Her phone rang with another call. Skylor groaned, rolling onto her side as she grabbed the device to stare at the screen until the call was missed. Well, supposedly missed. She also had a ton of messages that she didn't read.
Skylor dropped back onto her bed, the phone still in her hand. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, her eyelids drooping.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Well, more like blared. It was more of a very loud buzzer than a doorbell.
She groaned, rolling off the soft mattress to see who was trying to get attention. She immediately wished she hadn't, because the not-so-happy visitors in front of her made the temperature drop ten degrees Celsius. Note the plural.
"Care to explain what happened to Cole in the alley?" Nya asked. Ah, yes, Kai's bratty sister. Just what I need.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Skylor replied coolly. She proceeded to shut the door in her face, but Nya slapped her hand on the door, preventing her from going any farther.
"You are lying," Pixal said.
"And how do you know that?"
"Your heart rate is speeding up. Another is that you're avoiding eye contact."
Skylor mentally slapped herself. Clouse would absolutely love giving you a lecture on that! "How— What makes you say that?"
"I am an android, if that is what you mean." Pixal slapped a hand over her mouth. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to say that. Interesting.
"Please do not tell anyone else what I said," she muttered.
"Th-That's a joke," Harumi said. "Right?"
Skylor felt a tap on her shoulder. Her blood froze. Oh, no, did he hear Pixal say that? She felt like slapping herself then. Why are you so worried?
"Your father would like to see you," Clouse informed her. He looked at the girls. "You should leave. Shoo." He waved his hand in said manner as the girls grudgingly left.
Shutting the door behind him, her father's right-hand man faced Skylor.
"That was false. However, I am sure that your father would be disappointed that you could not do anything cleanly."
As he walked away, Skylor sighed. Another fail.
The girls had walked to Ninjago Park, but Harumi decided that now was a good time to delay and ask something.
"You're lying. There is no way you can be a robot," Harumi said.
Nya immediately jumped in before the silver-blonde could say anything. "It is physically impossible for droids to lie."
"Unless she wasn't one," the white-haired girl retorted.
"You know, not everything revolves around you," Nya snapped. "Maybe you should stop being an inconsiderate jerk."
Harumi's face turns red, most likely from anger. "Yeah? Maybe you should stop acting so proud!"
Both glared daggers at the other. Pixal quietly stepped in.
"Surely we can talk this—"
The two girls give her a look. Pixal trails off. They return to glaring at each other.
For some reason, Nya could hear chirping. Or... however she could describe that noise.
Nya stops glaring, but only to ask, "What's that?"
Meanwhile, Vania was struggling with her bag. "Come on... Chompy... stop..." she muttered.
A head pops out from the bag, turning towards Nya. Nya yelps, leaping backwards onto a bench. "What's a dragon doing in your bag!?"
"He's harmless!" the blonde protested.
"How do you know that? Dragons are supposed to live in the wild!" The raven-haired girl threw her hands up in the air.
"He was injured! Wouldn't you take him in?"
Nya paused. Well, she would. She wasn't heartless. But still, she would have let it go after treating it. "Well, yeah. But I'd let it go after treating it!"
Pixal and the pink-haired girl that accompanied them silently spectated, looking unsure about what to say. Harumi was fuming.
"I'm going to take a walk. By myself." Harumi grabbed her bag from the bench, storming away.
Pixal excuses herself, saying, "I should go to work," before leaving for Borg Tower.
"My father will probably wonder where I am," Vania muttered. She picked up the white dragon before racing away.
Nya sighed, sitting on the bench. The pink-haired girl sits next to her.
"I think you overreacted a bit," she said.
"I probably did."
The rock skitters across the path. Cars drifted by, motorbikes growling and trucks roaring. Above, white clouds drifted through the light blue sky. The sun gleamed a hot-white glow.
The rock skips across the path again. A foot kicks it, sending it across the pavement.
Harumi glared at the sun. Anyone would think it was a bright, happy day. Like nothing could ever go wrong. To her, anything could go wrong. It was just like the day they died. A sunny day. Ironically, it was a Sunday. How great it is.
