~ ladytron

'TW: near death experience, cat calling, bullying

"I thought Green said you told him you weren't a danger magnet?" Someone asked, pulling my good arm back which yanked my body away from the road in which seconds later a car whizzed past.

I gasped loudly from the sudden movement but also from the fact I nearly just got squashed. I twisted in my saviours arms to be fact to chest with a black suited warrior. Looking up, I made a sound of surprise to see The Black Ninja staring down at me. I yanked myself free of his hold, still in pure shock yet another Ninja was standing in front of me.

"I did and it's true," I tried to resurrect my dignity.

He laughed, "You nearly just got ran over,"

"Oh my God! Earth Ninja!"

"Aaaah! Can I have an autograph please!?"

We both looked over to two girls standing with a look of utter starstruck on their faces. The Ninja in front of me groaned. When he didn't say anything, they whipped out their phones.

"For fucks sake," He hissed, bouncing on the balls of his feet before grabbing something out of his pocket.

Before I could even react, something had been pulled over my face. I couldn't see. Was he kidnapping me? Seriously!? And then I was yanked again, only this time a bit more friendly, by both of my hands, but it was a lot quicker.

"I can't see!" I cried, anxious that I would fall over.

"Christ!" He sounded annoyed then in a second, the ground had flown out from under my feet.

I screamed. I could feel the wind smacking against my body and that bounces of his feet as he ran. Was this really necessary all to run away from some fangirls?

"Please put me down!" I yelled again, gripping onto what must've been his shoulders for dear life.

He obviously ignored me and continued sprinting to God knows where. Thinking about the situation, I wondered why I hadn't reacted like those girls, begged him for an autograph. If it were the Ice Ninja, then maybe I would've asked for a snowcone. I didn't think about it for as long as I wanted, I was suddenly brought back to my feet. I stumbled only to be caught by him, then I scrambled to remove whatever he had put on my face. Looking to the object, my eyes went wide and I nearly dropped it when I saw a Green silk mask between my fingers.

"We're on patrol and he forgot it," Black Ninja shrugged casually, "Don't look behind you,"

I tensed up, was... was The Green Ninja unmasked behind me?

"Are you serious?" Yes, yes he was, "My face is naked,"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I giggled. Black Ninja made an amused sound at the back of his throat before reaching out and taking the mask out of my hands. Holy crap had I just been in the possession of something holy? Should I never wash my hands again? The Master of Earth threw the mask over my head and there was a slight grumble from the person who received it.

"You can turn around now," He shrugged, peeling the velcro off his black gloves.

I immediately did so, which was embarrassing and was met with my hero of however many times. My mind instantly reminded me of how I had kicked him in the balls and I blushed, looking away. His physique never failed to stun me. I wasn't sure if they wore armour underneath their Gi's, but The Green Ninja's suit was tied tight today, you could see the imprints of his abs. Holy crap.
When I looked to his face, what I could see anyway, I was stunned to notice fuzzled blonde hairs poking out.

"You're blonde?" I questioned, slowly smiling at him.

His eyes widened and he turned around, his hands poking to shove the feature back and hidden away in the cavern of his mask, "I hate you Black Ninja,"

Black Ninja only laughed.

"And no," The Green Ninja turned around to us, more specifically me, "I dyed it, it's not my natural hair colour,"

"You'd still be blonde dumbass!" Earth Ninja laughed louder.

The Green Ninja sent a nasty glare to his friend which made me unable to hold back a smile.

"Don't worry Greenie, I won't tell," I smiled, waving my hand as if it brushed off the tense stare he was giving the Earth Ninja.

"Woah, Greenie?" The Elemental Master of Earth commented, his eyes looking surprised, "You told her about Greenie?"

"Stop," He huffed over to his friend, "Take her back,"

My smile fell, "Where are we anyway?"

Looking around, I couldn't help but notice the eery foundations around us. It was obvious we were in a secluded part of town, there were high buildings around us with wood taking place of the windows. Abandoned or illegal? Why would the Green Ninja be standing, maskless, around here? Maybe people didn't come down here often, it was easy to not be spotted. I still thought it was weird. How far were we from where I just was? I was close to my Dad's Blacksmith shop, and now I couldn't tell someone where I was to save my life! How fast did the Black Ninja run?

"Near Borg Tower," The Black Ninja replied, placing an ungloved hand on my shoulder.

Oh damn, was that normal?

"Oh," I mumbled quietly, peering to the man in Green a few steps away from us.

