AAAAH I'M TOO BUSY.

Happy 10th anniversary :). N1NJAG0!

Nya's POV

"Where do you think you're going?" I heard Morro's voice behind me just as I reached the door handle.

I swallowed my anger and turned around to face him. "To Camille's for a group project," I told him.

"Who said you could go? I thought we had planned dinner for tonight."

"You had planned dinner for tonight. I told you about the project a week ago." But of course, you didn't hear a word.

"I think I'm more important than fish."

"Go and eat sushi then," I said, "I'm already mad at you for yesterday."

"Well, that waiter shouldn't have spilled water on you."

"And you had to shout at him for an accident?" I fixed my ponytail, grabbing my backpack from the floor. "Forget it."

"What, are you just going to cancel our date?" his voice got tenser.

"I told you, the project is due to Monday. We have to get it done tonight."

"Maybe you should learn not to procrastinate."

I crossed my arms. "Says the high school dropout," I said behind gritted teeth, "now, if you'll excuse me—Shit!"

He pulled me back inside, letting go of my ponytail after a few painful seconds.

"What the hell was that about?" I yelled at him, gripping tightly onto my ponytail.

He slammed the door shut, throwing the backpack onto my chest. "You're ditching me and you haven't said sorry yet."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry."

"You should be," he shot back. His voice was unusually loud. He opened the door, looking at me dead in the eye. "Fine, you can go. But don't expect me to open the door when you come back."

I frowned, looking inside my backpack. "Where are my keys?"

"Go."

"No, where are my—" my voice trailed off. "You can't kick me out of my own apartment!"

"Go to Camille's. She must have a place for you since you've been visiting so much," he said, grabbing my wrist tighter than I—or anyone—would have liked. "I'll see if I can forgive you tomorrow."

"You can't just—" he threw me outside and closed the door in my face.

I scratched my head, still hurting from before and let my hair down, going on my way.

Stupid ponytail.

"Nya? Earth to midget?" I saw a hand in front of my face.

I shook my head, looking up at him. "What is it, Lloyd?"

"I said I liked your hair," he said a bit more loudly, "how come you decided to cut it?"

I bit my lip, the only reaction I could give being a shrug. "Got bored of it, I guess."

"Hey, nothing wrong with a bob," he said, "it's good to change your style from time to time. Unless you're Jay, that is."

"I heard that!" the boy in blue himself shouted from the other side of the porch, sitting cross-legged on the floor as he played chess with Zane.

"Say that to the mop in your hair!" Lloyd shouted back.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked.

"First, it was straight. Then, he tried to curl it and dye it. He didn't like it, tried to straighten it back, the curl wouldn't go away entirely. So now he's stuck looking like a bird's nest."

"I think it looks nice. It's more wavy than anything."

"Thanks, Nya!" he said again, followed by a groan. "This is the tenth time I've lost!"

"The twelfth, to be exact," said Zane with a cheeky grin, placing the pieces back in place. He turned to the two of us, holding up the board. "Care for a game?"

"We don't know how to play chess," Lloyd spoke up for the both of us.

"You don't know how to play chess," I pointed my finger at him, "I do."

I walked over to the other two, pushing Jay away as I took his ace on the dirty floor. I flipped the board around so that I would have the black pieces, cracking my knuckles. "Bring it on, smarty pants."

As we began playing, it was like time stood still for a second. Finally, some peace.

Jay's POV

I let Nya sit in my place, rushing to get to Lloyd.

You know, for it being like midnight, it sure as heck was freezing cold. Or maybe it was just me?

Where was that darn car service? It has been like what, an hour now since I last called them?

Lloyd patted my shoulder as I sat next to him on the uncomfortably weak stairs, handing me one of his barbecue chips. "Here's to the third time you two have switched places."

"Thanks..." Not going to lie, I was pretty dang hungry and the smell of the juice stain on my shirt didn't help my appetite.

"When are you two going to hang out?" he said, biting down on on a handful of chips.

"We were at an aquarium all alone for like two hours. I'm sure she's gotten enough of me for today," I chuckled.

"I wouldn't say that," he said, "she seems less grumpy towards you today."

"Well..."

"Well?"

"We just had a small argument, that's all," I waved my hand dismissively, "and she also said she liked me."

"Can you speak louder? I can't hear you!" he raised his voice with a teasing laugh, causing both Zane and Nya to look at us.

I covered his mouth with my hand, pushing him into the ground. "Oh, you know what you heard!" I whispered to him.

He got up with a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, "so, are you guys like a thing now?" he nudged my shoulder.

Would like to be one. "As I said, she liked me. As in past tense."

"Well, that's a bummer," he said, his lips curving into a smirk. "I can already imagine it, the poor girl coming out of an awful relationship just to have the boy of her dreams turn her life around—"

"Ew, no! I'm not her psychologist," I stuck my tongue out in disgust. "I don't care. As long as she's away from that jerk, I'll be fine."

"What if she finds a new jerk?"

"Now you're just making me paranoid!"

"I kid, I kid," he narrowed his eyes. "Say, when's that pickup service coming? I love playing board games all night but I want to experience the new Fist2Face if you catch my drift."

