***So, I have sort of mixed feelings about the song for this chapter...but it was honestly the only thing that made sense! Sorry, couldn't find a good lyric video!***

 ***(Jay's POV; song for this chapter: "How Bizarre" by OMC)***

Last night with Nya was fun. I could tell she was upset about what Lloyd had foolishly said, but she seemed better this morning. And we got a chance to talk on the way to school. Apparently, she's a closet Disney fan, prefers cats over dogs, and has been begging Kai to teach her to drive for six months.

I told her that as her fake boyfriend, I would be happy to do the honors of letting her drive my car.

So far, I'm really enjoying getting to know Nya better. But I think Cole might have a good point about not being able to let go after getting so close. I can't give up my only chance, though. It's like some weird paradox: I may never really get her, so I shouldn't let my heart be hers; but if I never give her my heart, I'll never know what it's like to be with her. I am so, so confused.

"Brother Pele's in the back,

Sweet Zina's in the front,

Cruisin' down the highway in the hot, hot sun.

Suddenly, red-blue lights flash us from behind,

Loud voice booming,

'Please step out onto the line.'

Pele preaches words of comfort,

Zina just hides her eyes.

Policeman taps his shades.

Is that a Chevy '69?

How bizarre.

How bizarre, how bizarre."

However, all my happy feelings fade when I get to school. Word has spread throughout the student body that our band's drum major, Jacob, has been kidnapped. He's the elemental master of sound, so Nya and I shoot each other a look. The Sons of Garmadon have to be involved with his disappearance.

As we head to our English class, Nya whispers, "You and I are doing some reconnaissance after Spanish tutoring today."

"Spanish tutoring? What time is that?"

"It's at 2:30. Sorry, I forgot to tell you I was starting that today."

I shrug. "No problem. Who's your tutor?"

She wrinkles her nose. "I can't pronounce his name. I seriously hope he has a nickname."

I laugh. "Speaking of nicknames, I was thinking...um...that you would maybe want to create some for each other? Just for Kai's sake."

"How do you make nicknames for us? Our actual names are literally three letters each!"

I chuckle. "True. But we have a really great ship name: Jaya."

This elicits a giggle from her. "I guess it works better than Nyy. That's just awkward."

I grin. I think I just might be falling in love with her.

Okay, who am I kidding? I've been in love with her for...well, for forever. I just...now that we're so close, it seems even more real.

"Destination unknown as we pull in for some gas.

Freshly pasted poster reveals a smile from the past.

Elephants and acrobats, lions, snakes, monkey,

Pele speaks 'righteous', Sister Zina says 'funky'.

How bizarre,

How bizarre, how bizarre."

By the time lunch rolls around, I'm dreading seeing Lloyd. I could've punched him for how he wrote off Nya last night, but what makes me even angrier is that he acted like he enjoyed kissing her. And he wouldn't tolerate any PDA between Nya and me last night. And he tried to get her to "come talk" four times when we were in the kitchen last night. I mean, come on! Where's the guy's sense of dignity? He plays hard to get, but whenever she hangs out with another guy, he throws himself at her!

And that's the kind of thinking that gets me greeting Lloyd with a frown this lunch hour.

Nya and I hold hands through the lunch line. Zane hasn't figured out that we're not actually dating, but if he does, we're so toast. He'd spill the truth to Kai the first time that hothead asked.

Lloyd taps Nya's shoulder while we're standing in line. "Nya, can we please go talk? I promise to get you something from the vending machine afterward."

She sighs. "Later, Lloyd."

"Why won't you speak to me?" he asks, sounding hurt.

She gives him the look. You know, the look girls give you when you are so obviously lost. "I'll talk to you about it later. If I give you gummi worms, will you at least let me get lunch first?"

"I literally haven't been able to eat since last night!" he moans, throwing his hands in the air. "Do you know what not having sugar is doing to my brain? I had a quiz in Geometry today, and I probably failed!"

She finds this funny. "Look, Lloyd, I promise I'll talk to you once I get some food. Go ask Harumi if she wants anything while I'm here."

He sighs. "You don't even like her. Why would you be nice to her?"

"To get you to go away?" She cracks a smile. "Because maybe I take your word that she's not as bad as she sounds. You yourself said last night that something about her attracts you to her." Then, she shakes her head. "Nah, that just sounds nice. I want you to go away."

Lloyd scratches the back of his shaggy blonde head. "Yeah, but...I really need my best friend right now."

Finally, the front of the line! "We're getting food now, Lloyd," I step in.

"I wasn't talking to you," Lloyd frowns.

"I know, but I just was. Nya doesn't like to be smothered."

She rolls her eyes. "I appreciate you speaking up for me, Jay, but I was handling myself just fine. Lloyd, take a hike. Five minutes won't kill you."

He sighs in agony, casts an annoyed look at me, and slinks away.

"What's his problem?" she asks. "I really don't feel like talking to him."

Let's think positively here. "Maybe he wants to apologize."

"Fat chance. Anyway, how do you feel about a prank on Cole?"

"I love pranks. This isn't truth or dare, right?"

She laughs. "Nope. It involves a haunted house..." She continues telling me about an elaborate scheme she and Lloyd developed.

"Not a bad idea. But you're still going to include Lloyd, right?"

She considers this. "Why does it matter?"

