I LIIIIIIIIIIVE!
Cor, the rate at which I update this thing. Blech. XD
But this chapter was kind of a bear to write, and it's long too! So there's that, I guess.
And on the bright side, the next chapter, wrapping up Cole and Jay's solo arc, is almost fully written! So it's gonna come out SOON. Real soon. :3
Thanks so much to everyone who's been reviewing and faving and stuff! Every now and then I get a notification for this story, and then I remember I should be working on it, and then a lot of the time I actually do. :P So thanks for the encouragement!
The years went by fast. Too fast. Koko tried to fight back a nagging sense of dread as she carefully prepared Lloyd's outfit for tomorrow. It was going to be his very first day of school—she should be delighted, proud, excited for her little boy. She shouldn't be grappling with the looming fear that all the other kids would hate him.
Except, of course, she was.
She hoped the Smiths didn't notice. The two families were preparing together in the Smiths' apartment: the adults packed lunches and debated appropriate first-day clothing, while the kids, giddy with anticipation, played school with their stuffed animals. First Spinjitzu Master have mercy upon the poor ragged lions and teddy bears who would never know more than a severely butchered version of the Ninjagian alphabet.
"They're so excited," smiled Mr. Smith, as Kai and Nya squabbled over the pointer. "Brings me right back to my first day of school."
"Mine too," said Koko, folding a tiny shirt. She hesitated, biting her lip. "I . . . I hope they all do well . . . "
The Smiths exchanged a significant glance.
"You're worried about Lloyd, aren't you?" said Mrs. Smith gently. Koko sighed, but nodded.
"I just . . . He's always been such a good boy. But I can't remember the last time he didn't get bullied or avoided on the playground. If he has the entire school turn against him, I . . . I just don't know . . . "
"Koko, it's all right," said Ms. Smith, patting her shoulder. "School is a structured place. The teachers will make sure he gets treated all right."
"You can't let him see you're stressing," agreed Mr. Smith. "It'll just make him anxious. Don't worry, everything will be just fine."
"I know," said Koko quietly. "I know."
Across the room, Mayweather the Elephant had just spoken without raising his hand, and was now being prepared for ritual sacrifice to the Almighty Principal, while Moo-Moo the one-eyed cow was begging that his life be spared. In the end they both got sacrificed. It was unclear what this pack of six-year-olds expected out of first grade, but they might have been just a little misinformed.
Things went downhill fast. All of Koko's worst fears were true—there was not another living being in the entire school who didn't hate Lloyd. The teachers weren't enough to stop it. A lot of them didn't even care. Plenty of them simply turned away or watched in apathetic silence as the other kids jeered, threw things, shoved Lloyd over in the halls. And not only did Lloyd face everyone's wrath, there was also plenty of pressure for Kai and Nya to ditch him.
They didn't. Nya kept getting into fistfights on his behalf. Kai tried to convince everyone he met that Lloyd was nice. When that failed, he resorted to just hugging him every time the other kids picked on him. He hugged him a lot.
Of course, by associating with the spawn of darkness, Kai and Nya gave themselves a bad name too. When it became clear they weren't going to see sense, everyone began to turn on them as well.
They still didn't ditch. It never even seemed to occur to them—in their six-year-old minds, some things were just hard facts. For example, fact: Lloyd was their friend. Fact: Friends don't ditch friends. Said so right in the My Pretty Pony songs. They probably did realize that distancing themselves from Lloyd would stop the hail of insults and physical attacks they got, but the thought of actually doing that wasn't even on the table. Who would dare disobey the wisdom of My Pretty Pony?
But adults were heathens, and the My Pretty Pony teachings were lost on them. One night, a month into the school year, the Smiths asked Koko if they could have a talk.
She already looked pained as she stepped into the apartment, because she had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. The Smiths looked uncomfortable too.
"Care for some tea, hon?" said Mrs. Smith awkwardly. "I have herbal."
"No, that's—-that's all right, thanks," said Koko. Her shoulders were tense, waiting for the blow.
It came.
"We . . . thought we should talk about the kids," said Mr. Smith.
"I thought so." Koko tried to sound casual, bright and chipper and positive like she usually was, but an edge of bitterness was already creeping into her tone.
