y/n's pov
i spent the rest of the morning training with cole and zane, getting to know both guys on a deep level. i learned that zane lost communication with pixal, but still thought about her all the time. he shared with us—well me, because cole already knew this—that he loved her, and he tried everyday to find her. but for some reason, she remained untraceable.
cole told his side of the story with the whole
love triangle with nya and jay. he confessed he was so hurt she chose him, but he supported their relationship because jay was his best friend.
"i still love nya, if i'm being completely honest," cole admitted, punching mindlessly at the wooden board we were trying to break with our moves. "i just wonder, why him? i'm pretty funny. i'm strong. definitely stronger than jay. heck, i can sing!"
i had laughed at that last comment, definitely sensing his true emotions. i could see cole was happy for jay, but he wasn't hundred percent satisfied with the fact.
"what about you, y/n?" zane had questioned me. "do you have any romantic interests?"
i sighed, and told them the truth.
"i had a romantic interest," i answered, approaching the wooden board since it was my turn to hit. "back when i was sixteen years old."
"what was he like?" cole asked, holding the board for me.
"well for starters, he's a lot like the blue ninja," i revealed as i sent a hook kick to the board, snapping in two. i hoped the black and white ninja would be distracted with the fact that i was currently breaking boards the fastest, but it wasn't exactly the case.
"wait, wait, jay was your boyfriend?!" cole puzzled, his eyes and eyebrows moving from their usual position. "no way."
"so you and jay have romantic history, y/n?" zane commented, much more calmly than cole had been. "that's very interesting to hear."
"yes yes, please don't say anything though," i pleaded in a slight whisper. "i don't wanna cause any problems with nya."
"your secret is safe with us," zane guaranteed. i turned to cole and he flashed me a thumbs up. "you can trust us."
"yeah, for sure," cole agreed. "but honestly, i'd worry more about jay than i would nya."
"why do you say that?"
"because," cole started, glancing around to see if there was anyone nearby. "jay had told me he had a girlfriend back then. he never revealed your name, though. i just knew you existed. anyway, he told me you were the first girl he ever loved. i remember even after your break up, he cried for months. i think even after a year, he still cried himself to sleep."
"oh, really?" i was taken aback from this information, feeling my heart warm at the thought of jay mourning me, in a way.
"yeah. but you didn't hear it from me."
"why should y/n be worried, cole?" zane quizzed, scratching his head. "if anything, that means y/n's presence could falter jay's feelings, therefore, creating a possibility of nya becoming available."
cole and i traded glances with one another, our eyes wide in an interested, yet astonished way.
"you might be onto something there, zane," cole responded, smirking. "jay and y/n can get back together and i'll have nya to sweep her off her feet. sounds like a good plan."
i laughed, shaking my head. "there's no plan here, cole. i'm not going to jeopardize jay's relationship. i couldn't do that to him. he seems happy with nya. besides, it's not like he still has feelings for me and vice versa."
that last part made me grit my teeth internally, because i knew deep down that was only fifty percent false. i glanced over at jay, who was helping nya bench press. my heart found itself smiling a bit at the sight of him, simply just existing.
"you shouldn't risk jay's fall for your own rise, cole," zane adverted with concern.
"relax, guys," cole declared seriously. "i'm not gonna do anything. nor are you, y/n. we are simply going to sit back and see what my buddy jay there does. i give him a week before he becomes a big ol' ball of feelings."
chuckling, i grabbed a new board so cole could break it, but he was smiling proudly at himself for putting two and two together.
"y/n, since you and jay reunited, do you feel anything for him again?" zane innocently shot a question i had been trying to avoid being asked. but what the hell, these two ninja seemed to be the least problematic of them all.
so i was honest.
"i mean, sure. seeing him again was great. it made me so happy that he's the same goofball i loved. still kind. humble. joyous. i'd be lying if i said my heart didn't miss him sometimes."
zane grinned approvingly, while cole was still in his own way, victorious for what he thought would guarantee him nya's availability.
i cleared my throat, hoping to snap cole from his little pride trance. he did, and gave me a curious look.
