***I didn't have much inspiration for my other books this afternoon, so I'm here ;) Because when all else fails, write drama.***

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

I've been to my new house twice before, but it suddenly comes to me that maybe the one-story house isn't so weather resistant.

In the quiet and rather awkward car ride with Jay, the occasional crack of thunder has escalated to a full-on storm. Rain pounds against the roof of the car, the conditions are so bad we had to pull over to the side of the road multiple times, and the weatherman on the radio says there's a tornado watch.

Great. I guess one of the great benefits of living in Ninjago City is that it's constantly hit by bad weather. I didn't have to worry that much about it back in Ignacia, but it's a lot more common here.

Jay parks the car in my driveway. "Do you mind if I stay, just until the storm lets up?" he asks. "It's getting dark pretty early due to the thunderstorm, and the rain is already bad enough in some areas that I can't see, and I just...would really rather avoid getting in a car collision."

Of course. I'm sure that's the only reason he wants to stay at my house. Jay would never want to stay here so he can practice wooing an ex-girlfriend while she has no choice but to listen to him.

But then...do I really want Jay out in adverse weather? I think back to our relationship. After my parents died...I became more than a little overprotective of him. I guess I didn't want him suffering the same fate.

And the very fear that gripped me then worms its way into my heart now. I can't stand the idea of anything happening to him.

Well, dang.

"Fine, you can stay," I sigh.

"Thank you." He looks at me seriously, as though wanting me to know the meaning behind the words.

I turn away, staring out my window. "Let me know when you see the next lightning strike so we can book it inside."

"Do you have your house key on you?"

I swear under my breath. "I left it with Kai."

Jay's quiet for a moment, then speaks up, "I didn't know you cursed."

"I didn't know you still thought using bad language was a sign of poor grammar skills." I roll my eyes. "Don't judge."

"I wasn't. I was just saying that I didn't know you swore."

"I only stopped while we were dating. Gosh, no wonder my parents loved you. They saw you as a good influence."

"Maybe I was."

"Or maybe my dad was just tired of hearing me reuse my brother's favorite four-letter words." I see a flash far off outside my window, and I throw my car door open. "Let's just hope Kai left things unlocked."

I race through the pouring rain, becoming thoroughly drenched in just a few moments. Kai would poke fun at me ruining my hair and makeup, but I could honestly care less. Come at me, videographers of Single and Looking. I will be more than happy to be known as the bachelorette who never picked a guy and instead preferred fixing cars and getting her picture taken with mascara dripping down her cheeks.

When I reach the doorstep, I fumble with the handle, taking what shelter I can under the roof that barely overhangs the step.

Jay presses his warm body to mine, covering my hand on the doorknob with his. As he twists it to try to get inside, all I can feel is that infuriating giddiness that makes me blush and tingle.

Dang it.

The door opens right up, and I practically fall inside to get away from him. I stumble in, catching myself on the wall before tripping over a box Kai left haphazardly in the floor.

Oh, could a day get any more embarrassing?

Jay emits something sounding decidedly like a chuckle before flipping on the hall lights and extending a hand to help me up.

I don't take it. Instead, I struggle upward on my own, kicking the offending box out of the way.

"Stupid Kai," I growl.

Jay closes the door behind us. "He can be a little careless, that's for sure. Just be glad he and I moved most of your things in yesterday, or they'd all be soaked outside."

I sigh, stalking through the hall and keeping an eye out for any more carnage from unpacking. I locate another light switch and turn it on, viewing the status of my kitchen.

It's horribly cluttered.

"Kai," I seethe, heaving a box off the kitchen table and plopping it in the floor.

Jay laughs out loud, placing his hands on my shoulders. "It's okay, Nya. I can help you get some of this stuff out of the way until the rain lets up. Or I can stay later, if you want."

"Of course you can," I grouch. "Because my own brother can only be bothered to ruin my life. He can trash my new house and sign me up for a dating TV show without my consent, but heaven forbid he do anything to fix the messes he makes! No, he conveniently leaves that to me. Scratch that: He even more conveniently leaves the fixing to you."

He rubs my shoulders. "We always did make a good team when it came to fixing things."

I melt as he massages my shoulders – I haven't had a backrub in a long time – but I pull away from the pleasant feeling and turn to face Jay, leaning back against my kitchen table.

My kitchen table that apparently wasn't set up correctly. One of the legs tips, and the whole table and I go falling backwards.

I land on my butt, then swear again.

Jay tries hard not to smile as he bends down next to me. "Are you all right?"

I run my fingers through my styled hair, mussing it up. "Do I look all right?"