"It's been getting really rough," continued Mr. Smith. "On the kids."
"I know." Koko didn't sound even the tiniest bit cheerful now. "I know that they're getting bullied. I know being around Lloyd is costing them. But I—you—you can't ask them to just leave him, to—"
"We're not exactly saying that, Koko," said Mrs. Smith as gently as she could. "We really, really don't want to ask that. We understand that Kai and Nya are the only friends Lloyd has. But . . . you understand, we have to think about our own children's safety, too."
"But Lloyd—"
"Nya's needed stitches already," said Mrs. Smith. "Kai comes home crying at least twice a week. It's been a month, and it's only gotten worse."
"You can't be doing this." Koko was nearing tears already. "You can't ask my son to face the entire school alone. I thought at least you would—"
She caught herself, choking, her hands in fists by her side. There was a stifling silence.
"How about that tea," said Mrs. Smith softly. "We'll keep talking after that."
Koko let out a long, slow breath, composing herself.
"Yes. Please," she said huskily. "If you have that herbal."
Mrs. Smith put a hand on Koko's shoulder, and they all headed for the kitchen.
In the twins' bedroom, Nya had a paper cone pressed against the door, the small end jammed into her ear. She squinted with concentration, while Kai chewed on his fingers next to her.
"What're they saying?" he whispered.
"They're leaving!" Nya whispered back. "But they were fighting about us! And Lloyd!"
"What?!" Kai grabbed at his sister's pajama sleeve, eyes wide.
"They said being friends with Lloyd was too dangerous, and they're gonna make us stop!"
"No!" wailed Kai, his face crumpling.
"Shhhhh!" Nya clamped a hand over his mouth. Then she took her brother earnestly by the shoulders.
"Kai," she whispered earnestly. "Listen to me. We're not gonna let them take us away from Lloyd. We're not gonna let 'em."
"But what do we do?" asked Kai. "How?"
"I don't know." Nya's expression turned grim. "But I'll figure it out."
In the kitchen, Koko was slumped on the table, sipping unfeelingly at a cup of chamomile. The Smiths said nothing for the time being, sympathetic as she pulled herself together.
Finally she sat back. Her eyes were still puffy, but now dry. Her expression had changed to the quiet ferocity honed by her warrior past.
"I wish there was something I could do," she said, staring at the clock across the room. "I wish I could homeschool, but I need to hold down two jobs just to afford this apartment. If I stayed home to teach Lloyd, who would pay the bills?"
"I know, honey," said Mrs. Smith softly.
"And I mean, I've thought of transfering him to another school," continued Koko, waving her hands in despair. "But so what? They'll just hate him there too. I've thought of getting him a private tutor, but there's no way I could afford that, and I think I would trust a single person even less than a whole school. At least when it's a whole school, there are always some people watching, and there are always some who at least aren't willing to see him die. Who knows what a tutor might do behind closed doors!"
The Smiths said nothing. Koko always seemed so sweet and upbeat, they had never suspected that her thoughts went into such dark places.
"I've even thought of using an alias!" Koko glared down at her teacup. "But that is his legal name. I don't want to change it. I don't want to start teaching him to lie, to—to hide who he is, to act like he has to be ashamed for existing. I don't know if he'd even know how to fake that kind of thing, at his age."
She took a deep breath.
"But, I understand," she said quietly. "I understand that this is a lot to ask of you. Too much, really. I know I can't ask you to put your own kids in danger for the sake of mine. It's just . . . it's hard."
"We know, Koko," said Mrs. Smith. "Believe us. We don't want to do that to Lloyd. We'd hate to leave him without any friends, he doesn't deserve that. But . . . well, yes, it is hard."
A pained silence.
"Why don't we ask the kids?" said Mr. Smith abruptly. "I think they'd be old enough to choose. We could explain everything to them, tell them all the options, and let them decide together what they want. That would make them happiest, wouldn't it?"
Koko and Mrs. Smith exchanged a look.
"That . . . could work," said Koko. Her shoulders had loosened with relief already.
"Sure. We should definitely at least get the kids involved," agreed Mrs. Smith.
"But let's save it for the weekend," said Mr. Smith. "I think it's going to be an emotional situation. We should do it when we don't have work and school going on."
