Harumi's POV

"Have you ever been to a football game before?" I ask Lloyd after the meeting. As usual, we have to wait until everyone leaves before he can take me to my house to get ready.

"What type of question is that?" he raises an eyebrow. "Of course I haven't. In case you haven't noticed, that isn't necessarily my scene."

"You should come tonight," I suggest, a hopeful smile on my face.

"I think I'll pass," he dismisses the offer, slightly amused.

"You can't go your entire high school career without going to a football game. That's just barbaric," I insist.

He shrugs, popping a skittle in his mouth,"Then guess I'm barbaric."

"The snack bar has skittles," I try to provide an incentive.

"I have a skittle stash at home," he states the obvious. As the last person leaves the warehouse, Lloyd twirls the keys in his hand. "Besides, who wants to watch a ton of douches slam into each other anyways? No offense."

"Well, the snack bar is pretty bomb. I also heard that the cheerleading squad has a pretty bomb routine they're going to perform," once I say that, a look of realization crosses his face.

"You want me to come to watch you," he verbalizes his epiphany.

"Took you enough hints," we walk out of the warehouse. Lloyd turns around to lock the place up.

"Look Harumi, it's not that I don't want to watch you. I need to go home and make some final preparations for my dad's return, and..." he starts, but I cut him off.

"You don't need to explain yourself. It was dumb for me to even see," the two of us walk to the Sons of Garmadon van, which he drives around all the time. We hop in, and he drives away.

"Kai will be there, right?" he brings up, guiltily.

"Yeah, he will be. I still can't be with him though because of the rule that got put in place when I joined," I bring up. A large part of my is surprised that Lloyd hasn't removed that yet, but I don't know what to expect from him most of the time.

"Not everyone trusts your dedication yet because..."

"...I don't hang out with you guys full time. I know," I fill in what I already know is coming.

"I know you're committed, if that helps," he gives me a soft smile at my obvious frustration.

"I just don't understand why I have to give up everything to be accepted," I shrug, pulling out my phone. Kai texted in our group chat that he forgot his pads at home and had to go back for them fifteen minutes before their warm up and that the other guys should tell the coach he's going to be late.

"You shouldn't have to. They just don't like different."

"In their defense, I don't either. I don't think anyone likes being out of their comfort zone," I type in the text that I might be late to warm ups before slipping my phone in my pocket.

"It's unnerving to feel out of your element. When you're so used to being a certain way and then something else comes in and switches that up, it's tough. It's essential to better yourself though," he finishes what sounds like an excerpt from a motivational book.

"There's also a thrill to being out of your element though. Like, when a person comes in and changes your whole thought process, it's interesting," I look out the window. When we finally reach my house, I get out of the van quickly since I'm already late.

"Thank you for the ride. Have fun getting ready for your dad."

"Have fun cheering."

---

Nya's POV

"Movie time. Kai isn't going to be back until after the game, so we have plenty of time," I flop down on the couch next to Jay. Neither of us have any interest in the football games, so he comes over and we watch movies.

At this point, I'm pretty confident Jay likes me back. There's little things he does, like his gaze lingering a bit longer than usual or the intensity of how he looks at me. I'm honestly considering asking him to homecoming myself, because I know how nervous he gets.

"Can we watch Starfarer?" he asks, a hopeful expression across his face.

"Again?" I laugh. We've already watched it several times, but each time we watch it, Jay seems to get even more excited.

"Pleeeaase, you can chose next week," he sticks out his lower lip in a pout. I cave in.

"Alright. You have it on your Netflix right?" I ask. He nods, and quickly puts it on.

I slide next to him on the couch, resting my head on his shoulder. There's a bowl of popcorn balancing between our thighs. When I go to grab a big handful, he also tries to. Our hands collide, and I feel a spark rush through me. He blushes a bit, continuing to quote the entire movie word for word. If anything, his quoting more entertaining than the movie.

"Oh hell no," I hear a huff behind me. Both Jay and I whip our heads around to view the owner of the voice. Kai is standing there, fuming.

"Why are you here?" I turn around. He has his uniform on, but it's significantly less bulky.

"I forgot my pads," he huffs. I look over and spot his duffel bag on the counter. "Now, turn off the tv and come with me. You two are coming to the game tonight."

"No way," I deny.

"Mom says she wants a picture of both of us at a game. I was going to push it off until senior night, but right now seems like the perfect opportunity," his eyes are fixated on the lack of space between Jay and I.

"And when did I start to care about what she wants again?" I question.

"Please," he begs, his brown hair messy from the helmet he was wearing earlier.

"I will...but only if you leave me alone all weekend and don't talk to me," I bargain.

"Fine," he groans. "We have to hurry though. We're going to be late."

---

Kai's POV

I rush over to the team thirty minutes before the game. They've been warming up, so I ran a quick two laps to get my muscles moving. Now, they're getting water, so I'm stretching while talking to them.

"Alright,  this team is undefeated so far, so..." I drift off as the cheerleaders start to do their warm up. The jv game is going on, so they are warming up on the curve of the track.

All of them are there, but I'm automatically drawn to Skylor. Her scarlet hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, as usual. She's casually stretching, talking with Mackenzie. She's effortlessly flawless.

Cole starts coughing, either on accident or on purpose, and my mind is brought back to the team. "So we need to bring our A game tonight. Any tricks we have up our sleeve should be used tonight." Some of the other guys go to review formations, but I hold Cole back.

"Are you alright?" I ask him.

He raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"You've been coughing a lot lately," I bring up. He shrugs.

