***(Lloyd's POV)***

"Okay, guys. Especially Zane, Nya, and Jay – Harumi is probably going to be a shock for you. She's a little wild." I swallow. "But she's really sweet and fun. No judging her. Are we clear?"

"For sure!" Nya agrees from the back of the car.

Jay looks concerned. "I don't know. I mean, I've heard of this Harumi girl from Cole, and she doesn't sound at all like you're describing her. I'll try to get along with her, though."

Zane gives me a curt nod from the passenger side. "I give you my word that I shall not judge her without proper evidence."

"Thanks, guys," I sigh. "It means a lot. She really needs some normal friends."

"I really need a normal life," Jay moans, burying his face in his hands.

"What's up, Jay?" I frown.

"My life stinks. Of course, the only day my doctor can take out my tonsils is the first day of school. It's going to be so weird arriving two weeks later than everyone else. I'm going to be behind in all my classes, I won't be able to eat solid food in forever, I'm going to swell up like a chipmunk, I'm going to say something incredibly embarrassing while waking up from anesthesia, my voice isn't going to sound right for literally months – "

Nya giggles and rubs his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. We'll be there for you – the team and I."

Jay blushes, but what's new?

"Th-thanks, Nya," he mutters.

"You're welcome. What time will you be out of surgery on Monday? We can all come and visit you."

"Really?" He gives her a hopeful look. "I should be out by four."

"That works perfectly, then. We'll be there, Jay." She smiles into his eyes.

I might barf. "Hey, Nya, how about you ride with me that day? Then we can go together."

"You forget that your mother isn't keen on you driving after last night's accident." My best friend crosses her arms. "I still don't buy that you just crashed. You're too careful with that bike for that to happen, Lloyd."

"You should take me at my word. I'm your best friend."

"And you should know by now that I can tell when you're lying."

My face flushes. "Uh, hey! We're here."

Everyone piles out at Harumi's house, garbed in swimsuits and flipflops.

I lead the way to the door and ring the bell. It dings for a moment, then I hear footsteps.

A butler appears in the doorway. "May I help you?"

I wish I had a photo of my teams' faces. They are entirely astonished at Harumi's abundance of staff.

"Yes," I answer the help. "Um, Harumi Jade is expecting us?"

Rapid footsteps pound down the hall, and I know it's her.

"Lloyd!" she squeals, launching herself at me. I catch her in a hug,, laughing as she clings to my neck.

"How are you, Rumi?"

"I am fantastic. Well, I'd be better if the Jades didn't have" – she leans close to my ear – "booze rules, but I am so completely ecstatic to meet your hot friend group!"

Nya clears her throat beside me. "Yeah, Lloyd. She's excited to meet your hot friend group. Care to introduce us?"

"Oh, um...yeah." I set Harumi down. "Rumi, this is Nya."

"Your bestie?" she smiles, hooking her arm through mine. "Lloyd's told me all about you!"

"He...has?" Nya asks, smiling a little.

"Oh, for sure. Mostly good things, don't worry!"

Nya's eyes narrow on me, and I cringe. It's not like I've told Harumi anything bad about her...right?

Cole pulls into the driveway, and Rumi rushes up to the muscular boy.

"Oh, hi, Cole!" she beams. "It's good to see you again."

He smiles in his usual friendly way. "You, too, Rumi."

"All right!" she giggles. "Just two of your hot friends left, Lloyd. Hmm, let me guess...you two are nerds."

Zane nods proudly. "Yes. Jay and I can, indeed, be classified as nerds."

Jay turns red all over again. "Um, I'm not that nerdy."

"Oh, yes! You two are nerds in the best way!" She twirls in a circle. "Where's Kai?"

I clear my throat. "He and Skylor had to skip out on this, sorry." Truth be told, Skylor low-key hates Harumi. It probably stems from Rumi formerly using Kai as a...as she would call it, a "boytoy".

"Aww," she pouts. "What a bummer." Her expression immediately brightens. "But I have all of you! Oh, this is so exciting! Let's all get to the pool!" She skips away, laughing.

Nya clears her throat. "She's...interesting."

"I think she might be high on something," Cole whispers.

Nya's eyes widen. "Wait. Drugs?"

I put an arm around her shoulders. "Nya, you might be a tad bit sheltered from the outside world. I would say a fifth or sixth of the people who go to our school do drugs. But...no worries. Harumi's not high. This is just the way she acts." I can tell it's fake.

We follow her through a winding hallway to the living area of the house. It's nearly impossible to navigate, but with Zane's superior tracking skills, we only get lost twice.

I double-take when I see the Jades' outdoor pool. It's enormous, complete with a high-dive and hot tub on the side.

Harumi's already on the diving board, ready to do a flip. "Catch me, Lloyd!" she giggles.

I run and jump in the water, making quick strokes to the diving board. Seeing my position, she laughs and flops backwards off the structure.

I manage to catch her just after she hits the water, and she grins at me.

"You're such a sweetie!" she coos, rising up and kissing me on the cheek.

I shiver at the unusual feeling. "Uh, Rumi, you know what I said about liking Nya and all. And given that she's actually here, it probably isn't a good idea to...uh, flirt with me."

"Oh, Lloyd, you have no game!" she titters. "I'm making her jealous! Watch. We do this two or three more times, and you can bet she'll – "

A splash spreads over us, and I sputter.

Nya's head bobs above the water. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

Rumi smirks. "Nope. Nothing at all."

Oh, I will never understand girls.

"Good," Nya says evenly. "Then I'm sure you two are up for a round of – "

Another splash ensues as Cole leaps off the diving board. He takes Nya down with him, but she kicks him in the chest and comes up coughing.