"Fair," said Mrs. Smith. "Friday night, then?"
"Friday night." Koko slumped back in her chair and gave the Smiths a watery smile. "Thank you."
Kai and Nya knew nothing of Friday night. The next day, they pulled Lloyd aside before class and told him their plan.
"And so they said that they'd make us leave you! They were gonna make us stop being friends!" said Kai. "They think you're dangerous."
Lloyd said nothing, staring at his feet. What could he say? The grown-ups were right. He had always had an uneasy feeling, whenever he saw the twins getting picked on—he always subconsciously realized that all of it was his fault. And now the grown-ups said so too.
"So we're gonna run away." Nya's eyes were burning with determination. "Tonight. We're gonna run away and hide, and we'll never ever come back until they promise we can stay together."
"But we'll get in trouble!" said Lloyd, looking up with wide eyes.
"Pfff, not if they don't find us!" scoffed Nya.
"Besides. They'll just be so happy to have us back, they won't care," added Kai knowingly.
"But where will we live?" asked Lloyd. "What're we gonna eat?"
"Kai and I found where Daddy keeps the candy! We're gonna fill up all our backpacks, and even make sandwiches!" Nya considered the former question, then shrugged. "And we'll just hide in a drain pipe or something. No big deal."
"I know! The little playhouse in the park!" said Kai. "We can live there, it'll be fun!"
"But what if our parents worry about us?" said Lloyd, still hesitant.
"That's their own fault!" Nya huffed. "They shouldn't'a tried to split us up! We need to teach them a lesson."
"But . . . " Lloyd looked at the floor, lost in thought. Nya patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Lloyd. It won't be scary as long as we're together!"
"And we won't have to go to school anymore," said Kai, grinning.
"We can play all day, just like we used to!"
"And eat nothing but candy!"
"No bedtimes!"
"All the TV we want!"
"Well, but we'll have to get a TV first . . . "
As the twins chattered excitedly on, Lloyd watched them in silence. Somehow, he couldn't see a way out. The thought of losing the twins, his only friends in an ever-crueller world, was utterly terrifying. But somehow, the thought of running away seemed to fill him with just as much dread. The grown-ups said he was putting Kai and Nya in danger. Now they were going to run away for his sake and get in even more danger? And probably trouble too?
"Hey, why're ya so quiet?" Nya broke off from the escape plan to whap Lloyd's shoulder again. "Come on, Lloyd! You are running away with us, right? You're not gonna be a chicken, are you?"
"I . . . I . . . " Lloyd looked from one twin to another, caught between their expectant stares. At last he sighed and nodded.
"Okay. Running away."
Kai and Nya both cheered and hugged him exuberantly, just as the first bell rang.
"Tonight! We'll do it tonight!" said Nya. "Pack food. Be ready."
They scurried to class, their heads already filled with thoughts of daring runaway adventures.
The adventures, when they started, were actually really boring. Kai and Nya sat in their dark bedroom for hours, smacking each other to stay awake, as the grownups shuffled around the living room and kitchen. The length of time before they went to bed was infuriating. You'd think they lived just to ruin little kids' escape attempts.
But finally, the sounds of motion stopped. The lights went out. Kai and Nya waited a few minutes more, then picked up their two backpacks. Each had been emptied of school supplies and stuffed to the brim with candy and toys—and also raincoats. Raincoats! They were just so grown-up and responsible. Kai'd been so proud of himself for remembering the raincoats, he'd nearly told their parents.
They got out the front door easily. They had no problems making it to Koko and Lloyd's apartment. But then, after that, they had problems.
The apartment door was locked, of course. They'd expected that. Nya, the spy-movie connoisseur, had packed a pen. In the movies they always managed to pick locks with this kind of thing, usually in ten seconds tops! Nya was no fool, though, she knew that Hollywood stuff was all faked. She'd been careful and allowed for a full twenty seconds.
Except twenty seconds came and went, and still no progress. Nya kept poking and poking at the lock with the tip of the pen, her tongue pressed against her upper lip and her brows scrunched with concentration. Kai fidgeted at her side, glancing nervously up and down the hall. Strange shuffling noises seemed to emanate from behind the closed doors, as if they might burst open any moment and release screaming monsters.
