*3 years earlier*

Zane's POV

"So then I was like,'Why the heck is epitome pronounced ih-pit-oh-me and not ep-pi-tome' you know? Like why do words have to be pronounced so weird?" Jay rests his arm against his parent's in-house bar. He sucks chocolate milk through a straw up to his mouth, opting for the sweet beverage as opposed to trying to sneak a glass of wine from said in-house bar.

"I am unsure. Perhaps someone felt the need to be creative?" I propose.

"That's dumb though. The whole English language is dumb," he loudly groans before his eyes enlarge. "Uh oh, someone just spilled wine on my mom's expensive rug. Aaaah, I need to deal with that," he jolts upwards, briskly parting the crowd to reach the culprit.

Tonight is Jay's party that precedes the first day of shooting for "Ninjago". All previous and upcoming cast members are invited to mingle and meet one another. Jay claims that it "fosters a friendly environment" due to the fact that it provides adequate time for people to bond.

Every party, the guest list grows due to the accumulation of the old and new cast members. By the time we reach season 7, the season we're currently signed until, the room is going to be bustling. While Jay has already traversed the room and talked with every person here, I am yet to talk to anyone that I did not know prior to tonight. Social situations are not my forte.

"May I please have a glass of Martinelli's?" a delicate voice asks from beside me. Turning my head, I locate the owner of the voice. She is short and petite with long, blonde hair that cascades down her back. Her skin is fair, her eyes a glistening green comparable to Lloyd's. Donning a purple sundress, she smiles at the bartender as he hands her the glass of sparkling apple cider. She is standing directly beside me.

However, as she turns to leave the bar, her foot catches the carpet resting below our feet. Tripping, she accidentally saturates the front of my sky blue button up with the beverage before the glass hits the ground, splintering into hundreds of miniscule shards. The people surrounding us jump away.

"I am very sorry. I can clean this up right away," she immediately apologizes. Her eyebrows furrow with worry, a frown finding its way to her lips.

"I can help. It was an accident. I will go collect the broom, dustpan, and vacuum. Just ensure that no one steps on the fragments," I formulate a plan. She nods, so I go to the back of the bar. Jay stored the cleaning supplies there because he assumed that they would be in high demand tonight. His assumption was correct.

When I return, the girl is standing with her hands behind her back. "Would you like me to sweep or hold the dustpan?"

"I can hold the dustpan."

As I squat to position the dustpan, she gently sweeps the debris into it. Once it is completely inside, I hand the dustpan to the bartender to dispose of.

"I can vacuum. I was the one who created the mess," she offers.

"It is alright. You are a guest. I frequently am here," I inform her, not allowing a guest to clean up the mess.

"Thank you. You are Zane, correct?" she asks me as I plug the vacuum into the nearest outlet.

"Yes, and you?"

"I am Pixie. Would you care to converse after you are completed? We are going to be spending a lot of time together this season, and it would be pleasing to know you beforehand," she asks, making a small smile appear on my face. Perhaps I will meet someone new tonight.

"I would love to."

---

Jay's POV

"Okay so hear me out," Cole prefaces as he and Seliel place a tablecloth over the fold out table we just carried out. "A chocolate fountain."

"Ooo, that's such a good idea!" Lloyd agrees from across the room as sits beside Harumi. With her leaning into his side, the two put name tags on the wine glasses.

Cole, Seliel, Lloyd, and Harumi are all helping me set up for the cast party tonight. With the influx of people returning year after year for the parties, I need to make them bigger and better each year. I've been stumped about what to add this time.

"What would we do with it though?" I ask them. I stand on my tip toes while on a ladder, my fingers reaching up to tape sparkly black and gold streamers from the ceiling.

"Stick fruits and marshmallows and all that good stuff on sticks and let people coat them in chocolate. How is that not an awesome idea?" Seliel explains, straightening the black piece of fabric Cole and her are trying to center.

"Weeelll...I don't have a chocolate fountain or chocolate for the chocolate fountain," I pick out the flaw in their plan.

"Cole and I have one. Kai and Sky can just pick it up on their way here and grab the chocolate, skewers, and things we want to coat in chocolate on the way here."

