Jay walked into the science lab and grabbed a pair of goggles and an apron, as was the usual pre-experiment procedure. However, his teacher stopped him by clearing his throat.
"Actually, Mr. Walker, we're doing some special acid tests today," he said, holding up a bin. "I'd strongly advise you to put your watch in here, if you have one, and get a pair of gloves. We're separating mixtures using heat, and because of the burn incident a few weeks ago, the school has told me to keep all of the class's excess belongings." The blue ninja nodded, quickly placing his cherished leather bracelet inside. He had only gotten that thing two days ago, and did not want to tarnish or risk harm to it.
"Jay," called a voice that made his heart beat faster out of fear. "We're lab partners!"
"Hey, Kirsten," he replied, shooting her a fake grin. "Let's get started." The flames were lit, and they began to study and take down their observations. The others trickled in, took their seats, and began their own experiments. Kirsten was actually being quite helpful, and his nerves stilled after only a few minutes working with her. Despite what he had been led to believe, she was following the instructions down to the punctuation.
"Now that you're all here, I'll go get the second half of the assignment," Mr. Lee announced. Kirsten's eyes flickered over to his desk, an indescribable look about her. However, that expression shifted into something of disappointment when their instructor grabbed the bin. "And I'll be taking these. Wouldn't want any stolen items, would we?" Jay swapped out their mixture for the next one, and Kirsten sat back and waited for the heating process to take place.
"So, I heard that you're going out with Cole Brookstone," she said, giving him a patient smile. He grinned as well and set the tongs he was handling aside.
"I am," he told her. "What about it?"
"Oh, I just wanted to say congratulations!" she giggled. "He's hot." Jay snorted when she threw up her eyebrows repeatedly. They turned down the heat, took some notes, and waited again.
"By the way, I saw you take off that cool bracelet," Kirsten added with a kind attitude. "Where'd you get it?"
"Cole gave it to me," he muttered with glee and shyness. His lab partner grinned wide and wrote something else down. "How are things going with Tanoshii?" He prayed that he was not being invasive, considering that they were not really friends. In fact, he was afraid of her and what she could do. When her face went solemn, he flinched, faking an observation of the beaker in front of them.
"Can I tell you something personal?" she asked in a hushed voice. Jay stiffened, but still nodded, not wanting to upset her. "Tano isn't my type. I just dated him because I felt sorry for him." That made the blue master confused. What did Tano have to worry about? He was athletic, good-looking, and an all around nice guy. Who would not want to date him, if given the chance?
"What do you mean?" he finally asked.
"Well, I heard that he's just not the type of guy that people go for. I mean, anyone who is skittish, quiet, and not as handsome as the other guys on his team would have a hard time finding somebody. He hasn't been on a lot of dates because of that. I just wanted to give him a little chance. We got each other a couple of gifts, but I mean that's just, like... physical possessions. Like, he got me this necklace that completes a heart with his, and it says 'BFF' in the middle. I thought it was cute, because all couples should be best friends as well, right? I'm just hoping that after we break up, we'll be able to stay friends and keep those necklaces." Her words began to drip some sort of scathing bitterness, although she surely did not mean it like that. The descriptions began to swim in his mind.
Skittish, quiet, and not as handsome as the other guys on his team. This crushed his confidence, realizing that the same could be said about himself. Give him a little chance. What if that was what Cole was doing? Was he just giving him a chance to experience a relationship? It was true that this was his first serious one, but he had never really looked for a relationship before. All couples should be best friends as well. If the black ninja were to break up with him, the bracelet could still work as a symbol of their bond as companions. Had he planned this?
"By the way, I think we should add more of the second solution," she said, taking the tongs and grabbing the test tube with the aforementioned liquid. Jay snapped back to reality, stress worming its way through his body. Mr. Lee came back with the papers and passed them out. The formulas and instructions were all jumbled, and no matter how much he tried to focus the letters and numbers just refused to make any sense at all. "Jay, are you okay?"
