress. On the entire way home, all Whitney can talk about is how excited she is that Summer and Winter are staying the night at my place so that them and Layla can start early tomorrow morning getting ready for my dad's banquet. I glance at Layla who seems a little overwhelm by it all. "Kaleb," she whispers. "Is she always this excited for a banquet?"
I laugh. "This is nothing compare to the way she gets for the school's dances. Usually the girls all meet up at Whitney or Summer and Winter's house, while the guys either meet at my house or Connor's."
"Oh. Why are they coming to your place tonight?" She whispers quietly enough that Whitney can't hear us.
"It's your house too, you know. You live there with me and my parents. Believe me when I say my parents aren't going to let you leave anytime soon. Knowing my mom, she'll probably kick me out before she lets you leave. She is really taken with you." I laugh. "The girls are coming to our house because they plan on getting ready with you in your room tomorrow. The guys are also coming over tonight. We will probably order pizza and watch a movie.  Oh, and just to warn you now, they will probably all be staying the night after the banquet tomorrow too. We will basically be stuck with our friends for the next 48 hours." I laugh. Layla gulps as she looks at me nervously. She's better with our friends, but she still gets anxious with them if they are around for too long.
The moment I pull into the driveway of my home, Whitney yanks Layla out of the car and rushes her into the house saying something about girl talk and whatnot. Layla looks back at me and mouths 'help' causing me to laugh.
By the time I walk into the house the girls are nowhere in sight. I walk into the kitchen to find my dad sitting at the table reading the newspaper, while my mom is making tea. "How was shopping, honey?" My mom asks. "Did Layla find a dress?"
"I never want to go shopping with Whitney again." I groan. "We fought the entire time over what dress Layla should or should not wear only for Layla to ask if she could try on a dress that she had been looking at. The dress was perfect. She didn't even need us."
"I sometimes think y'all think Layla just crawled out of a hole and knows nothing about the world." My mom says.
"Mom I do not think that. It's just, well I don't know. All I know is that she's been abused by her dad for the past three years. She hasn't told me anything about her life before that.  I dont know if she knows how to shop for a dress. She had never been to Dave and Buster's, but she was able to beat me twice I air hockey. I just never know what to or not to expect with her. Whenever I try to bring up her past, she never wants to talk about it. I don't want her to get upset by me bugging her and asking her too many questions. Most of the time, I feel like I'm in the dark with her."
My mom's eyes hold sadness in them. "She's coming around. When she feels the time is right, she will tell you. Once she does tell you I think it will help you understand her better. For that matter, it may help us all understand her a little better."
"I know, mom. I just hope she will tell me soon. I hate not knowing what's bothering her all the time." I groan.
I walk out of the kitchen as the front door opens up and in walks Winter, Summer, Daniel, Jake, and Connor. "Where's Whitney and Layla?" Summer asks.
"Upstairs in Layla's room." I tell them.
"Thanks." Summer says as she carries her and Winter's dresses and a duffel bag walking upstairs. Winter follows her with a huge bag of what I can only guess is filled with make-up and stuff to fix their hair.
"So," Connor says smacking me on the back. "How about we have a little bit of guy's only time before the girls miss me too much and join us." He smirks.
How am I best friends with someone who is so full of himself? "Sure," I say as Jake, Daniel and I follow him to my game room.
While the girls are doing their thing, we play video games in the game room until the pizza arrives. My parents want us to all eat in the dining room since they want to talk to us about tomorrow's banquets.
The girls beat us to the dining room and are already seated when we enter. Lucky for me, Winter has to run back upstairs for something so I steal her seat so I can sit by Layla. "Winter was sitting there," Layla whispers to me.
"Where? Here?" I say pointing at the seat I am in. Layla nods her head and laughs. "Well she got up and I don't see her name on it anywhere. Plus, if I remember correctly. This is my house, so that makes it my chair."
Layla laughs harder. "So, since I live here too, and you keep saying that this is as much my house as it is yours, what would you do if I want to sit there? It is my chair too after all."
At first, I am shocked by what she said. She's trying to outsmart me, but two can play at this game. "You're right, Layla. You live here too making this as much your chair as it is mine. Since we are both wanting to sit in the chair there is only one solution."
"And that is?"
"You'll have to sit on my lap." I say smirking at her. Layla's jaw drops as Connor burst out laughing at us. I didn't realize everyone at the table was listening to our conversation.
Everyone is staring at us and I'm starting to freak out in my head thinking that Layla is going to be upset with me. I was just messing with her. Layla looks at Whitney before there's a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Okay," Layla says as she gets out of her chair and sits in my lap. She then takes a bite of her pizza and starts up a conversation with the girls while I and the rest of the guys sit there dumbfounded.
I feel my cheeks heat us as I gulp nervously. I never thought she would actually sit on my lap. I was just joking around, but the longer she sits here she forces feelings in me that I probably shouldn't be having with others around.
Connor looks at my face reading me like an open book. "Damn Layla. I don't think he was expecting that." He says laughing. Soon everyone including my parents and Layla are laughing too.
Hmm... She thinks she's, funny, doesn't she? After a few more minutes of her sitting on my lap, she starts to get up, but I pull her back down in my lap. "Nope. You decided to sit here and now you're staying here." I whisper in her ear causing her to shiver.
She turns around and glares at me playfully before she grabs me a slice of pizza and hands it to me. She then leans back on me enjoying her own slice. My mom has a huge grin on her face as she sees how comfortable Layla is with me. My dad soon clears his throat, "Are all of you going as couples to the banquet tomorrow or as friends?"
"Since there's an even number of guys and girls were going as couples," Whitney announces while making eye contact with me.
"Who's going with who?" My dad asks.
"Whitney says I have to go with her since she's my girlfriend." Daniel jokes.
Whitney glares at him. "I'm unfortunately going with Daniel." She says sticking her tongue out at him. "Summer is going with Jake, Winter with Connor, and Layla with Kaleb."
My dad gives me a knowing smile. "So, Whitney and Daniel are a real couple. How about the rest of you?"
"Just friends." Winter and Connor say at the same time.
"Uh, Summer and I are just friends too," Jakes says. Summer looks a little disappointed but hides it quickly.
"And the two of you?" My dad says pointing at me and Layla. Layla turns crimson, while I glare at my dad. He just chuckles. "Anyways I wanted to let you know that we will be renting limos to ride in tomorrow. All of you will ride in one while myself and Abby will ride in the other one with all of your parents."
Everyone was super excited about riding in the limo, not because we were riding in the limo, but because we were allowed to drink as long as we weren't driving. After dinner, everyone went to the movie room to watch a movie except for Layla. She said her head had started hurting and she wanted to go to sleep.
Halfway through the movie, I go to check on her to find her talking with my mom. I heard her laugh a little and while I wanted to listen to their conversation, I decided it was best to give them their privacy. I can always try talking to my mom tomorrow about what she and Layla were talking about.
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A/N: So, I'm really not happy with this chapter. Honestly, I'm still struggling with this story. I know where I want it to go, but I can't find the motivation to get it there. Hopefully, it will get better. ~KarenJ128~