Chapter 15- Reality Check
With Cole gone off to the Marty Oppenheimer, Jay realized just how much he depended on his grey-eyed boyfriend.
He had nothing to do. There was no school to distract him. His best friend was still refusing to talk. Lloyd did his best to interact, but their hang outs were awkward. Jay was quiet and withdrawn, and Lloyd didn't really know what to do about it.
The days ticked forward sluggishly. Time seemed to stand still.
Until one day, Jay's phone rang. Things began to tick forward again.
He rushed to his phone, hoping to see Cole's name. Even though he knew that would be impossible. Cole's dad had taken his phone. Some sort of punishment for speaking up against pursuing music.
Still, Jay was not disappointed with the name he saw. It was Nya.
He answered eagerly, phone slipping from his grasp a couple of times before he was able to hold it properly. "Hey, Hi- Hello."
Hey Nya's voice sounded tired, and a little bit resigned. Jay bit his lip, readying himself for whatever was coming. Can I come over?
"Huh?" Jay frowned. That hadn't been something he'd expected to hear. "Why do- I mean, yeah, of course. Everything alright?"
Funny question. I think you know the answer as well as I do. Nya laughed, but it was a harsh sound. Jay did know the answer. It was a curt and plain, no.
"Sorry. Just. . . felt like I should ask. But yeah. Come. I'm really not doing much of anything these days."
So Lloyd's told me. Nya said. He thinks it's very unsettling to see you being quiet.
"Ah. . . Well I haven't. . . had much cause to babble."
I'll be there in a bit. Can Lloyd join us later?
"Duh." Jay said. "My parents have missed you both. And . . . I've missed hanging out. A lot."
Yeah. . . well. See you soon.
"See-" Jay was stopped by the sound of Nya cutting out of the call. He lowered the phone slowly. It was impossible to keep the smile from his face. He hadn't seen Nya in what felt like a lifetime, and his heart soared to think she would be here soon.
Jay went out to the junkyard to wait. He paced around the piles of junk, wondering if there were any other life-changing treasures hidden within.
If there were, Jay hoped to never stumble upon them.
The sound of tires perked him up, and he ran to the Junkyard's entrance. He waved at Nya's father. He waved back, and Jay flinched as he noticed the darkness etched around his eyes. Your fault.
Nya got out of the car. She approached him slowly, almost hesitantly, which was something very unlike her. Jay stood still, waiting on the proper cue on what to do next. He wanted to hug her, but he wasn't sure if that was okay.
Surprisingly enough, she hugged him. The embrace was tight and desperate, mirroring the way Jay had been feeling for the past couple of days. He returned the hug, not at all surprised by the tears prickling his eyes.
They pulled away from each other. Nya gave a soft sigh. "You know, I'm still sort of mad at you for not telling me. But . . . Things have been really difficult lately. And I need my best friend."
"I promise I'll never be that dumb again. And I'll help you get Kai back."
Nya nodded. "You said you knew some stuff about the teapot?"
"Yes!" Jay beamed excitedly, glad to be useful. "I know enough to write my own book about it. Probably. Okay, probably not. But I know enough."
"Let's wait for Lloyd. Then we can make a plan. Until then . . . you've got to let me know how it's been going with Cole."
Jay's smile felt so genuine, it made his heart ache, as he realized just how close he'd come to losing one of the most important people in his life. "You sure? You know, once I start going on about him, you're going to be tired of hearing his name."
Nya took a dramatic breath, as if preparing herself for a hefty trial. "I acknowledge the consequences."
"Well." Jay led her forward, moving through the junk to find the secret little nook they'd formed as kids. "You asked for it."
When Lloyd arrived, Jay was still nowhere close to finishing up.
"He's been sort of teaching me to dance too." Jay toyed around with a rusted spring as he talked, pushing down on it before letting it snap forward with a dramatic force. "I mean, he's no miracle worker, but I think I've got some of the basics down. Though I have wound up kicking him. Once. Okay, maybe twice. Twice and a half."
