***I'm not supposed to have this out for you guys until tomorrow. Why am I here?

Oh, yeah. Because I got carried away writing the next chapter, and I couldn't resist sharing the story with you guys LOL

Also, I just needed a nice background song to start off Cole's day at class. What could be more perfect than a track from High School Musical? That trilogy was...interesting, to say the least.***

Two Months Later - April

***(Cole's POV)***

"Happy April, students!" chirps a perky girl over the loudspeaker. "I'm Kate, here with your daily announcements! First off, I'd like to congratulate our baseball team on..."

I tune out the happy voice and look down at my notes.

Or lack of notes, as the case is..

I've never cared much about school – I'm happy with a 'C' average. Nothing wrong with that. It's not like I'm really interested in higher education. I intend to spend my next five years – maybe even the rest of my life – defending Ninjago.

A girl next to me pokes my arm with her eraser. "Psst," she whispers.

I blink, smiling over at her. "What's up?"

It's Vania, one of the girls from the cheerleading team.

"There's a party for the baseball team tonight. You wanna come with me?"

"Aww, I wish I could, but no thanks." I try to let her down easy. I'm really not interested in dating around right now.

She sighs. "Oh. Okay. Um, thanks anyway."

My heart pangs a little. Girls may think it's hard when they turn me down, but they have no idea what it's like for me to turn them down.

"Hey, Vania..." I try to think of a way out of this, but come up dry. "Um, I think I may have...miscalculated how much time I have in my schedule. I can probably go with you tonight."

"Oh, really?" she beams. "That'd be great! Wanna pick me up around seven?"

I'm waiting for the day when a girl offers to drive me to our "date" destination. Now, this isn't a date – this is me being nice and letting Vania feel like she's had a chance – but still, she expects me to pick her up.

Not that I mind or that there's anything wrong with me driving, I just...I like the idea of being with someone who's a little more argumentative than that. A little more rebellious, if you will.

The person behind me – Nya – slips me a note. Ah, a good old-fashioned note.

Tell Jay I know he's staring at me and that he needs to focus. We have our English test next week, and Master Writer won't go easy on us. – Nya

Ah, yes. Our wonderful English teacher makes us refer to him as "Master Writer". Jay calls him "Master of Putting Students to Sleep". I call him an old prick, but not while he's around to hear.

I scribble a new note on my own notebook paper. Nya probably doesn't want to offend Jay, so I'll let him think I'm the one to initiate this conversation.

Jay, get your head out of the Cloud Kingdom and focus. – Your best friend :)

I hand the note over to Skylor, who's on my left, and she begins passing it up to Jay.

Poor guy. He's always had a huge crush on Nya, and they even dated for a few days. I guess they both really liked each other. But things came to an unfortunate end when Lloyd – Nya's best friend – had a breakdown and broke the two of them up. And Nya decided she and Jay should stay that way for really personal reasons. I don't know much, but I think it has to do with her deceased parents.

The end result was Jay becoming super clingy and overprotective of Nya. She, on the other hand, compartmentalizes her emotions well enough that she doesn't show much pain.

You can tell she misses him sometimes, just by the way she looks at him or says his name, but she's kind of closed off her super-affectionate side from the team. I have to admit, I miss the little sister who asked for piggyback rides, obnoxiously sang to every tune that came on the radio, and begged me for a milkshake whenever we were at a drive-thru.

At least she's not as emotionally wounded as Jay, though. At the same time they broke up, he and Nya met his birth mom while captured by the Sons of Garmadon. Apparently, she died trying to save Nya's life. Jay sang his mom to sleep and only had a few parting moments with her.

On the bright side, Nya was there for him – she probably kept him from losing his mind that day. But now Jay only goes to her for comfort, and he never really wants to hang out with anyone else. I've managed to get him to join me on a few outings, but...he's a little obsessed with her.

Receiving my note, he looks up at me with a scowl. I shrug, but I can't help a tiny smile at his disgruntled expression. At least he's paying attention to someone other than Nya right now.

"Brookstone," my professor grunts. "Would you mind telling the class what's so amusing?"

I stifle an eye roll. Of course, Jay would be the one to get me in trouble. He's the one who's pining after a girl during our announcements.

I stand up from my seat. "Uh, sure. One of my friends made a face that cracked me up."

"And why were you paying attention to one of your friends during my lecture?" he inquires, raising an eyebrow.

I shrug. "Sorry. I didn't realize the lecture had started. I'll pay better attention now."

"You would do well to," he huffs. "Moving on..."

I retake my chair and pretend to take notes. This English course is probably my least favorite class of the day – of the year, maybe.

I let my gaze drift out the window. Now that it's finally spring, the trees outside are teeming with green leaves. Tufts of bright-colored grass cover the ground, and I can almost feel the warm sunshine from –

A flash of bright pink outside catches my attention, and I blink.

Seliel?

Memories flood my mind – of when we were childhood friends playing basketball outside, of how she got so mad when I babysat her, of her mother's illness and subsequent funeral.

That kind of reminds me of my own mom.

I inhale deeply at the tears that prick my vision. It's okay. I'm glad for the time I had with her.

More important right now is that the last time I ran into Seliel was two months ago. We were supposed to hang out, but she just...vanished. And I never saw her after that.

Today changes things.