I looked at the time on my phone, sighing. "No idea. It's getting cold too."

"Ya don't say."

I rubbed my arms, my lips trembling a little—well, okay, no, like a lot. "C—can't you just turn on the heating in your car or something?"

"Cole's still passed out in there."

I groaned. Great, now it's going to take ages for him to wake up.

"How exactly are we going to get it picked up? Will you have to ride on it or something?" Lloyd asked him.

I shook my head. "No, no, they're just going to follow our car home and drop it off there. There's an actual gas station a few streets away so I'll just fill it tomorrow, I guess."

"Huh. You've never forgotten to fuel it ever since that SOG incident."

Jeez, no need to remind me of that. "So what, I ran out of gas while being chased by your ex's gang. Big deal."

"And my ex-dad's," he sighed.

I wasn't not usually proud of my parents (at least whenever they embarrassed me in front of everyone), but I can't deny that having an embarrassing pa is better than having your dad start a gang.

"Daddy issues, am I right?" I chuckled nervously. Way to go, Jay. You really know how to comfort people, huh?

"Tell me about it..."

We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the atmosphere, I guess.

I had forgotten how much I loved just being out in nature. Well, only if you considered an abandoned gas station next to an empty road nature. But it kinds made me miss home, you know? Sure, I hated living in a desert—heck, I hated living in a junkyard—but at least it was quiet in there. Besides my parents talking all the time, that is.

I also liked to watch the stars every night. It was honestly relaxing. Maybe Nya liked to watch them too?

My phone started ringing.

"Oh, must be the pickup service," I said, answering almost immediately. I didn't even bother to check the number. Worst mistake of my life.

"Waller?"

"Okay, what's with everyone calling me Waller?"

"I said Walker, you dunce." Kai's voice sounded oddly... frustrated. "Where's my sister? It's like one in the morning!"

Wow, time passes by fast.

I covered the speaker and looked at Lloyd. "I thought you said he was drunk?"

"I said he was distracted by Sky, not that he was drunk."

"Yes, I was drunk," we heard his almost slurred voice say through the speaker, "my head hurts like shit."

"Okay, there was literally no need for you to curse there," I told him, "we just got caught up in some traffic, that's all. We'll be there in an hour at most."

"You're both grounded after this."

"Okay, ma. Go rest your head and we'll be back in no time."

"Be quick."

The call closed.

I laid back on the floor, sighing. "I'm a dead man walking."

"You mean you're a dead Walker," Lloyd corrected me, only earning a glare.

"I'm supposed to be the funny one."

"I can be funny sometimes," he said, "maybe that's why Nya chose me..."

I should have really told him about the whole 'wanting to fit in' thing, huh? But then again, did I really want to ruin his confidence?

"Does Nya like funny guys?" I blurted out.

"I mean, I guess. Doesn't make sense why she fell for Morro though."

"She didn't fall for him," I said, "he was just taking advantage of her in a weak state."

"I wouldn't call leaving for college a weak state."

Right. He didn't know about the whole... argument thing. And he never would.

"Well, college can be sad. Leaving your friends and family to go somewhere else."

"I guess, but she got a scholarship. I wouldn't say she'd be sad not having to pay off debt her entire life."

I couldn't really argue with that. I never really got Nya. She was, like me, a straight-A student that participated in everything. But, unlike me, she had confidence.

I never understood how she had been able to do it, but it also looked like the tables had turned. I had gotten more confident in myself—and I was glad for that—but she seemed a bit more... timid? It was weird to explain.

I felt a pat on my shoulder. Looking behind me, Zane was pointing in the distance.

"That's the pickup service, isn't it?" he told me.

Sure enough, there they were, vehicles and everything.

"I can go talk to them if you want to," he continued, "you look tired."

I love you, Zane. "Really? That'd be awesome..."

"No worries. Just get in the car and I'll be right back."

As we watched him walk away, we heard another voice behind us.

"Darn, and I was just about to win..." said Nya with a disappointed, pouty —and adorable—face behind us, holding the chess set inside a small box. "Let's go in, I guess."

Lloyd helped me up as we walked towards Lloyd's car—a gift from the beloved father himself—remembering that we now had to face the real obstacle.

"Zane takes the front," said Lloyd almost immediately, jumping in the driver's seat.

I sighed, shaking Cole's shoulder. "Come on bud, get up."

"What?" he grumbled. At least he's speaking.

"Get up and give the orca to Nya."

He groaned, slowly sitting up as he scooted towards the corner seat. He threw the plushie on Nya, something that should have earned him something more than a glare, honestly.

Nya was the next one to get in since that was pretty much the only way Lloyd could see the back mirror—hey, I'm too tall for something for once. That's a first.

I followed soon after.

Ah, finally; sweet, sweet heat.

I felt something brush over my thigh, looking down to see Nya's leg.

She only looked at me with an awkward laugh, gesturing to Cole, who had begun to sink down in his seat again. And with him being the extremely muscular doofus that he is, he took up like the whole space.

So now I was stuck in the back seat with Nya pressed up against me.

Gosh darn you, hormones.

This was going to be a fun ride.

Another chapter done! How long do you think it'll take for them to kiss? 👀

C ya!