She hadn't talked to Vania since yesterday. Or anyone, for that matter. Today, Harumi called it a silent day. She wasn't going to talk.
"Harumi?"
She bumps into someone. Looking up, she meets emerald eyes.
"Lloyd?" Well, so much for a silent day.
He smiles. "Ha! I didn't get called by a nickname!"
Harumi snorted. "We'll see about next time, Greenie."
She continued on her walk. Lloyd followed. This prompted the white-haired girl to speed up. Lloyd quickened his pace to match hers. This repeated for what seemed like eternity until they reached a crosswalk.
Harumi rounded to face him, glaring daggers in the process. "Why are you following me?"
"You look sad."
She wasn't sure whether she was supposed to laugh or cry. Now that she thought of it, she wasn't going to cry.
"What's it to you?" She walked across the road, the blond not leaving her alone.
"I like to see you smile."
Harumi abruptly froze as she stepped back onto the sidewalk. Since when had she smiled? Baffled, she could only stare in confusion and slight shock, her mouth agape as Lloyd stumbled over his words.
"I— I— I mean—" Harumi watched his face getting redder by the second. Was he blushing?
"W-What I'm trying to say... is... I like seeing you happy." Lloyd smiled awkwardly.
He yelps as Harumi pulls him closer. Just as a car comes honking by. Releasing her grip, she storms away.
"You're an absolute fool to think you'd ever see me smile!"
Lloyd grabs her shoulder, turning her around to face his glare. It looked odd on him.
"Here, come with me." He proceeded to drag her to... a candy shop?
"Lloyd, your cousin once told me about your sugar obsession, but I'm starting to wonder if you're a ten-year-old in a sixteen-year-old's body!"
"Maybe I am. So, what do you like?"
Harumi pulls herself away. "What makes you think I eat candy?"
"What person doesn't eat candy in their younger days?"
She opened her mouth to retort, but nothing comes out. She sighed. "Anything is fine."
The blond smiled triumphantly as he grabbed some chocolate bars. Harumi glanced around awkwardly. Two bright red-haired kids were staring at them. She shifted uncomfortably.
"What takes you so long to choose? Just grab something and go!" Harumi hissed. She knocked a few locks of her slightly-straightened hair loose from behind her ear. She was not about to get caught in this place.
"Patience, Rumi—" Her breath caught in her throat. "— I'm thinking about what would go well with milk chocolate."
Harumi grabbed two bags, one of strawberry drops, the other of honey drops, and shoved it in front of his face. "Here you go. Now lets just pay for this and go."
After paying for the sweets, the two were sitting at the park.
As Lloyd took a strawberry drop, he said, "Have you heard of Oni Masks?"
"Huh?"
He grabbed his phone from the pocket of his green sweater, pulling up an image. "Here." The image showed three of the creepiest masks Harumi had ever seen. They looked very familiar.
Her heart flipped. She yelped in shock as she fell off the bench.
"Whoa! Are you okay?" Lloyd asked as he helped her up.
"Uh, yeah. Just... surprised. Those masks are really creepy," she lied.
Truth be told, when she had found them, it was under suspicious circumstances. But she didn't want to think of the details now.
She stared at the clouds drifting by. Harumi felt something tug at her sweater. She glanced at Lloyd, who held out a bar of chocolate.
"Have some. Tryptophan is linked to the production of serotonin. It makes you happy."
She shook her head exasperatedly, taking the wrapped chocolate. "Is this your excuse every time you decide to eat candy?"
"Maybe. But as far as I know, it's only in chocolate. And that's only because of the cocoa."
That argument was... less than stellar. It feels unnatural too. Well, at least I have something to improve on: writing arguments. Gosh, I'm terrible at those. *:/
I also do my research. Although the tryptophan is only present in small amounts... don't give yourselves sugar rushes.
Winter break is here, so I definitely have more time!... Except for that one math assessment plus piano/music theory lessons... But I have more time! :)