chapter one | class in session

"Lloyd, I have bad news," a woman who had gray hair in a braid that laid neatly just to her upper back, with green eyes, and lightly tanned skin said. She wore a pale blue tee shirt, with jean bermuda shorts to her knees, glasses, and a pair of beat up sneakers. Her name was Misako. She looked down upon her fifteen year old son, who had emerald green eyes, the same slightly tanned skin, and light blond hair, wearing a black tee shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.

"What is it...?"

"Well, son... Darkley's Boarding School has rejected you for this upcoming school year.." she said, an uncomfortable tone in her voice. Lloyd stared at his mother, blankly.

"No way, why? What did I do? There must be a mistake," Lloyd said frantically, standing up from his living room sofa. He had just survived freshman year there, and had been going there since preschool. It was a rough year, but he lived. He didn't want to have to start brand new, and establish himself once more.

"No mistake, son," his mom said, handing Lloyd the letter they had received. It read something along the lines of thanks but no thanks. Lloyd crumpled up the paper, throwing it at the wall. What would he do without his best friends? Where would he go now?

"It's okay, Lloyd, we found a better school, you'll love it there-"

"No, I won't! I'll have no friends, I'll have to do everything all over again," he complained. As childish as he sounded, he simply did not want to start all over again.

"Lloyd. You've been accepted to Ninjago Academy. You start in a week. Please don't make this any harder than it is," Misako said, patting the boy's head. He grumbled out a 'fine' and sluggishly walked up to his room, sulking with every step, slamming his door on his way inside. Misako sighed. Being the parent of a hormonal teenager was fun. And even more fun, however, was being a single mom, and raising said hormonal teenager on your own. Her husband, a notorious criminal, was currently jailed for the murder of his brother. It's been a rough few years for Misako, but she's managed well.

Lloyd sighed, hopping off the bus, and entering the large brick building. He wore the standard boy's uniform: a black sweater, black slacks, white socks, and black shoes. He couldn't help but to notice the immense size of the building, and how many students there were. Something caught his eye that was definitely different about this school: girls. Darkley's was an all boys school, and Lloyd had limited interaction with girls all his life, meaning he was lost when it came to them. He breathed in, and then followed the flow of the crowd inside of the sets of doors that had the school logo engraved on them. He held his suitcase in his hands, ready to move into his dorm room. Sitting in the lobby was a table of room assignments, some new, some pre-registered. Lloyd walked up to the table, looking at the older student helpers. One was a boy, likely taking care of the boy room assignments, and the other was a girl, likely taking care of the girl room assignments. The boy had reddish brown hair that was combed to one side, and the standard boy's uniform on, with the initials "JAW" stitched into it under the logo. He had bright blue eyes, a light complexion, and stood at about 5'7". He seemed friendly. The girl, on the other hand was short, being no more than five feet, and had a displeased look on her face. She had green eyes, and olive skin, with dark brown hair tied in a ponytail, a few strands framing her face. She had the initials "SSR" on her uniform, which was the standard girls uniform. The standard girl's uniform was a black vest, white short sleeved blouse, a plaid skirt that goes to a few inches about the knee, white tights or thigh highs, and black mary janes.

"Hi, how can I help you?" asked the boy, smiling brightly. Lloyd cleared his throat, adjusting his posture so he was standing just a bit taller.

"Hi, this is my first year here, I was wondering what my room assignment was-"

"AW, it's your first year here? You're going to love it here! I can assure you-"

"Jay, cut the crap, just tell him his assignment," barked the girl, shooting him a glare. Jay glared back, an annoyed look on his face.

"Sorry about her, she's literally always like this. And she WONDERS why she's ALWAYS single," he said, loudly so she would have to hear him. She groaned, but continued working with the girls who came to her.

"So... my room assignment...?"

"Haha, oh yeah, forgot," Jay said, laughing. Lloyd looked at him, confused.

"Joking... it was a joke... anyways, according to this sheet, you're on the third floor with the rest of the boys in sophomore year. That sound correct?"

"Yeah," Lloyd said, eyeing the paper for any familiar names. None popped out to him. He internally sighed.

"Alright! You're in room 17E. 'E' stands for east, because that's the wing the boys' dormitories can be found in," Jay said, handing him a map, and then asking, "What's your name?"

"Oh, it's Lloyd."

"Well, Lloyd, if you ever need help, come find me! My name is Jay." and with that, Lloyd smiled, and nodded, using the map to find his room. He soon found it, a typical dorm room with two twin sized beds. The other half of the room was already decorated. The bed spread and sheets were all a dark blue, and so were the accents and extra pieces of furniture.

'Hm, so my roommate is organized,' Lloyd thought, walking to his side, and unpacking. After about a half an hour, Lloyd was finished, as he hadn't brought too much. His bed set was a dark green, and he put a picture of him and his parents from when he was younger on his bedside table. Another boy entered the room, slightly sneaking up on Lloyd.

"Hi, my name is Antonio. I guess we're roommates. Call me Tony," said the boy, hand outstretched. He was a bit shorter than Lloyd, and was of Asian descent. He had black, short hair, brown eyes, and a pale complexion. Lloyd shook his hand, slightly smiling.

"My name is Lloyd, nice to meet you," he said awkwardly.

"Let's see what classes we have together," said Tony, pulling out his schedule. The boys had a few together, and seemed to get along just fine. Lloyd's schedule was as follows: 1st period history, 2nd period algebra, 3rd period English, lunch, 4th period biology, 5th period spanish, 6th period free block, 7th period study hall, and 8th period homeroom. Homeroom is the only class that stays the same yearly, with the same people. The first day was purely orientation, and classes would not be starting until the following week, so there was nothing much to do except sit around and explore the school more. Throughout this "free" week, Lloyd explored and became familiar with the school, and friends with Tony and two other boys, Lopaka and Keith. Lopaka was a tough, tanned boy, with brown eyes and dark brown shaggy hair, from an island of some kind. He was carefree, and didn't ever seem to worry. Keith was a pale boy, a year younger than the other three, and had blue eyes and fawn colored hair. He was always a little behind, and constantly seemed to be in distress, medically or emotionally. Antonio was pretty average, taking a few advanced classes, and having a peculiar interest in bugs. It was an odd crew, but Lloyd was grateful to have at least a few other kids to share the year with.