CHAPTER T-W-O

The first semester, according to the 351 pages in the rulebook How Going to College When You're a Loser Works, is always the most difficult. You've managed to slide out of high school (thanks to your perfectionist sister's genius able to graduate early) and right into college, so now, it's your job as a human being to learn what you can so that you can become a working class citizen in Ninjago. Then, once you have graduated, you will succumb to taxes, mortgages, prenuptial agreements, and the other hellions of adulthood.

However, despite the first semester of college EVER, there was the problem with the first week of college EVER. That one was dubbed the most awkward week of being a college student, because that was the week where you had to figure out what, how, when, and all the rules of the territory of your new school. You had to configure to the personalities and expectations of your college professors and other peers as you fought your way through this undoubtedly stressful week of college life.

Despite there having been one day between the move in and the actual first day of class, Kai was less ready than ever to commit fully to learning in classes he didn't remember signing up for. His sister had been there at his side when he had done so, and with her brother seemingly too hungover to pay attention to the material in front of him, she most likely did the signing up for him.

So when she banged on his door 30 minutes before morning classes started, Kai was expecting her. Though not quite so early had he been expecting to see her sunshine of a face (catch onto the sarcasm there).

Her fists were rapid-fire against his door, like some sort of warzone had now claimed the title in the hallway separating him and his unknown peers. He knew it was her, even from the fog of half-naked sleep, because she used to knock on his door like that all the time when they lived back at the shop. Kai didn't bother suppressing the unhappy groan, though, as he pulled his head out from underneath his pillow, and was greeted by an equally unhappy sound from across the room where his roommate was sleeping.

Kai threw his legs over the side of the bed and groggily caught sight of Jay turning over in his bed. The bed, which was dressed with a neon teal color, was in disarray from a guy who didn't sleep peacefully. And the redheaded slumber master nested within the manhandled sheets was now shoving up his white sleeping mask so he could glare through narrow eyes toward Kai himself.

"Who the hell is that?" He hissed. Sleep was still foggy across his face, and there were some red marks across his pale cheeks from the tight straps of the sleeping mask. "It's way too early in the morning for visitors! What do you think you're doing? This is a conjoined room, dude! If your girlfriend is gonna come over at six o'clock in the morning, you should tell her to wait for you in the hallway!"

Kai pushed himself to his feet, making sure that his black sweatpants were tied up enough so they wouldn't drop in front of his sister, before running a hand through his hair. "I don't have a girlfriend," said Kai matter-of-factly. His bare feet padded across the weathered hardwood floors, floors that had no doubt seen things worse than an early visitor in the years it had been there, toward the door. "It's my sister."

"You have a sister?" The thundering continued against the door, but suddenly, the noise that woke them up seemed to fall on deaf ears. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jay sit upright suddenly, like a dog's ears perked up at the sound of a treat bag rustling.

It was, of course, something Kai hadn't told him. He hadn't spent his free day yesterday hanging around and buddying up to his new roomie that he no doubt would get very irritated with by the end of the week. In fact, he'd avoided hanging around his dorm at all, coming back from a day spent smooth talking college women at around midnight. Of course, Jay had already been sleeping, but neither of them said a word to one another.

Kai yanked open the door and leaned forward, his forearm pressing to the frame. Standing there, outside his door, was in fact his sister. He wasn't surprised that she was already completely dressed, hair done, makeup on; there was no warning of unfinished sleep hanging beneath her eyes.

But the snarl already taking place on her red-painted lips was enough to steer him away from any pleasant, jittery attitude. "What, no good morning?" Kai said smoothly, reaching out to snatch an iron-curled tendril of her shoulder-length hair.

"Don't even, Kai." Nya pulled away from his hand. He let it drop to his side. "You have to get up. Class starts in thirty minutes and you're about the slowest guy to get ready in the morning."

"Is that a new jacket?" Kai nodded toward the red leather one she was wearing, one that wasn't zipped all the way, with some long necklaces hanging out.

"Oh, my God. Did you even hear me?"

"Of course I heard you. I'm not dumb." His body automatically moved to stand up straighter, given that he wasn't wearing a shirt and now his sexily toned body was exposed, when a pair of girls walked down the hall behind Nya. He saw their eyes flash over toward him, and there was a familiar dance that sparkled in them—that many girls in the past had given him—but deflated when they saw Nya. They thought she was his girlfriend.

It made a small scowl come to his lips. Never in his life would he date someone like Nya. Someone so nitpicky, and perfect, and obnoxious…

Nya caught the look and followed his eyes over his shoulder, before she turned back to him, looking agitated. "Seriously, Kai? Can you just pay attention to me for five minutes without having your attention going somewhere else?"

Kai looked back down at her and wetted his lips with his tongue. "You asked if I heard you. I listen."

"No, actually, I said something after that, but apparently, your fascination still lies in bimbos rather than the real world."

"You did not say anything to me."

From inside the room, a voice perked up. "Yes she did!" called Jay. There was a small thud. Maybe he fell off the bed, thought Kai hopefully. "She said she copied down your schedule for you, with a map, because she knows you'll get lost!"