He drew a little closer to Nya. She was still struggling, which was hardly surprising considering that the pen barely dipped into the keyhole at all. Suddenly sounds of motion came from behind the very door Nya was working on. She froze in shock, and Kai clutched her arm.
"Who's there?" came Koko's voice from the other side. The twins shrank back, too panicked to run.
The door burst open, revealing Koko brandishing a frying pan. She looked around, then down. He eyebrows shot up.
"Kai, Nya?" She lowered the pan. "What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"
The twins blinked up at her. Nya remembered herself and hastily hid the pen behind her back.
"We were . . . Uh . . . We just wanted to talk to Lloyd!" she said glibly.
Koko's brows knitted.
"He's asleep now, sweetie. Can it wait till tomorrow?"
"Oh, uh . . . no, it's important. Can we just see him?"
"Uh . . . " Koko looked undecided.
"It's really important," volunteered Kai timidly, only now loosening his grip on his sister's arm.
"And we won't even wake him up." Nya gave her sweetest, brightest, most winning smile—which really should have tipped Koko off that something fishy was going on.
Maybe she did realize something was up, and was just curious. Or maybe she was too confused by the twins' strange request at this strange hour. Either way, she sighed and stepped aside, allowing the kids into the apartment. She followed a few steps behind as they headed to Lloyd's room.
"Nya," hissed Kai, and gave his sister a despairing look. How were they supposed to run away with Lloyd right under Koko's nose? Nya only shook her head slightly, her eyes determined. They would make it work. Somehow. Maybe they could grab Lloyd and drag him away so fast that Koko wouldn't even know what had happened. Totally legit, right?
Meanwhile, Koko was studying the twins' stuffed backpacks with a quizzical expression.
They cracked open the door and crept into Lloyd's darkened bedroom. Kai stood on his toes to turn on the light, then turned to Lloyd's bed along with Nya.
They both stopped cold. Behind them Koko gave a startled gasp. The bed was empty.
Lloyd was a mile and a half away by now. The darkness itself seemed like an unfriendly beast, writhing just behind him, waiting to crush and smother him if he stopped for even a second. Passing late-night commuters and drunks sent him scurrying in zigzags, one side of the street to the other, his breath whistling in his throat.
Somewhere to the right, just by his hand, the barking of a giant dog split the air. He gave a little shriek and took off down the nearest side street to get away. By the time he stopped running, he was at the edge of one of the city parks. He recognized it—Koko sometimes took him here. Slightly comforted by the familiarity, he clambered onto the edge of merry-go-round and tried to catch his breath. Around him leaves blew about in the breeze, the swings shifted and creaked softly. He shivered. Off in the corner he could see the little playhouse Kai and Nya had talked about living in, but he couldn't stomach the thought of going in there. The windows gaped at him like dark, empty eyes. There might be ghosts or monsters or giant spiders in there. Maybe if he'd had the twins with him, it wouldn't have been so bad . . . But bringing the twins would have defeated the entire purpose.
Snuffling, he huddled into his jacket and scooched further back onto the merry-go-round.
Koko and the Smiths were frantic. Mrs. Smith was searching all over the apartment complex and neighboring streets to see if Lloyd was hiding somewhere nearby. Koko was calling the police. Mr. Smith was trying to decipher the note Lloyd had left on his pillow. It was mostly pictograms, and some very questionable lettering.
"Anything?" said Mrs. Smith, passing by on another circuit of the building. Mr. Smith groaned and ran his hands through his hair.
"I've got that he's running away. Not really news."
"Why would he do that?" said Mrs. Smith, pulling back one corner of her mouth. "Is school really that unbearable?"
Nya and Kai were huddled on the sofa, unnerved by the parental panic all around them. They understood pretty well what had happened, and could probably have read the note through mysterious six-year-old telepathy, but they thought they'd better keep quiet. Nobody was listening to them anyway.
Koko was stumbling down the line between despair and rage. The police had mostly just made excuses, something about a time limit before missing-person searches could start. They promised they'd help if Lloyd didn't show up soon, but Koko caught the heavy hints that really, nobody could summon much enthusiasm for the search. Nobody would regret it too much if Lloyd died somewhere on the streets. It would save them all some trouble later on.
