*2 weeks later*

Jay's POV

I show up to speech class 5 minutes early like I've been doing for the past two weeks. As always, Nya is in her seat. Her head is bent over her notebook, and she's doodling. She showed me the page she's been working on yesterday. It's a series of different flowers. Apparently, she's going to have me pick me favorite, and she'll draw me a large scale version of it.

Our teacher sits at the front of the room, feet up on his desk. He always ignores us when we're in here, which I don't mind. Less attention isn't a bad thing.

I make my way to my seat, sitting down next to her. As usual, once I set my backpack down, she looks over at me. This time, she also lifts up her notebook. "Which one?"

I scan over the entire page. All of them are so pretty. My eyes settle on a blue flower that's near the bottom right of the page. I point to it.

She smiles. "A bellflower. They're extremely underrated."

"Are they now?" I joke. She nods.

"They signify constancy, affection, and a love that never ends. In addition, they also represent humility and delicacy," she explains to me, circling the bellflower on her paper. Then, she lifts up two colored pencils next to my eyes. "I'm trying to see which one matches."

I look down at her collage of flowers, "Do you draw flowers for all of your partners? I definitely don't mind. I'm just curious."

"Only the ones I like...so only you," she writes a note at the top of her page before closing her notebook.

Surprisingly, most of the speeches in this class are partner speeches. The teacher thinks that it's best to start with someone else to support you if you mess up mid speech. Second semester will focus more on individual speeches. That means Nya and I get to be partners for the rest of the semester.

Nya is really easy to talk to. She's the only person I've really talked to here that isn't an adult. There's something about her that makes me want to talk to her. She seems like she won't judge me, even with how awkward I can be.

"Was your ex staring at you again today?" I ask her even though I already know the answer. Every day, she tells me that she leaves where she sits every day because he won't stop staring at her.

"Sadly."

"And you guys broke up two years ago?" I clarify.

"Yep. I broke up with him, and I've made it clear it's not happening again," she rubs her temples, closing her eyes. She opens them again several seconds later.

"I...I can ask him to stop, if that would help," I offer even though I don't even know who the guy is.

The tension in her face disappears after I ask, a softer look replacing it,"I don't want you to get on his bad side, but thank you. I can handle it myself."

The loud ringing of the bell fills the room, and students rush into the room. Interestingly, Zane and PIXAL enter at different times, which usually doesn't happen.

Once everyone is settled down, we watch a 40 minute video of a professional speaker giving tips on public speaking. I take note of what he says, but most of the tips are on how to make a good public speaker a great public speaker, not how to make a terrible public speaker mediocre.

Once that is done, the teacher takes his time handing out the next assignment. It's a several minute speech on how to do something. He tells us to silently brain storm for the rest of the period, even though this assignment is with a partner.

I think back to my past speeches from the past two weeks. I've only done two since the introduction speech, and they were both terrible. One of them I started shaking so bad that I couldn't read from on my notecard. My other causes me to hyperventilate so hard that I nearly passed out.

Once the bell rings, everyone rushes out of the classroom. I pack all of my supplies up and slide on my backpack.

I turn to leave, but Nya interrupts me, "Do you want to come over to my house tomorrow to get a head start on the project?"

I turn back around. She stands there, no sign of anxiety anywhere on her. If the situation was reversed, I'd be an anxious mess. She's so comfortable with who she is; I admire it.

"My parents and I are going to work on a project around the house until around four, but I'm open after that. We found an old tv in our yard, and then we decided, 'why not fix it up?' So my pa told me he's going to send me into the city to get some parts and I'm going to also get our groceries because why not and..." Nya starts slightly giggling, and that's when I realize I'm rambling.

"So five works?" she picks up her bag and starts walking out of the class with me.

"Yeah. Until when?"

"Does ten work? We can get a big head start," she suggest.

I quickly nod,"yeah that sounds great."

The two of us walk down the halls together, coincidentally going in the same direction. "Do you have math too?"

"Yeah, I have pre-calc. Do you have calculus?" she responds to my question.

It's comforting walking with someone through the halls. It makes me feel less alone. However, people are giving us weird looks, but Nya ignores them, so I try to also.

"Yeah. It's not bad. I think pre-calc was worse because the teacher wouldn't teach. The calculus teacher actually does her job."

"The pre-calc teacher is the worst teacher I've ever had. She just gives us the book and refuses to help. It's not bad because I understand most of it, but a majority of the class is failing," the two of us reach the math building where our classes are right next to each other. "Can I have your number so I can text you my address?"

The light feeling I've been having this entire walk moves from my chest down to my stomach,"Yeah...yeah sure." She hands me her phone, and with shaky hands, I put my number in. She sends a quick confirmation text, and I feel my phone buzz in my pocket.

"Perfect. I'll text my brother that I'm going to be working on a project with a friend, and then he'll stay out of our way. He'll probably be out partying anyways," she informs me, typing out the text to her brother. "Have fun in calculus. You know for a fact I'll have fun in here."