"No." To his credit, he doesn't tell me I look a mess or anything. He must know I'm to my breaking point.

Rather than helping me up, he sits down next to me on the kitchen floor, patting my hand. "You know..."

"I know nothing these days. My brother has duped me when it comes to about every aspect of my life in Ninjago City, so if you'd like to enlighten me on any other big surprises, I'd be obliged." I shake my head, wiping my hands across the wet rain droplets dribbling down from my hairline.

"I can't think of any other surprises," he says. "Um...I was going to tell you that...given the nature of your brother's contract with Single and Looking, you could, um, theoretically...reject that contract."

I perk up at this. "Really?"

"Yeah. You'd have to do it before we started filming tomorrow, but, um...yeah."

Relief floods me. "Oh, gosh, that's...thank you." I swallow. "Why did you tell me that? You're one of the competitors for this season. You...you're probably getting money out of being on the show, right?"

"I'd hoped I was getting you out of this. But it seems to upset you so much, and I don't want you to be unhappy, Nya."

My heart aww's, and I lean in to give him a side hug. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Do you wanna call Kai? You can use my phone." He hands it over.

"Thank you." I ignore how his shirt pulls across his chest in his background photo and instead head straight to his contacts.

My brother's the last person he called. Of course.

I hit Kai's number, holding my phone to my ear and feeling incredibly uncomfortable at the table leg that's poking my back. But then, my whole life is uncomfortable right now, so why move it?

Kai picks up on the second ring. "Walker. How's it – "

"I'm not your good friend Jay Walker," I smile through gritted teeth. "Kai, you son of a – "

At Jay's grimace, I don't finish the curse. He really doesn't like hearing bad language – he doesn't want it to wear off on him – so I'll try to respect that.

"Nya?" Kai laughs nervously. "Hey, sis. How's it going?"

"I think you know that very well. Kai, what the heck?!"

"What are you referring to?"

"Why the heck did you trash my house, sign me up for Single and Looking, and run off before I could even get my suitcase from the airport back from you?"

"I didn't trash your house. I was helping you unpack."

"No, you trashed the place." I shake my head. "Just explain the TV show. And then explain the clause in the contract that says I can reject it by the time we start filming tomorrow."

"I...uh...Walker!" he huffs.

"Oh, yes, Jay told me all about said clause. Let me put this on speaker phone so you two can explain this to me together." I hit the designated button.

"Walker, what gives?!" Kai exclaims.

Jay bites his lip. "Nothing, nothing! But, um" – he shoots a look at me – "your sister doesn't seem too happy about the TV show."

"We knew she wouldn't be happy about it!"

"Wait!" My mind rushes to process. "You – you two – conspired against me?! No wonder you know so much about the contract, Jay! And I suppose that's why you helped Kai unpack, too. You two set me up!" I drop Jay's phone in his lap.

"No, no, no!" Jay says quickly, grabbing my hand. "It's...not like that, Nya."

"It's exactly like that," Kai pipes up, eager to not have all my wrath intent on himself.

I shove my way away from the table. "You're kidding me. I'm so stupid. I should've known you two would pull something like this." I rise to a standing position. "Kai, what did you do with the box with all my clothes?"

"Um, about that..."

I go on high alert. "Kai, no more secrets. What did you do now?"

"Don't act like I'm such a sneak." He exhales. "Uh, so I kind of might have...gotten rid...of some of your old things."

I know where this is going. "You mean, I have no clothes besides the ones I'm wearing and the extra set in my suitcase?"

"Now hear me out, Nya. The show is giving us a pretty hefty sum for you being this year's bachelorette or spinster or whatever you want to call it, so we can go out and get you some new things that are more suitable for Single and Looking before filming at noon tomorrow."

I sputter. "Kai, there will be no TV show! I'm going to tell them I'm quitting as soon as I can get my hands on that contract!"

"No, you aren't! I'm not that rich – I splurge on myself and Skylor, you know, so I don't have money to deck out your wardrobe! Do you really want to go back to living the secondhand shop life?"

"Yes, Kai, because I love that life! You know the whole reason I moved to Ninjago City was so I could make my own decisions, right? Ignacia had something against female mechanics, so I came here for opportunity. You have tried to take all my opportunities from me!" I grab an empty box from nearby and chuck it at the wall.

"Okay," Kai concedes. "What if I want you to be happy and find a partner, Nya? You haven't dated in three years."

"That's not a bad thing! Besides, you pretty much decided that Jay would be my partner, didn't you? So you pulled him into this – dangled me in front of his nose, since you knew he was still hurting from our breakup – and conspired with him to get us back together!"

