pixal
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her green eyes flashing back at her in the mirror's reflection. Adjusting the purple hair tie holding her hair up in a high ponytail, Pixal twisted around to check her clothes. Before anything happened, she wanted to set the record straight. What they were about to do was terrible. Like, really terrible. She wasn't sure why she was doing this, but Pixal had always been pegged as 'the Quiet One'. For once, she wanted to do something bad. Reckless. Rowdy. So, she'd watched hundreds of break-in movies, as well as heist and high school movies to get ready for the most dangerous thing she'd do in her life.
Ergo, she was wearing all black. A turtleneck that sort of felt like it was choking her neck, but it looked cool. Plain black leggings, which, unfortunately, owned no pockets, but she made up for that by purchasing a pretty darn cool utility belt, also in all black.
"Dad, I'm leaving now!" Her boots barely made a sound, the soles grippy but quiet as she waited for the lift to reach the bottom level. A con of living in BorgTower, there were a lot of floors, which meant she spent a lot of time in the lift. Her father had moved a chair in there for her to sit in when she felt like passing out, even though he didn't really need it. Today she's remembered to take her iron tablets though, so she would be fine. Her father was confined to a wheelchair, disabeled since birth, but Pixal didn't think it changed anything. He had crazy ideas to improve things he'd already improved, to invent and develop technology that didn't exist, and so much more she often forgot that he was on wheels.
Cyrus Borg had adopted Pixal when she was three. She didn't remember anything before that really. The days in the orphanage blended together in one big blur of grey and beige and stone walls. BorgTower had become her home two days after she'd turned three, and she could remember waddling in on chubby legs, staring in awe at the mile-high glass walls, gaping with a two-tooth gap at the robots whizzing around casually.
She knew she wanted to take Borg Industries even further, and she liked to believe that she really was her father's daughter, blood or not.
"Okay Pixal, just have your phone with you at all times, go to the bathroom in twos, have a good dinner with your friends, text me when you get to the mall, when you leave—"
"Alright, I got it!"
She swung out of the revolving door, a skip in her step as she walked down to the train. Ninjago High, get ready for an eight-student break in.
Then it hit her. She was breaking into her school.
Pixal then proceeded to have a very quiet panic attack the whole ten minutes it took for the train to stop near Ninjago High. Maybe she should have started off with something small, like shoplifting, but that was just as bad too. Where was the inbetween from breaking into school and living a peaceful life as a law abiding citizen?
The air was cool and brisk in the evening, the autumn-tinted trees outside the school swaying in the wind to invisible music. There were little to no cars, the remaining ones probably late parents picking up their kids from practice. Ninjago High was a humongous campus, and quite large seeing as the majority of the city and kids outside attended the school. Sandstone and smooth stone, pillars of white concrete and the massive steps leading up to the front entrance. They'd organised to meet behind the school where the bike parking was, so Pixal tried to act inconspicuous (most of the movies she'd watched involved bank break-ins, and right now, those seemed easier than acting casual in all-black clothing).
Kai and Cole were already there, standing by Cole's beaten pick-up truck, the open cargo area holding a bulky object which she assumed was the arcade game covered with a moth-eaten cloth tarp. There was also a bunch of other stuff lumped around it and in the passenger seat. Nya showed up a minute later, standing by Cole's side with a nervous look on her face as she jumped from foot to foot. Zane and Jay walked into soon after, leaving Lloyd and Skylor to show up.
"Sorry!" Skylor burst through the gate, skidding to a halt beside Pixal. "Clouse forgot her had to drop me off."
"Must be nice having a personal chauffeur."
Pixal noticed how Skylor kept her emotions in check, letting out a loud, annoyed breath as she clenched her fists.
"He's not my chauffeur, he's my dad's PA."
Kai ignored Skylor's response as Lloyd tumbled in, his hair stuck up in ten different directions, a wild look in his eyes.
"Morro."
Lloyd's single-word statement was referring to his cousin, no one quite knew how they were related, but they were, much to each other's displeasure. Pixal could safely say that Morro was a jerk though, he'd bullied her long before she'd joined their friendship group, she kept at least ten feet away from him and still thought about pushing him into the deep end of the pool. A pool without water.
"Alright, let's get to it!" Cole cheered, only to be shushed loudly by seven other voices.
I can't believe I'm doing this.
Nya and Cole worked together, with a bit of argument, to get the game down onto a dolly trolley so they could push it into the school. Lloyd had pilfered his uncle's spare sets of keys, to be met with cries of protest and worry on whether his uncle would notice their disappearance. At lunch on Friday, they'd mapped out the route they'd take to their lockers.
Just as Lloyd unlocked the door at the back of the school, Pixal froze.
"Are—are you guys sure we're going to do this? What if we get caught? What if we get arrested and then get sent to jail—"
Jay's eyes widened with hers. "Crap on a cracker, what if she's right? They have security cameras inside! What were we thinking?"
Kai, Cole and Lloyd exchanged equally anxious looks as they realised the magnitude of what they were doing. Then Skylor stepped up, placing a hand on top of the arcade game.
"I might have a solution."
skylor
She was either leading them to jailed doom, or giving them an awesome passage to the locker room. It was a theory that had been lingering in the back of her mind throughout the busy second week of school. There were three exits and entrances to the room. Through her locker, through the trapdoor and through the second door. They couldn't use the first two, since the first had cameras on it, and the second had no way to get up there. Which left the second door.
One lunch break, Skylor had returned to her locker and put away her books, and with a quick check, she had pushed the loose backing out and in the room. She closed her locker behind her, making it appear as if it was locked, and then hopped into the room with her phone light shining. Holding back a grossed-out scowl, Skylor pushed on the door handle. It didn't move much, just creaked a little, so when she tried again, it was with all of her strength, and the door opened.
