the butterfly effect | l. garmadon

twelve

  "Right," I said, grinning. I left his arms and picked up the laundry basket to continue my job. "Enjoy your patrol."

  "Hold on," Lloyd lightly chided and pulled me back around by the crook of my elbow. I giggled at his exasperated expression. "I didn't come here just to see your face." My brows raised in curiosity when he turned serious. "Now that you know, my family wants to meet you. Properly, this time. No masks."

  "Oh." I stiffly put down the washing basket. That was a lot of people. A lot of really powerful people. People that knew I hit Lloyd both with my skateboard and a car in the same day and probably thought I was a colossal screw up.

  "They already love you," he reminded, reading the fears on my face. "We'll do it slow, if that helps. Only three people at a time."

  "... okay," I hesitantly answered. Three people. I could do three people.

  "You'll be fine," Lloyd said as his hands lifted to cup my cheeks. "They're... well, they're a lot, but they're good people."

  I nodded.

  His nose tapped mine. "Can I have a kiss before I go?"

  A smile broke across my face and, after checking our surroundings just in case, leant forward and pecked his lips. Just a small, quick kiss. He had to go, and if Mei chanced a glance over her fence or Mum walked past a window, we were screwed.

  But kissing Lloyd was like sipping straight addiction, and, with my eyes still closed, I went for another.

  Only to fall into thin air. 

  My eyes shot open with a surprised squeak as I stumbled across the grass and almost fell flat onto my face. I rightened myself with a bewildered look around the empty garden. Lloyd's distant laughter floated through the air.

  My face dropped when I realised what happened. I turned back to my basket with a huff and continued hanging the laundry, cheeks warm.

  "Damn ninja," I muttered.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

  It was a rare moment when Naomi was between babysitting and her softball training. We decided to go to a beach near the city, since it was one of those summer days when the sun was just a bit too hot.

  We strolled through the surf, hair wet and heavy with sea water. In the distance, the ninja's dragons flew through the air. I knew that if I retuned to where out bags laid, half-hidden between the rocks, I'd find a million-and-one notifications on my phone about whatever the ninja were fighting.

  Naomi shook her head again in disbelief. It'd been a little more than a few minutes since the last time she did.

  "I can't believe you kissed him."

  "I know." I smiled at the water pulling against our legs. "I'm still pretty shocked myself."

  "It was a good kiss, too," Naomi guessed. She gestured loosely to my face with an impressed smile. "You've got a glow. The 'I just kissed someone and it was really good' glow."

  "I didn't realise that was a thing."

  "'Cause I invented it - but that doesn't lessen its validity," Naomi said. I grinned at her matter-of-fact tone. She leant forward, sloshing water. "So? Are you two official?"