The day that my life changed forever started out fairly normally.

I was soundly asleep when my alarm went off at exactly 5:45. Groaning, I rolled over and tapped the screen of my phone to shut it off. Why did I make Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" my alarm again?

...riiiiight, because all of the other alarms on my phone are really obnoxious, and I thought that if I'm going to have to wake up at some ungodly hour, I might as well have to get up to a good song. Plus, I thought it was ironic, what with the song lyrics and all.

I slowly sat up and stretched, yawning and groaning as all of my sore muscles protested the motion. Deciding to get up before I accidentally fell back asleep, I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and stood up before shuffling my way to the bathroom.

I turned on the sink's faucet and splashed cold water on my face. Feeling a little more awake, I grabbed my toothbrush and started to brush my teeth, repeating my mantra as I did. Through the thin walls and doors, I could hear the boys in the dorm next door, with whom I share a bathroom with, still snoring away, probably trying to sleep in as long as possible.

Not me. This was one of the few times during the day where I was completely alone.

Deciding that my teeth were clean enough, I spat out the toothpaste and rinsed out my mouth. Then, I took out a clean washcloth and started to wash my face.

This was my typical morning routine: get up, brush my teeth, wash my face, put on my dance attire underneath a comfortable pair of sweat clothes, fix my hair, and then head to breakfast. Since I woke up earlier than the people in the dorm next door, I was usually the first one in and out of the bathroom and was usually on my way to breakfast before they even woke up.

Today, I had to take a little longer to get ready because of my hair. It had grown, which was okay because it's been awhile since I went to the barber shop. So I had to take a little longer combing and brushing it out. I also took the liberty of tying my bangs back into a small man bun.

...what?! Don't give me that look, my bangs are really long! Plus, it's not that uncommon, plenty of the other guys on campus have man buns.

Anyways, once I was finished fixing my hair, I pulled on a pair of sneakers and walked out my dorm, making sure to lock the door behind me.

The mess hall where they served breakfast was a quick two-minute walk away from the dorms. The fall equinox was just a few days ago, but it already felt like it was much later in the season. I shivered and put my hands in the pockets of my sweatpants, walking a little faster so that I could get inside where it was much warmer quicker.

Once inside, I took a moment to get warmed up before looking around. The mess hall had plenty of different places where you could get different food for meals. Since breakfast had only just started, there were only a few people waiting in line and sitting down at the tables.

I made beeline to one of my favorite places to eat for breakfast. It was my favorite because they always served pancakes with all sorts of different kinds of toppings. Today, I topped mine with chocolate chips, pecans, and a generous supply of syrup. Two strips of bacon, a glass of orange juice, and an apple later, I declared my breakfast complete and went to sit down.

I selected a small table squished in a corner near the windows. I sat down and mindlessly chewed on a piece of bacon while I stared out the window. Outside, a few people were straggling out of the dorms and making their way to the mess hall to eat. Some were alone, but most of them came in groups of three or more, chatting with each other as they made their way to their tables.

