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~ Chapter Four ~

DEAD MOTHERS WITH A SIDE OF RED HAIR

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Kai eyed the ticking clock above the chalk board with a scrutinizing squint. Ninjago history was interesting enough, as was his second lesson of Geography. But his third lesson of Art and fourth of English Literature were wearing his conscious thin.

Kai had never claimed to be an academic, never claimed to like learning about mundane topics that didn't hold his focus and subsequently struggled adamantly when it came to gaining good grades. He wasn't like his sister who valued a good education, or his parents who, while absent most of the time, also believed in a strong academic prowess. He never found a subject that he genuinely found fascinating enough to pay attention to in class. He wasn't hardwired that way.

It didn't help that whenever he did try and read something, more often than not the words jumped around the page in a silly dance and he spent half the time trying to coax the words back into place. He didn't understand how people were able to read so well with the swirling words while he struggled to get them to stop moving. It didn't make sense to him.

He didn't like reading. He liked working with his hands, liked moving and fiddling. He hated sitting for long periods of time.

So even despite having the last ten minutes of his currant class being spent working in groups of three, wherein he didn't offer much in terms of help to Zane and a black haired boy called Cole, he still was getting fidgety and eager to leave for lunch. Plus he missed his sister and wanted to know how she was doing. 

"The clocks not going to go any faster with you staring at it." Cole voice broke through Kai's reverie. 

"What?" Kai asked, blinking back at the boy.

Cole grinned at the brunettes oblivious stare. Zane had mentioned that a new boy and girl would be arriving today and he would be offering them a place at their table to sit at lunch, but Cole hadn't realized that also meant the new boy would be in most of their lessons as well. However, despite the slightly cold introduction Kai made, Cole had decided that he didn't mind the new boy - sure his hair was a little wack and his clothes a little outdated, but Cole could see himself getting along with Kai enough to perhaps call him a friend one day.

"If you stop staring at the clock and offer some help, maybe the time will go quicker." Cole repeated.

Kai sighed, glancing back to the clock one last time before shuffling his chair closer to the table, "Yeah, sorry." He sighed again, "I'm just worried about my sister," He replied glumly.

Zane shared a look with Cole, "Don't worry about her, Kai" The white haired teenager responded, "Pixel is looking after her."

Kai picked up his pen and twirled it around his fingers, "I guess."

"Plus, lunch is next period, you'll see her then." Cole added.

Kai hummed in response, opting to keep his thoughts to himself as he looked over the mind map the other two boys had created. They were reading A Christmas Carol in class and had to create a diagram depicting all the ways Ebenezer Scrooge had changed from the beginning of the book to the end.

Kai had never read this book, but didn't want anyone knowing that. He'd watched the film as there was no reading involved so that's all he had to go off when he began offering up different suggestions until the bell rang for lunch.

Kai was quick to his feet, shoving his books and pencil case into his old tarnished backpack before impatiently waiting until Zane and Cole had also packed up and they could direct him to the cafeteria and to his sister. The two other boys grinned with amusement at Kai's eagerness but wasted no time directing the boy to the large hall filling up with hungry teenagers.

As Kai, Cole and Zane entered, the latter two stirred their new friend over to the canteen, showing which food were easily digestible and warning him about which food would probably give him some form of food poisoning if he were to eat it. Kai settled with a healthy serving of broccoli pasta, a green apple, and a bottle of water and followed Cole over to the table in the furthest corner. 

"You feeling better now?" Cole asked, taking a huge bite out id his vegetarian curry.

Kai, glanced over the larger boys shoulder, his amber eyes scanning the line of hungry teenagers for his sister, "I will be when I see Nya."

Cole nodded and swallowed his food, "You know, it's nice that you worry for your sister," He  smiled slightly as he picked up another mouthful of curry, "It kind of makes me wish I had a sibling."

"You're an only child?" Kai asked, eyes meeting with Coles darker ones as the black haired boy shoveled the curry into is mouth while he shrugged and nodded. Kai looked down to his own food, suddenly feeling put off at the display of Cole's messy eating, "I begged my parents for a sibling for the longest time when I was three. Or so they tell me."

Cole paused his eating, "I thought Nya was a junior?"

"She is." Kai nodded.

Cole sat back slightly, "Is my math not working or does that not make any sense?"

Kai picked up his apple, "She skipped a grade." 

"Oh, like Lloyd."

Kai blinked, "Whose that?"

Cole waved him off, "You'll meet him soon when the rest of the group gets here." He replied, picking up his fork again, "But anyway, you're still a year out if she's three years younger that you."

Kai awkwardly scratched the back of his head, "Ah, well, I actually was held back a year."

Cole glanced up to the brunette again, "No shame in that. I was also held back a year."

This got Kai's attention, "You were? Why?"

Cole shrugged, swallowing down a piece of tofu, "My mum died when I was young and my dad forced me to take a year out to cope."

"Oh," Kai lamely responded. Here he was failing most of his classes because he couldn't read and spent lots of his time in detention, while there were genuine people out there being held back for legitimate, life altering reasons. "I'm... Sorry."

Cole waved him off again, "It was a long time ago."

"What was a long time ago?" Came a voice from behind Cole. Kai glanced up from his broccoli to see a pink haired girl with a streak of dark blue at the front slide into the table next to Cole and kiss his cheek. The small action bringing out a softened smile from the black haired boy.

