Okaaaay. . . so this is a first: a home-schooler trying to write a story about "regular school." This should be interesting . . . XD

Just to let y'all know, my knowledge of public high school is rather scanty, since all I know is what other people have written, for example AwesomeAuthor13's "High School Never Ends" (really awesome story, btw!) and Lila Kay's "Ninjago High" (yet another awesome story! :D)

So I'm taking a bunch of creative license with this story, 'kay? *grins nervously* I'd prefer it if you didn't correct me on whatever mistakes I make about the school system, since I may have made the mistake on purpose.

So . . . hope you like this first chapter!

Chapter 1. First Day: Flops and Friends

[Jay's P.O.V.]

"Ja-a-ay!"

I blearily rubbed my eyes and called, "What is it, Mom?" I yawned loudly, reaching for my glasses.

"Today's your first day of high school, honey! Time to get up!"

"My first day of wha?" I yawned again, nearly poking myself in the eye as I put my glasses on. "Mom, I'm home-schooled, remember?"

Mom laughed as she peeked into my room. "If you're as smart as you claim to be, Mr. Walker, you'd remember we enrolled you into high school this year because of the move."

"Oh, yeah . . . WHAT?!" I jumped out of bed and scrambled to change out of my pajamas. I tugged on a blue-and-white-striped collared shirt and tried my hand at multi-tasking when I put my shoes on before my jeans and had to untie my shoes before I could get anywhere else with getting dressed.

Mom laughed behind her hand as I frantically dove under the covers to hide while I pulled my pants on. "Don't worry about packing your backpack, honey," she told me when I reemerged from my bed with my glasses askew and my shoelaces knotted up when I tied them without any light. "I took care of that after you conked out after watching Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone for a full four hours or so."

My cheeks burned redder than tomatoes. "Was I really watching TV for that long?"

Mom grinned. "I let you do it because it was educational, but don't think you can get away with doing a Harry Potter or a Star Wars marathon after this, young man."

"Aw, what's the fun in that?" I mumbled.

Mom left my door open as she left, calling, "Your dad already left for work, Jay, but he'll pick you up after school to take you to the junkyard. I believe he has a special 'first-day-of-public-school' surprise for you!"

My eyes lit up as I stumbled after her. Mom hadn't been lying when she said she'd already packed my backpack. It was sitting next to my brand-new black leather jacket, another "first-day-of-public-school" gift from the fam.

I've been home-schooled since first grade, when I got landed with a mean teacher and a bad case of the lonely bug. Ever since then, I've been labeled by every kid in my neighborhood as "the anti-social, junkyard four-eyed loser." My friends, Alex Azam and Julia Wade, call me "lucky." Well, Julia did call me lucky, before she died the year I turned thirteen.

Anyway, since we moved to a more affordable house in Ninjago City (if that's even a proper combination of words: "affordable" and "Ninjago City") to accommodate my dad's new job, Mom decided it was time for me to "graduate" from home-schooling, and try out public school for high school. Not sure why my parents decided to move to a city almost ten miles away from the junkyard, but hey, I guess it's better than having to take a bus from Wintergate every morning to get to school.

I wolfed down my breakfast in under ten minutes, which was a bit of a record for overly distracted ol' me. My pet cat, Wisp, rubbed against my legs, purring loudly as his gray fur got all over my pant legs. I just shrugged it off, knowing that with a cat as fluffy as Wisp, fur was bound to get there at some point.

Then, after being smothered with hugs and kisses from Mom, I headed out the door for my new school. The condo complex where my family lived was about fifteen minute's walk to the high school. It was called Dragonsfire High, and it was supposedly one of the most elite high schools in Ninjago, so elite that there were no uniforms, and the majority of schoolwork was done in class. I said I'd believe it when I saw it. So far, I've only got proof that there aren't any uniforms. And the almost no homework thing was ridiculous. Technically, from first grade on, all my schoolwork was homework.

(Fifteen minutes later)

I walked briskly toward the school building. It looked pretty normal for being so elite. It was a three-story steel-plated building in the middle of a park-type area half the size of a college campus. I could see a baseball field and a football field behind the building, and my eyes lit up. I may be a geek, but I'm a mean baseball player . . .