I tried to ignore the small stab of envy and loneliness that attacked my heart, and instead focused on inhaling my breakfast as fast as possible. Classes would start in a few minutes.

~~~~~~~

When I walked into my first class of the day, there were already a few people in the room, sitting down and stretching while they chatted amongst themselves.

When I walked in, most of the conversation faded out as everyone stared at me. I didn't pause and instead made my way to a corner of the room so that I could sit down. As I walked around some of the people, I heard someone mutter, "Try not to screw up too badly today, Slipstone."

I felt my eyes narrow, but I just took in a deep breath and ignored the comment.

After I made my way to my little corner, I took off my sweats, folded them up, and then set them down. I then took off my shoes and socks so I was barefoot and made my way over to one of the many barres that lined the walls and started to stretch out my legs.

As I did this, I couldn't help but take a glance around me. The room, in case you were wondering, was a pretty decently sized one. Barres were attached to three of the four walls, with each wall having two barres--one higher, one lower--running parallel to each other. The last wall had one gigantic mirror on it. It was there so that we could look at ourselves and make sure that our makeup was perfect and none of our hair was out place--hahaha, I'm kidding. It's there so that we can see if we are making the right arm and feet movements and make corrections if necessary. Though I will admit, some people do use them when they put their makeup on. Me, personally? I try to use the mirrors for their intended purpose.

I'm nice like that.

Soon enough, the bell rang and my teacher walked in. "Settle down, class, settle down!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Grab your shoes, my students! We are starting with tap this morning!"

I couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at the corners of my lips as I wandered over to where we stored our dance shoes. Besides swing, tap was probably my favorite kind of dance. It took me back to when I was first learning how to dance, without the pressure of my dad holding my destiny over my head every five seconds.

Man, sometimes I really miss those days.

The first part of class went by without an incident, which was good. We went through a small warm up, just to get started. All of my classmates gave me a wide berth, anticipating that I would inevitably screw up.

Needless to say, I was feeling a tad smug when class had gone on for over twenty minutes and I hadn't even gotten off beat.

So naturally, that's when my feet decided to screw me over.

To be fair, though, it wasn't completely my fault. Some jerk behind me shoved me while I was standing on only one leg, stretching. I tried to steady myself without falling over, but I accidentally tangled up my feet before I could get a steady base.

So, down I went.

Everyone in my class laughed at me. My teacher was less amused. "Mr Brookstone! Please, get up and stop distracting the class."

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, quickly standing up and trying to ignore the soreness in my shoulder. "Sorry, ma'am."

"Please ensure that it doesn't happen again, Mr. Brookstone," my teacher scolded before going back to the lesson.

I heard someone behind me mutter, "Psssh, this is Slipstone that we're talkin' about. Of course he's gonna mess up again."

My left eyebrow twitched, something that happened often when I was angry or frustrated.

I just took in a deep breath. Inhale, hold. Exhale, hold.

I am Cole Brookstone. One day, I'll be the greatest dancer this side of Ninjago and a member of the Royal Blacksmiths.

I plastered a grin on my face and focused on the lesson.

~~~~

The rest of my morning passed by both quickly and slowly. Which was actually quite normal. I tripped at least three different times during my classes, which was also pretty normal. Kids in my class made fun of me and teased me all throughout my classes this morning.

What do you know? Normal!

Everything was shaping up to be a normal day for me.

Thus, the universe decided to screw with me and mess up my perfectly normal day.

It happened after dance classes were over for the morning and I was eating my lunch outside. It was slightly warmer this morning, so I decided to eat lunch in the little park on campus. It was just a few minutes from the cafeteria and had benches where lonely people like me could eat in peace.

Didn't really work out for me today.

There I was, idly stuffing noodles into my mouth and wishing that I had more free-time to actually enjoy myself.

The next minute, an old man with a ridiculously long white beard suddenly appeared in front of me.

I blinked, trying to make sure that I was actually seeing what I thought I was seeing. I hadn't even heard the guy walk up to me. He just suddenly appeared. I was also confused as to why this random old guy had decided to stop right in front of me. Was he lost or something?

Quickly swallowing the noodles in my mouth, I asked him, "Um, hi. Can I help you?"

The old man smiled at me, as if he had found what I said amusing. "Actually, yes," he replied. "I was looking for a young man named Cole Brookstone. Do you happen to know him?"

"Hmmm," I hummed while I stalled for time, wondering if I should tell this random guy that I was actually Cole Brookstone, or if I should lie. On one hand, I hated lying. But on the other hand, I had no idea who this man was nor why he was looking for me. For all I knew, he could be a murderous psychopath who wanted to kidnap and torture me.

....okay, maybe I was being overdramatic. But still.

In the end, I decided to do a combination. "Yeah, I know him," I said, leaning back slightly. "But he's busy at the moment. Can I take a message?"

The old man sighed, looking rather disappointed. "I see. I was hoping to talk to him in person...."

I couldn't help but wince. "Sorry. If there's something that you need to talk to him about, I can pass on a message. Unless it's super personal, then don't worry about it."

The old man looked at me dead in the eye, and I fidgeted a little bit under his stare. His eyes were this crazy shade of gold that seemed to take in everything and know everything. "Tell me, young man, what is your name?" he asked me.

"Lou," I blurted out the first name that came to my mind. "You can call me Lou."

The old man smiled and offered me a hand, which I took. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lou," he said as we shook hands. "You may call me Sensei Wu. Or just Sensei." He let go of my hand and gestured to the bench that I was sitting on. "May I?"

I shrugged. "Go ahead."

He sat down next to me, and pulled out a teapot from absolutely nowhere. "Tea?" he offered me.

"I'll pass," I replied before quickly adding, "Thanks though."

