I woke up to a sudden vibration buzzing under me. Reaching my arm to grab what it was, I saw my phone buzzing like crazy. Feeling less sleepy, I turned it on and saw a couple messages from my friends. Kai's message was on top, then Nya's message, then Jay's and the last two messages which I assume was Cole's and Zane's. Opening Kai's message first, I read what he sent me.
Kai: Hey dude! Sorry to disturb your sleep but are ya ready for your first day of highschool?!
I woke up to see a message asking me if I'm ready for school?! I only groaned and tapped to open Nya's message next. It was the same as her brother's but a little longer.
Nya: Hey bro! This is the moment all five of us had been waiting for! It's your first day at Ninjago High! Are ya excited about it because I am super hyped in seeing you today. Hope you'll reply back. See ya there!
Why is everyone so happy about me being at highschool? Normally, other teenagers don't like first days at school. Feeling a little tired to reply to Nya's message, I tapped Jay's message next. Let me guess, he'll be asking the same thing, isn't he?
Jay: Hi Lloyd. Sorry to bother you but I wanted to ask if you have an extra phone charger? I kinda lost mine at home because I forgot where I last put it. If you do have one, hope you won't mind bringing it later at the warehouse. I promise I'll give it back to you soon as I've found my lost one. Thanks!
Well that was weird but who can blame Jay? I mean, he always loses things. As I thought about it, I tapped the reply button and typed in my message.
Me: Sure man. I have an extra one here and don't worry about giving it back. It's all yours. I'll just meet you later at the warehouse.
I pressed send and my message has been delivered. Scrolling down, I saw Cole's and Zane's messages but I just ignored them because I know they'll be asking if I'm going to school today or not. Which I plan on not going at all. I'd rather stay here than go out and have people look at me with their horrible faces.
Oh! And you might be wondering who I am.
My name is Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon. I am 14 years old and my parent's names are Koko and lord Garmadon. Yeah you heard it right, lord Garmadon is my father and people knew me as the Son of the evil lord Garmadon. Him being my dad totally ruined my reputation. That's the real reason why I don't want to go out today.
Everytime I go out, people think of me as the same villain as my father. Because my father always attacks our city and people blame me like I'm the one who destroyed it. I tried to just shake it off but seeing how everybody treats me of who I am, it didn't work. People hated me like I'm the real bad guy.
And another reason why I don't want to go out today is because I think I'll find highschool pretty "judgy" ( if "judgy" is even a real word.) You might be wondering why it's my first day as a freshman at highschool.
Well, it all started when I was a young boy. My mom decided to take me to school everyday. But I guess, the teachers and kids knew who I really was. That's when kids started to bully and taunt me for being Garmadon's son. My mom found out that I wasn't coping really well with my studies and classmates and saw that I was having a really hard time at school.
She felt guilty for putting me to school that she immediately decided to homeschool me instead. My mom has a lot of work especially up till today. She gave up most of her work time to teach me and help me learn.
Growing up, I learned how to teach myself with my studies because it's the least I can do for my mom since she has a lot of work to do.
Until three days ago, when I turned 14 my mom told me that I no longer need to be homeschooled and that she'll be enrolling me at Ninjago Highschool. I didn't like her idea because I'll only go back to being bullied but she told me that I've grown different and can handle my own problems but she'll always be here for me to support and help me.
That's not what I really meant because even though I was homeschooled, I still go out with my friends. I started hanging out with them at the age of 13. So everywhere I go, people recognize me as, you already know who. And they give me their looks of hatred and all I can do is lower my head in shame.
I tried to be nice. Tried to talk to other people and be myself, but it just didn't work out for me. They keep ignoring me and giving me horrid looks. That's when I gave up being nice to them and just felt like I wanted to disappear from the world. I felt like nobody ever wanted me. Nobody ever wanted to talk to me. Even my father doesn't talk to me and I sometimes hope that he will call but then I gave up hoping. I sometimes think to myself that he has forgotten he has a son. The only people I talk to are my mom, uncle and my friends.
I finally woke up from my train of thought when I heard a loud grumble. Putting a hand on my stomach, I felt very hungry from all that thinking.
Standing up from my bed, opening my door, I walked my way into the kitchen. By the way, my mom and I lived in a small apartment in the city. So we don't have upstairs or downstairs, my room is next to my mom's room and the bathroom is a little close to my bedroom. We have a small laundry area, the kitchen is connected to the dining area and living room. It doesn't look much, but it's home.
Walking into the kitchen, I saw a note stuck on the refrigerator. Taking it out, I began to read. This is what the note says:
Lloyd,
I'm sorry for leaving you here alone but I had to leave early for work today. Don't worry about cooking breakfast, I've already made some. I cooked you some crispy bacon and scrambled eggs, just the way you liked them. They're there at the table. You'll find a plate sitting on the table with another plate on top for cover.
I've also packed your lunch for school. If you open the fridge, you'll find a small tray of sushi. I'm the one who made them last night of course.
And don't even think about not going out on your first day, I messaged Kai to pick you up, that way you two can take the bus to Ninjago High.
For your dinner, I might be home late and won't be there to have dinner with you so I left some money on the top fridge. It'll be enough for you to buy some food outside.
And don't forget, just be yourself and if ever your dad attacks the city again today, just remember to duck and cover and let the secret ninjas do the job till it's all clear. Have a great first day at school honey!
Love mom
Reading my mom's note brought a big smile on my face but as I kept on reading, my smile faded.
Why on earth did she have to message Kai to pick me up?!
