It took almost an hour to bring all of Brooke's belongings into the girls' dorm room. Brooke helped her parents unload her stuff out of their SUV, while Kai, Sam and Cole brought her things upstairs to the room.
Kai couldn't help but notice Cole was working extra hard, especially around Brooke, throughout the process. For example, the earth ninja carried two of Brooke's large suitcases full of clothes at the same time (she was known for her extended wardrobe), and didn't even break a sweat. Until she was out of view, that is. That's when he dropped them on the ground and took a few deep breaths before returning to the laborious task at hand.
Cole's flexing aside, Brooke's mom was not shy about expressing their gratitude towards the young men for helping their daughter move in. Having the extra help made the process go a lot smoother than last year when it just Brooke's dad doing the heavy lifting. It was a lot for a man in his late 40's to be doing all by himself.
Unlike Brooke's mom, who was verbally gracious the entire time, Brooke's father was not as talkative. The guys could sense that Mr. Dawson was a pleasant, but no-nonsense type of person, which undoubtedly made Cole a bit nervous, to put it mildly. The earth ninja made a point to be extra polite towards him, in hopes to gain his approval. There was no doubt that Mr. Dawson was protective of his daughter, as she was quite attractive in her appearance, which would explain why Cole felt he was being watched more closely than Kai, who clearly had eyes for Sam alone.
Maybe one day Brooke's dad would realize that he had no ill intentions towards his daughter and would approve of their relationship...not that they really had one right now, but if they had one, and maybe, quite possibly, wanted to take it to the altar and, you know, settle down one day, way, way into the future, then he'd give him his blessing, which would fill the earth ninja's heart with unbridled joy and happiness...
"Cole, stop daydreaming and give me a hand here," Kai grunted as he struggled to grip his end of the loveseat that the two ninja were carrying up the stairs.
The earth ninja shook his head, realizing he had been frozen in place for at least a solid ten seconds.
"My bad. Just dreamin' about dinner."
Not too long after Kai and Cole had carried the small couch to the girls' room, all of Brooke's possessions were finally emptied out of the Dawson's SUV. Kai, Cole, Sam, Brooke and her parents stood on the curb where her family was parked, ready to exchange their goodbyes.
"Well, thanks a lot, kids, for all the help," Brooke's father said, giving the young adults an appreciative nod.
"Eh, no problem. It was our pleasure," Kai answered. Cole vigorously nodded in agreement.
Mr. Dawson then turned to his daughter. "Well, Pumpkin, guess it's time for us to get out of your way. As always, your mom and I will miss you terribly."
Brooke smiled. "I know, Daddy. I'll miss you guys too."
She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, not letting him go for what felt like ages to everyone watching.
Cole observed her embrace with her father and inwardly sighed, being reminded of his relationship with his own father. While things were better after the Fangblade incident a few years ago, he still did not feel as close with his dad as she was. He remained hopeful, though, that their bond would continue to strengthen as time went on. (There was also the fact that he desperately wanted her father to like him, since he was clearly an important person in her life.)
"We'll miss you, Sweetie," Mrs. Dawson said, who did not hesitate to swoop in and coax her daughter into a hug as soon as she let go of her dad. It was evident that leaving her only child was hard for her.
When Mrs. Dawson finally let go, she wiped the remnants of emotion from the corners of her eye and climbed into the vehicle.
"Take care, Honey. And be careful."
"I will, Mom! Don't worry!"
She halfheartedly rolled her eyes and glanced at the ninja and Sam, who chuckled at the brunette's reaction. She was no doubt very accustomed to her mom's overprotective nature.
Her dad smiled. "If you need anything, just call."
Brooke nodded. "I will."
Giving her one last look, Mr. Dawson climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. The young people watched as he began to slowly back out of the parking space, preparing to drive away.
To their surprise, he rolled down the window and stuck his head out.
"Good luck at school, Sam! You boys, too!"
"Thank you!" Sam said. She then froze. Did Mr. Dawson not know the guys weren't students?
She looked over at Kai and Cole who apparently just realized her dad's mistake as well.
"Uh, did he just say good luck at school to us?" the red ninja asked, confused.
"I think so," Cole said, his expression mirroring his teammate's.
After her parents had completely driven away, Brooke turned to face her friends, a glint of mischief twinkling in her hazel eyes.
"Well, I couldn't tell them you guys were ninja," she said, sticking her hands on her hips. "That would blow your secret."
It then dawned on them that Brooke had lied to her parents about them being college students.
"Oh, so now we go to school here?" Kai asked, raising a brow playfully. "Stuck with you girls?"
Cole grinned, catching onto his teammate's sarcasm.
"I know. What a shame that would be, having to see you. Every. Single. Day."
He made a look of disgust, causing Brooke to giggle.
"Hey, school isn't that bad," she said. "We make it fun, right Sammie?"
"Right," Sam chuckled.
After the joviality had died down, Kai glanced at the others.
"Well, it's about 4:30 now. Shall we get unpacking?"
Before anyone could answer, the air was filled with low growl. The girls and Kai turned to the source of the sound and saw Cole patting his abdomen. He looked at the three sheepishly.
"Sounds great. But before we do that, can we get some dinner first?"
"Eh, it wasn't the best meal I've ever had, but I gotta say, those ribs were good," Cole said as he, Kai, Sam and Brooke walked out of the dining hall.
To Cole's delight, the group had decided to go along with his wish and grab some dinner at the dining hall before resuming unpacking the girls' stuff.
"Yeah, the food here isn't terrible but it could be better," Sam agreed. "Especially when you have to eat it every single day."
Kai chuckled. "I guess we're just so spoiled with Zane's cooking that we've forgotten what average food tastes like."
"Zane's the robot one, right?" Brooke interjected. With five ninja, it was hard to keep track of who was who.
Kai and Cole exchanged amused glances.
"Yes, Zane is, in fact, a nindroid," the earth ninja answered. "And he always makes the best food."
"Sam doesn't do too bad of a job either," Kai added, giving the blonde a playful wink.
"Oh yeah, Sam makes a mean pork-chop," Cole agreed, completely oblivious to the red ninja's teasing.
Sam felt the heat in her cheeks rise at the compliments. "I've had some practice."
"So do you guys cook at all?" Brooke asked. It didn't seem fair to her that the burden was on Zane to prepare meals all the time.
"We have a schedule," Cole explained. "One night it'll be Zane's turn, then Nya's, then Kai's. Jay argues that since he helps Nya make dinner most of the time, he's off the hook for the rest of the week. Lloyd, well, we just don't really think about making him do it, I guess, come to think of it."
"And what about you?" Brooke asked.
Cole froze. "Well, let's just say my cooking could use some improvement," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Brooke could sense the earth ninja's embarrassment radiating off of him.
"Aw, don't be embarrassed, hun. Everyone's gotta start somewhere," she said. "Including ninja."
"Yeah, and you're getting better, Cole," Kai chimed in. "At least what you've been making lately is at least edible."
Cole chuckled. "Thanks, guys, I appreciate the support."
He flashed Brooke a grin, which the brunette returned. His stomach did miniature flips the way she looked at him. And he was sure it wasn't the dining hall food.
"Anyways, let's get back to unpacking."