Chapter 9
Nya's POV
I sit in the kitchen, eating my oatmeal before Jay comes to pick me up. The two of us are going to be planting trees at the park all day. I made sure to pack a bag with all the essentials. There's sunscreen, plenty of water, snacks, and gloves.
As I go to clean my bowl, Kai walks into the living room, which is connected to the kitchen. He has a towel, a tank top, board shorts, and sunglasses. He flops onto the couch, but he freezes when he sees me.
"Hello to you too big brother," I rinse out my bowl, putting it in the dishwasher.
"Sorry sis I know you have some naturish thing to do today, but I'm going to the beach. You can't use the car," he tells me as if his beach day is more important. Even with a ride planned, I'm still fed up with him.
"Luckily for me, I counted on you being an asshole, so I got my own ride," I snark back to him.
He raises up his sunglasses to look at me. His eyes are the same shade of dark brown as mine, and I hate it. They look nearly identical, so every time I look in the mirror I also see his eyes.
"Let me guess, his name rhymes with day," Kai rolls his eyes. I glare at him.
"What's wrong with Jay?" I ask him, putting my hands on my hips.
"He's a mess, Nya. I swear the guy can't get a sentence out without shaking. You deserve better than that," he explains his reasoning to me. His words build the fire inside of me that arises every time he talks to me, pushing me closer to snapping.
"How many times have you tried talking to him?" I counter, trying to calm down and not stoop down to Kai's level.
"None, but I've seen him speak in front of the school," he states as if his claim is valid.
"Which makes you a better judge of my best friend than I am?"
"Best friend? Come on Nya," Kai asks back disappointedly.
"Yes best friend. He's my only friend Kai, but you don't care because it's your demonic ex who's socially isolated me. If anything, you should thank Jay for making me not be alone," I snap, glaring at him the whole time.
He lets out an exasperated sigh, "Nya, I know you have a crush on him. I'm just trying to protect you."
"First of all, you don't know shit about me. Second of all, if you wanted to protect me you'd tell Harumi off and not force me to be with my ex who..." I rant at him, all of the anger bubbling inside.
"He was drunk Nya. He's sorry. He's told you he's sorry hundreds of times. Why won't you just forgive him?" Kai pleads on behalf of Cole.
"I told him I'd try again once he stops drinking, and you're well aware of that. You're so ignorant. I'm done with this conversation," I walk back into the kitchen, grabbing my bag. Right then, there's a knock on the door. "And my ride is here."
I stride over to the door, quickly in order to get away from Kai. When I open the door, I'm met with Cole instead. He's massive, filling up the whole doorway. Like Kai, he's wearing a tank top, so it accentuates his arms. He's shocked when he sees me.
"Hey Nya, I didn't expect you to still be home," he gives me a kind smile. I move out of the way to let him through the doorway. He walks through and peers over at Kai who is lying on the couch grumpily. "What has you all upset?"
"Nya's about to go on a date with Jay Walker," he states, and the flame I tried to extinguish flares up again.
"It's not a date! We're planting trees, and he's the only one coming because he's the only one your crazy ex hasn't scared off," I exclaim. Both of them look shocked at my outburst.
"I'll plant trees with you," Cole offers, a sad look on his face. Right then, there's a knock at the door. I rush over and open it. Jay's standing there, a little smile on his face. That's until he sees Kai and Cole both glaring at him from behind me. Then, he looks terrified.
"Enjoy your beach day. I'd say don't get too drunk, but I know it's impossible for you two," I shut the door behind me, meeting Jay in front of my house.
"They don't like me, do they?" he asks, the uneasiness flowing through his voice. As usual when he's nervous, he's shaking a bit. It's calmed down since I first met him though, which is really good.
"They think they know you when they don't. Heck, they think they know me when they don't," we walk to his car. It's a bit beat up, but it's comfortable. The two of us slip into our respective seats, our seat belts buckling at the same time.
The more we drive, the more he eases up. The shaking stops, and he turns back into his regular self.
As we drive, I admire his face. He has a light spattering of freckles over his cheeks. His eyes are a bright blue, as if he's wearing contacts. Additionally, he has a slit in his right eyebrow.
After several minutes of that, I speak up "What's the slit in your eyebrow from?" I ask out of curiosity. He shrugs.
"Genetics I think. Hair just never grew there," he answers.
"Wouldn't you know if it's genetic if you ask your parents if they've seen it in either of their families?" I wonder, looking at the picture of Jay and his parents that he keeps on his dashboard. Neither of them have it. If I'm being honest, neither of them have any of his features.
"I'm adopted. But hey, it's just my little mystery I can peruse when I'm older. If anything, I'm happy I was put up for adoption. I love my parents," he smiles as he drives.
