~ tame impala

'TW: Bullying, Threats.

Lloyd shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, his anxiety getting the better of him. I was in a similar position, I was biting the inside of my cheek and avoiding the gaze of everyone who walked in. Lloyd had swiftly taken the candy off the desk, saving that first which I respected, but then kept his eyes down. I thought about what I was doing for a moment; he was right. Sitting next to him would ruin me completely, people would hate me too, drag me all the way to the bottom just like they did to Kai Smith. Would it be worth it? Should I take the risk? Sure, I could still get up now and make up an excuse that people would probably belive and I'd never speak to any of them again... but I couldn't bring myself too. Sometimes you needed to take a risk, and from where I saw it, this was a risk needed to be taken.

The door opened again and in came Madonna and Amy. Lloyd must have some kind of eye attractor built into him, and I wasn't talking about his good looks. The girls stopped in the doorway and stared at me sat next to him. They were whispering together, not even trying to hide their points. I shuffled uncomfortably. I glanced to Lloyd, wondering how he didn't show any signs of being so uncomfortable that he wanted the world to swallow him up. Maybe he was used to it and learned not to give away anything. I bit my lip, thinking about what he said to me in the store. He said he would get all of the shit for us sitting together. I frowned, sinking further into my chair. I needed to do something to change that. By all means, the last thing I wanted to do was create enemies, but I also didn't want to make another person's life miserable.

The cheerleaders sat down at their desks, but just like everyone else currently sat down, they still glanced to us. I wondered why Jacob wasn't with them. I prayed he wasn't in school but I knew I'd have to face him at some point. I tapped my fingers on the desk, wishing the next person to enter was the teacher. But no. The ever so famous among the ladies, Jacob Harver, came in with another pal by his side. His smile came to an abrupt stop when he saw me next to Lloyd. I didn't have to he a genius to know he next move would send him in our direction. Jacob had a black eye, I assumed it was from Lloyd's defence in the bathrooms, I hoped it was anyway.

"What's going on?" Jacob's question was directed at me.

His eyes were growing colder the longer he stood near us. They flickered to Lloyd who seemed like nothing was happening and there wasn't a massive jerk at his desk.

"I'm sitting here now," I told, keeping my voice steady.

"What?" He scoffed, a frown taking over his features, "Is he forcing you?" And then he snapped his head in Lloyd’s direction, "Was last Wednesday not enough Lloyd?"

I reached out to grab Jacob's arm to get his attention.

"It's not like that," And then I dropped our contact and pulled in a breath, "I just... don't want to be friends with... assholes,"

I was going to say you instead of assholes but my mouth seemed to think that was a better word. I wanted to rip my face off.

"What?" He looked enraged, more pissed off then I'd ever seen him, "Assholes... pfft, says the one sitting next to Garmadon,"

"He's not done anything to you, none of them have. You're just antagonising them, making them defend themselves and then you twist the story and suddenly they're the bad guys,"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Lloyd look at me. I didn't break my eye contact with Jacob who was stunned into silence, in fact, the whole class had been stunned into silence.

"If it were up to me... you would be the one people didn't see as a person," My eyes flickered away from him for a moment.

When I looked back, his tongue had rolled over the inside of his cheek, a clear sign of annoyance. Uh oh. I didn't regret anything that I had said, but I regretted seeing the fury on his face. I wanted the world to swallow me into the ground.

"You're so done Li," He grimaced, "And as for you," Jacob turned to Lloyd, "When I find out what you did to turn her against me, you're dead Garmadon,"

I didn't want to know what he meant by any of those points. I didn't want to be done, I wasn't anywhere near from done, in fact I had only just started, I didn't want him to halt my progress. And he wouldn't actually kill Lloyd right? That was just an empty threat to make him look scarier... right? The distance from Jacob made me relax a little. Lloyd cleared his throat, making his stare a little more obvious.

"Why did you do that?" He demanded, his green eyes shooting through my own making me repress a shudder.

"Because it needed to be said?" I offered as an answer, not really sure what I needed to say to answer that.

He studied my face for a moment longer and then shifted in his chair, looking to the front when the teacher walked in. We didn't speak again for the whole lesson.

💫

See the thing about high school was that if one thing gets said or done that someone didn't like, it spread to more people like a wildfire. Take the situation in English, come break, everyone was staring at me like I'd grown a third head. Now that I had nowhere to sit, I spent my break in the toilets on my phone, scrolling through the verified accounts of the Ninja. They barely posted, when they did it was something about how to abandon the city in case of an emergency or what to back in a first aid kit. I couldn't stop thinking about my encounter with The Green Ninja. I'd told nobody about it, not even my father, and wanted to keep it that way. Before I could stop myself, I clicked on his account. After that, it was like an addiction. I looked on all of the others' too.

They were funny, I'll give them that. It was as if they didn't have to save everyone whilst balancing their normal lives too. I leant against the bathroom stall, sliding my phone back into my pocket and braced myself for the next two lessons of the day. Nobody had been violent towards me which I was grateful for as that seemed to be a reoccurring theme, but the stares and whispers were just as bad in my opinion.