"Good idea, I'll..."

"Jay," Lloyd's voice catches my attention. I turn my head over to where he is sitting with his arm around Harumi. While he is writing out the little name tags, she's placing them on the glasses.

Even though my parents are never actually here for the parties - or anything for that matter-, they have always been really strict in making it so Walter enforces that there is no underage drinking. To do that, we only bring out wine glasses for the exact number of people 21+ coming to the party and slap a name tag on each one. If anyone can't find their glass, we know someone took one.

"Yeah?"

"Is Gabe coming? There's a question next to his name on the guest list," he lifts up the list, revealing the giant question mark next to Gabe's name.

"Hopefully not. I'll call her after I text Kai to bring the chocolate fountain," my feet move down the rungs until I'm on the ground. I walk over to the at home bar where my phone is set before picking it up, unlocking it, and making a group chat with Kai and Skylor.

Jay: Can you two show up a bit early and bring some chocolate chips, fruit, marshmallows, and pick up the chocolate fountain from Cole and Seliel's house?

Jay: We decided that we wanted it haha

Kai: yeah sure

Kai: dark milk or white

Kai: i'm choosing dark cause white sucks and milk half sucks

Agreeing with his choice of chocolate, I heart his final message before going into my phone app, searching my contacts, and clicking Nya's name. I lift the phone to my ear as it rings.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting the party ready?" Nya teases as the ringing stops. I can't help but smile.

"Weeeelll, I was getting it ready, but then Lloyd realized we don't know if Gabe is coming or not. We need to know whether to get him a glass or not," I tell her.

"Oh, I'll go check," all playfulness drops out of her voice as she goes to get him. "Gabe?"

"I told you not to bug me right now," he huffs. Even hearing his condescending voice through the phone makes me mad. "Who are you on the phone with?"

"Jay wants to know if you're coming to the party tonight."

"Tell the little prick that I'd rather die than see his smug grin," he grumbles, making me roll my eyes. "Why are you on the phone with other guys right after we fought? Do I really mean that little to you?"

"No, of course you don't. He just called to ask a simple question," she informs him, her voice even and soft. "I'll tell him that you don't want to go, and then I'll hang up, okay?"

"Once you get off the call, you're going to make it up to me for making me upset earlier," he commands her, making my skin crawl. My stomach churns at the way he talks to her.

"I don't think I..."

"You do. You made me feel horrible, and to make me feel better, you need to suck..."

"Nya, you should come over early," I inform her through the phone, keeping me from hearing the rest of his sentence.

"I will, just give me one minute to tie things up," I internally celebrate that she's getting out of that situation, even if only temporarily.

There's a brief pause, and I stay silent as it sounds like she's shuffling around. "Sorry for that. Yeah, he isn't coming, but I'm still going to try to come. He needs me to do something for him, so I need to..."

"Wait, you're staying over there? Gabe was just a total douche. He shouldn't guilt you into doing sexual things with him," I tell her in disbelief, but I try to sound as calm as possible. At that, all four of the other heads in the room turn towards me. They all are concerned.

"I need to clear the water. I'll be over tonight though, okay?" she insists, trying to hide the slight heaviness in her voice.

"Nya I don't..." I try to rush out my words, but she quickly cuts me off.

"Thank you for understanding," when I hear her voice cut out, I let out a sigh, tucking my phone in my pocket.

"So?"

"He's not coming," I tell Lloyd and Harumi. Running my hand through my hair, I set my phone back on the counter before pinching the bridge of my nose. The sound of my foot tapping the floor fills the room. After several deep breaths, I let go. I go back to hanging streamers.

As I do, I can't help but let the frustration and anger take over. Gabe has no grounds to talk to her or treat her that way. No one can talk to anyone that way.

"Mr. Gordon, catering is here!" Walter calls from upstairs.

---

"Toda! The chocolate fountain really was the touch!" Cole cheers once he gets it set up. Layers of dark liquid seep down the different tiers, forming one of the most beautiful, delicious sights in the world.