He didn't speak to me again, he didn't even look at me. The Black Ninja gently tugged on my good shoulder making me turn away from the quiet one. Instead of pulling me over his shoulder, he decided to walk alongside me which was greatly appreciated.
The area we were in was pretty concerning. Unlike most of Ninjago that I had explored, the parts around Cyrus Borg's tower were pretty dark. Unsure if this was because most of the power seemed to be connected to his building or if it was common to 'feed the rich' over here, I decided to stay away to make sure nothing bad happened. Although I denied it, the Ninja were right. I had to have trouble tailing me everywhere, it was just sad to admit it.
Glancing to the man walking at my shoulder, my stomach did a flip. Were they always like this? Was their actions normal? Was talking to the people they saved a lengthy and friendly encounter that happened all the time? Was coming to the home of someone they saved just another day for them?

"So..." I pursed my lips, wondering if I should even pursue a conversation, "How long you been a Ninja?"

"Eh, about a year and a half?" He waved his hand, "Give or take,"

"Are you the newest member?" I asked, looking down.

He picked at the skin around his nails, "No, the Gray Ninja is the newest. Her powers didn't come in until recently,"

My eyes widened as if I was just told something sacred, "Oh wow. I really need to read up about you guys huh?"

"We're not that interesting," He chuckled, grabbing his gloves from his pockets, "Just a bunch of angsty teens willing to save the world a bunch. No big deal,"

"No big deal," I repeated quietly, because saving the world seemed like the exact opposite.

💫

When we were allowed to go back to school again, I was so relieved. I was finally ungrounded which meant I could accept Kai's invites to go out with him and Sky, I wasn't bound to the shop in my free time and I could see everyone else with hopefully no more tense conversations. I could only wish that Lloyd had spoke with Cole otherwise my science lesson would be really uncomfortable with Cole and George next to me.
I was obviously nervous... what if there was another attack and I wasn't so lucky? I shook the thought from my head. The Ninja would save us like they did before.

Me:
You already at school?

Mr.Show Off:
Yeeeaaaah

Me:
Lloyd there?

Mr.Show Off:
He just walked to class.

Mr.Show Off:
Surprised you haven't noticed
he gets there before everyone
so he doesn't have to face
the staring head on.

Me:
He gets stared at when others
come in, what difference does
it make?

Mr.Show Off:
He can look away from those
stares.

Mr.Show Off:
Just hurry up and get here
so he's not alone

Me:
Sir yes sir

On cue, my bus stopped outside Ninjago High and I eagerly got off, ignoring the looks from people. It toom me a moment to recall the last time they saw me, I had screamed at The Green Ninja about saving Lloyd. God that was a little insane when I thought about it, but I didn't regret it. I probably looked crazy from the outsiders perspective.
I quickly saw Kai in the parking lot and to my surprise, Skylor who was sat on a motorbike. Kai was leaning on the handles, Sky was leaning forward on the bike, the two were obviously flirting and to make it funnier, Jay and Nya were staring at them with a grossed out look on their face.
Skylor flicked her hair over her face and to my surprise, some black rimmed glasses sat on her face. She pulled them so they were sat on her head.

"Nora save us," Nya groaned, pulling on her hair as Jay giggled behind her.

Kai and Skylor turned in my direction and the girl counterpart gave me a small wave, "Hey pretty girl,"

"Hi Skylor!" I smiled at her, waving back, "I didn't know you wore glasses!"

"Hot right?" Kai basically drooled.

"Sure is," I laughed, giving Sky a playful wink.

"Ugh stop," Skylor rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "I ran out of contacts and its killing me because I could've sworn I had the right amount to see me through till next month,"

"Babe," Kai pressed a hand to her arm, "Next month is in three days,"

As he finished his words, a loud wolf whistle came from a car near us, "Yo Smith! That your girl?"

Kai looked to the gray car and a scowl fell on his features. Skylor just watched them. As usual, Kai didn't say anything back, he just stared them down.

"Tell me she's not your girl Kai, 'cause to have a slice of that would be my dream," The same guy cackled around the group of his friends.

"They do realize I am right here... right?" Skylor whispered to us, an unimpressed look on her flawless features.

"You perv!" Nya yelled, her fists clenched by her sides.

"Calm down baby, I'd take a hit on you too if you weren't such a fuckin weirdo," He huffed out, walking passed us.

"Fuck off," Kai glowered, making the guy raise his eyebrows, "You say anything about my sister or my girlfriend again and you're dead, you hear me?"

"Calm down Kai," Skylor said in a nonchalant tone but her eyes were hard, "It's funny how they think they're so entitled to even grab a slice of us, isn't that right Nya?"