"i'd appreciate it if you guys didn't tell jay. i know you guys are all besties here, but i don't need to cause any havoc this early into my membership. it's literally my first day and all i've been talking about is boys, boys, and boys. and i don't want to have any distractions from any."
cole slashed a finger through his lips, as if he were zipping it up. zane nodded his head surely and slowly.
"we promise."
i smiled warmly at the black and white ninja, appreciating their allegiance to me. i knew their first one was to their ninja brethren, but i appreciated the fact they were showing me similar camaraderie. even if i was new to the team and literally got to know more about me than i ever told anyone in my life.
"hey guys," nya's voice broke through my ears. turning my head, i realized she was right next to us, in between cole and zane to be exact. "sensei wu wanted me to tell you guys we can go below deck for lunch."
"wait, lunch already?!" i asked, dumbfounded. i swear i thought barely an hour went by into our training.
"yeah, y/n," nya replied. "it's already a little past noon! come on!"
i glanced around, and realized the deck was abandoned. all the other ninja had already gone down below, leaving the four of us up here.
"don't have to tell me twice," cole remarked, jogging over to the door that led him below deck. zane followed at an equal pace. before i could react and follow, they had already disappeared, leaving me alone with nya.
silence was no longer an option here.
"so, how did you go from flirting with kai to hanging out with zane and cole?!" nya marveled, smirking as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder again. she began to lead me toward the door.
"oh yeah, i think your brother's a little jerk," i sassed jokingly. "i ditched him to train with zane and cole who, spoiler alert, are nice guys compared to kai."
nya laughed hysterically, for some reason finding that to be the funniest thing in the entire world.
"what's so funny?"
"y/n, kai is only a tad mean to people he's interested in," nya explained, her laughter quieting down now. "looks like my brother has taken a liking to you."
"no guy has to act like that around a girl he likes, so i doubt that, nya," i defended sternly.
"okay, y/n," nya said, who was at ease now. " go ahead and make assumptions about a boy you literally just met today and disregard the information i've known for the eighteen years of my life."
"i just hope you're wrong," was all i managed to say, and before i realized where we were, we had entered the dining room.
all the male ninja were sitting in chairs around the table, drawing all their eyes to the sight of nya clutching me by the shoulders like besties. i scanned around to search for available seats, and the only two left was next to kai, in front of lloyd, and the other next to jay, in front of zane.
for obvious reasons, i couldn't just plop down next to jay, as much as i wanted to. that left me no choice but to hesitantly sit in the seat next to kai, once nya let go of me.
"there you guys are," cole stated, a hand detaining his head. "we've been waiting for like, forever."
"oh shut up, cole," nya hissed, seating herself next to jay. "we didn't even take too long, right y/n?"
i had been struggling to just breathe properly, even though i was doing a heck of a job of concealing it. lloyd's green eyes were shooting daggers into my soul, and it didn't help that kai was right to me, staring at me hard too. i gulped slowly, and i swear i saw lloyd smirk for half a second at the sight of my uneasiness.
"y/n?" nya called, waiting for my response.
"no, we didn't," i replied after trying to swallow the drought that formed in my mouth. i heard a soft chuckle come from kai from my right.
"well, let's eat!" jay chimed in after a short pause of awkwardness. "i don't know about you guys, but i'm starving!"
"when are you not?" kai bantered, laughing genuinely. the other ninja chuckled at the comment too.
jay just smiled widely and rolled his eyes playfully in response, taking a slice of pepperoni pizza. his eyes flickered over to me and made eye contact, then he looked shyly away. i had been so on edge with the presence of the red ninja to my right and the green ninja in front of me i didn't realize that our meal was some pizza. nor that sensei wu and lloyd's mother, misako, were nowhere to be found.
"hey, does anyone know where sensei wu and misako are?" cole asked with a mouth full of pizza.
"they had to go to the city to run some errands," nya answered quickly. "they'll be back before sundown. but the pizza is courtesy from lloyd."
"gee, thanks lloyd!" jay exclaimed happily. "how very thoughtful of you."
"thanks man, this is very much needed," cole added.