"We're lifesavers for grabbing it; we know," Kai wraps his arm around Skylor, pulling her into his side and kissing the top of her head.

"If anything, we're the lifesavers for owning it," Sellel counters. She pulls Cole into her side, pulling his head down several inches to kiss the top of it.

"Fine, fine, since we're celebrating your season after all, you can take the credit," Kai tells Cole, patting him on the shoulder. "I was happy when I saw you were the focus ninja and not Lloyd like people guessed, no offense Lloyd..."

"None taken," Lloyd responds from where he is cuddling Harumi on a loveseat in the corner. Her head rests on his shoulder, her eyes closed to rest before the party.

"You deserve it Cole. The rest of us have had our turns to shine. Plus, I saw that your parents get to be in this season. That's always fun," Kai takes a strawberry and sticks it into the flow of deliciousness that's tempting all of us. "I'm only taking one. I'm hungry as hell."

"This season being yours is way overdue. They really tried to give you Day of the Departed and call it a day," I swirl my straw in my cup before taking another sip.

"I'm just happy they even gave me one," my best friend admits, eying the chocolate fountain in front of us. Who knew it would be so tempting that we could barely contain ourselves before the party?

"This season has a giant supporting cast. Not only are there all of the guards, but there's also all Munce and Geckles. They definitely made the amount of nametags I had to write a lot larger," Lloyd gently runs a hand through Harumi's hair, a little smile on his face.

"Ooo speaking of nametags, any predictions for the party? I say two glasses break, 4 people show up high out of their minds, someone sneaks in drugs, and at least 3 people butcher karaoke," Kai predicts. Lloyd's laughter fills the room.

"If all of that happens, I'll be impressed. I say someone's clothes get spilled on, and there's a fight," he counters Kai.

"Ooooo, we should make bets on what is going to happen. We all pick an obscure event and put money into it. If multiple people win, they split the money. If no one wins, everyone gets their money back. Oh, and if you're the one to complete the event for yourself, it doesn't count," Seliel suggests, holding onto Cole's arm.

"I'm down. How much are we betting?" Skylor pulls out her wallet from her back pocket.

"Uh $20," Seliel suggests, and no one disagrees. "Great. Now, everyone come up with your prediction."

We all sit in silence for a while, trying to muster up some sort of plausible yet funny situation that could go down tonight. We all write our predictions on a piece of paper to keep track of everything. Once everyone is done, we get in a circle.

"Alright, I'm first. My guess is that someone will sneak in drugs, and about 15% of the party will be high by the end of the night," Kai starts, setting his paper in the center of the circle.

I take my turn next, eager to get my prediction out,"Walter is going to hook up with someone. Come on, these people have been breaking him down for years! He's going to loosen up one day." Everyone laughs at mine. Maybe I could've picked something more realistic, but that ruins the fun.

"Someone will get their face coated in chocolate," Lloyd predicts, his eyes meeting the waterfall of sugar that baits us.

"I volunteer to be that person," Cole raises his hand. All of us laugh in response.

"Three people are going to throw up tonight, one from a sugar overload, one from being drunk, and one from the smell of all the throw up," Seliel guesses before shivering. The thought of having to clean that up makes me gag a bit in my mouth.

"There's going to be a wardrobe malfunction: a big one. Either someone's dress is going to split straight down the middle or a massive crotch split on the dance floor," Harumi puts her paper into the middle.

"Well Sky, you're the last guess. Hit us with it," Kai expectantly looks at her.

"Hmm, it was hard to decide, but I think I figured out what I was going to say. Four people are going to cry tonight. I don't know why I thought four, but I just know It'll be right. The $120 is definitely mine."

"In your dreams, sweetheart."

A/N: I'm kind of impartial about this chapter (writer's block killed me), but I needed to work through it to get to the good stuff in these next few chapters. Just wait, it's about to get goooood.

Thoughts on this chapter?

The party is supposed to be 4 chapters which is probably a biiit excessive, so I'm going to try to trim it into 3. We need to get into the good stuff.

Thank you all so much for still reading! Don't forget to comment! It's the ultimate motivator