"Oh yeah," The black haired girl nodded whilst Jay glared at the boys who walked into the school building.

Kai let out a huff and shook his head, Skylor ran a hand through his hair.

"Try to have a good day, all of you. I'll see you later Hotshot," Kai looked to her and blew her a kiss.

She smiled in return and revved her engine, bringing her foot off the clutch and driving off. I turned to the rest of them and gave them a tight smile.

"Most boys suck, huh?" I tried to joke to ease the tension.

"Yeah," Jay nodded slowly, grimacing.

Kai clicked his tongue, walking forward and shoving his hands into his pockets. Nya placed a hand on my shoulder to encourage me to walk with them. I watched Kai silently ahead of us, a small frown on my face. The rumor was that he never retaliated, maybe the only thing that got the bar high was when people spoke about his sister or girlfriend. I respected Kai a lot, but I suddenly did a lot more after seeing him protect the two girls most important to him.
I split off from the gang, my feet walking slightly quicker to get to my English class. I hated school, so I couldn't really come up with an entirely valid reason for my pace...until I saw him sitting at the back of the room with his cheek leaning on his fist.
Lloyd was wearing a black sweater with green joggers, the sweater was loose, showing the dip of his neck. I clenched my jaw to contain a smile and walked over to him. To my utter surprise, he looked over and smiled at me. I felt relaxed already.

The night before, I had worried that he had never wanted to speak to me again for making him cry. I had never seen so much vulnerability from him in my life, I thought I'd ruin everything, but seeing his smile make an appearance and his eyes light up, I couldn't help but smile back. From what I could tell, there was no bad blood. Lloyd Garmadon didn't hate me. I didn't even think it was possible for hate to exist within him. He didn't even hate the people that made his life hell, I couldn't respect but also totally want to slap someone more.
He kicked out my chair before I had gotten all the way over.

"Hey Nora," His light eyes watched me sit.

I turned to him, still smiling stupidly, "Hi,"

"You ungrounded now?" He wanted to know, turning in his seat, something he hadn't done before when it came to interacting so publicly with me before.

"Yeah," I nodded eagerly, taking my eyes away from his change in posture, "I'm free!"

Lloyd chuckled, his head shaking softly and his curls following the movement, "I was wondering if you'd be free on the 4th? Uncle's brought tickets for this maze thing and he, uhm, he brought a ticket for you,"

"What?" My eyes widened, "What's the occasion?"

"It's kinda gonna be my birthday," He looked away from me.

"Shut up," My palms planted on the table as I leant forward to try and get his eyes on me again, "Your birthdays in a week and I'm only just finding out about it?"

"It wasn't gonna be a big thing," He brushed off, giving me a shy smile.

"How old will you be?" I demanded to know, my mind already breaking from the amount of birthday gift ideas storming up inside.

"18," He muttered, a strike of red forming on his cheekbones.

My mouth fell open, "Not a big thing? Are you serious?"

He sank into his chair, a smile rising his cheeks. It was actually really cute. I blinked firmly and turned my gaze away. It took a moment for me to realise that my cheeks were actually starting to ache from how wide I had been smiling too. Oh, okay.
I turned my stare back to him.

"I'll be free Lloyd," I finally settled, "Just give me an address and I'll be there,"

"Great," He perked up oncemore, "I'll text you,"

A part of me felt giddy with excitement. Not only did I have birthday plans to celebrate Lloyd with everyone else, Lloyd had just told me that he'd text me!

"Awh look at them," A patronising voice broke our encounter, "Big smiles for their evil plans,"

We both looked towards the two boys walking towards us. Jacob was someone I easily recognised. His hair was combed and gelled back, a small strand falling over his forehead. He was wearing a basketball jacket with his number embroidered onto the front. His expression was one of a grimace mixed with a firey hate. I wanted to crawl into a hole. The boy next to him made me double take. I'd never seen him before, what was he doing in this class? He was a big guy with muscles that could challenge Cole's. His expression seemed pissed, like he was staring at the people convicted for his whole family's death.
I glanced at Lloyd who's smile was nonexistent and his eyes looking lost without that pretty spark.

"So, you're Nora Li?" The new guy spoke, my name on his tongue made my heart drop, "The girl being corrupted by Garmadon?"

"Not corrupted," I corrected, my voice louder then I'd expected, "Aquainted,"

The boys shared a look and for a moment I wished that I had never spoke, "What the fuck is that?"