"Stop blaming me for all this!" Kai complains. "You're defending Jay, when he's just as much at fault as me!"

"Oh, I'm plenty angry with him, too." I glance at him from the corner of my eye to see his rather worried face. "But given that you're the one who's currently trying to get me to stay on the show, I'm angrier with you right now."

"You're not backing out of this contract, Nya. It's good for you. It's good for me, too – did you know my agent has received several calls from prestigious employers seeking modeling clients since my face appeared on the show's welcome episode today?"

"No, Kai, I didn't know that. I didn't know because you didn't stick around to tell me!" I groan. "Kai, just tell me where I can get my hands on that contract, and I'll – "

The phone beeps, indicating Kai has hung up.

I blanch. "He – how – "

Jay retrieves the phone from his lap. "Here, I'll call him again." He hits Kai's contact once more, but my brother doesn't answer.

Jay blushes. "Um..."

"Great," I snap. "Just great. Thanks for conspiring with Kai to get me into this mess, Jay. Thank you so much for that." I scrub a hand over my face. "I'm going to go get cleaned up, even if that only means getting this makeup ick off my face. Are you sure Kai didn't leave anything of mine?"

"Um..." He fingers his shirt collar. "I, uh, may have salvaged one outfit he was going to get rid of."

I sigh with relief. "Thanks. Can you get it for me?"

"Um, sure. But I didn't keep any, um, undergarments and that sort of thing, so...you're kind of out of luck there. Unless the storm lets up, and then I can drive you to a convenience store."

My car is right now in the shop that I'll be working at – it needed some work done, so I figured I'd get it finished during the two weeks I was supposed to have off to enjoy the city – so I guess I have no choice but to depend on Jay for a ride.

Great. Just great.

I find my way to my bathroom to scrub the makeup off my face – of course Kai didn't purchase me makeup remover – and undo my elaborate hairstyle. I leave the bathroom door open, but Jay still knocks on the doorframe before coming in.

He hands over a set of clothes, and I suddenly realize why he kept them back.

"The outfit I wore on our first date, huh?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. I can barely even fit into this thing anymore – I'm a little more mature now than I was at sixteen – but I've always kept it around.

Okay, yes, I can be sentimental.

"Mmhmm," he nods. "I'll, uh...I'll be in the kitchen fixing the table, if you need me."

I don't need anything else from him, not after tonight. "Thanks."

He smiles awkwardly, closing the bathroom door behind him. I lock it – not that Jay would come in – and wrestle into my now-tight jeans and top.

Gosh, maybe I should go see if Kai left a shirt here or something. At least then I won't feel so trapped.

I take one last glance in the mirror – same old almond-shaped eyes and straight black hair – and can't help but wonder how my life has changed so much since this morning. Maybe I'll wake up, safely tucked in my bed in Ignacia, and realize this is all just a bad dream.

Yeah. Even if this is a dream, I'm still going to have to get over Jay Walker all over again.

I make my way to the bedroom, hoping Jay won't suddenly pop out and see me in a shirt and jeans that show off every curve my body possesses. This is not comfortable. I feel really...exposed.

Once I locate the bedroom, I step inside to see Kai has made himself quite at home here. His designer clothes lay scattered across my bed and the floor haphazardly.

Well, at least I've found what I was looking for.

I grab the first shirt I find and slip off my old one just as I hear footsteps coming down the hall. "Hey, Nya, I think the weatherman said that – "

I hastily slip the new shirt over my head and shove myself up against the wall, hoping he won't see anything. "Um, don't come in!"

"What was that?" he asks, poking his head in. He's just about to see me when –

The power shuts off.

Oh, thank the First Spinjitzu Master for small blessings.

I finish poking my arms through the sleeves of the shirt and tug it the rest of the way over my body. "Nothing," I say, cautiously feeling my way toward the door.

"Oh, snap. The power's out," he sighs. "Where are you?" He begins feeling his way toward me.

"I'm right here." I reach out to touch him in the barely visible light peeking through the curtains. Jay's never had the best night vision.

"Oh. Hi." He settles his hands on my waist.

"Hi. What are you doing in here?"

"I was just saying that the weatherman said there were hailstones the size of marbles in certain areas, so we may not want to go out for – "

As if on cue, a thousand icy gunshots barrage my roof at once.

Just. My. Luck.

"Well, that's nice," I growl. "Ninjago City weather is giving me a welcoming party."

