Chapter One- Average Day, Average life
Jay could pinpoint the exact moment he'd began to fall for Cole Brookstone.
It had been during recess in fourth grade. Jay couldn't remember the exact date, but he could remember it being really really hot outside. He'd been proudly presenting a cup of frozen yogurt to Nya, enjoying the wide eyed longing she gave the snack.
"I left it in the freezer all night," Jay beamed. "It melted a bit, but ahh, still perfectly cold!"
Nya had whimpered with jealousy, looking down at her own lunch. "You wouldn't have packed a cup for your best friend, would you?"
"Nope. Sorry. Mom only bought me this one. And I'm going to treasure it!"
Nya pouted, and Jay peeled open the container, his mouth watering with anticipation.
"Whoa, whoa, watch out!"
The shout had been unexpected, and Jay's reflexes had never been at the top of their game. He'd looked up seconds too late, able to do nothing more than watch as a soccer ball shot straight towards him.
Jay screamed at the impact, his head flying back and his nose breaking with an uncomfortable crunch. The perfectly chilled yogurt wound up smeared on his shirt. Warm blood spilled from within his nose, and Jay didn't know whether to cry or continue screaming.
"I'm really sorry!" The voice that had attempted to warn him moments before said, and Jay grumbled.
"Yeah you should be! Jeez! My nose! And my yogurt! Gah!"
Nya bit her lip, trying to hold back fits of laugher. "You alright?"
"Do I look alright!?"
Jay wiped the tears from his face, then placed his hand on his nose, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. His eyes finally focused on the figure above him, who now clutched the soccer ball in an apologetic manner.
The kid had black hair, and wide, worried grey eyes. "Let me take you to the nurse. Again I'm really sorry."
"It's fine. I'm fine." Jay stood on his own, trying his best to see over his own hand. "I can get there myself, thanks."
He'd remained with the nurse for the rest of the day, seeing his broken nose as a perfect excuse to stay out of class. Jay the time blabbering away to the nurse, who threatened to send him back to class every so often, if he didn't quiet down.
When the day ended, the very boy who'd broken his nose caught Jay as he was getting ready to leave the nurse's office. He held two small cups in his hand, filled with bright blue slushees.
"It's not as good as the yogurt I made you spill, but I hope it makes up for something." The boy said, handing Jay one of the cups. "My name's Cole. What's yours?"
Jay accepted the cup, stomach fluttering with a strange feeling that he wouldn't come to understand until later. "I'm Jay."
"Jay," Cole had smiled, and Jay's heart had given a very sudden jolt. "I like it!"
"Thank you," Jay's response was soft and stuttered. They walked to the front of the school together, and Cole stayed with Jay until his parents showed, asking just enough questions to keep the conversation going.
"Sorry about your nose again!" Cole's apologetic smile was the last thing Jay saw as he walked towards his parents.
Years passed, and the flimsy connection between them didn't quite manage to blossom into friendship. They were both very different boys, with very different interests, which kept them out of each other's lives.
Despite this, Jay was never again able to keep Cole out of his mind.
Without particularly meaning to, he was heavily aware of everything Cole did.
He watched Cole's popularity grow, thanks to his kind nature, and charming attitude. By the time they reached high school, there weren't many people that didn't know his name. Cole seemed to be naturally talented at many things, effortlessly excelling with an easy, heart-stopping smile.
Each day, Jay became more and more hopelessly in love with the one boy he would never be able to impress.
"Walker! Hello! I'm talking here!"
Jay jolted, moving his mind out of the past, and into the present. He focused on the features of his best friend, who was frowning at him with a pout.
"You're wearing that on your first day of senior year?" Nya scoffed.
Jay looked down at himself. Blue jeans, and a simple T-Shirt with the words Fast as Lightning! Scribbled on graffiti style. "Yeah? It's my favorite shirt."
"It's old. And it's senior year!"
"So what? It's not like our lives are going to miraculously turn into a fairy tale just because of it." Jay shrugged. "You know what senior year really means? Stress! Anxiety! Will my college accept me? Can I afford it? So many deadlines, So many things."
"Wrong," Nya shook her head, Then stopped and gave a small shrug. "Okay, maybe not wrong. But that's not the point. The point is, this is the last year we've got to. . . to not be adults. The last year we've got at Ninjago High. We need to make the most of it."
"Okay I'll make the most of it. By wearing my favorite shirt."
"Fine,"
A loud honking sound startled them both, making them jolt. Jay clutched his heart and frowned, while Nya smiled mischievously as she deducted the source of the sound. Crawling on her bed, she moved towards her window, moving the curtains to look outside.
Once her suspicions were proven right, she slid the window open, waving at the car below. "Hey, Cole!"
At the mention of Cole's name, Jay dropped to the ground, even though it would have been impossible for Cole to spot him. Nya laughed.
Outside the house, Cole returned Nya's wave. "Hey! Please tell me your brother is ready."
"Hard to say. You want to come inside?"