"You know, as small as you are, you sure cause a lot of damage." Nya laughed. Her cheeks had begun to ache, due to the constant smiling. She'd forgotten how good it was, to spend time alongside Jay.
Footsteps snapped their attention away from the conversation. Lloyd popped into view with a simple smile. "Hey-o."
"Hey." Both Nya and Jay said in unison. Lloyd sat crossed legged before them.
"So what's up? Are we teaming up to destroy the forces of evil lurking through Ninjago High?"
"Something like that." Nya nodded. "I'm recruiting you both to help stop this. . . Teapot. Genie. Whatever it is."
"A Djinn," Jay said.
"Djinn, then," Nya said. "What is it? How do we stop it? How is it. . . taking people?"
Both Nya and Lloyd turned to Jay expectantly. Jay straightened, feeling an odd sort of pride at being knowledgeable. "Mainly. . . it's some sort of powerful creature, who will grant you three wishes. Except, he'll be doing his best to twist your words, so you technically get what you wished for. . . But definitely not what you wanted.
"His goal is to make you wish everything away. And when you do that he can trap your soul. The more souls he has, the more powerful he gets. At this point, he's probably powerful enough to move from place to place, which would explain how he's been getting around the school.
"The trick with stopping him, is the teapot. Regardless of anything, he's still tied to the teapot. We find the teapot, we keep him still long enough to suck him back into it. Then we make sure no one ever releases him again."
"Okay." Nya nodded, following Jay's words perfectly. "But how do we get Kai back?"
"Wishes. We do all this through wishes." Jay said the words with his eyes lowered, fingers drawing random circles in the sand. "If we wish correctly, we can keep him still. We can shut him down. We can wish for the souls to be released."
"But if we wish incorrectly. . ." Lloyd said, letting the words hang in the air around them. The three of them sat in silence, each with their own image of the worst possible outcome.
Yet, the worst possible outcome was still better than letting the Djinn roam freely.
"We'll come up with a plan," Nya said, trying her best to remain determined and optimistic. "But first, we need to find that teapot."
We need to find that teapot.
Exactly a week later, Nya's words still lingered in Lloyd's head. He couldn't shoo them away. Despite how much time he spent trying to think of other things, the words always found their way back in.
They'd met up every day, after their first small meeting. Discussing different wishes, and going through all possible scenarios. It was sort of tedious, and yet sort of fun. Lloyd felt really fulfilled, at being part of something.
He'd never really been part of anything important before. Not really. He was only Lloyd Garmadon. An average kid, with an average family. There was nothing special about him.
We need to find that teapot.
Except now there was something special. And it sat before him, rusted and malicious.
The teapot.
He'd found it just before Nya had decided to make up with Jay. In that first meeting, Lloyd had planned to reveal this. If he'd had, maybe things would have gone back to normal by now.
But he sort of wanted a wish.
And at the same time, he sort of didn't.
Lloyd wanted to make the right choice. But he also wanted to be a little selfish. For once. He had always done what other people expected of him. Had always put other's needs before his own. Lloyd didn't really mind doing so, either, but with the possibilities before him . . .
He reached for the teapot. Then he drew back his hand.
Cole was coming back today. Jay had planned a little get together. And after that, another Save-Ninjago-From-Impending-Doom meeting.
We need to find that teapot.
He would give it to Nya then.
"One wish," Lloyd said to himself. "One."
Before his conscience could force him to change his mind, Lloyd twisted the teapot, following the instructions he'd learned from Jay. The puff of smoke he'd described filled his room. Lloyd would have waved it away, had his arms not been incredibly shaky.
The smoke faded on its own. And once it had gone, the Djinn stood before him, every bit as intimidating as Lloyd had imagined. The Djinn looked down at Lloyd expectantly.
"I-. . ." Lloyd's throat felt tight, and he wondered if he could really do this. He knew things would turn around on him. Knew this was stupid. And yet, he felt a desperate need to break away from his cautious persona.