"I'm sorry you've had such a bad day, Nya." He clears his throat. "On the whole contract thing...I wasn't able to get hold of Kai, and he's the one in possession of one set of the forms, but we can call the producer tomorrow morning and get his copy. I'd be happy to pick you up before Kai takes you clothes shopping. I know you're not a big fan of that."

I nod numbly. "Thanks. Hey, it's been a long night, so I think I'm going to hit the hay. Feel free to stay until the weather lets up." I don't want him hurting himself in a rush to get away from me, even if I am upset with him.

"Thanks. Uh, but the weatherman said storms would persist all night, and you know me and my eyesight..."

"And you shouldn't be driving tonight in adverse weather." I run a hand through my now loose locks, heaving a breath. "And you want to stay the night, I'm sure."

"Well, not if it's not okay with you, but...yes?"

I shake my head. "Where are you going to stay? This is a one bed, one bath house with a kitchen that doubles as a living room. That's it."

"I can sleep on the floor."

"I don't have any extra blankets or cots or...anything. I had been meaning to buy something for Kai on the nights he would stay over, but I figured I would do that on my two weeks off." My cold stare may not visible in the dark room, but I'm sure Jay can feel it.

"I'll still stay on the floor," he reassures me.

I sigh. "Make a bed out of Kai's designer clothes or something. He's been hanging out around here a lot, apparently." I extract myself from Jay's hold on my waist and stalk over to my bed, pulling off some of Kai's clothes and making them into a pallet for Jay. I know he won't be able to make his own, given his poor night vision.

"Thanks," he swallows. "Uh...and since I won't be able to find my way in the dark...I might go ahead and go to bed, too. That way, you can show me where I'll be sleeping so I don't have to wake you up later."

"Fine by me. I'm sure Kai left some old pajamas here." I locate a pair of sweatpants and a clean shirt – both brand-name – and hand them to Jay. "Do you need help finding the bathroom?"

"Uh, nope. I'll just...feel my way along the wall until I reach it, thanks."

While Jay gets changed, I head to the front door and lock it from the inside. Kai's nuts for leaving it unlatched. I mean, that would've flown in Ignacia, where crime rates are at an all-time low and neighborhood watch is a common practice, but here? Heck, no.

After I ensure all the windows and doors are locked, I head back to the bathroom to see that Jay is done. I hope he didn't trip and fall in the bathtub or something while he was in there.

I hear him fumbling around in the bedroom, and I can't help a small smile. Poor guy.

I join him inside, locating him within a moment and placing my hand on his arm. "Having trouble?"

"Sorry," he sighs.

"If you're going to be sorry, be sorry for being in league with my brother to get us back together." I guide him toward his pallet on the ground.

"I...don't know that I'm sorry for wanting to get back together with you."

"You should be over me by now."

"No. You left me with no good reason, Nya. You obviously still cared about me, yet you said that you'd been considering breaking things off with me for a while on the day you left. Was it really that Perfect Match test that caused you to go? Were you so insecure that you needed a computerized test to tell you if I was right for you?"

"Good night, Jay." I climb in bed, huddling under the blankets.

I am not having this conversation right now. Or ever.

"Why won't you talk to me about this? I deserve to know, Nya."

I say nothing. The silent treatment is the easiest thing to give, in my opinion.

He sighs when he realizes I'm done talking for the evening. "Good night, Nya. Sweet dreams."

He makes uncomfortable rustling noises down below for the next ten minutes, then twenty, then thirty.

And guilt gnaws at me the whole time. I might be mad at him, but he didn't ask to be stuck here with me tonight. I mean, he sure would've been happy to be here, but...

Oh, I can't take it anymore!

"Jay?" I ask, not bothering to lift my head from my pillow.

"Yeah?" he says quietly.

"You can sleep up here, if you want."

"But you're already using the bed."

"But you're annoying the heck out of me with all your tossing and turning down there. I'd rather you be up here, as long as you're quiet enough that I can get some rest."

"Sorry," he mumbles.

I reach out my hands for him down below, then brush his arm so he knows I'm offering to guide him. He carefully takes my palm in his, feeling around with his other hand for the bed before rising. He has to crawl overtop of me, but he makes his way up and to the other side of the mattress.

"Thanks," he whispers, settling himself under the blankets. He's at least six inches from me.

"Just don't think this changes anything," I hiss. "I'm still mad at you."

He doesn't respond to that, instead steadying his breathing until it turns into a soft snore.

I guess I'm not the only one who was tired.

He mutters something in his sleep, then rolls over so he's facing me. He continues to speak softly and quietly, narrating his dreams under his breath.

Yep. Same old Jay.

I'm the one who changed.

***So there you have it: Drama. See you within the next two weeks LOL***