I sighed because I know I don't have a choice but to go with Kai today. My hunger then reminded me that I needed to eat. I move a little forward to the dining table and leaned down to take the top cover off. As I took the cover off, the smell of bacon and eggs wafted inside my nose. I sniffed the delicious smell and my mouth began to water. I sat down, using the cover plate as my dish, I grabbed some utensils and picked my food. Putting the fork in my mouth, I munched the bacon and eggs. It was good!
A few minutes has passed, I heard a knock on the door. Man, that's probably Kai. How did he even get here so fast? Did he flew or what? Pushing my chair back, I went to answer the door and sure enough, it was my best bud, Kai Smith.
He was wearing pants and a red jacket with a white shirt under it. He had a giant grin on his face as soon as he saw me and immediately pulled me in a super tight hug. I almost choked the food that I was still munching on.
"Bro! It's so good to see you man!" He exclaimed. I wanted to breathe. "Thanks Kai. That's great and all but dude, I can't breathe." I choked, gasping for air. He let me go and put his hand behind his head. "Heh, sorry dude. I just got excited." He said, trying to make me feel good. As I was still gasping for air, I motioned for him to come inside. He stepped in and I closed the door.
I've known Kai since I was 12. Kai is only two years older than me and he has a sister who is the same age as me and I treat her like my sister too. As Kai walked to sit on the couch, I sat back to the dining table. "Dude, might wanna hurry up faster? Because, your mom told me that school starts at 9am." He reminded me.
I just rolled my eyes at him. "Why did my mom have to message you to pick me up?" I asked him. He laughed at my sentence. "Haha! Maybe it's because your mom knows you're gonna skip your first day. She messaged me to make sure you're not doing anything foolish." He finished and I just looked back at my meal.
He stood up from the couch and walked over to sit down next to me. "Bro! Bacons and eggs?!" He exclaimed near my ear. "Sure you don't mind if I take a bite? I'm starving a bit." He asked nervously. I glanced at him and gave him a confused look. "Didn't you have breakfast earlier?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He just shrugged. "Meh, I did but I got hungry again." He scratched his head and chuckled nervously.
I sighed and gave him my plate. "Here, take it. I'm gonna go ahead and take a shower, then later we'll just take the bus to school." I said and went inside my room to grab some clothes to wear.
I brought out a white shirt and black pants. Then I took out my favorite green hoodie and hanged it inside my closet. I kneeled down to open my drawers and search for some white socks. Finding two pairs, I hanged them on my hoodie. Then I grabbed my bath towel and went inside the bathroom to take a quick shower.
Once I've done my shower, I wore my clothes. I went out and saw Kai on his phone. I walked inside my room and slid my socks on and grabbed my shoes. I put them on and wore my green hoodie then I walked over to the mirror and put on some cologne. I smell good.
Grabbing my bag, I brought out some things I needed to bring. My phone and charger, and extra charger for Jay later. A notepad, some pens and markers and my earplugs. I also have my wallet with me. Just in case if I need to buy something. I thought to myself, and put my black folding umbrella in my bag because what if it might rain later.
I went out of my room and walked into the kitchen. Kai seeing me that I've done dressing myself, stood up from his chair and brought the dirty dishes to the sink. He washed them himself of course.
Opening the fridge, I took out the small tray of sushi and transferred them to a topper ware and put it inside my bag. I grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the cabinets and my water bottle from the fridge again, I put them all in my bag. Seeing that Kai has finished washing my plate, I grabbed the spare key mom left me, checked everything to make sure all's well, Kai and I walked out the apartment then I locked the door.
I saw Kai took his phone out and began to play a few beats of "The Weekend Whip from The Fold" as the two of us walked our way to the elevator. I pressed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive. Looking sideways, I saw a lady lock her apartment door and joined us at the elevator. But as soon as she saw me, she turned away and went for the exit. I frowned but then my expression turned into disappointment. This is going to be a long day.
The elevator doors opened and Kai and I walked in. Good thing there weren't any passengers inside. Kai was still listening to "The Fold" and I just took my phone out and messaged Jay.
Me: Hey Jay. Change of plans, I'm actually going to Ninjago High today so I'll just hand you the charger as soon as I get there. If I happen to change my mind, we'll just meet at the warehouse.
I pressed send and seeing that he didn't answered to my last message, I assume his phone died on him. The elevator "dinged!" and the doors opened. Walking outside, I saw a lady on the counter, give me a look of fear as we passed her. I looked away from her and just hung my head low.
Kai seemed to notice me and wrapped his arm around my back to comfort me. "Lloyd, don't worry about how they look at you. Just imagine that they're not really there." He said trying his best to ease my mind. As we opened the glass doors, Kai and I walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus to come.
The people waiting there, saw us and began to grab their phones and felt scared as soon as they saw me. I sighed and Kai did his very best to comfort me. Eventually, the bus arrived and it was filled with rowdy students. The bus door opened and when the driver saw me, he wasn't happy. Me and my friend just walked inside and again, the students suddenly stopped and gave me looks of hatred and fear. Kai and I walked down the aisle and found an empty seat.
I took the seat next to the window and Kai sat beside me near the aisle. Then we heard a thumping kind of moving sound, and turned our heads to the left to see all the kids and students moved over there, all huddled up, still giving me their glares. Kai only gave me a look of awkwardness and I only faked smiled at the students and showed that I didn't really care. But as the bus drove away, I turned my head to the window and suddenly my fake smile faded and I felt a heaviness in my heart. I felt like I was an outcast.
How I wish I stayed at home where I was safe.
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Song credits: The Weekend Whip by The Fold