The Ground Shaker

A Very Public Confession

Obsidian was doing an interview, all decked out in costume. His round cheeks sparkled in the sunlight because of the dark purple glitter that Skylor had brushed on. He was just waiting for Gayle Gossip to show up with the camera man so they could start. 

This was the first interview that anyone's gotten where it was only one of the four Stone Hearts. It was also the first interview that Obsidian had done without either Gemstone or Canyon. He's done plenty without Ground Shaker, more so lately. 

Finally, Gayle arrived with Vinny. A fan had come up to Obsidian, asking for a selfie and an autograph, something he was more than happy to provide. 

"So sorry about my tardiness, Mr. Obsidian. We got caught up in some bad traffic."

Obsidian waved her off. "It's fine."

"It won't take Vinny long to get set up."

"Great!" Obsidian brought his feet up, moving to sit crisscross with his hands on his ankles. 

A few minutes later, Vinny gave them a thumbs up. Gayle cleared her throat.

"I'm Gayle Gossip. I am lucky enough to be sitting here with Obsidian himself. Now, Obsidian, what's the reasoning for your name?"

"The Stone Hearts and I have a connection with the earth, Ground Shaker probably the strongest. But, obsidian is my favorite kind of rock. It's way cool. I could probably go on and on about it. Gemstone couldn't decide what his favorite gem was, he knew he wanted to be a gem, but there's so many cool options."

"You and Gem are close, right?"

"I mean, yeah. He's my older brother, as he loves to remind me."

"How much older is he than you? You two seem and act around the same age."

"Two minutes." Obsidian shrugged. "I'm taller, so I have that. He gets to be older, I get to be taller."

"How did you two meet Canyon and Ground Shaker?"

"School. We all go to Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts. To be honest, we only started the NinjaTube channel after our teacher suggested that posting videos of us dancing would be good for getting feedback, both good and bad. We didn't want people to know who we are, so we hired a makeup crew. Co— Ground's dad has a decent amount of money, so he was happy to pay for it for a while. We're able to pay them ourselves now without worrying about rent and school, but without him, we wouldn't be able to be where we are now," Obsidian rambled on.

"Are you four still in school?"

"Yep!"

"How old are you?"

"Gem and I just turned 20. Ground Shaker is almost 22. Canyon's 21 too."

"Are any of you four seeing anyone?"

"Oh, no. But we all have our crushes, you know?"

Gayle smiled with a nod. "Who's your celebrity crush?"

"My celebrity crush?" Obsidian thought, debating on something. "I'll be honest with you, Canyon."

"Really?"

Obsidian nodded, tapping his fingers against his feet. "I mean, I live with the guy. I see him every day. Ground Shaker's heart's taken by the blue ninja, and Canyon's pretty funny."

Cole sat on the couch, watching the interview with Jay. They both had their mouths open in shock.

Cole was shocked for two reasons; Ryan confessed his crush on Micah (finally) and he told the world about his feelings for Jay Walker. 

Jay was shocked because Obsidian apparently lived with his team, still was in school, liked Canyon, and knew that Ground Shaker returned Jay's feelings. 

"Oh golly, oh golly, oh gosh, oh golly," Jay mumbled, his cheeks a bright red. "He likes me back?"

"You actually have a crush on Ground Shaker?"

"Why would I not?"

"I thought Kai was just messing around."

Jay rolled his eyes, pausing the TV. "Have you not seen him dance or heard him sing? It's amazing!"

Cole chuckled. "I've seen him dance and heard him sing. I just don't get the hype with him. The other three are better at singing and dancing."

"You're joking."

"I'm not."

Jay stared at him. "Dude, he's hot. He's kind, people tell stories about him stopping the show for panic attacks or telling stories of helping people in his everyday life. He's surprisingly open about his life, he won't share names. He truly does care about his fans. How can you not see why people like him so much?"

"Dunno." Cole shrugged, turning back to the TV. "Let's keep watching, yeah?"

"Is there a reason why you and Canyon haven't gotten together?" Gayle asked.

Obsidian shrugged, picking at a scab on his leg. "I don't know if he would go with me."

"Why's that?"

"I'm annoying, I guess." Obsidian's eyes landed on the green ninja, who was going for a walk with the red ninja. "Holy cow. That's the green ninja."

Gayle looked over her shoulder. "It is."

"Whoa. He's my favorite ninja."

"You have a favorite ninja?"

"Of course I do. We don't live under rocks."

"Do you want to say hi?"

Obsidian bit his lip. "We shouldn't. He looks like he's doing his own thing."

Ryan arrived home, still scrubbing the black paint off his face. Micah was the only one there, both Cole and Bennie doing their own things. Micah sat on the couch, reading a book.

Ryan walked quickly, hoping to get past Micah and get to his room. 

"Ryan Row Frazier. You stop right there," Micah instructed him without looking up from his book.

He froze, slowly turning around to face Micah. "Heyyy."

Micah shut his book and stood up. He set the book down as he walked to Ryan, saying nothing. That only freaked Ryan out.

"Can't you just say something? Curse at me? Just do something!"

Micah grabbed Ryan's hands, looking at them. "You told the entire world who was listening that you have a crush on me. What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Tell me you don't feel the same, tell me you want to stay friends. I don't know."

"But I don't want to be friends, Ry."

"Then what do you want?"

Micah looked up at him, his brown eyes shining with admiration. "I want to be with you. I want to hold you when we watch TV. I want to kiss you good night every night. I want to wake up every morning and you're there with me. I want you to be mine. Do you want that too?"

Ryan nodded. "I do."

"Then kiss me."