"Hey! You, kid!" I was roughly jerked out of my thoughts as someone grabbed the back of my shirt. I glanced frantically around, and my eyes met a pair of poisonous green ones. The teenager who switched his grip from the back of my shirt to my shirt collar was about fifteen, a sophomore, I think. He wore a black Letterman jacket over a neon green shirt the same venom green color of his eyes. He had dark windswept hair, and a pale complexion. I disliked him on sight, partly because he reeked of "bad dude", and partly because he had a clamp grip on my collar.

"You lost, kid?" he sneered at me. "This is an elite school. No nerds allowed."

I shook my head violently, trying hard not to gag as his grip tightened. "I'm-supposed-to-be-here," I coughed. "Just let me go!"

"Is that so?" the sophomore smirked. "Well, Four-Eyes, I got news for you. If you're new to D-Fire, you've gotta go through the initiation."

"What?!" I was completely confused. "Is this a joke? You're joking, right?"

The teenager raised his fist over my head. "Morro never jokes, geek-face," he snarled.

I tried to go for the stupid look. I flashed a classic dorky grin. "You wouldn't hit someone with glasses, would you?" I asked innocently, while at the same time squirming to get away.

"I would." The sophomore, apparently named Morro, raised his fist higher.

"HEY! YOU!" Morro whirled his head around. Another teenager, about my age, was glaring at him from a few feet away. He had spiky brown hair, almond-shaped amber eyes, and a scowl on his face that made him look like he jumped out of an anime. He wore a red t-shirt, a black army vest, maroon-ish jeans, and black combat boots. "Leave the kid alone, you jerk!" he said angrily.

"What if I don't, pipsqueak?" the sophomore sneered.

The anime guy raised his fists. "I can knock you into kingdom come faster than you can call for Momma," he said. "I'll show you I'm no pipsqueak."

Not that he needed to show him he's no pipsqueak, the guy was almost as tall as Morro. And grown-up, I'd bet Morro could make Abe Lincoln look short.

Morro glowered at him. Anime Teen glared right back without flinching. Finally, Morro released his grip on my collar. I fell to my knees, gasping for breath and rubbing my sore neck. "You may have gotten away this time, freshfailure," Morro snarled at me, "but I'll get you, and I'll get you good. You watch out too, bed-head," he snapped at Anime Guy. With that, he sauntered off.

The anime guy helped me to my feet. "You alright, buddy?" he asked.

I grinned weakly. "I guess so, apart from feeling like I've been Darth Vader-strangled."

The teen grinned back. "That could put a damper on your day," he said. "I'm Kai Fiero, by the way."

"Jay Walker," I said, adjusting my backpack straps. Would ya look at that? I thought as we walked toward the school building. Classes haven't even started yet and I got a new buddy! Maybe public school isn't so bad . . .

But then I remembered Morro's promise to get me. Okay, maybe it's not perfect . . . I've also got a new enemy. But I can handle him . . . right?

[Kai's P.O.V.]

"Kai! It's time to wake up!" I heard Nya call through my closed door.

"Ugh, who died and made you president?" I muttered, burying my face in my pillow.

"Uh, no one did, but Mom told me to tell you to get your lazybones body out of bed and get ready, or you're gonna be late for school. She and Dad already left for work."

"School doesn't start until next Monday," I mumbled, rolling over again.

"Check your calendar if you don't believe me, bright boy!" Nya called.

I glanced blearily over at the calendar hanging on the wall. "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS WAS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?!"

I jumped out of bed and scrambled to get dressed. I pulled on a red t-shirt, black jeans, my black army vest, and my combat boots, quickly re-spiked my hair in front of my bedroom mirror, and started shoveling my scattered school books into my backpack. No idea how they got scattered when I did my best to avoid touching them before school started.

I burst through my door, and almost tripped over an orange ball of fur. Nya's cat, Crookshanks, let out an angry meow and swiped at my leg as I narrowly avoided stepping on his tail as I ran for the dining room. "Nya! Your cat almost got squashed!" I yelled over my shoulder.

"Well, I almost fell over your dog, so we're even!" Nya retorted.

"How can you fall over a dog as big as Flame?!" On cue, my golden retriever came bounding up to me as I balanced a bowl and a box of Smiley-O's (Dumbest. Name. Ever.) in one hand, and the carton of milk in the other.

