I like to think of myself as a hard worker, someone who gets stuff done when needed. Sure, I procrastinate and shove my to do list to the side of my desk and look at it while I'm eating my fast food lunch, but it always gets done.

I think I acquired that trait from watching the dedication my parents have towards their work as businesspeople. It had always been hard growing up when my parents would hardly toss a glance at me, but they always cared and provided. But even while they worked hard, I don't think I would ever want to be like them. I want to be my own kind of hardworking, you know, without the people tossed to the side.

Maybe that's why I felt the need to take the extra shifts that my boss discreetly mentioned he needed someone to take. Who else was going to take it? The three other people who work here during the school day while I'm learning something from low-paid teachers? It certainly wasn't going to be BF/N, she was out of town for a robotics conference that I had the honor of competing and presenting in three days ago. And in those three days, I still hasn't seen my boyfriend who insisted on blowing up my phone so much that it glitched. And since I took the extra shifts, I still hadn't the chance to grace him with my stunning presence and fabulous personality.

So as I 'sat' on my stool with my right leg curled on top of the wooden surface and my left foot planted on the ground, I sketched blueprint after blueprint. My bottom lip was in between my upper teeth as I worked in such a focused concentration of scaling my designs symmetrically. I could actually hear the gears turning inside of my head as I finally found the correct proportions to match my calculations to. I worked with my calculator in one hand and my pencil in the other. I was sketching and typing all at once and I would have just loved to have someone who believed multitasking wasn't real watching me because the gratification of seeing someone's ego actually drop would be amazing.

However, I would never get that chance because as soon as I finished with my perfect blueprint for a new invention I was designing, I heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. I was immediately pulled away from my own world and realized that I had been staring wistfully and longingly at my notebook as if someone had just built the perfect boy and presented him to me with a red bow.

It was Jay who had cleared his throat and when I turned around he was smirking, "Did I interrupt a moment between you and your notebook?" He joked while strolling over very annoyingly for the purpose of displeasing me. "You did, actually," I chuckled while wrapping my arms around him and giving him the hug he needed after being away from me for five days. "How's the team?" I wondered, patting him twice on the chest and pulling away to plop onto my stool as he stole one from another desk and smiled at me. "Kai's full of himself, Zane keeps baking, Cole keeps eating, and Lloyd keeps getting punched by Cole," he sighed, a smile still appearing on his face. "And how's the blue one?" I asked.

Jay grinned, "Better now that I'm seeing you for the first time in a gazillion years."

I waved my finger at him disprovingly, "Ah ah, a gazillion and one."

Jay pursed his lips and smiled, "It was still longer than necessary."

I shrugged and wrapped my fingers around him while staring at our entwined hands, "I'm going to leave for college soon, you know. A college six hours away where the city is huge and there are no ninja there to protect me from a rabbit hiding in a bush," I told him. "I know," he sadly sighed, "But I've heard there is this pretty cool invention called the train. And believe it or not, they just installed one, like, twenty years ago in the city. So from city to city you won't be but a couple hours train ride away. That's worth it, don't you agree?" He questioned while sporting his famous smile. I found myself laughing at his attempt to make this change okay and nodded, "Yeah, besides, who actually needs to do their homework anyways? That was so last year."

Jay agreed with a grin, "Now you're getting it!" He shouted happily, "My girlfriend is growing up so fast," he added while pretending to wipe a tear. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my station, "I guess there's a reason you never became an actor, I wouldn't hire you for a Gatorade commercial," I scolded. Jay frowned, "I'm the best actor of the team!"

I scoffed, "Yeah well the others must suck on levels only ninja can suck on."