The two of us part ways, but I keep a large smile on my face for the rest of the period. She called me her friend.

---

Skylor's POV

"I'm so happy it's Friday," Harumi announces as we meet up after seventh period. Apparently, it's a tradition for all of the cheerleaders and football players to hang out the day before the first game of the season. Last weekend, I went over to Harumi's and she taught me all the cheers, so I'm caught up.

"Tell me about it," Cole murmurs, taking a long sip out of the water bottle in his hand. Next to him, I see Kai squint his eyes.

"What are you on?" Kai crosses his arms.

Cole looks over at him,"Excuse me?"

Kai grabs the water bottle out of Cole's hand and smells it. Then, he pours it out in the grass next to him. "No alcohol before games. You know the rules. Plus, your eyes are bloodshot. I know you're high."

"Don't be a buzzkill," he grabs the empty bottle out of Kai's hand. "I heard Nya was seen with some guy after fifth period. I needed something to get me through the rest of the day."

Kai groans, "First of all, when you hear that about Nya, the last thing you should do is turn to that stuff. She won't give you a chance if you're addicted, and I'm trying to help you two get back together. Second, you shouldn't even have this stuff on you."

Harumi steps between them,"Come on Kai. You're not a saint yourself. Give the guy a break."

"There's a difference between getting drunk at a party and getting drunk at school before a game," Kai tells her. She rests her hand on his chest. She looks up at him and bats her eyelashes.

"Speaking of getting drunk at a party, I'll bring some drinks over to your place tomorrow," Harumi offers.

I look between the two of them,"Tomorrow?"

Kai takes a step back from Harumi. He clears his throat and looks at me, "Yeah, my sister said she's working on a project with a friend. That means I'll have the whole house to myself, and what's a better way to celebrate my sister finally getting out of the house than throwing a party."

"You're invited of course," Harumi tells me. "I'll send you the address."

As Harumi glances down at her phone, I scan across the quad. Everything look typical, except when I look at Zane and PIXAL. He appears to be crying, and she's walking in this direction. Once she gets in front of us, Harumi looks up with disgust.

"I broke up with Zane, so I could join you guys," she tells Harumi.

Harumi's face switches from disgust to pure shock,"Oh my gosh, the loser broke up with the bigger loser!"

PIXAL looks down at her shoes, nervously shifting around,"You told me if I broke up with him, I could join you guys."

Harumi tilts her head, "I am a woman of my word, so you're invited to Kai's party tomorrow. Skylor, send her the address through Insta."

As I pull out my phone to send the address I just got to her, a large scoff can be heard. Harumi's head whips in that direction.

"What was that for?" she demands.

A boy with messy blonde hair, the one who scoffed, leans against a post. He has on a black leather jacket layered over a green t shirt along with black jeans. He's looking down on his phone, not even caring to look up at her.

"I just find it funny. That's all," he responds. He keeps doing whatever he's doing on his phone, and it pisses Harumi off.

"I know you have your little bad boy identity, Lloyd, but at least look at me when I talk to you," she demands, stomping her foot down. It's the same Lloyd that Harumi said she thinks is attractive at her sleepover. I can see why she thinks that, but he's not my type.

Smugly, he looks up at her with the greenest eyes I've even seen,"Better?"

"Yes. Now, what did you find funny?" she walks over to him so she can try to intimidate him. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

"How high and mighty you think you are and that you think you call all the shots for everyone in the school."

She glares at him,"Do I not? Everyone listens to what I say."

Everyone else in our group starts their own conversations, but I keep watching. This is the first time I've ever seen someone stand up to Harumi. It's beyond entertaining. She looks as if she's about to explode, her hands curled up at her sides.

"If I did, this conversation wouldn't be happening," he informs her, standing up from against the post.

"Well I'm the leader of the school and you're the leader of a gang. We're practically the same, so you can't criticize me," she crosses her arms now. That makes him burst out laughing.

"We are not the same. You order your 'friends' around like your minions. I treat mine like actual people. That's like saying a dictator and a democratic leader are both the same because they're both in charge," he slips his phone into his pocket. "You're in for a rude awakening once you get into the real world, and you can't automatically treat people like your slaves."

Harumi is speechless as he starts to walk away. "You...you can't wear green! That's my color!" she yells at him.

He starts laughing even more. "You can't own a color!"

He turns the corner, and for the first time I've ever seen, Harumi stands there at a loss for words.

A/N: another chapter down

Sorry I didn't update yesterday my boyfriend and I got in a little situation (I got upset with him for no legitimate reason) but everything is cool now

I might update a bit less now because I'm going to start studying for my ap tests more (I have AP psychology and AP world) but I'm still going to try to update two out of every three days

Thoughts on this chapter? Harumi didn't join the Sons of Garmadon's yet (even though there was a time skip) because she was stalling

Have a nice rest of your days