~ olivia rodrigo

'TW: Bullying, Violence, Blood, Wounds, Mention of Drowning, Fighting

Jacob was certainly a character. He insisted that I stuck with him around school which I didn't really mind, at least I wasn't alone. But it was very odd to me. The cheerleaders that were with him, I learned their names were Amy and Madonna. I feared I stuck out like a sore thumb, they were wearing clothes to do with sports and I was wearing a dungarees. Aside from the obvious difference, I learned that Amy and Madonna, aside from doing cheer, they were in the choir and Jacob could play the guitar. They expected me to know an instrument and I babbled and said the only thing I could play was the triangle. They laughed like I had said the most hilarious thing ever.

Jacob had allocated himself as my very own guard dog after what happened with Lloyd Garmadon. Admittedly, I still felt a little shaken, but I couldn't help but watch him in the halls between classes. More specifically, I had been standing with my new friends near the lockers at break when I saw him again. He was at his own locker, going through the junk inside to try and get a book when some other basketball players approached them. I gave Jacob a concerned look but he was watching like a kid seeing their hero. What were they doing near him?

To answer my question, I had to watch. Lloyd seemed unknowing of the people behind him, so when he shut his locker, his new book in his grip, he was shoved up against them. I inhaled sharply. What were they doing? That was Lord Garmadon's son! I wanted to warn them, in fact, I nearly did. I stepped forward only to be grabbed back by Amy who shook her head at me. I couldn't hear what the other basketball players were saying, but by the look on Lloyd’s face, it can't of been nice. I saw his lips move, maybe he was threatening them, but the group of boys laughed loudly, one of them mimicked something he said. And then Lloyd shoved passed them and walked quickly away to his next class.

"Are they not scared of him?" I wondered, not caring who answered my question.

"Nah," Jacob chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "They did that to warn him not to step out of line. He knows not to mess with us,"

I frowned, my fingers holding my bag strap tighter. They weren’t scared of the Lloyd Garmadon? I was expecting him to fight back, to shove them all back and take them all down... but he just walked away. What was that about? For the rest of my classes, I couldn't get that out of my head.

💫

I ordered a chicken mayo roll from the canteen and happily sat with my new friends. One of my main fears was having to sit alone on my first day, thank the Lord I didn't have to. It was hard trying to involve myself in a conversation that I knew nothing about, but I guess that's what happens when you were a late comer. As expected, I was asked lame questions like: 'Why did you move here?', 'What's your favourite colour?' and 'You like any of the boys here?'. I answered most of the questions, not feeling comfortable enough to tell anyone who had caught my eye. I still felt weird about that... I had thought Lloyd was attractive. I mean, I guess he still was but the fact that his father was a War Lord really put me off.

Speaking of, I glanced around the tables to try and catch a glimpse of him. I searched the tables that looked bare, expecting to see him sitting alone, only to see the complete opposite. His table was full. Completely full. My eyes widened in surprise, why were so many people sitting with him?

"I know what you're thinking," Amy giggled, nudging me slightly, "I had the exact same look when I saw it,"

"Oh," I brought my attention back to her, "I just don’t get it. Are they like him too?"

"No," She shook her head, picking at the fruit pot in front of her then grabbing some melon, "I mean, not that we know of. Kai, the one with the red sneakers, used to be one of us. He used to be popular,"

She ate the food casually, as if we were just talking about school work and not the Son of Evil.

"Why did he... you know," I couldn't being myself to say it.

"Nobody knows," Amy shrugged, "Nobody of them knows why any of them do. We think he's put a spell or something on them, brainwashed them for his evil doing,"

I was appalled. "Has he actually done something evil?"

My question seemed to confuse her. Her eyebrows fell inwards and her lips pursed. She flicked something off her nail before answering.

"Well no," She admitted then cleared her throat, "But in time he will, he's just like his father,"

"That's not true," Jacob cut in, "He totally messed up Sam's face last fall,"

"What?" I demanded to know more information.

"Oh my God I totally forgot about that!" Amy put her hand to her mouth.

"Sam had to drop out," Madonna had clearly overheard the conversation.

"Y'all taking about Lloyd and Sam's fight?" Someone who's name I hadn't learned yet leant into the conversation.

"Sam was my friend," Jacob leant on his elbows, looking more focused on me, "Sam went up to him, asking him about the homework and the dude just went crazy!"

"Over homework?" I nearly scoffed, that didn't sound right to me.

"Mhm. Lloyd got on top of him and started dashing his fists into the guys jaw," Jacob started doing the motions, at each one I flinched, "Blood went everywhere! Sam had a broken nose, jaw, his eye socket had been broken, shit was crazy,"

My heart dropped. What the hell. I could feel my heart start to race. That sounded scary. My head turned around to his table to catch a glimpse of the green hoodie, but ended up meeting the gaze of the only girl there.

