***I haven't updated this book in three years. There's a part 2 to the previous oneshot that I never published and was just looking over. Oop-

This oneshot is from a Kailor/Jaya/Coliel AU I have sitting on my computer. I'm going to be completely honest with you, the AU is mostly Kailor. This oneshot is mostly middle school Kailor with a tad of elementary Jaya thrown in. I think it's still cute, but let me know what you guys think!***

***(Skylor's POV)***

"Dad, I'm bored," I inform him, walking into the kitchen and flopping onto the chair next to his.

"Hmm?" he says from a lost place somewhere in his head, not looking up from the paperwork in front of him.

"I'm bored," I repeat, feeling a little impatient that he's ignoring me. Again.

He looks up from his paperwork and blinks. "Oh. Skylor. What time is it?" He looks down at his watch absently. "It's already after one. Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah, Ed and Edna sent some potato salad over." I hate potato salad, but it's better than cheese and crackers from the cabinet.

"Ah," my dad says, the word slightly confused. "Okay. Well, I have a meeting soon, and I'll be working the rest of the night. Can I leave you some money for takeout this evening?"

"Doesn't matter," I sigh, knowing I'll just end up at one of the neighbors' houses again. "Do you have time before your meeting to, like, watch a show together?" Or anything?

He bites his lip. "Well, I don't know, honey. I need to leave in fifteen minutes, and this is really important for business." His eyes flick up to me from his watch, and I see recollection flood them again. "You look so much like your mother."

I try not to moan. I hate when our conversations end like this.

"Okay," I butt in before he can start remembering too much. "Well, I hope your meeting goes well tonight, Dad. I'll leave some leftovers for you in the fridge." I lean over, kiss his cheek, and leave so he doesn't break down again.

I head out of the kitchen and straight out the front door. I got ready before I went to see my dad because I knew I would be leaving for the afternoon. He's only spent time with me once or twice in the past few months.

As I step out my front door, my eyes pan to the left, then to the right. I'm looking for anything interesting to do at this point. And since I already bothered Ed and Edna this morning, I might as well find someone else to annoy.

My eyes land on my target to the right, and my face breaks into a smirk.

"Kai Smith," I taunt, stalking my way toward him, "are you running a lemonade stand now?"

He inclines his head toward me from his spot in his front yard. He's wearing sunglasses and that hair gel he's been using since a few months ago. "Skylor," he greets. "No lemonade today, sorry."

I saunter up to him and plant a hand on one hip. "Then why are you sitting at a stand by the road?"

"Read the sign," he shrugs.

I look down at the giant piece of cardboard adorning the front of the stand. "Boyfriend for hire?" I frown.

Kai leans forward and steeples his fingers. "My mom said she wasn't raising my allowance money, so I needed to find a different opportunity to increase my finances. She suggested a lemonade stand, but I thought my talents would be wasted on that."

I cross my arms. "What talents?" I retort.

He chuckles. "You know, my devilishly handsome good looks, my entrepreneurial finesse, my irresistible charm..."

"...your use of words that should stay in the dictionary where they belong?" I offer.

"You're just jealous," he smiles. "I charge five dollars an hour, Skylor. If you want to know what it's like to be on the receiving end of all my best traits, all you have to do is pay the fee and find out."

I toss my head back and laugh. "Like I'd be interested in dating you."

"Hater's gonna hate, I guess," he sighs regretfully. "But you don't know what you're missing."

"Thank the Master for that." I look toward the road. "Who do you think would want to hire you?"

"Oh, lots of girls," he smirks. "I already had one ask if I'll be her date to the dance this weekend. I'm getting fifteen bucks from that job."

I wrinkle my nose. "But the seventh-grade dance isn't until next month."

"She's a freshman in high school," he says evenly.

"Oh." Gosh, how'd he get so popular, so fast? It was only a few months ago that nobody knew Kai. He was hilarious and more than a little attractive, and I was one of the few people who realized it.

Can't we just go back in time to –

"Stop doing that," he frowns.

"Doing what?" I ask. The internal monologue got a bit carried away there.

"Scrunching up your nose," he scowls, imitating me badly.

I roll my eyes. "Why?"

He shakes his head. "Just stop doing it." He cranes his head around me. "And you're blocking my potential customers' view, which is bad for business. You should move out of the way."

"Fine," I smile sweetly. "Got an extra chair?"

He furrows his forehead. "What do you mean?"

I spot an old kiddie chair in the yard and make a beeline toward it. "Never mind." I grab it and drag it next to Kai's seat before plopping down triumphantly.

He groans. "Seriously, Skylor? It says boyfriend for hire, not boyfriend and girlfriend."

I laugh at the idea. "I'm not so tacky that I need to offer my girlfriend services to anyone, Kai. I'm just here to warn any girls that may come about the potential downfalls of hiring you."

"There are no downfalls," he smiles confidently.

"Well, for one, you're so into yourself," I sigh dramatically. "You'd probably talk about yourself the entire time on a date."

"And I'd keep my client hanging off every word," he grins smugly.

"For two, you're thirteen," I point out.

"Age is just a number," he replies.