I arrived to Social Studies a little earlier then the class started to speak to the teacher. She was a lady in her mid forties who had greyed more quickly then other people her age. She was sweet, but not sweet enough to stop the obvious bulling in her class. That seemed to be a reoccurring theme. None of the staff seemed to do anything about the bullying of Lloyd, Nya Kai, Zane Jay and Cole. It was as if they were blind to it. Or maybe they hadn't broken out of the confusion and fear yet like I had. I understood it to an extent, nobody liked being the odd one out, people listened to rumers all the time and it became societal norm to believe them. Life was just a massive game of Chinese Whispers. But it didn't stop you from knowing the difference between right and wrong.

"Nora, you're a little early," She called out to me, lingering in the doorway.

"Sorry Mrs," I awkwardly shuffled in, "I was actually wondering if I could speak to you,"

"Of course," She smiled at me, waving her hand for me to walk in more, "What's up?"

"Um... I was actually just wondering if you wouldn't mind letting me sit next to Mr. Walker," Oh God why did I say that.

Why did I call him Mr. Walker? Sure, it was his name but why the Mr? I wanted to die.

"Stanley Walker?" She frowned, a little confused.

"No," I shook my head, I'd forgotten all about him, "...Jay Walker?"

"Oh," The teacher was surprised, she pulled her glasses down to her eyes and clicked something on her laptop, "Jaylen... can I ask why?"

I had expected this but I still didn't know how to reply to it.

"Uhm," I chuckled stiffly, "Because I want to?"

My answer came out a lot more quiet then I intended it to. She looked concerned for me, but after a second of realizing that I wasn't joking around, she nodded once then waved me off. Oh no, now the teachers were going to gossip about me. I promptly reminded myself that I was doing the right thing and found myself sat a desk over. Jaylen... I didn't know that was his name. Best to stick with Jay, it's what everyone called him but I'd change if he told me. As people entered the classroom, I could feel someone standing behind me, I wanted to turn, but I didn't.

"I--I--I think you-you're in the wrong seat,"

Now having walked forward a little, I saw that the person that had been stood behind me was Jay. He must've been lingering from anxiety. I was a bad guy in his eyes, I'd have to prove to him that I wasn't.

"No, I asked to move," I smiled kindly at him, hoping it would ease his mind slightly.

He just swallowed nervously and nodded, pulling out his chair then sitting. We took the attendance and then the teacher started rambling about some mental health thing and how it's okay to reach out for help. During the whole ordeal, a girl on our desk stuck her hand up to ask a question.

"Is it true that you can stu--stu--stutter when you have anxiety?"

Jay immediately stopped twisting his pencil. A small tug on my heart made me send a glare to the girl who was sharing a look with her friend across the room but also looking to the teacher for an answer. I didn't listen to the conversation, knowing full well this was another form of teasing. Jay shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. I felt so bad. I wished I had the ability to take those people's morals and twist them until they were better. Nobody deserved to be treated like this, friends with Lloyd Garmadon or not. They wouldn't like it if someone did that to them.

"Are you alright?" I mumbled, knowing the answer already but feeling as if I had to ask.

His eyes were wide when he looked to me.

"Yeah," He nodded quickly, looking away right after.

"Just don't listen to them. They're jerks," I assured, trying to make him feel better, "Though I'm sorry they make you feel bad for something you can't control,"

Jay winced but clenched his hands. The small action made my whole body hurt for him. I wished I could make it better, but I knew it was impossible for me to. All I could do was be with him, support him and make sure he always had people to help when he needed. I'd have to get all of them to believe that. I made no effort to speak to him again during the lesson, but at least I had said something that changed the outlook he probably had on me when I was friends with Jacob... even if he didn't believe it. I had tried, that's all that mattered.

Despite being glared at like I had threatened everyone in the school, I sort of felt good about myself. Well, kinda. I felt good that I was trying to help people that the whole school had shut out, but I felt kinda bad because of how hard it was beginning to be. Maths was different the usual. Something must've happened in a previous lesson to Zane which some others continued into this one. He was sat frustratedly, staring at his book with a distant expression.

"The words they're putting more emphasis on actually mean the opposite to what they're saying,"

He looked up at me, his blue eyes almost hurt to look at. I swallowed anxiously. Sure, I may be causing more problems for myself, but that didn't matter anymore, I'd already exceeded that point. If I could help him I would.

"What do you mean?" Zane wondered, fully engaged in what I was saying.

"Their sarcasm," I told, pointing at the group of people, "For example, if you asked me if I was in maths class right now and I replied, 'No, I'm not in maths right now!', what does it actually mean?"

Zane frowned for a moment, taking this information in. "You are in math class,"

"Yeah," I smiled, nodding proudly, "You're a natural,"

He smiled back at me before looking over to the other kids that had been teasing him.