"Don't invite him inside!?" Jay hissed, still laying on the ground.
"No need!" Kai shouted from somewhere inside the house. "Tell him I'm coming, Nya!"
Jay sighed in relief. Nya frowned in disappointment. "He said he's coming."
Cole nodded, and Nya shut the window. "Maybe I should ask if they can give us a ride. I mean, we're all going to the same school"
"No, that's fine, we're fine, we don't need a ride Nya." Jay sat up slowly, hoping his skin wasn't as red as it felt. "It's too early. They've got their band practice or whatever."
"We could watch. I've heard them play before, they're pretty good. Their drummer, Zane? Wow! That guy can play."
The sound of tires on pavement traveled up to their ears, and Jay smiled. "Oh no. Well. They left. Too bad, too sad. Guess we're taking the bus!"
"Why don't you let your dad take us? What kind of seniors take the bus?"
"You want to ride on the car my dad built? Himself? No. No thank you. It's scary enough riding that thing from our house to here." Jay stood, straightening his shirt, momentarily wondering if he should have dressed differently.
"Your dad's inventions work just fine, Jay. You're just a chicken."
"And being a chicken has kept me alive though, hasn't it!"
"Yeah, 'alive', sure."
"Could we stop judging my lifestyle and just get some breakfast?" Jay said, heading out of Nya's room and into the hall.
"Sooo," Lloyd turned on his seat, to look at Jay and Nya as they boarded the bus. "Seniors! How's it feel?"
"I'm anxious, tired, scared, horri-" Nya pressed her hand against Jay's mouth, forcefully stopping the spout of negative words. They sat across from the blonde haired teen, who was still smiling expectantly.
"Ignore Jay. We're both very excited."
"You'll finally be free of high school," Lloyd said, his words ending in a sigh. "I've still got whole other year to go. It's not fair. They should let me graduate early. Having your father be the principal and your mother be a teacher should be illegal. I don't know if I'll make it."
"Free of high school, sure, but then we have to go out into the real world." Jay shivered. "I'll take schedules and halls any day, over that!"
"I guess I can see your point. I just wish . . . Never mind" Lloyd said with a small shrug. He then turned back towards the window, slipping a pair of earbuds into his ears.
Nya turned to look at Jay, frowning. "You need to relax, Jay. Finishing high school is supposed to be exciting."
"Relax? Me? When have I ever."
"There's a first time for everything."
"Where's Nya?"
Jay sat in front of Lloyd, leaning forward to be heard over the ceaseless chattering in the cafeteria. Lloyd poked at the food on his tray, before looking up to answer. "She said she'd be at the gym. Signing up for soccer try-outs with her brother. Why?"
"It's. . ." Jay shook his head. "Nothing. Sorry. Private?"
"Ouch, I thought we were friends."
"We are! It's just, it's a secret, so I don't really want to talk about it, it has nothing to do with you in particular or-"
"Is it about Cole?"
Jay froze, his cheeks instantly growing red with embarrassment. "What!? Did Nya say something about him? Why would you think that?"
"Because you've had a crush on him for years, and it's pretty obvious. She didn't have to tell me anything."
"It's obvious? Really?" Jay covered his face with his hands. "Do you think he knows?"
Lloyd looked over to the table Cole was sitting in, eyes shinning with laughter as he shared a silly joke with the others around him. He turned back to Jay. "Probably not. I doubt he even knows you exist. You're pretty adamant about avoiding him."
"He makes me too nervous!"
"Well since I know about your little crush, can you tell me whatever you were going to tell Nya?"
"He's been in all my classes so far!" Jay hissed, face still glowing with a stubborn blush. "What are the odds, right?"
Lloyd smiled. "Wow! That's amazing."
"No, it's horrible. What if we're paired up for. . . a project or something? And then I have to talk to him? It'll be awful and he'll think I'm an idiot."
"He won't. He's nice." Lloyd shrugged.
"I know he's nice but. . . gah! Nevermind. You wouldn't get it."
"Whatever you say, Jay." Lloyd shrugged.
With an overly dramatic sigh, Jay sunk onto the table, laying his head against the hard surface. There was only one year left of high school. All he truly wanted to do was to make it through it one piece. But it really seemed like the universe had other plans.
The more he thought about it, the more Jay realized he was actually glad Nya had skipped lunch. If he'd gone on to impulsively tell her every detail of everything as he usually did, she would no doubt try to push him to do something. Nya was the type of person that wanted action, and she wouldn't understand that there were simply some things that couldn't be done.
Sure, he'd spent a lot of nights clutching to a desperate daydream that fate would somehow entwine him and Cole together, but those were daydreams. Things he could control. Reality was a different case altogether.
Following this reasoning, Jay decided to keep Cole's schedule away from Nya when he saw her again. She waved at him from down the hall, moving through the mass of bodies. "Jay, guess what?"
"Hmm?" Jay continued to moved forward, forcing Nya to keep pace with him.