"It's just a cold," he brushes it off, his tone a bit rough.

"Nya's here," I switch the subject to what I really wanted to get to. His eyes immediately light up.

"Where?" he looks over my shoulder, scanning the bleaches for her.

"I have no clue," I admit.

His face remains bright until his eyes start moving. It then quickly drops to a grumpy expression. "Why is he here with her?" his eyes narrow. I turn around and see Nya, laughing with Jay at the top of the bleachers.

"It was all or nothing. I preferred the all to the nothing," I admit.

"She looks...happy, like really happy," he mutters sadly. I turn around to face them. Jay's talking nonstop, and Nya can't stop laughing. Her eyes are only on him, not wavering. That is until Jay stops talking because he spots us, suddenly looking nervous. When Nya looks to see what disturbed him, she glares at us and flips us off.

"Harsh," I mumble.

"I'll be able to make Nya smile like that again."

---

Nya's POV

"So then I was like,'you seem in a bad mood" and then the guy threw his ice cream at my face," Jay finishes his elaborate story about how he tried to pet this guy's dog several months ago. The game is in the third quarter, but I'm not paying that much attention. I know that we're losing, but that's mostly it.

"That's a bit harsh," I laugh at the thought of ice cream all over Jay's face.

"It might have been harsh, but it was also very, very delicious," he states matter-of-factly.

I start scanning the stadium. It's been so long since I've been here; the grass is still lumpy, and our track is still worn down. The bleachers have to violate at least two safety guidelines, but that just adds to the experience. I look down to the side of the bleachers, and I see something I'm not expecting to see.

"Is that Lloyd Garmadon?" I tap Jay's shoulder. My eyes are wide in shock. He's leaning against a support beam of the bleachers, and is watching the field. A small, content smile is on his face.

"Oh my gosh that is. He hates all things school spirit," Jay seems just as bewildered as I am.

"May I accompany you?" the two of us look up to see Zane Julien standing in front of us, hopefully.

"Sure," I answer, knowing Jay will be okay with it. The two of us pull our attention away from Lloyd and towards Zane.

"Do you like football?" Jay asks him. I actually take a look out on the field. Kai and all of his friends are out there. Kai is number 7. Morro is 22. Griffin is 13. Cole is 47.

"Not necessarily. It seems illogical."

"How so?" I ask.

"Colliding with other humans on purpose lacks logic. The risk for injury is high," his eyes are fixated on the field, but he has a large smile on his face. "Thank you for letting me sit with you guys."

"It's nothing. We were just goofing off anyways."

"If you think football isn't logical, why do you come?" I ask. He obviously doesn't come for the social aspect of games, considering he had to ask to sit with us.

"My ex-girlfriend, PIXAL, is a cheerleader. I come to watch her. I miss her," he turns, looking longingly at the cheerleaders. PIXAL is in the back, right next to Skylor, who is clearly the best one. Harumi is front and center as usual.

Jay and Zane start talking about some video game they both play, so I tune them out. I turn my focus on the game. Our team is in a huddle. They're down by three points with 40 yards to go. They get back in their formation. Morro snaps the ball back to Cole. Both Kai and Griffin go sprinting to the end zone. With ease, Cole makes a deep throw into the end zone. It doesn't look like either are going to get there in time, but Kai takes a last ditch effort and dives, the ball barely reaching his hands. He pulls it into his chest as he rolls into the end zone. The part of the bleachers that was actually paying attention to the game cheers.

Kai jumps up, excitement evident. The cheerleaders rush over to the end line to do their additional points cheer. The rest of the players all rush over to Kai, giving him a massive hug.

I notice a person missing though. Cole is slowly jogging over, but he looks in pain. About ten yards out, he stops and puts his hands on his knees, his breathing looking heavy even from out here. Several seconds later, he seems to go limp, collapsing on the ground.

"Jay," I shake his shoulders, breaking him out of his conversation with Zane.

"Yeah?" he asks, obviously not watching the game.

"Cole just collapsed," I say, my voice in a monotone. No one else seems to notice, everyone else so absorbed in the catch. Without another thought, I stand up and make my way down the bleachers. Jay follows closely behind.

"Someone call an ambulance!" I yell, but everyone is still too hyped up to hear. Taking it into my own hands, I make my way onto the field. It takes Jay and I running onto the field for anyone to notice anything is wrong.

"Cole, wake up," I shake his shoulders, but there's no response.

Fear floods my body. Cole hurt me, but he's still my first love. I hate him, but I don't want him to be hurt. It's a delicate balance. The part of me that I hate, the part that still cares about him, comes out.

Jay takes off Cole's helmet and puts his fingers on Cole's neck. "There's a pulse, but he's having trouble breathing."

I pull out my phone, but by the time I have it out, my brother is already next to me, his face a shade of white I've never seen before. "Go get my car." he instructs me.

"But the ambulance..."

"Is too slow. Get the keys out of my bag and bring my truck onto the field," he snaps.

For the first time since my freshman year, I listen to him without any questions.

A/N I feel like I made that waaay too predictable but oh well

Just one week until my first ap test then another one next Thursday. Then, I'll be all your guys' and can be the update queen

I have this idea for another fanfic I reeeaaaally want to do. It'd be a two book series

Does anyone else really like rivalry fanfics? Like where there are two teams of ninja (like the different ships are on different teams) and they hate each other at first cause same. All of the ones I've read I've loooooved

I also made a Ninjago random things book, so if you guys want you can check it out.

I hope you guys a have a good rest of your week and I hope any of you guys that have ap tests do well

Thank you guys for commenting and voting