"Just my mother dying," Cole responded with a morbid smirk. 

"I- what?" The pink haired girl blinked.

Cole grinned at her, "Nothing," He shook his head in amusement before gesturing over to Kai,  "Seliel, this is Kai, Kai meet my girlfriend, Seliel." He introduced before looking back to the Pink haired girl, "He's one half of the new students Zane invited to our lunch."

Seliel nodded, "Ah, nice to meet you Kai. I actually briefly met your sister in passing to my politics class. She seems cool."

"Err, right." Kai nodded, "Thanks?"

A few moments later Zane reappeared after going to speak with a teacher about an upcoming exam, placing down his empty tray. Kai eyed the tray suspiciously but then recalled his previous realization that Zane was a Android, he probably didn't need to eat. But that still didn't explain the tray.

In fact he was about to question the odd action, but his words died in his throat when he saw Nya walking over to their table, the boy from outside the front of school that he couldn't remember the name of and Pixel walking next to her. He sat up straighter, catching his sisters eye and smiled.

She tentatively took a seat next to her brother, nodding to him in greeting and after another round of introductions were given, the group seemed to fall into mindless chatter. Kai didn't input much into the conversation, neither did Nya as both were still trying to find their footing in this new group.

"Hey, where's Lloyd?" Zane asked after a few minutes.

"He had to stay back to talk to Mr. Janton about something. Wouldn't say what though." Jay shrugged.

Seliel hummed, "That's odd. That boy never misses lunch and now he has twice in a row."

"I wouldn't think too much into it. You know his Dad has been on his ass about grades." Cole reasoned.

"I don't know why." Jay sighed, "Lloyd has straight A's. If he wasn't competing against an android he would easily be the smartest kid in junior year." Jay then winced, "No offense Pixel."

The female android shrugged, "I take no offense to you calling me the smartest."

Kai watched to interactions between friends critically. He never really was good at making friends himself and normally just hung around with Nya when in his spare time. It was odd to see these people accept himself and Nya into there group with little to no knowledge about either of them.

As the conversation moved away from the missing blond boy, a loud cheer came from a neighboring table catching the groups attention. From what Kai could tell, some boys wearing the school teams yellow and black football Letterman's were trying to chug down a whole cup of ketchup.

Seliel groaned at the sight, "And people wonder why girls outlive the boys." She sighed as herself, and the rest of the group returned their eyes to their own food and conversations resumed back up.

Kai's nose scrunched up at the sight. It seemed all jocks were the same in every high school: A bunch of idiots. His eyes flicked away for a second only to double take at something red that caught his eye. He shifted slightly in his seat, craning his neck a fraction to get a better look at the thing that grabbed his attention.

Sitting with the jocks were a bunch of girls all dressed in matching yellow and black cheerleading uniforms. They all wore matching looks of forced laughter as they cheered the boys on to drink more of the ketchup, well, all bar one who sat back in her chair, arms crossed with a look of unimpressed boredom. The red that had caught Kai's attention was that of her hair, long and scarlet under the cafeteria lights. 

"Hey," He asked, eyes not taken off the red haired girl as he addressed the table and gained their attention, "What's her name?"

Cole smirked at the brunette, knowing exactly what was going on as he followed his line of sight.

"Who" Zane asked.

"The red haired girl."

Cole smirked, "I wouldn't even think about it Kai." 

"What?" 

"Trust me, you don't wanna go there." Cole double downed.

Kai turned away from the red haired girl, "I just asked for her name."

Seliel leaned forward slightly, "And we are telling you its not worth your time. That girl spells trouble for you."

"Why?" Kai questioned.

"She's cheerleading captain and class representative," Pixel replied.

"Not to mention Morro has already lay claim to her." Zane added. 

Kai blinked, "I- What? I just asked what her name was? I don't get what the big deal is?" He groaned, "And whose Morro?" 

"Lloyd's older brother," Jay responded with a slight edge to his voice, "Not someone you want to mess with."

Kai glanced over at Jay, "He sounds like a bully to me."

"Oh he is," Nodded Jay, "He takes special pride in hurting people I swear. It doesn't help that were friends with his brother, it makes us the easiest target in his eyes. Lloyd gets it the worst though." Jay sighed, "Just keep your head down if I were you, and stay away from Skylor, he'll only make your life a living hell if he thinks your interested."

Kai perked up slightly, "Skylor? That's her name? The redhead?"

"Nice going Jay," Cole sighed, smacking jay lightly on the back of his head, "We were trying to keep that hidden, remember?"

"Sorry."

"Listen Kai, Skylor is off limits. I know you were only asking for her name but I'm not stupid. I don't know how it worked in you old school but here, Morro isn't someone to trifle with, especially being Sensei Wu's nephew, he's basically untouchable when it comes to discipline. That's not a challenge you want to take on."

Kai didn't respond to that. But inside his head he grew irritated. How could someone claim another person? It was so weird and wrong. Not to mention the added layer of outdated sexism. Men don't have claim over woman, and Kai briefly wondered if this Skylor knew of this 'claim' someone had over her and whether or not she was okay with it. Regardless though, Kai didn't like it. And while at first he was just curious about the girls name, now he felt the brewing feeling of a challenge being lain at his feet.

And Kai smith wasn't one to shy away from a challenge.

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word count

2.2k

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AN - Shameless self promo

Lloyd x reader book out now on my profile :)