Ninjago Highschool: Chapter Nineteen: Confession Declined
Lloyd didn't have a lot done for his English paper. He decided to write MULTIPLE things that made him happy, instead of just one. He wrote down Kai being a great friend, Cole beating up those thugs...and that's really it so far. He didn't have long to turn it in and he wasn't even a full page. He thought about the possibility of just taking the L...maybe not. But now wasn't the time. He had to let Harumi know he was leaving the club, period. He got ready for school after looking at his English paper. At the bus-stop, Kai talked to Lloyd. "So, you gonna tell Harumi you're absolutely leaving?" Lloyd nodded. "Yeup, no way she's gonna convince me otherwise." Jay told Lloyd "Good for you.". And so they all got onto the bus, ready for the soon to be future. Skales tried to speak up. "Ssssssoooooo whatssss been going on?" Kai answered before Cole could say something rude. "Not much, you?" "Nothing much, not sssssstill ssssalty about losssssing my previoussss job at all." Skales said with some obvious venom in his voice. Of course it wasn't the student's business, so they ignored him.
Harumi was discussing the plan at the school with UV, while eating breakfast. Harumi was eating some fancy breakfast sandwich, with sparkling water. UV was chugging mountain dew and shoveling dorito sandwiches down her gamer throat. Harumi was wearing a tank top and short shorts, which UV said would "Lure Lloyd's attention". Other students tried to talk to her, but she shut them down right away. "Ahaha they think they have a chance with YOU!" UV laughed. "Heh, I'm too good looking for this school. I'm only here to get Lloyd's attention though." She dug into her backpack and got a brush, and tiny mirror out, to make sure her hair looked good. "Definitely will become prom queen if I ever get to that." She said smugly. "Who's gonna be your king though?" UV asked. "Lloyd if I get enough control." Harumi said evilly.
Lloyd and the others walked into the school. Harumi looked over from where she was to see him walk in. She had to wait for him to be alone to enact her plan. She knew Kai was an obstacle, and the others too, but not to the extent that KAI was. She groaned and ushered UV away. "Let's head to class, we can't get him right now." Lloyd was none the wiser of this plot, and went to math class. Which, UV shared. She didn't pay attention, and unlike Lloyd, acknowledged that she didn't know anything about math, actively telling Mr. Cryptor that "Math was bullshit." Because UV wasn't truly one of his students, he let her do whatever in class, as long as it wasn't disruptive. 20 minutes passed, 20 minutes of miserable math, and Lloyd rose his hand. "Yes, Lloyd?" "Mr. Cryptor, can I use the restroom?" Mr. Cryptor stood silent briefly. "Error, does not compute." Lloyd sighed. "MAY I use the restroom." "Yes. Take a pass. Be back in 10 minutes." UV saw this and thought tactically for once. She got her phone out and texted Harumi. "Lloyd is going to restroom. Meet him in hallway to there."
Harumi heard her phone vibrate. Luckily, or unluckily for Lloyd, her history class was with Mr. Acronix, who couldn't care less if you were on your phone. Harumi smirked and went to pick up a pass. Mr. Acronix's restroom pass system was far laxxer: Just pick up a pass and come back before the bell rings. Now she was enroute to Lloyd's position, trying to get there before it was too late. In about a minute, Harumi saw Lloyd heading to the restroom. She waved him down and ran over to him. This was not the time Lloyd wanted to see Harumi, but at the same time, he could tell her he quits the club then and there, right? But he also wondered WHY she was looking for him at this time, and HOW she found him. "Harumi...hey...what are you doing?" "Well, I was just going down this route, and I happened to find you! And it's a good thing too!" Harumi said in a sweet tone. "It's about the club Lloyd." Lloyd grimaced, but not enough to have her catch on. "I think you should...rejoin." She put her head down, acting nervous. "Why? I said I didn't want to stay in the club." Harumi was ready to strike. "Look it's because...cause...I like you." She lied, looking up at Lloyd. "I just wanna talk to you alot. I know the club is loud and UV is mean, but I wanted to spend time with you!" She was really playing it up, trying to pull at Lloyd's heart. "Excuse me?..." Lloyd asked, dumbfounded. Never has someone confessed something like that to him. "Lloyd...I wanna be your girlfriend! Your gamer girl!" Lloyd at this point in his life was sick of gamers. Maybe the club desensitized his appreciation of the hobby, but regardless, he cringed at that comment.
"Harumi, I..." Harumi smiled. because she thought her plan was about to succeed. "...don't like you that way. At all." Maybe he could of said it better, but Lloyd did not care. Harumi didn't know it, but Lloyd knew she was manipulating him. The clothes, when she never wore short sleeved stuff before, tipped him off already, along with the terrible acting. Really though, he knew he was being manipulated because Cole told him her plan. Maybe this would of worked, if he didn't know he was just her ticket to become a gaming icon. Harumi's smile went away instantly. "What?" She said with calm anger in her voice. "Harumi I, I never really liked you that way. It's not that I hate you," he lied, "but I never saw you as much more than a...sort of friend?" Lloyd said, struggling to decline her without revealing what he knew. "I don't think I could really date you, especially with UV and those others as your friends." Harumi had a clearly fake smile plastered on her. "Oh okay, so, I guess getting you into my club when you suck at video games wasn't enough, huh?" She said sharply. "Do you know how HARD it was to convince the others to let you in? You should be GRATEFUL I let you in, and even TALK to you!" Yeah, she was losing her cool, and Lloyd was glad he didn't get to know her beforehand. "I am not going into this anymore, bye Harumi." Lloyd turned to the bathroom, leaving her there to seethe and rage within her mind.
Her plan didn't make it past the first few minutes. The clothes she picked out meticulously, the sheer luck at getting to do it this early, the risk of a hall monitor catching her, all for nothing. Harumi was pissed, losing her normally cool head quickly. She stormed her way back to class, texting UV about how her plan failed. In all caps. Everything was falling apart, how was she going to get to good terms with Mr. Garmadon now?
Lloyd got out of the bathroom and was heading back to class, when Skull Sorcerer spoke up. Turns out he was there the entire time, cleaning. No one payed attention to him because well, it was Skull Sorcerer. The JANITOR. "Heh. Women am I right? That's why I'm single." Lloyd took a look at him, in his scruffy janitor uniform. "Yeah, that's a reason huh?" Lloyd said. "Yeah, I don't have time to spend on women anyway, got bigger things." Lloyd didn't need to know what Skull Sorcerer did in his free time, so he quickened his pace to class. "I'm sorry, but I can't be late for class. Talk another time okay?" He said, hopefully being wrong. Skull Sorcerer grunted and went back to cleaning. Lloyd went to class, put his pass on Mr. Cryptor's desk, and went back to his seat. While sitting he couldn't help but feel eyes boring into the back of his head. He turned his head slightly and saw UV. That was unsettling. And she didn't let up for the rest of the hour.
When the bell rang, Lloyd got up, and Kai went over to Mr. Cryptor to ask him some questions about the homework. When Lloyd went outside the classroom, UV met with him and pushed him onto the wall. "You made a big fucking mistake bud!" Lloyd was stunned, and didn't move. "Harumi broke it to you already?" Lloyd asked, getting off the wall. She pushed him again and growled. "You better watch your back, because the Sons of Gaming won't tolerate what you did!" By the time Kai left the classroom, Lloyd was at a loss for words. "You okay dude?" Kai asked. "Uh, I'll explain at lunch." Kai knew what it was about right away, but agreed. "Alright, can't wait to hear."