"i agree," kai concurred, turning his head to look at me. he then proceeded to laugh at himself.
lloyd, aware of their gratitude, licked his natural soft red lips, nodded his head, and mumbled:
"yeah. no problem, guys."
his eyes flickered over at my e/c eyes, a small grin resting on his lips. i'm not sure if he was trying to prove something, or worse, provoke, but i just went ahead and reached for a slice of pepperoni.
i began to eat my slice, listening to the ninja reminisce stories about their greatest adventures. i didn't exactly want to chime in and share, because i didn't think i could stand six pair of eyes--blue, red, and green-- staring at me intently. so i occasionally laughed at their moments, wishing i could have been there to experience it myself.
suddenly, i felt a foot tap mine, so i glanced up at lloyd. however, his head was turned to the opposite end of the table, listening to zane talk. i decided to look at kai, but he too was engaged in conversation with the rest of the ninja. i gazed back at lloyd when i felt the foot tap me once more, and from his side profile, he was grinning ever so slightly.
so he was a fan of footsies.
i gave him a kick to stop him from touching my foot, and for a second there, he did. then he continued again, giving me temporarily satisfaction that i could stop him from footing me. i searched the table to make sure no one was paying heed, but to my great dismay, jay was already looking at me.
"y/n, are you alright?" he asked, making all eyes fall on me.
"of course," i smiled, calm and collected as i could. "i'm quite splendid, thanks for asking jay."
"just checking," jay grinned in return, his gaze lingering a little longer than everyone else had.
lloyd, who appeared to be completely unbothered, kept playing footsies with me. as much as i tried to pry him off, he only repeated his intermingling with his feet. i decided to just stop trying and let him go at it. he halted after a minute or so when he noticed i had given up.
once everyone was finished eating, the ninja began to rise from their seats. everyone but nya and i. i assumed this meant they hoped we would clean up after them. well, everyone but zane.
"where the hell are you guys going?!" nya called in an angry tone. "come back to clean up after yourselves, ninja!"
"sorry sis, but we gotta get our gaming on," kai replied, as he skipped through the door. the other ninja followed, leaving zane behind, who was cleaning up after himself. after he did so, he excused himself and left.
"you can go with them if you want," i told nya, who seemed irritated with the ninja's actions. "i don't mind cleaning up."
"are you sure?"
"yeah, go. i could use some alone time and getting use to the kitchen."
"thanks, y/n!" nya, with no hint of agitation in her voice anymore, didn't hesitate to abandon me within a matter of seconds.
i sat there for a couple of seconds, basking in the quietness and calm air now that i was alone. that only lasted for a couple of seconds, before i felt a pair of hands lightly clutch my neck.
in defense mode, i hauled my arm around the hands gripping my neck, trapping them on the side of my hip. i spun around to find lloyd, just inches from my face, smirking in satisfaction.
"it's just me, y/n. no need to kill me."
the way he articulated those words sprouted goosebumps all over my body. i let go of his arms, tossing them as hard as i could to demonstrate that i was not in any way, glad to him here.
"geez, you're strong. i gotta take that in mind when i fuck you raw."
"oh shut up," i grumbled, starting to collect the plates and cups around the table. i tried hard to pay no attention to him, but the green eyed ninja just kept on staring at me.
"can i help you, lloyd garmadon?" i asked after a couple of seconds of allowing him to stare me down.
"sure you can, y/n l/n," lloyd began, as he started to approach me in a suspenseful manner. "you can have the honor of making all my pain and sorrow go away. all you gotta do is lay down in my bed and let me do things to you."
my breathing became staggered once he was directly in front of me like he was earlier today. my body was tense once more and all i wanted to do was disappear.
which, actually, i could do...
i saved myself the trouble and blanked into the second layer of void, where i was practically invisible. lloyd chuckled, shaking his head like he was impressed.
"good one, y/n. but i advise you, you can't keep that up forever. you're gonna have to face me. eventually."
and with that, lloyd departed from the dining room. i decided it would be best if i had remained in this void, just in case he decided to pop in on me once more. i really didn't want to have to worry about lloyd this much already.
what a wonderful first day so far, am i right?
***
hi guys! let me know how you guys are finding this story so far! hehehe i can't wait for the upcoming chapters;)))
love you all!