"You were not joking when you said that in Biology," Zane lifted his chin a little higher when they turned to look at him, "You are being sarcastic and I find it confusing,"

I scribbled down some notes, acting as if I had nothing to do with his new finding. If it were me personally, I wouldn't have addressed the situation further and just saved my new information for the next time they hastled me. At least he was sticking up for himself though.

"Oh no! Zane finds it confusing everybody. We are so sorry!"

He glanced at me and I subtlety nodded.

"In that case. I forgive you," Zane smirked, turning back to his work.

I grinned, putting a hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle. That was kinda badass. Maybe I should've just trusted the process.

"Thank you for teaching me instead of teasing me Nora," Zane looked away from the crowd of jerks.

"No problem Zane," I replied with a genuine smile.

We settled into a comfortable conversation, he would occasionally pipe in and help me out with a maths question to change the subject, but other then that, he was great company to keep. Lunch rolled around and he invited me to sit with him at lunch, I politely declined. As much as I wanted to become friends will all of them and prove to them that becoming friends with Jacob, Madonna and Amy was purely a mistake, I still had a lot of proofing to do. I wouldn't accept someone into my friend group if that person's friends had suddenly been dropped. I didn't want to intrude. They clearly all felt safe together. Comfortable. I didn't want to ruin that. Zane accepted my answrldr but assured me that he would welcome me anytime to join.

I went to the canteen to buy some food then looked around, not expecting anyone to wave me over. I caught eyes with Jacob who had a hideous glare on his face. I shuddered, feeling uncomfortable under the gaze. I saw Jay and Zane talking, then all of a sudden they turned, finding me standing there. Zane waved me and I returned it with a small smile... back to the bathrooms for me I guess. On my way out, I saw Lloyd walking towards the foodhall. I grabbed the door and held it for him, meeting his surprised gaze.

"Thanks," He mumbled, not stopping to talk like I had hoped.

"It's fine," I smiled despite feeling sad I couldn't say more.

💫

"Now who can remember what a Stem Cell is?" My Biology teacher asked, scanning the class.

From the end of the desk, Cole Brookstone confidently stuck his hand up. He was picked on.

"They're a cell that can be transplanted into other people to help cure something," He answered.

He was partially right, but I didn't have the heart to correct him.

"I'm gonna need more then that," The teacher mused, raising her eyerbow at him, almost like she expected him to get it somewhat wrong.

Someone else answered the question to her satisfaction and she moved on. From the corner of my eye, I caught the boy next to Cole gently pat his arm comfortingly. Huh? Someone outside the friend group was friends with Cole? When they spoke, I listened in, unable to help myself.

"Maybe you can try to remember it by thinking about how the bottom of the stem of a plant divides into roots. Stem cells are like that too, they have the ability to divide and differentiate,"

"Thanks George," Cole mumbled, leaning slightly away from his touch.

Aside from Kai and Nya, Cole was the only person I hadn't interacted with. Before I could stop my tongue, which seemed to be a reoccurring theme when it came to my anxiety and nerves, I invited myself into their conversation.

"That's a really good way of remembering it," I nodded, smiling when they both turned to look at me, "Uh, sorry. I just struggle with stem cells a bit too,"

It was a lie, but a white one. I needed to have something in common with them, more specifically Cole, to continue this conversation.

"That's okay," George returned my smile politely, "I don't think we've actually spoken before, Nora right?"

"Yeah," I agreed, my eyes quickly flickering to Cole, but he caught it. Damn it.

"I'm George and this is Cole," He introduced softly, "Though this Lug doesn't speak much, you'll have to excuse him," But then he chuckled, "You should see him outside of school, he's as crazy as anything,"

"Geo," Cole flickered his gaze to the man next to him, "You're embarrassing me,"

I chuckled slightly, "Don't worry Cole,"

He rose an eyebrow sceptically, but I didn't focus too much on it. George, who's nickname was apparently Geo, which I found fitting, laughed with me but more specifically at Cole's words. But then he looked at me.

"You keeping someone's heart close to yours?" He wondered, eyes trained on the ring on my right finger.

I blushed, oh my God now I had to either lie or reveal my stupid secret to them... Well, there was only a few ways you could get someone gain your trust, one of them being honesty.

"I actually just wear it to make people think that," I chuckled once, "I'm not seeing anyone. I just wanted people to think I was mysterious,"

George laughed too, looking to Cole to see if my story had caught his interest. It didn't seem to. Damn. Aside from Lloyd, Cole was proving himself to be quite a tough cookie to crumble.

"That's totally understandable. Secrets are what makes people exciting, ain't that right Cole?" George asked with a slight change in his tone, playful.

Cole met his eyes immediately, trying his hardest not to smile. They looked at each other a little too long with fighting smiles on their lips... okay...

"I'll keep your secret if you keep mine Nora," Cole spoke to me for the first time, his brown eyes light compared to others I'd seen before.

"Promise," I beamed, enjoying their company despite only talking to them in such a little time.

And it would be a promise I would keep.

🐉

Tweets that Nora found on the Ninja's twitter. Comment if you want more!

Also it's cannon in this book that Jay's full name is Jaylen because I just like that name 😝