Times like this, she wasn't at all sorry that she gave up defending Ninjago. Honestly she felt more like joining Garmadon in destroying it.
Lloyd was drifting in and out of a doze, starting every time a chillier breeze blew through. He snapped wide awake, though, at the sound of distant barking. It sounded like it was coming steadily closer. He slid to his feet, heart pounding as he squinted into the dark city, searching for the approaching dog.
Suddenly, there it was. It was massive, with the chiseled head of an attack dog, and Lloyd could have sworn its eyes were glowing a hellish red. With its jaws open wide, it was galloping straight towards him.
Lloyd bolted like a rabbit. With the crazed instincts of fear, he shot towards the nearby slide, reasoning that getting off the ground would protect him from the dog. He didn't even realize how he got up the ladder, but somehow, there he suddenly was at the top.
His instincts were wrong. The dog started to climb the ladder after him. By now nearly faint with terror, Lloyd threw himself headlong down the slide, tumbled to his feet, tried to run, went sprawling, scrambled back up again and kept running.
Luckily, the downward slope of the slide gave the dog bigger problems. It scrabbled uncertainly at the top, yelp-whining and drawing back each time its paws began to slide out from underneath it. By the time it got to the bottom of the slide, Lloyd had a good head start and a passing car offered something more interesting to chase.
Lloyd didn't even look back. He just kept running, expecting each moment to feel the dog's teeth sinking into him. When he felt exhaustion overtaking him, he stumbled into an alleyway, dove behind some trash cans, and dragged some crates around him to create a barricade. He hunkered down with his knees under his chin, panting, praying the dog wouldn't find him.
For a long time, it was quiet. Cars murmured in the distance. Sometimes some footsteps passed nearby. As the adrenaline drained away, weariness and despair took over. Lloyd slumped back against the cold brick of the adjacent building, burying his face in his arms. It was so cold . . . He was hungry and so scared, with no idea where to go or what to do tomorrow. But he couldn't go home. If he went home, Kai and Nya would try to run away too, and then they would be out here hungry and cold and scared too. Better him than all three of them. This was better.
A few tears seeped into his sleeves, but just a few; he was too numb to feel much. His eyes began to drift closed, even as the cold kept jerking him awake.
"Mrowwww?"
Something warm patted his leg. He jerked his head upright, panicking all over again. His mom had always warned him to stay away from stray cats! They could make you sick and stuff! Lloyd didn't exactly understand how rabies worked, but he got the general gist that stray animals were death on four paws.
"Go away," he whispered in terror to the orange-and-white cat at his feet. "Go away!"
"Mreeeeewr," keened the cat, and slunk against his legs lovingly.
"Please, go away," quavered Lloyd, trying to push the cat off. As he stuck his hands under her front legs, he suddenly blinked.
"Marbles?"
The sparkly collar looked familiar. Squinting closer at the tag, he made out a word with a familiar shape, if he couldn't quite read it. This was the cat from a few doors down, who had always been so patient with four-year-old handling in the past.
"Marbles," choked Lloyd, and went from trying to pry the cat away to hugging her for all he was worth. She cat-grumbled slightly, but hung obligingly in Lloyd's grasp as he buried his face in her fur. Right now it meant everything to have this reminder of home.
After a moment Lloyd managed to calm down a little, and switched to just stroking Marbles' back.
"How'd you get all the way out here, Marbles? Arencha an inside cat?"
"Mew." Marbles rubbed her head under his chin.
Lloyd bit his lip, anxious. He was pretty sure Marbles' owner had said he never let her outside. What if she wasn't supposed to be out here? What if she was lost? Her owner was the nicest young man . . . he must be so worried right now . . .
With a little groan of resignation, Lloyd clambered to his feet, Marbles still in his arms. He couldn't let this poor kitty run around lost all night. If he was really careful, he could probably sneak her home without being caught . . .
Lloyd had to trudge down several streets before he saw anything that looked familiar. It wasn't so scary now that he had Marbles purring in his arms, but the cat was a little heavy and he was starting to get discouraged with the strange surroundings.
Finally, to his joy, he recognized the corner shop where his mom sometimes let him get a bit of candy. From there it wasn't so hard to find his way back to the apartment complex.
