"Lloyd! Kai! Both of you get your butts down here now!"

I rolled my eyes at Nya's persistent yells, taking my time in spraying on some deodorant and giving myself a final preview in the mirror. I looked fine, enough to give a good impression that I was a clean boy with a set routine for hygiene. Though Kai seemed to be overdoing everything.

And I let him know after I saw him restyling his mop of hair for the fourth time that morning.

"Your sister is wreaking havoc downstairs and you're still not ready?" I said, watching as Kai glared at the traitorous bit of hair that would not settle down the way he wanted it to.

Nya yelled something about beauty contestants taking less time to get ready and I heartily nodded along while purposefully ignoring the fact that I was in the blame too. I'm such a hypocrite. Kai walked past me and yanked open his bedroom door all the way, sticking his head outside.

"Misako, could you lock Nya in the car, please? I'm trying to perfect my hair and she's making me lose concentration!"

I gave Kai an amused smile, certain that my eyebrows had vanished into the fringe of my blonde hair from being raised too high. I mocked a triumphant laugh when my mom rejected his proposition and joined Nya in calling us downstairs.

"It's a long way to school," Mom stated loudly, standing at the bottom of the stairs from what I could tell. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we get there."

"What's the hurry, honestly?" Kai muttered quietly, focused entirely on his hair.

I had to congratulate my foster siblings for opening up to my mother so quickly and easily. They had only been at my mom's place for a few days when I was introduced to them. They had already warmed up to her and I could not help but feel jealous.

I only get two weeks each month to spend time with my mother and I have her to myself mostly. So the very idea of sharing her love and attention with two other kids boiled me up and actually experiencing it was even worse. I'm ashamed to admit that I was slightly rude to Kai and Nya at first. But that was before I learned what they had to endure their entire lives.

I think my mother had already filled them in about my sensitiveness because they never complained about my behavior. Rather they tried to grow closer to me and helped me overcome the possessive hold I had on my mother.

Now, it's hard to imagine a life without them. Kai and Nya had so readily incorporated themselves into my mother's life that I myself couldn't see them as anything other than my own siblings. Even Kyle likes them and he rarely ever becomes casual with strangers.

I could hardly wait to introduce them to Morro. I can't say he'd be thrilled considering all the negative things I used to tell him about Kai and Nya but it won't hurt to clear away the misunderstanding.

It was fifteen minutes later that we all gathered in the lounge, set and ready for the first day of boarding school. Mom was making the final inspection around the house to check if nothing was forgotten. Nya chose to lecture me and Kai in that time period.

"I was already tired of one brother, now I have to deal with the tardiness of two," she said after reciting the principles of punctuality to us for thirteen minutes, miserably shaking her head at her own misfortune.

Kai scoffed. "You're acting like Mrs. Grummiler's kids never existed."

"For your information, I never considered Matt and Manny as my brothers," Nya argued back, haughtily turning away. "But I have to put up with Lloyd. And you, Kai, are unfortunately unavoidable."

"Poor you," I smiled not-so-innocently, nudging Kai who grinned smugly in return.

My mother reappeared in the hall, clutching her purse. Her hair were usually tied up in a braid or a bun but today she had let it down with a little clip at the back to keep them from falling on her face. All of these formalities and the unfamiliar deviation from our daily routine stirred up the anxiety I would cage every time I thought of school.

I tried not to let it show and took a deep breath to calm the knot in my stomach. Before I knew it, we were in the car, strapping on seatbelts. I was up front with Mom while Kai and Nya were in the back with an overly excited Kyle in the middle.

"You got the dog into the school too?" Kai asked, grunting as he tried to get away from Kyle's wet tongue.

"Nope," I replied, reaching back to scratch my dog under the chin and talking in a babyish voice I always use when I love him more than usual. "He's coming to see me off. Isn't that right, Kyle?"

He woofed happily, his tail wagging like mad and his foot twitching in satisfaction.

"Is he going to be okay with you gone all year?" Nya wondered, petting Kyle's thick black coat.

Those words dampened the confident flame I had managed to conjure inside me. I kept my facial expression relaxed but I was certain my smile had faded a little. I turned back to the front, not wanting to look at Kyle anymore. My stomach began hurting the way it did whenever I was nervous.

Would I be okay being away from Mom and Dad all year?

I had been thinking it over and over for the past two weeks. Before having Kai and Nya for company I was comforted with the fact that Morro would be there with me. But in hindsight, that was a wrong assumption. He's way more insecure than me so I would be the one reassuring him.