"And it was all over homework," Madonna repeated, "Lloyd made out that Sam was being a jerk and saying other shit, which wasn't true, and he lost his temper,"

"But there's a difference between losing your temper and nearly killing the guy," The guy who's name I'd forgotten added.

"He would've been expelled if it wasn't for his Uncle forcing the school to keep him enrolled. He's apparently really rich and paid them shit tones," Jacob shook his head, "Garmadon's a fucking poser. He acts all innocent but we all see through his stupid act,"

I nodded slowly, not really knowing what to do with all of this information. Sure, when I first met him in the store he came across as a very cold person, but I just assumed it was social anxiety. Maybe he was just a jerk. Maybe he really was like his father.

"Thank you..." I trailed off, "...For keeping me away from him,"

"No worries Doll," Jacob shrugged, not seeing my cringe at the name, "I'd do it for anyone as long as it means they're safe from him,"

I swallowed, pushing my feelings towards all the news away from the surface.

💫

"You fuckin' prick, just go together you ass,"

"Three dollars please," I smirked, my voice making my father let out a sound of surprise.

"Nora! I meant--Uh... fine whatever," He gave in, not able to find a replacement quick enough.

He lifted the shielding face mask away from him, pushing it to his head so he could look at me clearly and not through the small window. He had soot smeered on his cheeks and fingers, his apron wasn't any better. It was brand new and already had a scorch mark in it.

"Business is busy?" I guessed, shaking my head at his appearance.

"I never would've thought it would be this busy on the opening day," Dad sighed exasperatedly.

"I'll take that as a yes," I chuckled, "Thirsty?"

"Please," He nodded, putting the soldering torch on the side.

I made my way through the back to the small kitchen. There were still some unpacked boxes, but they didn't make the list of priorities. Though until the shop was pristine and cleared from all of the packing, I had to help him out after school. Not a problem for me, I didn't have anything to do other then homework, plus it would help him out, but boy was it like a treasure hunt just trying to find a mug. I made his coffee black, the way he liked, then brewed myself some tea before returning to the shop, placing his on the counter but keeping mine in my hands. I watched him wipe his forehead, unknowingly smeering more blackness onto his face.

"You ever gonna hire someone to help out?" I wondered, blowing on my drink.

Dad took his cup and took a sip, his face scrunching up when it burned him. I frowned, he worked with fire and heat, I thought it would be more then obvious that a freshly made coffee would be hot too.

"Yeah," He placed the cup back down, "I have an interview tomorrow actually,"

"Oh cool," I smiled supportively, "Someone from Ignacia?"

"No, a young boy. Your age I think," Then he paused, thinking briefly, "His CV said he goes to your school too!"

My heart thumped in my chest.

"Oh?" I managed to keep my voice steady.

"Yeah, guess we'll find out if he's cut out for it," Dad wiped his hands down on his apron, "I'm gonna get back to it, you need anything?"

"Yeah," I nodded, a cheeky grin on my face, "Three dollars,"

He groaned, pointing to the coat rack. "My wallets over there,"

I smiled victoriously.

💫

It was easy to fall into the routine of a new high school. I sat at the front with Jacob, Madonna and Amy in English, definitely not looking over to Lloyd any chance I got. I enjoyed drama and studying over scrips. Social studies and maths were usually boring and Chemistry and Biology were always fun. Faces started becoming more familiar on my second week, so much so that I was picking up names quickly. But most of the time, my attention was always drawn from my work.

Jay Walker, a friend of Lloyd's, sat a table over from me in social studies. He was tortured relentlessly for his stutter. I hated hearing the mocking, the name calling and seeing others repeat what he would say with an even worse stutter. I tried not to feel bad, he was friends with Lloyd, but I couldn't help but want to reach out to him and maybe say something to get the people I considered my friends to stop. Making fun of his stutter was surely going to make it worse. But I ignored it, I was forced to believe that he had buried himself in his own grave. He was friends with a monster. He had brought it upon himself.

Zane Julien was in my maths and kept to himself. He seemed innocent enough, always smiling at everybody, including those who mocked him for being so literate and not understanding sarcasm. I would hear people calling him stupid insults like nerd and going as far as to call him autistic. I wasn't sure if that one was true, but Zane didn't seem to think so. He tried to correct everyone politely, but they just laughed at him. I would see the way he looked after, as if he didn't understand the amusement. He would sink deeper into his work after that.