"We're here," I smile as we pull in. "Now, let's plant trees."
---
Skylor's POV
I wait near the door for Kai to pick me up. I have everything that I need with me; a towel, sunscreen, sunglasses, a speaker, etc. While I wait, I play some games on my phone.
"Skylor, where do you think you're going dressed like that?" my dad asks when he walks into the room. He still uses the same extravagance he did on the island, with everything being lush and fancy.
"The beach," I answer, looking down at my outfit. It's not bad. I have on an orange bikini top with high waisted shorts. Harumi and I went shopping for bathing suits last weekend, which was an experience. While I had some that my dad had shipped in to the island, none of them were '"trendy enough" according to her.
"Who are you going with?" he asks, crossing his arms.
"Mackenzie, Chamille, PIXAL..." I trail off, hoping my dad won't ask further. He's always been protective of me to say the least. He doesn't want boys anywhere near me. If he found out it was Kai who drove me home from school every day, he would freak out.
"And?" he asks, expectantly.
"Kai, Cole, Griffin, and Morro," I sigh. My dad glares at me.
"No," he deadpans.
I let out a long groan, "Dad, I can handle myself."
"You've been sheltered your whole life. You're naive," he dismisses me.
"How can I learn to not be if you don't let me get experience?" I counter him.
"Let the girl go, Chen. You're only a teenager once," Clouse tells him from the doorway. Immediately after, there's a knock at the door.
"Go get that," my dad directs Clouse. As ordered, he walks over and opens the door. Kai is standing there, his sunglasses already on. His hair is floofed as usual, and he's wearing red board shorts with a red and black stripped tank top.
"Is Skylor home? I'm supposed to pick her up to take her to the beach," he asks, appearing completely in his element.
"You can go," my dad sighs, walking over to the door with me. "If you bring her back with even a scratch on her body, I'll make it so you don't live to see another beach day." I glare at my dad while he says that.
"Of course," Kai responds, a charming smile on his face.
"Bye dad," I give him a quick hug, closing the door behind me. "Sorry about him. He's a bit protective."
"It's sweet that he cares. If you don't mind me asking, how could you come to my party when he's protective like that?" the two of us walk to his car. He opens the door for me to the backseat and hops into his own seat. Cole and Mackenzie are both sitting in the car in silence. Both of them are looking at their phones.
"He wasn't home. Work takes him away sometimes, but he tries as much as possible to be home," I tell Kai. He nods, looking over his shoulder to back out of my driveway.
"Now, ladies and Cole, it's beach time."
---
I lie on a beach towel next to Mackenzie, Chamille, and PIXAL. We've been at the beach, and none of the other girls have gone in the water. We've just sat here, gossiping and checking our phones while sipping our fruity juices that PIXAL packed. They're nonalcoholic, something Harumi definitely would have commented on, but none of us care. They're still really good.
The boys are playing beach football. Cole and Kai are on one team while Griffin and Morro are on the other team. Kai and Cole are demolishing them. Griffin might be fast, but he's no match for Cole's strength.
"Do you guys want to go in the water?" I ask, looking out onto the ocean. Each time I went to the beachy part of the island, I would go into the water. It was always nice and refreshing.
"We don't go in the water," Chamille informs me, looking at me as if I'm insane.
"Why not?"
"Because it's cold and dirty. Besides, our hair can stay perfect this way," she flips her hair over her shoulder.
"Then why do we wear bathing suits?" I question. When we got here, all of us took of our shorts so we were only in our bathing suit bottoms. I assumed that was a sign we were going into the water.
"To look hot, duh," she scrolls on her phone.
"Have you guys tried going in the water?" I ask them. They shake their heads. "Then how would you know you don't like it?"
"Well, Harumi doesn't, so I guess we never tried," Mackenzie shrugs.
"I personally think it would be fun."
"Did I hear that someone wants to go in the water?" Kai jogs over. He bends over and picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I try to squirm away, but he keeps a firm hold on me. He walks over to the water with me in his grasp.
"Put me down Kai," I laugh.
He shakes his head,"No can do. I need to get further out." He enters the water, being only ankle deep at this point.
"You won't," I say as he runs into deeper water.
"Oh, but I will," suddenly, he drops me. I make a splash, submerging in the water. When I come back above water, Kai is hysterically laughing.
"Oh you're going to get it," I splash the water at him, drenching the part of his body that was above water.
"My hair!" he exclaims. Now, it's my turn to laugh.
"Shouldn't have messed with me," I shrug, still laughing.
"Now, you're definitely going to get it," he smirks, grabbing my waist and dunking me under again.
"This means war," I declare. I grab his shoulders and pull him back down into the water. The two of us continue our water fight, laughing the entire time. I dunk him under, but then he sneaks up on me and dunks me under again.