"I just came from history. Lloyd's mom is a sweetheart. She made us wear name tags." Nya laughed, pointing at her chest. A white sticker with the name Nya stood out against her red shirt. "I made you one too! You know, so you'll be ready."
Without waiting for Jay to protest, Nya slapped a sticker onto Jay's shoulder. Jay turned his head. It read motor-mouth. "Oh thanks. You're so nice."
"You know I'm always thinking of ways to help a friend out," Nya winked. "Where are you off to now?"
"Math class. But I want to check out my new locker first. What with the stupid remodeling, they had to move a bunch of us. What's the point of changing a school? It's not like anyone comes here for the sights. Or they could have at least waited for me to graduate. Now I have to learn a whole new combination, a whole new locker number, a whole new location. "
"Wow. Sounds awful. Cruel, really."
"It is, thank you." Jay responded, ignoring the mocking tone in Nya's words.
"Well, this is my stop. I'll see you after school." With a nod of her head, Nya stopped by one of the classrooms. Jay returned the nod, then headed to his new locker.
Even with the combination for it clearly printed on the back of his hand, it still took him a couple of tries to succeed in opening it.
"Ha!" Jay laughed in victory. Someone else walked up to the locker next to him, and Jay tried to cover up the laugh by pretending to clear his throat. After staring at the empty space before him for a couple of moments, Jay shut the door.
Then he froze, barely holding a wave of hysteric laughter inside him. Of course. Of course. Why not?
Cole stood beside him, throwing an array of random snacks into his own locker. Jay found himself rooted to the spot, body suddenly unable to function properly. Ultimately, Cole noticed him staring.
"Oh hey, locker neighbor." Cole said, with a concerned frown, and an easy smile.
"That's. . . Yes," Jay grimaced, nodding slowly. "They moved me here. Because of the, you know the remodeling. So uh, I mean, hi back to you."
"Wait," Cole frowned, and Jay found himself taking a step back involuntarily. "Do I know you?"
Oh? Jay blinked, his heart skipping a beat. Maybe Cole did remember about the random kid whose nose he'd broken in fourth grade. And now they'd laugh about it together, instantly forming a quick bond that would-
"Oh yeah! You're in my second period, aren't you?"
Oh.
"First and third too." Jay said, before he could stop himself.
"Looks like we'll see each other quite a bit then." Cole frowned at something, his eyes squinting. "I'll look forward to getting to know you . . . motor-mouth?"
Jay turned towards the sticker, quickly ripping it off his shoulder and cursing Nya with every word he knew. He looked back up at Cole, mouth open, ready to spout a bunch of words that might or might not serve as an explanation for the nickname. But Cole was already heading down the hall.
Seconds later, the tardi bell echoed throughout.
"Wait! I! Ugh!" With a growl of frustration, Jay balled up the discarded sticker, angrily tossing it against the wall of lockers.
All in all, Jay could confidently say that the first day had been absolutely, positively, horrible.
It took him the rest of the day to recover from the sudden emotional rollercoaster that talking to Cole had taken him on, and with unfocused eyes and jittery hands, Jay didn't quite manage to make a good first impression with the rest of his teachers.
Senior year was truly building up to be the worst year yet. And Nya's stubborn excitement along with Lloyd's subtle jealousy was most definitely not going to help.
And of course, neither would the questions of his overbearingly caring parents.
"You can't just say school was fine." His mom shook her head. "I want details! Who are your teachers? Classmates? How's Nya? Lloyd? And eat your food, Jay! You're a growing boy. You need the calories."
"How about college? You make a choice yet, Jay? You should be getting a head start on the applications!" His dad said, making excited movements with the spoon in his hand. "I'm sure there are plenty of engineering scholarships you could find for yourself out there, why not take a look, son? I'm sure you could win more than a couple with those skills of yours!"
Jay forced a spoonful of his mother's broth down his throat. "I don't know the names of all my teachers yet. I do have Lloyd's mom for history. . . Nya's fine, same with Lloyd. And no dad I haven't figured out anything yet."
Knowing that the questions wouldn't stop as long as he was in the room, Jay did his best to finish quickly, ignoring the protests of his aching stomach. After washing his bowl, Jay skipped towards the door. "I'm just going to, um, take a look at the new things we brought in from the flea market. Might take a bit!"
Without waiting for his parents to answer, Jay stepped outside.
He didn't have any particular intention to do as he'd said, but for lack of anything better to do, Jay found himself looking through the piles of junk. He'd found the activity terribly exciting as a child, and he would be lying if he said he didn't still enjoy it now.
Most things he found seemed to be useless on their own. Broken parts, and broken objects, with no other purpose but to rust under the pressure of the elements.
"Huh. Well this is different."
Jay pushed aside a broken toaster, his fingers reaching for a small teapot. He held it closer to his face, examining the deliquiate carvings on the metal. It looked old. Very old, and very valuable, if a bit on the dirty side. There seemed to be a drawing of something on the side of it, but the image was jumbled up, a piece twisted out of its original position.
With nonchalant curiosity, Jay twisted it into its rightful place.