He realized people might be up and searching for him, so he entered with caution. Marbles squirmed, no longer quite as contented.
"Shhh!" protested Lloyd, as the cat hissed. "No Marbles, stay. We're almost home."
He decided to just leave her in the hallway, since knocking on her owner's door might get him caught. Marbles, however, was by now thoroughly disenchanted. She flailed wildly, squalling in protest, and refused to let Lloyd load her through the hall door.
"No, Marbles! Go in there! Marbles!" whispered Lloyd fiercely. "NO!"
Too late; the cat slithered from his hands and streaked down the stairs, heading again for the wild blue yonder. Lloyd made a desperate grab and instead plowed into the floor. He picked himself up and prepared to give chase—only to find himself looking straight at Mr. Smith, just coming up the stairs.
Lloyd's eyes widened in dismay. Then he lowered them to the carpet silently.
"I found him!" Mr. Smith was already bellowing, at a volume very inappropriate for two AM. "I found him!"
Within half an hour Lloyd was on the Smiths' couch, wrapped in a blanket, disinfected all over for scrapes and cat scratches, clutching a cup of hot herbal tea. He stared down at the drink, too miserable to even sip at it.
"What were you thinking, Lloyd?" said Koko, wiping her eyes. "Why did you try to run away? Are you okay?"
Lloyd scrunched down into the blankets, boring a hole into the cup with his eyes. His lower lip jutted out stubbornly.
Koko let out a long breath, trying to compose herself. She was still shaken from the near-loss of her baby son and weak with relief from finding him again. She didn't know if she was in shape to properly interrogate just now.
Just around this point, Nya and Kai got loose. Their parents had herded them off to their bedroom, concerned that Lloyd's battered state would frighten them. Now Nya bolted out the door, slipped under her father's arms, and dashed for the living room. Kai followed close behind.
"YOU RUINED IT," Nya shouted as soon as she saw Lloyd. He was so startled he dropped the tea.
"You were supposed to wait for us! Now it's ruined! They'll never let us run away now!" Nya kept shouting, stamping her foot with each new sentence.
"Why didn't you wait, Lloyd?" Kai's woeful tones wove under Nya's three-digit decibels.
"Kids!" said Mrs. Smith, horrified at the altercation. Lloyd was shrinking back into the sofa.
"I had to," he said. "I couldn't let you run away with me. You'd get in trouble."
"We didn't care!" snapped Nya. "We were supposed to be friends, Lloyd! We were supposed to be together! Now we won't!"
"I can't," said Lloyd, doggedly fighting the tears pooling in his eyes. "I can't get you in trouble anymore."
"Lloyd," said Koko gently. "Honey. Why did you run away?"
Lloyd looked uneasily to Kai and Nya, worried about throwing them under the bus. The twins started both talking at once, carried away by fury.
"We were SUPPOSED to run away together," said Nya, still stamping. "And we weren't gonna come back till you let us be friends with Lloyd!"
"But he ran away without us!" supplied Kai.
"I had to run away to stop you from running away!" protested Lloyd. "I had to!"
"Whose side are you on?!" barked Nya. "THEIRS?"
"Nya," said Mrs. Smith sharply, while Kai began to sob. Lloyd had been scrubbing helplessly at his eyes for some time by now.
"Go away," he choked. "Just go away . . . Just leave me . . . "
"No!" Kai and Nya attempted to latch onto him, while he attempted to shake them off, flapping the loaned blanket. Even Nya was starting to wail now; Lloyd finally gave up struggling and dissolved into tears in earnest. The twins huddled next to him in no better shape.
Meanwhile the adults were standing and blankly watching this welter of misery.
"I'm getting the feeling we maybe shouldn't split them up," said Mr. Smith, at length.
Nya's head shot up.
"You mean it?!"
Their parents looked at each other and exchanged shrugs. Mrs. Smith finally turned to the kids with an exhausted smile.
"If it really means that much to you . . . "
Kai and Nya immediately began to shriek with elation.
