Skylor's POV

I stand in front of my house with dread. My foot taps against the ground as I wait for Kai. He still picks me up to take me to school, except for the rare occasion that my dad drives me, but today I wish he didn't.

I can't remember what happened once we got into Cole's room, but a part of me doesn't want to know. When I woke up in the morning, I was only in a t shirt and my underwear, and Kai was sleeping with his arms around me, but I dont know for sure if anything happened. As soon as I woke up, I practically ran away.

When I see Kai's truck pull up in front of my house, I sigh. My chest is heavy, just like my feet as I slowly walk over to the passenger side. I hop in, and he starts driving.

Neither of us talk. There's an awkward, suffocating silence that fills the inside of his truck. I don't want to be the first one to say anything, especially because I don't know what exactly we did. Kai stares in front of him. He has his sunglasses on, shielding his eyes.

"So you're still ghosting me?" he clears his throat before asking. His gaze doesn't waver from in front of him.

"What?"

"Well, when I woke up you were gone, and then I tried to text you all of yesterday," he elaborates, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"I had my phone off," I lie. He lets out a long sigh.

"No you didn't. You were texting Mackenzie. I saw over her shoulder," he responds with more frustration. His hand runs through his hair while we're stopped at a stop sign. "Why do you keep leading me on?"

"Excuse me?"

"You'll flirt back with me. You'll show interest. Hell, you'll make out with me, but then you tell me you don't like me that way," his hands grip the steering wheel tight, his knuckles turning white.

"I'm not ready for a relationship Kai, especially with a guy that has your reputation," I answer, a bit of attitude in my voice. His eyebrows draw together.

"Do you know how many girls I've gone after since I've met you? I've only tried to be with you, and I've been honest with you about that."

The two of us sit in an even denser silence. I know it's my turn to talk, but I don't know what to say. We drive several minutes without saying anything.

"You want to know why I ghosted you yesterday?" I ask a bit harsher than intended. When he doesn't say anything, I speak up. "I was afraid that I had sex with you that I couldn't remember. Happy?"

We stop again, and he takes off his sunglasses before looking at me. "You kept insisting on it, but I wouldn't let you."

At that, my eyes slightly widen. "What?"

"I didn't notice how drunk you were until you kept asking. I just thought you were a little buzzed. As soon as I did notice, I made you put back on your shirt, and we fell asleep," he explains what happened, and I let out a sign of relief.

"Thank you."

"I knew you wouldn't want it. Besides, we aren't even dating yet," he turns his head back to the road, driving down the street a little bit until we reach the school.

"Yet?"

"There's chemistry here, especially since all of your no's are mixed signal no's that lead to us making out sometime anyways," he smirks a bit, turning his head over his shoulder so he can park.

"Some people are just hard to stay away from. What can I say?"

---

Jay's POV

I'm not going to chicken out of it today. I can feel it. When Kai was gone last Saturday night, I went over to Nya's house to watch movies. She decided that it would be a good idea to watch horror movies, which absolutely terrify me, but I went along with it to make her happy. At the jump scares, I would jump while she would just laugh. She ended up looping her arm through mine, so I couldn't keep jumping as much as I was. We also shared the same popcorn. I also fell asleep there, but Kai didn't come home, so it was alright.

I already saw Nya this morning. I drove her to school since she refuses to let Kai drive her. When I went to ask her, she started telling me a story about one time when she was on vacation when she was 12.

Apparently, they went snorkeling at some fancy resort that their family spent years saving up for. Kai, at the age of 14, still didn't know how to swim, but their parents didn't realize it. Kai thought the water was shallow, but it was actually fairly deep. He started to drown, but she jumped in and saved him. When they got back to the resort, Nya spent the rest of the trip teaching her brother to swim.

Now, I'm waiting in between my 4th period class and Nya's, so we can walk to my car for lunch. I've decided that I'm going to ask her on the walk to the car so in case she says no, I won't be stuck in an awkward, confined space with her.

"Earth to Jay," I'm pulled out of my train of thoughts by Nya. She runs a hand through her hair, the other holding her notebook.

"S-sorry," I stutter, wondering how long she was standing there.

"My mother called me last night," she starts walking, so I follow her, syncing our steps together.

"How did that go?" I ask, treading with caution.

"Well, she asked me if Kai was okay because he wasn't answering her calls," she starts, giving a giant eye roll. "Then, she proceeded to talk as if she's been here the whole time. She's missed our birthdays ever since she moved into the city. She said next time we talk we should video call, so she can see me, but I lied that my phone doesn't have the software."

I try to look at the bright side. "At least she reached out to you."

"She only reached out to me because she couldn't talk to Kai. I was the pity prize," she shakes her head sadly, sticking her hands in her pockets.

"I-if it makes you feel any better, I think you're a lot cooler than Kai," I inform her, nervously looking down at the ground.

She stops walking, and I realize we're at the point where we're about to walk into the parking lot. Turning to look at me, she takes both my hands in hers.

"It honestly means the world to me. Your opinion is really the only one that matters at this point."

"Can I ask you something?" the words flow out of my mouth. My hands are shaking slightly, but her hands are steadying me.

When the words escape my lips, a brightness flashes through her eyes,"Of course."

"D-do you want to..."