He shut his eyes, thinking desperately, pushing away the thought of everything that could go wrong. What did he want? He thought of school. The long, lonely hours. The awkward pressure form having both his parents work within the building. And of course, the sweet, sweet freedom that both his friends would soon taste. "I wish I was out of school!"
Once the words were out, there was no going back. The rush of adrenaline fueled Lloyd to go on. His heart was beating at a quick pace, making every bit of him tremble.
What else? What else? Lloyd thought about his quiet personality. How most of the time he gathered the guts to speak, his words were somehow always the wrong thing to say. How they were ignored, or politely pushed aside with a patient smile. "I wish I always said the right thing."
The Djinn looked as if he was about to speak, but Lloyd didn't let him. One more. Just one more wish. "I wish-"
"Lloyd?"
Lloyd yelped at the sound of his mother's voice, quickly twisting the teapot and trapping the Djinn back inside. Lloyd wondered if the creature had had enough time to work his magic. As the adrenaline faded, he really hoped the wishes hadn't worked.
"Yes?"
"You ready to go?"
Lloyd threw the teapot and his tattered wallet into a small green backpack. He looked around his room, trying to think if there was anything else he needed.
"Just a second, mom!" Lloyd said. Or tried to, in any case. His lips, however, shaped different words.
"Yes, I'll be right there!"
Lloyd froze on the spot. He frowned. It was unsettling, hearing himself say something he hadn't planned to say at all.
With a shaky breath, Lloyd accepted his fate. The wishes had worked.
"Cole!"
Jay hopped up from the picnic table he'd been sitting on, rushing to hug Cole's figure. Cole accepted the embrace with a chuckle. He returned it, lifting Jay off his feet. "Missed me that much, huh?"
"Well. . . duh." Jay blushed, struggling to bring his feelings back under control. But how could he? Cole was back.
"I missed you too. Everyone at the Marty Oppenheimer was extremely boring." Cole stole a long kiss from Jay's lips. Jay smiled with giddiness before returning it. He enjoyed the ease of Cole's movements. Somehow, kissing his crush had become a commonplace thing.
"Of course they were. Trust me, after meeting me, everyone is going to seem boring." With Cole's hand in his own, Jay led them back to the table. The park was mostly empty, with only the far-away sound of shrieking children and squeaking birds to fill the silence. "Nya and Lloyd are on their way. Zane's doing something with his dad today, so I couldn't get him to come. But he wanted to know if you two could meet up tomorrow."
"Definitely." Cole nodded. "Dad still hasn't given me my phone back so. . . can I borrow yours? To give Zane a quick call?"
Jay nodded, handing over his cell phone. Cole paced around as he talked.
Jay's eyes watched him greedily. His black hair was longer now, most definitely in need of a haircut. Or not. He was handsome either way. Jay tried to pinpoint which of Cole's features he liked the most. It was a futile effort. He liked everything.
His smile, which had slowly grown from rehearsed to shy and kind.
His eyes, whose color shifted in the light, making them impossible to look away from.
His hair. Jay knew very well how soft it was to the touch.
Jay jolted, when he came the realization that Cole had been studying him with the same intensity. He gave a sheepish smile, hoping he didn't look as dumb as he felt. Cole handed him back his phone. "Thanks."
"No problem." Jay cleared his throat, trying to ignore the warm blush spreading through him. "So. . ."
"So you and Nya made up, huh?"
"Oh! Yeah! Right! You didn't know." Jay nodded eagerly. "Yes. We talked and. . . I think we're good."
"Going to tell me what that's about, yet?"
"Um. . ."
"Don't worry about it." Cole shook his head. "Anything about Kai?"
"Unfortunately, no."
Nya arrived not too long after. Lloyd was the last to find them.
They had each brought something to share, and they spread out the tasty treasures upon the table. While they ate, Cole told them everything worth telling about the Winter Camp, which mainly consisted of jokes about the teacher's stiff personalities.
Once he'd run out of stories, a heavy silence drifted over them. Nya was suddenly very much aware of her brother's absence. "I hope we can find Kai soon."
