*16 days later*

Skylor's POV

I walk into school with my head held high. Everything has been going in my favor lately. My dad has been a bit more lenient, which means that I have more freedom. Harumi has been gone more, which I can't complain about. It's a shock when I see her with all of the other girls, huddled around a table.

When I walk closer, I see what the commotion is about. Jay Walker is sitting at a table in the front of the quad, and on the front of the table, there is a big sign that reads "homecoming court sign ups". In the chair next to Jay, Kai's sister, Nya, sits, writing something down.

"Oh my gosh, thank goodness you're here! We were getting worried," Harumi grabs my wrist, pulling me over to the table. "Sign up. I need it to look like I had real competition when I win. Plus, we can be the hottest homecoming court the school has ever seen. Chamille, Mackenzie, PIXAL, and I already signed up. We need a fifth to finish the council with our superiority."

"The council looks fun," I admit, looking at the paper that explains everything they need to do. All ten members have to attend the dance for the crowning, and all five have to dress up for the spirit days all week. I take the clipboard, signing down my name and contact information.

"Let me guess, you're signing up too, Nya. Are you going to turn your whole campaign into a big 'save the Earth?' awareness thing instead?" Harumi glares at her while Nya doesn't pay any attention to her. "Listen to me." Harumi slaps the notebook out of Nya's hand, sending it flying into the floor. While Jay goes to get it, Nya glares at Harumi.

"Maybe if you weren't so obtuse you'd remember that I'm a junior, and juniors can't run for homecoming court," she tells Harumi calmly, giving Jay a small smile when he brings her back her notebook.

If I'm being honest, I've wanted to have a conversation with Nya for a while now. I don't want her to think of me as a Harumi clone. I want to show her that not all of her brother's friends are jerks.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you bribed your boy toy into letting you run just so you could beat me," she leans forward, eyeing the two of them. Jay seems anxious, but Nya just looks annoyed.

"I'm sorry Harumi, but I don't obsess over you nearly as much as you obsess over me. I don't need to prove myself to you," she smirks, looking back down at her drawing.

Harumi, never not having the last word, decides to speak up again,"How did you convince Jay to be friends with you even with me assuring social death to whoever joins you? Did you tell him about all the stuff you and Cole used to do and tell him you'd do it with him also? If you did, you'll need to do a lot of stuff together because you and Cole were never not touching..."

"Shut up Harumi," Nya glares at Harumi.

"I remember one time I was at your house, and you were doing stuff with Cole. You two were so loud that Kai and I could hear you throughout the whole house..."

"Shut up Harumi!" Nya snaps, giving Harumi the satisfaction she wanted. Harumi gets a huge smirk on her face.

"I'll always win Nya. Besides, you know you still want Cole. You can't tell me you've never craved how he use to sneak into your room in the middle of the night and..."

"Stop tormenting my sister, Harumi. It's not cute," Kai rolls his eyes when he walks over, grabbing the empty boy's clipboard and signing up. He's with Morro, Griffin, and Cole. The three of them sign their names after Kai.

"Where's your fifth? The court has five people, Kai," Harumi questions. Kai shrugs.

"There's four of us. I wasn't going to randomly find a fifth person to fill a spot," he explains.

"Well you need to. When we all get paired up, it'll be awkward to have a girl left out," Harumi pokes his chest.

"It's not my job to get a full court."

"Please Kai," she looks up at him, batting her eyelashes. His face softens for a second, but it quickly hardens again.

"If you care so much, then you do it," he crosses his arms.

"Oh you Smiths, so stubborn," she glances between Kai and Nya, finally settling her eyes on Kai. "I have the perfect idea for a fifth boy."

Harumi looks around the quad. She jumps when she sees Lloyd leaning against a post just ten feet away, but she keeps looking until her eyes settle on one person: Zane Julien. With a purpose, she power walks over to him.

"Excuse me," I walk to the front of the group, trying to get either Nya or Jay's attention. "When actually is homecoming?"

"It's in around a month and a half. We just need to get sign ups, so we have time to narrow the court if we need to," Nya answers before she shows Jay whatever she was drawing in her notebook. It's tilted away from me, but whatever it is, it puts a big smile on his face.

I know Kai really wants Nya to get back with Cole, but her and Jay seem like a cute couple from what I've seen. I rarely see the two apart, and they're always smiling when they're with each other. Plus, she's more assertive, and he's more passive. It seems to work well.

"Oh everyone!" Harumi yells, gaining the attention of everyone in the quad. Everyone goes silent. She's back at the front of the table, with Zane next her. "I would like to introduce you to this years homecoming court!"

"Th-the court actually isn't finalized," Jay tells her shakily. She turns around and glares at him.

"It is if I say so. Anyways, for the girls, I'll be running along with my girls Skylor, Chamille, Mackenzie, and also PIXAL. For the boys, we have Kai, Cole, Morro, Griffin, and just for my own amusement, Zane!" she cheers his name at the end. "It's going to be totally hilarious watching him think he's getting popular while in the end he's just a loser."

"I don't want to sign up," Zane tells her firmly.

Harumi starts dying laughing. "You say that as if you have a choice. If you don't, I'll make your life even more hellish than it already is."

"That's impossible," he sighs, the eyes of everyone in the quad on him. Behind them, I see Lloyd standing in the background. He's shaking his head.

"Fine then. PIXAL, kiss Griffin," Harumi commands. My eyes widen, and everyone gasps.

"Harumi, don't be a jerk," Kai urges her, but she just sticks her hand up to silence him.

"PIXAL, I said kiss Griffin. It's not like you didn't make out with him at Kai's party anyways," she continues with her order. Slowly, PIXAL walks over to Griffin. Zane watches, horrified. When she stands up on her tip toes to kiss Griffin, Zane cracks.