"I... I'm fine," he responded after a few seconds of breathing. "What are you doing for the first problem?"
"I'm just... writing down the end results of the experiment?" Kirsten said in a wry manner. "Are you sure you're good?" Jay steeled his mind and strained his eyes until the sentences became comprehensible.
"I'm good," he assured her. They worked for a while on the questions, asking each other for help and occasionally chatting about whatever crossed their mind. He could not believe that Kirsten Lin was actually a nice girl. "Oh, wow! Are we really almost done for the day?"
"Time flies when you're being held against your will in school all day," Kirsten laughed.
"Well, I'll go put away the supplies, then," he replied with a grin.
"Oh! I'll get our stuff from the bin," his partner said as she stood. "Anything else in there besides the bracelet?"
"Nope," Jay told her. "Thanks." He washed out the test tubes and set them out to dry, thankful that a new group of physics students would be doing the same experiment next hour, and they would be doing all the prep work.
"Mr. Walker, may I ask a favor?" Mr. Lee came up to him and asked. He spun around and nodded, drying his hands off with a paper towel before throwing it away. "I left next hour's stack in the copy room, could you go grab it for me?"
"Of course," he beamed, darting towards the exit. "I'll be back in a minute." The halls were empty, but the classrooms buzzed with students cleaning up before they moved to their next subject. The copy center was not too far away, and he immediately found the papers his teacher had forgotten. Casting a smile at the woman behind the desk, he exited.
"Hey, Jay!" The lightning ninja turned and saw Kai waving to him, walking in an opposite direction. He waved back and went on his way. Mr. Lee was waiting outside the door for him, and took the pages gratefully. When he re-entered the room, Kirsten met up with him at the door.
"It wasn't there!" she blurted. "Your bracelet! I couldn't find it!" Jay's gut flared with panic, and he frantically moved about the room. He had to dodge people who were still finishing their experiments as he searched everywhere for the leather band.
"Mr. Lee!" he nearly shouted, bolting out of the classroom. "Something happened to my bracelet!"
"I told you to put it in the bin," the teacher scoffed. He looked back at Kirsten, who looked absolutely horror-struck. She was asking around if anyone had seen it, but nobody had. The girl looked back at him with a shocked and sad expression, shaking her head.
"But I did!" Jay tried not to sound annoyed as he turned his head back. "Did you drop the bin anywhere, o-or maybe almost drop it? It could have fallen out!"
"Take it easy," Mr. Lee told him, looking at least a little concerned. "I had to cross the courtyard to drop off Mrs. Renga's reports, it could have fallen there."
"Can I go look for it?" he pleaded, then corrected himself when he saw his teacher's visible cringe. "May I go look for it?" The physics instructor looked at the clock, and took note that there were only three minutes until the bell anyway. As soon as Lee nodded, Jay bolted back in and threw his backpack on. He pelted through the hallway and down the stairs, then burst outside. The fresh morning air would have been calming if he was not already occupied with his anxiety.
He checked the grass, under benches, the stone steps, even around the trees, and he still did not find it. The bell rang, and he could see people milling about. He could not search the hallways with so many students walking to and fro.
What if I can't find it? he thought, running nervous hands through his hair. He was breathing laboriously. Oh god, what if I lost it? Cole went and got that for me only two days ago! He'll be furious! He'll break up with me! I'm such an idiot! The elemental master paused, feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes. Before he could start crying in the middle of the crowded courtyard, he ran inside and maneuvered hurriedly through the crowds to the farthest bathroom he could find, the one that Cole had wrapped his cut in. Nobody was there, and he deemed that nobody would come in.
He broke down, legs unable to carry him any longer. Jay slumped to his knees, a single sob wracking through him that opened the floodgates. How could I lose it? I could have just put it in my bag! What if someone stole it? He needed to talk to someone. If he was going to find it, he needed to be calm.
The blue boy realized that if he could not find the bracelet, he would still have to tell Cole, so what better time than now? With a trembling hand, he pulled out his cell and tapped on his boyfriend's contact. It rang only once.