Cole nodded slowly. He'd been thinking the same thing.
Jay's hands begun to fidget. Nya had promised not to bring anything up about the teapot in front of Cole. Still. He felt nervous. Jay tried to give her a please change the subject look, but her eyes were lowered.
The blow that would destroy his world, however, came from a completely unexpected direction.
Lloyd slammed the teapot against the table. "We will. We have all we need."
Jay looked up at Lloyd with frightened eyes, and was surprised to see that Lloyd looked just as scared. Cole stood, his eyes wide. "Holy. . . It's real."
"Very much so." Lloyd's confident tone didn't match his frightened features. Regardless, Jay had the urge to kick him off the table, and drag him and the teapot as far away as possible.
Cole reached for the teapot. Before he could lift it, Lloyd tightened his grip.
"Does it. . . work? It looks. . . broken." Cole was unaware of the tension hovering around him. With innocent curiosity, he reached to twist the image of the skull into place. Jay finally snapped into action, taking Cole's hand in his own.
"Don't." Jay hissed as he did so. But it was all too late.
Twist! Poof!
The smoke covered them. Lloyd let go of the object, and Cole stumbled back, startled. Only Jay and Nya stayed still. One frozen in fear, the other in fury.
As the Djinn formed, his eyes glued onto Jay's in an instant. Jay quivered before the creature's gaze. "Ah. I assume you're back for your third wish?"
Jay shook his head. Cole frowned. "Third?"
"Congratulations, Jay." The Djinn looked at Cole, eyes drifting down to the teen's hand. Which Jay was still holding. In a panic, Jay let go. "It seems the wish did get you what you wanted. Hmm?"
"What you. . .wanted?" Cole turned away from the Djinn, locking eyes with Jay. "Did you wish for me to like you?"
"No!" Jay shook his head.
"Then what did you wish for?" Cole's voice was soft. Hurt. Confused.
"I-. . ." Jay shook his head again.
"He wanted to have you so badly, he was truly willing to do anything." The Djinn's eyes glinted with malice. "Cause an accident, to have you notice him"
Jay looked down. Cole's feelings began to bubble up into anger.
"Knock your life down a notch, so that his unpleasant personality might seem a bit more tolerable to you."
"That wasn't it at all." Jay's voice shook.
"The. . . bad luck." His eyes shifted away from Jay, back to the Djinn. "That was him?"
The Djinn smiled. Nodded.
"I thought. . ." Cole ran his hands through his hair. "I really thought you'd. . . you'd magically shown up when I needed you the most. I thought you. . . You were the one thing worth all the bad stuff. And you-
"You were the source of it? All along?"
Cole felt as if the world were spinning. Always suffering through the consequences of someone else's actions. The one person he'd trusted, the one person who'd shown him how to be himself. . . had manipulated his life too.
"Cole, I didn't mean it, I didn't want to wish-"
"Sure. Sure. Yeah." Cole laughed. He took a step back. "Wow. I hope you enjoyed watching my life fall apart. Bet it made you feel real good, to be there to comfort me. Bet you were happy your little scheme worked."
"That's not fair. You aren't listening." Jay stood, trying to keep the tears from flowing. "I did not want to ruin your life."
"I was fine. Everything was fine. But then you show up and-. . . poof! One by one, day by day, everything chipping away at me. I should have noticed. I should have known. It was all too good" The frustration that had been building up inside Cole's mind snapped. The anger shook everything inside him. Every word of comfort Jay had uttered suddenly became a dagger, stabbed against his back.
"I told you how everything was dragging me down. And you- you sat there and smiled, and acted kind, all the while knowing it was your fault! I can't-
"I can't believe you would. . . I trusted you, Jay."
Cole was finding it very hard to breathe. Jay felt the same. They stared at one another, as the seconds ticked.
The band breaking up.
The winter camp.
The tightened schedule.
Grades.
Sickness.
Every other small thing in between.
"You- You're the worst thing that ever happened to me, aren't you?"