"And prison is just a place."

He busts out a laugh at that one. "Fine, so I'm only taking customers from middle school. And apparently underclassmen from high school, given this weekend's date."

I lean back in my chair. "What happens if someone's already hired you, but you start liking another girl?"

"I value this lucrative opportunity above personal proclivities," he says smartly. I bet he wouldn't talk like that to his newfound top-of-the-social-food-chain friends.

"Why aren't you joining the spelling bee this year?" I ask, feeling more upset than ever that Kai's changed so much from his old bookish ways. He's always been cute, and he's always had a flirtatious edge to his personality, but now it's become his whole persona.

"I already won the Ninjago City Championships last year," he answers lightly. "What more is there to do?"

"You could do the world championships this year," I suggest. "You're really good."

He considers this for a moment, then finally removes his sunglasses so he can look me in the eye. "Maybe I am, but I don't think I want to be known for being smart anymore, Skylor."

"Why?" I ask genuinely.

"Because...that's not what people want, you know?" he sighs, looking out into the azure blue sky above us. "Sure, I want to do well in school and stuff, but no one ever liked me when I was known for being smart."

"I did," I clap back, then blush furiously. "Your friends and family did, Kai. People who only like you for outward reasons aren't really your friends."

He shakes his head. "So you mean to say that who you pretend to be at school – the rich girl with a perfect life, who has tons of friends but none she lets get close – is really you? Because I see an entirely different side of you."

I blanch. "So there's something wrong with having money and lots of friends?"

"No," he says impatiently. "You know that's not what I meant. I meant that you pretend to be someone else so other people will like you, and I do the exact same thing."

I close my eyes. "You're annoying."

To his credit, he holds his tongue, and we sit in silence for a moment.

"How's your dad?" he asks quietly.

I don't bother opening my eyes. "Distant. Absorbed in work. Loses it when he thinks of Mom."

"And how are you?"

I open my eyes lazily to watch the clouds. "I'm angry at him for it, and at the same time, I'm upset. I want to remember Mom, not to pretend like she never existed. But when I'm at home, it's like I have to steer the conversation away from her every time he brings her up. He can't talk about her without having a breakdown."

Kai mulls this over. "I bet your mom's proud of you."

I snort. "Yeah, well, I can't exactly hear her say it anymore."

"You will again," he says confidently. "Someday." Then he trains his dark gaze on me. "But for now, I'll say it for her."

I turn my face away and rub at the tears spattering down my cheeks. "You're not supposed to be this emotionally aware. You're a thirteen-year old boy."

"Where'd you hear that at?"

"Your birth certificate."

I can almost hear his eyeroll. "I meant, where'd you hear the thing about me being emotionally aware? There's no way you came up with that. You never have anything nice to say about me."

"I heard your mom say it once or twice."

"Ah," he nods. "Speaking of my mom, she'd love to have you over for dinner tonight."

I finish drying the last of my tears and stare out at the road to see a car approaching. "I don't know," I hedge. "I don't want to bother your family. I feel like all I do these days is hang out with other people's parents."

"Let me rephrase that," he replies. "I'd love to have you over for dinner tonight." The words are deep, earnest, and chill-inspiring. I can feel his gaze trained steadily on me.

My cheeks heat again, and I just pretend it's the sun. "Oh. Um, okay, then."

"That is, if I'm not booked for tonight," he teases. "Work before pleasure, you know."

The car I saw approaching slows to a stop in front of us, and a blonde I recognize from school timidly hops out of the passenger seat. I'm pretty sure she's in sixth grade.

She tucks a strand of hair behind one ear and slowly approaches. "Um, my friend said you were for hire? As a...erm...boyfriend?"

Kai smiles charmingly. "I am. And what's your name?"

"Audrey," she swallows. "I, um, was wondering if you could be my boyfriend at school for a couple of days. Some of the girls there have been, um, making fun of me, and I thought it might help if..."

Compassion immediately takes over his features, and he nods. "Yeah, sure. I'd be happy to."

She looks back at the car. "My sister drove me here, and she doesn't exactly have the money to pay you, but I thought maybe I could pay you once I got my allowance back? Um, but you can't tell anyone that I paid you to get you to hang out with me at school. Then it'd be even worse with the other girls."

"Payment?" he asks, his expression almost confused. "Oh, wait. I must have accidentally put up my old sign." He grabs it from the front of the stand. "This job's on me."

She frowns. "O-oh. What do you charge, then?"

"Nothing," he assures her.

She darts her gaze to me. "And is this your real girlfriend?"

"Ex," he corrects her. "She demanded she sit here to try to deter anyone who might want my services."

Excuse me? Ex? The nerve of this –

"Deter?" Audrey asks, clearly puzzled at his university-esque vocabulary.

"She tries to make my customers go away," he explains.

You'd bet I do. "When I dated him, he took me to Chunk-E-Cheese for our first anniversary," I scoff. "And to think, I took him to Eau de France for his birthday!"

"Now, now, Skylor," Kai says patronizingly, "I know you're just jealous that I'm moving on now, but it's been six months."