It was even colder stepping over the threshold into what appeared to be a dark passage. Skylor shone the light up, watching as old unused pipes came into view. Under foot was just plain concrete, the walls the same material which obviously did not insulate. The passage was quite big, actually wide enough for two, maybe three people to walk side by side. A tremor of excitement tickled her spine as she dared to explore further. After nearly fifteen minutes of walking and a short flight of stairs, she had come to another door. It took more force to wrench the rusted door open, leaving her hands red and raw. A lock of red hair fell into her view, which she tucked back with a tired huff.
She left the passageway and stepped into what appeared to be a loading bay, two red brick walls shielding most of her view, casting a shadow without the help of the broken light bulb in the overhead light. Skylor crept around the corner, trying to figure out where she was. Finally, she recognised where she'd been led to. To the left of Ninjago High was an old shop that had been abandoned. It ran out of business long before Skylor had moved to the city.
An underground passage? This is movie type of shit. Noticing the time, Skylor quietly yelped and then darted back inside. She had ten minutes to get to maths.
So Skylor ended up leading her friends towards the abandoned shop lot, and after a bit of arguing, they decided to re-cover the arcade game with the tarp and wheel it across the street in a less-than subtle parade. She ushered then around the back of the building, between the brick walls to the shaded area.
"Welcome to..." she looked around, her eyes finding the hanging awning over the door. "The Mad-Hatter's Tea Shop,"
At their confused expressions, she continued. "AKA, our way into the school."
"How?" Cole asked, one hand resting on the covered game.
"I did a little exploring." she shrugged, opening the door. "This passage leads right to the second door. I have no idea why it's built, but if you guys want that ridiculous game in there without breaking into the school, I think this is the safest, jail-free way."
"Not bad, Chen." Kai offered her an impressed smirk, which she acknowledged by walking into the passage. Why was she such a bitch? She considered this for a moment. Because it's fun.
"There's a few stairs, so we're gonna have to lift it."
Kai and Cole groaned loudly, grumbling to themselves as they prepared to lift, but Nya shoved her brother aside and took his place opposite Cole. Jay cleared his throat.
"Hey, uh, Cole, I think I can get that."
Cole shrugged, his hands still on the bottom of the trolley. "Sure... I guess."
Nya smiled at Cole, or Jay, Skylor couldn't tell, looking down with a bashful cough. Skylor exchanged a suspicious look with Pixal. What was going on with Nya? Maybe she just had a cough? But from the way the Smith sibling blushed when her hand brushed against the boy's knuckles by accident, Skylor knew this was no cold.
She directed them down the stairs, turning to lead the train of people behind her, Zane, Pixal, Kai, Jay and Nya with the game, Cole, and finally Lloyd at the back. With her flashlight on and excitement high, they gained ground quickly, stopping a few times so Jay could rest. Nya was holding up fine, though Skylor caught her sneaking a look at the boy next to her more than a few times.
Under a quarter of an hour later, then arrived at the door. Skylor opened it, anticipation thrumming under her skin just to prove she'd found something amazing on her own.
"Ta-da!"
The others left the dolly trolley to enter the room, examining the hangout spot once again.
"Alright, let's get the game in here!" Nya and Jay stepped back through the door, returning with red, puffed cheeks and flyaway hair holding the Fritz Donnegan game, setting it down in the middle of the gigantic room.
Skylor blew out a gust of air, pursing her lips. "Let's go get the other stuff, yeah?"
They easily fell into a routine. To make things easier, Cole parked his truck in the loading bay so they wouldn't have to lug everything in the open. It sort of felt like they were lifting illegal substances with the amount of secrecy they were using. Then a relay system came, just to move things along faster. Skylor was quite proud to say the relay was her idea, and in no time at all, all the stuff they'd brought along with sitting in a big pile in the middle of the room.
She lay flat on her back, letting the cold floor cool her down. Her friends seem to take to the idea as well, Zane lay down on her left, Cole on her right. She wasn't quite sure how Zane was hot though, whenever she was around him, he was like a walking, talking, very smart freezer. In simpler terms, he was constantly radiating cold.
Not rude cold, but like he was fanning cold air wherever he went. Useful in the summer, she supposed, but it was quite breezy right now.
She craned her neck to find Jay fiddling with the power box, a neon orange tool box on the ground next to him as he crouched, huddled over the old outlet. Nya was squatting besides him, murmuring her own comments, occasionally taking over to poke and rewire.
Directly above Skylor was a gigantic, oval shaped light. The bulb seemed to be intact, and the next thing she knew, the light bulb flickered back to life and the room was no longer blanketed in darkness. Jay was standing triumphantly over the power box, Nya grinning beside him holding a pair of pliers.
"Great job Jay!" Skylor twirled around on the spot, her hair spinning around with her in a red haze. "I guess we couldn't use flashlights forever." She added with a laugh.
Kai stood up just as she flung her arms out, but his fast reflexes caught on. Just...not in a way she expected, because next thing she knew, Kai was swinging with her, then everyone else was joining in, Jay fumbled for Nya's hands just as Cole decided to skip around the arcade game, Zane and Pixal giggling in glee.
It was nice, like this.
With friends.
A/N: uh, I know I said they'd be like under 2k words but this is over a bit cause I didn't want to edit the stuff out. i love writing mystery love bits because no one knows who nya likes... or do you? idk I haven't written this mystery shrouded thing before so *shrugs* anyways I hope you liked this chapter! i got a ton of ideas where I can take this book; they get their powers eventually, it remains like this with other high school stuff, or some pretty dark shite so... yeeeee. comment what you'd like to see! also there is some swearing just cause you know.
-doms