The only reason me and Morro agreed to a boarding school was to improve ourselves socially. Getting a break from home was a good option if we wanted to prevent our domestic problems from deteriorating us.

The engine roared to life and I snapped back to reality. I remembered Nya's question and immediately stammered. "Um, yeah. I'm- I'm sure Kyle will be okay. Besides, we're coming back for the weekends, aren't we?"

"That's right," Mom spoke up, displaying an upbeat attitude that I could tell was forced. In my peripheral vision, I could see her tentatively glancing at my direction but I pretended I didn't see anything.

Kai and Nya were oblivious to the rising tension in the car and were engrossed in shifting Kyle over to the window so he could hang his tongue out. I was grateful when my phone buzzed as it provided me with a distraction. But that distraction came with a heavy cost.

It was a text from my father.

"Mom? Dad wants to know where we're going to meet him," I said, reading the words on the screen.

My mother now had an irritated scowl on her face and she turned the car to the right rather sharply. "Does texting me directly take an extra effort?" she angrily muttered under her breath.

"Not now, Mom," I sighed, closing my eyes and hoping my foster siblings weren't paying attention. Their silence indicated otherwise and I cringed internally.

"Tell him we'll arrive at Sunset Boulevard in an hour," Mom ordered sourly.

I waited a second before grinning and extending my phone towards her. "You can tell him yourself if you want. I'm sure texting your separated spouse really doesn't take an effort."

She flared up and her grip on the wheel tightened. "Not funny, Lloyd! If he's using you as a messenger instead of talking to me, why should I bother then?"

I shrugged and nonchalantly texted my father the location. "Fighting fire with fire only makes things worse, you know. Someone's gotta break the ice."

"You stay out of this, okay?" Mom scolded, pinning me with a firey look for a brief moment. "Just because you're older now doesn't mean you can lecture us about reconciliation."

I resisted the urge to groan loudly. I rolled my eyes and grumpily faced the window on my side, chin in my hand. "Wow. Thanks for reminding me that I have no business in my parents' current marital status."

"Just stop, Lloyd," Mom snapped. "It's hard enough without having to deal with your bitterness. It's your last day with us so try not to turn it into war."

"I'm turning this into war?!" I raged, my nerves struck. All my concealed anger and agitation broke free and I plowed on. "You and Dad are the ones who made my life a war! My bitterness is all your fault. Nothing has been the same after that night-"

"Lloyd."

I felt a calm hand on my shoulder and realized it was Kai. His voice was cautious, silently warning me to stop then and there. I inhaled, settling my racing thoughts. My mother gave me a final glance that said clearly that she was done discussing the topic. I didn't complain.

When it seemed like a good few minutes had passed, Nya once again started up a conversation. Unfortunately, it was about Dad again. However, on the bright side, Mom was never stern with Nya or her brother so there was no contention.

"Mr. Garmadon is coming as well?" Nya asked in a quiet, experimental voice.

My mother nodded, apparently eyeing the girl through the rearview mirror. "He's coming to drop off Lloyd's cousin at the school and he decided to coordinate our journeys."

"Cousin?" Kai began, shoving Kyle's stretched out form off him. "You mean Morro?"

"Yeah," I answered. My voice came out strained and exhausted but I layered it over by prominently clearing my throat.

"I've been hearing so much about him from you," Nya perked up, grabbing onto the back of my mother's seat and excitedly pulling herself closer to the front. "How come you never showed us any pictures?"

"Why need a picture when we can meet him in the flesh, sis?" Kai smirked.

I could tell both of them were trying to take my mind off the earlier fight and I fully appreciated them for it. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Morro would find them interesting too. They had a way of quickly changing subjects and altering moods as well.

I've noticed that they would try to avoid the topics that brought my messed up family into the discussion. I've never been bothered by the two to recount exactly how my parents decided to split up and I don't really want them to. It's easier to try and forget it even though I can't possibly ignore the stinginess of the situation.

The two of them launched into their easy arguments about who's more pumped up about boarding school, with me, obviously, ranking at the lowest number. Kyle enjoyed every belly rub and scratch that came his way and I tried to make myself comfortable by paying more attention to my foster siblings' banter rather than my mother's frosty silence.

Needless to say, the two of us didn't exchange a single word. We simply fought a silent war by ignoring one another for the entirety of the remaining trip.

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