"Nya!" I'm interrupted by a shout. When I look over her shoulder, Cole is jogging towards us. At the voice, she drops my hands, and the moment is over. Her sweet gaze she was giving me is replaced with a sharp glare.

"Yes, Cole?" she spins around.

"I was hoping that you'd go to at least one football game this season," he nearly pleads.

"I hate football games," she deadpans, giving him a look as if he should know that.

"I know, but it's your brother's senior year, and he's the captain. He really wants you to watch him," he tries to explain. This guy is massive. He looks as if he could crush me in a second.

"Kai doesn't care. As long as whatever girl he's interested in is there to watch his showboating, he's content," she disproves him.

"So maybe I also want you to come to the games..." he trails off. She groans. I stay silent, attempting to not draw any attention to myself.

"I am not going to support you Cole, period," she glares up at him. Even though he has a huge size advantage on her, it's obvious she's in charge. She has a firm stance, and she looks up at him fiercely.

"I'm sor...," he starts.

"How many times do I have to tell you that words mean nothing without actions? Do you think I want to hate you? No, but I can't respect you unless your actions show that you care," she scolds him.

His face is deathly pale, and his gaze seems like it's looking straight through Nya. I've seen how he is usually captivated by Nya, and this isn't it.

"Is everything okay, Cole? You don't look too good," I ask softly. Instead of snapping at me like I expected, he just seems to get pulled back to real life.

"I'm just a bit sick. It's nothing big," he dismisses me, blinking a couple of times.

"Are you high?" she asks him roughly, examining his face.

"No!" he denies, before letting out a large cough, turning away from Nya.

"I think he's actually sick Nya," I tell her quietly. She nods.

"Please consider it, Nya," he gives her a soft, caring smile before walking away. I can see him take several deep breaths to try to ease whatever he is feeling.

"Sorry for the interruption," Nya turns back to me. "What did you want to ask?"

"Do you want to... make our next service project a beach clean up? I've always wanted to do one of those," I ask quickly, making something up.

Her face drops. She quickly recovers it though, a smile spreading across her face. "Of course. That would be fun."

---

Harumi's POV

As soon as I see a text from Lloyd, I always try to come up with an excuse to go somewhere. My friends are starting to catch on, but it's not a big deal. All the girls think I quit, but I'm still fulfilling the dare.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I give my friends a small smile as we walk to cheer practice.

"Do you want us to wait for you?" Chamille asks. Skylor and Mackenzie stand next to her.

"No, it's fine. It's that time of the month, so I might take a bit longer than usual. Take the key and open the gym," I place the key in her hand. Once I'm out of their sight, I quickly make my way through the maze of halls to the bleachers. Once I get there, Lloyd is there, as per usual. "What's up?"

"The other members are concerned about you," he admits, popping a piece of gum in his mouth.

"Why? I've been more well behaved lately," I stomp my foot. It's true. I've been going out of my way to try to be more mellow.

"And they appreciate that, but they're concerned about your commitment," he admits.

"My commitment?" I fume. "I went a heist for goodness sake. I stole for them."

"I know, I know. It's just the you're the only member that hides it. The rest of us who go here all hang out together and wear our jackets with pride. They think you're ashamed of it."

"What could I do to fix that?"

"They want you to leave your friend group," when he says that, I'm outraged. As I'm about to speak up, he continues, "but I told them that was unfair. They weren't too happy about that, but I told them they couldn't make you choose and that you didn't do anything wrong."

"You...defended me?" I ask, a smile appearing on me face.

"Of course. You're my new heist buddy. You're way better than Brad and Gene."

"I'm honored. When can we go on one of those again?"

"Maybe this Saturday, if that works for you," he suggest, and I detect a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Of course. In case you were wondering, the party last Saturday was terrible," I tell him.

"Bad beer?" he raises an eyebrow, all composure back.

"Well, I showed up and was automatically swooped up by Chamille. I swear that girl is so clingy. Anyways, she started a game of truth or dare and guess who she let play with us. It was Tyler, Cole's asshole cousin. He dared me to kiss him, which was easily one of the most disgusting moments of my life. Then, Skylor was dared to kiss, just kiss, the hottest guy in the room. Her and Kai then started making out, in front of everyone, before they allegedly went up to Cole's room together. I left before they did that," I rant, twirling a strand of hair that's dangling in my face while I say it.

"That's tough. Are they having another party this weekend?"

"Probably, but I'm not going. We have a heist, remember?" I tell him.

A look of shock appears on his face. "You're hanging out with me instead of them?," he asks, and I can tell he's actually surprised.

"You're not bad company. Besides, anything beats watching the boy I'm in love with make out with another girl," I sigh.

When I look at Lloyd, I realize something. I've been in this gang for a while. If I wanted to quit, I could and still have fulfillled my dare. My life could go back to normal. I wouldn't have to sneak off ever, either before games to our meetings or to see Lloyd when he texts me. I wouldn't have to worry about the guys finding out. I could date Kai.

However, a part of me is pulled towards the Sons of Garmadon now. The adrenaline rush I got last Saturday beat any party I could ever go to. Although they call me out a lot, it shows they care.

I want to be one of them now.

A/N: I'm soooooo sorry for the late update y'all. Online school started up and I was busy

This chapter was a bit boring but oh well

Next chapter a reveal is coming 👏

Any predictions for this book?

I hope you guys have a good rest of your days/ nights