I shared no classes with Kai and Nya Smith, but I saw in the halls and at lunch that people would call out to them. Kai usually got mocked for going from one of the most popular to an underdog and being friends with Lloyd, but I never saw him verbally retaliate. I only ever saw him giving others the bird, or rolling his eyes and shaking it off. Nya didn't have the same temper control as her brother. Aside from the group's shared mockery of being friends with Lord Garmadon's Son, she got bullied for being the only girl in the group. People would say that she was a slut and a whore for hanging out with a bunch of boys. I witnessed her slapping a girl on the cheer team in result of the name calling which got her two weeks of after school detention. That girl assured us all that she was just trying to joke, and I wanted to believe her, I did, but I didn't understand the humour behind it.

Cole Brookstone was in my Biology, and he was the only one that I didn't see getting crap. He sat on the end of my row, kept to himself, and spoke only when spoken to. He was intimidating, maybe that's why nobody said anything to his face. From the looks of things, he was incredibly well built, I saw him stretch once and thought his biceps were going to tare through the fabric of his shirt. But then it just didn't make sense. Why would people not be afraid to hate on Lloyd, expecially after what his Dad does, but then stay away from Cole?

None of it really made sense to me, but I figured that it was all happening because of Lloyd. Why else would the whole school hate them? They had to be just as bad as him, I was glad I'd never seen them do anything, I wasn't sure how I'd react.

The final bell had just rang out and I picked up my things and lifted my sachel over my shoulder to meet Jacob out in the hall. He rambled about his little brother's soccer practice and how the 7 year old had shot the winning goal. It made me happy for him. The halls had everyone running in the same direction, wanting to to be free of the school building, and I didn't blame them, but during the commotion, it was obvious that some other pupils were making their way to somewhere else. Jacob must've been just as intrigued as I was because he pulled someone back to ask them.

"You not get the text? Garmadon's getting his head dunked!"

Jacob made a shocked face and then turned to grab my arm. I was forced into a light jog down another hallway I barely walked down. What did that mean? Was he getting his head smashed up like he did to poor Sam? But no, as we pushed through the crowd of people, I realized we were standing outside the men's bathroom. I stopped immediately.

Jacob obviously didn't stop, he pushed open the bathroom door and it slammed shut behind him. Most of the people surrounding me were girls who had gotten their phones out. I gripped at the leather strap of my bag, my nails probably making indents. It can't mean what I thought it meant. But was I thinking about this all wrong? Lloyd was evil... right? Shouldn't I be like all the rest of the people surrounding us and chatting with anticipation? Suddenly, there was a sound of struggle from inside the toilets and a loud, deep laughs.

"Drown Garmaboy!"

"Flush it, flush it!"

"Look at him!"

My stomach churned, and then all of the commotion inside the room was stopped with a loud smack, loud enough to silence those outside to whispers. The bathroom door opened.

Lloyd froze at the size of the crowd waiting to see the state of him. His chest rose rapidly, his body desperately trying to take in deep gulps of air. His green eyes were glittering from the tears in his waterline. His wavy hair was bunched up into tight curls, he was no longer blonde, the water had deepened the colour. His shirt had darkened around his neckline. He swallowed, his fists, now red from the way he tried to defend himself, clenching into his palm. I could only stare. I had never seen such a horrific sight.

"Wanna be like Daddy now, Lloyd?"

The comment, said by someone I didn't know, made him snap. He shoved passed the crowd, elbowing people out of the way until he was able to run down the halls and out of our sights. I blinked away my own tears, shutting my mouth that I didn't realise had fell open from shock. The bathroom door opened again to reveal Jacob holding a palm to his jaw. That smack was Lloyd punching him? His eyes immediately met mine and he rushed to my side.

"He wont bother you now," He winced, but his tone was soft as he spoke to me.

My heart dropped to the floor.

"You did that because of me?" I whispered, but he clearly misread my tone as something else.

From what I could gather from the way he smiled softly at me, he thought my whisper was one of awe. He thought my tone was the same as a stunned survivor, the same one they would speak with to their hero for saving their life.

"Yeah," He nodded, "He won't even look at you again. You're safe now, he won't try to brainwash you,"

"Oh," I breathed out, my fingers still tight around my bag strap.

"Cole Brookstone was the new guy before you. Look where he is now," Jacob shrugged, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Sucker really did one for my jaw though,"

"Jacob I'm sorry, my Dad's waiting for me in the parking lot," I gently pushed away his hand and turned on my heel, wanting to get as far away from that situation as possible.