"We can stay, Lloyd! We can stay!" whooped Kai, jumping up and down on the sofa. Lloyd went right on crying, this time mostly from relief, but also from leftover dread. He knew this didn't mean things would get better for Kai and Nya. Even if he was too young to fully picture the future, some tiny part of him was looking ahead to the years of bullying the twins would face thanks to him. Even as he rushed to pull them close again, he felt like he should be pushing them away.
Meanwhile Nya buried her face in his shoulder.
"I knew we could do it," she mumbled huskily. "We'll stay with you forever now, Lloyd. Forever and ever and ever."
Lloyd squeezed his eyes shut as he wrapped his arms around the twins. As much as he appreciated the promise, he knew forever and ever couldn't be true.
And it wasn't. The years passed, the twins stayed at Lloyd's side, and he did his best to repay their faithfulness. It was in sixth grade that things started to fall apart.
"Hey Lloyd, we can't go to the skate park after all," called Nya, sticking her head in through the door. "Sorry! Our parents are draggin' us out house hunting."
"House hunting?!" Lloyd whirled from the counter, where he'd been making a sandwich.
"Yeah. I guess Dad's job finally racked up enough extra for us to buy something." Nya shrugged. "Someday. If he doesn't lose it again. Which, you know." She blew a dismissive raspberry, rolling her eyes, then waved and disappeared.
Lloyd stared after her, a mayo-coated knife still in his hand. A feeling of doom settled over him. He knew Mr. Smith had never held down a job long enough to make much difference before. But it had also never reached the point of house-hunting before. Somehow, he had a feeling this time was different.
And it was. Three weeks later, waiting at the bus stop, Kai and Nya announced that they had a new house. They seemed to be slightly in shock themselves, but it had nothing on Lloyd's feelings.
"So you're gonna move?" he asked, vaguely aware that the world was spinning around him.
"I guess, yeah," said Kai. "I think next month."
"It's closer to Dad's job," said Nya. "Since he lost his license and stuff, he can walk, so that's gonna be good. He swears he won't lose the job this time, so we can keep making house payments. Heck, I even believe him. It's a really cool house."
"There's two floors and everything," said Kai.
"And we're gonna have our own rooms."
"And an actual yard, geez!"
The world seemed to spin faster. Lloyd hadn't seen a two-story house within miles of their apartment. How far away were the twins moving?!
"It's not . . . it's not nearby, is it?" he said faintly.
"Huh?" Kai looked up from a discussion of square footage with Nya. "Well, I mean . . . not really, I guess. We had to drive like half an hour."
"Oh," said Lloyd.
Too far to walk, then. This was it. The twins were going. They were leaving his life.
"You okay, Lloyd?" said Kai. He and Nya were watching their friend with some concern now.
"Oh, uh—" Lloyd gave them a distracted smile. "Sorry, sorry! I know, big news, that's awesome. Just—just can't stop zonking out about that math test."
"Ughhhhhh." Kai and Nya groaned simultaneously. The conversation drifted onto that topic instead, and Lloyd slowly fought back the nausea he'd suddenly picked up.
Over the next few weeks, the topic of moving came up more and more frequently. First it was an abstract concept; then there were definite plans; then the packing had started.
Lloyd watched it all numbly, trying to stay positive and cheerful for the twins' sake. He couldn't be selfish about it. Kai and Nya were going to live in a much nicer place, with more room and less financial anxiety and much better friends who didn't get them bullied and rejected. He should be happy for them. But as the final moving day drew ever closer, Kai and Nya started to pick up his melancholy. Conversations became sober. Nya became a little moody. Kai somehow managed to get even more clingy. Lloyd was already struggling not to let the situation break him, but it was even harder when he saw it was affecting his friends too.
Finally it was the last day. The Smiths' apartment was empty, echoing hollowly. The Smiths were cramming the last of their possessions into a van they'd borrowed.
Kai and Nya stood in the hallway with Lloyd.
"I'm really gonna miss this place," said Kai quietly.
"I'm gonna miss you guys," replied Lloyd, looking away.
"We'll miss you too," said Nya, slipping into that gentle tone she reserved almost exclusively for comforting Lloyd. He swallowed hard, wishing she hadn't. He was not going to cry.