"It means becoming friends. You'd know that if you spent your English class listening to the teacher instead of harassing two classmates,"

My eyes widened dramatically and I turned my head quickly to look at the blonde boy next to me who's head was still lowered at the desk. Did he just? Did Lloyd just interact with them? Even better, did Lloyd just defend us? Holy crap. My heart stuttered in my chest.

"You can shut it Garmadon," Jacob hissed, "We can all see though this act. You think we're the dumb ones but we see you. We see you. We see the guy that comes from Lord Garmadon, we see him,"

"I think you might need to go to the optometrist," My voice was more stern, I loved it, "You're not seeing things clearly,"

"Nora, respectfully, shut your mouth," Jacob looked over to me, a frown on his features, "You don’t know anything about him. We're trying to help you,"

"She's clearly been brainwashed already," The kid said, a small laugh leaving his lips after, "What if they're like, secretly a thing and he hired her to be his mistress,"

Jacob laughed too, "Not just for sex though, obviously, He'd have hired her to do all of his crimes so he didn't look even worse. Lord Garmadon with his mistress, oh that'll be a new one!"

Lloyd shifted uncomfortably whilst I glared at the two with disgust written on my features. Usually I came to regret the words that spewed out of my mouth when I didn't think about them. Now was indifferently one of those times. Sure, I could've worded it a little differently to not be so direct, but it got my point across.

"Mistress?" I grimaced, scowling at the two, "I'm his mistress? A Lord has to have his Lady, so the least you could do is call me that,"

The two boys in front of us recalled immediately. They stared at me with a stunned expression. My scowl didn't fade, I wanted them to get the message, I hoped they got the message. Nothing they could do would ever convert me back to what I had been made to believe in the first place. They were the ones who needed to change, not me, not Lloyd, and not the rest of us.
Jacob sent me one of the most deadliest glares I had ever received in my life, nudged the kid next to him and turned to leave. My breath of relief was well earned. Once the two had fleed from the classroom, I looked to Lloyd. He had both of his hands pushed against his cheeks that were pushing a rose colour, and his eyes were darting around the desk.
Had I embarrassed him? Oh God I hope not, I'd just been invited to his 18th birthday!

"Lloyd?" I called out to him.

His eyes froze, "Yeah?"

His tone was very quiet and stressed out. I feared I had done the wrong thing.

"Nevermind," I swallowed, turning away from him with panic set in my mind.

💫

For the first time ever, I joined Kai at lunch. He was a lot different from the way I saw him in the morning, it eased me slightly. Finally sitting down where the only two people at the table were Cole and George made some anxiety grow inside me. It all flooded away when Cole gave me a small smile, then turned to continue his conversation with his... boyfriend? I think they were boyfriends.
Jay and Nya joined us next. Jay was babbling about some video game and then Kai joined in saying he wanted to play it too. Zane joined after, a textbook in his hand. I was happy that he decided to sit next to me and silent study over the notes.

"Nora," Kai whispered unusually close to me.

I turned from my conversation with Zane and flinched back ever so slightly when I saw the spikey haired boy uncomfortably close to me, "Yes...?"

"So me and Lloydie had a conversation earlier," A small smirk grew on his face, "Should I start calling you Lady Garmadon?"

"Pardon?" Zane was surprised, his expression alarmed.

I felt my cheeks grow red, "No. Kai it was not like that,"

"What do you mean!?" He asked loudly, slamming a hand on the table, "It's so obvious you like him!"

"You like Lloyd?" Jay nearly yelled, leaning over Nya who sent him a look.

"No!" I groaned, putting my head in my hands.

"She told Jacob and Adam to call her Lady Garmadon," Kai snickered and I so nearly whacked him.

"Did not!" I frowned at him, unable to stop the small smile grow on my face as Kai burst out laughing because he had been caught in the lie.

"You're so," He got out through splutters of giggles, "Easy to mess about. Just like Lloyd. Oh God I'm dying,"

"Shut up he's coming," Cole hushed everyone who unnaturally stopped speaking.

"It was totally platonic!" I whispered to Kai who sucked in his lips, fighting another wave of laughter.

I leant back in my chair and crossed my arms, my hand hovering over my heart that had sped up incredibly because of the teasing. As Lloyd pulled out a chair and sat next to Jay, giving the boy a warm smile, I felt my heart soften and a barely noticeable smile fall onto my face. He looked so pretty when he smiled.
My eyes widened in realisation and I swallowed, wiping the expression off my features. Platonic. Lloyd Garmadon and I were friends. That's all we'd ever be and that was fine. It was fine.

🐉

Denial is a river in Egypt bruh