"Figure it out for yourself, genius!" In Nya-speak, that means she couldn't come up with any way to contradict me.

I rolled my eyes as I started eating my cereal. "Sisters," I muttered. Flame nodded in agreement.

(Ten minutes later)

After polishing off breakfast, and feeding Flame, I waited by the door for Nya. "Are you coming to school with me or not?" I called after about a few seconds.

"I'm going by myself, thanks," Nya said, walking right past me, completely ready for school. "I'm not your younger sister, you know."

"Technically, you are," I called after her. But she completely ignored me as she walked down the stairs to the sidewalk.

I sighed, and followed her, making sure to keep a good distance away from where she was walking.

When I arrived at the Dragonsfire High building, Nya had already gone inside. I was about to follow her in when I saw a teen about my age a little ways behind me. He had messy auburn-ginger hair, sea-blue eyes framed by black-rimmed glasses, a black leather jacket, and a blue-and-white-striped short-sleeved collared shirt with matching high-top sneakers. And at the time he had his collar gripped by a tall sophomore-aged guy who was about to knock his lights out.

My instincts took over, and I yelled, "HEY! YOU!"

The sophomore turned around, still holding the teen by the shirt. I stormed up to him and folded my arms across my chest. "Leave the kid alone, you jerk!" I said angrily.

The sophomore sneered, "And what if I don't, pipsqueak?" The teen he had a vice-grip on was frantically trying to break free, his backpack slipping off his shoulders.

I raised my fists threateningly. "I can knock you into kingdom come faster than you can call for Momma," I said fiercely. "I'll show you I'm no pipsqueak."

He glared at me. I glared right back. Finally, he released his hold on the ginger-haired teen, and he fell to his knees, gasping for breath. The sophomore snarled at the teen, "You may have gotten away this time, freshfailure, but I'll get you, and I'll get you good. You watch out too, bed-head," he snapped at me. With that, he sauntered off toward the school building.

I helped the other guy to his feet. "You alright, buddy?"

He grinned weakly at me. "Yeah, apart from feeling like I've been Darth Vader-strangled," he answered, rubbing his neck and pushing his glasses up on his face.

I grinned back. The kid seemed okay. "That could put a damper on your day," I agreed. "I'm Kai Fiero, by the way."

"Jay Walker," he introduced himself, fixing his backpack more firmly on his shoulders. We headed up the steps into the school building, and I could tell Jay was pretty stoked to have found a new friend. So was I. Maybe high school wouldn't be so bad after all, I thought. Sure I've got someone to keep an eye on, but hey, I'll have a whole bunch of awesome buddies to make up for it!

[Cole's P.O.V.]

Music, dancing, quartet, music, dancing, quartet! If I have to hear any of those words again, I might explode! My dad was blasting classical music over the radio to wake me up for school, then reminded me to practice my dance steps for entering the performing arts program at the new high school I'm going to, and to be sure to stay with my quartet at all times! ARGH!

The guys in my quartet are kinda nice, but since they're the experts at all the proper theatrical stuff while I'm not, we don't have much to say to each other. I'm just really glad my dad forgot we're going to different schools, so I wouldn't have to comply to his rule of sticking with the quartet at all times.

After pulling on my black leather jacket and lacing up my black sneakers, I snuck out the back door to avoid running into my dad and getting another lecture. Once I was safely on the walk to school, I slipped my headphones on, a present from Mom, and cranked up the volume on my iPod. If there was one thing me and Dad agreed on, it was that I liked jazz, not too much rock music. That was kinda how I got my name, anyway. Glenn Miller's swing jazz cooled me off on the way up to Dragonsfire High, about twenty minutes walk from my house.

I wished I could take a little detour to visit Mom, but she wouldn't have wanted me to be late on my first day of high school.

I walked up the steps into the building, right on the heels of two other freshmen-aged guys who were obviously brand-new buddies, but talking like they'd known each other for years. I hoped I could get friends that fast . . . even with a performing-arts-fanatic dad and an indisposed mom.

Don't worry, you'll see Zane and Lloyd in the next chapter! :D

Wonder what Cole means by indisposed. . .

Hope Morro decides not to keep his promise to "get Jay good" XD

See ya 'round!