"Jay, I don't know how long I can talk, Ms. Aidoru is..." The master of lightning tried to stop himself from making audible distressed sounds, but even through his hand it was easy to hear. "Bluebird, are you crying? Jesus, are you hurt? Where are you?"
"I... I c-can't... I lost my..." he choked on his gasping breaths. "I'm so-rry... I-"
"Where are you?" Cole repeated, with more urgency this time. "What happened?"
"The A hall... b-bathroom," Jay huffed as he tried to steady his voice. He could not get the words that he wanted to out. "I didn'... mean t', I just gave it t'... I'm so sorry!"
"Stay there," the black ninja ordered. Even though he could not see him, the freckled mess nodded. He clutched his phone when Cole hung up, holding it against his chest as he tried to fight his tears. The next minute was complete agony for him. The fear of losing the jewelry forever was what started up his nerves, but then he imagined how Cole would respond and if they were going to break up, and that added more fuel to his fit. Every time he convinced himself it would be okay, another harsh thought crossed his mind, and the cycle would start over.
"Jay?" came a muffled voice from behind the door. Cole pushed it open with an angry expression, and the blue ninja was terrified that he was cross with him. However, when the earth user saw his state his demeanor softened incredibly. He shut the door and dropped right in front of him before scooping up the smaller boy in his arms, cradling his head against his shoulder. "Thank god, you don't look hurt. Did someone try to fight you? Was it one of Kirsten's damn jocks? What did she say?"
"Mn-mn," Jay shook his head, grabbing a fistful of Cole's shirt in each hand as he sucked in deep breaths. The black-haired boy pulled back and cupped his face with both hands, looking him dead in the eye. The lightning master felt new tears well up when he saw the genuine disquiet in his features. "The b-bracelet. I lost... lost the bracel-let." He sobbed again, and Cole let him burrow back into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around his crying boyfriend and ran his hands over his back in soothing motions.
"Shh, it's okay. Don't worry, it's okay. We'll find it," he told him, gently rocking his partner back and forth. "We can go look for it, okay? I told Ms. Aidoru that there was an emergency. Tell me what happened. We can retrace your steps." Jay breathed slowly, inhaling and exhaling in sync with Cole's palms against his back. When his brain finally got the message that the earth ninja was not irritated with him, he was able to calm himself. The taller of the two wiped away his remaining tears, letting his thumb linger on his cheekbone for a second longer.
Jay told him the story of the previous class, and everywhere he had looked so far. The hallways were still a possibility, as well as Mrs. Renga's room. They started by going back to the copy room and courtyard one more time, but moved on with no luck. Their social studies teacher did not have any idea what they were talking about, and they swept the hallways, yet there was still nothing.
"Hey Cole?" the blue master muttered as they went back towards the physics room to search. "What happens if we don't find the bracelet?" His conversation with Kirsten ran fresh through his mind. Surely this was the blunder that made the earth ninja realize that he did not need to pity him anymore, if he was.
"Life goes on," said his boyfriend with a shrug. "Are you really that scared?" Jay winced, taking a moment to pause before catching up with Cole again. He seemed to take notice, because he turned around and gave him a patient smile.
"Life. Goes. On," he told the blue ninja. "It's just a bracelet."
"But it's a bracelet you got for me!" Jay blubbered. "If I lose it, then what will I have when you leave me?" That stung the black ninja, and he took a step back as soon as he said it.
"I-I mean if you leave me!" he tried to reconcile his situation. "I don't even mean if! I didn't mean any of that!" He put his hands out to Cole in defense, who just stared at the open fingers before sluggishly turning his eyes up to his face.
"I want you to be honest with me, bluebird." The grave tone that he was using sent a shock up his spine. "What's got you thinking about that?"
"About, uh... what?" Jay attempted to act innocent, shooting his team mate a crooked grin. Cole stepped closer to him, looming over his smaller form to the point where the blue ninja almost had to lean back to meet his gaze. He did not look pissed at him, thank the heavens, but he was certainly not pleased with something.