"I don't want you to lose your best friend. He may have been an idiot last night, and he has to be blind if he can't see how great you are, but you guys still have a lot of common ground. Don't let his stupidity rub off on you."

"Are you insulting my intelligence?" she asks.

I blush. "Well, no, of course not, but, um, I think – "

She cracks up. "I'm just kidding. You're the best fake boyfriend ever. I'm glad you actually care about me and don't play the macho, jealous lover."

I smile. "I'm glad I'm doing right by you, then."

***(Nya's POV)***

I stand with my arms crossed, glaring at Lloyd. We're outside the cafeteria in the hallway. If I have to miss lunch the second day in a row, I'm personally going to spam Lloyd on social media. My body is training for battle. I need food.

"Nya..." he starts, trailing off.

I sigh. "What do you want, Lloyd?" I glare at him.

He returns my death stare with a concerned look of his own. "Not this. Why are you acting so cold to me?"

"Um, let me think. You insulted me multiple times in truth or dare last night. You also made me kiss you – "

"Hey, you chose to kiss me."

"Yeah, or totally disclose to Kai that Jay and I aren't actually dating! Remember that I'm dating him for the sake of our friendship?"

"Are you? You've been together two days, and you're already spending all your time with him." He sighs. "Look, I don't want to fight you. I just want to smooth things out between us." He clears his throat. "And I was kind of an idiot to you last night."

"Thank you. And you were more than 'kind of' an idiot." I pause. "Um...about last night..."

"Where do you want me to start?" he groans, running a hand through his locks.

"How about when you said you could never, in a million years, imagine going out with me, even if your life depended on it?"

"You definitely over-dramatized that."

"That's what it felt like inside."

"Look, Nya, my feelings about you are...complicated. I really like Harumi, but I really like you, too."

"What does that mean?" I question, totally dumbfounded.

"It means that I kind of do like you."

"Kind of?"

"Yeah, well, I also like Harumi. A lot. And we have history."

I rub my temples. "I don't know what to think." I'm really syncing with Jay's earlier song choice.

"Ooh baby, ooh baby,

It's making me crazy, it's making me crazy.

Every time I look around,

Every time I look around,

Every time I look around,

It's in my face."

"Who do you really see yourself with in ten years, Nya?" Lloyd asks.

"As of right now, I have no idea. I'm so confused." I sigh. "Lloyd, you've been my best friend since I came here. We instantly clicked. I...um, I sort of liked you for a while. But after these two days with Jay – "

"Day and a half," he reminds me.

" – and after taking a step back to look at our relationship, I don't know what to feel."

He studies my face. "Wait – are you falling for Jay? Do you like him?"

I moan. "Lloyd, he's the closest thing I've ever had to a boyfriend. He writes me love letters, he walks with me to all my classes."

"You remember that Wu specifically asked him and Cole to do that, right?"

I ignore him. "He even offered to teach me to drive, Lloyd. And once you get to know him, he's so sweet and funny. I don't know whether I actually have feelings for him, or whether I just like the idea of being in a relationship." I place a hand on Lloyd's arm. "But I don't want to lose our friendship, no matter what. Once Kai stops looking at you like you're some secret Romeo, Jay and I can break up. That'll give me a chance to step back and think."

"Who's Romeo?" he frowns. "Anyway, I just – when you, um, kissed me last night..."

"Are you asking what it meant? What I felt?" I release a breath. "It meant I didn't lose you as a friend. I couldn't risk drinking lemonade from one of Kai's gym shoes, but I also couldn't risk losing you. When I kissed you, I felt like I was saying goodbye to whatever idea of romance we might ever have."

"And how did you feel?" he asks quietly.

"You didn't even kiss me back."

"Did I taste good?"

"I - "

"Shh," Lloyd suddenly says. He grabs my hand, pulling me down the hallway and into the shadows.

Two girls appear from around the corner, stopping in front of the cafeteria entrance. I guess it must be a popular meeting place.

"Do you think he's in?" asks one with bushy, purple hair. I recognize her as Chamille, the elemental master of form.

The other, a girl with the face and form of a Greek god (whatever that is), tosses her white-blonde hair over her shoulder. "It doesn't really matter what I think now. We'll know for sure pretty soon."

Her partner frowns. "Did you set a timeframe for him to answer us?"

"No," she laughs. "I'm not that suspicious." Her voice grows serious. "I think we need to add..." She leans in close to her friend, speaking in a whisper.

I'm about to creep closer, but Lloyd restrains me. I look up to see his anxious face. Our eyes meet, and I know we're thinking the same thing: Harumi is somehow involved in something bad. She may not have said it, but she's horrible at keeping juicy secrets. She always rubs them in my face.

The master of form responds to Harumi in a normal tone. "Him? But...don't you think that's risky? What if you can't control – "

"Be quiet," Harumi commands. She whispers the rest of her reply to Chamille.

"Ring master steps out and says, 'The elephants left town.'

People jump and jive, but the clowns have stuck around.

TV news and cameras, there's choppers in the sky.

Marines, police, reporters ask 'where', 'for', and 'why'.

Pele yells 'We're outta here', Zina says 'Right on'.

We're making moves and starting grooves before they knew we were gone.

Jumped into the Chevy and headed for big lights.

Wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights.

How bizarre,

How bizarre, how bizarre."

The question is, what exactly is Harumi doing?

***Hope ya liked it!***