He hacks when he hits the top, but that's because he's laughing so hard.

Nya's eyes spell murder. "Cole," she seethes.

"Oh, no! She's gonna kill me!" His big body makes quick work of swimming to the other end of the pool.

Nya, however, is becoming an expert swimmer, so I have no doubt she'll catch up with him.

I feel Rumi's hands tilt my face toward hers, and I look down.

"I missed you," she whispers.

Something about her tone...the way that she looks at me...

My face inclines toward hers. "I missed you, too." The words sound gruff.

"You know what I thought about while I was waiting for you to get here today?"

"No clue."

She sighs and nestles into my arms. "I thought about how you might not be a boytoy. You might be better than a boytoy."

I blink, breaking out of her spellbinding gaze. "Um...Rumi, I don't exactly know your boytoy scale. You're going to have to be a bit more obvious."

"I think you deserve better status than 'boytoy'. I think you should be my smokin' gorgeous date at my dad's fundraising party next weekend."

My eyes widen. "Date?"

She wiggles out of my arms and falls into the water, then comes up a few feet away. "Just think about it, okay? I know you really like Nya, but what could one date hurt?" She plunges back under the water.

I laugh humorlessly. She told me to 'think about it'?
She has no idea that it's all I'll be able to think about.

***(Harumi's POV)***

I see all the guys congregated. They look exhausted, and I know that now's my chance.

"Boys, if you're hungry, there's pizza in the kitchen."

As I expected, they all go flocking inside. Well, except for Jay, who toes the ground. "N-Nya, would you like to come?"

I toss my arm around the girl's shoulder. "It's okay. Nya and I need to talk."

Jay looks concerned. "O-okay."

Nya gives him a reassuring smile. "We'll catch up with you guys, all right? Make sure they don't eat everything. Nobody likes me when I'm hungry."

"I-I do, but – oh, well. I'd better make sure they save you guys some." He runs off.

My arm still around Nya, I lead her to the pool. "Let's dip our feet in, shall we?"

"Okay." She plops down on the edge of the structure.

At first, Nya seemed a little cold toward me, but she's starting to warm up. After a few rounds of "Marco, Polo", we started teaming up to defeat the guys.

I'm just glad I finally have her on my side. Now, we can get down to business.

"So, Nya, Lloyd's a pretty cool boy," I start.

Her posture tenses. "Yeah, he is. Why?"

I wave her off. "Oh, I was just pointing that out. Do you know if he has a girlfriend?"

She shakes her head. "No, he doesn't. He's single." Her face is stoic.

"Okay. Now, let's get personal. Do you like him? And don't think I haven't seen the way you look at him."

She sighs. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because..." I want to tell her that he likes her, too, but something rises in me.

***Music Cue***

Jealousy.

I can't help the lie that slips out of my mouth. "Because he doesn't like you, and I don't want you to have a broken heart."

Her face falls. "O-oh. I see."

I cringe. I don't want to do this...well, I do. I mean, it's better for Nya and Lloyd this way. They could never have a lasting relationship, and what would that do to their friendship?

But the real reason is that I don't want to see her and Lloyd together. It hurts me somewhere deep inside, in a place I thought was long suppressed.

I clear my throat. "We're friends, right? So take this as advice from a friend: Forget your feelings for Lloyd. There are lots of other guys who are more your style, and they'd be happy to have you. Like Jay or Zane, for example."

She freezes. "Are you trying to put me...in some sort of league? Like, in some category that labels me as a nerd, and therefore not good enough for Lloyd? Because that's what you called Jay and Zane earlier today: nerds. And by the way, they are not just two dorks."

I balk. "N-no, of course not. I was just thinking...you all have similar interests."

"But I have similar interests with Lloyd, too. I mean, we're best friends." She stands.

"Believe me, you both have made that very clear."

She whitens. "Oh. So...he friend-zoned me?"

That's not what I meant, but...it's perfect. Deceptively perfect. I feel icky inside, but this is for the best.

"Yes, Nya. I'm sorry, but he's made it very clear that you two are just friends. In fact...he and I are going on a date soon." I mean, I asked him to, and he didn't say 'no'.

She wraps her arms around her stomach. "Okay. Um, thanks. Hey, I'm not feeling too well. I'm going to run inside and grab a drink of water."

"Go ahead," I smile tightly. "Do you want me to go with you?"

She closes her eyes. "No, I'll be fine. I think I just need a minute." She trudges off.

Guilt explodes in my chest, but I refuse to go after her. I might be snappy when I get depressed and stuff, but this is a whole different problem.

I think...yes, it's quite obvious to me that I'm falling for Lloyd Garmadon.

My phone buzzes from a pool chair, and I go to check it. It's a message from Ultraviolet.

Ultraviolet: WHAT DID U FIND OUT ABOUT HIS FRIENDS

Harumi: not much. they all are pretty close knit

Ultraviolet: WE HAVE REASON 2 BELIEVE THEY'RE ELEMENTALLLLLLLLLLLLS

Ultraviolet: WE'LL TALK MORE AT YOUR INITIATION 2NITE

Harumi: ...

Harumi: k

Elementals. All of them? That would mean Nya. Lloyd might even be one.

Something deeper than jealousy rises in me. Something that says it isn't fair that Nya has powers, the boy of her dreams, a crazy nice friend group...

And I have nothing.

And something dark says I need vengeance.

***So, I looked up what it's like to get your tonsils out to make this chapter realistic. I'm now scarred for life. Poor Jay! But he will be okay. I hope. After a while, anyway.

Also, Harumi's having some problems, guys. She's puttin' on those masks (at least the figurative ones). Let's hope that turns out okay for everyone...***