"He only owns one pair of Chinos," I inform her. "So if you're looking for him to dress up, I don't think that will be possible."

"Oh, I don't even know what Chinos are," Audrey smiles. "He won't need to dress up."

"He also can't roll his tongue or fold his socks," I add.

"That shouldn't be a problem."

"And he cries during chick flicks, especially the ones with plots you can see coming from a mile away," I throw in.

"We'll just be dating at school," Audrey reassures me. "No chick flicks necessary."

I sigh. "Then I guess I have nothing else to say."

She thanks Kai and me before running back to her car and jumping in, seeming relieved and much less afraid.

I look over to see him stuffing his sign in the recycling bin.

"What are you doing?" I frown.

"Closing up shop."

"Why?" I ask.

"No one gets to know that I was running a 'boyfriend for hire' business, okay?" he asks. "If they do, Audrey will never live it down."

"But what about that freshman who already hired you? Won't she spread the word?"

"I'll give her a full refund if she won't say anything to anyone," he replies.

I frown. "How long are you planning to date Audrey?"

He runs a hand over his styled hair. "I don't know, I haven't thought through that yet. Maybe three weeks? Enough to make it seem believable, but not so much that I feel tied down."

I chuckle at that. "I bet that's part of the allure of owning a 'boyfriend for hire' business – you never stay in one relationship for long."

"Allure," he repeats, grabbing his chair and dragging it back toward his house. "Nice word choice."

"I learned it from you."

After we take down the stand, I follow Kai inside. Nya and Jay are on the couch arguing loudly over some videogame, and I pause for a moment to watch the scene unfold.

"That doesn't count!" Jay exclaims, pointing to the screen. "I glitched! That doesn't count!"

"Well, I can't make the game take away the point it gave me," Nya retorts. She proceeds to stick a sock-clad foot right under Jay's nose.

He sputters and grabs it, tossing his controller to the side. "Oh, it's on!"

I turn to see where Kai went, but I find him planted right behind me. His eyes are fixed on his sister and Jay.

I gently push him toward the kitchen. "Come on. I'm hungry."

He blinks and blows out a breath. "So demanding, Skylor. Remind me why I invited you over again?"

"Your mom wanted to see me?" I offer. "You wanted to see me?"

He shakes his head. "Temporary loss of judgment. Maybe I can rescind my invitation." He heads off down the hallway toward the kitchen.

I keep step beside him. "You know Jay and Nya are endgame, right?"

He shakes his head. "They're just friends, Skylor. They're in fourth grade."

I shrug. "Sure, for now."

He flips on the kitchen lights. "They don't even know what it means to date."

"And I suppose you're the expert, boyfriend for hire?"

He smirks and grabs some lemonade from the fridge. "You bet. And I'll prove it by taking over Nya and Jay's TV time and throwing in the cheesiest chick flick I can find."

I cackle. "I did my best to play the jealous ex-girlfriend, Kai."

"You came off as more of the jealous girl next door who would jump at an opportunity to date me," he flatters himself.

I snort. "No, I only date guys who know how to fold their socks."

He heaves a sigh and hands over a glass of lemonade. "I'm afraid that's one quality I don't possess." He goes for some pretzels from the cabinet next. "But I'd bet you at least wonder sometimes what it'd be like to date me."

I consider this. "You're right. I do wonder about it sometimes. It's usually when I'm mourning for your future wife who will have to put up with you all the time."

He rolls his eyes. "Give me a break, Skylor. You mean to tell me that you see yourself with anyone but me in the future?"

I frown, aware that there's a weirdly serious thread running through this conversation. What's Kai saying? Does he...like me? Even just a little?

The thought brings a flurry of feelings to my stomach that I don't care to entertain.

"Are you saying you see yourself with me?" I finally ask.

He hitches a shoulder. "I don't know what I'm saying. Just that...maybe, you know, you could consider that Jay and Nya aren't the only ones who are...endgame, to use your term."

My breath hitches, and I can barely manage my next words. "And...who else would that be?"

"Don't play coy with me, Skylor," he chides, moving closer with his brown eyes gazing into mine. "You know very well who it is. It's you..." He reaches a hand toward my face. "And – "

"Skylor, honey!" Maya grins, fluttering into the kitchen. Kai's hand vanishes immediately.

"So good to see you," she beams, coming to my side and wrapping an arm around my shoulders in a quick hug. "How's my favorite unofficial daughter?"

"Weird, Mom," Kai sighs, busying himself at the sink.

She sticks out her tongue at him playfully. "Did you get Skylor a snack yet?"

He grabs a napkin of pretzels off the counter and sets it in front of me. "Already on it."

"Thanks, sweetheart," she smiles, occupying the seat next to me. "So what have you two been up to?"

I look to Kai right as he looks back to me. Do we admit the whole boyfriend services thing, or just...let that business idea die after Kai finishes helping out Audrey?

"Nothing much," he replies for us, setting a glass of lemonade in front of his mom. "I was outside in the yard, and Skylor came over to beg me to entertain her." He grins, one dimple highlighting his cheek. "As usual."

"He did cure my boredom," I smile, turning back to Maya. "Anyway, how was your day?"