The van doors were finally forced shut, the latch straining against untold boxes and bags. Kai and Nya promised to send tons of pictures of the new place. Lloyd made some (empty) promises about visiting someday. They all hugged each other a dozen times and gave brave, shaky smiles and talked about how great the new house would be. Finally they were driving away, Kai and Nya leaning out the van windows to wave goodbye. Lloyd waved back.
He didn't cry till he was in bed that night.
The next morning he woke up with a dull, cold ache in his stomach. This was the first day of his new life, a life all alone. He'd be facing the hatred of the entire school, the entire city, the entire world, without a single friend by his side to help him pretend it was okay. He didn't know how he was going to do it.
He tried to block everything out. He felt the usual glares on the bus, heard the usual suspicious whispers. He didn't even look up when the occasional wadded paper bounced off his head.
In the hall were the usual catcalls, sneers, averted eyes. He tried to ignore all of those too. This wasn't so bad. He'd gotten through nearly half an hour already. Just repeat this a couple thousand million times and his whole school career would be over before he knew it. Heh.
Screw his life.
When he reached his locker, he found the usual small collection of hateful notes and unflattering cartoons taped to the door. He pulled them off one by one, heart heavy. He could almost hear Kai's casual chatter, distracting him so he wouldn't look at the notes, or Nya's snarky "oooh, a self-portrait!" He wasn't going to have that support anymore. He'd better find a new coping strategy. Biting his lip, he pulled the locker open and began to dig for his math textbook.
"Lloyd, quick, I need a pen!"
Lloyd nearly fell into his locker. He snapped around to find Kai holding a crumpled sheet of paper and looking frazzled. Nya stood next to him rolling her eyes.
"He forgot to do Problem Set 3 last night. I told him not to stay up exploring the new house!"
"I wasn't exploring! I just couldn't sleep!" retorted Kai. He turned back to Lloyd and frowned. "Uhhh, you okay?"
Lloyd was staring open-mouthed from one twin to the other. What did his own two eyes actually see? Had he just dreamed the entire moving story? Was he dreaming now? Oh shoot, for sure he was dreaming. He was going to wake up any second.
"Lloyd?" Nya was starting to look concerned too. "What's wrong?"
"How . . . why are you here?" Lloyd finally managed.
"Beeeecause . . . it's Monday?" Nya raised her eyebrows, puzzled.
"But you moved!" sputtered Lloyd.
"Well yeah, but we stayed in the same school district," said Kai. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Uh, wait. Did we not tell you that?"
At Lloyd's open-mouthed silence, Kai and Nya exchanged dismayed looks.
"I could have sworn we mentioned that," said Nya awkwardly.
"You were acting like we'd never see each other again!"
"Well, you know. Not living in the same building anymore, that's different. Plus, uh—" Kai rubbed the back of his head. "Youuuu . . . seemed to be taking it pretty hard yourself. Um. Looking back that makes more sense now."
Lloyd stared at them for a moment longer. Then he leaned back into his locker and started to laugh, his hands over his eyes.
"I hate you guys so much right now," he managed.
"Uhh . . . should we go?" Kai ventured a joking grin.
"No!" Lloyd sobered up at once, stumbling upright. "No, no. I just—" He shook his head, unable to find words. He didn't want to guilt-trip them, and he knew Nya wasn't fond of mush. How was he supposed to tell them how empty his world had been without them?
"Sorry about that, Lloyd," said Nya, with a small, sheepish smile. She understood.
"Agh . . . S'okay." Sighing, but still smiling so hard his face hurt, Lloyd picked up his scattered textbooks. He looked up to Kai with a teasing grin of his own. "I'm just not loaning you my pen."
"Awwww, seriously?"
"Nope. No pen." Lloyd set off down the hall, his heart warming as Kai and Nya kept pace. Suddenly the stares and the whispers faded right into the background.
"Come on Lloyd, just for a few minutes!" Kai shoved him lightly.
"No." Lloyd laughed and shoved him back.
"Come onnnnn!"
"Nuh-uh."
"Lloyd, I'm gonna get an F! And I know all the answers!"
"Say please."
"Ughhh. Okay fine, please can I have a pen?!"
"Hmmmm, still no."
"Lloyyyyyyyd!"
Grinning, Lloyd swiveled as he walked, keeping his backpack out of Kai's reach. He had every intention of lending Kai the pen eventually, of course.
Eventually.