Sixteen.
Lloyd's POV
It was the afternoon before the dance, and I had finally gotten up the nerves to ask Natalia. Sorta. I mean, I thought I had, but the family of small butterflies living my stomach might have not agreed.
I saw her in the hallway and walked up to her. While I was walking, I kept tripping over my shoe, as if my feet were arguing with my brain over whether or not to do this. That sounds a lot weirder out loud...
Anyway, I walked up to her and said, "Uh...hi?"
"Hi, Lloyd."
"Um, uh -" This is off to a great start - "hey, Natalia, I was wondering..."
"Yeah, what?"
"I was wondering if you were, er, planning on going to the dance?", I said, slowing down every word as the sentence reached it's end.
"I am, are you?"
"Maybe," I said, trying to sound nonchalant and totally cool. "I might have other plans."
She laughed. "Like...staying at home and reading Starfarer and drinking tea?"
I wanted to say something, but all approximately six sentences I tried to say got stuck, so I kinda just made a noise like I just swallowed a bumblebee.
She laughed again. "You look like a goldfish, Lloyd." I turned red, then she said, "It's cute."
Did she really just say that?! The butterflies in my tummy did loop-de-loops that could have gotten them on Ninjago's Got Talent!.
"So, hey, if we're both going -" Here we go - "would you like to go with me?", I blurted.
She just stared at me for a second, which made me nervous she would say no, but then... "Sure!"
When I was safely out of view of the school, I ninja-fisted the air. Which, piece of advice, you should never do while riding a dragon.
The next night, which was Saturday, was the dance. It was the first time I'd ever gone to school in my ninja uniform, which made everything feel a bit more familiar. Plus, I figured, if I could take down legions of evil in this, it couldn't be bad for dancing in, right?
Natalia was wearing a uniform that looked a little like Nya's, except it was darkish-blue instead of red, like, if Nya was Jay's sister and not Kai's - a thought, given their current situation, I hoped to never entertain again - she might wear this. This color was probably better for her, with her light brown hair and eyes.
"Hi!", she called.
"Hi!" I could see all the school's new girls staring at me. I really, really hoped another pizza-place-type incident would not happen.
Thankfully, it didn't, and the night went mostly smoothly. Cole had made me promise to bring him some cake, so I had hidden a slice in the folds of my ninja sash. A minor food fight broke out about, oh, four minutes after food became available. Natalia told some of the best corny jokes I've ever heard. Also, I hope nobody took pictures of me trying to do the macarena. Most. Embarrassing. Moment. Of life.
Anyway, the dance was going super-great, until it came time to actually, well, dance. Like, actually dance dance, me and Natalia together. Oh my gosh...
See, I have never had a dancing lesson in my life. Not even one of those stupid little-kiddy dances they make you learn in school? Nope. And Natalia, her dad worked for one of the most famous dance groups in Ninjago, The Royal Blacksmiths!
Yeah, that part didn't go so well. She was dancing like a pro, I think I was walking the wrong way, and she stepped on my toes. More than once. Ow. Then crumbly bits of cake started to fall out of my sash. I had taken my shoes off to dance earlier, and now was stepping barefoot on cake crumbs. Gross. But slowly, I actually figured out what I was doing, and danced without making too big a fool of myself.
Best dance lesson ever.