"Fine, I'll do it. Just stop," he pleads. Harumi smirks as he signs the sign up sheet.

"This, everyone, is why you don't go against me. I have power and leverage. Anyways, vote for Harumi for homecoming queen!" she gives a big smile at the end, and everyone walks off. Zane looks at PIXAL, hurt, before quickly running off.

"What the hell was that, Harumi?" Kai asks her, gesturing to everything.

She shrugs. "I was having fun, and I was proving a point. You know I like proving points."

"Well stop it. You're not having fun, you're being a tormenter. I like playing a joke on someone as much as the next guy, but that was overkill," he shakes his head at her, disappointed. When she notices he didn't find it funny, her face drops.

"Come on, Kai. You can't say you didn't find that funny at all," she strokes his arm.

"I didn't find that funny at all. That's as if someone had me kiss someone else to screw with you. You know you'd hate that," he explains to her.

She gives out an obviously fake contemplative sigh. "You're right. I'm sorry Kai. I'll be nicer next time." Her phone goes off, and when she sees the notification, her eyes widen. "I need to go. See you all at lunch!" She quickly rushes off.

"Let's get to class Skylor. Thinking about what just happened is just going to give me a headache."

---

Harumi's POV

I rush over to the bleachers once I get the text. I knew Lloyd was standing there, but I acted like he wasn't. I knew he'd be upset with what I did. When I see him, he's not upset; he's fuming.

Usually, Lloyd is calm and collected, but now he's completely pissed off. He's glaring at me the whole time I walk over. His jaw is clenched and his arms are crossed. Typically, I don't care about the looks I get, but the look he's giving me makes me feel terrible.

"What the hell was that?" he asks, gesturing towards the quad.

"He said no to me. That was a mistake. I had to give a message to show that people shouldn't go against me," I explain my reasoning, starting to flare up.

"And what exactly has Zane done to you?" he asks, his eyebrows raised.

"He told me he wouldn't run for king," I cross my arms. He rolls his eyes.

"Which is his choice. You can't force people do things just because you want them to," he explains to me.

"I needed another person. Besides, he's just a loser anyways," when I say that, Lloyd clenches his jaw.

"Just because you put a label on someone doesn't mean they're worth any less as a person. You forced Zane's girlfriend to break up with him, torment him daily, and just embarrassed him in front of the whole school."

"Look Lloyd," I hold my hand up to silence him. "If you're here to lecture me, Kai already did. Thank you though." I go to turn away.

"People want you kicked out of the group. Pulling stunts like that make it even worse. I'm just trying to help you Harumi."

"Why? You didn't want me in the group anyways," I snap.

He lets out a long sigh. "Everyone has potential. Some just need more work to find it. There's a good, kind person under there. You just need to drop the superficiality. That's what you said joining our group was for."

"And I also told you I need to act like this to keep my power and social status."

"Why does any of that matter? As soon as you hit graduation, none of it will do anything. Being yourself will help you more," he counters.

"I'm fine, morals king," I pat him on the shoulder. When I try to walk away, he talks to me again.

"You know how I can tell if someone is lying 99% of the time? Well, I know you're lying to yourself Harumi," he informs me, his emerald eyes searing into me.

"Excuse me?"

"You tell yourself this is what you want. You say that you want power and influence, but you really just want someone to like you."

"People do like me. Have you seen all my friends?" I counter, crossing my arms.

"I see your followers who listen to you out of fear. I see your ex boyfriend who you still have the hots for falling for another girl you won't let him have because she's too afraid to go against you," he says, making me wince. "I also see you ruthlessly bully Nya because she was brave enough to do the thing you always wanted to do: leave."

"Be quiet, Lloyd," I order him.

"I'm just doing what you were doing to Nya earlier," he shrugs, trying to give me a first hand encounter of what I do.

"I'll try to stop, Lloyd."

"Thank you."

---

Lloyd's POV

I park my car in the familiar empty parking lot. Hopping out, I enter the building. The nice lady at the front desk, Claire, gives me a big smile when I walk in.

"Hello Mister Garmadon. How has your day been?" she asks. Steadily, she writes me my name tag and pass, just like she does every time I come in.

"It's been better," I sigh.

"Don't worry sugar. I'm sure things will look up soon. You know the way to where you want to go," she hands me the pass and tag. I stick the name tag over my chest and walk down the familiar halls.

This whole building looks dead inside. All of the walls are the same monotone grey, and every hall looks the same. When I finally reach the room I'm looking for, I'm met with a guard. That guard seats me at a table and makes me wait.

I'm not allowed to look at my phone while in here, so I just fidget with my fingers.

"Lloyd," I hear a welcoming voice. "How have you been this past week my son?" I look up. Sitting right in front of me, with a warm smile that matches mine, is my dad. His hair is greying, but that just makes us look more similar.

"Things have been confusing. A new girl joined the gang. She's just been a pain, but I see potential in her," I explain. My dad rests his head in his hands.

"What's her name?"

"Harumi," I answer. My dad's eyes widen.

"The Jade child?" he questions. I nod. "Why would she want anything to do with us?"

"She says she wants a fresh start."

"Just be patient my son. If she is right, she will show it. If not, she'll find her own way out," he tells me, sounding just like my uncle. Ever since my dad got put in here during my freshman year, my uncle Wu has been visiting him at least twice a week trying to show him the right path.

"We almost have all of the money," I tell him quietly. A large smile crosses his face.

"I'm so proud of you my boy!"

"It'll be ready sometime soon. We'll finally have the funding to get you out of here."

A/N hey guys I hope you like the chapter

I'm keeping this A/N short but I hope y'all liked this chapter

Thank you for the comments and votes they mean a lot to me