Once both of us stop to catch our breath, I glance and the shoreline. Mackenzie, PIXAL, and Morro are all jumping over the waves that come at them. Chamille is flirting with Griffin, still lying on her towel. Cole is sitting by himself in the sand.
"I'm sorry to break up our fun time, but I have to go to the bathroom really bad, so I need to head to the shore," Kai informs me. The two of us go back to the shore where he runs off to the bathroom. Instead of joining the wave jumpers, I go over to Cole, sitting down next to him.
"Everything okay?" I ask him when I see the sad expression on his face.
"How do I move on? I've been trying so hard because she makes it so obvious that she'll never love me again, but I can't never stop," he sticks his head in his hands.
"Try to think of all the other things you care about in your life. You spend too much time obsessing over her to move on," I inform him. He sighs.
"But I only care about three things: Kai, Nya, and football," he informs me, running his hands through his hair.
"Have you tried dating anyone else?" I ask him, not knowing what to do.
"Yeah, but every time none of them compared to her," he sighs.
"You've convinced yourself you can't move on, so you can't."
"I had been with girls before her, but I moved on from them. Nya was different. She completed me in a way I didn't know was possible. But I fucked it up. I fuck everything up. I'm a huge part of the reason she hates Kai. I broke her Skylor," he seems like he's on the verge of losing it, his head dug into his own knees.
"It's alright Cole. I don't know what happened, but you couldn't have done anything that bad," I try to reassure him.
He looks up at me with teary eyes,"I made the biggest mistake I've made my entire life that night. The guilt takes me over every day, every time she glares at me heightens it. I want to fix her, but she won't let me in unless I stop drinking and drugs, but I physically can't. My body wants them at all times, and they help stop my guilt."
"Have you tried to go to a therapist for it?" I suggest.
He rapidly shakes his head back and forth. "No, but if my dad found out I'm doing drugs he'd hate me even more than he already does. Everyone I care about ends up hating me, Skylor." His eyes fill with tears, and I look around for Kai.
"That's not true. Kai cares about you," I disprove his statement.
"I ruined Kai's relationship with his sister. He tried to get us back together, and she turned against him. I don't want to ruin him. I'm such a bad influence."
"Kai can handle himself. He wants to be there for you," I place my hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know what Harumi told you, but Kai is a really good guy. I really think you two would be good for each other. Harumi brings out the worst sides of him. From what I've seen, you bring out the best parts of him. You make him happy, and I want him to be happy," he suggests, getting slightly off the other subject.
"Harumi claimed him. Even if I really wanted to, I couldn't without being exiled," I inform him. Right then, Kai walks up behind us.
"Room for one more?" he asks, taking a seat next to Cole. The smile on his face quickly fades once he sees the tears in Cole's eyes. "What happened?"
"The way she looked at him Kai, I'm losing her," Cole sighs. Kai gives him a hug.
"I'm going to help you get her back. We can fix things and make them how they used to be."
---
Harumi's POV
I sit on my phone in front of my house, waiting for Lloyd to come by. Since I'm going to be initiated into a gang today, I decided to dress dark. With my hair up in a messy bun, I put on a heavy layer of mascara with black eyeliner. I have black skinny jeans on with a leather jacket. Under the jacket, I have on a green v neck. I also have on my $500 pair of designer boots.
My parents are out of town, as usual. Usually, I would throw a party tonight. However, since I don't know when this will be over, I couldn't have one.
While I'm looking down at my phone, a beat up black van pulls up in front of my house. When the window gets rolled down, I see that it's Lloyd. "Hop in."
I quickly rush over, hopping in the passengers side. No one else is in the car. There's two empty seats behind us, and behind that there's empty space.
When I glance over at him, I gasp,"We're matching!" He has on a pair of black jeans, a leather jacket, and a green t shirt, just like me. Mine look more chic, of course, but we're still matching.
"I wear outfits like this every day. It shouldn't have been a shock to you," he presses on the gas pedal, and the van starts moving forward. The two of us drive there in silence. I want to try to talk, but he's focused on the road, and he doesn't seem like one to like talking and driving.
Once we reach the poor side of town, I stop paying attention to where we're going. I rest my head against the window, counting the amount of time we've been in the car.
"Are we almost there yet?" I ask, bored.
He laughs. "Yep. Need a bathroom break?" I roll my eyes and keep gazing at the window. Several minutes later, we arrive at a beat down warehouse.
"Oh no, I'm not going in there," I cross my arms.
"Why, too scared to get those fancy boots of yours dirty?"
"No, it just looks creepy. What if there are bad people in there?"
"I know everyone in there. They're your new family. If you don't want to go in, you can back out and not join," he offers.