Nya nodded in agreement, but her eyes slipped past Kai, as if looking for a face to the voice. However, the search was lost; she wouldn't have been able to see Jay from where she was, which Kai was thankful for. The last thing he needed was that dork—who probably hadn't ever even touched a girl besides his own mom in his life—interacting with his sister. She instead slipped off her backpack, reached inside the open zipper, and yanked a thin packet of paper out.

"Here," she said, holding it out towards Kai. Annoyance was beneath her tone. "That's your class schedule, the room numbers, times, and a map. I've highlighted every room you have classes in, so you find them."

Kai took it from her and looked down at it. Reading was, thankfully, not so hard, because he hadn't drank anything the night before. But the thankfulness died immediately when he read what was on his schedule, he felt appalled.

"Philosophy?" he read, or rather spat. "You signed me up for philosophy?"

"It'll do you some good," retorted Nya, crossing her arms as she slid her backpack back on. "You need a little direction in your life, and I hear that the professor is great."

"Where the hell did you hear that? Is it too late to change this shit?"

Nya rolled her eyes. "Yes, and I paid a lot of research into this, Kai. If you didn't like the classes I put you in, then you shouldn't have been wasted the day we came to sign up for them."

Kai wanted to say something snappy in return, something cutting enough to make her leave, but decided against it. Nothing he could argue would defeat the fact that she was very much right. As he read through the rest of the schedule—Toxicology? Korean? What did she think he was planning on doing, here?—he shook his head in disapproval.

"What're you putting me in these for…"

"Being a police officer. I think with a year of background, it'll help you, Kai. I think you could do it. You'd be good at keeping the world safe. You might not see it, but I can see it in you, and with the right training and...rehabilitating your current practices… You could do it." His eyes raced up in surprise, but bedded within her own irises was sorrow. He could see it, despite that she did so well to hide it; spending all those years living with her alone, he could pick up on these things better than he could before they lost their parents. He saw the sorrow. The sadness. The mourning.

I lost you just like I lost Mom and Dad, Kai. You're not the same. I don't even know who you are anymore.

The memory of her words made him hiss and step back. Kai pulled himself from his own head and the treacherous sea of nausea, pain, and memory within it, that threatened to spill out of him like he had split at the seams. He had spent nearly three years keeping it all down. There was no point in breaking apart now.

His voice was hoarse and nearly a whisper. "Sure. Fine. Whatever. Police officer. Great idea." Nya looked startled, rather more from his jumpy reaction than his words. "Philosophy is my second class, yeah? I'll make it."

"How dandy!" Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder, and Kai jumped when Jay was suddenly at his side. To his surprise, Jay was fully dressed, though his hair wasn't neatly combed like it was yesterday. He wore a blue bomber jacket and dark jeans, while underneath he had on a crisp white tee; the kid cleaned up faster than Kai thought he could've.

But, he was very annoyed, because he knew why Jay had gotten dressed so fast. Because of his sister.

Jay smiled a very-white smile toward Nya, green eyes dancing. "I have Philosophy as my second class too. I can make sure he makes it there and doesn't mess up."

Kai wasn't nice about shrugging off Jay's hand, which was still parked on his shoulder. What he really wanted to do was shove him back, tell Nya goodbye, and make sure she never looked at him again; the protective brother in him wanted, more than anything, to keep her away from someone clearly more into the Starfarer comics than anything actually, you know, not lame. (Not joking. He already had posters of that lame comic up on the wall.)

Nya looked at Jay quizzically for a moment, and before Kai could push Jay out of her sight, he weighed her reaction. To his delight, she didn't really have much of one. Her eyes didn't stay on Jay very long before they turned to Kai. "Please," she murmured softly. "Don't screw this up. Dedicate yourself to it. This is your one chance to turn everything around in your life, Kai. A new start. For both of us."

But Kai wasn't in the mood for any sappy talk. He sighed and put his hand on the door, hoping that he could block Jay from her view. "I will," he said. "Have a good day today, Nya."

Nya smiled a little, a real smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. She took a big step toward him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his chest, despite that he wasn't wearing a shirt. "I love you," she said softly. Quietly. "I'll come see you after my classes, if you're here."

Kai put an arm around her. In her high heeled boots, her head reached his collarbone; yet without them, she didn't barely make it past the middle of his ribcage. "Love you too," he said.

"Always?"

The word took the breath out of him. His thoughts turned blurry. The picture of his mother's face, leaning over him to kiss him goodnight as a child. I love you both. Always, and forever.

He could barely choke out the rest of it, knowing that if he didn't, she would get upset, maybe punch him. "Forever."

When Nya let him go, he kissed her hair before she turned on her thick heel and was gone.

Kai closed the door behind her and fought to regain control of his thoughts. Alright. First class was Toxicology—what a demanding class to have to step into first thing in the morning—and then Philosophy. After that, some mumbo jumbo about—

"She is so not your sister."

Kai sighed. That wasn't something anyone had ever told him—normally it was, "You two look like identical twins!" The two siblings looked more like one another than any other siblings Kai had ever seen, both with striking, almost gold eyes (though Nya's had a little more green in it), thick black lashes, dark hair, and light coffee-colored skin.