I raise my hand. "Master Writer, may I have a hall pass?"

He glares at me. "What's your excuse now, Mr. Brookstone?"

"I, um..." I am not the smartest ninja. "I have to...use the restroom. And...it might take a while."

There's a rumble of laughter from the students around me, and I just try to smile and enjoy the attention. I'm not really concerned about anyone poking serious fun at me.

"Fine, go," my teacher smirks. "Have a nice trip."

"Thank you."

And now, to find Seliel and get some concrete form of communication from her – like her phone number.

***(Seliel's POV)***

I'm late.

Not that I mind that much, but I'm entirely exhausted from last night's shift at the local power plant. Not that I'm allowed to mess with any electrical wiring; I'm the janitor. Yay, me.

And there was a horrible mess someone left in the break room from earlier that day. It would've taken me about an hour to clean up under usual circumstances, but it took me three. I had to get up the guts to touch some of the stuff left there – some of the food left there – and I cried when I finally forced myself to do it.

That may sound crazy to some, crying over touching food. But I can't help it. I just feel like...well, I feel like touching it means the calories inside will get on me. I know it's a totally unfounded idea, but I don't like calories. Food is one of the few things I can control in this life.

But that's all over now. I won't let it affect me.

I speed-walk into school, heading for my first class. I'm a little behind on my work – what happened a few months ago set me back – but I catch on quick. I may be a low 'B' student, but I'm confident I could compete with anyone at the top of my class. I'm intelligent.

I review my daily schedule. Go to class, lay low, stay far away from the cafeteria, go back to class, head to work. I had to limit my hours back in February, but unfortunately, that means I fell behind on bills. About the time our electricity was turned off, I realized I couldn't take any more time off. I went back full-time, and I'm just now getting used to that schedule.

Hopefully, once I'm all caught up with the finances, I can reduce my hours by a little. It's a good thing I'm –

"Seliel!" someone calls. I hear footsteps in the hall behind me.

Oh, this is just wonderful. I want to hang my head and run.

"Seliel," Cole says again, finally catching up to me. "I'm sorry. I saw you while you were outside, and I couldn't help but come say 'hi'. I haven't seen you since that day back in February."

I nod. "Yeah. Hey."

He hugs me tight, and that unfamiliar warm feeling rises in my chest. I try not to focus on it and instead just hug him back.

"You smell like an armpit," I muse, trying to deflect from the emotions I'm experiencing.

"Sorry," he laughs. His chest rumbles under my ear.

Good golly, this is nice.

"So..." Cole trails off. "Since you kind of left me hanging last time we met, I was thinking you should give me your number. I don't want to lose track of you again, Sel."

"Why?" The word is out of my mouth before I can stop it.

"'Why'?" I can hear his smile. "Because we're friends. Or at least, we were. I'd like to be friends again."

Stop. Making. Me. Want. To. Cry.

It's been a really, really long time since I was last hugged.

"I don't have a phone," I finally say. That's mostly true – I couldn't pay for my phone plan either last month or this month. I spent too much of my reserve funds in February, and I had too many other bills to catch up on to pay this month's.

"Oh, really?" Cole asks. "Okay. Um, email? That way, we can at least connect through the computer lab."

"I..." I want a friend.

"We're going to get in trouble, standing around down here," is what I say instead.

"You're right. Listen, though...what lunch hour do you have?"

"I have the 11-11:45 time period." Though I hang out outside the whole time.

"Oh," he sighs. "My friends and I are the one after that. We could meet after school, though?"

"I have to work."

"What time do you get off?"

I chuckle at his persistence. "Don't you have something better to do on a Friday night, Cole?"

"Darn it, you're right. Not that I have something better to do, but I have something." He exhales. "Tomorrow, then. We'll hang out tomorrow."

I think for a moment. I don't really need a distraction like Cole in my life, especially since he's naturally so good. I'm a little messed up. Do I want him to see that?

But it's been so long since I've had anyone...

"Okay," I find myself saying. "Sure, we'll hang out tomorrow. Where and when?"

"Oh, the bakery, for sure," he grins.

I smile for his sake, but I inwardly panic. I do not do bakeries. Too many carbohydrates and too many temptations.

"Um, maybe we could go somewhere else?" I suggest. "Like...the park?"

"The park? Okay, that'd work." He nods. "What time?"

"Like...around nine?" I usually run there in the mornings, anyway.

"Sounds fine to me." He smiles. "I'm really glad to see you again, Seliel. And I love what you've done with your hair."

I finger a lock of it. I know I don't have enough money to keep up with roots, so I never dye all my hair. I just do tips and streaks whenever I'm hanging out with Eve, my best friend from Nom. She's the only way I can afford to look semi-stylish.

Most of my clothes are hand-me-downs from her mom.

"Thanks," I blush. On the bright side, he can't see it.

I take in his dark gray sweatshirt that can't hide the muscles in his chest, his wavy black locks, his happy brown eyes. He looks good. I always thought he was cute when I was younger, but now...

He's hot.

And that's the kind of thinking that has me waving goodbye and marching down the hall. I'm going to be so late.

***So, what'd you guys think? I feel like this chapter is more in line with what I wrote for "I Never Knew" and "At Second Sight", at least when it comes to character development. It lacks the humor of those stories, but we'll eventually find our way there.

I hope.***