"About me leaving you," he growled in response. "Tell me the truth, Jay." He paused and collected what he wanted to say, and he was a terrible liar so there was no use hiding it.
"Before you get mad, it's because of something Kirsten said," the lightning user peeped. The shocked anger on Cole's face was intimidating, and Jay felt the need to continue his warning. "But it wasn't about me, I swear! It was about the guy she's dating. Isn't he your friend or something?"
"Tano?" the master of earth mumbled, losing his near-snarl for a moment. He regained it a few seconds later, however. "What did she say?"
"Well, uh..." Jay began to wring his hands, feeling the need to do something with them in order to expel his nervous energy. "She said that she was thinking about breaking up with him because he wasn't as good-looking and gets kinda nervous or something like that. Apparently she was only dating him because she was sorry for him? Well, it um... got me thinking that what if I'm the same-"
"Stop," was all that Cole said. It was a single, insistent word. The black master took hold of his hands and intertwined their fingers. "You are the cutest, funniest, most caring guy I have ever met. There is no way in hell that I would ever let you go because some guy is hotter or cockier than you. There's a big difference between being hot and being beautiful. Some random boy on the street who works out and tans all day to make himself look good? That's hot. Somebody who doesn't need to think about their looks because they already care about the happiness of everyone around them? That's beautiful. You're beautiful, bluebird. I'm not about to pass that up." Jay could practically feel his heart swell. He was certainly blushing, there was no doubt, and Cole was being serious.
"When did you get so poetic?" the lightning wielder laughed in awe. The earth ninja smiled too, pulling him in for a fast squeeze before leading him by the hand. "No, seriously, when?"
"Look, the internet is full of inspiration," Cole grinned sheepishly. "But I still meant it."
"I know," Jay replied with a giggle. The boulder-brain was such a softy.
"Hey, if Kirsten causes any trouble, and I mean any trouble," the black master said. "Don't talk to her. Come to me and we'll talk it out. Maybe we'll get the others in on it if it makes you feel better."
"But she didn't have anything to do with it," the freckled boy cocked his head in confusion.
"No, she did. She knew what she was doing. Tano is not an anxious guy. I've known him for years, and he's the most carefree person in the world," he told him. "Promise me you'll stay away from her."
"I promise," Jay assured him.
The rest of the school day passed and Jay never found the gift. He sighed and picked up his things from his locker. Nya needed a ride home because Kai was at a doctor's appointment, and he was happy to oblige. She was grabbing some notes for her brother in a separate classroom, and was going to meet him in the main courtyard.
Outside, the sun cast the building's shadow over a certain bench. Jay sat and took in the warm afternoon air. The sky was clear, save for a few puffy, white clouds in the far horizon. He smiled, despite the hectic nature of the last several hours.
A soft chorus of voices caught his attention, and he looked back towards the entrance and saw Kirsten. They locked eyes, and she waved. The master of lightning was about to wave back, but then he froze in unequivocal alarm.
There. On her wrist, the one that she had raised to greet him with. That unmistakable chestnut material and black stones. The silver music note twinkled in the sunlight.
His bracelet.
He felt betrayed, yet another part of him was thankful for the closure. A rich sadness and denial coursed through him. She had been lying through her teeth. Kirsten had such amazing acting abilities, he had to give her that, but he was still heartbroken. He told himself to look again, and saw that it was true. Jay jogged over to her little posse of jocks and socialites, striving to conceal his disappointment with a bright expression.
"You found it!" he beamed. Kirsten paused, and so did her group. They were obviously all trying to win her favor in one way or another, so they attempted to mirror her exact movements. All except for Tano, who was already holding the hand that did not have his jewelry on it.
"Found what?" she asked. Before Jay could answer, she lifted up her wrist and gave him a kilowatt smile. "Oh, have you seen this? It's so cute, isn't it?"
"I... what?" the blue ninja muttered, bewildered.
"Cole gave it to me." Kirsten's voice was saturated with a devilish, "in your face" sound that tore at his soul. "Between us, I think he likes me." Tano's face became contorted with perplexity.
