Lloyd was feeling particularly accomplished after his second night shift at the library. While he hadn't found anything that had gotten him closer to cracking the case, he had earned himself a "study date" with a pretty girl, who just so happened to live in the dorm he needed to get in. It would surely be less risky to be let in by a peer rather than standing outside the dorm waiting for a stranger to let him in by chance. That would definitely look more suspicious.

He felt very light on his feet as he made his way back to his dorm. No doubt the guys would want to know how his mission went. And, of course, as he had expected, the ninja had been eagerly waiting for his return.

As soon as the green ninja walked through the front door, he was bombarded with a whirlwind of questions.

"Did you do it?"

"Did he see you?"

"Did you find the room?"

"Guys! Enough!" Lloyd said, holding his hand out to silence his comrades. "I didn't find the room. But I found someone who is willing to let me in the dorm, without me having to sneak my way in."

"Who?" the other four ninja asked simultaneously.

"Her name's Julia," Lloyd answered. "While I was at the library, I decided that I'd check out the remaining books related to the Cursed Realm to keep them away from the crooks."

The green ninja then pulled out the book he had just checked out from the library.

"So, I found this one. And after I went and grabbed it, I accidentally bumped into her. Apparently, her independent research project is on the realms of Ninjago so she needs these types of books for her research. But I told her that she's free to borrow it, and one thing led to another, and now I have a study date with her tomorrow night."

"Wow, what a coincidence," Cole remarked, surprised by the whole ordeal.

"A study date?" Kai asked, raising his eyebrow playfully. "So not, like, a date date?"

Lloyd felt his cheeks beginning to burn. "No, just a study date. Just two college students getting together to get some homework done. That's it."

The red ninja rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Lloyd," he said, unconvinced. "Is she cute?"

"Is that really important—" Zane tried to interject but Lloyd couldn't help but try and defend himself.

"Well, she's certainly not ugly," he said, fighting back the blush that threatened to overtake his complexion.

"Aw, our little green ninja is in looove," Jay teased. "How cute!"

"Whatever, all I see right now is an opportunity to get to the bad guys, that's all."

"Well, how are you going to break away from her while you guys are studying?" Cole asked. "It's not like you can tell her 'oh, by the way, I need to stick this listening device thingy onto this guy's door, be back in a second.'"

Lloyd shrugged. "I'll just…tell her I have to go the bathroom."

"Kinda kills the mood, don't you think?" Kai interjected, earning several glares.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out, Lloyd," Jay said. "You're kind of our only hope right now, so you can't really screw this up."

Lloyd glanced down at the floor, the reality of their situation finally starting to sink in after his few minutes of bliss. "I know," he said quietly. "I'll do the best I can."

"That's the spirit," Cole said, putting a comforting hand on his teammate's shoulder. "And who knows, you might get a girlfriend out of it, too."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, trying to save face for his teammates. However, not-so-deep down, he was hopeful.


"Okay class, today we'll be focusing on Chapter 2: The Introduction to a Speech," a man's voice echoed throughout the lecture hall.

It was the next morning, and classes were continuing on as normal, despite the events that had transpired yesterday. Jay had seen José, Lloyd had met Julia, and Cole thought he was going to meet his demise after sitting in this class one more day. It was only his second full day of college and the earth ninja was already over the whole idea of speaking ever again.

"And lemme guess, tomorrow we'll be focusing on Chapter 3," he muttered to himself, reaching for his backpack. He rummaged around for a pencil, only to realize he had forgotten to bring a pen again.

He looked over at the girl sitting next to him, knowing full well what he had to do.

"Um, excuse me," he said, clearing his throat nervously. "Would it be possible for me to borrow one of your pens?"

The girl paused, rolling her eyes at him for the second time this semester as she handed him a writing utensil. "Give it back to me after class."

No sooner had the words left her mouth, the boy sitting in front of her turned around to face her.

"Hey Jill, would you mind if I borrowed a pencil from ya?"

"James, you asked me for a pencil every single day last year in our English class! You haven't thought to buy your own yet?"

"No, 'cause I know you'll always give one to me."

Cole watched the interaction between the two with great alarm, not knowing how the girl was going to react. He was surprised that the guy in front of them didn't seem the least bit afraid of her.

To his surprise, however, the girl simply sighed, handing the boy a pencil. "Here. Give it back to me after class, okay?"

"Sure thing," the boy said, giving her a wink.

That's when he turned to Cole. "That's the first thing you learn in college. Always bring a pencil with ya."

Realizing that the guy was talking to him, Cole nodded. "Erm, got it. Thanks man."

"No problem," the guy said. As if he wasn't caught off guard already, the guy outstretched a hand. "Name's James," he said. "Haven't seen ya around campus before."

"Y-Yeah. Just transferred here," the earth ninja answered, shaking James's hand. "I'm Cole."

"Nice to meet you, man. Welcome to Ninjago University."

"Thanks a lot," Cole said as the guy turned back around to face the front again.

Maybe he wasn't as alone in this class as he had thought.