Jay was nearly bouncing with energy behind him, despite having been cranky and groggy minutes ago. Those eyes were too bright. Kai knew the look all too well. "She's like, I don't know, super organized and seems pretty intelligent and she's nice too and holy cow she smelled nice and not to mention she's…" Jay caught whatever word was going to come out of his mouth (It was probably "hot") and instead cleared his throat. Smart boy. "And then you're… Egotistical and smelly and detached and kinda careless."

The blunt, precise line between Kai and Nya that Jay was so nice to point out like a thousand people before him made annoyance pass through his body. Good. It gave him a feeling, a strong feeling, to focus on. "She's my sister," Kai told him affirmatively through his teeth. He turned back to his bed, and tossed down the stapled map and schedule before snatching his duffle bag that he hadn't yet emptied and rummaged through it. "And you're not allowed to touch her."

"Wait, what?"

"You're not laying a hand on my sister." Kai repeated, and flashed his gut wrenching, piercing golden stare up at Jay. The other guy seemed not to cringe, though. "That means, you don't get to try to flirt with her, hug her, pat her arm, go within sniffing distance of her—do you understand me? She's the most off-limits woman you'll ever meet in your life. You two are obviously worlds apart."

"How would you even know that? You haven't exactly spent time trying to get to know—oh gROSS DUDE—me." Rather than being annoyed, Jay sounded more startled than anything as he lashed up a hand to cover his face when Kai pulled down his pants.

"You're right, I haven't. And I don't plan to." Kai pulled on a fresh pair of black jeans and surfed through his duffle bag for a shirt. "She's a genius. Brilliant. Able. Independent. Artistic. Machiavellian. Worthy of having the world in her hands. You? Not so much."

"Dude, I'm having a hard time believing you know what Machiavellian means."

"But I do." Kai pulled out a red sweatshirt and his favorite, well-worn Corpuscule band shirt. He tugged it on over his head. "And you, Jay, do not deserve that girl. So don't touch her, or I swear to God, I'll ruin you."

Jay's face twisted. He was already across the room, rummaging through his backpack. "Seems a little bit of overkill, there, Fido."

"No. It isn't. You know what she needs? A rich guy, who will make sure she never has to worry about anything, worry about poverty, again." Kai marched himself to their bathroom and flicked on the cheap, blinking lights. His heart was heavy as he thought of all the things Nya needed—things that would sweep her off her feet and take her away from him. Keep her from his terrible existence. "So keep your gross, geeky hands off her, alright?"

Jay sounded very offended from the other room. "Gross?"

Kai snatched his toothbrush and ran it underneath the water. "You heard me."

"You know, man, you don't have to be such a dick, alright? I didn't want there to be any shit between us. I don't hardly know you, and you don't even know me, but you're already whipping out your Asshole Hat. No wonder you don't have any friends."

Kai felt his body tense. Two days ago, which was technically the last time he had spoken to his roommate, after he'd chugged his bottle of beer that he'd snuck in, Jay had given him a look. Not so much a judgemental one. It looked more to Kai like he was grossed out by the idea of someone drinking alcohol in his presence. Like he couldn't understand why Kai was doing it.

Jay had shaken his head and sighed. "Let's start over, alright? I think we could be friends, or something. You know? Roomies, who are also buddies?"

"I don't have friends. I don't want friends. I don't need them."

"What? Everybody needs friends."

"Not me." Kai had tossed the empty bottle in the trash, kicked his bag underneath his bed, and marched to the door. Jay had been radiating vibes, too good vibes, that had been starting to make him feel nauseous. He'd left after that, to roam, to explore, leaving the redhead staring quizzically at the door he'd escaped through.

Now, Kai dug his nails into his palm that wasn't holding the toothbrush and resisted stomping out there and throwing a punch at Jay's cheeky face. He heard rummaging—angry rummaging—coming from Jay's side of the room.

But he stopped himself from doing what he would've done days ago, before he'd come here to this school he didn't belong to.

"Don't screw this up. Dedicate yourself to it. This is your one chance to turn everything around in your life, Kai. A new start. For both of us."

Maybe he could make this work. This new start, thing. Maybe there were miracles in the world, and he could fight off his alcoholism. Maybe he could start getting himself on those herbal treatments Nya had always fought to get him on, the ones that would help him save himself from the hypersexuality he was plagued with (which he never complained about, because to Kai, he never saw anything wrong with it.) Maybe he could learn to control himself, and stop fighting people so much. Fight down his anger issues instead.

But there wasn't a moment left to spare him. He didn't have time to apologize to Jay, or maybe start over. He heard the two angry thuds of someone getting on their shoes while standing before the jingle of a backpack being thrown on. "I guess I'll see you in Philosophy," grumbled Jay as he nearly stormed past the bathroom door to the exit. The door slammed behind him a second later.

Kai sighed, and braced his hands against the counter. He hung his head over the sink for a moment. Could it really be possible? Starting anew? Could he turn himself into someone else?

Back into the guy he used to be? Or was he forever damned by his own, falling personality that he would never be able to climb out of the hole he'd dug himself into?