"But I thought that you and Cole were going out?" the soccer player asked him. Everyone except for the three speakers contributed to a snarky, synchronous chorus of "Ooh!" Jay stepped forward and reached out for her arm in vain.
"Give it back," he tried to say sternly. Two of the larger guys pushed in front of her. Jay knew that he could take them in a fight easily, given his training as a ninja. "Kirsten, give it back."
"Or what?" said one of the overly muscular punching bags. Jay turned with malice in his eyes, which made the boys throw up their brows in surprise, but then he remembered that if he ended up fighting someone linked to Kirsten, word would spread like wildfire and he would certainly get suspended. He did not want that on his record. He looked around for another solution, and found none. Tano gave him a sympathetic look, but then Kirsten shot him a sneering glare.
He remembered what Cole said, and wondered if he should run away and call him immediately. Against his better judgement, he stayed. He desperately wanted his bracelet back, he had been searching all day, and he was not going to give it up now.
"Look, I'm sorry that your precious crush doesn't wanna be around a pathetic, ditzy little gay boy like you," Kirsten jeered, pushing a nail into his chest. "I have places to be, though."
"K, he's not exactly gay-"
"Shut up, honey. I love you, but this idiot needs to learn that life doesn't always work out for people like him." The girl tossed her curls and held up her wrist, turning it to display each bead and the charm. "Cole doesn't love you. He loves me. Get over it." The group howled their approval, laughing at Jay's stricken expression. They grew louder when his brows knitted in rage and his eyes grew misty.
"Aww, he's gonna cry!" one of the jocks bellowed. Jay could feel the element of lightning, white hot and ready to strike. A crackle of electricity danced across his fingers just once.
"Hey!" Nya suddenly threw herself in between him and the group.
"Oh, now the lesbian's gonna help you!" the same boy cried, causing the clique to cackle with more gusto.
"Let's go," the water ninja threw over her shoulder. Jay made a move to protest, but Nya froze him with a sharp look. "Let's. Go." They sped away, retreating all the way back to the parking lot. When they got in, the girl in the passenger's seat erupted with worry.
"I can't believe you, Jay!" she shouted, puzzling the blue master and adding a log to the fire.
"What did I do?" he spat back.
"You almost used your lightning powers!" yelled Nya. "And you almost got into a fight! You know they don't stand a chance!"
"How do you know I almost used my powers?" Jay replied, tugging his orange scarf away from his neck, feeling the fabric becoming restricting as he continued to shout.
"I saw it!" his team mate jabbed a finger at him.
"But they didn't!" The blue ninja threw up his hands. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just wanted my bracelet back!" Nya paused, half-way poised to argue again.
"What?" she whispered, letting her breathing return to normal. "Kirsten has... Oh my god. I'm sorry, Jay. I... you still shouldn't have been so reckless, but..." She looked at his dashboard for a second, then made an almost feral, growling sound that grew swiftly in pitch and volume.
"Argh! That bitch!" she cried, slamming her fists into the surface in front of her.
"'Ey, whoa, take it easy," Jay cautioned, patting her on the shoulder nervously. "I know that Kirsten's awful, but don't take it out on my poor car." Despite her fury, she found the capacity to laugh, although it was perhaps out of hysteria. They sat there in silence for a little bit, then relaxed.
"So, what're we gonna do?" the water user asked. Jay pulled his phone from his bag.
"I'm gonna call my boyfriend," he smiled shyly. "We made a deal." When he thought about it, he had been so close to breaking that vow only hours after he had made it.
"Actually, thanks for stopping me," said the master of lightning. "I promised Cole I'd stay away from her if something happened, and I was ready to fight her. I mean, can you imagine me doing that?"
"What, fighting somebody?" Nya asked. "Not really, but maybe today has given me a different perpective." Jay chuckled weakly, then held the phone up to his ear. He could only hope and pray that Cole did not tear Kirsten's coterie apart when he heard the news.