Although his offer sounds tempting, I stand my ground. I'm no chicken. I accept every dare thrown at me, even this. If I have to go into some abandoned warehouse to complete it, so be it.
The two of us walk into the warehouse. Instead of being all wild and rough like I expected it, it's a surprisingly calm atmosphere. Everyone is sitting in a circle, quietly chatting with each other. In the center of the circle, there are two chairs. The people themselves still look rough though.
"Listen up everyone!" Lloyd calls as he enters the room. His voice isn't vicious, but instead an amplified version of its original self. Everyone in the circle stops talking and looks at him as he walks me to he center of the circle. "We are open to everyone, and we try to give everyone a chance. That is why I brought Harumi Jade here. She wants to join us. You all get to watch our interview and vote for yourselves if you want her in the group."
"Why didn't you tell me I was going to have to answer questions?" I ask under my breath, viciously.
"So you couldn't prepare," he mumbles, taking the seat across from me. I sit down in my seat as well.
As I look around, I see a variety of people. Many are older, but there's also a large number of them that go to school with me. These are the people I've ruthlessly made fun of, and now they're here to judge if I'm worthy to be one of them.
"So Harumi," Lloyd leans back. He's calm and collected, even with all these eyes on him. Luckily for me, so am I. "Why do you want to join the Sons of Garmadon?"
"At school, I need to put up a tough front, but I want a place to be myself. I feel like this is a family environment where I won't be judged."
"How do you feel about the fact that you live in extravagant wealth while many of us here either live in a one room apartment or don't have a home?"
I glare at him for that. While I want to answer that it's not my problem, I hold it back to sound considerate. "I feel guilty. I got lucky, and I hope that someday I can help those who weren't as fortunate."
"With that mentality, how do you view Robin Hood?"
"Robin Hood is a hero. I believe that although what he's doing is technically 'illegal', the reasoning behind it trumps that," I lie through my teeth. In my eyes, Robin Hood should mind his own business. The villagers didn't work for the goods Robin Hood brought them.
---
Once the interrogation is over, Lloyd turns to the circle. "Now, let's vote. All in favor of Harumi Jade joining the Sons of Garmadon, raise your hands." Lots of people in the circle raise their hands, and I feel a sense of pride. I fooled them well. Lloyd doesn't raise his hand, but that's surely because he's counting the votes. "All opposed?" Everyone else raises their hand, including Lloyd. He counts everyone else, including himself.
When I see that he voted against me, I want to go off on him. I'm not shocked though. He's always been standoffish towards me. Even though he gave me a fair chance, he never wanted me here. Plus, he's the leader, so his vote is going to most likely overpower the rest.
"The opposed are outnumbered. Harumi, welcome to the Sons of Garmadon. Here, we are a family. Our key values are unity, honesty, and selflessness. If you go against any of our values, we have the right to vote you out of the group," he informs me. Once he says that, the circle breaks apart, and people go on their own ways many leave the warehouse. He pulls out his phone and stays in his chair, waiting for everyone to leave.
"The only reason you're in here is because the boys are hoping they now have a chance with you, nothing else," a girl spits on me as she walks by. When I'm about to say something, Lloyd looks up.
"Ultraviolet, remember what we talked about last time? Family doesn't spit on each other. She's one of us now. She can be like the cousin you despise but have to tolerate at family gatherings," Lloyd suggests, putting a smile on her face. She leaves, and soon after, everyone else is gone.
"No blood ritual? That was fairly mild for a gang," I tease.
"We're not a cult."
"Why didn't you vote for me?" I demand an answer now that we're alone.
"Because I didn't want you to get in. Duh," he stays looking at his phone.
"Why not? I thought we were becoming friends, Lloyd," I bat my eyelashes at him.
"You're a liar. That whole interview you lied. One of our values is honesty, Harumi," he looks up at me, his hard glare fixated on me.
"I did not," I deny his allegations, crossing my arms.
"Look Harumi, I catch 99 out of every 100 lies. You can slip one past me, maybe, but not faking your entire self. You're the epitome of the spoiled rich girl. You don't think anyone else deserves it even though you've never worked for it. It's evident in your tone."
"That's a bit rude for family, don't you think?" I go back at him, a smirk on my face.
"I'm just calling you out for being a hypocrite," he looks back down at his phone.
That's when I realize it; these are going to be some of the worst weeks of my life.
A/N: I'm so sorry for the slow update guys. I hope this being a longer chapter helped sort of make up for it
I just got a new puppy, and he's been a handful, so much of a handful I've gotten behind on my schoolwork. It's fine though, he's adorable
Thoughts on this chapter?
I have so many book ideas I want to write but I can't because then I know I'll become too unmotivated so I won't finish any. I need to do one at a time
Thank you guys for reading you guys are the best
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