Sensei Wu nodded before pulling out a cup--again, from out of nowhere--and poured some tea into it. "Do you have time to listen to an old man's story, young Lou?" he asked.

I quickly checked my phone and saw that I still had forty minutes before I had to go to class. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Sensei Wu smiled, looking rather delighted. "Wonderful! Then let me tell you a tale..."

The old man went on to tell the story of how Ninjago was created. I nodded along but I was barely paying attention. It was a story every kid had heard when they were little. 'Oooh, look. A magical man made these weapons that created the very world around you. Isn't that cool?!'.

I mean, yeah that would be cool, but I'd long ago stopped believing in stuff like that. It was just a myth, a fairy tale. Magical golden weapons that literally created the world out of nothing? Pfft, please.

But then he went on to talk about how the man who had created Ninjago settled down and had two sons, and I started paying attention again. I've never heard this part of the story before.

Sensei talked about how the two sons were charged with guarding the sacred Golden Weapons when their father had passed away. But the older brother had been corrupted by the promise of power and tried to steal the Golden Weapons for himself so he could rule over Ninjago. The younger brother fought him, and ended up banishing the older brother to the Underworld for his crime.

When Sensei reached that part of the story, I couldn't help but let out a low whistle. "Dang, that's harsh. I mean, I get that he was kinda evil and stuff, but...banishing him like that was kind of much, yeah?"

"Yes, it was rather harsh of the younger brother," Sensei admitted, bowing his head some. "I don't doubt that he regretted it everyday."

I frowned. Something seemed off about the way he said that. But before I could comment on it, Sensei started talking again.

"There was a reason that I wanted to talk to Cole, young Lou," he said, looking rather grave. "The older brother's name is Garmadon...and his return from his banishment is imminent."

"Whoa, what?!" I exclaimed. "Time-out. You mean to tell me that whole story you told actually happened?!"

A twinkle of mirth appeared in the old man's eyes. "You seem surprised."

"Well, yeah. I mean, I thought that all that stuff was just a fairy-tale told to little kids."

"It is no fairy-tale, young Lou. It is something to be taken very seriously. Garmadon is very dangerous and once he returns, he will stop at nothing to possess all four weapons of Spinjitzu."

"Oooookay, and what does this have to with m--with Cole?" I asked, cringing a little at my near slip up.

"The Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu are hidden in four different locations across Ninjago. I have begun to gather a small team so that I can train them so that they are ready to wield and protect the weapons. I was hoping to convince Cole to join my team and help save Ninjago from disaster." He paused and looked at me dead in the eye. "So, tell me: have I convinced you?"

At that instant, I knew that he had seen through my charade. Heck, he had probably known my identity the entire time. So I decided to drop the act and give him my opinion.

"To be completely honest, no, not really," I answered, letting out a little laugh. "I mean, this whole thing--it's just crazy! And you want someone like me on your team? Yeah, no. Listen, thank you for the offer, but I'm going to have to politely decline." I took a quick peek at my phone to check the time. "Anyways, while this has been...interesting, I have a class that I need to get to. It was nice meeting you."

I picked up my trash and stood up, intent on walking away and pretending that the conversation had never happened.

"You say 'no' now, young Cole," the old man called out as I walked away. "But it has been foretold that you shall become one of the saviours of Ninjago. It is your destiny."

Destiny. I felt my eyes narrow and my hands clenched into fists when I heard that word, that phrase.

"News flash, old man," I snapped over my shoulder. "I already know what my destiny is and it is definitely not that. Saving the world? Hah!" I barked out a bitter, sardonic laugh. "That's rich. Nah, I'll stick to dancing, even if I suck at it."

I turned and stormed away, not looking back. "Stupid old man," I grumbled to myself as I made my way to class. "What would he know about my destiny? He doesn't even know me!"

I let out an angry sigh. Calm down. Forget about it. It was just some random old guy who's probably partially crazy. I already know my destiny. I am Cole Brookstone. One day, I'll be the greatest dancer this side of Ninjago and a member of the Royal Blacksmiths. I am Cole Brookstone. One day, I'll be the greatest dancer this side of Ninjago and a member of the Royal Blacksmiths...

I repeated my little mantra until I felt a little calmer. But that did nothing to help the sour mood that I now found myself in. I sighed heavily. Great, there went my perfectly normal day. Now I'm going to be moody for the rest of the day. Well, more moody than normal.

Thank you so much for ruining my day, Sensei-whatever.

Note my sarcasm.