Sometimes you had to lie to get yourself out of situations you felt uneasy in. This was one of those situations. I felt sick to my stomach. They had done that to make him back off from me? He hadn't even done anything! I sat next to him, he even warned me not to but I did it anyway. Had he been looking at me? I hadn't realised if he had, but he had been ganged up on because of me. My heart pounded quickly, as quick as the hooves of a running horse. I felt sick, I felt terrible. I didn't take the bus home, I didn't want to be around people from school. I didn't want to hear his name, I didn't want to hear or see anything associated with Lloyd Garmadon.

I walked to my Dad's shop as quickly as I could. I needed some time to think. I decided that I would tell him I had a homework task I needed to work on and shut myself in the kitchen to do it. I didn't want to tell him what had happened. Although I had no involvement, I felt like I did. I felt like I was the one who had pushed his head into that water. I couldn't even imagine how scared he must've been. Why are you sympathising with him? He's evil! But was he? Were any of them actually bad?

I pushed open the Blacksmith's door and was met with two people with their backs to me. One of the people was clearly my father. He seemed to be demonstrating something. And then it clicked. The new worker had started today. I let out a breath that I didn’t realise I had been holding. Now I had to avoid 2 people in the most polite way.

"Hi Dad," I greeted, slipping off my bag and putting it on the hook.

"Nora!" He turned around with a smile, taking off his welding mask.

The boy next to him didn't, not yet anyway, but he turned around too.

"This the new employee?" I asked, just to be polite, but my eyes kept darting to the safety of the kitchen that I so desperately wanted to escape to.

"Yeah," My Father patted the boy's back, "This is Kai, Kai, meet my daughter Nora,"

The universe had to be fucking with me. It couldn't be the same Kai, no way. The boy took off his mask and low and behold, it was Kai Smith. He looked at me up and down before sending me a friendly smile which made goosebumps appear under my sweater. Did he know about Lloyd? Did he know that it was because of me that happened? What if he had only started working with my Father to try and brainwash me like Jacob said happened with Cole and the rest of them? What if Lloyd had sent him as a spy to get information about me? What if this was all a game, a trick?

"Nora, hey. I've seen you at school," Kai lifted a hand to wave slightly.

My brain blanked for a moment and I stated at him in silence for a few seconds too long. I saw my Dad frown.

"Hi Kai," I managed to grit out through clenched teeth, "How are you?"

"I'm good," He shrugged, "You?"

"I'm fantastic," I breathed out, then awkwardly stepped to the side, "Hey Dad," I looked to the man, "I've got some homework I need to get on with. I'll be in the kitchen,"

Dad nodded at me, the frown still on his face before he patted Kai's shoulder and then they both turned around. I left the room quickly then quietly shut the kitchen door. I stared at it for a long moment, assessing my thoughts. I slowly sat in the chair, cowering over and pressing my head into my hands. I'd been at Ninjago High for nearly three weeks and all I had heard from people was who to stay away from, and who to stay with. Jay, Nya, Kai, Zane, Cole... and Lloyd were all names brought up to stay away from. Evil, insane, monsters, whores, devils workers, brainwashers. There was never a good thing said about them.

But I had never seen them do a single bad thing. They kept to themselves because the whole world saw them as outcasts. It got me thinking. Nya had only hit Amy in the head because she was saying nasty things. Lloyd had only punched Jacob because his head was being pushed under water. And the fight between him and Sam. I couldn't possibly believe that their fight was about homework. Nobody, not even the son of pure evil would hurt another person that seriously because of homework. Jay was too anxious to defend himself, Zane was too confused to stick up for himself, surely those infected with evil would say something or start a fight. Kai never retaliated with the same passion as the hate he received.

I was so worried about staying away from those said to be bad, I didn't realise that the ones I should've stayed away from were the ones I considered my friends. Jacob wasn't protecting me from the bullies, he was the bully, and Lloyd was taking all of it every single day. Anytime he retaliated, and that punch to Jacob was the first time I had seen him myself, made him look worse. But he was just doing what anyone would've done in that situation. His fight or flight kicked in. He was jumped in the toilets by a bunch of people who hated him. My must've been terrified. He was just a normal kid who just so happened to have the worse father ever. I didn't know how or why the others became his friend, but I was glad they had each other. It wasn't fair.

I felt the tears on my hands before I realized them fall. None of them deserved any of the hurt they were receiving. I was just as bad as any of the bullies hurting them. I wasn't doing anything to intervene, I was just watching it happen. They probably thought I was a terrible person. And now Kai was working for my Father, he must be worried, he might even quit because of me. No... this couldn't go on. I couldn't associate myself with the real evil anymore. Hurting people who have done nothing wrong was the real bad in this situation. I couldn't imagine how Lloyd must be feeling right now. I hoped he was alright.